DISCLAIMER: Not now, not ever, nor before. Naruto isn't mine, darling :D

A/N: Okay.
Here you go, what you've been waiting for.
Oh, and please don't berate me if they are a little out of character.
Loss is harder then it sounds especially one like this
Read on, enjoy.

Sasuke burst through what felt like the millionth set of doors and was finally greeted by familiar faces, but they were in states he wished to never see. Adelie was there, hugging a sobbing Ino. Neji was attempting to comfort TenTen, and Naruto was holding a shaking Hinata as well as trying to keep himself together. Shikamaru was sitting on the edge of a chair, his face in his hands. Temari was sitting next to Emi, stroking the woman's back as she tried to be strong, through tears streamed down her face, and she was hiccuping.

The usually stunning Emi seemed to be the epitome of sadness. Tears streamed down her face in silence, as she stared into the distance blankly. She was playing continuously with a ring on her left hand, which Sasuke noticed was a wedding band.

Neji was the first to notice that Sasuke had arrived. He murmured something to TenTen and she nodded, making her way over to Adelie whom brought her into the embrace to join Ino. Neji walked over to Sasuke. "Hey..." he said after a few moments.

"Hey." Sasuke replied. "What...what happened?" he asked, finding it hard to get the words out.

Neji sighed and closed his eyes. He breathed deeply once and opened them, revealing sad pale orbs. "Well from what they've told us, She was driving. She was being perfectly legal, obeying the law, and doing everything right. Then while she's in the intersection waiting to turn left some guy comes barreling out of no where. He slams into her passenger side, and he's piss-ass drunk. Her little car doesn't even stand a chance against this SUV, and she goes spinning into traffic." Sasuke inhaled sharply, almost not wanting to hear anymore. Neji's eyes were closed again, and he seemed to be steadying himself. Sasuke waited silently for the tale to be finished.

Neji took a deep breath, opened his eyes and continued. "Well the passenger side got hit, and then the front of the car and the drivers side did too...since she got thrown into an intersection of moving vehicles." He said, his eyes down cast as he spoke gravely.

"No..." Sasuke whispered. He looked almost to tears. Neji grimaced once and nodded.

"Even worse? The guy who hit her only has a concussion, three broken ribs and a leg fracture." Anger burned behind those words as Neji spoke. Sasuke was suddenly infuriated.

"What?!" He snapped viciously. He was forced to calm himself. "What...is her condition?"

Neji shook his head sadly. "We don't know yet. She's in the ER, and she has been for a while now. No one's come out to tell us anythi--" he stopped talking, as a man came out.

He walked over to Emi and the eyes of everyone in that room followed him. Emi barely seemed to register him until he said her daughter's name. "Are you Sakura Haruno's mother?"

She looked sadly up at the man and nodded once. "Okay. We have your daughter in mostly stable condition. Her internal bleeding stopped, but...I'm sorry Ma'am. Your daughter is in a coma." He finished.

Emi's eyes grew wide and her hand flew above her mouth. She looked like she was going to be sick. "Thank you doctor..." She said finally, looking away from him. "When may I go in and see her?"

"I'd say twenty minutes. She's almost all cleaned up now, next we have to get her hooked up and to her room, and then you can visit."

She nodded, her eyes squeezed shut. Temari was holding her hand now and trying not to let Emi's shake. "How many people may be in a room at a time, doctor?" Temari asked, before he left.

"About three or four, young lady." He said, smiling woefully at her once. "I'll send a nurse out to fetch you when it's okay for you to see her." And with that, he walked away and disappeared.

Adelie let go of the two girls, whose crying had abated for the moment with the doctor's news. The British young lady strode over to Emi and sat down in the chair next to her. She slid her arms over Emi's shoulders and just sat there, holding her.

Emi seemed assured by Adelie's presence, and leaned appreciatively into her shoulder. Tears continued to stream down the woman's face but they had mixed feelings in them now. On one hand, she was horrified that her young daughter, who had done nothing at all wrong, was in the hospital in a coma. On the other hand, Sakura wasn't dead and she didn't deserve to be treated as if she were. Adelie was finally crying, which she hadn't been before. Tears coursed down freckled cheeks, as the girl finally gave into her emotions. Emi noticed, and brought her arms up around the girl, pulling the girl who was practically her other daughter closely to her.

Everyone seemed to be crying now, but in a half-relived way. Sasuke eve, when he closed his eyes to steady himself and he felt two warm tears slide their way down his face. He wanted to say it was surprising, but it really wasn't, to him. His tough-guy exterior, how much of a jerk he always appeared to be, all of it was just his mask. The wall, that he was careful to create between him and other people. If you didn't get close, you couldn't hurt him. After the loss of his parents, that was the only way the boy could look at things. But her...

She had done what he feared most, and she didn't even know it. All of it was his fault, really. When she had stopped liking him, and when she started to actually detest him, he had become intrigued. He had become interested in her as a person. No one had ever changed their feelings about him like she had, much less a girl. So he had found out about her. Not by actually talking to her though, oh Gods no. That's what the internet, friends, her mother autobiography, and acting like a stalker was for. He found out about her father, and had then been MORE curious. How did she still smile? What drove her not to hide herself? Why didn't she close her heart?

Slowly but surely he had become curious. Slowly but surely he had opened his heart to her, waiting to find out how she was so strong. And day be day he watched her. Because of their friends their worlds became closer and closer. He learned more and more about her, and he found he enjoyed every bit of her. And he didn't fully realize it until it was too late.

He had fallen in love with her.

As he had opened his heart to her, he had managed to fill it with her also, much to his own dismay. He had opened it to welcome her in, but he had brought her into him of his own accord, even if the feelings were stronger then he had managed to notice.

He had fallen in love with the one girl determined never to be his, and that was too late to change. Or so at the time he had thought, taking everything lying down the way he was. But after a while, he had been determined to change it. Everyone was convinced that the other reason he was after her was to prove he could get every girl, but that had never been the point at all. Her love, which he believed her to be his true love, was all he had ever wanted. A relationship with the girl of his dreams, irreplaceable by any other.

And now she was in a coma.

His eyes were still shut, and he felt more tears stream out from under his closed lids, and he didn't try to stop them. He opened his eyes for a moment, just long enough to stumble to a chair. He found himself sitting next to Adelie, for it was the first chair he had found. His gaze traveled up her back and after a moment met with the wet eyes of Emi Haruno. The skin at the edges of her eyes crinkled at him slightly as she sent the boy a small sad smile. He was astonished at the resemblance between mother and daughter, in more then just the physical aspects, even if Sakura resembled the young Emi almost to a tee. He wondered at how on earth she could smile, and more over why she would bother to waste one on him.

He attempted to smile back, but knew it was entirely futile. He couldn't manage one. It seemed to spark something in both of them. The tears coursed down his face harder, even as he tried to stem them. Emi looked warmly at the boy. He was startled when she opened her mouth and began to speak.

"You know Sasuke..." she began, her voice terribly hoarse for the obvious reason, " My daughter spoke of you often. Rarely were they particularly nice or appriciative, but there was the occasional good comment strewn in there. I want you to be aware of how fine a line there is between love and hate, like and dislike. I think in her own, ever so odd way, my daughter cared about you. In fact I happen to be positive about that. I know how quirky she was, and I'm sure you do as well. And I want to thank you for caring about my little girl." Emi said, nodding at him once.

From the crook of Emi's shoulder, Adelie choked out a laugh. "I do love how heartfelt that was, but Gods lass stop embarrassing the poor boy." She croaked, her voice sounding as bad as Emi's.

"N-no." Sasuke said, taking a moment to find his voice. "It's fine. Thanks a lot, Mrs. Haruno. It...really means a lot." He said, trying to keep his voice from cracking. She nodded once at him, and he suddenly got the feeling as if she had just just done something royal.

"But I'm sorry to say, I do have some more bad news for you Sasuke." The woman spoke so gravely Sasuke didn't even notice the mirth dancing about in her eyes. His face fell more distraught, not that anyone thought it was possible.

"More bad news? Are you kidding?" he said, afraid to ask what it was.

"She nodded once more. "Well it's...it's the baby Sasuke." She sniggered. "It got totaled in the car crash." Oh it was cruel of her to mislead him so, yes, she knew this. But she couldn't help herself, with how seriously he had taken it. She sparkled playfully at him and watched as he processed that he was being told the truth, but more over being teased. She laughed a small little laugh as his face, which had resembled that of a sad puppy, turned slowly into a sullen scowl, directed at her.

"You are not as funny as you think you are." He said flatly. Emi winked at him in response. Everyone's spirits rose, for the time being, and a few others even managed to choke out an excuse for a laugh.

That is, until a nurse came out, asking for Emi. "Are you Mrs. Haruno?" the young woman asked. Emi nodded once, as her voice seemed to had deserted her again. The nurse, whose nametag read Risa, smiled at the woman once. "Alrighty Ma'am, If you'll please follow me, I'll take you to your daughters room."

Emi rose slowly and silently, clutching Adelie's hand very tightly in her own. The British lass stood with her, visibly shaking. Risa beckoned with her two fingers and began waling left. They followed her, but Emo turned around after a moment and called Naruto to come as well. The blond boy did as he was told, and trotted after them 'til he was walking in stride with the other two. No one was surprised that Naruto went with. He was, after all, Sakura's cousin. The nurse and the other three disappeared swiftly around the corner, leaving everyone else behind in silence.

Hinata sniffled as her comfort was gone, and Temari seemed lonely without Emi's hand to comfort. Sasuke moved over a couple of chairs and sat next to her, and placed what he hoped was a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. He had known everyone in this room since pre-school, and all of them had become and stayed close. It seemed right, that somehow in all of this wrong that was happening that it was them there, mourning what had happened to the one missing from the group. Hinata ambled over to TenTen and Ino, not being able to take standing alone.

Neji was there soon after her. He took on taking care of his cousin and his love, while Ino broke off and found her way to Shikamaru, sitting on him, burying her head between the nook where neck and shoulder meet. Sasuke sighed deeply once and wiped the remaining tears from his face, sourly.

"You...really do care about her, don't you?" Temari asked, lifting her tearful gaze to meet his.

Solemnly, he nodded. She sighed once, and then barked out a harsh laugh at the irony. "She always seemed to know you did. When we were little, she used to declare madly that one day, far from now but one day none the less, you were going to be in love with her. We didn't really take it into account much, because as kids we were all stupid, stubborn, and annoying, but she always knew." She paused for a moment and looked him directly in the eyes. "Uchiha, don't you dare give up on her. Okay?" She sighed, a sound full of mixed emotions as he nodded at her. "Alright then. Good. Because once she gets out of all this, she might just realize what's good for her." Temari murmured.

All these declarations about Sakura's feelings, have him some hope, but at the same time he knew they were not from her mouth, which made them only half truths. Still, it gave him a little more then he'd had before. After that, they all sat in silence once again. It stayed that way for about fifteen minutes, until Naruto came back, paler then a sheet. Hinata rushed over to him and embraced the poor lad.

"Uhm..." he started out, his voice cracking and raspy. "Auntie wants me to take Hinata back there, and then you guys can all go in pairs. Uh...we'll be back." He said, taking Hinata by the hand and leading her away. He seemed to be in an almost zombified state and seemed to be having a very difficult time stringing words together. Sasuke watched his friend walk away for the second time. Hinata's face had completely blanched at the sight of him, and se seemed almost terrified to go back there with him. Still, she allowed herself to be led away.

Silence insued once more as they were gone. No one really wanted to say anything. It was an awkward seven minutes, but after that amount of time Hinata came back, sobbing. Naruto was behind her, closely resembling death himself. She took a chair and slightly attempted to hide the sobs wracking her body. "Uh...Shikamaru. Ino. I guess you guys are next." He said numbly. Ino slid off of him and stood up, and the boy followed suit. They followed Naruto to the room, casting nervous glances at Hinata.

Hinata remained in her seat as they went, but then, abruptly stood. "I'm going home." she declared, regaining some composure and wiping the tears from her face.

"You're what?" TenTen asked. Hinata nodded.

"If I stay here much longer I'm going to vomit. TenTen, I know you I brought you but can you go home with Neji?" she asked. The girls both looked at Neji, who nodded. "Thanks. Hinata said, and then she left.

"Seeing Sakura must've really killed her." Temari remarked. "She's always been the most docile of us." And then quiet once more ruled. About three minutes later, Adelie and Emi came out, followed by Naruto.

"Neji, TenTen, you two go back. I need to not be in there for a bit." Emi said. The two of them nodded, and were about to g back with Naruto when Shikamaru appeared, his face even more blank then normal.

"Temari, you go back along with them. I've gotta go." He said quickly. He muttered good-byes and then the melancholy boy vanished. Temari got up, and left with the group and headed to Sakura's room. Soon only Sasuke, Emi, and Adelie were left.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. That you're the last to see her." Emi told the boy.

"He shrugged once. "It's fine. I swear. I really dont mind having it prolonged." Which was only a half truth, but he partially felt that way. The other part of him wanted to go to her instantly and refuse to leave her side. Logic was attempting to control that side. Emi smiled wearily at him.

"You know...oh no. I couldn't ask that of you." She said, shaking her head as if to get the thought out of it.

He looked questioningly at her. "No, please. Ask anything."

She sighed once. It seemed to be the sound of the day. "Okay, but please remember you don't have to do this. But if you would so like to, would you say with Sakura for a little while Laddie and me here go home and get a few things?"

"That's all? Yeah, I would be happy to." He assured her.

"Okay then. We'll go now so you don't have to stay too long." And with a relieved smile and a goodbye, both of them disappeared.

Sasuke sat there, silent and alone. He was pleased for the moment of peace, but also horrified that he now had so much time to think. He sat there, trying not to think for the next fifteen minutes. Finally, everyone came out. Ino, who had been in there the longest was trembling and sobbing. TenTen and Temari had paled terribly and they continued to cry in a mostly silent fashion. Neji not only looked horrified, he also looked like he was going to be sick soon.

Sasuke stood to receive them. TenTen's hands were gripping Temari and Neji's hands as if they were the only things keeping her standing, which may have been true. Sasuke offered Ino a hug, who gladly took it, nearly collapsing into his chest. He gave her a quick squeeze and was startled at how badly she was shaking. "Go home guys." Sasuke encouraged. "Come back tomorrow." Ino nodded and pulled away from him. She hobbled numbly away, completely forgetting about the word goodbye and obviously not ready to speak at all. Temari rubbed Sasuke's back for a moment as she passed him, and Neji clapped a hand on his shoulder and grimly nodded. TenTen looked up at him and whispered,

"Good luck."

He nodded at her once and watched them walk away. Naruto came over to him once they were out of sight, now that he decided to be more then part of the wall.

"C'mon. I'll take you to her."

Chapter 12 coming sooner then this one did.