Hey guys, so I had a few people requesting that I continue this, which was actually just a one-shot. However, I have time on my hands now that college finals are finished so let's see where this story will go
I do not own Naruto.
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Sakura
I felt like I was floating in darkness, but it wasn't a cold dark; it was warm and inviting and my mind seemed to be so far away from my physical form, as if my body no longer existed within my reach.
Sakura
Was I alone? I didn't feel alone, if anything I felt… I felt nothing. There was no noise, no light… nothing at all except my own thoughts. It was… peaceful. Was this death? The thing so many people are scared of? If this is death, I don't think I mind.
Sakura
"What?" I say, surprised that I even had a voice to speak. Who was I talking to? There's no one here. It's just me.
Sakura, don't go to sleep
"What do you mean? I don't even feel tired… "But as soon as the words fell from my mouth, I could feel the small aches in my muscles and my eyes stung as if I hadn't slept in years. But why am I so tired? Why am I tired if I'm dead? My body longed for rest, and slowly my eyes began to close.
Sakura, don't go to sleep. If you want to wake up, you have to stay awake.
I let out a giggle, and it seemed to echo through the darkness. "That makes no sense," I whisper, "Just let me sleep…I need to sleep… just for a little while, I promise."
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Sasuke
I sat in my usual spot. The chair seemed to have molded to my form and the old newspaper that I've read through a thousand times lay on the small brown desk at my side. I had opted for sitting cross-legged on the chair today, a novel lying across the thighs of my jeans. I let my head lean against the wall behind me, my eyes closed lightly. I could hear the familiar and even beeping of the heart monitor as it echoed through the room. My bangs teased my eyelashes, but I ignored them. I could feel sleepiness spreading through my body, my muscles slowly relaxing as I let out the breath I had been holding.
"I've never seen you so off guard." I jumped up in my seat, my heart skipping a beat as I looked towards the window to see Kakashi smiling through his black mask. "You must be really tired if you didn't even hear me come through the window."
"You know there is a door, right?" I ask, my voice spilling irritation. I sat straighter as Kakashi walked towards the desk, replacing the day old lilies that sat on the nightstand with new, pink ones. He did this almost every day, and, as I came to realize, the colors of the lilies would, more or less, represent his mood.
"Where's the fun in that?" He asks looking at me with a smirk. "I am retired you know, I have to stay in shape somehow." I smirked back, but it was mainly for show. Kakashi had retired, soon after the war ended, along with many of the older generation. Not that I blame them, however, Kakashi had retired not out of will. He had completely lost the sight in his right eye, and the wound he had received in battle had destroyed many of the nerves in his left shoulder. He was pieced back together now, and although he could no longer go on any missions that ranked higher than a B, he had gone back to teaching genin and some classes at the academy.
"Only you would scale a building to the top floor of a hospital." I reply, standing up and helping as Kakashi filled the vase with clean water. The smell of lilies soon occupied the room, washing away the strong aroma of antiseptic and replacing it with a sweeter, floral smell.
"Yes, I suppose," his lofty tone started to turn more serious, "have you been sleeping?"
"I was sleeping until you showed up." I reply stoically, sitting back down into the chair. I watched as he leaned against the wall, his hands finding their way to his pockets.
"Yes, but its three o'clock in the morning, Sasuke. And you seemed to only fall asleep a few minutes before I came. Tell me, when was the last time you slept for more than an hour? Let alone actually go home for a night?"
I didn't answer. The truth was that I actually didn't know. The days seemed to just blur together and when I did sleep, I dreamt. And when I dreamt, the realities of life played through my head, creating the most unpleasant of nightmares- nightmares that were soaked in the thickest of blood.
Kakashi let out an almost disappointed sigh, his head resting against the wall. "I suppose I can't blame you. I haven't been sleeping well either. And have you seen Naruto?" I nodded in reply, for Naruto had come into the room this morning, as he often did to talk to me and say hello to Sakura. He hadn't been sleeping either. It was quite obvious with the bags under his eyes and the disheveled look to his attire. "He's been throwing himself into hokage work until he collapses from exhaustion. I think he's trying to keep himself busy."
"He's giving up hope." I reply quickly, my voice empty. Kakashi let out another sigh. And I found myself looking at Sakura. She lay as she always did, her body completely still except for the occasional rise and fall of her chest. The scratch she had from her temple to the corner of her lip was healing, leaving a faint scar in its wake.
My eyes traveled over her form to where her abdomen was, thickly wrapped in bandages. Every time I looked there, the images flew through my mind. The blood, the scream, her limp body in my arms as I carried her; too shocked and too broken to show any emotion on my face. I remember the drying blood coated on my hand. Then, I remember handing her to Tsunade. Everyone was looking at me, waiting for my reaction, wondering what I was going to do. Would I run? After all, much of this was my fault. Would I kill Naruto, who was more vulnerable than ever? Or would I stay, after the numerous tries from Team 7 to save me, would this action finally make me realize that it was time to go home? At that time, I had no idea. So I fell to my knees, my head looking up to the dark sky. I remember being grateful for my long hair that covered my face and the rain that pelted to the ground, grateful because no one could see the tears that fell.
I could feel my jaw tightening and I looked away from her body, my senses turning towards Kakashi instead. "Why are you here so late anyway?"
"I was setting up the obstacle course for tomorrow."
"At three in the morning?" He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. The truth was, now that I was looking at him more closely, I could see he hadn't been sleeping at all. His grey disheveled hair had lost it shine, and the bruises on his shoulders and the cuts on his knuckles suggested that he had been training over his limit. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh and moved towards the window.
"If she wakes up—"
"Tell her you said 'hi'. I know, you say it all the time." He smiled again, but it was sadder than his usual ones. With a brief nod, he climbed up onto the window sill and within a moment, he was gone. And once again, I was alone.
~ Five Hours Later ~
I looked up towards the door as the handle turned. I already knew it would be Naruto, and I was proven right as the man in question walked into the room. Naruto was, if anything, very good at being hokage. He had managed to create strong alliances with most of the other counties and had helped repair not only the Leaf, but helped restore numerous villages across the Fire Nation. He had managed to pardon me, and restore me as an official citizen to the village. And, on top of all that, he was very good at hiding his emotions.
At least until he came into this room. The moment that he walked through that door, the fake smile fell off his face and his straightened posture drooped, an exhausted sigh escaping his lips. His blue eyes were dull, and the bags under his eyes had grown noticeably darker.
"Good morning Sasuke, Sakura-chan." His voice was strained and quiet, and when he pronounced her name it seemed to crack a little. "Sasuke, you haven't been sleeping." It was a simple statement, one that he always said when he saw me. Yet, he never accused me, for him and me both had the dreams.
"Neither have you. So, what's on the list of hokage duties today?" I asked mainly out of conversation, but a part of me hoped that he would stay for a while. He smiled a little and held up the case he had been holding, revealing a foldable chess board. I couldn't hide the smirk.
"I hope you don't mind," he said after he had sat down across from me and had finished setting up the board, "I just don't want to do paperwork today."
"I understand," I said, moving a pawn to another square. He moved another piece similarly, and then leaned back, looking at Sakura, and a sad look to his face.
"You know Tsunade says she could wake up at any moment." I moved another piece, not really caring where it went.
"She also said she could die at any moment." I shouldn't have said it, but I said for both of us. We had to be realistic. I had to be realistic.
False hope can hurt more than anything else.
