CHAPTER 22 AND THE LAST:
TWELVE YEARS AGO
"The world around us was both familiar and unfamiliar... I was told right away: don't pick the flowers, don't sit on the grass, don't drink water from a well... Death hid everywhere..."
-Svetlana ALEXIEVICH
1.
The timber of the fireplace crackled and sizzled in the backstage of her hearing, often interrupted by the howling of wind. A cozy snug kilt enwrapped her, defrosting her congealed tissues...
The whole environment was redolent of comfort and warmth.
Her back hurt, as though she'd been welted mercilessly by a leather thong...
She wanted to shift to her side...
No response from her body...
It was stiffer than a marble statue, and every muscle of it, weeped soreness...
She was paralyzed, but there was this feeling of insecurity imbuing the last pieces of memory clinging to her head...
A fretting insecurity that impelled her to open her eyes, to a foreign world...
There was an existence that she had to save!
'ITACHI!'
A wooden ceiling, irradiated by a faltering orange glow, welcomed her first glance...
Her gaze shifted, to the left, to the body lounging motionless but for the shallow breaths that escaped it...
He was there, sleeping like a log on a futon mattress like hers, his disfigured arm, seemed better, swathed under a thick layer of bandages. His face was turned to her, with so much relief and serenity plastering it. Still, she had to run a check on him...
With a grunt, she strove to roll to her side, but something pinned her to the mattress.
"If you move too much, your inner lesions will hemorrhage again." Said a boyish voice on her right. "Sustain any more damage and you'll die."
She shot a glimpse in the voice's direction and her brows arched with surprise...
A kid.
A nine-year old kid, with raven hair and matte onyx eyes.
His face was disturbingly familiar...
The paleness of his skin, the coldness in his eyes and mostly...
The way he evoked death with a flat tone, as if it were a trivial matter, something really wonted to him...
"You seem so worried about him even in this state," resumed he, humourously. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"
Sakura blushed. "N-no! He's... sort of a friend..."
"Don't concern yourself," grinned the kid. "My mother is a former medic, she managed to keep both of you alive. Barely though, don't expect to walk on your feet before a while..."
With a nod of her head, she huddled back beneath her blanket. She was a doctor, and knew exactly the limit beyond which, she would become completely unsavable. "Where are we?"
"Konoha," responded the boy.
She almost leapt off her sheets, eyes popping from shock, if he hadn't stapled her on the mattress again. "WHAT?!"
"Calm down, you're both safe here." Reassured he. "You must be still befuddled from what happened to your body. Take it easy on yourself."
He was right, maybe, everything was just a hallucination... Maybe all of it was a part of the Kotoamatsukami... She didn't know anything... Every nerve in her head pulsated in pain... Maybe he was just right and it was all an illusion...
She nestled sluggishly into a more comfortable position, readying herself to sleep again.
The boy stood. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me..."
He span and trode towards a Shoji. Sakura's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the clan crest on his back.
A red and white paper fan.
The Uchiha emblem. There was no doubt.
"Wait," barked Sakura. "Your name?"
The child gave her a stern look. "Uchiha Itachi, a Genin from Konohagakure."
She was definitely hallucinating.
She sealed her lids together, not wanting to dwell on anything, and slept...
2.
"Sakura! Sakura!"
Her lids flickered. "Ngh... let me be... It's still early..."
A delicate hand wiggled her shoulder. "You've slept for fifteen hours straight. You have to wake up and eat something at least."
Piecemeal, the sleep blur receded, unveiling a clearer picture of her Uchiha, cross-legged on the floor next to her, a large bowl of Donburi on his lap.
To clear one last heavy slumber confusion, she casted a glance at the Futon by her left; it was empty; she could assume that there wasn't a third Itachi lurking around.
He gave her a half suppressed smile. "Feeling any better?"
She struggled into a seating position. "Is this a part of the Kotoamatsukami?"
Itachi shook his head. "No, I guess you noticed what happened to the both of us."
"I don't think any of it is credible though..." Whined she.
He snapped two chopsticks apart, with which he grasped a ball of rice, steeped it into sauce and brough it to Sakura's mouth. "You have to believe everything I will say from now on, no matter how unearthly it would seem."
"What are you doing!" Scorned she, turning her nose up. "I can eat on my own."
He raised an eyebrow before swallowing the rice ball. "Fine, you've wished for it."
She toiled to jerk her hands. They moved, but with a lot of efforts and pain...
A glimpse at her shivering limbs was enough to tell the reason why he intended to feed her; purple contusions, angry welts, blackish frostbites coating her fingers...
Her gaze settled on his face again. He seemed, somewhat sad and disconsolate, despite the grin that he cracked while serving her another ball of rice. She knew, that he was rueing the latest turn of events, so, she ate from his chopsticks without discussion.
"This is delicious!" Mumbled she, mouth full of Donburi. "Did you make it?"
Itachi's gaze fell to the bowl. "No."
Sakura tilted her head, insisting despite the sudden gloom that deluged him. "Who then?"
"My mother," said he bitterly.
Her jaw dropped. "What do you mean your mother?"
He gave her a stern stare. "This might be the most illogical thing you'd hear in your life, but..."
Sakura interrupted Itachi's moment of silence, smouldering to know the answer. "But?"
"We've traveled back in time..."
3.
"HUUUUUH? What do you mean we trav-" Mithered she loudly.
He placed an index before her lips to hush her.
"ShShht," whispered he. "Lower your voice before they find out. They are already suspecting a lot of things because of my resemblance to the kid me."
She goggled at him. "Th-then? The boy I've seen earlier is truly..."
"Yes," nodded he. "That was me, twelve years ago..."
The resemblance between Itachi and that kid, was unquestionable. Still, it was far-fetched to believe into something as fabled as time travel. That just, didn't make sense...
"If this is some sort of a prank or one of your Tsukuyomis," warned she in a menacing undertone. "You better say it!"
After a soft suspiration, he stilled for a while. His dark eyes scanned her face, her hands, each bruise and wound on them.
His glazed look was shrouding his distress with a bit of success, before it settled on the poignant emerald orbs, devouring them with a very discrete eagerness and visible hues of melancholy.
Their gazes clashed, resurrecting foggy memories of kissing his cold, slightly chapped lips, before collapsing. The thought was exhilarating, throbbing, especially when his eyes delved deep into her soul. Her heart palpitated, she could barely quieten her breaths.
She had a lot of things to stress over, so, why was he conquering all of her thoughts?
Merely a prolonged gaze, and she melted...
Why did he have that strong effect?
"I don't blame you," uttered he ultimately. "I've lied many times before..."
"I don't blame you if you loose trust in me..."
A nonchalant smile stretched his lips.
"But... If you are still willing to return home, to break free..."
He paused, the faint grin transforming into a flinty expression, that added depth to his dour voice.
"You have to trust me, one more time..."
With an inclination of her head, she succumbed to his display of sternness. "So, what happened exactly after I fainted?"
Itachi seized a snip of fish.
He lifted it to her mouth.
She ate.
And it continued as he talked.
"The Chakra that you've given to me, allowed me to scan the surroundings with my Sharingan... And I instantly recognized the place via the pattern of trees and landscape... Everything was reminiscent of the forest behind the Uchiha compound..."
"How were you so sure?" She tilted her head. "I mean, with piles of snow blanketing everything... A mid spring Konoha shouldn't be suspected..."
"Good question... If we regard it from the perspective of mere teleportation in space, the weather, wouldn't definitely fit. But, I used to train with Shisui there, ultimately using my Sharingan over and over... I could recognize the field of Cherry without an ounce of doubt..."
He stilled, serving her some spiced simmered legumes, that she relished.
Skipping the details of wailing her name to wake her up, of tearing his own sweater and using it as a scarf to keep her warm, of checking her pulse regularly, of remorse...
And agony...
He continued: "I piggybacked you, and walked, until I stumbled upon that particular tree, on which Sasuke had craved some scribbles when he was a kid..."
She frowned, heeding every word he was saying, in attempt to organize the puzzle of events in her head.
Itachi fixed her with an austere look that hinted at the importance of his words. "Shisui had accidentally blown that tree during one of our trainings, around three years before he died..."
He paused.
"The tree was intact... At that point, it became unquestionable to me that we traveled back in time..."
Shock perturbing her words, she whisper-stuttered: "Th-that... can't be... What happened afterwards?"
"Nothing." Grinned Itachi.
Sakura pursed her lips, in response to his answer. "What do you mean nothing?"
"You were literally agonizing on my back... So, I took you to the closet place were you can recieve first aids..."
His features crumpled slightly, in a smothered sadness. "I took you home..."
What feelings must be rampaging in his heart, to the encounter of his family?... The mere thought of it was dreadful and reeking of suffering...
Compassion-rooted sorrows, distorted her features...
"I myself, was in a very bad condition..." resumed he, his eyes avoiding Sakura's. "I don't recall much of what happened after I've seen my mother at the door..."
After a moment of silence, Sakura decided to divert the course of conversation, towards something other than his family. "I didn't understand... why would Shisui plan such a thing..."
"After losing his right eye, Shisui died with the fear of Danzo getting hold of the left..." explained Itachi. "He possibly set something to react to both of his eyes used simultaneously, ultimately killing the user via sending them back in time through a vacant space."
"But... Didn't he think of the possibility of you retrieving his eyes and using them?" She inclined her head. "I mean that could've killed you..."
"Shisui was aware that I wouldn't possibly do that and put my position as an observer of both the Uchiha and Konoha at risk... Still, he knew that I could use Susanoo to protect myself in case I did it... Which happened indeed... that's why we're both alive"
AN: I don't think I will finish this story... at least not with my current situation... or not any time soon... I deeply apologize... For those who want spoilers for the parts that I won't be able to write, or those who want to carry on with the story in my place send me a message.
Sorry again...
love you all and thanks...
It was a lovely experience...