Lady Tsunade will hate me for this.

It's funny, she was lucid enough to know that not finding that thought odd meant this really was it for her. Tsunade wouldn't be the only angry one, though. The ghost of Lady Chiyo would be disappointed, she thought. Naruto would be upset, Sasuke…

In her own head, she laughed.

He always has…hated me.

It didn't matter, though. A shinobi had to follow their convictions, no matter the personal cost to themselves. A shinobi put the village before their own concerns and safety. A shinobi followed their ideals unwaveringly.

She couldn't remember which of those were personal rules she'd formed over the years and which ones were the ones she'd memorized in class now. It wasn't anything as impressive enough as to say she'd forgotten, though. It was that she couldn't think clearly through her depleting chakra now.

What's important is that she had to do what she believed in, wasn't it? The hokage's life, her teacher's life, was so much more important than her own, anyway. This was the best she could do for everyone she loved. When she'd studied and developed this jutsu (with the hope of eventually overcoming Lady Chiyo's block in enough time), this wasn't what she'd expected to use it on.

Still, when she'd come to rouse the hokage and found her aged and still, the rapidly approaching time limit of her cells abruptly reached in the middle of the night, she'd had no time and no choice but to do this.

It's alright, though. At least this will fix her.

For the price of her chakra, stamina, and life energy, not only could she undo damage and restore life, but she could turn back 'time' on cells. She could undo all of the damage the yin seal had done over the years and give back the youth the lady hokage had sacrificed for others.

It was the greatest gift she could give the woman for choosing her.

It felt a little like starving and suffocating at once, but color and youth slowly returned to the hokage's face, and eventually, through the dim haze of Sakura's vision, she saw the woman's eyes flutter open. It was a reward in itself for her…in a life where she couldn't have the other, selfish things she'd wanted, at least she could…have this before the end.

She smiled, she thought.

Anyway, she meant to, before she fell. She assumed she fell, because the Lady Hokage moved as if she'd needed to catch her. Even if she could barely see, barely think through the flickering candle of her life, still pouring into Tsunade even without her direction now, she was still as observant as her master had taught her to be.

Sakura

….

Sakura!

She'd be fine now. Younger, physically, than she should have been even without the seal. It would balance out what Tsunade gave up for others, and seemed a fine price for a life.

god…

Sakura…

please

Sak

ra!

She was sure she smiled.

People who die following their ideals always die with a smile.

Thank you…Lady Tsunade.