The dark room was silent but for the steady breathing that had been its companion for years now. Dark emerald eyes studied the prone figure laying peacefully across the silken red sheets, perfectly ethereal in an otherwise corporeal setting. It was a sight that had grown familiar to him, despite his rare visits.
Yukine knelt down and crossed an arm over his chest; not in submission but respect. "Atsuhiko-sama. The Uchiha is at the Seal." He reported.
There was a long intake of breath, as if the words themselves stirred something in the bedridden man; and they likely did.
"Very good." His voice was gravely, unused, weak.
He was the picture of frailty; from the wrinkles of his folded hands, to the creases in the translucent skin of his face. Yet, despite his visage, there was an unmistakable presence that thrummed and beat beneath the ill man's skin. Where his body was weak, his spirit was strong.
"Do not disappoint me this time, Yukine." The weathered man's eyes edged open to reveal white, unseeing pupils.
Long black hair slipped from his shoulders as Yukine further bowed his head in acquiescence.
"It shall be done."
Yukine exited the chambers to be met with unmitigated glee and thinly concealed anticipation.
"Hansai. Ara." Yukine acknowledged as he strode past them, his long emerald haori fluttering behind him with his elegant movements.
"Well, are you going to share with the group?" the woman tsked, the sound of her heeled boots loud in the otherwise quiet chamber.
"Hai, Yuki! What did he say? Was he pleased?" the sandy-haired man giggled into his hands.
Yukine paused in his stride, glancing over at Ara's confident stature and Hansai's maniacal hunch. They were truly an unlikely three.
"Concern yourself only with achieving your aspects of the mission. Curiosity and eagerness of the outcome shall only serve as ill-minded distractions." His smooth tenor voice flowed like honey into the ears of his companions, as did his chakra.
Yukine felt Ara twitch and Hansai shudder.
"Let us begin."
Had Orochimaru's skin not been so unnaturally elastic, he was sure his grin would've split his face in half as he regarded the stunned room.
"Oh dear, I seem to have upset some stomachs." Orochimaru patronised the muted Konoha nin, taking a cruel pleasure in their shocked expressions. He slid his eyes to his similarly frozen research companion. "Karin, perhaps now is a good time for dessert?"
The redhead tore her eyes from where they had been set in shock staring agape at him and jerked into action, hooking an arm around their third guest and yanking.
"Come on you idiot." She hissed.
Suigetsu resisted, knocking over plates of food in the commotion. The sound was jarring, but Orochimaru noted with interest that not even their brash interaction was enough to stir the motionless Leaf ninja.
"What? No way. I wanna see how this shit turns out, I'm invested!" Suigetsu crowed, attempting to shake off Karin's interference and grab unto the edge of the table.
"Now, dumbass!" With a screech, Karin kicked the chair out from under him and dragged him by the neck.
"Ouch! Shit, that hurts woman!" Suigetsu garbled in between coughs as he was hauled out the room.
The heavy metal door had barely closed on their departure when Yamato leapt to his feet and sent a wall of wooden vines towards Orochimaru.
The Sannin, to his credit, did not bat an eye, allowing the wooden tendrils to wrap and constrict around him, binding him to his chair. Orochimaru spared a delighted thought that the vines moved much like his summons; serpent-like in their attack and fluidity. The young boy – Sai – was already in position, holding his tanto against Orochimaru's neck before the jutsu was complete.
"You have ten seconds to explain yourself." Yamato commanded, his voice a deathly quiet where his eyes were burning.
Orochimaru tested the strength of the vines by attempting to lift his shoulder in a semblance of a shrug. "Well I do hope you don't expect me to be thorough within only ten seconds."
Sai's blade quickly cut into the skin of his neck as Yamato shouted "Now Orochimaru!"
Finally! Things were getting interesting. Orochimaru hid his smile with a vacant stare.
In the stillness of the upturned dining room, the Konoha deserter conceded.
"Very well." Orochimaru leaned back into the chair, but Sai's blade followed the movement. He tilted his head appraisingly, then flickered his eyes over to Yamato.
"That seal that you are so fixated upon is not of my own invention. I came across it years ago in my travels. It was quite by accident, and yet it felt like fate. The seal was ancient; one could almost call it otherworldly. I could feel it in my blood that whatever that seal was guarding would change the course of my life, if not the entire world. I just had to figure out a way to unlock it."
Orochimaru clicked his mouth shut and watched as his interrogator smothered his baited frustration.
Yamato stared him down darkly. "Why did you stop?"
"Ten seconds is an awfully short time." He tittered, his muscles pulling uncomfortably against his restraints as he rolled his neck.
"Do not make the mistake of crossing me, Orochimaru."
There was something in Yamato's shadowy tone that excited Orochimaru, he could not help but further respond in kind.
"Or what? You'll turn me into a tree?"
Orochimaru had barely finished his taunt when he felt two sharp pricks. Slowly turning his vision to his arms, he was surprised to find two long, clean cuts etched into his pale skin. Perfectly precise in their placement so as to nick the major arteries enough to bleed, but not so much that he would die in the next ten minutes without intervention. Of course, it was nothing he couldn't handle, but the message was clear all the same.
"Please continue, Orochimaru." Sai spoke calmly from behind him.
An oily smile spread across his face, like ink split upon parchment. "Nice boy." He tilted his head back to his seething former-experiment. This is just too much fun!
"Where was I? Oh yes… the seal." He licked his lips. "I almost lost my own life when I first tried to unlock it. It was exhilarating, euphoric! Alas, I could not allow such a trap of ecstasy to become my demise. So, I cut off my own arm, and released myself from the seal's pull." His right arm seemed to burn in memory, and he revelled in it. "I decided to recuperate and come back with a new strategy, but no matter what I tried; counter-seals, sacrifices, destructive jutsus, the seal was impregnable.
"So, I built my own 'base' of sorts around it, to prevent anyone else from accessing it before I could. An entire facility dedicated to housing my most revered experiment." If his arms weren't profusely bleeding and confined to his chair, he might've brought one up to lightly stroke his chin.
"It felt impossible for the longest time, until I had the thought of giving the seal exactly what it wanted – ultimate power and control. And I had the solution staring me right in the face. Tsunade, my own fallen Princess, beholder of some of the most exquisite and remarkable power and finesse on this earth. She was perfect. And she also happened to be vulnerable. Still mourning the loss of her brother and her lover, she was ripe for the plucking."
Orochimaru licked his lips once more, eyeing his ironically captive audience. He hardly ever got to monologue these days. He was thoroughly enjoying having their undivided attention. Their disgusted expressions made it all the better, in his humble opinion.
"And find her I did, off in some backwater casino, drunk and violent. It was when I saw her stumble out of the bar, trip over her own feet and land in the dirt, that I made my move. But as I got closer I realised that her hiccups were sobs, and her fall was but a collapse. She was not my fierce Hime. She was broken, and pathetic and far too human to be of any use. She would not break the seal in that state. It was pointless." He spat darkly.
Orochimaru ignored the minuscule part of himself that twitched with the memory. He had not been capable of attitudes such as sympathy for a long, long time. But as the memory drifted back to the fore-front of his sharp mind, he found it hard to ignore the disgust that image withdrew from him. He hated seeing her weak.
Orochimaru forced himself back into the present, cocking his head at the intense eyes of his captor.
"So, I decided to wait, and return back to the seal when she was ready to be useful." He sighed then, long and blithe "But of course, you know how the rest of it goes…Life moves on and I had places to destroy, people to improve. I never did get a chance to revisit that old project."
Yellow eyes flickered up to almond and Orochimaru tilted his head. "But how grand that Sasuke-kun has picked up where I left off. And this time, with dear little Sakura-chan as his muse, he might just succeed where I failed."
Orochimaru grinned at the naked revulsion and concern on Yamato's face. Orochimaru would almost be ashamed of himself for ever being that transparent over bonds if he knew he hadn't been twisted since the beginning. He idly wondered if the look of abhorrence on Yamato's face was in reaction to him, or his wayward apprentices' likeness to him.
"If that seal isn't yours then whose is it?"
All humour was wiped from his face when Orochimaru replied calmly, "If I were you, I should pray we never find out. Whatever is behind there, is sealed for a reason. A reason, I wager, that no mere human should be exposed to."
Orochimaru could acknowledge he had a flair for the dramatics, and perhaps a streak of petty petulance within him. Part of him irked at the idea of someone else succeeding in achieving his long-time goal. However, he had lived enough lives to know when some things were best left unexplored…
Concern morphed into thinly veiled panic as Yamato turned to command his subordinate "Sai, we need to contact Tsunade, now!"
"Hai!"
In whirl of movement, Orochimaru was left confined to his chair as his guests made a hasty retreat. "Do pass on my best to Hime for me!" he called after them in amusement. "Oh, and Yamato."
The man in question barely stopped himself enough to pause in the doorway, his posture taut with forced composure.
Orochimaru glanced at his lovely wooden prison, then back at its maker. "I believe I have made up my mind on that favour you owe me."
Yamato did not move and Orochimaru grinned, flexing his wrists, his blood pooling down the chair with the action.
"A sample of whatever is behind that seal should suffice, I think." He took great pleasure in seeing his captor tense further. "Purely for academic purposes, I assure you."
Yamato left without a second glance, but not without carrying the sound of Orochimaru's sadistic laughter with him.
Orochimaru watched his prey leave, completely whole but for the emotional wounds he had managed to mark him with. He was a patient man, and as he sat, calmly bleeding out in the underbelly of ruins, Orochimaru smiled. The pure smile of a man who always got what he wanted, one way or another.
"How fast can your bird fly?" The words tumbled out of Yamato's mouth as soon as he found Sai outside the compound.
"Weather permitting, the soonest she will reach Tsunade-sama is late today." Sai replied, already prepping his fastest ink-hawk to leap from the scroll.
Yamato ran a haggard hand through his brown hair. "Shit. We'll just have to pray that will be soon enough. Did Shikamaru provide you with Team Kakashi's latest coordinates before we departed? We don't have time to waste."
"Yes, but it will be at least a few days old, they could be anywhere by now." Sai pointed out, offering Yamato a brush and parchment to draft their missive to Tsunade-sama.
"It's the best we've got. We'll just have to rely on our tracking abilities to narrow down the specifics." Yamato acknowledged as he hurriedly wrote his report, his skin crawling with each point of information.
"Hey!"
Both Shinobi tensed at the woman's arrival, red-faced and agitated.
Yamato passed his finished note off to Sai and went to intercept the rogue kunoichi, vaguely aware of the monochrome bird taking flight.
"Karin-san, I'm sorry but we're on a tight schedule and don't want to fight." He said firmly, despite readying his stance for a physical encounter.
The woman screwed up her face, the movement skewing her purple glasses.
"What? No, I'm not here for that shit. Just listen alright? I did some digging while you lot were interrogating each other. This is the only record of a Northern base in Orochimaru's system. It's not much, just some vague coordinates, but it could be something."
Yamato carefully received the scrap of paper she pushed into his hands, assessing the sincerity of her strangely benevolent behaviour. She continued before he could question her.
"Also, take this." Karin handed over a small med kit. "I don't know what you'll find when you get there, but I've packed some vials of my blood imbued with my chakra for emergencies."
Yamato felt truly bewildered by the days turn of events, and as much as he wished to believe in the woman's abrupt altruism, he was still a shinobi, and she was under Orochimaru's grasp voluntarily. He stared at her hard, and watched as she straightened under his scrutiny, standing tall in the face of his doubt.
Yamato knew that he had the reputation in his team to be the softer of the commanders – the one they went to when they wanted to get away with something; an aspect he readily embraced among his teammates. But never had anyone accused him of being stupid and reckless – and placing blind trust in a declared hostile would be a fools' error.
"Why are you helping us?" His tone left no room for interpretation. He wanted an answer, and he wouldn't be accepting her help without one.
Karin seemed to freeze at that, as if she never expected to actually be called out on such a deed. She quickly covered it by huffing and folding her arms across her chest, a red hue spreading across her upturned face. Yamato narrowed his eyes, subconsciously tightening his grip on the medical kit she had gifted him.
"Look, I don't expect you to understand… But Sakura saved my life once."
Yamato felt himself physically release – he wasn't expecting Sakura to be the driving motivator for this woman's apparent kindness. He nodded for her to continue, and she unsurprisingly looked uncomfortable to be telling him any of this.
"Well, I kinda despised her for her softness for a while. But then, while I was in the village, she was always so kind to me, for no reason. She even went out of her way to visit me in T&I and tell me about Juugo's progress or things happening in the village, smuggled me some decent food. She… gave me something to look forward to." Her voice had trailed off, but then her eyes snapped straight to his and Yamato could see the ferocity gleaming in them.
"She didn't have to do that. People I know don't do that. And when I asked her why, all she said was 'us girls gotta stick together' and that was that." The woman became a strange mix of despondent and tender in her justification, and Yamato found himself studying her intently.
"That does sound like Ugly." Sai said simply in the brief interlude of silence.
"Don't call her that, you Ass!" Karin barked, before recovering her outburst with a puff. "Just, make sure she's not dead, alright?"
For the first time in days, Yamato felt his expression soften to something akin to relief. For all the trouble his team regularly got themselves into, they always somehow managed to find a way to get themselves back out again, if in the strangest, long-reaching ways. He never knew Shinobi to be capable of such unconventional bonds until meeting Team Seven.
"Thank you for your kindness, Karin-san." Yamato inclined his head slightly to the flushed woman. "Sakura will be very happy to hear you're alright, after all this time."
Oh yes, this woman's embarrassment was too vivid to be fake, and he felt justified in allowing himself this small concession of believing in the good of strangers, just this once.
"Just shut up and get going before Orochimaru wriggles his way out of your little wooden puzzle." She sniped, looking away. All heat and no fire.
Yamato took his cue to leave, turning to mount Sai's summoned ink creature.
"Come with us?" It was Sai's uncharacteristic offer that halted them alike.
Karin jerked at the suggestion, shock and hopefulness sparking to life across her face. However, it was swiftly overtaken by a shadow Yamato and Sai could all too easily recognise. She offered them a small tight smile all the same.
"No... thanks. My place is here for now. Now scram!"
"Thank you for all your help Karin-san." Yamato said once more as he and Sai mounted the eagle.
"Yeah yeah, don't get all Leaf mushy on me. Just got lost, ya hear!" She hollered, watching them rise into the air, her ruby eyes darting back and forth from whence they came.
Yamato felt a pang of appreciation for her, overshadowed by a deeper twinge of sympathy for her life choices. He could not help but wish better for her – this relative stranger who shared with him so much and yet remained so different.
"Have a pleasant living experience with Suigetsu." Sai called from the sky as they took off, much to Yamato's bemusement. "He is happy to have found you after many years searching. His devotion to you is uncharacteristic but I'm certain your brash personalities will complement each other in your companionship."
Karin visibly spluttered.
"Wait what!? Oi, come back here! What the hell does that mean?!"
"Well, that concludes it."
"What Sensei?" Sakura perked from where she had been standing resolutely by Kakashi's side as he studied the seal.
"This thing is ancient." He drew his hands up over his head and popped his back in exaggeration.
Sakura's brow twitched slightly. "Yes, well we did already presume that."
Kakashi gave her a smile, "But now I've just proved it."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, have you proven anything else? Anything useful?"
"Should I be hurt you think my last few hours slaving away have been useless?"
"I'm sure you'll get over it." She deadpanned.
"You wound me with your lack of compassion, Sakura. And here I thought you doctors swore an oath." He presented her with a very pleased-looking smile, if the smugness in his eyes was any indication. Sakura thought she ought to yank his headband over both eyes and call it a day.
"Well so long as you're complaining, I'm sure I can find other ways to wound you." She motioned rolling up her sleeve, a threat all too clear in the green of her eyes.
Kakashi straightened and openly regarded at her, the hint of contentment sparking his visible face. "Good to have you back, Sakura."
Sakura felt lips part slightly. In the last few hours of focusing intently on her task, she had put her anxieties aside in the face of duty. And now, without even trying, Kakashi had automatically snapped her back into her customary confidence and resolve, she completely forgot she had been worried. Did he know what he was doing when he did things like that?
Sakura pursed her lips. "Shut up Kakashi. You never lost me." Her grumble came out slightly breathier than she expected, and she snapped her jaw shut.
"Never plan to."
Kakashi tried to fight the satisfaction he felt upon seeing Sakura redden slightly at his words. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I also determined – through my excellent skill and talent," he added just to see her roll her eyes. " – that this seal appears to be the real deal."
Sakura frowned and edged closer to where Kakashi had stepped back to regard the seal. "Real deal? Can you be a bit more specific?"
"I can." He glanced at her briefly, both of them settling into a collective evaluation. "There have been no signs of tamper beyond its original design. Meaning, Orochimaru somehow figured out how to activate this seal without sucking himself dry, and in turn, it won't mindlessly suck dry anyone who can meet his challenge of chakra, albeit a monumental one."
Sakura nodded in understanding, cuing Kakashi to continue, "Sasuke was right, it's not only about mere chakra levels, it's about control – to be able to follow the precise pattern the seal weaves, along with the quantity it demands." He paused, bringing a hand up to rub at his masked chin. "Think of it as extreme colouring in."
Sakura must've pulled a face, because Kakashi chuckled and waved a placating hand, entering his 'sensei' mode.
Sakura had forgotten how nice his laugh was…
"Just hear me out. This seal is basically the equivalent of asking someone to colour in the most finely detailed picture without going outside the lines, whilst using a long-range S-ranked Suiton blast at close-range, blindfolded and upside-down. It shouldn't be possible. Even if you had the vast chakra to perform the Suiton blast, you can't condense it to the level of delicacy and accuracy it needs. It either fizzles out from not enough juice, or completely rips the paper to shreds. Yet, the moment your chakra touches that picture, you're linked, and it'll demand more and more from you at a level and rate disproportionate to the fine control needed to come out the other side alive. And if you go outside the lines, or attempt to destroy them completely – "
"You die."
Kakashi softened his expression at the look on Sakura's face. She was scared… and she was smart to be. He had to stop himself from reaching out and giving her a semblance of physical comfort, like they so exchanged in the past. He couldn't, wouldn't push her boundaries right now, no matter how much of him ached with the loss of the former territory.
He didn't belittle her by trying to soften the blow though, she deserved to know what she was getting herself into. She was a kunoichi, but more than that, she was Sakura; and it would be an insult to underestimate her in any way. He flexed his jaw and continued firmly.
"Even Naruto, with all his endless chakra and stamina wouldn't have the ability to control anything once his chakra interacted with the seal. In fact, I'm sure it'd likely have some drastic side-effects on both him and Kurama." Kakashi stopped and narrowed his eyes at the thin paper.
"It's a dangerous little thing, something I've never seen in existence before… I'm honestly not even sure how Orochimaru pulled this off in the first place. It's almost unearthly in its capacity and requirement, not to mention its design. It's like a question with no answer. Designed to entice, to tease. To destroy." He looked at her then, assessing and solemn. "You are the only one among us who has a chance."
"Wow." Sakura breathed unsteadily, feeling the weight of both Kakashi's words and his gaze.
His eyes suddenly turned troubled, and Sakura had to hold fast against the way it made her chest tighten and throat thicken. The impulse to reach for his hand was stronger than she expected. She clenched her fist.
"Are you sure about this, Sakura?"
"Certain." She didn't give herself a moment to think. She had decided this long ago.
He held her eyes long and hard, as if trying to decipher her very soul. But there was no doubt there – hadn't been for years now – just familiar trust and respect.
"Then I will support you in this."
She wasn't expecting the goosebumps that rippled across her flesh at his easy declaration. Her hand relaxed despite herself. "Thank you."
Kakashi just nodded, and turned his warm grey eyes back to the seal. Sakura frowned. For some inexplicable reason she felt she was missing something. He would've squeezed her shoulder or ruffled her hair by now, and yet he remained perfectly still. And she felt perfectly ridiculous for noticing such an absence with such longing.
Sakura cleared her throat. "I just have one more question."
"Mm?"
"All this chakra that this seal steals from people, what does it do with it? Where does it all go?"
Naruto's question from nights ago was still tumbling around in her head. Was the seal a siphon? What exactly are they achieving by unlocking the seal with vast amounts of chakra? The way Kakashi's eyes darkened confirmed that he was similarly troubled by such a question.
"That is the one thing I cannot say for certain. Typically, whoever casts this seal would have the ability to dictate where the stolen chakra will be stored. It could very well go straight into whatever it is sealing. Or maybe the seal is simply a ploy to siphon chakra to another location entirely. We are making a dangerous gamble by giving this seal what it wants. Yet, at this rate, it'll be just as dangerous to leave it be. We all have to be prepared for a no-win scenario with this one."
Sakura nodded firmly. But in the safety of Kakashi's presence she softly let slip. "I don't like the sound of this."
She hadn't much liked the sound of any of this conversation.
Sakura was realist; she knew how to weigh cost and benefit, knew how to judge a situation from its multiple angles and variables. She knew when something was a lost cause, and she knew when she was about to override that assessment, to defy the odds stacked against her, and do something vaguely stupid – something that would surely disappoint her friends should she miscalculate even a fraction. She knew what she was capable of. And she knew when to feel scared… After all, you couldn't be a good medic if you weren't acutely aware of how close death was at any given time.
Her eyes dropped to her shoes, and she spent a moment blindly studying the toes of her ninja sandals.
She was supposed to be with Ino-pig right about now, on their 'Hot Springs Extravaganza!' It was going to be their commemorative reward for successfully establishing their Children's Mental Health Clinic. Ino had spent ages planning it too, being postponed as many times as it had. And Sakura had saved up so much holiday leave, she was ready to spoil it entirely on Ino and her chaotic whims. She was truly excited for something personal for the first time in long time too.
Kakashi had all but thrown her out the village himself when she first made the tentative request for leave, although not without his playful whining about how lost he was going to be without her 'big beautiful brain and work ethic'. Ino had glared at Kakashi then and demanded that just for that vaguely guilt-tripping comment, he had to let Sakura off early for the night to go out drinking with Ino in celebration and pay.
And for all her inheritance of the Godaime's legacy, Sakura was a terrible drinker and Ino was relentless with the Hokage's open-tab. They were both so hungover the next morning, Sakura couldn't even gather any healing chakra to assuage the after-affects. Kakashi had ended up giving them the day off, sending Pakkun over to babysit her, should she have the 'insane inkling to attempt to work'.
Sakura had blearily attempted to make Pakkun some sausages and ended up throwing up from the thick smell. Kakashi was beside her within the next sixty seconds, holding back her hair as she puked. She couldn't even muster up the energy to glare at Pakkun – the traitor – or scold Kakashi for leaving a clone in his office instead of sending one to her, 'if he was so insistent on seeing her at her worst'.
She was half tempted to throw up on him when all he offered her was a sympathetic little smile under that damn blue mask. He patted her back when the next wave of nausea overtook her, just narrowly missing her target of his lap. She ended up crying and laughing through the mess, cursing Ino between sniffles and giggles. And Kakashi stayed through it all, even summoning more of his ninken to check on her blonde partner in crime and fetch Sai to take care of her, lest she be in a similar state. Sakura had a brief moment of calm to appreciate his kind gesture before she was once more bent over porcelain and heaving her guts out.
Sakura survived off plain rice and Kakashi's surprisingly domestic company that day.
Sakura smiled softly to her sandals at the memory, but she couldn't deny the frisson of fear that rode the undercurrent of that nostalgic smile. Couldn't silence the Realist in her that was rattling the locked handle of the door she'd closed on her decision.
Everything had seemed so simple back then… Her busy little world perfectly defined by the careful boxes and labels she created for them, all shelved neatly alongside one another. Everything had a place, everything had a solution, and she was happy to ignore the one part of the shelf that remained empty. She was too busy for 'what if's' and 'when's'. Ino might even call her blind to them; but she was okay with that. Had been.
Sakura never stopped to question 'what if 'when' never comes?' or 'when will 'what if' stop being enough?'. There had always been a 'later' for each of those questions. But now…
Now –
Sakura was unprepared for the wave of relief that came crashing down upon her when she felt Kakashi's warm hand place itself atop her head.
"There is only room in this dynamic for one grey-haired individual, and I'm afraid that position has been filled."
She blinked up at Kakashi from under his hand, gratefulness clear in her eyes she couldn't explain. How could she explain that he had the bizarre gift of suppressing that persistent rattle, and soothing that frisson?
Green clashed with grey. Sakura quietly filed away the thought to further study his chakra in case he was hiding some 'comfort-jutsu' up his sleeve and simply hadn't ever told anyone for fear of being too 'in-demand'. For a self-proclaimed hermit, Kakashi assuredly skilful in taking care of others in the most unexpected of ways. Sakura felt her lips twitch up into a small smile and Kakashi matched it, slowly withdrawing his hand. She absolutely was going to find a way to study him later.
Sakura rolled her shoulders back and held her head up high. "Can't argue there. Should we call back Sasuke and Naruto?"
Kakashi continued to study her closely for a moment, but then waved a casual hand. "I've got it. You meditate for a little, alright?"
Sakura nodded and settled cross-legged on the floor. However, she couldn't help but watch her ex-sensei as he walked away from her.
"Kakashi?" She called softly. Her voice echoed all the same.
"Mm?" He glanced at her over his shoulder. His lazy stare and slouch doing a poor job of hiding the strength and poise of a man she knew him to be.
"For the record, your hair is silver."
Sakura couldn't help but beam at his surprised laugh and the way it changed his visible face. She held onto that rich, warm sound as she slipped effortlessly into meditation, a calmness overtaking her in the company of his assured, relaxed presence.
She never really had to worry about burdening questions such as 'when' and 'what if' with him. Kakashi always kept her far too preoccupied with learning the present – learning him.
That impossible man.
Naruto let his rasengan die out as he and Sasuke stepped back into the main cavern, lightly shaking out his hand. Naruto looked from Sakura's meditative pose on the ground to Kakashi's stance between her and seal.
Where his posture was lax, his eyes were sharp and Naruto felt a surge of relief knowing he could always trust Kakashi to have a teammates' back. The man was fiercely protective of his precious people. They all were. But Kakashi carried with him the reality of failure and loss – Naruto couldn't see the ghosts, but he could see the evidence of their presence in Kakashi.
"Yo. Find anything." Kakashi greeted casually as they quietly walked to meet him by the seal's white glow.
Naruto blew a haphazard breath and shook his head.
"Nah, just a few false exits and pitfalls. We thought we should check them out in case anyone was lying in wait though. The real exit is the third creepy tunnel to right, by the way. Teme made sure it was clear." Naruto gestured to his now singed cloak and pouted.
The damn bastard hadn't even warned him before blasting his stupid Katon jutsu through the entirety of each tunnel, with or without Naruto standing in his direct line of fire. Literally.
"We searched 'em all. No one else is down here."
"That's good news." Kakashi nodded resolutely, his eyes straying back to their medic.
"Did you figure it out?" Sasuke gestured with his chin to the seal, his eye a dark onyx.
Naruto watched carefully as his ex-sensei concealed a heavy breath and slowly tore his gaze from Sakura, sitting perfectly still and focused.
"Yeah. It's… not going to be easy."
Naruto frowned at Kakashi, worry clear in his voice. "You think Sakura-chan will – "
"I'll be fine, Naruto." Sakura cut over him gently. Her verdant eyes were still closed, but after another moment she slowly opened them to acknowledge their return with a firm but warm smile.
Each of them remained silent as she slowly rose from her position, and made her way gracefully towards them, all confidence and steel.
"Are you still willing to go through with it, Sakura?" Sasuke questioned bluntly as she came to stop beside him.
"Nothing can change my mind, Sasuke." Her voice was as clear as her opulent eyes, and Naruto felt a well of pride and awe rise within him at her quiet strength.
Naruto had a fleeting moment of clarity as he saw her purple rhombus glow briefly in the low light. Their Sakura-chan was perfectly represented by that diamond, in his belief.
She built herself from nothing, forged by pressure and the Will of Fire and the desire to be. She had always been mesmerizing to behold; a treasure to seek and admire for its beauty. Yet, she is durable and hard cut; deadly grace carved in a symbol of promise and love. As always, she has been so much more than she appears. But his Sakura-chan is most like a diamond when cast in light – when she catches the rays of goodness and shines. When she takes that light and directs it back at the world with a small piece of herself with it – giving and bright.
"Hn."
Naruto turned his head to chase Sasuke's monotoned response and found his raven-haired teammate to be similarly absorbed in studying their pink-haired medic – his eyes cast in tender reverence.
I wonder…
"How are your levels, Sakura? We don't have to do this right now. We won't rush you if you feel you need more time."
Naruto slid blue eyes over to Kakashi, and regarded him quietly as he spoke. Naruto knew that he wasn't particularly known around the village to be the observant type, but one thing he could say he knew for certain, was his team.
Naruto had always known Kakashi to harbor a soft spot for Sakura – hell, they all did! – but one thing he could not deny noticing was how his Sensei's eyes would always soften the smallest amount when regarding Sakura.
'You finally noticing that now, kid?' A familiar gravelly voice echoed in his head.
Naruto frowned inwardly. 'Has my team always been this complicated?'
'Ha! Have you met your team?' Kurama sounded far too amused. 'You're like one massive walking hurricane of chaos.'
Naruto rolled his eyes and sniffed. 'Oh gimme a break. It's not like they're going around throwing jutsu at each other.'
'Yet.'
Ignoring Kurama's snide remark, Naruto came back to himself and warily glanced at all three of his teammates. He really hoped Kurama was just messing with him.
"I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. It's time to rip off the band-aid." Sakura pepped with more conviction than Naruto was sure any of them felt in that moment.
He grimaced and stepped closer to take one of her hands in his. "Are you absolutely sure, Sakura-chan? What about all your hard work? Your Byakugou."
He knew it was a weak argument at best, but he couldn't help holding onto that small hope that he could maybe use some Talk-no-Jutsu to persuade her to consider another option. Team Seven always found a way.
"I'm making use of all my hard work, Naruto." Sakura fondly placed a hand on his whiskered cheek. "Don't look so upset, Baka. I have the rest of my life to store up more chakra. This is for the village."
Despite her smile, there was the smallest flicker of fear in her eyes, blanketed by sheer ferocity. Naruto glanced at her diamond-adorned forehead, then back at her with a slow solid nod. She seemed to understand his unspoken sentiment for she leaned closer to kiss his cheek, then pat it soundly, if a little firmly.
"But I will need absolute concentration. If I get distracted and let this overwhelm me even a little it could mean bad news."
Naruto shrunk back from her sudden pointed look, his face still half cradled in her smooth palm.
"Why are you looking at me Sakura-chan." He laughed, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck. But her eyes just further narrowed at him in warning. Suddenly her hand on his cheek felt more like a vice than a cradle.
"I'll make sure the Dobe shuts up." Sasuke interjected, hauling Naruto back from Sakura by the scruff of his collar.
Naruto had half a mind to snap back at him until he realised that Sasuke had maneuverer them so that he could stand closer to Sakura. And stand closer he did. Although loom was probably more like it.
Sneaky Teme.
Sakura placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow. "Just don't start fighting as soon as I'm under, got it?"
"Cross my heart Sakura-chan. We'll all be right here when you come back to us." He gave her his megawatt grin and saw the way her lips quirked upwards in return.
There was a moment of stillness as Sakura drew her eyes from him, to Sasuke and finally to Kakashi. She took a grounding breath.
"I hopefully won't have to access too much of my Byakugou for this, but I can't guarantee anything. I don't know what state I will be in when I come out the other side."
"We will have your back Sakura." Naruto couldn't help but say.
It was a promise from each of them, and Naruto realised with a small jolt when Sasuke and Kakashi nodded slightly, that they were waiting for him to say it. For all of them.
Sakura simply smiled at them all, sure and true. "I know you will."
"Sakura."
They all paused at Sasuke's soft call, Sakura craning her neck up slightly to search his eyes in curiosity.
Then, the Teme drew his hand towards Sakura-chan in an achingly slow movement, two fingers outstretched for her. Sakura seemed to gasp in realisation but a moment before his fingers gently tapped her forehead, right on her Byakugou.
Sakura's cheeks immediately warmed into a bright pink, and Naruto had the sudden urge to look away from such a seemingly private moment. But he was transfixed. His eyes darted between Sakura's wide green eyes, and Sasuke's stormy onyx orbs.
Neither said anything and Naruto found himself holding his breath in anticipation of… something.
But then, Sasuke slowly drew his hand back to himself, just barely skimming the skin of her jaw on his descent. And Sakura blinked herself back into composure with a shaky nod. An entire conversation happening between with just the simplest of touches.
It was only then that Sasuke stepped back from her and Naruto felt he completely missed some important detail of the interaction.
His blue eyes trained on the pinkette, Naruto watched as Sakura gave them all a trusting smile and then turned towards the innocuous seal. Naruto calmed his raging heartbeat. In a flutter of movement, Sakura drew her shoulders back and discarded her cloak, revealing her lean back to them.
She was a visage of strength as they all stared after her. They each drew a collective breath with her as Sakura closed her eyes. There was pulse as she activated her Byakugou, and they watched enthralled, as black vines wrapped around her visible body and extended to her deceptively small hands.
None of them dared breathe as she widened her stance and drew those hands slowly up to press against the seal. It all felt like it was happening in slow motion to Naruto.
'Kurama.' Naruto whispered nervously. 'Is she going to be alright?'
There was a devastating moment of silence before he received an answer. 'I told ya, kid. I ain't seen anything like this before. I can't tell you what I don't know…'
Naruto set his jaw just as Sakura made contact with the seal, another pulse of chakra enveloping the air – this time from the seal itself. It was a heavy, forceful feeling and it left a poor aftertaste in his mouth. There was a brief glow of gold from the paper, before it merged into a light green – the colour of Sakura's chakra. The feeling immediately turned soothing and cool, like the calming mint of her presence. So distracted was he by the sight and feel, he almost missed Kurama's next words.
'But I have seen your team, and I know what they can do. You're all stubborn. If anyone should be worried, it's the bastard who would dare to cross your team… Cross us.'
There was a dark curl to Kurama's voice that Naruto easily recognised as his own. He tilted his chin up higher, fortified by the shared bond he held with his Kyuubi.
Yeah, Kami help anyone who makes the mistake of underestimating his team. They weren't perfect, but they were bonded, and that was far stronger than any jutsu known to man or beast alike.
A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. We're back with another instalment and things are coming to a bit of a head. Thank you to everyone still reading and anyone new joining this ride. I always appreciate any comments or feedback you have, but mostly I'm just happy to be sharing this with you all! Much love and good vibes! 3