Finding Destiny

By animechick262003

Chapter Three

My Wife!?

The rain showed no mercy and continued to beat down over Naruto as he looked down into the gully. Deep down in the under brush and partially hidden by a small collapsed foliage, he could clearly see the bright red tail lights of a car. His heart idled as he pondered what awaited him inside the crashed vehicle. It was a steep fall not to mention the car had slammed at high-speed into the nearby tree. Naruto hadn't wanted to think the worst, but the truth was, if the driver had survived, it would be a miracle.

Not wanting to waste a second more, Naruto leapt through the opening in the damaged guard rail and onto the slippery slopes of the ravine. Carefully, he maneuvered his way down, using his hands and feet as a braking system to prevent to quick of a decent into the unknown. He had to take every precaution. He had no idea what the situation was not to mention aside from the glow of the rear tail lights of the crashed car there was no lighting that far down. A wrong move on his part could mean more victims. After a few minutes of slipping, and sliding his way across the rain slicked hillside, Naruto finally reached the bottom of the drop. He could see the trapped car a few feet in front of him now, and set to tearing a path through the overgrowth of plants and grass. Twigs and dried leaves crunched under his feet, and branches snapped as he pressed forward, wading his way through the dense material in an effort to reach whoever lay trapped inside the car.

It seemed like forever, but Naruto finally passed through the biting brush and arrived at the rear of the car. Looking through the back window, he noted there was only one passenger inside. The realization brought him relief but only a little. After all, although he may not have had multiple victims to worry about, there was still the one slumped over the steering wheel he needed to tend to. Even if he did manage to get them out of the car, he was no physician. Depending on the severity of the wounds the driver received, the situation could quickly spiral downward.

Naruto took a deep breath and set to analyzing the situation. Last thing he needed was to cause himself harm while trying to save the person inside the car. The stretch of highway was pretty isolated. It could be days before anyone noticed them down there if ever. Naruto walked towards the driver's side of the car, taking careful note of the damage as he made his way. The smell of rain and gas assaulted his olfactory senses. The small red, sports car was practically indiscernible as it rested in mangled heap up against the tall tree. It was a wonder…no a miracle the tree hadn't fallen over on the car, crushing it entirely.

None the less, the force of the impact was enough to permanently shut out all entry through the driver's side of the car. Naruto retraced his steps, this time arriving on the passenger side of the car. The results were different this time. A clear path to the passenger side door awaited him. With measured steps, Naruto covered the short distance and came up along side the car. He leaned down, and peered through the passenger side window to the scene inside. What he saw made his gut knot.

Slumped forward, her head pressed up against the steering wheel and turned towards the passenger side window, was none other than the woman he'd only minutes before been thinking of. A million questions clouded his mind in that instance and he would have loved to have taken the time to contemplate over them all, except blood poured from an open gash on her forehead turning the pretty pink of her hair an intense crimson. Naruto snapped back to his senses, and tucked his question away. He had a far more pressing matter in front of him.

Quickly, he pulled the door open and climbed in. Whatever reservations or precautions he'd thought to take when he first arrived deep down in the dark ravine on the isolated road was gone. His only thought was to free this woman from this car, and get her to safety. Naruto grabbed her hand, and worked his fingers down until he'd found her wrist and set to locating her pulse. He sighed, relief when the gentle bump of her life rhythms vibrated over his finger tips. She was alive. It was now just a matter of freeing her without adding to her injury.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, Naruto gently pulled her off the car horn, and rested her upright in her seat. He needed to get a better view of her to make sure she wasn't snagged on anything that could prove fatal or in the least make matters worse than they were. After close examination, Naruto concluded there was nothing holding her there except the seatbelt she'd been wearing. He quickly moved to free her from it. As he worked the seatbelt loose, a moan emanated from her, and her eyes fluttered, then partially opened. He could just barely see the whites of her eyes as she began to speak.

"Hel…hel…me-"

Even though her words came broken with shallow breathing, Naruto understood clearly her plea for him to do something. "You don't have to say anything. I'm going to help you." Naruto answered. Releasing the seatbelt, he slipped his arm beneath her, lifted and turned her so that her back rested up against his chest. She whimpered in agony and he hated having moved her but there was little he could do. Every minute she remained there was one minute closer she could be to dying. There was no way he'd take that chance. He simply had to get her out of the car, and out the ravine. "I'm sorry," he whispered, pulling her over the gear shaft, and across the passenger seat.

"It hurts…my leg. It hurts. Just leave me here. It hurts too badly." She murmured as her entire body became a rigid mass.

"I 'm sorry, but I can't," Naruto apologized again, regretting even more there was nothing he could do to ease her pain. "Just bear with me. I'm going to get you out of here and somewhere safe." He continued, pulling her completely from the car. The force of the removal caused him to slide over the muddy and rain soaked grass, but he quickly recovered his bearing, and lifted her into his arms. With hurried strides, he started back over the route he'd taken. After a short walk, Naruto reached the bottom of the embankment and for the first time realized just what he was facing. It had been one thing climbing down into the ravine. Climbing up would be another, and with a passenger Naruto thought, glancing down at the women he carried in his arms.

She was a light as a feather. Still, the rain hadn't let up and the ground was soaking wet. He'd slipped and slid his way all the way down, using nothing more than his feet, and his hands by gripping blades of grass ever so often to slow his decent. Now he would have to climb back up, crossing the same path. Naruto looked to the hillside once more. For as difficult as he knew the task would be he had to go through with it. They were in the middle of no where and as the night rolled on the chances of being found in time would only decrease. He was their only hope.

"What is your name?" he asked, one hoping to keep her from fading into an unconscious state, and becoming dead weight. And two, calling her by name as opposed to hey you, would make it a hell of a lot easier to give her instructions as he started up the hillside.

"Come on, sweetheart, tell me your name?" he tapped across the face gently.

"Sa…saku…ra," She mumbled gently tossing her head towards the side.

His heart fluttered in his chest. All the years he'd wondered about her name. Here it was he was finally hearing it. "Sakura-Chan, huh? Well, Sakura-Chan, I need you to do some things for me," He began lowering her onto the grass then continued," We've got to climb up the side of this embankment. It all wet and slippery and I'm going to need to use my hands to keep us from sliding back down. I need you to hold on to me as tight as you can. Can you do that? Can you wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist? I need you to do that for me, Sakura-Chan?"

Sakura nodded her head slowly, and replied "My arms…yes, but my legs. I don't think I can bend my left leg."

"You can and you will," Naruto abruptly announced. The last thing he needed was for her to give up before they'd ever gotten started. "Grab hold of me." he ordered, placing his hands on the muddy ground on either side of her, and bracing himself. "Wrap you arms around my neck and your legs around my waist, Sakura-Chan. You can do it."

After a brief pause, she began to reach for him. First her left arm then her right came up and encircled his neck, causing his elbows to bend slightly under the weight and drawing his face closer to hers. Then her right leg, hooked over his waist and after three tries, and few sharp intakes of air, her left leg accompanied her right, locking over his waist. It wasn't until Naruto began to climb up the sides of the embankment did he realize the predicament he'd unwittingly set himself up for. Naruto gulped, and cursed his mind as he dug his fingers deep into the moist soil to hoist them up. Every move of his hips brought the most intimate part of him closer than he would have liked at that moment to the most intimate parts of her. To heavens how many nights had he lay imagining her beneath him in this very position?

Of course she wasn't busted up and bleeding. Still, her beneath him caused images of the most wanton sort to pop into his head. Naruto let out another forced breath as he tried to shut out the shameless thoughts and redirect his attention to the task of getting them out of the ravine and to safety. Her well being was priority one.

XXX

Four hours had passed since his ordeal had begun. It had taken what seemed and eternity to climb up out of that damned ravine, and back to his house. From there, he'd grabbed a blanket and loaded Sakura into his pick-up truck. The rain had slowed considerably, but refused to stop altogether. Still Naruto had been thankful for the little leeway he'd been given, because the slowed rainfall made travel possible.

By the time he'd arrived at the hospital, Sakura had slipped into an unconscious state. He'd rushed her in and the nurses and doctors had taken over from there, leaving him to worry as to just how serious her injuries were. That had been two hours earlier, and he'd yet to hear a word from anyone. Naruto sighed and forced his fingers through his hair. He didn't like not knowing, and going out to the nurses station would land him on the outside of the hospital since his first two tirades in an attempt to get information on Sakura's well being hadn't gone over well.

Be patient, the nurse had told him. What they didn't know was being patient had never been his strong suit. In fact, he sucked at it. Still, losing the patience he didn't have would solve little. As irritated as he was by the fact he couldn't be at her side, he had to find solace in the fact he'd done everything humanly possible to ensure she was okay, and hope for the best.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" a man's called out into the waiting room. In seconds Naruto was out of his seat and at the doctor's side.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto answered his heart rattling his rib cage as his anticipation peeked. "You have news for me?"

"Yes," the man nodded, "Come along with me. I'll explain your wife's injuries as we make our way to her room."

Wife? Sakura-Chan wasn't his wife. Of course there were a lot for things he'd thought about her being, but wife? That was, well, a little too fast for even him. As he followed behind the doctor who busied flipping through the chart he held, Naruto contemplated telling the old man differently…that he wasn't her husband. That in fact, he'd not even known her name until hours earlier, but what was the point really? What was the harm in the old guy thinking that he and Sakura-Chan were married? Besides, being romantically joined or not to her was the least of his worries. At that moment, his only concern was her well being.

"Your wife was pretty beat up, but nothing life threatening. There's some bruising in the chest area where the seat restraints were. There was also very deep bruising on her left leg. When the car slammed into the tree on the driver's side, the door must have pushed in on her leg."

"A little," Naruto answered with a concerned frown.

"Don't worry, there's nothing broken," the doctor glanced up from his charts and smiled before continuing. "Now there is a more pressing matter at hand. The blow she took to her head was pretty nasty. Although the trauma she sustained was mild, it was still relatively severe enough to cause damage." The doctor said stopping outside of one of the many hospital room doors and focusing on Naruto.

A shiver traveled down Naruto's spine in that instance. He didn't like for a second the look the other man offered. I'm sorry is what it said. I'm sorry but I have bad news to be precise. "Come on tell me! What is it?" Naruto snapped his voice rising beyond what he'd intended.

"I'll tell you everything, but not before you calm down, sir. Losing your cool here won't help your wife's situation in the least bit."

Naruto sighed. He was genuinely frustrated but understood the doctor to be correct. Losing his cool would amount to nothing. "I'm sorry. Just tell me what's wrong with her." Naruto said, reigning in his emotions as best he could.

"Well, I'm not sure how to put this."

"Just say it!"

"Alright, there's a possibility your wife will have lost parts of her memory."

Okay, that wasn't exactly the sort of news he'd been anticipating. Albeit he'd admit that it was better than the old guy having said Sakura had suffered severe irreversible brain trauma, it was still pretty damn bad, and he hadn't the first idea as to how to respond to the announcement.

"Uh…well. Ah..." Naruto mumbled incoherently, his face wrinkling as he concentrated on digesting the latest revelation.

"I imagine this comes as shock," the doctor continued, as he prepared to enter into the room in front of which they'd stopped. "Do you love your wife, Mister Uzumaki?"

Naruto blinked then blinked again? What? Love? What in the hell sort of question was that? Did he love his wife? First of all she wasn't his wife. Aside from having met her on a snowy rooftop two years prior, he didn't know her. He knew absolutely nothing about her, and this crazy doctor would ask him if he loved her? The answer was, while he may have held some rather ungentlemanly obsession with her he would hardly call it love, but then he couldn't actually say all of what he'd just thought since technically, the doctor believed him to be her husband. With that in mind, Naruto did the only thing he could and answered as if he was indeed her husband. "Of course I love my wife!"

The doctor smiled, "I can tell," the old man said tucking the chart under his arm and grabbing Naruto's hands, lifting them eye level. "Only a man in love would take this kind of injury for a woman."

Naruto looked at his hands and he could hardly mask his surprise seeing for the first time the deep gashes and welts that covered them. He hadn't recalled receiving a single wound and until that moment hadn't noticed the pain, but there they were bright red and oozing with early signs of healing. "After you see your wife, I'll have a nurse treat your injuries and get your hands bandaged."

"Thank you," Naruto quickly returned his hands to his side. This night was becoming weirder by the second.

"Well, there are a few more things I want to tell you before you meet with your wife. If she awakens and we find that she has indeed lost parts, or worst scenario, all of her memory, I am advising that you don't try to force her to recall anything. Making her remember before her mind is ready can cause serious damage."

"This is all hypothetical right? I mean you don't have proof that she won't remember anything."

The doctor nodded in agreement "Yes, it's hypothetical, but the extent of her injuries suggest it very plausible that she won't remember. I just want you to be prepared for the worst, Mr. Uzumaki."

"Let's say she doesn't remember anything in the beginning, how long will it be before she recalls everything?"

"Memory loss is a tricky thing. Your wife recalling your life together could happen in a few short days. Or it could take weeks for her to remember and at worst-"

"At worst?" Naruto parroted completely on edge as he took in the less than favorable news.

"She could never remember," the doctor paused, then continued," but that is where that love of yours comes in. Your wife not remembering will be the most trying time of her life. She will need your love and our patience to help her through this. You will need to guide her gently as she recovers. You think you can handle the task?"

Naruto nodded yes, although deep down he couldn't help but feel as though the situation was quickly becoming more than he'd bargained for. When he'd wished he could see Sakura again this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind. A hot night of them picking up where they'd left off on that snowy New Years night of two years earlier was what he'd envisioned, not this.

"Well, lets get you in here. She's sleeping because of the sedatives we've placed her on but when she awakens, I'm sure the first person she'll want to see is her husband."

XXX

Hours had gone by and he sat at Sakura's bedside watching as she slept peacefully oblivious to the chaotic circumstances that had developed. He 'd sat praying and hoping that she'd open those big beautiful green eyes of hers, and immediately know who she was and where she was, but she didn't wake. And although Naruto had been determined to stay in the chair at her bedside, the pain in his rapidly swelling hands had become unbearable. He'd had no choice but to leave and seek out his own medical attention.

That had been an hour earlier. Naruto sat in the chair, his left palm flipped up, and his fingers spread wide as the nurse placed the final stitch in the gaping wound he's received at some point during his climb out of the ravine.

He'd still yet to fully wrap his mind around the chain of events. One minute he'd been in his office thinking about Sakura the next he'd been pulling her from the wreckage of her smashed car. How was this possible? He hadn't an answer and his the questions only seem to grow more complicated as he thought back to what the doctor had told him. There was a possibility that she wouldn't remember a thing. What if that happened? What would he do?

The doctor said forcing her to recall any details of her life could cause more harm than good, but if he said nothing where would that leave them? He couldn't pretend to be her husband forever, and even if he could, Naruto wasn't certain that was what he wanted. Desiring her for a moment was one thing. Desiring her for a lifetime was an entire other. He wasn't so certain he was prepared to do that. In fact, the more he thought about it seemed the best line of recourse was to make it known immediately that he and Sakura-Chan bore no romantic ties to one another. That's what he'd do…at least it had been his intent until the office door swung open and in popped the giggling nurse he'd left at her side an hour earlier.

"She's awake! Your wife's awake, Naruto-san!" the nurse shouted, as she made her way into the tiny medical room.

"Good timing." The nurse who'd been working on his hand said, placing the final pin in his bandage. "You'd better get going. She's probably waiting for you." The nurse continued, closing her first aid kit and getting to her feet.

Naruto climbed to his feet, and slowly unrolled his shirt sleeve. He looked to the deliverer of the news on Sakura's condition. What he found gazing back unnerved him, and confirmed his worst fear. Sakura was awake. That was wonderful. However, Sakura didn't remember anything which meant the fallacy she was his wife would go forth.

XXX

Well once again this seemed like an excellent place to stop. If I had continued there would have been another ten pages on top of this and I doubt if you guys really wanted that. Anyways, as always PLEASE let me know what you think. If not, thanks for reading. I am working on the next chapter since it's already in my head so maybe I'll have it done and ready for posting by Thursday. Thanks again for reading my humble fic!

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