Tsunade walked through the doorway with Shizune bustling in right behind her. A frown marred her forehead as she headed to her desk to search out her hidden stock of sake, not even caring that Shizune would find out its location. Today had been confusing, and down right disturbing as hell. Nothing seemed to make sense like it was supposed to, and the whole situation with the townspeople was a downright mess. Rubbing her forehead in frustration, she waited for Shizune to start in on her about the drinking, and begin ranting on proper behavior for a Hokage. Much to Tsunade's surprise, Shizune plopped down beside her and took a long swig straight from the sake bottle.
"Only some situations call for a good drink, and I think this qualifies as one of them," Shizune said as she placed the bottle back on Tsunade's desk looking thoroughly perplexed as she thought on the events of the day.
"This whole situation reeks, and I have no idea where to even begin trying to sort anything out," Tsunade said, exasperated.
What the hell was she supposed to do, really? Sasuke's body had been placed on the traditional burning pyre, yet refused to burn. A week had gone by, and his body still showed no signs of decay. There was absolutely no medical explanation as to what the reason was. Hell, his chakra was still flowing through his body. The puncture wound was already healing, and beginning to scar over, yet there was no heartbeat. No signs of any normal body function. His skin felt cold to the touch and he had been medically pronounced dead since he was brought in to the hospice.
The townspeople wanted his murderer found, and also wanted answers as to what had happened. They had showed up in hoardes for his funeral, and all saw the fires meerly graze the young man's body, but leave no signs of burning whatsoever. Many immediately began praying, calling it a miracle, while some left in fear. None knew exactly what to think as to the reasoning behind it.
"Kami, help us," Tsunade whispered as she took another swig of sake. She had even more worries on top of her usual stack. Sakura had taken Sasuke's death hard, but no where near as horribly as Naruto had. He hadn't shown up at Sasuke's 'funeral', nor had he shown any signs of mourning. Naruto meerly stared into space, nearly in a catatonic state. The only signs of any life he was showing were the few tears that slipped out every now and then. Tsunade had him under watch at the hospice even though there wasn't anything physically wrong with him. She wanted an eye on him anyway. Never would she tell anyone this, but Naruto was like a son to her, and she cared very much for the young man.
"I suppose we should work on finding the culprit, since there seems to be nothing else we can do for anyone else at the moment," Shizune thought out loud, placing her chin in her palm as she leaned forward towards Tsunade.
A thoughtful look crossed Tsunade's face, before she sighed and agreed. Though anbu had found nothing incriminating, there may still be some hope yet, and right now that was all they had was hope. Hope for anything.
Sasuke stood back and watched the exchange between Tsunade and Shizune, hoping for some sort of clue as to what he was searching for, but so far nothing had been revealed. He decided the best way to find out who had killed him would be to follow Tsunade herself around. The first person to get information of that kind would be the Hokage. He absolutely refused to go back to the point in time upon his actual death. To see himself so helpless that he was put in this situation in the first place was unbearable to begin with. To relive it would be hell. Not that he didn't feel like he wasn't already there. For him, this whole situation was hell.
Tsunade rose, not even bothering to put away her booze as she headed out the doorway with Shizune following behind her like an extra shadow.
"Set out ranks three and four for today. Tell them not to disregard anything. We need any and all pieces of information we can get," Tsunade explained to Shizune. The woman was right. This was the only thing they could do for anyone right now, and until something else came up, she had a few people to attend to.
Shizune bowed and headed in the opposite direction of the hallway. Tsunade once more rubbed her forehead as she decided to head for the hospital to check on things. The whole way there she didn't realize she had yet another follower.
Deciding to stop by the holding room where Sasuke was being kept first, to see if there were any signs of any different information, she bypassed all anbu keeping guard outside the door that displayed the sign: Excplicit Personnel Only.
The room was cold, and shadowed as the only light filtered in through the window. Flipping on the overhead light, she watched it pool on the stark white sheet that lay over Uchiha Sasuke's body. Grabbing the edge of the sheet, she flipped it back, revealing Sasuke's pale torso. She could immediately feel his chakra still flowing through his body as she began checking vital signs, though she wasn't holding out for much from that. There was no poison found in his blood, nothing else to show what the reason for his strange situation. And once again, there were absolutely no signs of any decay.
She moved his limp bangs back from his forehead as she placed a feather light kiss on his temple.
"You never wanted it, but no matter what you do, you always manage to draw attention to yourself," she whispered as she began to draw the sheet back over his head, but stopped, deciding to leave it as it was.
Sasuke seeing his body lying on a cold, hard table, was a shock to his system. This was definetely not something anyone ever thought they would see after they had 'died'. Sasuke had been wondering how he was to come back if his body was no longer there to come back too, but it seemed the Gods had found a way around that as well. He assumed if he failed his body would start showing signs of decay, he was just glad he didn't have to see his body in that state right now. He realized that the last person to be in this specific room, and on this specific table was the Third. He was more than happy to follow Tsunade as she left the room. The sooner he was out of here the better.
Tsunade headed down the first two flights of stairs they approached, passing many med-nins along the way, who all stopped to bow and pay their respects to their Hokage. Tsunade seemed to become more and more worried as she approached her destination. Sasuke took note of this as he began to become even more curious as to what would have her so concerned.
Walking through the door he immediately noticed the cause for her concern. A med-nin was placing a tray of food on a table next to an almost catatonic Naruto. Sitting in a hard, wooden chair, he was slightly rocking back and forth. The wall opposite him seemed to hold some great interest to him, as his eyes seemed glued to the lily white paint. Sasuke was thoroughly confused as to why he was here. Naruto didn't seem to have any physical reason for being here, nor did he look sick. He was slightly pale, but other than that, he seemed well. But why was he meerly sitting there? Why wasn't he out on a mission, or training, or even playing a prank on old fuzzy brows as he had taken to lately?
Tsunade immediately walked up to the nurse, and began asking questions. The worried look disappeared from her face as she took on the leader persona. It wouldn't do to have anyone anymore worried than necessary. Not only that, but if she didn't look together, everyone else would begin to panic, for if their Hokage was worried, there was something terribly wrong indeed.
"Any signs of improvement?" she questioned. The med-nin shook her head slowly, looking back over her shoulder at the blonde, young man. She sighed in apparent defeat, but when she looked back at her leader, she seemed once more determined to help him.
"He hasn't been eating as much as before. I'm beginning to worry about his intake. If this keeps up, well, you know Hokage-sama," the woman explained as she bowed her head.
"Any emotional signs?" Tsunade asked.
"The usual. Sakura came by earlier today and tried to talk to him, but it was same as always," she explained shaking her head.
"Thank you," Tsunade said as she placed a hand on the med-nins shoulder.
Bowing, the med-nin replied, "Of course, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade waited until the woman had left before walking in front of the line of Naruto's vision, which was currently still glued to the wall in front of him. However, when she stepped in front of him, his eyes immediately went to the floor. Reaching over and pulling a chair towards her, Tsunade took a seat in front of her 'adopted' son. Tsunade knew he was getting worse, and unless someone did something drastic he was only going to keep going downhill from here.
"How are you doing today, Naruto?" Tsunade asked, keeping her voice light.
Naruto wrung his hands in response.
"That's good. I noticed you haven't touched your food lately. You know you should eat something, keep your strength up. How are you going to become Hokage someday if you're too weak to battle?" she questioned as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
Naruto rolled his shoulders, moving his head away, and effectively removing Tsunade's hand, all the while wringing his hands even more.
"So, Sakura came to visit again today. You're lucky to have such a good friend. You know that right, Naruto? She seems very concerned for your well being. Have you been talking with her? She needs you just as much as you need her you know," Tsunade craned her head, trying to get Naruto to make eye contact with her, but he still avoided any contact whatsoever. He seemed almost afraid of Tsunade.
Sasuke's insides were squirming. He had never seen Naruto like this before. Where was his usually bubbly attitude? His cheerful disposition, and the fire in his eyes when anyone mentined anything about his becoming Hokage? Where was his Naruto? Surely this couldn't be because of his death. Something else must've happened, but what?
"You know, Sasuke wouldn't want you to shut yourself out from the world like this Naruto," Tsunade explained, a tone of ice becoming apparent in her voice. She was beginning to get angry. She knew Naruto was going through a lot, but this was unacceptable. Ninja weren't supposed to act like this. This was borderline pathetic.
Tsunade was right. Sasuke didn't want this for Naruto. His emotions were on high, and he began to get angry. This was not what he wanted at all. What was Naruto doing to himself? Where was his strength? His anger? Naruto was always one to come through situations with barely a scrape. What the hell was going on? Now he understood Tsunade's concern like never before. This had to stop. Now.
Naruto began shaking, shuddering at the mention of Sasuke's name. His breath began to get ragged, before he seemed to compose himself. A few stray tears left wet trails on his cheeks.
"Naruto, I hope you understand what I mean. Sasuke was your best friend, right? If you had died, would you want him to be like you are now?" Tsunade questioned the icy quality now apparent in her tone.
More tears escaped, exposing Naruto. Tsunade knew he could hear her. If she had to use Sasuke's memory to get any kind of reaction out of Naruto, she would. This was not healthy for him at all. He needed to break out of this hole he had dug himself into, and she was prepared to pull him out by the scruff of his neck if need be.
"Would you Naruto? I'm sure Sasuke would want you to move on, become stronger, reach your highest potential. You would want him to do the same right?" Tsunade voice was shrill as she grilled him on his behavior.
Naruto took in a deep, shuddering breath, and opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it before anything could escape. Digging his fingernails into his palms, his knuckles grew white from the pressure.
"Naruto. Everyone had taken this hard, but most have grieved, started to move on. Even Sakura knows that's what Sasuke would want."
Naruto turned his head in the other direction as Tsunade once again tried to make eye contact. This was ridiculous. She was going to have to try harder.
"You're shaming him, Naruto," she told him, disgust dripping from her words.
A deep, pained look crossed Naruto's features. Quickly, he covered his face with his hands as he hung his head, shoulders shaking.
"You're destroying his memory with this display, Naruto. Do you not feel guilty at all?" Tsunade screamed at him.
An immediate anger radiated off of Naruto. Bursting out of his chair he began screaming obscenities, knocking things over, as a deep, feral growl tore from his throat.
"I'M SORRY! ALL RIGHT? I'M SORRY!" Naruto screamed before sinking to his knees and covering his head with his arms. Rocking back and forth he began taking deep even breaths, as if trying to control himself.
Sasuke was taken aback at Naruto's outburst. While he was happy Naruto was showing some signs of life, this was not the kind he expected. Seeing Naruto trying to control his emotions afterwards was also disturbing. Naruto never tried to control anything about himself. And what exactly was he sorry for? Tsunade began trying to answer that question for him.
"What are you sorry for Naruto?" Tsunade asked concerned, placing a calming hand on Naruto's back. She was glad she had gotten a reaction out of him, but this she was not expecting.
Naruto growled, tearing himself from Tsunade's touch. Sitting back against the wall, he let his head fall back as he stared at the ceiling, tears streaming down his face, pooling in certain spots, darkening his shirt.
"Naruto, what are you sorry for? Talk to me, that's what I'm here for," Tsunade pleaded with Naruto.
Naruto shook his head back and forth, refusing to answer Tsunade's inquiries. Tsunade stood, trying to look down into Naruto's eyes. Pulling his legs to his chest, he put his forehead to his knees, and began rocking.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Tsunade knew she wasn't going to get anything else out of Naruto today. She had pushed him far enough already. She kneeled down to his level before deciding on the best course of action.
"I'm going to get someone to bring you something else to eat, as you ruined your last meal. I want you to eat, get your strength back, get some color in your cheeks. I'll check back in with you later, all right?" Tsunade wanted to hug him, but was afraid of what Naruto would do. She thought about sedating him, he hadn't been sleeping well either what with waking up from nightmares, but decided against it. Natural sleep was better than induced sleep. She would wait until it was absolutely necessary.
"I'm looking forward to seeing you back to your old self, Naruto. Feel better for everyone, okay?"
Tsunade stood from her kneeling position and began to leave the room. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.
Sasuke was uncertain about what to do. He wanted to comfort Naruto, but couldn't. The best way for him to help him was to finish his mission as soon as possible. He knew that there was something else going on with Naruto, other than his death. He also knew that Naruto was most likely the one of the two people he was looking for. All he would need to do would be to go back to another time when he had thought he was dead.
No one had ever told him what had happened on the bridge that day, because no one was absolutely certain besides Naruto, and he absolutely refused to tell Sasuke anything about it at all. Whenever it was mentioned, Naruto either grew angry, or immediately changed the subject, or both. Whenever he asked Kakashi about it, he always told him it was Naruto's story to tell, and if he wanted him to know, he would have told him what had happened by now. Sakura, really couldn't say much on it, as she was nowhere near where they were during the incident. She did say that she felt the biggest surge of chakra she'd ever felt in her life. Sasuke had always thought that perhaps it came from Haku, but wasn't sure. It was possible that it came from Naruto, but he always denied it. Now he would finally get his chance to find out what happened that day.
Walking over to Naruto, he kneeled down in front of his best friend/rival, and possibly even lover. His eyes went wide, and eyebrows raised as Naruto lifted his head and seemed to stare straight at him, not through him. He cocked his head to the side as if he were studying Sasuke's features.
"Sasuke," Naruto whispered, voice quavering.
Sasuke froze. Could he see him? How was that possible? Sasuke moved out of the line of Naruto's vision, and found that Naruto's eyes didn't follow his movement, but looked around as if searching for him.
"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered once more. He stood to his feet and began looking around the room. Turning on his heel, he placed his arms out in front of him, trying to feel for Sasuke's presence.
"Sasuke?" Naruto called, a note of panic in his voice. "I know you're here."
Sasuke blanched at this. How? What? All sorts of thoughts began running through his head, but he couldn't get a handle on a single one.
"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered, hanging his head and dropping his arms to his sides. A whimpering sob escaped his throat. "I'm so, so sorry." Sobs tore through his throat as he dug his fingernails in his palms so hard, blood trailed to his knuckles before dripping to the floor.
Sasuke's heart was wrenching inside him at the sight. He wanted to comfort Naruto, but in his current state that was impossible. He was now more determined than ever to get back home for real. The week before he had died, when he was ignoring Naruto, he wished he could have back. Oh, how differently he would have done things. Maybe if he had, he wouldn't be in this situation. So many regrets.
Deciding it was better than nothing, he put his arms around Naruto, for some sort of semblance of comfort, even if Naruto wouldn't feel it, or see him doing it. He needed the comfort himself, as much as Naruto needed it right now. He silently prayed that he would be able to get through this so he could hold Naruto for real.
Naruto looked up in an instant, eyes going wide before they became half-lidded in sadness. "I'm sorry. I miss you so much," Naruto sobbed.
Sasuke knew Naruto knew he was there. How he knew was a mystery, but right now it wasn't important. He was finally able to make some sort of contact with Naruto, some sort of comfort and that was all that mattered right now. Knowing this was all the help he needed for the moment.
"I never got to tell you-" Naruto stopped, broken off by a sob. Sasuke immediately thought of his apology he never got to say. How much he hoped he would be able to make it back to tell him, and hear what Naruto had to say as well. Suddenly, all the things he had done, and the mistakes he had made, the people he had hurt seemed to press on his shoulders. If he ever got back, there were going to be some major changes and apologies. He was never one for saying he was sorry, but being dead put a whole new aspect on things. Things that didn't seem so important then, were suddenly unbearable. God, the things he had done, and not done.
Sasuke looked up into Naruto's face, wanting to wipe away his tears, but settled instead for placing his hand near his cheek. Naruto leaned towards his palm, knowing what Sasuke was doing.
"I know you have to leave. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Really, I didn't. If only I could take it back, fix the past," Naruto said, before beginning to sob once again. Sasuke wasn't sure what Naruto was apologizing for or talking about, but he would find out when he got back. Sasuke was going to try and fix the past enough for both of them to see each other again, and make sure something like this never happened again.
'Hugging' Naruto once more, he was set in determination. He couldn't really do much more for Naruto here. It would help him more if he were here in person. Picking up his hourglass, he thought of the time he wanted, and began feeling the horrible pulling, tugging, and stretching sensation all over again.
"Bye," Naruto whispered, right before he disappeared from Sasuke's vision. It was immediately replaced with a thick fog, but this time Sasuke knew exactly where he was.
SxN SxN
AN: Thanks once again for all the wonderful reviewers, and of course for being as patient as you have. I know I am not updating to frequently, but I promise I am working on this story whenever time allows me to. The holiday season is always hectic for me, and normally I would've waited until after, but this story just wouldn't leave me alone until I got it out. I know, Naruto's a little OOC in this chapter, but you'll understand why later, I promise! It's also a little fluffy, which is not normally something I write, so this is new to me, please be gentle! Thanks again for reading, and once again, please review! Reviews help Sasuke get back to Naruto faster, so review for Naruto's sake people!