The familiar scent of the disinfectants abuse his nose as Sasuke's empty eyes follow Sakura's lifeless body as the two medics roll her out of the lobby and down the hall. His mind screams at him to go, to follow them, but his body doesn't move at his command nor does it move on its own.
Sasuke has always hated hospitals. It's a place where people come to die or where people cheat Death. He has cheated death many times, knowing that one day he will play his cards wrong and Death will finally have him, holding him in its grasp, victoriously. Sakura has cheated Death many times, but it looks like Death finally held the winning cards.
It should be him, he confesses to himself, it should be him laying lifeless and cold on that bed being rolled away in hopes of being saved. Sakura doesn't deserve that fate. She's too pure, too kind, and too lovingly and he's too dark, too cold, and too heartless. He would trade his life for hers in an instant; his revenge-filled heartbeat for her loving one.
He feels uncomfortable in his skin. Crimson blood stains his hands, running up his arms. His black shirt doesn't show the blood, but he can feel it. He can feel the blood, cool against his warm skin where the rapid beating of his heart has not slowed. Though his heart is beating in his chest, loud and fast, he feels as if he's been stabbed as well.
Well, he had been stabbed. Sasuke's heart beats rapidly in his chest even though he feels dead and numb inside. His heart aches as thumps in his chest like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.
The numbness from his body slowly starts to dissipate when he snaps out of his horror-induced trance. An unfamiliar sensation stings his eyes. He blinks, hard and long, and feels a tear rolls down his cheek.
Sasuke's body reacts before his mind could process what he was doing. His long legs sprint down the hall, following the small dots of her blood. The hall splits in two and Sasuke makes a sharp right towards the ICU and continues to run down the hall, his thoughts full of her. As he runs, his tears freely flow from his eyes, blurring his vision.
"Please," he silently begs as he bursts through the double doors that leads into the ICU, "come back to me."
She groans in pain. Her body throbs from the recent beating she received. Glass is embedded in her back from her rough landing and her nose is broken from the face first collision into the wall.
Karin lies alone in Sakura's destroyed apartment. The front door is broken, the white wall smeared with blood, the kitchen and living room table both shattered, and the couch is saturated with Sakura's blood.
Raising a shaking arm to her mouth, Karin bites down onto her arm until she tastes the familiar warm liquid against her tongue. The pain from her body soon subsides and she sits up with ease.
The glass in her back falls to the ground and Karin snaps her nose back in place. Standing, she brushes the glass off her legs and back and watches as it falls to the ground, smudged with her blood.
A collection of beige paper catches her crimson eyes, semi-hidden from the glass. She bends down and picks one of them up. Karin recalls that these were the letters the annoying pinkettte was reading while the paralyzer was taking effect on her body. Curious as to what Sasuke wrote in the letters, Karin opens and reads it.
Sakura,
It appears waiting is a game I've picked up as I wait for the days to fly by so I can be in Konoha again. The days are too long as are the hours and minutes and even seconds.
I don't know how you did it. I don't know how you played this game with your hopes held high. What did you do and how did you do it? Waiting is torturous and you've survived this torture, day in and day out, in hopes of my return…back then.
It's probably different now. You, going on with your life as you've probably retired this game, and me, who has adopted it.
Your heart is strong and brave, something my heart never was. It, well I, had lusted for power and you tried to save me with your admirable bravery, but I rejected it. My heart may be removed from some of the darkness that I let consume me, but it is not as strong or brave as yours. Your heart allows you to accept and feel love, while mine has always rejected the idea of love at all costs.
But my heart will be willing to accept it, only if it's yours.
"What the actual fuck?" The words roll out of her mouth laced with disgust and hate, but not towards the letter, towards the person whom the letter was directed towards.
Rage and fury boils within her being and she crumples the letter in her hand. Her throat contains a scream she wants to rip out, but she bottles it up. She raises to her feet and punches the blood clad couch with her fist containing the letter.
The couch absorbs her punch, and it stamps her hand red. She slowly opens her hand against the couch, allowing the letter to be saturated with her blood.
Her eyes are hooded as she abruptly straightens her posture and swiftly makes her way towards the door. "If you didn't die from the kunai, I'm going to kill you with my own two hands," she quietly vows.
"Sir! Stop!"
Sasuke continues to run, ignoring the nurse's cries. His hyperactive mind is flooded with many questions he desperately needs the answer for. Will she be okay? Is she okay? Will she make it?
His mind briefly flickers to Karin and what she's caused, what she stole from him, and he vows as he makes another right turn, following the trail of blood, that he will find her and make her pay for what she's done.
The idea of revenge isn't new to him. Revenge was what he was. The boy whose only purpose to live was to seek revenge. Sasuke knows that revenge wouldn't bring him happiness or make him feel complete like what he previously thought, but he doesn't care. He's never cared for other's opinion on his issues and he sure as hell isn't going to listen to anyone when they tell him not to find Karin and exact sweet, sweet revenge upon her.
The chirp of a thousand birds will be the only thing he hears when he stands before her, knowing that a scream has ripped through her throat. Blue will be what he sees as the glow will radiate from his hand, consuming the red of her until it leaks from her body.
The bloodlust is soon forgotten when he spots Ino outside a room with double doors to which he assumes is the room Sakura's in.
Ino turns her head towards him. Her hair is flat against her face, sticking to it from her tears that she willingly let spill.
Sasuke stops in front of her, his eyes searching desperately in hers for an answer that he needs to hold on to keep him sane, to keep him from falling off the cliff right back into darkness. He doesn't open his mouth to ask how Sakura is because the look reflecting off her eyes speaks for itself.
Baby blue eyes have lost their shine and the joy they once radiated. They're dim and red-rimmed and his probably looks exactly like hers. They hold sadness and sorrow and when she diverts eye contact with him he gets his answer.
She doesn't know.
A heavy sigh escapes his lips and he falls to the ground, defeated, his last shred of hope slowly escaping his grasp, just as he felt Sakura's life leaving her body. He shuts his eyes, cupping them with his palms as he leans his head against the wall. His fingers shake his messy hair as he rubs his palms against his eyes, hoping to erase the images of his reality. But his hope has left him which causes him to see her last moments, vividly.
"They wouldn't let me in."
Sasuke slowly looks up towards the blonde, his hands dropping to his side.
Ino doesn't lock her empty eyes with his as they train on the spot on his shirt that sticks to him knowing that it's her blood that caused that. "They wouldn't let me in to help her," she mutters lowly and tears escape her eyes. She hastly brings her hands up to brush them away, sniffling in the process. "I saw when they wheeled her down the hall, but they say I can't help because I'm too close with her. That it's going to affect my abilities. But, God damn it! I can help save her! I can help bring her back!"
Her voice falters and she lets out an exasperated cry before falling to the ground, her shoulders shaking as she sobs into her hands.
Sasuke doesn't say anything to comfort her or to reassure her that everything is going to be okay, mostly because he doesn't know if everything will be okay.
"It's true that I'm close with her, but it's not going to affect my work! Sakura's like a sister to me and they wouldn't let me help!" Her voice is hoarse, almost a whisper as she curls her legs towards her chest. "I can't lose her," Ino murmurers, "we can't lose her."
His dark mismatch eyes flicker towards the double doors. Ino's words weigh him down, they squeeze at his throat, and stab at his heart. It's his fault she lost the person who thinks of her as a sister; it's his fault they wouldn't allow her to help do what she's best at, and it's his fault that they both lost Sakura.
"It's all my fault."
Sasuke quickly turns his attention back to Ino. Her hands are in her blonde hair, as they grasp at locks of her long, blonde hair, tugging it down. She draws in a deep breath to stop the hiccups that escapes her lips, but they're persistent as they force their way out of her trembling lips.
"It's all my fault," she repeats with a hiccup following afterwards. "If only I had never told her about the missing supplies then maybe she wouldn't be, wouldn't be-"
"No," Sasuke says, speaking the first word since seeing her and diverts his eyes back towards the double doors. "The person wasn't after her because you noticed the supplies were missing." He fills his lungs with a deep breath so it'd be easier for him to confess the rest. "She was after her because of me. I'm the reason that happened to her. I'm the reason Sakura was taken from you."
Ino lifts her glance to him and he can feel it on him. It burns through him, searching for an explanation that she will not find from the darkness that is slowly consuming him.
"Aka was an alias," he explains, his voice a low monotone. "It was Karin, my old team member, who placed her in there." He nods his head towards the double doors, but Ino's eyes are still on him wanting more, needing more. "She was the one who stole from the hospital, and stole the things I sent her, and she's the one who stole Sakura away from us."
Pulling her hands roughly though her silky locks, she holds her hands in front of her and stares at them. A lone strand of gold is tangled around her right hand's ring finger. She doesn't move to shake it off, she just stares at it as if it holds all the answers she needs, but it doesn't.
"It's not your fault, Sasuke."
"Nor is it yours."
Sasuke understands now that it isn't his fault. Loving someone shouldn't be a reason for someone to die. He finally learns that after hearing Ino place all the blame and fault on herself. Ino loves Sakura, and would never want harm to come her way, but yet here she sits on the cold, hard hospital floor blaming herself. Sasuke had been doing that since his nightmares started, he blamed himself if anything were happen Sakura and now that the unimaginable have, he can't help but blame himself, but he now knows better.
Ino raises her glance to him, but his eyes are still locked on the double doors almost as if he that's the only thing keeping him sane; as if they were the only thing keeping him from searching for her and painting the village red with her blood.
"You blamed youself?"
"I did."
He doesn't explain and she doesn't push for an answer. They sit together, in silence, for what seems like hours. The double door suddenly opens sending both Ino and Sasuke scrambling to their feet.
"How is she? Did she-"
The main doctor who Sasuke doesn't recognize holds up his hand, stopping Ino midsentence. He holds in his hands a chart and it takes all the self-control in Sasuke's body to keep himself from lunging at the doctor for the chart.
The doctor scribbles away at the chart, nodding to himself as he does so. He slips his pen into his pocket and looks up into anxious, blue eyes.
"Haruno will be fine. She just needs rest."
Ino's eyes widen as she grabs the doctor's shoulders in her hands, bringing him closer to her. "Are you sure? Sakura didn't succumb to her injuries?"
The doctor shakes his head, brushing her hands off him. "She did briefly, but we managed to get her back. We've healed the injuries she sustained, but her chakra readings are abnormal because the antidote she was given didn't get to run its course before she body succumbed to her injuries. Once it makes its way through her body she'll be perfectly fine. She's asleep right now, so no one can see her, but in a few hours I'll allow her to see visitors."
Ino's eyes wells with tears of joy that spills uncontrollable. She encircles her arms around him, and tugs him towards her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much," she exclaims against his chest, in a chant.
He struggles in her grasp to get free and he does when she eventually releases him. She rubs her hand underneath her nose as she sniffles before giving her thanks to him once more. He thanks her and lifts his glance to Sasuke. Sasuke nods, a gesture to show his thanks and gratitude, and the doctor nods back before walking down the hall.
After hearing the news, he automatically feels the weight of dread and disappear leave his body. Hope re-enters sending the darkness that had made his way through him, retreating. He feels lighter, with the anxiety and sadness gone, but he can't forget what she's done.
Sasuke turns away from Ino, towards the direction he ran blindly in, and starts to make his way down the hall."
"Wait! Sasuke!"
He stops when he hears Ino calling him, but he doesn't turn around to face her.
"Where are you going? We'll be able to see her soon," she says from behind him, having jogged towards him.
"I have some unfinished business to take care of." His mind flashes to her and how he knows she's still alive and probably hiding somewhere to finish the job if she finds out Sakura survived.
"Let me at least make you something so you can use your chakra."
"I don't need it," he informs. He takes a step forward, but stops again, turning his head slightly to the right. "Keep an eye on her. I have a feeling she's going to come back if she realizes she didn't die."
Ino nods as she watches Sasuke disappear down the hall.
The warm midday breeze tousles locks of crimson hair as Karin stands on the roof of a nearby building watching the helpless pinkette sleep.
She wonders how she managed to survive the fatal blow, but the thought quickly vanishes when she vows again to finish the job.
Reaching a hand up, she tucks her hair behind her ears deciding when the best time to strike will be. She can't go now for her irritating friend is in the room. She can sense her chakra signature near Sakura's bed. Karin smirks to herself when she realizes Sakura's chakra hasn't returned and plans to attack her tonight so she wouldn't be able to heal herself if she wakes up.
Turning around, she jumps from building to building until she meets the gates of the village. Leaping down, she casually makes her way through the gates, not to alarm the guards, and runs into the thick woods when she could no longer see them. She swiftly makes her way through the woods, dodging any low branches that hang in her way or any roots that are sticking up from the ground.
Karin stops running when she's directly in the middle of the woods and jumps, landing on a branch. She carefully sits and arranges herself so that her back is leaning against the rough truck of the tree. Her left leg lays flat against the branch while she lets her right leg dangle. Crossing her arms at her chest, she pushes her glasses that she managed to grab from her home after hers got destroyed, up the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes.
She recalls the day Sasuke left on his redemption journey and how she had been perched up in a tree watching him say his goodbye to his team. Karin snorted when she saw Sakura blushing when she asked Sasuke what he would do if she asked to take her with him.
A smile spread across her lips as Karin tries to suppress her laughter when she saw Sasuke close his eyes and said that his sins had nothing to do with her. She internally mocked Sakura, but her smile faltered when she saw Sasuke approach her.
Karin's eyes widen as she watched with both shock and horror when his fingers connected with her forehead, poking her. The blush that dusted her cheeks as well as the words that fell out of his mouth were enough to fuel her anger and hatred for the girl who saved her at the Land of Iron.
She was blinded by rage. She never expected Sasuke do something like that to anyone. Especially her. He tried to kill her. Many possibilities run through her mind as to why he would do that, but all of them didn't seem as logical as the one that mades her sick to her stomach.
He feels something for this girl.
After months of stalking his pink haired teammate, Karin learned that she's head of the hospital, her best friends are two loud blondes, and she lives by herself. Her life was pretty mundane, she concludes.
The only thing that Karin didn't understand was why she frequently admired the sky every night on her balcony. It was beautiful, that she could agree on, but there had to be a purpose, a reason, she lifted her head upwards every time she was under it.
Karin took pride in the fact that Sasuke hadn't sent Sakura letters or gifts as a sign that she was on his mind. If he really cared about her he would have done those things, she pondered. She thought that Sasuke would return to the village after his journey was over so she hadn't expected to see when he showed up three months after his initial departure. He walked right past her, not acknowledging her presence, which caused her rushed thumping heart to freeze completely in her chest. She turned and watched as he made his way towards her apartment.
Knocking on her door, she watched as it opened to reveal a brightly smiling Sakura who took a step forward, kissing his cheek before she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. He snaked his arms around her waist and buried his neck in the crook of her neck, breathing her in.
Karin felt her heart shatter. She watched through glassy eyes as he took a step forward, leading them into her apartment while they were still enwrapped in one another's arms. The door soon closes behind them and Karin could only imagine what was happening behind closed doors.
Were her hands wrapped in his hair while his hands familiarize themselves with the feel of her body? Were they sharing a passionate kiss after a long awaited reunion? Or were they simply sitting down to have tea?
Months come and go, just like how he comes and goes. Karin soon concludes that his visits to Konoha were not solely to report back to the Hokage, but were to see her.
She finally understood why her grass green eyes would be drawn to the sky. Karin was there watching as she was reduced to tears by Sasuke's words. She doesn't hear their confrontation, but she knows it hadn't been what Sakura was hoping to hear flow from his mouth. Their body language says it all: they are no more.
She shut the door after he walked away and she knew that she was probably on the floor crying like the little baby that she will always be.
The next day, she found that Sakura rarely lifted her head towards the sky. If she did she made sure her eyes were shut or she quickly snapped it back down. It was a habit she wished to break, Karin noted. A hawk in the sky caught Karin's scarlet eyes and she recognizes it as Sasuke's. She followed it to Sakura's apartment where she saw it drop something on her balcony before it flew off. Jumping stealthily onto her balcony, she found that it was a letter addressed to Sakura that the bird delivered. She didn't open it for she already know what it held inside. An apology.
She crumpled the letter in her hands and jumped off her balcony, stuffing the cursed paper into her pocket, vowing get rid of her once and for all.
If she can't have him, no one else can.
a/n: I lied, the nxt chapter will be the last !
comments:
-to the guest who said "One more chapter? There should be more! Great story by the way! Keep up the great work!"
thank you so much for thinking that :) I actually have another multi-fic planned and im really excited to write it after i complete 'The Last Time'
-to the guess who said "Yay, I saw the potential of this story since the beginning to be a multi-chapter story (too lazy to sign in). It's a beautiful story and can't wait for the ending. Love Karin's character here. Yes she is jealous but she isn't just clingy jealous. She's fiery jealous willing to make damage. Very interesting."
im assuming i already know who you are and i replied back to you :)
-to the gues who said "I love how you wrote this story. Please update the story soon!"
thankk youuu :)))
