Sakura

Sakura, you have to stay awake. It's almost over.

"I'm still awake," I whisper, my voice strained, "But I'm so tired." I managed to open my eyes to the familiar darkness, but they closed a few seconds later. My breathing was even, my chest rising and falling slowly. I could hear something, a beeping almost. It was even also, matching each breath I took almost perfectly. I focused on the sound and it became louder, resonating throughout my body. What was it? It seemed a thousand miles away, yet so close, like I could almost reach out and touch it.

Sakura, please.

This time my eyes opened quickly to the sound. It wasn't the same voice that had been talking to me in the past. No, this voice was entirely different. It was deeper, stressed, and the moment I heard it, a terrible sadness seemed to sweep over me, causing goosebumps to appear on my skin. I knew that voice, but it seemed weird, almost impossible. Why would I hear his voice?

"Sas-"my eyebrows furrowed as I searched my mind for his name, but everything seemed foggy. After a few minutes it finally reached my tongue, "Sasuke?" His name echoed and I waited, expecting- hoping for a reply. "Sasuke, where are you?"

Almost immediately a sharp, unbearable pain hit my lower stomach and back, making me scream; my breathing becoming shallow as I gritted my teeth until they ached. A few moments later the pain subsided into a subtle ache. I reached down, trying to feel where the pain was, my hand becoming sticky and wet. Was it blood? I couldn't tell, the darkness making it unable to see anything. The pain wrecked through my body again, and I clutched my side, begging for it to stop.

You will awaken soon.

The voice was the older one, not Sasuke's. And it echoed repeatedly, almost as if it were mocking me. I let out another scream as pain flooded through me once again. I closed my eyes tightly, and when I opened them, I was flashed back to the past.

It was like I was standing there, watching as they spoke. I moved closer, revealing Kakashi, who stood against a small ledge. "Kakashi?" My voice was loud, but he didn't look at me. He didn't even seem to hear me.

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time? Talk about things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that… Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate? Hmm, I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Hmm, I've never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

I let out a small smirk as I watched the memory play out. After taking a few steps forward, I could see the rest of Team 7. Sasuke, looking so much younger than I remembered sat to the far left, his chin resting in his hands. I sat in the middle, wearing my blue colored ninja band in my hair and the one-piece dress that I had discarded years ago. I seemed to be annoyed, whispering to an eager Naruto, whose hair was spiked up and wore an annoying orange jumpsuit. I had to stifle a laugh. Was this really us; Four people, of completely different personalities, thrown together? We were so innocent, we had no idea what would happen in our future.

An enthusiastic voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Believe it! I'm Naruto Uzimaaki, I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water into the ramen cup. Oh, and my future dream is to become Hokage!"

I let out a chuckle, but tears streamed down my face. None of us knew what would happen then. We had been so full of optimistic hopes and dreams. We could never have imagined the future we'd have to endure, or the friends we would lose. How the Akatsuki would resurrect the ones we hold dear and force us to fight against them, or the war that would spread like disease, killing so many families.

I heard my voice start, and I wanted to turn away in embarrassment. Was I always so outspoken about my feelings? I smacked my forehead in shame as I heard the younger version of myself go on and on about Sasuke. After I finally finished, Sasuke began.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

I hadn't realized it, but I had moved close to Sasuke, and was now crouching down to meet his gaze. I knew he couldn't see me, or hear me, but I reached out, and my hand went straight through him. The wind blew just thin, making our hair swish to the side.

"How tragic," I say, "If only you knew how wrong your intentions are and how much you'll be manipulated and twisted." My voice echoed, and his eyes glanced up, as if he were looking right at me. Before I could speak again, the memory blurred and contorted out of shape and I was sent a few more years into the future.

~o~o~o~

I was now watching myself as I spoke to Sasuke. It was late, and Sasuke had a brown backpack that was attached to his back. I knew this memory; it was etched in the deeper parts of my mind despite my attempts to forget it. It was the night he left, and the night my heart had broken into a million pieces. I could see me crying, trying so hard to talk him down, trying so hard to love him, to make him feel loved. At that time, I knew it wouldn't work. In a split second, he stepped behind me.

"Thank you, Sakura." I mouthed the words as he spoke them and watched as the younger me fell into his arms. He picked me up effortlessly, setting me down politely on the stone bench. His fingers brushed away the hair from my face. "Thank you." He spoke again, and quietly turned around and started walking slowly towards the gate.

I followed him to the edge of the border, my steps matching his. I was close behind him, trying to keep up, when he suddenly stopped. I expected to bump into him, but my body stepped through his and now I was in front of him. When I turned around, he seemed to be confused. At first I thought he had felt me, but as soon as the idea crossed my mind, he shook it off and turned around to face Konoha.

"Don't go," I said, even though I knew he couldn't hear me, "Stay." The last part came out like a whimper and I could feel my eyes water. I gritted my teeth. This was the past, and the past had to happen. I couldn't change that.

"I'm sorry," I looked up to see Sasuke looking down, his eyes hidden by his dark hair. His lips were pursed in anger, "I'm sorry it has to be like this." I didn't know if he was talking to me, but I felt like it was meant for both Naruto and me. In a few moments, he was gone, taking to the trees so quickly that the weeds swayed back and forth. I stood rigid and turned away from the spot where he had been into the last memory.

~o~o~o~o~

It was raining. The sky was a sick gray, the sun somewhere behind the clouds, trying to peek out, but to no avail. I could see everyone gathered around, and when I found my way through the crowd, I realized why.

Sasuke was carrying me, blood dripping from my body in large quantity. There was blood splattered on his face, and all over his clothes, and dripping from his right hand. His expression was tight and solemn and after he passed my limp body to Tsunade. The second I was passed over, Sasuke fell to his knees and looked up blankly at the sky, the raindrops washing the blood and dirt from his face.

I looked passed him to Naruto. He was still standing, staring down at his hands, his face unreadable, even as the tears fell from his cheeks. Kakashi was fighting with Kiba and Shikamaru, who held him back from me. I hadn't expected him to act like this. He was Kakashi; composed and laid back. He wasn't one to show his emotions so easily. I watched as he punched Kiba in the stomach and broke free, running towards Tsunade. He looked me over, his face hardening. Then he looked over to Naruto and ran towards him to make sure he was okay. Tsunade was crying, giving me CPR even though it was useless.

"Why are you showing me this?" I looked up at the dark sky, my tears sliding down my cheeks, "Why?!" I yelled, "I was content with my decision! I did it to protect them! Why…" I fell to my knees next to Sasuke and Naruto, who had recently joined Sasuke, and reached out, desperately trying to touch their faces. "Why show me this," I whisper.

I didn't get an answer, and truthfully I didn't expect one. My hands hovered above their cheeks, wanting so badly to wipe the dirt from their faces. "I'm sorry," I whisper to them, "I am so sorry."

The second the words left my lips, I was transported again, my head growing nauseous as the world once again blurred out of focus.

~o~o~o~o~

I awoke slowly, a dull ache in my body. I was aware that I was lying down, and my body felt too heavy to move, so instead, I quietly moved my head to the side. I didn't remember this memory, nor was I in it. I watched as Sasuke sat in a chair, his body looked sleep deprived and each time he blinked, I wondered if his eyelids would open again.

He was playing chess with Naruto, who was wearing a black cloak with red lettering. After spending a few moments trying to read it, I noticed he was wearing it because he was now hokage. His hair wasn't spiked, but laid on his shoulders. His face was quite similar to Sasuke's- dark and tired.

I smiled and watched as they played. They both took only a minute to move their pieces and every once in a while, one of them would knock down a piece with a gentle clack. After a while, Sasuke moved his knight, creating an opening for Naruto.

"Checkmate," I spoke with a smirk.

Both of the boys looked up immediately, turning towards me in bewilderment. The smile that had been on my face slowly melted into confusion. They stared at me, too afraid to moved. Were they seeing me? But that wasn't possible, I was dead… unless.

"Naruto? Sasuke?" I spoke, my voice sounding old and cracked. I went to sit up, but a sharp pain not unlike the pain I had experienced in my dream, crashed through my body. I let out a grunt in pain and my hand grasped my stomach. The bed sheets fell to uncover my chest that was thickly wound in bandages. The heart monitor started to beep faster and I watched as blood started to soak the lower bandages.

Naruto was the first to react, quickly pushing me down back onto the bed. "Jesus Sakura, randomly waking up and reopening you wounds!" He was angry, but there was a hint of laughter behind his voice. I grunted in pain again, leaning my head back onto the pillow. My hand, which had clutched my abdomen, was covered in blood. "I'll go get Tsunade. Sasuke, watch her."

I couldn't speak, mainly out of confusion. Naruto bolted out of the room, taking off down the hall. I closed my eyes as I let my body relaxed a little. I heard a shuffling towards my bed and Sasuke gently tapped my cheek.

"You can't go back to sleep," he said, "you finally woke up, so just… don't go to sleep." I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me, his face a mixture of emotions. The sunlight dipped through the window, making his skin glow. I reached up, I had to. I had to touch his face. I had to know that it was real.

I reached up, my hand making contact, and I could feel my cheeks begin to wet. My fingers traced from his temple to his lip, leaving a faint trail of blood.

Was this real? Was he really there? I'm I okay?

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

Sasuke

She reached up to touch my face, and I let her. The moment her warm hand made contact, her tears fell and I held the base of her arm softly, closing my eyes as her fingers lightly traced a trail from my temple to my lips. It felt nice, and when her fingers pulled away, sadness swept over me.

"Sorry." She said quietly, looking at her hand. "There's blood on your face." She smirked weakly, looking at me as if I was going to disappear at any moment. She went to touch my face, but stopped.

"I don't mind," I said quickly. She smiled, and then proceeded to run her fingers through the long strands of my hair. She seemed to be determining if I was real or not, and I smirked. Her eyes were so green, and it made me realize how much I had missed them.

"This is real," I said softly, letting her fingers brush through my hair. "I'm right here, you're okay." The moment I finished speaking, her eyes gleamed and her arms looped around my neck, pulling me down to her chest in a hug. And I let her. "And Kakashi says 'hi'." I muffled into the sheets. She laughed, and grunted in pain from laughing.

A few seconds, we both jumped up as the door slammed open, Tsunade bursting in along with Naruto, who was smiling through his tears.

"God dammit Sakura, leave it to you to wake up AND reopen your wounds during my god damn lunch break!" Tsunade's voice was loud, but she was smiling through her tears too.

This is real, she's really here, and she's really okay. A pressure seemed to lift off of me, and I let the room, giving Naruto and Tsunade time with her. I needed to sleep.