Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Naruto or these two of my favorite characters in it. Well, mostly favorite.
"I hate driving."
". . . Why?"
.
.
"My mother died in a car crash, remember?"
". . . I remember."
.
.
.
.
"You'll always stay by my side, though, right, Sasuke-kun?"
.
.
"Hn."
.
And so should you.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
We'll Be A Fairytale
"I'm on the bus right now, Sasuke-kun. I'll be home in a sec."
"I don't think a second's even going to work for Superman, Sakura."
"Ew. Don't mention him. He wears tights and diapers."
". . . He doesn't wear diapers, Sakura."
"Whatever. Same thing. I'm almost there, 'kay, Sasuke-kun? See you in a few minutes."
"Fine. Bye."
"Bye, Sasuke-kun!"
The phone-call ends.
He stands up and surveys his two-bedroom apartment – their apartment, seeing as she agreed to move in with him last month so they can go to school together. She's half way through her first year of med-school, and he is getting his MBA's. It's a simple and easy life for both, because Sasuke's family is rich –he's always been rich– and when he offered to pay the rent for their home so she doesn't have to worry about graduate school, Sakura is content with their life, as well.
He twirls his cellphone in his hand and clenches his jaw in boredom. Business administration is not as busy as he had first expected it to be; in fact, he barely has any homework. Even if he does, he's always been a fast writer, so he can finish paperwork in an hour while others would take three. Sakura says it's because he's always focused and concentrated. He agrees.
Sakura, however, almost always stays after school to finish or ask for help on her work. She's smart and has no real trouble, but she's slow.
She is home in 20 minutes.
"It's going to rain cats and dogs overnight," she exclaimed, closing her umbrella and setting it in the rack by the doorway. She sighs in relief as she takes her shoes off and enters the room. Slipping out of her coat, she shivers. "I hope I don't catch a cold. I've got a lot of work to do for the next few days."
Sasuke places a hot cup of coffee on the kitchen table. "I know."
Smiling, Sakura puts on her slippers and slides further towards him and towards her drink. She holds the mug up to the face and enjoys its warmth. "Mmm," she leans forward and kisses him on the cheek, "thanks, Sasuke-kun."
"Do you have any more work to do?"
Sakura shakes her head as she takes a sip. She exhales loudly. "Thank god, no, otherwise I would've killed myself. It's already-" she turns around to look at a clock on the wall, "ten fifteen. As hell-like med-school is, there shouldn't be that much work left after I've been doing it for the past seven hours." She tilts her head at him, causing her shoulder-length pink hair to fall to the side. "How long have you been waiting?"
Sasuke shrugs as usual. "Not long." Which is a total lie.
Sakura knows, but she doesn't prod further.
Together, they are the most compatible pair.
They go to the same school, but not in the same area. They met in college, where they shared the same best friend, and dated a year after. Sasuke has never been a person to initiate an intimate relationship, and it took a lot in Sakura's part to get him to open up to her. Like their best friend, she is cheerful, bright, and brash, but Sasuke is quiet, cold, and distant. They surprised a lot of people by announcing their relationship.
Neither of them have any family left. Sakura is an only child, and her father left her and her mother when she was a mere toddler; just two years ago, her mother died in a car crash. Sasuke lost both of his parents to a plane-crash when he first entered college, and his brother was involved in a gang beat with his own group just a year after and died. That's one of the many things they have in common.
They both want to lead a normal and quiet life. They fit with each other like puzzle pieces.
"But when you're done putting it all together," Sakura says after the puzzle is done, and smiles bitterly, "you have to split them all apart again." The pieces are scrambled.
A day after, Sasuke puts the picture back together.
"Sasuke-kun?"
"Sakura."
"What are you doing? Aren't you driving?"
.
.
"Yes. Why?"
"Sasuke-kun! Call me when you get home! Using a phone while driving is dangerous!"
"I'm using Bluetooth, Sakura."
.
.
"I don't care. Just call me when you get home. Love you, 'kay? Be careful."
"Hn."
.
You worry too much. But I love you anyway.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"-And remember what happened to that movie star, Shugo Makana?"
Sasuke flipped through his book nonchalantly. "Hn."
Sakura turns around from cutting the lettuce and looks at him sternly, hands on her hips. "Don't 'hn' me, Sasuke-kun. When something bad happens and it comes out of nowhere, you're going to regret not listening to me and being careful."
Sasuke almost rolls his eyes. "When something bad happens, I won't even know what's going on because I'm dead."
He meant to be sarcastic, but when he hears sniffing a few seconds after, he looks over his shoulder to glance at Sakura.
She places the knife on the kitchen counter and walks over to him, wounding her arms around his neck as well. He closes his eyes in contentment and leans back against her chin as a silent apology. He knows the pain she felt when she lost her mother to the horrible accident, and he himself endured the heart-breaking emotion as well. To be honest, he often feels nervous whenever he's driving home from the school. He doesn't want either of them to die. Moreover, he doesn't want to loose her because he's afraid of what will happen to himself if he does.
Sakura leans down further and plants a soft kiss on his cheek. He could feel a slight wetness on his skin and she sighs.
"Just . . . be careful, okay? I know what you meant."
He misses her warmth as she steps away and returns back to their dinner.
"I'm making some tomato soup today," she suddenly announces, cheerful again. "Any specific requests?"
"Hn." he replies, shutting his book and walking over to her. He wraps his arms around her small waist and leans his face into her hair.
"Tomatoes are your favorite, right?" she smiles, leaning back against his body. He plants a soft kiss on her neck.
Tomatoes and you, he thinks, smirking against her skin when she gasps at his intimate touch..
Sakura giggles, then, "Sasuke-kun, stop, you're messing me up."
"Messing you up?"
"Just stop it." She giggles again. Her cutting slows down. "I'm making dinner."
Sasuke continues his actions as if he doesn't hear her.
"Sasuke-kun!" she gasps as he reached a sensitive spot. She suddenly lifts her hand with the kitchen utensil and glares at him from over her shoulder. "I have a knife."
Sasuke almost chuckles.
"I'm not afraid to stab you with it," she continues, though she was still smiling. "Seriously, though, it's really dangerous."
"Everything is dangerous," Sasuke mutters, and backs off from her. He sighs.
You're thinking too much. You're worrying too much. Why are you thinking about all of these things when you're supposed to be thinking about us?
Sakura shakes her head and smiles as Sasuke gloomily walks away.
"When I die, I want to be cremated and have my ashes tossed into the sea."
.
.
"Why the hell are you thinking about this?"
"Because! One day, I'm gonna die 'cuz it's gonna happen. And besides, I don't wanna be buried in the ground. It's scary. I also don't wanna be directly tossed into the sea and have my skin and flesh get bitten off."
.
.
.
.
"Take me with you."
"-giggle- What?"
"Take me with you when you die."
.
.
". . . Okay."
Don't leave me. Don't ever ever leave me. Please.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Please, Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke turns his head away when she gives him the puppy eyes. "No."
"Why? I need to go shopping! Every time we make out you always find a way to tear a piece of clothing I'm wearing into shreds. I mean, you're totally responsible for my lack of clothes. You even tore my mother's shirt and I had to sew it all up again!"
Sasuke blushes at that memory, but feels too stubborn to admit that was his own fault. He still shakes his head. "No, Sakura."
She frowns. "It's not as if you don't have any money."
No. It's because I don't want to go out shopping with you in public when we could be doing other things and have fun in other ways. Sasuke suddenly shakes his head. Oh, bad thoughts. That was dirty. Take it back.
Sakura sighs exasperatedly and shakes her body, flinging her arms from side to side. "Please, Sasuke-kun!"
He looks away, again. "No."
"Please, please, please, Sasuke-kun!"
"No."
"Please, please, please, please, Sasuke-kun, with a big fat cherry on the top!"
I don't even like cherries. "Woman, if you ask again, I'm going to nail your tongue into the table."
". . .Do you have a nail?"
". . . No."
"Please, please, please, please, please, please, Sasuke-kun!"
He rubs his eyes. God the woman is annoying, sometimes.
"Fine," he finally sighs, and buttons up his shirt that she previously left unattended when they were in a heated make-out session. Tch. The woman makes him ogle and tempted but always walks away at the end. She should be responsible for him being so cranky all the time.
Almost immediately, Sakura brightens up. "Yay! I love you, Sasuke-kun!"
"Hn."
I love you, too.
"You pull me to go shopping with you and refused to drive my car?"
She frowns at him. Although the gesture wasn't particularly attractive, he still finds her incredibly adorable. "I hate cars. You know that."
Sasuke looks away and tucks his hands in his pockets. "Hn."
"Look!" she suddenly points to a sundress through the window. "Isn't that the cutest dress you've ever seen? It's so pretty!"
Sasuke only looks at her and purses his lips. "Hmm."
"But I don't think I'd look good in purple. I mean, it's a pretty color, but it doesn't really suit me." She suddenly looks at her hair. "You know what, never mind, pink and purple match really well."
Sasuke rolls his eyes.
The sound of tires screeching catches their attention, and Sakura gasps as Sasuke pulls her closer to the side when a car on the street skids over and crashes into another. People near them screams, gasps, and Sakura watches in horror when a woman in the one of the cars hits the window with her head.
Sasuke looks around and squeezes Sakura on the shoulders, "Stay here." He steps off the sidewalk and surveys his surroundings again, then he rushes over with a few other men to help the woman out of the car.
"The driver of the red car is dead," he mutters, looking at the ground while Sakura shakes in upcoming sobs. "Hit his head on the steering wheel. Instant brain fracture."
Sakura looks at the scene of gathered ambulance and people far from the side. The two cars are completely ruined, and a younger man is currently being lift onto a gurney from one of the vehicles, unconscious. Sakura sniffs and wipes some tears.
"Sakura," Sasuke says, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, "don't cry; things like this happen."
"Exactly," she declares, pulling a strand of hair out of her face, "things like this happen. They happen suddenly, too. Sasuke-kun," she looks at him sadly, "I don't want us to regret it if something happens." She shakes her head and looks down again, "I don't wanna regret."
"Nothing is going to happen to us," he assures her, even if he himself feels uncertain and scared, "You're thinking too much. Don't think about it."
Don't think about being separated. Don't about being split apart. Nothing; nothing's going to come between us. Don't ever leave me. Please.
"What do you think is worse: guilt or regret?"
". . . What's the difference?"
"I'd rather regret and think over the choices I made in life than feel sad and guilty for the outcome of others."
.
.
"Regret."
"What?"
.
.
"Regret's worst."
". . . Why?"
.
.
"I'd rather feel guilty for being in love with someone than having us both regretting it in the future."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"I'm going, Sasuke-kun," she sighed for the umpteenth time that day as she packs her belongings into a small suitcase.
Sasuke narrows his eyes at her. "Why?"
"Why?" she repeats, almost incredulously. "Because they're my grandparents. They're still my family whether I want it or not."
"They're your dad's parents."
Sakura looks away grimly. "I know."
"And you're still going? They're responsible for raising up their own child like that."
"It's not their own fault, Sasuke-kun, they didn't know it would turn out to be this way. They feel guilty for what he did to my mom and I." she zips up her bag and places her hands on hips, looking at him. "I'm an adult now, Sasuke-kun. I have to learn to get over things like this."
"And you'd even do something you hate for them?"
She sighs, "I don't have a choice. The train doesn't take me to Suna; I can only get there by driving."
"I'll come with you."
"You have a really important test tomorrow, remember?"
Damn. And she's going to be gone for two days.
"You shouldn't go. You don't even know them."
"I know them well enough that they'd treat me fairly."
"You don't know that."
She takes a deep breath as if to calm herself down. "Sasuke-kun, I know what I'm doing."
"Bullshit."
Her eyes suddenly widen in anger. "Excuse me? Why are you so fed up about this? I'm just going to visit my own grandparents! What's so wrong about that!"
"They ignored you and your mother for over 15 years. How good can they be?"
"Stop telling me what to do, Sasuke."
. . . She dropped the title. That's never a good sign.
His eyes narrow again. "Remember how abusive your mother described your father to be? That only happens because it's sent down the family."
"You don't know that, Sasuke-kun. So stop it. Stop telling me what to do."
Sakura lifts her suitcase off from her bed and storms out of the room.
. . . Both he and Sakura are right: regret is worse than feeling guilt.
As he sits on the bench, his elbows on his knees and his head bent down sorrowfully, he recalls the last time he and Sakura ever had a fight with each other. They were twenty, and were fighting over what to eat for dinner. Sakura didn't like how he always ate tomatoes; she said too much of them is not good. The next night, Sasuke made eggplant.
Those were stupid arguments. They weren't even worth the anger.
The door in front of him opens, and he slowly lifts up his head to meet the gaze of a middle-aged man clad in white coats and a mask.
"I'm sorry, Uchiha-san."
Sasuke holds his breath.
"Haruno-san is suffering TBI."
Her mother died from a car crash, and it was an immediate death. His own uncle was sent into a coma for two weeks before he finally passed away, never waking up. Just a few weeks ago, a man in the car accident on the streets died from brain fracture.
He holds her pale cold hands to his face and looks at her.
Her head is wrapped in white bandages, and there is a nasty bruise on her right cheek. A breathing mask covers her mouth and nose, fogging up once in a while as her chest heaves and falls. The monitor beside her bed beeps loudly in the empty room, and he was trying everything he could to restrain himself from lunging at it until it shocks her conscious.
The fight will not be the last words they will speak to one another.
"Currently, she's in a coma, and just testing her brain and looking at her cannot give us a specific time of when she would wake up. If worst comes to worst, she might not even wake up at all."
Sasuke clenched his jaw and fists. "That won't happen."
The doctor nodded. "Let's all hope not."
Sasuke exhales a breath he didn't realize he was holding and closes his eyes.
I thought you promised me. I thought you promised me that we'd be together; that we can be together forever.
He comes to see her everyday he gets off from school, not even bothering to do his own homework. His grades are falling, and he's barely passing his tests. His teachers voiced out their own opinions and suggestions to his behavior.
He never listens.
All he cares about is her. Herherher. All he cares and thinks about is how she will wake up, and he would smile at her, and she will look at him with those lovely jade-green eyes and smile back and tell him she loves him. He'd tell her those three words, too.
He never said it to her. Not even once.
He wants to cry, but he holds back the tears because he's never cried. He's suppose to be strong, and brave, and tough when it comes to the both of them. He's suppose to be looking over her, protecting her.
He feels strangely empty.
Ever since they started dating and took a further step by moving in together, Sasuke never once thought about what it would be like to live a life without her. He never thinks about the fact that they are going to separate one day, no matter what happens. He's scared of the thought; he's horrified.
And now, he's even shaking at her quiet presence – unmoving, emotionless.
This is not the Sakura he once knew.
"Kiss me, Sasuke-kun."
"Why."
.
.
"Just kiss me like it's going to be the last one we'll share together. Who knows what's gonna happen in the next 24 hours."
.
.
.
"Hn."
.
This would not be the last time. Never. We will not have a last kiss.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Her eyes finally flutter open a small crack three and a half weeks after.
He gasps, shoots up from his own seat and leans over her, staring into her pale green eyes. They are unfocused, even confused, as she stares back at him with much less intensity. Sasuke's voice catches in his throat as he croaks out an inquiry. "Can you see me?"
Please say yes. Please say please. Please, please, please say yes. I beg of you. I cannot live without you.
Sakura exhales loudly as her mask fogs up.
"Look at me, Sakura, look at me. Stay awake for me."
Her eyes close in pain as if telling him it's too hard.
Sasuke takes her hand and squeezes it. "I'm calling for a doctor. Wait-"
She suddenly pulls on him.
"I'm not going to leave you," he says, squeezing her hand even tighter. "I'm not going to leave you." So neither should you. Don't leave me, now; stay awake.
Barely noticeable, she shakes her head.
"Don't leave me," he pleads, whispers, and leans his forehead gently against hers. "Please don't leave me." His breathing shakes.
He feels her breath for the next few moments as he holds onto her tight, unwilling to let go.
She suddenly croaks something, but he can't hear her because of the mask. He leans closer to her face and listens.
". . . I'm sorry."
As if a knife has just stabbed itself through his heart, Sasuke retreats back from her figure and trembles, his head bowing down as he pushes back the upcoming sobs threatening to force its way out of his lips. His grip on her tightens even more, and his breath shakes as he inhales, calming himself down. He lifts his eyes to look at her, and a warm but heart-wrenching feeling immediately slides through his body and down his spine as he lifts her fingers up to his lips and kisses them. He manages to lift the corner of his lips into a rare smile. I love you. I love you. I love you. His hand trembles as he traces a nimble finger down the side of her face and she closes her eyes at his touch.
But when her eyes are closed too long for his liking, he shakes her.
"Are you still there?"
Her eyes reveal the pain she is feeling when she meets his gaze again. She nods once.
Sasuke sighs, and pulls back a little just so he can deep a deep gulp of fresh air. He rakes his fingers through his black hair and bows his head forward again, his eyebrows creased. He holds her fingers to his lips and kisses them once more. "I. . ."
Her eyes soften as he gulps and takes in a shaky breath. "I . . . I l-"
She squeezes his hand, and she smiles.
Confused, Sasuke lifts his head up and looks at her with worry, and strokes her face with concern. "Sakura?"
Slowly, her eyes close.
"Sakura?" he repeats, panicking.
And her grip weakens.
"Sakura!"
. . .
And the monitor beeps, and the whole world crashes down onto him.
The one time he was going to say he loves her, she stops him.
He remains quiet as nurses and doctors come pouring into the room, shutting off the machines and monitors. He continues watching her as one younger nurse breaks down at the sight of her motionless body, and keeps his eyes fixed upon her face, and taps his finger softly. Because if he speaks or looks away at anything, he knows he's going to cry.
The afternoon he sets off to sea is dark and windy, as if the heavens could sense his sorrow and feels grief for the remains of the woman in his arms. The boat rocks to the stop and he grips onto the box of ashes, holding it against his chest. He swears he could still feel her beside him, her warmth radiating onto his own skin, and her breath on the skin of his neck.
Wordlessly, he opens the box and grabs some dust, watching it blow off into the water as the wind carries them away.
So this is how it was going to be.
Every ten to fifteen minutes around the world, a person dies from a car crash no matter what causes them to be involved in the accident. My own mother was lucky to survive a fatal head injury to her skull many years before. Even me, a fourteen year old, got into an accident last year and had bruised my knee and neck. I'm very lucky to survive, but many are not.
This is why everyone should treasure every moment spent with the people they love. Sasuke regrets it.
Thank god they're not actually real.
I honestly hope that whoever you know out there that has been involved in a car accident are okay, or at least, will be doing okay wherever they are. Teenage death from car crashes are increasing day by day, and we need to learn how to take care of ourselves and understand the basic knowledge of keeping ourselves safe and away from stupid accidents like these. Never drink when you're driving (or vice versa); never text while driving; and, by all means, watch out for other people who are with you as well. I'm sure you all know this, wise people. :)
I don't know if you could actually wake up from a coma and die again. I don't actually think it's even possible. Sorry.
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. The words in italics and are gathered in the middle are memories, by the way. Much love, readers!
