Hey! It's me again, obviously, here to post yet another Naruto one-shot! I was so happy with the reviews I had for my last one (along with some encouragement from Ms. Maresia Eterna) I decided to post this one.
This was inspired by Even in Death by Evanescence with the couple SasuSaku.
So, to stop delaying you any further from reading what you came to enjoy (hopefully), I shall take my leave.
Tell me how you like it and please enjoy!
Give me a reason to believe that you're gone
I see your shadow so I know they're all wrong
A blur of pink rose from underneath the painfully white hospital sheets, having just awoken to the beeping of a monitor and the pulsing of machines. She sat up, looking down at the pale hands which rest on her lap. What had happened?
Lifeless green orbs drifted to the nearest bed. The sheets were rustled, irregular ripples all throughout the white sea of plastic-like cloth.
Empty. The bed was vacant. Someone had been there the night- no, a few hours before she had fallen into a short, oddly deep, sleep. It was unorganized, the pillows scattered as if there had been a struggle. Surely she would have waken up to that.
Wouldn't she?
How heavy were the doses they had given her; had forced upon her?
Heavy enough so she wouldn't even awake to her lover's screams? His agonizing pleas for bodily peace? For freedom from his pain?
Maybe. She had to be sure.
Slowly, the pink haired female stood on her feet, a bit tipsy from a small amount of the knock out drug in her system. Was it truly necessary to have put her under that deep?
Instantaneously, a flash of a dream, a memory, made its way into her mind's eye. She recalled a moment of thrashing out at a nurse in a white outfit, of arms restraining her as she continuously clawed nothingness, of calling his name. She had caught a fleeting glimpse of his sleeping form. It was not peaceful, nor was it an image she had hoped to keep of him. He had been sweating profusely, his eyes squeezed tightly and his jaw clenched.
He had been in so much pain. She wanted to help him.
Then it had gone black.
The recollection was so overwhelming the girl found herself sitting back down on the bed. It made a low creak as she plopped back onto it, holding her head in her hands. Where was he now if not in the bed? Where could he be?
Sakura…
Her head snapped up. She recognized that voice as if it were her own. It was a beautiful voice that carried with it so many heart wrenching memories.
But…he was okay. He was calling her name.
Sakura…
Said female stood up almost too quickly as she followed the melody of his voice, followed the string of notes he could only create. It had to be him. He had to be okay.
As she was led by the phantom voice, it seemed to carry her to the end of the hospital, passed the patience rooms, the doctors' office. Then she reached a window.
Moonlight on the soft brown earth
It leads me to where you lay
She stopped, turning her head to face a full moon shining into the hospitals hallway, onto the floor. It was a majestic sight, but it brought along with it a feeling of emptiness. Its size was larger than on most nights, making it shine even brighter. Then why was it sad? Why did this magnificent view make her want to fall to her knees and bawl?
Sakura…
His voice brought her back from her curious observation and led her towards the hospital door. Regardless of the hour, she bursted through the large metal doors and out into the moonlit night.
Sakura…
Once again, her reverie was interrupted by his sweet vocals and she was off. She ran, ignoring the pain in her lower thigh. She leaped, pushing off the splintering pain in her left shoulder. She had to find him, had to see that he was alright.
She followed the trail of light emanating from the large white disk amongst the stars. Perhaps the moon was leading her to him, assisting her on her quest to indulge in his well-being.
Suddenly, she stopped running. In the center of a clearing in the forestry she had been galloping through in her sickeningly white hospital gown, there was a pile of loose dirt. But that wasn't what her widened eyes had focused themselves on.
What had caught her attention was the stone at the edge of the noticeably dug up dirt. The stone she had been avoiding, the rock that should not be there, should not have his name on it.
Just as the broken girl fell to her knees in despair, another recollection overtook her thoughts.
They took you away from me but now I'm taking you home
Everything was fuzzy, faces unrecognizable. Where was she? All the white screamed infirmary. Why, though? What had happened?
Voices mingled with her own semi-consciousness, blurring words together in some foreign and obscene language. A few words rang in her ear while others lingered on her brain, unable to be unscrambled. She heard "Fatal" and "Immediate care". What were they talking about? Were they talking about her?
Then she heard something that stung her very being. Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke. He was there. In the hospital. With her.
Her head tilted as she finally rest her pink locks, the medication they had injected directly into her veins beginning to take effect. He turned to face her, catch her stare.
They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments before he reached his hand out to her. Unconsciously, she took his hand and noticed it was becoming colder. Her eyes closed as his own onyx orbs were shadowed by his lids. The next sound was that of the heart monitor beeping more and more, until it was a siren of death. His death.
His hand was no longer holding her own, but was limp. Lifeless.
She held onto his hand tighter.
I will stay forever here with you
My love
With tears streaming down her face, the woman limped to the grave, now feeling every pain that had been stabbing at her full force. And yet, it was not even one-tenth as painful as the aching feeling in her chest. The empty feeling in her stomach.
She wanted to hear his voice again. She wanted it to lead her to where he really was, not the rock that was placed over a pile of dirt. She longed to hold him close to her and hear his breathing with her ear against his chest.
She couldn't believe he was gone. She refused to conclude that he had departed from this world, that he had left her there with a hole in her heart.
She didn't want to know that he was dead.
"Sasuke…"
And then the sky began to cry.
The softly spoken words you gave me
Even in death our love goes on
It had been two weeks since discovering his grave. Two weeks since she had stood up from his death bed. Two weeks that her friends had tried to convince her to leave that stone and everything, everyone, it represented in those woods.
It had been two weeks since she had stopped crying, clinging to that stone.
Some say I'm crazy for my love, Oh my love
Another week and the pink haired girl was sitting, as usual, curled up in front of the stone, her face in her knees. Her skin had gotten paler, despite the sunlight that escaped the dark skies above. Her hair was a knotted mess, slowly losing its color. Now it held little to no pink. It was that sickening white.
Her arms were unhealthily thin as were the rest of her limbs. Her rib cage poked out of her sides in a painful manner, looking as though they would stab through her skin. Under her eyes were bags, for she had not slept in over three weeks. The light had escaped her eyes as she sat on her grave, on his grave.
On their grave.
But no bonds can hold me from your side, Oh my love
They don't know you can't leave me
They don't hear you singing to me
A blonde girl with her hair up in a high ponytail and a bouquet of flowers carefully approached the sniffling female.
"Sakura…?"
She didn't move.
"Sakura-chan…I…" She hesitated, "I brought you flowers…to put…"
Concerned blue eyes scanned the crumpled form. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. But, she needed to know.
"Sakura…He's gone."
Said girl winced.
"He received such fatal wounds…Sakura-chan…"
She peaked through her fingers, through the space between her knees.
"He's dead, Sakura."
Like an armadillo, the broken one closed in on herself, clinging to her knees so tightly that her nails broke through her skin. Blood trickled down her legs. The blonde winced.
"N-no…" Said the bleeding girl. The blonde's eyes widened.
"He…He's still…with me…" Her green eyes shifted towards the stone in an unseen gesture. Her friend stepped back.
She nearly jumped in the air when the pink haired girl looked up at her…
And smiled. Her eyes were alive to an extent, but so much pain was barred behind them.
"Don't you hear him, Ino?"
Another retreating step.
"He's…singing…just for me…"
And then she was alone again, only the sound of crunching leaves to accompany her.
And I can't love you, anymore than I do
Raspy breathing from a small, pathetic-looking creature sounded through the woods, yet no one could hear her. It was so hard to move, to move the limbs she had all but given up on. But…she needed to be near him…
And I can't love you, anymore than I do
Amazingly, she was able to drag herself next to the stone. She wrapped her arms around it, embracing not only the stone, but who it belonged to, what it meant, all of the memories and touches and words he had spoken. That they had shared.
She held on tighter, squeezing with all her might, which was depressingly weak.
Sakura…
The wind tickled her ear as she took in one last, long, painful breath.
"I love you, Sasuke-kun…"
People die, but real love is forever
Thank you for everyone who reviewed on Teardrops On My Guitar. I appreciate every comment, good or bad, to help improve my writing and learn about what you like. Thanks!