My One in a Million
Chapter Eight
"Killing me won't bring them back." Madara said, what little of his face he could see through the broken part of the mask was smiling.
That smile didn't last long, as Naruto charged at him with monstrous rage and the silhouette of nine tails trailing behind his every move. Madara just laughed as he easily evaded every attack, like a cat playing with it's food.
Sasuke could do nothing but watch, the cold stone behind his back was the only thing holding him up; Naruto had dragged him there after beating him to near death. The blonde had his share of injuries, but summoning the healing chakra of the nine tails allowed it to both heal and consume him. Now he had enough energy to start an attack on the legendary Uchiha but as usual, he lacked the tactic.
It was ridiculous, really, that the two boys who were best friends were destined to fight in the same battlefield as their great grandfather's, for the same reason and over the same village.
The only difference was that he wasn't his great grandfather.
Even with broken arms, a swollen eye and several broken ribs, he found himself tackling Madara in a moment of madness at the exact same instant that Naruto charged in without really planning it. Madara was surprised that the boy who had been comatose just five minutes ago had suddenly found the will and power to switch sides; he was a few split seconds too slow to dodge the unplanned Double Lariat Sasuke and Naruto had used. Sasuke had copied it off Killer bee but had no idea why Naruto would know of it, it was either a convenient coincidence, or a once-in-a-lifetime miracle. Betrayed, the masked nin managed to jump away from the deadly combo but not before sustaining some damage to his already fragile body.
It didn't take long to finish him off from there.
The opponent's body was still, and instead of sharing a victorious high-five with Naruto, they resumed their fight in an attempt to decide a clear victor.
They were both flat on the ground, staring at the orange sky, by the time the rescue teams found them; there was a great deal of commotion really fast.
The barking of dogs, noise of people shouting and the forest faded away to the soft lull of wind and grass. A single figure stood in the middle of the field, her stringy hair dancing in the breeze and the rim of her white sundress brushed her knees when she turned.
He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was smiling.
The last time he saw her, he was sure someone interrupted them while she tried to guide him to the other side. This time, there will be no interruptions.
Her footsteps in the grass were silent, as if someone had somehow turned the volume down and forgot where they put the remote. "You look better." She'd said; her voice gentle but her face a blur. "You'll be okay."
He wanted to ask where he was, wanted to know if this was a memory, purgatory or hell; there was no sound even when his lips parted and air left his lungs.
"Dying? No, it's not the problem… I just think it's going to be sad to go through life without having anyone that loves you." Without warning, her arms wrapped around him and she let her head rest lightly on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
He didn't know what was wrong with him, her embrace was genuine and affectionate and he wanted nothing else but to hold her to him and hide, hide from everything. In this suspended world, he wasn't allowed to move, either. Being held during his life in this manner was unlikely; more so if he was in hell, so this must be a world where he was tested by never having what he most craved.
Eventually, the moment was over and she pushed away.
"Did you know? Today is a good day. Everyone is doing great, the snow is melting, and she is awake again." Her hand rose up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, her head was turned away from him.
Confused and feeling down, he attempted to say nothing. What was the point of trying if it was all a test?
"I'm glad she is, but we still need you to come back." Slowly, she began to become harder to focus on, like a dream coming to an end. "I hope you can hear me… Do you?" She didn't move her legs, but her presence gradually faded into nothingness, leaving behind a soft summer breeze and her scent. "Please, say something…"
But there was nothing to be said, he was all alone in absolute darkness; in the end, even her scent disappeared and he was alone again in darkness and silence.
He wasn't scared, he wasn't worried or angry; he didn't feel much of anything, actually.
It felt as if life was over, there was nothing more to be felt or seen.
That was it.
He was dead.
He had been for a while, hasn't he?
All those years eating and drinking and sleeping, making conversation and picking fights, he had been hardwired to do them but did he really feel anything when he did any of them?
Maybe it was about time for his body to finally catch up with the death of his soul.
"I knew it; you've given up, haven't you?" Naruto had said, panting and looking at the cast sky from where they had collapsed on the ground. "You thought giving everything up, including your life, will save somebody. You know what I think? I think you're an idiot."
"You're the idiot." He twisted and spat blood before shooting a glare at the blonde boy, Naruto was smiling even though he sustained more injuries. "What did you expect me to do, sit in a corner and cry?"
The boy with the peaceful eyes just turned his head to meet his friend's gaze, and his smile blossomed to a wide grin. "I spent a long time of my life crying in a corner, I'm here, aren't I?"
Something in his mind clicked, like a piece of a puzzle finally hitting home. He reached over to meet Naruto's fist halfway, their bloody knuckles bonked.
"Maybe now old bag will make me Hokage, eh?" Naruto laughed, winced, and then fall flat on his back to look at the sky some more.
"Maybe."
"And you'll be there to watch me, won't you, Sasuke?"
Sasuke didn't need to look at him to know that he wasn't taking no for an answer. "Only until then."
"You promise?"
He sighed. "I promise."
But he was dead now, wasn't he?
Do memories haunt the dead?
Did the dead have feelings?
Did he have feelings?
Why wasn't he reminiscing about his parents? There were a million things he wanted to say to them, a million things he could have done in life if they haven't been brutally murdered…
Why wasn't he there with them now?
Were they somewhere else?
Was he… Not allowed to see them?
Maybe… Maybe he wasn't good enough? Maybe all his attempts at avenging his family had turned him into something evil, something unchangeable… Something they weren't allowed to call a son.
Did I make you proud, mother, father?
Brother?
Of all the things he could have felt in that dark, silent void, he could only feel doubt. He'd been reliving certain moments of his life over and over and trying to pick them apart to figure out where he had gone wrong, until eventually he could no longer remember which were real and which he made up.
And then there were those images he didn't remember acquiring through conventional means; like a déjà that strikes you so vividly that you're bracing yourself for it to happen and then it doesn't, and you spend the rest of the day questioning your mental stability.
The only explanation he could come up with is that he was honestly and irrecoverably dead.
And that people who were no longer among the living had to amuse themselves somehow.
No, this wasn't amusement. This was torture.
All the positive, glowing moments of his life did a quick rewind in his mind's eye over and over; having it rubbed in his face that he only realized the important things in life too late and now he wasn't allowed to go back to chase them.
He decided that the girl must be a figment of his imagination, too, it was the void telling him that he wasn't worthy of someone like her; of feeling loved and significant.
Not worthy of living in peace.
He hated being dead…
Sure, at some point he thought it was going to be better than living in constant war with the world and himself, maybe he had hoped to die quickly and be reborn into something other than Uchiha Sasuke.
But if this was it, if he was going to stay here suspended in a black hole forever, then death wasn't so grand.
It was boring, and if he could, he'd rather go back and finish the things he started. There were still a million things he wanted to see, to do, to say to those he had wronged and to punch those who insulted him and lived to tell the tale.
To tell Naruto that he would keep his promise forever.
Because it would literally take the idiot forever to be crowned Hokage.
The girl with the stringy hair reached for him, asking him to follow her.
Did she finally decide to take him to the other side?
Mother, Father, Itachi-nii, wait for me!
The other side was surprisingly warm, and smelled like sunshine and flowers…