CHAPTER 21:
TO THE ONE WHO SHOWED
ME KINDNESS
"Blood on the snow, so pristine, red and white, it was so sightly."
-Jean GIONO.
1.
His intentions therefore transpired patent; he had maintained her consciousness and eyesight, to keep an ingress for the Kotoamatsukami. At that point, Sakura presumed that she would panic, at least feel a dart of fear or be in a quandary. But so, was not the case. Her mind had been completely severed from her body, stress signals wouldn't just reach adrenal glands, no adrenaline rush, no responsive palpitations or sweat; her brain raced for a way out in complete tranquility, which was to her advantage.
She harked back to the day, in which he and Kisame had shown up in Konoha, three years ago. At that era, Itachi had been the subject of her resentment and hatred so, she had heeded everything related to him in a way or another. To her, he had been the most despicable of enemies and the best way to conquer your foes is harbor information about them as much as possible. For that only, she had kept a weather eye on Tsunade as she rehabilitated Kakashi and Sasuke after a Tsukuyomi. She had paid attention to her Sensei's attestations and to the Hokage's observations, then had hoarded the main points to a similar Genjutsu:
-Itachi was able to alter the victims' perception of time, making them live days' worth of pain in the span of several seconds.
-He could trap them into ocular illusions, completely disconnecting them from reality.
-He was in full control of space and mass, making the experience more tormenting.
-After one Tsukuyomi, the victim is rendered comatose and the psychological damage of it can last for weeks.
-Normal methods of resisting Genjutsu, doesn't work on it.
Nothing of it applied to her situation; she hadn't sustained any of what Kakashi and Sasuke had once described, for her body went limp without undergoing days of stabbing and torture inside his Genjutsu. She was sure of it; she hadn't visualized the scarlet moon, the fiery sky, the colors in inverted grey scale...
Her movements had been suddenly paralyzed... It was almost like what had happened to Aino...
No! It was exactly the same thing!
After all, the basic thing about a Sharingan, is that it could replicate and decipher any Jutsu. Regarding Itachi's level, copying the Genjutsu casted on Aino and reusing should have been a piece of cake...
That also, was to her advantage, since she had kept tabs on him as he dispelled the illusion. She had been supplying him with Chakra all along, thus observing its flow in his body through her Byakugo.
She could combine that, with memories of what she had descried within Aino's body, and conclude a way out.
Time. Just a bit of time was all that she needed.
2.
"Sakura," called he.
She peered at him; his lips were stretching in a laboured tremulous smile. His gaze shifted from the crow, to her, a feigned strength and composure plastering it. After all, he had always been adept at shrouding facts, but never at confessing them. When he decided to bid Sakura a decent farewell, to pit himself against the reincarnation of his bygone regrets, to tell one single truth before parting in divergent ways, he wavered and a forced grin was a way to hide it.
From where to start?
"I guess you know by now, what's going to happen..." Muttered he, in his usual husky undertone, a sudden sternness registering on his face. "Right?"
Sakura sealed her lids together firmly, in a slowness that would imply a 'yes'.
There was this galvanic pricking in his chest, as though chunks of glass were wedged between his ribs. With each breath they would riddle his lungs.
With each breath, a lead weight pressed heavier on his heart.
Was it a throe of illness? Or the vehemence of a certain feeing?
At that point, he didn't even want to hear from his organs, Let them scream on their own! Let them protest with no soul to listen!
But it was overwhelming, whatever that chewed on his chest, was overwhelming. He couldn't even bring himself to maintain eye contact, it was mortifying to the bone!
He was pale and haggard, fatigue was engraved on his worn face, breathy voice and downcast eyes. "Once I'm done with the hand seals, you're gonna forget everything about me."
There was this little moment of suffocating silence, but for the pattering of raindrops against the willow leaves.
"You'd think that you travelled to kill me and help Sasuke with his revenge, that you failed and I kidnapped you. I will thus use you to deepen Sasuke's hatred even more..."
After a strive, he brought himself to eye her.
For the first time, his sadness was visible, readable, understandable, he couldn't entomb it. That was it, the goodbye, with the very last person who knew Uchiha Itachi.
With his last chance, of being himself...
It was futile, but he would deliver those last words, not for her sake! For his own sake...
"But, after all the kindness that you've showed me..." He paused, in attempt to swallow the distress that scaled up to his throat. "I cannot go without thanking you."
She wanted to speak, to stop him! But, her body was a prison to her soul. It was the same as being trapped inside a cage of soundproof glass; she could hear, see, think, but none would listen to her screams.
Damn him! DAMN HIM!
A cold and clammy hand, reached for hers. "They were merely two days," smiled he. "But, you brought me to laugh, cry and feel, like I haven't in eight years. Because of your warmth and consideration, I began to see in you the shadows of a home, a family..."
He interlocked their fingers together, and she felt a swerve in her Chakra.
Her hand moved on its own, forming with his the Tiger seal.
Could it be?...
He was moulding Chakra for the Kotoamatsukami using her own limb because she had impaired his!
Curse him! CURSE HIM! Toying with her body as if she were his rag marionette!
He would PAY!
3.
'We are humans, not fish. We don't know what kind of people we truly are until the moment before our deaths. As death comes to embrace you, you will realize what you are. That's what death is, don't you think?'
So, had he once told Kisame...
If Sakura had walked into his life a bit of earlier, he could have halted matters on their first encounter.
But, as his demise approached, he had developed this unconscious tendency to be himself...
The mask that time had rasped and abraded, cracked the moment Sakura first healed him. Next to her, he didn't have to lie and that itself was a joy to his sickened heart, an ephemeral joy that he had to relinquish...
It was for his own sake, not hers; that she knows how he felt, even for a brief moment before his words sagged under oblivion.
Her Chakra shifted again. The Serpent sign.
"Short, two days," sighed he. "But you made me reminisce about a child me, with a weightless chest and big dreams."
The Ox seal.
She had to break free! SHE HAD TO STOP HIM! Someone help
As he talked, the pressure pushing down on his chest, tapered off. It was sort of similar to what happened that night...
When he had made Izumi live decades inside his Tsukuyomi...
It had been him demonstrating genuine feelings, which had been the release valve to a hesitation that he needed to evacuate...
This was no different.
"Our memories in that house," continued he, with a queer passion of intonation. "They were the happiest moments that I have lived, in eight years, maybe more..."
The rat sign. One more seal to go.
He smiled, like he'd never before; not a broad beam or something, just a tiny sincere smile that she definitely liked to see in different circumstances; everything but an uncanny farewell in which she couldn't even speak, or feel properly...
"Thank you," whispered he. "But this is it..."
'WAIT! DON'T GO!'
'Who would treat your lungs? Who would watch over you at night? Who would dry your tears? Who would bear the truth? WAIT... Wait... Don't go... Who's going to call me strong! Who's going to cook for me when I suck at that! Who's going to look after me when I choke in the bathroom...'
It's still too early to part...
All of the pain, had now tailed off; he had said them, the words that sat upon his heart like a bulky weight. He could go without regrets...
Was that even possible?
He snickered sarcastically.
Never! He would always have things to regret...
The angst had ebbed, that was the right thing to do... The thing that even if it lugged along a certain remorse, it would be always bearable...
The Chakra in her limb changed again... Her fingers moved for the Ram sign...
4.
If she were to focus on emancipating an entire body, a success would have been far-fetched. With the shallow reserves that she had, it was more conceivable to focus on one part of her body, which was indeed what she had attempted.
As he kept up with his monologue, she allocated all of her Chakra control skills, to liberate the strongest weapon at the disposal of her enervated body; a sharp tongue and two fierce eyes.
His words had definitely gotten her thoughts in shambles. It was arduous if not impossible, to make such an exploit, with her Uchiha confessing so many feelings at once. The entire time, she had given him an ear, all while consecrating the frustration that he had stirred to boost her capacity.
Once their fingers shifted into the last seal, she felt her voice belong to her again; a sensation that exhorted her to bellow her despair.
"KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!"
There was so much of it -despair- that she nearly ripped her vocal cords as she screamed, dewy-eyed.
Did she make it in time?
She didn't know...
Within her a lot of feelings clashed; fear, stress, agony, fury...
She closed her eyes firmly, in a childish ludicrous endeavor to hold back her tears, but they just wouldn't stop. Her lids fluttered incessantly, as she snivelled, her upper lip biting the twitching lower, still toiling to choke back the token of frailty.
Her feelings were condensed and suppressed inside her heart, like a ticking bomb waiting for the first opportunity to blast. So, once she had retrieved a minor control over her body, the eerie concoction of emotions sent her into relentless sobs.
He shouldn't see her cry!
He would think that she was weak and annoying...
The moment she first hollered at him, he blenched and ever since he gaped at her, unable to conquer his surprise; She had actually managed to free herself in that debilitated state?
He made a quick scrutiny of her body using his dõjutsu; No... she just barely salvaged some distinct parts, which was fine...
For a second, he tasted a dart of dread, like real dread, because of which his heart made a backflip. Sincerely, he was out of Chakra, jaded, indisposed and if Sakura were to assault him again, not only his plans would be at risk, but also, his life...
His relief didn't last long, because, as she broke down in front of him and grappled with her weeps, a deluge of anguish washed away his brief easiness.
"I know..." whimpered she. "I KNOW..."
Itachi winced at the agony in her voice, the sound of it convulsing inside his chest.
She shot a glare at his eyes. "I KNOW how much you're craving for Sasuke's company... SO QUIT LYING TO YOURSELF!"
He gritted his teeth, contending with an awful combination of stress and anger.
"You couldn't acknowledge yourself," exclaimed she, "that's where you failed! You gave in to your defeatist attitude, the selfish urge to die, to go..."
'She's right...'
A part of him screamed.
But he wouldn't give in...
"Quit acting like you know everything..." He grouched, channeling their Chakra again for the tiger seal, since she had disrupted the continuation of signs while breaking the Genjutsu, even partially.
This time, he would be quick, any more of her words and he might falter...
Serpent.
She shouted. "Have you ever assumed responsibility and faced the truth? Truly thought about Sasuke's feelings?"
Ox. Rat. He was all somber and silent.
Sakura continued to rave through hysterical sobs, not really thinking her words, just yelling as loud as she could, helplessly trying to stop him. "JUST LIKE I'VE KNOWN ONCE OF THE TRUTH, I WILL AGAIN, I WILL BREAK THE KOTOAMATSUKAMI, I WILL SEARCH FOR YOU AGAIN AND-'
Ram.
5.
She felt a black vaccum swallow her consciousness, as though she fell eternally into nihility. The pressure kept dropping and dropping as she sagged towards an unknown gravitational force. The strong popping in her ears, made it feel as though they would burst at any moment. She could almost feel her tissues expanding, pressing against aching bones and joints.
That wasn't by any chance, a Genjutsu...
It became unquestionable, as soon as she heard Itachi bawling at her to hold his hand. She didn't know if her limb moved or not, but she tried to reach out for something. It was too dark, she couldn't get a glimpse of the abyss that swallowed them.
Atmospheric pressure kept plummeting dangerously, her lungs would soon burst. The last thing that she had felt before fainting, was a hand seizing her wrist and hauling her into an orange gleam.
6.
A fretful voice delved deep into the blackness of her unconsciousness, tickling her slumbering soul, attempting to wake it up.
"S-Sakura," addressed he. "Don't die on me! S-Sakura..."
The agony in his tone was like a drench of adrenaline pumped right into her carotid. It pounded fast in her heart and she woke up with wide eyes and a gasp.
His scarlet irises. A mixture of torment and concern, contorting his face as he squatted down next to her. She let her gaze roam in their surroundings; trees, leafless cherry trees... snow, piles of alabaster white snow... her back was slanted against a rigid glacial trunk, her bruised and scorched legs were buried beneath a thick layer of snow...
Itachi was sapped, almost paralyzed, she could tell...
But, he was 'fine'...
She wanted to speak...
But her windpipe had sustained so much damage... still, she managed to move her lips...
His Sharingan deciphered the question: "Where are we?"
"I don't know..." muttered he, despair reverberating across his tone. "As soon as I finished the last seal, loads of Shisui's Chakra seeped out and rifted our space-time, creating a peculiar portal to a world that I know nothing of..."
'What happened to me?'
She articulated silently, before a violent heave from her stomach doubled her over her body. Blood, nothing other than blood, stained the snow as she retched up. Itachi circled and arm aroud her shoulders, adjusting her posture, as she kept coughing up blood incessantly.
It was his fault, that both of them were at the edge of death, inside an anonymous world of blizzards and trees...
"As we travelled, the barometric pressure and oxygen dropped..." explained he, panting. "If I didn't reach out for you fast and shielded both of us using Susanoo... We'd be dead... Still, you are in a critical situation, and I can't even move..."
He clenched his teeth... "At this rate..."
'I'm going to loose you...' He mused...
Sakura turned her gaze to him, convulsing in throes...
She wouldn't last much longer... but he could...
She had saved up some Chakra to heal him after their fight, it was enough to put him back on his feet, but no where around enough to mend the damage that a hike inside the void had inflicted...
He could survive, but she couldn't...
She cracked a brittle smile with bleeding lips that mouthed her last words.
His Dõjutsu scanned each motion, interpreting each word, and each word, quaked inside his heart like a thunderbolt.
He panicked and winced away from her. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!"
His eyes were showing so much dread... So much grief...
Did she matter that much?...
He was all alert and he wouldn't let her transfer that Chakra to him...
How to catch Uchiha Itachi off guard? Hmmm... At that point... She didn't care anymore... She was going to die...
She wiped the blood on her mouth with a frosted forearm.
Itachi watched, both mental and physical torment freezing his limbs more than the weather...
He watched, when her hand, didn't reach for his chest nor shoulders as she would usually do to transfer her Chakra, it slithered upon his neck, to the nape, holding onto his hair...
He iced over...
As she kissed his lips...
A soft prolonged kiss, accompanied by the tepid feeling of her Chakra flowing into his vessels, from the left hand, that plastered his chest...
'LIVE!'
And she fell comatose...
AN: Thank you NaluGray and IloveTrunks-1I came back to school, I won't be updating again anytime soon... I deeply apologize... still I will try my best to provide you with a good chapter in less than a month...Any questions, impressions...Leave a review and I will respond...