I apologize for not having written anything in so long, I blame it on my obsession with drawing rather than writing things out. Anyways, 12 hours in a car can do strange things to a person's mind, so don't blame me for writing something so horribly angsty.
I put this up on my deviantart account (hammy-chan) as well, just so you don't think i stole this.
Please read and review in hopes the abs of Sai don't seek repayment
Gomen, I apologize again for my lack of stories in the last six months.
enjoy
Two Souls for One Moment
by Hammy Uchiha
Each step brought her pain. It washed upwards from her ankle as she walked slowly keeping her eyes focused on the back of the boy in front of her. Sakura refused to let her eyes wander to either side, refused to let them catch the names written on the stones. They passed large stones and smaller ones, clumped as they were among their kin. Her heart pounded in her ears as the ankle gave yet another protest as she stumbled on the loose gravel that paved her path.
This can't be real.
It was a nightmare she thought forcefully to herself. Any second now she would wake up to find that she was back in her bed, the day before the big mission the Hokage had planned and that none of this horror had ever happened, that she had never suggested the team split up, and she hadn't wasted chakra giving Naruto a powerful smack when he protested the idea. She was convinced that this was a nightmare; her only evidence to the contrary was the all too real throb in her ankle.
Ahead, Naruto stopped and turned back to wait for his teammate, watching with pained blue eyes as she limped doggedly on. He could only imagine what was going through her mind. Her green eyes spoke her firm resolve to see this through, as well as her fear. Within minutes she had reached him and without word he again took the lead. He led her down the long line of stones. They had not spoken in days… not since…
Naruto stopped and shut his eyes for a moment, he vaguely wondered if it took as much courage for her to make this journey as it did him. He moved aside to let her see the stone he had stopped in front of.
It was a simple stone, same as all the many that surrounded it, though less worn by time, fresher, a new stone. The others around it were grown over with weeds and grass from several years neglect, something someone should have done something about, but had not dared. None of these things Sakura noticed as she glanced at the stone, not wanting to read the name inscribed upon it, but she had to, and so she forced her emerald eyes to look at it. Forced them to travel down past the leaf symbol of their village to the name.
This is just a nightmare.
Her heart tore in her chest as she reached the name, reached the truth she wanted to know but was afraid to discover.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto watched the pain wash through his teammate's face as her knees turned to mush and she sank to the cold February ground. He clenched his teeth to focus himself from the pain beginning to form in his throat. He couldn't bear to look at the empty expression on Sakura's face and he turned away. Just seeing her hurt was more difficult for him than facing his own. The cold steel colored sky frowned down on him and he scowled back at it. A sharp gust of wind whipped at him and he turned back to Sakura. She had not moved even an inch, her green eyes lost on that stone. Naruto wanted to reach out to her and tell her it would be okay, but that felt too much a lie.
'Watch out for her.'
Naruto clenched his teeth again feeling helpless as he looked at her rigid frame locked in that position, that feeling. Darkened clouds were sponging the edge of the horizon and he glanced to his watch.
"Sakura-chan?" he asked breaking the horrible silence several minutes later. She did not move, did not hear his words. "We should get back, I promised I wouldn't be late to meet Hinata-chan for dinner and it looks like a storm's coming in… Sakura-chan?" She still had not moved an inch. Naruto bit his lip nervously, he couldn't make Hinata wait but he didn't want to leave Sakura here alone either.
What a horrible Valentine's Day this is turning out to be. He gave it a quick moment of thought before making his decision. Quietly, Naruto unzipped his coat and walked towards the pink hair kunoichi. He draped the coat over her shoulders. "Don't stay out too long," he whispered quietly. She did not respond as he hesitated before turning to walk off.
'Watch out for her.'
"I am… teme," muttered Naruto trying to push the broken voice out of his head, trying to the swallow the pain rising in his chest.
Time had stopped for Sakura, the nightmare dissolved beneath the unalterable reality. A single thought replayed over and over in her mind like a broken record. A thought she knew others had identified to her as a lie but deep in her heart she knew it was the truth. The awful, gnawing truth.
It's all my fault.
She did not notice the coat that had been wrapped around her shoulders, or the warning of her friend. A sharp ice flavored wind rocked her and something small cold and icy met her cheek. Sakura blinked and looked upward as snow began to spiral down from the sky.
Her ankle angrily informed her she was at her limit. She could not keep up with either of them, could not continue to butt her way into their business. She had given him little help since the beginning excluding the quick fix up of the broken rib which he wouldn't have got if it weren't for her. She had managed to score a couple of chakra powered punches for him, but those were few and he didn't appreciate her effort. Sakura backed out again, watching with a sickened amazement. They were both so skilled, it made her feel foolish thinking her own skills were pretty good. It wasn't a calculated fight, though it may have started out that way. Neither had much if any chakra left and what remained was a fast paced taijutsu.
Sakura managed to dodge out of the way as the two swung past her, cold, terrible anger creasing their faces. Several attempted blows later, Itachi finally sent Sasuke spiraling back, stopping to catch his breath and wipe a small stream of blood from his lip. With a quiet curse, Sakura made her move. She had intended to break Sasuke's fall but he caught himself panting heavily. She reached out to him as he furiously wiped the blood from a cut on his cheek. Sasuke knocked her away with a trembling arm.
"I told you to get out of here!" he snapped angrily as she stumbled backwards, her ankle crying in torment. Sakura swallowed and resolved herself against his words, that tended to sway her when barked angrily. Sasuke glared at her cold resolve for a moment before launching off again, lunging at Itachi, bloodied fist intending to return the blow. He was tired beyond reason; Sakura could read it in his sloppy form.
Itachi blocked it easily, knocking Sasuke hard to the dirt. The younger Uchiha lay still, his heavy breathing the only sound. Sakura made a dash forward, maybe hoping to get a hit off the older Uchiha, maybe hoping to help Sasuke. Itachi caught her punch and twisted her arm fiercely. Sakura let out a squeak of pain, forcing the scream down in her throat. She glared at him violently before trying to yank her arm from him. His grip was tight and Itachi fixed an evil smirk on her.
"You're starting to get on my nerves girl," he said coldly, grip tightening. Sakura winced and she suddenly felt very ill. At this rate he was going to shatter her wrist, suddenly Sasuke had forced himself between them, dealing Itachi a sharp smack straight to the face. Sakura fell back panting, and feeling incredibly dizzy, massaging her aching wrist. Itachi rebounded from Sasuke's blow with ease and intended to send his younger brother flying. Sasuke dodged the blow and leapt at his brother again, angry fist out to even the hit count. Itachi caught Sasuke easily tossing his younger brother off like a limp rag doll, taking Sasuke's sword as he did so.
Sakura rushed forward, if Itachi had a weapon Sasuke was in danger. Her ankle cried out again as she ran and sent Sakura sprawling in the hard cold dirt. Her mind was reeling with the burning pain of her ankle. She reminded herself that the ankle felt better than it had been feeling before, thanks to a quick heal to numb off some of the pain, but she had no chakra left to expend on such injuries. She saw the older Uchiha now coming at her, Sasuke's sword drawn and ready to kill. Even as she realized what was happening she struggled to push herself to her feet, but it was too late, he was already upon her.
Terror tore through Sakura as she realized it was too late to dodge, too late to do anything. She did not scream but forced herself to face the oncoming sword bravely.
As a kunoichi, as a ninja of the hidden leaf village.
Just when she was positive it was over, she was knocked back as Sasuke shoved his way in front of her, hand blazing with the very last of his chakra.
She could only watch in horror as the sword came through the back of his shirt glistening with his blood, barely inching from stabbing into her own heart. Only stare in absolute horror as the younger Uchiha swayed. Sakura shut her eyes unable to watch.
This can't be happening! This can't be happening!
There was a dull thud as a body hit the ground and Sakura opened her eyes, half expecting Itachi to be looming over her. Instead it was still Sasuke and still the sword, so close that an inch or two closer and Itachi would have stabbed them both. Sakura dared to glance beyond Sasuke, only to see that Itachi lay not far away, a Chidori hole the only sign of his death.
"You…alright?" coughed Sasuke wearily, looking over his shoulder at her, a true smile curling his lips. It was short lived as he gave another shuddering cough that racked his whole body as he swayed backwards.
"Sasuke…kun," Sakura choked as he went down. She caught hold of him, but his weight combined with the pain of her ankle sent her to the ground. She winced silently as the sword point clipped her side on the way down. He coughed again, a trickle of blood running over his lip.
"Help me," he choked reaching for the sword, it was cutting off his ability to breathe. Sakura reached two shaking hands to help him get rid of the sword. Clear of the sword Sakura could see how bad the wound was, it needed to be healed and quick. She reached for her chakra, but there was little left, maybe barely enough for a bad gash, but not for the wound they were talking about. With trembling hands she fought to form the hand seals, even if there wasn't enough, she still had to try.
"Don't… don't bother," Sasuke whispered shutting his eyes in pain. "The Akatsuki make their moves in groups of two… his teammate could be here at any minute."
"No…no…" whispered Sakura trying to smile confidently, "He missed the vital spot… you're gonna be okay," she said, more trying to convince herself than him. "And if Itachi's buddy shows up… I'll kick his butt for you," she whispered forcing a smile to her trembling lips. She tried to gather the chakra in her palms, but it was a very dim glow. She gently pressed it to the wound, but she could barely keep the dim green light at her palms. She swayed forward feeling sick as the glow faded away beneath her fingers, the wound unchanged by her efforts. Sasuke groaned softly. Sakura was all drained of chakra. Her head spun as she tried to focus.
"Hang on Sasuke…" she whispered reaching for her pack with still shaking hands, but her pack was gone; Sakura slapped herself mentally for having not bothered to retrieve the pack when Itachi had knocked it off. Desperateness began to fill her like a flood. He was losing too much blood, she tried to stanch the wound with his shirt. His cringe tightened and Sakura felt a bubble of fear rising in her chest. She looked up and around desperate for someone…anyone.
The landscape was bleak; there was no one, except her and Sasuke, and the slate grey clouds.
Sakura looked back to the Uchiha, he was beginning to look pale. She reached a hand to his face. He shuddered at her touch. He was covered in a cold sweat.
"Sakura…"
"Save your strength," she whispered softly, feeling something wet welling up in her eyes.
There's nothing I can do.
Suddenly something cold and wet stung her face and then another. Sasuke edged open his onyx eyes.
"Snow…" he murmured quietly, he cringed and opened his eyes again straining to see Sakura as if she were hidden from him by mist. "Sakura…" he whispered "there's…"
"Save your strength," she said again, more forcefully.
"There's…something…"
"Shut up," she choked, tears spilling out of her emerald eyes. One landed on his face.
"Don't cry…" he murmured reaching a trembling hand to her face, she held it close to her cheek. "Still…so annoying," he whispered, a smile curling his lips. Sakura choked out a laugh, tears still running down her face. A fierce wind met them then, tearing at their clothing and hair. Sasuke shuddered, his hand slipping from Sakura's. He groaned in pain. Still trying to hold the cloth to his wound Sakura wrapped her arms around Sasuke and held him close. The wind rushed at them again as snow swirled down filling the air with thousands of tiny flakes. Sakura scanned the horizon, tears rushing from her eyes.
"Someone… anyone…" she whispered softly. Sasuke let out a shuddering cough, gasping in pain.
"Naruto? NARUTO!" she cried feeling more helpless then she had ever felt before.
"Sakura…" his breath tickled her ear.
"Sasuke, don't speak…"
"It's your turn… to shut up," he choked, "Sakura…" his voice trailed off as he tried to gather the breath to speak. "Go…gomen," he whispered at last.
"What?" Sakura asked confused by the Uchiha's apology.
"I'm sorry," he said dimly.
"What the hell are you sorry for?" she demanded. Sasuke struggled as if to look her in the face but he was too tired and sank weakly back to her shoulder.
"Everything," was his quiet response. Sakura felt her heart sting, this sounded too much like last words.
"You don't have to apologize…"
"I do… you're…" Sasuke gave a shudder and a racking cough. Sakura's face crumpled in worry.
"Sasuke…"
"You're… an important person…to me…" he said softly his voice falling into another painful cough. Sakura cringed. She wrapped her arms tighter around him and her hand met something damp and warm.
The back of the wound.
She felt tears return to her eyes.
How could I have been so stupid?
Gently she pressed her hand to the wound; she needed to stop the bleeding or what he had just said could really be the last words. Weakly she rested her head on his shoulder feeling suddenly slightly dizzy. She was exhausted. The tears would not stop now, running down her cold face as the snow continued pricking her with cold fingers.
"You're crying again," he murmured.
"I don't want to lose you," she whispered in a crumbling voice.
"Hn," he shifted his head slightly and gave a raspy cough, "If I had to go…I'd rather it… be like this…" he murmured. Sakura choked on her tears gripping him tighter.
"Sakura… you're…" Sasuke coughed "making… it hard… to breathe," he choked. Sakura loosened her hold on him.
"Sorry," she whispered quietly, there came a weak sigh from the Uchiha, as he sank heavily against her. Sakura could suddenly feel the warmth of blood against her hand on his chest.
"Sasuke…?" she whispered. There was no response from the Uchiha. A sob fell from her lips. She buried her head in his shoulder.
"Don't leave me," she whispered in terror. Sakura looked to the bleak surroundings. The snow was beginning to accumulate and help was still nowhere in sight.
"Naruto? Naruto where are you?!" cried Sakura desperately. "NARUTO!?" Sasuke was going limp in her arms.
"No…no…" she sobbed. "Don't leave me Sasuke, don't… don't…" she choked, her head was spinning. Why couldn't she help him? Why was she so useless?
Arms numb, lungs aching from the wild bawling that choked her body, Sakura felt the world began to grow dark as she was so tired… white flakes of snow mingled with the crimson…
A voice so quiet came to her ears in the darkness.
"If I had to die I'd rather it be like this, here with you, Sakura…"
----
Sakura's eyelids slid open, she felt dizzy, hungry and tired at the same time. It was so bright in the room where she lay, with white, white everywhere. It took her a moment to adjust to the light but as soon as she was awake she realized exactly where she was. It was an all too familiar place.
The hospital.
She wasn't quite sure how she had gotten to the hospital or why she was there, but the moment she tried to move, her ankle reminded her. It came back in flashing vivid pain. Instantly Sakura was terrified, she moved to sit up and found she barely had the strength to but she managed it and pushed herself to the end of the bed.
That's when she noticed him.
Head of blonde hair buried in his hands, he sat on a chair by her bedside. Her heart was thundering in her ears in panic now.
"Naruto," she choked in a hoarse voice, "Where's Sasuke? Is he alright?" she asked, eyes pleading with him to tell her he was alright. Naruto made no reply. "Naruto, answer me!" she begged pushing herself out of bed. Her legs trembling and shaking threatened to give out beneath her. "Naruto! Tell me he's alright!" she cried desperately grabbing him by his shoulders.
He lifted his head to look at her, his blue eyes empty, he shook his head slowly.
"What do you mean by that? He's going to be alright then, he's just down the hallway asleep, but…but he'll be okay, right? Right Naruto?" she found herself breathing heavily, emerald eyes begging him to tell her that Sasuke was fine. Naruto put his hands on her shoulders effectively stopping her wild jerking of his.
"No, Sakura-chan" he said in a strained voice looking her in the eye. "Sasuke is dead."
------
The cold touch to her cheek was like a gentle kiss, it brought Sakura's eyes back down, touching her cheek sadly where the snowflake had landed. She shivered in the coldness of the day. The heavy clouds overhead were beginning to look threatening and Sakura shivered again in the bitter cold. She realized then that there was a coat over her shoulders. Sakura clutched it tighter, biting her lip in a feeble attempt to hold back the tears that were already forming in her eyes.
If I had been stronger, this wouldn't have happened.
The first tear leaked from her green eyes and furiously she fought to wipe it away, but in moments that single tear had become a torrent and weary sob came from her throat.
It's all my fault.
The wind sifted through Sakura's short petal colored hair. A barrage of snowflakes swept past her face and she shivered. The snowflakes were so thick in the air, landing on her eyelashes and in her hair. Sakura sank forward to the cold ground, still crying. Her slender body shook with each sob, but the sobbing slowed and sleep descended upon her.
Sakura's bare feet moved silently across the smooth wood floors. She was wandering down a hallway in a house that felt familiar but not quite. Distantly she could smell something cooking. The house was colored with the hues of late afternoon. She wondered who lived here and more importantly if they would be annoyed she was wandering around in their house. She turned a corner to see a long hall that led to two sliding doors that were open. She could see the veranda beyond the doors and a man sitting on the edge. Carefully she approached, her feet moving of their own volition. As she got closer she could see the emblem on the back of his shirt and a shrill cry fell from her mouth as she stumbled into a run.
Sakura fell to her knees wrapping both arms around him with a weak sob. She pressed her face to the back of his shirt, tears running down her face. Sasuke fumbled with the knife he was holding as he was suddenly attacked from behind. Clumsily it slipped from his hands and fell into the lake where his bare feet were dangling. Her wild crying was jerking at him as he struggled to hold onto the plate of tomato that he had just finished cutting into the perfect sized pieces. She had one of his arms pinned in her frantic embrace and the plate was quickly slipping from his one free hand.
"Sakura, Sakura please stop," he said trying to shake her grip, but she just tightened her hold, to a short gasp of pain from the Uchiha.
"Stop it," he said in a strained voice. She let go sitting back on her heels.
"You're alive!" she gasped wiping happy tears from her eyes.
"Do I look alive to you?" he grumbled, "No, Sakura I am dead."
"But… you're being sarcastic… aren't you?" she asked.
"No I am very much dead," he said looking back to the lake and picking up a chunk of tomato. He devoured it quite quickly.
"But… if you're dead then…"
"…where are you?" he said finishing her sentence, and looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She nodded. He shrugged with a little grin. "I don't know, if you're here you're probably dreaming or something, I wasn't paying attention during the orientation," he said eating another tomato chunk.
"It feels like home," she murmured sliding over to the edge of the veranda to dangle her own feet in the water.
"Hn," he answered nodding quietly, "Tomato?" he asked at last holding out the plate.
"No," said Sakura quietly, looking out across the small lake. There were many Lilly pads floating on its top. Trees surrounded the lake, their leaves different hues of red and orange, wherever she was it was fall.
"It's actually rather nice," he said softly almost more to himself than her, "A little quiet maybe, a lack of talkative people perhaps…"
"Sounds like just the place for you," Sakura said. Sasuke shrugged.
"I guess," he grumbled, pushing the tomatoes around on the plate, "It can be lonely here…"
"It's lonely back in Konoha without you," said Sakura quietly.
"Tch," he grumped pushing the plate at her. "You can't be lonely," he said moving closer, "You've got Naruto, and Kakashi," he said moving the tomato chunks from one side of the plate to the other. "And that Sai person, the rest of those six from the academy, the guy with caterpillar eyes brow's team, your family and the entire village," he said pushing the plate into her hand. Sakura stared at the plate, feeling stupid.
"Gomen Sasuke," she said giving him back the plate. "If I had been stronger… you wouldn't be here, we could be out eating dinner for Valentine's day…" she said the tears coming back again.
"You couldn't have done anything," he told her.
"But…"
"Stop crying, the tomatoes can't grow in the rain," he said looking thoughtfully at the sky.
"The rain?"
"You start crying it starts raining," he grumbled eating another tomato chunk.
"I'm sorry," she said again. The sun was getting low on the horizon.
"You've probably got until dusk," said Sasuke quietly offering her the plate again. This time Sakura took one.
"I don't want to leave you," she said. Sasuke shrugged.
"It doesn't matter what you want," he said eating another one. He nearly coughed it back up when she caught him in her tight embrace.
"Agh, stop it," he grumbled with a groan of pain.
"What?" Sakura released him. Sasuke tugged up his shirt to show her the bandage around his chest where the wound had been.
"Does it hurt?" Sakura asked.
"It hurt like hell when I got here," he said tugging down his shirt and pushing the empty plate away from then. "Someone fixed me up alright after that, and it hasn't hurt much since then," he murmured. The sun was setting beyond the trees.
"You're probably going to have to leave pretty soon," said Sasuke thoughtfully.
"Have to leave?" she asked with a smirk, "Are you going to kick me out?"
"It depends," said Sasuke returning the smirk, "Just shove you into the bottomless lake and I'm sure you'd wake up right away."
Sakura caught hold of his arm and pressed her face to it, "I'm going to miss you," she whispered. His rough hand touched her face, a thumb wiping away her tears. He lifted up her face.
"You've got a life left to live Sakura, good bye,"
"What?" asked Sakura, the world was beginning to tear away.
"Come visit again, some dream,"
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"
"Sakura-chan?"
Sakura was thrown back to the snowy world; she sat up rubbing her forehead.
"Naruto-kun?" she asked in confusion.
"I just wanted to check on you," said Naruto awkwardly, "And it's cold out and you were just sleeping out here," he said.
"Oh! Gomen Naruto-kun!" cried Sakura at once pulling off his coat and pushing it into his hands.
"I didn't want the coat back, I was worried about you," said Naruto.
"Oh," said Sakura quietly, "I'm…I'm fine," she stammered brushing off her clothing, Sasuke's warm face still fresh in her mind.
"That's good to hear," said Naruto happily.
"You want to come to get ramen with us?" asked Hinata.
"No, no, I'll be fine," said Sakura getting up and shaking her head vigorously.
"Are you sure?" asked Naruto.
"I'll just be a hassle, you two go on ahead," said Sakura, "It's Valentine's Day, it's your day," she said.
"Sakura-chan?"
"I'm gonna go home, I'm hungry," said Sakura
"Okay Sakura-chan, if you don't think you'll be too lonely," said Naruto.
"I'm fine, I'm not really ever alone," said Sakura.
"Okay…?"
The pink haired kunoichi bowed to the stone before walking off, still limping just slightly.
"What did she mean by that, Hinata-chan?"
"I…I don't know N…Naruto-kun," said Hinata.
"Aren't you both girls, surely you know what she meant by that," insisted Naruto. Hinata blushed.
"No, N…Naruto-kun, I really don't know," said Hinata.
"That's strange," said Naruto scratching his head in confusion. Then with a short bow to the gravestone he dragged Hinata off to dinner.
It turned out a whole lot better than I was thinking it was going to.
Please review.
-Hammy Uchiha