Chapter Four
"This is wrong." Naruto repeated for the fourth time, crossing his arms over his chest he would have nothing to do with Carver and Kakashi who were handcuffing both of Sakura's wrists to the rails of her hospital bed.
Tsunade sighed, she one hundred percent agreed with Naruto, but she still placed a metal collar around Sakura's neck, it blocked her from having access to her chakra should she wake up and not be the Sakura they knew and loved so dearly.
"This is for her safety as much as it is for ours." Carver repeated his same answer again.
"This doesn't feel like we are doing this for her." Naruto hated seeing Sakura handcuffed like she was some low life criminal.
"I know." Tsunade sighed, "But we have no idea what she will remember when she wakes from this."
"Itachi remembered everything!" Naruto countered pointing to the shinobi who stood against the window acting as a pretty wallflower. "Right down to the second he died!"
"We don't know why." Tsunade groaned, feeling a Naruto headache coming along.
"Do you think she has been with the Reaper's this entire time?" Hinata asked the million-dollar question. Raiden looked up from his phone,
"Didn't Jadeite say something...?" Raiden trailed off,
"Huh?" Tsunade replied taking a seat next to Sakura's hospital bed.
"...yeah..." Raiden nodded, "...when Jadeite...when he brought Sakura out, he said it took him a while to find her?"
"He did say that." Carver commented, "I don't understand what that could mean, he had to have taken her body since it wasn't destroyed in the explosion like we had thought."
"She is Kaguya's seal." Carver muttered. "Maybe that's-"
"Excuse me?" Itachi stepped of the wall. "She is what?"
"Oh yeah..." Naruto yawned, "...no one really knew about that."
"Yeah, you can't tell anyone." Raiden added.
"Sakura is Kaguya's seal?" Itachi ignored Naruto and Raiden staring at Carver.
"Yeah." He answered, "It was one hell of a shock to us too."
"But how, and when or why-?"
"You're asking all the wrong questions." Carver said.
"What would the right ones be?" Naruto wondered.
"Where the hell was she, before Jadeite found her?"
"I..." Naruto's mind tried to think of an answer but failed.
"We have no way of knowing until she wakes up." Tsunade responded.
"If she remembers." Raiden muttered.
"I am hoping she doesn't." Carver sighed,
"What?" Naruto looked over to him, "Why?"
"You heard Jadeite-" Carver went on explaining. "-three towns, two villages and a city. He even said it took a while to tame Sakura-"
"You think she destroyed all those places?" Tsunade wondered.
"I really hope not but nothing else would make sense."
"Man-" Naruto realized Carver was right, "-I really hope she doesn't remember."
"She broke through Jadeite's control over her on her own-" Itachi shook his head. "-and he couldn't touch her, so she had to have been somewhat conscious through it all."
"That's true too." Carver nodded, "Damn." Carver rubbed his tired face; he had a strong feeling she was going to remember it all, and it was going to scar.
"Now that everything has calmed down." Tsunade leaned back against the recliner, "Carver-"
"Ah fuck." Carver groaned at Tsunade's principle tone, he knew was in trouble. "Yeah?"
"About Sakura's name..."
"Her name?" Itachi muttered, his brows furrowed together not understanding why this was being brought up.
"What about it?"
"Do you care to go into more detail about it?" Tsunade questioned,
"Um, no?" Carver pulled his lips together as Tsunade glared into his face. "Fine." Carver sighed throwing his head back. "Back when we were on the Nine, Sakura was feared by almost everyone and the reason being was the nickname she inherited-"
"The Reaper?" Naruto said,
"Yeah." Raiden nodded eating a cup of green Jello in the corner of the room.
"Why-"
"Sakura didn't get her nickname because of the Reapers, they had nothing to do with it." Carver said, "The Nine just spread that rumor around and we tacked on 'of Reapers' to her name to make her seem less redoubtable than what she was."
"So, her name came from-"
"Her rising dead soldiers on a battlefield-" Carver answered, "-that is how she got her original name."
"You never wondered why people only call her 'Reaper'?" Raiden thought out loud. "You never wondered why only Malachite and his little band of masked misfits were the only people to ever call her Reaper of Reapers?"
"Um..." Tsunade glanced from Kakashi towards Itachi, "...it was shortened?"
"No." Carver laughed with Raiden.
"What is so funny?!" Tsunade snapped, feeling an urge to pick up the nearest object and propel it into Carver's skull!
"No matter how much damage control the Nine did-" Carver shook his head, "-Sakura was already a monster in the eyes of the other villages, there was actually very little we could do."
"Malachite knew the Nine was responsible for us using him and his organization to try and normalize Sakura, I don't know why he never called us out on it though..."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Naruto asked,
"Tell you what?" Raiden blinked,
"About the real reason she got her name!" Naruto shouted getting worked up.
"Why would we?" Carver questioned,
"Because-Because-" Naruto stuttered turning towards Tsunade for help.
"You love her right?" Raiden grinned,
"What?"
"Sakura-" Raiden clarified; "-you all love her as she is?"
"Well...yeah." Naruto muttered looking around as Tsunade, Kakashi and Itachi nodded in response.
"So, what does it matter we didn't tell you all how she got her name?" Carver finished,
"Because we have a right to know about her past-!?" Naruto snappily replied,
"No, you don't." Carver chuckled,
"How don't we!?" Naruto glared feeling defensive.
"You weren't there for those years." Raiden leaned on his arm, feeling sad he finished his jello cup and didn't have anymore to eat. "You have no claim on Sakura for her to pour out her soul to you about years she was gone from this village."
"We warned you-" Carver stepped in, "-that there was a lot you don't know about her, I told you she has a habit of shielding-"
"We don't need to be sheltered!" Naruto stood. "We can handle ourselves!"
"Yeah-" Carver scoffed, "-because you handled seeing Sakura while her memory was gone so fantastically."
"She-She was-"
"That was her-" Raiden said, "-a piece of her anyway." Raiden shrugged.
"But she threatened-"
"Yeah-" Carver nodded, Tsunade and Kakashi had no clue what what this conversation was or where it was headed. "-those weren't threats, they were promises. Sakura would have done everything she told you with a smile on her face."
"But-"
"Kaguya fucked her up in ways you'll just never understand." Raiden sighed turning to watch Sakura sleep.
"We can fix-"
"I thought you learnt this lesson already?" Carver turned to Naruto, "You can't fix something that isn't broken."
Naruto's heart dropped hearing Sakura's twisted laugh echo around inside his head: 'You can't fix something that isn't broken, I like what I am.'
"S-So-" Tsunade changed the subject feeling the fight gearing up in the air conditioned room, "Are those people still the people they once were?" Tsunade wondered about the people Sakura brought back from the dead to fight.
"We don't know." Carver answered honestly, "When we grew the balls to ask Sakura about this seal, all she said was when she pulled the souls back into the bodies to fight, they all felt pure agony, and pulling the soul back into its corpse she said it felt like she was mutilating the soul itself."
"Oh." Tsunade pulled her lips together not expecting to hear such a dark twisted answer.
"Like we said-" Raiden yawned, "-there's a lot you don't know, and a lot you're not going to want to know."
----
One week dragged itself through the warm leaf village. Team seven hated hospitals, so living inside one while Sakura remained inside her coma felt like agonizing torture!
Kakashi leaned forward in the forest green recliner, his exposed eye examined Tsunade as she carefully changed the bandages on Sakura's side, underneath the white gauze laid a wound she received from Kakashi. His heart dipped at the sight of the fresh cut across her skin.
"Even I can't eat this." Naruto muttered poking at the oatmeal inside a takeout container. Naruto, Sasuke, Tsunade, Raiden and Kakashi all sat around inside Sakura's private hospital room in a boredom filled bubble.
"It was all the hospital cafeteria had." Sasuke said, "So eat if you want a lunch."
"I swear the food gets worse here by the day." Naruto muttered setting the container down with a sigh. "No offence Granny."
"None taken." Tsunade agreed the food at the hospital was terrible. Naruto looked over his shoulder, quickly doing a double take he saw Raiden was staring at two small containers of milk sitting on small table.
"Are you-" Naruto called, "-are you doing ok over there?" Had Raiden finally cracked from living inside a hospital for an entire week?
"Huh?" Raiden looked over to Naruto, "Yeah?"
"What are you doing then?" Sasuke questioned.
"I was just wondering-" Raiden turned back to the containers in front of him, "-if these two containers of milk are from the same cow or from two different cows."
"...Why...?" Sasuke dared to questioned.
"Are you sneaking Sakura's pain medication?" Tsunade wondered.
"No?" Raiden blinked looking five shinobi who were staring questionably at him. "Why?"
"Just...making sure." Tsunade smiled, the door to the room opened revealing Carver holding a round box of fried chicken, a plastic bag hung on his arm full of flavorful side dishes.
"What is that!?" Raiden perked up smelling the fried beauties. Carver looked at the large container in his hand and then back to his teammate.
"It's a box of pizza." Carver closed the door behind him.
"Ha-Ha." Raiden scoffed, "Are you sharing?"
"Yes." Carver rolled his eyes as Raiden bounced over taking the food. "Still nothing?" Carver sighed seeing Sakura was unmoving, still in the same place she was when Carver left.
"Nope." Tsunade sighed, pulling herself to her feet.
"Are you going to the bathroom again?!" Naruto wondered out loud, earning a tight glare from Tsunade as she walked past him.
"Mind your business." Tsunade muttered flicking on the bathroom light.
After a quiet lunch that wasn't flavorless mush from the hospital, the leaf shinobi were feeling uplifted as they watched television, Naruto and Carver played a game of cards as they killed time. Kakashi groaned low in his throat, rubbing the side of his head as he felt a painful migraine pressing against his skull.
Raiden sat on the edge of Sakura's bed, he internally felt better being close to her. He ran his fingers through the ends of her long hair as he hummed keeping to himself as he stared at the colorful TV screen.
Sakura's eyes snapped open, her heart rate on the monitor instantly spiked. Sakura's body tried to fly upward, but her arms were captured by the handcuffs keeping her pinned against the white bed.
"SHIT!" Raiden flew sideways, his stomach flopping around his body as he almost lost control of his bladder he fell to the ground on the side of the bed.
Naruto's eyes widened seeing Carver holding a kunai against Sakura's soft neck, Carver was determined to keep Sakura's destruction contained this time. "What-?" Naruto breathed seeing Kakashi was also on his feet, holding a sharp kunai against Carver's throat.
"Drop it." Kakashi's voice growled, for a slice of a moment Carver's nerves tingled as he felt an urge to bow under Kakashi's darkened demand.
"I can't." Carver snapped back, "If she-"
"Sakura?" Tsunade breathed emerging from the bathroom ignoring Kakashi and Carver as she leaned over staring into the familiar emerald eyes, praying to the heavens for a miracle that this woman laying here hadn't woken as the reaper, but as the woman she desperately wanted to get to know. "Are you-!?"
The mixed voices of excitement layered with panic were all muffled inside Sakura's head. Fire. It was all she could feel it burrowed its path, coursing through Sakura's aching body. The lightbulbs in the ceiling of the hospital room shined with the strength of the sun, stinging Sakura's sensitive eyes forcing her to close them. Her heart was pounding against her chest it was beginning to hurt, her lungs felt like they were muffled with thick smoke.
A soft hand pressed against her forehead, for a moment everything inside Sakura's spinning head came to a halt as that hand ran its fingers through her soft hair. This touch, it felt like Sakura had always known it. Sakura pried her eyes open, they watered against the pain of the light but through it a masked face appeared.
"K-Kashi-" His nickname breathed past her dry lips as a tear fell down her cheek, her eyes snapped closed like angry blinds as a hungry darkness engulfed her conscious.
"Sakura?" Tsunade shouted her name, gently shaking her trying to stir her awake.
"What happened!?" Carver yelled, pressing his hands to his head with wide worried eyes, his stomach turning sour. Kakashi looked up at Tsunade for answers, his one exposed eye reflected how terrified he truly was.
"She is asleep." Tsunade stated.
"Wh-How the fuck!?" Raiden rubbed his sore tailbone.
"She was only awake for like two seconds!" Naruto whined looking at Sakura's sleeping face.
"I will remind you-" Tsunade said, "-when Hinata, Kakashi and the other's returned they slept for days and then could barely move or even use their chakra. Sakura has been under the Reaper's possession twice as long, and they had been using her as a weapon of mass destruction. It is only natural Sakura needs more time to recover."
"But..." Naruto traveled off as he sat down, he wanted to talk to her now...Naruto felt all the questions he had bottled up inside him were shaken and ready to burst!
"I know." Tsunade agreed, "It is hard waiting for her to come to, but we must be patient."
"Easier said than done." Raiden muttered putting his hand on his head.
"She would do it for us." Tsunade reminded.
"Yeah." The impatient men in the room sighed.
----
"Hey Kakashi-" Tsunade whispered after a still hour echoed around the room, "-why don't you go get a hot shower and-"
"I'm fine Tsunade-" Kakashi waved off,
"Sakura is going to be asleep for at least a couple hours-" Tsunade said making Naruto and Raiden groan, "-don't think I haven't noticed your constant migraines. You haven't slept or really eaten in a week; this is a good time to get a shower maybe a couple hours of rest."
"Yeah." Raiden agreed, "You could even bring back something for dinner, Sakura's first meal back from the dead shouldn't be gray goop from the cafeteria."
"My stomach would greatly appreciate that!" Carver agreed with a grin.
"Very well." Kakashi sighed as he rose to his feet. "I'll be back in one hour."
"We will see you then." Tsunade nodded.
"Will you get onion rings?" Raiden whispered as Kakashi moved to leave the room, the masked shinobi turned giving Raiden an stilled annoyed look. "A simple no would have been fine!" Raiden stuck his tongue out,
"If he was to say no, you would have whined." Carver mentioned.
"I would have not." Raiden said,
"No, you would have." Carver nodded, "And then you would have brought in Naruto to back you up."
"I-I would not have!" Raiden scoffed getting up from his homemade pallet of blankets on the floor. "When she is going to wake up?!" Raiden groaned walking over to Sakura's side. He leaned over the bed getting a closer look at her, putting his hands on his hips.
Raiden studied her face; she looked the same as the day she died. Sakura looked how he remembered her to be inside his memories and dreams. This was the Sakura Haruno Raiden willingly followed...right?
"What in the hell are you doing?" Raiden's mouth formed a perfect 'O', his eyes matched in lower cases letters as he stepped back.
"S-" Raiden breathed. Tsunade was already on her feet, checking Sakura's vitals as the pinkette looked around the room trying to form a sense as to where she was.
"You-You know who we are?" Naruto questioned stepping to Tsunade's side as Raiden leaned in closer wondering if what he was seeing was true, Sakura finally woken up?
"What-?" Sakura breathed licking her chapped lips, her voice was like music. "-back the fuck up you donut." Sakura said looking Raiden in the eye, Carver breathed feeling relief fill his body hearing Sakura's light insult.
"Sakura!?" Raiden cried bouncing up and down, "You remember who you are and who everyone is!?"
"I was killed-" Sakura's body was stiff, she grunted in pain pulling herself to sit up. "-not hit on the head."
"Your back!" Raiden flew forward ready to hug her tightly and never let her go again but Tsunade stopped him.
"She is still injured-" Hearing those words Sakura automatically groaned to herself.
"Sakura what do you remember?" Carver went on to question.
"I-" Sakura went to answer as she tried to run her hands through her hair, but the handcuffs prevented her.
"Uh..." Raiden trailed off looking at everyone in the room.
"Those were for your protection." Tsunade explained why she was restrained to the bed.
"I need handcuffs to lay in a bed?" Sakura replied dryly, her throat burned as if she had been inside a screaming match with a blow horn.
"Well, no but you could have woken up and uh..."
"Get those off her." Raiden quickly demanded.
"I..." Carver trailed off still not feeling confident in letting Sakura out of the restraints.
"She knows who she is, she knows us." Naruto shook his head. "What is the problem here!?"
"Nothing..." Carver said shook his head, feeling this was too good to be true. Nothing was ever this easy, there had to be a catch twenty-two somewhere they just weren't seeing it yet.
"Where are the keys?!" Naruto called looking around feeling excited, he has wanted those things off her since the moment Tsunade brought them in! Tsunade after a second of studying Sakura pulled them out of the side of her bra, Naruto watched as she handed them to him.
"U-Um-" Naruto pulled his lips together. "-why were they in your..." He trailed off. "...I mean I don't really want to touch..." Naruto trailed off again.
"Will you shut up and take the keys already!?" Tsunade yelled.
"I don't wanna touch your nasty boob sweat ok?!" Naruto snapped back without thinking
"My tasty what!?" Tsunade yelled back as she hit Naruto over the head.
"OW!" He cried out.
"My boobs are perfectly clean and healthy thank you very much!" Tsunade defended.
"Ok!" Naruto waved. "Just stop talking about your boobs."
"And what is so wrong with my boobs?"
"What?" Naruto shook his head, "They are your boobs! I don't want to talk about them ok!"
"Is there something wrong with them, to where you wouldn't want to talk about them!?"
"What?!" Naruto shouted, "They are your boobs!"
"And what is wrong with that!"
"Nothing! I just don't want to talk about your boobs!"
"Guys!" Raiden yelled over the bickering. Tsunade and Naruto looked over at Raiden. "Sakura is chained to a bed-" He reminded. "-can you give me the keys and then you two fight about Tsunade's boobs?"
"We are not fighting about her boobs!" Naruto defended.
"Whatever." Raiden said taking the keys as moved to uncuff Sakura from the bed, Carver went to gently removed the chakra blocking metal collar from around her neck.
"H-How are you feeling?" Tsunade questioned staring wide eyed at Sakura who slowly sat up, rubbing her wrists.
"Sore." Sakura answered looking at the five people inside her hospital room, "How long was I..." Sakura trailed off.
"A week." Tsunade answered, "You were in a coma and-"
"That's...That's not what I meant." Sakura said, as she blinked her eyes, she felt how strained they were.
"O-Oh." Tsunade realized, "U-Um...two years..."
"Two years?" Sakura repeated, tasting the answer in her mouth as she thought about to her last memories. It took a moment, Sakura's emerald eyes widened as her fight against Malachite came rushing back, lying beside Kakashi as she took her last breath quickly spun out inside her memory. Sakura glanced around the room, wondering where the masked man was.
"Yeah, I know this must seem crazy and you may be feeling disoriented but-"
"I'm not." Sakura said to Tsunade.
"Wh-Bu-You just woke up and found out-"
"I am used to warped time fragments." Sakura smirked at Tsunade's baffled face, Hinata breathed seeing Sakura awake and moving around, it was so surreal to be seeing her after all this time.
"How-"
"I spent a lot of time inside the Waterfall Village's training grounds." Sakura answered.
"That is true." Raiden muttered, "Subtract the fact you have been dead this would be a regular Tuesday for you."
"I-" Sakura bit down on her jaw as she moved her sore legs over the side of the bed every muscle felt stiff, her bones felt bruised and a little battered. "-don't think I was-"
"What are you doing!?" Tsunade quickly walked around the bed, stopping Sakura from getting further up. "You can't just get up!"
"Why?" Sakura questioned,
"What do you mean why!?" Tsunade shouted, "You literally just woke up after being inside a coma after returning from the dead! You need to rest!"
"I am fi-"
"Don't you dare say you are fine!" Tsunade snapped.
"Ok." Sakura licked her lips, "I would like to change out of this-" Sakura gestured to the hospital clothes she was wearing, she hated wearing the hospital's clothes. The material felt like sandpaper trying to rub off your flesh.
"Oh!" Hinata perked up, "You can wear some of my clothing, we are about the same size." Hinata blushed looking away from the woman sitting on the hospital bed. Sakura smiled towards her,
"Thanks." Sakura said, feeling her sore throat.
"Fine." Tsunade nodded, "You can change but then your back in that bed!" Sakura waved Tsunade off with a tired hand, Sakura was determined she wasn't going to get back into this bed.
"Here." Hinata went to her bag as Tsunade shooed out the men.
"But-" Naruto and Raiden protested.
"You can come back in when she is done changing." Tsunade called as she slammed the door shut on their pouting faces.
"Here you go." Hinata smiled handing Sakura jeans, a tank top and a loose shirt.
"Thank you Hinata-" As Sakura took the clothing Hinata froze, hearing her name inside Sakura's voice brought tears to her lavender eyes. "-are you ok?"
"I-I-" Hinata's eyes watered as she quickly wrapped her arms around Sakura. "I missed you!" Sakura cringed at the pain from Hinata's hug but after a moment hugged back anyway.
"I'm sorry." Sakura breathed.
"You're sorry?" Hinata softly laughed, "For what?"
"Dying." Sakura answered.
"You don't need to ever be sorry for that!" Tsunade lectured, "If anything it's us who should apologize to you!"
"Yeah-Yeah." Sakura waved, Hinata turned to leave the room giving Sakura privacy until Sakura reached out, brushing her fingers over the charm around Hinata's neck. To Sakura it felt like just yesterday she was putting on her necklace that held this charm and Kakashi's ring, where had her ring gone?
"O-Oh-!" Hinata breathed, "It was found after you, u-um I can-" Hinata stuttered as she reached to take the necklace off.
"Don't." Sakura caught Hinata's hand, "It looks better on you anyway." Sakura flashed a smile causing Hinata to blush, her throat swelled shut with overwhelming emotion, so she quickly shook her head and exited the room.
Tsunade turned around giving Sakura a little privacy as she changed from the hospital's baggy shirt and pants, she was dressed in. Tsunade wasn't comfortable leaving Sakura alone just yet, what if she fell and no one was here to help her!?
"Nice ring." Sakura commented as she slipped off the hospital pants, Tsunade smiled lifting her left hand up to her chest as she stared out the window waiting for Sakura to finish changing.
"Thank you."
"When did you get married?"
"About a year ago."
"Well-" Sakura smirked, "-it may be late, but congratulations."
"Sakura-" Tsunade breathed, quickly blinking her eyes keeping back the unwanted tears. "-how could you...why would you..."
"Huh?" Sakura couldn't read through the muddled gibberish.
"How could you jump in front of Malachite like that?"
"To save you and Naruto-?" Sakura didn't think she would have to explain what had happened.
"But you were killed-" Tsunade shook her head, not wanting to ever again have to remember the pain and guilt she had been swimming in the past two years.
"I chose to jump in front of you." Sakura said, "There was never any reason for you to ever feel any type of guilt-"
"You died because of getting in the way of that sword-!"
"And?" Sakura questioned,
"What do you mean 'and' Sakura you were so young and-"
"I did my job." Sakura shrugged, "Besides-"
"Huh?" Tsunade blinked,
"How far along are you?" Sakura questioned, Tsunade gasped her heart fluttered as her hand automatically touched her stomach.
"A few months..." Tsunade breathed with a small smile spreading across her face, nothing ever got past Sakura.
"Are we happy about this?" Sakura wondered,
"Yes..." Tsunade muttered, Sakura looked over her shoulder as she slowly pulled on a black tank top. Sakura tilted her head seeing the distant look in Tsunade's eyes as she stared out the opened window.
"Yeah-" Sakura said with a nod, "-that's the face of happiness right there." Tsunade smiled at Sakura's sarcasm, she had missed hearing Sakura's playful comments.
"I am happy." Tsunade said,
"Then why do you look like someone just crashed your tea party?" Sakura replied,
"Well it's just...I..."
"Ok-" Sakura chuckled, "-great explanation."
"No, I mean-" Tsunade sighed, "-I am happy, all I ever wanted was to be with Dan and to have a family with him but..."
"But?" Sakura asked, "I don't see the problem here? Is he bad in bed or-?"
"No!" Tsunade madly blushed, "I-It's nothing like that, I just...Dan is fantastic—never mind."
"What is troubling you?" Sakura cut to the point.
"I was thrilled when Dan proposed to me, but I always felt dreadful because he returned to me at the age he was killed, while I had to grow old without him. But even then, he didn't care about that he said he still loved me. But at my age, I shouldn't be able to get pregnant-"
"Wow." Sakura laughed, "Maybe your age really has affected you."
"Wha-What does that mean!?" Tsunade snapped glaring at the window,
"I thought you would have noticed."
"Noticed what?"
"Your age." Sakura answered,
"I-I know my age!" Tsunade snapped, "That is the entire problem-"
"That's not what I am talking about." Sakura smiled.
"What?" Tsunade was dumbfounded.
"You don't use your chakra to alter your appearance anymore?" Sakura questioned.
"I thought I simply was so use to using the jutsu I didn't even notice it using my chakra anymore-"
"Yeah no-" Sakura shook her head, "-that isn't the reason."
"Then what could-"
"I did it." Sakura said, causing Tsunade to turn around. Sakura leaned against the hospital bed, wearing dark jeans and a tank top.
"What did you do?"
"I used one of my seals to alter your age." Sakura explained, "I thought you would have noticed but clearly you did not."
"What do you mean you altered my age?"
"One of my forbidden seals, it can give or take a person's years away."
"Are you serious!?" Tsunade gasped,
"Before you get all excited about it, in order to use the seal a life has to be given for it to work." Sakura crossed her arms over her chest as Tsunade puckered her lips still not understanding. "I didn't die from Malachite's blade, granted I would have-"
"You-" Tsunade's eyes widened as she finally caught on. "-how could you give your life-"
"I was going to die anyway." Sakura shrugged, "I simply gave up a couple of minutes."
"But-But why-how-what were you thinking!?"
"It was my gift to you."
"A gift?"
"Yes." Sakura nodded, "I forgave you, Tsunade." Sakura smiled, Tsunade pulled her hands to her mouth.
"You-"
"When I was alive, I didn't have much time, and the time I did have I wasn't able to really spend it with you and I am sorry I blamed you for my parent's death, that isn't on you and I apologize for making you feel it was." Sakura said, Tsunade rushed over pulling Sakura into a light hug.
"Thank you!" Tsunade cried, warm tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn't care. A heavy weight lifted off Tsunade's chest and for the first time in seven years, she felt herself let go of all the pain and guilt she had clustered inside her heart.
"Where's Kakashi?" Sakura finally asked the question that has been itching at her,
"Oh, I sent him home to get some sleep and to take a shower. He should be back soon with dinner."
"Oh." Sakura breathed with a nod of her head.
"Why are you asking about him?" Tsunade smiled, Sakura laughed looking everywhere except Tsunade.
"So-" Sakura took a step back to lean against the bed for support, "-what did the Waterfall Village say?" She changed the subject.
"What now?" Tsunade blinked,
"The...Waterfall Village...?" Sakura chuckled, "What did they say when you called them?" Sakura turned, picking up the dark blue shirt Hinata lent her.
"Uh...what-why are you talking about them?" Tsunade wondered, "You just woke up, you need time to recover and-"
"Oh, my G—you didn't contact them." Sakura read through Tsunade's stiff movements,
"Well you just returned-"
"I have been in a coma for a week." Sakura said, "You have been sitting around for seven days just staring at me. In all that time, you couldn't pick up a phone?"
"Uh..." Tsunade's mouth hung open as her mind tried to make words. "...one moment." Tsunade said, quickly moving to the door as Sakura pulled the shirt over her head.
Sakura flinched at a strange pain on left side of her head, it pulsed inside her temple crawling its way into her lower jaw. Sakura opened her mouth, rotating her jaw trying to flush out the pain as she waited for Tsunade to return. She looked around the room, still in the process of wrapping her mind around the fact she had died, came back under the reapers control and was now sitting inside the leaf villages dreadful hospital.
Sakura wondered where Kakashi was, she recalled the last time she was inside the hospital. Kakashi no matter what never left her side, and yet here she was with him nowhere in sight. Two years can be a lot of time for a person, as Sakura waited for Tsunade, she couldn't help but wonder if Kakashi would be happy Sakura had returned?