Notes: Here we are, the final chapter (aside from the epilogue). It's hard to believe that it's finally here, after 3 years of sporadic updates. The fact that this all started as a oneshot and sprawled into my longest story posted here is kind of amazing. Thank you all for joining me and Sakura on this adventure. I hope you all enjoy.
Now, let's see if we can get all these loose ends tied up.
Also, I don't know how the canon final battle goes and I'm not going to try to make it fit it. I'm just making things up as they best fit this story. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
halcyon days
"jōnin pt. III"
Sakura wakes with a dry mouth to an utterly silent world. She looks around, dazed, taking in the strange, smooth rings that pattern the walls and ground beneath her. She looks up, unable to see the ceiling as it fades to impenetrable darkness. Sakura moves to stand, only to find herself restrained, held bound by a green fibrous material.
It encompasses her fully and Sakura blinks, head aching as she tries to think. Her thoughts are scattered, incomplete and incoherent.
WAKE UP! Inner's voice echoes with power in Sakura's mind, snapping Sakura back to attention.
Memories flood back into Sakura's mind as she suddenly realizes that she is encased in Zetsu's flytrap.
"Oh no," Sakura mutters, reaching for her chakra. "Nope. Not happening."
She frowns as she realizes that the flytrap drains away her chakra as soon as she reaches for it. She sighs, doing what she can to flex. There's only room enough to breathe, not allowing her to reach for her kunai.
Sakura sighs, leaning back against the smooth wall. Then she frowns.
Where are Ashura and Indra?
Ever since the Incident that brought them to her side those handful of years ago, they have been able to follow her anywhere. Anytime she does anything dangerous, they stay by her side. And this kidnapping absolutely constitutes dangerous. And yet…
Where are they now?
Sakura isn't given too long to contemplate this as Zetsu, an amalgamation of his black and white halves, emerges from the ground, staring at her with glowing, blatantly hungry eyes.
"You're awake," he says, watching her with a fascination that makes her flesh crawl.
"I am," Sakura says, voice flat and monotone. "You kidnapped me. You said you had a need of me. What is it?"
"For now? Conversation," Zetsu says, emerging fully from the ground and seating himself across from her. He sits cross-legged, leaning forward on his elbows. He looks surprisingly childish. "I want to know you."
"Know me?" Sakura asks. "I'm not that interesting."
Zetsu tuts, shaking his head. "Come now, there is no need for false modesty. You are quite fascinating. You're one of very few living people to visit all of the Five Great Shinobi Nations and, from the appearances of that conference, you made a number of friends along the way. You have a sort of…charisma." He shifts closer to her and Sakura can feel his breath fan across her face. It's strangely cool and smells of damp soil and blood. "It draws people in."
Sakura's expression twists with distaste, but she holds her gaze steady. She won't be the first one to avert her eyes in this little game they're playing. She may be wholly at his mercy, but he cannot break her will. "So, I've traveled a lot," she demurs. "It comes of acting as Sarutobi-sensei's apprentice. It had little to do with me."
"Perhaps," Zetsu hums, uncrossing his legs and stretching his toes her way. Sakura can do nothing but watch as his toes touch the flytrap, entwining with it in a mixture of green, black, and white. She swallows, throat tasting of ash when he sighs blissfully, closing his eyes as he soaks in her chakra. "You taste of Her. Different certainly, but close."
"Who?" Sakura asks, dreading the answer. She thinks she knows and she hopes—prays—she is wrong.
"I know you see them," he says abruptly, eyes snapping open to watch her.
"Who do I see?" Sakura asks, even as her heart begins to beat a rough staccato.
"Ghosts," Zetsu says. "Monsters and gods from another era, another realm entirely. They're magnificent aren't they? The living pale in comparison. And yet, they are but a mere fraction of Her splendor. Flesh and blood of an immortal, a true immortal. The Great Goddess. My Mistress." His expression is euphoric.
"Kaguya," Sakura whispers.
"You dare speak Her name?" Zetsu demands, enraged. His hand presses against her throat, cutting off her air. Sakura's vision begins to fill with black spots. Then, suddenly, he pulls back, releasing her neck. "I suppose it is not profane if it is you."
"Why isn't it?" Sakura asks, voice an injured rasp.
"You are of Her," Zetsu says. "I am Her most ardent acolyte, Her most faithful. I have served Her Will for centuries, biding my time. You are the first who has even possessed a shadow of Her spirit. And you possess much, much more than just a shadow."
"You speak in riddles," Sakura says. "I don't understand."
"You are a fractured soul, a fractured mind, who can see the fractured spirits of Her line. All that you are is the sum of Her."
"I am her reincarnation?" Sakura asks, unsure how she feels about the revelation. All that she's heard of Kaguya speaks of her evil. She tried to murder her children after all.
Zetsu shrugs, unconcerned by the dumbstruck look on Sakura's face. "Perhaps. I sense Her within you, though the time has yet to come for Her to awaken. But soon." He cocks his head, looking as if he is listening to something beyond them. Sakura tries but is unable to hear anything at all. "It seems like things are building to a crescendo around us."
"What's happening? You mentioned Orochimaru and Kabuto—"
"Do not worry about that now," Zetsu interrupts. "Allow me to tell you a story."
"A story?"
"This is the story of how chakra came into being," Zetsu says. "I'm sure your ghosts have told you a version of the story, but they were not there."
"Were you?" Sakura asks, wondering.
"No. Only the Goddess was present. She was wife to the emperor of the Land of Ancestors. She ruled him and Her people well and they loved Her in turn, but She did not care for the unnecessary violence and bloodshed of humanity. When Her people came under threat, the Goddess sought out the God Tree as was Her right as its guardian.
"She found it," Zetsu says. "She defied the rules of the Ōtsutsuki, which said to leave the God Tree alone so that it could harvest the energy of the people and lands of this planet. She consumed the chakra fruit of the tree, produced once every thousand years. She became the first being on this planet to wield chakra.
"With Her chakra, She united all of the warring nations and brought about peace throughout the lands. I was born of Her will to act as an extension of Herself as needed. Her seed was fruitful and She bore two sons, who stole away Her chakra." Zetsu's face twists. "They threatened to end the order within Her world. So, in her divine knowledge, She united with the God Tree and rained devastation down upon Her unruly children."
"Jūbi," Sakura says. "She became the Jūbi."
"Indeed," Zetsu says, before sighing. "I've taken far too much time. Everything is in motion; the time of culmination is nigh. Your role in all of this is far from over. Still, our time together is drawing to a close."
The flytrap around Sakura draws away from her neck and shoulders, though it still leaves her unable to move much. Zetsu draws close to her, uncomfortably close as he reaches out one long-fingered hand and brushes it along the column of her throat. Sakura's throat works beneath his fingertips but Zetsu doesn't linger, instead unspooling the necklace around her neck.
He pulls it free, lifting it so Sakura can see it. In his hand, dangles Kisame and Kabuto's Akatsuki rings.
"You have no need of these," Zetsu says. "I, however, do."
Sakura watches as they are absorbed into his skin, glad that she returned the other rings to Konan. She hopes that Konan still has hold of them. Whatever Zetsu has planned, it cannot be good.
"Before I release you," Zetsu says, watching her with his strange, hungry eyes, "I would like a boon. You are not Her, but you are close enough, for now. And I've waited so long…"
Sakura inhales sharply as the flytrap releases suddenly and Zetsu reaches forward, grasping her hand. Sakura doesn't try to fight it, not yet anyway. She knows this isn't a fight she can win, not with the environment in his favor.
He brings her hand close, dragging the back of it along his face and down to his lips. Zetsu presses a kiss to the back of her hand before releasing her completely.
"I will see you again soon," Zetsu says. "So goodbye for now."
Sakura opens her mouth to respond, but she is dragged down, down, down.
And suddenly, sound.
Sakura isn't given a chance to regain her bearings before she has to roll to the side, dodging the blade directed squarely at her face. She looks up, seeing the aberrant nature to the person, the black flames licking across the person's bulging, twisted skin.
Orochimaru's cursed seal.
Oto.
Sakura swallows, contorting her body in a strange, uncomfortable manner to get her feet in position to kick her enemy in the gut. The blow knocks the man off-balanced, perhaps in part because his balance is already compromised by the writhing wing-like appendage that emerges from his back.
It gives Sakura time to get to her feet, eyes flitting around the area. She doesn't really know where they are, probably somewhere in Iron, but everything is absolute chaos.
She sees people dressed in the uniforms of Suna, Kumo, Kiri, Iwa, and Konoha, all fighting side by side against people twisted by Orochimaru and Kabuto's experiments as well as…
Is that the Nidaime Hokage?
Sakura barely manages to avoid a clawed strike from the Oto shinobi, stunned as she is by the appearance of a man who is supposed to be dead.
In fact, as she stabs the shinobi in front of her with a kunai laced with paralytics, Sakura realizes there are quite a few dead shinobi fighting against her friends.
What the hell happened while she was kidnapped?
"Sakura!"
Sakura finds herself ensconced firmly within a sudden embrace. Unlike the helpless feeling that being held by Zetsu's flytrap invoked, this embrace is gentle, kind, but no less fervent and desperate. Even though they are in the middle of a battle for life and death, Sakura doesn't resist the embrace, leaning into them.
They feel solid and nearly warm.
"Where were you?" Ashura demands, squeezing her tight, even as they begin moving her off to somewhere out of the heat of the fighting.
"We've been waiting for you," Indra says, cupping her face and surveying her. "We kept trying to come to you but we were blocked off."
"Until just now," Ashura says. "What did that bastard do to you?"
"Nothing," Sakura says, eyes shifting past their relieved expressions to the pandemonium around them. "What happened here? How long have I been gone?"
"You've been gone for two days, maybe?" Ashura says.
"When Zetsu absconded with you, we were transferred back to Sasuke and Naruto's sides," Indra says. "They were making their way to Iron, having been intercepted in their journey to Orochimaru's prisons by one of Tayuya's messengers. When they were informed of Orochimaru's plans, they changed course to head here."
"We tried to reach you every fifteen minutes or so, but the path was deadened," Ashura says. He runs his thumb along her cheekbone beneath her eye. "What happened while you were gone?"
"Nothing much," Sakura says. "I was unconscious for most of the encounter. When I came to Zetsu spoke about Kaguya and his origins and then took the Akatsuki rings from me." She swallows. "He's trying to resurrect the Jūbi and, by extension, Kaguya. But that isn't the most pressing problem. Why are dead legendary figures like the Shodai Hokage fighting our people?"
"Orochimaru," Indra says as if it is as simple as all of that.
And, considering the man's obsession with the concepts of immortality and resurrection, perhaps it is.
"Any idea why they are fighting us?" Sakura asks.
"They're being controlled by Orochimaru and Kabuto," Ashura says. "We get rid of them…"
"We end the effect," Sakura says, before sighing. "Well, that solves some things at least. Could you take me to Sarutobi-sensei?"
"Of course," Indra says as Ashura flickers out of sight before reappearing.
"He's near Naruto right now," Ashura reports, sweeping Sakura up into his arms. He gives her a gallant grin and, despite the literal war sprawling around them, Sakura cannot help but smile in return. It's nice to know that some things stay the same. "Indra?"
Indra sighs, shaking his head, but he places his hands on Sakura's shoulders and all three flicker and disappear from that spot, reappearing beside Naruto.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cries, unfazed by her sudden appearance. They've practiced this handy little trick a handful of times on the training grounds. "Good to see you. Itachi and Tenten were really worried, but I knew you would turn up eventually."
Sakura laughs, throwing a kunai at the woman about to strike Naruto with her tanto. "I appreciate the faith, Naruto. Good to know you always have my back. What's the current situation?"
"We're engaging all of Oto, as well as a number of individuals resurrected by Orochimaru and Kabuto using something they call 'Impure World Reincarnation.'" Naruto rolls his eyes, showing exactly what he thinks of the technique's name. "Team Seven has split up to handle different tasks, last I saw, Karin and Sai were joining the old man to face Orochimaru."
Sakura blanches. "Sarutobi-sensei?"
"Yes," Naruto says, pushing her down so he can dropkick an assailant in the face. "The Kages are fighting…well, the former Kages."
"I…I have to go," Sakura says, eyes searching the field for Sarutobi-sensei. She won't leave him to confront his former student. They do this together, like before. This time, they'll win. They have to. "I can't leave him alone."
"Go ahead, Sakura-chan," Naruto says, clapping her on the shoulder. "I need to stick around here to back the bastard up, but we can follow—"
"I know," Sakura interrupts, clasping his forearm. Something settles within her to be back in the field with Team Seven, with Naruto and Sasuke, like they were back in their youth. Back when they were naive and so full of hope. Now, Sakura's eyes are wide open, but she still holds onto that hope, even though it may damn her. "You'll follow when you can. I'll see you soon."
"You're my family, Sakura. I am with you until the end," Naruto says, watching her with serious eyes. Then he stretches out a hand and points in a direction. "I last saw the old man over that way. I'll see you soon, Sakura."
And then they are darting apart from each other, as Sakura delves into the writhing mass of bodies that they call war. Sakura fights the bile that rises in her throat at the sight of the piling dead left forgotten on the ground, crushed beneath the weight of the continued fighting. She doesn't have time to stop and see if she knows any of them. Considering the contacts she's made in all of the shinobi nations, even in Oto, she wouldn't be surprised.
And the smell: iron, piss, and death hangs low and full in the air, nearly overwhelming Sakura's nose. Her eyes water from the stench of it, but she wipes away the sting of it, evading the errant blows and jutsus that head her way.
No, she keeps her eyes on the living, seeking Sarutobi-sensei in every face she passes. Sakura doesn't know how she'll find him in this madness, but she holds out hope.
"Any ideas?" Sakura asks the brothers.
"My guess is that most people are giving Orochimaru a wide berth," Indra says. "He's a deadly fighter."
"Karin's a Sensor," Ashura points out. "She taught you a bit about chakra sensing. Why don't you try reaching out that way?"
Sakura could slap herself for her foolishness. In her desperate rush, she didn't even consider it. "Of course!"
She reaches into herself, tugging at her chakra. She casts it beyond herself in a fine sheet like a net, seeking out the biggest, most dangerous fish she can find. Sakura calls to mind her memories of Orochimaru, fraught with that sickly, overwhelming sense of dread his chakra fairly oozes. In her scant handful of encounters with him, Sakura has become only too familiar with the sensation of his chakra. It's imprinted on her, leaving a mark that she thinks will never be removed.
She is almost knocked to her knees by the feedback that surges up her net and through her. There are so many incredibly strong people in the general vicinity, some with chakras far exceeding Orochimaru's, but only one exudes a certain sense of wrongness, something inhuman.
Orochimaru.
Sakura turns in that direction, honing her sheet of chakra into a fine thread attached to Orochimaru. She begins to Shunshin towards him, even as her heart rate picks up its pace.
Is she ready for this? Can she confront this man once again?
Her leg twinges, not because of exertion, but because of a deeper psychological pain.
Last time, Orochimaru took her leg.
Will he take her life this time?
Another limb?
Her humanity?
She knows, logically, that she is far stronger than she was those handful of years ago, when she was just a young, barely tested chunin unprepared for the horrors that Orochimaru and Kabuto offered her on a platter.
And worse still, is the memory of Sarutobi-sensei's failure, of his inability and unwillingness to fight off his former student. That betrayal, though forgiven, still stings, still twinges in the back of her mind.
And today promises to be a repeat of that scenario: Orochimaru and Kabuto raining death and destruction down on any who stand in their path; Karin confronting her nightmares made flesh; Sarutobi-sensei staring down the monster he had a hand in creating.
What will Sakura's role be in this today?
Will she be the futile, last-ditch defense? The sacrifice made to protect those around her? The martyr leaping upon the pyre in her teacher's place? Will she play a new role entirely?
Will Sakura even make it to them in time?
"Sakura."
Sakura stops in her tracks, paling as her eyes find the individual who called out to her. Before her, his skin marred with strange porcelain-thin cracks, stands Haku.
Haku.
He looks exactly as he did upon his final day alive, beautiful, angelic, determined. She's taller than he is, she realizes suddenly. Sakura is struck by how young he is, how young she was, and how tragically unfair that entire mission in Mist was.
Were they truly so young when they started killing?
She can hardly believe it, looking at his thin, bird-like wrists and painfully lithe frame.
How could he even bear the weight of a weapon, let alone handle it?
"Haku," Sakura says, unable to keep the rawness from his name. After all, she carries the weight of that name in the crack he left in her heart. "How?"
His expression is utterly smooth as he dashes forward, striking out at her with a kunai. Sakura barely manages to raise a kunai of her own, parrying the blow.
"Haku, why?" she demands.
"I do not have control," Haku says, voice soft. "Even as I was in life, in death I am still a mere tool. I am an extension of another's will, this is nothing new."
"But in life, you chose to serve Zabuza," Sakura says, dodging back from another strike. She can tell he isn't using his full strength, he hasn't even brought out his kekkei genkai. "You chose to live for the sake of another. You chose to be his weapon. This wasn't a choice for you; it is a yoke forced upon you."
"Perhaps," Haku says, with a shrug, darting in close and nicking Sakura's cheek before she can throw up her guard. "I was at peace. I remember warmth, fulfillment…and suddenly I am here once more within the mortal coil. Release is the promise we received for doing as we were bid." His eyes slant past her for a moment, alighting on the figures that follow her. His lips curl slightly. "How long have these ghosts been following you? When will you release them from your bidding?"
Sakura falters at those words and Haku drives forward savagely, kunai scraping against bone in Sakura's arm. She hisses, but firms her stance.
"We aren't held here against our will," Indra says. "We choose to stay with Sakura."
"Sakura is a beacon within this mortal coil," Ashura says. "She's a bright light; the only damn reason this mortal coil has any meaning."
"Still you serve the whims of a master beyond yourself," Haku says. "You do as she commands."
"That isn't how it works," Sakura says, grabbing Haku's arm. It's made easier by the fact that his kunai is still wedged in her forearm. "Don't you remember our conversation before the fight? I certainly do! I think of it all the time. We served purposes beyond ourselves, masters beyond ourselves. You fought to protect Zabuza. I fought for my friends' smiles. We…we made a promise of a lifetime."
Sakura sees the way his eyes widen, realization striking him. That show of emotion gives Sakura the courage to lean in, past his guard and hers, pressing her lips to his forehead.
"We sealed the promise with a kiss," she whispers against his skin, encouraged by the fact that he doesn't dig the kunai deeper into her arm.
"I forgot how warm this world can be," Haku murmurs as she pulls away.
Sakura takes in his smile, seeing the peace on his face. She cups his cheek with her free hand, ignoring the way his kunai catches against bone as she shifts, even as she sees Ashura and Indra watching him warily.
"Thank you, Sakura," Haku says. Sakura gasps, starting forward as his body begins to fade, disintegrating. "I hope you find it Sakura."
"Find what?" Sakura asks, watching with a combination of horror and resignation as his body continues to disappear. It can't end, not again, not like this.
"Halcyon days," Haku replies. "Sakura, you sought the happiness of your friends. If I learned anything in death, it is that you must make your own happiness. Sakura, seek out your own halcyon days." He smirks, an incongruous expression on his face. "I'm sure your ghosts will be happy to assist. Live well, Sakura. Farewell."
Sakura swallows as Haku disappears, a gentle smile gracing his lips. She stares at the dust that was once Haku, happy in the knowledge that he can no longer be manipulated beyond the grave. Not like that. Not again.
Now, Haku can truly be at peace.
Sakura raises her gaze, feeling along the chakra thread connecting her to Orochimaru.
She firms her jaw as she sets off once again.
"Halcyon days, Haku," she whispers, ignoring the glances she receives from the Ōtsutsuki brothers. "Soon."
The closer she gets, the more scared she becomes. Orochimaru's chakra is overwhelmingly oppressive and closely tied to the nightmares that continue to haunt her.
Her leg, where the prosthetic connects to living flesh, aches sharply as Sakura remembers the sensation of being boiled alive from within, innards burning, burning, burning until nothing is left, nothing but the poison that runs through her veins.
It still remains the worst pain she has yet experienced in her life and Sakura's animal instincts command her to flee, to hide, to survive.
Still, as Sakura crests a rolling hill and sees the scene playing out before her, she knows she cannot flee.
She will fight, even if it spells her death.
Below her, Sarutobi-sensei and Orochimaru stand facing one another, as their Summons tangle with one another. They aren't yet engaged in physical combat but, knowing their intellectual prowess, Sakura is sure that they are engaged in battle in another way. She swallows as Enma tussles with Manba, surprised that both of them Summoned their strongest Summons so early on in this fight.
Sai stands at Sarutobi-sensei's side, expression blank but knuckles white around his tanto. Karin is situated behind Sarutobi-sensei, a large bruise blooming high on her cheek. Still, she seems to be relatively intact and furiously at work painting seals upon her skin.
Pride filters through Sakura, heartened to see Karin's strength in the face of her oppressor.
Ashura's hand clasps her shoulder hardily even as Indra traces his fingers along the inside of her elbow in support. She firms her stance, reminded that this fight is already different from the one that occurred prior.
This time Indra and Ashura are with her from the start.
Orochimaru's gold eyes flicker up in Sakura's direction, a sinuous smirk curling up his lips. Sakura isn't given a moment to think, let alone react, before Orochimaru crooks his finger and Sakura finds her body being dragged forward. She doesn't panic, releasing Sashimasu and filling it with chakra, slicing it through the chakra string Orochimaru uses to pull her.
She's fought Sasori of the Red Sands; Orochimaru's chakra strings cannot hope to compare to the Puppet Master's.
Orochimaru's smirk becomes a true smile as he watches her, expression becoming one of hunger and ambition. "How good of you to join us, Sakura-chan! I was worried you wouldn't show up; what kept you so long?"
"I had other affairs to attend," Sakura replies, clinging to her bravado to keep from shaking. The burning pain where her leg once was reminds her well what happened the last time she was the focus of Orochimaru's attention. "I figured you would keep until those were complete."
Orochimaru laughs lightly, but Sakura reads the banked fires in his eyes; the rage at her slight. As a controlling narcissist, such insults are sure to stir Orochimaru's ire higher and higher. He bares his teeth at her, leaning forward.
"You forget yourself Orochimaru!" Sarutobi-sensei barks, startling Sakura and Orochimaru and drawing their attention. "Your fight is with me, not with my student."
Orochimaru chuckles, seemingly at ease as Sakura makes her way to stand slightly behind Sarutobi-sensei.
"You alright?" Sakura asks, placing a hand on Karin's cheek, fingers outlining her bruise.
"The other guy looks worse," Karin says. She frowns slightly, pressing a hand over Sakura's arm wound and healing it. "Well, he did before he started healing."
"Kabuto?"
"Kabuto," Karin sighs. "Last I saw, Ino-Shika-Chō were engaging him, alongside a medic-nin from Kumo."
Sakura tamps down on her instinctual fear for her friends. "Well, Kabuto may have just must his match. I wonder how he'll manage against Konoha's own Poison Mistress."
"If all goes well, not well at all," Sai replies. Sakura notes the anxiety held in the tight corners of his eyes. "Hello Sakura."
"Sai," she greets in turn, brushing her fingers across his cheek, before returning her attention to the main event.
Her gut flutters with a mingle of gratitude and joy as she takes in Sarutobi-sensei's firmed jaw and flinty eyes.
It goes a long way to healing the lingering sting of betrayal.
"You were always given to pontification," Sarutobi-sensei says, cutting through Orochimaru's speech with a surgeon's ease. "Yet you never understood when you lost your audience. Tsunade-hime mastered the art of sleeping with her eyes open because of you."
Sakura has never seen someone go so pale before turning so red this quickly. Orochimaru opens his mouth to respond, but Sarutobi-sensei nods curtly towards Enma.
Enma grapples Manda, perching himself upon Manda's head and wrapping his powerful legs around Manda's throat. He pries open Manda's jaws with a sickening crack of bone and reaches inside to grasp his fangs in gauntleted hands. Sakura flinches as a horrendous, wet sound fills the air as Enma rips the fangs out of Manba's mouth.
Enma takes the fangs, legs tightening around Manda as Manda screams and thrashes in agony, and drives the fangs through Manda's eyes.
Sakura watches every moment of Manda's cacophonous, writhing death, a vindictive portion of herself settling as Manda falls dead at Sarutobi-sensei's feet.
"I am done sitting idly by, allowing you to run rampant," Sarutobi-sensei says, unflinching in the face of Orochimaru's shock. "In my complacency, I had a hand in each of the foul deeds you committed. Your continuous violence against humanity, the atrocities of your experimentations, the death and destruction you leave in the wake of your greedy but ultimately futile pursuit of immortality; each pound of flesh you take in another, I too hold a responsibility."
Sarutobi-sensei sighs, eyes sliding shut as he reaches out a hand to Enma. Enma nods, transforming into his staff form. "As your teacher, it is my duty to correct you when you are wrong. In sparing the rod, you spoil the child; I have spoiled you far too much. I apologize for not taking you to task earlier in your life; perhaps we could have avoided so much of the suffering of the past few decades. Perhaps it wouldn't end in death." Sarutobi-sensei opens his eyes. "Perhaps not. Nevertheless, this battle has been long overdue."
"You think you can face me?" Orochimaru nearly spits, rage breaking his composure. Sakura's never seen him so off-balanced. "You are nothing Hiruzen. Maybe once you deserved the title of 'God of Shinobi,' but now you are nothing but a brittle husk. You are a shadow of the shinobi you once were. This is what age does to the human body; weakens it to a state of complete incompetence. Me," He gestures to himself, "with each host I take, I draw closer to perfection. You inch closer to death with every breath you take; I move closer to life." Orochimaru unhinges his jaw and draws out Kusanagi. "In fact, you should enjoy these next few moments, they shall be your last."
"Even with decades of experiments, you are no closer to immortality," Sarutobi-sensei says, shaking his head. "It is an unachievable goal; you merely prolong the inevitable. Death is a natural part of life and, in fearing it so much that you seek to prevent it, you've missed out on the joys that come of living. You've driven away anyone and everyone who ever could have loved you. You are alone. Now, let us see if you remember what I tried to teach you."
Sarutobi-sensei leaps forward, staff extending and striking Orochimaru's sword hard. Orochimaru whirls out of his way, driving his sword up and under Sarutobi-sensei's guard to hit his side. Sarutobi-sensei twists in a nimble way that impresses Sakura, avoiding the blade.
Orochimaru throws a glance toward Sakura. "Trying to make up for past mistakes with your apprentice? Vacillating between throwing her to the dogs and coddling her does her no good."
Sarutobi-sensei looks sidelong at Sakura and grins impishly, taking decades off his face. "Sakura, would you care to join me? Her skill in kenjutsu is sublime."
Sakura raises Sashimasu in response and dives into the fray. She can feel Indra and Ashura's presences nearby, not involved, but watching avidly. She knows that the moment things go south they will interfere with the fight to assist her. Sakura knows their skills and her trust in them is a warm, solid weight within her chest. They have her back.
And she has Sarutobi-sensei's.
Even better, he has hers.
Behind them, Sakura knows that Karin and Sai are hard at work with fūinjutsu, preparing to entrap Orochimaru. Orochimaru has thus far ignored them and Sakura is thankful for small mercies.
Hopefully, Orochimaru's hubris tolls his downfall.
Or perhaps he truly has nothing to be concerned about.
Kusanagi snakes around beneath Sarutobi-sensei's staff and Sakura rolls across his back, sticking her leg between the blade and Sarutobi-sensei as a shield. Kusanagi strikes her prosthetic leg with a horrific screech of metal on metal as the blade pierces the leg but Sakura is undeterred, sending a surge of elemental chakra through Sashimasu. The elemental chakra flares through the blade of the naginata, stabbing Orochimaru in the arm.
Orochimaru's left arm drops, charred and useless to his side.
He scowls, trying to tense the muscles of his arm, only to find the entire arm numb.
Sakura has learned from her past battles and adapted the techniques that Tenten shared with her from her tutelage with Tsunade. There is a reason that medic nins are prized and always the first to be targeted by enemies.
Kusanagi snaps back to Orochimaru who laughs, high-pitched and deadly. "Oh well done, Sakura-chan! Your form has improved since our last fight. Hiruzen, I'm a bit disappointed honestly; this is the best that the God of Shinobi has to offer? You've only displayed skills that a samurai would have. Where is your pride as a shinobi?"
"Pride?" Sarutobi-sensei scoffs. "I have known pride; I have held and lost it countless times. What use have I for pride? It leads only to folly and a gross overestimation of my own abilities. A true shinobi knows the extent of his strengths and his weaknesses." A sly smile curls his lips. "And a true shinobi does not underestimate his foes."
Orochimaru pauses, seemingly thrown, before his eyes go wide as he catches sight of Karin and Sai beyond Sakura and Sarutobi-sensei.
Karin stands, the seals painted on her arms in bold strokes by her and Sai's hands turning from black to gold as she activates them. Chains shoot from Karin's arms, seeking out Orochimaru. He dodges back, flipping and ducking to avoid the chains, but they are unstoppable.
Sakura watches with awe as the chains strike Orochimaru, looping around him and restraining him in place. She sees his still functional hand form the seals for a number of replacement jutsus, but none of them work.
Such power in fūinjutsu is the reason that Uzumaki were once so feared and renowned the world over. (This is the reason that Uzushio fell; not because the Uzumaki failed, but because they were so powerful and such power breeds envy and fear.)
And Karin and Naruto (and Tayuya perhaps and countless others) are their legacy.
Sakura's eyes burn as she stares at those gold chains, holding a legendary Sannin—her personal bogeyman—in place. She can hardly believe how far Karin has come from the child ravaged by war to this avenging scourge of a woman.
"I've learned some things in the past few years," Karin says evenly, staring Orochimaru directly in the eyes. She will not wilt beneath the force of him and all that he represents to her. "It's amazing what a little support and knowledge can do for a girl. Doesn't hurt to have an ancestor's journals of all her exploits and jutsu creation. You aren't walking away from this."
"And you think you are capable of killing me?" Orochimaru's laugh is high and cold, ringing above the din of death around them. "You are still the sniveling, war-ravaged, broken child you were when I found you. You are nothing!"
"No," Karin says, her voice cracking slightly with the force of her emotions, but her hands and chains are steady and firm. "I am everything. Konoha has taught me my worth and it is beyond all measure. You seek to cut down, take apart, destroy; anything you can do to achieve your goal, no matter who you leave shattered in your wake. You don't comprehend the invaluable measure of man; it's why you left Konoha in your wake. It may perhaps be the greatest of all your many errors."
"You know nothing you ingrate—" Orochimaru hisses, features serpentine and venomous.
"Enough," Sarutobi-sensei says.
Sakura glances at him, startled by the sheer weariness in his voice. He looks exhausted, but unshakeable.
"Enough of your poison, Orochimaru, enough," Sarutobi-sensei says, slowly moving his hands through different seals: snake to boar to ram. "This has gone on for far too long, Orochimaru. It ends today." Rabbit to dog to rat. "It ends here, with us. It ends as it should have the last time we confronted each other."
"Sarutobi-sensei, don't!" Sakura says, realizing what he intends to do.
The Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
He looks to her, hands still moving: bird to horse to snake. "Sakura, I apologize once more for my failings last time. It was wrong of me to leave you to fend against my mistakes. This time will be different."
Sarutobi-sensei claps his hands together.
Sakura watches, horrified as his soul separates partially from his body, suspended behind himself.
"You try this again?" Orochimaru demands, bursting into laughter. "Hiruzen, you truly are but a collection of mistakes and incompetence."
"That's enough from you," Karin says, throwing forth another chain and looping it around his neck. It presses against his vocal cords, leaving him incapable of speaking. "It's over, Orochimaru."
Behind Sarutobi-sensei, the shimmery, pale form of the Shinigami takes shape. Its face turns slightly, black eyes fixating unerringly upon Ashura and Indra. Sakura, in turn, steps between them and the Shinigami, protecting them from its gaze.
She will allow no one, not even a god of death, to tear them from her.
The Shinigami regards her for a moment and Sakura can feel the brothers tense behind her, before the Shinigami returns its attention to its true prey.
Orochimaru.
Sarutobi-sensei moves forward at a slow, even pace, the Shinigami trailing along behind him. Sakura follows in his footsteps, unsure what she should do. She knows what will happen to Sarutobi-sensei all too well.
In ensuring Orochimaru's death, he seals his own fate as well.
"Sarutobi-sensei, there are other ways," Sakura says, nearly begging.
"No, Sakura dear, there are not. Orochimaru has perverted everything about himself: his body, his heart, his mind. Killing him by normal means is impossible now, given the way he sheds his skin and is born anew. The only pure portion of him left is his soul," Sarutobi-sensei says.
"But you'll die; your soul will be forfeit to the Shinigami," Sakura says, desperate to make him see reason.
But Sarutobi-sensei only chuckles, the sound heavy and sad. The Shinigami reaches out, touching Orochimaru. His mouth goes wide and a garbled, strangled scream emerges, even as his soul begins to pull away from his body. "My soul has been forfeit from the moment, decades ago, I allowed Orochimaru to escape. I stood at a crossroads and I chose passivity. His atrocities are my own. And on top of all of that, I allowed him near you; I let you fight a battle that was not yours because I was not strong enough. And there are not apologies enough in the world, to make it up to you."
"Sarutobi-sensei, I've forgiven you; please, let us try something different," Sakura says.
"It is my turn to protect you, Sakura-chan," Sarutobi-sensei says, gentle but firm. "Please, allow this old man to make this paltry gesture of apology. It is my time to go and far past Orochimaru's."
Sarutobi-sensei's eyes slide shut as the Shinigami pulls at Orochimaru's soul, but Sakura frowns, seeing how little he moves.
"What's wrong? What's happening?" she asks, glancing askance at her resident experts on all things spirit-related.
"Orochimaru's will is strong," Ashura says, a scowl curling his lips.
"Hiruzen is strong, but I am not sure he'll be able to withstand Orochimaru," Indra adds.
"No," Sakura says, swallowing as she realizes what she is about to do, what it means for Sarutobi-sensei. "This ends."
Sakura doesn't hesitate, banishing Sashimasu, reaching out, and wrapping both hands around one of Sarutobi-sensei's, despite the recriminations Indra and Ashura yell at her, voices sharp with fear and concern. She can feel the focus of the Shinigami on her, its overbearing weight, but she stands firm, bringing up every hateful thought toward Orochimaru to the forefront of her mind.
His reign of terror cannot persist, not with the wanton destruction left in his wake.
Orochimaru's soul slips further from his body and further still when Ashura and Indra place their hands on her back, adding their power to hers.
Where she goes, they go.
Sai approaches Sarutobi-sensei from the other side, laying his hands on him.
Orochimaru's soul is nearly entirely separated from his body and Sakura shakes, sweat pouring down her face in exertion. He is strong, she'll give him that. If she faced him alone, as she did during the Incident, she knows she would fall.
Again.
However, Sakura is not alone.
Ashura and Indra's hands are cold against her overheated skin, a small comfort that keeps her centered and anchored as she grits her teeth. She draws on all the pain Orochimaru caused her: the physical, the mental, and the emotional pain she suffered at his hands. She remembers the struggle within herself over her sense of failure, the war to get herself out of bed many days because of the bone-deep exhaustion that clung to her very soul; the overwhelming sense of self-loathing she experienced for over a year every time she looked in the mirror.
All of it, all of it, can be traced back to this monster masquerading in human flesh before her.
She can't let him loose, can't allow him to tamper with the lives of other innocents.
With herculean effort, Sakura shores up all the spiritual strength she and Inner have and yanks.
Orochimaru's soul tears free of his body and the Shinigami's maw opens wide to consume him.
But Sakura isn't watching him.
No, her eyes are on Sarutobi-sensei, as she catches his body against hers, cradling him against her chest. Until now, she did not realize how small he is, how fragile. He's shorter than her by a good three inches.
Sakura gathers him close as she sobs, saline dripping down her cheeks onto his. She is ignorant of the way Orochimaru's limp body hits the ground, still wrapped in Karin's chains. She is oblivious to the way that Karin and Sai move to stand at her unprotected back, guarding her against attack. She is ignorant to all things but Sarutobi-sensei.
Sakura traces the deep wrinkles in his face, drinking in his slack features. Without his soul, he looks less wise, less him. She'll never again hear his stories or lighthearted teasing or travel at his side, sole companions for weeks on end. She'll never again stand in his garden, assisting him in planting as they debate international politics with a sharp but never cutting banter.
She'll never again have him there to guide her, to keep her from straying.
He's been a fixture in her life since childhood and she has never truly imagined a life without him.
Her sobs trail off into wet hiccups and Sakura realizes suddenly that Indra is holding her in his arms just as she holds Sarutobi-sensei, rocking her gently back and forth, chest vibrating with the force of his humming. Ashura is seated in front of her and to the side slightly, humming a gentle tune as his fingers brush away her tears. Behind her, she hears the sounds of battle, of Karin and Sai doing their damnedest to keep her safe and protected.
So she blinks, taking a few deep, rattling breaths through her mouth before rubbing her nose against her sleeve. When she's a bit more put together, though still very much fallen apart, she looks at Sarutobi-sensei, really looks at him.
Her heart aches like an open and bleeding wound, but she pushes beyond that, taking in his expression.
"He looks happy," she says, voice raw and hoarse. Her brows furrow; no, happy isn't quite right. "At peace."
And so he does. Something about that fact calms her raging heart. She wasn't able to prevent this outcome, not when Sarutobi-sensei was resolved to see it through. Knowing that he was at peace with that difficult decision helps.
Sakura sighs and shifts Sarutobi-sensei with the utmost care so that he is laying on the ground. She stands, turning to Karin. "May I have a few empty sealing scrolls, Karin?"
"Of course," she says, her chains looping around a few of her Oto assailants. They go still. She rustles in her pack, pulling a couple loose and tossing them to Sakura. 'There you go."
Sakura nods, taking the first scroll and opening it. She raises a finger to her mouth, swiping at the blood around her lip (she must have bitten through it during the showdown with Orochimaru) and pressing a bloody finger to the scroll. It glows with power as she places it upon Sarutobi-sensei, drawing him into the scroll.
Should she survive this war, she will have him buried in all honor. It is what he deserves.
She then walks over to Orochimaru's body, staring at him with contempt. She checks him over, assuring herself of his death. Part of her fears that he'll wake and bite her, flooding her veins with venom, but he is still and quiet in repose. He is smaller in death too and a part of Sakura finds his crumpled body pitiful. She wonders if any will mourn him.
She seals him within the other scroll, knowing better than to leave him here for the scavengers. Sakura has no idea if he has anything on him that is of value, but she will not risk his body falling into the wrong hands. She's sure that, considering the number of experiments he's conducted on himself, his body will be a wealth of knowledge for any passable medic-nin.
This done, Sakura stands, something within her going cold and remote. She doesn't have time right now to think; she knows she'll shatter. It's a luxury Sakura cannot afford until the war is over. Later though, if she makes it through, she's going to let herself fall apart and leave the pieces where they fall.
"Are those brought back by the Impure World Reincarnation still running amok?" Sakura asks, directing her gaze to the battlefield. She sighs, recognizing the Nidaime Hokage from the monument back home. "I guess that's a yes."
"They're probably tied to Kabuto instead," Ashura says.
"Or they function separate from either of them," Indra adds, his view more pessimistic than Ashura's.
"Regardless, we should probably try to assist in the efforts," Sakura says, looking over at Sai and Karin. They stand nearby, looking over the fallen bodies littering the ground. "Everything alright?"
Both of them nod genially.
"What is your plan of action?" Sai asks, deferring to her.
"You don't have one?" Sakura replies, genuinely surprised. He has a higher rank than her.
Sai shrugs, expression shifting slightly to something that looks uncomfortable. "You're a leader; you tend to have a plan."
"He's right," Karin chimes in, moving closer to Sakura. She loops an arm around Sakura's waist, offering her silent support. She bares her wrist to Sakura, nodding in permission when Sakura gives her a quizzical look. Sakura bites down on Karin's wrist, her chakra pools filling completely. "So what is the plan?"
Sakura glances at Indra and Ashura, but they just smile back at her, delight sparkling in their eyes. "Well, here's the thing, we need to stop this Impure World Reincarnation," she says. "I believe it to be tied to either Orochimaru or Kabuto. Orochimaru is out of the question now, so it's most likely tied to Kabuto. If he goes, hopefully it goes." She glances at Karin. "Any word on Tayuya?"
"Tayuya has turned a good number of the Oto shinobi to our side," Karin says. "They've thrown the Oto forces into chaos. We've taken out their leader; removing his second-in-command will demolish whatever structure they have left."
"Then Kabuto must go," Sakura says, decisive. "I'm sure Ino has the task well in hand but perhaps we can speed his death along."
Karin closes her eyes for a moment, sussing his location in the chaos. "He's that way," she says.
"Lead the way," Sakura replies, shouldering the scrolls and tucking them away somewhere safe.
She'll mourn her dead later; right now she has to save her people who are still living.
They are cresting a hill when the rumbling begins. Sakura frowns, searching around for the source. What earth elemental jutsu is being used?
"Karin?" she asks.
Karin shakes her head, frowning. "No one in the vicinity is using ninjutsu that could cause this."
Sakura yelps as the earth beneath her feet erupts and she leaps back, only to find that all of the ground around her is unstable. She does her best to gain solid footing, horror unfurling in her gut as white masses emerge from the earth.
The field is filled with White Zetsu clones.
Most phase through the ground, but the sheer number of them breaks apart the earth with their force.
Sakura bites back a scream as she remembers being consumed by these creatures, striking out at those near her with Sashimasu. They break apart at the impact of such a concentrated chakra strike, these clones not nearly as strong as the one that grabbed her at the Kage Summit, but more rise to fill its place.
"Karin! Sai!" Sakura calls out, reaching for her friends but she is cast adrift from them and they are obscured in a sea of white. "Indra! Ashura!"
Ashura and Indra flare their chakra, grabbing hold of her, even as their chakra burns away at the White Zetsus that surround her.
Their actions give her an idea. Sakura reaches for her chakra, restored as it is by that generous bite Karin allowed her, and coats herself in it, molding it into licking, consuming flames.
Under Shisui's tutelage, she's perfected her Fire Release Chakra Mode and it is exactly what she needs right now. The Zetsus around her melt away and Sakura dashes toward Karin and Sai, freeing them from their constraints. Sakura looks around, mind churning through information as quickly as it can.
Zetsu.
Akatsuki.
Jinchūriki.
The rings.
Kaguya.
Sakura blanches, realizing at least part of Zetsu's plan.
"We have to get to Naruto!" Sakura shouts. "He's in danger. All the jinchūriki are!"
Karin and Sai don't question her or how she's come to these conclusions, they just leap into action, following her.
Already though, Sakura knows, at the back of her mind, they won't make it.
"Ashura, Indra, I love—"
"Don't say those words just yet," Ashura interrupts, gaze blazing.
"We'll say them back to you," Indra assures fiercely. "Just not when you're saying them as a goodbye."
Around them, the battlefield becomes strangely muted, sound dampened by the White Zetsus that litter the ground. With every moment, they grow more and more numerous, towering high above Sakura. They charge forward through the mire, though with every step the slough becomes more and more difficult. Sakura's feet lose traction as Zetsus emerge beneath her and Sakura goes sprawling, eyes cast skyward.
Above her, above them all, she can see a dome, a dome that stretches the entirety of the battlefield. It glitters in myriad colors, translucent and gorgeous. And, at the center of the dome, hovers a figure. Sakura cannot make out details, but the figure is starkly white.
Sakura blazes her chakra, looking to Ashura and Indra, her ever stalwart companions.
"We have to try," Sakura says, exhaustion flirting at the edges of her consciousness. She's never used nintaijutsu for such an extensive period of time. "Right?"
"Well, we've never met our grandmother," Indra says in purposefully light tones. "We're long overdue for a family reunion."
"We're with you, Sakura," Ashura says, "every step of the way."
"Thank you," Sakura says, voice soft. She manages to keep her hands from shaking, but it is a close thing. "Let's go."
Sakura digs herself free of the White Zetsus that threaten to consume her, forcing herself to move by sheer force of will. Fatigue drags at her, threatening to drown her. But she can't let it, not yet.
With every step, she draws closer to her goal, to Kaguya.
And then, then she can rest.
Finally.
She's just so damn tired.
In the end though, she doesn't have to make it all the way to Kaguya, for Kaguya comes to her.
The woman swoops down, stopping before Sakura. Sakura notices from the corner of her eyes that the White Zetsus nearby cease their activity upon her approach.
Sakura though is more concerned with Kaguya's appearance. For the most part, she appears pristine and alien, all ghostly white and ethereal. Except portions of her skin are jet black and one of her eyes is gold.
"So that's how you decided to handle your most fervent acolyte?" Sakura asks, bravado coloring her tone. She's running on fumes, but she comforts herself with the knowledge that her wit has yet to abandon her. "It seems a bit cruel."
"Father always did say that grandmother was a cold mistress," Ashura remarks idly.
"Explains the attempted filicide on both father and uncle," Indra adds in his most educated, condescending drawl. It never fails to piss people off. "Never was much of a loving person."
"Love?" Kaguya asks, her voice nearly as snide as Indra's. At least he comes by it honestly. "I gave them love; I gave my love to all of the unworthy humans of this planet. And how was I repaid? My sons—my sons—stole from me." As she speaks, the black portions of her body fade away, replaced by snow white. Her gold eye turns pale lilac, the predecessor to the Byakugan. "My most precious boon, my chakra. They were greedy, demanding so much of my body. It was and still remains my right to reclaim that which is mine." The seam at the middle of her forehead snaps open, revealing a blood red eye as her attention shifts to Sakura. "Speaking of which, this child has taken something of mine."
Sakura cannot move, mired as she is by her fatigue. It would be so nice to close her eyes and just rest…
Perhaps she will see Sarutobi-sensei in her dreams?
"What could she possibly have taken from you?" Ashura demands.
Kaguya flies closer, a sickening smile crawling across her lips. "You know the truth of it already, don't you girl? Or at least, you suspect it."
"What truth?" Indra asks, teeth bared as he throws out an arm in front of Sakura.
"She possesses a splinter of my soul," Kaguya says. "And I will collect what I am owed."
"The hell you will!" Ashura says, leaping up to strike her.
Kaguya grabs him easily, unconcerned. "Not to worry, dear grandsons. You are of my line which makes all that you are mine as well."
She reaches out, taking hold of Indra as well. They struggle, but they are unable to escape her grasp. She inhales deeply, hungrily, and Indra and Ashura begin to flicker, fading from Sakura's sight.
"No!" Sakura screams, breaking free of the trance holding her still. This is beyond her worst nightmare; she cannot lose them too. Never. "No!"
She coats herself in pure chakra, not bothering to make it any type of element in particular, springing forward at Kaguya. The chakra surrounding her burns away at the White Zetsus that threaten to encase her.
She summons her naginata, striking out at Kaguya's face with it. In her periphery, Sakura can see Ashura and Indra flicker in and out of her view and she is terrified of the moment when they won't flicker back into view.
It strikes Kaguya squarely in her forehead, passing through her red eye without leaving a wound. Sakura yelps as the weapon passes through easily, having placed too much strength into the blow. She stumbles forward, nearly falling against Kaguya.
Kaguya laughs and leans in, stretching out one long-nailed finger toward Sakura.
Sakura wheels, trying to correct her position but it is too late. Kaguya's finger touches Sakura's forehead.
Sakura blinks sleepily. She's so tired. It would be so wonderful to just lie down and sleep.
She'll see Indra and Ashura again if she just closes her eyes…
And her world turns sideways and all goes blissfully dark.
Sakura looks around herself, taking in the branching chakra tree that is her body. Still, she is gladdened to see that the energy that makes up her leg is still present and whole. She's been without it before and she'll never take it for granted again. The green energy looks dull and nearly lifeless, its hum low and lethargic. But Sakura no longer feels fatigued, not here, not within the temple that is her own body. Time passes differently within the confines of this sanctuary; Sakura is master and mistress here.
"Sakura."
"Hello Inner," Sakura says, keeping her gaze focused on the chakra tree. She cannot bear to turn around to take in the reflection of herself. "Why am I here?"
"You know why," Inner replies, voice hesitant.
Sakura whirls around, looking at her inverse reflection. "We're Kaguya," she says, bile burning her throat.
Inner shrugs slightly. "Not quite. You are not Kaguya, I am."
"But you are me," Sakura says. "You've said as much quite often."
"I am you," Inner replies and, as she speaks, her shape begins to change, becoming taller and more regal in appearance. She remains a figure sketched in black, a reverse composite of the being Sakura mere moments ago attempted to impale on Sashimasu. "But you are not me. It's a bit strange. Didn't you find it a bit odd that you have a separate personality hosted within yourself? I'm not merely another identity, I am a separate self; that is the reason we are able to overcome Yamanaka techniques. And, during those psychological tests administered by the Intelligence Division, I was able to pass undetected. We are more than one person."
Sakura blinks at the explanation, thunderstruck. "So how exactly does that work?"
"It began, as most things do, with Kaguya," Inner says, taking a seat and gesturing for Sakura to do the same. "I have her memories of a time long forgotten. It's…strange, but my mind worked differently then. I was not human nor did I want to be human; I was Ōtsutsuki.
"I came to this planet as the guardian of the God Tree here. I was tasked with cultivating the tree; taking the fruit once it consumed all the energy and life of this world. However, I became…intrigued with the inhabitants of this planet. Tenji was the first being to ever make me laugh. I was entertained by the life forms of this planet and I did not want my fun to end. I consumed the chakra fruit selfishly because humans amused me."
"And you became the Mother of Chakra," Sakura murmurs.
"Indeed," Inner, Kaguya, replies with a regal nod of her head. "The thing about that fruit though is that it granted me absolute power. I alone held all the power harvested from this planet. It was intoxicating, thrilling in a way I'd never experienced. Looking back, I can see that my emotive states prior to eating the fruit were blunted and suppressed, a side effect of being Ōtsutsuki. After eating the fruit though, everything was amplified, both my virtues and my vices."
Kaguya's face twists as she recalls her actions. "When I fell pregnant, I was excited to be a parent. There was something enthralling about the idea of creating something out of nothing. All the chakra in the world cannot do that, techniques draw on energy already existing, but childbirth creates from nothing. I thought it magical. That all changed when I gave birth."
Kaguya swallows, expression turning pained. "I was not a good mother, I can see that now. I felt entitled to my children, seeing them as extensions of my will rather than their own independent beings. My alien mindset combined with the thrall of chakra proved damning. My selfishness fractured my chance at a family and a life of peace.
"When I realized that Hagoromo and Hamura possessed chakra; that, in fact, they'd siphoned portions of my chakra from me by the very nature of their heritage, I became enraged. As I said, the exposure to chakra heightened all experiences of emotion. I returned to the God Tree where it all began, combining with it to reclaim what I thought was mine."
"You became Jūbi," Sakura says, keeping condemnation out of her voice. She tries to understand Kaguya's thought processes, but finds that she cannot. It is beyond her comprehension.
"I did," Kaguya replies. "And in doing so, I damned myself. See, I was made up of far too many parts: my Ōtsutsuki heritage, my actual sense of self, my sheer Will, those parts of me defined by the chakra fruit, and now the God Tree itself. It was too much for one body, even the body of Jūbi to take. In becoming Jūbi I fractured.
"Jūbi became an amalgamation of the strength and rage given me by the chakra fruit and the God Tree as well as a drive to destroy that was purely Ōtsutsuki. My Will coalesced into Black Zetsu. My sense of self was, at this point, reduced to a mere kernel and set adrift, not strong enough to take its own shape," Kaguya sighs. "You know already the tale of Jūbi and the origin of jinchūriki."
"So you are this sense of self?" Sakura asks, eying Kaguya uneasily.
"Yes," she replies. "I drifted endlessly for so long. I was so tired and so weak that it took centuries for me to gather myself together in a coherent way. I was still not strong enough to become an entity all my own as Black Zetsu was. So, I attached myself to an infant."
"Me," Sakura says, giving Kaguya a once-over. "Even before Jūbi, you were not a good person." Sakura catches the slight grimace that crosses Kaguya's face. "So why were you so supportive of me?"
"I grew up alongside you," Kaguya says, eyes filling with such pride and affection that it makes Sakura's chest hurt. "For the first time, I understood what it meant to be human. And Sakura, it is an absolutely lovely thing. And you are one of the loveliest humans there is. I experienced the range of emotions you experienced and realized how little I understood or felt as an Ōtsutsuki."
Kaguya's lips pull down in pain. "I experienced firsthand what it is to suffer. When I took on the poison that took your leg—Sakura, until that point, I had never truly experienced pain. Not in a way that could cause one to beg for the release of death. In taking the brunt of that pain and in experiencing your other sufferings alongside you, I have learned what it is to be the victim, the oppressed, the survivor. Until that point, I had always been the one dealing such suffering and I never once questioned it, because all were below me. I did not understand the true tragedy of loss, but I mourned all those who've fallen alongside you: Haku, Mitsubachi, Nagato, Hiruzen. You taught me the triumphs and tragedies of humanity.
"I learned what it is to feel joy and love, truly love. Sakura, you are made of love. You offer it to those around you so freely and it changed something in me at a fundamental level. As fragmented as I am, this is the most whole I have ever been in any incarnation. Sakura, you've given me the chance to be human and I can never thank you enough for that."
Sakura's view of Kaguya blurs as tears streak down her face. She's cried so much in the past hour, but she does not begrudge herself this. Instead, she just wipes them away as they fall and says, "So what do we do now? Kaguya, the one outside, wishes to become Jūbi once more. Black Zetsu took the Akatsuki rings I had, I'm guessing he gathered them all. And, like a fool, I called a Kage Summit and led the jinchūriki here like lambs to the slaughtering stable. I basically offered reincarnation and world domination to her on a platter."
"She would have figured out another way, even if a Kage Summit was not called," Kaguya says. "She—I am a stubborn and persistent individual. My guess is that this has been in motion ever since Jūbi fell."
"She'll destroy everything," Sakura says. "Destroy everyone. How do we stop her?"
"Allow me to merge with her," Kaguya says, stout and resolute. "I can give her pause; allow someone to strike her and end her."
Sakura stares up at Kaguya and says simply, "I'll strike her."
"You may not walk away from this fight," Kaguya, says, subdued. Her eyes are filled with a weighty sadness.
"You aren't walking away from this fight. You will either die or be suppressed by Kaguya," Sakura replies, throat constricting. "How can I allow you to make such a sacrifice if I am unprepared to do the same?"
"I made my choices," Kaguya says, lips twisting bitterly. "The moment I bit into the chakra fruit I was living on borrowed time. It is time for me to stop delaying the inevitable. I've caused countless lifetimes of suffering and death with my poor decisions. You do not have to take the fall for me."
"I won't let you shoulder this burden alone," Sakura says, taking her hand and squeezing. "You'd do—" She thinks about her leg. "You've done the same for me. It'll take the both of us to fight."
Kaguya nods, cupping Sakura's cheek. "You've grown so strong, my lion heart. I am so proud to know you."
"Thank you," Sakura says, grasping Kaguya's hand hard to bolster herself. "Let's do this."
Still, Kaguya hesitates.
"If you survive this…I do not think you'll be able to see Ashura and Indra any longer. It was my influence that allowed it. As a spirit myself, my ability to see my ilk leaked over to you. With me gone…" Kaguya trails off.
Sakura swallows against the burning, tight sensation in her throat. She's consigned herself unto death; as a ninja, it is the simplest and most difficult of assignments. She completed it as a genin when she faced off with Gaara. Death does not bother her, she greets it as, well, perhaps not a friend, but as an uneasy acquaintance.
But to live on, without the presences of Indra and Ashura…Sakura's mind flashes to Ashura's brash gallantry, Indra's quiet, steady regard, soft-spoken stories around a fire, moments of breathless, heaving laughter and heartbreaking sobs and gentle, quiet tranquility. She thinks of Indra's mellow, beatific smiles and Ashura's unrestrained, wild grins. Ashura is her sun, keeping her warm and holding her gaze to the sky. Indra is her gravity, keeping her grounded and offering a solid shelter. Together they center her, balance her.
Who is Haruno Sakura without Ōtsutsuki Indra and Ōtsutsuki Ashura?
Does she even want to continue to be Haruno Sakura without them?
She contemplates this second darker and morbid question for scant seconds before coming to her answer.
Yes. She wants to live, despite the sacrifices, despite the loss of her leg and the likelihood of losing Ashura and Indra. She has yet to fulfill her dream; yet to witness her friends fulfill theirs. And she knows that Indra and Ashura want her to live, regardless of whether she can see them or not.
Losing them will be so much worse than losing her leg; a visceral phantom ache that will never fade, but Sakura knows what is at stake.
Kaguya, Inner, the entity that has been with her the longest of all, watches her with empathy.
Sakura bites her lip until it stops quivering, balling her hand into a fist. "I am ready," she says, eyes flashing.
If it is the last thing she does, and it may very well be, Sakura will spell Kaguya's doom, even if it means her own.
Hell hath no fury like a woman ready to lose everything, even herself.
Sakura opens her eyes, tightening her grip on Sashimasu. Around her, the world is still and silent, there is only her and Kaguya. She does not know the fates of her enemies, of her friends, of Indra or Ashura, but she cannot concern herself with those thoughts and doubts.
She feels empty, lesser in some way. She knows she is still a whole person, but she is used to sharing her body with another presence. There is a lightness where Inner Sakura used to be.
"How are you still standing?" Kaguya snarls, face twisting into a grotesque pantomime of Inner Sakura's. She has none of Inner Sakura's humanity. Her face slackens before turning to a smirk. "No matter, you won't be for much longer. Enjoy your last moments, human, before you submit to what you were always meant to be."
Sakura ignores her words and focuses on Kaguya's movements, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet. She waits to strike, watching for a sign.
She does not have to wait long.
Kaguya rears back, bringing a hand up to her third eye. "What?" she says, voice cracking in a volatile combination of fear and rage. "It can't be—how?" Her hands fall away from her face, listless at her sides. "Sakura, now!"
Sakura is already in motion, dredging up all of the strength she has left within herself for this one last attack. She knows already that this is her final move, she has nothing left in her beyond this. Sashimasu's blade flares bright green with the force of Sakura's resolve.
Her movements are a bit awkward with the damage done to her prosthetic by Orochimaru, but she throws herself forward. Sakura raises Sashimasu above her head, slashing down at Kaguya. Kaguya remains still, staring up at her with the slightest of smiles.
Sakura doesn't hesitate, even as bile and tears threaten to overtake her.
She's about to kill her oldest friend, her closest confidant.
And she cannot bring herself to regret it, not with all that is at stake.
Sashimasu connects with Kaguya's collarbone and Sakura jerks the naginata to the side, dragging it through flesh and sinew. She pushes chakra through her prosthetic, releasing the knife positioned within the foot section of the prosthetic. She presses her foot along the tendons behind Kaguya's knees, slicing through them. Kaguya slumps to the ground, held up only by Sashimasu lodged in her, and winces, but she doesn't cry out, merely looking up into Sakura's face, affection shining in her eyes.
Saline drips down Sakura's face, dropping in fat tears onto Kaguya's face. Kaguya regards her warmly, no pain showing in any of her three eyes. She reaches out with a shaky hand, pressing a hand to Sashimasu. It is lodged beneath her collarbone.
Sakura didn't even realize that she stopped moving Sashimasu until Kaguya touches it.
"Finish it, lion heart," Kaguya says wetly, before breaking into a coughing fit that ends in her spitting up blood. "I know it's hard. I know…I know you're tired. Please, finish it and live well."
"I'm sorry, Inner," Sakura says, chest heavy with the weight of she's about to do.
"Don't apologize," Kaguya says, wrapping her other hand around the shaft of the naginata. "Now end what I began centuries ago."
Sakura nods, levering Sashimasu down toward Kaguya's heart. Her arms ache with the exertion of it, but she continues to cut, feeling as she does so the way that Kaguya's chakra paths break and fall apart with every cut.
Sakura can feel Kaguya dying, Inner keeping her body from healing.
It is barely more than a gurgle, but Kaguya manages to force out the words, "Halcyon days."
Sakura nods, yanking Sashimasu free with a sickening squelch and, with only the briefest of hesitations, spears Kaguya through her third eye.
Sakura screams herself hoarse and voiceless at the unfairness of it all, the burden she never wanted to take on but was forced to shoulder because there was no one else.
Just her.
Kaguya falls back, hitting the ground still coated in White Zetsus. The shimmery barrier surrounding the area begins to come down and the White Zetsus begin to dematerialize, falling apart without a Will to guide them. And, as the White Zetsus disappear, the people who were absorbed reappear, no worse for the wear.
But Sakura is oblivious to all of this.
For Sakura has overextended herself in all ways. Her prosthetic collapses from beneath her, unable to support her weight after all of the damage it has taken. Sakura pitches forward, crumpling over Kaguya. Sakura blinks blearily, feeling the warmth that still lingers in Kaguya's dead body. Her gaze blurs with tears and Sakura shuts her eyes, falling into the welcoming dark abyss.
Maybe now she'll dream of those she lost.
Sakura wakes in a makeshift cot, surrounded by a cacophony of sounds. As overwhelming as it is, Sakura is glad of it, remembering all too well the quiet that came of the White Zetsus and Kaguya.
Kaguya.
Sakura lifts her hands, pressing them hard against her aching eyes. She aches with a loss greater than the phantom pains that plague her leg, as she is reminded of Sarutobi-sensei and Inner's sacrifices. She isn't even sure if anyone else was lost in the war or even if the war is still going on.
Sakura sits upright at that thought, eyes darting around the room. She's in a tent filled with cots and medical equipment, the scent of antiseptic disinfection heavy in the air. There are numerous other patients filling the beds and medic-nins bring even more in, all in a flurry of motion.
She shifts the rough blanket off of herself, making to stand. She cannot bear to lie about, useless and inactive, not with all the thoughts crowding her head. Sakura pauses when she realizes that she has no prosthetic on.
Sakura casts her gaze around the area, grabbing the crutch left for her, leveraging herself off of the cot. She takes a look at all of the people in the tent, alive and hale but no one she really recognizes outside of acquaintanceship, before slipping out the back.
The tent, it turns out, is set up in the middle of what appears to be a relief camp. Sakura sees people from all of the shinobi nations and even some from Oto moving around with purpose. She isn't sure how long she's been out, though it is currently approaching late evening, but she doubts it has been long.
After all, they appear to still be sorting the alive from the dead.
Sakura swallows, looking at the shadowy fallen, before casting her gaze away. She cannot bear the weight of more loss, not right now. Later, once she's reconciled the events that just transpired, she'll be able to do so. But not now.
She turns, leaving the camp grounds. No one notices or stops her, a sentry system has yet to be organized and posted. Everyone is just relieved to be alive and free of the war.
Sakura moves further and further away from everyone, isolating herself so she can ruminate.
Ashura and Indra weren't waiting for her when she woke up.
She understands her teammates not being present, hell, they might not even know where she is, but she is—was?—Indra and Ashura's anchor. They can find her anywhere.
If they weren't there when she woke, they weren't around at all.
Sakura cannot feel their presences, not the way she could when Inner was still a part of her. They, like Inner, are cleaved from her.
Forever.
Sakura ducks her head, biting her lip. She scouts out the area around her, finding a large rock she can perch herself on. She navigates to it expertly, even as her crutch skitters across the rock. Sakura seats herself carefully and lies on her back, looking up at the sky.
The stars are especially bright and clear, a reminder to Sakura of the beauty of the world, even in the midst of the horrors of war. The stars begin to blur, becoming abstract, beautiful swirls as Sakura begins to cry.
Her chest heaves with the force of her sobbing and she curls in on herself. Sakura turns to her side as phlegm clogs her nose and throat, coughing and hiccuping as she continues to cry.
She doesn't want to move, doesn't want think. She just wants to look at the stars and just be.
Sakura's glad that she's alive, she doesn't regret surviving, but she mourns those no longer with her; those she'll never see again.
At least, not in this lifetime.
"Sakura," Indra says.
"C'mon Sakura," Ashura says.
"No," she moans, voice hoarse and raw. "I'm dreaming."
"No you aren't," Indra says.
"Yes, I am," Sakura replies.
She yelps as she is suddenly lifted from the rock and pulled to someone's chest.
Sakura opens her eyes, looking up into Ashura's concerned face. "Ashura," she whispers, reaching out and touching his face. "You're warm."
His eyes crinkle upward with happiness as he laughs, full and boisterous and alive.
Sakura presses her ear against his chest, marveling at the strong beat emanating from his heart.
She scrambles out of his arms, looking between him and Indra, agog and awestruck.
"How are you here? Alive?" she asks.
Ashura shrugs, grinning.
Indra steps forward, running his fingers gently along the tear tracks that leave her face feeling raw. With all the crying she's done recently, she's a bit surprised the tear tracks haven't permanently etched themselves on her skin. "We're not sure how we came to be here," he says, keeping hold of her face. He seems just as awed as she is. "We awoke, human and whole, a little way away from where you battled Kaguya."
"Inner," Sakura says, closing her eyes. "She must have done something. She said I wouldn't be able to see your spirit forms anymore…"
"And now you don't have to," Ashura says, grabbing one of her hands. "We're here in the flesh."
Sakura glances between them, heart overflowing with love. They're here, fully and wholly with her. "I love you," she says. "You're my best friends in all the world. I wasn't sure how I was going to live without you but I was going to try. It would've broken something in me, maybe even killed me, but I would've tried. But now?"
She looks between them, unable to keep a huge smile from her face. She doesn't know if she'll ever stop smiling. The pain is still there, still weighty, but it is held at bay by her joy.
Sakura leans in close to Indra (she knows that he still has insecurities about coming second and being overlooked and she knows that Ashura won't mind), looping her arms around his neck. She goes up on her toes, smiling when Indra's hands settle at her waist. Sakura presses in close, feeling his quick intake of breath as her lips cover his. She marvels at his warmth and his taste, savoring him and his embrace.
Sakura pulls back after several long, indulgent minutes, looking up into Indra's flushed face and swollen lips. His smile is near angelic as he strums his thumb across her lips.
"I love you too," Indra says. "Sakura, you've been the catalyst of change in my life. All that I am now, all of my growth, started with you. You are the most wonderful person I've ever known and I look forward to every moment of our future together." His eyes go beyond her and his smile turns amused. "I believe that someone else has something to say to you."
Indra spins her around carefully keeping her balanced even as he gives the turn a flourish. Sakura giggles as Ashura catches her, giving her his most brash, overwhelming grin that indicates just how nervous he is.
"Fancy seeing you here," Ashura says, leaning over her, hands pressing against her waist. He lifts her up, perching her foot atop his.
"Uh huh," Sakura says, amused by his antics. "So strange."
He leaves one hand at her waist, moving the other to clasp her hand. He begins to dance with her, grin softening to a smile. "Sakura, I cannot believe how lucky we were to ever cross paths with you. So much of our existences was spent in limbo, a purgatory of sorts. And then you barreled into our lives, changing everything. You filled our world with color; made us understand the joys of living. We squandered our lives in our anger and pride; it took dying for us to even begin to understand what it means to live. I cannot thank you enough for that."
Sakura rolls up onto her toes, slotting her mouth across his. Ashura stops dancing, releasing her hand and pressing his hand to the back of her head as he draws her close. He lifts her clear off her foot, holding her close. It is so good to be held like this, to feel the strong beat of Ashura's heart beneath her fingertips.
They're alive!
When they part, both of them are panting. Ashura sets her down gently.
Sakura turns, grabbing Indra's hand in one of hers and Ashura's in the other. She pulls them down with her into a seated position. They sit closely together, all pressed together, reveling in the fact that all three of them are alive.
"So, you stopped Kaguya," Ashura says, curling his fingers through her loose hair. "What now?"
Sakura looks at the two of them for a long moment, drinking them in. Then, she redirects her gaze to the stars, twinkling down upon them. Sakura feels warm and whole. She's still more than a little lost, still mourning losses, but she knows now that she'll be fine.
Sakura has Indra and Ashura; she has her home.
"I don't know," Sakura replies honestly. "We'll figure it out together."
Notes: And there you have it! The end of an era. This story has been there for 2 degrees, 3 years of my life, and 4 moves. This story has grown alongside me and it is amazing to see how the progress that I've made in my writing. It feels good to be at this point and I want to say thank you to you all for reading.
All that's left is the epilogue wrapping up all the loose ends and seeing the aftermath of the war.
Thank you all for joining me in this adventure and here's hoping for many, many more!