Sakura blinked once to make sure she wasn't seeing things, then she blinked again along with a pinch to her arm to make sure she was still awake.
Was she seeing correctly? This wasn't some kind of joke right?.
The scroll current laying across her desk certainly didn't look like a joke.
A revival jutsu, a Jutsu to bring back the dead to life.
Something like this was hidden away so deep Into the Hokage Tower, proably waiting for some unlucky sucker, namely her, to stumble upon it.
Quickly closing the scroll, She placed it into her hip pouch, maybe it was instinct that made her take it but Sakura would later realize that she was glad she did.
Getting up, she dusted her clothes free of any dirt that may have gotten stuck from where she was sitting, man the Hokage tower needed a serious cleaning. Sakura shook her head as she made her way to the office, she didnt bother to knock as she entered, knowing that the lazy Sixth Hokage would be reading that ridiculous book of his instead of actually paperwork.
Sakura sometimes wonders how the hell he gets away with it sometimes. But she knows that last night he went out drinking with her Shishou, so its time to give him a headache.
"Good morning Sensei~." She sang, slipping into the room with an awfully annoying amount of cheer.
Kakashi Groaned from where he was slumped over his desk, rather pathetically she might add.
He looked like a wet chicken in need of some food.
"...Sakura.." Kakashi mumbled, eyes still closed.
"You're being to..loud."
"Who cares if I'm being loud?." Just for the hell of it, she slammed the load she was carrying onto the desk, watching as he grimaced.
"Its your own damn fault for drinking with Shishou, that's what you get." She grinned, strolling off to go open the curtains, letting the sunlight flood the gloomy office and making Kakashi Groan even louder.
Finally feeling a bit sorry for him, Sakura walked over to his desk and gently pressed two fingers to his temple, sending a small burst of Chakra there to help the pain calm down.
He sighed in relief, giving her fingers a quick kiss as thanks. Sakura playfully swatted at him, making her way around the desk to drop into the empty chair there.
After the war, She and Kakashi have become closer than ever, he looks out for her like a older brother would and Sakura loved him as a brother along with Sai and Naruto.
"So, got anything good for me today?." She asked leaning back on her chair to prop her feet on the desk, immediately getting swatted on the ankle for her troubles.
"Manners, you troublesome brat." Kakashi rolled his eyes.
"I just need you to drop off some documents to Gaara for me, I asked Naruto, but apparently he's busy being love Sick."
At the mention of the KazeKage of Suna, rusty red hair and Golden amber eyes flashed across her mind, a wave of sadness threatened to engulf her but Sakura shook her head to dispel the thoughts of that person.
Sakura scoffed.
"Took the dumbass a while to finally figure it out." She held out her hand for the scroll, the thought of telling Kakashi about the Forbidden Jutsu flashed though her mind before she decided that she'll tell him if it was really necessary.
"I'm happy for him."
"Arent we all." He drawled as Sakura stood up to stretch her spine out, having been sitting in a cramped space for the past six hours would give anyone back ache.
"You leave tomorrow, I really dont care what time you do, just be careful."
"Hai, Hai." Sakura waved as she closed the door behind her, making Kakashi sighed heavily.
"That girl, I swear." He chuckled.
Sakura packed only one scroll of necessities, it was after the war Yes, but there was still the occasional small bad guy here and there.
After double checking her stuff, making sure that the scroll she had sneaked away was safely tucked in a place where no one would be able to find unless they were her, she finished preparing and was out the door by Ten.
Sakura watched as A couple of kids ran pass her, shrieks of laughter leaving their lips. She smiled as she reached the checkpoint, rolling her eyes at the only Shinobi on duty there.
"Well, if it isnt Sakura-Hime, come to grace me with your lovely presence?" Genma drawled with a smirk on his face.
Sakura sighed, long and exasperated.
"How many times do I have to tell you, stop calling me Sakura-Hime, Just Sakura is fine."
"Now, where's the fun in that?." He countered.
"Out on an important mission today?."
"Just a delivery for our special Rokudaime Hokage." She grinned.
At that look, Genma threw his head back and laughed.
"Ah, went out with lady Tsunade drinking again, didnt he?." He asked, wiping away the few tears that leaked out of his eyes.
"When would Kakashi ever learn?."
"That man always seem to get lost on the path of life, after all." Sakura laughed waving the snickering Shinobi good bye before she was off.
The trip to Suna was, as always.. long, tiring and so damn hot!
Why did she agree to do this again?.
"Why do you look like you're about murder someone?." Kankurou asked the minute he spotted her.
"Maybe it's because I want to murder someone." She gritted out, limbs feeling heavy as she moved towards him.
"Come, you can be my first victim."
"No thanks, I rather like living, thank you very much." He said dully
"What's up?."
"Kakashi sent some documents for Gaara, he would have sent Naruto but he's busy being love sick."
Kankurou bursted out laughing at that, holding his aching sides as his laughter failed to calm down, honestly she found it funny also, but to that extent...nahh.
Sakura merely waited until he caught his breath.
"Ah thanks I-."
"You're welcome." She said dryly.
"...Needed that, but that's fine Sakura, you know that Gaara is always happy to see you guys."
Sakura smiled, Gaara had changed so much after the war, he smiled more, showed more emotion and had bonded with the remaining members of Team Seven so much that they were closer than ever before.
After giving Gaara and Temari hugs, Sakura set back out to head home, time to face the heat of the desert sun once again, which, let her tell you.. is not fun...at all.
The sight of luscious green, tall trees had her sighing out a breath of relief. At least she would be getting some shade as she walked the remaining steps home.
The forest was silent, eerily so. It had a kind of dark and gloomy feel to it that made the hair on Sakura's neck stand on edge. Each step she took, leaves crunched under her feet or a small twig would snap In half.
There was the distant sound of birds high up in the branches and the occasional chripping of crickets and other insects that gave Sakura the feeling that she was in some kind of horror film.
She reached back to grab her canteen, bringing it to her lips to take a sip, sighing as the cool liquid moisten her partially dried throat.
"Hey Pinky, mind giving me some of that also?."
Sakura was so startled at the voice that literally came out of nowhere that she almost dropped the canteen when she jumped.
Looking around, her brows knotted in confusion at seeing no one there, maybe she was just imaging things? She sure as hell wasnt crazy enough to be hearing voices in her head besides her inner.
"Down here."
Sakura's head snapped in that direction instantly.
There was a bloody head laying on the ground directly in her pathway.
She stumbled back as she look directly into light violet eyes that were looking up at her in amusement, a smirk on his lips.
Sliver hair was the next thing she noticed.
"What...the fuck.." She muttered in disbelief.
"You want to fuck? Sorry baby but I dont have my body with me." He replied, grin on his face now.
Sakura turned a shade of red.
"Shut the fuck up, you're not even my type, asshole- " Her mouth stopped mid sentence, her eyes going wide as the memory returned.
The man who killed Asuma-sensei, who caused Shikamaru to go on a self isolated Path of redemption.
"...Hidan..." She whispered.
"Ah, you know who I am," He said as if that was something to be proud of, before his eyes narrowed.
"Wait... you're the pink haired Bitch that killed that Puppet obssesed freak."
Sakura sank to her knees, dusting the dirt away from his face and hair, wandering what the hell she was doing, but it just felt like the right thing to do.
She offered him the water he asked for earlier and sighed.
"Is your mouth always this filthy?." She pulled the canteen away whe she saw he stopped drinking.
"Of fucking course it is.." He said.
"Ah, that hits the spot, I haven't had a drink in..... Wait." He paused as if now realizing the situation.
"What year are we in now?."
"Its been five years since the war ended, You've been here for about six years." She said nodding her head.
"Wait.. who won?... where's the Akatsuki?."
Sakura smiled sadly, reaching forward to poke him on the forehead.
"We won the war against Kaguya, the Akatsuki's.... all dead. "
Hidan stared at her In silence for minutes upon minutes before he let out a soft sigh.
"Figures those fuckers would sacrifice themselves like the dumbass they were."
"What's that suppose to mean?."
"Did you honestly believe that the Akatsuki was made up of heartless monsters? We all had a reason for doing what we did." He said giving her a very serious look, that shouldn't look as intimidating on a head as it should.
"Take puppet boy you killed, the kid just wanted his parents back, wanted the love of a family, but his family was killed by the copy cat ninja's father, Hatake Sakumo."
Sakura stared, stunned before words.
Sasori's parents were killed because of Kakashi's father? She...hadn't known that.
"Tobi.. Also known as Obito Uchiha, because he watched his teammate and the one he loved get killed before his eyes."
"Deidara, the explosions dumbass because his village ridiculed him for his kekkei Genkai constantly, it made his life a living hell."
"Kisame, the damn fish couldnt trust anyone, afraid they would stab him in the back."
"Konan, Stayed with the one she loved but could never tell him as Nagato was overcome with the grief of a friend dying, she stayed cause she was the only one that Nagato had left."
Sakura opened her mouth to ask how he knew all this, but never got the chance.
"The little red eye, Itachi." Hidan continued without waiting for her to reply. And somehow knowing this one was going to hit directly home.
"The damn boy who gave up everything in his life for sake of his village, who chose to kill his own clan that were planning to overthrow the very village he loved. The one who chose hate instead of love, who chose a life of regret instead of happiness, the one who was already suffering from a lung disease yet let his selfish little brother kill him. Because that was how much Itachi loved his little brother."
And by then, Sakura was curled up with her head tucked onto her knees, sobbing loudly. Tears fell form her eyes in large diamond shapes, her whole body trembled with her sobs.
She.. didnt... knowing her younger self, Sakura would have doubted his words but now, they were true and clear as day.
Even after everything they did, each member was suffering in their own right, not knowing how to stop.
Sakura's heart constricted at the thought of Itachi Uchiha, that brave, strong man took all that burden for himself, Sakura could feel her respect for him go up and disgust at her own village's conduct, it was a very good thing that Kakashi was now Hokage and he has a new council.. the old ones never deserve the life they have now.
"I..." She hiccups, wiping her eyes.
"There's nothing you can do for us now Pinky, we're already dead, unless you have some kind of power to bring us back, I doubt there's really anything you can do." Hidan sighed
"My Name is Sakura, you damn talking head and I know! I wish I had some kind of.." Sakura stopped talking as the scroll flashed before her minds eye. The Jutsu... The Revival Jutsu.
"I do."
"What?."
Sakura reached down to grab his cheeks and squish them in her grasp.
"Hidan, I do have the power. There's this Jutsu I found this morning, that could bring the dead back." She was smiling brightly now, A spark of hope in her eyes
"I can bring them back, I can bring them all back including my friends."
She paused, gulping.
"I can I bring the man I yearn for back." She whispered, staring down at Hidan who was Giving her a wide eyed look.
"Tell me you're joking Pinky, tell me it's-."
She cut him off by flicking his forehead gently.
"I'm not, I swear I'm not." She sat back on her hunches, a hand on her chin as she thought.
"So whose the man you yearn for?." Hidan asked with a lecherous grin.
"Do tell me.. is it puppet boy?."
Sakura turned the most brightest shade of red, her ears burned with the color.
Hidan howled with laughter at her reaction.
"Ha! Hit the nail right on the head on the frist try."
"Sshut up!."
"Oh please, you should see yourself right now, your tomato face is not intimidating at all." He teased.
Sakura huffed crossing her arm over her chest, gaze moving around the forest, before it hit her.
"Hidan, where's your body?."
"Somewhere around." He sighed.
"Your friend got me good, I'll tell you that."
Ignoring his chuckling, Sakura got up to walk a little further away from the path, there was something sticking out in the dirt, like a beacon.. a beacon that looked like a human hand more that the actual thing.
Grabbing a hold of the palm that was above ground, Sakura nearly shrieked with her hand was gripped firmly in response. She pulled, bringing up dirt and rocks along with worms and insects
"Hidan, your body is fucking weird." She called, hearing him laugh she huffed as she did her best to dust the dirt and grime off the limb still gripping tightly to her fingers.
"Let go already, jerk."
Sakura made her way back to where his head was, sinking down once again with the newly acquired limb by her side.
She leaned forward to push away the dirt from near his head and dig a away the moist earth from around him, pulling his head free.
"There's two." She looked up at the sky, seeing it already starting to get late.
"I'm gonna have to go now, I have to talk to my Hokage and then I'll be back tomorrow, we'll look for the rest of your body tomorrow."
"Oh my hero. " He pretended to swoon
Sakura gave him a light smack, amazed at how at ease she was, Bickering with a man that was supposed to be dead for a long time now and a member of the most strongest organization there ever was.
"Shut up and stay where you are." She said picking her canteen back up as raised back up to her feet.
"I don't think I can go anywhere, seeing how I got no body, much less feet." He deadpanned
Sakura rolled her eyes, waving him goodbye as she all but raced back home.
Sakura fidgeted In the chair she sat on as Kakashi continued to think about what she just said.
"Are you sure you want to revive the most dangerous people In the Shinobi world?." Kakashi finally asked,voice a bit skeptical.
"Yup." She asked with no hesitation, pausing before she took a deep breath.
"I want.. to give them another chance at the lives they never had, I want them to experience things that we have now, to show them how much the Shinobi world had changed... "
"..Sakura. "
"Hidan told me.... how Itachi made himself the bad one to protect his village, he took the job to kill his clan. Because the council members and Danzo forced him." She looked up at Kakashi with tear filled eyes
"If I had only known... I would have tried to help.." She sighed
"That time he had you all trapped in that Genjutsu, he never placed me in one, he was rather polite.. if I remember correctly telling me that he didn't like to fight woman... I should have seen the signs then."
"Yes. We should... wait did you say Hidan." Kakashi shot forward in his seat, eyes wide.
"Hes alive?."
"Uh, yea apparently. " She laughed.
"I met him in the forest yesterday, well more like it was just his head."
"I cant believe this." Kakashi muttered staring at her In shock
"He... was civil?"
"Oh please, his mouth needs to be washed with bleach." She laughed softly.
"But he was honest In everything he told me yesterday, I could tell... he seemed to care about his members more than he let on."
"And let's say I'm on board with this, how are we going revive them?." He asked, the ass, he was already on board, he was just playing dumb.
"I found a scroll yesterday while I was going through the archives, it contain a Jutsu to bring the dead back to life." She smiled sheepishly at his pointed look.
"I wasn't planning to do anything with it!." She protested.
"Until Hidan happened?."
She nodded, reaching for his hands across the desk.
"My instincts told me that I would need it later, I just never thought it would be this soon and for this."
Kakashi gripped her hands in his tightly.
"Can we do this?." He asked.
"It wouldn't hurt to have the most powerful organization on our side sans the evil mastermind."
Sakura snickered, shaking her head at his sense of humor.
"I'll have to go over the Jutsu, but I'm sure we can." She said, determination clear in her eyes.
Kakashi strokes his thumb over her knuckles.
"You'll be alright... if we do this.. you will be alright with seeing him again."
Sakura was quiet for a few minutes before she nodded slowly.
"I think I will be.. it's worth a shot... the last time.. he helped me even if I was awful to him, he still told me everything he knew and that...." she trailed off, eyes closing as her eyes burned.
"I didnt think I would miss someone as much as I do with him, His grandfather told me so much stories about him when I last visited the village."
"Then we'll do it." The Rokudaime Hokage decided firmly, if it made his sister happy, then he would support that happiness.
Sakura laughed, nodding her head, her eyes wet.
"Tomorrow, can I borrow Pakkun, I'm going to find the remaining parts of Hidan's body."
Kakashi suddenly smiled.
"Sure, maybe you'll even have a extra hand to help you." He looked up.
"Isnt that right.. Naruto."
Sakura gasped, shooting up from her seat, spinning around to face her blonde brother, a hint of fear blooming across her face.
He probably heard everything they talked about.. And Kakashi knew he was there, that damn little..
Naruto must have seen her apprehension because he suddenly shot forward and engulf her in a hug.
"No, no its alright Sakura-Chan, I'm not going to stop you." He pulled back with a smile.
"Infact I wanna help to!."
"R..really?." She whispered.
Naruto hated that he was the one who made her shrink into herself.
"Yes, as they say, Everyone deserves a second chance, Sakura-Chan. And I want to help to give them that."
The smile she gave them both was totally worth it.