Prologue - Genesis

(an origin, creation or beginning)

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Three years ago

Post-Conclusion of the Fourth Great War

The medical team accompanying her had left hours ago.

At this point in time, Sakura was too tired to put any effort into being angry about it. Her exhaustion seemed to reach into her bones, making standing a difficult and conscious effort. But all of the fatigue was shoved back into the farther recesses of her mind as she concentrated on the task at hand.

His skin was colder to her touch than it should have been.

It wasn't a good sign.

Her analysis of the state of his physical body was not as complete as she wished it could have been, but it was thorough enough to point out more bad signs. His chakra levels were severely depleted – quite possibly absent. She wasn't ready to consider what it might mean if his chakra levels were completely drained.

"Give it up," a voice spoke close by, although in her deep level of concentration, it sounded faint and far away. "You can't remove him from that suspension without killing him. Go home, and let your family know you survived the war."

Sakura's unconscious mind filled in details; the voice belonged to a jonin she roughly estimated to be somewhere above the age of forty. His statement was weary and resigned, and somewhat fatherly in its delivery, but she had no time for parental concern.

It had never been her intention to dignify the comment with a response, so it came as somewhat of a surprise when a familiar voice deigned to reply in her place.

"You can attempt to dissuade her until you're blue in the face, but she won't stop trying until he's out of there," came Sai's calm voice, soft but deep. Even as she continued to concentrate on the chakra she extended beyond her fingertips, Sakura felt a small wave of relief wash over her at his presence.

Out of her line of sight, the older jonin wrinkled his nose. "Why? He was as good as dead the second that Kabuto got his hands on him. Even the Hokage wouldn't be able to do anything for him now."

Silence stretched out for a moment until Sai formulated his reply. "Because Yamato-senpai is an important member of our team," he explained slowly, as if never having rehearsed the words before, pausing to examine the unnaturally fatigued slant to Sakura's posture. "And our team is our family. And we don't leave family behind."

Although it was probably undetectable to most, Sakura heard the hesitation in his voice that revealed he was somewhat uncertain of his own conclusion.

Without lowering her arms, she turned her head to smile at him, meeting his dark eyes and feeling relief at the obvious healthy pallor to his features. "Sai," she acknowledged, fondness leaking through her tone.

He stepped closer to her, and when a similarly attired male followed Sai's advance, Sakura took a moment to truly notice him. A bit taller than Sai, his pale brown hair was also short-cropped, and bright green eyes peered at her with a hint of respect that she was left to wonder how she had earned.

"This is another former member of Root. He was trained in advanced sealing techniques also, but his area of expertise differed from mine. I thought he might be able to assist you."

Sakura was sure that there were very few moments in her life where she was suddenly awash in such a large wave of gratitude such as the one she felt now. Unbidden, a tear slipped down one cheek; she dashed it away impatiently, a shaky smile on her face.

"Hello," Sai's acquaintance - whom she had never seen let alone met before – said to her, a tiny hint of a smile on his features as he closed the rest of the distance between them and stood at her side. "I've never had this one ask me for a favor before. I was surprised, to say the least."

Sakura found herself at a loss for words; her mouth worked for a minute, but the exhaustion combined with the intense mixture of emotions she was feeling prevented her from being able to articulate her thanks.

The young man seemed to understand her unspoken sentiments. His smile widened slightly, and he nodded before turning his focus to the unconscious figure suspended in the cavern wall before them. He raised his own hands to the mysterious wall, and Sakura finally allowed herself to lower hers now that someone else was attending to the matter.

She kept silent while the ANBU whose name she didn't know concentrated on the task at hand, and Sai watched as Sakura unconsciously gnawed on her lip, a nervous habit that didn't escape his notice.

It was very likely rude to ask for someone's help without asking their name, but now was hardly the time for introductions.

Although it was probably only a few minutes, the time seemed to stretch out and loom in front of Sakura endlessly until he finally dropped his hands and turned to her.

"I believe I know how to undo the sealing and get him out," he started slowly, his words paced, alluding to what would come next. Sakura felt a hot rush of tears well up in her eyes at the relief that his words brought, but she swallowed and forced herself to save them for later. "However, the only thing keeping this man alive is the sealing technique that he has been suspended in. It appears to be acting as a type of life support. Once he is removed from it, he will likely go into cardiac arrest."

"I can handle it," she replied softly, and he took a moment to digest the determined gleam to her eyes before he continued.

"That isn't all. As I presume you can see, his chakra levels are basically undetectable. Whatever has been done to him appears to have drained massive amounts of his chakra. It's likely that this sealing technique has been feeding his internal organs the necessary chakra to sustain them; once we remove him, he may also go into multi-organ failure."

Closing her eyes, Sakura drew a deep, unwavering breath. "Do it. Please," she added, hoping that her tone didn't sound ungrateful. "Sai?"

The dark-haired man swiftly came closer to her until she could feel him at her left shoulder, his body heat radiating off of his chest and warming her arm almost instantly.

"Be ready to catch him and lower him to the ground," she instructed briskly. Sai watched as she deftly withdrew a tie from her pocket and pulled her hair back into some semblance of a bun, her face suddenly morphing into something he recognized too well as her medic facade.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" she asked the other Root member.

Something undetectable was reflected in the stranger's eyes as he seemed to examine her, take her measure. "I won't need any help getting him out. Once he's out, however, it will all be up to you. I'm afraid my expertise doesn't stray into the medical field."

"Get him out of there," Sakura spoke gently, her words carrying an unmistakable weight, "and I'll be eternally grateful."

He took a moment longer to stare at her before breaking her gaze. When he finally did, he gave her a satisfied, short smile and a nod before clasping his hands together. Faster than her eyes could follow, he performed an onslaught of hand seals, brows knit together in concentration. Following the last hand seal, he abruptly extended one hand forward to slam into the wall beside the person suspended horizontally inside of it.

With a splurching sound, the wall suddenly began to expel its occupant from his entombment. Sai learned forward, grasping the man's shoulders and waiting until his knees finally were free to start lowering him to the ground as gently as possible.

Sakura barely waited for his feet to be expelled before she gathered chakra into her hands and put them to his chest, kneeling down next to him.

Their assessments had been correct; it was immediately apparent to her that he was in cardiac arrest.

Yamato looked so lifeless that she felt her heart seize up and seemingly contract within her chest. Without a moment's hesitation, she sent a shock of her chakra directly to his heart, attempting to jolt the cardiac muscles into responding and beating on their own.

The first attempt was unsuccessful, and she continued to send waves of charka shocks to his heart while simultaneously extending a separate stream through his body to assess the condition of his other organs.

They hadn't shut down, yet, but they would. Sai's former comrade had been correct in his assumption; the chakra that had been helping to sustain thousands of Zetsu clones had left Yamato's body terribly depleted, without enough to maintain his own bodily functioning.

Sakura knew in that instant that medical chakra was not going to be enough to revive him.

Jade eyes swung up to the two men quietly observing her, hands never ceasing their task as they sent waves of energy to his heart in her best attempt to keep his blood circulating adequately to his brain and body.

She could hope that neither of them were well-versed enough in medical jutsu to realize that what she was about to do wasn't medical jutsu at all.

Although she had observed it first-hand twice, Sakura had never attempted it before in the field or otherwise. But if there was ever a time to employ forbidden jutsu that she wasn't supposed to know in the first place, she figured that it would be now.

Without hesitation, her hands formed the seals and began to pump her own life-force into Yamato's body, as Chiyo had once done to her.

If the pink-haired woman was good at anything, it was control. She wouldn't give him enough of her life-force to kill her as it had done to Chiyo when she had revived Gaara; the devastation done to the Kazekage's body had been far more detrimental than the damage to Yamato's body.

The effects were almost immediate. Abruptly, the shocks of chakra to his heart became redundant as it began to beat on its own, faintly at first but growing with intensity as she continued to flush his chakra pathways with her life energy.

With fascination, she looked on as Yamato's cells were stimulated by her life-force into producing their own chakra once again.

When his heart beat a steady, even rhythm, she released the jutsu, satisfied with the progress that his body was now making. The sudden fleeing of her vision and the wave of dizziness was unexpected; she felt herself teeter backwards, only to come up against a warm, familiar chest that supported her back while gentle arms gripped her waist.

For a moment Sakura closed her eyes and rested with her back pressed against Sai's front.

After all of her hard work, she refused to pass out before ensuring that the results were adequate. Opening fatigued eyes, she reached out for Yamato's hand.

It was warmer than her own, now, and as she reached a few fingers around his wrist to check his radial pulse, she felt a huge lump forming in her throat at its healthy cadence. His skin had a healthier, richer tone to it.

When she finally looked up, Sakura met the bright eyes of Sai's acquaintance. "I don't know how I can ever repay you," she told him, finally giving up at holding back the tears and letting them fall unbidden down her cheeks. She felt a few slip off of her chin and splatter onto Yamato's hand. Given his previous condition, she figured he wouldn't mind a little salt-water.

The ANBU member smiled down at her, a curious tilt to his lips that suggested the woman before him was a puzzle that he hadn't quite been able to solve. "There's no need."

The unnamed man's eyes shifted to Sai, and that was the last thing Sakura saw as she started to fade out of consciousness. Strong, steady arms wrapped around her back and under her legs, lifting her and tucking her against a broad chest.

"Now I see why you would ask me for a favor for the first time in your life," the man spoke to Sai in a muted tone that still managed to reach Sakura's fading ears, "for her."

Sakura wanted to ask that if Sai was carrying her, who would carry Yamato? But her body was limp, somehow existing as if feeling featherless and yet too heavy to lift a limb or open her mouth.

Sai's reply never registered as she slipped fully out of consciousness.

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Five Weeks and Two Days Later

Konoha Hospital

After more than a month of being dead to the world, the first thing that reached Yamato's ears was a rather unpleasant feminine screech that almost made him wish he could go back to sleep. But he awoke nonetheless with a strange, heavy feeling, as if he had severely overslept.

Confusion racked his mind as he tried to remember what had happened in his last waking moments. Nothing came to mind, and as frantic thumping noises and a panicked girl's voice clamored in the background, he struggled to fully drag himself into consciousness.

The hospital room came into focus after he blinked a few times to clear up thick, bleary eyes. A figure moved into his range of vision, easily recognizable by the shock of long, platinum blond hair.

"Oh my god, you're awake!" the boisterous blond proclaimed, and Yamato couldn't help but wince at the unrestrained volume of Ino's voice. "The nurse is on her way. Sakura is going to kill me, you know! She's going to be furious that she was gone when you woke up."

Had he been able to find his voice quickly enough, Yamato might have voiced his question of how on earth he could be held responsible for when he woke up as if it were a choice.

Sitting up was somewhat of a struggle, but Yamato did it slowly and carefully, leaning backwards and breathing deeply. "How did I get here?" he asked instead, fighting the grogginess.

"Kabuto took you," Ino stated, pulling a chair close to his bedside and plopping down on it, ponytail swishing with her motions, "We took you back. End of story!"

As his dark eyes slowly passed over the room and its contents, they landed on a crystal vase full of fresh flowers and stopped to examine them, wondering who had brought them. In Ino's presence, the unspoken question became relatively short-lived.

"They're from Sakura," she informed him, crossing her arms over her chest. "She buys fresh ones twice a week for you. Normally she picks them up and brings them herself, but she's gone on a short mission, so she asked me to do it for her."

As she spoke, Yamato factored in certain phrases that hinted at the fact that his stay in the hospital had not been short. "How long?"

Yamato watched her fidget for a moment, clearly uncomfortable with having to answer the question. "Over a month," she finally admitted. "You were in pretty bad shape. I hear you almost died. You were very lucky."

His silence following her statement was almost deafening, and Ino wiggled restlessly until she couldn't help but fill in some noise.

"Do you want to know what they mean?" she asked him, and his drooping but somehow intent eyes rose up to meet her own, brows furrowing slightly. "The flowers," the blond hastily added. "Sakura picked them out herself, you know. They teach us these things in the academy."

He didn't object, so she hopped back up onto her feet and approached the flowers, touching them with a fond hand as she explained.

"Peonies for healing, geraniums to signify comfort. Hydrangeas for perseverance, pink tulips for caring, and pansies for loving thoughts. I was impressed; forehead really was paying attention in those classes."

Before she could continue, two purposeful figures rushed in through the doorway. The Hokage's green overcoat trailed behind her as she entered swiftly and methodically, a harried nurse at her side.

Realizing that she was crowding the hospital room and that her presence was now redundant, Ino took her leave. As she exited their line of sight, she couldn't help but notice that despite the fact that Tsunade had started talking to Yamato, his eyes still remained fixed on the vase of flowers on the stand beside his bed.