SasuSaku - Past Selves

Chapter 17 - Rebirth

This was the worst day in Suigetsu's life. First, he got butchered up while trying to aid Sasuke in his battle against his brother - he was no match for Itachi.

One swing of his sword, and Suigetsu was down. He essentially experienced that day, before being brought back unexpectedly, waking up to sobbing Sakura. It felt like a dream - more like a nightmare. The battle had died down. It was quiet. Sakura kept yelling, but he couldn't process her words. *How is she here? Am I in heaven?* he thought.

Now, he was standing in Sasuke's bedroom in the hideout, except he stood there looking down at two bodies connected with a tube full of blood.

His heart was in his throat, holding back tears. He did not know what to think. He tried his best to follow Sakura's instructions, who sounded almost manic and delusional.

He knew zilch about medicine, and suddenly he was out there performing top surgeon level operations on none other than Sakura herself. He spent four hours assisting her in an operation that would make any sane person vomit.

Sakura was clearly trying to keep her composure, but was clearly in debilitating pain as they slowly extracted chakra from her. Half the time, he had no idea what was happening - he was just passing her tools and needles. *How can he separate her own chakra from Sasuke's?* Suigetsu couldn't imagine the level of mental focus and strain it must have taken.

That's why after four hours, Sakura collapsed in Suigetsu's arms. He secured a little vial of what looked like.. lightning? It was very strange for him to see. *So this is what extracted chakra looks like. It's like liquid?* he thought to himself.

He had no time to ponder. He picked her up carefully, and laid her down on bed next to Sasuke's lifeless body. It was an imagery that shattered his heart, but he stayed focused. He followed Sakura's directions, and placed a needle in both their veins, connecting it with a plastic tube. Soon, he saw blood blowing from Sakura's arm into Sasuke's.

He waited for a few minutes per her instruction. He didn't know if Sakura was dead or alive. He could not find her pulse, but he noticed she was taking the smallest breaths. He decided to believe it was a good sign.

*Poor Sakura,* he thought to himself as he waited for enough blood to flow. *Is she sacrificing her life for something futile? Sasuke is clearly dead, and she is engineering some prototypical treatment that's endangering her life.. Maybe I should have removed her from here and forced her to accept the reality...* He sighed. It was time. He moved onto the next step. He took the liquified chakra, and stabbed the mark on Sasuke's heart with it.

Nothing. *I don't know what I expected,* he thought. *That he would just jump up and start dancing?* He buried his face in his hands. He felt so vulnerable and helpless, with two of his friends lying before him, unclear if dead or alive.

He couldn't tell if it was working. The liquid chakra had all been absorbed into Sasuke's body. *What do I do now?* He sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. He couldn't get himself to leave them alone. His head was pounding, hands shaking. Within seconds, he lost consciousness due to a combination of sleeplessness and stress. He leaned his hand on the wall, and closed his eyes.

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It felt like waking up from a dream inside a dream. The cold air on his face felt like an illusion. He saw geometric patterns and abstract shapes blurring in and out. He could have stayed like this forever. In fact, it felt like he stayed like this forever, stuck in between multiple dimensions, floating around. His metaphysical journey was interrupted when sharp pain pierced his heart, and Sasuke flung his eyes open.