His Death
by xspirit.shinobix
"Come on, Naruto. Let's go sit on the couch." The pink haired kunoichi motioned him to follow. The blue-eyed blonde ran after her, slightly uneasy about the serious tone of voice she had used; visiting him to her house at such a short notice. She sat down and patted the seat beside her. Naruto nodded and sat down. As he was moving about to get comfortable, he paused to feel her emerald eyes staring at him from behind. Moments later, he turned around to face her.
"What did you want, Sakura-chan? Seemed like a bit of a surprise, visiting me and all…" he inquired, grinning, but he had a feeling he knew.
"Naruto…" she hesitated, as if to carry on the painful conversation. "…we need to talk."
He was right; she was going to talk about that incident. "Ah, Sakura-chan, ano, I don't think…" he stood up quickly and tried to walk away, but Sakura grasped his hand before he could leave, as if holding for her own life.
"Please, Naruto. It's just a talk…" she said softly, slightly lowering her eyes. Naruto had never seen her so…defeated. "I want to talk about it. I don't want to keep on holding it inside."
He gazed at her anxious face, and he understood her feelings; it's exactly how he felt as well. Forcing a pained smile, he sat back down. "…All right, Sakura-chan."
Sakura gazed back at him, with mixed emotions, as if she doesn't know what feeling to show to him first. "I…he…" she started, still clutching onto his hand. "Naruto…is it my fault? That he left? Where did I go wrong?"
Naruto shook his head vigorously. "No! It's not your fault, Sakura-chan! You did everything you could, right?" he protested. "It was his own choice, and you tried your best…you didn't do anything wrong…!" he was speaking rapidly now, as if he would die if he stopped talking. "I promised you that I will bring him back…I will, I will--!" his grip on Sakura's hand grew tighter as he spoke.
She smiled sadly, her eyes shining brightly, tears starting to fill her emerald eyes. "Thank you, Naruto…I knew you'd never give up on that promise…but now, it's no use. Even you know it, Naruto. And yet you still try…"
He tried to argue, but no words would come out; his eyes desperate. "I…"
A lone tear trailed down her cheeks, and fell onto Naruto's hand. "He's…not coming back…right Naruto? He's gone." Sakura tried her best not to cry; tried her best to keep her face even. She knew crying won't do anything; Naruto had once told her that he had been tired of that. He didn't want to show his weakness, and Sakura has always been impressed by his courage, his endurance.
'Crying won't bring him back!' Sakura said to Naruto, yet tears rolled down her face as well.
She had said to him, and she full-out believed it. But what now?
Naruto lowered his head. "I once had a dream, you know?" he said weakly. "He was back with us in Konoha…everything was back to normal…you were real happy to see him, I remember…you smiled so big, Sakura-chan." He paused for a moment, as if trying to recall the dream. "I was glad, too…we had missions like before; it was great." He looked at her, the hurt smile never leaving his face. "You and I…it must've been the happiest time of our lives. But…it was just a dream. I woke up, and life went on."
"Naruto…" Sakura said forlornly. Tears were now trailing down her cheeks with no end.
His bottom lip started to quiver, and he bit down on it, trying to stop it; he felt his vision getting blurry. Now all he could see was nothing but a fuzz of pink and red. "But…did he have to die…? I want to know the answer…we worked so hard, trained so hard, just to bring our friend back…and when we were so close to getting him, he's gone. Forever. All we've done…all that training, all those missions to get him back, pursing Orochimaru and Akatsuki…were they all wasted? Do they have no meaning?"
Sakura's eyes widened at Naruto's statement; it sounded like nothing that he would've said before. Her eyes grew frustrated. "How can you say that?! Do you actually think—"
"I don't know…" he cut her off. "Really, Sakura-chan. Before, I would've never said those words. I believed that we would bring him back. I believed that someday, all our hard work would be paid off." He sniffed a little, and continued again; this time, his voice slightly cracking. "…But now, I don't know, Sakura-chan. I don't know what to believe. We kept on running and running, but in the end, all we did was meaningless. I wish this wasn't true…that this was just a big nightmare, and that I would be waking out of it any second. I tried so hard, Sakura-chan. So hard to think that we'd get him back. But I was wrong..."
She moved closer to Naruto, and put her arms around his. "I had always…always hoped, prayed that we wouldn't have to mourn over him when we were old. Somehow…I hoped everything would be all right in the end, like one of those happy endings in a story, right? " she sniffed and blinked back her tears. "I…I wish he was still alive…wish he was still with us…" she sniffled again, but this time, she couldn't bear it any longer. Breaking out in a sob, she wrapped her arms around him, shaking. "Uu…Uwuu…Sasuke-kun…!" she wailed, tears staining Naruto's black shirt. Naruto closed his eyes, and a tear fell down, across his whisker marks, and dropped on Sakura's head.
"Sakura-chan…" he embraced her, trying to comfort her, and himself. "That bastard…Sasuke…he didn't have to die…he could've stayed here, with us…" he hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan…I let him die…" he put his head on his, trying to hide his sorrow.
"I'm sorry, I broke the promise…"
Both Naruto and Sakura had quieted down, after Sakura had brought them some warm green tea to soothe their mind. They seemed to feel better, after letting out all the stress and sadness that was building inside of them for days. Sakura scooted next to Naruto and leaned her head against him. "Thanks for being there for me when I needed you, Naruto. I feel a lot better now." She smiled.
"It was nothing, Sakura-chan. Even I feel happy myself." He grinned his foxy smile in return.
Sakura looked down at her feet. "Naruto…you wouldn't leave me, right? You wouldn't ever…I know how it feels to lose someone, but I can't even imagine what it would feel like if you were…" she gulped, staring at him with big sparkling eyes, filled with grief and wonder. "Naruto would never leave…right?" she trailed off, talking to herself now.
Naruto knew what she was trying to say. He wrapped his arms around her. "Sakura-chan, I'll always be there for you. I won't die…I would never—" before he could finish, Sakura lifted her head and pressed her lips softly onto his. Naruto stilled, his eyes widening in surprise. Slowly, she pulled her lips away from his face and smiled, leaning against him again.
Naruto was lost in words. "Sakura-chan…I…"
She closed her eyes, her expression calm and content, giving into the warmth of Naruto's body. "Promise me you'll always be there for me, Naruto."
A/N: This is pretty serious...it's not that good, since I'm not used to writing such...sad stories? 3
Please Read and Review!
Shimizu: Yes, Sasuke dies...poor Sasuke...wait...I don't really like him...
Sasuke: Hn.
Shimizu: D: stop being so...emotionless!
Sasuke:...
