Set several years after the Fourth Shinobi World War. Sasuke has returned home; Sakura's been poisoned.
Inspiration: On Everything – K'jon feat. Seven The General, Paradise - Coldplay
Two-Shot.
Her racing heart thundered in his ears, and Sasuke was all-too-aware that each beat could very well be her last. He dared not blink, lest in that split-second darkness she would slip into oblivion. His hands clenched the metal edges of her bed, knuckles bleaching white, afraid to touch her. He was afraid that he would grasp too strongly on her hand and kick her heart off to its death – so he remained there, connected to her with only a wire, and a disc-shaped piece of metal. He brushed back the hair falling into his eyes with a shaky hand, fingers smoothing over the stethoscope. He fervently hoped the metal wasn't too cold on her skin – perhaps her body heat had heated the metal. He longed to rub the stethoscope between his palms and cause her less discomfort, but he was afraid these were her last heartbeats and he'd be damned if he missed them.
"Please," he whispered, distraught. She didn't hear him, eyes closed, lungs dragging in fast, shallow breaths. Sasuke listened to the sound of her heart, pounding out at a feverish pace, strong and loud in his ears. He reveled in the slippery lub-dub of life in his ears, relishing that this heartbeat was hers. He was relieved to hear that her heart wasn't faltering or weakening, but that did not alleviate his fears.
It was a race against time, her heart galloping a thundering beat, trying to outrace the poison that plagued her veins. Both the poison and Sakura's heart were reaching their climax, and Sasuke could only stare in petrified horror at her pale face, heart jumping into overdrive in his ears. Naruto was as white as a sheet, eyes flickering between ruby and sapphire, half his attention on the skyrocketing heart monitor and Sakura. The blond didn't have to ask what was going on – the frantic beeps of the large machine on his right screamed enough. Shizune watched fearfully from the left side of the bed, hovering over the young woman. There was nothing she could do. It was all up to Sakura's heart now, and her rate of regeneration. Not even Tsunade could speed up Sakura's cell-regeneration process to this high of a rate… it was much too risky, considering the poison trying to paralyze her heart.
Sasuke was crying now, big fat tears that rolled down his cheek and fell silently to the floor. He furiously blinked them away, hands gripping the stethoscope so hard he feared it would break. He jammed the ear-pieces further into his ears, and Naruto stared at him helplessly. He stood in a swift, violent motion, lip curling into a soundless snarl as her heartbeat faltered and stuttered. Unheeding his previous cautions, he leant forward and smashed his mouth on hers in a clumsy kiss, his other hand buried in her silky locks of hair.
It didn't do anything. Her heart did not restart into the wondrous, resilient thundering – it continued the frantic, choking beats, dropping a beat or two in the fight against poison. This was no fairytale, and a silly little kiss wasn't going to magically bring her back to life. Sasuke roared, pleading to hell and back that she would miraculously pull through, because now he realized how much she really meant to him. But it was too late. She was dying, and she didn't know how much he loved her. She never would, because Sasuke had been too stupid and foolish to tell her before. She was dying because he couldn't pluck up enough goddamn courage to save her life. He was sure that if she knew he loved her, she'd have the strength to pull through. But she didn't. So he yelled and screamed his heart out but they rained against deaf, unconscious ears. Rage spent, he collapsed back into the bedside chair and silently felt around in his pocket for the spare kunai he carried, determined to end his life if she did, too. He'd stolen every one of those heartbeats she needed from her. Every skipped beat, every faltering pound.
"Can't you give her my heart?" he begged Shizune, "I'll give it to you, right here and right now." She looked at him with glossy, melancholy eyes. Her voice was soft.
"Sasuke, as I told you before, that isn't possible. She'll die before she can receive the donor heart… and she might not survive the transplant because you are her heart. She might not have the will any longer… and I don't say this because I think she needs you to survive, I say this because I know Sakura. She's lost you too much, Sasuke. This would only be the final blow." Her voice scaled octaves as she tried to speak steadily through her sobs, but in the end she gave up and turned away from the two shinobi, covering her face with her hands. Sasuke swallowed hard and touched her face, gently this time. It broke Naruto's heart to watch. He ran his large hands through her hair, tracing the curve of her face and placed a chaste kiss on her mouth. He breathed hard, unwilling to let her go. He was in a losing race against Time and Death, and he was falling behind fast. And then his hands were everywhere. Her waist, her neck, her face – and he hugged her to him, gently, sliding into bed with her. If she was already dying, no need to worry about jostling her, right? He pulled her into his arms, raking in shuddering breaths against her hair. He shut his eyes for the briefest seconds and focused only on her slowing heart, sneering hatefully at his own, pumping loud and strong and full of life. He only wished to tear it out of his chest and replace it with hers instead. That's what he deserved. He could feel the violent, drumming heartbeats in his chest, loud and clear. He loathed every second of it, because he could hear her heart beating in weak synchronization with his. And then she started to fall behind.
Horror choked Sasuke's throat and his own heart began to stammer wildly in his chest, and he cursed the healthy muscle, wishing to die with her. But life wasn't fair. He held her tight, pleading raspily in her ear, sobbing, ordering her to stop it right now and to come back alive. He threatened her, he begged her – but it did nothing to save her heart. Her heart, though weak and giving out, mustered strength seemingly out of nowhere – just like Sakura, Shizune admired – and began the hardest race of its life. Each laborious, swift beat was bittersweet torture for Sasuke, her heartbeat kicking up like humming bird wings, every ounce of energy in her pouring towards keeping her heartbeat thundering at the fast-set pace. It railed valiantly against the poison, struggling to keep up, and Sasuke wished desperately his heart could do the work for both of them. It didn't matter if he died – only if she lived. He cursed his traitorous heart, mocking her in its strong, resilient pounds, deep and loud. For a moment he thought her heart would win the race, would miraculously keep up at the pace it had set, but as it neared the final lap, it faltered once and speed and strength's wings fell from its back. Sakura plummeted, and Sasuke couldn't help but think that if he'd never left in the first place, she wouldn't be fighting a losing battle for her life.
He watched with terrified eyes as her heart slowed, glided on tattered, failing wings. A strangled cry ripped from his throat as her heart lost against the poison, struggling to beat as the poison finally reached her heart. Paralysis took over, and Sakura faltered out her last several heartbeats. All was silent, the monitor beeping too long and far apart… and then it flat-lined. Sasuke's sharingan turned itself on, scanning her vitals, desperately searching for a way to counteract the poison, hoping against hope that she was still secretly alive – but all he saw was the last signals in her brain going off.
Pump. Pump.
Sasuke forced her heart into action, using his sharingan to infiltrate her mind, and in the middle of its last breath, copied her library of medical ninjutsu, and began to pump her chest, heart thudding with the pressure of his hands. Hope leapt into his throat and created a maelstrom of butterflies, and in an incredible display of skill, strength, and control, and with the aid of her regeneration system, he forced air into her lungs and kept her heart manually pumping. Time passed, and though her brain was still alive, she wasn't keeping herself alive. Sasuke pressed on, refusing to believe she was dead – because she was living and breathing underneath his hands. Shizune begged him to stop, out of fear for his sanity, but Sasuke refused. He kept on pumping and kept on forcing, shaking off the hopelessness and commanding Sakura to live, pleading, and after the shock wore off Naruto was at his side, channeling his chakra into her, closing his eyes and reaching deep within himself, hoping the Kyuubi would help him, would lend Sakura his regenerative powers. Sasuke forced air into her lungs over and over, begging that she would start to breathe for herself, that her heart would flutter to life under his hands.
Naruto, meanwhile, was warring with the Kyuubi. He stormed the gates, fierce and determined. Twin, malice-filled crimson eyes leered out at him from the darkness. Confidence simmering down his spine, the blonde approached the gates commandingly.
"Lend me your power," Naruto ordered. It wasn't a request. He lifted his chin high, head defiant. "I gave you my body, my life. I let you half-destroy me every time we go to battle. You damn well owe me some shit, and I still have final say in whether you live or die."
"Che, don't get cheeky, you little brat," growled the demon, battering against the gates. Naruto did not back down.
"Fucking hand it over, kyuubi. I could stab myself in the heart right now – in fact, I will if you don't help Sakura. When she goes, I go."
"You love her that much?" the monster taunted, but Naruto did not rise to his bait.
"Yes, and so does Sasuke. I will do it, kyuubi. It ain't no empty threat. I always keep my promises." This time, the demon could sense the truth ringing in his words. He knew Naruto well enough to know that the blond wouldn't back down, and pondered for a while. "Hurry the fuck up, kyuubi, she's dying now!" Naruto growled, venomous. The fox glared at him from behind the bars and finally acquiesced, letting the regenerative powers flow into Naruto so in turn he could use it on Sakura. The blond opened his eyes and flew into action, cutting his palm and letting the blood drip onto her chest. Sasuke shifted his hands so Naruto could have some room while the blond drew hurried seals over her body. The kyuubi worked his hands, eyes red and whiskers prominent. As the seal was finished, chakra trickled steadily into the medic. Sasuke continued CPR and chest compressions, his heart beating violently against his chest. Hope flew through him, wild and fierce, roiling like thunder in his chest. The lub-dub of her heart filled his ears, and he saw Naruto's regenerative chakra trickling into her body, spreading through the seals and fighting their way up her veins. As long as he kept her heart pumping enough to keep on moving blood through her veins, she would possibly survive. Sweat rolled down his face and mixed with his tears, but he ignored the discomfort and kept her heart going, breathing for her, scanning her body with sharingan. At last, Naruto's chakra repelled all the poison surrounding her heart, working furiously to repair the damage. And when it finally reached her heart, her brain sent out one tiny signal in response. Sasuke had never wanted anything more in his life – he watched with wide, frantic eyes as Sakura finally began to respond under his touch, brain slowly coming back to life. He pulled his hands away from her chest, listening intently and still blowing air into her lungs as her heart faltered to life. It gave a tentative beat, faltered, paused, and stammered out another one. His hands hovered over her chest, ready to start pumping for her – but with the aid of Naruto's chakra, it swiftly began to build up a steady pace. Sakura coughed weakly under his mouth and he pulled away, body on fire. Adrenaline crashed and roared through him, incredulous joy singing in his heart. He swayed and collapsed to his knees beside the bed, Naruto doing the same. Shizune faltered and then rushed forward, and she was the last thing Sasuke saw as he lost himself to the darkness.
He woke up, scant hours later, staring at shadowed, white-washed walls. It took several moments for reality to set in - and his eyes widened with fear, swinging exhausted legs over the side of the bed and shakily stood. He grit his teeth and ignored the pain from severe chakra depletion, stealing his way silently across the hospital to her room. He slid the door open as quietly as he could, closing his eyes and reveling in the beeps that greeted him when he stepped inside. Sasuke silently closed the door and felt relief flood through at him at the sight of Sakura, her chest rising and falling peacefully. She looked far from healthy - but she was alive, and that was all that mattered. Relief penetrated deep into his bones, and Sasuke wondered how he could have ever lived without her. He came to her bedside and reached out, fingers ghosting, feather-light, down her cheek. She looked far too pale and sickly, and worry smothered him with its great, feathery wings. He tucked her in a little tighter, reaching under her chin with two fingers to check her pulse. Satisfied at the steady heartbeat pulsing beneath his fingers, he withdrew and silently disappeared down the hall.
Sasuke and Naruto were both discharged in the morning; Sakura woke up four days later. She refused to see Sasuke, bucking and fleeing from the thought like a wild animal, adamantly refusing to even let him into the room. Sasuke tried to deny it to Naruto, but everyone could see he was hurting. He had woken up to the realization that he loved Haruno Sakura, and saved her life in the process - and now she wanted nothing to do with him. He took it in stride, not wanting to press her. He disappeared deep into the Uchiha district, training to the bone and nursing his wounded pride and heart with distractions and being plainly horrible to his best friend.
Sasuke would never admit it, but every night he flitted past Sakura's hospital window, stopping at the sill for the briefest of moments to hear the reassuring sounds of the monitor hooked up to her. He closed his eyes and listened to her heartbeat before departing for home. Naruto demanded to know why she would not see him, to which she replied -
"He doesn't love me, Naruto. It's too much for me to take right now, okay? I have to let go and move on now." Sakura kicked him out of the hospital room at his protests and refused to see anyone but Kakashi and Ino for the next two weeks, trying to pick up the pieces of herself and trying to forget Sasuke. She held her head high, missing Sasuke's desperate stares and glances, ignoring him as much as she could, taking on a slew of solo missions, refusing to sign the documents that would make Team 7 complete. Her signature was the only one missing, and it appeared she was dead set on keeping it that way. She ignored the way her heart smarted and stung, she ignored the giant hole inside herself and tried to move on.
Now, it was Sasuke's turn to wait - and his hopes slipped and faded and locked themselves tight within his tortured heart when he witnessed Sakura on a date with a shinobi who'd confessed his love to her several years ago on the warfront. Sasuke said nothing, he never mentioned the pair of them, and he had to keep himself from breaking when she grew cordial and friendly to him, the Iwa nin's arm around her as she exchanged friendly banter with himself and Naruto and agreed to reinstate Team 7. He did not confess his feelings to her, feeling as if she was better off without them. He kept them nailed to a tiny slip of paper in his kunai pouch, four little words that could make or break him. He fell on solo missions himself, taking them as often as possible so he wouldn't have to see them together, ignoring Naruto's advice and wishing and dreaming about things that would never be. He told himself she deserved someone much better than he could ever be, someone who could give Sakura what she wanted, and began to disappear from her life. Sasuke missed the hurt-filled glances Sakura gave him, missed the way you could see her heartbreak, and didn't see the fear in her eyes as he grew more and more distant with each passing day. He collapsed in on himself and tried to forget about her, taking longer and longer missions until he found that he could only vaguely remember what she looked like. It was better this way, he told himself, and he almost believed it.
So I realized the end is kind of choppy, but no matter how much I tweaked with it and tried to wrestle more out of it, the more terrible it seemed to get.
Thanks for reading, guys.
To be continued...