Note: this chapter was edited for some slight grammar and spelling mistakes.
Chapter 13: Awakening
x-x-x
The afternoon came soon, and Sasuke awoke first to the sleeping girl in his arms. Vaguely, somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought I could get used to this.
Shaking her lightly, he prompted her to awake so they could get moving. They had a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time, and they had already spent a good deal of the day sleeping. She groggily opened her eyes and took a minute to adjust to the new surroundings, reminding herself that this is where she had landed early in the morning. She smiled at Sasuke, relaxed and cozy by his side, reveling in the warmth between them and tempted to curl up to him even further.
"We need to get going." he explained softly.
She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, groaning out at the feeling of her back muscles unwinding, then relaxed with a sigh. "Yeah..." she agreed, her tone voicing her reluctance to leave this pleasant place with him. She sat up and pushed the blankets off her thin frame, revealing the soft skin of her lower back that peaked out from behind the bunched-up pajama tops.
Catching his breath in his throat, he couldn't get over how this girl had completely changed his heart. Smiling at her messy bed-head, he reached out to grab her slender wrist, "Hey..." he called out softly, causing her to look back at him slightly off-guard. Quickly, he leaned forward to capture her lips in a chaste kiss, which turned into more as Sakura grabbed at the soft cotton of his shirt and pulled him closer. He soon found himself on top of her, careful not to press against her stomach and he straddled her and kissed her passionately.
She pulled away breathlessly for air, and smiled, "Now that's a better wake-up call. You didn't even say good-morning."
"Hn." he smirked, "That's because its not morning anymore."
She glanced over at the clock on the wall to see that indeed, it was past noon-time. Turning back to face him, she ran her slender fingers through his silky, ebony hair, gazing into his dark eyes contentedly. "Why couldn't it have just been this way from the start?" she chuckled, massaging the back of his neck at his hairline.
He hummed at the pleasurable feeling of her massaging his stiff neck muscles. He could feel her chakra working to relax them and was suddenly very glad she was a medical ninja--he definitely could get used to professional massages after long missions. Remembering her earlier question, he smirked, "Do you need a recap of everything that's happened in the last three or four years?"
letting her hands fall away from his neck, she raised one and poked his chest, which was still hovering above her own, "you're to blame for most of it." she chided playfully.
"Fine..." he sat up and moved over to his mat, pretending to ignore her and roll up his sleeping mat.
She grinned, wrapping her arms around his back, resting her head on his shoulder, "But I forgive you." she said then began to place gentle butterfly kisses down his neck.
"We really need to get moving though." he replied, and she sat back, crossing her arms and huffing in a child-like manner.
"Fine, you're no fun." she pouted. Sasuke raised a slender black eyebrow, and she relaxed, smiling as normal and began to get ready as well.
Back out on the road, they headed towards the closest one of Orochimaru's prisons. He was thankful for the remote location, knowing that word probably hadn't reached the prison that the great snake master was dead. It took them only until nightfall to reach the location on the edge of the fire country.
The air was crisp and cold, having only passed the first of march. The first star peaked in the twilight sky, the sun surrendered its glory to the dark and ethereal. Sasuke felt the shiver run up his spine as he reached the small cave, which he knew was much more than it appeared to be. He could remember the screams of Orochimaru's test patients, the groans and growls of the helplessly dark and lost.
"Stay here." He commanded softly, quietly, as to not alert their presence before he entered.
"Why can't I come with you?"
"You'll lessen my credibility. If I say I want a prisoner under Orochimaru's orders, the prison keeper will wonder what I'm doing carrying around a pregnant woman."
She couldn't argue with his logic, but she didn't want to let him go in there alone. Sensing her concern, he set a hand on her shoulder softly, "I'll be fine."
She sighed, annoyed at having to let him go, and walked over to a pile of rocks, lifting them out of her way, "Fine, just hurry." She said, using her strength to move the rocks into a place for her to hide behind.
Sasuke had to smirk at the sight. Here was this tiny, pregnant girl, moving boulders that weighed at least 200 pounds like it was nothing. Waiting for her to crouch behind the boulders, out of sight, he headed into the dark cave and triggered his sharingan for better visibility.
The cave twisted and turned until a large cavern full of prison cells were revealed. Sasuke shivered internally, but remembered to relax his body and appear unaffected by the sour environment. The place reeked of sewers and filth, the cavern walls moist and most likely growing mold and algae in the darkest places.
Walking along the rows of convicts, he felt a presence above him, and looked to see the jail keeper crouching on the bottom of the ledge above him, but hanging upside down, much like a bat.
"Well well, Uchiha Sasuke. What's your business here?"
"I need one of your prisoners. Gentsu."
"Eh? What's Orochimaru-sama need him for?"
Sasuke smirked. So his prediction was correct—the keeper still didn't know that the old sanin was long dead…and Sasuke wasn't planning to tell him. Sasuke shrugged at the jailor's previous question, "I'm not privy to his experiments. Just hurry up and give him to me."
The cell keeper cocked his head to the side and smiled, before doing a flip and landing on his feet before Sasuke, "As you wish. He's that way." The jailer pointed behind Sasuke, and urged him to walk in the said direction.
Sasuke was wary of the prison holder, Dakatou, knowing that cocky smirk a mile a way. That being said, he had the man on his back, the blade of Kurosagi pressed against his throat when Dakatou tried to attack Sasuke from behind.
"Damn, you really... were... his apprentice." The prison keeper coughed out.
"Just give me the keys and tell me where Gentsu is." Sasuke growled, pinning the man with his weight.
"And why should I?" Dakatou asked haughtily.
Sasuke raised his other hand, the bluish silver sparks of light screeching around it. "still don't get it?" Sasuke nudged the blade closer into the man's neck.
"He's in cell…gck…56…the key's…in my pocket."
The chidori transferred from his hand to the blade, effectively slicing off Dakatou's head with the slightest amount of pressure. Sasuke stood up and searched through the pocket of the corpse, finding the keys.
"Hey! You gonna let us out now?" The prisoners in the cell near by clamored.
"Yeah, please!?" the other asked.
Sasuke ignored the pleas and walked past, emotionless. These guys were psychotic killers, much like he had though of his own brother. But the difference was that they deserved to starve and live out a horrible death due to their crimes. This prison was special in that it was where Orochimaru kept the worst of the worst--the ones who actually committed crimes and were wanted by various shinobi nations.
He knew that once he took Gentsu out of the cell, it would be like handling hot coals. He had to be careful and hurry to the place where Itachi was buried.
Upon arriving at the cell, he was pleased to find that the jail keeper wasn't lying—the large man resembled Juugo in his frame, and evil Juugo in his attitude. The only difference was that this man thrived to kill, whereas Juugo never wanted to hurt a soul.
Sasuke stood and waited for Gentsu to notice him outside of his cell. "Gentsu," he called.
"Ohhh…it's Sasuke-sama…" the man said with a little wary laugh, he turned around to face Sasuke, revealing bandages placed over his eyes. "You'll have to excuse me, sir, but my previous cell mates thought it would be funny to gouge my eyes out, so alas, I cannot see you."
Sasuke shuddered internally. What would happen if he went blind? His life would be over. Being unable to see with his sharingan—the thing which made him most powerful—much less not even being able to see his own child...it would be like losing his life.
"Gentsu, I am freeing you."
The man let out a laugh, though it was devoid of life, "Sasuke-sama, thank you, but being freed or in prison…its all the same to me now.."
Though the crimes Sasuke had heard this man had committed were awful, right now Sasuke could see that the man himself had suffered quite a bit in this prison.
"Where I'm taking you is much better than this."
Gentsu looked up, though his eyes couldn't find the source of the voice, "Thank you." He whispered, his voice shaking slightly.
Sasuke knew to stay on guard, despite the man's seeming repentance. Opening the cell, he was thankful that the man didn't charge at him or make any move to kill him. Instead, Gentsu sat in the corner, ball chained to his ankle, in complete compliancy.
Guiding the blind man out of the cell, Sasuke could feel the relaxed muscles in the man's arm, signaling that he was either completely vulnerable, or confident enough in his own abilities that he didn't need to be defensive. But unlike Dakatou, Gentsu made no move to attack Sasuke, and actually leaned heavily on the younger shinobi for guidance as they walked. Sasuke had to keep calm and collected as he walked by the dozens of faces clamoring to be let out—despite their crimes, they all were lives, emotions, people whose blood stains were the same as his own. The difference? He had been given the power of judgment, and they were the judged.
He had always anticipated death—the death of his brother, Orochimaru, of the elders, Danzo, Madara, and eventually, his own. He had never focused on life—on saving the living, on helping the living, on enjoying the living.
Funny how one child changed all that. Now, he had to fight down the urge to let all the prisoners free and give them second chances. Damn, I really am getting soft. He hardened his gaze and led Gentsu out of the cave faster to keep himself from having second thoughts.
Outside of the cave, Sakura watched the entrance from her crouched position in her man-made shelter. Her face lit up with joy as she watched Sasuke escort a man out of the cavern and into the forest opening.
"Sakura…" he called out, and the pink haired medic-nin jumped up, the leaves rustling around her as she ran out to greet him.
"Is he…" she paused, looking at the worn shinobi and pointing at the bandages around his head.
"Check." He nodded, and Sakura stood back as far as she could, hovering her glowing hands over Gentsu's face, analyzing the face underneath the wraps.
Sakura let her hands rest by her side and nodded, "he's blind, alright."
"What was your first clue, girlie?" the man asked sarcastically, but not bitterly.
"Come on, we have a ways to go, and I want to get there before dawn." Sasuke explained, tugging the man in the said direction. "Do you need me to carry you?" he asked Gentsu.
The man scratched the back of his head, "I think so. I haven't worked my muscles in years. I'll slow you down."
Sakura looked at Sasuke confusedly. Why was this man so willing to go with them? What did Sasuke tell him? She wanted to ask, but she would have no chance while this man was still with them. Taking off into the trees, she was thankful that she could still hop branches at this point in her pregnancy. Kurenai was bound to have her child soon, and could barely even walk at times.
It had to be around two or three in the morning when they finally reached the site where two brothers met in a battle of blood in all aspects. It was a battle between a blood bond, for the blood that had been shed, and of blood that would be spilled.
The place, a disaster of displaced rocks and walls seemed so eerily calm as Sasuke walked across the same battlefield that had changed him in so many ways. The passing seasons and rains had washed away all of the blood, sweat and many tears, but he could still see them staining every corner and jagged edge of broken stone. The calm cool night seemed to mock the memories Sasuke held of the stormy, bruising weather that fit so well with their fight.
Sakura watched his expression carefully as she studied his face. Sasuke showed absolutely no emotion, but she had quickly learned that this was his way of expressing everything he felt. Inside, she could tell that he was experiencing more emotions than she could probably imagine. However, in order for a shinobi whose life had been solely focused on defeating on someone who left a bloody trail of emotions and heartache, she knew Sasuke had no choice but to pretend like it didn't phase him so he could focus on his goal. It had become a way of life, and something she would definitely have to help him with.
Sasuke helped her walk over the rocky crumbled debris of what used to be a great hideout, while carrying Gentsu on his back. The stone was sharp and cold, jutting out haphazardly and posing a threat to those who dare cross it. But Sasuke was determined. He led them down into the hideout which was cracked open to the night air and crumbling from the weight of their bodies, which had previously walked over the unstable ceiling. The room was hollow and their footsteps echoed against the war torn walls--Sakura wondered in amazement...she would have liked to known what those walls saw.
"Sasuke..."she whispered out gently.
"hm?" he asked, walking over to a broken stone chair on the far end of the room. Light from the moon outside was filtering through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating the chair in an ethereal glow. Sasuke would have found it ironic, had his heart not been beating a thousand miles an hour.
"What if...he's too..." Sakura trailed, off, not wanting to be graphic, "decomposed?"
Sasuke smirked and set Gentsu down for a moment; the man had fallen fast asleep. "Itachi's not the only one who liked to plan ahead." He raised his hand, the blue glow of his lightning-type chakra surrounding his hand into a honed blade, much like one he used to kill Orochimaru with. He moved around the back of the chair and cut it right in half. At first it seemed like nothing happened, but Sakura watched in amazement as the crack became visible and the two sides of the chair fell away from eachother, revealing an underground tunnel.
"Follow me." He instructed hauling gentsu onto his back again and jumping down into the hole. She approached cautiously, sitting on the edge and sliding down into it with his help
"Sasuke..." she said worriedly, once inside the small underpass.
"What, you scared?" he asked condescendingly, and she didn't even have to see to know he was smirking arrogantly.
"No! It's just that it doesn't seem smart to be walking in the dark." She growled.
"Nobody else knows of this place. Not even Madara." he glanced over at her. Their dark path suddenly opened up into a larger area, in which Sakura was thankful to be out of the damp, claustrophobic tunnel. They couldn't see where they had walked into, but from the ammount of echo, Sakura guessed that the room they arrived in wasn't very large. Sasuke then turned and walked a little to his right and set gentsu down against the stone wall; Sakura watched in fascination as Sasuke light a small fire in the palm of his hand and used it to light a torch hanging from one of the walls. Sakura could see suddenly that the room in fact was rather small--only about 12 feet wide by 12 feet long. She could see the shadowy sillhouette of a figure laying on a stone table in the center of the room, but couldn't make out the features--that is, until Sasuke lit the second torch.
"Oh my god!" she turned around, grasping the wall for support as she wanted to puke. The body seemed like it had only died just yesterday, but the sight of the bloody, dead corpse was much more than she expected when she saw the room. "You could have warned me!" she shrieked.
Sasuke went about lighting the room. "Well this is what we came for..."
"The first thing I expect to see when a dark room is lit is NOT a dead body!" She whispered as loudly as possible, not wanting to wake Gentsu but still wanting to voice her displeasure.
Sasuke ignored her cries and walked up behind her, gently turning her around to face the body. "I need you to get used to it. You're a medical ninja...you can handle this."
Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He was right, she could do this, it was just a non-moving human body. But it was...Itachi. The thought of reviving him of all people never before seemed to be a good idea, and she was still having a hard time getting into that frame of mind. Furthermore, she desperately wanted to know what was going through Sasuke's head. Surely the sight of his brother dead like that disturbed him to some degree, but he was, as always, talented at hiding such emotions. She had to remind herself that, again, he probably was feeling more than she could know.
Sasuke went to work drawing the seals around the body on the table, which were two large circles composed of the names of the hand seals used in this revival jutsu. By the time he was done, it looked as if two large suns were drawn on the floor, one around itachi, and one where Gentsu would be placed, with a single line of kanji connecting the two limp bodies. As she waited for Sasuke to finish the seals, Sakura read over the revival jutsu instruction scrolls that Sasuke had managed to grab before he left Orochimaru. There was no doubt that years of research went into creating this jutsu, and Sakura marveled at how the snake sanin had managed to harness the power of the human life force. She set to work on memorizing the hand seals and delicate chakra control which would be used in this procedure.
When both were finished, Sasuke placed Gentsu in the circle, the two bodies--one dead, one living-- laying on their backs, palms facing upwards. Sasuke took a deep breath, then looked over at Sakura, who was staring at the two of them. She seemed to be in a daze, but he knew from his time with her, that she was actually meditating on the instructions she had just received.
"Ready?" she asked, looking up at him, and only received a curt not in reply. Standing up from her crouched position on the floor, she took the scrolls and laid them next to her as she kneeled back on the floor just below the two seals. The pink haired medic took a deep breath, half feeling guilty about taking the life of a man who was hardly expecting it and half nervous that she screw up the jutsu.
Sasuke watched intently as she began the life-transfer jutsu, the kanji he had drawn on the floor illuminating with her green chakra, then Gentsu's. The line that connected the two men illuminated blue with the color of Gentsu's chakra being transferred to his brother. Sakura quickly but carefully made the hand signs instructed in the scroll, then placed her palms flat on the ground, each one touching the respective seal on the ground.
She panted hard as she controlled her and gentsu's chakra as precisely and delicately as possible, but controlling the flow of so much chakra was becoming increasingly difficult with each second--yet she knew she had to do this. Not just for Sasuke, for konoha, or for her revenge on Madara. She wanted to do this for herself--it was the ultimate test of her ability as a medical ninja, and if she could do this, there was hardly anything she couldn't do.
Sasuke on the other hand was quite pleased with Sakura's innate ability to perform such a complex jutsu so flawlessly. He watched as the blue light died down while the last of Gentsu's chakra was drained from his body. He then turned his attention to Itachi as Sakura finished the jutsu with a few more hand-seals. When it was all over, she sat back, exhausted, and looked up at the table. She still had to heal many of Itachi's wounds, or else he would simply die again.
Sasuke helped her stand up and guarded her as she moved toward the table. Letting her hands hover over the bloodied body, she focused on patching torn muscles and curing the illness which had apparently been plaguing Itachi for so long. It was a virus that mimicked the effects of poison, and shaped itself like such. In fact, it looked like a very familiar poison.
"Do you have water?" she asked, and sasuke reached into his bag to pull out a small canteen. She took a bowl sitting on a table off to the side of the room and poured the canteen into the bowl. After minutes of pulling the poison-like virus out of his system, she concluded that it was a strain much like Sasori's poison, and may very well have been made by Orochimaru, but concealed to look like it was Sasori's.
Suddenly, the body beneath her hands shifted, and she jumped back into Sasuke, who immediately stepped in front of her. She watched in shock and wonderment as Itachi literally came back to life, sitting up on the table, and looking around to take in his surroundings. The man looked up to see the face of his younger brother and a pink haired girl behind him, and smirked.
"Didn't get enough, Otouto?" the man looked down at his hands and shifted his muscles. It was as if he had been not only brought back to life, but completely healed. "And I suppose that girl was the one who brought me back?"
"Don't change the subject, aniki." Sasuke snapped, then looked down and said quietly, "I know the truth. You can stop playing the villan."
Sakura watched as an faint expression of shock and bewilderment crossed the older Uchiha's face.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Sasuke, but you've made a grave mistake in bringing me back."
"Stop with the fucking bullshit! I know its true, I confirmed it with the hokage, who was told by the elders. Plus...what you said right before you died..." Sasuke looked up at him with tears in his eyes. It was the very first time Sakura had ever seen him cry--she turned away, feeling as if she was stepping in on something she had no business witnessing.
Itachi's face contorted into anger as he looked away. Sasuke could only guess that his older brother was pissed off that he found out the truth.
"So what did you bring me back for?" he asked in a hushed, annoyed growl.
"To help me kill Madara."
Sakura heard a snort, followed by billowing laughter. She turned to see the older sharingan-user laughing.
"That's the thing...you can't." Itachi shook his head, "Oh god, what a mess this has become."
"What do you mean, you can't kill him?" Sakura finally asked and the two brothers finally seemed to remember her presence.
Itachi looked over at her, noting the obvious baby-bump which curved her stomach, then smirked at Sasuke, "What's this? You're already working on reviving the clan? Foolish Otouto."
Sasuke growled, "Condescending as always. Stop changing the subject. Why can't we kill him?"
"Because he's far more powerful than either you or I."
"But you know how it is...an eye for an eye. Only those with the sharingan are a match for another sharingan. You must know about his fighting style...his weaknesses."
Itachi smirked, "Even if I do, what says I'll help you?"
Sasuke looked at him curiously, "are you kidding me? You ...you played 'god' with my life then now that you've died you think you can just leave me to clean up the mess you made just like that?"
Itachi looked down at him with the same coal black eyes that had always haunted his dreams, his memories... and even when looking in the mirror, Sasuke could see traces of his older brother in himself. Those same aloof black orbs which hid so much emotion and ulterior motives. But Sasuke could read them like a book.
"I'm going to fight him whether you like it or not. But I know from how you spared me among the rest of the clan that you wouldn't let that sacrifice, those years in akatsuki, the lies and pain you put me and yourself through to make me stronger... that you would not let it all go to waste."
Itachi glared at him. He knew Sasuke was right--he wasn't going to let the boy fight Madara alone, especially not while he would be leaving a son and loved one behind. "Fine. I will help you."
RA: Oh yeah! Who was right? I was! Chapter 455 was bomb. The whole kakashi musing over tobi=madara thing was epic, seeing as I wrote that about 6 months ago. And then the end! Though I refuse to believe that Itachi was tricked by the likes of Danzo. I absolutely refuse.