The New Sasuke
Our breathing is all you can hear in the room, breathing and the constant quiet beeps of the machine that was hooked up to Sasuke. Creepy was the way to describe what I was watching. You know there's something wrong when you're in plain sight but you somehow still manage to catch a ninja a great as him off guard. All I said was his name and he jumped up in the bed completely taken by surprise by my presence. I had been standing at the door frame for several minutes and he never took notice. That scares me. He's eyes are wide with fright for a split second before he realizes it's me. His expression softens then he scowls at himself for letting his guard down.
He's back in Konoha where I wanted him. But it's not right, nothing feels right. He's empty now. A hollow person who's soul is lost and can't seem to find its way.
"You should have let me die," is what he says when he first sees me.
Don't say that…
"You should have let me die…" He echoes himself
Stop…
"How could I have done that?" I heard my self reply.
I walk up closer to his bed side, grabbing a nearby chair on the way and sit down next to him. He's not looking at me; rather he's looking at the straps tied around his wrists that are keeping him down.
His words are still ringing in my ears.
He knows I couldn't have done that, even if I did Sakura wouldn't have allowed it. She still cares for him.
"So!" I clap my hands together loudly to break the uncomfortable awkward silence we were sitting in.
He looks at me with irritation from my loudness but at least he's looking at me.
"What do you want to do when you get out of here? I say we celebrate since the war is won! You know everyone thinks you're a hero Sasuke, isn't that cool?"
Like Itachi wanted…
He snorts, "Idiots"
I ignore him.
"I would suggest going to eat ramen but since it'll be your first official time back home we coul-"
"I'm not staying" He cuts me off. He's looking at me with harsh eyes determined to make me understand that he really plans to go.
But I dismiss it. He just got back maybe not by his own will but he came back I'm not letting him go now. Not until every things right again
"We could go do something you want to do…" The enthusiasm in my voice is gone, I just sound pathetic now.
"I know you heard me Naruto, I'm not staying."
I turn away, biting my lip, unsure on how to respond. I half want to lash out; I want to grab him by the collar and shout at him, maybe punch him a little to knock some sense into him. The other half kind of wants to be pathetic and cry as a beg him not to leave again.
I choose neither and stay silent.
I hear him sigh beside me.
"Naruto?"
"If you leave…I can't…" My voice cracks.
He doesn't speak, perhaps waiting for me to finish. So I try.
I look at him, all of him. His empty eyes and bandaged torso. His skin is almost paper white from the blood loss he's just getting over. His lips are cracked and dry. Like a corpse that he almost ended up being.
"You did it again…Saved me I mean"
I watch him lick his lips.
"…Why?"
He shrugs then winced at the pain from moving.
"My body moved on its own"
You said that once…Back then…
"It does that a lot doesn't it"
"Mhhh"
"…You know Tsunade says you won't get much punishment if you stay …probably just some anbus following you around for a while and such. Most of the villagers don't know why you left so no one hold anything against you." I paused to let out a small sigh, "So, you really could stay."
With me…
"No"
"Why not? You saved the village, are you really planning to destroy it still. Whats the point? Why can't you-"
"There's nothing here for me. There never was. My life was revenge against Itachi, which turned out to be a lie. Everything…everything was ripped away from me. Don't you understand? What would be my future here? I have no goals anymore…no...Meaning"
"You still have me," I mumble, "Me and Sakura …and all your other friends, right? You still have us. That can be your future."
He shakes his head, "No…You have your dreams and Sakura has hers. You'll go on to be Hokage like you always wanted and Sakura will become the best medic Ninja around. I'll…I'll just wander, maybe that way I will be able find myself somewhere"
"You think I'll be Hokage? That's the nicest thing you ever said to me"
He rolls his eyes , "Well if they don't make you Hokage anytime soon their all idiots"
"Hehe…Yeah… Sasuke? Will you ever come back? I don't think I could deal with you never coming back…I still want to know that we're friends. I kind of hoped that one day… one day I would stand there with my face carved into the mountain with you and Sakura by my side."
I look down at my hands, "One day we could try to bring peace to this world…together. Wouldn't that be nice, eh Sasuke?"
He chuckles while gripping his wounded side, the laugh turns into short fit of coughs. He's still so weak.
"You always did dream big"
Then there's a few soft knocks at the door. I turn around to see Sakura standing there with a sympathetic look on her face.
"Naruto? You should let Sasuke have some rest" She says.
I nod.
"Yeah gimme a sec"
"Ok, but not too long" She turns around to leave.
When she's gone I look back at Sasuke. He's looking out the window like he's looking for something.
What is it that you want to find?
How are you so sure you can't find it here? Sasuke?
"I got to go now I guess before Sakura comes back and drags me out by the ear" I laugh.
He's still looking out the window but he acknowledges me with his usual grunt.
I get up off the chair, walk across the room to the door. I pause and turn to look at him again.
"You know Sasuke? …I think we're two halves of a whole, if you never came back I'd be lost too ya know? Because you're the other part of me…that's why I chased after you for so long." I shuffle my weight from foot to foot unsure about what to do with myself, "It was mostly for me rather than for Sakura. I want to stop you from leaving… but I guess I can't anymore. I just…I don't want you to be gone for good."
So please come back…
-I visited him every day for a week. Every day we would sit there in silence, eating together or playing some card game but never talking. A lot of the time I would find him spaced out staring out the window again. By the end of that week he was gone. He left no note, I never expected him to. No one knew where he went or when he went. It is Sasuke Uchiha; I wasn't surprised he got out with no one noticing even with all the guards outside his room. No one bothered to track him down. I tried hard to resist the urge to hunt him again.
Eventually I did become Hokage. It was the happiest day of my life. Everyone took me out to celebrate. Half way through the party I couldn't help but feel like there was something missing. Someone missing. I sat there with all of them smiling around me, cheering for me, congratulating me for getting my dream but I couldn't help but wish Sasuke was sitting there next to me, smirking at me, telling me that I wasn't such a usuratonkachi after all.
Well, that was the old Sasuke. He died long ago. I not sure what the new Sasuke is like, I don't really care. I still want him here.
I hope he found what he was looking for. So maybe he'll come back home.
One day.
Well I hope you liked this small little story thing.
Bye ;)