◊ (38: Neji's Eyes are Useless) ◊
VP: Hyuuga Neji (A/N: Not a happy chapter!)
It's over.My Hyuuga inherit eyes told me, they yelled it at me. Don't deny the girls the truth; don't give them false hope. They've never wanted you to lie to them before. Don't start now. It was harsh but truthful.
Sakura sat with her head on Sasuke's heart and she was crying in a panic. Shikamaru and the others had called the hospital but it was too late and she and I knew it. She was crying and I couldn't do anything to help her.
Tenten was resting her head in my lap, and I held her weeping body. I wished that someone would be there to comfort Sakura but the only one who could was underneath her, and dead.
Sakura had come in right after Tenten screamed, then she herself had fallen to her knees and cried on Sasuke's body. Tenten just cried, Orochimaru you made your last mistake your last death. Who knew a dead guy after his death would affect so many people; he was evil. It can't end like this. I want to bring them back so that I can kill Orochimaru again.
"No Revenge," Sakura said.
"What?" Tenten asked sadly.
"I can't take revenge for him!" Sakura yelled.
I understood her pain, I wanted to take revenge on Orochimaru, but I couldn't. He was already dead. Isn't that revenge? "I know, I do too." I said to her.
"Neji?" Sakura asked calmly.
"I was too late." I said. "I could have, but I was too late." I wanted to lie to her, tell her it was alright, he was just unconscious, it was just another coma. He was just being Sasuke the revenger again. He'd come back again. My eyes didn't lie to me, unless I didn't use them.
"It's my fault for holding you up." Tenten cried.
"No, Sasuke wouldn't have wanted either of you to blame yourselves, he wanted… what did he want? He never told me!" Sakura returned to her crying.
"He wanted… to make the world safe for your children." I told him. "That's what he told me." I finished.
"Stupid Sasuke, we didn't have any kids." She responded. He had left her with nothing but pain now, a memory and a lot of broken promises and hopes for what would be a horrible future, at least in the eyes of Sakura. Sakura's eyes lied for her good, mine wouldn't lie to hold the truth from me.
"He just wanted to make sure that when you two did, they would be safe. He didn't want to risk their lives, or yours." I responded.
"Couldn't for once; he just care about himself?" She asked, laying her head on him.
"No, he's not a selfish one; you can't be a ninja and be selfish, always for others, never yourself." I finished.
"He's dead, isn't he?" She asked.
I used my Byakugan and checked again, just so I could be perfectly sure, and nodded. "He is." I said respectfully. She burst out into tears, and Tenten looked regrettably at the floor, as if it was her fault. It was mine for upsetting Tenten, and waiting. Mine completely.
It was so very hard to believe to anyone else. Sakura had seen him 'dead' before. Her eyes weren't a perfected form of vision as mine were. Hers didn't know the truth, hers didn't talk to her and tell her what was going on. She had a chance for hope, with me, there was no hope like that.
¤ (Hospital) ¤
Sakura hadn't left Sasuke body since she found him dead. She had seen him in such a horrible condition so many times it was hard for her to believe he was dead, but he was. No chakra flow, and no heartbeat; he was gone.
The nurses said that he was confirmed dead but since Tsunade left to find something, so that we could be completely sure, that's what Sakura said. She refused to believe he was dead. His corpse lay in the bed with Sakura watching it for any signs of life. "You've died so many times, come back to me Sasuke." She said to him, wiping her tears with one hand and touching his face with the other.
Tenten was resting her head in my chest, and I held her as she too watched Sakura suffer. Would Sakura ever get over it? Would she move on? I suppose not. She may stay with his body until it rots away to nothing, even when it has disappeared will she still refuse to see the truth. I thought.
Sakura could easily refuse to see what was in front of her, even if it was as plain as daylight. No, that was wrong. She saw things as all simple but when it came to complex things, her body ignored them and her feelings took over. All sense of rationing was lost.
"Sasuke may come back." Tenten whispered.
"Sakura's getting to you, he's gone." I told her.
"No, he's there. I just know it. Sakura and Ino feel it too. I can't believe there is so much peace in time of war."
"Orochimaru died, there's no leader so they all ran. No more war, but I think you've lost it Tenten, so have they."
"Believe what you want Neji, but I know he's there. He just has to be." Tenten said smiling.
"If your right then Sasuke can prove my Byakugan wrong, and that's never happened."
"Death can trick any eyes Neji, even yours." Tenten answered.
"I hope so, I want her to be happy too." Tenten nodded.
No matter how much I wanted to be wrong. I wanted my eyes to be perfect and all knowing I had trusted them with my life too many times for them to be wrong. If everyone I had seen died, hadn't. Maybe there was a lot less or more hope in the world then I had originally figured.
VP: Tenten
I cried hiding my face from Sakura. I felt her pain. I knew it owe to well. I had been lied to about Neji's death too many times to go ahead and believe a ninja, at least one of my friends was dead when they said they were. I refused to believe so.
"What do you think she's dreaming about?" I asked rhetorically. Trying so hard to cheer my saddened heart.
"One guess needed,"
"Sasuke," We replied together.
"It's it torture to let her wake up knowing he's not there?" He asked me.
"Yeah but trust me, that bit or relief is everything she has until he wakes up. Only in her dreams is she happy. We can't ruin that for her." I responded.
"I'm sure she'll never want to wake up." He responded.
"Of course she doesn't but, she can't sleep forever."
"Yeah she can but no one else would want that."
"True, maybe except her." She answered, sadly.
"We can't let her though, because then we'd have to watch another life slip through our fingers."
"No, if she decides to end her life, who are we to stop her?"
"What do you mean; you want to let her die? I thought you said you could feel him, what if he comes back?" He asked.
"When she wakes up and if she can't feel him, then it's it for them; both of them." She answered. "You have to understand, that it could happen, that doesn't make it right."
"We can't let her die."
"We have to do what's best for her. We can't let her suffer."
"I know but,"
"You would feel the guilt even more then too, like me, correct?"
"Yeah," He responded sadly.
"Then he has to come back for everyone's sake; so many live have never rested in a dead man's supposedly ended fate." I told him.
After a while; I awoke, I heard stirring. "Sasuke?" I asked opening my eyes, hope rested high on my shoulders.
I noticed Sasuke's body was moving but he wasn't controlling it. Sakura was moving him. But why?
VP: Normal
"What are you do that for?" Neji asked.
"The bonded said to protect him body until he returns so that he'll have a place to return to." Tenten nodded.
"The bonder?" Neji asked.
"It's a voice in our heads that tells us how to react to certain situations, the voice of reason, truth and answers. It knows all." Sakura answered.
"Exactly," Tenten added.
"When will he be back?" Neji asked.
"The voice is an advisor not all knowing, Neji." Tenten said.
"Ah, then what shall we do until he awakens?" Neji asked.
"I'm going to wait, you guys go eat or something." Sakura said.
Sakura had taken care of Sasuke from the very beginning of him on the team, even though it was as personal as it had been for the last year and a half she was still watching out for him. During the exams, when he left, always she watched over him, and never once had he let her down, and she didn't think he'd start now. She didn't doubt the advisor of hers. He had always been right before, what could change. She thought.
After a while, and she had fallen asleep, just to have more wonderful dreams of Sasuke, she awoke to a knock at the door. She peeked to find Hinata and Naruto at the door. Hinata looked that she had cried as well.
"Naruto, Hinata, come on in." She greeted as happily as she could.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help!" Naruto burst out, sadly. He bowed his head and didn't look away from the ground.
"It's alright Naruto, I heard everything. I was there remember. I know it all; I don't blame anyone. I blame only myself. Don't worry." Sakura said sympathetically to Naruto's guilt.
"I too am sorry, Sakura." Hinata said.
"You were doing everyone a favor my helping everyone gets to us, if not for you, they guys wouldn't have found us and..." She was stopped by Hinata's crying which Naruto was set off by.
"It's alright Hinata, she didn't mean to." Naruto looked at Sakura.
"I didn't mean it like that. I meant that Tenten, Ino as well as Konoha, Naruto and me would all be dead if not for you." Sakura answered.
"But, Sasuke's dead because I lead him to danger."
"No, Sasuke went astray from our plans; truly it's only his fault." Shikamaru said walking in the door. "He told me that before he left."
"He told you that it was his fault?" Sakura questioned.
"No, he told me he did it to protect everyone and stop the war so that everyone will live happily; and to protect you. That's why." Shikamaru explained.
"But he didn't have go and do that for me, or anyone else. We need him." She said falling to the ground. "Haven't I suffered enough?" She yelled.
"No, not enough; you've suffered enough when your dead." Neji answered. "There are a lot of people who have suffered much more then you, even if you did die, you possibly might not have suffered enough."
"But then why me, why can someone else suffer, huh?" She asked.
"Everyone suffers, not just you. Get over it." Neji responded.
"It's the truth Neji and I have lost our parents and lived by ourselves with one another and maybe a few others as time goes by, haven't we suffered more than you?" Tenten asked.
"Yeah, but." She said. "Why do I have to suffer?"
"We answered that, everyone suffers, get over and this isn't you suffering it's him. Stop being selfish, it's your choice to suffer because of indirect actions. You choose to make Sasuke's suffering your suffering." Neji responded.
"Sasuke is the one who doesn't deserve to suffer." Tenten said. "He's lost everything and you're all he has left, if we wanted you to suffer we'd kill you." She answered.
"I know but why he can't come back to me?" Sakura asked desperately.
"I don't know, maybe you want it too much." Shikamaru answered walking out as everyone followed.
Sakura was left in the room the room to herself, "How long must I wait and suffer?" She asked and cried herself to sleep.
Neji paced around the house while carrying Tenten, she didn't mind because all she needed was his embrace to keep her calm and feel loved. She wished Sakura could feel the same thing.
"Anything?" He asked her.
"No." Tenten said pulling her head closer to his chest. "It's the same strength as it was, if not weaker. The connection is stronger when Sakura contacts him in her sleep." Tenten explained.
"Can you?"
"No. I can't contact Sasuke in my sleep. I can contact you in my sleep though." She said. "It's a girl thing. We've done it before. Subconscious connection. It works well for missions and such."
Neji carried Tenten back into Sasuke room, setting her in a chair. He walked over to Sasuke's body and used a lot of chakra to focus on Sasuke. "It won't work Neji. That's a dead body." Sakura said.
"Then why are you sitting there if you know he's dead."
"He is not dead, his body is healing. I'm helping also."
"Explain." He said.
"There is a special signal that a living body gives off. It's something that can't be seen by eyes, only sensed by a heart. Eyes are useless to feel the signature." She said.
"It's called the three log ins." Tenten explained. "Body, Mind, Spirit."
"There's a comatose of all three, where the mind disappears and you're left with the body, which is alive or body + mind – and spirit is neutral. It's called BSM. Then you have comatose of the spirit where you're left with a mind neutral body + and spirit is -. Then you have this rare type where the body is negative, mind is neutral, and spirit is positive."
"So what does that mean?"
"It means that the mind is readable, body is gone and the spirit is sensible." Tenten explained.
"Amnesia is one of these comatose, it was the first one, the body is all there, mind is dead, and spirit is there." Sakura said. "One of the connections has broken and then it easily can be confused for death."
"Which does he have?" Neji asked. He was having a trouble following.
"The spirit is gone, mind is readable and body is destroyed. However if you focus quite hard you can sense his spirit trying to connect back but his body isn't alive enough to connect back again."
"How long will it take?" Neji asked.
"I don't know. I wish I did though." Sakura said. She closed her eyes while resting her head on his chest, trying to get closer to what is his dead heart. Trying to heal it, and bring him back.
Every day it was the very same thing. Sakura would wake up with her head on Sasuke's chest. I was always there for her. To make sure she didn't do anything stupid.
"Sasuke, wake up. It's morning." She said stretching. "I had a horrible dream last night. You were in a coma because we took out Orochimaru. I wished the latter were true but not the former because I want you with me forever. I don't want you gone." She waited for him to respond to her, while he woke up. "Sasuke?" She said shaking his body.
"Sasuke, this really isn't funny. Wake up." She screamed, violently about to attack him.
"Sakura?" I called from the doorway. She turned around and looked at me horrified. Neji stood beside me shaking his head.
"Tenten, he's just fooling isn't. Neji, he's there, right? Right." I turned to Neji.
"I still don't sense him Sakura. I'm sorry." She was about to scream and explode. Neji appeared behind her, knocking her out. He carried her to another guest room. I just followed after Neji, and locked Sasuke's room with a strong jutsu. Who knew what she'd do when she's this out of control. I looked back at Sasuke.
I then looked at the Sky. "Sasuke, come back soon." I went into Sakura's room and reactivated her mind after I waited for Neji's okay. Her mind was shaking horribly and sweating. She hadn't slept well in months. We had to constantly watch her, she was in a worst condition then Sasuke was. Sasuke's body would be perfectly fine with the preservation jutsus we had on his body. Sakura barely ate, we had to force her to and she wouldn't sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes she had nightmares of Sasuke in a coma. It was sad that even in the dark recesses of her mind, she couldn't. Every morning, and sometimes every hour it was the same thing.
"Tenten, her body is dying. We have to do something."
"What can we do, Neji? I know that she needs to sleep but she can't sleep. Her chakra is depleating itself constantly. Even as we talk, she's putting out tons of chakra fighting whatever is going on in those nightmares of hers."
"We need to take her to a hospital to take care of her. She can't keep doing this. We can't let it happening Tenten. My mind registered what's going on in her body."
"What's happening to her?" I asked.
"Her mind is running on overdrive, it's pulsing strongly. Her chakra system is exploding with the little chakra she has. If she doesn't stop it, she'll kill herself." Neji told me.
"We should wake her up."
"That, and paralyze her body, not her mind this time." I sighed, as Neji paralyzed her chakra use and I woke her up from being unconscious."
She screamed. Trying to do something, but it wasn't any use, she couldn't move or use chakra. She was just lying there, like a doll.
"Sakura. Stop." Neji yelled at her.
"Neji?"
"You're slowly killing yourself chakra. This is the only way that you're going to live. Tenten's going to feed you and you're going to meditate on…"
"The clouds." I finished. Every minute of her life, no matter what she focused on she could relate to Sasuke, clouds were all she had left to not relate herself too.
"Yes, focus on the purity of clouds." Neji said.
"Yes." I sat her up, feeding her food as her mind was blank. She was regaining chakra slowly with the food and relaxation that was going on. Neji left the room to go back to sleep, we hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and I would join him later.
"That isn't a dream, is it Tenten? That's why you had to stop me. I was endangering him and myself. You took me away, so I wouldn't hurt anyone, him or myself. Don't lie to me… please?" Sakura begged me.
"Yeah, it's not a dream. He's just sleeping peacefully for a while. He'll come back. I promise you. If you want… I trust you to focus on him now that your head's clear. Focus on him coming back. If you focus on happy things, then you'll purify your mind and rest easy. Do you think you can handle that?" I asked her. She nodded, she had finished her food and I watched as she slipped into peaceful sleep.
¤ (Weeks Later, April 16) ¤ - VP: Sakura
I was really sad, I didn't know why but it had been some important day, I could remember what but I was sad and I went to sleep crying and mumbling in my sleep like normal but this time was different, I went and laid aside Sasuke.
I was crying and mumbling something, I don't remember what because I was so depressed but I felt a hand on my hair, petting me, like a pet. I stopped crying and looked up, to see Sasuke's hand was petting me.
"Sasuke?" I asked.
He smiled. "Morning," He said.
I lunged into his chest and hugged him. "Ow Sakura, you should really stop making that a habit, hurting injured people." I loosed but rested my head on his chest and he petted my hair.
"I'm fine, you worry too much." He said and I laughed and kissed him.
"You hungry?" I asked.
"No," He answered. This was most likely because his body had not required food or any kind of nourishment in a while, so he wasn't used to it.
"Okay, so how do you feel?" I asked.
"Aside from being crushed, fine." He said smartly.
"That's great, you're body's been dead for a while, so it's healed completely since then. Why would it hurt if I crushed you."
"Because you're heavy and my body's out of shape and weak," He answered.
"Ha, I'm not heavy." He smiled.
"I know, but it bothered you." He answered.
"Can you walk?" I asked.
"I'm not sure," He sat up and walked around the room as if he had never been hurt in the first place. "I'm a bit weak but walking is fine." I said.
"Want to go talk to everyone?" I asked.
"Sure, anything new happen while I was out?" I shook my head, I wouldn't know if anything was, I was so preoccupied with you.
I walked out of his room into the main room after paging everyone to come to the main room and they were waiting there. There was a huge silence. "It looks like you've all seen a ghost," I said smiling at them.
"I guess you four were right all along," Neji answered. "He did come back."
"You doubted me?" Sasuke asked.
"A little, you could've stayed out a little longer." He answered sarcastically.
"Yeah but I think Sakura here and everyone else has waited long enough. When's the wedding?" He asked. It went silent after that.
"We hadn't made new plans since then, and we didn't plan on making plans until you returned." I said.
"Any ideas?" He asked.
"Tomorrow," Neji suggested.
"What?" Tenten said amazed.
"Okay," Sasuke said in agreement.
"I think they both need to get their head examined." Ino said sighing. I nodded.
"How could we get all those people together?" I asked.
"They never left, and everything's already bought and paid for. All we need to do is tell everyone, dress up and go." Neji said.
"Exactly," Sasuke said folding his arms and sitting on the open, remaining couch. "So why not, any objections?" He asked.
"Fine," Tenten said in defeat.
"Alright," I said just going along with the ordinances said up by the two guys.
"Yes," Hinata said shyly.
"I think that's awesome. We're getting married hear that Hinata!" Naruto yelled causing Hinata to wince at his rather loud yelling.
"Naruto, tone it down and don't yell at Hinata." I reprimanded him.
"Yeah, yeah, well did you hear Hinata?" Naruto asked. I sighed, something things are just too funny to change.
"Yeah, I did." She said shyly.
"Good, because I'm so happy." He jumped up and started dancing pulling Hinata off her quite settled position on the coach to dance around.
"He sure hasn't changed," Sasuke said.
"You'd miss it if he was calm, trust me." I said.
"I know but I was just saying so." He said.
"I missed you Sasuke." I said.
"But you saw me every night, stupid." He said poking my forehead and laughing at my words. "I love you Sakura, so it seems it's finally time." I said.
"Yeah it is, and I love you too." I answered back snuggling into his arms.
