This is a re-posted version of this chapter. There's been some fixing of spelling- and grammar errors, plus changes to the paragraph of Kimimaro and Hinata. I'm so sorry about the trouble I'm causing you with this!
A/N: Talking about a fast update! (gawks) This simply wanted to come out, without me having any real control over the matter, so… (grins) I figured you guys wouldn't mind a turbo-speed appearance of a new chapter.
Now, first of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all those fantastic reviews! (HUGS!) It's still completely beyond me that you've grown to like this lil' fic THAT much. Thank you!
Okay, because you're probably itching to get going, here it is – the final chapter before an epilogue! I really hope you'll enjoy of it.
WARNING: If you've been close to tears/crying with the chapters so far, get tissues. Seriously. (sweatdrops)
CHAPTER 12: Last Chance, Last Dance
/ Just one last dance
Before we say goodbye
When we sway and turn round and round and round
It's like the first time
Just one more chance
Hold me tight and keep me warm
Cause the night is getting cold
And I don't know where I belong
Just one last dance /
(Sarah Connor: "Just one last dance")
For Sasuke, the following days went in a drugged blur. But although she was in a hospital, didn't have the strength to get out of bed and was most of the time under heavy medication, she was painfully aware of each day and hour drifting by.
No matter what Naruto and Itachi tried to tell her during the worst of moments, she could tell from the looks upon people's faces and the intensifying pains that there was no time to waste. She wasn't about to leave the hospital anymore.
With Itachi having gone to take a little walk (to go somewhere he could safely release all the surging emotions, she knew), she was asleep until there was a cautious knock on the door of her room.
She managed to push her body into a sitting position with a scowl of pain just before Sakura peered in. She knew the girl tried to hide it the best as she could, but she could still tell the pinkette was startled by all the changes that'd happened to her in just one short day. " Hey", the girl all but whispered, managing to push on a tiny smile. " Can… we come in?"
She nodded, desperately trying to not show just how much the simple gesture hurt. " Yeah." Her voice was scratchy and barely audible, but fortunately didn't fail her.
Following the pinkette, her three other friends entered, each taking the exact same places with their chairs they'd had from day one.
Her eyebrows furrowed in an instant when she saw even through thick makeup the bruise decorating TenTen's cheek. She sent the girl a demanding look, only to receive a shake of head and a somewhat panicked gaze.
' Not yet, not here, please.'
With utter reluctance she nodded the best as she managed to. She was in no condition to start an interrogation, and it was pretty obvious all questions would be of no use.
Her thoughts were soon ushered elsewhere when the usual chatting started, with Ino doing most of the talking and the rest of them trying their best to follow.
While the others talked, she found herself observing them – after all, she didn't have much strength for chatting anyway. She felt saddened, worried and even mildly angered by what she found. Dark shadows around eyes, tightness of facial muscles, worry and sadness imprinted deep into their eyes…
They were only sixteen, for crying out loud, and they were fast on their way towards looking like thirty years olds. She couldn't leave things like this.
" You know…", she stated, despite lack of volume managing to catch the others' attention. " You're always asking me… what you could do for me. Now, I've figured out one thing." She swallowed, those words already almost more than her throat could handle. She sent hard looks at the four others. " You're trying to 'protect' me from it, but… I can tell there's a ton of things weighing your minds. Take care of them."
" Hey!" Ino whined in an instant, deep frown upon her face. " You can't make us promise something like that!"
She chuckled a bit, although it felt like her vocal cords had been torn apart. " Yes, actually… I can." Her expression hardened again. " And now that I think about it… You're not allowed into this room until you've sorted things out. Understood?"
She outstretched her fist, balling it the best as she could. One by one, the others tapped their fists against it as a sign of agreement.
" So…", Ino stated, looking at her with a somewhat sceptical expression. " How do we start this… 'fixing?"
Her eyes flashed despite everything. " Sai's flight… It's leaving today, right?" Her eyes moved towards a clock hanging on a wall, and her heart skipped a beat when its pointer moved forward, ticking time away. " In a few hours."
Ino nodded slowly, her expression revealing that she was starting to click and eyes full of pain. " Yeah. But there's nothing I can really do to stop it."
She rolled her eyes, growing exasperated. These four are hopeless! " You love him." It was a statement, no question. " Go there, and tell him."
The blonde scoffed, cheeks blushing madly. " I can't just burst into a airport and scream out my love for him! That's pathetic!"
" What you're doing now is pathetic", Sakura pointed out, tone between dry and amused. The pinkette grinned cheekily. " You know, Paris is a city of love. Do you really want to take the risk of losing him to someone in there who's got more guts than you do?"
For a longest time Ino's disbelief- and accusation filled gaze drifted between them. Finally the girl narrowed her eyes. " You guys are horrible. You know that, right?"
She grinned haughtily. " Yes, and proud of it. Now go."
In just a breath, Ino had scrambled up from her chair. Catching them both off guard, the blonde placed an extremely quick, friendly kiss to her forehead, then dashed out of the room.
TenTen stared at the closed door. " Do you think she'll make it?"
" Yes", Sakura declared, an inch from smiling. " Yamanaka Ino has never lost something she truly wants."
They all nodded in agreement.
" I'll… have to get going, too." There was a look of determination upon TenTen's face as she got up, no matter how badly her legs trembled. " There's something I need to do."
" I-I'll go w-with you", Hinata stated, also pushing herself up. The girl's eyes were apologetic when meeting hers. " S-See you tomorrow."
She wondered if they could see behind her frail smile, no matter how hard they tried to deny what they found. " Yeah. Of course."
'Goodbye' wasn't a word that would've fit into her vocabulary. That's why she merely waved a hand briefly as the two went.
Her eyes remained on the closed door for a longest time, and despite everything she couldn't help but feel some relief.
There was a lot of mess going on – she knew, although none of her friends wanted to burden her with details. But maybe, just maybe, some reason would appear into middle of all the chaos after all. At the moment, she found herself wishing she could've been there to see it happen.
As the others left, Sakura lingered behind, a strange, pained look in her green eyes she'd never seen before. It was almost like the girl had guessed just how delicate and precious this moment was.
She frowned. " What's wrong?"
Without saying a word, the pinkette practically sprinted to her and wrapped a pair of tight arms around her, obviously forgetting how much the hold hurt her. It didn't take long until she felt her best friend's body shudder with silent, heartbreaking sobs. She squeezed her own eyes tightly shut and held on the best as she could.
It was the first time since she'd been brought into the hospital she cried.
Gaara had faced many terrifying situations during his life. That's why he managed to remain remarkably calm while stood in a airport with Temari and Skimaru, saying byes to Kankuro and Haku who were finally – after giving their testimonies to help capture Gato – flying far, towards safety.
It wasn't like Temari to hug, so she settled with folding her arms and giving stern looks at the two. " Take good care of yourselves, okay?" Her gaze fixed on Kankuro. " I don't want to receive even more news of stupidities you've done."
The boy rolled his eyes. " Yes, mother. We'll be extra careful."
He was rewarded for the comment with a swat to head.
Then seeming to catch something in the atmosphere, Temari spoke to Shikamaru. " I think we should get going. There'll be too much of testosterone flying around soon", she announced.
Shikamaru frowned. " Don't you want to watch…?"
Temari interrupted the boy with whispering into his ear. Gaara didn't even want to know what his sister said to the brunette to make his eyes that wide and cheeks blush like tomatoes.
Apparently satisfied with her work, Temari looked towards Kankuro and Haku once more. " Be good, okay? And come back safely."
Both nodded, and the three of them watched while Temari dragged still dumbstruck Shikamaru out of the airport.
Once they were alone, Gaara's eyes moved towards the couple. Despite himself he couldn't shrug off the wave of worry. " I'm trusting New York to be safe."
Haku nodded. " My old friend Zabuza promised to take us in", she revealed. " No one but us four and prosecutor knows where we're going."
" Good." That was far more people than he would've liked, but he supposed it'd have to do for now.
Just then, the final call for flight to New York came.
Fighting the urge to tell them to be careful – for he was pretty sure Kankuro would've punched after having heard the sentence for million times already – he eyed on the two of them. " I'll see you as soon as the trial is over and done with."
Kankuro grinned. " We'll see about that. New York sounds like such a dreamy place that I'm not sure if I'll want to come back."
Haku smiled to him. " Thank you, for everything."
Giving him rather quick goodbyes, the couple turned and started to walk away, towards a hallway that'd lead them into distant unknown.
As he followed the couple's distancing backs with his gaze, Gaara hoped dearly that they knew what they were doing, that they'd finally have the life they'd been dreaming about.
He wasn't willing to lose a sibling for someone's carelessness.
Hiashi Hyuuga arched a surprised eyebrow when there was a knock on the door of his small, foul smelling motel room.
Pretty much no one even knew he was here. Who could it be?
He opened the door with some hesitation, and almost recoiled when finding Hinata.
It took at least a full minute before he managed to speak. " What… are you doing here?"
Steps filled with certainty he'd never seen in them before, Hinata walked inside, closing the door after her. " Kimimaro got out of hospital the day before yesterday. He told me to come and see you."
He gave a wry smile. " So he's changed his mind and wants to press charges ofassault?"
" No." Hinata looked right into his eyes, her own filled with sadness and tiredness that had never lived in them before. It wasn't until then he realized that she wasn't stuttering at all anymore – there was no longer uncertainty and insecurity inside his daughter. " He wanted me to come and sort things out between us."
He nodded slowly, wondering exactly where this was going.
After gathering herself for a longest time, Hinata finally spoke. " There's only one question I have for you. Answer to me honestly." The voice was nothing but familiar. " Will you ever be able toaccept Kimimaro? Because… if I have to choose between you two…"
Hard as he tried, he couldn't utter a single word, but clearly Hinata knew to take his silence as an answer. Her eyes filled with disappointment, and he could tell she once more saw a scene from a little over a week earlier.
/ Two policemen dragging him away from badly bleeding Kimimaro. /
/ " Stay the hell away from my daughter!" /
/ His knuckles stained by the boy's blood. /
/ Hinata's scream of utter terror. " Leave him alone!" /
/ The sound glass door made when Kimimaro's surprisingly light form crashed through it. /
/ " I'm not going to let you touch her ever again, do you hear me! Not ever again!" /
/ Three pairs of eyes meeting him – his wife's filled with disbelief and rage, Kimimaro's with fear and sadness, Hinata's with tears and disappointment that'd never disappear. /
Without saying another word she left, and both knew she'd never come back again.
He found himself walking up to the room's window, and felt his chest clench at what he saw outside. Still mildly bruised-looking Kimimaro, who'd obviously been waiting for Hinata, wrapped his arms gently around her when she started to cry as soon as the motel's door was closed. His daughter immediately leaned closer, obviously gaining comfort from the boy's touch, and he pressed a tender kiss into her hair, lips moving with what seemed like words of comfort. After several moments the two started to walk away slowly, Hinata's head pressed against Kimimaro's shoulder and one of the boy's arms holding her protectively.
It wasn't until much after the two had disappeared did truth finally sink into his head.
That day, Hiashi cried for the first time in his life.
Never in her life had TenTen trembled the way she did that day, stood before a police station.
Pretty much all fear, however, disappeared when Neji's warm, familiar hand slipped into hers. " Are you ready for this?"
She nodded, running one hand across her newest bruise that was no longer hidden by makeup. " Yeah, I am." She squeezed his hand. " I should've done this years ago."
Neji nodded, giving her a small smile of encouragement. To her stun, she managed to return it.
Not saying a word, they started to walk towards the doors with their steps in perfect sync, she finally fully prepared to give officials a detailed report of absolutely all the hell her father had put her through.
It was time to end this nightmare.
After coming to a realization that hanging around Temari and Shikamaru would drive him insane, Gaara found his way into Sasuke's room. As soon as he entered, he realized that there was something different about this meeting.
After having visited Sasuke only once since she'd been brought to the hospital, it terrified him how much she'd already faded away – there was absolutely no colour upon her face apart from the dark hue around her eyes, and her lips seemed nearly bluish. The last time he'd come, she'd needed help with something as simple as eating, and had needed the strongest medication for pain to subside enough to let her sleep. Now…
The girl – who'd most likely been dozing off – opened her eyes slowly upon hearing his steps. He was almost sure she came close to smiling. " Now isn't this a pleasant surprise." Her voice was far thinner than the one he remembered.
He frowned a bit while glancing around, finding something amiss. " Where's Itachi?"
" I told him to go home." After hesitating for a while, she outstretched a hand. He could clearly see how badly it trembled. " I… didn't want him to see this."
He swallowed thickly. " Is it that bad?"
The girl's expression turned wry while the hand fell, muscles not having the strength to keep it up any longer. " Worse." It was quite clear that only pride kept her from screaming out loud.
He tried to speak, but realized that there were no words for a situation like this.
His moves almost soundless, he took the chair beside Sasuke's bed, then grabbed her hand and squeezed, hoping that the hold wasn't tight enough to cause pain. He didn't dare to look at the girl's face, but was pretty sure that there was gratitude amongst pain while she returned the gesture.
Only silence chased away the explosions of emotions neither was willing to face at the moment.
Naruto felt his skin tingle with expectation while Jiraiya slowly finished up his examination. " Well?" he finally inquired, unable to bear the wait for another second.
" I don't want to get your hopes up for nothing, but…" The older smirked at him, seeming more relieved than he'd ever seen the man. " It looks like the stronger medication and rest have done their tricks. Your condition is well enough to allow you to go through with the surgery tomorrow." The man made some notes. " So… I'm taking it as you're feeling better today?"
He nodded, hoping dearly that his face didn't reveal any of the pain that was constantly lingering underneath his skin, like a painful reminder of reality. After all, he was feeling better than he had even once during past week. " Yeah." A thought floated into his mind. " If you're done poking me, can I go and see Sasuke?"
Jiraiya smiled knowingly. " Sure thing, kiddo. Just don't strain yourself – or her."
He rolled his eyes. " Yeah, yeah, I know."
He grit his teeth and endured the humiliation when both the doctor and Iruka appeared for aid when he all but wobbled his way away from the examination table, then did his best to make it towards a awaiting wheelchair without falling down.
Jiraiya had commanded him to use that thing as soon as he'd checked into the hospital five days earlier, for his own safety. He'd immediately declared the thing as his worst enemy.
" I'll come and make sure you'll actually go into bed as soon as I've talked to Jiraiya a bit and taken a small walk, okay?"
" 'K." The waved at both of the men. " 'Catch you later." With that, he started to make his way towards a very familiar room.
It was already pretty late, and Naruto knew he should've been trying to get some sleep so he'd be fully rested for the surgery that'd take place early in the morning, but he just couldn't restrain himself any longer.
He grinned widely upon finding Gaara from Sasuke's room as well. " Hey! I thought you'd never show up."
He could've sworn that the redhead's eyes shimmered for a moment when moving towards him, but it was quickly blinked away. " I just took Kankuro to airport, and decided to come and check up on you two." The boy's eyes glanced towards the room's door behind him. " I'm not sure for how long I can stay, though. Those banshees who call themselves nurses seem pretty determined to not let visitors in past visiting hours."
He scoffed. " You should see them during dinner time. Most of them give me creeps."
Sasuke's eyes were first questioning, then filled with relief as she looked at him. " So Jiraiya said it's okay for you to go through the surgery."
He smirked brightly once more, although some fear bubbled underneath his ribcage. " Yup. I'll finally get it over and done with tomorrow morning."
Just then, there was a knock on the room's door, and a nurse who seemed somewhat less terrifying than the rest – Shizune, her nametag said – peered in with a slight smile. " I know you'd like to talk, but both of the patients need rest, and I can't keep the other members of staff from figuring you out much longer."
Gaara nodded, eyes revealing that he understood the potential danger. Before going out, the redhead placed one firm hand to his shoulder – he suspected that in the boy's case, that was as good as a hug. There was a somewhat troubled look in the other's eyes, and for a moment he was almost sure he saw traces of soon to be erupting tears. " Good luck with the surgery."
He grinned, although it didn't come out as suavely as it could've. " I thought you didn't believe in such a dummy thing as luck."
Gaara flashed him a tiny, rare smile, then looked at both Sasuke and him, eyes lingering on the girl for some seconds as though trying to memorise. " I'll come back as soon as I can."
" You'll better hold on to that", he all but commanded, feeling very tired all of a sudden. It didn't surprise him, really; by then he'd learned to know that these 'good moments', when he felt almost healthy, never lasted for longer than an hour or so.
Giving a brief nod, the redhead opened his mouth once more, but in the end words didn't come and the boy walked out instead, closing the door without making a sound.
As soon as Gaara had left, he made his way to Sasuke's bed and – although it required almost more effort than he could muster – got up from his chair, then laid down beside the girl, his breathing wheezing just a little when he leaned his tired head against her chest.
The girl sighed, running a surprisingly cold hand through his hair. " Dobe, you should be resting instead of running around like this."
He shrugged, after gathering his strength for a bit managing to lift his head so that he could look at Sasuke's face, trying his hardest to ignore all the alarming signs of weakness on them. " You know I can't fall asleep in my own room. It's much more comfortable here."
A small smile appeared to Sasuke's face, and he fully expected some sort of a witty comment. Instead, however, the girl planted a soft kiss to his lips. (He was fortunate enough to not realize that it was only soft because she didn't have strength for anything more forceful.) " I know your chest hurts", the girl murmured, closing her eyes and wrapping a pair of comforting arms around him. " So sleep."
He snuggled just a little bit closer the best as he could, feeling a stab of guilt upon seeing the carefully hidden trace of pain on Sasuke's face, telling how much the simple gesture hurt. He gave her a tiny, light kiss of apology. " G'night, 'Suke."
" Night, dobe", the girl murmured, trusting herself to relax in his arms.
It didn't take more than seconds before they were both asleep, blissfully unaware of what the next day would bring.
-
About an hour later, Itachi and Iruka appeared to the room almost simultaneously. Both struggled under a thunder of varying emotions upon seeing the teens before they managed to move.
While Iruka scooped Naruto's painfully thin form into his arms and Itachi took his usual guard's place by Sasuke's bed, they exchanged one look that said everything necessary.
'I understand.'
They shared nods of goodnight and byes – not daring to speak in fear of disturbing the teens' sleep – before Iruka left the room and Itachi lost himself to a book, both much too aware of how precious these long nights were.
The clock hanging on its place against the wall made an unnaturally loud sound when yet another minute ticked by.
Ino had never been known for patience, and that day – sitting in a taxi that was firmly stuck on traffic jam that'd appeared out of nowhere – she felt just about ready to rip something or someone apart.
She took a look at her watch, and grit her teeth so tightly the driver must've heard it.
Only half an hour left before Sai's flight would take off, and it'd be too late.
The driver, a greasy man at the age of about fifty, looked at her through rear view mirror with an apologetic expression. " Miss, I'm sorry but the traffic is impossible today. It looks like you won't be getting anywhere for at least a couple of hours."
All warmth disappeared from her. " A couple of hours?" she all but shrieked in disbelief.
At that moment, she made up her mind. Throwing a quite impressive amount of money to the driver, she opened the car's door and started to slide out.
" What do you think you're doing?" the driver demanded in disbelief, staring at her with wide eyes. " It's not safe to walk out there! Are you out of your mind?!"
She shook her head, blue eyes flaming. " No, I'm not. I'm in love." With that as her judgement, she slammed the door shut and started to run.
-
Staring at her distancing back through the car's window, the driver shook his head. " Women…"
-
After running around for what felt like ages, her legs so weak and pained that only sheer determination and adrenaline kept her from falling down, Ino finally crashed through the airport's double doors, gaining weird, confused and suspicious looks from everyone nearby.
She, however, was completely oblivious to the rest of the world while she started to dash on, heart hammering with fear. " Sai!"
What if she'd been too late, after all? What if he'd already…?
Those thoughts – along with all others – faded into nothingness when her widened, disbelieving eyes suddenly caught a familiar person walking what seemed like miles away, only some short steps from a hallway that'd take him to almost the other side of world.
Her head spinning madly, she stormed forth, only to find people blocking her path. " Sai!" The boy paused for a beat but went on, probably thinking he'd imagined hearing her voice. Tears almost broke. " SAI, I LOVE YOU, DAMNIT! I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!"
The next morning, Iruka didn't know what to think while watching sleeping Naruto, eyes stinging mercilessly from lack of sleep and threatening tears.
The boy's surgery was only hours away, and he realized that he'd never been this terrified in his entire life.
Naruto, he… He was already in such a bad condition – it was a close call that the doctors even allowed him to go through the surgery.
He… He could lose Naruto. He could lose his son.
He forced those chilling thoughts away upon seeing Naruto move, and managed to smile at the boy. " Morning." He hoped the teen couldn't hear the tension in his voice. " Are you ready?"
His foster son grinned, though there seemed to be something missing. " As ready as I can be." The boy thought for a moment before speaking with clearly evident hope in his eyes. " Can I go and see Sasuke? I have to stop by before the surgery."
He nodded, waiting for a second for the lump in his throat to pass before daring to speak. " Of course."
It ached him to aid such a lively person as Naruto had been before to a wheelchair, and it required all his self-control to not let it show. As soon as the boy was sitting, he wrapped his arms around the fragile teen and pulled him close to tender embrace.
When he finally managed to will himself into letting go, the blonde blinked at him. " What was that for?"
He smiled to keep himself from sniffing. " For… no reason." He composed himself for a moment. " I'll be waiting for you after the surgery, okay?"
Naruto smirked again. " Sure." The blonde waved a hand before going. " See you soon."
Once the teen had left, he stood completely still for several minutes, until his legs started to lead him all of a sudden. He had no idea of the destination, nor did he care.
Sasuke figured that medication must've lulled her into an extremely deep sleep, because it took ages before she managed to wake up properly to a familiar voice and a hand caressing her cheek. " Sasuke? Are you starting to wake up?"
With tremendous effort she pushed her eyelids halfway open, and despite pain slowly rising managed to smile faintly at the sight of Naruto's face. " Hey." She then frowned as memories started to slide into place. " The surgery…?"
Naruto waved a hand. " They won't start preparing me until in an hour." The blonde grinned. " What, did you think I'd go there without coming to see you first?"
She placed her hand onto the one still stroking her cheek. " Dobe."
Some precious, blissfully calm moments passed by with them simply enjoying of each other's company, until such a wave of pain crashed through her that she grimaced and despite all self-restraints emitted a sound of discomfort.
The helpless, sad look that rose to Naruto's face hurt much more than the surge of agony, and she wished from the bottom of her heart that she would've been able to utter at least some words of comfort, to tell him that everything would turn out okay. But at the moment it took all her might to stay conscious under all the ache.
After thinking about it for a while, Naruto got up slowly from his chair, the simple moves it required visibly nearly too much for him, and laid down beside her. At first he held her cautiously, then tightened the embrace, as though afraid that she'd slip away without him convincing her into staying.
She had absolutely no idea of for how long it took until the pain subsided at least enough to allow her to think somewhat clearly.
Slowly, she became aware of Naruto's hand stroking her hair. " Feel any better?" the boy whispered.
" Hmm", she murmured and rested her exhausted head against his chest, instead of pain focusing on listening to the rhythm of his constantly weakening heart that was firmly clinging to life. " It's… not as bad anymore." That was a flat-out lie, really. For at the moment – as she finally started to realize just how little time there was left – it felt like heart had been torn from her chest.
Apparently figuring out that she was lying Naruto kept holding on. After having thought about it for a long time, the blonde finally spoke out. " Do you… remember those dancing lessons we had? Imagine that you're still there. It helps me sometimes."
Although she knew it to be ridiculous, she actually obeyed. It was deviously easy to imagine that they were still swaying to some distant beat like they had the first time they'd danced, far away from all this.
" Well how about that, teme", Naruto commented with a grin, poking skin nearby her lips with one finger. " You're smiling. It's working."
Despite sadness that was almost too powerful to remain locked inside any longer, she found some of the weak beginning of a smile remaining. " You really are a dobe."
Ignoring her words, Naruto planted a kiss to her forehead, still holding her. " Now add in music and we're still there."
Sasuke found her stubborn imagination hanging on to some distant melody, distracting her from ravishing pain. She was beyond stunned to hear Naruto start to hum the exactly same song. To hide her feelings – from smile to barely controllable tears – she hid her face into Naruto's shoulder.
Neither of them was in condition good enough to allow them to actually follow the piece of music with motions, but that didn't stop their minds from flying while they were granted this one more dance.
For once during her stay in the hospital, she hadn't been on track of time's passing until Naruto stopping humming all of a sudden and shivered, as though he'd been terribly cold. " Jiraiya's coming to get me in five minutes", the boy announced, voice – although amazingly firm and brave considering the situation – hiding more panic than she'd ever heard. " They'll prep me for the surgery."
She found cold surge striking through her body, and unable to fight the urge she ran a hand through blonde locks while looking straight into blue, innocent pools. " I know you, Naruto. It'll go just fine."
Naruto gave her a lopsided smile. " I really hope so."
In a spur of a moment she rested her head against the blonde's. " You'll better hang on", she whispered into the boy's ear while her one hand slipped a tiny piece of paper into his slightly trembling, cold one. Her voice quivered, but with sheer willpower she forced it into not cracking, for just a few more moments. " I love you so much."
Naruto kissed her lips with fire that shouldn't have been possible for someone in his condition. " I love you, too." The boy's blue eyes radiated such a spark of certainty that it ached her heart. " Stop looking so sad, teme. We'll see each other again soon, right?"
Instead of offering words, she pressed her lips to his once more – as tightly as she could – and carefully imprinted his taste to her memory. One tear slipped past her guard, but fortunately dried out of sight before Naruto could see it.
There was a knock on the room's door, and after a moment Jiraiya entered. " I figured I'd find this little runaway from here." Despite grin, the man's face also held something tight that revealed he was quite anxious. " It's time to go, Naruto."
The blonde nodded stiffly and – with a lot of help from Jiraiya – managed to sneak his way back into the wheelchair. She noticed that since sitting, the boy held her hand until they were so far apart that even tips of fingers lost contact.
Already almost out of the door, Naruto looked towards her for one more time with a huge grin that carefully disguised all fear. " Wish me luck, will you?"
She forced herself into cracking a smallest of smiles. " Always."
With those as their parting words, Naruto was taken away.
As soon as she could be sure the boy wasn't near enough to hear, she buried her face into one hand and allowed a moan of tremendous pain to escape.
-
Once outside the room, Naruto became aware of the piece of paper Sasuke had given him. He blinked a bit at the two words written to it.
' Thank you.'
When Shizune had told Kakashi about a man who'd been sitting unmoving outside the hospital for almost two hours, probably in a shock, he'd realized that he knew who it'd be long before he went to investigate the situation. His heart nearly broke at what he found.
On a bench about a meter or so from the hospital's doors, Iruka was sitting, a cigarette in one of his perfectly still hands. The man didn't move at all, seemed to be barely breathing, and only occasional blinks revealed that he wasn't looking at a statue.
After hesitating for a couple of seconds, he approached slowly and eventually slumped to the bench beside his childhood friend, gazing at the brunette with a frown. " Iruka?" Not discouraged by the lack of reaction, he went on. " Iruka, what's wrong?"
It seemed like those simple words – or perhaps his familiar voice – had sneaked through some damn, smashing it. First one tear slid to Iruka's cheek, then another, and soon enough the man was crying openly, one hand trying to hide the pained face.
Although it wasn't long ago Iruka hadn't been sure if he'd ever be able to forgive him, the man didn't vigour away when he placed one supporting arm around the brunette's quaking shoulders.
Naruto's weak heart was thumping madly while he lay on a bed in operation theatre, eyes gazing frantically towards all the mask-faced people buzzing around him.
He was startled and almost yelped when one of the people walked up to him, holding a huge mask. " Okay, Naruto", a soft, comforting female-voice spoke while the arrival placed the mask to his face. " I need you to count backwards from ten."
After a tiny, stiff nod, he did as ordered. " Ten… Nine…" His eyes started to droop heavily. " Eight... Seven... Six…" Eyelids slipped closed. " Five…"
About an hour from when Naruto had been wheeled out of the room, Sasuke emerged from drug-indulged hue and realized that there was something wrong with how all pain disappeared from her. For a first time in what felt like ages, she felt no ache, only such overwhelming fatigue that it was a huge struggle to will her eyes into staying open.
It felt ominously lot like a start of countdown.
Itachi – who'd appeared into the room about half an hour earlier – seemed to sense that something was wrong, for he put down the book he'd been reading to let her have some rest and frowned. " Sasuke?"
" It…" She blinked sluggishly, vaguely wondering if she should've been afraid. " It… doesn't hurt anymore."
Something she, despite her state, recognized as terror flashed by Itachi's dark, tired eyes. Her brother's whole frame jolted as though he'd been shot. " That's… a good thing", the boy managed in a choked voice.
Her head hazy and thoughts too tangled up to be really sorted out, she curled up to a ball as she felt unbearably cold all of a sudden, and allowed her mind to drift.
Once more, she was a five-year-old carried on a piggyback ride by Itachi, laughing happily.
Yet again, she cried to Itachi's chest right after their mother's funeral, the older holding her in a protective hold.
Just one last time, she swirled with Naruto on a dance floor, music wiping everything else away.
One more time, she got to feel his taste in her mouth when they shared their first kiss.
/ " I love you, too. Stop looking so sad, teme. We'll see each other again soon, right?" /
A couple of tears escaped although she didn't know it, shimmering like crystal in morning's sunlight.
She blinked a bit with confusion at first when Itachi sat slowly to the bedside, but leaned gratefully against the welcomed warmth when he laid down and pulled her close, clearly noticing her need of warmth.
All coldness, thoughts and flashes vanished while she enjoyed of the comforting embrace, sleep wanting to claim her.
-
With the education he'd received so far, Itachi noticed easily that Sasuke's breathing pattern had already changed. It was a matter of minutes now…
Tightening his hold on the fragile body in his arms, he started to hum the same song their mother had always been singing when they'd been scared or sad. Sasuke, seeming to recognize the tune, sighed a little with contentment.
Blinking furiously to rid the burning in his eyes, he wished with his all that he could've stretched this moment for just a little bit longer.
He couldn't keep himself from wondering if Sasuke noticed just how badly he trembled, how clearly his whole body shuddered with restrained sobs, when she suddenly snuggled closer and rested her forehead against his chest, eyes sliding closed. " … tired … "
He squeezed his own eyes shut as tightly as he possibly could, didn't notice the tears that escaped with him not having even tenth of the strength holding them back would've required. " It's alright", he whispered, voice shuddering pathetically. His hand trembled when he stroked his sister's hair, gasping for air that leaked out of his unnaturally tight lungs. " It's alright, Sasuke. You can sleep now."
He felt all tension disappear from Sasuke's muscles – as though an arrow had been shot, leaving the bow resting. The girl's hand twitched, but didn't have the strength to grab anymore. He felt her take a long, deep breath and shudder ever so slightly, until her whole form became completely still and limp. With how close he'd pulled her, he could easily feel how her strained heartbeat grew frail at first, then disappeared, gaining rest.
Barely able to breathe, he pulled her even closer and buried his face into her hair. Something snapped broken inside him.
From thereon, his sobs – filled with utter heartbreak – were the only sounds heard in the tiny room.
TBC, for an epilogue.
A/N: Good heavens! (takes a deep, shuddering breath)
Before you'll start to hunt me with butcher knives for that ending, I'll make a promise. This story doesn't have to have a sad ending – actually, that sounds highly unlikely. (smiles a bit) I hope that offers you at least mild comfort.
I feel… exhausted, actually, after writing this, so I'll start tuning out now. PLEASE, do review – and, eh… Try not to butcher me, yeah? If you do, you'll never see the epilogue… HUGE packages of tissues and special treats for reviewers!
Until laters, folks! I really hope you'll all be tuned then.
Be good!
Only epilogue left. (wipes tears)