Hey guys. This is, uh, me having the urge to write this incredibly angsty one shot. Its alarmingly depressing. But then again, being a teenager, I have two modes: angst and humour. That's it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and tell what you think. This is my first Naruto one shot after all!
Disclaimer: Naruto and all characters belongs to K. Masashi (lucky bastard).
Warning: Deaths, mentions of self-mutilation, and the breakdown of one's sanity.
Hysteria
He took Hyuuga Hinata first. Hard, fast, brutal.
No one saw it coming.
I should've known something was wrong.
There were enough signs. Warnings. Flashing lights and neon signs couldn't have conveyed what was coming any clearer than it already was. But I missed it.
Ironic, isn't it?
They call me the smartest kunoichi in Konoha, and I missed it.
"No…no, please, don't…"
I can tell you, now, when it all started. It was exactly a year ago. Exactly a year ago that Tsunade left on a solo mission—she took one every year, just to keep her skills in check—and…things went…
He made her watch.
First Hinata.
Then…then…it was a blur…Kiba. Shino. Tenten.
Things went…wrong. So utterly wrong. They…attacked him. Hurt him. Punched—kicked—stabbed—mauled—
And he didn't retaliate. He just lay there, bloody, hurt, in pain, curled up in a ball, lying in a pool of his own blood. He didn't retaliate. He didn't hurt them—those bastards never would've stood a chance against him if he had. But he didn't. He didn't.
"No, no…what have you done…"
It took five of us to break it up. Neji, Genma, Iruka, Kakashi and me.
Lee Shizune Chouji—
"No, no, no, stop it, stop it, stop it—"
Five of us and several broken limbs on their part for them to get the message. He didn't get up after we left. I healed him, and Kakashi carried him to the hospital to recover. His wounds healed within a day.
He didn't speak for a week.
Shikamaru. Ino.
"Please! Please! Stop! Oh Kami, INO!"
He changed after that. Slowly, but surely, his moods grew darker. He stopped eating ramen. Sometimes I'd find him atop Yondaime's head, staring into space, scars criss crossing over his wrist and arms. They were new. They were raw. And more just kept on appearing.
Neji.
"I tried, Sakura-chan. I tried to be good enough for them. But it's never enough, is it? I'm just a monster. I'm just a monster."
His eyes. Once upon a time they were cobalt blue, deep and gorgeous and so so innocent. Now…they were reddish, slits and full anger and…
Genma.
"Stop crying, Sakura-chan. Stop crying. Stop crying. STOP CRYING!"
But she didn't. She just cried.
I don't know how I missed it. How I missed all those signs. I was so buried in my own issues—work, hospital, heal, fight, fight, fight, fight for a life—I missed it. I missed it.
"Please, stop it…this isn't you…this can't be you…"
"SHUT UP!"
Iruka.
It's my fault. All my fault.
I missed it.
My fault…
He snapped.
And it's my fault.
"Just us, eh? Sakura-chan? Kakashi-sensei? Where's Sasuke-teme at a time like this huh? We could be Team Seven again…just the four of us…DAMNIT, SAKURA, STOP CRYING!"
A flash of blue, followed by a flash of silver.
Kakashi.
Once upon a time there was a boy. He had blond locks that stuck up all over the place, and cobalt eyes that shone with determination and innocence. He was a part of a team, a third of a team that would've taken the world by storm. If Sasuke-kun hadn't betrayed us, if I hadn't missed everything, if he hadn't…
She was so shocked she stopped crying.
And he started laughing.
"Unbelievable. At least he got something right, huh Sakura-chan? I'd protect you with my life if I have to, he said. Never thought it'd be against me…against Sasuke-teme…"
I missed it.
I missed it.
"We had everything, we had the world at our feet, and he left, and you killed everyone, and me, it's just me, just me, just me, just me--"
He laughed harder.
"Just me, and its all my fault—"
Blond locks that stuck up all over the place, streaked with the blood of our friends, reddish eyes that danced with sheer insanity.
I missed it.
And it's my fault.
"I missed it. I missed it. I missed it. All my fault. No, no, no, no, please, don't, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Tenten, Lee, Shizune, Chouji, Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, Genma, Iruka, Kakashi—"
All my fault. All of them…gone…because I couldn't be there. I'm the best medic in the Fire Country and…I couldn't help my best friend…
"Everything…"
I lost everything. Everything. My friends. My family.
My sanity.
He was laughing so hard there were tears streaking down his whiskered cheeks. Surrounded by blood, bodies, mangled limbs and before him was the shell of a girl, screaming nonsense.
The other was the betrayer.
He was insane.
She was broken.
"You…"
"Sakura-chan…"
"You…hurt them…killed them…how could you…"
He grinned. Blue chakra was gathering his hand.
"You killed them…Naruto…"
They were a team. They were meant to take the world by storm. But he betrayed them, she missed everything, and he was mutinied against by those he vowed to protect.
"Yeah. And you know what?"
Her eyes were wild. Her hair was more red than pink.
"I killed you too."