-1Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. And if I did…half the characters would have been raped by now. By each other. Yaoi rocks.
Author's Note: So chapter three is up. I tried. -- It's like more than three pages typed. Go me! I rewrote Chapter1, so it's better written now. Please tell me if there are any mistakes in any of the chapters.
The scribbling of pencil on paper echoed around his bare white room.
Sasuke had grown accustomed to the sound in the last day. The feeling of his hand sliding across the page as words poured onto the lines was foreign to him.
He had been here for five days, the first four lying in bed with and IV connected to his arm, and today when they had finally let him up to walk around a bit. His arm still ached and after twice of tearing the stitches out and the doctor repairing it, he had given up on that. This entire place seemed odd. Sasuke had never been inside a public hospital before. There was a small clinic on the Uchiha estate that everyone from the clan had used.
He hadn't seen many other people, just the nurse and the others that wandered aimlessly throughout the halls; and a few times pale faces had peeked in at him through the window of his door. This morning he had finally left his room to be escorted to therapy by the nurse that had yet to talk to him.
Flashback to earlier that day
The halls were white, immaculate, and the lights illuminated every crevice of the area, leaving nothing unseen. A cold hand held onto his arm and steered him along. Suddenly, they halted in front of a wooden door with a nameplate across the front.
The room was hot and stuffy and frankly, it smelled. The therapist sat at a wooden desk in one corner of the room. There was a squashy green couch across from the desk and a wooden chair in the opposite corner. Sasuke sat in the chair. He glanced around the room, avoiding the eyes of the therapist and he counted three boxes of tissues, but those were only the ones in plain view. He suspected they had an entire storage room for tissues in this place. So he sat. Crossed his legs. Uncrossed them. And put his hands folded neatly in his lap. He did not speak or move. Neither did the therapist. The silence was tedious and Sasuke fidgeted slightly to the right.
"Well aren't you going to ask something?" asked Sasuke sarcastically.
The therapist leaned forward on her arms and finally spoke, "I'm Ren Akimiki. You may call me Ren-san If you like." She pulled out a vanilla colored folder from inside a drawer on her desk.
"So, you are Sasuke Uchiha. Tell me a bit about yourself."
This was just like those TV dramas he had seen. This was a bit much.
He kept his mouth shut, tightly, and continued to stare intently at Ren-san.
"How are you feeling today?" she inquired.
The raven-haired boy continued to watch her.
A long period of silence followed.
"Ok, Sasuke. Our hour is up. So, I've bought you this journal and some pencils for you to write. Write about whatever you want. If you'd like, I'll read it next time you come."
Like that was going to happen. He reached across the desk and took the thick black book in his hand. Good. His favorite color. He stood by the door to leave as the nurse opened it to escort him back to his room.
When he arrived, he chucked the book across the room and flopped onto the bed. There wasn't much to keep him occupied here. The staff would still not let him go to the game room or the commons. He was still considered a danger to 'himself and the other patients in the hospital', like he was going to go on a murdering spree if they let him have some fresh air. So he lay on his bed and tried to sleep. He wasn't tired. Sasuke ran a hand through his long black hair and sat up. Slowly he walked over to the wall where his notebook lay desolately on the ground and he bent down to retrieve it. Carrying it back to his bed, he flipped through the pages. Every single page was glaringly bright white. He figured he should start at the beginning, so he turned back to the first page and sat with his pencil poised in his hand.
This was stupid. He didn't have anything to write about.
So he scribbled obscene words all over the page and smirked to himself. And when he had filled up most of the page he began to doodle pictures of Team 7--- Sakura dying in various ways. It wasn't like he hated her…she was just a bit enthusiastic sometimes. And he drew Naruto eating ramen- which was pretty much all he did in his free time. Then he drew what he thought Kakashi's little orange Icha Icha book contained, of course he scribbled that part out later lest someone see it. Hours passed by and soon it grew dark outside. Sasuke fell asleep bit by bit with his notebook held tightly in his arms.
End Flashback
Early the next morning, Naruto propped himself up against his pillow and stretched his arms high above his head. With a yawn he straightened out his nightcap. His cotton blanket was an entangled web around his legs. Nightmares had haunted him in the past nights. Days had passed now since the incident with Sasuke. Guilt ate at his stomach and he was sick with worry. He hadn't visited him once, not that he hadn't tried; he'd made his was to the steps of the entrance building before turning back. Every time he came closer to Sasuke, the more fear he felt.
Naruto slowly rose from the warmth of his bed and set his feet onto the cool floor. Making his way to the kitchen, he glanced out the window to see the hot sun glaring down on the roofs of the buildings. After gulping down a glass of milk, he dug through the contents of his bedroom floor until he found a set of clothes that didn't smell too raw and left out the door to the street below.
Training was much different without Sasuke. Sakura and Naruto now practiced sparring together while Kakashi read Icha Icha on a tree branch nearby and paid absolutely no attention to what was going on. About two days after Sakura had been stalking Naruto, and eventually threatening to pound his head into a wall, he'd given in and confided in her what he had witnessed. Her reaction wasn't what he would have expected. Naruto thought she would have been devastated or angry, but she had been very mature about the whole thing. She asked if Sasuke was alright, where he was now, and then she had lightly hugged Naruto around the waist and lithely sprinted down the street and out of sight as he stood and watched the spot where she had just been, blushing slightly.
Sakura ran until her mind grew numb and she couldn't think about anything at all. There was a place deep in the leafy woods surrounding Konoha that she had found when she was younger. It was a small clearing, a perfect circle, just big enough to lay down on her back with her legs outstretched and hands cradling her neck. The grass seemed softer there. It covered the ground in large green tufts and was warm on days like this, where the sun shown in beams through the high up branches. Her breath came in arduous gasps as she arrived and soon flopped down backwards onto the ground to rest.
She slowly pulled herself off the ground and headed back towards her home. Everything was still. She couldn't sense any chakra and heard no movement ahead. The streets were desolate and as far as she could see ahead, it was the same.
"Naruto..?" she called out hesitantly.
Behind her she heard the shuffling of feet dragging along on the rocky pavement and a rattling breath. He left half bloodied feet print in a trail behind him. As he came closer she froze in place; her heart fluttered in her chest. His raven colored hung down in sweaty strips, shrouding his face. Deep gashes extended across his chest and arms in intricate patterns. Some were scars and some were scabbed over and healing, but most were fresh and bled freely. Rivulets of blood clung to his skin and swirled down to land in splatters on the ground. He swayed slightly to the right but caught himself before he fell.
"Sakura, please help me…"
Sasuke stood before her now. His entire body quavered as he reached out to grab her arm for support. He swayed again and this time fell down in a heap. As his hand slid from her arm, it left a crimson handprint.
She began to sob and screamed out and jolted into a sitting position, her face an inch away from Naruto's, who was now leaning over her and had a firm grasp on her arm…where Sasuke's had been?
"I was worried. I've been looking for you and I heard screaming from over here; you were asleep, I think." Naruto said, "Are you alright, Sakura-chan?"
The nightmare was still lingering. Now the sky was a brilliant red from the sun setting.
"Naruto? I think we should both go visit Sasuke tomorrow. I'd like to see how he's doing…" her voice was trembling slightly.
Naruto's hand was still wrapped around her arm and he pulled her up off the ground. This time he hugged her, pulling her close to him.
Whispering, he replied, "I'll meet you on the front steps at eight."
With that, he leapt nimbly onto a branch and disappeared into the darkness. This time Sakura was left standing immobile, with a faint blush.
The night was void of both dream and nightmare. Naruto woke well, rested and rose to get his clothes. Sakura as well, was combing through her choppy pink hair and soon left through her door and appeared on the street that was so awake and lively, so early in the morning. This reminded her of when she had visited Lee in the hospital after the Sand-nin had injured his leg and arm. She had brought him a flower and she would do the same for Sasuke.
Sakura came to Yamanaka Flowers just as Ino did, blonde hair in a high ponytail and purple skirt and top clinging to her figure.
"What are you doing up so early?" Ino yawned.
Sakura replied, "I need to buy a flower for a friend."
"Ooohhh! A boyfriend?!" Ino squealed. "Who, who?"
Sakura strode past Ino, completely ignoring her. She really had matured; she didn't see Ino as her competition anymore.
Walking steadily through the shop, she took in the vibrant colors and sweet fragrances. Abruptly, she saw the perfect one. A purple iris, dark in the center and fading to white on the tips. A symbol of friendship and hope. She smelled it and picked it up gently while handing over the money. Feeling lighter, she left to meet Naruto.
Author's Note: I'd like to know what you thought about Sakura's dream. Was it confusing at all? And by how I described the hospital, I'm not saying hospitals are like that-just this one. In the beginning, I was intending to make this a NaruSasu but now it's leaning towards NaruSaku, which I like too. I don't like Ino Review now because it makes me all fuzzily inside.