Un Bel Dei
-(Act Three, Part Two)-
Sotto il gran ponte del cielo non v'è
donna di voi più felice.
Siatelo sempre,
non v'attristate per me...
Mi piacerebbe pur che gli diceste
che pace io troverò.
-
'Neath the blue vault of the sky, there is no
happier lady than you are.
May you remain so,
nor e'er be sadden'd through me.
Yet it would please me much that you should tell him
that peace will come to me.
-
Time was nothing. Time meant nothing. A single petal faded down from the trees, the palest shade of pink, dancing to a song finished long ago.
It hovered, hesitant to make that final scattered plunge, before barely touching the surface of the water, sending crystal ripples to the edge of the water.
Whatever image had been shining from the water before had been blurred, distanced by the shimmering movements. Naruto squinted, desperate to see, but the picture remained foggy. It was only when the water began to settle when Naruto heard it.
Crying. A sad, quiet sob. A familiar one.
"Who's there?" he called, losing interest in the clearing water and suddenly needing to desperately find and help the crying person.
A flicker caught his eye, he pivoted to see a tiny, beautiful little butterfly, its delicate wings tangled in a mess of spider web.
She was not moving, but she was crying, Naruto was sure of it.
"Little butterfly," he said softly, "what's wrong?"
She looked up at him. She had not the lips to talk, but somehow, he heard her voice.
"It was so pretty," motioning to the web, "so pretty, so perfect… I didn't even notice… but now it's impossible to escape…"
Naruto smiled at the little insect, shaking his head, "it can't be impossible... I'll help you."
Naruto lifted a finger underneath the butterfly, ready to pry it off the web, to help her.
"No! Don't!" she screamed at him, but too late.
She screamed, high pitched and fatal as her wings tore, ripping from her very body. She continued screaming and thrashing as she fell to the ground. Naruto did nothing, he couldn't do anything, he just stood there in shock, paralyzed, as tears began pouring from his face.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" she shrieked in agony.
"I'm sorry!" Naruto began, stammering the phrase over and over hysterically, trying to pull the wings off of the web, but only succeeding in tearing them further. By the time he had knelt down to the little butterfly, shaking violently and clutching the remnants of her beautiful wings, she had long died.
-
He awoke with a start, partially from that odd falling sensation you get when you're sleeping. The dream was quickly forgotten when he roused from the blankets and saw what was sitting in the harbour.
The ship which promised him everything.
The grin which exploded cheek to cheek could barely be contained by his face. This was better than the best, an eternity of waiting had finally come to an end.
Sasuke had arrived, he was finally here, and Naruto could see him, after all this time.
He grabbed the outer layers of his clothing which Ino had removed, throwing them on as neatly and hastily as he could. Nothing could restrain the excitement, the incredible surplus of emotion he was feeling.
"I'm coming, Sasuke," he finished, tying the last piece of cloth round his waist and bounding out of the room.
-
"A… a child…?" Sasuke stammered, having to sit down from the sudden weight that was forced upon him.
"Yes," Ino said, not angrily, but most certainly not submissively.
"I… A child?!" Sasuke repeated again, trying to desperately grasp at his own thoughts. His mind swooned with impossible concepts.
"Leave us to talk!" he suddenly demanded, motioning everybody towards the door. They filed out quickly, not wanting to be the chosen emotional outlet of the angry Lieutenant.
-
"Where would my Sasuke be waiting?!" Naruto chided to himself, tip-toeing down the hallways and peering around corners.
Of course, he knew where guests waited. The waiting room was designed for that purpose, and he doubted he would be anywhere else.
So he played the game with himself, drawing ever nearer to Sasuke, letting the happy sensation crawl over him.
Closer.
-
"This just isn't possible!" Sasuke wasn't quite yelling, but it was loud.
"Well it is!" Ino said, beginning to lose her composure. "It is possible and it happened!"
"I don't understand! He waited all this time?" he asked.
"Didn't you care at all!" she screamed at him.
Sasuke glared at the girl. "I cared," he said, bluntly. "I still care, but he should have known!"
"Known what, Lieutenant?"
"Its just not… acceptable. It couldn't happen."
Ino stared at him like he was a filthy rag. "He believed only what you told him."
Sasuke put his face in his hands, not crying, but feeling like he was.
What had he done?
-
Naruto stood at the door, smiling at himself, fingers shaking on the doorknob. There was only one thing left to do, and the wait was grinding his very core. It was over. The waiting. It was finally over. A happy tear slid down his cheek as he pressed his weight to the door, pushing it open joyfully.
There was a gasp from inside as Naruto's eyes focused and took in what he saw before him.
Two people, a man and a woman sitting, discussing.
But the man was not Sasuke, it was Kakashi.
And the woman…
... he had never seen her before.
"Kakashi!" he said, giving his biggest grin, and bowing low. Kakashi stood up immediately.
"Naruto…" he began, but before he had time to fathom what he would say next, Naruto cut in, eager to make polite conversation, wary of the new girl.
He smiled politely at her. "Naruto Uzumaki," a quick bow, "and who may you be?"
The girl's eyes flooded almost instantaneously. Naruto pulled back in shock as the girl flung herself at his feet.
"Forgive me, Naruto…"
He glanced at the silver-haired man, who was helping the sobbing girl up and back onto her feet.
"Naruto…" Kakashi turned to him, eyes somber. "This is Sasuke's wife, Sakura Uchiha."
-
The world. It was breaking in two. Something had gone wrong, but he didn't understand what.
"Please, Naruto… I'll take care of the child…"
What could have possibly gone wrong? It was so perfect, so beautiful…
"Yes, that will be fine."
…and yet, something had gone wrong all the same. Perfection wasn't easy… but it had been there, between the two of them.
"… Naruto, I'm so sorry… I just…"
"No," he said, breaking out of the trance. He looked at the young girl. She was beautiful, soft features with delicate pale arms, a tiny waist.
"Don't be sorry," he spoke softly, taking her hands in his to reassure her. "Nobody in the world should be happier than you."
The brief shock on her face wore off and her eyes watered again, spilling down her cheeks.
"You shouldn't be sad for my sake," he added, softly treading towards the door.
He grasped the door handle. "Please, tell him to come in half an hour to collect Joy."
Before taking the last few steps out the door, he turned, and bowed gracefully.
The sincere smile never left his face.
