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Only Hope
Come back to me...
"Hey..." Came that familiar, lazy, bored, monotonous voice.
Already knowing who it was, Kankuro smirked, and laughed hysterically inwardly. Temari, on the other hand, tensed and smiled at the newcomer. Gaara stopped, however, barely awknowledging the newcomer.
"Shikamaru." Temari said, calm outside, nervously sweating inside.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked, hands in his pockets, looking up at the sky like always.
Kankuro took this moment to step in their conversation. "Oh, you know..." He paused, smirking at his sister. "Just here to see a few people."
Temari could barely contain herself from slapping her brother. Luckily, she was able. "Yeah...we're here to see Naruto."
Shikamaru raised a brow at her. "Only Naruto? I thought you said a few people?"
Damn. "Y-yeah well...Sakura too..."
"That only makes it a couple." He pressed on.
Kankuro continued to smirk, as Temari began to stumble for words all of a sudden. "Y-yeah, w-well, there's other people too..." She mumbled.
Realizing what Kankuro was smirking about, Shikamaru smirked himself. "Well, if that's all..." He paused, glancing over the sand nin. "I'll leave you guys alone, if you could find your way."
"Sure! Why don't you esco-" Before he could finish, Temari had cut him off.
"We can find our way!" She said hastily.
Nodding and smirking at once, he said his goodbyes to them and went off to the hospital where he'd meet up with his team.
Once the shadow expert had been out of ear proximity, Temari smacked her brother upside his head. "What the hell, Kankuro!?"
"Ow! What was that for?!" He caressed his head, backing a few steps away from his sister.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked away from him, irritated.
"Sheesh..." He mumbled. "Gaara? Let's go."
Gaara didn't budge though, he watched where Shikamaru went and realized it was the hospital. So instead of going straight to the Hokage tower, they followed Shikamaru's path.
"Gaara? Where are you going?"
"The hospital. Something's up...Besides, I doubt Naruto would hang around the office much inspite his training..."
"Ah." They both sighed. "Let's go then."
At the Hospital...
They couldn't figure out what he was saying. Hell, even Kakashi didn't know if Sasuke was even speaking to her. But sure enough, he had asked them to give him some privacy just a few minutes ago, so they all left the room.
A cheery voice broke through their thoughts and they quickly glanced at the newcomer. "Hey guys!"
"Ino. Choji." Tsunade stated. Eyes narrowing, she asked, "Where's Nara?"
Before they could answer, another voice spoke. "What a drag...I'm right here, Godaime." He paused, stopping right next to his team mates. "How's Sakura?"
"Not so good..." Shizune answered. "But," She paused, looking over her shisou for confirmation. "We're planning on making a surgical move; One that would stop her internal bleedings and help her survive, then from there on, she should start healing properly-"
"That is if the procedure is a success..." Tsunade corrected. "But if it fails, everything would be completely out of our hands, and Sakura..." She gulped. "Will die..."
The slightly lightened mood, quickly darkened at the thought of a loss comrade. Silence hung over them like it did for the past few days. Fortunately, Tsunade changed that.
"That's why," She began. "I need Kakashi, Naruto, Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Sai, Choji, and Sasuke's 'go-signal' to do this."
Naruto was startled. "W-what? Why? Why us, baa-chan?" He asked.
"Because you're the people she trusts the most and put on her emergency contact list, that is, aside from Shizune and I. The both of us though, has already agreed to this procedure-"
"Of course I approve of the damn procedure! I'm sure it will wake Sakura-chan! Just go ahead and do it baa-chan!" Naruto yelled.
Tsunade looked at the others, after nodding a confirmation to Naruto. "Ino, Shikamaru, Choji?"
"W-what?" Ino's eyes widened. "If this procedure is going to save my best friend's life, then hell! Of course I approve it!" She said, putting a defensive hand on her chest, tears threatning to fall.
"How troublesome..." Shikamaru looked away, knowing tears has already formed in his eyes. "What the hell will I do if I lose my Shogi partner? No one else has a chance on actually beating me..." He said with a nod.
"Sakura...was one of my first real friends...I'd be damned if I don't agree to this procedure. I just know she's strong enough to survive it..." Choji said, smiling, tears flowing slowly.
"Ka-"
"Tsunade-sama!" A voice yelled out. Everyone turned and saw none other than the other person who was needed to continue with the procedure.
"Hinata." The Godaime said nonchantly. "You're late..."
"Gome! I was at the temple..." She replied already crying. She tried to cover her tears with a big smile. "The procedure, Godaime. I approve of it!" She said confidently.
The Godaime nodded and turned to the remaining others. "Kakashi."
The copy nin nodded, his face buried in one of the pages of his orange little book. But behind it, he was hiding the tears he couldn't hide anymore. Sakura was like a daughter to him, he should be the one on a death bed not her, considering the fact that he was old anyways, and she was still so young and 'youthful' as Gai says it.
Tsunade, knowing his situation, patted his shoulder, comfortably. Sakura was like a daughter to her as well, she knew how the copy nin was feeling at the moment. So she as well, cried quietly, forcing Kakashi to bring down the book, and show the others his tears.
"...Sai..." The Godaime continued.
"Is there any reason you're actually asking me this, Hokage-sama?" He asked. Not a fake smile on his face, but the most sincere and saddest frown. "If there is a good chance Sakura would survive through this operation...of course I approve of it..."
Tsunade nodded sincerely towards the young ANBU. She looked through all of them. When it hit her, she ended up looking for the new Uchiha monarch. When she found him, he was standing quietly in the background, tears clearly flowing down his face, and suddenly she knew his answer. He didn't want to be asked in front of the others about what he thinks of the procedure. He already has told her before. He told her that if there was any way Sakura could survive, he'd support it, so there was no need to ask him really.
The Godaime nodded to all of them thankfully, and walked towards Sakura's room. "The procedure will begin in less than 30 minutes...I suggest you all get your rest..." With that, she left, heading towards her office to prepare for the operation.
Half an hour later...
"Uchiha." A female voice called out. "Why are you still here?"
Just outside the pinkette's operating room, Sasuke sat down quietly all alone. "I need to talk to her one more time..."
Tsunade arched a brow at this. "Why would you want to do that?"
"Because..." He said, head still hanging low, and eyes never meeting hers. "It might be the last one."
The Godaime's hands balled into fists, and she bit back her tears from coming again. "Why are you suddenly acting so affectionate towards her..." She whispered. "From what I heard before, you the coldest to her when you were genins, tried to kill her with your own hands twice when she willingly gave up everything she had to bring you back..." She paused. "Praying at the altar for her consciousness is reasonable...I guess. But showing up here to visit her 24/7 ever since you found out about her state..." She choked back a low laugh. "It's very unlike the Sasuke I heard of..."
He looked up at her with sincere eyes, almost as if telling her that he's a changed man with a changed heart. It was as if he was telling her he realized he loved the pinkette...
Her eyes softened, and she pulled him into an embrace. "I'm glad you proved them wrong, Uchiha..."
He was surprised to say the least. His hands trembled with the feel of this woman's embrace. It was just like his mother's, so caring and motherly. He felt warm and relaxed. Somehow, he hadn't realized he was crying. Tears readily slid down his face, and he embraced her back.
Now he knew why this very woman who was comforting him now, was a great Hokage. She wasn't just a leader, she was a great friend to others, a great teacher, the best medic nin, and a best friend to those who spent time with her. Overall, this woman...she was very mother-like. He was glad he let his guards down to her...
"What did you want to tell her?" She asked, letting him go.
He smiled. His rare smile, that only team seven saw, his family. And right now, he counted this woman as his mother, since he hasn't had one for so long. "To come back to me..."
Does it sound a little cheesy? Ehh...Anyways, Please leave a review, a comment, or any sort of creative criticism! I'll update soon enough with your suggestions hopefully!