Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Ah, even though I haven't read or watched Naruto in the longest time, it's still sad to see it end. This story right here is the result of said sadness haha. Enjoy and please take the time to review.
Prologue: The Day I Met My Daddies
"This isn't happening."
It's becoming increasingly difficult to breath, let alone speak. What the hell could I possibly say to make things better-to make things easier?
"Please, Sasuke... tell me this isn't r-really happening right now..."
There's a thousand things running through my head, so many things to say to comfort him, but I can't speak around the large lump in my throat. I'm astounded by my ability to keep the burning behind my eyes in check, knowing that one of us has to remain strong. Naruto was the emotional one, not me. I rub a hand over my face, trying to hide the trembling of my fingers.
"Dobe," I take a few steps closer to the hospital bed where Naruto is slumped over, shoulders shaking.
There's a few minutes where he just cries, unapologetic about soaking the linens with his tears. I place a hand on his back, just below his neck, and breathe in deeply before looking at the bed's occupant.
Haruno Sakura. She was the glue that held Naruto and I together since grade school, the one who knocked sense into us when we went from friends to enemies to friends again. She was everything the two of us needed growing up; a loving parent, a bossy sister, and a faithful friend. No dream was far-fetched in her eyes and that girl dreamed big, big enough for the three of us. Anyone who knew her had no doubt she was going to go far in life.
"But life is cruel," I whisper bitterly.
Naruto shifts and his tense muscles move beneath my fingertips. He lifts his head and I cast a glance in his direction, noting how swollen and red his eyes are and how he doesn't wipe away the tears that continue to trail down his cheeks. A shuddering breath wracks his body and he reaches out to hold the girl's limp hand in his, careful of the needle still taped down on the pale skin.
"This person doesn't look like Sakura-chan," he croaks.
He's right. The Sakura in this bed looks almost like a doll, with her pink hair fanned out on the white pillow and her thick lashes even darker than usual against her porcelain skin. The normal flush of her cheeks is absent and the ever-present, luminescent aura she always carries around with her is gone, snuffed out. Looking at her makes my stomach churn, so I step back and turn away, removing my comforting hand from Naruto.
"S-Sakura-chan..." Naruto's voice cracks and he lets out the most pitiful sound I've ever heard. "We're sorry. We're so sorry."
I feel like I'm suffocating in the small hospital room, the aseptic smell causing my vision to swim. I excuse myself and stumble out into the bustling hallway, waving off a doctor that asks if I'm alright and pressing my back to the wall just outside of the door. No, I'm not alright. I slide down to the floor and pull my knees up to my chest, burying my head in my hands. I couldn't possibly be alright.
"So much for being strong," I mumble, gritting my teeth.
"Uchiha-kun?" a light voice calls me and I lift my head, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. It's one of the nurses that had been there when Sakura... when she... I shut off my thoughts and nod shallowly to the brunette. Her genuinely kind expression eases the pressure in my chest just enough to keep an anxiety attack from rearing it's ugly head. "If you'd like to follow me?"
I stare at her and she seems to understand my hesitance in obeying.
"Someone will be coming for Uzumaki-kun, don't worry," the nurse clutches a clipboard to her chest. "I promised that I would let you see her when she was in stable condition, didn't I? Come with me."
Every movement I make pushes me closer to vomiting what little contents I have in my stomach, but I force my limbs to move and follow closely behind the nurse, though sluggishly. Left turn at the bathrooms, another left at a nurse station, a right turn by a patient's open door. I ignore the shouting of the old, senile woman inside. Her fits over her medication fade away as I'm taken down a long stretch of hallway, to a pair of glass doors that are being watched by a heavy-set security officer. He looks at me underneath the rim of his hat, then sighs.
"Haruko, it's past visiting hours," the guard adjusts himself on his wooden stool.
The nurse presses her lips together, but moves to pull out a card from the pocket of her scrubs.
"This is one of the boys from room 133C," she says, as if that is any explanation at all, and swipes her card through a black device on the wall. The doors slide open with little to no noise and she heads in, waving back for me to follow behind. I hesitate for a moment, but then walk into the room, little cries and whimpers reaching my ears and sending my heart back into my throat.
The nurse passes by a row of five-foot high beds with glass siding around them, a big smile creeping up onto her face as she approaches a lone bed pushed up against the wall, beside a counter stacked high with freshly laundered blankets and sheets. She flashes that sweet smile to me and the urge to throw up is back.
I'm slow in my steps and once I reach the bed, I close my eyes. I inhale through my nose, then exhale. The nurse is kindly silent while I gather myself and when I decide to finally look down, my gaze falls onto a little pink mouth opening wide in a yawn. I choke, the burning behind my eyes absolutely unbearable.
"She has quite the lungs on her," the nurse supplies pleasantly. "She'd just settled down right before I came to get you."
"A girl..." I mutter to myself and place my hands on the edge of the glass siding. Someone steps up beside me and brushes against my arm, causing me to jump. Naruto's tired laugh is warm against my cheek and I watch as he wastes no time in pressing his fingertips against the infant's soft curls. His breath hitches when her tiny hands move up as if wanting to hold onto him.
"She's beautiful," the blond whispers in awe. I steal a glance at him and I'm in no way surprised to see complete devotion in his deep, blue eyes.
"Do you know if the mother had picked a name for her?" the nurse asks, not meaning to prod at the fresh wound of Sakura's loss. I screw my face up into a scowl and Naruto obviously flinches beside me, but he hides his reaction with a strained laugh. He continues his gentle strokes to the newborn's fine hair.
"Futaba," Naruto answers with a tight-lipped smile. "Her name is Haruno Futaba."