Hey, I'm posting this a few hours early, cause I love you all so much! :D This is one of my favorite chapters, too. Heehee ;D
Oh, and I'll have a note at the bottom of this chapter explaining a poll on my profile that I'd love for everyone to vote on! It's in regards to this story. So please read the note at the bottom for an explanation :) Thanks so much for reading!
Chapter Seven: Failure
Sakura knew he was ready. She knew it as much as she knew she was doing the right thing in reviving him. She had gone over his body in a full scan, searching every pathway and crevice and nerve ending, six times in the past week. She had fixed anything and everything she had missed, and she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. She had to begin the process of storing chakra for the jutsu and preparing him for the revival process.
The first thing she had to do was increase the amount of chakra stored in her. Tsunade had taught her the Yin-Seal Technique and Sakura, like her mentor, always had one chakra seal on her forehead to use at any time she needed to heal herself. But, unbeknownst to her mentor, or any other person, Sakura had also placed two other Yin-Seals on her inner wrists to store chakra.
Looking at them, Sakura knew there was no way she had enough chakra stored to revive Itachi. She had only had the two on her wrists for a little over four months. The one on her forehead hadn't been used for a few years, so Sakura knew she had enough chakra stored in there. Thus, Sakura realized there was only one thing to do. She would put off reviving Itachi for another two months, so that for each month, she could meditate every night and store enough chakra in each of her seals. This way when she'd perform the revival jutsu, she'd have enough chakra to actually revive him.
It annoyed her to have to wait so long but Sakura was willing to wait and prepare so she could perform the jutsu successfully on the first try so she wouldn't have to redo the process, thus taking more time and more chakra and more effort. Besides, she tried to think optimistically, with the two month waiting period, maybe she could possibly rest up and have a social life again. Taking on a few more missions wouldn't be too bad. She wouldn't mind doing that. Of course, with missions, that meant expending more chakra, so maybe not.
No matter. She would figure out what to do in the days to come. Anyways, maybe it would be nice to take a break from healing night and day. Kami knew she needed a break, after all. She would just learn to deal with the lull and enjoy it as best she could. After all, as soon as she revived Itachi, her life would dramatically change- hopefully for the better.
"Heiwa! Come on! Let's go for a walk!" Sakura waited at her doorway, shifting from foot to foot. "Heiwa!" Her trustful companion had yet to respond to her calls, unnerving Sakura. She waited a few more seconds and then went to find him. She checked through the rooms, finally spotting him in her bedroom. He lay pathetically on her bed, his tail thumping weakly. "Heiwa?" He looked up at her pitifully and lay back down. She rushed to him, running her hand over his fur. Her chakra automatically filtered through his body and she realized with horror that it seemed like her revival jutsu was fading from him.
"No, no, you'll be okay," she whispered. Her hands pumped in a bit of chakra, making it flow through his pathways. She wasn't sure what to do with him but she just did what her gut told her, which was to keep healing and pumping in chakra. It was slow and tedious; Sakura wasn't sure if it was working, even. But finally, Heiwa's tail began to thump again. Sakura put a little more chakra into him and her dog opened his eyes, letting out a small bark.
Sakura finally withdrew her hands from him, taking a deep breath. It worked. He was still alive. Despite the fact that she should be happy she had saved him, Sakura could only feel deeply unsettled. What made Heiwa's revival jutsu fade away? What would have happened if she hadn't found him in time? And, more than anything, what did that mean for Itachi if she were to revive him? Sakura wasn't sure what any of it meant, but she knew she would still have to continue monitoring Heiwa, and more than that, Itachi, once he was revived.
With a feeling of apprehension, she slowly stood back up, deciding that she would just have to write down exactly what had happened in her notes, just in case she would have to review it later on. She would do a thorough exam on Heiwa later and add whatever additional information she could into her notes. Sakura knew that whatever had happened was more than likely to occur again, but whether it would be Heiwa or Itachi, she wasn't sure.
"Sakura-sama, are you okay?" Sakura blinked, looking up at one of her nurses. She nodded, rubbing her eyes. The nurse frowned, looking at her boss, but finally nodded, handing Sakura a stack of reports. "These are some of the files for today. Also, a lot of these are the annual reports of the nurses. Tsunade-sama said she'd like you to look over each report and look over the nursing staff for evaluations. She said that it's time to promote or fire some of the nurses, and that the nurses need evaluations." Sakura sighed, nodding. "Tsunade-sama also sent a message that said she'd like to speak to you later today."
"Okay," Sakura agreed, rubbing her eyes again. "You're dismissed, Lia." The nurse, Lia, nodded, exiting Sakura's office. Sakura finally let out the groan that had been bubbling up ever since Lia had given her the folders. She hated this time of the year, hated reviewing the nurses, and hated reading their reports, and definitely hated evaluating the nurses.
Well, Sakura thought, at least I'll be able to store up some chakra. She looked at the tall stack of folders and amended her thought.
"A lot of chakra," she told herself, shaking her head. It was going to be a long week.
Sakura had been right in the thought it would be a long week. Tsunade had told her that she wanted Sakura's reports compiled quickly and accurately; told Sakura that unless there were dire cases, Sakura was to leave all patients and healing to the nurses. Sakura was to work on the nurse reviews solely and not stop until they were finished. So, Sakura worked, night and day, on those blasted reports. She worked from nine 'o'clock in the morning until seven 'o'clock at night. She would take a break every so often to get something to eat, and maybe run home to check on Heiwa (who had seemed to recover completely and with no signs of dying any time soon).
But, after five days of constant work, Sakura had finished. She looked proudly of the files compiled on her desk, smiled at her neat and professional handwriting marking each review, and felt smug at the fact that she had been able to review over one hundred nurses and medical ninjas in one work-week. It had been a good week.
"Sakura-chan!" Well, it had been a good week. Sakura groaned, looking up at the yellow-haired ball of energy. She just knew he was going to do something to ruin her papers. Protectively, Sakura placed her hand on the stack of papers.
"Hello, Naruto," Sakura responded, watching him carefully. "Where's Kakashi-sensei and Sai? They always seem to tag along with you when you decide to interrupt my work day." Naruto pouted, springing up to sit on her desk. Sakura expected the movement and swiped him back with her free hand, sending him sprawling to the ground. "I don't think so. I have important papers up here that I've just spent the last week working on. Stay away from my desk," she growled. Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly, nodding.
"Kakashi-sensei is... Well, I haven't seen him in awhile. Sai is out drawing or something at the bridge." Sakura nodded. "But I came here to talk to you, actually. You know how a few weeks ago, Hanabi was on that mission with all those ninja you healed?" Sakura slowly nodded, the event coming back to her mind.
"Ah, yeah. I remember. What about it? Is Hanabi okay?" Naruto nodded, though she could tell he seemed almost upset at something. "Is something wrong?"
"Well, after Hanabi was released from the hospital, she became fretful with her training. She's been training ever since, often to the point of collapsing. Hinata's really worried. We're not sure what to do. And their father doesn't seem to be too concerned. I dunno, Sakura-chan, is there anything you can do? Can't you like order her not to train so much?"
"I already told her to take it easy. But in all truthfulness, Naruto, no I can't do anything. Once she's been discharged from my hospital, she's out of my control."
"I figured you'd say something like that," Naruto sighed. "Well, it was worth a try! Hey, how about we go to Ichiraku Ramen tonight? I feel like we haven't hung out in forever!" Sakura, feeling wonderful from completing her reviews, agreed, surprising Naruto.
"Sure! I have to drop these folders off at the Hokage Tower first, but then we can go." Naruto nodded, offering to walk with her. Sakura gathered up the papers, following Naruto out. They fell into easy conversation on the way to the tower. It didn't take long for Sakura to deposit the papers on Tsunade's desk (her mentor was not there, so she left a note explaining what the files were) and Sakura walked back out with Naruto.
"So where is Hinata?" Sakura asked him, as they approached Naruto's favorite ramen stand. Naruto gave a half-shrug, too distracted with the sight of his favorite place to answer. They sat down and ordered before Naruto finally answered her question.
"She went out on a mission with Shino and Kiba, for old time's sake. She left earlier today." Sakura nodded, muttering a "thank you" when her bowl was set down in front of her. "I'm supposed to get another mission soon; tomorrow or the next day, I think. But I don't get to pick my team. Neji happened to mention it to me because he said he was going to pick me on his team. So I guess Neji is the team captain."
"You can't always be the leader," Sakura put in. Naruto nodded.
"I know. I just feel like I should get as much experience as possible. But, then again, Neji is on the way to being the top ANBU captain. He's really strong." Naruto frowned, looking down at his ramen. "I mean, really strong. Can I let you in on a little secret?" Sakura nodded, looking over at him. "Hinata-chan, despite everything that has happened between her and her father, is still going to be named clan leader once we get married. They're more accepting of me since I am going to be the next Hokage, you know? So, they think it'll look really good for the Hyuuga clan if their leader is married to the Hokage. That's why they're allowing Hinata to still be the leader, instead of Hanabi.
"Well, Hinata-chan knows this and sort of resents it. Not because she's jealous of Hanabi, which she used to be, but more because they are putting the reputation of the clan above who would be best for the clan. That's why, once she becomes clan leader, she's going to do away with the whole Main/Branch family thing. She's already developed a jutsu to counteract the seals so that it'll disappear from their skins and so that the Branch family won't be harmed by it. And then..." Naruto trailed off, grinning.
"And then...?" Sakura prompted.
"She's going to make Neji the clan leader. She's going to make him take it! Isn't that great?" Naruto nodded. "He is the best suited for the job, after all. He's easily the strongest Hyuuga." Sakura grinned, shaking her head. "Oh, the clan will be furious with her. But, really, what can they do? She'll be married to the Hokage, so it's not like they can go complain to me. So they can try to complain to the council, but since I'm putting Shikamaru and Kakashi on the council, who will be there to support them?"
"What if Neji opposes the decision?" Sakura interjected. Naruto slurped some of the noodles down, nodding.
"We thought of that. So Hinata is slowly bringing the subject up to him. He's... well, I think he's warming up to the idea. A little. We still have a few years, though, before she enacts the plan." Sakura laughed, nodding.
"I'm just glad you're thinking through something for once." She took a bite of her own noodles, amused as Naruto sputtered his protests.
"I've changed!" She nodded, her grin expanding.
"I know. I'm complimenting your change. It's a good change. You've matured," she teased, gently hitting his arm. Naruto smiled at her, though his eyes lost some of their mirth as he looked at her. His smile faded until it was just a wistful upturn of his mouth. "What?" she asked him, concerned at his sudden change of emotions.
"I'm not the only one who's changed, Sakura-chan. You've changed too. A lot," he murmured. "I mean, I know you were bound to change- we've all changed since we were sixteen. Don't get me wrong. But I think you've changed the most." Sakura shook her head, denying his claims.
"No, no, there are certainly others that have changed more than I have. Look at Hinata." Naruto shook his head again.
"That's not exactly what I mean. Hinata-chan has changed a lot, I agree. But... you've changed in dramatic ways. I hardly... hardly recognize the girl from my team so many years ago. You're so serious now, Sakura-chan. So devoted to your job and studies. You have no time for us, for your friends, anymore. I understand why you dislike Sasuke. That's fine. He did hurt you. I don't resent that at all. But... but... there is a fire in your eyes to do... to do something, and I don't even know what it is anymore!"
"I want to heal, Naruto," she told him quietly. "That's all I want to do anymore. I want to heal and save lives. I'm not a killer, not a fighter, like you or the other ninjas. I can't be like that. I'm a healer. I've never been good in battles, even as a young girl. I've tried. I've tried to convince myself that I could fight and battle with everyone else. That's why I trained and honed the super-strength skills Tsunade taught me. But I concluded that I'm not that great a fighter. Why waste my time on skills I'm not going to get better in? So I focused solely on medical training."
"You are a great medic, too, Sakura-chan!" Naruto acknowledged. She smiled, thanking him. "But... but... don't you think you should try to have a bit more fun sometimes? I mean... what's the good at being the best if there is no one left to share it with you?" Sakura looked down, his words ringing in her ears. He did have a point. She had been so driven that she had been pushing away all her friends. But that was also partly due to the fact that she was storing a criminal's dead body in her house. A certain criminal that may have killed his entire clan (ordered to or not, he still did it) and may have just happened to be an S-ranked criminal. That did make Sakura a little more hesitant with inviting friends over to her home.
"I'll try to be more social. I promise. I've just... I've been working on a new jutsu," she confided, "and I'm really close to getting a breakthrough in it. I think it might work. That's why I'm so... so obsessive and reclusive now. I'm sorry, Naruto. I know I've been refusing all your requests for missions and for hanging out with you. I'll try not to. It's just... with the jutsu and the hospital, I'm so tired anymore. I don't know what to do." Naruto nodded sympathetically. He did understand wanting to complete a new jutsu. How many times had he pushed away Hinata when he was determined to make a new jutsu? Several, he was sure.
"I can understand that," he told her, smiling. "So I won't take it so hard anymore. But... will you do me a favor? Can I be the first to know when you complete your new jutsu?" Sakura smiled.
"I promise you will be," she told him, wondering in the back of her mind if she was lying because she knew in all actuality, it would be Itachi who knew about the jutsu first. But since he was part of the jutsu, she just figured it didn't count. He grinned his traditional grin, giving her a thumbs up. She returned his smile with a softer one, turning back to her ramen.
It was nice to be away from her home and to be socializing again. It helped her escape Itachi's haunting presence in her home. A few more weeks, though, and she would be ready to revive him.
Just a little bit longer, Itachi. Just a little longer...
There was nothing left to do. She was ready. Sakura took a deep breath, looking at the scrolls she had prepared for this moment. She hefted Itachi's body up, pulling him into the middle of the floor, where her chakra seals marked the floor. She laid down five scrolls, surrounding his body at all points. There was one scroll at his head, one at each arm, and one at each leg. He looked like a five-pointed star, with lines and markings softly glowing with the chakra surrounding him.
Sakura unrolled each scroll, looking at the large open circle in the middle of the scroll. All it needed was her blood and chakra mixture to release all the symbols and writings she had sealed within it. She had completed the jutsu enough times with her animals. The rats, mice, fish, birds, dogs, Heiwa... It was ingrained in her head what to do. But there was a considerable size difference between a dog and a fully-functional human who had been dead for over five years.
That's what the scrolls were for, though, she told herself. And the extra chakra seals on her wrists. Sakura bit her lip, closing her eyes in concentration. She took a deep breath, opening her eyes and looking at Itachi.
"Let's do this, Itachi." Sakura used her chakra to make a scalpel and cut her hand open. She slammed it down on the first scroll, closing her eyes as the scroll lit up, previous markings glowing as her blood and chakra mixed in with the scroll. A light shot out from the circle, bleeding onto the seals around Itachi's body. It continued to flow, finally gathering on his body, making his arm glow. Sakura quickly moved to the other four scrolls, repeating her actions. Each scroll worked successfully, finally making all the seals around Itachi's body glow, and in turn, making him glow.
Sakura took her place next to his body, placing her hands on his chest. She closed her eyes and began to pump her chakra into his body. It was not easy, trying to stimulate his cells into coming alive. She tugged and pleaded using her chakra, finally getting the cells to obey her wishes and reproduce.
Sakura felt her chakra pouring out of her at a rapid rate, filling each crevice of Itachi's body. Every cell in him was alive with Sakura's chakra. She could feel the two chakra seals on her wrists activating, giving her more chakra to stimulate his cells.
Her fingers burned, feeling as though she was melting into his body. Sakura pressed on, pushing her chakra into his body. As the burning feeling increased, Sakura finally realized something was wrong. She opened her eyes, seeing the entire room glow bright green. Itachi was glowing just as bright, as were Sakura's hands. At first, she couldn't understand what was wrong.
And then she realized. Itachi's body was starving for chakra, since he had not produced any of his own for so many years. The intense amount of chakra was causing some type of odd reaction between them, likely due to the fact that he had not had so much chakra in him in so long. As quickly as he was sucking it in, it was also burning away. Or more like, gathering into a short fuse.
Sakura could see what was going to happen. Not only would he suck her chakra dry, there would also be an explosive combustion of sorts between their chakra. The more she made his cells work, thus the more chakra they began to produce, the more Sakura's chakra clashed with Itachi's. Furthermore, she had a feeling he wasn't going to wake up or start breathing anytime soon. Her seals and chakra just weren't working- not well enough to get his soul back and fully revive him. Her chakra just wasn't converting into the life force needed to revive him.
She wasn't sure what to do. Her hands were burning more and more and she knew she wasn't accomplishing anything. As she made her decision to stop, she realized it was too late. Her eyes widened as she saw the burst of light from where her hands were placed on his body. The seals around his body burst with the same light, exploding around the room. The explosion of light was forceful- Sakura was thrown away from Itachi's body, hitting the wall, cracking it.
She opened her eyes, barely conscious, seeing the seals dim and the light recede from Itachi's body. She raised a hand to her head, feeling the blood begin to gather at her fingertips. Sakura didn't care though- she didn't have enough energy or chakra to heal herself. Her hands were burning, anyways.
She slid down the wall, knowing that she had failed.
Failure...
When she finally came around, Sakura had a bitter taste in her mouth, and a rock in her stomach. She felt miserable. Her muscles ached from the extreme use of chakra, her head pounded, and she just hated the feeling of failing. It made her feel like she was twelve years old again; a time in her life she never wanted to return to.
Sakura slowly stood up, feeling no motivation to place Itachi back on his bed. She didn't want to clean up the seals or scrolls. She didn't want to fix the wall or the bloodied knot on her head. She just wanted to go take a shower and cry.
She leaned down, going to pick up Itachi, but as she touched him, he shocked her. Sakura supposed that their chakra still wasn't mixing properly. Fine then, she decided. She would leave him there until later, when she more mentally capable of dealing with him and the entire jutsu again.
Failure... It crept over her like a black shadow, filling her every thought. She hated it. She hated the taste of it, hated trying to pick herself back up from it, hated having to move on and admit her mistakes because of it.
Sakura stumbled into her bathroom, stripping off her clothes. She stepped into her shower, turning on the spray at full blast. Cold water blasted her first, but it slowly heated up, steam filtering around the shower. Sakura slumped to the floor of the tub, bringing her knees to her cheek. The blood washed out of her hair, whirling down the drain. She watched the milky red, wishing that failure would wash away the same way. Tears filled her eyes and she let herself cry, not holding them back.
She felt so awful and miserable. So many weeks of preparation. All the storing of chakra. All the healing and the reviving animals. All the work she had done for the past three years... all of it, gone. Shattered, broken, destroyed. She had failed. All that work was down the drain. What was left? What could she do? She had a dead body in the middle of her floor, a crap ton of notebooks filled with useless notes about a revival jutsu that just wouldn't work, and a raging headache-stomachache-everythingache that wouldn't go away.
Sakura cried harder, wishing she knew what to do. Heiwa's almost death had been a sign- a sign of failure. Everything she had worked for... everything... failed. Failed. Failure. She was a failure. No wonder Tsunade had never attempted what she was doing- she had the foresight to know it was pointless and impossible. Who did Sakura think she was? Able to revive the dead. Pfft, Sakura wasn't so great. She couldn't do that. She was just a joke.
The water turned into a lukewarm spray, slowly turning colder. Sakura paid it no mind, too lost in her own self-pity, until the freezing droplets hit Sakura's shoulder blades, shocking her out of her tears.
Why was she looking at this in this way? Sakura looked up, wiping away her tears. No, no, she couldn't give up like this. This wasn't the way to go. She did have three years of work behind her. Three years of solid work. She wasn't going to give that all away. Sakura had been successful so far. This was just a challenge she needed to overcome.
Just like Heiwa's almost death. Almost death. Heiwa didn't die. The jutsu had succeeded; Sakura had succeeded.
She stood up, shaking her head. Sakura wasn't going to give up so easily. One set back. It just meant she had overlooked something. Did something wrong. A few more weeks of storing up some more chakra and looking over what had happened would make the next time smoother.
No, she had come too far to just give up. Too far. She would revive Itachi if it was the last thing she ever did. No matter what the costs were.
"Sakura, your reviews were immaculate. Wonderful job; they were precise and exactly what I wanted." Sakura nodded tiredly at Tsunade. "We're going to go ahead and give you a five percent raise from last year considering your excellent patient rate and the high success rate for nearly any situation."
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama." Sakura knew she should be more excited but she was still tired from the revival jutsu she had performed on Itachi the day before. Besides, even if she had convinced herself that she would continue the jutsu, she was still bummed at failing.
So despite being exhausted, she had laid awake all night thinking about what had went wrong with the jutsu. She had several theories at what had went wrong, but not enough time to test them or look over what had happened to the jutsu and Itachi.
"Sakura, are you okay?" Tsunade asked her. Sakura was going to nod, but finally decided to be honest. No, she wasn't okay. She felt awful and would have called off work today, except Tsunade had left her a message that she needed to see Sakura first thing in the morning.
"No, Tsunade-sama, I don't feel too good. I had a rough night last night. I think I may be coming down with something." Tsunade nodded.
"Go ahead and go home and rest. You've done wonderful work this past year, Sakura. I'll have Shizune do the oral reviews for the nurses today. Take a few days off, okay? You deserve it. I'm very proud of you." Sakura smiled, feeling much brighter than she had all night and morning. Tsunade's words had cheered her up considerably.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama. Thank you very much. I owe it all to you." Sakura smiled softly, looking up at her mentor. "I never... I never would have gotten as far as I have without you. I owe you everything, Tsunade-sama."
"You've been my best student, Sakura. I'm proud to be your mentor." Tsunade smiled gently at the girl she thought of like a daughter. "Now, go home and get some rest. I'll expect you back at the hospital in three days, okay?" Sakura nodded, grinning at Tsunade's formal tone again.
"Of course, Tsunade-sama!" And with that, she left the hospital, looking forward to some rest and relaxation.
At home, she slept for hours. More than hours- she slept from the morning of that day into the early morning of the next day. When she finally opened her eyes, feeling much better, it was already four o'clock in the morning.
Sakura swung out of bed, showering and dressing. She had to go down and finally clean up the room with Itachi in it. Then she would have to examine what went wrong, fix the problem, and work on making new seals and scrolls for the jutsu. It would be a long day, but she was determined. Sakura would not let all her work go to waste!
She walked downstairs, making a cup of hot chocolate before she went to see Itachi, and finally walking to her jutsu room. Itachi still laid where she had left him; seals were still marked around the room; scrolls were still unrolled and marked with the smear of her blood; and the wall was still cracked. Sakura sighed, deciding she would deal with the wall at a much later date (if she even did anything about it at all), and kneeled down to Itachi. She gently touched him, and there was no shock or burning sensation like before.
Sakura heaved him up, slinging the man over her shoulder with the aid of chakra. She deposited him back on the bed. Then she collected her scrolls, rolling each one up. She deposited those on one of the counters in the room. Finally, she kneeled on the ground, gently touching the seals. They responded to her touch, glowing pale green. She made a few hand signs and the seals began to morph together, the chakra flowing back into Sakura's body. They left a nasty imprint on her floor, though, which she knew she would have to mop up.
Groaning, she went back to her kitchen, retrieving her mop and a bucket of water, trudging back down to the room. She mopped quickly, scrubbing the seal debris with the mop. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to erase all the traces of the seals, but finally, her tiled floor was back to looking spotless. The only thing still wrong with the room was the cracked wall, but again, Sakura was determined not to acknowledge it until she had fixed Itachi.
Finally, she turned her attention on the dead body that had been residing at her home for several months. Four months, Sakura told herself. Four months she had been hiding his body in her home. Well, there was no way she was going to wait another two months to restore her chakra. She had enough chakra left in the Yin-Seals that she would put off reviving him for a month, at the most. It was time to get the dead alive again. She was beginning to feel a little too much like one of those weird necrophilia people that stole dead bodies and kept them in their houses for years. Granted, she didn't love Itachi, nor did she rob his body for strange and creepy reasons, but still. Having someone dead in her house for so long was pretty strange.
Sakura shook her head, placing her hands on his chest. She meditated, letting her chakra flow through his pathways, evaluating her work. His cells were still reeling from the effects of her chakra, and beginning to produce some of his own chakra. Some still divided, despite the fact that Itachi was dead. His chakra pathways, though, were stable. Not a problem in any of them. Not even around his eyes. That made her wonder, then, where the problem came from between the two chakras.
She sent some of her chakra into his body, some actual healing chakra, monitoring how his chakra reacted towards her. It was as if his body had adapted some sort of immunity from other's chakra. As if he made his own chakra fight against enemy chakra.
Leave it to Itachi to train even his chakra to fight against others.
Sakura sighed, knowing that she could infuse some of her chakra with his, thus allowing his chakra to recognize her signature and accept it. She usually did that with most patients, but she had figured his body would have recognized her chakra considering it was infused in so many of his cells and organs already. But she let some of her raw chakra fuse with his, her chakra acting like cool water to a raging inferno. It coaxed and calmed Itachi's still unstable chakra, making it twist and mix with Sakura's chakra. With a few more doses of her chakra, his chakra was able to recognize her signature, letting her chakra pass through his pathways unobstructed. It almost seemed to welcome her chakra into his body, ushering it through the pathways. That encouraged Sakura, since it meant his chakra reacted well with her own.
Now, the next problem was to determine why she couldn't actually revive him. She could stimulate his body enough to function, yet she knew there would be nothing there. It was like an empty shell- no conscience, no personality, no soul. That was the problem- she wasn't sure what to do about it, either. How could she get him back? His essence, the very being of Itachi Uchiha? That was her next difficulty, and no matter how long she stood there, pumping in chakra, she wouldn't have a breakthrough.
Sakura sighed, removing her hands from Itachi's body. It was back to her desk, back to her notes and scrolls. She would solve this mystery and get back to reviving Itachi.
Looks like another month of desk work. Back to the basics!
It had been exactly three weeks and one day since her attempt to revive Itachi. She had six days before her self-imposed month time limit was reached. But on this third week and one day mark, Sakura had finally done it. She had figured out how to morph her chakra into a sort of life-force. In reality, it was chakra that called upon the souls of the dead. She would pump this chakra back into Itachi's body, and once his body recognized the type of chakra, it would retrieve his soul. All in all, the chakra was the same type of chakra Kabuto or Orochimaru or Chiyo would use to call upon the soul of the person they were restoring. Of course, another soul would have to be transferred in exchange, which was where Sakura's chakra differed. Her chakra had the appearance of life force, so when Itachi's soul was to come back, her chakra would take its place. At least, that was what she hoped would happen.
It took an immense amount of chakra to fool the other worlds, Sakura was sure, so she had added one more Yin-Seal, this time to the outside of her hand. This chakra seal was special, though, as it only contained Sakura's special life-chakra. It took quite a few days of extreme meditation to make enough of it, but Sakura had effectively converted a good chunk of her chakra into this life-force chakra that was then stored into the Yin-Seal.
Sakura was sure that her jutsu would work now. It had to work. She had reviewed her scrolls and seals, increasing the strength of both, and modifying some things. All in all, she had vastly improved her jutsu, she was sure of it.
She took her time preparing the room for Itachi's revival. She marked the chakra seals on the floor carefully; made sure the scrolls were perfect; and finally made sure Itachi's body was still accepting her chakra (it was). Due to the half-complete production of his cells, Sakura knew her revival jutsu would take less chakra than before.
This time, she would take her time in reviving him. Hours or days, it didn't matter. Two days after her month deadline, Sakura was ready to revive Itachi. She had taken off five consecutive days of work, citing fatigue, and wasn't going to stop reviving Itachi until he was up and breathing and speaking.
It was time. Sakura knew this would work. It would work. It was going to work! She activated her seals, Itachi back in the middle of the room, the five scrolls surrounding him like before. Again, she cut her hand and pressed it to her scrolls, watching them glow and begin to work. Again, she took her place like before, placing her hands on his chest and beginning to heal. Again, again, again. It was all going the same, except this time, the outcome would not be failure.
Within three hours into the process, Sakura still had not felt any of the burning sensations like before. As she watched his cells begin to reproduce on their own, his own chakra reserves steadily rising, Sakura activated her newest Yin-Seal, transferring in the life-force chakra. It was the scariest feeling ever, as she felt like she was floating between dimensions. Her chakra, and in a way, her own soul, felt like it was being tugged back to the Other World. Sakura pumped more of the chakra in, feeling a gentle breeze pass her as she fought off the strong pull from the Other World.
It was almost a battle. Sakura finally put out as much chakra as she could, activating her other three Yin-Seals to give her enough chakra to come back into the real world. With one last pull from the Other World, and in turn, one last push from Sakura, she was released. It was like being thrown back from an explosion- Sakura jolted back in her real body, panting. Her chakra momentarily faded, as she tried to stay conscious. Just a little more. We've come so far. Don't stop now!
Sakura returned to healing him, her chakra immersed in his body again. And for the first time, she didn't feel like she was healing a dead corpse. No, for the first time, she could feel the life in him. The gentle breeze that had passed her during the spiritual chakra battle had to have been Itachi's soul returning to his body. It had worked. She was alive and he was slowly coming back.
She healed for a little while longer, her chakra checking over every crevice of his body, finding nothing wrong. Her chakra helped coaxed his chakra into working and flowing, as well as coax his cells into working and reproducing. It helped to start his heart and his brain, sending neural impulses back through his nervous system. She felt around for brain damage and found everything working as it should be.
When Sakura finally withdrew herself from him, she was exhausted. Glancing at the clock, she realized she had been healing him for twenty-five hours straight. The life-force chakra must have taken up nearly seventeen of those twenty-five hours. She was utterly exhausted, too tired to even stand up.
But upon glancing down, she saw something that thrilled her beyond belief. Itachi's chest was moving, air filling his lungs. She waited a few seconds, waiting for the most important moment.
And then it happened. He moved, slowly coming out of his heavy state of unconsciousness.
The long black eyelashes slowly lifted.
Jade met black.
He was awake.
Success.
XxX
Guess who's alive? I love the ending of this chapter. It's one of my favorites compared to almost any other chapter I've written so far.
There isn't much to explain, I don't think, in this chapter. I'll try my best, though.
1. Heiwa's almost death: Sakura still doesn't know what happened to Heiwa. She has a general idea, but nothing too conclusive. There will be more elaboration on this in later chapters.
2. Sakura's life-force chakra: Well, this was based more off of Chiyo. She was able to transfer her life-force chakra, or something like that, to Sakura to keep Sakura alive at one point. Because Sakura hadn't died, though, Chiyo didn't die either. Sakura has expanded on this concept to create her own "life-force" chakra, which is like a replacement for a soul. So, in essence, she used this chakra to trick the Other World in order to get Itachi's soul to return. Confusing, confusing, I know. XP
3. Sakura's epiphany in the shower: The cold water sort of shocked her out of her self-pity. It was the literal shock to her system that made her get her head on straight. You know how, sometimes, when people are freaking out and panicking, someone will toss cold water on them, or slap them, to get them to come back to their senses? That's what happened to Sakura with the cold water.
Next Chapter:
She has done it. She has revived Itachi Uchiha. Now all that is left is to see how her new patient will react to what she's done and what has happened. Of course, there is always the issue of if he really does want to be revived. And how, on earth, can she explain Itachi's presence in her home without revealing all she knows to Konoha? What exactly can she tell Tsunade and Naruto? There are so many problems to work out that Sakura doesn't even know where to begin.
Next Chapter: The Experiment
The Second Identity arc starts next chapter...!
Hey, a new poll! Please read :D
So, I've made a new poll on my profile and I'd really like everyone's input. The poll is: Should there be a sequel to Second Chance (as in, this story)? I know we're only on Chapter Seven, but drafted, I have up to Chapter Sixteen ready, and I'm working on Chapter Seventeen. The reason I'm putting this poll out so early is because I need to know by Chapter Twenty-five, which is the final chapter of this story, what to do.
You see, one of my reviews mentioned that they would love to see this story continued and a sequel written. Well, originally, I had no sequel planned. I had the story ending completely at Chapter Twenty-five, no doubts about it. This idea was going to be over and I would move on to other projects and whatnot. But, I'm not going to lie, I love writing this story. It's been one of the most fulfilling and downright fun times I've had in fanfiction writing, and well, I've been doing this for over five years, so for one story to be so enjoyable, well, that's saying something. I also love this idea of Sakura reviving Itachi, and there is no way I'm going to write another story with the same premise but a different plot, unless it was continuing what I've already written.
With that said, I really want your guys input! I may enjoy writing a sequel, but honestly, I don't want to write one if it's going to suck or no one would want to read it (I always feel like sequels are worse than the original story). So, I have a vague idea of what I want to do if I do end up writing a sequel, but I need to draft it out and plan and everything else. Like I said, I had been writing on this story for over a year before I posted anything. Meaning, the earlier I have a clear cut idea of what people want, the earlier I can release a new story; or the earlier I can end this story and be done with it.
Thus said, the poll will close once I am finished drafting Chapter Twenty-Four. The ending I have planned for this story won't work if there is going to be a sequel. So by Chapter Twenty-five, I have to have a clear idea of what I'm going to do- either changing the ending, or leaving it the same. If there isn't a response to my poll, then there won't be a sequel. I can't give a definite date when the poll will close- I suppose whenever I finish drafting Chapter Twenty-Four, and right now I'm only on Chapter Seventeen. So you have at least two months, likely, before the poll closes :D
Thank you all for reading! Please vote on the poll, even if you don't review :) And even if you do review, and maybe tell me whether or not you'd like to see a sequel, still make sure to vote on the poll. I'm going to go by poll numbers :) Thanks again!