A thousand questions struggled upon Sasuke's lips as he gazed upon the sharpened angles of the purple diamond seal, tattooed permanently upon her unscathed forehead.
Moments ago, she was lifeless, gone from the world due to her own hand. He's witnessed the incandescent life drain from her eyes as she used her final words to tell him what his deaf ears had refused to acknowledge long ago. And now..
He knew he couldn't be hallucinating, there was too much pain coursing through his body to indicate that everything was an illusion. Everything looked too real, she looked too real.
Was she even real?
"How did you…" Sasuke began, his voice raising a few octaves.
Sasuke's eyes widened when Sakura looked down at him, her eyes vibrant with an electricity more sparkling than the chidori. Her complexion shone with health and flames, glowing brighter and hotter than he'd ever seen.
Then, as if to drop her cool exterior, she winked at him.
She was definitely real.
"Do you think I've been sitting around since you were gone for all that time?" she asked him, turning so that her back was facing his.
He felt a warming sensation pass through his body, and he found himself smirking.
"You? Never crossed my mind." he sighed.
"Actually, I have our friend over there to thank for this." she said, her eyes glaring into the mirror image of herself struggling to get up off of the ground on the other side of the cave. "Thanks to all of that chakra you gave me, I've finally unlocked my true potential."
So all that time..she was healing herself.. he thought, the shock still all too real.
That could only mean that the light he'd seen in her head only a few moments ago; Joryoku's attempt at controlling her body for one final time had been the final ounce of chakra Sakura needed; she now had the same mark as their Hokage.
The Sakura across the room held the cave wall for support, her legs threatening to buckle underneath her. Blood poured down from her mouth, leaking in between her clenched teeth and soaking her dry lips. Her fingers dug into the hardened mineral of the rock walls, breaking off chunks.
"You bitch!" she hissed, looking up to glare at Sakura and Sasuke, her eyes now a blaring dark evergreen. "You're supposed to be dead!"
Sakura's lips curled into a smirk, sending a proud chill through the air.
"You know, it's funny how things work out sometimes." she said. "But you already know that, don't you?"
Though he didn't think that it would be possible, Sasuke watched as the fake Sakura's eyes darkened further, her eyes blazing with contempt and hate.
The entire atmosphere of the cave dropped multiple degrees, returning the temperature of Sasuke's skin to a numbing cold. He watched his breath escape into the air in even puffs, each breath sending an icy stab into his lungs.
The, he felt a hand place itself on the back of his neck.
"So you still have some of Koichi's chakra left, huh?" Sakura said quietly, her eyes fixed upon the scene in front of her, increasing the pressure of her hand on Sasuke's neck. He immediately felt a warming sensation flood into his body, thawing the ice in his blood and leaving a soothing pulse throughout his muscles.
"I'll do as much as I can, but who knows what she's going to do next." she told him.
She was clearly downgrading her own skills.
Only after a few seconds of her healing, he already felt his muscles loosening and relaxing even further than before. The numbness slowly melted out of his body, giving all control back to him and him only.
"Can you fight?" she asked him, taking her hand away from his neck.
Sasuke looked up at her to meet her green eyes, bright and healthy with determination and vigor.
When he felt his legs begin to move on his command, he smirked, closing his eyes as he rose from the ground slowly.
"You're the one who needed saving." he said.
Sakura glared at him. "I don't need to be saved by anyone, especially not you."
"If you say so."
"I do say so."
Sakura rolled her eyes, then brought her hands together. "Let's go, Sasuke-kun."
"Right."
"Breathe slowly. Inhale…exhale. Calm your body. Feel your chakra…release!"
Sakura repeated the words that Tsunade had told to her months previously, reflecting on each and every syllable so that she would execute her intentions just right.
"If you are to activate this technique in a time of need, I want to make sure that you do it right. This can determine whether you live or die, so pay close attention! Do I make myself clear?"
Crystal.
Sakura closed her eyes.
Breathe slowly…inhale..
Sakura allowed the air around her to enter her lungs, tasting the minerals of the rock and blood in the oxygen available to her.
Exhale.
She released her breath, a storage buzzing sensation beginning to enter her body.
Calm my body.
She allowed her body to become one with her surroundings.
Feel my chakra.
Her veins pulsed with power, fueling every inch of her entire body.
Release!
Her eyes flew open, her power rushing forward like a waterfall, a cooling yet warming vigor of chakra and energy. Sakura's eyes traced her bare arms and legs as blackened vine-like lines began to rush down them, tinting her skin as if she had multiple tattoos. They covered every limb of her body, tracing her veins and muscles, fueling her to her very core.
She had never felt such power before, and she liked it.
"Why isn't it working?!"
The Sakura across the cave was glaring murderously into her eyes, breathing heavily. She clutched a sharpened icicle in her right hand, small droplets of water dripping off of it melodically.
She must have gotten that from the ground from before Sakura thought to herself. There's no way that the rest of Koichi's chakra could create that..otherwise it still wouldn't be cold in here.
"You're supposed to be attacking him!" her mirror self exclaimed, gesturing wildly to Sasuke. "Why isn't my control working?!" she exclaimed.
Sakura then realized what Joryoku had meant, and what she had been trying to do at that very moment.
Controlling Sakura's mind had been easier before, hell, it had been a walk in the park considering her underdeveloped knowledge of what would unfold. From first getting attacked by Joryoku in the forest, Sasuke releasing her from his spell with a tap to her forehead, hearing Fuu's voice for the first time, waking up in the cave next to her, and almost dying to save her teammates, Sakura's forehead had received enough meddling to last her a lifetime. And it was because of that reason that she was still standing, and why her mind couldn't be controlled anymore.
Her seal was too powerful to mess with, the chakra concentrated in her forehead would never be messed with again.
Almost as if she heard Sakura's answer, Joryoku threw the icicle.
Sakura's eyes widened as the piece of ice vanished as soon as it had been thrown, too quick for her eyes to detect its path of movement.
She couldn't predict that it would bury itself into her stomach, sending her gasping for air with fresh blood dripping out of the wound.
How much blood would she spill in this damned cave?
Sakura immediately held her hand up to Sasuke, who had begun to open his mouth to say something to her out of concern for her wellbeing. With great swiftness, she pulled the icicle out of her body, grunting as the ice left her body.
She treasured the look of horror stamped upon Joryoku's face when her wound immediately began to close up, healing completely.
"How did you.." Joryoku's voice trembled, barely able to speak.
"Sakura!"
"Sakura-chan! Sasuke!"
Sakura inhaled with surprise as she heard two sets of rapid footsteps approach her from behind. She turned, and she was immediately slammed into by a warm body, the color turquoise blinding her eyes.
"You're okay! You're okay!" she heard Fuu cry out with joy, releasing her hold on Sakura to look at her astonished face with those sparkling amber eyes. "I thought for sure that you- hey, what are all these weird black things on your body?"
"It sure took you long enough." Sasuke scoffed.
"Why don't you shut the hell up!" Naruto exclaimed, glaring at his friend. "You try breaking through all those damn rocks, then we can talk."
"Naruto! Fuu!" Sakura yelled, pushing on their chests softly. "Get out of-"
Estranged laughter rang out from the cave, causing everyone to turn their heads slowly towards Joryoku.
"My jinchuriki…are here.." Joryoku said shakily, her evergreen eyes shining.
Sakura narrowed her eyes.
"Wha?"
Sakura watched as Naruto looked at Sakura, and then back at Joryoku, frowning intensely.
"Trippy.." he said. "Sakura-chan..why are there two of you?"
Sakura wanted to slap herself in the face.
"You're not taking either of them!" Sakura exclaimed, clenching her fists. "Do you understand me? It's over for you, it's all over."
Joryoku stared at Sakura, her evergreen eyes boring in Sakura's spring green eyes.
She couldn't move, she had drained all of her chakra. There was no way that she could possibly fight back in her condition. There was nothing she could do, it was four against one.
Then, to everyone's surprise, she smiled.
"You're right."
Sakura's eyes widened as Joryoku's body began to glow a vibrant green, her skin pale and eyes sparking. The same pink hair that Sakura had on her head swirled in the hair above Joryoku melodically.
The walls around them began to shake violently.
"It's over. For me, and for all of you."
The light devoured Joryoku's body, emitting a high-pitched piercing scream that blasted through Sakura's ears.
She threw her hands over her ears, and cringed as her head began to pound, eyes wide.
The cave was collapsing.
"My project failed..so you will die along with me.."
Sakura barely had a chance to yell for her friends.
"But you already know that, don't you, Sakura-chan?"
"Watch out!"
Hello lovelies!
I bring you this chapter with the notion that I am freaking out over the plot of the Boruto movie being released, AP exams finished, the new Fairy Tail chapters causing me agony beyond belief, I graduate from high school in one month, and Sasuke Uchiha not recognizing his daughter in gaiden. SO, that's how my week has been.
How are you guys?
There are about 4-5 chapters left of this story, maybe six. And I love all of you for sticking with me, new readers and old .
Love you to Konoha and back! xx