"You Cannot Leave Like This!"
"What? Are you going to try and stop me? Order is your thing isn't it? Well how are you going to treat an insubordinate teammate?"
"Stop it you two, Please!"
"Stay out of this Sakura."
He could not bring himself to touch her. The smell of her beautiful pink hair burning made him want to throw up.
All he could do was kneel beside her and watch as she twitched in pain, her body burnt all over.
He sat up in his bed and looked at his hands. He had that dream again. The dream that would make him shake all over. He could smell burnt hair in his nostrils so he did as he usually does. He ran to the bathroom and threw up what little his stomach held.
After he was done, he washed his face and took a look in the mirror. He looked like shit. His face was beaten blue. Upper lip was ripped and seemed to have been stitched.
'How hard did she pound me?'
All he could remember was her fist connecting with his forehead. Or was it the temple?
He assumed that he was saved by his concerned teammates and was taken back to the village for emergency treatment.
But what about the girl?
He got dressed up and was about to leave when a certain Hyuuga decided to check in on him.
"Naruto-kun? You shouldn't be up yet."
"How about a report before that? What happened?"
"Umm…you were hurt pretty bad, Naruto-kun. Are you sure?"
"That explains the face. What else?"
"Lee-kun and Neji-kun restrained her while I applied first aid. I feared the worst, Naruto-kun. The way she was hitting you, I thought you had a concussion."
'Explains the pounding in my head…'
"Then?"
"Then we came to the safe house and decided to wait for you to wake up. We're still in enemy territory so we thought it would be best if you got up first."
'pity…oh well.'
Orochimaru was grabbed mid-air by the blonde's clone. He himself along with his other clones were next to them in seconds.
The sphere that seemed to spin in their palms grew in size and the two globes of spinning chakra smashed each other with Orochimaru in the middle.
Even a Sannin couldn't have stood a chance against that. The power that cracked the earth with its mere turbulence. When the death trap settled down, she saw her mentor fall like a ragged doll…or at least what was left of him.
Suddenly, the blonde's attention was focused on her. He seemed to be talking as he walked towards her but she couldn't hear him. Come to think of it, she couldn't even hear her own breathing. She seemed to be deaf. Also paralyzed. She was unable to move an inch. Inevitability hit her spine and ran down, shaking her limp legs in what she knew to be fear.
He was upon her now, grabbing her by the shoulders and staring into her.
She hadn't experienced fear like this since the time her mother was killed.
A familiar cruel smile creeped up on his face. He changed his gaze to someone past her. Suddenly, she could hear again. He could hear the chuckles in his throat. She also heard him utter his name.
"Sasuke…"
"Bad dream?" he asked as he continued peeling the green apple.
She was panting, out of breath. She also seemed to be soaking wet. It was cold sweat. She almost pitied the teenager. His face looked like it was still hurting and he had trouble peeling the apple right but he still tried.
Then she remembered what he had done.
"You're-"
"Yes. None of it was a dream. I killed your beloved rape-snake and douche-brood. I'm also very sorry that you had to experience all of that but what can I say?...Fate." he said with finality as he offered what remained of the apple.
For a few long minutes, they stared at each other before she slapped the fruit out of his hand.
"You're sick. You kill everyone I know and love and you sit there, peeling apple for me?! You Think This Makes Everything Alright?! Do You Even Know How I Feel Right Now?!"
"You feel like there's no more reason to go on. You wish you could kill me right now and lift that weight off of your chest." He said in a despondent tone as he picked the apple up.
she was taken aback as she did not expect this answer. It was actually very accurate. She hadn't noticed but there really was a heaviness on her chest and it was hard to breathe. Every move he made and every word he spoke made her angry.
"What you feel when you look at me is hatred."
He saw through her like an open book. He sat back down and stared at his hands before looking at her.
"I'm sorry."
She laughed mockingly, hatred and anger oozing from her throat.
"I know. I don't get the right to say it but I am. I wish I had killed you…or you me. But now, it's like this. I've kept you alive and now I will take responsibility."
"Oh really? And how's that? You're going to let me pound your face in again?"
"No…i…" he looked to his right, contemplating what to say next.
'this is a disaster.' He thought to himself. He was really kicking himself for not thinking things through before approaching her.
"I get it. You don't want to see my face." He whispered before he left his seat.
He turned the door knob and whispered "I'll fix this…" before he left.
She clutched the pillow as memories of her last encounter with Sasuke crossed her mind. She couldn't find it in herself to stop the tears.
"So that's the gist of it."
Silence filled the room as each member looked at the other.
"You…want us to make her feel comfortable?" Neji asked dubiously.
"Yes. I've screwed up and now I need your help."
"well I'm in. I think it's nice that Naruto-kun finally has an interest in a girl." TenTen said cheerfully.
"No." he replied matter-of-factly.
"I'll help. When I think about what Naruto has done to her, even I feel pity."
"Dammit shino, I wish I knew when you're joking or not."
"I have no intention of helping." Neji stated with finality before exiting the room.
"I respect your youthful approach, Naruto-kun. I shall assist you."
'yeah...no not you.'
"Thanks. I'll make it up to you all. I'm heading back to the snake pit to pick a few things up for now. here's how it'll go..."
'What. The. Hell?' she thought as she reassessed the situation.
First thing she knew, she was crying her eyes out in bed. Then these two girls crashed in and dragged her out and took her to the bathhouse after saying some things she couldn't make out.
"Nothing beats a hot bath after a mission well done, right Hinata?"
"Yes."
"What the hell's going on?" she said monotonously as she sank neck deep into the water.
"Oh right. Naruto said we should make you feel comfy. We dropped by to see how you're doing and…well…your clothes were wet and you were crying. So I asked if you want to take a bath. You said yes."
'I'm pretty sure I had said what though…'
"And here we are. I'm TenTen by the way. She's Hinata. She has a crush on Naruto."
"TenTen!" She squealed. She would have turned red but the steam had already taken care of that.
*Splash*
"What the hell is this, some sitcom!? You think you can kill everyone I love and make friends with me? You're as sick as your leader."
"Well…technically, we didn't kill anyone."
"…eh?"
Hinata looked away for some reason and TenTen continued her talk.
"Naruto takes care of the killings. We usually do the subduing."
'Come to think of it…'
they were right. Both Orochimaru and Sasuke were in fact killed by Naruto so she had no reason to hold a grudge against them…
"you helped is what I know and that's reason enough for me to keep my distance."
…but that didn't mean she'd trust them. Her life was in their hands so she didn't really have much of a choice.
"So umm…the view's nice and all but do you mind sitting back down?"
'Why did I keep her?' he thought as he dodged lee's elbow. He stepped back and realized his mistake. Lee's heel followed his spinning elbow strike and now he was going to get hit again.
*Thwack*
"You're not focused, Naruto-kun."
"No I am not." He said after spitting out the blood in his mouth.
"I don't know why I kept her alive. If I had at least killed her, none of us would have had to suffer. But then again, life's fun is in the sufferings, right?"
*Thwack*
"Stop talking, Naruto-kun."
'You're basically saying shut up but in a youthful way…'
*Thwack*
She was on her way back when he blocked her path. She could clearly feel his killer intent.
"While I'm grateful that you beat him up somewhat, I will not allow you to harm my cousin. Is that clear?"
"Ah…sure."
'I guess he has a big bro complex or something.'
"I'm curious though. Why did you like someone like Uchiha?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean he's not the friendliest person in the world. Why were you so in love with him that you nearly beat Naruto to death?"
"You wouldn't know if the reason kicked you in the groin."
He did ask a good question though. Why did she like him? He had never shown interest in her. She was contemplating the idea when she noticed the blonde and his thick browed peer sparring outside.
the sight of him made her stomach turn as the images flew back to her.
The sight of her made his stomach turn as the images flew back to him.
The way she cried silently as she hugged the pillow, as if she was holding on to it and sorrow would sweep her away if she let go.
He could not only imagine her pain. He could feel it. Like an old wound being reopened.
The moonlight only provided so much to him though. It was hard to see through her window into the dark room.
He sighed heavily as he thought things through again. There was no choice.
he knocked on the window. Twice. And again.
"Can I come in?"
He sighed again after seeing her shadow move and braced himself.
He groaned in his throat as the table went flying into his stomach. Good thing he hadn't eaten.
He fell to the dirt and she was over him in seconds.
"Are you some perverted masochist? Do you really want me to beat you to death?"
"Not really. I just want to talk about what happened."
she blinked. That's all she could do at the moment. This guy was full of surprises and all of it made her angrier.
"talk? Talk?! You want me to say how you ruined my perfect day for some stupid revenge?"
*Thwack*
"Why? What did I ever do to you?"
*Thwack*
"Why did I have to suffer for something as stupid as your revenge?! Just when i felt like life was finally...*Hic*..."
Her next fist was weakened by the hiccup in her throat. Her sorrow had taken the best of her. She grew so weak that she fell on his chest and started bawling.
It's amazing how different feelings affect people differently. Rage can be like fuel and just like fuel, it's explosive. It can't be directed. You think you're in control but really, it's controlling you. What comes after the rage is the deep sadness. Grief. That sinking feeling that lets you know it's too late to change anything. And that weakness, that inability is the feeling that brings us down.
Karin was no exception. She cried because deep inside, she knew she'd never see Sasuke's ghost of a smile again. His ignorance. His brooding. He had ceased to exist because of a choice he had made.
"How did it feel?" she asked.
He was not expecting that question…yet. He knew he had to answer that question sometime in the future but still, it was earlier than he had anticipated.
"At first, I felt free."
She slowly got up and walked away without sparing him a second look.
'but then I realized…I had doomed myself.'
He knew the cycle he was stuck in. the cycle of hatred and revenge. Revenge was what drove the victims of the feeling to do unto someone else what had been done to them…and hatred was what blinded the victim from seeing the curse.
He also knew that those were the words she wanted to hear. freedom. being free of pain, rage and hate.