I went back and re read the entire thing from the beginning, just to make sure I don't forget anything as I wrap up, and there are so many things, mostly little, that I need to fix. Nothing so big that it would warrant being done before I finish so it won't be stalling my update schedule but annoying to me. For instance, I realized I implied that Kakashi wore his father's haori to his funeral but he would have been five and I once used 'sudden/suddenly' thrice in one sentence. So, nothing super important. I have the next two chapters done and the last two in my head. Pretty sure the last one will be a lot of self indulgent, random scenes from the rest of their lives.

Part 2 Chapter 17

Kakashi

Michi was talking again, but Kakashi only caught snippets. The blood was rushing in his ears and his chest ached. It was hard to breathe.

"Forty percent survival—chakra exhaustion—no responsibility, the Daimyo—"

He pressed his fists against his eyes, breathing slowly. In through his nose, out through his mouth. In, out. Again. Again. Not again. He couldn't lose her again. He didn't want to live through that again.

"...really, she had such an impressive well of chakra, I'm optimistic this time. If you can answer a few more questions, I may be able to get a better picture of how she will fare."

Pulling his hands away, scrubbing his eyes, he sniffed hard and focused on the far-too-eager man again. "What kind of questions?"

He gestured between Tadao and a chair. The younger man rounded the desk, pulling out the chair for Kakashi. "How long was she there?"

With a sidelong glance to Hinata, he swallowed thickly but did not take the seat. "Two years. Seven-hundred and thirty-three days exactly."

Michi nodded, scribbling again before he frowned. "What?" He looked back at what he'd written and began shuffling through the papers on the desk, pulling out one and reading it closely. "I calculated she would last much longer than that. Was she sick? Extremely injured?"

Kakashi shook his head, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "No…"

"But—"

"She was pregnant."

The pen clattered to the floor. "What did you say? Preg— She was pregnant? But that's…" He accepted a new pen from his assistant, his excitement seeming to grow with each breath. "That's incredible! Did you hear, Tadao? I've created a clone jutsu that can sustain another life!" He rounded the desk, getting far too close to Kakashi, causing him to take two steps back. "How far along was she when the clone failed? Did the child survive? Was it a boy or girl? Do they possess enough of their own chakra to work jutsu?"

"Yes, my son just graduated from the shinobi Academy. What does that have to do with whether or not she's going to survive?"

Michi's eyes widened, a faint blush coloring his face. "Marvelous… You'll have to forgive me. This is my life's work, you see. I got carried away." He turned back to the desk, scribbling again. "So far as we can tell, the distance in time does not affect the length of time the clones survive. We have been picking relatively peaceful eras, though where they end up seems to be beyond our control. Something of a key flaw, considering…" He glanced back at Kakashi and then at Tadao. "Eh… well, our goals. Anyhow, as I said. I had estimated her clone would last closer to three years. So far, almost all test subjects that were shinobi have survived. Civilians do not possess enough chakra, unfortunately. But her um, pregnancy—" He made a giddy sound at the reminder of his success. "—likely changed everything. Tell me about her last days. How did the pregnancy progress? Was it easy or were there complications?"

Heaving a sigh, feeling like he might be sick from the tension, Kakashi cautiously accepted the seat. "It was mostly normal, but her chakra weakened as it progressed. I used to have a dōjutsu," he gestured vaguely at Sasuke, "so I could see it happening. It got worse closer to the end. She would tire extremely easily. The last few days we hardly left our apartment, she was so weak." He sighed again, the memories almost painful to remember. "She made it thirty-nine weeks. The last of her chakra was draining fast, so a friend, another medic, cut him out of her." Blinking hard, he shrugged. "She lasted maybe… forty-five minutes after?"

"Hm." More furious scribbling. "So, she reached max depletion. All the chakra that should have kept her going her for another year went into your son. Normal pregnancies do not work that way. Normally, the mother's chakra creates more of itself to sustain the pregnancy the same way it produces more blood." He paused, staring down at what he'd written. "I'll have to monitor the jutsu… But she likely burned herself out, like a civilian."

The pity in the other man's eyes hurt. He hung his head, his hands hanging limp between his knees. She had given him a son, but killed herself to do it. It wasn't fair. He shouldn't have let himself cling so recklessly to hope. It was foolish. Foolish.

He stood suddenly—needing something to do with the familiar pain that was crashing over him in waves, threatening to pull him under. The chair he'd been sitting in splintered into pieces against the wall. "No." He stared at the pieces on the floor. They blurred, multiplying as his vision swam. He scrubbed his hands across his eyes, raking them through his hair. Dammit. He needed to pull himself together. He couldn't break down here. Not yet.

"How long?" His voice was choked and shaking. He barely recognized it. "How long will the jutsu last?"

"Well…" He could hear the pen scratching as he stared down at the shattered chair. "Another three hours. It usually works out to approximately ten minutes per thirty days."

He nodded, hands clenched so tight he was sure to draw blood.

"She might survive, but it will be a close thing if she does."

Hinata spoke up for the first time. Stepping into his space, her hand tentatively reached for his shoulder—as much to restrain him if she needed to as to offer small comfort. "Is there nothing you can do? Could chakra be added to the jutsu from an outside source, perhaps?"

He looked up finally. She was eyeing the scattered bits of chair, her own face drawn with grief, but not nearly as hopeless as he felt.

Michi hummed thoughtfully, his pen again flying across his notebook, pages flipping sharply back and forth. "It could work… but it would have to be at the exact right time. Too early and it would merely extend the jutsu, too late and… it would be too late."

He passed whatever he was working on to the other man and the two conferred over it for several minutes. Occasionally something would be scratched out and re-drawn, held out at arm's length to examine. Finally, after what felt like years to Kakashi, Michi looked at him carefully. "This may work, but… You're clearly not going to just take her and leave us to our work. I want it on whatever record that without our efforts, not only would you not have had her at all, she likely won't survive."

The notebook was clutched tightly to his chest as he waited for Kakashi's answer. The message was clear. They wanted a guarantee that they wouldn't be killed or carted off in chains, or they would let her die. Technically, he wasn't Hokage yet. He didn't have the authority to promise anything.

"You'll have to cooperate with the Hokage, but I doubt she'll do anything to you so long as you actually help." When Hinata shot him a questioning glance, he sighed. "And if she is feeling particularly bloodthirsty, I'll threaten to go back on my promise to take over for her at the end of the month. She's keen to retire."

Sasuke scoffed, receiving more than one glare in return. "They're making you Hokage?"

"Why do you think you're walking around free? Pardoning you was part of my deal with her." Kakashi let his glare linger on Sasuke until the younger man sighed and looked away. "Do it. Do whatever you can to keep her alive. I'll make sure you don't spend the rest of your lives in a cell."

Pursing his lips, Michi nodded. "This will take nearly all the time we have left to prepare. Stay here if you like." He pointed to the door he'd come through before. "There's a toilet through there. Come, Tadao."

KSK

There was a satisfying purple bruise spreading across Sasuke's face. Kakashi leaned against the wall opposite his former student as they waited. Despite the current dispute, Kakashi didn't really have anything against him. He had been badly shocked to learn the truth. Naruto hadn't taken it any better: worse honestly. While he might not especially like Sasuke, he didn't want to leave things the way they were. He needed to explain. Still, remembering what Sasuke had said about building his clan with his wife—he couldn't fully regret breaking his nose. "You know, I never hated you, Sasuke."

Not bothering to look up, he scoffed. "Sure."

Glancing to where Hinata stood in the doorway, watching the other men work, Kakashi reached for the only remaining chair and sat in it. "I won't lie and say you were ever my favorite student, but I never hated you. Especially not when you were just an angry kid. I understood you when you were just an angry kid." He shrugged, leaning against the desk, projecting an air of nonchalance he did not feel. "Sure, Sakura told me about your relationship. And it did bother me watching you together, but that was mostly because I knew how much you hurt her when it ended. Plus, you did try to kill her a few times."

Sasuke shifted his weight, still not looking at him. "I hurt her? Like you said, she left me." He huffed a small, pained sigh that somehow revealed more about how he felt about their split than any words. "I figured she was just homesick. If I stuck around the village for a while, she'd come back to me. She always came back to me."

Kakashi couldn't help the eye roll. More like he continuously took advantage of her low self-esteem and trauma bonded childhood crush. Being oblivious to what he was doing didn't make it more acceptable. "So, what, you planned to knock her up and disappear again for years at a time? You're a bastard, you know that?"

One slender black brow arched derisively. "Isn't that what she did to you?"

Kakashi felt a flush of anger. It was a low blow. Judging by the snotty glare—the effect somewhat ruined by the bruise blossoming across his face—Sasuke knew it. Not wanting to rise to the bait again, Kakashi settled for glaring back. "Not by choice. Raising my son by myself was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. You don't have to take these missions on by yourself, Sasuke. You're choosing to. If you want to rebuild your clan, you can do it with someone else, and maybe consider sticking around a little more." Memories of his stubborn little boy came to mind and a nostalgic smile replaced his glare. "Trust me, you won't want to miss it."

"Tch." Sasuke looked away again, leaning further against the wall. "Whatever."

Deciding he'd said all he cared to, Kakashi stood to join Hinata in the hall to watch Michi. They'd been at it for over two hours and were increasingly optimistic that this plan would work. Hinata seemed hopeful, so he decided he would be too. He wouldn't let go of the possibility that Sakura would survive this, that she would be his again when it was over.

"They're almost done, Kakashi-san. Michi-san just told me he thinks it will work better if you're the one to inject chakra."

Kakashi frowned, catching Michi's eyes. "Of course I will. But why would it matter?"

He sat back on his heels and wiped his brow. "I've been thinking about it. I mentioned we have no control over where they land. It seems like it's something to do with their souls and what they were supposed to do in the past." He shrugged. "Time travel is such a poorly understood thing. Hinata-san was telling me how this subject—eh, Sakura, forgive me—was very close to your son, a family friend? And you were married in the past. Hm? I wonder if you will tell me where she landed?"

He couldn't stop the small smile. When explained in that way, their relationship seemed like… destiny. And, he supposed, it was. Sakura was always Kazuki's mother, always Kakashi's wife—in the future, in the past. Her soul, separated from her body and time, had found his, bringing her to him at just the right moment in his life. If she had landed in his bed even a year earlier, he doubted very much he would have been interested—forget emotionally available. It was a little silly and romantic, worse even than one of Jiraiya's books, but maybe it would bring her back to him now. "On top of me, in my bed in the middle of the night."

"Ha." Michi nodded to himself as he went back to what he'd been doing. "Fascinating. Yes, I think you might be able to save her. You should be okay, but she will be chakra exhausted even with your help. The subjects that have survived normally take several hours to be fully awake and coherent."

He nodded and turned to say something to Hinata, but stopped, seeing her byakugan was active. "The backup you called is here, Kakashi-san."

"Tch." Sasuke poked his head into the hall. "A little late."

"No." Kakashi watched the stairs at the other end of the hall. "We'll probably need a medic." They didn't have long to wait. Pakkun was the first through the door, sniffing Michi and Tadao before rushing up to Kakashi. Genma, Aiko and the rest of his team followed close behind.

"Kakashi!" Aiko carefully picked her way around the two men crouched on the floor and the elaborate set of seals they were marking out to inspect him.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" He shook his head and after a brief inspection, she was apparently satisfied. "In that case—" Without warning, she socked him as hard as she could in the arm.

"Ow! Aiko, what the—"

"You stupid, reckless idiot! There are heaps of dead shinobi outside. Tell me you did not jump into that fight with only Hyuga Hinata to back you up!"

"Hey…" Rubbing at his bruised arm, he waved an elbow in the aforementioned kunoichi's direction. "Hinata is a highly skilled shinobi. We were fine. Besides—"

This time he managed to dodge the flying fist. "I am well aware of how competent she is. But I can remember when just a handful of Akatsuki kept you and my husband and the rest of your team trapped in a cave for a month! You could not have had any idea what those nin were capable of. You could have been killed, Kakashi."

"They were really no problem for us, Shiranui-san. Kakashi-san managed most of them by himself. And it wasn't just the two of us." She pointed to a bored looking Sasuke. "He helped."

Kakashi fancied he could hear Aiko's teeth grind together. "You're missing the point completely. It was reckless." Crossing her arms and huffing, she only softened when Genma draped an arm around her shoulders.

"They're fine, babe. That's all that matters." He inspected the seals on the floor with interest. "So, where is Sakura? Is she going to be okay, or are we killing these two as well?"

Kakashi shifted, frowning at the wall. "The jutsu is still in progress. And… we don't know for sure."

His friends shared a troubled frown but were stopped from whatever they were going to say in reply when Michi stood and spoke instead.

"We finished, and just in time. Everyone but him, please get out of the hallway. Go upstairs, go into my lab, leave, I do not care."

"What—" Aiko shot him a confused look as Tadao ushered everyone out of the hall. Kakashi tried to offer a reassuring smile but couldn't quite manage it. Once everyone was crammed in the small lab and the door was shut so they were alone, Michi beckoned Kakashi closer.

"Here, kneel here, beside me. See these two seals?" He indicated the large markings on the floor beside the stone wall. Kakashi eyed them closely. He was fairly familiar with fūinjutsu. What Michi had marked out looked more complex than anything he usually worked with, though. "I am going to open the chamber. We will be able to watch the jutsu as it winds down. On my signal, perform a simple set of hand signs: tiger, snake, ram, boar, and bird. Then place your palms on these two seals. Your chakra will be drawn down the mandala and towards Sakura." He sniffed and rubbed his nose. "Try to aim for half of your chakra. Remember what I said, even with that much, she is going to be exhausted. Do not worry if she is in and out of consciousness. I find the trip back tends to be… spiritually and emotionally draining. But do not overdo it. We don't need both of you useless. I am assuming you parted on good terms, so it should help that you're here."

He stood and pressed the trigger, revealing a chamber twice the size of the lab. There were seals covering the floor and walls, spiraling out from a small platform in the center. Pale green light illuminated the chamber, coming from the seals in a quickly dwindling circle around the platform.

On the platform lay Sakura. His Sakura. She looked dead, her arm hanging over the edge, limp. His heart was in his throat as he watched her, hardly able to focus on what the other man was saying.

"Alright, see how the lights are fading? They're going to go out completely and then there will be a bright flash of light. You'll need to release your chakra just as the last one goes out so it hits her as the light flashes. Too early or too late and it won't work."

Michi stood beside him, watching the lights closely, his hand waving slowly with each extinguished light as if he was counting. Kakashi's own hands shook where he held them out, ready to form the signs as memories of her flashed behind his eyes.

Waking up to her in his bed the night they'd met. Kissing her on his balcony, feeling for the first time in as long as he'd been able to remember like his life might finally, maybe be happy. Her small, beautiful smile as the golden morning light streamed in through their window, making her look like some kind of Kami sent angel. Bittersweet joy lighting her eyes as their son turned and kicked beneath his hands on her stomach.

Their time together had been so short, too short. Maybe too short to justify holding on for so long. But he didn't care. He never had. Her presence in his life, in his heart—still, after twelve years apart—felt so consuming. There could never be anyone else.

"Begin the hand signs!"

Tiger

This was it.

Snake

This would work.

Ram

She would come back to him.

Boar

His Sakura.

Bird

Kami, please.

"Now!"

His palms slapped the cool stone floor with a resounding crack.

The room went completely dark and then a green light—so bright Kakashi had to look away—filled the space. It felt familiar, precious, and tears stung the corners of his eyes. As it settled on Sakura's body, he remembered dying himself and the blinding green light that had brought him back to his own body. As the light faded, leaving behind a strong smell of ozone, he noticed the seals had relit with a low, even yellow glow in a straight line from him to Sakura. He could feel his chakra pouring out of him.

Take it. Take all of it. Just come back to me.

Nothing was happening. She still looked dead. He grit his teeth against the pressure of the rapid chakra drain. "How will we know if it's working?"

"Hm… give her a minute."

Kakashi watched, eyes riveted, unable to look away, even as his vision began to blur. His breathing sounded too loud. His heartbeat thundered in his ears but the chamber was silent.

Michi shook his shoulder. From far away, he thought he could hear him shouting at him to stop. But he couldn't. He couldn't stop, he couldn't move. Half of his chakra was gone. More than half; nearly all, and she was still motionless. Someone jerked him hard, pulling him away from the seals that connected them. No. He slumped against the floor, exhausted and desperate as everything went black.

Come back to me. Come back to me, Sakura…

Please.

A/N I know some of you wanted the two scientists to be more villainous and punished but it didn't work that way for me. Like Michi said, none of this would have happened if they hadn't done what they did. They're not like Orochimaru. They're more like Doc Brown but if he was ambivalent about using fatal human testing and able to be bought.