My parents left a few hours ago to attend work and I've been waiting for the perfect moment to talk to Sakura. But, frightening thoughts linger in my mind. What if she doesn't like me that way and just kissed me back out of pity? What if she's avoiding me now? This is so complicated. I flip over and turn on my side. Grabbing my phone I scroll through my contacts and click on Sakura's name. The little phone icon is so tempting to click, but my hand won't do it. After fighting with myself for a few minutes I put the phone down and sigh in defeat.
This is so hard. I just wish she would stroll in through the front door and we can just talk.
And just as I say it the door opens, but the person standing in the doorway is not someone I would expect.
"Hi N-Naruto."
It's Hinata Hyuga.
My eyes widen.
"Hinata?" My voice cracks a little and I sit up in my bed. What is she doing here?
She walks over to my bed and pulls over a chair. Taking a seat she crosses her legs and her long hair covers her denim jeans. The scent of lavender fills the room and I realize she must be wearing perfume or body lotion. Whatever girls wear…I wouldn't know.
"I came to apologize about my text the other day. I-I sounded rude. I'm really s-sorry." She bows her head slightly and the tint of red covers her pale cheeks. By the look on her face I can tell she's embarrassed. As much as I want to just tell her to leave and not worry about me I fight against the urge.
"Hinata look at me." I insist and her eyes meet mine."You don't have to apologize; I know that you were forced into it by Sasuke. I get it; you just want to make me happy before I die." Her face turns white at the mention of death and I run a hand down my crumbling face. "I don't even like you anymore; I mean what's the point of chasing a girl who's in love with someone else? That's right there is none." My voice turns cold. Her eyes widen in surprise at my words.
"O-Oh." She looks down and plays with her fingers.
"I mean Hinata, in all seriousness, you never payed attention to me. After all those years of liking you, you never even acknowledged me. I tried so hard to get you to notice me, but you always managed to wedge yourself out of my life. And then when you started dating Sasuke, I kind of became more distant. I figured you really had no interest in me, but I…I still liked you. I tried to talk to you and all, but Sasuke kind of intimidated me," I let out a sheepish laugh," And after that text you sent me…I realized you really don't care about me, in any way at all."
She stops playing with her fingers and looks up at me. Her face looks sad, her eyes loosing the small hint of cheeriness, her breathing becoming quieter, as if she's shutting down and trying to get out of the uncomfortable situation. She shifts her weight on the chair, and I see her mouth opening to say something and then closing. So, we just sit there for a couple of minutes in pure silence.
"I-I'm sorry for causing you s-so much trouble, N-Naruto." She stutters out, her eyes not meeting mine. She lets her bangs fall over her eyes and she plays with her fingers. "I hope you feel b-better." And before I can say anything she stands up and leaves. Shutting the door behind her, I can see a line of tears flowing from the sides of her cheeks. I sit there and stare at the seat which Hinata was sitting on moments ago.
I grab the bed sheets in frustration. Why was she crying? If anyone was to be crying it should have been me. I didn't break her heart; she broke mine, multiple times. I bite my tongue from yelling out and calling her back in. Darn her, messing with my feelings like that. I didn't want to make her cry! I just told her how I felt.
Stupid heart and you're messed up feelings.
I lean back on my pillow and release the bed sheets I have been crushing. My hands relax and I cover my face with them. I hear a knock on my door and groan. I've had enough of visitors. I don't even say anything about letting them in, but someone walks in and their footsteps notify me that they're not too happy. They're loud and stomping steps, usually the ones someone does when they mean business and are looking for a fight. I peak through my fingers and see Sasuke standing in front of me, his eyes locked with mine.
And he does not look happy.
I let my hands fall to my sides.
"What do you want?" I spit out my voice cold. Honestly, people need to stop barging into my room. Don't they see I'm literally on my death bed?
"What did you do to Hinata? She's out there bawling." Sasuke's voice is sharp and his eyes show every sign of anger.
I feel so weak, so helpless. I don't want to fight with this idiot…I just want to look up at the ceiling and think.
"Nothing."
He clenches his fists.
"Yeah right. She's sobbing, you idiot! What did you do that made her cry so much?!" He yells, the words spitting out of his mouth.
I am fed up with this. I don't need Sasuke yelling at me right now. Honestly I thought I was done with him. Anger bubbles up in me. I let him yell at me in school, at soccer tryouts, but not here. He's honestly going to start a fight with me when I'm days away from death.
"What do you think I did?" My voice rises," Honestly Sasuke, leave me alone! You have the girl of your dreams, you have thousands of friends, you're not sick, and what else do you want from me? You're the one that tried to get Hinata to hang out with me, don't act like it wasn't your plan. And I don't need you trying to make my life happy, because I don't want your girlfriend." I'm panting, taking deep breaths trying to calm myself down. The sudden outburst drained me and I feel faint.
"Naruto, I-"
"Leave." My voice is shaky and uneven. I point to the door, my body moving up and down with every breath I take.
"Listen-"
"Just leave me alone!" I yell at him and he backs away. His eyes widen and he heads for the door. I stare at him until the door is shut and he's out of sight. Once he's gone my body collapses and I close my eyes. My hand moves up and down as my chest rises and then falls. Exhaustion sweeps over me like a blanket, covering me from head to toe. A nurse walks in to check on me, but I don't even bother to open my eyes. I hear her flip through some papers, adjust my tubes or whatever they're called, and then she heads out the door.
And lay there thinking about whom I'll see when I wake up next. Who knows, maybe Santa will pay me a visit. This day has been pretty unpredictable.
Tuesday 7:30 pm.
Let me tell you one thing. Hospitals suck.
And for many reasons of course, like the fact that you feel like you're really dying since all you do is groan when you move and lay there like a dead corpse. I feel like I'm preparing myself for when I have to lay in a casket for the rest of eternity.
I've been flipping through the T.V channels for pretty much the whole day. After Sasuke and Hinata left I tried to fall asleep, but after many failed efforts I finally mustered up the energy to sit up and do something. So here I am watching a marathon of Gossip Girl since literally nothing manly is on besides sports, and watching sports makes me depressed since I can't do them.
I tried to eat dinner earlier today, but when the food entered my mouth I felt sick. My appetite disappeared after that and so I gave up on eating all together.
Halfway into episode five, there's a knock on my door and the door opens. I figure it's my parents, since they usually come to visit twice a day, but I did not expect to see a certain pinkette walk through the door. She stands in the door way and looks from me to the T.V. Her face turns red and she hides her lips with her hands. I turn beat red as well and scurry to change the channel.
Once the T.V channels are switched to something more manly, Sakura comes over and sits down next to me.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asks gently intertwining her fingers with my right hand.
"I'm alright." I shrug and give her a small reassuring smile. "Listen Sakura, how should I put this, well basically Granny told me yesterday that if she doesn't find a perfect bone marrow donor in the next week and a half, it's goodbye Naruto Uzumaki." I finish holding my breath, readying myself for whatever she has to say. Obviously after hearing that I'm pretty much dead meat she won't want to associate with me. She'll just pity me, right?
Sakura's expression falls, but is quickly replaced with her thinking face. You know, the one where the forehead crease appears, her head tilts slightly, and her eyes look up at the ceiling.
"What if I donate?" She asks her voice full of determination.
My eyes widen at her sudden question.
"Sakura, but what if you're not the perfect match?"
"Doesn't matter, it's worth a shot right?" She smiles at me. "Besides I don't want to lose you as much as the next guy. I'm going to do everything I can to help you." Sakura says her voice rising with fortitude. I smile the most genuine and loving smile I have ever given anyone, and squeeze her hand. I think my dad was right. Everything will work out, because she's different than other girls. She doesn't see me as a dying cancer patient. She sees me as Naruto Uzumaki, the weird blonde haired kid who can crack a joke in the most awkward moments.
"Thank you."
And before she can reply, I pull her close to me and our lips touch. She doesn't resist and her body melts against mine. She rests a hand on my chest, it lifts up and down as I breathe, and her other arm wraps around my neck. And in that moment, it's as if all the pain in my body is lifted. She curls my shirt lightly into her hand and gives it a small tug making me lean in even further. It's like kissing her heals everything.
I move my lips away and rest my forehead on hers.
"Is it weird," I kiss her forehead," to say," I kiss the tip of her nose," that I'm in love with you?" I kiss her tender lips. After a few seconds she pulls apart and her hand moves the back of my head so that it my forehead rests on hers.
"No," She kisses my collar bone;" because," she kisses my chin," I'm in love with you." and her lips fall onto mine.
And this kiss is like none we have ever shared before. It's deeper, and says more than any sentence we have ever exchanged. Pulling her onto my lap, I run my hand down the sides of her shoulders and rest them on her waist. She wraps both of her arms around my neck and our tongues dance in each other's mouths. It's like my cancer has withered, all because of her.
We pull apart after a few more kisses and the smiles on our faces mirror each other's.
"I don't want to lose you. You're all I have left." She says, her nose resting on mine. I give her a gentle kiss on the lips.
"You won't." I say although unsure of my own words.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
And even though I'm not sure if I can even keep my word, I'll do anything to see that smile, maybe even kick cancer's butt.
We sit there staring at each other. I begin to lie down and her body follows my movements. Our heads rest on the pillow and I wrap my arms around her. She snuggles into my chest and I feel her warm breath on my neck. Her fingers grab my shirt lightly but firm as she nuzzles her face into my upper body. I kiss the tops of her head before resting my chin on it. After a few moments I feel my shirt getting wet, and Sakura's body shakes. I widen my eyes and pull her closer to me.
"What's wrong Sakura?" I ask worriedly.
I hear her sniffle and she pulls away from me. She rests her head on her propped up hand and wipes her tears.
"My mom died today." She bites her lip. "I didn't want to tell you and bring down the mood, but I just-"Her shoulders shake and her face collapses into the pillow.
Her mom died today? The words "You're all I have left" ring in my ears; she really does have nobody but me. Now I definitely can't leave her. I swallow hard and pull her into a hug. She tries to resist, but I hold her tightly. I feel completely awful after hearing the news. My shirt is wet in an instant, but I don't even care. My lips land on her soft pink hair.
"I'm right here Sakura. I'm not going to leave you. I know I have cancer, and that probably sounds ridiculous given my condition, but Granny is a great doctor. She's been on the hunt for finding me a bone marrow donor for the past few days now. I'm sure we'll find one within a week. I won't leave. I'm right here." I say into her pink fluffy hair. Her breathing relaxes after hearing those words, and she looks up. Our eyes meet, her face covered in tears. I wipe a tear that's escaped from her gleaming emerald eyes. She leans her head into my hand. Closing her eyes she relaxes her body and I see no more tears.
"Thank you, Naruto." Her eyes open and she gives me a small smile. "I'm okay now." She lies down beside me and our foreheads touch. We just share each other's company. Listening to the beating of our hearts, our breathing, and the little heart monitor that won't shut up even in precious moments like this.
The last thing I remember is her lips pressing down on mine and the door shutting as I drift into a goodnight's sleep.
AN: Wow long time no update...heh sorry about that. I haven't really sparked up much inspiration with this story, and with school starting I can't watch as many romance movies as I did before (cries). But, I do feel that this story will be coming to an end soon (?) Not soon soon...but soon. Like I don't plan on going into more than 20 chapters! (But I might who knows). I hope you enjoy this chapter, and in the next chapter expect Sakura and Naruto to discuss Sakura's mom's death, the bone marrow donation, some drama from Sasuke and Hinata...and probably some random thing Gaara does...!
Until next chapter toodles~