SNOW DAY YESTERDAY!! WOOOT! XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!


"SASUKE!"

It was a faint cry in the mind of the dying Uchiha. It had barely registered that his best friend had called his name. It had barely registered that reinforcements had come. It had barely registered that someone was picking him up.

Nothing ever actually registered in his numb mind.

"Sasuke—"

But the voice had abruptly stopped, something like a hitched breath following the unfinished sentence.

His barely lidded orbs could hardly define the outline of the person looking down at him. He couldn't even tell what color of hair they had. Everything was too dark for him.

Blinking slowly, he continued to stare at the person above him, struggling against the darkness because he just wasn't ready for death yet.

"Sasuke! If you can hear me, blink!"

No such movement was made by the weakening raven haired man.

A choked breath and a throttled sob reached his ears. "TEME! DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME TEME! DON'T YOU DARE!" The voice brokenly cried.

He was now aware of the tight grip the person had on him, and his vision became a little clearer. Much to his relief, he knew who the person was as he saw blond hair.

"…Dobe…" He rasped out quietly, grimacing at the numbness overtaking again.

"…TEME…!" Naruto cried in relief, a comforted grin grazing his lips. "Don't scare me like that!" He laughed nervously, fear shining clearly in his blue orbs.

But Sasuke's face didn't even so much as flicker with the slighest emotion.

"…It's going to be fine. We chased them away for the moment."

The Uchiha heir didn't respond.

"…you'll team up with us to kill them!"

But there was no response, once again.

"…right?" He whispered, biting his bottom lip in hope.

But it was then that Sasuke slipped out of consciousness.

"…SASUKE!"


She didn't quite know what to do.

Part of her thought it would be best to go join the others to fight, because it was obvious that this was just a trick.

But another part of her told her to wait. That he would never give her his most preciously kept key for nothing. That he would expect her to wait for him.

She didn't know which part of her to believe.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

She jerked her head towards the direction of the voice, gasping lightly at the sight of the door flying right open, revealing a heavily panting Naruto who was…

…holding a bloody unconscious Sasuke?

Her breath hitched and she let out a small cry, stumbling forward a few steps. "S-Sasuke-kun!" She stammered softly, putting a hand over her heart as it tightened painfully.

"Is… is he…"

"He's not dead." Naruto reassured, a tint of hurry and fret in his voice.

A muffled sob escaped her lips, but she composed herself again, furiously wiping her eyes before she stood up straight and confident. "Hurry, put him on the table! We have not time to waste!"

And although she tried so hard to seem strong and without worries, Naruto could clearly see how worried she was about Sasuke. He could see the desperation in her eyes, like she just hoped so strongly that he would survive. He could clearly see the fear in her eyes. The fear of losing her only love.

"Sakura-chan…" He whispered, his eyes narrowing in compassion.

"Naruto…?" She called quietly, stroking Sasuke's cheek lightly.

His head rose up a little, staring directly at her. He swallowed hard before replying, "…Yeah?"

"…Could you… give me a minute… with him?"

She had looked up to him now, her eyes filled with tears that had been held back in the past few minutes. Naruto could clearly see how much pain she was in. Fearing that the love of her life was going to die. Fearing that she wouldn't be able to save him. Fearing that…

...that this would be the last time she could see him.

For a moment, Naruto couldn't bring himself to speak. His throat was dry and the words had been stolen away. It seemed he had just forgotten how to talk.

The idea of Sasuke dying made him sick.

Sasuke, dead?

No.

No.

No.

It was impossible.

Sasuke was invincible.

"Please…" He heard the pinkette murmur, biting her lower lip as she looked at him pleadingly. "…Please…"

Naruto stiffened lightly, swallowing hard. But still, the words just wouldn't come out, and so he settled for a curt nod.

Even if something inside him just burned and pleaded for him to eavesdrop and spy on them, he knew this just wouldn't be right. 'No… Sakura-chan deserves to have the privacy she desires…' He thought sympathetically, sighing quietly as he turned around the corner of the room.

But before he was completely out of range to hear their (it sounded weird to say their, since it would probably only be Sakura talking) moment, he managed to catch her broken whimper.

"Oh Sasuke-kun…"

It pained him to hear such a broken hearted tone.


Something wet and warm trickled down her cheeks as Naruto finally left the room and she didn't feel the need to hold back her tears anymore. She didn't want to have an utter break down, and she didn't plan onto having one… but letting out the tears she'd been holding back for so long was sure to make her feel a bit better.

'Better…?' She questioned bitterly, her mouth forming a thin line. 'Sasuke-kun might die, how is everything going to be better?'

She hated herself for thinking this way, but it was the truth.

Sakura was very low on chakra, and Sasuke had so many wounds that she just didn't know if she'd be able to save him.

Sure, she could ask the others to lend her some chakra, but they needed it too. They were still in danger with the Akatsuki roaming around. Everybody needed as much chakra as they could.

She stroked his unbelievably pale face, choking a sob. "Oh Sasuke-kun…" She whimpered, her voice holding pure heartbreak and pain.

Knowing she did not have any time to waste anymore, she began to inspect his wounds, wanting to find the ones that were the most life threatening so she could hopefully heal those. If she could heal his life threatening wounds, then he would be able to survive.

Her fear of his death grew more and more as she inspected his entire body, turning him gently when she wanted to check his back. It was so sickening to see his body so bloody and so broken that it took her literally everything not to start crying.

And as she finished to inspect him, she felt the urge to throw up.

Most of his wounds were life threatening.

She would most likely not be able to save him.

…but she could still try.

Taking in a sharp breath, she raised her shaky hands and placed them on his chest, closing her eyes as she felt his broken ribs, biting her lip as she realised they were almost literally crushed. The feeling of his heartbeat on her palm was a relief, but also sickening because it was so faint.

She took a deep breath and began pumping chakra into him.

The bones started to repair, she could feel it. She always found it so awkward the feeling of the skin or bones repairing under her palms or fingers. It was always such an odd feeling, but she was used to it by now. It was just the fact that it was Sasuke's bones and wounds that she was repairing…

…it made her feel like the scared beginner she was when she first started.

A slight and barely audible cough reached her ears and she jumped lightly, a small gasp escaping her lips as she saw half lidded obsidian orbs looking directly at her. His mouth was parted lightly, breathing in and out painfully, and he would shut his eyes every so often when breathing became a little too hard.

She would feel his heartbeat accelerating, and then slowing, and then accelerating once again.

It was an unstable pattern that she hated.

He hadn't said anything in the moments she healed his ribs. He hadn't said anything in the moments she healed his other wounds. He hadn't said anything at all as he felt weakening. He hadn't said anything at all.

Maybe because he couldn't, since he was after all barely conscious during this healing session.

Maybe because he didn't want to, being the stubborn emotionless Uchiha he was.

Or maybe he didn't really know what he would say if he spoke.

And although he didn't talk, his eyes never strayed from her face. He never looked elsewhere. Even when she looked back at him, feeling observed, he didn't look away. He keep their gazes locked, and he would still look at her when she would look away, a blush on her face.

He never looked away.

He wouldn't want to.

Most of his wounds still had to be healed, but she had almost no chakra left. He could see it on her face, the sorrow and the guilt of not being able to heal him. She could see the pure fear growing each second as her limbs began to shake from chakra exhaustion. But she never stopped. She never would. Not even if he'd tell her to.

Her chakra started to fade, flickering out every second or so. But she kept going, tears flowing down her cheeks as she no longer felt she could heal. She knew that there was still a chance to save him, but only if she gave her own life for him.

And just as she was about to continue, a hand gripped her wrist lightly. She jerked her head down to look at him, looking utterly shocked at his firm stare. She knew that if Sasuke had more strength, the grip he had on her wrist would be a vice-like one. But he currently had no strength, so this is the best he could do. She could easily tug away her wrist if she wanted to.

He didn't speak, and she didn't think he would have even if he had the strength to. He was just staring at her firmly. A stare that controlled.

…He wasn't going to let her give her life for him.

"Sasuke—"

The grip tightened, if only slightly, and she cut herself off. She bit her lip at the feeling of his hand slipping lightly on her wrist, and she knew it was because the strength was slowly withering away from him. His hand was also soaked with his own blood, she then noticed.

She leaned down so her face hovered above his, tears starting to stream down relentlessly as she stared in those half lidded eyes. They were starting to shut. Slowly, but surely.

It was then that Sakura's heart literally started to crack. A crack was added after each second past by. She hadn't realised she was holding her breath. She could only feel the pain of her heart slowly shattering into pieces as Sasuke's life was slipping away.

She couldn't save him.

He wouldn't let her give her life for him.

She couldn't save him.

The feelings she tried to hard not to show were slowly starting to appear, and she finally witnessed a moment where he actually showed he cared. It had been so long ever since she'd last seen him care. It had been so long ever since he was wiling to show he cared.

As her face slowly crumbled into a broken hearted expression, she could see his blank eyes turning into a deep emotion.

Fondness.

Mixed with a bit of sadness.

She then started to breakdown.


Warm and wet.

He felt them slowly trickling down on his skin.

Her tears.

Sakura's tears.

She was crying for him. Crying for herself.

Crying because she didn't want to let him go. She didn't want to let her only love die. She didn't want to see him die.

He was everything to her.

For the first time in so long, he actually felt something.

It kinda felt good.

Being ridden of emotions for so long seemed almost like a curse. A curse he'd bestowed on himself.

She was still stroking his cheek, whimpering and murmuring things he couldn't quite catch. But he was sure she was pleading him to live, or that she was confessing to him a million times.

It was quite predictable.

"Sakura…"

Her name left his lips without him really wanting it to.

It had slipped.

She looked startled, her chokes stopping abruptly.

"…Sasuke…-kun…?" She questioned, hiccupping softly.

"…You're annoying."

His lips were twisting upwards in a smirk, and something inside of him lifted as she smiled to him. A true smile.

She laughed through sobs, and he felt content inside to make her happy again. Even if he was dying, he could make her happy.

She stared at him through pained but soft eyes. "Sasuke-kun..?" She suddenly asked after a moment of silence.

He didn't answer, but she went on anyway. "Can I… ask you a favour?"

It was silent for a while, and he looked at her as if inquiring her to go on.

"…Can I… can I kiss you?" She quietly asked.

She was gazing deep into his eyes, and he was startled, to say the least. His eyes didn't really so much as flicker with surprise, but he was completely taken aback inside.

There was a long silence, and he didn't quite know what to answer.

"…once… just once… a real kiss… you… you'll be gone after and I…"

"…Aa."

She looked up, surprised.

But then she smiled softly at him, a smile so true and beautiful. A smile he always loved to see.

…and a smile only for him.

It was the smile she always used to give him.

The space between them was already less then a foot away, and he didn't quite know why he suddenly felt anxious inside.

She stroked his cheek with the pad of her thumb before closing her eyes and leaning closer, closing any gap that had previously been between their lips.

Her lips were soft, he noticed.

Soft and warm.

They felt nice against his own.

He expected her to take advantage of this opportunity and to deepen the kiss, but she never did. She had simply let her lips pressed against his, unmoving. She was letting them linger there for a while, memorizing how warm and pulpy his lips were. How she loved to feel them against her own.

And he just memorised everything of her.

Her scent, her touch, her face, her skin, her hair, her clothes, her hands…

…her lips.

Everything.

The world suddenly seemed so hard to leave now.


Okay, update done!

This is nearing the end…

Oh and if you're wondering how Naruto found Sakura well there can be many ways…

1. Sasuke could have woken momentarily to tell him to go there. (unlikely)

2. He could have asked Karin to locate Sakura. (very likely.)

3. He could have located Sakura himself with lots of concentration and such… (not so likely, but it could happen.)

Review!

:D