Chapter 8 – When the Last Tear Drop Fell

Every person didn't want sadness. Every person had the right to be happy. But once you experienced sadness all of your life, would there still be hope for happiness in your heart?

As he closed the door of her room, tears didn't stop streaming from his eyes. It was rare to see this man cry. He bowed his head and tried to stop the tears. Suddenly, the tears stopped but the sadness he felt could never be appeased.

Master Tsunade watched him, watched the Uchiha Sasuke despair. She watched him slowly lose everything that he kept safe for so long. She spoke, "Are you done?"

"Yes." He answered, "Better do the ritual before anything worse happens." He started to walk away.

She leaned on the wall and asked him, "Where do you plan to go now?"

He abruptly stopped at his tracks. "I don't know. Maybe I would become some sort of nomad, trying to find a place to finally fit in."

"You can always stay – "

"Here?" Sasuke interrupted her. "I can never stay here. All those memories will just make my suffering worse."

"No." Master Tsunade walked toward him. "I was wondering if you'd want to stay with Makoto. Makoto's nomadic. She'll be needing help moving in and out of places, an acquaintance of some sort, once she grows old."

Sasuke shrugged. "Let me think about it." He was about to walk away when Master Tsunade stopped him by holding his wrist. "Aren't you going to give it one more try?"

"And hurt her again?" Sasuke looked at her. "No." He immediately removed his wrist from her grasp and walked away.

"So you're just going to give her up?"

Sasuke looked back and saw Neji. "What do you want me to do about it, Hyuuga?"

"Give it one more try."

He got frustrated and grabbed Neji by his clothes' collar. "And what then? Hurt her like this again? I don't want to see her cry again…" His grasp got weaker. "I just can't…"

Neji watched as Sasuke let him go. "You're one weak bastard, you know."

Sasuke looked at him with angry eyes. "Then what would you do if you're in this situation, huh? Didn't you hear them? They said she'd be cured but the pain will remain if I stay. Even if I stay and change things, my presence can trigger that memory. I can't bear to see her in pain again…" Neji was silent. He knew Sasuke was right.

Sasuke turned around and started to walk away. But then, he stopped and said, "Hyuuga," Neji looked at him. Sasuke looked back and said, "Take care of her for me…"

Neji nodded. "I promise you that, Uchiha."

Sasuke smirked and walked away. He walked away from the place he called home. He walked away from the people he called friends. He walked away from the person he called "his cherry blossom".

---

Master Makoto and Master Tsunade had everything ready for the Reversal of the Rituals of Transformation. It didn't take long since Master Makoto worked fast.

The Mangekyou was crushed and turned into a violet solution after mixing it with the special roots Neji and the others got. The violet solution was placed in a cylindrical vial. The vial had Master Makoto's name on it.

Master Makoto handed it over to Master Tsunade. "My work here is done. I better catch that kid before he kills himself."

"Remember that we made a deal." Master Tsunade smiled at her. "Take good care of him, Makoto."

"I will." Master Makoto walked away from her only family. She walked away to catch the boy who would become her live in partner for a while.

While Sasuke was inside Sakura's room, Master Tsunade and Master Makoto went inside an empty room in the hospital. They had something to discuss.

"What do you want in return for this favor, Makoto?" Master Tsunade bluntly asked her only sister.

"What do you mean, Onee-san?"

"You didn't bother calling me that before, Makoto." Master Tsunade asked, "Why bother calling me like that now?"

Master Makoto shrugged. "No reason."

Master Tsunade sighed and went back to business. "Okay, what do you really want, Makoto?"

"Heh!" Master Makoto answered, "Since you asked, I want that Uchiha to be some sort of guinea pig for me."

"Why would you think that I'd sacrifice one of my best ninjas here?"

"Well," Master Makoto answered, "I am the only one who can get the Mangekyou ready now and…" She smiled slyly. "I am the only one who can cure that little grievance of the boy."

"How so?"

"Do you think I've been slacking off these past years?" Master Makoto looked at her sister with great disbelief. "Oh really! At least I'm not the gambler in the family."

Master Tsunade rolled her eyes and asked, "So what have you been doing these past few years?"

"Years ago, before the Uchiha Masacre, I was asked by a certain Uchiha to make a potion that will make the Uchiha genes dominant. I was able to play with that Uchiha's genes but my experiment took me weeks until it developed into months and finally, I realized that my work was taking years to finish. Just a few years ago, I was able to perfect it. The potion was going well. No side effects whatsoever. I wanted someone with an advance blood line limit so that I can see for myself."

"But you should've reported to Konoha when you perfected that. And then, maybe those two won't have to part anymore."

"Do you think I want to give the potion that easily?" Master Makoto smiled again. "I wanted to test it myself. I want to bear the first new Sharinggan heir."

Master Tsunade's eyebrow twitched as she replied, "You're too old for him, Makoto."

"I can make myself young again." Master Makoto said that with full confidence.

"Oh really?

Master Makoto insisted. "Yeah. I want him that much!"

"Just because he looks like that Uchiha you loved, it doesn't mean you have to ruin other people's lives for it."

"Itachi wanted me to do that because he didn't want me to suffer that ritual."


"I get it now. You wanted Sasuke because you can't have Itachi… You devil."

"Is it bad to want your own happiness?"

"No, but still, separating them just because of that is called selfishness."

"I…" Master Makoto became silent. She knew her sister was right but she wanted to be happy. She sighed and said, "I'll probably die on the process so why even care?" Master Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "If I make myself as young as him, my lifespan is cut. If I bear a child for him, well… I die on the process of childbirth. I'm not a great sannin like you who can make yourself young through chakra. I'm a plain medic nin who can make potions like no other." A tear slid down her cheek. "I just want to be happy before I die."

Master Tsunade smiled and sighed as she hugged her sister. "Take care of him for me. Make sure that the Uchiha child you're going to bear doesn't die. That child could be my nephew or niece."

She smiled and hugged her sister back. "It's a deal."

Master Tsunade chuckled and muttered to herself, "Better do this now or never." She looked at Neji. "Come with me. She'll need all the support she can have."

Neji nodded. He took a deep breath and walked beside Master Tsunade. She opened the doors slowly. No light came from the room. Neji used his Byakugan to see where the candle is. But he was shocked to see an empty bed beside the drawer where the candle is. He immediately looked for her body. Instead, trails of blood led him to the window. The window was closed and the curtains blocked any form of light. Under the windowsill, she was there.

Neji immediately ran to pick her up. But as he was about to hold her, he hesitated. His eyes widened as he heard her utter one word. One word could make a difference.

"Sasuke…" She weakly uttered over and over. "Sasuke…" She tried reaching for the windowsill. But she could barely stand up.

Master Tsunade lit the candle and carried it over to brighten the pitiful site. Little drops of blood were found on the floor. These drops formed a trail which she followed with her eyes. And it led her to look at Neji's back and then, at the lump on the floor who was stained with blood – her blood.

Neji got back to his senses and picked up the lump. Her eyes were shedding tears – tears of blood. It left a faint red trail on her face – from her eyes across her cheek to her jaw line. He placed his left hand under her shoulders and the other scooped her legs up. He slowly walked toward the bed. He gently placed her on the bed.

Master Tsunade just observed them. She gently placed the candle back to it's original place as she opened the vial which contained the solution. She remembered what her sister said as she gave instructions on how to make the transformation work.

"Well, she just had to drink it. It's that simple. I already mixed this with my Forgetting Potion so all you have to do is to make her drink all of this and she forgets her latest heart pain."

She moved closer to the bed, ready to force the patient to drink the solution. She wanted the whole thing to end. She wanted to rest.

The pink haired patient had blurred visions of what surrounded her. She saw a woman she believed to be her teacher because of her unique physical features. The woman was holding something, a purple object. Her teacher moved closer to her and Sakura realized that the object was a something liquescent. Suddenly, her eyes grew a bit wide.

Neji gasped as she saw her eyes – blood red eyes – grew wide. He was scared. He was nervous. He was worried. It was all because of her.

Sakura shook her head, as if to say no. She uttered, "No… please…"

"We have to do this, Sakura." Master Tsunade added, "It's for your own good."

"No…" Sakura shook her head more. She was starting to become restless. "I don't want to forget Sasuke! I don't want to forget…" Her voice died as Master Tsunade hit her gut. She weakly said, "No… Please don't… " before she lost consciousness.

Neji became more nervous after he witnessed the latest event. "Will she be…?"

"She'll be alright. I know what I'm doing." Master Tsunade slightly opened Sakura's mouth and poured the violet solution into her mouth. The vial was empty after a few seconds.

Suddenly, Sakura's body started to emit red light. Her eyes were wide open and the two people could see it change from blood red to the old jade green. After a few seconds, the red light faded and Sakura's eyes were closed again.

"Let's leave her now." Master Tsunade said, "Our work here is done. Hyuuga, I'm leaving you to take care of her. After all, she's your fiancée once again." She walked away muttering, "I have to send pigeons to everybody who's involved so that they'll get the story straight. I'll send you one too so that you'll know what to tell her when she wakes up." Neji nodded.

The candle flickered as the Hokage closed the door. Neji walked toward the window and parted the curtains from blocking the moonlight to shine through the window. The light immediately flowed through the window and illuminated her face.

Neji sighed and looked back at her. He saw a tear drop – an evident crystal clear tear – slid down her face. This time, only one tear slid down her face. Everything – the pain, the sacrifices, the sadness, and the candor of the events – ended when the last tear drop fell from her.

Author's Note:

SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I had problems with my life after I updated the last chapter.

I want to thank all of the people who reviewed the last chapter. This chapter, When the Last Tear Drop Fell, is for all of you – even the one who "flamed" me for Chapter 3. I hope that you loved this chapter as much as you loved the past chapters.

I can't promise that I'll update soon but I'll try to do so.

Review, kay? If you just read this story, please don't forget to add the story to you Story Alert list. There are still 2 chapters waiting for you to read.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here – just the plot and Master Makoto! Good day!

-angelraine-