Chapter LXXXIV
A love that transcends even life and death,
Enduring beyond her last dying breath,
Propelled into the future, to a time when,
By Fate's design they would meet again,
A romance, forbidden, concealed since that day,
Is unshrouded at last, to a mother's dismay.
~x~
I'm doing the right thing, Sakura repeated the words to herself like a desperate mantra as she made her way toward the apothecary room where Shikamaru had informed her that her mother was.
An onslaught of nervousness jangled through her body and her stomach alternated between forming tight knots of dread and turning in sickening somersaults.
Beside her, Ino, who was accompanying her along the walk for moral support, cast her a dubious look.
"Sakura, you sure you want to do this now?" she questioned, eyeing her best friend in concern. "You look like you're about to throw up."
Sakura felt like she was going to throw up. She swallowed down the nausea rising in her throat and clenched her teeth in determination. It would be so easy to lose her resolve. To turn away. To postpone the conversation for just one more day. A part of her was tempted to do just that, pleading that she could take more time to compose herself if she needed it. But Sakura knew it was pointless; there was no way she could prepare herself any better. She'd already spent several hours rehearsing what she would say multiple times with a patient Ino.
It didn't matter whether she allowed another month to pass. However she chose to approach her mother, the outcome would likely be the same. Tsunade would be no less disappointed, furious or hurt. Delaying it would make Sakura less likely to go ahead with it. Making frantic excuses - such as telling herself that her mother needed more time to deal with the still fresh pain of Shizune's loss - was pointless. There was no right or kind time to reveal such a shocking truth.
"I have to," Sakura replied, though her voice wavered as they approached the wooden door that led into the medicine-brewing room. Drawing to a stop before it, Sakura took slow, deep breaths, summoning her courage, trying to reel in her rampant, galloping emotions.
She could do this. Her mother deserved to know, as terrifying as it was to come clean about the entire clandestine love affair after millennia of keeping it a hushed secret. Surely it would help justify her attraction to Sasuke, make it make more sense in Tsunade's eyes? Even if she would never approve.
"Okay," Sakura exhaled. "I'm not going to freak out. I'm just going to do it."
Ino could clearly discern that her friend was completely freaking out on the inside, from the way Sakura stood frozen to the spot like a panicked deer caught in blinding headlights. She reached out and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
"Do you want me to go in with you?"
Sakura gulped, her mouth already feeling drier than a parched desert.
"N-no," she got out. "I'll be fine."
Ino stared at her, and bit her lower lip anxiously. "Okay," she agreed after a moment. "I'll wait out here then. Just in case."
"Right." Sakura sucked in another deep breath. "Here goes nothing," she muttered, and reached out to pull the door open before she lost her nerve and changed her mind at the final moment.
Stepping inside and closing the door quietly shut behind her, she found the layout to be similar to the alchemy chamber. The square-shaped room's walls were also lined with wooden shelves that held rows upon rows of countless glass containers and jars. They appeared to hold dry herbs and a large assortment of other labelled, natural ingredients. Candlelight provided warm ambience lighting, glinting off the glass. Three wooden work-tables were spread about the room, with numerous high wooden stool-chairs neatly tucked into each. The work stations were strewn with various medicine brewing equipment such as weighing scales, pestle and mortars and brewing pots set above small grills of burning flame. There was a larger, black cauldron hanging over a burning, stone fireplace built into the northernmost wall.
The right corner of the room had two shelves brimming with leather-bound books. There was a crimson, circular rug thrown carelessly onto the stone floor, with a circular wooden coffee table placed upon it. Three comfortable looking, brown arm-chairs surrounded the table, forming a study area of sorts.
Her mother was seated in one of the chairs closest to the fireplace behind her, a heavy book in her hands and a green shawl draped over her shoulders. She was dressed in a light grey, ribbed turtleneck sweater and a pair of casual, grey, ankle-grazing slacks. Blonde side-bangs framed her diamond shaped face, the long straight locks pulled back into a practical ponytail behind her head. Looking at her, Sakura was overcome with a rush of love - and crushing guilt.
She knew she ought to have come clean to her mother about Hades, in her first life. If she had, then perhaps she would have been spared the cruelty of her fate. Perhaps things might have worked out so differently.
The room smelled pleasantly of soothing lavender. It was comforting, and Sakura eagerly breathed it in. With every step closer she took toward her mother, her resolve quivered. Her heart was pounding so hard against her rib-cage, that Sakura felt it pulsing through her entire body with the force of a displacing earthquake.
Her mother finally glanced up from her book, her beautiful honey eyes settling onto Sakura as her daughter slowly lowered herself into the chair opposite her, giving her a watery smile.
"Sakura," she greeted with a nod.
"Mother," Sakura cleared her throat, her nerves intensifying, causing her pulse to climb faster still. If she wasted time with pleasantries and small-talk, she would lose her focus. Biting the bullet, went on hurriedly, before her bravery abandoned her, "I need to tell you something."
Tsunade blinked, her face carefully schooled into a neutral expression. Slowly, she closed the book and set it onto the table in front of her. Clasping her hands together in her lap, she nodded invitingly, though the anxiety she could see plaguing her daughter was telling enough, immediately sparking her suspicions. If Sakura was that nervous, it surely didn't bode well for the topic of conversation they were about to have.
Her thoughts were immediately confirmed when Sakura divulged, "About Sasuke."
Tsunade swallowed thickly. The transparent terror that glazed her daughter's green eyes spoke volumes to her maternal instincts. Just as she had feared, something must have happened between the two over the course of their journey. Something that had resulted in her foolish child becoming hopelessly spellbound by the young god. There could be no other explanation.
"I distinctly instructed Kakashi to watch you over the quest," her mother began in a low voice. "To make sure the two of you were never alone."
Sakura's eyebrows drew together. Kakashi had paired her off with Sasuke on purpose throughout their mission, but that was to be expected given he was her assigned guard. "This isn't about that."
"Isn't it? Did he touch you inappropriately on your journey?" Tsunade demanded.
Sakura licked her lower lip, somewhat taken aback by the bluntness of the question. This wasn't starting off too well. "No. He only ever touched me when he was doing his job protecting me." She answered.
At her mother's thoroughly unconvinced look, she added, "He isn't like that, mother. But this- it isn't about the relic quest."
"Very well." Tsunade forced herself to remain silent, to listen to what she did not particularly wish to hear because she did not wish to discuss Sasuke at all, to allow her daughter the respect and time to communicate her feelings.
"I…" Sakura began apprehensively, releasing a shaky breath. She felt sick. All the words she had carefully rehearsed with Ino had horribly flown from her mind, scattering like birds dispersing in the wind.
Just say it, her inner voice screamed at her. Just get it over with! Do it!
But instead of the words she'd intended, she blurted out thoughtlessly, "He likes me."
Her mother stiffened. Tension lined every inch of her body. "Enough to kidnap you." She responded tightly. "Yes, I am well aware."
Sakura bit her lower lip in dismay. She could already see and hear the open disapproval in her mother's face and voice. It made her task significantly more daunting.
"Mother…" she tried again. "I care about him, too. I…" she hesitated, wringing her hands together restlessly, before supplying, "I've cared about him for a long time."
Tsunade stared at her incredulously. "Sakura. If this change of heart is just because he saved your life, then I don't think-"
She was interrupted by the words that spilled from Sakura's lips, words that caused her mother to freeze in place.
"Since before the war."
The Goddess of Harvest was very still. Sakura noted that her fingers, which had moved to grip the arm-rests, were digging into the leather. Shock was evident on her features, as well as a brewing storm of other emotions. Confusion. Bewilderment. A rapidly escalating anger.
Since before the war? What in the world did she mean? But a part of Tsunade already knew. She recalled the many days her daughter had spent, moping about alone in the fields, eating very little, keeping quietly to herself, scarcely smiling or being her cheerful self, thinking that her mother had not noticed her odd behaviour - but Tsunade had. They had all been hallmark signs of love-sickness, of a broken heart - and yet, anyone Tsunade had questioned about it seemed oblivious as to what the source of Kore's troubles were. Nobody could tell her who was responsible for afflicting her child so. Her daughter had vehemently dismissed and denied that anything was amiss whenever Tsunade had tried to ask her what was wrong, feigning normality in her mother's presence. Tsunade never had found out the truth. And after everything that had happened following the events of the war, she had not given it much conscious thought again - until that moment.
Was this the terrible answer to all the confounding mysteries? It was the worst possible news. Her greatest fear confirmed. A nightmare scenario.
Her mouth opened and closed, akin to a floundering, breathless fish for a few awful seconds, as she wrestled to find words. Forcibly, she managed, "Sakura- what are you saying?"
Sakura's heart slammed against her ribcage. There was no turning back. She had to say it now. She couldn't stand pretending anymore.
"We were… involved." Her entire body trembled. "In my first life."
Tsunade's lips parted, forming a silent 'o', staggered by the confession.
"Involved?" The word hung heavily in the air, ringing deafeningly like a death sentence in her ears. Sakura watched as horror manifested on her mother's face, followed by a disapproval and disappointment so profound, Sakura was cut to the quick. It felt like a jagged, ice-cold, steel blade was being run through her gut. She knew it would hurt, to tell her mother the truth.
Tears stung at her eyes, and she swallowed thickly.
"We…" her voice hitched. Goose-pimples surfaced along the skin of her arms as she confessed the reality that she knew would break her mother's heart, driving the final nail in the coffin that would likely bury any trust that her mother had in her for a long while. "We were together. We had a relationship."
A long, suffocating pause ensued.
"No." Tsunade finally broke the silence with a horrified whisper, refusing to accept it. "It isn't true." She looked at Sakura, aghast, disgusted. "Tell me it isn't. Not him."
Sakura miserably gulped back the lump in her throat before confirming. "It's true."
Another silence stretched on between them. Sakura couldn't stand it.
"Say something," she pleaded, on the verge of tears.
"I don't understand," Tsunade's voice wavered, her fury at being played for a fool barely restrained. "Are you trying to tell me that is why he abducted you?"
"No! Neither of us remember it," Sakura attempted to explain, "because my memories were sealed away, and so were his. Cronus took his memories of Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. He manipulated Sasuke's mind so that he'd hate all the surface gods. I heard Cronus admit it while we were on Olympus with my own ears.
Sasuke's memories of me were wiped by his brother and cousin so that he wouldn't blame himself for my death. He had nothing to do with my original kidnapping, mother. He would've tried to help me escape, I know he would've. He wasn't the one who poisoned me. It was all Cronus's plan. But it's the truth, we were together, and I was in-"
"Stop." Her mother rose to her feet, her chest heaving. "I don't want to hear it."
Sakura leapt out her chair, tears spilling freely down her cheeks. She didn't bother to keep them in check. She wanted her mother to see how much this upset her, too.
"I'm sorry I never told you back then! Until I met him again in this life, I remembered nothing about him! But I've had dreams, mother, memories of my first life, and I've seen it in memory spheres, too. It's true. We were connected back then. I was scared. I didn't want to believe it at first. But I can't go on pretending anymore. All of this," she gestured desperately, "everything that's happened, me being tied to the Underworld - it didn't happen the right way, and he did it all wrong. He hurt me and he hurt you and made terrible mistakes, but I know he was meant to find me again!"
Tsunade gaped at her daughter in open dismay. Had Sakura well and truly lost her mind? Was she listening to herself? She couldn't believe the words she was hearing; that her daughter had convinced herself, somehow, that it was all romantic destiny, the will of The Fates themselves for her to be bound to such a dreadful place. To such a selfish god. Was she that far gone? Tsunade wondered where she had gone so wrong in her parenting, to allow her otherwise reasonable and sensible daughter to be so easily misguided.
"I believe that now," Sakura was going on tearfully, "because I wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for him. We have to have met again for a reason. So maybe you can understand-"
"Understand?" Tsunade seethed, furious beyond measure. "Understand? What I now understand is how Cronus came to know of you in the first place at all! I kept you hidden from everyone! There was no conceivable way the Uchiha could have discovered your existence and now I learn millennia later that you kept company with one, that explains everything!"
"No!" Sakura gasped, horrified. She lifted her hands, trying to calm her mother down. "Mother, I told you, Sasuke had nothing to do with that!"
"Is that what he's told you? How would he know, if you say he had his memories taken?!" Tsunade sneered.
"He saw his brother. Itachi left a remnant of his chakra with Sasuke to save him if he ever ran out of his own and Sasuke was able to talk to him when he lost consciousness. Itachi told him the truth. That it was all Cronus!"
"Itachi?" Tsunade frowned, recalling the tall, enigmatic deity of death whom she had only glimpsed on a handful of occasions at Minato's palace in the past but never actually spoken with. "What has he to do with any of this?"
Sakura's lips parted in shock. Her mother didn't know? The Olympians - none of them - knew of Shisui and Itachi's role in weaving the seal upon her? Had Zeus never told them?
"Mother…" she struggled to speak. "Itachi and Shisui are the ones who wove the seal of rebirth on me. They found me dying. They're the ones who placed it on me."
"What?" Her mother's eyes widened in astonishment. "That isn't possible. I extracted your blood myself. Chiyo, Ino, Shizune and I-"
"That must have been what you did to create my new vessel. But the seal itself - they wove it. They were working with Zeus, on our side, against Cronus all along. We told you all, we saw them help him in Zeus's memory spheres at the relic sites. Itachi confirmed it to Sasuke, too, when they met while he was unconscious. It was them, mother. Ino was there. She saw them, too. They did it because it was the only way to save me."
Tsunade's mind was reeling. Slowly, she sat back down, gripping tightly onto the armrests. Chiyo had never told her this. Chiyo, whom she considered a close confidante. Why? And Ino. Ino had known all along, and remained silent? Anger burned through her veins, roaring like a blazing, inextinguishable furnace.
"And just how long," Tsunade spoke tersely, "were you 'involved'?"
Sakura shook her head. "I don't remember," she said helplessly. "But... it must have been a while."
"And you hid it from me." The words were full of accusation, striking Sakura like stones. "You kept it secret. All this time, I have been played for a fool, left in the dark over the fact that my own daughter was defiled by an Uchiha, before that very same clan caused her demise!"
"I told you, we were together!" Sakura's agitation was increasing by the second. "He didn't force me into anything!"
Tsunade couldn't bear it. Pain pierced through her, sharp and debilitating, and it was almost too much a burden to shoulder, on top of the raw grief that was eating her away from the inside. The betrayal was akin to having her heart carved out of her chest. Her sweet, seemingly innocent and naive daughter, had been sneaking around back then with the very same Uchiha who had damned her in this life. Had been seeing him behind her back. Secret meetings, without the harvest goddess's knowledge or approval. Clandestine encounters where Sasuke had most certainly touched Sakura, kissed Sakura, done other unspeakable things with her. How far had they gone in this 'relationship'? Likely all the way, if it had carried on for a while, and by Sakura's own admission that she hadn't been forced into anything.
Sakura sat down in turn, feeling nauseous. The hurt and betrayal in her mother's voice, the judgement in her eyes, were crushing.
Another tense silence settled between them. Sakura dared not break it, giving her mother the time to process everything.
"How did you meet?" Tsunade asked at length.
"I don't remember. Maybe it was at a festival, but he was Naruto's friend as well, and Naruto says we all used to hang out together."
"I see." Tsunade pursed her lips, deeply displeased. "So Naruto allowed you to keep company with him behind my back, knowing I would not approve."
Sakura's eyes lowered. It was a strange sensation, to apologise for something she couldn't even fully recall.
"Naruto didn't know about us. I'm sorry," she whispered, looking at her small, slender hands, clasped tightly in her lap. Fresh tears blurred her vision. "You would never have approved. Just like you don't approve now."
"Can you blame me?" Tsunade threw her hands up in exasperation. "As if it wasn't bad enough that he kidnapped you and tied you to his realm in this life, I now find out that he was frolicking with you in the past one? Without the respect and honour of approaching me first, to let his intentions be openly known?! Are these the manners of one raised as royalty?!"
"You wouldn't have given him a chance!" Sakura argued. "You would've sent him away! You've never approved of anyone!"
"You are right, because the Uchiha were our enemies then and we were on the verge of war!" Tsunade glared. "And had I sent him away, then it would have been for your own protection! Your heart wouldn't have been broken. Perhaps you wouldn't have been stolen away altogether!" She shook her head, her expression bitter. "I knew you were lovesick back then. I tried to find out who it was, and nobody could tell me! Who else knew, Sakura?"
Sakura's eyes shifted guiltily to the floor. "Ino's the only one I ever told. I made her swear never to say a word, because I was too afraid to tell you!"
"Ino," Tsunade fumed. "Of course. Another liar."
"She lied for me, because I asked her to," Sakura defended. "It was wrong to keep it a secret. You're right, I should have told you the truth back then. We shouldn't have kept anything hidden, but our families were enemies. Maybe we felt like we didn't have a choice!"
"Maybe it was the height of stupidity to begin a romance with the enemy when both sides were on the verge of a war, Sakura!" Her mother pointed out angrily.
Sakura remained quiet at that. She didn't remember enough to defend herself. In theory, her mother was perfectly right. But emotions were not so easily controlled. If she and Sasuke had thrown all caution to the wind in the past and chosen to see one another, then it was either because they had been ignorant of the war, or simply unable to stay away from one another.
"He may not have been involved in your first abduction," her mother's eyes narrowed. "But surely your involvement with him led to your kidnapping in some way."
"He left me," Sakura told her. "He stopped seeing me, probably to protect me, so Cronus must have found out some other way."
"He should not have been seeing you to begin with," Tsunade snapped. "It was an ill-timed, ill-judged decision on his part! I can accept that perhaps your lack of experience in dealing with swaggering young gods may have resulted in you getting carried away; I heavily sheltered you for the same precise reasons that ended up hurting you. You would not have known any better, but he ought to have!"
"This isn't just on him! We decided together. I fell for him back then, mother. You can't choose who you-"
"Back then?" Her mother laughed, a sharp, brittle sound. "Just back then? And what about now, Sakura?" Her eyes burned into her daughter, full of displeasure. "Are you hopelessly under his spell once more? Have you convinced yourself that this is a fairytale of sorts, that you have found one another again after millennia apart? Are you really so naive? You cannot see the pattern in all of this, that it is no coincidence that any involvement with him causes you suffering?!"
Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She was done being guilty. She was done feeling afraid, worrying about everyone else's approval. Ino's words ricocheted in her head. What mattered was what she wanted. And she was a grown adult. She was capable of making her own choices - whether her mother approved or not.
"Maybe I am a fool to let him in again," she answered, voice shaking from the intensity of her unrestrained emotions. "But it's my choice. Whether you consent or not, whether you like it or not, I do care about him, and whatever might or might not happen between us, then it'll be a choice I've made, what feels right to me!"
Tsunade recoiled, as if the words were acid being thrown at her. "You're making a mistake," she warned. "Look how much he has already done to hurt you! Have you forgotten that he kidnapped you? That he kept you trapped in his realm, a prisoner, for six months? That he has stolen six months of your life every year for as long as you'll live?"
"Then it's my mistake to make!" Sakura cried, frustrated. "I know he screwed up, mother, but I've forgiven him!"
Tsunade sucked in a sharp breath, appalled. She could do nothing else but listen, incredulous and alarmed, as her daughter rushed on, "I know it makes no sense to you, but I think of everything he's done since he let me go and it's all been for me. To keep me alive. The curse seal, all the danger he's been in - he's trying to find a way to break this cycle. Not because he expects anything anymore in return! He's changed, mother. He isn't the same person who took me."
"You really believe that," her mother exhaled. The anger gave way to despair as she finally realised, with a sinking feeling of dread, that this was nothing she could talk her daughter out of.
"I know it." Sakura spoke with conviction. "I forgave him because I know, deep down, he's a good person."
"Tell me," Tsunade demanded. "How? What has he done to deserve your forgiveness? What makes him worthy of it? Saving your life? After stealing six months of it, that's the least he can do, Sakura!"
Sakura was silent for a long moment. Her mother had every right to be upset - but Sakura also had the right to have her decisions accepted, even if they were not necessarily approved of or respected.
"You don't know what he's been through, mother," she began quietly. "All the things that made him cold and selfish and angry - he was a victim of the war, as much as I was. His own family sacrificed themselves to keep him alive, when Cronus never intended to spare any of them, not even Sasuke. He wanted to put Obito on the throne, and that would have destroyed the Underworld.
"Itachi and Shisui had to bargain for Sasuke's life. Itachi had to kill his own parents to spare Sasuke, under order from Cronus. His parents let him do it to save Sasuke, and Itachi couldn't even tell Sasuke about it for his own safety. He lived all those years alone believing his own brother was a murderer! Sasuke had everything taken away from him! He lived a lie, just like I did before I found out the truth about my life, except he lived it for centuries longer, without anyone around him for support!"
Fresh tears spilled from her cheeks, as she continued, "He was alone for all that time, not knowing the truth about what his parents, his brother and cousin sacrificed for him, up until now. His memories of his friendship with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei were stolen by Cronus to make him hate us, his memories of what happened to me were stolen by Shisui and Itachi so that he would ascend the Underworld's throne, so that'd he'd live on and keep the Kingdom safe from Cronus's influence. That's been his life, mother! Broken and wronged by everyone!"
"A wrongness done to him does not justify him wronging you!" Tsunade glared.
"It doesn't!" Sakura agreed, desperate to make her understand. "You're right. But it wasn't entirely his own conscious fault. When he first saw me again at the funeral, that was years before he kidnapped me. Itachi told Sasuke that Shisui left one memory in him of me. That let him recognise my soul. He was drawn to me because of that. They gave us a second chance, mother. They wouldn't have bothered to do that, if it didn't mean something for us to meet again!"
Tsunade was stunned speechless. When Sakura explained it that way, describing Shisui's interference, it seemed inevitable. Planned. Fated, indeed. Hearing Sasuke's story - the extent of cruel deceit, confusion and suffering he must have endured in his solitary existence - explained some of the more questionable aspects of his character, such as his unforthcoming, unsociable nature and his general frostiness toward everyone around him. She could certainly understand the pain of losing a loved one. How it broke a person from the inside and hardened their hearts. Hadn't she gone through the same emotions when she had lost her lover Dan, so long ago? And countless times since, being forced to endure watching Sakura pass, over and over again in a never-ending cycle of torture?
That she could appreciate. But it didn't change the fact that Sasuke had still stolen her daughter away, tricked her into eating the Forbidden Fruit, and robbed her of any choice in deciding her own future. That was where her true issues lay - along with the added anger of their past relationship being kept secret from her.
"Had he asked you if you wished to stay with him," she began, her voice hard-edged and unforgiving. "Had he offered the seeds to you, given you the choice, the respect, to make up your own mind, then I might have been able to accept this. Because then, it would have come from you. But he made that decision for you, Sakura. You ate those seeds, not knowing that they would trap you. And even despite all that, you have chosen to forgive him. That is what I struggle to accept."
Sakura wiped at her eyes. "What he did was wrong. It's not like I've ignored it. It took me months and months, a long time to come to terms with it, to make peace with it. He knows he wronged me. He apologised for it. I know he regrets it. But he's suffered enough. I've chosen to forgive him, to move on. That's my choice, mother! Even if you can't understand it, or don't agree with it, that's what I wanted to do, what feels right to me. I resented him for long enough. I had every right to. But we're all working toward the same thing, and now I see things so differently, knowing everything I now do about him."
She paused, sniffling, and looked down at her hands. "You don't know him the way I do. I know he can be cold and blunt and infuriating, but he's also brave, and he's smart, and he has a good heart. Naruto and Kakashi-sensei and Goddess Chiyo are all fond of him because they know that. And I know he'd do anything to keep me safe. I'll be protected in the Underworld with him."
Tsunade's eyes lowered in defeat.
"He saved my life, mother." Sakura hugged herself. "He was ready to give up his, to let the curse seal take over. He used the last bit of chakra he had to save me, not caring about what happened to him. He's doing everything he can to try and remove the seal from me, even if it means putting himself in danger." She looked toward the fireplace, and shook her head. "Not because he wants or expects anything in return, but because he-" she caught her breath, realising what she had been about to allow to pass from her lips.
Because he really cares for me. Because I think, he really does love me.
She didn't need to finish her sentence. Tsunade already understood, and saw the situation with perfect clarity.
An awkward, lengthy silence fell between them, punctuated only by the crackling of flames and Sakura's tearful sniffling. Her mother stared at her, long and hard, accepting with a heavy heart that she was fighting a futile battle. Her daughter had already made up her mind to trust Sasuke. It didn't matter whether she disapproved. If they'd already had a history, which she assumed only the war had interrupted - then she had already lost Sakura to the Underworld's King a long time ago.
Silently, she rose from her chair, plucking some tissues from the square-shaped box placed on the table before her. Walking over to her daughter, she held out her hand, offering them to her. Startled, Sakura looked up, and hesitantly accepted them.
"I know you're mad and disappointed…" she began hoarsely, miserably. "I'm sorry I went behind your back then, and hurt and betrayed your trust. That was wrong of me, but I was scared, even to tell you now. But…" she dabbed at her eyes. "I didn't want to make the same mistake. I'm choosing to tell you the truth this time. Now that I know my feelings, and before anything happens. I don't want to lie to you again, or to myself. I'm so tired of pretending."
Her mother looked down at her, her expression grim. Then she reached out, and cupped her cheek. Stroking it with the pad of her thumb, she murmured, "I am your mother. If you feel afraid to speak to me about anything, then that is a fault on my part. I am disappointed that you hid this from me. And yet you are right. I would have accepted him no less back then, given the circumstances we were in. I maintain that your involvement with him led to you being taken. It must have - even if he was not the one to betray you.
"And so in my eyes, he has wronged you twice, and that I might never be able to forgive. Especially the way his actions have permanently changed your life on the surface. You aren't a mother, Sakura. You will not understand my pain. I am trying to see it from your eyes, and yet, as your parent, you must also accept this is difficult for me to make peace with, given who he is, the line he is descended from, and what he has allowed to happen to you.
"But... if this is your decision - then so be it. I have raised you to adulthood. An age I never thought you'd reach again, and if this is where your heart is set - with him - then I hope, my child, that he spends the rest of his existence trying to prove his worth and that he knows how damned lucky he is to be given a second chance."
Sakura bit back a sob of relief. "Mother-" she choked out emotionally, feeling her eyes well anew.
"If he hurts you again," Tsunade added, drawing her hand back from her face. "Then don't say I didn't try to warn you. It's too late for me to say anything else. Your mind is made up. I only hope that you will not regret it. And I hope you make your choice with a clear head, and because it's what you're sure you want now. Not because of your past together, or because you owe him anything. You owe him nothing. When you return to his world, you do not have to give him anything. You can change your mind at any moment. Don't ever let any man override your wishes. Make him work for it. Demand respect. If he treats you with anything less - do not accept it. You do this on your terms. That is all I ask of you."
With that advice, Tsunade stepped back, turned away and exited the room.
~x~
Ino's heart leapt in her chest at the sound of approaching footsteps on the other side of the door. She'd had her ear pressed against it the entire time, anxiously listening in on the exchange, to the agitated voices speaking within, ready to burst in if Sakura needed her. She cycled backward hurriedly, standing a respectable distance away against the corridor wall just as Tsunade yanked the door open and closed it behind her, leaving Sakura alone inside.
Her gaze immediately locked onto Ino, quickly morphing into a glare of accusation, displeasure and disapproval. The younger goddess swallowed, noting the tension in her clenched jaw. Tsunade slowly walked up to her.
"Was this your doing?" she asked tightly. "Was it a source of amusement to you, to strike such a mismatch between my daughter and a prince of the Underworld?"
Ino's eyes widened. Guilt flushed through her. While she had been the one to first point Hades out to Kore, she had not instilled such deep feelings in either of them. They had developed of their own accord, with no interference on her part.
"No," she shook her head, horrified by the very suggestion. "I would never toy with Sakura's heart that way. They fell for each other. I played no part in it."
"Except the part where you failed to inform me of what was happening behind my back." Tsunade snapped at her. Her heart ached. Never had she needed Shizune more than at that moment. Who else could she confide to of her woes?
"She begged me not to. I couldn't betray her trust. And by that point, it was too late to change anything," Ino defended.
"I left her in your company, trusting you to be an older sister to her, trusting you to watch over her," Tsunade said bitterly. "I should have known better. She was taken under your watch. Now look what has come of it. Look at the choices she is making."
Without another word, she stormed off.
Ino watched her go, stung by her parting words - then rushed into the apothecary room. She found Sakura seated by the shelves of books, her face pressed bleakly into her hands.
"Sakura?" She hurried over to her best friend's side, perching on the arm rest, and slipped a comforting arm around her. "Are you alright?"
Sakura lifted her head, and a concerned Ino saw that her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen from crying.
"I told her," she exhaled. "She knows."
"I know," Ino nodded, biting her lower lip. "I heard. I was right outside."
"She's so angry at me," Sakura wiped at her cheeks.
"It'll pass. You stood your ground. You were brave. You did the right thing."
"I've hurt her. She's just lost Shizune, and I dropped this on her. I'm the worst daughter in the world."
"I agree. You're terrible."
Sakura caught her breath, looking distraught.
"I'm only teasing, Forehead. She took it well, considering how she's feeling in general right now. Seriously, do you think delaying it another month would've really changed anything?" Ino gave her a skeptical look. "I doubt it. It's to be expected that she's upset," she rubbed Sakura's back reassuringly. "Give her some time to cool off. I mean, at least she acknowledges it's your choice and isn't trying to talk you out of it anymore. You respected her by telling her. You didn't have to do it, and I'm sure she appreciates that."
"A choice she hates. She thinks I'm making a mistake," Sakura said dejectedly.
"What do you think?" Ino pressed gently.
Sakura shook her head. "You think I don't know that it's a risk? I know it is. I kissed him, but it's not like I planned for anything beyond that. I'm going by my instinct, Ino, that tells me there's goodness in him. The same good Kakashi-sensei and Naruto see in him."
"Then that's all that matters," Ino said firmly. "Don't worry about what your mother thinks. This is about you. Do what feels right for you. She doesn't have to like it."
"I just wish she'd give him a chance."
"Effort works both ways, Sakura. Sasuke has to give her one, too," she pointed out. "And he's not exactly the most friendliest or approachable guy with any of us."
Sakura sighed deeply. "I know," she conceded, before rubbing tiredly at her eyes.
"At least she now doesn't think you're just stupidly catching feelings for your kidnapper," the blonde snorted. "Now that she knows you had history before, I'm sure it'll make it easier for her to come to terms with, once she calms down."
"This is such a mess. What am I even doing?" Sakura groaned. "You must think I'm crazy too."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Like I ever thought you were sane." She quipped sassily. "Stop worrying and overthinking. Just go with the flow. After the six months are over, you'll have a better idea of where you and Sasuke stand, right?"
Sakura released a slow breath. The relief of telling her mother the truth at last - mingled with the guilt of knowing she had betrayed her trust - left her feeling depleted and drained. A headache was throbbing in her head. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and rest.
"Right," she agreed, with far more conviction than she felt.
~x~
Naruto stood upon the balcony, hands resting upon the stone balustrade, staring up at the moon that shone high up in the clear night sky overlooking the dense forest that surrounded the High Council grounds. It was in its waning phase, but like the goddess who commanded it, its beauty never diminished.
That goddess stood beside him now, as she always had, offering him quiet, gentle, comfortable companionship. Naruto glanced across at her, struck by silent awe. The return of her powers had restored the ethereal light to Hinata's stunning eyes. Her Byakugan irises glimmered like glistening dew on a pale, grey-white winter's morning. They seemed to glow and shimmer like the moon itself.
His thoughts turned to the Byakugan Obito had stolen and implanted into his eye. The ocular gift that belonged to the late Neji. Naruto's hands balled into fists, the resolve within him strengthening anew. He would avenge his friend. Now that his abilities were fully unlocked, he would avenge every precious comrade they had lost - and find a way to retrieve his parents' bodies from their prison in Olympus, to drive Cronus out and reclaim their rightful home.
The untimely loss of so many of their friends had urged him to contemplate how long he and Hinata had wasted, dancing around one another. How his millennia spent drowning in the guilt of failing her and his inability to forgive himself for his shortcomings had made him keep her at a distance, instead of doing what he had always yearned to do, but had been too awkward, too clumsy, too embarrassed and too overwhelmed by her grace to allow himself to act upon.
His heart drummed against his ribcage as he found his gaze shifting back to the loveliness of her side-profile once more, watching the night breeze stir the silky, straight strands of her long, dark hair. No more, he told himself.
The thought had come to him, gaining traction in his mind, when his eyes had met hers in the assembly chamber following the unsealing of their powers. Hinata had given him an encouraging smile - a smile that barely concealed the wistfulness and pain in her own eyes - and in that moment, Naruto had decided that enough was enough. They had lost others close to them, dear to them, trusted friends and family whom they had never imagined would perish. Cronus and Orochimaru were no strangers to the methods of terminating the existence of immortals.
The sun deity wanted to know what it felt like, to hold the moon goddess in his arms. To give into the longing, just for a moment, that had plagued them both for far too long. There was no telling what lay in wait for them in future. Cronus would not make their battles easy, and who knew what other horrors and unpleasant surprises he had up his sleeve?
Naruto wasn't going to wait until something went catastrophically wrong again, to let Hinata know how he felt.
"Hinata…" he began, overcome with nerves. The way she set his pulse aflutter had always disconcerted him. He hadn't understood the feeling at first, nor the way his eyes had been bewitched from the moment he had first looked upon her, when he'd unwittingly chanced upon her temple and found her kneeling by a lake under moonlight.
From that moment, he had been utterly spellbound.
She turned to him, sincerity and openness in her eyes. "Yes, Naruto-kun?"
He took a deep breath, trying to order his thoughts. There was something he needed to tell her first. "I wanted you to know that Obito implanted one of Neji's Byakugan into his eye."
Hinata's long-lashed eyes lowered, pained by the news. "I see," she answered softly.
Naruto swallowed, hesitating. "I don't know where the other one is, and I know I've screwed up so many of my past promises, but this time, believe it!" He lifted a fist into the air. "I won't rest until I avenge him!"
A small, sad smile graced her rosy lips. "I believe in you, Naruto-kun," she replied.
"You- you always have." Naruto reached out hesitantly, taking her left hand in his, holding it as if it were delicate glass that would shatter beneath his clumsy fingers. Her hand was small, pale and slender, a stark contrast to his tanned own. "I was scared of letting myself accept that. Scared I'd fail you, like I always have."
Hinata's heart quickened as he stepped closer, lifting his other hand to rest firmly on her right shoulder. It was warm and heavy and comforting. She felt that she might faint when he slowly lowered his head and pressed his forehead chastely against hers. Startled, she looked up at him, not daring to move, barely daring to breathe for fear she would awaken from this sudden dream.
"You... haven't failed me, Naruto-kun," she squeaked out. "You've always tried your best. For all of us. I know that."
He closed his eyes, bolstering his courage.
"If you really believe that... if you really believe in me… then... I don't wanna run from that anymore."
He opened his eyes to meet hers. The luminous cobalt of the sky with enchanting, ethereal silver-white.
"I believe in you..." she murmured. "Naruto-kun."
Naruto licked his lips nervously, his throat suddenly parched. Anxiety gripped him in a paralysing hold. He knew what he wanted, but a part of him was frozen, crippled by fear and uncertainty. The same doubting part that had always told him that he wasn't worthy of her. That he had no right to pursue her. That a princess so magnificent and brave and beautiful deserved far more than anything he could offer. He had neither palace nor crown to give her. Nothing but himself.
Was it enough? Could she accept that? Did she really want to be with him, as much as he wanted to be close to her?
"Then..." he began awkwardly, gracelessly. "Do you think maybe I…" A blush crept into his cheeks as the words spilled from his lips. "I could kiss you, Hinata?"
When her eyes merely widened in astonishment, and the air escaped her parted lips in rapid puffs, he tensed and jerked back defensively, spluttering, "I- I mean- only if you wanted-" he rambled aimlessly. "I didn't mean any disrespect, 'ttebayo! I'm so sorry, Hinata!"
Stupid, he thought to himself. He really was nothing but a clueless knucklehead around women. Why hadn't he inherited his father's effortless charm? Minato had always possessed the alarming ability to completely disarm members of the fairer sex and send them swooning with little more than a brief, nonchalant glance in their direction. His easy smile, whenever it surfaced, had always had them tripping over themselves, a reaction that had always caused Naruto's mother to glare and mutter at her husband's legions of female admirers in disgust.
"Yes," her response was a breathy whisper. A blush had bloomed into her cheeks, so charming in its shade of pink, that Naruto found himself enthralled all over again.
He blinked in surprise. "Wait. What? Did you just say-?"
"Yes," she repeated, squeezing his hand gently, reassuringly.
Naruto fell silent, rendered uncharacteristically speechless. Inside his chest, his heart was pounding. Then, overcome with a surge of emotion, he stepped forward, bridging the gap between them, and bent his head to her, his movements awkward, inexperienced, brushing his lips against hers in a tentative kiss.
At that moment, he thought he had found his own personal Elysium. Her lips were warm and soft and kissing her felt like coming home. He heard her sharp intake of breath at the initial contact - and then his arms were wrapping around her, and then she was shyly kissing him back, her body melting into him, and nothing had ever felt more right in the world to Naruto, more natural and belonging, than Hinata being in his embrace.
~x~
Cerberus's heads lowered in reverence as Sasuke finally returned to his Kingdom. The death deity lifted a hand, touching one of the enormous heads that clamoured for his affection in brief greeting, before silently continuing along his way.
The moment he had alighted in his realm, the tension had seeped from his body. He was home. Where he wasn't surrounded by surface gods, where he could be left to the privacy of his thoughts, uninterrupted.
He had never departed his Kingdom for so extended a period before. Apart from the brief touchdown with Sakura following their escape from Madara, it had almost been three weeks since Sasuke had last set foot in the Underworld.
He made a brief stop by the Acheron river to ensure all was in order and found Nagato ferrying the souls across like clockwork. Sasuke handed him coins for a selection of deceased that had been buried without them, mainly in charity for children and infants who had met untimely deaths. He alighted on the other side of the river, to find yet more souls dutifully lined up on the large, barren island leading to the boarding of the larger boats that would carry the dead to their intended destinations.
"Lord Sasuke," Jugo bowed his head politely.
Sasuke offered him a perfunctory nod. "Jugo. Karin." His dark eyes flicked transiently onto the scarlet-haired nymph, before returning to the taller, cloak-clad man.
"You're back," Karin's face lit up at the sight of him. It had been too long since she'd seen him, and knew it was due to the trial he had attended on the surface, a trial the High Council of the gods themselves had summoned him to attend. Suigetsu had kept her in the loop on occasion, mocking her that he'd been let off the hook with a much lighter sentence in comparison to Sasuke, who had been sent on a dangerous quest to retrieve ancient artefacts and assigned as the very personal bodyguard to none other than the pink-haired nuisance Sakura.
"Are you alright, Sasuke?" Karin asked. He looked none the worse for wear, but she had no way of knowing what he had been through.
Her heart sank when he didn't so much as look her way, and ignored her question entirely, asking one of his own, instead.
"What news?"
"Nothing new to report, Lord," Jugo answered courteously. "Everything is running to schedule. I am pleased you have returned to us safely."
Sasuke nodded, satisfied, and departed without another word, leaving a stricken Karin staring after him, her eyes stinging with tears and her throat burning with the bitter taste of being slighted yet again. She swallowed thickly. Was she so invisible to him? So worthless? That he did not even bother to ask about her well-being, or Jugo's, for that matter? What were they to Sasuke? Simply servants, nothing more?
Jugo gave her an awkward glance, but did not intrude or comment, returning instead to his tasks.
'You know you've got no chance with him, right?' Familiar, harsh words that had ingrained themselves into her mind drifted into her thoughts. 'Stop wasting your life pining over shit you can't have.'
I hate you, she thought vehemently to herself, cursing the ocean deity with every fibre of her being, despising the fact that she was livid at him because deep down, she knew he was completely right.
~x~
He stepped into the comforting stillness and splendour of his palace's entrance hall. With its towering black-marble pillars and polished floors inlaid with glinting flecks of bronze-gold, it was undeniably a magnificent feat of architecture, a lavish display of wealth composed of grounds far too sprawling and luxurious to be occupied by a single deity alone. But alone Sasuke was. Standing in it now, he was overly conscious of his solitary existence, his heart filled with a deep aching heaviness.
He made his way immediately to the shrine room he had erected for his kin. As he entered it, and walked toward the cloth covered table illuminated with burning candles and the portrait that hung on the wall behind it, he permitted himself, finally, to truly feel and come to terms with everything he had kept suppressed inside. All the horror, pain, torment and grief that he had experienced at discovering the truth behind his family's demise returned, slamming into him all at once like a violent sea of cascading emotion released from behind the crumbling dam of his self-control.
His eyes prickled, and his vision blurred with tears as he gazed up at the beloved faces in the life-like painting. His mother's kind smile. His father's stern gaze. Itachi, his long, slender, ring-adorned fingers resting on the hilt of his blade. Ever the protector of those he loved most.
A ragged sob tore from Sasuke's chest. His life had not been more precious than theirs. It hadn't. And yet they had chosen to save him over themselves.
He collapsed to his knees before the portrait and allowed himself, at last, to openly weep in privacy. He wept for their sacrifices, he wept for their pain, he wept for his own confusion and loneliness and the unbearable guilt of being the only survivor, of knowing that his parents had given their lives so that he would be spared. He told himself that he ought to have realised that something was wrong. Why had he been so blind, so helpless to do anything to help them? And yet, even as he lamented those thoughts, Sasuke knew that the entire reason he had been ignorant was because Itachi and Shisui had meticulously planned it to be that way. They had given everything to ensure peace was returned to the surface, and that Sasuke would be the one to ascend the Underworld's throne.
Sasuke wept for his own naivety, his own mistakes, for the many times he had internally cursed the gentle-hearted brother who had done every unspeakable, horrifying thing required of him in order to save his life. Itachi, who had crushed down his own emotions, even as they had torn him apart inside, maintaining an aloof mask until his very last moments. He wept at the memory of Itachi embracing his unconscious form in the cavern where he had discovered his parents' slaughtered bodies, of the hand lingering upon his head, of his kind smile before Sasuke had awoken to a world without him in it once more. He grieved each of his kin in turn and in full, now knowing what the harsh reality behind his survival was - and what it had cost his father, mother, Shisui and Itachi.
A familiar, sharp pain throbbed in his left eye, and with every tear that fell from his midnight orbs, Sasuke cursed Cronus, vowing that he would find no rest until he stopped Chaos incarnate once and for all.
~x~
Kakashi, Tsunade, Shikamaru, Jiraiya and Kurenai returned to the ruins of Tsunade's home the following evening, to find that one entire side of the building had collapsed in on itself. The right side remained precariously upright, albeit badly damaged, with deep cracks indented in the walls.
The privacy afforded by the line of trees and high hedges surrounding the detached property meant that the neighbours would not have immediately known that something was amiss, but the front gate and perimeter of the house had been cordoned off by police tape, suggesting that someone had since alerted the authorities to the damage. Their powers fully returned, the deities were able to remain invisible before mortal eyes, but as it was nightfall when they touched down on the surface again, they found the area thankfully empty of any human officials.
Rubble and bricks littered the front yard, and the grass growing upon the lawn had been uprooted, reduced to deep, unsightly groves of soil, an unpleasant reminder of the violent struggle that had ensued.
"Blazes," Jiraiya cursed under his breath, shocked by the extent of the destruction.
Kurenai felt her eyes water. There was no way any of their friends - or her lover - could have possibly survived if the ceiling had crushed them and left them vulnerable to being suffocated by the White Zetsu abominations.
Tsunade's jaw clenched as she looked upon the home the enemy had completely decimated, the place where Shizune had been taken from her. Anger simmered in her veins like molten lava at the injustice of it. There were sentimental objects of value she wished to retrieve - mainly boxes containing memories of Sakura in her past lives, and thankfully those were kept on the right side of the house that was still intact. The key to the vault that contained Sakura's blood samples she kept on her person at all times, and so there were only a few other items she needed to collect.
Sakura, who had remained behind in the High Council grounds along with Naruto and the others, had asked her to pick up a few things, but the side of the house her daughter's room was on appeared to have crumbled. Tsunade frowned. It wouldn't be an easy task, looking through the ruins of brick and plastering.
Shikamaru lifted his hands. "Let's try and make this easier," he muttered.
Shadow hands extended from his form, a much larger amount than he would have been able to summon at once while unsealed, and began to lift aside the larger clumps of rubble. Jiraiya also formed hand-seals, calling into being a large toad, which diligently began to assist Shikamaru in his task.
Kakashi, who carried a crate to place retrieved items in, stepped carefully through the ruins, kicking debris aside.
"It doesn't look stable on that side," he commented, nodding at the part of the house that was still standing.
They walked through the destruction, treading carefully, lifting smaller clumps of brick and cement with their hands. Tsunade spotted damaged items of furniture; a flattened lamp-shade, broken splinters of wood that had once been a chair, dirtied, torn cushions, part of the railing that had belonged to the stairs. The attack had been a violation, reduced decades of warmth and comfort into nothingness within minutes. After several more minutes of searching, her eyes were suddenly snagged by a metallic object lying against cracked and broken plaster.
Her heart constricted in her chest as she picked it up from its handle. A familiar kunai, which had belonged to Shizune. Her fingers closed around it tightly, head bowing as a fresh, smothering wave of grief washed over her. Was this all that was left of the loyal goddess she had viewed as her own family? Hot tears blurred her vision and she furiously blinked through them, inhaling deeply to keep them at bay. No, she reminded herself furiously. Crying would achieve nothing. It would not alter the past. It would not return Shizune to her.
A large, heavy hand gripped her left shoulder and she looked up to meet Jiraiya's eyes. There was no pity or sympathy in them - only a grave seriousness.
"We'll get him, Tsunade," he assured her quietly, squeezing her shoulder briefly, before stepping past her, continuing to walk through the path his toad summon was steadily clearing.
Tsunade inhaled slowly, steeling her emotions. It wasn't the time to break down. She'd already done enough of that alone.
"Looks like access to the stairs is blocked off from this side," Shikamaru warned them as his shadow hands lifted heavy piles of bricks aside. "There's a lot of broken wall to clear through here."
"There's a door at the back that leads into the kitchen," Tsunade informed them. She walked around the property and through the side gate, leading the way to it, forcing it open with a well-placed chakra-charged kick. Kurenai, Jiraiya and Shikamaru remained outside, sifting steadily through the mess for any signs of bodies as Kakashi and Tsunade entered into the house together through the back door.
Tsunade picked up the spare car keys from the kitchen, before they continued onward. They found hallway demolished, the stairs completely blocked off by yet more rubble and made their way up, stepping over broken steps before arriving at the landing. Part of the hallway had collapsed, but Tsunade was surprised to find Sakura's room still intact. The doorway and part of the outer wall and roof had been blown off, with wiring hanging precariously from the remains of the ceiling. Inside the furniture had been tipped over, but the ground itself appeared solid. She could retrieve Sakura's requested items after all.
Her daughter had asked for a few sentimental pieces of jewelry, her university books and folder, laptop and charger, her personal diary and the photo-albums Tsunade kept in her room. Items she might need for distant the future, she had hopefully stated - though that future was by no means guaranteed for her.
"Get the keepsake box. It's in my cupboard, hidden behind the back panel. Push it to open it. Bring the photo-albums, too. Those two boxes have everything I need to keep in them," she requested of Kakashi, who nodded and headed toward her room. There was no sign of Inoichi's corpse, he noted, disappointed. It seemed that the enemy had completely devoured their friends, leaving nothing of their remains behind.
Tsunade flash-warped across to her daughter's bedroom and began searching through the mess. She found her diary looking through the drawers of Sakura's bedside table. The book was securely locked. Tsunade deposited the item into one of the smaller boxes she had taken from Kakashi, and then rummaged through her daughter's closet and drawers, hastily pulling out a selection of whichever clothes came first into her hands. She grabbed her daughter's study bag, laptop and charger, and her entire jewelry box before giving the room one last lookover.
It signalled the end of life as they knew it. Perhaps it was for the best. With their powers unlocked, and Sakura due to return to the Underworld within a few short months, it seemed the right time to leave their old home behind regardless, as regretful as their means of departing it was.
She then headed into her room and picked up some clothes for herself as well as her handbag which contained her cell phone, charger, purse and car keys. Not because she needed any of those things - but because she didn't want them collected by the authorities. Her laptop had likely already been destroyed in the study room downstairs. As it was a work one, that was of no consequence to her.
"Anything else?" Kakashi questioned, looking around the room, carefully balancing the boxes stacked in his hands.
Tsunade moved to the guest room and collected Shizune's bag containing her personal belongings. Sadness speared through her heart as she spotted the familiar charm her dear friend had kept attached to it, a chubby-faced pig she'd affectionately called Tonton. Something Tsunade had gifted her years ago. Eyes stinging with suppressed tears once more, she stepped outside the room and shook her head.
"That's it," she confirmed.
A sudden, anguished scream from downstairs had them scrambling to rejoin the others. They found Kurenai clawing through the debris beside the wall of rubble that blocked off the stairs, and she pulled out a pale, ashen figure, their face coated with dirt, blood and remnants of plaster.
"Asuma!" she cried, cradling him in her arms. "Asuma!"
Shikamaru's shadow hands flung rubble away from his form. He then rushed beside her, staring down at Asuma's battered and bruised body with wide eyes.
"Guy?" Kakashi asked questioningly, his heart thudding painfully in his chest.
Jiraiya shook his head regretfully. "He's the only one I sensed with Sage Mode. There's nobody else alive here."
"He's still warm!" Kurenai pressed her fingertips against his neck, feeling for his pulse. It was faint, but there. "Asuma," she sobbed, pressing her face into the junction between his neck and shoulder.
"Kurenai, be careful!" Tsunade cautioned sharply. "What if he's been infected by spores?"
"He's clear," Jiraiya assured her. "I don't sense any manner of foreign chakra in him."
Shikamaru knelt beside Kurenai, relieved to find that he had survived. "He's badly wounded. He needs healing."
"Have you collected everything you need?" Jiraiya asked Tsunade.
She nodded grimly.
"Then let us take him back with us," Jiraiya said, dispelling his toad summon as Shikamaru and Kurenai draped Asuma's arms over their shoulders and hoisted his prone form up. Seconds later, they all warped away from the ruins.
~x~
They returned to the High Council grounds and Homura and Koharu immediately lowered the barriers, allowing them to enter. Kakashi deposited the boxes he and Tsunade had collected together, handing them to Shikamaru before he and Jiraiya carried Asuma straight to the healing room, laying his unconscious form onto the bed. Leaving him in Tsunade's care, they stepped outside, and Kakashi headed to the assembly chamber to inform the others.
Kurenai anxiously watched as the harvest goddess settled down on a stool beside him and began to work on mending his broken body.
"He has a fever," she frowned, pressing the back of her hand to his dirt-marred forehead. "There must be some kind of venom in him."
"Is he definitely clear?" Kurenai queried anxiously. "No infections from that creature?"
Tsunade closed her eyes, reaching out with her own chakra, carefully probing his.
"I can't detect anything foreign other than the poison," she stated, corroborating Jiraiya's earlier words. "I'll drag out as much of the venom as I can, but he'll need a healing brew to top it up. Fetch me an anti-venom potion from the apothecary room and a glass of ambrosia."
Kurenai nodded. "Yes, of course!" She turned away and exited, leaving Tsunade alone.
She dipped a small face towel into the water bowl set on the low table beside her, and dabbed it over Asuma's face. His eyebrows drew together, a sign of returning consciousness.
"Asuma," she murmured, leaning forward. "Can you hear me?"
He didn't respond, growing still once more.
Tsunade slipped her shawl off her shoulders and rolled up her sleeves. She unbuttoned his blood-stained dark blue shirt, revealing his bare chest. An angry gash that looked infected was slashed across it. She immediately set to treating it, her hands hovering just over the wound, using bubbles of precise, healing chakra to suck out black blobs of poison from his blood-stream.
She worked steadily, concentrating hard on her task. She could feel the venom in his bloodstream. It was unlike anything she had ever encountered. A dark aura that seeped through his veins like thick tar-
The thought broke off when Asuma's hand abruptly shot upwards without warning and grabbed hold of her neck in a choking hold. His eyes opened, black, devoid of irises. Tsunade's heart lurched and she stared down at him in stunned horror, before snapping out of her shock, immediately retaliating to protect herself. She struck upwards with the palm of her right hand, with enough force to crack the bone in his forearm. The fingers squeezing around her throat loosened and she jumped backwards, knocking the bowl of water to the floor in the process.
"Shit!" she cursed, her gut twisting with dread as she watched him sit up, his movements jerky, grotesque, like a mindless marionette being controlled by an invisible master puppeteer. He tilted his head, before lunging at her, and Tsunade reacted on instinct, ducking low to evade him before pivoting quickly on her heel to slam a closed fist straight into his midsection, sending him crashing straight through the closed door and out into the corridor. The door was blown off its hinges from the force of her strike, alerting Jiraiya, who had been waiting outside with Homura. He tensed, looking from the floored Asuma, up at Tsunade who was standing angrily in the doorway.
"What in the blazes?" he began, startled.
"Tsunade?" Homura asked uncertainly, alarmed.
"You said there was no foreign chakra in him!" Tsunade flexed her fingers, pained that she had been forced to attack her friend. She couldn't be too angry at Jiraiya - she hadn't sensed anything amiss in Asuma, either, and was equally as disconcerted by his attempt to snap her neck.
"There isn't," Jiraiya answered, shaking his head in disbelief. His breath caught in his throat in shock when he met Asuma's glazed, unseeing eyes. It was impossible. How? What manner of possession was this?
His eyes then widened in understanding. "Wait. This cannot be the White Zetsu-"
Asuma nimbly somersaulted to his feet and then charged aggressively at them, lifting his hands. Black rods shot forth from his palms. A technique none of them had ever seen before and one that certainly did not belong to him. Jiraiya caught one as it whistled past him and felt a jolt of debilitating electricity zig-zag up his arm. He realised a moment later that chakra was being drained from him, and a foreign pain assaulted his skull. Immediately, he released the rod, as if his skin had been scalded by lightning.
"Don't touch those rods!" he yelled in warning.
Tsunade gritted her teeth, just as Kurenai returned with the supplies, Shikamaru behind her. Her garnet eyes widened in horror and her lips parted in dismay as she looked upon her lover.
"Asuma...?" she paled.
"Kurenai!" Tsunade called to her, lifting a hand to stop her advancing. "Stop! It isn't him!"
"No!" Kurenai exclaimed, distraught. "Please, don't hurt him!"
"What is the meaning of this?!" Homura demanded. "You have allowed the enemy to breach our sanctuary?"
"Your barriers should have detected the threat!" Tsunade snarled back accusingly.
Heart thumping unpleasantly in his chest, Shikamaru acted quickly, summoning his shadow hands, sickened to the stomach by the fact that they were forced to fight their own companion - or what remained of him. The hands whipped outward, seeking to ensnare Asuma. He backflipped and dropped low to avoid them, but was caught out when Tsunade aimed a crushing kick to his lower back from behind. Not before he unleashed six more rods. One of them stabbed into Homura's shoulder, and immediately the High Council member convulsed in agony. Kurenai looked on, frozen in shock, as Jiraiya ran to assist the High Councillor, but anytime he tried to grip the rod, his hand was singed, and he could feel his chakra being violently pulled from his internal pathways.
"What manner of devilry is this…?!" he clenched his teeth in pain, unable to get a hold of the rods without succumbing to their electrocuting effects.
Shikamaru finally caught hold of Asuma, anchoring himself to the ground to keep him contained.
Homura fell to the floor, writhing, before growing still, his face gaunt, his eyes open and vacant.
"Shit!" Shikamaru swore.
"His chakra nature has changed," Tsunade exclaimed. "It isn't really him! Asuma's dead!"
"No," Kurenai sobbed, trembling. Her hopes had been lifted - and destroyed - within a matter of a few dreadful minutes.
A chilling, demonic laugh escaped Asuma's throat. They looked on, aghast and appalled, as he threw his head back and cackled at them. It was an inhuman, terrifying sound.
"You think," a distorted voice that was not his, spoke through him, echoing eerily about the hallway. "That you are safe? That we cannot find ways to infiltrate your grounds? Fools."
Tsunade's fury flared and she grabbed him by the throat, slamming and pinning him against the wall in outrage. "Let Asuma go!"
"He is already gone," came the smug response. Asuma's face contorted to form a derisive sneer. "I kept him alive only long enough to prove to you…"
"Who are you?!" Tsunade demanded.
"I am pain," the voice answered, even as blood gurgled from Asuma's mouth. "I am the inevitable. The war that is coming, that will give birth to a new era."
Jiraiya's eyes widened. His stomach twisted. "Ares…?" Sickening realisation slammed into him.
"I come with a message. There is nowhere for you to hide." The voice went on, hollow and twisted. "You will fall, one by one. Your bodies will become puppets to our will."
"Son-of-a-bitch," Tsunade whispered.
The possessed Asuma then continued to laugh, a terrible, frightening sound.
"We have no choice," Jiraiya shook his head regretfully. "He won't let him go unless we expel him!"
"Would you kill your own?" The voice mocked. Shikamaru wound more shadow hands around Asuma's contorting form, trapping him more securely in place.
The glass of ambrosia fell from Kurenai's hands, shattering to the ground beside the motionless Homura's body. She couldn't stand it. Reaching for the dagger at her belt with trembling fingers, she rushed forward. She couldn't watch the man she loved being used as a pawn for the enemy, and it was clear to her that they had already lost him. Her heart was torn to shreds, all over again.
"Kurenai! Wait!" Shikamaru called out to her. "You don't have to-!"
Sobbing, she lifted the blade to his throat. "I'm sorry," she wept. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you!"
"So long as you love," Asuma's black eyes locked onto her, and they began to weep blood from the poison that was ravaging through his body. "You are vulnerable. You are weak."
With a cry of anguish, Kurenai stabbed the blade through his larynx, severing any further chance of communication.
Tsunade squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw, snapping his neck a moment later. Jiraiya rapidly formed hand-seals and pressed his palm against Asuma's shoulder.
"Expel!" he commanded. Asuma's lolling neck fell to the side and he convulsed - before finally growing still, released from Ares's hold at last.
Shikamaru gently lowered him to the ground. Kurenai immediately collapsed beside him, sobbing inconsolably as Jiraiya knelt beside Homura's prone body.
"Where is he?" Tsunade's eyes darted around the hallway frantically. "What if he tries to possess someone else?"
"That will not happen on these grounds again," Chiyo's voice answered gravely. They turned their heads to find her standing beside a stunned Koharu, who rushed to the side of Homura.
"He is expelled, forced back to his original host. He cannot exist without a victim, and he can only possess those in immediate proximity to his last. That is none of us here. You are too powerful, now."
"Sakura?" Tsunade worried.
"She is too far from here," Chiyo reassured her. "In addition to this, the seeds offer her some protection."
Tsunade swallowed, and finally allowed herself to relax.
"So it really is true," Jiraiya shook his head, repulsed. "Ares does continue to exist beyond his physical shell."
"It was always a power of his, to invade the minds of others," Chiyo agreed. "How else have men been compelled to war? It is what makes him thrive. The bloodshed. The chaos. He is Madara's favourite and most trusted advisor."
"But how can he operate without his physical body?" Shikamaru frowned. "How can he still use his own abilities?"
"It is simple," Chiyo explained. "His spirit was taken from his body and locked within Obito by Madara. It contains the essence of his chakra and within it, his abilities. Consider it a forbidden seal of sorts bearing some resemblances to Sakura's in nature. He can summon his abilities, as he wills - though I imagine, this would be within limits, until he can reunite with his true body."
"Why did the barriers not detect him?" Jiraiya frowned. "And my own Sage Mode?"
"Because Ares is cunning. It is also within his power to possess a mind in stealth. It is only once he activates his control upon them, that his presence becomes detectable."
"That bastard," Tsunade cursed. "To think he was an Olympian once."
"Indeed," Chiyo nodded. "One of the first. And yet Minato's reign of peace did not suit him so well. He craved power and mischief, the terror of war that feeds his soul, and found a suitable ally in the God of Chaos."
"What happens to Obito when he possesses others?" Shikamaru's gaze was locked onto Asuma's corpse. Grief clawed at his chest, and his eyes burned with unshed tears.
"That, I have not seen," Chiyo admitted. "But Obito does not exist through Ares's will alone. Madara has his own hold on his mind."
"Homura…" Koharu grieved.
Chiyo's eyes shifted to the goddess. "It is unfortunate, but he will not regain consciousness as himself." She stated. "Using those iron rods, Ares can break minds entirely through the invasion of his victim's chakra pathways. Like a parasite that leeches from its host. There is nothing more we can do for him, Koharu."
Koharu's head bowed, mourning the loss of her beloved companion.
Chiyo's eyes then settled onto Kurenai, who was cradling Asuma's body in her arms, crying quietly over him.
"You must find the enemy bases," the old crone announced. "The enemy continues to plot, and it would be imprudent to delay any longer."
~x~
A few hours later, after Asuma's corpse had been embalmed by apprentices and Homura had been laid to rest in eternal slumber, they all stood in the assembly chamber, minus Kurenai, who had excused herself to spend time with her deceased partner before his burial ritual. The surface deities were stunned by Ares's stealthy attack on them, and the ease with which he had briefly infiltrated their grounds. It was a harsh reminder of just how devious their enemy truly was.
"At least we know what to look out for, next time," Sakura said, rubbing uncomfortably at her arms. The thought of being mind-controlled chilled her to the bone.
"That bastard. We need to take Obito out!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hey. Are you alright?" Ino placed a gentle hand on Shikamaru's arm. She took a seat beside him on one of the rows of benches, as the others around them discussed their next course of action.
He exhaled smoke from the cigarette in his mouth. "It's a drag," he admitted, "but we have to keep going."
"I know…" she said quietly, sadly, the pain of the loss he felt inside reflected in her own baby-blue eyes. "He was like a dad to you, too."
"We'll avenge them, Ino," Shikamaru vowed, meeting her gaze meaningfully, a steeliness to them that underlined the promise.
She squeezed his arm affectionately, and offered him a grim nod.
The doors to the assembly chamber opened at that moment, and four individuals walked in, led by a red-haired young man that Sakura had never seen before. His eyes were turquoise in hue, surrounded by black liner that made them appear all the more vivid and striking. He was dressed in a loose-fitting, burgundy top and grey cargo pants. A grey protective vest was strapped across his chest and he carried what appeared to be a large beige gourd on his back.
Behind him strolled a pretty sandy-blonde haired young woman. She wore a knee-length, lilac wrap dress that grazed beneath her shoulders, black leather sandal boots and bracers on her arms. At her back, she carried a giant, iron fan. Beside her was a male guardian, dressed in a black hood and cargo shorts. Dark purple war-paint markings adorned his face. At the rear of the company was Killer B.
"Boom! Bam! You gave us a shout! Guess you need a brother to help you out!" he rapped enthusiastically.
The red-haired youth lifted a hand to his chest, saluting Chiyo and Koharu who stood in the centre of the chamber, waiting for them. Behind him, his companions mirrored the gesture.
"Great Goddess Chiyo. Great Goddess Koharu. The Guardians of Olympus are at your service," he greeted politely in a smooth, quiet-spoken voice.
Chiyo smiled at him. "Gaara of the Sand village," she greeted. "It is good to see you."
~x~
Author's Note
Just a few more bits to wrap up and the UW arc begins. Reviews would be appreciated. See you next update.