Even in your dreams you expiericanced pain like always before. The sickness had a way of doing that to you. In your dreams, you were always fighting the same fights, losing the same people. Your team, your family, your friends, your sensei. In the middle of fights that had already happened, your body would fall to the ground, seizing up on you. Causing you to fall behind. In truth, in the actual memories this never happened. These people died on various missions when you weren't around to help. But in reality, in the real world outside of your unconscious dreams, the Hokage rushed around as the seizures raged through your body.
"What are we to do next?" A nurse cried out.
"Just keep supplying her with Chakra, until her heart starts beating again we can't do anything." Your body lay in the middle of a huge room in the hospital. A incantation drawn out on the floor below you. Eight people including Shizune and Tsunade sat there running their Chakra through the circle keeping your body alive, so to speak. Green light ran from all of them, toward your body, until it turned black. Tsunade knew, without question, your body was dead, and Kritian was taking their Chakra and converting it into his, so that he could take back his heart, and give you back yours. Outside, Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Ichigo, Toshiro and the others waited to hear about what was going on.
"She's been in there for two days now." Naruto said. Clearly he was worried, he hadn't sat down or slept in the whole time you'd been taken in. Ichigo took a deep breath.
"You heard Kritian when we got here. It's going to take some time to fix the problem." He sounded reassuring. Although Toshiro knew he was as concerned as everyone else. That was something Toshiro, sadly, admitted to himself he admired about the orange headed teen before him. Ichigo could always be reassuring to those around him, hiding his own fears and worries, so that even Toshiro would hope for the best. Toshiro now sat remembering the black dragon's words when they had arrived at the hospital in Kohona. The dragon appeared in her shadow on the wall, as Tsunade was readying her treatment.
"This will be painful. This will take time. Willingly she destroyed her own heart, willingly she killed herself. The sickness has already affected her; the sickness will continue to infect her while I repair her heart. It's a race against time here. And a catch 22. My chakra will cause the sickness to develop quickly, but I must be there so that I can repair her heart." Then the dragon was gone. And Toshiro knew what that meant. If he could fix it quickly, then the only thing that might kill her was the sickness. Toshiro looked to Kakashi, for once, his book was nowhere to be found, he sat quietly, eyes closed, waiting. Ino, who had come by every day since they returned, sat with a concerned look on her face, staring at Ichigo. Shikamaru appeared to be sleeping but Toshiro knew better. It was then that Tsunade walked out of the room, and everyone stood. She took a deep breath.
"Don't get too excited. It's just time for us to change shifts, I need some rest for now. I'll pick back up in a few hours."
"Is she doing any better?" Naruto asked. Tsunade, who was never prone to lying about anything, sighed.
"Sort of. She's not spitting up black blood anymore when she starts seizing, it's got mixture of red to it now. Which I assume means that her heart is on the verge of being repaired, on the down side, the sickness is now showing on 65 percent of her body."
"What's that mean?" Sakura asked. Ichigo cleared his throat.
"You've never seen it huh?" He took in a deep breath. "The paradise sickness appears as black veins on her skin, her skin which takes on a more pale tone is how you see them so well. Most of the time it's only visible on her face, usually around her eyes from using the Gigan. But the worst the sickness, the worse the visibility. If it's on 65 percent of her body that means it's on her face, all the way down to her chest and arms, the sickness, could infect her organs and then it's, well it's not good." He said finally standing up. "I need some air." He said walking down the hallway, Toshiro knew better than to follow him. Ichigo was worried, and being the strong one, he didn't want anyone to see him worry. Everyone else watched the Hokage walk away, slowly all eyes stopped at the closed doors to the room, where their friend could be dying.
You finally sat in your apartment. You knew it was still a dream. Down below your window you currently looked out the people stood as still as statues.
"If you could, what would you change about your life?" You knew that voice without even turning to look. This dragon was Kritian's second. He was powerful, considered the dragon of light. Most would have thought him to be pure and honest and true. But you knew better. This dragon had an evil side. He liked to torment.
"Timius, I wouldn't change anything." You said trying to that the easy way out, your eyes looking far to the right at the dragon that sat down next to you. Timius was small compared to the other dragons. If you stood on Ichigo's shoulders, and Toshiro on yours, you would be his height when he sat down. Now his eyes were also focused on you through the corners of his. A sinister smile on his face.
"Oh. What about your friend Asuma? Would you not save him?" He asked, his neck finally twisting down to you. You sighed.
"Clearly that just wasn't the way things were meant to be." His breath was on you, hot and wet.
"I can change that you know." You pushed his face away from you.
"I will not do that. I will not have you change the past so that you can take away my future. Does Kritian know you're here?" You asked standing up and heading out the door. Timius right behind you, his laugh deep into his throat.
"He's too busy for me to bother him right now." He said finally walking next to you now. You stepped aside everyone in this dream while you noticed that Timius walked right through them. "You never go see anyone when you're here. You know this is your world as you leave it." He said, finally changing his tone from his sinister side to a normal side.
"I never have." You said sighing. "If this is the world you and Kritian set up for me to say good bye to people in then I would rather leave them here, still existing in my memories." You said. Timius smiled at this.
"I see. That's why your sensei still exists in this world. On the other hand, you said good bye to him and he's still here." The dragon said stopping. You looked at him, following his gaze you smiled.
"Both of them actually, both of them are gone, but I keep them alive here. For some reason they're the only ones that stay. When I ran into Kaname from my old team, she disappeared, but those two have always been here." Timius sat down.
"Ah well, the fourth Hokage and Obito were meaningful to you. Maybe it was them that made you who you are? And therefore you can't get rid of them." He said, you looked at him.
"Wouldn't you know?" You asked. Timius smiled his sinister smile.
"I don't know everything. Only what was, what is, and what has yet to be." He sighed. "It's time for us to go. Although I doubt you're out of the woods yet." Then a bright light flashed over you, your body hurt like hell. And soon the light adjusted.
"SAYA SENSEI!"
"NARUTO SHUT UP!"
Your eyes finally saw them, you were sitting up in a hospital bed, your body aching and convulsing. But Naruto, Sakura and the others were all there. Ichigo and Toshiro stood on your left, Shizune pushing them away from the bed as Tsunade tried to give you a sedative. Kakashi and even Shikamaru on your right pushed back against the window.
"The sickness infected over 70 percent of your body. Your kidneys were infected, we had to remove one. Right now your liver is trying to overcome the sickness too." You felt the sedative taking effect as Tsunade lowered your body down onto the bed, so you were lying down. The room was bright, and your body still shook on its own.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked Tsunade as he watched.
"Naruto her body was infected with a poison that isn't made by man, and I can't do much of anything about. She's still sick idiot." She said.
"Timius…..what happens….when the world ends….." They all looked at you, Shizune looked at Tsunade.
"What is she talking about?" She asked.
"Clearly she's dreaming, but I'm not sure about Timius." She answered.
"Timius is the dragon of time." Toshiro answered.
"And it's probably not a good thing that he's in her dreams. Saya's always said that Timius was not a dragon whose powers should be used." Ichigo added.
"So who is he?" Tsunade asked. Toshiro's aquamarine eyes looked up at the Hokage.
"In the world that Kritian belongs to, he's the dragon that controls time. He can see the past, present and future, but he can also turn back the hands of time so that he can change the future."
"WHAT!" Naruto yelled. "Then why not use it to fix things. She could have saved Asuma."
"Yeah she could have." Ichigo answered. "She could have turned back the hands of time to save the Uchiha clan, her sensei, the third, Asuma. You name anyone that's died and she could have saved them. But Timius always sets a high price for having used his power. You see, his power is tied directly to the life of his contractor. Which is a nice way of saying, if Saya turns back time about 5 minutes to save the life of her friend, Timius takes time away from her. And it's more like 5 years. So 5 years are taken away from her life. Which means if she was destined to live to be 80 then she dies at 75 now. And for every minute, for every person, another year. If she used it as often as you wanted her to Naruto, there's a very good chance she wouldn't live to see 30. So that's also why I don't like her talking to him, he's constantly trying to get her to use his power. He's an asshole."
"Your world my dear, I can't see its end completely. Kritian hides that from me." It was dark when you heard that, knowing that now Kritian was keeping him away. You were cold, shaking in the darkness. Suddenly fire lit around you, your body warming up.
"Thank you Vulcan." You said. The world trembled slightly at this. The earth dragon showing you he was also there.
"Will you not ask me?" Kritian's voice boomed out over the darkness. "You always do." He added.
"This is the worst it's ever been." You answered.
"For those reasons you are afraid to ask me if you're going to die this time." He asked. Tears welled up in your eyes, and for the first time in a long time. You cried. Uncontrollably. The darkness wrapped around you, holding you tightly, holding you close. Kritian's heart breaking at the sight before him. This girl that has always stood so strong in the face of those she fought, was breaking tragically, before him.
"This will not kill you Saya. You will live to fight another day. I know this, for Timius has seen that far ahead. You will stand before the enemy that wishes destruction on the world, and Pain will collapse before you all. Now wake up."
And like that you were back in the hospital room. Naruto lay sleeping on the bed next to yours, Toshiro sat leaning against the wall asleep. Kakashi in the window asleep. Ichigo grabbed your hand.
"I have your stuff ready." He said as he pulled you up. Your body ached, but you ignored it. You undressed and pulled on the grey sweatshirt hoodie, with your black running shorts. "Get going before someone wakes up." Ichigo said peaking out the door to your room, he slid it open. You ran past him bare footed. You were happy to feel the air around you, because like before it meant that you were alive. You ran, through the village, through the Uchiha compound long since abandoned. You ran, with nowhere to go, just running. Getting the feel of your newly constructed heart. It beat hard and fast, for the first hour, it felt as if your heart was going to explode. Then like magic it fell into sink with your body, your blood flowing as if nothing had happened.
"This is silly." A voice said as you stopped suddenly, your hand landing on a tree in front of you. "This will kill you, you idiot." You fell to your knees, and in that moment. Tsunade saw something she had never seen from you. You were crying. Screaming the tears out of you. She was about to step forward when a hand yanked her back away from you. She grabbed the hand and turned suddenly. Ichigo stood, face stern like she had never seen him ever before.
"You don't belong here, and she doesn't want anyone to see her like this." Ichigo said grabbing her hand and pulling the Hokage along with him as if she were a mere child. She pulled away from him, and Ichigo stopped in his tracks looking back at her.
"What's going on?" She asked. Ichigo sighed.
"I was stupid enough to follow her out once when she had succumbed to the sickness before. I was young, Toshiro's age probably. I asked her. I stood right where you were and asked her what was wrong, because I too, had never seen her like that. And you know what? She told me. Through all her tears she told me what was wrong. There are two worlds she said, one that Timius set up for her. A world that looks like ours, only it stands still in time. It's a world that Timius set up for her to say goodbye to people in. It's his way of torturing her. As if she didn't already know that she could die, he sends her there. Then the only way she knows she's okay is because she ends up in a world that is surrounded by darkness. It's Kritian's darkness. I asked her, what does that feel like? And once again she told me. "It's cold." She said. "It's cold and purely lonely. Full of cold pain." And in that darkness, she always asks him. "Will I die this time?" And that is when she knows her answer. What you see there, is what is left behind from all of that. Her rock hard shell is broken. That is the girl that lives inside of her. The one that is full of fear. The one no one sees. The one that she doesn't want anyone to see. And I don't want anyone to see. That's who's back there. Now come on. She'll come home when she's ready. She always does." Ichigo said turning around. And Tsunade saw something in him, that he never had when he was younger. He was her. She had trained him, beaten into him morals and strength, and now more than ever, Tsunade saw the results of all that training. As he walked away from her, she saw all of Saya's strength in him. A smile graced the Hokage's lips as the thought of Toshiro one day being the same way. Saya was leaving behind everything that this village had made of her. It wasn't the pain of being looked at as different, or the guilt of not being able to save those around her. It was her will to protect what was precious to her that he was showing right now. So, Tsunade kept her smile and followed behind the young man ahead of her.
"SHE'S GONE!" Naruto screamed, only to be punched by Sakura.
"Shut up Naruto." She screamed as Ichigo and Tsunade entered the room.
"Old lady. Saya's gone." Tsunade sighed.
"I'm aware of that Naruto, she asked to have some alone time, so we gave it to her. She'll come home when she's ready, until then just leave her alone." She said walking over to Kakashi, who sat in the window still. "Did you know about this?" She asked him. Kakashi nodded.
"I was told about it. Ichigo told me about it." Again, and for the first time, Kakashi saw the smile on Tsunade too.
"He's grown up." She said looking at the orange headed teen. Kakashi looked over Tsunade's shoulder and nodded.
"Yeah, things have really changed. He's a lot like her." He said, only to see his Hokage nod. "Your proud of that aren't you?" She turned back to him and nodded.
"I am. He used to be a lot like Naruto when he was younger, and he sort of still is, but there's seriousness to him now. Part of her is in there. She's a good teacher. I can't figure out why she never wanted to take on other students."
"Because those two aren't students to her. Their family. To her she's teaching her brothers how to fight."
"Do you think Toshiro will be like that too?"
"In his own way. He's still young so as good as he is, he's still worried about what happens to the family he's got as opposed to the family he lost. Is she okay?" He asked. Tsunade inhaled deeply.
"She will be. I don't think I should tell you what I saw. Ichigo wouldn't appreciate it and I don't think that she would either. Let's just say, she crossed the line between this world and her own personal Hell. And now she's back with us. It's going to take some time to shake it all off."
You caught your breath deep inside your chest. You had collapsed on the floor awhile ago. And now you lay there, having passed out the night sky shown through the canopy of the trees around you. You rolled onto your arms and legs and pulled yourself up. Your head ached from the crying all day. Your eyes hurt and you felt like you needed another full day of sleep from the ordeal of the day. You started your slow walk back and smiled embracing the MAN that stood before you.
"You know you don't need me anymore." You said. Ichigo's arms wrapped around you tightly.
"Your family. I'm always going to need you. I'd be lost without you." You held onto him for a minute, it was always few and far between when you got the chance to show emotion for the two boys that stood beside you as long as these two had. And you could tell from where Ichigo stood up from, he had been sitting there for awhile, sharply keeping people from coming into the area where you spent the day, while keeping his distance from it himself. He pulled away from you. "It's cold so I have a jacket here for you." He said pulling it from a bag he had with him.
"I always thought of you as an immature boy Ichigo, but you're not that anymore. Living with me and Toshiro isn't needed. You're a man now. Shouldn't you be out on your own?" You asked. He laughed handing you the jacket.
"You try to get rid of me? I know I didn't have to move in with you and Toshiro. I wanted too. Look. I grew up, I'm glad you see that. But I'm still reckless, look who my teacher is. Besides someone has to help teach Toshiro who to let go of what happened in our childhood. He's always looked at me for help, and I've always looked to you, so now, when you need me. I like being here with you, helping you. So shut up, and lets go home." He said wrapping his arm around your shoulder. You sighed. Tomorrow, you wouldn't be so kind to him. You both knew that, but as of right now. He was the family that got saved, the family that was left behind. Someone Itachi and the Nine tails hadn't taken from you. And you were lost in that euphoric world of a family bond.