“Sasuke!!” Naruto's yells where loud enough to drown out Sakura's sobs. A scream followed, emptying her lungs in one breath, then hitched in her throat, painfully. She swallowed a gulp of air through her choked sobs. Itachi's body lay limp mere meters from where they stood. He was bruised, battered, and broken. Lifeless.
Sasuke wasn't in much better condition, he withered on the floor, laying in a pool of blood as the wounds that scattered his body lay open to the air. Naruto, too, lay in the clearing, kunai and needles piercing his body, with Sakura kneeling over him, torn between which team mate to rush to, first.
She held her hands over Naruto's chest, and they where glowing blue with chakra. The rain cascaded through her pink hair, the wet droplets causing her hair to cling to her face like leeches. The trees cast uneasy shadows over the floor when the lightning stuck, causing her cheek bones to give her a drawn look. She slouched slightly, feeling her energy slipping away.
Slowly, but surely.
Slipping...
'I have to stay strong. Hold in there, Naruto, Sasuke. I will save you. You've risked you're lives for me so many times, now I will be the one to save you back. I won't let you die! “I won't let you die!!” The chakra flared, and she knotted her eyebrows in determination.
“Sakura, leave me! Kyuu.. I'll do the rest! Go tend to Sasuke!” Naruto's voice was thick with concern as he addressed the blubbering medic-nin. He looked up into her face, seeing the pain and regret traced in every worry line, every premature wrinkle his closest friend bore. “Please, Sakura! Don't let him die!” Naruto pulled a kunai from his shoulder, and tossed it to the side carelessly, as if to prove a point.
He reached his hand up to cup Sakura's cheek, and wiped a tear away with his thumb. “Please, leave me. I'll be fine. I promise you. And I never go back on my word. That's my ninja way...” He choked on the words, letting them fade off as he tugged a kunai from his leg.
“But Naruto! You'll die! I can't just leave you! If I..” She rambled on, panicked that both her team mates lay broken in her care, and she could only save one.
“I'll be fine! I promise! Go!” Naruto barked his commands at her, and she bit her lip, looking over him one last time before hurling herself in Sasuke's directions.
“What makes you so sure that I will save you?” Kyuubi's voice boomed around Naruto's head, reverberating off the walls of his subconscious.
'You need me to keep yourself alive. And face it, deep down, you love me, really.'
“And he still has a sense of humour when he's knocking on deaths door.” Kyuubi commented sarcastically. She began her heeling process on Naruto. He fought the urge to scratch where the tissue and skin was knitting back together, if it where any other time he would have laughed. He was very, very ticklish.
But now, all he was worried about was his old team. Sakura was exhausted. She wouldn't last much longer before her chakra drained out completely. He was proud of her. Sure, she spilt a few tears, but through it all, she kept herself together. She didn't let panic cloud her senses.
He gazed at Sasuke desperately, concern flooding his cerulean eyes as he fought back tears. A true shinobi does not show emotion. 'Fuck that.' he thought, as a desolate tear swam down his whiskered cheek to mingle with the dusty ground beneath him. 'Nobody can remain stoic all their life, not even Sasuke...' He watched, his heart tearing, and the boy he loved and cherished writhed in pain, gasping and yelping as Sakura dressed his wounds and began to heal them as much as she could.
”There you go kit. You should be able to stand up... But take it easy, I'm not totally finished.”
Naruto nodded mentally, and rolled on to his stomach, lifting himself up cautiously. He lifted his knee experimentally, and cringed as pain shot through his leg.
“You said you healed it.” He whispered through gritted teeth, his eyes clenched shut with anguish.
”I did, but that doesn't mean you're going to be up and about skipping amongst daisies, does it, kiddo? It's still going to hurt.”
“Damn Kyuu, it doesn't hurt,” he retorted defiantly, still whispering, out of earshot of his old best friends.
He stood up slowly, wobbling uneasily. His body racked with the effort, but he plodded forwards none the less.
Sakura shut her eyes, and hummed to herself as she held her arms over her pained ex-team mate. She couldn't bare to see him in this agony. She forgave him, for everything that he put her through. The distress, the bitterness, the heart-ache of seeing Naruto so torn up.
I forgive you.
Sakura felt her body getting heavier, and she couldn't hold out much longer. Her chakra was almost at it's limit, and would render her unconscious until her strength returned. Still with her eyes shut, she began to chatter incoherently to Sasuke.
“It's a good job we found you now. Then you can come to mine and Lee's wedding. We've been dating for over two years now, and he proposed to me on my 18th birthday. Isn't that great? I could get you and Naruto to be my flower girls. I reckon you'd look adorable in a pink dress.. and.. a... a matching.. hat...” her voice trailed off as she felt herself slipping into a coma. Two hands rested themselves on her shoulders, and she felt her chakra begin to flow again. But this chakra wasn't hers. It was familiar, but it wasn't hers. She turned round, and her eyes widened in disbelief.
“N-Na-Naruto! W-What are you doing?! You shouldn't be up?! You can't be up?!” Her voice was shrill as she retorted against her sight. She looked away, and concentrated on Sasuke again, deciding it was just her wishful thinking, her mind filling her sight with sweet deception. Why ruin it?
“Almost there.” Naruto's voice was calm, unperturbed. “We're going to make it.” Sakura smiled despite herself, and when she knew she'd finished, she let go of the jutsu, stopping the chakra flow.
“Thank you.” She whispered, and she passed out. Naruto caught her neatly, before her head hit the ground, and lay her beside Sasuke. He wasn't squirming any more. He lay in silence, a pale, almost porcelain hand lay delicately across his stomach where his wound was part healed and bandaged up. He gazed at Naruto thoughtfully, and said blonde sat down beside him.
They sat in comfortable silence, both staring at nothing in particular, eyes roving the trees and the bushes while deep in thought. Naruto thought of Sasuke. Would he be the same as the cold hearted bastard he was when he was 12? How much has he changed? Would he even come back to Konoha?
“Dobe, I'll come back. I'm in no state to run away from you, now.” Sasuke spoke as if he had heard Naruto's thoughts. His voice was hoarse from yelling many a battle-cry, but otherwise his voice was just as stoic as it used to be.
“You will? I mean, you couldn't run away from me even if you where in top condition” Naruto boasted, conceitedly.
“Same old Naruto... Besides, I don't think I could bare to stay away from you, any more.” His hand shifted across the ground, searching for Naruto's. Naruto contemplated this for a moment, considering weather or not to take his hand or not. He reached out, and wrapped his tanned fingers around paler ones. Sasuke clung on to it tightly, lacing their fingers as dark eyelashes fluttered over onyx eyes, and he let sleep overrun his senses.
Naruto half smiled, half frowned. He'd missed Sasuke, sure.. but could he forgive everything he'd done? Sasuke had tried to kill him. Well, physically. Sasuke didn't know it, but he'd taken Naruto's heart with him, and Naruto couldn't take it back. Sasuke's was a part of him. He broke me, I don't think I can forgive him for that. But I don't want to live without him. I can't...
Doubts, new dream, memories, hopes. His mind was running on overload. Deciding to go to sleep and clear his mind, he lay down between Sasuke and Sakura, pulling them both against his sides so their heads lay against his shoulders. Placing a soft kiss in both rose and raven hair, he drifted off to sleep, and waited for the ANBU rescue squad to arrive. No doubt Tsunade was having a fit right now...
[Reviews - 2]
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: Hey! This took me absolutely ages to write!
But near the end, Phwoah was I on fire! XD
Lol :] Please rate and reveiw, and I'll update next chapter as soon as possible. ^^.
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I dont own anything but the story line! No copyright infringment intended. ^^