((Well, this is it. The final chapter of Dear friend. I doubt any of you will ask, but since a couple of my oneshots get this a lot, I will make this clear. No sequels. I can't write them, it doesn't work. Hopefully this won't need one, and I just have to take everyone who bore with me on all the raw emotion and abstract writing in this (and on a less profound note all the type-o's) I never edit my stories, it goes straight from my brain to paper when I have a burst of emotion so I know I'm not the most clear, and sometimes my story's a little too creepy, (and not to mention there is like no sasuhina fluff) but you people made it, and hopefully this chapter won't disappoint you.
Reviews are still love, and once again thank you! (and extra thanks to Curvecrush, kawaiitahina123, Cobaltheart, and everyone else for reviewing!) Once again when I wrote this there was a huge storm and we had no internet… no internet! So I'm sorry if I forgot your name and you reviewed a lot. (Boy am I awkward at this) well anyways, thanks for truding through this fic with me.
Sky
She had fallen asleep with the lights on.
At first she had stumbled into the house, unknowingly followed by Kiba's raven-haired shadow. She had moved her hands over every smooth surface, she had banged on the cream colored walls, she had torn at her hair and chased her shadow up the stairs, cursing it and screaming to the pale ceiling. Her words were indistinguishable, but they hung in the air like lynched corpses.
She tried so hard, to find a way to hurt herself, to find a way to forget, but every door was locked and she could not break the glass on the windows. The ebony tables had been moved elsewhere, the wind chimes were missing from the view of the forest on the south facing window. She crawled over every inch of carpet, she squeaked across the small sections of dark wood. She held herself tight shaking upon the ground. Sasuke saw it all, but he could not help her, he could not go to where she could use him. His body could only be a tool for her self destruction.
"No… it wasn't you Kiba, it was me…. I killed you…. How… how could I kill you. I SWEAR, I DIDN'T MEAN TO! YOU PUSHED ME, I HAD NO CHOICE, I….I…" She hit herself again and again in the head, but she was too weak to hurt herself. Her fingernails were stubbed, her nonexistent muscles were strained to exhaustion.
Sasuke felt himself go insane from the sight of her, the sight of a friend's pain, someone who you care for deeply slowly transforming into a mutilated monster, and you can do nothing about it. All those around her break her down, so he had tried to shrink away in an attempt to help. No, he could not keep her away from her. He could not let her be, he had to watch over her, he was right, and he could not let Hinata's life end. He could not let her feel anymore pain.
The Hyyuga family had removed anything that could cause Hinata pain from the main room, yet, as Hinata slowly fell asleep, her hands mangled in her face, her eyes scrunched in a pained grimace, he felt as if it was causing her even more pain to not hurt herself. She was ying inside., and he had to get to her, he had to help her!
The door was locked, and he had no way in. Not even one of the Uchiha's talents could help him here. She was just there, writhing in her sleep, the lights blaring and her thoughts buzzing. Even he could feel her aura of agony through the walls of the mansion.
Memories of her raced through his head, the letters he had written, the small smiles he had seen play on her face, the way she twiddled her fingers, the way her face offered friendship, a quiet knowing. It was as if he could travel through every acre of her mind and she would still know more about him then he of her. She knew how to get his attention, she knew how to make him jealous, she knew how to open his locked and bolted heart- all without even trying.
It was then that Sasuke realized just how much he hated the letters. They had broken him, they had make him change from a jerk to a fool, and now he hated the 'dear friend' he had so longed for only two months before. He was just a friend to the only girl he wished he could be more to. He was just a friend, a dear friend, but never a Sasuke. He had been a Kiba, a Jerk, a Math Partner, but never anything more. He wanted to be more than ink on paper, he wanted to be her everything, like she was his.
"Hinata…" Sasuke clenched his fists, and banged them on the iron door, causing a small shudder from the subconscious Hyyuga, and a wince of pain from him.
It was then he realized words had gotten him into this mess. No, he had already realized that, he just then found that if words had gotten him in, words could drag Hinata out.
"…Dear Hinata… not dear friend, for you are so much more than that to me…" She could not hear him, her eyes fluttered, but her mind did not stir. Her chest rose and fell but her ears were closed.
"What do I mean to you?…" Silence emanated from all around, not even the wind stirred his mind. She could not tell him, she could not speak. He mistook as a hint that she had nothing to say.
Turning his hope to anger, Sasuke fled, disappearing into the forest.
"I do everything for you, I changed myself for you, and you can't even open your eyes."
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The Hyyuga complex was deathly silent. Even when the rest of the family arrived at home, too scared to unlock the doors to any of the rooms, no one spoke. Not even Hinata, she could not say "I don't know why you're so worried." She knew why. The Hyyuga's could not comfort her, they did not know how. She just sat deathly pale and blinking non stop, frozen in a corner. Not a whimper escaped her lips, not a single thought showed in her face.
Hanabi mistook this as a good sign, and began to do her homework, her mechanical pencil scratching on the page. A few hours of history and math and the silence was shattered by a scream, Hinata had lunged for the pencil in an attempt to erase her memory, she had sprung from lifeless doll to snarling beast in a split second. Quickly slipping the pencil under a locked door, the family watched as slowly Hinata's clenched fists loosed, and the fury and despair in her eyes receded into sheer white.
Neji sat head in hand, afraid to look at what he had created. It's the only way… it's too late now, it's the only way. His thoughts were cloudig his brain with guilt and fear for his sister.
What if Sasuke is right and I should have let them live a lie? I'm a horrible brother, what have I done to her!?
He shook himself off and slowly fell asleep, nightmares feeling like dreams compared to the harshness of reality.
Hiyashi was thinking of his late wife, he was thinking of how the silence now was akin to the silence that lasted for days when they announced her death.
"Where's mommy?" She would ask, her tiny hands holding the bundle of cloth that held her younger sister.
"Mommy's not going to be here anymore."
He could not give his daughter what she had needed alone, he had known this and shunned her due to lack of knowledge on what to do without her mother. So she had found Kiba, and he had replaced her parents. A boy who could be easily mistaken for a dog had replaced him. Now he was gone, and everyone, not just Neji, not just those boys he kept muttering about under his breath, not just himself, they had to save her together, she could not survive with her hopes set in one person.
Hinata… give me another chance, I think I can find a way to be a good father. I think I can become someone you can love. Just hold on my daughter, you're a Hyyuga. One boy can't destroy you forever… can he?
Hanabi was dreaming of her mother's funeral. She didn't remember it of course because it was her birth that had marked her mother's death, yet inside the hazy church, she ran forward, there was a sound coming from the coffin. Her mother was alive!
"My mommy's still alive!" she tugged on the black suits of faceless people around her.
"Hey open the coffin! OPEN IT SHE CAN BE SAVED! LISTEN TO ME!" but she was just a child, and no one listens to children. She let her voice sink down to a whisper "Why can't you hear me…" she pried and clawed at the coffin, using all her strength…. But the sounds had ceased, and everything was still again. After a frozen moment of silence, the coffin swung open by itself.
"Mother!" But it was not her mother. She had never even seen her mother's face except in photographs. It was her sister, who had help her dress every morning when she was little. Kissed her bruises, shown her the way that dark clouds and rain give birth to sunshine and flowers. Her face was plastic and solemn, like all the rest of the people around of her, clasped in her hand was a small mechanical pencil. Her face had that smile that meant everything was wrong on it. She was no longer Hanabi's caretaker, she was no longer anything but a plastic replica of the sister she knew.
"HINATA!"
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Slowly the night passed, and school was in the morning, as dawn peaked, the sleepless Hiyashi and his equally sleepless son woke the sweating Hanabi who had moaned in her sleep all night. Dicipline was a main asset of Hyyuga pride, and Hiyashi did not even let their sister's jeopardy break the two sibling's perfect attendance. He could not show them love in any other way. Shaking his head he shoved them out the door, it was just him now… him and…
Hinata. Where was Hinata?
It only took one glance across the open, sunlit room to confirm that Hinata wasn't there. Every door in the house was locked. She must have escaped when the door was open. She had always had that quality of being invisible to him, yet another reason he was a failure as a father. He shook his head, his knees quaked, and his eyes showed terror for his daughter. The one he had taken for granted. She might be gone forever. Grabbing his coat he ignored the ringing telephone, he ignored the meetings scheduled for him to attend in twenty minutes, he only had eyes for the door and for his missing child. He had gone through over a decade of terrible parenting, and he was going to make up for it, Now.
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Sasuke had speant the night in the forest, too confused to go home, to angry to return to ask about Hinata. He cared too much about her. He should just forget everything, her smile, her pale perfect stubby little fingernails, her stuttering, the way she fainted in Anko's class. There was so much to forget, so much he wanted to keep in his mind. Yet all she did was bring him to his knees.
He was ready to give up, ready to let her fall. As he caught the bus he let Ino sit next to him, praying that the overpowering scent of sour apple chewing gum would waft his feeling away. His heart was clenched, twisted, knotted up for her, it wasn't fair. He had never felt this way before. As he sat down in Iruka's class, glumly copying sentence fragments from the board, he tried to use sheer boredom as a pesticide for the strange feeling he had come to know as love.
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It had been two hours and Hiyashi had called the police to search the city, it had been two hours… what if she had… no, she was a Hyyuga, she was strong. He belived in her not to die, not to lose to herself.
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Sasuke first noticed something was wrong during Kakashi's class. It was five minutes till the lunch bell, and unfortunately, Kakashi's 'literature appreciation' ((AKA easy A 101)) class was located on the highest floor right on the edge of the school building and as far away from the main cafeteria as possible. It was in these last five minutes that there was a clamor coming from the roof. It sounded like heavy footsteps gone wrong, and Sasuke tilted his head. The rest of the class was paying attention to the clock and Shikamaru was snoring. It was like no one noticed.
Soon enough there it was again, closer. He shook his head, unable to shake the sound from his head. Something was wrong….
The bell rang, and students streamed out of the classroom in a river of relief. Sasuke trudged out last, giving a causal salute to Kakashi before making his way to the cafeteria.
Hinata and the sound were the only things on his mind, he had tried so hard to get rid of her. Get rid of her quiet knowing, get rid of his desire to give up everything for her. His thoughts swirled angrily in his brain as he sat by the window. As he continued to eat the sound and hinata as both the source of his blunt irritation almost merged into one…
And that's when he realized it. It was also the moment that Neji finally swallowed his pride and was finally ready to extend his hand to Sasuke in a pale-angsty-arrogant-prideful-genius form of friendship. However, as soon he reached Sasuke's table the raven haired boy leapt up and sprinted out of the cafeteria.
"C-calm down Neji… calm down. He probably just had to… go to the bathroom really badly, or maybe he didn't notice you." His hands balled into fists and he quickly receded from the area.
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"HINATA!" Sasuke screamed, dashing out of the school and onto the grounds. He saw a couple students peer out after him, but he ignored their ignorance. . . or maybe that was just him. The sound and Hinata might not even be connected, he could have been overreacting-
"Blood on his face, blood in his eyes, all over your hands, all over the sky!" It was aid like a twisted lullaby, and Sasuke looked up to see Hinata walking along the edge of the school, teetering along the edges, ready to die at any moment. Her eyes were hazed with madness and she had that dreamy out of it smile you might see from someone in love. This was not love though, this was madness, this was unreal and cruel, and Sasuke was going to stop it right now. Kiba's ghost would leave from her eyes, he would take his place. ((A/N Believe it!))
At first Hinata couldn't think, she was so muddled by memory and insanity that she didn't know where she was. Yet, soon she felt a part of her return, a part that had left two years ago, a strong hinata who slowly cleared the clouds from her head and revealed blue skies and a throbbing heart. Everything was below her, and there was a boy, screaming her name….
"HINATA!" He bellowed, trying so hard to snap her out of her perpetual weakness.
"S-s….Sasuke?" She had said his name. Her attention was on him now, and as soon as she set her eyes on him it was gone.
Like a whisper, or a never quite perceived thought, it disappeared into thin air. The strange psychotic grace that had followed hinata like a shadow had vanished. You could see it inside of her, she was no longer under the spell.
Her eyes were clear, clear with such a piercing gaze that Sasuke felt it could match his own. She was still mangled with sorrow, you could see it in the way the wind tossed her hair mournfully behind her, in the way her hands hung limpy as she continued to walk towards the corner of the school roof, balancing on the slightly raised edge.
The madness had left her, she is sane… so why was she still climbing towards death?!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOLING HINATA! CLIMB DOWN! DON'T DIE!" His words echoed up to the sky, and came back down to ring in his ears only seconds later.
Slowly students began to realize what was happening and pointed, staring, and began to surround the area where Hinata paced, her steps occasionally tripping up, each time triggering a small collapse or flip from Sasuke's stomach.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't." her voice was the same light pitch, the same texture, but so angry and sad, not in the quite sheltered masked way she had kept during classes, but open and dangerous like a night away from home. It was completely unlike the Hinata he knew, but he was taken with her all the same
"Because…" Sasuke said quietly…. Then slowly energy that was bottled up inside of him began to expand, shaking his senses and swelling up his entire being with pent up emotion.
"BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE CARE ABOUT KEEPING YOU ALIVE!"
Hinata paused, but then she shook her head
"You don't even know the real me. The world doesn't know the real me, not since my mother DIED!"
Sasuke pounded the ground with his fist
"I may not have known the 'real' you but why throw it away? Please Hinata, you will miss all of life for one boy?"
"The one boy who loved me, who understood me!" She choked on her own atmosphere of despair "The only one I could show everything to! My Father never loved me, my brother only thought I was too weak to handle myself, my sister thought she was better than me! She was right. I don't have anyone NO ONE LOVES ME HERE!" The crowd was silent, and in the distance sirens echoed and teo grey drops splattered into the cemept. Hinata's tears fell off the edge, as she leaned further over, slowly bending herself towards death.
"Hinata, Kiba is defiantly NOT the only person who loves you." If you didn't know better one might say it was rage in Sasuke's voice, but no, it was that foreign twisted new feeling he had called love, and he spoke with such passion in his voice you couldn't even notice the way Neji shrank out of the crowd at the sound of his name, how at least he came to his senses, and dialed 911 on his cell phone. It was after all his job to protect her.
"You broke through me Hinata, and you changed me into a different person. You took away my arrogance and Sarcasm and made me a fool. I want revenge, and I'll get it too! I'll play the same trick on you and force you to let kiba pass on. I will change you, twist you, untwist you like you untwisted me. You can't die and make the same mark he did. He's dead and only prayers reach him, but I am here right in front of you! And weather you wish it was me or not I will be the one who will catch you when you fall! You've made me do Fucking EVERYTHING! Write you letters, save you from your own hands, watch you love another guy you've made me watch you suffer, and all for nothing!? You made me crazy Hinata, and there is no way you are dying today." People were staring, Sasuke…. The Sasuke Uchiha? Every ounce of his sarcasm, his normal essence was stripped away. He was so scared for her, so anxious for her safety that he had crumpled up his entire nature and thrown it away.
Hinata seemed to flutter for a second, her eyes were wide and filled with tears. Some of her quiet innocence seeped back into her nature, she shivered at the speech she had longed to hear, and her knees quaked in fear. Now she was unsure of what to do, she was caught between the seams of her own splitting heart.
"I…."
"I…..I-" Her words were cut off by her own scream as the wind gave the necessary push to send her to her grave.
She was flying almost, a terrifying freedom for a few suicidal seconds, the air pushing against her face and blowing back everything she could ever remember. Memories of sunlit trees, of dust filled libraries and red triangled cheeks. They flew out of her head and floated away.
She was ready to create new memories now, memories of landing not on cold concrete, but on a contraption set up by a team of emergency specialists, and a memory of her father smiling, a memory of her new friends laughing, and a memory of a raven haired boy, standing in the rain, the grin of a fool and the gaze of an arrogant jerk, with a hand outstretched.
"I will catch you when you fall." It was the words that had broken her spell, the words who had slowed her pain, his words had lifted her away from madness and death, and as the rain shot down like hundreds of bullets the girl in the memory ran forward quickly, her lavender jacket getting soaked with laughter as they walked down the flooded streets, talking and holding hands.
Fin.
((Yeah, Sasuke did get a little OOC (Okay really OOC) by the end., but I'm still a beginner at Fanfiction so please don't flame me! Cowers at least my endings will get better over time. Please review especially if you have constructive criticism on how I could have done better on the ending. (Phrased nicely for those who are easily crushed by other's opinions)))
