-x-

Mebuki paced her bedroom floor, and one thumb chewed into her ichor blood flowed- her mouth smeared gold.

How?

How, how, how?

How can I keep her?

Keep her safe?

Keep her in my arms?

Forever.

And ever.

And ever and ever

and ever and

ever and -

A thought formed, and Mebuki grabbed her travelling cloak, disappearing to the mortal world below where the God Tree grew.

She threw herself against its trunk, screaming and clawing. Gold stained the bark, sinking in deep.

"Grandmother! Grandmother, help me, please!"

Slowly, then all at once, the Great Mother Goddess appeared. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, stretching the millennia of ages from her bones. Her body lengthened until she towered over the small young one in front of her. Throwing her unruly hair from her face, she kneeled and reached out. "Child," Tsunade spoke, brushing the tears from the young one's eyes.

"Grandmother, he's going to take her away from me. He's tainted her soul, raped her, soiled her body and stolen her from me." Mebuki cried. "She's mine. MY daughter, MINE to have! I must keep her safe; he's coming to retake her!"

Tsunade forced her to slow, to speak and explain. Her mind was already a strange whirlwind of vague memories of the Earth. Steel and blood seemed to be the only things she could see clearly.

Why would he take her?

Because he's spiteful and evil.

Why would she stay?

Because he tricked her into eating those seeds.

What has the God King decided?

We must share her. But she's mine, the only thing I have left!

"Come, daughter, I shall see with my own eyes."

-x-

The day had come for Sakura's release to the Underworld, where the husband dwelled. Mebuki and Tsunade stood at the mouth of the entrance. Kakashi has chosen not to involve himself. A coward by any stretch of the means, choosing not to be involved in his family's grievances.

"Just watch, Grandmother," Mebuki sneered, eyes never leaving the mouth. "You will see. His corruption of my daughter."

The Mother Goddess narrowed her eyes, watching her great-granddaughter stumble into the Underworld. Her crisp white clothing started to melt and mix with the soil until it became black and cried crimson. Sakura's hair had lost its vibrancy and fell long to the ground; a crown of bone and thorns appeared around her head.

The spirits of the Underworld began to roar and cry, sing with a ferocity that it thrummed inside Tsunade's heart: 'Our Queen, our Lady has returned to us. Our Queen! Desponia!'

Sakura threw herself at the God King awaiting her with open arms. Tears streamed from her grandson's eyes, and he held her tightly, picking her up from the ground so her bare feet would never know roughness. "Just like you promised, my love," he said, tucking a petal-less rose behind her ear and falling to his knees. "Welcome back, my Queen. Our Kingdom rejoices in your return."

"Itachi," Sakura cried, clutching his clothes to bring her lips to his, and they kissed with more passion than Tsunade had ever seen. More than the beginning flame between Itachi and Ino when they first began. More than when Ino and Kakashi had met the touch of their skins. More than when Karin and Sasuke had met, the middle of a battlefield - he soaked in blood, and she on the birth of her powers.

"See, Grandmother, a spell. He has put her under a spell and tempts her away from me." Mebuki cried, nails gripping into her dress.

Tsunade paused, watching as Itachi with her granddaughter wrapped up in his arms - wrapped her up tight in his cloak and carried her deep down within his lands. She relaxed into his embrace, whispers of love on her lips and in her eyes. This woman was so different from the little bird she saw collapsed in the middle of a beautiful garden with tears in her eyes, blood on her lips.

Mebuki couldn't see it.

Of course, she couldn't.

But Tsunade could.

The Spring Goddess didn't eat that fruit unwillingly. She swallowed it to stay with the one she loved and keep hold of the freedom her mother would never grant her.

Tsunade turned away, leaving a gasping and crying granddaughter in her footsteps.

I give you my blessing, great-granddaughter. You have chosen a good man.

-x-