A/N: An early chapter! I really need to discipline myself to update somewhat consistently. Please review as I would love to know your opinions so that I can improve my writing to create better fics for you to read. Thanks! Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Naruto and its characters and plots do not belong to me. They belong rightfully to Kishi-sensei!

Summary: Sasuke on the verge of life and death.


Day 7: Mortality


"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto yelled.

The last thing that Sasuke remembered was fighting Haku and taking the hit Haku had intended for Naruto.

'Seriously, the dobe was the dumbest ninja in history!' Sasuke chided. He took notice of the state he was in; floating in a void of total darkness.

'Weird,' He thought to himself,

'I expected at least a light at the end of the tunnel or me floating over my dead body or something.' He contemplated silently.

'I wonder, what is going to happen to me now?' He pondered, floating in the abyss of nothingness. Suddenly, he thought of something,

'I have not avenged my clan yet! Itachi still runs free, without facing the consequences of his actions! I have failed my clan! To think that I would die before I even got to fight him!' He thought in anger and humiliation.

'No, I cannot die just yet! There is still so much that I have to do! I will not die without achieving anything!' He yelled angrily in his mind, trying to fight against the darkness that threatened to consume him. He tried to move his body, or what he thought was his body but he could not feel anything. Sasuke turned desperate,

'Please, to any god that is out there! Please, bring me back to life! I only need to live to the day that I see Itachi die! After that, you can do with me what you please. I wouldn't care if you wanted me dead then! Just, please, I need more time!' He tried to bargain but only silence answered him. He felt the heaviness of depression land on him,

'I am such a failure. I can never face my clan ever again. I am so sorry that I couldn't avenge your deaths. I am so sorry that your deaths were in vain. I should have trained harder. I should have been better!' He thought with a heavy heart.

'I knew that a shinobi's life was short, but I never thought it could be this short. This just shows that there is a fine line between life and death. That death could be just a few minutes away from you and you'd never know it. How short life truly is. How fragile a life could be. In the end, I'm only mortal and I cannot escape death' Sasuke pondered to himself.

From the start till now, without the sensation of passing time, Sasuke felt like he had been floating for years, when slowly, his ears started to pick up some sounds. He strained to listen and make out the sound,

"Uuu..." Someone sobbed and sniffled. Who was that?

"Sasuke-kun…" Was that Sakura?

"Uuu… Sasuke-kun, don't die!" Sakura cried. Sasuke suddenly felt a heaviness on him, causing his breathing to be strained. Wait, breathing? He was already dead, why would he need to breathe? That silly Sakura, she was probably crying over him, he thought as he felt warmth spread from the weight he felt; Sakura's warmth. Slowly, Sasuke started to regain some feeling. He was able to feel the tips of his fingers and gradually, little by little, it crept throughout his body. Feeling strong enough, he cracked open his eyes and took a deep breath,

"Sakura, you're heavy." He wheezed slightly. Startled, Sakura straightened immediately, and Sasuke took in her sight. Puffy red eyes, tears streaming down her face, snot leaking from her nose, sure, she looked worse for wear, but Sasuke could care less. Really, Sakura had just brought him back from the realm of darkness and he was grateful; grateful for her pulling him back to the world of consciousness and grateful that she cared for him enough to do so.

~Up next, Day 8~