It had been a long while since Sakura had called upon her inner self's…services. In her youth, she had assumed that shadow version of herself was just a way for her to channel her inner thoughts and feelings in a healthy and nondestructive way. Back then she had been so concerned with impressing Sasuke that something inside of her head developed, something that was not quite herself and yet entirely herself, to save face in front of him.
But it was nothing rare of shinobi to be two-faced, something she had been well aware of back then, what she had not realized, however, was the existence of a secondary personality existing within the deepest crevices of her mind wasn't normal.
Really, Sakura hadn't thought much about her inner self back then, just brushing it off as another completely average branch of her personality, a physical personification of the person she truly wanted to be, but couldn't. Looking back on it, her dismissive approach to the other person inside her brain was astounding.
Well, it's not as though she didn't start singing a different tune after the first chuunin exams. After expelling Ino from her mind through what, at the time, had seemed sheer force of will, Sakura started looking into her psyche a bit more frequently.
One did not simply push a Yamanaka out of their mind through willpower. It just did not happen. After the invasion of Suna and Oto, her ability to push extremities out of her mind due to something not quite so natural lurking in her head had been pushed under the rug. Not that the proctors had ever known that was how she'd managed to do it and Ino hadn't seemed overly concerned about it.
But Sakura was, because she knew she hadn't just spooked her friend out of her mind using a dirty mind trick like her blonde friend assumed. Inner was something else, something unexplainable even through research and though Sakura had searched hard for any evidence of ANY bloodline limit similar to this, she came up short.
First off, there was only so much she could research on the topic in general, but more importantly with the few clan bloodlines that did have something similar, it would've been impossible for her to have any relation with them whatsoever.
So Inner was something different and unexplainable that Sakura had eventually given up on trying finding out about. The need for her inner had all but disappeared in the latter few years of her life. For one thing, she'd grown more honest with herself so inner had stopped doing it for her. Secondly, nobody was shoving themselves into her brain and thus leading her inner self to force them out.
That didn't mean it disappeared though. Sakura was always so very aware of her inner self just waiting, somewhere just out of the reaches of conversation, to become necessary again. Had Sakura tried, she knew she would've reached her inner self with ease should she need to, not that her inner was hiding either.
It didn't take much exploration of her mind for Sakura to find the shadow version of herself, huge and annoying as ever, popping right before her very eyes, obnoxious kanji for 'inner' painted down her forehead.
Well, well, well, look whose come crawling back for help?
Hardly impressed after so many years away from her Inner, Sakura replied, Crawling back? You make it sound like I banished you in here.
Didn't you? But her Inner's face softened, alerting Sakura to the fact that her Inner was just joking. Just messing around. I could've come out whenever I wanted. Can't say I'm thrilled about that guy you've gotten squeezed in here, though. Ignore me for years, sure, but as soon as a hot guy comes along you're all over him. Typical.
To be fair, I didn't know what Mizuru looked like until recently.
He had a hot guy voice! Anyways, you wouldn't call about me for just anything, so what's this about? Want me to get rid of him for you? I'm definitely stronger than him so I know I can do it.
No, I sort of like him in a way. I actually want you to find out where the other Sakura's personality is in this mess. You know my head better than anyone else and Mizuru can't leave this place on his own.
Yeah, trust me, I've noticed. If it wasn't for me, when your body merged with the other Sakura's, then you wouldn't have been able to hear him either.
So you were the reason we were able to communicate?
Hardly, I would've exterminated him like the little pest he is if he hadn't been in contact with you. It's because you're hyper aware and used to other personalities that you were able to communicate.
I see…so what about the other Sakura's personality? Where did she go?
Well, this sort of technique…it's weird. It's DIFFERENT from jutsu, but it's really similar. The entire point of this sort of technique is for the other personality to be completely obliterated, but I think your little friend played a hand in saving her from that fate.
Really? So you can find her?
Technically speaking, that's a yes, but there's no telling what she'll be like after spending so much time in there…
In there…?
The brain stem, dummy. Of course it's an important part of the brain, but it's not exactly the most complicated part. I can't imagine existence in there would've been pleasant. But…I need to warn you. If I pull her out of there, she's not gonna last long. You already have me and that guy in here, all together that makes 4 of us, and after all that time she spent in there's she gonna be really weak. She's going to fade away after a couple of moments. Like I said, this technique is meant so that one of the personalities gets obliterated.
One of the personalities…so it doesn't have to be her?
If you're suggesting I take one for the team, then that's not happening. If I go down, then so do you and vice versa so there's none of that martyr bullshit. You're the stronger personality, so you're the one who gets to live. It's that simple.
Still…
What about that guy, is what you're thinking? Well, he's welcome to join her wherever she goes.
But-!
Don't give me that. He had his chance to live and he blew it by coming back here, just like what'll happen to us if you go back to Konoha once all of this is over. Personally, I think he sort of wants to die, but he can't. I can help…move them along. Then at least they'll be together, right?
I guess so, but I don't feel right just deciding for them.
Good thing you're not the one deciding then, right?
And just like that, her consciousness had slipped into unreal levels of detail. It was like her entire personality had retracted into her brain. Sakura glanced down at her hands, she had some sort of physical body, but it was ethereal. Her entire body shimmered softly under the surreal pink and purple stars glittering just above her head. No doubt work of her inner. She had to appreciate that she was donned in full kunoichi gear, though.
But then for the first time, she'd seen him face to face and Sakura's heart almost gave out.
Standing across from her, looking just as surprised, was Mizuru and boy did he look different from that one memory he'd showed her. Grown up. Bigger, taller, but certainly not happier.
His black eyes, which had been full of mischief in the memory, were glazed over and hardened from the things he'd seen. Sakura tried not to compare her own experiences to his. Who could define trauma?
"Sakura…" he muttered. He looked tired, but almost hopeful by her presence. "This is welcome company."
"I guess it must've been lonely. Not getting to see what I really look like, huh?" Sakura replied. She tried to ignore the harsh pain in her stomach caused by her inner's suspect disappearance. Did her inner really intend to choose whether the other Sakura lived or not?
He almost looked amused.
"Of course I know what you look like, but…" he trailed off. "I've never seen clothes like those, and what's with the weird diamond?"
"Diamond?" Sakura replied. Her fingers instinctively pressed against her forehead. He couldn't be talking about…?
Could he?
"You don't know?" Mizuru replied, looking unimpressed.
"Of course I know! It's just…" Sakura muttered. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering this isn't a physical form, but this seal shouldn't have formed yet…I haven't recovered all my chakra yet either so why…?
"Oh so it's a chakra thing," Mizuru rolled his eyes. "I keep telling you not to mess with that, but some people just don't listen."
Sakura wanted to retort, but she had more pressing concerns to worry about, "So you suppressed the other personality so she could survive?"
Mizuru flinched slightly, but maintained his composure, "You don't understand…I wasn't ready yet."
"Are you ready now?" Sakura asked. Mizuru caught her eye and she knew he was aware of the situation. His answer didn't mean much now, but it would still be nice to hear it.
"I don't know," Mizuru replied.
"My…er, I can help you go, if you want?" Sakura offered. She hadn't expected him to take her offer seriously, but his head snapped up and his eyes went wide with hope and excitement.
"You can get me out of here?!" he asked.
"Well, getting out would be pushing it. I don't know where you'll go, if you'll move on, or what," Sakura responded.
Mizuru was quiet, his eyes downcast as he considered his options. Sakura felt almost saddened by his indecision, but she couldn't say she didn't understand. He'd been stuck in there for years, first watching the other Sakura suffer, and then watching as the one person he cherished most was nearly killed because she'd been careless in her fight with Sasuke and accidentally opened the door to that world at all.
He could finally leave, and in the arms of his beloved no less.
Inner Sakura appeared, big, wide grin on her face, and slammed a hand down on Mizuru's back. He flinched under her hand, even though he technically shouldn't have been able to feel physical pain. Immediately Mizuru recoiled away from her Inner Self, glowering in terror and anger.
"You got THAT involved?" he exclaimed. "I told you how I felt about that demon. She's the one who's going to get rid of me, isn't she?"
"It's not like that, Mizuru," Sakura tried to calm him down. "I know you two didn't have the best start, but Inner isn't bad."
"Yeah, just trying to kill me," Mizuru rolled his eyes.
"Don't act all high and mighty," Inner Sakura rolled her eyes. "You've been dead for a long time. You don't have any place treating us like we're the bad guy. Besides, you wanted to go!"
Mizuru narrowed his eyes, "You are the bad guy. If you hadn't come here, my girlfriend would still be alive. And I'm not leaving until I know my Sakura's body will be taken care of and not taken for granted!"
"Yeah, but you wouldn't be," Inner Sakura snapped right back. Mizuru just glared at her, hatred bleeding into his eyes.
"Just stop it already!" Sakura intervened. "I'm sorry, Mizuru, I didn't mean to come in here and kill the other Sakura. I didn't know what my actions would result in. I wouldn't have come here if I'd known I would just be killing someone completely innocent by doing so."
He still looked angry, but his shoulders relaxed. He glanced away, his jaw clenching and unclenching.
"Fine," Mizuru breathed. "I don't mind leaving, I guess, as long as my girlfriend isn't harmed."
Sakura prepared to promise him that, but before she could, Inner Sakura stepped in, looking nervous, "Actually...she's going to have to go too."
"What?!" Mizuru snapped, suddenly furious again. "Why?! We can just leave her in the brainstem, can't we?"
Inner whistled, "Putting her in such a basic part of the brain was a smart move, I'll give you that. The effects of this, er, whatever it is work a lot more slowly there, but the effects are still catching up to her. Her personality is slowly getting degraded."
"What...?" Mizuru's eyes widened in shock. "So she's going to die either way? Why did this have to happen? She didn't deserve this..."
"The way I see it, you've got two choices, let me extract her now and say your goodbyes or let her fade away before you see her again. I'll let you choose whether or not you want to stay or not, too," Inner Sakura explained.
Mizuru took a deep breath, "So that's how it is, huh? I guess...I'd rather say my goodbyes."
"What about you?" Sakura asked. "Are you going to stay or leave?"
Mizuru was silent, "I'll...decide when she gets here."
Inner Sakura nodded, "Gotcha, this'll take a while because there's really not that much left of her and I don't want to destroy her before you can say goodbye."
Inner Sakura disappeared in a flurry of black cherry blossom petals, how dramatic and vain. Sakura looked at Mizuru.
"I'm sorry," she said.
He just looked past her, as though hoping for something that wouldn't come. Sakura looked away, towards the glittering pink and purple stars in her mind and quietly wondering how this was even possible. A projection of image courtesy of her Inner? If she ever got the opportunity, this would be a great research opportunity. Sakura's eyes shifted to a flurry of tiny glistening black and white orbs just behind Mizuru. She narrowed her eyes, shifting her body to get a better look at it. They were moving at an alarming rate, spinning precariously, shooting out tiny beams occasionally, similar to solar flares.
It would probably be a long time before she would get to explore her own mind again, so she needed to make good use of it. It really was strange, though. These sorts of things didn't exist in normal people's brains, or at least they shouldn't. Maybe she really was crazy and maybe she really should've taken Tsunade up on her offer to sift through her mind with chakra.
Too late now.
Stepping around Mizuru, Sakura approached the orbs with trepidation, but intrigue. It felt almost cool the closer she got, she glanced over to Mizuru who was looking at her in confusion, but interest. Her eyes scanned over all of them, before landing on one in particular. They all felt incredibly familiar, but this one…was recent, whatever that meant. Throwing caution to the wind, Sakura shoved her fingers into the freezing ball and almost immediately after, she was thrown back a couple feet, knocking into Mizuru and sending the both of them toppling to the ground.
"Shit, hell, what was that?" Mizuru grunted under her weight, but Mizuru suddenly found that there was nothing on top of him anymore. Just what was going on? He looked up to see two red eyes swirling with madness and something else. Snow surrounded him on all sides, and there was a distinctive chill. He glanced down at his hands to confirm what he already feared and flinched when he noticed two small, pale, scarred hands meet his gaze. Mizuru swallowed hard. So this was it. He was going to relive one of Sakura's memories. Taking a deep breath, he quietly receded, content to just watch the scene through her eyes.
Her fists clenched and her mouth opened, "So this is where you've been hiding, Sasuke-kun."
The black-haired boy took a moment to respond, "I'm surprised you made it this far."
"Shut up," she snapped. "You don't get to treat me like I'm just some weakling."
Sasuke smirked, "Aren't you, though?"
"Like you'd know," she laughed. "You haven't seen me in over a year. You don't know how far I've come since then."
"Hn, what do you want?" he asked.
"Where's Naruto?" Sakura responded. Sasuke didn't say anything, just raising an eyebrow in consideration. "I asked you where's Naruto."
"I didn't kill him yet, if that's what you're asking," Sasuke explained.
Sakura let out a humorless snort, "Right, because one Uzumaki was enough for you."
Sasuke just glared at her.
"I'm sure you know something. Naruto would never just let you go. If you refuse to cooperate, I'll have to hurt you," Sakura stated, her chest burning painfully.
Sasuke smirked, his head tilting to the side, "I don't believe you can."
"I will if you don't tell me! It's you he went chasing after, anyway," Sakura exclaimed.
"Fine," Sasuke replied and unsheathed his katana. "Let's see if you're worth killing."
Sakura's face hardened and she muttered, "Please don't make me hurt you, Sasuke-kun."
Inevitably, Sasuke was the one who made the first move. She flinched when started sprinting towards her. She barely had enough time to dodge when he aimed his sword towards her. That was one area he'd always have her beat. Speed. But unlike him, she triumphed in brute strength. Without wasting a second, Sakura aimed a chakra-infused punch towards Sasuke's head. He managed to dodge, clearly knowing better than to attempt blocking.
He backed up a couple steps, sharingan already activated. A few years back, before everything went completely wrong, Sakura knew he would've waited to activate his sharingan until he considered his opponent an actual threat. Sasuke had always made it abundantly clear he held no respect for her capabilities and she knew for a fact that couldn't have changed after one missed punch. No. Sasuke just wanted to kill her as quickly as possible.
She avoided his gaze, taking a few more steps back. Genjutsu wouldn't work on him. Unfortunate, considering it was one of her best skills, but she'd make do without it. Sasuke came at her again, this time feinting a punch but kicking her in the chest at the last moment. Sasuke wasn't nearly as strong as her, nor could he use her infamous chakra infused attacks, but she still skidded along the ground, her arms tingling under the chilled snow. She groaned lightly and noted Sasuke with blade in hand, fully prepared to skewer her. Sakura had to hop to her feet and toss an exploding tag Sasuke's way to get him away from her.
Sakura licked her lips and tasted blood, wincing a bit; that was definitely not promising. She could tell immediately that Sasuke's kick hadn't caused too much internal damage, but it was enough for her to have to use the mystical palm technique to staunch the internal bleeding.
She refused to meet Sasuke's eyes. Any direct eye contact and, well, this fight would be over. Sakura grabbed two kunai and swung them in Sasuke's direction. She knew it'd miss, who was she kidding? Not even Tenten, Konoha's own weapon's mistress, could've offed Sasuke with only a kunai. Probably couldn't have offed him at all, actually, and Sakura was having serious doubts that she could either, for that matter.
"Come on," Sakura growled under her breath as she hastily dodged slices from Sasuke's katana. Why couldn't her seal just finish already? Then she'd be essentially immortal and Sasuke couldn't do anything to hurt her. Sasuke's sword swung over her head, and she was forced to duck, but in the process she shot her leg out to sweep Sasuke's feet out from under him.
He stumbled slightly, and Sakura took the opportunity to shove her chakra infused palm upward in an effort to shatter some bone in his body. But the attack was too unfocused and Sasuke was too quick. He dodged, giving them a few feet of space, and Sakura panted heavily, glaring at her old teammate. Why was he doing this? Going all out? Not cooperating?
"Why'd you kill Uzumaki-chan?" Sakura asked as soon she felt comfortable speaking again. "I know why you killed Juugo-san and Hozuki-san, they weren't listening to your every word anymore. But why Uzumaki-chan, she would've followed you to the end of the earth?"
"I don't know why you're addressing them so respectfully. Team Taka betrayed me, so I had to kill them," Sasuke snapped. He looked like he was getting shaken up by her words and Sakura frowned.
"Betraying you how?" Sakura replied. "Wanting to go their own way in life? Finally standing up to you and trying to help you? Sasuke-kun, you've gone off the deep end and you need help. If you'd just listened to them, you could have be-"
"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled. "Don't pretend like you know anything about me!"
"But I do know about you, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed. She continued funneling chakra towards her seal, hoping desperately to finish it. "I know that you became completely unhinged after killing your brother and finding out the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. Then, after the war, after there was no enemy left to fight, you didn't have any idea what to do with yourself anymore and you kept falling deeper and deeper into despair. And I know it's not too late for you, Sasuke-kun. If you just tell me where Naruto is, then we can be a team again. We can get you hel-"
Sasuke came at her at such a speed, she couldn't dodge properly, and his sword sliced her side. Sakura let out a hiss when she realized it was coated in poison. In a haste, Sakura slammed her fist into the ground, forcing Sasuke to retreat, lest he be consumed by the exploding ice, dirt, and snow.
Sasuke glared at her as she lifted her glowing green hands to her wound. A supplementary level poison, not that Sakura expected much else from Sasuke. He never did seem to care that much about killing in subtle ways. That was one thing he and Naruto shared, the only difference being Naruto never laid a hand on anybody who didn't deserve it.
Her heart softened, and Sakura used her chakra to dissipate the poison immediately and close the wound as best she could without wasting too much chakra.
"So why Uzumaki-chan?" Sakura continued, heaving a massive piece of broken ice over her head, one that would be devastating if it hit the intended target. "She loved you, probably more than I ever did or could. So why'd you kill her? She wouldn't have left or betrayed you."
For once, Sakura actually saw Sasuke look regretful.
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Sasuke growled, "and you're lucky I wasn't using the chidori. I won't make that mistake again."
"It's okay, Sasuke-kun, you can trust me," Sakura attempted again and flung the ice chunk in Sasuke's direction. Quick enough to distract the Uchiha, but not enough to actually hit him. Sakura flash-stepped as close as she could get without endangering herself and shoved her chakra laden fist into his stomach. Sasuke flew through the air and if there was a single tree nearby, it certainly would've broken his flight and probably his spine. As it was, he arched through the air and hit the ground once, twice, before righting himself and sliding his feet in the ground to halt his stop.
Sasuke wheezed as he gripped his stomach, no doubt housing a few broken ribs, and Sakura smirked. At full power, she could've ripped through his chest, but she wasn't aiming to kill him. No, she had faith in Sasuke. He could be fixed and Naruto needed him.
"You bitch," he growled, clenching his sword tighter in his hand. Sakura swallowed hard as flash-stepped in front of her. No time to dodge, Sakura blocked using her forearm. His sword stopped upon hitting the bone, but Sasuke slid it out like her arm was made of butter and aimed for her head. Using her other arm, the same thing happened.
Sasuke was using enough force to push her back and Sakura couldn't dodge him quickly enough. She needed to heal her wounds, at least stave off the poison before it spread to her internal organs, where it really would be a problem.
Sakura arched her leg in an effort to kick Sasuke back enough to buy her some time, but he dodged and went straight back to aiming his swords to vital organs, her neck, or head, or just something that would kill her. Her arms were ribbons at this point and it would be a problem if she didn't do something soon.
"Why'd you kill Uzumaki-chan?" Sakura asked again.
"It was an accident!" Sasuke finally snapped, face contorted with rage. Sakura continued funneling her chakra towards her seal, hoping desperately that it would form already so she could use it. Sasuke didn't seem to want to elaborate any more than that, but Sakura already understood. He wasn't lying about it. He suddenly became calm, "Your death, however, won't be."
Sakura finally found her opening, throwing a smoke bomb between her and Sasuke. It was risky, using it so close, but it had the intended effect, and Sakura was able to slip away. She lifted her hands, glowing mint green and killing the poison coursing through her arms and closing the wounds. She was beginning to run dangerously low on chakra, most of it still pooling where her seal was supposed to have formed, and a smart person would've ran away and called it quits for the day.
She didn't have enough chakra to continue, and though her injuries weren't as severe as Sasuke's due to her ability to actually heal herself, she knew Sasuke still had immense amounts of chakra left and broken ribs or no broken ribs, he was going to take her on.
That would've been the perfect time to flee, take off when Sasuke was weakened and return back to Konoha to rest up before setting out again, but Sasuke still knew something about Naruto's disappearance and she still had faith that he could be fixed.
A lesson that Naruto had taught her, there was hope in everyone, and that was her downfall. Because only Naruto was the one capable of talking sense into raging psychopaths and misunderstood avengers. Only something Naruto could do.
The smoke dissipated and Sakura looked up. Two swirling tomoe of red captured her eyes and Sakura screamed.
Mizuru gasped when he opened his eyes to see he was back in Sakura's mind instead of whatever memory that had just replayed. He looked around, panicked. The memory had felt so vibrant, so real. So that was the reason Sasuke killed her? She had way too much faith in him, believing there was still hope for him. But what about that boy, Naruto? And who was Uzumaki-chan? Or Hozuki-san and Juugo-san? Why had Sasuke killed them and what was that about an Uchiha Massacre?
Sasuke had killed his brother?
Mizuru glanced over at Sakura, who seemed to be in a daze by his side, knees pulled up to her chest. There were tears pooled in her eyes, and she couldn't help but glance away, a burning sensation deep in the pit of her stomach.
"I'm guessing you saw the whole thing?" she laughed awkwardly, wiping away at the tears that just kept seeming to come back.
"Sakura…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"I've told you a lot about home, but…I'm guessing you must be confused about that, huh?" Sakura whispered.
"I am, but…" Mizuru frowned. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me about it."
"Thanks," Sakura replied. "It's just…there are a lot of things I regret in life. But my biggest is never finding out what happened to Naruto. I'm sure he's okay. H-He has to be, but it's the not knowing that gets me."
Mizuru patted her awkwardly on the back, "I'm sorry this happened. All of it."
"It's okay," Sakura smiled, a bit bittersweet. "It's weird, you know? Even after he killed me, I can't hate Sasuke. But I just never should've trusted him, I never should've tried to fight him, but…if I did, I should've taken it more seriously. I had the opportunity to kill him and I should've done it. He has a kill on sight issued on him, which is probably why Naruto left to go find him, but I was so stupid. I could've just killed him and then we never would've had to worry about him anymore and I'd still be alive, but I still believed in that bastard, and…"
"And you were worried Naruto would start to hate you, right?" Mizuru replied. Sakura nodded.
"It's stupid now in hindsight. Sasuke is completely insane, but if anyone could fix him, it'd be Naruto. I'd like to say that Naruto would choose me over Sasuke any day, the person that's been by his side since we were genin, but Sasuke and Naruto had a special bond. Not even I could hope to compete with that," Sakura sighed. "I shouldn't have worried about Naruto's feelings. If I hadn't hesitated, I wouldn't be here and the other Sakura would still be living her life."
Mizuru remained silent, staring straight ahead, "If it's worth anything, I forgive you."
"Yeah, of course it's worth something," Sakura sniffled. "I'm glad I got to meet you Mizuru, if it's worth anything…I think you should go with the other Sakura."
"That ready to get rid of me," Mizuru's voice was sad, but there was humor in his tone.
Sakura laughed, "Of course not. You've been a good friend to me throughout all of this, helping me even though you didn't have to. I'll miss you, but…you've been through a lot and I would understand if you wanted to move on."
"Thanks, Sakura," Mizuru replied.
They lapsed into silence, until Sakura finally asked, "Why are you so against my using chakra?"
Mizuru shrugged, "From the places I've been, nothing good comes with magic. It attracts disasters, and this isn't even a world that supports chakra."
Sakura raised an eyebrow, "There's a supernatural serial killer on the loose, and you seriously say that?"
"Yeah, and look what's been happening. Thousands of deaths and an international investigation. All I'm saying is that, well, something bad might happen if you keep using it," Mizuru explained.
"You may be right," Sakura admitted. More silence.
Then, finally, Inner Sakura reappeared with a Sakura shaped form in her arms. The other Sakura looked more or less the same as her, save the subtly curly hair and the freckles dotting her nose. The other Sakura, upon noticing Mizuru started making an unintelligible babbling sound and outstretching her arms towards him. Sakura sighed at the mental deterioration. Even if she could leave this body and let the other Sakura have it back, it quickly became clear that wouldn't be possible in her current state.
Sakura winced when she noticed the light purple hue around the other Sakura's form, crushing in on her. Whatever this technique was, it was trying to snuff her out as quickly as possible. Mizuru sprang forward, wrapping his arms around the other Sakura and burrowing his face in her hair.
Inner Sakura released the girl from her hold, and Mizuru gripped the girl tightly to his body. The other Sakura, though it did not seem like she could move much, swung her arms around Mizuru's neck and laid against him with a contented smile on her face. At least there was that, the other Sakura didn't have much left to her, but she seemed conscious enough to be aware of what was going on. Mizuru squeezed her tighter against him.
"I love you so much," he muttered, his voice cracking harshly.
"You'd better pick up the pace and decide if you're going too," Inner Sakura piped in. "She's got, like, a minute left, at best."
Mizuru let out a shaky breath and stared down at the girl in his arms. Wide, viridian eyes met his and Mizuru couldn't help but smile, "I'll go too."
Sakura grimaced, but grinned all the same, offering him a shaky wave goodbye, "I'll see you in the afterlife, Mizuru."
"Let's make that many years from now, okay?" Mizuru responded. Sakura laughed and shook her head, knowing full well she couldn't make any promises.
The other Sakura gurgled in his arms, but her words were quite clear, "Love you…glad…okay…"
Mizuru held her close, "I know…I'm glad we got to meet again."
Then the other Sakura turned her gaze to both Inner Sakura and Sakura and uttered out a quick, "Thanks."
Then, as though they'd never existed in the first place, Mizuru and the other Sakura disappeared.
Sakura released a shaky breath, and looked to Inner, "I'll be lonely without him. I got too used to having his advice."
Inner patted her on the back, "Hey, you've still got me!"
"Feel free to not give me advice, you big perv," Sakura snorted.
"Oi! I take great offense to that!" Inner snapped. "I'll always be here, Sakura…to protect us."
"I know," Sakura smiled. "I know."
"Well, now that that stick in the mud is gone, what do you say I finally release the rest of our chakra?" Inner chirped.
"What," Sakura ground out through her teeth, "are you talking about?"
"Duh, I'm the one that sealed our chakra, though you've been doing a great job at squeezing out little bit past the seal. I'm impressed, honestly, wouldn't expect anything less from me!" Inner exclaimed.
"Why the hell would you seal it in the first place?" Sakura nearly shouted.
"Whoa, chill out! I was just worried that Mizuru was going to try and use it to get rid of us!" Inner defended herself.
"He wouldn't do that!" Sakura shouted, but then paused. "I mean, I understand in the beginning, but after so much time passed, we could trust him."
"I've got no regrets," Inner shrugged. "But…he was right, you know. Having power like ours attracts danger, you sure you want it?"
Sakura nodded, "You heard that…anyway, I need it. In case Kira tries to kill someone or me, I need to know how he does it and I need to examine those eyes."
Inner sighed, "I guess you're right. I'll unseal it right away…well, better bring you back to consciousness. I doubt you want to spend the rest of your life in here with me."
Before Sakura could say anything, she opened her eyes, groaning at the feeling of foamy saliva dribbling down her chin and the blood gurgling past her lips. A seizure, most likely, and she'd bitten straight through her tongue. It had to have happened when she'd relived that horrible memory…
But…at least one good thing came out of all of that. The familiar sensation of chakra burning in the pit of her stomach assaulted her and she could've cried from how absolutely amazing it felt. Sakura flickered through her hand signs and lifted her chakra to her burning mouth, but she didn't feel any happiness at the skin mending back together.
Mizuru was gone now. Her one true friend in this new world, the only person who knew everything and understood her. There was no one left to help her, to confide in.
How could she be happy about any of this? Her mouth tasted bitter and Sakura wiped away the saliva from her face and burrowed her face in her pillow. She groaned. How could she explain this? No...why shouldn't she?
With her chakra back, maybe it was time to explain to L everything…maybe it was time to trust him with just a little bit of truth. Just maybe.
…
It's finally happened. I finished this chapter. Good lord was this one a mess. I must've gone through three or four different drafts trying to write something worthwhile. I'm still not completely satisfied with Mizuru's sendoff, but, well, neither is Sakura. And thus concludes the remainder of the Mizuru/Nakama arc, and now we can get onto the good stuff…where the plot REALLY begins to diverge from the Death Note canon. Fun Fact: next chapter is going to be shameless filler developing Sakura and L's relationship and Sakura and Ryuu's relationship a little bit further.
For those who are curious and it won't be brought up in the story because Sakura has no idea about the details behind this. Sasuke only actually killed Suigetsu, but he sort views Juugo's death as a betrayal too. Here's what happened: Team Taka split up for a mission, and in the midst of said mission, Juugo and another group of missing nin fight to the death. Sasuke is furious, and he opts to blame Juugo for getting himself killed. Shortly after, Suigetsu expresses an interest in leaving, but Sasuke takes that as a betrayal and he refuses. A fight ensues, and Suigetsu ends up dead. Sasuke refuses to blame himself for that one. It's just him and Karin at this point, and no matter how strong he is, he's not invulnerable. Another mission comes up and Sasuke accidentally uses too much of her chakra in healing himself and Karin, as a result, dies. At this point, Sasuke is pretty much unfixable. That's the whole story.
Now, I'll respond to some reviews.
Kuroyuki no Ryu: Yeah, I should probably do something like that, but it's like I never learn my lesson. I just always think downloading that stuff isn't worth the effort and never use notes because once I reach a certain point it just starts lagging and overall becomes annoying as hell. Why must I be so irresponsible with my work?
X Mika-Chan X: Well, wait no longer because I can assure you that chapter will be arriving very soon.
Guest: Yes, Sakura is very aware of the supernatural, but the other Sakura wasn't. Plus, Shinigami here are not the same as they are in Naruto, so all of this is pretty much new to her. She can try to employ her previous knowledge, but it's not going to work here.
Orange et Blue Morality: Wow! I cannot express how happy receiving all of your reviews throughout this day have made me! Today wasn't exactly pleasant, so it really means a lot to me that you wrote so much in your reviews! So much to say, first off, thank you for pointing out the minor errors to me! I make some really dumb mistakes sometimes, even when I go back and edit a second time, so I really appreciate you pointing out these errors to me. I'll get around to fixing them as soon as possible! Alright, now where to begin… Yeah, Rock Lee and Gai are definitely strange, but they're a different sort of strange. At least they're positive and mean no harm. If I had to compare L to anyone, I think I would go for Sai. Except the difference here is Sai doesn't know any better, but L definitely does. I really appreciate you saying I've done a good job of portraying L. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing a good job with it, so I'm glad to see that I've got a good grasp at it. Feel free to tell me if I do anything you think is really out of character, though. To be completely honest, I don't really know why I chose Nakama over Tomodachi. I think it was because when I was writing it, I thought Tomodachi sounded too long and I didn't consider shortening it to Tomoda. I'm sure there was another reason, but it wasn't important enough to remember. As for making up ten years of education…yeah, you're right. Sakura is definitely really smart, so she could make up for whatever she lost, but Sakura's main interest in definitely not in maintaining grades. She would have to quit the Task Force, which is something she has no intention of at this point. But she's not failing, Sakura is at least smart enough for that much. You really seem to like Ryuu, which makes me happy because he's my favorite OC aside from Honoka. Seriously though, Sakura's gotta be fed up at this point from all of the 'I want to take over the world' villains. In the canon of this universe, everything up to post-Kaguya happened more or less exactly the same, except Sakura never finished her yin seal in time and immediately afterwards Sasuke defected instead of fighting Naruto, Sasuke was somewhat overcome with the curse of hatred and learning everything that he did just sort of break him down, so that's how far we got in canon. Again, thank you for everything! I wish I could properly address everything in your reviews, but then I would be going on for pages. I'll PM you instead.