A few hours later, Sakura was outside the village, near a small manor. Children were playing and laughing loudly, bathing in the sun of that beautiful Sunday which turned awful for the pink kunoichi. Sakura entered the mansion, and saw even more children staying on the floor, laughing and listening to a young man with white hair and glasses, who told them stories about shinobi and fighting. It was none other than Kabuto Yakushi, former assistant of Orochimaru and one of the main causes of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Kabuto spotted Sakura immediately:
"Kids, we have a visitor! Our friend, Sakura-san!"
"Welcome, Sakura-san!" All the children saluted her in a chorus!
"Hello, children!" Sakura smiled towards them and walked to Kabuto. "Please, we must talk! Cand we do it somewhere more privately?"
"Uh… sure. Children, Sakura-san and I must talk. I will return and tell you the story about the Great Snake Sage!"
"Yippie!" The children were clearly anxious to hear this story. Sakura and Kabuto entered another room, smaller, which Sakura believed it was Kabuto's office.
"It is very unusual for someone from the village to come here, except for bringing supplies. Especially you, Sakura-san. I know Konohagakure was lenient with me, giving me only probation time after what I've done, so I will do my best to help you, only if you tell me what happened.
"Kabuto-san… Sasuke is very sick. He suffers from the same disease as Itachi. So please, help him!" Sakura started to cry. Kabuto was visibly saddened by this. Even though they were bitter enemies, Itachi and Sasuke helped him find himself and gave him a new purpose in life: To take care of the orphans in the Konohagakure Orphanage. "Sakura-san, I have studied Itachi's body after I allied myself with Obito. His organs were badly damaged. Chakra seemed to turn against his own body!"
"So… there is nothing we can do for him?"
"I never said that. Actually, I learned something interesting during my time as a spy for both Sasori and Orochimaru-sama." Sakura's eyes widened, hope starting to bloom inside her heart. "For a long time, Itachi was in contact with a medical-nin from a village in the Land of Water who supplied him with medicine, in order to prolong his life. But that's not all. He also did seem to find a cure, and told Itachi about it. But he refused, deciding to die in the battle with his brother." Sakura's heart almost exploded with joy. "That means… That means Sasuke will be saved! We need to find that shinobi, immediately."
Kabuto frowned. "Actually… That man died during the war. He fought in the Alliance's Third Company and was blown to pieces by Gari of the Explosion Release's techniques." Sakura passed from ecstasy to agony. "So… It's impossible…" She almost gave up when she looked at Kabuto and said:
"No! Kabuto-san, what am I going to ask you will be beyond anything I ever asked someone. It is unnatural! But please… Use the Impure World Reanimation to revive Itachi once again. He must tell you the cure, as you said that he knew about it."
"No… You have no idea what are you asking about! This technique requires…"
"A human sacrifice. I know. That's why… I offer to be the sacrifice! Use my body to revive my brother-in-law."
"Sakura-san… After the war, I swore never to use the Impure World Reanimation again. If I betray that promise, I would be killed. I don't want to leave the children alone again. Please, I cannot do that. And you have a daughter. A daughter that needs her mother at her side. I was alone all my life. Please, Sakura-san, don't let her suffer the same fate."
"Nobody will ever know. You can make to look that I was attacked by bandits or that I killed myself in my grief. As for my daughter… I know that I can't leave her alone, but there is no other way! If you deny me help, I will try to find Orochimaru. He will be much more willing to perform the technique on me."
"No… wait… Near the orphanage, some bandits made camp a few days ago. I could have killed them, but I decided to let them live, for as long as they don't attack the orphanage. These men are scum. We can capture one of them and use them for the ritual." Sakura knew that was murder. Something unnatural. But it must be done.
"Yes."
Twenty minutes later, Kabuto and Sakura arrived near a few tents nearby the road between Konohagakure and Tanzaku Village. She took out her kunai but Kabuto stopped her. "Please, there is no need for you to do this. Get behind me and cover your ears." She obeyed Kabuto and he clapped his palms. Suddenly, his skin turned white and he gained four horns on his head with one looking like it was severed by a sword. Kabuto also gained purple markings around his eyes. Sakura knew what that was. Kabuto just entered Sage Mode.
"Sage Art: White Rage Technique!" A red ethereal dragon exited his mouth and started to coil itself around a purple orb until exploding into a blinding white light. The screeching sound was deafening and all the persons inside the tents cried out in pain. Kabuto proceeded to kill all of them with a kunai except one until the light faded and the sound ended. The only bandit remaining was in shock from the sheer power of the technique Kabuto used. The snake sage touched that man's forehead and he fell asleep. Sakura believed that he was under genjutsu.
"Now, let us continue." Kabuto summoned a scroll from which he unsealed a small vial with blood inside it. He touched the grass with his hand and a black jutsu formula appeared under the bandit. Kabuto proceeded to pour the blood on the formula. "Now, all I have to do is weave the signs. Are you sure you want to do this? But, look at what I have done with the others… There is no escape now." Sakura nodded.
Tiger, Snake, Dog, Dragon and then, clapping hands. The hand seals were set and dirt started to encase the bandit's body. "Summoning: Impure World Reanimation! Come forth, Itachi Uchiha!" Sakura then heard probably the loudest shriek of pain she heard in her entire life as she saw the bandit slowly turning into another man completely. After a few seconds, Itachi Uchiha was there, dressed with the wine colored cloak he wore during his time in the War. His face was cracked and his eyes' sclera was black, with only his active Sharingan giving them any kind of color.
"Kabuto… What… Haven't you learned your lesson? Looks like I made a mistake again. I thought that putting you in Izanami would…"
"Itachi, do not be afraid! You were right. I was on a wrong path… A deeply wrong path. You showed me what is most important, and now, I am offering you an opportunity to protect what you love the most again."
"What? What do you mean?" Itachi then looked at the young woman staying near Kabuto. "You are Sasuke's teammate, Sakura-san, no?" Sakura felt incredibly strange, talking with a dead man, but he needed him. "No… I am his wife now." Itachi's eyes opened and a smile appeared on his face. "So he finally found what is the most important… You are my sister-in-law, it seems. Please, nice to meet you, even though I am dead." Kabuto left them, to talk, not before saying: "Sakura-san, when you will solve the problem with Sasuke, find me again. I will undo the technique and release Itachi's soul. "
"Yes, thank you, Kabuto-san!"
"Sasuke's problem? What happened? Is he alright?"
"No… It seems that Sasuke suffers from the same illness as you, Itachi-san. He is dying at the Konoha Hospital!" Itachi was shocked. His beloved little brother, for whom he made so many sacrifices, will die! "Itachi-san, Kabuto told me that you know the cure and that you were in contact with a medical-nin from the Land of Water, but that man died during the war, so you must help my husband!"
"Yes! I know the cure! We must hurry to the hospital!"
Itachi and Sakura departed to the village, through the forest. The sun was hot, but Itachi didn't feel it, as he was dead. The only thing he felt was a mixture of love, desperation and sadness.
"Itachi-san, you are an uncle!" Sakura smiled towards her brother-in-law. Itachi almost cried with joy and happiness. "This is… unbelievable! To think that a new life was born in the Uchiha clan! And especially, to think that it's his child! Tell me, Sakura-san; is a girl or a boy?"
"She is a girl. Her name is Sarada. She is ten years old."
"Sarada Uchiha… Ten years old…" Itachi kept repeating these words. He instantaneously loved Sarada, without even meeting her, as she was the heiress of their clan, and especially, she was the daughter of his brother, the being Itachi loved the most.