Lol. XD Sorry for scaring you in the last chap. Oh, but was it fun. Hope you enjoy this one :3 It's pretty long.
---
Just to hold you right now would mean everything to me.
Wrap my arms around your neck and cuddle against you like I always have...
And always will...
And to have you smile at me, laugh at me...
Be with me...
I'd throw everything away if I could just have you.
But here I am, waiting in a hospital just to see if you aren't dead.
You can't hold me...
I can't hold you...
...And I have nothing else...
The hospital was bustling with life as nurses scurried like mice past me. I straightened up every time one of them came my way, hoping they would say something about Sasuke.
Not one of them did.
And I sat in that hospital, palms pressed against my eyelids until I saw white, and fingers digging into my scalp. My face was hidden from everyone, even the very girl I had once loved and still did sitting in front of me, stroking my blonde hair. I had my elbows on my knees as I sat in the chair in the white hallway, my head bowed to the floor. I said I wouldn't cry anymore, but I don't think I could keep going if I didn't. I need to cry for so many things, and there's never enough time...
My father...
My teammate...
My home town...
My teachers...
My friends...
My crushes...
My enemies...
My life...
My impending death...
...And most importantly, my love.
...My love was dying as I sat here, WAITING.
...And I can't do ANYTHING.
I tried to stand up, but Sakura pushed me down quickly. I looked at her through tear-blurred eyes, and I realized she was crying too.
"Naruto...You can't go rushing to him right now. I know how you feel, how you want to jump into his arms and cry, but you just can't. He's dying, Naruto..." she whispered this into my ear as she kissed my temple and embraced me tightly. I took the embrace stiffly, my tears rolling down onto her face now. And she just sobbed lightly against me as I took in most of it, drowning in the situation.
Sasuke isn't going to be with me anymore.
As we cried on the floor, the chatter and clatter of nurses ceased as they watched the dramatic scene play before them. And slowly, they crowded around us, reassuring me that Sasuke was doing quite well for his condition, and that there is no need to rush it. I closed my eyes as they embraced me as well, and I had never felt so away from home before.
Nurses were supposed to act this kind?
Not even the medical team of Konoha accepted me. And where am I now? I'm not there. I'm not in Konoha anymore. I'm in a different village, a village I know nothing about. And here, there are women coming into a tight circle just to hug me and tell me it is okay.
...Where am I?
They dispatched slowly, making it seem like they were ghosts, not medical assistants. And as I was left alone with Sakura, I saw the smile spread across her red rosy lips.
"...What are you smiling at?" I asked in a whisper, my tears being wiped away by this lovely woman in front of me.
"...You aren't alone anymore, Naruto." She said with a sadness that made my heart lurch.
I had grown so accustomed to the loneliness...
I watched her with big cerulean eyes, furrowing my eyebrows in worry and melancholy as she pressed her lips to mine and began to cry again, but not in grief.
No, this time it was relief, the relief of me finally finding a place where people are not wary of me, not scared of me, not misunderstanding of me. This was a place like heaven, a heaven on earth. And I never wanted to leave it, but I was beginning to get the feeling I had to.
And finally, through waiting for hours, a mousy nurse stood up to me. Her tiny figure leaning over me and Sakura as she cried against me on the ground, she cleared her throat nervously, a sad smile on her face.
"Hello. Naruto-kun, right?"
"Yes," I corrected her. She nodded, her clipboard pressed against her chest tightly.
"...Ah, good news! Sasuke-kun is thought to be fine!"
...Thought?
I looked at her with confused wide eyes. She cleared her throat again, and I realized her eyes were slightly puffy and red.
...Why was she crying?
"Ah...There is bad news, Naruto-kun..." she whispered as she withheld the tears.
Stop crying, please stop crying. I don't want to know why anymore, please...
"...H-He's been infected with a serious poison...A very rare toxin...He might die, if he doesn't get professional help soon...Might you know any expert doctors, you being a ninja?"
I looked at her, my wide eyes slowly decreasing in size.
"...I have, miss. Do you know the village of Konoha?" I whispered to her. She sniffed and nodded hysterically.
"Yes, yes, yes! The secret ninja village that is located but 50 miles down south!" she smiled at me brightly, "Do you know any professional doctors there!"
I looked at her with half-lidded eyes, a small disappointed frown on my face.
"...Yes...
...Have you ever heard of Tsunade, present Hokage of Konoha?"
---
I looked down at him in the hospital bed. In the dark, he looked bad. In the light, he looked gory and mutilated. His stomach was the worst part, a shallow hole in his abdomen partially showed his internal organs. I had not had any food all day, and when I tried to throw up, there was nothing to regurgitate. And I was left with a dry throat and a still empty stomach as I looked at his organs. They had tried surgery, but the poison in his system was eating away at his skin, slowly and painfully, just how Itachi wanted his little brother's death to be. And I watched as a tiny patch of skin sizzled away, now making the hole atleast 4 inches in diameter. Everything else had been bandaged up, and his face had multiple patches. His eyes were closed, and a peaceful expression rested on his visage.
...It was like he was already dead...
It seemed that the poison's point of entry had long since dissolved, but it appeared to have been a needle, not a knife. Thus the poison would be atleast 10 times worst.
Itachi was always one to torture.
I held him in my arms, careful to not touch his exposed organs. I had no idea how we could possibly get to Konoha without Sasuke's organs either falling out, getting infected, or the skin completely disappearing from his stomach. I kissed his forehead, and he stirred weakly.
The nurses had put him under heavy sedatives, and all hell would break loose from Sasuke's mouth if he awoke. I shushed him with a soft kiss to the cheek, but it didn't help as his obsidian eyes shot open and his mouth emitted the loudest scream I have ever heard. His nails were digging into my shoulders, the blood running down my back as he screamed until his throat went dry. The Uchiha let it trail off before the pain led him to passing out.
And during all of this, I was crying.
The nurses rushed in only seconds later, putting him under the sedatives again just in case. And as a pleasure for me, they bandaged his stomach and put upon it a sealing jutsu to keep the bandages from being eaten away. This would only last a day or two, but thank god I wouldn't have to see the inside of Sasuke.
The nurses turned to me as I cried out on accident, and they swarmed like bees. And they held me tight with the maternal instincts a woman is born with, cuddling me lightly and letting me borrow a handkerchief to dry my eyes. They gave me a cup of water so I wouldn't get dehydrated and chocolate to make the pain disappear. And with that, they left me alone for me to examine the chocolate with confused teary eyes, a miserable smile on my lips.
When was the last time I was allowed to have chocolate?
The village didn't give me chocolate. Said it was too good for me. But I never let it bother me, because I had never had it, so I didn't know if it was good or bad. But now that I had it in my grasp, I wanted to cherish it, not eat it. And as I looked at the ceiling with tear falling down my cheek, I let out a hiccup.
This is a new place.
This place is a good place, a wonderful place.
And tomorrow, I'm leaving to the village where it is the opposite.
But if it will save Sasuke, it doesn't matter.
I took a timid bite of the chocolate, but quickly devoured the bar.
They were right. This stuff is too good for me.