MERGING OF THE SOULS

Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage, was dying. She had successfully driven Zetsu away from the Feudal Lords, but she had sustained heavy damage. Medical support wasn't going to make it in time, so she prepared a countermeasure.

"Ch…Chojuro! Come here," she managed to say.

Chojuro, the lone member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, approached his fallen leader. "What is it, Lady Mizukage?"

"I…I know I won't…make it. I'm…trusting you t…to find my…new host."

"New host? What are you talking about?"

Mei Terumi pulled out a scroll from her belt. "I'm about to…cast a special jutsu. When I do…this scroll will disappear. It will show up…to the person who is best suited to house my soul. When that person opens the scroll, our souls…will be fused together. You have to find that person…after I'm gone. I'm counting…on you…Chojuro."

Chojuro, although upset at seeing his leader die, said, "Of course, Lady Mizukage. How will I know you?"

Mei said, "You won't, but…if all goes well, my new body…will recognize you and call you by name. Don't talk to anyone…until you've found me. My…new body…will probably be in another village. Look everywhere, understand?"

Mei Terumi then looked at the sky and shed tears. "If I have one regret in this life…it's that I never…got to marry someone…as great as you…Chojuro." With that she cast the jutsu. The scroll disappeared as the Fifth Mizukage drew her last breath.

(Six Days Later)

The Fourth Shinobi War ended with Naruto Uzumaki destroying Madara Uchiha and rendering Sasuke Uchiha unable to continue being a ninja. Sakura Haruno had just returned home from cleaning up after the battle. She fell down into bed and was starting to wonder what life would be like in the future when she noticed a scroll on her nightstand that she didn't remember putting there. She carefully put the scroll in her hand.

Sakura looked at the scroll for a while and thought, "I wonder what this is doing here. If this is some kind of prank that Naruto set up, he's going to get the butt-kicking of a lifetime."

Sakura then opened the scroll to read its contents and was met by a blinding light.

Inside her mind, Sakura could see a beautiful woman with long red hair and a voluptuous body wearing a blue dress that left her shoulders and a fair amount of cleavage showing walking towards her.

"Whose body is this?" the woman asked.

"Mine. I'm Sakura Haruno. Who are you?" Sakura asked.

"I am the spirit of Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage."

"I thought you had died a few hours before the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke took place."

"I did, but before I died, I left a way for me to continue my legacy: the soul scroll you just opened. Even as we speak, our souls are becoming one."

"Wait! Does that mean you're going to be taking over my body?"

"No, it's not that cruel. All that will happen is that your body will now be housing two souls instead of one. Everything about us will be at this new Sakura's fingertips: our chakra networks, our jutsu, our memories, and our feelings on certain topics. It will not be a take over, but rather a coexistence."

"Well, why pick me? I've got nothing interesting to offer."

"Don't sell yourself short, Sakura. You have an amazing talent for medical ninjutsu that most people, even professionals, would only dream of having. I think that's more important than having the strongest jutsu in the world. Besides, it wasn't my call. The jutsu I cast before I died sent this scroll to the person best suited to house my soul."

"So, how does this whole "merging-of-the-souls" thing work?"

"Simply put, you will remain in control of your body, but I will be putting in some small traits of my own so that both of us can live comfortably in the same body. I will remain in your subconscious and guide you through some parts of our new life that I am best suited for while you continue to live out your life."

"I guess I can live with that."

"Good. See you later, Sakura Haruno."

A flash of bright light surrounded Mei Terumi, causing Sakura to avert her eyes.

When the light receded, Sakura found herself back in her room. She looked in the mirror and immediately found some things were different in her appearance.

Sakura was wearing the same dress that the Fifth Mizukage wore in her vision, and it looked like she inherited her bust size, too. Sakura looked in the mirror for a long time before she finally got over the fact that she had indeed merged souls with the Fifth Mizukage.

Just as she was thinking this, the Mizukage herself appeared in the mirror and asked, "How do you like your new look?"

"I love it! It's different and will take some getting used to, but I've always wanted breasts like these."

Mei Terumi smiled. "Well, that's good to hear. Now listen closely, Sakura. You now have access to both our jutsu, meaning you can still perform your medical ninjutsu, but you'll also be able to perform my jutsu. In this way, you can be a medic and still be able to fight off any malevolent forces you might come across."

Sakura said, "Well, I can't wait to try it out."

Mei said, "There is one other thing. Kirigakure will be in need of a new leader. One of my best ninja, a young man named Chojuro, will be scouring the lands looking for you to take the mantle of leadership. Please, don't say no."

Sakura suddenly felt a little depressed. She was now going to be abandoning her own village to rule over a village that she hadn't even set foot in before. All of her friends would be out of her reach and her whole life would never be the same again.

"This is all too sudden, Lady Mizukage."

"Please, call me Mei. It's not like you need to be formal to me anymore."

"All right, Mei, but I still don't like this. My whole life is destroyed and there's nothing I can do about it."

"I understand if you don't want to take the title of Mizukage. I think you still have some time left before Chojuro arrives. Please, just think it over."

"There's no need. I have to accept the title. After all, you sent out the scroll to find a body that you can use to rule Kirigakure with, right? It would be selfish of me to not accept."

Mei looked down. "I'm sorry for forcing this on you, Sakura, but it's what I thought would be best."

Sakura smiled. "Well, what else can a Mizukage do? Now, until Chojuro arrives, I would like to get used to my new body. Would you mind helping me?"

Mei smiled. "Of course, Lady Mizukage."