Promises Remembered

Part 2 Chapter 18

Part 2 Chapter 18

Sakura

Reunited

It seemed to take years, and yet somehow, no time at all. The sensations were the same as when she'd been thrown into the past, but the thoughts, the emotions that blurred together in the cold darkness, were different. Before, she had been terrified and confused. This time there was agony—agony and heartache so profound it couldn't possibly only have been hers.

As she was tugged through the dark—away from her baby and her love—Sakura felt as if she somehow experienced every drowning moment of sorrow Kakashi lived while they were apart. It hurt. So badly it hurt. She wanted to cry, to weep, but she couldn't feel her body. There weren't eyes from which to cry.

Hurtling through time and space, Sakura desperately hoped that this was not death. That this seemingly unending well of grief and despair was not the end. She would make it back to them. She had to.

She was so, so cold.

There was a blinding flash of light and her body—the body she was again keenly and suddenly aware of—felt warm all at once.

Kakashi

Her lungs constricted painfully around a choked gasp of air.

She could feel him

Eyelids refusing to cooperate, Sakura's shaking hands reached out blindly.

Where is he

Then, all at once, he was there. She knew it was him before his shattered voice even uttered her name. She felt as his chakra, as familiar and comfortable as her own, enveloped her senses before he ever touched her. As he gathered her into his arms, as strong and warm and safe as they'd been when she'd left him, Sakura knew she had made it home.

<KSK>

Kakashi

He had blacked out, the last of his hope expiring with his consciousness. Then Michi was hovering over him, holding something foul-smelling under his nose and mumbling something he couldn't quite hear. Blinking, remembering where he was, he pushed him away and rolled to his side and tore down his mask. As his eyes found Sakura, her body jerked with a harsh gasp.

She was alive.

"Sakura?" Her name was a strangled plea, hardly more than a whisper as he fought to stand. His body felt heavy and sluggish, but he had to get to her. She was alive.

"Sakura—"

Stumbling, he stood and somehow made it across the chamber. His knees crashed against the stone floor but he barely noticed the pain. She was alive. With shaking hands, Kakashi reached for her—brushing the hair back from her face, clasping the hand that searched for anything familiar, pulling her off the platform and into his arms.

"Sakura?"

Fluttering green eyes searched for his face amidst a sudden rush of tears. "Ka... shi?"

He tried to take a breath despite the knot in his chest, gasping roughly, her familiar scent filling his senses. Adjusting his hold on her, Kakashi tenderly brushed the tears from her face, unconcerned with his own. "Yeah... I'm here, Sakura. Just like... just like I promised."

She let out a shuddering, gasping breath. With obvious difficulty, she managed to get her arm to cooperate, her trembling hand scrabbling up the front of his flack vest to his face. Realizing what she wanted, he helped her, holding her hand against his cheek with his own. "I re—remember Ka... kashi. I remember."