Just a one-shot I made. It was originally a story for a writing contest, but I changed the names so it's now a Naruto story. Enjoy!
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Miracles
"I love you Sakura, and this. . . obstacle doesn't change that. Nothing ever will." I whispered to the pink-haired girl in my arms as she cried and sobbed even harder onto my shoulder. This girl, Sakura, is my wife of five years and we have two beautiful children with another on the way. Kyo and Yumi are our four-year-old twins, Jacob being the oldest by two minutes. When they found out we were having another girl, their responses were respectively a groan and squeal. That was this morning when my eight month pregnant wife, my children, and I went to see what sex our child was. However, we also got another unexpected, and unwelcome, surprise.
We called Naruto, the third person in our childhood trio of best fiends, as soon as we got home. Before we could even finish explaining how we found out, he was at our house with his quiet, shy wife, Hinata. Naruto and Hinata were shocked, to say the least. Frankly, so was I. I couldn't believe my sweet, sweet Sakura got this disease. I guess, if I was looking at the silver lining, it could be worse. Tsunade had said we'd caught it in its first stage, so her survival chances were extremely high. Not to mention, it wouldn't harm the baby either. But the thing is, I'm not looking at the silver lining right now. I'm stuck on shock. What am I going to do if I lose her? I already watched my parents die, I can't lose Sakura too. And what about the baby? How was I supposed to take care of a baby by
myself? But I can't think like this. I have to believe she will be okay. I have to, or I don't know what I'd do.
It's been nine months since Sakura was diagnosed with breast cancer, and eight months since our darling little girl, Kisa, was born. It's been such a strain on Sakura these past months, especially after Kisa was born. Between medical tests and being a mother and wife, it's been really stressful for her. I've noticed something though, and one night while we were doing the dishes (I would have done them myself, but she said "As smart as you are, you always leave fingerprints. Stick to drying.") I decided to ask her about it.
"Hey, Sakura?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her turn to me with her wide, innocent, emerald gaze.
"Yeah ?" She leaned forward to look at me since I refused to look at her.
"Why. . . you don't . . . why don't you cry? I mean, you only cried about it when you first found out, and with everything being as stressful as it's been, I would have expected you to cry more. . ." I trailed off, not knowing what else to say. I heard her sigh and then felt a hand on my cheek and another moving my brown messy bangs out of my eyes. Turning my head, I saw my lovely wife smiling up at me. Automatically, I returned it with one of my own. She was so beautiful. . .
"Sasuke-kun, the reason I don't cry is because, well, I have no reason to. I have three gorgeous, healthy children, the greatest friends anyone can ask for, a home over my head, and I have you, one of my two best and closest friends and my one and only love.
Even with breast cancer, I am happier now than I have ever been in my entire life." I couldn't stand it. Wrapping my arms around her small waist, I pulled her as close to me as I possibly could and buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. I felt her return the embrace and hide her face in my chest. I also felt her tears.
"B-but i-if y-you want me t-to cry, I'll c-cry." Her voice was breathless as she sobbed into my shoulder. Alarmed that this was what she thought I was asking, I tightened my grip on her.
"That's not what I want! I never want to see you cry; I hate it when you're sad." I was whispering into her ear and I felt her shiver in my arms. "I was only asking because I thought you would be stressed because of everything that's been happening and I was concerned because I know that when you don't vent your emotions you get even more stressed out." Feeling her nod, I kissed her temple. Sakura pulled back a little and we made eye contact. Lifting my hand, I wiped away her tears with my thumb and then let it fall to the side of her neck. I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers.
"I love you, Uchiha Haruno Sakura. You're everything to me and so much more." More tears filled her eyes, but from the way she was smiling, I could tell they were tears of joy.
"I love you, too, Sasuke-kun." She was whispering, like if she spoke too loudly the world would shatter. I lightly touched my lips to hers again and once more held her close, all the while wishing this moment would last forever.
"Sasuke?" I looked up, startled out of a previous reverie.
It has been three months since Sakura and I had our emotional kitchen conversation. The next day, Sakura started Chemo-therapy and a week later, her silk-like, strawberry scented, short pink hair was completely gone. She was sad at first, but the evening after she came home with a dozen knitted caps, all the while saying, "I feel like a baby all over again" with a joking grin and laughing emerald optics. As her therapy progressed, she slept a lot but she always wore a smile when she was awake. By the end of last month, the Tsunade and the other doctors had no doubt in her full recovery. That was last month however, and this is now.
Exactly one week and four hours ago, Sakura had a relapse. She was confined to the hospital and was under constant surveillance by at least one nurse. At around 12 o'clock pm yesterday, she was sent to the ER as a code blue. Sixteen hours later brings us to the present. Naruto and I are sitting on the floor; he's next to Hinata's chair and I'm next to the door. Kyo and Yumi are both huddled in the chair right next to Hinata who's holding a sleeping Kisa.
Standing up, a sudden thought occurred to me. I have never believed in miracles. Silently, for the first time, I prayed to whatever god there was out there. Please, I thought, let her be okay. I know she's an angel, but I need her to be alright. Don't take her away from me. Please, give me what I don't believe in. Give me a miracle.
Tsunade stood before me, a tired expression in place. I stared at her, awaiting my wife's verdict. Naruto stood behind me, his anxiousness for news about our female best friend as tangible as my own.
"Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura. . ." she paused and guarded amber eyes swept over the anxious faces and sleeping child before her gaze dropped to the clipboard in her hands. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and my heart stopped.
". . .I'm sorry, Sasuke, Naruto. She didn't make it."
Her words had a tremendous effect on me, not to mention everyone else. As a shocked, female gasp and a whispered 'No. . .' from Naruto filled the almost empty waiting room, I felt myself go empty, numb. I didn't want to believe that one of my worst fears had come true. Suddenly, the urge to see her again gripped me. Head bowed, I brushed past the doctor and into the OR. Vaguely, I was aware of the pitter-patter of small feet behind me. Just inside the doorway, I stopped.
The room was a greenish color and smelled of anesthetic. Machinery and silver trays lined the cold room. In the center of the room, on a metal table, under the bright center lights, was the form of my Sakura. Slowly, I walked over to the table and sat on a stool next to it. Looking at her face, I felt the sting of liquid in my eyes. Not even bothering to try and hold them back, I felt the tears fall down my face.
One set of arms wrapped around each of my legs and reluctantly I tore my eyes away from my wife and looked down to see Yumi and Kyo staring up at me. Silently, I hefted both children on to my lap. For a few minutes, all three of us just sat there and let the silence reign. Yumi was the one to break the quiet.
"She's gone, isn't she Tou-san?" Half of me was relieved that I didn't have to explain it to them while the other half wished they would never have to know this experience.
"Yeah." I couldn't say anymore, but I didn't have to. Just as Naruto and Hinata entered the room, my daughter broke out in sobs and tears. Kyo put a comforting arm around his little sister, but as he turned his head away I saw the light shine on his tears. My head bowed again, I tightly shut my eyes as more liquids fell down my face and clenched my teeth to hold in my own sobs. A hand placed itself on my shoulder, and without looking I knew it was Naruto and that Hinata was nearby as well.
A pained moan, so soft I thought I had imagined it, reached my ears. I heard Hinata gasp. She whispered her husband's name and a moment later he took an audible, sharp intake of breath and simultaneously tightened his grip on my shoulder to a near excruciating point. Still, I did not look up and, at the moment, did not care.
But then Yumi and Kyo gasped and cried out in delightful happiness.
"Okaa-san!"
My head immediately snapped up.
Yumi and Kyo launched themselves out of my lap and into an upright and alive Sakura. Her tinkling laugh filled the room as our children engulfed her into a bear hug. Naruto walked up and hugged her from behind. She smiled up at him and he grinned a grin larger than any I had ever seen him give. Hinata joined them then, still holding sleeping Kisa. The girls shared a smile and I could tell that Hinata, though extremely shy, was fighting the urge to hug her closest female friend. Apparently, Sakura sensed this as well and so she reached around the four-year-olds and grasped Hinata's free hand. Behind me I heard the Tsunade and nurses enter, but stop at the sight before them. As the nurses began to whisper, Konoha's Hokage spoke to them in a hushed tone.
"As impossible as this may seem, let us leave them be." They left, but their intrusion had snapped me out of my shocked disbelief. Dimly, I acknowledged that I must look like an idiot. Then I realized she, and everyone else, were staring at me.
Slowly, I stood from my seated position. I still couldn't believe it; she was alive. It was too good to be true and I wouldn't believe it until I felt the warmth of her skin. Stopping when I got to the edge of the table, I tentatively lifted my hand to her face. Soft and smooth in texture and it was flushed pink; warm as well. It really is her. . .
"Sasuke-kun." She whispered and not a second later, I pulled her in my arms.
"S-sasuke-kun, you're crying!" Indeed I was. I'd been so caught up in the fact that she wasn't dead and I wasn't dreaming of my angel I hadn't noticed. Instead of responding, I held her tighter. After a few minutes when I had calmed down, I pulled back and looked at her, keeping a hand on her cheek. Her emerald eyes were concerned.
"I thought I'd lost you." I said in a hoarse, hushed voice as a way of explaining. I saw guilt creep into her irises and frowned. What was she feeling guilty about? Sakura looked down, but answered my unspoken question.
"I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, everyone. I didn't mean to scare you." So that was it. She was upset about making people cry because she died. Shaking my head, I put a hand under her chin and forced her gaze to mine.
"You have no reason to be guilty, Sakura. We all love you and were afraid we had lost you. It is not your fault. Stop feeling guilty over something you had no control over." Sakura nodded and smiled once more. The room filled with the children's and Naruto's and
Hinata's happy chatter. While they talked, I sat back with my arm draped around my wife's waist and thought about these recent events. Then, as Sakura was telling about her death experience, my attention was drawn to the conversation.
". . .I remember a black abyss, complete nothingness, and then a voice telling me to wake up, that my children and family and friends still needed me. . ." I felt my eyes widen and mouth fall slightly open. After a moment, a small smile tugged its way onto my lips that went by unnoticed. Thank God for Miracles.