But you know what, Naruto?
I will fall into any deepest darkness with you...
I decided to keep you company and follow you till death does us apart...
So don't worry... you'll never have to feel alone, ever again...
I'll make sure of that.
Chapter 25: Another existence
"Wonders never cease with this kid..." Tsunade thinks aloud, amused. After the operation of implanting Sasuke's eyes onto Naruto, Naruto is already showing recovery signs visible to the naked eye.
The retinal blood vessels are stitched with chakra strings of Tsunade's, but a few minutes is all Naruto needs to get it glued back to originality without the stitches.
What's more, the dark onyx eyes of the Uchiha's slowly turns into a familiar blood red like as if Naruto's blood connects and circulates all the way to the iris, and then ceases, fully conquering the eye as its own body part without rejection.
After the draining of blood through the iris, the boy's original eye color pigment that the blood vessel brings, slowly exchanges the red iris into an all familiar bright blue pair that is all too familiar.
The speed of recovery depends on one's will to live. Naruto's recovery is so much faster compared to a year ago when Naruto hadn't met the Uchiha brat yet...
Tsunade sighs as she wraps bandages over Naruto's eyes as she believes that she has met the most incredible pair of boys ever encountered in her long life.
"Eh? Doctor Tsunade... You're putting bandages on his eyes again?" Tsunade's assistant, Shizune asks, surprised.
"That brat can deal with Naruto. I'm too exhausted to handle him right now," Tsunade grumbles and finishes with the bandages.
Shizune nods understandingly and continues back to packing the operation tools away.
Be grateful to that utterly imprudent brat, Naruto...
"Doctor Tsunade, I-"
Shizune stops in mid-sentence when she turns around to see the blond-haired doctor falling fast asleep on the chair, leaning against the operation bed where the patient had been a few minutes ago.
A tug of her lips brings her to smile at the sight, and leaves quietly out the door as quietly as the door would open and shut behind her.
"..."
The room is dark and from the gap of the curtain, seeps a fragment of moonlight.
This is what is called a night, duration of resting our bodies by sleeping.
But unfortunately... I can't get to sleep... at all.
I look to the side and see Sasuke, sound asleep.
It's been a habit of his to come and sleep over, sharing the same bed, telling me the reason that it's because he finds it comforting and at ease, rather than staying alone in a quiet, cold room by himself, which is a feeling I'm familiar to as well.
I reach out to move a strand of hair off Sasuke's face and once again stare at his face with much amusement. His facial features are just like I had imagined when I had felt his face previously, but seeing was a totally different thing.
It's like a sketchy draft of someone being coloured in, pouring life into the 2-D person, making it come to life.
I can't help having a heavy heart with what Sasuke had sacrificed for me.
It's too much to be given to such a revenant person like me, making it seem like this is not a donation but rapine.
The gratefulness is there, the thoughts given from Sasuke is fully received and I can't thank him enough... but to my utter disgrace, the depression and remorse overruns the thankful feeling by miles and I want to return what he had given me, or reverse time.
But to think of how much Sasuke had been through deciding to give me something greatly important to him that will even go to the extent of affecting his life...
To think how he must've had felt and bringing out such courage to do a sacrifice no one else would ever even think once in their lives...
I can't bring myself to say anything... I have no right to tell him how impossibly insane he was...
After many moments of harrowing, I sigh and slip out of bed, feeling the need to go to the bathroom for refreshment of the mind.
I close my eyes and make my way towards my destination since that had been natural for me, and vision isn't quite a thing to get used to so suddenly.
The cool water that runs from the tap fills my cupped hands as I splash it against my face.
I finally open my eyes and look up to see a pair of blue eyes flash.
I stare at the face that stares straight back at me and I bring my hands up to touch the cheeks that reflect in the mirror.
Three scars on either side of the cheeks that aren't upon Sasuke's or any others.
Is this what people distinguishes me as 'different'.
Well, 'different' definitely... but 'monster' I think is another thing...
I lower my hands and turn to the side to grab a towel, when something ferly catches my eye in the reflection of the mirror and I turn to stare back at my reflection to see...
CRASH!
A loud shatter echoing down the corridor wakes me up, sending cold sweat from head to toe as if splashed in a bucket of ice cold water.
What gives me this nerve-racking feeling is that this floor I am living in at the moment... is the ward that nobody –other than me- except one person is around...
Which means that this alarming crash comes from that certain exception...
Naruto!
I topple out of bed, blindly trying to find my way towards the door where it should be as I last memorised it to be.
Still not used to having no vision, I stumble my way across the corridor, making my way to where the source of shattering had come from, which can't be anywhere but the bathroom.
"N-Naruto?" I call out in panic as I clutch the side of my head where it aches from the countless experience of hitting my head against the wall or floor during my sorry-to-call sprint.
"Sa-sasuke!"
As soon as my name amplifies over towards me, I then feel a whoosh of wind and supportive hands over my waist.
"Are you okay! What're you doing!"
My sense of smell also kicks in and my brows furrow in concern as I distinguish that metallic smell as blood.
"Talk about yourself! What were you doing? Are you okay?" I had to ask in a rush with only panic rising from not being able to see the damage and not knowing what state Naruto is in.
"I'm okay, but Sasuke. You can't thoughtlessly wander around when you're still not used to it!" Naruto lectures me as if there's nothing to worry about and I start to suspect that the nervousness I had been feeling in Naruto is just my over-imaging.
But then there is still the evident smell of blood...
"Naruto...w-what were you doing?"
I voice out my thoughts.
"What? Oh...I...Uh...err-"
"Tell me the truth, Naruto," I cut in, knowing that he lacked mendacity since he never had the need to cover up something before seeing me.
"U-um... I...broke the mirror," Naruto mutters quietly.
"...you meant to say...you like...punched through it?" I ask slowly, listening more intently for Naruto's voice that whispers even quieter response than before.
"...ws...smbd-y th..r...st...ng ...me..."
I can't totally hear what Naruto says but I still pick up the emotion of fear coming from him and I encourage him to repeat those words again.
I then hear a suppressed sob and I reach out for Naruto's head and bring it towards my chest.
"Come... tell me what's wrong, Naruto."
But then my heart nearly stops at those piercing whispered words.
"There was somebody there... staring at me..."