Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ I love you, so... ❯ I love you, so... ( One-Shot )

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, this work is pure fiction.

 

Author's Note: This fanfic is one that I've wanted to write for quite some time now. I reflects the feelings that I myself have bottled up for Sasuke, although the POV is of Sakura. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean at all that I am a crazed Sasuke fangirl. I just want Sasuke to have someone to lean on, someone that he can love as well. It really seems as though he has too much pain. If you still don't understand, I hope you will indulge me and read this fanfiction.

So, here it is.

“I love you, so…”

-Raimidori

 

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Why him? Always him! Doesn't he have enough pain? Didn't he lose his parents? Doesn't he have a brother who's out to kill him? So, why? Why does he even need more?

 

I don't understand it. He is mature. Or, at least, he acts like it. That doesn't mean anything, though, because he's still human. Just like us. Please. Stop this insanity, alright? He's just a child, for goodness sake. Why him?

 

I wake up in the cold hospital bed with those thoughts. Peeking through the translucent curtain separating the two beds, I can see his chest rising and falling with deep breaths of exhaustion. The blood from his deep wounds had already seeped through the bandages that I had wrapped only hours before, leaving spots and trails of crimson along the sheets. I stand and walk over to him, my legs stiff from the night of worry. I want to just watch him like that forever, peacefully sleeping. I silently hope that when he would awake, he will be a brand new person. He will stop chasing Itachi. He will stay here, in Konohagakure, for a long, long time. But it will never be like that.

 

Sitting on the floor beside his bed, I listen to his breathing. I want to just hold him, just hold him so close and never let go. I lift his wounded hand from the bed and hold on to it, pretending to take his pulse. He doesn't stir, but we both know I am telling him he doesn't need to go. He doesn't need to sacrifice anything. By now I am shaking, my hands fluttering over his wounds lightly to see if they are healing. They are. I can already tell, just by looking. In the morning, I will rewrap them. But for now, I can take some extra time to examine his wounds. That's my excuse. But I don't use it. Instead, I just tell him the truth. “I don't want you to go. Sasuke, I love you. I always want you to be happy and safe. I love you so much that whatever you do, as long as you are happy, I am happy. But not this time. I hate this. I want you to stay. I don't want you to risk anything at all! You just got hurt. In your fight with Orochimaru, you almost died! When we received you here, you had almost bled to death. Sasuke, I don't- I don't want anything to happen to you. Please…!!!” I whisper all these words into his ear gently, like they are flowers. If I force them, they will break, and will simply die.

 

At last I cannot hold it in. I let the tears stream down my face. I know he's in pain. I know he's in so much pain… so much… so…

 

I put my arms around him. I hug him only tighter and tighter. I seems the night drags on forever, but I can swear he put his arms around me too.

 

It happens so fast I can't see it coming. It's so fast it doesn't feel like anything. But it happens. I throw my arms around his neck, and pull his face towards mine. And then I kiss him. It's not how I thought it would be. Because he doesn't retaliate. Instead, he wraps his warm arms around me and pulls me closer. For a while, we just stay like that. I can only hear a few words under his breath. “Sakura, thank you.” I lay my body beside him, and adjust his blanket. I don't get under it, but I don't leave. In the end, I just stay there, and fall asleep with him right next to me.

 

The warmth of morning caresses me with gentleness like a mother. I notice absent mindedly that there are blankets on me, not perfectly placed, but I'm sure they were jostled at night. I silently thank Rin, another nurse working at the hospital. I turn to Sasuke. I see blankets, sheets, and the bed. I see nothingness.

 

Where?!? Where in the world could he have gone this early in the morning? He shouldn't even be walking yet! What is he…!!! I have to go find him. Now, or I might never see him again. Running towards the door, I realize the knob is stuck. And then it hits me. I had locked the door last night. It wasn't Rin who put those blankets over me. The only one in the room was… suddenly, like a rocket, all my thoughts return to me. His warms hands and reassuring voice. How could he…? After all of that, how could he just leave me like this?!!?

 

The breeze from the open window chills me. It's only autumn, yet the breeze alone can freeze a polar bear. My thoughts are rushing about me wildly. The door cannot be locked from the outside. He must have left through the window. It would be an easy task for a shinobi of his caliber. Before any hesitation sets in, I jump out the window and land on a jutting roof from the story below. From here, the whole village is accessible. Despite that, I only face one direction; the gate. The gate that leads out of the village. I don't walk. I don't run. No, I sprint. I force all the chakra I have into my legs, urging them to keep on moving. With the wounds he has, there is simply no way he could've gotten very far.

 

I was wrong. I have run for so long that almost all of my chakra is expended. I am lost in the forest, coldness seeping into my bones. I consider going back, only for a moment. A few seconds later, I am so angry with even pondering the notion, I almost slap myself. I can hear thunder rolling at a distance. It will start to rain very soon. But I have not a care. I have set myself to find him, even if it is my death. From the way things look now, that possibility might be likelier than I thought.

 

So. The rain starts. Should I keep going? Or should I stop? There really doesn't seem to be any point in answering that question. Of course I go on. Of course of course of course! Even with my clothes soaked through, I still have the fire burning on inside me. I will find him. Because I love him more than I love life itself.

 

I have reached my limit. Choking on my air isn't enough anymore. So I collapse. The bark of the tree digs into my skin, forcing me to concentrate on surviving. Which is getting harder and harder by the minute. My vision blurs a second, no, a millisecond before I spot him. Sitting on a branch across from me, he stares into the stormy skies. I wish I could know what he was thinking.

 

I realize I can't move. My death doesn't seem too far away. I could fall to my imminent demise off the tree, I could catch pneumonia, I could stop breathing at any given moment. I doubt Sasuke can see me. He has so many wounds, and all of them haven't even been given a chance to heal. His vision must almost be completely gone from blood loss. To my extreme surprise, he turns my way, looking straight into my eyes. “I'm sorry… Sakura. I couldn't even… save you…” I want to scream and cry out to him. Despite it all, my tongue seems to be frozen like the rest of my body. I can just look back at him, sending him my pleads and sadness through my eyes, hoping he can even see me at all anymore. Every breath he takes seems to be ragged and lined with pain. I want to just crawl over to him and hold him. Instead, he shifts his legs, now completely soaked by blood and water. He starts to crawl. Stopping every five seconds or so to catch his breath or his balance, he looks like a small child learning how to walk. The thought rips through my body and gives me a reason to start crying.

 

At last, he is close. I can smell the blood, and see it dripping endlessly onto the bark. The bandages had been rendered useless a long time ago.

 

He crawls over me, and lowers his body onto mine. Despite the fact that he had been out longer than I have, and his injuries, I find it much warmer. Sasuke was shielding the rain from me with his own body. He cared for me in some way or another, so why did he never even look my way? I knew in an instant he was always hiding it. No matter how many times he ignored me, or taunted me for my weaknesses, I knew he still cared a lot for me. He was a precious comrade. And I would not let him die.

 

What strength had not allowed me to carry myself had suddenly grew and invited the idea of carrying Sasuke. My heart knew it was the answer, and so I lifted his bedraggled arm and looped it around the back of my neck. I jumped, surging chakra into my legs until I was sure they would snap in half from the pressure. If they were going to break, I wanted them to break closer to Konoha.

 

At last, we surface from the forest. I watche Sasuke's face as I lead him the last few 100 meters to the gate. Once I reach it, I call for help. I ride in the ambulance with him. I hold his hand tenderly while I bandage it more carefully than I had ever before. I rewrap all the wounds on his chest, arms and legs too. I know that I am trying my best, but it doesn't feel that way.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, the large building appears in my eyesight. I insist on staying with Sasuke, but the doctors point out how injured I am as well. I have to wait. I hate it when I'm left hanging like that. Especially when it has to do with Sasuke. But I have no choice.

 

Here we are. I can't believe we both survived. At least, so far. His condition isn't the best, but I know everything will work out. I've been surveying his wounds myself, three times a day. I want to redo everything. I want to take back everyone of my cruel words to him when it wasn't his fault. I lean my face over his and kiss him. He just smiles afterwards, promising a save recovery. “I love you.” He whispers. I can only smile back, and embrace him with every part of my body. “I… I love you too.”

 

And it couldn't be more the truth.