Be My Light
Konoha Report 2745037.
Mission: Retrieval.
Target: Missing-nin Uchiha Sasuke.
Description: 19 yrs, Male. Status upon leaving: Genin. Hair: Black. Eyes: Black/Red (Shar). Affin: Lightning & Fire jutsu.
Squad: ANBU-143.
Time: 3 days, 4 hours.
Result: Mission Success.
Tsunade dropped the laminated paper on her desk as she finished reading out loud, glancing up at the others in the room.
Naruto Uzumaki stood there for a few seconds, his mouth hanging open, before turning to stare at the other members of Team Kakashi.
"You mean…he's back?" he asked, barely daring to speak and half-expecting a no.
Tsunade nodded, folding her arms. "In the hospital right now."
"Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto, turning towards his female teammate. "He's back!"
She only blinked in disbelief, her mouth hanging open.
"…Back?" she whispered in shock.
"It's astonishing, I know…but he…actually came willingly."
Naruto flinched in surprise, remembering how eager his old teammate had been to run from the village the last time they had met.
"Well, he was almost unconscious at the time, but according to the reports all he said was 'Konoha, Konoha…' So what else could they do but bring him here?"
"Why is he in the hospital?" asked Sai, the only one not in shock from the report.
"Well…" Tsunade pursed her lips. "His injuries were…critical at the very least. They found him in a pool of blood on the banks of a river out in the countryside somewhere. Then…they found the mutilated corpse of Uchiha Itachi several miles down that same river. The cause of death was blood loss and blows to the head…Sasuke killed him."
"He…he did it!" breathed Naruto in amazement. "He actually did it!"
"He's in recovery right now…but I must warn you…if you're going to go see him…just prepare yourselves…he's not what he once was."
"Not what he…once was? What's that mean, Grandma Tsunade?"
She sighed. "Just…go see for yourself."
Sakura bit her lip as she sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the hospital's waiting room. Right in front of her was a single doorway. Beyond that door was a piece of her soul she hadn't seen or touched in years. Beyond that door was either her salvation…or her downfall.
Sasuke-kun's back…he's home…it's all real…
But what had Tsunade meant about him not being the same?
He's not what he once was…
What had Itachi done to him? When Sai, the first in to see him had emerged, he had only shaken his head and left the room. Naruto was in there now…
Oh, Naruto…what's wrong with Sasuke-kun?
She jumped in her seat when the door leading to his room creaked open. Naruto emerged.
Her eyes widened in worry at his expression. It was blank, his eyes were misty and glued to the floor, refusing to look her in the eye.
"Your turn, Sakura-chan."
His tone was completely flat.
"Naruto, what's-"
He was already gone before she could finish her sentence.
What…Naruto? What's wrong with him?
She gulped, glancing back at the ajar door. Suddenly it seemed both a million miles away and right in front of her face at the same time. Behind it…
Sasuke-kun…
She managed to make it to her feet, though her knees were shaking harder than a building in an earthquake. Her mouth and throat were almost completely dry, and a cold line of sweat was streaming down the back of her neck. The sterilized smell of the hospital's chemical cleanliness seemed almost overpowering.
Sasuke-kun…
Her vision blurred a little from her dizzy nervousness as she approached the partially-closed door. It seemed to sway out of reach when she put her hand out, but she felt the cold metal of the doorknob rest under her sweat-covered fingertips.
Sasuke-kun…
She winced at the loud squeak as the door opened, before quickly stepping inside and shutting it with an echoing click.
She blinked several times, unsure of herself.
Before her stood Sasuke. A nineteen-year-old, came-back-from-the-brink-of-death, living, breathing, Sasuke.
His back was to her, but as she entered his head jerked up in identification of her presence. She noticed the knot of a white strip of cloth tied around his head, he hadn't been given his headband back yet.
"Sakura…?"
She flinched at hearing her name in his voice, her eyes glued to the familiar red-and-white fan adorning his back.
"Is that you, Sakura?"
His voice was only a little deeper from what she remembered. The last thing he had said to her before leaving, that "Thank you," flashed through her mind.
Dredging up what little moisture she had left in her mouth, she mumbled out, "Yes, Sasuke-kun…it's me."
Neither spoke for a moment, before he broke the silence.
"Are you…just going to yell and pity me like the others?"
She shook her head. "No, no, Sasuke-kun…I wouldn't…"
"You have every reason to…" he said. "After everything I did to you…you should hate me."
"N-never!" she blurted out. "I could…never hate you…I tried…I tried so much, but…I just couldn't."
"…Why not…?"
Because I love you.
"Because…because you're one of my best friends…and…because you came home. Just…that alone…is enough."
She saw him relax as he exhaled.
"I could never give you what they promised…and yet you still choose me. Why, Sakura?"
He knows you love him.
She shook her head, forgetting for a second he couldn't see it.
"I don't know…maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm just stupid."
"Stubborn," he murmured. "Emotional, reckless, and short-tempered…but never stupid."
Her eyes widened in surprise. He had just complimented her. Sort of.
"Did…Tsunade tell you about me?" he asked.
"She…said you weren't the same."
"No. She said I'm not what I used to be. And she's right."
Despite it being room-temperature, Sakura shivered a little.
"What happened to you, Sasuke-kun…?"
The Uchiha sighed sadly.
"His final curse…was that I could never see my loved ones again…"
He…considers us "loved ones?"
"And…I never will."
"But Sasuke-kun!" she protested. "You're home, we're right here! I'm right here!"
"I'll never see you again, Sakura…never."
"What are you talking about?"
Is he going to leave again?
"Naruto…promised me something…"
"Huh?" she blurted out, caught off-guard.
Naruto…they're friends again…
"He…promised me…"
"What did he promise you?"
"That…you were just as beautiful as I remembered."
Her heart stopped beating.
He thinks you're beautiful…
"S-Sasuke-kun, wh-what do…" she stuttered, her face turning a bright shade of red.
"Sakura…do you love me?"
Indifferent to anything else, she nodded quickly, whispering, "Yes, yes, I do…"
"Would you love me…even if I could never see you again?"
"Yes, Sasuke-kun…yes…"
She flinched when slowly, he shifted, turning around. Her breath caught in her throat.
Sasuke-kun…
"Wh…why is…?" she whispered.
Everything about him was merely an older version of what she remembered. That pale skin was still the same, those spiky, ebony locks…
"Why is that…there?"
The white cloth she had seen from behind wasn't replacing a headband, as she had first thought.
"Sasuke-kun?"
Instead, it was lower, covering his eyes completely.
"I told you…" she saw his mouth say. "I can never see you again."
"Wha…"
"He took them from me, Sakura…My brother. He was almost blind…he needed someone else's eyes to see."
Tears that had been forming in her eyes began rolling down her cheeks.
Sasuke-kun…
"And now…" he said, turning away from her. "I'm just like him."
"Oh, Sasuke-kun…" she whispered, struggling not to cry. "Sasuke-kun!"
He didn't stiffen when she hugged him as she had thought he would. She cried openly, for what had been done to him as much as her inability to have saved him.
Sasuke-kun…why…?
Her small, hiccupping sobs still drifting into the air, he stroked her silky-soft hair as he held her. Visions of the bright pink he remembered it to be filled his mind as he pressed his cheek against her head and inhaled.
"Don't cry, Sakura…" he whispered, his finger brushing away the wetness he felt on her cheek. "Don't cry over me…"
"Sasuke-kun…"
She squeezed him ever harder as his hand ran through her hair and onto her face.
He felt the Sakura he remembered, his fingers floating over her closed eyelids as she allowed him to touch her. Her forehead was still larger than normal, and he could feel the heat in her cheeks at his touch. But no matter what happened to her, in his mind…she would always be beautiful.
"Sasuke-kun…" he felt her say when his finger rested on her lips.
"Don't cry for me, Sakura," he murmured, using his finger as a guide to meet her lips with his.
He felt her body stiffen, then relax as he kissed her, her mouth smiling into his as he felt more tears roll down her face.
I love you so much.
Her slender arms draped themselves around his neck as his held her in a crushing, yet affectionate embrace. He smiled into her kiss with happiness this time as her tiny fingers entangled themselves in his hair.
"Sasuke-kun…"
"I love you," he whispered bluntly. "Don't leave me…"
"I'll never leave you, Sasuke-kun…"
He smiled as he kissed her again, his hands exploring the changes to her petite body since they had last met.
Wow…she's…grown very touchable.
Normally, he probably would've mentally slapped himself for letting his hormones get the best of him, but it didn't seem to matter now.
After a particularly long kiss, he felt her face nuzzle his neck for a moment before leaning against him in peaceful ecstasy.
Have I…made you happy, Sakura?
"I love you too, Sasuke-kun…how could he do such a thing to you…? You never deserved it, he did…"
"It's ok, it's ok…" he whispered soothingly when she started sniffling quietly. "I…may not be able to tell if Naruto ever stops wearing that traffic-cone orange, or if Tsunade ever quits that jutsu of hers…but I know what's most important to me now…something I couldn't figure out before. You, and Naruto, and Kakashi…you all meant the most to me because you never gave up on me…if I had to choose between that I used to be with sight and what I am now without…there's no way I'd go back to how I once was."
He waited until she stopped sniffling before continuing.
"I used to be even more of a monster than he was…I hurt the ones who only gave me love in return…But you cured me, you and Naruto…and if having that meant losing my eyes, I'm satisfied…"
"Sasuke-kun…"
He smiled, remembering he had once hated it when she said his name like that, so full of care and understanding.
But now, there was nothing he'd rather hear.
Ok, yes, this required a massive rewrite and is now a quite a bit shorter. after however many months of writing this, I just didn't feel the last version was perfect. This one had a few tweaks, and is now satisfactory. For all of you who really liked the old version, please follow the golden rule of the internet. if you see something you like, SAVE IT!! It's not going to be there forever.