A/N: Copyright 2024-2025 ElizabethVladraculaStrigoi
Copyright 2025-2026
PAST
She was tired, so tired. She couldn’t really lift her head off of her pillow even though she was propped for comfort. As much as she wanted to close her eyes she couldn’t sleep. The small child had just left the hospital yesterday after a series of tests, all of which said the same thing. This wasn’t her first visit with the hospital— as a matter of fact she had been in the same place since she was three years old.
A terminal illness that was diagnosed after her birthday. Sakura weakly rotated her arms, seeing the area where a needle had been through longed healed. Swallowing a lump in her throat she could only imagine having to go there again. She couldn’t stand another day, but she held out hope.
What little she had left.
Hope was the only thing keeping her from crying, from giving up, from thinking that any day now she’d get the news no child wanted to hear. It didn’t matter how many drugs they pumped into her. Sakura Haruno was dying.
She was only nine years old. It wasn’t fair that she wouldn’t get the opportunity to experience life. Going out to movies, dancing, eating her favorite foods— she couldn’t enjoy those now at all— all of that had turned to dust.
So much for the happy ending.
The doctor said there was still a chance, that faith was the answer. Her body had fought this long so maybe they were close to the end. But all Sakura could see was her tiny frame in a casket.
No. She couldn’t think like that. If she gave up now …
“I don’t know how much more I can do without… “ She told herself above a whisper. Slowly she pulled herself up so that she could reach for the glass of water, hoping she wouldn’t knock it over. With a steady hand she was able to grasp it, bring the water to her lips and gently pull sips into her dry mouth down her even dryer throat.
She put it back on the stand. Why as of late did a glass weigh a ton?
Maybe she should sleep. That’s all she had been doing was sleeping. Hopefully things would be better tomorrow. Or the next day, she just had to keep fighting. Her eyes roamed the room fear stitching that she wouldn’t see the place, not that she did hardly since the illness became more aggressive.
She was so sick of coughing up blood, muscle fatigue, sometimes not being able to breathe that for a moment she really wish it would all end.
Sakura didn’t feel the cool palm caressing her forehead. She hadn’t even heard the individual creep into her room. Panicked green eyes looked up and she would have screamed but no sound came out.
“Don’t be frightened.”
Don’t be frightened? There was a stranger here probably ready to murder her and he didn’t want her to be afraid? Sakura observed him more closely. She couldn’t tell what of his outfit, all black. His matching hair color was so long a strand of it tickled her nose. He was tall too.
The stranger backed away a little but didn’t leave her bedside. Sakura scooted away from him.
“I won’t hurt you… I promise.” He held up a gloved hand as if offering a peace treaty but Sakura still wasn’t comfortable nor convinced this man would keep his word. Her body sagged in defeat. She wasn’t even going to fight it anymore.
“What ails you?”
“Everything,” she confessed. “I’m so tired of everything.”
“I see. How long have you been this way?”
“Since I was very young.” The day the world stopped for her.
“My body’s so weak that I could break just by hitting my foot on a coffee table. I can’t hold my food down, the meds make me sick. And sometimes I can’t sleep.”
“Unfortunate. So young too.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“Have they told you that the disease might be stopped or at least long enough for you to be normal?”
Sakura shook her head. “I heard that there’s nothing more that they can do… but they’re convinced they can. Sometimes I do catch onto their conversations… they just don’t want to tell me. I’m not some dumb kid.”
He nodded. He didn’t seem to pity her either. Sakura was getting sick of that too.
“Your parents?”
Sakura’s lower lip trembled. She couldn’t cry now, god she was so pathetic. Her parents…
“They’re dead.” Her voice cracked.
“I’m sorry child.”
Sorry. That’s what everyone was saying about the whole situation and the way they were talking about it was a bit of a shock for them and they didn’t even have a chance. Sakura wiped her eyes, wishing that she hadn’t said a word.
“You don’t have anyone else?” He whispered.
“I had an aunt, she died a long time ago… a-and—“
“You don’t have to tell me anything more. I’ve come to you because I have a proposal. What if I told you something could cure your sickness. You wouldn’t have to live like this.”
Sakura’s eyes widened. Was he buffling? Did she hear him right?
“Y-you have something for the hospital staff so that I’m not sick anymore?” It sounded too impossible for her own ears. Dare she get her hopes up? Or was he getting her hopes up and ready to take her? Empty promises did nothing but hurt her over and over again.
“So who takes care of you?”
“A foster parent… you said you would help me?”
He nodded, never taking his eyes off of her.
“W-what is it? Another shot? Another drug? Would I have to be holed up in the hospital for a month?” She anticipated his next move. This had to be some joke. Maybe she was hallucinating after all, her end was close.
“I wouldn’t put you through that again child. You could say it is a shot, I can’t promise it won’t be painless. The road to recovery will take a while, but I assure you you’ll be able to live a happy life.”
Sakura almost couldn’t believe it. But what was the catch? This man was offering the near impossible. Oh fates please don’t let him be some kind of quack filling her head with misbeliefs. She had had enough that.
He continued,” It would almost be like falling asleep, you wouldn’t feel but a pinch. No more medication, no more beeping monitors, no more sterile rooms. It could be all yours.”
No more throwing up. No more needless. No sickness. No more just surviving somehow.
The Strange Man stared as if he were waiting for her to make the shot even if he offered.
“Tell me… what I have to do?” Sakura mumbled.
“Nothing. Just this. Promise yourself you’ll be the strongest there is… don’t lose control. What I’m offering you it does come with small sacrifices. It’s what you do from here on out that predetermines your fate.”
He gently reached for Sakura’s hand, squeezing so that he wouldn’t bruise her. Suddenly Sakura felt safe, she felt that she could trust him. Or maybe he was the key to a lifetime of agony. He could make that all go away.
“I’m ready.” No more questions. Just like that she had made the great voyage. Just like that he smiled at her, she smiled back. It all happened before she could utter the next ten words. She felt something razor shop slice her throat— no, her windpipe. Then the muscles underneath. She couldn’t whimper a sound, that’s because her neck was snapped like a pretzel then all but nothing but the black came.
The Man In Black watched the cold, bloody and pale body of the little girl who wanted a second chance at life. And he was going to make sure she had it. He had watched her, saw her fight every day. Nothing about her was wavering. So he knew she would be the one to have this cute he told her about, not in so many words.
He acted fast. He slit his wrist vertically, the crimson ebbing with a brightness that fascinated even him. He held the bleeding limb where he had ravaged her throat, the droplets pooling into the gaping hole there. He had long drained her enough of her own blood to make up for what was lost with his own life source.
She’d probably grow up to hate him one day. Right now it was her survival that mattered to him in the long run. Even though he had broke her neck and lacerated her throat, without those gruesome injuries she looked like she was a sleeping doll. Momentarily it would be as if he were never here.
The color to her skin was returning, bones snapped in alignment, the hole in her throat knitted and meshed. She would be asleep a long time, but not too long. It all depended on how her body reacted to the transformation.
As silently as he slipped in, that’s how quietly he snuck out.
Sakura groaned. She swore she had a crick in her neck. Maybe she slept wrong. She hadn’t slept that well in a while though, she actually felt okay. Peeling her eyes open the blinding lights were just what she needed. No one closed the curtains. She had a funny dream last night, a man had snuck in her room and— she couldn’t remember the rest? Was it a dream? No. It felt all too real.
Those damn drugs really were making her feel as if she were in a different reality most days. She swung her legs off of her bed, feet pedaling to the bathroom. She flipped the lights on, nearly taken aback. Her skin wasn’t chalky. Her cheeks weren’t sunken in. To top it off she actually made it to the bathroom without stumbling. This had to be a trick?
She patted herself down. Nothing unusual except this was probably a first. She looked so alive. She wasn’t nauseated or anything. Was this an illusion or her secret wish?
Without wasting time Sakura immediately turned on the bath; freshened up and dressed she brushed her teeth vigorously. After spitting and rinsing she skipped then ran to the kitchen. Another feat she had not been able to do.
“Good morning!” She exclaimed brightly, her aunt— foster parent— was already sitting down. A plump woman with mousy brown hair with a grey streak, she all but beamed at Sakura.
“My goodness…” she breathed,” you look so good Sakura. You’re actually getting around.”
Sakura nodded. Hopefully it wasn’t a temporary thing. She didn’t even want to waste this opportunity. Sakura’s eyes traveled to the breakfast before her. Her stomach growled, she nearly drooled. Scrambled eggs, French toast, waffles, sausage, hashbrowns— all of the works.
“You must be starving. I know sometimes you—“
“Yes ma’am! I’m going to eat every bite!”
Sakura was ecstatic. Beaming. Thrilled even. She had never felt like this on her life. Piling her plate with just about everything Sakura proceeded to rattle off with her aunt, who was more than happy to chat. It had been so long she could do this all day. She had never had this burst of energy ever.
Sakura even helped with the dishes.
“Is there anything you need?”
“Not that I can think of… I’m probably going to clean up my room.”
Sakura couldn’t help the tingling sensation in her throat. Probably choked down too much food. Her mind kept wondering to that man from last night, but why couldn’t she remember the rest? Guess it was her imagination. She just didn’t want to tell her aunt. But that man wasn’t some apparition. He promised her a cure.
Had it worked?
Who was that man really?
PRESENT
At three years old, Sakura Haruno had been diagnosed with a terminal illness that should have killed her. Until a man in black offered her a cure, she wouldn’t have to worry about another day of wondering what the worse case would be. At that age when the two of them met the young Haruno was desperate for anything. She knew she didn’t want to die.
For years she thought the man was a product of her hallucinations caused by medication and trips to the hospital. Turns out it wasn’t a dream, the antidote he gave her wasn’t exactly the kind of formula that you cooked in a lab. No it was something else. Over the years Sakura’s health improved drastically and with good reason. No more hospital staff.
But at age 13 she knew something was wrong. Around this time she had injured herself badly, panicking she wasn’t in reach of a first aid kit. She’d twisted and scarred her ankle— but in rapid time she saw that that injury healed right before her eyes. Sakura nearly fainted.
Sakura inflected a small injury on her upper arm, that wound healed in seconds. Another unfortunate event occurred where she saw the blood of her teammates during the fight to death on one of their assignments. Her stomach and throat burned immediately, she couldn’t look away. That’s what she was hungry for. She literally had to slap herself because she was horrified that it was a possibility she was going to drink one of them dry. But why? Why was she experiencing these urges?
Just what the hell did that man do to her?
It wasn’t until later in adulthood Sakura understood she had made a deal with the man she could only describe as the devil. He’d turned her into something beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. She couldn’t control it— she’d actually went berserk and bled an innocent young man dry to a husk. She was horrified. It took everything on her not to throw up, not that that would do any good.
Sakura cradled her face, groaning she bit her bottom lip so hard it bled.
“Why? Why would he do this to me?”
Isn’t this what you wanted?
“No. Not like this.”
You’re alive though. You should be so lucky.
“This is a curse!”
it wasn’t until later that Sakura learned that she wasn’t the man’s only experiment in the making. Months of research lead Sakura to old books and documents thought to be burnt had really been buried, aged and yellowing with the passage of time.
in the upper left hand corner was a grainy photograph of a woman with brunette hair, to the far right was information, statistics and vitals.
The woman in the picture was Rin Nohara.