13. A Promise is a Promise

"What the hell happened?"

"She said she couldn't let him get away with it…"

"She asked me to put her here."

"I don't think it's going to matter."

"She's lost too much blood."

"We're not going to give up on her."

—

I walked up to the Uchiha compound. The wooden steps were as to familiar to me as my home; I could find it in the dark. I reached the door and rapped on the wooden door frame.

I didn't even hear the footsteps on the other side of the door before it opened. I understood why as I saw the face of the young man who stood in the doorway peering down at me. His black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and wisps of hair framed his face.

"Hello, Nakao," he said sadly.

"Hello, Itachi-san," I said in a quiet voice. "Is Sasuke around?"

Itachi stepped aside, allowing me entry. I removed my sandals, feeling Itachi's gaze on the back of my head. I headed straight for Sasuke's room. Its door was ajar and he was sitting on his bed, examining several kunais with a look of concentration stitched onto his face. I knocked lightly on the door frame, grabbing his attention.

"Ohiyo, Nakao," Sasuke greeted, abandoning his project and sliding off of his bed.

I stepped into the room to meet my best friend. As soon as his onyx gaze fixed upon my face, I could feel my eyes begin to water. Sasuke tilted his head. "What's wrong, Nakao?"

A sob escaped my lips and I put an arm over my eyes. I hated when Sasuke saw me cried. He never cried. He was strong and brave. I felt anything but. I found myself without words. I didn't want to say them. I couldn't say them. My lips trembled.

Sasuke was looking worried now. "Nakao?"

Another involuntary sob; tears dampening the sleeve of my shirt. "My parents are dead."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "D-Dead? I don't understand-"

"They're dead!" My voice cracked under the weight of my grief. "What's there to not understand!? They're dead! They're gone! I'll never see them again!"

Sasuke was taken aback by my shrill cry. I was sobbing freely now and he slowly looked solemnly down at his feet.

"What happened?" He finally asked quietly.

"I…I don't…know! They…they were on…a-a mission!" I gasped out.

"That's what Itachi-oniisan and Keitaro-san must have been talking about earlier…" he said quietly, more to himself than to me.

Another sob escaped my lips. I couldn't even hate myself for the tears; I was so overcome with loss.

"H-How, Sasuke-kun?" I cried. "Th-They promised…they'd…be…home…after…my b-birthday!"

Sasuke didn't respond. The room was silent aside for my sobs echoing across the room.

Slowly, Sasuke stepped forward, wrapping me in a hug. And I cried, and I cried, and I cried.

—

"I don't need you."

—

"Hi, can I sit next to you?"

I glanced up, startled. I was sitting two rows above a boy with spiky, black hair. I'd been watching him sadly, completely unaware of my surroundings until the voice jarred me from my thoughts. The voice belonged to a boy, and he was standing beside me, looking down at me. A mop of messy, brown hair sat ruffled on his head. A very small puppy was sitting on his left shoulder.

Taking a moment longer than was normal, I slowly gave a jerky nod. The boy grinned and it lit up his entire face. He plopped down onto the bench-seat beside me, keeping his gaze on me. "I'm Kiba, and this is Akamaru."

The white-furred puppy yipped at me and I looked from him to the boy named Kiba. "I'm Nakao."

"Hey, you should smile more!"

This did not cause me to smile. I only stared back at him flatly.

Kiba was undeterred. "I just got transferred to this class."

"It's really not that exciting here," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe it wasn't before, but it will be now that I'm here!" The boy gave me an impish grin.

A small smile quirked onto my lips this time. I had to give him credit for his optimism. "Why did you get transferred?"

The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I kind of made fun of my last sensei. He didn't seem to think it was as funny as the rest of the class did."

"You shouldn't do that to Iruka-sensei; he'll get mad," I said. "And all of us will have to pay the consequences."

The boy waved his hand submissively. "I won't. I'm a serious ninja, ya know! I'm gunna be the best in this class!"

I watched the boy dubiously for a moment but I smirked and shook my head. I finally answered. "Wanna make a bet?"

Kiba smiled back mischievously, sticking out his hand to seal the deal.

"I think she's waking up."

"Are you serious?"

I groaned as the voices faded in and out of my hearing. I was lying flat, I could tell. My body was sore and I wished I hadn't woken.

What's going on?

"Nakao?"

Who was calling my name? I wished they'd stop. My head was pounding.

"Nakao…" I heard my name and then garbled speech that I didn't catch.

I didn't want to get up. Everything was hurting. Why was I hurting? I felt something touch me.

"Five more minutes," I sleepily mumbled.

"Get up, Nakao."

"Shut up, Sasuke-"

My eyes snapped open and I shot up. A wave of dizziness and nausea crashed into me but it seemed insignificant as memories flood my brain. The bridge. The dome. Haku. Sasuke.

"You. Don't…die…"

There he was; sitting beside me. I was in a bed. But he was there. He was right there. Black hair, onyx eyes, navy blue shirt. My mouth was hanging open in shock.

"Sasuke!" I shook the boy desperately. "Sasuke knock it off! Wake up! Wake up!"

There were tears in my eyes, though I barely noticed. Even when one slipped and ran down my cheek.

Something ripped into my gut. My hearing jarred back into existence and the first thing I heard was my own scream. Haku's mask filled my vision as my eyes shook. My brain was desperately trying to catch up.

I suddenly coughed and pain racked my body. Blood splattered from my mouth and onto Haku's white mask. Haku withdrew his hand, pulling the needles from my body.

The memories flashed before my eyes.

I rolled my head to the side, cheek against the ground. Sasuke lay beside me. His body was so…still. His eyes were closed, bangs strewn across his face. Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks.

It felt difficult to breathe. I could hear a gurgling noise come from my trachea as I struggled.

I-I can't breathe.

What was going on? I died. Haku stabbed me and I bled to death. I died.

So what was I doing here? Was this real? Or was I in some kind of after-life?

I glanced around me. Kakashi-sensei was standing against the wall nearest my bed, arms crossed over his chest. At the foot of my bed sat Naruto, his sky blue eyes wide and staring. Sakura sat next to him, equally surprised.

Couldn't be the after-life then. Not if Sakura was here.

I turned my gaze back to Sasuke. He onyx eyes were watching me calmly. I had seen those eyes close. I had heard his breath shallow. I had held his cold body against mine as his own blood soaked through his shirt.

"How do you feel, Nakao?" Kakashi-sensei asked me gently.

My eyes turned to him, before taking in my surroundings again. I was in Tazuna's house, in the room I shared with Tsunami and Sakura.

"I don't understand…" I heard my voice say.

"We won!" Naruto exclaimed, a grin breaking out on his face.

"We're…alive…?"

"Of course," Sakura said, watching me carefully.

My mind was whirling. My heart was shifting through emotions too fast to actually feel them.

I turned back to Sasuke again. Slowly, I reached out, catching the sleeve of his shirt. I felt the soft fabric against my skin. A sharp intake of breath caught in my throat. The feel of his shirt, so real, seemed to break into my haze. We were alive.

Without warning, I suddenly lashed out at the Uchiha.

"You're…such…an…asshole!" I yelled between smacks. I hit him anywhere my hands could find. "Why…would…you…do…that!?"

"Nakao!" I heard Sakura screech.

I was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders, being pulled away from the silent Uchiha. It was Naruto, holding me back with an expression of concern. Sasuke started rubbing his cheek, which must have faced off against my hand, as he glared at me.

I was breathing heavily from the exertion as I glared right back at him. But my eyes were misting over and I turned away before he could see a tear roll down my cheek.

"I hate you," I whispered, shrugging Naruto off.

Silence filled the room. I could feel everyone's eyes on me and I kept my gaze adverted. I willed away any more tears, shoving down my raging emotions into the deep cell I had locked them into long ago. Locking away the pain and despair I had gone through thinking he had died.

Kakashi-sensei suddenly clapped his hands in an obvious attempt to diffuse the tension. "Well…"

Finally, I glanced up to him when a sharp pain hit me. It started in my abdomen and shot out towards my chest. I sucked in a breath, wincing. My arm moved automatically over my abdomen.

"Nakao, are you okay?" Naruto asked worriedly, noticing the change.

Blowing out a breath of air as the pain receded for a moment, I pulled back my blanket slightly. I was wearing a white shirt that definitely wasn't mine, which I felt bad about as a crimson stain was slowly spreading through the fabric. I lifted my shirt up to my ribs to find my entire abdomen had been bandaged. But blood was soaking through them.

Kakashi-sensei pushed off the wall as he stepped closer to observe my bandages. "Nakao, I don't think you're going to be able to move until that's completely healed. Just that small amount of movement seemed to open the wound."

I frowned, wondering how long it would take to heal. I was already so stiff and while I was feeling fatigue creep back into the corners of my mind, I was hoping to move around to stretch my muscles.

I dropped my shirt and looked up to my sensei. "Well how long have I been out?"

"Two days."

"Two days!?"

Well that explained why I was so sore. How was I sitting here if my wound had been so extensive it required complete bed rest and I'd been completely unconscious for two days?

Naruto was nodding enthusiastically. "You've missed a lot, Nakao! Work on the bridge is in full swing! They said the bridge might be done by the end of the week at this rate!"

I heard Kakashi-sensei chuckle. "I think they were just being enthusiastic, Naruto. The bridge probably won't be done for two more weeks."

Naruto's face fell in disappointment. "So we won't see it finished?"

Kakashi-sensei smiled. "Well, I think we'll stick around for a bit. Nakao is in no condition to move."

Embarrassment swept through me. Now I was an invalid delaying our return home because I was too critical to move. But my teammates didn't seem upset. In fact, Sakura and Naruto were beaming at the prospect of staying longer.

I was starting to feel out of the loop. "What the hell happened?"

Naruto quickly filled me in on the situation, with input from Kakashi-sensei and Sakura here and there. He explained that Naruto had been left on his own in the dome with Haku, but at some point he had disappeared. He'd reappeared in front of Zabuza just in time to save him from Kakashi-sensei's Chidori attack. His chest took the full impact instead and was killed. Then, Gatoh and his large group of cronies showed up, according to Sakura. Zabuza's arms had been rendered useless by Kakashi-sensei, but he still, single-handedly, wiped out a large amount of hired men and had knocked Gatoh off of the bridge, killing him. But then Zabuza perished too. No one filled me in on why Zabuza had a sudden change of heart.

Naruto told me the villagers showed up next, armed with what they had to take care of Gatoh's men. Inari had united them all to fight against the men who had crippled their country. Sakura told me how she'd went to find Sasuke and he ended up waking up. Although not completely positive, my team had concluded that Haku must have missed a vital point by literally millimeters (I clearly hadn't been as lucky). But no one shed light on how I had survived. I obviously hadn't woken up.

"You always just have to have all the attention don't you," I told Sasuke with raised eyebrows.

"Tch," he rolled his eyes, glancing away from me.

And although my face betrayed nothing, relief had completely flooded my system. He wasn't dead. And I therefore hadn't been responsible for the death of my teammate. But the echo of the despair I'd felt was still a raw memory for me. And I knew, just then, that my dream I'd shared with Kakashi-sensei when we first met, was more real to me than ever before.

"We should probably let Nakao rest," Kakashi-sensei finally said when he noticed me rubbing sleepily at my eyes.

I shot him a look of gratitude. Not only was the pain worsening, I was utterly exhausted, just from sitting here and listening. Whether it was from my physical condition alone, or the intense emotions I'd shifted through in the past hour, I couldn't say. But I was grateful when Kakashi said he'd send in Tsunami to help me redress my wound and Sakura and Sasuke followed him out the door.

"I'm glad you're okay, Nakao," Naruto smiled. I realized he must have gone through his own set of emotions when he woke up to find one teammate dead and one dying.

He made to get to his feet but I reached out and grabbed his wrist. Surprised, he looked at me, his brows furrowed.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

My gaze bored into him. "How am I alive?"

Naruto frowned, shifting uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

"Naruto, I was dying. Actually dying. My wound hasn't healed at all in two days; I lost enough blood it took two days just to wake up. I should be dead."

Naruto gently sighed before shaking his head. "I don't know, Nakao…You're right; you lost a ton of blood; it was everywhere. Sakura found you next to Sasuke and she thought you both were dead. She said you were ice cold. And then Sasuke woke up. I think he panicked; he kept asking me what happened to you. He held his hand over your wound to keep you from bleeding out even more. I thought you'd already lost too much blood…we couldn't even find a pulse on you it was so weak. But Sasuke just kept holding pressure; insisting you were still alive. He must have saved your life."

I stared at Naruto in disbelief. There was so much to digest in that story and I was having difficulty with it. Naruto must have seen it on my face because he gave me a goofy smile.

"Good thing Sasuke thought of that neh?" Naruto laughed, scratching at his cheek. "Who knew he'd actually be useful."

"Yeah…" I muttered distractedly, barely paying attention.

Naruto patted my arm and took his leave but I hardly noticed. Sasuke, panic? Sasuke doesn't panic.

Why was he so insistent I was alive? Did he actually think that? Was it because his gut instinct told him, or was he in denial? Something told me Naruto had told him what had happened, the things that I had said. I could hear his voice in my mind and I wondered if I had heard them talking while unconscious and my brain had tucked that information away.

Embarrassment caused me to moan into my hands. Naruto had told him that I'd asked to be placed by him as my final request. How embarrassing was that?

I asked myself why I even made that request. At the time, it had seemed so important to me. I guess I was sentimental in death. I suddenly remembered how I'd been flooded with memories of us as children. How that stupid childhood memory had been the last thing I remembered thinking about.

Well, I can never show my face again, I thought with an exaggerated sigh.

But there was no denying the relief that came knowing Sasuke was alive and well. Despite the irritation I felt at him for making me live with the torment of his death; and the guilt that had plagued me thinking he had died to save me.

And then a thought struck me. Sasuke had died to save me. All these years of acting like we hadn't shared a childhood together. Acting as though we hated each other. I'd certainly held disdain for him after awhile.

I wondered if Sasuke was embarrassed. He'd revealed to me that he remembered those years we shared together. He'd expressed remorse over something he never let anyone know about. But I shook my head. It didn't matter. We were both alive. And seeing as I'd told him I hated him an hour ago, I doubted anything was going to change.

And a memory surfaced in my head; something Zabuza had said. And I really couldn't help the little smirk that slipped onto my lips. And I couldn't help thinking, as Tsunami knocked on the door, that we'd hovered on the brink of life and death. I guess we were ninjas now.

—

I took a deep breath in through my nose, summoning my courage. No shame in backing out, I tried to tell myself, to now avail. Sighing, I rapped lightly on the wooden door frame.

Knock knock.

The room Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and Sasuke had been sharing throughout our stay now lay bare. The beds had been packed away, leaving the hardwood floor empty. A lone figure remained in the room, kneeling on the floor, stuffing things into a knapsack.

At the sound of my knocking, Sasuke turned to see me standing awkwardly in the doorway. He barely spared me a second before looking back to his bag and continuing his activity. I rolled my eyes but stepped into the room.

"Hey..." I said carefully, standing a few feet away.

"What do you want?" Sasuke finally asked after a quiet pause.

This is going to be harder then I thought…

I took in another breath of air before forcing the words out so I wouldn't retreat. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

Another long pause as Sasuke finished packing and began to struggle with clasping his bag shut. "For what?"

I squirmed, shifting my weight continuously from one foot to the next. "For hitting you last week. You know, calling you an asshole and all that…"

"What else is new?"

I found myself smirking, running a hand through my hair as the tension left me and my muscles relaxed. "Yeah well…still. Just don't…don't fake your death again. It was far too dramatic. I'm already overloaded with drama from Strawberry Shortcake and Naruto."

Sasuke finally succeeded in closing his back with a snap. Swinging it over one shoulder, he stood and turned to face me. His facial expression was as passive as normal, his body language revealing his lack of interest over the topic. "That's your problem, not mine."

My eye twitched as Sasuke moved past me through the doorway. Raising a fist, I followed him into the hallway. "I'll make it your problem!"

—

"Thank you all, so much," Tazuna said. "Without you, this bridge never would have been completed."

My team stood assembled at the entryway of the new completed bridge. Nearly the entire village had come to see us off. Tazuna, Tsunami and Tazuna stood in front of the mass of people.

"Have a safe trip," Tsunami smiled warmly at each of us in turn. "Nakao, please take it easy. Your wound is still healing."

"I will," I promised with a soft smile. "Thank you for everything."

Inari stepped forward, to Naruto. His eyes were watery and wide as he attempted to withhold his tears, rather unsuccessfully. He was sniffling. "I guess this is goodbye…"

"I guess so…" Naruto responded. His voice was shaky and his eyes were also beginning to water.

"You can cry," Inari ran the back of his hand beneath his nose.

"I'm not going to cry! You cry!"

"I don't cry! You cry!"

I watched, shaking my head as both boys turned away from each other, tears streaming down their faces. I chuckled.

"Well, I guess we should be going," Kakashi-sensei announced, glancing wearily at Inari and Naruto. I nodded eagerly. I was ready to go home.

"Goodbye! Have a safe trip! Thank you!" the villagers called out as we turned our back to the Land of Waves and began our long journey across the bridge and back home.

The bridge was really rather nice now that it was completed. Undeniably better than clamoring in and out of boats. It was so wide that myself and my teammates could walk horizontally comfortably. Kakashi-sensei followed behind us.

"Nyeeh, Sasuke, how about a date when we get back?" Sakura tried no sooner after we'd begun our journey.

I rolled my eyes, grasping the strap of my backpack. I held onto it for now, but Kakashi-sensei insisted our team take turns carrying it as to not aggravate my wound. I wasn't about to complain.

"No thanks," Sasuke replied, never taking his gaze from the direction ahead of us.

Sakura's face fell in utter disappointment. I tried not to laugh and covered it up by pretending to clear my throat…loudly. "No thanks? Sasuke, you're not getting soft on us now are you?"

He didn't dignify that with a response.

"Sakura, I'll go on a date with you!" Naruto offered excitedly, practically shoving me out of the way to get a good look at the kunoichi.

"No way!" came Sakura's immediate response.

"Aww…" Naruto looked down to the ground in disappointment. He kicked a pebble in frustration.

"Naruto, you can't afford a date with Sakura. She's too high maintenance; you'd have to buy some black hair dye, some hair gel and eyeliner for good measure. Besides, you owe me and Sasuke ramen," I reminded the boy, smiling over at him.

"What?" Naruto looked over at me, despair written all over his face. I swore I saw tears in his eyes.

"Don't think I forgot," I stuck a finger out at the boy. "And I mean Ichiraku ramen, none of that instant crap."

"What!?"

"Hey, a bet is a bet," I eyed him seriously.

Naruto grumbled something, glancing down at the ground. Just as he did so, his foot stepped atop the pebble he had kicked only moments ago. As he did so, the boy slipped, flailing his arms about as he fell face-first to the ground. Naruto had attempted to grab onto me as he fell, but I dodged out of the way with a side-step.

We gathered around our fallen teammate, laying on the ground. Sakura was shaking her head. I nudged the boy with my foot. "Come on, I'm hungry."

A muffled curse met my ears.

My hands went to my hips. "I heard that. Just for calling me that, you owe me two bowls of ramen. Sasuke, what kind will you be getting so I can inform Naruto?"

I glanced over at Sasuke, who was watching me and Naruto like we were children. Before he got the chance to answer, if he was going to answer at all, Naruto shot to his feet. He mouth was gaping open and closed, like he wanted to say something, but appeared too flustered to do so.

I held up an index finger up, stopping the boy before he could even start. "I want two bowls of beef ramen. Sasuke here will have chicken since I think he has a thing for birds. You know, with the hair and all. Now, to the ramen stand!"

Naruto groaned, defeated.

Author's Note: Thank you to all of those who reviewed! Bonus points to all of you.