You're No Exception
Sorry this took so long to update. I actually had this typed like four hours ago, but I needed to do some editing. I decided that this is going to be maybe a 5 chapter story at the most. ^^
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Itachi… ah….what do I own???
Note: Near the end are lyrics from the song Pain by Three Days Grace. The second quote is the first verse of the song, and the first quote is one I created.
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Sakura's POV
x-x-x
It's funny
How love works.
The one you never tried to see,
(turned out to be the only one you saw)
The one you never dreamed could making you happy,
(turned out to be the only one that did)
But most of all, the one you excluded from your life, your own little world,
(Became the entire thing.)
(Every. Tiny. Bit.)
x-x-x
Sniff.
How did things end up this way?
How could one wrong step, one time where your timing was off…the one time you were at the wrong place at the wrong time…
Could do this?
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
It all happened to fast…
"Someone call an ambulance!!!"
Sniff.
"Ma'am, you have to let go of him-"
"Sasuke…"
"Please! Take me with you!!! I can't leave him- not like this…"
"Why oh why did you do it?"
x-x-x
Sasuke's POV
x-x-x
You're sick of feeling numb
You're not the only one
I'll take you by the hand
And I'll show you a world that you can understand
x-x-x
I'm drowning.
Into a deep, suffocating pool of nothingness.
The air is thick.
(Why does it hard to breathe…?)
My conscious has separated from my body.
(I can't feel a thing)
…Am I dead?
(…Was I ever alive…?)
x-x-x
This life is filled with hurt
When happiness doesn't work
Trust me and take my hand
When the lights go out you'll understand
x-x-x
x-x-x
Sakura's POV
It's been two weeks now.
Two, long weeks…
"Sakura, why don't you get some sleep? You look terrible…"
From what Ino had told me, the only thing I seemed to do anymore was stare lifelessly at the motionless, stone-faced, bandaged man lying before me. How long had it been- the time I had spent with him? Days? Weeks? Months?
Time, people, money…for the first time in my life, they didn't matter when I was with him.
I felt droplets of salty liquid fall from my eyes and onto my lap when I thought of this. I had been so happy back then. But now, now that he no longer looks at me with his dazzling onyx eyes (which at times Naruto had told me they were blood red.) or….or…
"Sakura-chan?"
I spun around to face the voice calling to me. It was none other than Naruto. The only one I saw that still visited him nowadays-even though it was mainly to check up on me. Since Sasuke-kun remained unmoving, not even his brother, the last of his family, came to see him anymore.
I gave him a broken smile as I turned to meet his sad blue eyes. "Morning Naruto."
His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he stared at me with pure anguish. "Me and HInata-chan are going to get some coffee…want to come?" he asked me. But deep down, he knew the answer to that.
It would always be no…
I smiled sadly at him. "Sorry Naruto, maybe next time-"
And for the first time since we had been friends, I saw Naruto angry.
Angry at me.
He scowled and pulled me up by my wrists. "Sakura-chan look at yourself!! Do you actually sleep anymore?" Naruto snarled at me. My tired emerald eyes looked at him fearfully, but I spoke not a word. Because he was right…
"And when was the last time you ate? Hinata-chan told me that you don't touch anything she gives you!" he paused to shake me violently. "Why're you doing this do yourself?!"
"Because it's my fault Sasuke-kun's like this!!" I screamed at him. Naruto stiffened as tears spilled from my eyes. I had finally told him about my sadistic self-inflicted punishment. Maybe I was the one that needed help, not Sasuke-kun…
"Sakura-chan…how were you supposed to know about the girder?"
"But if I had been more careful! If I hadn't told him to meet me so close to the construction site he…he wouldn't have…"
Naruto gripped my chin tightly as he glared down at me. "Are you saying that it would've been better that it hit you instead?" he asked me through gritted teeth, but he softened when uncontrollable tears fell from my eyes and I nodded. "It was an accident Sakura-chan…it wasn't-"
I pushed him away. Someone deserved to be blamed for what had happened to him.
The way I heard his ribs shattering with the impact of the girder...
"You don't understand, Naruto!!!"
The way blood spilled from his mouth and where the large metal object had stricken him…
"His blood was all over me! Over everything!!!"
The way his eyes lost gleam and grew dilated as pain erupted through his body…or how I could visibly see his internal organs and bones breaking in his expression…
"After everything he's been through since he was seven..."
And how I re-lived that expression whenever I managed to close my eyes…
: He didn't deserve this, Naruto!!"
As I crumpled in his arms and sobbed brokenly. I felt Naruto's arms wrap around me. He was trying so hard to keep me together; to keep me from falling and breaking at the seams. I could tell by the way his arms wrapped around my body in a choking embrace.
"Sakura-chan…if he hadn't pushed you out of the way in time, he would've been a lot worse than this." I heard Naruto hiss at me. Through my choked sobs, I heard him go on. "If it'd been you on that hospital bed right now, I wouldn't have been able to leave him alone. Even for a second!"
My tear-filled emerald eyes looked up at him in confusion. "W-What?"
The blonde managed to grin at me. "C'mon, has your brain turned to mush? The bastard would've gone suicidal, Sakura-chan!" he explained. I wiped my eyes with a shaky hand as he sat me down.
"Y'see, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme's always cared about you. He tried to stay away from you because…" he paused to frown. "He thinks…he's a monster. And I know teme will blame himself when he wakes up because you almost got hurt."
I watched him look away, as if to avoid what he was really thinking. It didn't work, because the sad, gleam reflecting off his eyes was all I needed to see.
'If he wakes up…' his blue eyes whispered to me. But my eyes widened when I realized that Naruto was entirely right about Sasuke-kun thinking that he was a monster. The words he had constantly spoken to me whenever I saw him, but had casted off dismissively, finally made sense.
"I'm dangerous, Sakura. You shouldn't associate with me."
"Sakura, if you were smart, you'd stay away from me."
"…this is wrong Sakura. You aren't meant to be with me."
"You don't understand! I'll be the death of you…you don't know what you're risking when you're with me!"
"He…he thinks he's a monster? But…why…?" I whispered to Naruto quietly. My blonde best friend nodded. "He thinks something bad will happen to you. Like his mom."
"B-But that was just a freak accident!! It wasn't his fault! It was never his-"
"Sound familiar, Sakura-chan?" the sun-kissed blonde murmured to me. "Naruto…" I sighed as my emerald eyes fell to the floor. I was just too stubborn to argue with. This was a completely different situation than one of Sasuke-kun's past. He had gotten hurt trying to save me.
None of this would've happened if it were for me.
What a horrid, wretch I was…
But I decided that I would play along, for Naruto's sake. I wouldn't be able to bear breaking my best friend anymore. So I would do this, if only to make him happy.
I managed to put on the best smile I could manage with my puffy, swollen eyes and tear stained cheeks as I looked up to meet his gaze. "You're absolutely right." I told him quietly as I wrapped my arms around his neck to embrace him lovingly.
(my brother, my friend…my comforter.)
"Does this mean you wanna come with me and Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, his expression filled with hope. I hesitated, but shook my head. "No, I couldn't go out like this. I look like a swollen tomato!" I told him as I began to pull away from him. "But…if you could bring me back something? I promise I'll eat everything you give me." I offered.
With a genuine grin, Naruto gave me a thumbs-up. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan! I'll tell Hinata-chan right now!" he replied before he gave me one last bear hug and hurried out of the room, screaming to his girlfriend down the hall that I was 'actually' going to eat something.
I shook my head and chuckled softly. Something I hadn't done in days. I don't know what I would've done without idiot, happy-go-lucky Uzumaki Naruto in my life. But the tiny smile that had managed to form at the corner of my dry lips disappeared when I returned to look down at Sasuke.
Without leaving his side, I pulled over the stool with my foot and sat down. And even if he would never hear it, even if he never woke up, I told him everything. My thoughts, my feelings, how I felt with him and without him…
That's when the tears began to fall again.
"Y'know, Naruto finally explained to me why you always told me to stay away from you. And even if I almost got crushed with a steel girder, don't ever think for one second that you were the one that caused that…if anything, blame the asshole steering the girder!" I told him wildly.
But as I calmed down, I stroked his cheek and I found that the battered, lightly bruised skin soothing, even though it should've frightened me.
I know (I know I know I know I know)…
"You were never a monster to me, Sasuke-kun." I told him quietly. "You were always an angel. An angel with broken wings."
That you're wounded…
" Everything you tried to hide, all the emotions you kept from everyone- even Naruto- I saw so clearly, Sasuke-kun."
You know (You know you know you know you know)…
"And if you ever wake up…if I ever get to hold you or kiss you or talk with you again…I won't ever let you suffer alone ever again."
That I'm here to save you…
You won't ever be in pain, and I'll make everyday happy for you!" I told him, as if somehow, somewhere, if I confessed this to him, he would wake up.
You know (You know you know you know you know)…
"…If you let me, I'll carry the burden with you. Even carry it for you!"
I'm always here for you…
I suddenly couldn't stop myself from crying as I shut my eyes tightly and gently wrapped my arms around his neck.
I know (I know I know I know I know)…
"Let me carry the burden for you, Sasuke-kun…just let me carry your burden…"
That you'll thank me later…
x-x-x
Sasuke's POV
What an empty place I've landed in.
Just…what had I done, where had I been before this? To land me here?
I cannot remember my past. Or even the faintest hint of a voice that had made it up.
If somehow, I had been alive…if there were any sign that I was on the verge of death, I wanted it.
To feel.
Something, anything. Even if it was an eternity of pain or anguish.
(Any emotion was better than this.)
In this place, I nor felt or saw anything.
Perhaps this was hell?
Then, I saw something. Felt something. It was warm, and comforting, making me realize that I was dangerously cold. Ice cold.
It was light, and gentle.
I suddenly found myself wanting more of this feeling. This light, warm, comforting feeling…
And deep down, in the pit of my very being, I felt warmth beginning to slowly but surely spread throughout my body, which was beginning to re-appear.
I began to merge with this cold, lifeless body. My conscious was returning to me, along with my memories.
They were hazy, but there.
I could not die, I realized. Even if this icy feeling and the aching of this unmoving body wanted me to succumb to it…no, I could not.
There was something I still had to do.
Someone I still needed to see.
You were never a monster to me.
I heard a voice, a very familiar, warming voice that pulsated through the darkness.
You were always an angel. An angel with broken wings.
A fallen… angel? With this voice, I began to re-call all the feelings of regret and anguish that had struck me to the very bone for years.
Everything you tried to hide, I saw so clearly. The voice told me; making me remember a mask that I had been wearing until…perhaps very recently.
If you let me, I'll carry your burden…
Burden…? The "curse"…
Let me carry your burden…
As the voice faded, a piercing screech emitted through the darkness, and an ominous painful feeling spread throughout the body that I had merged with.
Pain filled me. And every part of this body began to burn. As if someone had thrown it into the very pits of hell.
And then, unexpectedly, the darkness around me began to crack, like a broken mirror. And I saw a terrifying image of the body I had merged with. With long, lightning blue hair, sickly distorted, brown skin, two large, mutated like wings protruded out of my back, and menacing, blood red eyes.
I was no fallen angel, as the sweet voice had told me.
I was a demon.
When the darkness shattered, I began to fall into nothingness. As I deserved. As a demon deserved.
Then, voice returned to me. To save me.
Let me carry your burden…
You won't ever be in pain ever again…
Please, just let me.
Burden
Burden
Burden
"Sasuke-kun!!!"
Sasuke…
I stopped falling and hit something hard below me. Then, light filled my eyes, blinding me at first. When I adjusted to it, I found myself staring at an image of a battered, bandaged raven-haired man lying motionlessly on a hospital bed. This man was being cradled by a shaking, beautiful pink haired girl.
"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun…" she sobbed to him. The sight made my insides clench around me. She was so broken. As if everything that made her, lied in this raven-haired man…
I glanced upward to stare back at the demon I was, and somewhere, flickering in these crimson eyes, held the characteristics of that raven-haired man.
That's when I realized, that I was that man.
I was this woman's everything.
And the pieces suddenly began to fall into place.
"I'm dangerous, Sakura."
"I don't care. I don't want to be away from you anymore."
"You don't understand! I'll be the death of you…you don't know what you're risking when you're with me!"
"Then so be it. I'd rather die in your arms than without you, Sasuke-kun."
And as the pieces fell, I realized that the demon in the dark mirror that had casted me to the bottom of this place began to crack.
My demon was crumbling away. And the crimson color of the eyes my demon possessed dissipated from them; revealing a pure, onyx color.
My demon was gone. Finally gone.
I stood and walked- ran- towards this couple. Towards my real body.
The body of Uchiha Sasuke.
"Sakura," I murmured as I neared the light.
"I'm coming back to you."
-
-
-
As cool air filled my lungs, and the pressure of the woman's arms clenched around my neck returned to me, the pain of my broken ribs returned to me.
As I moved my numb, fingers I heard her gasp. Slowly, she unlatched her arms from around my neck to stare down at my still closed eyes. "S-Sasuke-kun?" she asked again, only breathlessly.
I could hear her heartbeat thump out of her chest as I slowly opened my onyx eyes to stare into her beautiful emerald ones.
Oh how I had missed those emotion-filled eyes.
I examined her more closely as her orbs filled with fat tears and strolled down her cheeks at an alarming rate. The puffiness and dark circles that surrounded her eyes made her appear as if she hadn't slept in weeks. Her once creamy skin was now colorless, and her cheeks that always colored themselves when I appeared to her were now beginning to sink inward. As if she hadn't eaten properly in ages.
As her name left my lips, Sakura let out a strangled sob and threw herself at me again. "Yes, yes Sasuke-kun it's me-Kami-sama it's me!!" she whispered to me. I grunted at the pain the emotion of her embrace was giving me, but I ignored it and slowly raised my heavy arm to touch her back.
"You're back….you've come back to me…" I managed to catch as she spoke incoherent, hysterical words to me. When Sakura lifted herself off me, a smile brightened her pale, thinned face as her viridian eyes shone with happiness I could not understand.
"I'm so happy, Sasuke-kun. I'm so glad you've come back to me…that you've woken up…" she whispered. As I parted my lips to speak, they shut grimly when I began to notice her eyes beginning to cloud over.
My onyx eyes widened in horror when I noticed the color of this cloud.
They were crimson.
Let me carry your burden, Sasuke-kun.
"So she has wished it…" the voice of the demon seethed as the crimson cloud swirled around her viridian eyes.
"No," I whispered as I could do nothing but watch it to take over the pure color of her eyes.
"So it shall be."
"No…" I whispered as I stared at her. Her smile faded when she noticed my expression had suddenly changed from serene to pure horror within seconds. "Sasuke-kun?" she asked me as she touched my cheek quizzically.
If you let me, you'll never feel pain again. And I'll make everyday happy for you!
Let me carry your burden, Sasuke-kun…
When I could no longer seethe emerald her eyes once were, her quizzical expression slowly turned frightened. "S-Sasuke-kun…why…" She blinked with her newly cursed eyes.
"…why are there numbers…above your head?"
What have I done?
TBC…
I'm such a slow updater. Please forgive me.
Because (in the end), she was more than an exception…
xxasukachanxx
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