Matryoshka
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto have managed to defeat Kaguya in the 4th Shinobi War but it seems the chaos did not end there. 5 years after Kaguya's demise, the shinobi have managed to regain their footing but the after-effects of the infinite tsukuyomi are yet to come. When the world once again is threatened to suffer from absolute submission, the only ones who can save them are Team Kakashi and no one else. This is a story of romance, friendship, and family that will take you back to where it all began.
"Behind the mysterious door, no one is a V.I.P. Everyone is limited by their own sufferings." -Sid (V.I.P.)
Format: flashbacks, present, "dialogue", 'inner thoughts'
"Where are we?" coughed the silver-haired jounin, his eyes fierce, unlike his usual aloof expression. They were inside the dimension made by Kaguya while the rest of the shinobi remained outside. The infinite tsukuyomi has taken over the shinobi's minds, trapping them in their own dreamlands as the great tree suck the life out of them.
Five ninjas stood inside the alternate space, excluding Kaguya and her son, Zetsu. The latter were nowhere to be found while Kakashi, Obito, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke tried to figure a way to get out of the mess and save everyone from the jutsu.
"This is going to take more than the five of us but with the power given to us by the Sage of the Six paths, we might be able to pull this off." Sasuke annoyingly eyed the loud blonde for stating the obvious. "Dobe, shut up."
"Teme!" Naruto barked back.
Sakura sighed. Despite the chaos they were going through, the two still managed to call themselves by their given nicknames, but somehow, it made her feel better since they were like a team again. Although as usual, she was only useful for a limited amount of time. She was also pretty sure that her sensei felt the same as she could see him bite his lips underneath the mask.
"Naruto, Sasuke, we need the two of you to confront Kaguya without separating from each other. I know you guys are aware of what you have to do but this is Kaguya's dimension. She can send you anywhere since we're basically inside her world." Obito was standing in front of the two vessels of the transmigrants, Indara and Ashura.
"There's nothing I can do, is there?" At the sound of this, Naruto immediately rebuked Sakura's words. "Don't say that Sakura-chan! It's not like that! You're-
"Useless" Sasuke coldly intervened.
"Damn you, teme! You're not helping at all!"
"Among all of us, I'm probably the most useful." Sasuke looked at Sakura. "It's good that you're aware that you can't help with this. The same goes to you, Kakashi. You better get out of the way once Kaguya arrives. Naruto and I have already come up with a plan on how to take the monster woman down. If either of us dies, it would be end the end of the world."
Obito felt that Sasuke's words were harsh but Sakura, and even Kakashi didn't even deny it. "Sasuke's right, Obito. Sakura and I can't do anything to help right now but we'll do our best not to stand in your way." Apparently, Kakashi knew when to swallow his pride. He knew well that Sasuke didn't mean any harm and in human translation, his words probably meant for them to be careful.
Sakura, on the other hand, felt her heart sank with his words but what can she do anyway? She was aware that she was no longer the clingy kunoichi she was back then but sometimes, she wished that they would be the ones to look at her back… for a long time, and not just a momentary shot of the limelight. It was selfish… but selfless at the same time.
Naruto noticed this and smacked the Uchiha on the head. "After we save the world, you better work on that tongue of yours. You're not cool anymore." To this, the bunch managed to share a small speckle of laughter, except for Sasuke of course, who just reacted nonchalantly.
xxx
"You're spacing out again, Ugly." There was only one person who calls her that, her former teammate, Sai. "What do you want?"
"The Hokage wants to see you right now. He was talking about sending us to a mission to Sand, probably a delivery to the Kazekage." The Hokage, huh? She still could remember the time during the war when most of the Rookie Nine eagerly expressed their desire to be Hokage. But of course, there can only be one, and everyone was contented with their present leader. "Tell the mighty Hokage, that Haruno Sakura would report after an hour. I have some hospital duties to attend to."
"No. Hokage's orders are absolute. You have to learn to stop treating him as a former part of the team."
"Does it really make a difference?" Sai's usual poker face turned stern. "I'm serious Sakura, the Hokage wants to see you now. Pronto."
"Okay fine." She wondered what could it be that even Sai was serious about it. Yes, he was part of Root so Sai is always serious but he usually lets her antics slide off. This must be something really important then. A lot has been going on in the hospital and he knows that she is very well needed there with the increase of the recent pandemic. She sighed. "I better hurry up then."
"You called for me sen- Hokage-sama." She almost called him sensei. It was a good thing she managed to bite her tongue as the advisors were there and her act would have been considered disrespectful. She had a reputation to protect, of course. Sakura was looking at the ground when she heard footsteps coming near here. The Hokage patted her back, signaling her to get up.
"Can you help me get rid of these advisors? They're really bothering me right now. I usually ask Naruto to do it for me but he and Sasuke still haven't come back from the mission." Sakura eyed her former sensei questioningly. What in the world was he up to?
"I ask all the advisors to leave now. I'm getting my monthly check-up from this medic over here." Kakashi said to buzzing advisors who were picking up the paperwork and such. One of them was always in check of his actions so he knows that Kakashi was lying. "But you just got your monthly check-up last month, Hokage-sama. Are you trying to skip your duties again?"
"I believe it is not your expertise, Kenta-san. He needs another one of my check-ups so I suggest you do as he says, and believe me, I wouldn't really lie about my job." Sakura intervened. It was one of the perks of being a renowned medical ninja. Everyone trusted every information that she said that were related to her field.
With her word, everyone left. The last man was hesitant to leave but he did anyway. The room was finally free from the whispers and chatter of the advisors, and it was only her and Kakashi left in the room. Somehow, she didn't feel awkward being alone with him. Kakashi, too, also felt the same way with her. After so many years, they have reached a father-daughter relationship that could even rival that of a real one's. Kakashi Hatake, the Rokudaime, took Sakura in when her parents died during the Fourth Shinobi war that wiped out almost all of the civillians and shinobi alike. Sakura didn't talk much about it but he knew that she felt bad for not being able to protect her parents.
"So what do you want, sens... I mean, Hokage-sama." Sakura tried to stifle her laugh but she couldn't really help it. Who would have thought that her perverted sensei who spent most of his time reading Jiraiya's masterpiece, Icha Icha Paradise, would become the next leader of the Hidden leaf? Indeed, everything happening right now was unexpected.
Kakashi ruffled Sakura's hair. "You can stop calling me Hokage-sama when it's just us with the rest of the gang. Sigh. This is why I didn't want to be a Hokage. I'm just an old man looking for some romance. Hell, I'm already 34 and I haven't even settled down yet. The probability of you and Sasuke having children is even higher than me getting myself a woman." Sakura bursted out laughing at her sensei's comment. Kakashi always had worries like this ever since Sasuke started being more open with the team. Sasuke wasn't really in a relationship with Sakura but it can be said that Sasuke treated her specially since she was part of the team that never left him even after he's so-called defection.
"But anyway, I didn't call you here for just idle chatter. About Naruto and Sasuke's mission, I have received reports from them that the pandemic has been spreading in the other villages as well. The two are currently in the Land of the Waterfall but you'll meet them in the Sand, two days from now. Bring Sai with you for faster transportation. You have to get there as soon as possible so get ready to leave in 2 hours. I already informed Sai about the details of the mission so no need to go through over it with him. This is an A-rank mission, and I'm counting on you. Don't get yourself killed by the Tsukimis."
"Don't you trust your student?" She winked at him, and Kakashi ruffled her hair once again in response. "You're not my student anymore, Sakura. I would prefer it if you would call me otou-san instead."
"Kakashi-tou-san...? Damn that sounds disgusting."
"Yeah. Absolutely."
Sakura left and Kakashi was left to wonder about his sudden inauguration in the midst of the climax of the war. 'I wonder why I'm even staying as a Hokage? I want to serve the village but I don't think I'm cut out for the role, Tsunade-sama. What on earth were you thinking when you made me the next leader... were you trying to gamble again? I can't say for sure if you made the right choice.'
"You may have brought me down today but I shall never perish as long as shinobi exists. The chakra within you is the chakra I created for myself, and it shall answer to me alone when the time comes. I'm warning you, Indara and Ashura, it would be best not to make your grandmother angry." The twisted woman with long pinkish brown hair said as her body extended to a point humanly impossible. Sasuke and Naruto have managed to perform the ultimate death seal on her that would stop the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi and would free everyone from its grasp. There was a risk, however. Someone had to be sacrificed in order to complete the ceremony for the Shinigami. Kaguya and Zetsu were not enough as they were not presumably alive but rather, undead.
"Take me. Take me instead. I would be willing to be the blood that would seal that woman forever." Sasuke and Naruto looked at the source of the voice, it was a withering Sakura who had bruises and blood stains everywhere. Her body was limp but her eyes were strong. Deep inside of her, she knew that this was the only way she could help. She didn't pity herself but rather, she wanted to show her comrades that pity was the last thing she needed. "I have not much long to live anyway so you can say I'm paying death in advance." She managed to let out a sarcastic laugh as she saw the Shinigami emerge and make its way towards her. The death god didn't need the approval of the summoners as he proceeded to wrap around his transparent ropes around Sakura and aim his death scythe at her. Even before the two young men could react, the sound of a blade piercing flesh filled the atmosphere.
Drip.
Drip.
Crimson droplets fell on the ground
Drip...
Everyone's eyes were wide open except for Sakura who had her eye shut as she prepared for the blade to torn her flesh and death to take her soul from her body. But the blade never reached her. Tsunade didn't allow the blade to reach her. Standing in between death and the pink-haired kunoichi was none other than the Godaime, Tsunade Senju.
"You're wrong Sakura. Y-you still have a lot of life to give." She pointed at her Hyakugou Seal, a purple diamond "tattooed" on both her and Sakura's forehead. It was the also known as the "Strength of a hundred man" seal, considered the pinnacle of chakra control. WIth the mastery of the seal, you can almost be called immortal as you can slow down your body's aging process and heal your wounds. "I, on the other hand, have lived a life without regrets. I've taught you everything I knew and it's your generation's turn to carry on the will of the f-fire. Nawaki, Dan, and that pervy sage are waiting for m-me on the other s-side." Tsunade coughed off blood but struggled to use her last few breaths to say everything clearly for everyone, especially Sakura to hear. With the help of the seal, she was able to slow down the pulling and breaking of the arteries and veins that were severed by the scythe.
"May I be the last blood to be shed for this war. Whatever the reason, I was glad to have become a Hokage...
and Hatake, it's your turn. I leave everyone... and Sakura......to you."
"I'm sorry Tsunade-sama. It seems that your blood wouldn't be last to be spilled for the sake of peace. Even if we tried, the war didn't want to be forgotten. That goddamned woman left something behind." Kakashi sighed. It was the emergence of the "Tsukimis", seemingly small fur balls that attach themselves to the victim. It was the pandemic that have already plagues more than half or the countries. Little by little, the Tsukimis grow and feed on the host's body until there's no life left to suck. These Tsukimis were apparently the fruit of the Infinite Tsukuyomi made by Kaguya years ago. Just like its parent, the Tsukimis fed on the chakra while the host goes through a series of dreams where he couldn't escape.
"The scariest part about the plague, though, was not death but the lost of who you really are. As human beings, all we have are our free will and memories. To think that even those can be taken away from you, is truly frightening. What's real and what's not? Sometimes, you can't just tell anymore." It was if Kakashi was waiting for someone to answer him, to comfort him, to assure that everything's okay. But there was no one but him in the room. 'Ah. Being a Hokage is hard after all'.
The Tsukimis fed mainly on chakra but this causes an alteration within the victim's memories. The line between reality and fantasy gets almost absolutely blurred that some delusions can be thought to be flashbacks. What's more is once the host is completely consumed by the Tsukimi, he transforms into a beast-like creature that is comparable to the experiments performed by Orochimaru. The monster varies from one person to another, and with its growing number, the shinobi world had no other choice but to adapt to it.
Only 2 percent of the total victims are able to survive the pandemic Tsukimi, but even after survival, the Tsukimi would continue to feed on your body. Thus, the only way to live with it is to learn the art of the Tsukuyomi... the forbidden jutsu developed by the Uchihas before the founding of the vlllage and the shinobi system itself. No one other than an Uchiha is expected to be able to master the Tsukuyomi but it doesn't mean that some of its practices cannot be taught to others. Unfortunately...
If you're part of the 98 percent, there is no other choice but to die.
It was better, of course, than being a body without a soul.
The victims didn't have any objection as they were already in reverie, but somehow, those who were alive and aware knew, that these victims were screaming...
"Just shatter me already! I am nothing more than a hollow shell, with no pain to be felt, I am not really alive. Get me out of this body. Shatter me before I shatter myself."
They were empty.
Just like those Matryoshka dolls.
Next Chapter: Shoudou
Sasuke laid her down once again and proceeded to remove her shorts. 'Time to continue where I left off.' He kneeled in between her legs as her cream lingerie was beheld in front of his eyes. He licked his thighs and inhaled her sweet aroma while his eyes fiercely looked at Sakura's hazy ones.
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