Chapter CXV

The hour of rebirth draws near,
Where laid to rest shall be all fear,
Yet haunted still are troubled minds,
By the ghosts of failure,
And eyes once blind.

~x~

The dungeon was cold and eerily silent. Affixed to the stone wall beside the heavy iron door was a single burning torch, the only source of illumination in an otherwise pitch-black cell. But even the blinding light of Apollo's sun would not have been enough to vanquish the festering darkness that was ravaging Obito from within.

A cacophony of discordant thoughts barrelled through his head. Seeing Rin again had filled him with agony and flung him into an ocean of uncertainty, of regret and self-loathing. He was displaced and drowning, drowning in a sea of emptiness and loneliness with no hope of salvation unless she reached out her hand to save him.

And she had. She had told him that she believed in him. Even now, despite everything. Yet how could she? How could he even dare to hope, one so wretched, so broken, as undeserving as he was? His sense of purpose and self had been skewed off its axis entirely. Who was he? What had he become? He could not answer those questions, for he had become something and someone he no longer recognised. An imposter, a stranger, a ghost.

A mindless puppet. Madara's dog.

The taste of bitterness was like bile in his throat. He had allowed himself to be manipulated by Cronus and Ares, asking no questions, following orders without hesitation under the foolish, misguided belief that once he ascended the Underworld's throne, everything else would fall perfectly into place.

Except it hadn't. The Fates had so cruelly denied him. Perhaps it was karma for all the seeds of evil he had sown with his own hands, consequences he was being forced to reap with a heart that was tattered and bleeding. He had not bothered to care for the pain his actions had inflicted upon others. So what right had he to lament his own torment?

Obito sat slumped against the wall, staring unseeingly up at the ceiling of his confinement, shackled at the neck, arms and ankles by chakra-depleting chains. He felt suffocated. Trapped. He could barely breathe. The heavy ache in his chest was unbearable, increasing each time he replayed Rin's words in his mind. How he longed to be with her. There was so much still he wished to say, so much he had to tell her. Seeing her again had been like glimpsing a precious ray of daylight in a world that had been smothered in perpetual night for so long, that his eyes had quite forgotten what bright skies even looked like.

He had hoped, upon restoring Kakashi and returning Sasuke and his kin to the Underworld, that he would be taken straight back to the Elysian Fields, that he would be permitted to continue to converse with the woman he had always loved.

But that had been wishful, foolish thinking. His clansmen had shown him no such mercy. Instead he had immediately been thrown back into the dungeon, left with a chilling reminder of what would come to pass if he chose not to cooperate. His desperate enquiries as to the state Rin had been left in after he had been dragged away from her had been ignored. Thanatos had merely met his gaze aloofly, detached and utterly unfeeling, and chosen not to utter a word.

It was psychological torture. They had dangled a dream upon a string before his hope-starved hands, inviting him to reach out and seize it, to turn it to reality - only to snatch it away from him, and return him to punishing isolation once again.

"A chance to reflect," Shisui had said. "A chance to compose your thoughts. Two paths stand before you; one leads to oblivion, the other, perhaps, to redemption. Consider carefully the next steps you wish to take."

He had no semblance of how much time had passed since they had bolted the door felt to Obito that they had already left him alone for an age. Or perhaps it had not been for long at all. All time had suspended for him the moment he had seen Rin again. Closing his eyes conjured her haunting image within his mind, and filled him with such anguish, a longing so intense, so poignant, so piercing, that it felt to Obito that the mangled remains of his heart would disintegrate into ash and dust.

When the princes returned, they would ask him for his decision. A decision that had already been made for him. They knew they had him precisely where they wanted him. And there was nothing at all he could do about it, because all the leverage was in their hands.

Footsteps beyond the door snapped Obito back to attention. Metal scraped against metal followed by an audible click, as the loud sound of bolts being undone echoed around the cell. The violent twist within his stomach threw into sharp relief that a part of him was afraid. Where he had before been fearless, without a conscience, having nothing to lose, he now stood to lose everything. One wrong move, one wrong decision, and Rin would be lost to him forever, in every sense of the word.

The cell door was pushed open, and Obito's jaw clenched as its base scraped aggravatingly against the icy stone floor. Straightening as best as his limited movement allowed, he squinted when an additional torch flooded the space with brighter firelight, illuminating the silhouettes of the two tall figures standing in the doorway.

Hypnos and Thanatos had returned.

Obito blinked, only to tense when, without any manner of prior warning, Itachi raised a boot-clad foot and with its sole pushed at something that slid with great speed across the cell. It clattered loudly to a stop to Obito's right as it slammed with force against the wall he was leaning against, missing his body by mere inches. Flinching reflexively, he glanced at the object to find that it was a wooden stool.

Staring at it in a brief moment of genuine confusion, he wondered why the small chair had been kicked into his cell.

"My my," Shisui remarked. "It seems my cousin is still greatly displeased with you for laying your filthy hands upon our dearest Hades. It is a rare occurrence indeed that he disregards and discards his manners."

"A pity he missed," Obito rasped, if only to be hateful and defiant in any way that he still could. Being forced to cooperate with them did not make them allies or friends. He was not naive enough to believe for a second that they cared for him any more than he cared for them. In his mind, they would always be enemies. For it was their unnatural and unwelcome return to the ranks of the living that had denied him the throne of the Underworld and the power to resurrect Rin at his will.

"Hah!" Hypnos released a short, amused bark of laughter that reverberated against the walls of the cell. "Oh, but you are mistaken. Rest assured, Death does not miss. Had Itachi wished for the leg of that stool to impale you through your treacherous throat, you would already be lying wretched there, choking in a pool of your own blood. I would have enjoyed the sight. It is a pity he chose to be merciful."

Obito's gaze flicked onto Thanatos, to find midnight irises burning steadily into him, ice-cold and unforgiving. One corner of Obito's lips curled into a sneer, but before he could respond, Shisui quipped curtly, "Save your breath, you miserable miscreant. We are here not to exchange meaningless words with you. An honoured guest has requested an audience with you. We trust you will extend to him every courtesy and hospitality..."

With those mocking words, they stepped back and parted, revealing another figure who had been waiting silently behind them.

The breath in Obito's lungs hitched as an unmasked Kakashi stepped into the cell.

~x~

Walking onto the plush landing of the magnificently-carved staircase, Sakura was immediately whisked back to a distant past, her mind transported to the last time she had stood in this particular ballroom.

It had been filled with a glittering assembly of Underworld dwellers. A shadow court in full attendance at the masquerade ball Cronus had hosted just before the war. She could almost see the ghosts of the Uchiha drenched from head to toe in finery, moving across the polished black-marble floor, could almost smell the dizzying mix of incense, perfume, food and sweet wine, and if she listened closely enough, was certain she could hear the phantom echo of the haunting melody that had played on that fateful night. The vivid memory of everything she had experienced then threw into sharp relief just how eerily empty the majestic chamber was at that moment.

Sakura released a quiet breath, taking in the unparalleled splendour of the room. No longer afraid as she had once been, she could appreciate its true beauty. The dark floor shimmered with tiny glinting flecks that twinkled like stars, capturing the lights glittering from the huge crystal chandeliers hanging from the mirrored ceiling high above her head. Swathes of heavy, luxurious, black, gold and silver curtains adorned the multitude of balcony doors that lined the wings of the room, spaced between colossal, starlit columns. Gleaming diamond candelabra illuminated the space with pale blue flame, making the room appear as though it were bathed in pure moonlight.

Everything was precisely as she recalled it to be, and in that moment Sakura found herself swept away by such an overpowering sense of déjà vu, that she could not suppress the shudder that shot down her spine.

After Kakashi had departed with Shisui and Itachi to meet Obito in the dungeons, she had intended to head straight to her chambers to exchange her formal gown for a simpler dress, but as she had left the banqueting all with Sasuke, it had struck her that these would be the final moments that she would ever spend walking the palace halls as a mortal.

She knew that the transition to divinity would alter her senses, her emotions, the very way she experienced the world around her. No longer bound by the limitations of a human body, she would never view things the same way again.

A part of her mourned the body she was on the verge of losing forever. A body that had done its best to sustain her during her final life-cycle, a part of her that she could never get back. Her human self was an identity that she would cherish, for being mortal had taught her so much about the world and about the sanctity of life, about humans and their strife and their ability to see hope and love in even the darkest of places. It had allowed her to understand what it meant to live a fulfilling life without taking eternity for granted.

These were the last moments she would spend plagued by the fear of dying a premature death that would rip her from the sides of her loved ones, and she wished to savour every precious, final minute, to make peace with her human psyche so that she could say goodbye to it without regrets. And so she had requested of Sasuke, that while they still had a small window of time to complete their final preparations and ascend to the surface, that he would take her to the ballroom they had danced in just before the war.

Her unexpected request had visibly surprised him, but although hesitant, he had not questioned her wish, and together they had made their way to it.

"I needed to see it again," she said softly, wandering forward until she came to a stop at the top of the sprawling steps that led down to the ballroom floor. In all the tours she had taken of the palace, this was one of the places she had not visited upon her return to the realm.

She wondered why Sasuke had chosen to dance with her in another ballroom. She wondered whether, subconsciously, a part of him had chosen not to meet her in this place again on purpose.

The Underworld's handsome King drew to a stop beside her, hands dug into the pockets of his tunic. His subdued expression hinted that he was likely recalling the last time they had stood together in this place, also.

"Why didn't we come here? When you first brought me to the Underworld, I mean?"

Sasuke considered the question. Then he replied slowly, "This was Madara's favoured assembly hall, second only to the throne room. I thought about removing it, since there are three other ballrooms in the palace."

She peered up at him. "Is that the only reason?"

He was silent for a long moment. "No, I…" he paused, seeking the words he needed to express his thoughts. "Something about it never felt… right. I never knew why. I only avoided it."

Sakura reached out for his left hand. He did not hesitate, and slipped his own in hers. Warmth flooded down her arm, as his larger hand closed securely around her slight one, full of strength, full of heat.

"I wonder whether the deepest, most suppressed parts of our minds did hold onto some things from the past. Not the memories, but instincts, feelings… maybe deep down, you knew this place held bad memories."

His dark-lashed gaze lowered. "Maybe," he murmured.

Sakura tugged gently on his hand, and together, they descended the staircase.

"I can't even begin to imagine how empty and silent the palace must have been after the war. I remember how many people were here that night. So much life, snuffed out by that monster," Sakura shook her head sadly, heart-broken over the suffering that Sasuke had endured all alone.

She imagined how lonely it must have been, how frightening and soul crushing to find himself robbed of everything he had ever loved. Had he wandered from chamber to chamber? Looking in, hoping that he would find someone, anyone alive, desperate to awaken from his nightmare? It was a dreadful thought. It made Sakura want to do everything in her power to ensure he never suffered such isolation and hurt again.

The heels of their sandals struck loudly against the marble floor, reverberating about the vast space as they drifted deeper into the assembly chamber until Sakura came to a stop in the middle of the ballroom floor.

"Sakura," Sasuke said suddenly. "Why ask me to bring you here?"

She turned to face him, still gripping tightly onto his hand. His obsidian gaze met hers, and she glimpsed within their endless depths all the emotions he was trying to keep contained beneath the surface of those beautiful, mournful irises. But Sakura had never seen things so clearly, and knowing him as intimately as she had, across two entirely different lifetimes, allowed her in that moment to decode all the feelings he could not express aloud. The sorrow. The remorse and the lingering guilt.

They were emotions that plagued her heart, also. For she remembered that night. She remembered the cruel words she had flung at him like curses. Words that had somehow turned into a reality, for he had lost all the joy in his life, had been left broken and empty and alone.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered. "Do you remember what I said to you when Cronus forced us to dance?"

This time he did not bother to hide the pain that briefly illuminated his features, flashing like lightning in a storm.

His eyes lowered. "I remember."

"Tell me," she breathed.

"Sakura-" he began, uncharacteristically hesitant. As if the memory was the very last thing he wished to discuss at that moment.

"Please, Sasuke-kun," she stood before him, gently taking hold of his other hand. "Tell me what I said to you."

He searched her eyes, indecision warring within his own. After a heavy pause, he slowly, reluctantly began to recite, "You… hoped that I would know nothing but guilt, grief and wretched loneliness until the end of my days. You said until the end of yours, until the end of time, you would hate me forever."

Each phrase pierced through Sakura like a cleaving blade. Tears welled in her eyes. She recalled everything she had said as though the hateful words had fallen from her lips just yesterday. How blinded she had been to the truth back then. How very quick and eager she had been to believe that her beloved Hades had stabbed her in the back, when all he had ever been trying to do all along was to protect her, to save her. He had suffered for his love, the same way she had for hers.

"You said that I did not care," Sasuke continued with a frown. "That I had proven you were nothing but a game to me, and whatever the outcome of the war, you would never forgive me." Sakura stared at him in silent astonishment, devastated and dismayed that he remembered everything she'd said with such clarity. "As long as you lived and drew breath, you would hate and curse me for every pain I caused you, for the way you believed I betrayed you. For the way I cast aside your-"

Sakura had heard enough, and the remainder of his words were swallowed into oblivion when she suddenly released his hands and draped her slender arms around his shoulders, standing on tiptoe to silence him with her lips. Sasuke blinked, momentarily caught off guard, before he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close against him, kissing her with a desperation that left them both burning and bothered and breathless.

In those few, precious, heart-aching seconds, he knew peace. There was no past. There was no war. There were no troubles or concerns for the future, no secrets that he was forced to keep from her by The Fates. In that moment, only the two of them existed, and the only thing that mattered was how it felt to hold her in his arms, how it felt to have the life-imbuing, intoxicating touch of her soft lips moving against his. His fingers tangled through her hair, tugging her head back as he deepened the kiss, ravenous for the one who was both his eternal affliction and his cure.

He was drowning. Drowning in how deeply he yearned for her, in how desperately he needed her goodness, her radiance, her light. Drowning with no want or wish to break to the surface to gulp down air.

But she was still human. With great reluctance he ended the kiss to allow her mortal lungs to breathe, keeping his forehead pressed against hers, their faces mere inches apart.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," Sakura exhaled, tickling his lips with the warmth of her breath. "It was cruel of me. I take back everything I said. I didn't know back then that you'd had no idea I was in the Underworld until you saw me in this ballroom. I can't even imagine what that must have felt like for you."

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly. It had been his greatest fear realised. Seeing her had felt like a debilitating blade through the gut, like having his heart ripped out of his chest with a jagged iron fist before it was shredded to pieces. The horror of realising that Kore had been captured and was being held as a prisoner of war in his realm had thrown his mind and emotions into turmoil. And yet he'd had no choice back then but to conceal his true feelings, to feign apathy and coldness. But inside he had been on fire, devastated and furious. He'd wanted to do nothing more than to grab the goddess who had so irreversibly stolen his heart by the wrist and warp her straight back to the surface.

He opened his eyes at the touch of her hands cupping his face, thumbs stroking lovingly over his cheekbones. "I asked you to bring me here because I want to say goodbye to the pain of that past. With my rebirth, the future is the only thing I want us to look at. I don't want the hurt of the words I said back then to haunt us any longer. I don't want to remember that dance as the only dance we had in here. Let's make new memories, Sasuke-kun. Better ones."

Her eyes glistened like pools of emerald, drawing him in, and Sasuke was powerless to resist their siren call. Shisui and Itachi, he knew, were likely making preparations of their own, and would await them at the designated meeting spot, which meant he could indulge Sakura for a few minutes before he returned her to her quarters to get herself ready. Or perhaps he was indulging himself. Perhaps he needed, even more than she did, to make those new memories, to wash away the old ones.

He drew an arm from around her, offering his hand, a wordless invitation to accept his dance as faint, ethereal music from the shadow nymphs and sprites that resided in the gardens began to drift through the ballroom, as if summoned by a silent command.

His forehead pressed against hers, Sasuke held her close, and they swayed intimately together in time to the melody, creating a new memory, relinquishing the pain of a failed past that they were both ready to put to rest.

~x~

"A futile waste of time and effort," Shisui remarked, as he and Itachi departed the dungeons and returned to the palace's labyrinth of hallways, after leaving Kakashi behind to speak with Obito. "He seems incapable of accepting that his old friend is gone."

"The ties of friendship between them once held steadfast," Itachi reminded him. "They each considered the other a brother."

"Yes, and Hephaestus honours that bond with the sincerity that an Uchiha would. It is a pity his so-called friend shares not the same sentiment, despite being of our clan."

"He is aware that our kind do not discard the ties of kin carelessly. And so he cleaves to hope."

Shisui snorted. "The chances of that half-wit caring for Kakashi are more slender than the eye of a needle. The fact he did not deliver him to Madara does not mean that he intended to spare Kakashi by any means."

"Whether he has a care or not," Itachi dismissed. "His fate will remain unchanged."

"Hmm," Shisui hummed thoughtfully. "Speaking of fate. Have those dread sisters still not called to you?"

Itachi shook his head slightly, eliciting a frown from his cousin.

"A confounding conundrum their silence is. You are quite certain that the Mark remains?"

Itachi blinked, not breaking stride. His cousin had asked him something similar before. "Do you doubt my word, Shisui?"

"No, of course not. I am merely having difficulty understanding why they have chosen not to address you. Perhaps your original death severed the contract between you? Have you considered that a possibility?"

"I have considered that, and many others," Thanatos solemnly returned. "The Mark can only be revoked by The Moirae."

"Then perhaps we are wrongly assuming that revoking the contract means the Mark will vanish," Shisui suggested. "What if it remains, and the simple fact of the matter is that they will no longer summon you because they have, in fact, released you from their service? You fulfilled your original task in foiling Madara and trapping away the Titans. Perhaps that was all that was required of you?"

Itachi doubted he would have such fortune. Not without another suffering at his expense. "And why would they choose to relinquish me? Totsuka is still mine to wield. Had they wished to release me in earnest, I do not believe they would permit the weapon to remain in my possession."

"Curses. I suppose you are right. I have grown so accustomed to that blade being with you, that I oft forget what it truly is."

"Relinquishing me would also imply that they have acquired a servant more powerful," Itachi added.

"We have both already considered that possibility. What use would they have for your Sharingan, when a superior Rinnegan is available to command? This silence is most unlike them, and begs suspicion. Why not seek them out, cousin? You are able to enter their realm, are you not?"

"On what grounds?" Itachi questioned, taking a right turn at the end of the candle-lit hallway they were passing through. "They call upon whom they will to stand before them. When I sought an audience with The Moirai in the past, it was always at their behest. I did not venture to their temple without invitation."

"That does not mean you could not, in theory," Shisui argued. "You know of the seals that will transport you to their realm."

"Were I to intrude without summon, they have it within their power to expel me from their realm before I set foot within their temple."

"They might. If they did that, then you would know for certain that you are no longer bound to their service. Or… they could grant you an audience. Is it not worth a try?" Hypnos counselled. "Do you not think we ought to confront them at least, to determine the truth behind why they summoned Sasuke before them?"

Itachi was silent. Shisui glanced expectantly at him as they made their way past a wide staircase, pin-pointing Sasuke and Sakura's location in the nearby ballroom on the second floor.

"It seems our young star-crossed lovers have taken a little detour," Shisui smiled faintly, turning his head in the direction that he could sense Sasuke's chakra was radiating from.

"Let them be," said Itachi. "We will reconvene at the entrance hall when they are ready."

"I would not disturb them. These are the final moments that Sakura will spend as a mortal. We can permit her the indulgence of a little time."

They walked on in comfortable silence for a minute, before Thanatos murmured, "You are also of the belief that Sasuke has not been forthcoming with us."

"I am not so certain that he has spoken falsities, cousin, as much as I am concerned that he may have chosen to withhold information of great consequence from us. I believe the Moirae did summon him to their realm to impart information about how Madara is to be contained. He has not lied to us about that.

"Yet they have never before intervened in manifesting a Rinnegan. Their boons are never freely bestowed. You know your brother better than I; you are well-versed in his mannerisms. What say you on the matter?"

"Had Sasuke foolishly entered into a contract with The Moirae before my return," Itachi answered evenly, "then that contract would now be void. Their word given was that so long as I drew breath, my brother would be spared from their service."

"Who is to say they did not Mark him while you did not draw breath?" Shisui contested. "Perhaps that is the reason your Mark appears to be inactive. Why else would they spirit him to their realm and assist him in awakening the Rinnegan? Why reveal the pain of the burden you bore on his behalf, a truth you never would have wished for him to know? It all seems too calculated and deliberate."

Itachi's lips thinned. All very valid points, and ones he had already turned over in his mind multiple times. He had chosen to carefully observe Sasuke, to glean what clues and information he could until it was the right moment to confront his brother about the issue. But the time to do so was not then, when their immediate priority was to restore Sakura to immortality. Once the Goddess of Spring was secured, he then intended to speak with his Sasuke, to get to the truth of a matter that was causing him great concern and trepidation.

He was ill at ease, and had been the moment Sasuke had informed them that he had met with The Fates. For Sasuke's sake, he was willing to go against his cautious nature, was even ready to be reckless, willing to risk everything by turning up uninvited at the temple of The Moirae, even if doing so was insolent and likely to anger them. He had sensed no Mark on his brother as he had with Zeus and Hera, but that did not mean Sasuke had not been Marked. Itachi could not trust his senses in that regard, especially when his own Mark appeared at that moment to be inactive.

Sasuke also possessed the Rinnegan, which meant he would see straight through any subtle attempts either he or Shisui made to use their Sharingan to manipulate or otherwise sift through his memories. The last thing Itachi wanted to do was to mislead or conceal his intentions from his brother. He had made terrible mistakes, choosing not to communicate with Sasuke in the past. They were mistakes he desperately wished to avoid committing again. This time he wanted only openness and honesty. That respect was the least Sasuke deserved, and yet… the prospect that Sasuke might be the one who was withholding information from them this time, was an unsettling notion and Itachi was not quite certain what the best method would be to tackle it.

Sasuke was no longer naive. He was careful and suspicious and watched them like a hawk. They could no longer take the lead and keep him in the dark. They no longer had the authority to make decisions that involved him on his behalf, not without infuriating him, and as subjects sworn to serve the Crown he wore, he had all the power, and it was within his power to punish them as he saw fit in the event they ever betrayed his trust or otherwise broke the oath they had made to him that they would be transparent about everything they planned to do.

"Think upon it," Shisui's voice drew Itachi out of his troubled contemplations. "There is only one way for us to uncover for certain what the truth of this affair is. I will accompany you, let the consequences be damned."

Thanatos did not agree. If he risked the fury of The Moirae by trespassing upon their temple uninvited, he would suffer the repercussions alone. There was no reason for Shisui to be placed in jeopardy. They did not know, still, whether their return to the living was a permanent or a temporary arrangement. Itachi did not want to put his cousin in a situation that would invite further retribution from The Fates. More than anything, he would much rather The Moirae focused on and concerned themselves with him, and left Sasuke and Shisui alone.

He could not stand the agonising thought of watching his cousin die again. He could not leave his beloved brother alone again.

"You are not Marked." He reminded Shisui. "You need not be involved. If I am to journey to their temple, it would be more fitting that you remain by Sasuke's side and-"

He broke off, when as swiftly as a striking rattlesnake, Hypnos came to stand before him, his left hand clamping down firmly upon Thanatos' right shoulder, essentially forcing him to halt in place.

Coal-black eyes met his, simmering with an emotion Itachi recognised as a rare manifestation of genuine displeasure toward him.

"More fitting for whom?"

Itachi blinked at him. Although he was slightly taken-aback by the swiftness of his kin's reaction, he was careful not to allow that fact to manifest upon his countenance.

"Say that to me again, cousin," Shisui said quietly, his words soft, but not without clear threat. "I am not quite certain I heard you correctly. It sounded awfully like you advised me to have no involvement in your confronting The Moirae. That you believe you should venture to their realm alone.

"And what if they chose to trap you there? Hmm? Have you considered that possibility? What if they chose to use you as leverage to influence Sasuke into doing something terrible. What if some other unforeseen, unpleasant event were to unfold? What then?"

"And what use would you be to me or anyone, if you were to be trapped there with me?" Itachi retorted, his tone colder and more slicing than he had intended for it to be. Not because he did not care. But because he cared far too much. Losing either Sasuke or Shisui - or both - would be his worst nightmare. Losing them would destroy him. They were all he had left. All he cared about. He had never cared about himself, about entertaining his own foolish hopes of future dreams - only for living, and surviving, and enduring, for their sake.

He stared back at Shisui, unrepentant and undeterred by his older cousin's disapproval, and watched as the displeasure changed to a moment of genuine, bristling shock - before it morphed into glittering wrath.

"After everything we have been through together?" Hypnos demanded, his grip on Thanatos' shoulder tightening. "After the many centuries I have spent by your side, you would dare to request such a thing of me? Do you really believe I would ever permit you to face them alone, Itachi? When they treated you as naught but a dispensable pawn without feeling, after they chose to do nothing when Madara commanded you to murder your own honourable parents, killing a part of you that has never again come back - that I would let you place yourself at risk alone?" He leaned forward, until his face was inches away from his cousin's.

"If we are to be trapped together, then that is how it shall be. If we are to live, then we live together, and if we are to die-"

"There is no need for us to both place ourselves at risk-" Itachi interjected.

"Then it will not be you who does," Shisui interrupted. "If there must be a sacrifice amongst us, then I am the eldest, and it shall be me, because it is I who dragged you into this mess to begin with."

"Shisui-" Itachi began to protest, for that was not how he viewed their past at all.

"I will not hear it. Not a day has passed that I have not regretted involving you in this, that I have not despised myself for failing to protect you from a Mark that ought never to have been your burden to bear. Had I been a true brother to you, I would have found a way to ensure you survived with Sasuke. I would have used my ability to compel you to take him and flee to safety. There are places Madara might not have found you. The ocean. A Kamui dimension. I did not try hard enough. I did not think."

Itachi opened his mouth to argue, but Shisui was quick to silence him.

"But I have learned from those lessons. And I no longer fear The Moirae and their retribution. It appears they are all too willing to manipulate the laws when it is of benefit to them; why can we not then do the same?" He shook his head, steely resolve burning in irises that bled to fierce crimson. "Do not test me, Itachi," he warned. "We may appear evenly-matched, but attempt to shoulder your burdens alone, attempt to sacrifice yourself in my stead or in Sasuke's, and you will swiftly be reminded that it is not beyond my capabilities to put you in your place. Do we have an understanding?"

Thanatos searched his gaze, remaining stubbornly silent. Neither agreeing to nor denying his order.

Shisui's eyes narrowed. "Do not dare even think about solving the problem of Madara alone. If the past has taught us anything, it is that we cannot shoulder this burden by ourselves. Nor should we be expected to, for the blight of Chaos is a threat to all. If you attempt to go without me, I will inform Sasuke, and I am quite certain that our dearest Hades will be most displeased to learn that you have once again acted without his consent."

"If you inform Sasuke," Itachi replied quietly, "I will never forgive you."

"Hm. A pity," Shisui smirked mockingly, loosening his hold on his cousin's shoulder and giving it a friendly pat. "I suppose that would be the end of our friendship, then."

He watched, with some satisfaction, as embers flared to life within Itachi's eyes. A temper that rarely reached the surface blazed openly for him to see. He had succeeded in doing what very few ever dared or could do - he had angered the imperturbable God of Death. A perilous thing to do, and yet it had been entirely deliberate on Hypnos' part, for he knew how much Itachi detested being mocked.

But as quickly as it raged, the flames of ire snuffed out. Thanatos briefly closed his eyes, composing himself once again, before lifting a hand to the one still resting upon his left shoulder. Without another word, he brushed Shisui's hand aside, and walked past him, not waiting for him to follow.

Hypnos turned, staring silently after him, the smirk on his lips immediately waning as his eyebrows furrowed, reflecting the deep concern and alarm that was eating at him from within.

~x~

For the first time since Kore's original death, Demeter's heart was full of excitement and the hope that her daughter's suffering would finally be put to an end. The message conveyed to her from the Underworld had eased the heavy dread that had weighed upon her mind, silencing the fears that had snatched away her ability to sleep at night. For the engulfing anguish over Sakura's welfare, over Chiyo's fate, over what calamity had occurred to cause the Underworld to become completely sealed off to anyone who sought to enter it, had left Tsunade near-hysterical and beside herself with worry.

How many times had she attempted to force her way into the Kingdom, only to be denied by an impenetrable barrier? She had even fretted over the status of the Underworld's King. For what depth of horrors could have possibly befallen his realm, to force the proud Uchiha to lock the Shadow world down entirely?

She had been consumed and distraught. But mercifully, word had finally been sent in the form of the messenger crow. Sakura was alive. Sakura was well. And at long last, all the pieces had fallen into place to facilitate the moment of her true rebirth and return to the divinity that it was her birthright to reclaim.

How many lifetimes had Tsunade lived, drowning in guilt and agony, watching helplessly as her only child perished as a mortal, shedding fragile body after fragile body, unable to ever realise her true calling? How many heart-breaking tragedies had Tsunade endured, and how much had poor Sakura suffered? At long last, the hour to break the cycle of torment was almost upon them.

Her thoughts then took a more sombre turn. For all her joy, a significant part of her happiness was missing. Hestia was supposed to be with them. Hestia, who had been robbed from Demeter's side before the restrictions on all their abilities had been lifted. Tsunade still felt the pain of her dear friend's absence every single day. She knew how fond Shizune had been of her daughter, how she had looked upon her like a doting Aunt, and grieved the fact that she was no longer with them to witness Sakura's restoration.

A hand on her shoulder drew her out of her thoughts. She blinked, schooling her emotions, lips pursing together as she looked down at the crystal-clear, turquoise waters of the sacred basin cradling within it the pool that would transform her daughter into an immortal. Beside the basin were the remaining phials of blood that she had kept hidden and protected for millennia. Only a small volume of the amount she'd extracted and purified from Sakura's original body remained, but what was left would be enough. For divine blood was potent; even a single phial was sufficient to alter the chemistry of a human's delicate circulatory system.

"Almost there, Tsunade," Jiraiya murmured. "It will not be long now until you have her returned to you, safe and well and full of life, the way she was always meant to be."

Tsunade nodded, grateful in that moment that he had accompanied her.

"Thank you," she said, the words quietly spoken yet sincere.

Genuine surprise flickered across Dionysus' features, for rarely did she ever express open gratitude toward him. He recovered quickly. "Of course. Anything for you, old girl."

She met his gaze and found it to be earnest, full of kindness and genuine care for her. None of his usual irritating display of bravado was present, neither in the tone of his voice nor in his expression.

It filled her with a strange sense of warmth and peace, knowing that even if the whole world stood against her, Jiraiya would always hasten to her side. All she had to do was call out to him.

And she hadn't. For so many centuries, for millennia after the war, she had shunned him, blaming him for not being there to offer his help and support during Sakura's final dying moments, hating him for leaving them all to pick up the pieces. Back then, she had been blinded by her own grief, selfish and unwilling to acknowledge the fact that he had been struggling with his own crushing sense of worthlessness and failure after being incapable of preventing the deaths of Zeus and Hera, both of whom he had loved greatly. His way of coping with the trauma of war had been to drown himself in the bottle, to wander the earth as a nomad, placing physical distance between himself and problems he could never outrun by seeking out any distractions he could find to numb him to the misery of his own wretched guilt.

But not anymore. He had come back after receiving word that Sakura had vanished. And he had stayed by Tsunade's side ever since, despite her harsh words and treatment.

They had gone through a great deal together, and she realised that perhaps they were both finally done with turning away from one another, done with running. She knew his measure, for they had known each other for so many lifetimes. She knew he had always harboured deep feelings for her, feelings that had remained unchanging even when she had been with Dan, even when she had only ever considered Jiraiya to be an exasperating friend at most. But that had been back then. Back before she had gotten used to having him around. Back before she had grown accustomed to relying on the very one she had always convinced herself to believe was utterly unreliable.

What did her shifting thoughts and emotions mean for them, once the threat of Cronus was resolved? What did it mean for them, when there was a real danger of both of them perishing when they made a final stand against the greatest living threat to the world's existence?

Tsunade knew a large reason why she had always avoided addressing Jiraiya's feelings for her outright was due to her own cowardice. She had never wanted to change things between them. Or perhaps what she was truly afraid of was letting someone else in after suffering so much loss and pain. Perhaps what she truly feared was falling for him too hard, and too deeply, if she ever dared to take the plunge for another again.

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. There would be time for them to speak openly and honestly with one another later. There would be time to explore whether she wished to finally give him a chance, whether there could be a future for them if they survived the war. What she needed to focus on at that moment was Sakura's rebirth. She had immediately prioritised getting things ready for the ritual, and the crow that had dutifully followed her to the spring had mysteriously vanished upon her verbal confirmation that all the preparations were complete.

All that now remained was to await Sasuke and Sakura's arrival on the surface.

"I had better wait for them here," Tsunade perched on the basin's edge.

"Are you certain?" Jiraiya questioned. "We do not know precisely when to expect her arrival."

"There's no time to waste. They could arrive at any moment. I suspect that the crow returned to let Sasuke know that we're ready to begin."

"Very well, then. Naruto and Ino both expressed their desire to be present at the ritual, also."

"Go back and fetch them both," Tsunade told him. "Leave Kurenai and Shikamaru in charge while we work on restoring Sakura."

Jiraiya nodded, and lifted his hands, preparing to form the necessary seals that would spirit him back to the hideout. "I will not be gone long-"

The remainder of his words disintegrated into the void as a howling funnel of water exploded into being at the landing platform to the sacred spring. Tsunade immediately leapt to her feet, adopting a tense, defensive, battle-ready stance as they looked beyond the stairs that climbed up to the divine basin. Jiraiya instinctively stepped in front of her, snatching a blade from its scabbard at his waist.

As the water rapidly dispersed, a most shocking and dreadful sight was revealed to their horrified gazes. Tsunade sucked in a sharp breath of disbelief, feeling as though her heart had plummeted to her feet and straight through the earth itself.

"No…" she whispered in dismay.

The Titan Oceanus grinned up at them, hoisting Samehada onto a broad shoulder.

"Dionysus and Demeter," he greeted politely, cocking his head to one side. "What a happy coincidence this is. I must confess I had not expected any company, but encountering you here will surely make the decimation of this sacred spring all the more enjoyable."

~x~

Author's note

Did I really end it there? Yes. Yes I did. Please feel free to rage at me in the comments, all reviews are appreciated.