Series of connected SSM19 prompts - not taken in the order given for the month. High Fantasy AU

Bewitched
x. Confluence

He speaks first with Tsunade.

He shares everything that Shisui has passed on to him, and they set to carrying Itachi's instructions out to the letter.

Then, he speaks with Sakura.

He does not have the gift of comforting words, so he simply explains as best he knows how, and details Itachi's plan.

"Your brother," she shakes her head, a note of astonishment in her voice. "I suppose I should have known. He spoke of you so often," she looks at him so carefully then, clearly merging what she sees with what she has learned, and he will not admit he fears she will find him wanting. Her smile is gentle, though, and her eyes kind. "When you first appeared in the garden, I was sure that I had met you before. Maybe this is why."

"No," He wants to say. "No, that's not it." But instead he says: "Perhaps."

Her eyes scour his now, and he has a sense that if he were to speak anything but the unvarnished truth, that she will know before the words leave his tongue.

"Do you think it will work?"

"I do."

"Then so do I," she sighs out what remains of her doubt and fills the spaces in between with assurance. "I trust Itachi, and I trust you. This will work."

And he hears her words as an inevitability willed into being and can only agree.

And when he comes for her just before moonrise on the night of the full moon, she tightens her fists at her side, whispers the words again as an incantation against failure, and strides into the darkness by his side.

When they arrive at the base of the tree Sakura's strangled sob of surprise catches him off guard.

"She is only meditating," Sasuke he is quick to assure her, nodding to the Witch who sits so still with her back against the tree.

Sakura kneels beside Tsunade and places a gentle hand on her shoulder, only to watch it pass through. "I suppose that was foolish," she stands with a sigh. "I forget we are not on the same plane."

"It is more than that," he explains, looking up through the branches, trying to gauge the rise of the moon. "Itachi bound you to this in-between place, and his magic is strongest at night. However, in her efforts to save you, Tsunade also tied her life force to yours. Simply put, there wasn't enough magic to sustain you both."

"Ah," she drops her palm into her open hand, "So that is why I wake in the night and vanish in the day?"

"Yes. When you are awake, you borrow from Tsunade's life force as well. That is why she has not been able to come to you."

"But… she will wake now?"

"Yes," Sasuke says, his form shimmering as he allows himself to appear in both planes at once. "She will wake."

"Still such a rude brat," Tsunade grumbles. "Is she with you?"

"She is."

"Good," the wrinkles in her face deepen with satisfaction. "Now all we need is that stubborn brother of yours."

"I can assure you," the voice is deep and resonant and lances into Sasuke with the most familiar of pangs, "that the stubborn brother was already here when I arrived."

Sasuke turns to see Itachi leaning against the tree, his arms folded in his cloak, the lines under his eyes deep and unforgiving.

"It's been a long time…. Sasuke."

"Itachi," he nods, and cannot give voice to the words spilling out of his heart. "Making things as complicated as ever, I see?"

"I suppose that's true," his chuckle is rusty. "Although this time, I really had intended to simply die without a fuss."

"Uchihas never do anything without a fuss," Tsunade mutters, eyes closed, brow furrowed. "Not a single one of you."

"Also, true."

"There isn't much time."

"No," Itachi agrees, "But there is enough."

Reality shimmers around Itachi, bending to his will and the vibration of his magic unbowed by death.

Sakura – who has remained silent but calculatingly vigilant – assumes a battle stance, eyes sharp and ready. The familiar static dances over his skin as Itachi steps into their space.

"It is good to see you again, Sakura."

"Itachi," she breathes, afraid to trust her senses, "Is it really you?"

"It is."

"And… and you are really gone?"

"I died," he lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "But I suppose I am not completely gone. Not yet. What do you say, Sasuke?" he holds up a small sphere of light. "Shall we get started?"

Sasuke nods, and Itachi places the swirling orb into his palm, which he immediately recognizes as the energy and magic that is Sakura.

"Call it."

So Sasuke does.

He reaches out for the warmth and the vibrancy that is at once as steadfast as iron and capricious as the laugh of the breeze through the leaves. He sends his magic out not to hunt, but to retrieve and embrace and return, coaxing the silk threads of her dispersed magic to dance against the flames of his own and spiral toward him.

As the orb gathers and forms in the cup of his palm – and then palms as it grows – Itachi places Sakura's hands above Sasuke's.

"Gather it," he whispers in her ear, and with a determined line to her jaw, she obeys.

Sasuke chances a glance at Itachi, whose voice echoes in his mind.

"Ask your questions, Little Brother."

"Why?" Sasuke asks. "Why all of this?"

"This was unexpected," Itachi's sigh is heavy. "Sakura's magic is formidable, and she is on the cusp of realizing it in full. My death served as an involuntary awakening, but she could not have controlled it. She would have traded her life for mine." He shakes his head. "I couldn't let her do that – not when the choice wasn't really hers. Not when I knew she would be so important. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough left in me to return her magic and her energy to her physical self. I could only contain it here."

"Then once we have freed her,…"

"I will go."

Sasuke frowns, but Sakura doesn't notice, as she concentrates on gathering and absorbing the energy spiraling between their hands.

"Do not look so sad, Sasuke. It is because of you that my final mission is complete. I may have contained her spirit here, but only you could call it to you and return her to the mortal world."

"Only because I've been too stubborn to die," he snorts. "If you were alive, you would have no need for my help."

"You are wrong," Itachi smiles sadly. "My magic may have anchored Sakura here, but it is your soul with which she is ultimately bonded. And do not pretend you have not sensed it, because I know you have."

Sasuke cannot help but look to Sakura – the mark on her forehead beginning to glow – and knows Itachi is right. She is as much a part of him as his own sinew and bone, even if he has no words for this thing that he knows to be true.

She looks up then, and there is eternity in the depth of her eyes and understanding in the curve of her brow. The last of her magic is spinning between their palms, and Itachi presses their hands together, clasping them tightly.

"This is what is meant to be," he says with a fondness impossible to fathom. "This is what was always meant to be. There are no more answers for me to give that the two of you cannot find on your own." He releases them, then, and presses a kiss to Sakura's head. "Thank you for everything."

Before she can answer, Itachi's two fingers are pressing lightly on Sasuke's forehead, and his form is beginning to fade. "I'll see you next time…. Sasuke."

And then, there is nothing but stillness, and the murmur of leaves overhead, and the first hints of dawn in the sky.

"Well," a familiar voice, huffs impatiently. "It certainly took you long enough."

Sasuke turns to where the hag had been sitting, but the crone is nowhere to be found. Instead, a woman with long, honey-blonde hair stands with her arms crossed impatiently over her expansive chest, even as she taps her foot on the ground. The voice is certainly Tsunade's but it rings with vibrancy and the prime of life instead of weary regret and age.

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura exclaims and leaps forward to throw her arms about the other woman as happiness flows freely down her cheeks. "You're alright!"

"I'm fine," she returns the hug and then puts her down with a gruff pat to the head. "When you reclaimed your magic, mine returned. I'd wager," she flexes her fingers, "that you even strengthened it. And you," she pins Sasuke with a pointed look. "Did you get whatever answers you needed from your troublesome brother?"

He looks not at Tsunade, but at Sakura, who has come to stand in front of him, eyes wide with question and searching his own.

And when he speaks, his voice is low and just for her.

"I found everything I need."

And without even a single answer between them, she takes his hands and his world is set to rights.

Tsunade sighs heavily, but there is no ire left in her. "Just when I thought I was done with Uchiha. Can't very well kick you out until I know there are no strange side effects waiting to take my apprentice away from me again. Don't dawdle, you two - there is still plenty of work waiting for us."

Her long, powerful strides put her well on the path back to the clearing, leaving Sasuke and Sakura in the protective cover of the Great Tree where echoes of Itachi's magic linger (and continue to for some time after) and where the world cannot intrude for just a little longer.

She looks up at him then, and he sees her choose her words with care.

"Now that Itachi is gone, and your mission is over…"

"Not according to your mentor," he interjects.

"Will you stay?" she blurts out. "Because if you have to go..Sasuke…I…I…"

And he knows what she would say, just as surely as he knows that his heart – once so fractured and achingly lonely – is irrevocably and unequivocally hers.

"Sakura," he taps two fingers against her forehead before tucking her arm in his. "It is time to go home."

And together, they emerge from the woods into the sun, ready to face the expanse of life before them.

-Fin-

This conclude the Bewitched miniseries! Thanks for reading!