Chapter 12: Lost

The next morning, I started to wake up. I was laying on my side in the same position as last night. Suddenly my heart skipped a beat and my eyes shot open immediately. (Like that sudden panic feeling when you wake up and look over at the clock, snuggle back into your blankets, and then realize you seriously overslept and you're late for work). My empty arms were extended on the bed in front of me. I had almost forgotten Sasuke fell asleep in my arms. I immediately sat up. My hair was a mess and I was frantically looking around. Sasuke was in my kitchen sitting at the table. He was holding a cup of water… staring off at nothing…

I focused on him for a moment. He looked lovely in that lighting. I looked over at my couch to see a missing Naruto.

"…Where's Naruto?" I said quietly to myself.

"…Sasuke where's Naruto?"

"Sasuke?"

His train of thought was broken. He slowly shifted his eyes over to me, then looked up. I looked at my ceiling and seen Naruto sitting on it. No, he was literally sitting on it. Upside down. He was shirtless, just wearing his boxers.

*Is he… meditating? * His legs were crossed, hands resting on them, and his eyes were closed. He looked so focused, yet, peaceful. A beautiful blue aura was glowing around him.

"Oh…" I said quietly not to disturb him.

Suddenly reality kicked in. Stomach acid filled my throat. My eyes went wide. Pupils constricted. I gripped my hair and pulled my knees to my chest. Sasuke held a bewildered expression. He stood from his chair and walked to the door frame of my kitchen. He grabbed it and leaned into my room to observe me more closely.

"Uh, Sakura?" I manically shifted my scared eyes to his. He lifted one eyebrow.

"…You…youuu ok?"

My heart was beating so fast. I tried to remember last night. But I was so out of it from draining my chakra to restore Sasuke. I just remember feeling so tired and loopy almost like I hadn't slept in days.

"Well I THOUGHT she was keeping it together pretty good!" Naruto said. He detached from my ceiling and landed on his feet. He sat on the edge of my bed in front of me. His eyes were super squinted.

"Hmm, what gives Sakura?" He leaned his face in close to mine.

"I-I'm sorry guys. I was just so out of it last night I didn't have time to process all of this!" Tears started rolling down my face. Naruto's eyes flickered back open to their normal big, blue selves. He leaned back and looked at Sasuke. He was just staring down out the floor. Naruto closed his eyes, sighed, and turned his attention back to me. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. He has such a kind face.

"Sakura… do you…not want to help us anymore?"

"….." I didn't know how to respond. I didn't know if I wanted to respond. I didn't know anything. I felt like I was shutting down.

Silence. It filled the room. Naruto was looking down very sadly. Sasuke had already turned away and walked back into the kitchen. I kept crying.

"You saving Sasuke was more than both of us could ever ask for. So, at this point we can't expect you to do anything else." Naruto stood up and clenched his fists. He turned away from me. I could feel all of his emotions. He was disappointed, sad, but understood at the same time.

*He really thinks I would be THAT much of a help? I-I can heal… but what else can I do!? What else could I possibly offer these people…*

"Naruto." Sasuke said. He paused for a moment.

"We need to search the hospital more. We need more answers, see if there are others, anything." He was trying to break Naruto's wave of emotions.

"R-Right. I still have my badge. You are going to have to lay low and get around the guards and stay off camera. Getting you into the hospital is the going to be the hardest part." Naruto responded. He sighed. I looked over at my alarm clock and seen that it was 4:00pm. Naruto and I had 3 hours until our shift started.

*No…I can't go back there. I need to skip town. I need to leave. I need to get out of here. If those ninjas find out I was part of all of this they will…they will ki-* I immediately stopped my thoughts. I had to or I was going to implode.

"Sakura." I looked up at Naruto. As I was lost in my eternal battle he must've gotten dressed. I didn't say anything back.

"Sasuke and I are going to get ready to go. Thank you for letting us crash here so we could collect ourselves. I'm not sure if you are coming in for your 'shift' tonight or not, now that you know the truth. But I think you should at least come in and pull Iruka into his office and tell him you quit and make up some excuse as to why so it doesn't seem suspicious. Over the phone may be weird."

My heart skipped when he said that. The truth. What a horrid truth. How did I get tangled into all of this? …Why? Was this fate? Destiny?

"...But if you never plan on returning there…then this will be the last time Sasuke and I will see you. We have a big fight ahead of us." Naruto paused.

"…T-Thanks again, for everything. There are no words to describe what you've done for us, Sakura." Naruto said that in the sincerest way anyone ever could.

Naruto grabbed his backpack and started to leave. Sasuke was in front of him already opening the door. They both didn't look at me. They just looked down at the floor as they left. I watched them slowly walk out of my apartment as if they were moving in slow motion. Sasuke now had completely stepped outside. I kept flashing my eyes back and forth to Naruto, then to my door. Naruto, my door. Naruto, my door. Then …Sasuke. He was staring at me. I lowered my head and looked at my lap.

*Sakura* I heard in my head. I gasped. I quickly looked up at Sasuke.

"That was… his voice." I whispered to myself.

Typically, his face was blank, but this time I seen some emotion. Sadness, worry, something. I could tell he didn't feel right. I couldn't speak. My throat was dry. I lifted my hand into the air towards them. Reaching for… I don't know what. Naruto was closing my door now. They were exiting my life. For good. Tears rolled down my face. And then…my door closed.

"Don't…"

"D-Don't."

"N-Naruto… Sasuke…."

2 DAYS LATER

My alarm clock went off and I slowly opened my crusted eyes. They burned so bad from crying the night before. I hit the snooze button laid back under the covers on my side, facing the wall. I missed 'work' the past two days. I haven't eaten or showered or even gotten out of bed besides to go to the bathroom. I've barely slept. I've just been home crying, wondering if I had made a mistake.

I missed his face, his smell, his hair, his eyes. I missed him so much. Like we had been deep in love and he died. I felt broken.

"Sakura you're so stupid!" I screamed at myself. I threw the covers over my head and started crying again, hard. *Why do I feel this way? Why do I yearn for his presence? He doesn't love me. He didn't particularly like me either. Why do I mourn his loss?* I questioned this over and over again these past two days.

I dreamt about him the same night they left. I was in an all-white purgatory sitting down crying into my knees. He walked over to me with a slight smile and kneeled down. He lifted his hand and with two fingers tapped my forehead. I responded with a shocked expression and red cheeks. Then… I woke up. I didn't think it was Sasuke astral projecting through the dream realm as he did before. I thought it was just a stupid dream.

…Was it?

That thought had also been haunting me as well.

I heard my alarm clock go off again and I turned it off. I sluggishly walked over to my phone.

"Hello?"

"H-Hey Iruka… it's Sakura."

"Sakura! I'm so glad you called how are you doing?"

"I am doing better. I think I'm going to come in tonight. See you soon OK?"

"Oh good! See you in a bit Sakura!" I hung up the phone. I gave Iruka some phony excuse after they left that there was a family emergency. He didn't question anything and told me to take as much time off as I needed.

I walked into my bathroom and looked in the mirror. I didn't recognize myself. My hair was a knotted mess. My eyes were red and I had huge dark bags under them. I looked horrifically depressed. I knew I needed to clean up and started the shower. As I stood under the hot water I thought about if Naruto had returned to 'work'. I was too afraid to ask Iruka if Naruto was working. I didn't want to make anything seem suspicious. I couldn't think straight. Naruto and Sasuke were clouding up my mind. I wasn't sure if their battle would just be a losing fight. I couldn't decide what I should do. Should I go to work, or skip town? How could I decide what's right…

That's when I remembered Naruto's words "…then this will be the last time Sasuke and I will see you."

My heart skipped a beat. I could feel it in my soul… I wasn't ready to part ways from them.

I arrived to the hospital and entered as I normally would. When I stepped off of the elevator I paused. I heard its doors close behind me. It was very dark. Instead of turning right and going down the corridor I always do, I stared straight forward instead.

*There's an opening to another hallway over there…* I paused and looked all around. No one was here with me. So slowly, I walked forward. My sixth sense was screaming to turn around, but my body kept moving. All traces of thought about me going to work as normal diminished.

I never even took the time to look at the other side of the vestibule before. The area right when you walk in using the steel doors. So why I was suddenly curious was strange. I made it to the entrance of this mysterious hallway and stared. There was barely any lighting. It was so dim it was scary. But I entered anyways. I did not see any blinking lights from cameras or hear them moving. So, I felt kind of safe exploring. This corridor was not as updated or tended to as well as the one I always walked down.

It felt never ending. And the further I went the more separated the lighting was. Before I knew it, I walked around a bend and it was basically pitch black. I went to turn around and bumped into the wall. I couldn't see anything.

*Oh God why did I get side tracked. I came here to find Naruto and Sasuke. Why did I have to go fucking explore!?* I was yelling to myself in panic. I couldn't see anything. I was perspiring now. That internal panic that was going to be stuck deep in this hell-hole's corridors without anyone even knowing forever. I couldn't even tell which direction was going in at this point. I felt like I was suffocating.

After running my hands along the rough walls for what felt like an eternity, I fell forward. I could see a small light in the distance. It was part of another corridor.

"I'm going in the completely wrong direction!" The fact that there was a light was some sort of relief. Being lost basically in a pitch-black place was terrifying. I figured if I went to that light, I could collect myself. I jogged towards it. When I finally reached it, I stopped to catch my breath and looked down at my hands. There were callouses and scratches all over them from the walls. They burned.

*I wish I could wash my hands* I thought. I looked up to get a better perspective of where I was. In front of me was the continuation of the corridor I just walked down, and to the left of me was yet another dark corridor. I couldn't see any light in the distance of that one.

"Damn it where I NOW!?" I rested my right hand against the wall under the light I was standing under and threw my other hand on my face and laughed at myself in disbelief that I actually got myself lost.

"Heh. Sakura you're such an idiot." Right after I said that I felt the wall I was leaning on start to move. Before I could even comprehend was happening I fell down half a flight of stairs face first. After painfully landing I quickly looked over my shoulder to see the 'wall' I was leaning on was actually a rotating door of some sort. It sealed itself back in place after its rotation.

"Ookay." I painfully shifted by body so I was sitting down on one of the stairs. Both of my knees were badly scraped up and my chin was too from the concrete stairs. I made a hissing sound in pain when I touched one of my knees with my finger. It burned like hell.

After collecting myself I looked down the flight of stairs. I could see bluish-white tiles on the floor at the bottom that entered into a mysterious room. They looked old and dirty given the grout between them was brown. Almost hospital-like. There was brighter light coming from down there. Not like the old-timey dim ones in the hallways. I stood to my feet and quietly walked down the remainder of the stairs. I was extremely quiet and cautious. I didn't hear anything but I had NO idea if someone could be down there. When I finally reached the bottom I slowly entered.

I gasped and threw my hands over my mouth. My eyes went wide, my pupils constricted. There before me was a man with silver spikey hair. He was completely naked. He was lifted above the ground with his arms and legs spread and shackled. There were chains tightly wrapped around his forearms and calves constricting his skin. He was dangling his head over into his chest. I stepped forward. His body was covered in gashes and was very dirty. He was muscular and tone, however as I nurse I could tell he was malnourished.