Quick update! Thank you so much for your feedback of the last chapter everyone. Hope you enjoy this instalment.
Chapter LII
Embracing truth, no more lies,
The shroud is removed from Spring's eyes,
Awakening a burning flame, a blazing light,
The urge to survive; the urge to fight.
He caught her before she could crumple to the ground, as the ruthless genjutsu he had cast upon her mind rendered her immediately unconscious. Sweeping her effortlessly up into the safety of his arms, he transported them in the blink of an eye away from the harsh, unforgiving terrain of Tartarus, reappearing as noiselessly as a shadow before the towering entrance gates of the Underworld.
They were already there. He could sense their presence ahead. They waited for him beyond the thick coils of freezing mist that shrouded his dark realm in secrecy, in the vast cavern where Cerberus stood guard.
He looked down at her, so slight in his arms. Felt a terrible ache deep within his chest. For just a brief minute, he bowed his head, closed his eyes, holding her close; allowing himself to feel.
To accept the full reality of what he had done.
To acknowledge just how much everything had changed since the fateful day the very same hands that now held her, had snatched her away.
To consign to memory, one last time, how the warmth of her body felt in his arms.
And then the gates parted at his will, and he opened his eyes, lifted his head, burying every last ounce of emotion beneath an impenetrable wall as he walked forward, unhurriedly, with steely resolve, until he reached Cerberus's place of sentry.
Telepathically engaging the shackles at Cerberus's mighty paws, commanding the beast to still and quieten, he stepped out of the misty shadows, eyes locking immediately with Kakashi's. The lone-gazed elder walked toward him cautiously.
"Sakura-chan-!" From behind Kakashi, Naruto's voice quivered with emotion, echoing about the cavern, but the King of the Dead did not look at him. He did not so much as blink as he stepped forward, and handed Sakura over to Kakashi, who looked down at the slumbering girl and exhaled in relief as soon as she was in his arms.
"Thank you, Sasuke," he murmured earnestly.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that.
"I did not do this for you," he stated coldly.
"All the same," Kakashi murmured. "You have likely saved her life, and for that we are grateful."
One corner of the death deity's lips twitched in something that was not quite a sneer of derision. He didn't want their gratitude.
"Leave," he ordered, his voice hard-edged with clear threat as he finished, "You have a minute before I release Cerberus." With that he turned away dismissively.
"Wait. Sasuke!" Kakashi called.
Sasuke paused, but did not give them the courtesy of facing them again.
"A year. As agreed. To restore the balance of seasons on the surface?"
"…" Silence was their reply, as he waited for them to confirm what they owed to him.
"In return," Jiraiya's deep voice continued, "We will uphold our end of the bargain. You will not be called to the High Council."
"And…" Kakashi finished, "we will grant that which you asked for also in exchange for her safe return."
There was a long, weighted pause.
Finally Sasuke shifted his head marginally to the right, as he acquiesced, "A year. But break any part of the agreement…"
He didn't need to finish the rest of the statement, as he flickered silently out of their sight.
Sasuke blinked as he pushed the memory out of his mind. He stood at the edge of the yawning crater that overlooked the endless, torturous pits of Tartarus.
The souls within moaned and wailed horrifically, calling to him for the mercy he would not grant. Some cursed him, damning their souls to deeper levels of unending torment. He watched with a hardened heart, numb to the horrors his eyes witnessed before him, as the shadowy sentries he had stationed on guard kept close watch on the cells built into the impenetrable walls of the bottomless, fiery abyss, patrolling the spiralling stairs set into the rock face diligently.
Like clockwork his realm ran, bowing to the order and will he enforced with an iron-fist.
"Please, great God," one of the souls screamed out to him. "Let me die! Please! I beg of you, finish me!"
"I repent, I repent, mercy, my Lord!"
The words faded from his unhearing ears, replaced in his mind by tearful, green, green eyes, a trembling voice, choked over with raw emotion, which drowned out everything else.
'I won't be afraid anymore! So if you're going to kill me… just do it!'
His hands closed into tight fists in recollection of every accusation she had thrown at him, each one of them like a piercing dagger impaling his chest, connecting with striking accuracy.
When she spoke, he heard every word. He could not shut her out.
'You hate me! This is where you've made it clear I'll end up anyway, so just do it!'
His eyes closed, as he struggled with the terrible weight that seemed to crush down on his chest.
'Do it! Free us both!'
He opened his eyes and lifted his clenched hands, looking down at them.
He could sense her life-force, even at the great distance over which they were separated. Such was the strength of the unbreakable tie she now had to his realm.
She was bound irrevocably to his Kingdom. There was no way even he could reverse it. The Forbidden Fruit had always been feared to surface-folk and for good reason; its effects could not be undone, even by the King who ruled the land in which it grew into fruition.
He could not reverse it – but it was within his power to delay the seeds' effects from taking hold – but only on her first, initial return to the surface.
Sakura would be given back the equivalence in time that he had stolen from her surface days while she had stayed unlawfully in his Kingdom.
Six months on top of the six he owed.
But he could not stall even a single day more. Once the twelve months were up, and once the following summer ended, she would have to return to the Underworld.
Just a day more on the surface, and the potent seeds she had ingested would take their full, deadly effect. If the timer upon them was not honoured, they would begin to work their dark magic and poison her. She would fall deadly ill – until she was returned to the land to which the seeds bound her.
She had until midnight on the final day of the following August to return to his world.
Just a minute, a day more, he thought, as his eyes returned to look upon the endless chasm of Hell, and he had no further control over what destruction the seeds would wreak upon her body.
It had been three days since she had returned to the surface. Sakura had spent the time catching up with all the friends who had visited her over that time. Familiar faces that she had missed and was so very glad to see. Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru and Sai had arrived first. Then came her Academy teachers; Kurenai and Asuma. It was a surreal experience, looking upon her tutors with newly opened eyes, knowing who they truly were; mighty, ancient gods that posed as ordinary humans.
Jiraiya, a tall man she'd only encountered a few times in her life, who made half-hearted attempts to flirt with her unimpressed mother and who always seemed to have a bottle of sake in tow visited daily, along with Kakashi.
Each one of the old faces she knew was a deity, or, as Sakura had newly discovered, seraphs; guardians bound to serve the immortals they were sworn to protect, as was the case with Ino's parents and Neji, Hinata's cousin. She also met others; Iruka and Guy, who both worked at the Academy but with whom she'd had no scheduled classes.
To Sakura's astonishment, even Rock Lee was a seraph. She'd embarrassedly borne his proclamations of relief as patiently as she'd been able when he arrived to convey his well wishes – before a muttering Ino had all but dragged him away.
Ino and Naruto visited daily, too. Sakura was glad. Their incessant chatter helped keep her mind away from the darker thoughts that crept into her head whenever she was alone.
Sakura had also spent a lot of time sleeping deeply. Her body was recuperating, she knew, recovering from its harsh ordeal in a different world where time seemed to pass at a completely different pace. Whenever she awoke, her mother or Shizune were by her side, handing her ambrosia to soothe the unstable Fragment inside her. They seemed to be on edge, as if they were fearing the worst.
They weren't the only ones. Now knowing what they did, and with the rate at which her dream-visions had begun increasing in frequency, each time Sakura surrendered to slumber, she wondered whether she would wake up again.
On the third night however, sleep evaded her. She lay restlessly awake in bed, staring up at her ceiling, her thoughts racing.
She thought of everything she had discovered. Everything new to her.
She thought of Kore's tragic death, the ancient war, her family and friends.
She thought of the Essence. Her soul. Her newfound true identity.
She thought again of the same fate she had endured countless times, and could never remember. How many times had she lain awake just like this, thinking of the same thing, in lifetimes gone past? Trying to think of a way to break a cycle nobody had ever found a way to halt?
She thought of all these things… and she thought of him.
His eyes. His voice. His smirk. His effortless grace and undeniable power. She thought of his Kingdom. The time she had spent with him. Everything that had happened between them.
She tried to ignore the fluttering in her stomach, each time her mind dwelled on the reality that she was Kore reborn, and he was Hades, and everything that had to mean despite the fact neither of them could remember any of it.
Sakura turned agitatedly onto her side, trying to get into a comfortable position in bed. She had gotten what she wanted. She was home. And she was glad for it. But she still had so many questions that she needed answered.
Questions about the seeds she had eaten – about what that meant. Sasuke had given his word not to interfere with her surface life, Naruto had assured her. But what about the pomegranate seeds? Sasuke had already insisted that even he couldn't undo their binding effects.
What did that mean for her? Did she really have six months on the surface? What about the change in seasons? How could she return to the Underworld just before spring began?
Her mind drifted to wondering, for the thousandth time, why he couldn't remember Kore at all…and that was when she finally fell into fitful sleep.
Kore shivered in the dark corner of her cell, huddled as far back away from the iron bars as was physically possible. A bowl of sustenance had been left by the door of her cage. It was untouched.
She would not eat of their food. She had heard tales that it was cursed and told herself that she would sooner starve and waste away to nothing but bone than ingest a single bite.
Burying her face in the cradle of her arms, she despaired. How had she been so foolish? The forest had tried to warn her. The flora had told her to flee.
Aphrodite, too, had warned her never to make contact with Hades again.
Why had she not listened?
Kore didn't know for how long she had been held captive within the Underworld. She had no concept of how much time had passed. She ached for the surface. For the sunlight and warmth of the world above.
Tears stung at her eyes. Even when she knew it hopeless to cry, she could not keep them from falling.
Self-loathing gnawed away inside her. She despised herself for her naivety, realising that her mother had had every right to protect her, to shelter her, to hide her away in her temple. The world was a wicked, cruel place.
Kore had been deceived. Misled. Used. And while she detested herself for her stupidity, she hated him even more for the way he had betrayed her so callously.
The sudden jingle of keys and the clicking sound of a lock being turned prompted her to stiffen and lift her head, immediately on edge, her heart thumping inside her chest.
Had Cronus come back for her?
But it was not Cronus. Instead a cloaked figure stood there, gesturing hurriedly to her.
She remained frozen in place, thinking it to be a trick. But then a familiar, hatefully smooth voice carried to her. She blinked, stunned by the unexpected arrival. It felt as though her heart was constricted by a hand forged of pure ice, causing an unbearable pain to stab deep within her chest.
"Get up. Hurry!"
"You-!" she gasped in disbelief, tears of anger and hurt blurring her vision. "You think I'll listen to you?!" Shaking her head, she choked, "Why? How could you?!"
She saw the figure tense. His shadow-concealed face whipped to the left, as if he had heard something – or someone. Turning his attention back to her, he yanked the cell door open with aggravated force, and motioned for her to come out, uttering impatiently in a harsh whisper, "Not now. Follow me!"
When she did not move, Hades released an exhaled "tch" of annoyance, before snapping her name in a tone that left absolutely no further room for argument, a tone that utterly impelled her to stand.
"Persephone! Get up!"
Get up.
The urgently spoken words lingered in her mind as Sakura's eyes flew open. Groggily, she stared at the flower-shaped alarm clock by her bedside table as it came into focus.
10.04AM, the clock read.
She blinked in confusion. Had she really slept in so late, after being so edgy the previous night? Groaning, she rubbed at her face, chasing away the final remnants of the vision she'd had.
A light tap at her door alerted her to her mother's arrival – and breakfast. Tsunade hadn't let Sakura out of her sight since her return from the Underworld. Sakura wondered when she would return to work at the Hospital – but hadn't yet asked the question.
"Good morning, Sakura," Tsunade greeted, setting the tray by her child's bedside table. Placing a kiss upon her daughter's head, she looked her over carefully. "Did you sleep well?"
Sakura nodded. Besides feeling slightly disorientated from waking so suddenly, everything else seemed to be fine.
The delicious smell of miso soup wafted up to Sakura's nose as she gratefully accepted breakfast tray in bed. "Did you have any more dreams?"
Too ravenous to care that she was slurping her food down impolitely, Sakura answered with her mouth full, prompting an amused look from her mother, "Umm, I dom't wemember."
It wasn't a complete lie. Sakura didn't remember seeing anything other than Kore in a cell, and Hades who had seemingly arrived to let her out. But she somehow thought it best, given what Ino had told her about never mentioning what had passed between Hades and Kore to anyone, that she skipped over the specifics of any dreams relating to them with her mother.
Tsunade's eyes traced over her features. "How do you feel?"
Sakura paused in between taking in another gulp of food. "It's strange," she answered softly. "I mean, everything is so different. It's hard to believe, because I can't really remember."
Tsunade nodded in understanding. "It's a shock each time," she agreed. "Though you've taken it rather well this time, considering."
Sakura met her mother's eyes. She silently supposed that being kidnapped to the Underworld had helped cushion much of the shock. After all, she'd already done most of the freaking out when first encountering the supernatural there.
"I guess because I saw the Underworld…" her voice trailed off as another thought occurred to her. She wanted to find out just how much Suigetsu had divulged to Tsunade. "Mother, you sent Suigetsu to find me, didn't you?"
Her mother nodded.
"He said something about a sword in exchange. Did you really trust him?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Suigetsu's disposition is as changing as the oceans he controls. We needed his help to search the waters, but he never does anything without gaining something in return. There's a mythical blade he's always wanted, called Samehada. We made him a deal; if he returned you safely, we'd find and give him the blade. We also promised him a seat on the council, but thankfully he didn't deliver on his end."
"And," Sakura questioned curiously, "did you find it?"
Tsunade nodded. "Yes," she admitted. "I wanted to ask you about that. Did he assist you in escaping?"
"Yeah," Sakura answered. "We almost made it, but then once we got out of the Underworld, he made it clear he wasn't going to just hand me over until you met the terms of your agreement."
"I see," Tsunade pursed her lips, frowning.
Keeping her tone as casual as possible, Sakura ventured, wanting to know just how much her mother knew about what had come to pass in the Underworld, "So what did he tell you?"
Tsunade searched her daughter's face. After a moment, she said, "Not much, other than he was locked in a cell by Sasuke so that he couldn't report where you were back to us. He said he had to wait there until you executed the plan he thought of to break you out. But it took a long time." What she asked next made Sakura's stomach twist unpleasantly. "Why, Sakura? What happened down there?"
Relief flooded through her. If that was all Suigetsu had disclosed, then Sakura didn't need to go into any further, uncomfortable detail. Earnestly, she explained, "We had to wait until Sasuke wasn't watching us."
"And how did you manage that?" Tsunade asked.
"We poisoned him," Sakura said. "That was our plan; to place a few drops of poison in his drink and disable him long enough to escape."
Surprise etched on her mother's beautiful features. "That's a dangerous thing you did," she remarked.
Sakura shrugged. Her skin crawled. She wasn't proud of what she had done still – especially knowing that Sasuke had been about to release her anyway. Two wrongs, she knew, never made a right.
"Sakura," her mother lightly touched her cheek. "Be truthful to me. He did not hurt you?"
Sakura shook her head.
"Why did he take you…?" Her mother looked hard at her. "Did he mention anything at all regarding his intentions?"
Sakura swallowed down the sudden dryness in her throat. Her heart raced, but instead of answering, she simply shrugged again, shaking her head. She felt horrible for withholding information from her mother. But somehow, 'oh, he's in love with me', wasn't something she felt she could just nonchalantly disclose.
"Suigetsu didn't find out?" she dared to test the waters.
"He told me the same, that Sasuke's not easy to read," Tsunade sighed heavily.
Sakura couldn't believe it. Why on earth would Suigetsu not inform her mother about what he had seen while waiting in his cell? Wouldn't it be in his best interests to do so? Her mind spun. Somehow his silence was even more disconcerting than the prospect of him telling her mother the truth.
"I suspect it has something to do with the war," Tsunade was continuing, drawing Sakura out of her thoughts. "The fact our enemies have begun moving too, is surely no coincidence." At Sakura's concerned frown, her mother smoothed back another unruly lock of hair.
"Don't worry about it now. You need to rest some more," Tsunade said.
The light frown on Sakura's brow deepened. She'd been cooped up at home for going on four days. She understood her mother's concerns. They were legitimate; after all, she'd spent months in the Underworld, and spring hadn't fully arrived on the surface that year due to her disappearance. Crops were in short supply and the Harvest would not be a bountiful one. She'd spent the last three days watching the news, learning about the state of the world that had suffered due to her vanishing.
It was a surreal sensation, knowing that she was responsible for the way plant-life had struggled to bloom that year; it was also further confirmation she didn't need of who she truly was.
Sakura understood why her mother had requested she rest for a few days. Nobody knew what effect being returned to the surface when autumn was due to begin would have on her physical body. They were all on edge and understandably wanted to keep a close eye on her. But Sakura couldn't live her life so over-protected and restricted anymore.
Specifically, she refused to sit back and allow things and decisions to be done for her. She couldn't stay indoors forever, hiding away from the world. The only way to overcome fears, she now knew, was to face them.
After all, she'd done plenty of that in the Underworld. She'd stared down Death himself while standing at the very edge of Tartarus's damning pit.
Inhaling deeply, she decided to communicate her thoughts to her mother, hoping Tsunade would appreciate her point of view.
"Mother…" she looked earnestly at the beautiful woman sitting before her; the fiercest, kindest one she knew. "I know you're scared of losing me. I know… what you tell me keeps happening to me again and again. I'm scared, too. I know you want me to rest, and I have been. But I can't keep hiding away. I can't stand feeling like I have no control over my own fate. I just…" she paused, searching for the right words, before continuing, "I want to know what's happening. Maybe, if we all work together, and I'm involved in everything that's going on, maybe we can figure this out, find a way to break this cycle. I don't…" she felt tears sting at her eyes, but battled them back as a quiver of fear passed through her body. "I don't want to die. There's so much I want to do, and see…"
Tsunade was silent a long moment. Every maternal instinct inside her screamed at her to tell Sakura not to fret, that she would handle things and that everything would work out fine. Yet the terrifying thing was, she didn't know that for certain. If anything, she knew only what was inevitable, what had always come to pass throughout the ages. The cycle would claim the girl sitting before her eventually. It meant nothing that this was the oldest reincarnation to have survived. That provided little assurance to Tsunade.
She'd spent countless centuries, millennia, an eternal age trying to find a way to save Sakura from living, only to die and live again, over and over. She'd told Sakura the truth many times before, and they'd tried to find a way to end the repetitive curse so many times.
Tsunade's heart felt heavy. Did she have it in her to try once more, when every instinct urged her to wrap Sakura up safely and continue to keep her under watchful eyes? Could she really dare to hope, since her child had returned to a place she'd never been to since her original form, that maybe this time, things would work out differently?
Her light brown eyes looked at the girl she loved more than anything else in the world. It was difficult, fighting against what her maternal reflexes told her to do; to continue to shelter Sakura, to deal with matters relating to her on her own. In the past, she'd always chosen what to share with her child and what to keep her ignorant about.
But perhaps that had been her biggest mistake. It had certainly led to her kidnapping. Tsunade had long since realised it had been no fault of anyone else's that her daughter had been snatched from right under her nose. It had been her failure to inform Sakura about the truth, which had denied her the knowledge and understanding she needed to help herself.
As she looked at her daughter, nineteen going onto twenty, she was hit by the stark realisation and acceptance that Sakura had made it to adulthood this time. And so, she couldn't keep treating her like a child. Hiding her away and keeping things from her, suffocating her, would only make Sakura more likely to rebel and go behind her back in order to find out things for herself, especially since she now had already seen and learned so much in Sasuke's realm. It would damage their precious bond and trust, Tsunade knew.
"Mother?" Sakura's sweet voice reached her ears.
Sheltering her daughter would not protect her this time. The only way to ensure she was empowered and aware of what was happening, was to involve her in all future decisions relating to her.
Tsunade blinked and made up her mind. She knew what she needed to do – what the right thing to do was – though the unknown consequences of it frightened her more than anything.
"When you finish and are ready, come downstairs," she said. "The others are here and we have important matters to discuss. I want you to be there. I want you to be informed." She paused, before admitting, "It was wrong of me to keep you in the dark about everything, though I explained my reasons why. From now on, I want us to be open and honest… about everything that happens. Your safety," she pushed a sleep-tousled lock of hair back behind Sakura's ear, "means everything to me."
Sakura blinked at her, pleasantly surprised that her mother was being so cooperative and understanding. Then she nodded as her Tsunade rose and opened the curtains.
Bright sunlight streamed through the windows, signalling the start of a new day.
After finishing her breakfast, brushing her teeth and changing into something more presentable, Sakura made her way downstairs to the living room and was surprised to find so many people occupying it.
Asuma and Kurenai sat on one couch. On another, Kakashi was seated beside her mother and Naruto. Ino, Shikamaru and Hinata were also present, as was Shizune. Jiraiya stood leaning against the farthest wall. Sakura noted that Sai was missing, and so were the other seraphs.
Tsunade gestured to an empty space beside her as her daughter entered.
"Rise and shine, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted cheerfully.
"Hi. Good morning, everyone," Sakura answered, taking a seat next to her mother. "Sorry I'm late!"
Once pleasantries were exchanged, Jiraiya, who had been looking out the window, received a signal from the seraphs stationed outside that the area was clear, and stated, "We may begin."
Tsunade cast a sombre look around the room.
"We are here to discuss the specifics of the arrangements that were made to secure Sakura's safe release." She paused, before continuing, "Now that Sakura knows the truth, she will have a say in all matters relating to her." She glanced at her daughter, who offered her a small, grateful smile. Then Tsunade nodded at Kakashi, inviting him to begin the conversation.
Kakashi sighed lightly, lowering the novel he had been reading. "It was confirmed by Sasuke that while in the Underworld, Sakura willingly consumed six seeds from the Forbidden Fruit."
Sakura's pulse began to pick up pace as she realised they were talking about the very thing that had kept her up so late the previous night. Shizune, Hinata and Ino gasped at the revelation. There was a murmur about the room in which everyone exchanged concerned glances.
Sakura saw the way her mother's jaw clenched tightly at that. She looked at Sakura with deep regret and pain, but signalled for silence, prompting Kakashi to continue.
"Sakura," Kakashi turned a lone eye to her. "Were you aware of the binding nature of the seeds when you ate them?"
"No," Sakura answered truthfully. "I found out from Suigetsu."
"What?" Kurenai looked at Kakashi in confusion.
"He let her eat from the fruit without telling her about it?" Ino exclaimed, looking mortified.
"Damn it," Naruto's cursed under his breath, his hands closed into tight fists. He looked furious.
"H-how can that be?" Hinata said softly, a hand raised anxiously to her mouth.
"That's against the laws of even his world, right?" Shikamaru, who had been leaning back lazily against the couch while chewing on a toothpick, opened an eye.
"That is correct," Jiraiya responded from his position beside the window. "With that regard, he has committed a great misconduct, indeed."
"Sakura-chan," Shizune's eyes met hers. "Did you eat these seeds willingly? You weren't forced?"
The memory of Sasuke's hand holding the fruit up invitingly to her lips drifted through Sakura's mind. She hadn't been forced. Seduced, perhaps. But forced? No. She'd eaten of her own free will.
"I didn't know about them," she informed Shizune. "I ate them willingly, but I didn't know what that meant."
"It was his responsibility to tell you," said Asuma.
Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. "That isn't a food that's just readily given to the living."
"There's a way to reverse it, right?" Ino looked at Shikamaru in desperation. "I mean, if she wasn't even told about it beforehand, surely there has to be a way around it?"
"He must be called before The Council," Tsunade was clearly struggling to remain composed. "This must be undone, somehow, some way."
"No," Jiraiya replied shortly. "It cannot be. The fruit's effects are binding, regardless of how they're ingested. We all know this."
"Aah. And once ingested, they can't be removed." Kakashi agreed. "It's known as the "Forbidden Fruit" for that very reason."
"Only the Underworld dwellers themselves are immune to its effects," Shizune confirmed.
"Then what is owed?" Kurenai looked around the room. "Six months, for the six seeds?"
"But with the way things are," Ino pointed out, "that'd mean Sakura goes back when spring begins."
Sakura's eyebrows knotted together. Six months from now would bring them to the end of February – and the scheduled start of spring.
"Impossible!" Tsunade voiced her anger. "That would bring great stress on Sakura's body as well as the surface! She must be on the surface to trigger spring. I will not allow it! I'll remove the seeds from her myself!"
"You cannot!" Jiraiya retorted admonishingly. "Be reasonable, Tsunade! Once consumed, the seeds remain. Not even the Uchiha themselves can remove them!"
"What exactly was agreed?" Tsunade demanded, glaring angrily at Jiraiya. "You seem remarkably calm considering!"
"We will tell you,"Jiraiya held her gaze steadily. "You may not like it, but we did the best we could to ensure her safe return."
"Well?" Tsunade pressed impatiently.
Kakashi sighed once more. "Because Sakura was held for six months already ahead of being returned to the surface, she has already spent six months in the Underworld for this year. The onset effect of the seeds can't be reversed; but it can be delayed, at least, for the first time she returns to the surface."
"Huh?" Ino frowned in confusion.
Sakura, equally as baffled, shook her head. "Wait, what does that mean? Delayed by how long?"
"By the equivalent in months you spent in the Underworld," Jiraiya simplified.
"Then…" Asuma said slowly, "that means they won't activate for the first six months?"
"Aah," Kakashi affirmed. "Sasuke has agreed to grant Sakura a year with us. Because she has already spent six months in his Kingdom before the seeds activated on the surface, there's a loophole he can manipulate that allows the time she has already spent in his world to be added as time owed to her – but only for her initial return. The 'timer' on the seeds will begin counting down six months in February."
"By midnight on the final day of August," Jiraiya added, "she must return to the Underworld."
Sakura's heart was thumping hard as she listened in amazement. A year? Sasuke had given her double the time… because she had already spent almost the equivalent of her owed months that year, before eating the seeds? She could scarcely believe it.
He had given her the maximum amount of time he could.
A year, Sakura thought to herself again. A whole year would pass until she had to return to the Underworld? She hadn't expected it to be so long, and wondered why he had agreed to grant her the extra time.
Was it possible he'd done it out of remorse? For the time he'd stolen from her? What other reason or purpose did he have to stall and delay the effects of the fruit from kicking in?
That made no sense to her, given the way he'd been so angry with her before they'd parted. But she remembered his passionate, bruising kiss. She remembered what ended up being his parting words to her.
'You are so annoying.'
Was it possible he was genuinely… sorry for what he'd allowed to happen?
"Sasuke's given his word that he won't interfere with surface matters," Naruto's voice drew Sakura back out of her thoughts.
Wouldn't interfere? Did that mean she wouldn't see him, or hear from him – for a whole year? Her mind raced. But with everything she had found out, all the questions she had for him, the way he had just released her without any semblance of closure for either of them…
A whole year?
"That's it?" Tsunade looked from Kakashi, to Jiraiya, to Naruto and back again in utter incredulity. "Those were the terms? And what about on his end? He just handed her back with no requests of his own?"
Naruto opened his mouth, but Kakashi silenced him with a wary glance. He knew what he was about to say next would infuriate Sakura's mother further. "In exchange for her release, Sasuke demanded we ensure he isn't summoned before the Council."
Another shocked gasp rippled around the room.
"What?!" Tsunade erupted, leaping to her feet, her hands clenched into tight fists. "Do not tell me you agreed to this madness!"
"A-are you serious?" Ino's jaw dropped.
"We had no choice," Naruto defended. "It was the only way we could get Sakura-chan back!"
Asuma raised his hands. "Wait a minute-" he began, at the same time Kurenai interjected, "But he's broken so many laws-"
"If we didn't agree, he wouldn't have handed her back!" Naruto insisted.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata murmured in dismay, as the object of her affections rose to his feet in turn, turning pleading eyes toward Tsunade, eyes that implored for her to understand, to accept that they'd had no other choice.
"Naruto, sit down," Kakashi reached for him, but Naruto pushed his arm away.
"He wouldn't have had a choice in the matter!" Tsunade snapped back. "The Council has the power to summon him by force, and by our laws he can't refuse! Was this your so-called 'solution'? I'd have done a better job had I gone down to retrieve her myself!"
"Which laws are those?" Shikamaru pointed out coolly. "Last we checked, Sasuke follows none but his own."
Shizune shook her head. "Please, everyone…" she attempted to restore some semblance of calm, but everybody continued to talk over one another in disagreement.
"I cannot believe you agreed to that!" Tsunade ranted. "He should be called to explain himself and bear the consequences, the same way any of us would be punished if we did something that broke the laws of our world!"
"ENOUGH!" Jiraiya's deep voice boomed. "All of you!"
Sakura stared at the tall, white-haired man. He had set aside the sake bottle in his hand, and walked away from the window. All traces of mirth erased from his ruggedly handsome face, he looked imposing. Commanding. The others fell quiet and listened, though her mother continued to fume.
Glowering at Tsunade, he said seriously, "It is not an ideal arrangement to make. But we had to accept it. Her return in exchange for a pass from being summoned before the Council. Now before we all lose our minds to idiocy, think for a minute. Whatever Sasuke's reasons may have been in choosing to take Sakura to his world and allowing her to eat from the fruit, it may work out in our favour!"
"In our favour?" Tsunade echoed, laughing sharply. "I do not see how my child having to return to the realm of the Dead in the company of a traitor to Olympians is any sort of favour to her or to us!"
"He's not a traitor," Naruto argued. "He fought with his family, the same way we fought with ours!"
"He was your friend," Tsunade reminded the Sun God. "You vouched for him, said that he would join our cause."
"He was… I told you, something must have happened, and he changed – we were trying to stop Cronus before it even got to that!"
Sakura listened intently. She'd remained mostly silent – but Naruto was now talking about a piece of history Sasuke hadn't mentioned to her. She wondered what exactly had happened between Sasuke and her family and friends back in the war and made a mental note to ask Naruto the next time they were alone.
"He betrayed us all," Kurenai pointed out, a dubious expression on her face. "And now he has bound Sakura to the Underworld. How is it understandable that you'd still defend him?"
"It isn't," a deep frown settled on Asuma's brow. "This can't be excused. Regardless of what was promised, he has to answer for what he's done."
"Sasuke may operate in a different realm to us – but he's an immortal just like us, and answers to the same Council, just as his family did," said Shikamaru.
"Yes," Shizune nodded. "He must answer."
"You don't get it," Naruto raked his hand through his sunshine spikes of hair, succeeding in dishevelling the strands further. "Sasuke didn't have to give Sakura a year. But he did. He could take that time back just as easily. Is that what you want? Why can't you just let it go?!"
"Mother," Sakura rubbed stressfully at her forehead. "Please, if calling him before the Council means my time on the surface is cut, then leave it."
Kakashi went on quickly, before Tsunade could voice any further disapproval, "Whether he's called to answer or not, it doesn't change the fact that Sakura must return to the Underworld for six months every year, starting from the end of next summer."
"You want to know how this works in your favour?" Naruto gestured in frustration. "Sasuke rules the Dead! Please! If there's any way we can get him back on side, maybe he can help us… he can help Sakura-chan! Maybe… just maybe he's the missing link in all of this who'll help us break the cycle."
Tsunade released a sound of utter disbelief, but Naruto was pushing on.
"Calling him to the Council will break our deal off – and she'll be back in the Underworld before the next spring, which messes up everything all over! It'll just put Sakura-chan in danger all over again because she won't be on the surface again to trigger spring."
Tsunade stared at him, appalled. Did they truly think that Sasuke, who had proven in the past that he could not be trusted, would ever willingly assist them? She was growing increasingly suspicious over how sure and hopeful Naruto appeared to be.
"Tsunade," Jiraiya entreated her. "Don't let your stubbornness override the girl's wellbeing. As Naruto has said, Sasuke is a powerful ally to have in this. If she's tied to the Underworld, that means he will likely ensure she stays alive. He can ensure her wellbeing."
"Wait a minute," Ino shook her head. "Sasuke isn't allowed to meddle with the timing of death. If she's meant to die, he shouldn't be preventing that."
"That's also breaking his laws," Shizune agreed.
"He shouldn't interfere – but he can." Kakashi stressed.
"Are you saying that if Sakura were about to die, in theory, he can keep her alive because of the seeds she ate?" Shikamaru questioned, raising an unconvinced eyebrow.
"That's right," said Kakashi. "The seeds provide a direct link between Sakura and the Underworld – and to Sasuke. He can't prevent the attacks – but he can help to stabilise her and stop them from being fatal."
Sakura's heart quickened as she listened in astonishment. The seeds, that she had been so upset about – could inadvertently end up helping her?
"What." Tsunade inhaled sharply.
"That was another condition we agreed with him," Jiraiya informed her, his voice laced with a telling edge. "That in exchange for a pardon, and in exchange for us staying out of his affairs when Sakura returns to his world, he will do what is needed to guarantee she survives."
Sakura raised a hand to her throat in alarmed disbelief. Sasuke had agreed to monitoring and keeping her alive in the event that she suffered any further attacks on the surface?
"Then he knows about Sakura," Tsunade sat down slowly, dread knotting deep within her chest. She stated, not questioned - as if she was already sure of the answer. "He knows about the Essence."
"Yes," Sakura replied. "I had attacks in the Underworld, mother. That's how he must've found out."
"And what did Sasuke do when you had them?" Kurenai asked curiously.
"He stabilised them," Sakura glanced at her. "He gave me ambrosia. He made sure I woke up."
Everyone exchanged surprised looks.
"You see!" Naruto sounded relieved, and finally sat back down, covering his face with his hands as he exhaled.
"It's not ideal," Kakashi rubbed his head. "And what Sasuke did allowing Sakura to eat from the fruit was wrong, there's no doubt. But perhaps, this can work out in a way that helps us."
"Are you saying he can stop her from dying completely?" Ino sputtered, daring to hope.
"There's a limit, of course," Jiraiya frowned lightly. "And unpleasant consequences should a soul be forced back into a body once it does leave, but he certainly has it within his power to delay death and the departure of her soul, or at the very least buy us more time while we attempt to find a way to break the cycle. We don't know what the full effects of the Sharingan are in relation to stabilising the Essence – perhaps there is a way for him to slow down the entire process."
Tsunade was silent for a long moment. Sakura could see that her mother was still visibly upset – but there now seemed to be an air of clarity about her, where there had only been fury before.
Finally, she quietly asked something that made Sakura's stomach lurch. "And why would Sasuke help my daughter? Why would he take her away, bind her to his world, and grant her any favours when she's a daughter of the very gods who took up arms against his own family?"
Sakura snuck a surreptitious look up at Ino, her heart lodged in her throat. 'Don't', she telepathically pleaded. 'Don't tell her, please…'
Ino inclined her head slightly to the right in negative, signalling that she would not, but it wasn't her who said the words that Sakura had dreaded for her mother to hear.
"Because," Naruto said just as quietly, the tension in his shoulders palpable as he balled his hands into tight fists, "I think Sasuke likes Sakura-chan."
Hinata, Ino and Shizune gasped. There was a heavy, astounded silence, in which everyone's eyes flew to Naruto in a mixture of shock, astonished horror and disbelief. Everyone, that was, except Kakashi and Jiraiya.
Sakura's heart pounded. She dared not meet Ino's gaze. Beside her, Tsunade had frozen, her entire body tensed like a tightly wound coil. From the fine tremors that were running through her mother's shoulders, Sakura could see that she was barely withholding her wrath.
"What," Tsunade finally bit out, "did you say?"
"I- I mean," Naruto sputtered, holding up both hands to calm the fearsome older deity down. "I mean I'm just guessing here, but why else would he take Sakura-chan, let her eat the seeds, agree to keep her alive, unless he cared in some way? Think about it!"
"There could be many reasons, of course," Jiraiya supplied. "Sasuke could be doing this all for his own gain, for reasons we don't fully comprehend, but his cooperation in our affairs is certainly uncharacteristic given our past conflict with his family. Why would he care for one of our own?"
Tsunade's jaw clenched and unclenched. She looked at Sakura, who saw the open displeasure in her eyes.
And that, Sakura realised, although completely wrong, was exactly why Sasuke had just kidnapped her… there'd clearly been no chance of him ever turning up at her mother's door with flowers and simply asking Tsunade to be allowed to court her daughter. Sakura could see that her mother definitely did not like the Death deity one bit.
"Sakura," her mother glared at her. "Is this true?"
'Tell the truth,' Ino's voice spoke to her telepathically. 'But she doesn't need to know about the past.'
Deeply embarrassed, Sakura answered, flustered, "I know he was curious about me, but I poisoned him to escape, and he was angry just before he let me go."
"He didn't know what Sakura was when he took her," Ino shook her head. "Only that she's your daughter."
"How did he find out what she is?" Tsunade demanded.
"The attacks," Sakura said. "I kept having them. He must have found out what they meant, somehow. I don't know how, he just told me."
"Or," Tsunade cast an icy look toward Naruto. "Someone told him."
Naruto paled, and swore under his breath. Finally he blurted out, "FINE. I did tell him! But only because it was obvious he wasn't working with Cronus!"
"Naruto!" Shizune's hand flew to her mouth in alarm.
"You did what?!" Even the typically unfazed Shikamaru looked angry, as Tsunade grabbed Naruto by the collar of his top.
"You fool!" she shook him furiously, hoisting him off the couch. "What have you done?!"
Hinata rose to her feet. "P-please, Tsunade-sama…" she pleaded anxiously.
"I- I thought it would help if he knew, and it did because he agreed to he- ouch!"
"Mother!" Sakura tried to separate her mother from Naruto, as Kurenai, Kakashi and Asuma also intervened. "Stop, please!"
Hinata watched helplessly, hands clasped together, the conflict in the room making her uneasy.
But Tsunade was livid. "You told an Uchiha about the Essence?" she raged, shaking Naruto harder. "When it was the Uchiha who poisoned her to begin with!"
"C..Cronus," Naruto croaked, "It was Cronus-!"
"Everyone calm down!" Ino cried.
Kurenai finally succeeded in entreating Tsunade to release the Sun God. She did so roughly, shooting daggers at him. "How do we know Sasuke isn't involved in the stealing of the phial? With everything that's been going on lately?"
"How do we know he is?" Naruto winced, rubbing his neck. "You're just assuming because he's an Uchiha-"
"Naruto!" Kakashi admonished. "Enough!"
"And when did you tell him this? When you collected her?" Tsunade rallied on Kakashi. "Or did you know where my daughter was all this time, and chose not to tell me?! Because if that's the case, Sasuke isn't the only one who has to answer for his actions!"
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya boomed. "We chose not to tell you at the immediate time because we knew coming to you directly would result in precisely the response you are now displaying! We had to work on securing her release – and that is what we did!"
"You mean to tell me you knew?" If looks could kill, Sakura thought that Jiraiya might very well collapse at that very moment. "For how long?" Tsunade demanded.
Kakashi exchanged looks with Jiraiya. Finally he sighed resignedly, "Not long before Suigetsu returned to the surface and told you himself. Please accept that."
"I cannot believe you would keep it from me! Did you do it to secure the release terms, or because you were trying to protect him?" Tsunade sneered.
"That's enough," Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Never question where our loyalties lie."
"Excuse me if I do, when I find out you're keeping things from me," Tsunade spat out.
"It was wrong of you to keep that from us," Asuma shook his head. "And I'm not so sure it's a good idea that Sasuke knows about the Essence, even if he can stall death. What do we know about what he might do with that knowledge?"
"You know what?" Naruto raised his chin defiantly at them all. "If I'd not told Sasuke any of it, you think he'd have even let her go? I'm not damned sorry! Now we've got a deal that could help Sakura-chan; isn't that the most important thing here?" At Tsunade's frosty, unconvinced look, he gestured in frustration with his hand. "Ah, just forget it," he muttered, got up, and stormed out the room. Sakura heard the front door open and slam shut and looked back to her mother.
Shikamaru sighed. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," he got up and strolled after Naruto.
Hinata and Ino excused themselves, and quickly followed after him.
"Naruto was wrong to do what he did, but he has a point," Asuma said after a long silence. "If they've made an agreement which means Sasuke's able to stall Sakura dying, then we can iron out all the other details later."
"Calling him to the Council is the only way we can speak to him," Shizune argued. "If we make it clear perhaps that it's not to pass judgement-"
"You think he'll believe that?" Jiraiya cast a questioning look around the room. "We were barely able to get him to accept meeting with us! Tsunade," he looked at the angry woman who was pacing about the room. "I know this displeases you, and you have every right to be angry, but don't lose your wits. We play this smart, we can benefit and maybe save the girl. We play it smart, we can find out what exactly Sasuke's motives are, and just how much involvement he has in things."
"We can't do that if we go in all guns blazing, accusing him of everything," Kakashi mused thoughtfully.
Kurenai sighed. "Well, they have a point," she conceded.
"Perhaps, Tsunade-sama, it may be best to keep an eye on things quietly?" Shizune suggested.
Tsunade came to a halt. The words seemed to reach her at last, for she sat back down slowly, running her hands through her hair. At length, she finally answered with an unhappy mutter, "Fine. But I'll get my answers. That Uchiha brat won't get away with this, and as for you three… you keep anything from me ever again and I'll break every bone in each of your bodies!"
Sakura met Kakashi's amused lone gaze, then looked away.
[Several hours later]
After the meeting, everyone had left the house, with the exception of Shizune, who remained with her mother. Sakura excused herself to her room, where she thought about everything she had discovered. Feeling restless and on edge, she logged onto her Academy account for the first time since she'd returned to the surface, eager for a distraction from the chaos of her thoughts.
She found countless unread messages and assignments. Her eyes stung with fresh tears as she looked through the unopened content. Messages informing her of her missed deadlines. Messages from Tenten asking where she was. Correspondence from her classes and tutors.
She knew everyone had wondered where she'd vanished to and had asked about her whereabouts. Ino had told her that they'd just informed people that due to emergency family circumstances she'd gone to stay with a relative in another country for a while.
It was a strange feeling, Sakura thought, as she opened up the last assignment she'd passed with an A grade, trying to pick up the pieces of her old, normal life, when everything had changed. She knew she'd missed the end of year finals, which meant that she had to apply for a repeat of the exams if she wanted to get into medical school.
Her time in the Underworld hadn't changed her ambition. If anything, it had strengthened her determination to become a doctor, to preserve lives now that she possessed a better, clearer understanding of death and knew how the afterlife worked; now that she had seen things mortals could only experience once their souls had departed their bodies.
She had a year before she had to return to the Underworld. Sakura recalled everything she'd heard in the meeting earlier, and set her jaw resolutely. Her world had changed – and she planned to make changes, too. No more hesitancy, no more ignorance, no more relying on others to protect and do things for her.
She knew what she wanted to do, and she'd go out and get it done. Now that she knew what had happened to her past forms, she was anxious to seize every day, to live. Even with Sasuke's assistance, there was no guarantee that he could continue to prolong her body succumbing to the curse of the Essence's cycle indefinitely. She had to make the most of the time she had.
And she'd start with ensuring she successfully graduated and went to medical school.
Grabbing her cell phone, she dialled in the Academy's number.
"Gently, Kabuto," the voice behind him rasped.
With trembling hands, the doctor guided the pipettes in the petri dish, looking carefully through the microscope's lens as he guided them into the nucleus of the cell. It was a delicate procedure. He had to be accurate with the point of insertion in order to complete the final trial, the successful merging of two spore samples. One black. One white.
He could feel perspiration beading upon his brow, as he intricately fused the samples together with painstaking care. Sitting back with a relieved sigh, he nodded. Now they merely had to wait.
"Excellent work, Kabuto," Orochimaru commended. Kabuto felt a surge of pride within his chest as he set the equipment down. It was all he wanted, for the Daemon of Fear to acknowledge him, for Lord Orochimaru's approval.
A sudden wave of nausea then overcame him. He tried to fight it as he drew back, doubled over, dry retching.
A hand gripped his shoulder as he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Forgive me, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto exhaled deeply. "I- I do not feel too well." The room was starting to spin, and he gripped onto the edge of the lab table he'd been seated at, trying to ride out the adverse side-effects of the potent venom he'd allowed to be injected into his blood-stream. It had started out so negligible at first. A headache here and there. Episodes of dizziness. But the more time wore on, the more the side-effects were increasing in intensity.
"Do not fight it," Orochimaru's voice wrapped around him like a sickly, sensuous caress. "Allow the venom to become one with your body. Your transssformation isss almossst complete…"
He watched as the silver-haired medic threw up dark black liquid on the floor. Beneath his shirt, he could see Kabuto's skin rippling, shifting, mutating. A dark smirk graced his serpentine lips as Kabuto suddenly gripped his head, rocking back and forth, moaning in pain that soon grew to howls of anguish as his body contorted. He staggered to his feet, thrashing left and right, as if battling with his own mind – or losing it.
Orochimaru smiled grimly. Everything was progressing precisely as planned.
[Three surface days later]
A light knock on the door drew Tsunade's attention away from where she was typing up medical notes. It had been a long while since she'd been to work, after taking extended leave following Sakura's abduction – but with Sakura's safe arrival back on the surface, she knew that she had to return to the many responsibilities she had neglected during her daughter's absence.
A quick glance at the clock informed Tsunade that it was past eight in the evening. She straightened, massaging her neck, looking up as Sakura pushed the door to the study room open. Her daughter was carrying a tray of hot tea and some freshly baked cookies she'd made earlier.
"I thought you'd like to take a break," Sakura said as she entered the room, setting the tray on the desk at which her mother was seated.
"Thank you," her mother smiled gratefully, accepting the hot beverage her daughter poured for her, as she lowered the screen of her laptop, more than happy to take time out from her typing.
It had now been a week since Sakura's return home. They'd spent the time catching up on what had passed on the surface and Underworld respectively, how things were at the hospital, discussing what Sakura's options were for medical school, looked at universities she could attend and rescheduled Sakura's final exams to be retaken in a month's time. Part of Tsunade was reluctant to return to normality so soon, old habits whispering uncertainties and fear through her mind. Part of her just wanted to keep Sakura under close supervision, knowing that something was brewing, which they didn't yet know enough about.
But she could also sense the change in her daughter, the hunger for new knowledge, how Sakura wanted so much to do, to be, to act, to take control of a situation in which it was so easy for her to sit back and feel like a victim. Sakura had agreed to spend the first week mostly at home, to allow herself to be monitored as her body readjusted to surface life. But Tsunade knew she was ready to go back to the Academy, to go out, to see the world and catch up on the time that had been stolen from her by Sasuke.
Thinking of the Uchiha survivor caused a bitter lump to form in Tsunade's throat. She wanted nothing more than to confront the God of Death and rip his eyes right out their sockets for even daring to look at her daughter. But she knew she had to quell her own wants for the sake of the larger picture, for what was most important. Sakura's welfare and survival. And if that meant she had to leave things be with regards to bringing him to justice for the time being, then that was what she begrudgingly had to do.
As her child drew a chair from beside the bookshelves to sit before her, Tsunade looked her over, once again struck by how close in likeness she was to her original form. It was the eyes, she knew, and the hair colour. Paler, slightly, than it had been so long ago, but no less beautiful. She was finally seeing her daughter a grown young woman of nineteen. No longer a little girl. She'd made it almost to the end of her teenage years.
"Mother," Sakura said, after taking a sip of her own tea. "I wanted to ask you about chakra."
"Oh?" Tsunade looked at her with interest. Sakura had already spoken to her animatedly about the many creatures she'd seen in the Underworld, and woven a picture so at odds with what Tsunade had imagined the Kingdom to be like, that it had been quite surprising.
"I learnt about it in the Underworld. All gods can summon it, right?"
"All living things have it," Tsunade corrected. "Chakra is a combination of spiritual energy and physical stamina fused together into something you can physically manifest and control. It's the basis of our powers – but humans can harness it too, though to a much less effective degree, and usually in limited ways, such as healing or meditation."
"I saw it being used," Sakura recalled the effortless way Sasuke had summoned chakra, moulded it to change elemental nature. "I was able to control it for a while, when we fought some monsters."
Tsunade blinked, astonished. "How so?"
"I mean, ambrosia helped me channel it easier, but I need further training."
"I see," her mother was looking at her thoughtfully.
"There are different natures of it, aren't there?" Sakura asked.
"Yes," Tsunade nodded. "Primarily five elements that may alter chakra; Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth and Wind. Everyone has a natural inclination to at least one. Some are inclined to more, though one will always be strongest."
"What's yours?" Sakura guessed. "Earth?"
"Yes. And so is yours. Though I'm also able to use Yin-Yang release."
"What's that?"
"The manipulation of Yin and Yang is the source of non-elemental techniques, such as medical techniques and illusions."
Sakura's interest was greatly captured. "Medical techniques? How does that work?"
Tsunade looked at her a moment. Then, finishing off her tea, she told Sakura to wait in the room as she stood and exited it. Stuffing a cookie quickly in her mouth, Sakura waited. After a minute, her mother returned with a cup and set a piece of cloth on the table. Sakura peered curiously down at it. A gold fish from the small fish tank they owned that was set in the living room wall, floundered on it, before growing still.
Sakura automatically reached out to scoop it up and return it to the cup of water. But her mother held up a hand, motioning for her to watch as she held her palm over the lifeless animal. Sakura watched in wide eyed wonder, as a soft glow of light radiated from her mother's palm and infused into the fish. A moment later, it started flipping, restored to life. Quickly, Tsunade scooped it back into the glass of water she'd brought in with her.
"That's incredible!" Sakura exhaled in amazement. She thought of the benefits such an ability would bring in the medical field.
"Teach me," she reached out to grip her mother's arm. "Please, mother!"
Tsunade considered the request a moment. She knew her daughter's chakra was firmly locked within the seal placed within her. But if she had been able to tap into it somewhat in the Underworld, and with the help of ambrosia, then what reason did she have not to try to teach her daughter a basic healing technique that could help her to protect herself?
Better yet… she could teach her a few more tricks, too. Techniques that would be hidden from mortal eyes – but ones that could help her should the need to fight ever present itself.
She met her daughter's gaze steadily, smiled slightly, and nodded.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading everyone! I'd love to know your thoughts so please kindly leave some feedback if you get a moment. See you next update! It'll be after the New Year now due to the busy nature of Christmas, so I wish anyone who celebrates, Happy Holidays!