bookCry For Me

Chapter 11

Slipping

.-.o.x.0.X.O.X.0.x.o.-.

-third person p.o.v.-

To him, she looked like an angel. Her pink hair may have been mussed. Her body may have been dressed in a forget-me-not blue hospital gown. And, maybe, just maybe, she looked like total shit but, all aside, the steady rise and fall of her chest, up and down with each breath, was enough to make him look on tenderly at her, her beauty unmatched in his eyes.

He sat on the bed side chair, refusing to leave despite the doctor's order, and tried to match her breathing, anything to make him feel closer to her. No one may have been quite sure when or if she was going to wake up. No one may have been positive what was happening. And, maybe, just maybe, this was the gust of wind threatening to blow down the house of cards he'd spent his life acquiring but, all aside, Naruto didn't care because all he needed to be certain was that Sakura was alive, that she was breathing, that the house of cards stood tall, and that she loved him, and he would be fine.

The heart monitor rang out the tune of her heart, signaling that the wind had not yet won, and there was no sign of defeat, and he tried to make his heart beat in time with hers. It'd been only a few hours since she'd collapsed in his apartment, but it felt like it had been forever. He consoled himself by always listening to the heart monitor as the fear turned to fire and churned in his stomach.

He was distantly aware of his growing agitation towards the miscellaneous doctors who filtered in and out, occasionally telling him to leave as they checked Sakura's vitals. He only distantly felt Kyuubi churning in his stomach, trying to take advantage of this moment of weakness. He distantly heard himself answer doctors' questions with anger and bitter sarcasm. He held in sharp contrast the view of Sakura, her chest rising and falling, for that was all he needed, the rest could wait.

.-.o.x.0.X.O.X.0.x.o.-.

-flashback-

Tsunade's hands lingered over Sakura's temples, her face concentrated and stern. He hands flared, suddenly immersed in her chakra as Tsunade closed her eyes. A few minutes later her eyes opened again, the chakra fading, her face contorting to one of hopelessness.

"The black blood has attacked her brain. I don't know why but it seems to have locked on to two specific parts of her brain." She reported, facing her special team of doctors and Naruto who refused to leave, having just brought Sakura in minutes ago. "The first part of the brain it's attacked is her cerebellum." She continued professionally until she saw Naruto's 'I'm gonna pretend I understand' face.

Tsunade sighed deeply, resisting a vein pop. "The cerebellum is located on the underside of your brain, Naruto, and it controls your sensory perception and coordination. That's probably why she collapsed." She explained to him. "The other part the black blood seems to have been the frontal lobe, which controls a person's typical personality, their reasoning skills, conscious and long-term memories." She stated fully this time for Naruto's benefit. "These are extremely important areas of the brain, therefore we have no idea how Sakura will react when she wakes up. She may not be able to walk, she may not seem like herself, and she may have memory problems."

-end flashback-

.-.o.x.0.X.O.X.0.x.o.-.

There! There it was! It was just a flicker, but it was there! Just a bit! Hope bloomed in the boy's stomach, him leaping off his bed side chair, right up to her face cushioned on the hospital pillow.

"Granny Tsunade! Get Granny Tsunade!" He yelled to a doctor filling past who looked startled for a minute before rushing off to do as asked.

Naruto focused back on Sakura's face. He could have sworn her eyelid had flickered just a moment before. Just a bit, just a facial muscle process, a reaction of tendons, the whole charade similar to a quick wince, as if smelling something back, before returning to an impassive mask. But he had seen it!

"C'mon, Sakura, wake uppppp!" He urged, smiling eagerly, love flaring back to life in his eyes as he watched her.

Another flicker/wince, this one longer and more pronounced.

"Yessss!" Naruto cheered, leaping up and down as if this had been equivalent to him becoming Hokage. "Go, Sakura!" he encouraged.

Her lips parted, just a little bit and for a while, nothing came out, until, thick and heavy "shut…up… Naruto…" she said.

Impossible, we know, but somehow, Naruto's happiness exploded ten-fold.

.-.o.x.0.X.O.X.0.x.o.-.

-Sakura's p.o.v.-

The first thing I can recall is a feeling of heavy helplessness, as if I was swimming in tar. From the surface I heard distant yelling and I just knew it was directed at me. What was going on? I kicked harder, towards the surface and finally recognized the voice as Naruto's. Naruto? What's he doing here?

I wanted to respond, something sarcastic and witty, but I wouldn't be able to do so until I reached the surface so I trudged my arms up and down and willed my exhausted legs to kick and finally made it out. My first words: Shut up, Naruto.

Classy, eh? Yeah, I thought so. I tried to open my eyes but it took effort to break through the caked on barrier sleep had put there. How long have I been asleep? My first sight: Naruto. Above him were the white fluorescents of the hospital ceiling. They were a trick, along with all the other white of the hospital, to make patients feel calm but to doctors, such as me, it was a root of worry. My head felt heavy and I tried to flex my fingers which did so grudgingly and slowly, as if they were caked by a thick, dry layer of mud in their previous position.

"Naruto, why am in the hospital?" I asked him, for I had no idea.

He looked puzzled for a moment then opened his mouth to answer but Tsunade came rushing in and forcefully knocked him right out of the way. "Sakura!" she yelled delightedly, looking at me like a proud mother.

"Tsunade-senpai? What's going on?" I asked her, for my teacher was sure to know.

She, too, got this puzzled look. "Sakura…" she began, fear seeping into her eyes, "how much do you remember?"

"About what?" I asked her. "I'm Haruno Sakura, seventeen, birthday in March, five foot seven, one hundred thirty five pounds, chunin level, blood type AB, pink hair, green eyes, and single." I reported the basic characteristics and information.

I tried to remember the last thing I could, trying to give myself a hint as to what happened that had landed me in the hospital but my memories were just a mix of the monotony of my life: eat, train, work, mission, and then, most importantly, sleep. "Why?" I asked, rather belatedly, wondering about those shocked looks on their faces.

Tsunade started, startled at my question. What was going on? She put her hand up, defensively, and said, "Nothing, nothing, you were just in a coma and we were very worried about you losing any memory." She leveled.

Coma? Was that the reason for this massive headache? I touched the base of my skull gingerly; it was hard, like it went straight to the bone instead of any flesh in between. Weird. It was also cold… double weird.

"So Naruto just came to check on me?" I asked her.

Naruto leaped off the floor ninja-like, getting back in my face. "I'm just happy that you're okay!" He told me, loud as usual, but there was something about his eyes, like he was terrified of something, and it sounded like he was more telling himself.

Triple… weird… Inner Sakura moaned from inside my head.

"Okay…" I said, pushing Naruto's face away with a little force. "So, am I free to go home?" I asked Tsunade, still holding Naruto's face back with one arm.

"Um… sure…" she answered.

"Cool," I smiled and let Naruto's face go, he had been fighting against it with so much force that when I let go he went flying into the wall behind my bed. He then properly sunk to the floor.

Tsunade smiled sadly and handed me a bag with clothes I must have come in with. Wasn't that T-shit Naruto's? Well, I did have a few of his things at my house, stuff he forgets on missions that I grab and forget to return.

I stepped out of the bed and the hospital floor was much too cold on my bare feet. I padded my way to the bathroom, changed, and left for my home wondering:

What's up with those two?

.-.o.x.0.X.O.X.0.x.o.-.

-third person p.o.v.-

"So… we're going to keep it a secret from her? That she's dying?" Naruto asked for clarification, his voice void of life, from the heap he had become on the floor.

"At this point, I feel it may be the best thing for her. We can't pretend like she's not smart enough to figure out something's wrong but let's hope that's not for a long, long while." Tsunade stated, staring ahead, eyes void of life. "She was tearing herself apart. This is what's best for her." She said, carelessly, as if she forgot who she was talking to.

But he wasn't having any of it. He stood up, and placed himself right in front of her. "I'm what's best for her!" he yelled at her, eyes flashing red, facial scars deepening, nail lengthening, but only for a split second and it undid itself.

"Naruto…" she sighed. "Please? If not for me, for Sakura." She pleaded, thoroughly exhausted from anxiety.

He backed off a bit, hanging his head, casting his face in shadows, hiding it from the florescent lights. "Fine." He agreed, bitter, grudging, pain ever present in his voice and he didn't try to hide it.

Tsunade turned away, too ashamed to look at him. "Good. She shouldn't have anything to tip her off that she's missing a bit of memory." Tsunade reasoned, pacing heavily out of the room.

After several minutes, Naruto regained control of himself, and leapt out the window, dead set on taking out his aggression on trees.

.-.o.x.0.X.O.X.0.x.o.-.

-Sakura's p.o.v.-

The pathway to my house is easy, simple, and familiar. I had no need to pay attention as to where I was going as my feet and carried me back to the same home for years. I wasn't even watching where I was going, just thinking I'm heading home.

So you can imagine my surprise when my feet led me to Naruto's apartment. I looked at my feet, then glared at them. I said HOME.

My feet gave no reply, which is good because it proved I wasn't entirely insane, just insane enough to glare at my feet.

I straightened up and forced my feet to lead me to my home.

I walked up the path, which was the same as always. The front door was locked and I had no key on me, which was typical, so I fished the spare out from under the WELCOME mat, where it'd always been kept. I fit it to the lock, having to jiggle it a bit to get it in there, because, for some reason, it only went in like that, a weird thing that had been present for years now. I turned the knob, which caught in the same way it always had. I had to kick the door a bit, as I always do, to get it to open, for the frame was a bit too tight, as it had always been. And I opened the familiar door from the familiar front lawn to what should have been a familiar house.

Yet, for some reason, this looked nothing like my house.

The bleak, lovable, off white walls were painted with vibrant, loud, intoxicating colors, the rooms I could see were filled with gorgeous modern furniture, the carpets replaced with tasteful styles, same for the tiles.

I gaped at the sight. I leaned back out of the door way and looked at the plate on the right side of the front door.

127 Hokudao

So… it was my address. This was my house.

I looked back at the unbelievable sight and to console myself I spoke aloud. "Have I… forgotten something?"

-end chapter-

A/N: Sorry it took so long, everyone, but I've been studying for my midterms (which are starting on Wednesday). Hope you guys liked this one! …though it WAS a bit depressing. It's a bridge chapter, don't worry.