XX.
"You've made it on time, I see."
"T - Tsunade-sama!" Ino babbled excitedly. "OH. MY. GODS. Ah~! I - I just can't believe you're actually here!" She squealed, both hands on each side of her face. "Wow, I've always dreamed of seeing you in person! And right before my eyes, too!"
The blonde woman stood up with a small smile.
"I am indeed one of the three legendary ninjas. But introductions aside." Bringing out a clipboard, she clicked on her pen. "I believe you are a friend of hers, are you not?" Her head inclined to the subject at hand, who was currently resting on a hospital bed. A heart monitor was beeping beside her bed, counting her heart beats per second.
Ino nodded eagerly, heart fluttering in her chest.
"Heck yeah I am! To be completely honest with you, I'm not supposed to be here," Ino relented, "but, I couldn't resist. Gut instinct told me something was terribly wrong with Miss Forehead. And something's telling me she's not fine."
The medical nin nodded in affirmation.
"I see. We sensed something as well. As soon as we found her passed out in the rain, we knew... Sakura Haruno is under a coma. She will be sleeping for quite some time." She says, standing up to walk over to the subject in question, stroking her sweaty forehead with a wet rag. "For how long?" Ino asked, dread creeping up into her stomach. Tsunade frowned, brow furrowed in contemplation. "A year? Two? It's hard to say...but she has suffered a concussion from the head directly. What has caused it is uncertain to me."
Ino nodded, her brain feeling numb. Anything would feel better than this. Her best friend could die...
XXX
"Oh, come on! Say 'hi'!"
"H - hi," An eight year old Sakura says behind Ino's back shyly. But she couldn't bring it in herself to walk up to him and confess her feelings. "Eeep! There's no way I could ever say that to him. It's so embarrassing!" Sakura squeaks, hiding her face with her hands. "Aww, don't cry, Sakura." The blonde reassures, patting her on the back gently. "Just go for it, girl!"
"B - but..." Sakura stutters, her lower lip trembling. "I can't! What if he rejects me l - like all the other girls?"
"Trust me, he won't. You've had your eyes on him for quite awhile now, Miss Forehead. 'Sides, you're too nice for your own good. He'd be stupid to turn you down." Ino smirks, and, seeing the look on her best friend's face, burst out laughing.
"I - I do not, Ino - Pig!" Her face blushed into a brilliant color of pink. "He's just cute, that's all." Haruno says defensively, but her eyes were still staring at the boy by the docks. "Someone's got themselves a crush, I'll say." The blonde punched her shoulder lightly with a condescending grin. "You really think so?" Sakura says in awe, her eyes lighting up like the fireworks in the sky. "Oh, I know so!" Ino cheers her on, "So, don't look so down in the dumps, OK?"
"I - if you say so, Ino - Pig." She says, trying to smile and wipes away her tears with a spare handkerchief. "There ya go," Ino shoves her forward with a smile. "Now go make mama proud, OK?"
"O - OK."
"I'm here for you if you need me, Miss Forehead. See ya!" Haruno waved at her and then almost stumbled as she made her way over to her crush.
The blonde watched from a distance as her friend talked to the last of the Uchiha. Her smile slowly faded away. 'Geez, who am I kidding? I'm just a nobody...she'd never fall for me.'
"HEY THERE!" Sakura shouted, straining a smile as she greeted the apple of her eye. The white birds around them flocked off to the distance at the sound of her loud voice."Hmph," Sasuke turned around and glared at the offending girl who had dared interrupted his peace and quiet. "What do you want?"
"I - I umm..." Now that she thought about it, she didn't really know. Oh, that's right! The answer was right in front of her eyes."I think I like you, Sas'ke-kun!" She chirped happily, "Do you love me, too?" His eyes stared at her for a second and then he stood up and walked away. "Goodbye."
"Wa - wait!" The pinkette called off after him, but even her stumpy little legs couldn't carry her as far as him. Out of breath, and panting, she doubles over and cries as he leaves her. Ino sees this, and places a hand over her heart.
The blonde turned away, her cosmos dropped to the ground, forgotten.
XXX
Ino clenched her fist at the memory, trying not to cry. She had lived for this long! There's no way she can just die, not now. Slamming a fist into the wall, she looks up with teary eyes. "Miss Forehead's gonna live, though, right?"
"Right?!" She growled angrily. Tsunade exchanged a look with her apprentice and nodded. "She was knocked unconscious out so late at night. Lucky that Shizune and I were on our travels and saved her life on a whim." Tsunade gestured to a brunette holding onto a pig who had waved at Ino and the blonde kunoichi waved awkwardly back.
Stepping closer to the bed, the Yamanaka entwined her hands into the lifeless one.
"I love you." Ino placed her forehead against Sakura's with tears in her eyes. "Please, promise me you'll keep her safe." Ino pleaded, hands clasped together in front of her. "I will. You have my word." Tsunade affirms.
Kakashi stares at the lifeless remains of Iruka's cremated body.
He remembered when the medics told him that it was all over. His life, like the many before him, had died in battle. Pain. Pain had filled his senses. He had blindingly checked every corner of his house, calling out his name, but no answer.
But, it was as they said. He had died.
The funeral was private, only him and a select few others came to pay their respects to the late man. The Hatake came there personally, wearing a black yukata and staring ahead with an epitome of emptiness. What once was happy now was just pure sadness and sorrow. Those stupid, but simple, days when he would just have fun with the dolphin and truly be himself. Not a jounin, not a former student of the late hokage, just him. Him, and nothing else. Those were the good days...but that had all passed.
He couldn't believe it, even now. Had his student, the one he favored far above all the others, killed his fiance exactly three years ago? How had he managed to kill a higher level than him? And, most of all, why...?
The fact that he had died a hero, protecting the ninja girl until the very end...was very admirable indeed. Her life was safe now, sleeping away at the hospital for who knows how long. It was strange, how his life had just taken a sudden shift in direction. His whole career, he thought only the highest of Sasuke and Naruto to pass and Sakura as an after thought. How he had been wrong. Now the one that he had discarded was his only student left, and the other two were missing.
Casting the ashes atop the Fourth's head on the mountain, he watches as it withers away into the the wind. Gone, but free.
'So. This is it.'
As Sasuke walked around with his head held high, he couldn't help but glance at the sights all around him. The streets were dark and depressing, reminding the teen of the Uchiha Massacre in similar fashion. In fact, the villagers themselves didn't seem to be much different. From the way they sent glares his way and pushed past him. Definitely not the friendliness of Konoha Sasuke craved for. As he was passing by, one person caught his attention. Something about his aura seemed different from the other men and women.
"Excuse me. Tell me where Orochimaru is." He held out his map and the grey-haired man looked it over silently. In response, the man with glasses looked down at him with a glint in his eyes. "You wish to see him, now?"
Sasuke nodded.
"My name is Kabuto. He is currently experimenting on his subjects at the lab, but...I shall take you to him shortly." In a POOF! of smoke, they reappeared in a dark, throne room.
"Here he is, Master."
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" A snake-like man says silkily, wearing robes only Otogakure would wear. Around his waist he wore a purple rope tied loosely and there was no sign visible of him wearing a headband protector.
Stepping downstairs, he walked right up to the boy and licked his ear. Sasuke fumed internally, but showed nothing of emotion. The last thing he wanted was to end up as a prisoner, or worse, as a subject of torturing experiments by the sick man. 'An Uchiha, hmm? I thought they died out along with their clan. Nice to see I was wrong.' The snake sannin thinks with a twisted smile. "Danzo has sent me to find you. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I come seeking for power against my brother." Sasuke bowed curtly and then stood up with an impassive gaze. "Ohoho, I see." Orochimaru cackled with glee. "But, of course. I shall train you to the utmost of perfection. So, you wish to become a student of mine?" Sasuke nodded.
From behind him, Orochimaru had bit him on the neck. The Uchiha had winced from the pain and felt a stinging sensation. Gripping onto his shoulder, he stumbled over and fell onto the greasy floor. He felt darkness cloud his vision, feeling the snake sannin possess his body.
"Thank you."
Naruto, half-naked in his small clothes, stands up shakily. Shivering from the cold, he realizes that he's out in the middle of the woods where it's completely covered in snow. 'Whoa...' He watches as specks of ice flutter down from the sky. The childish side of him tells him to laugh and play out and about, but something is holding him back. He's naked. In the cold.
'Guess this'll hafta do…' He pulled the Akatsuki robes on beside him; the only clothing that would heat up his body. He jumped when he heard a roar from inside of himself. "Long time no see, Kit. I'm sure you're wondering what's going on here. And I might let you in on a lil secret if ya promise to release the seal."
'K - Kurama? Sorry, but I can't do that. Not at a time like this. Especially when I don't know what the heck is goin' on!'
"Oh, c'mon! I suppose there's no changing you, boy." With a sigh, he continues, "Long story short, you were taken away by the Akatsuki. And then that Uchiha boy put you under a Genjutsu. Does that ring any bells?"
The blonde nodded. 'Oh, yeah, that's right! Sasuke and I were gonna leave the village for good, but then...' He trailed off and looked around the area for any signs of them, but the camp was clear. 'Wait, where the heck are they, anyway?! Didn't they say they'd extract the Kyuubi out of me?' The blonde wondered aloud.
"They were. But, as you slept, I had no choice but put a barrier around you to protect both you and I. Because if one of us dies, the other will, too. And, believe me, Kit, I do NOT want to die! Anyways, the whole campground blew up in the process. But I still believe that they are out there somewhere. Damned infernos!"
As Naruto chuckled to himself and stretched, his gaze went to look up in the skies where it was a sunny and bright blue.
'Man, how long has it been? I just don't feel the same…'
"Three years."
'N - no way...how can that happen?' Naruto shook his head, hands in his hair. Now that he looked down at himself, he did seem a lot taller than he had recalled. "Remember? That Uchiha boy forced you into la la land for awhile, so that when you were old enough to handle the extraction without dying in the process, you would still live. He wouldn't want you dead, he'd sooner die himself. Even that brat isn't so heartless."
'Yeah. He did, huh.'
A frozen puddle nearby him shows his reflection. 'W - Whoa! What happened to me?' His hand feels for his face. The blonde stares at himself in shock. It was him, but...not exactly. No longer was he the little boy who had big dreams and lifelong adventures. He was now a young man who had lost a lot of time, and, with it, parts of himself, too. 'I left my village behind,' Naruto recalled, sadly. 'The whole village; everyone. I wonder what they think of me, now. Am I still that monster they used to know? Or am I now a hero?... I still don't know what I am.'
He remembered the days when he sat on the swing set all by himself, and there were tears. A warm smile. A comforting hand. Where was Iruka? Was he happy, now?
'Uwa...what do I do? I feel like I lost a few years of my life...' He looks up when he sees a small black fox amongst the clearing. "H - hey, wait!" It's ears twitched once it heard him and darted to the opposite direction; Naruto soon following in it's footsteps.
