“Exactly,” I said tiredly. “Those who break the rules are trash, right? But those who let rules make them abandon their comrades are worse than trash. I’m not going to let you trick me into tying myself into a system of rules that would prevent me from standing by my family, Astoria. Now can we please concentrate of saving the world?”
My demon aspect struggled back to her feet as I spoke, and hobbled over to lean on my shoulder.
“Yeah, I figured you soft-hearted types would be all over that one,” she said wryly. “Come on, don’t disappoint me.”
Astoria stared at her. “You’re still alive? Um, wait, shouldn’t you be trying to stop us?”
“You’ve got to learn to see under the underneath, girl,” she replied. “Obviously Hild-sama’s moved on to a different plan, or I’d have a Nidhogg connection right now. So, the next step?”
Astoria frowned, but resumed her typing. “Well, alright. Worldwide blessings are managed by the Office of Intervention, so they aren’t under your direct control. I’m sending you the reactivation request form now. It’s already filled out, so all you need to do is sign your name and submit it.”
Another panel opened, this one covered in dense paragraphs of celestial script. Great. Apparently even Heaven had paperwork.
Not being an idiot, I took a minute to read it over to make sure there wasn’t a vow of pacifism or something buried in the fine print. But it seemed like it really was just an interdepartmental request form, so I signed it and pressed the ‘Send ‘ button at the bottom.
Two heartbeats later a golden glow unfolded across the sky above us.
“You’d think someone was just sitting around waiting for us to send the request,” I said dryly.
Astoria smiled shyly. “Of course they were. I’m still getting caught up on the details, but I think someone important has been planning this for a long time. Just so you know, interdepartmental requests are always tied to the system clock instead of your local timeline. So even if you use that wish to backtrack again the Office of Intervention will still have your paperwork on file, and they can reactive the blessing immediately.”
“That’s a relief. What about my system account?”
“Oh, that’s tied into system security,” she explained. “Time travel won’t affect it at all. Once you’re in the system, you stay in forever.”
“Sounds handy. So, about getting a replacement?”
“Ummm, that might take some time,” she replied, her eyes darting between me and something off-screen. “I think the big shots were expecting you to take the job. You know, the rules really aren’t as bad as you’re thinking…”
I snorted. “Astoria, I’m a ninja. A nice one, I guess, but I’m not like you and I don’t want to be. If I took the job I’d do it my way, and you guys would be looking for a way to get rid of me in a matter of weeks. It’s better not to go there in the first place.”
“But, Sakura,” she said hesitantly. “You have to know that you’re dying. Can’t you trust us, just this once?”
A groan from Naruto interrupted me before I could formulate a response. Naturally, by the time he got his eyes open there were four anxious kunoichi gathered around him.
“What happened?” He mumbled.
“We won.”
Naruto listened gravely as I brought him up to speed on what had happened while he was unconscious. Our Hinata emerged from his mindscape via a shadow clone during my explanation, and eyed her counterpart warily as I spoke.
“… so we’ve more or less won, but it wasn’t exactly an unqualified victory,” I finished.
“Yeah, I’m not too happy you had to sacrifice part of your soul to the Shinigami,” he said with a frown. “But if I understand this time travel stuff we can get her out of that with a reset, right? You’ll still be missing that piece of yourself when you go back, but the sacrifice won’t have happened so the Shinigami won’t have her either.”
“I think so,” I confirmed. “The Shinigami is part of our world, so I’m pretty sure it has to live in normal time just like the rest of us. That’s what it looked like when I saw it, at any rate. So yes, the next time we reset the part of me it took should either go back with me, or just vanish from the time stream. But I’m only going to last a few hours like I am now, and that’s if I don’t do anything that would use up chakra.”
“Oh, that’s easy to fix,” he said confidently, and turned to the younger version of me. “You’re the same Sakura, except still mortal and kind of crazy from Sasuke’s brainwashing, right?”
She nodded. “Pretty much. But I’m totally devoted to you and Hinata, master, and if you give me some time I can turn myself into whatever you want.”
“What I want is for you to merge with her,” he said with a wave in my direction. “She can fix your brain and make you part of the loop, and you can replace what she sacrificed and make her mortal again. Astoria, she isn’t going to suddenly get locked out if that happens, is she?”
Astoria sighed petulantly. “I suppose we’re just going to have to let you do things your way, aren’t we? No, she’s already claimed her birthright. At this point the only way she can lose it again is if she falls to darkness. Besides, now that she’s felt immortality I imagine she’ll be able to form a pure kami aspect at will.”
“Sweet! Thank you, sir!” My copy turned to me with a gleam in her eye. “Open up, big sis. Here I come!”
She stepped into my mindscape while I was still frozen in shock, trying to figure out if Naruto’s crazy idea would work or not. She poured herself into me, and for a few moments I was very confused indeed. We didn’t have enough chakra between us to fully remove the conditioning she brought with her, but after Naruto’s command she was eager to let me do whatever I wanted to with her in the name of making us come out sane. With that kind of cooperation, turning her brainwashed mindset into a sleeping aspect was relatively easy.
Sweet warmth flooded my limbs as her soul integrated with mine, filling all the aching gaps the Shinigami’s touch had left behind. A soft shudder rippled through our mindscapes, and the hidden spring that fed my pool o chakra began to flow again.
I was alive.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, and resolved never to summon the Shinigami again. When my awareness returned to the outside world Naruto was talking to the two Hinatas.
“I don’t deserve to be happy,” the elder Hinata was protesting weakly. “Not after what I’ve done. Whatever fate you had planned for Sasuke, you should do the same with me. Let this bright young girl become the real Hinata, and wipe away all my long lifetimes of failure.”
“It’s true that you’ve made some big mistakes,” Naruto said judiciously. “Sakura wouldn’t have been caught if not for you, and you owe her big time for that. But the bastard still had you mostly brainwashed, and the Kyuubi tricked you. The fact that you want to make up for it counts for a lot with me. Hinata, what do you think?”
My Hinata frowned at her counterpart. “Right now I just want to punish her until she begs for mercy,” she said angrily.
“Please do,” the elder Hinata replied. “I deserve it. I shall submit to whatever you deem appropriate.”
Naruto frowned, but my Hinata spoke before he could.
“No,” she sighed. “I know exactly how much you must hate yourself right now, and I’m going to have to be satisfied with that. I’m just a ghost, and the only way I can truly live again is if we do what Sakura just did.”
“I see. Then take my life, little sister, and use it to give your Naruto everything that I could not.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” Naruto interrupted. “Do you really think I would have killed one version of Sakura to save another? Besides, I don’t want you to die, Hinata. I really was looking forward to meeting you.”