Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Telling Eyes ❯ Horrid Homecoming ( Chapter 1 )

Due to the lack of decent Naru/Saku fics out there, I decided to try my hand at it. Even if mine sucks, I hope it inspires better writers than myself to take up the cause and put my favorite couple together. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.

--Wrath

Insert useless disclaimer here.

Something in her eyes died that day. Those emerald eyes in which he'd often lose himself the instant they met his were now dull as he looked at her. It was the day he had made her that promise; his "promise of a life time". No matter how much it hurt to realize that she would never feel the same towards him as she did towards him, he knew he couldn't deny her request. If it would bring life to those eyes once again, he'd even pay for their first date. To him, her happiness was paramount and nothing else mattered now. When he saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes, he knew he had said the right thing. So, he left her there with only his promise to console her. When he noticed Lee next to her, he knew she would be in good hands until he returned with Sasuke.

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She trudged along the streets as she did since they left. It had only been two days but to her it felt like several eternities. What if they ran into trouble? This was Shikamaru's first time leading a mission after all and people often made mistakes the first time. Her feet took her through the crowded streets at Konoha's center and towards the gate, but she hardly noticed. All she could think about was Sasuke, Naruto, and the others. Had she been capable of seeing past her grief, she would have thought it strange that something Naruto said dominated the thoughts running through her head. "Sakura-chan, you really like Sasuke, huh? I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand."

Sakura leaned against the railing of a small bridge near the center of the city, staring into the water moving quickly below her. She saw her reflection in the water looking back at her. "Is that really what I look like?" he asked herself. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying so much and her hair looked like it hadn't seen a brush in days. Truth was she hadn't given a single thought to her appearance as she normally would. She just didn't have the energy to care. Her eyes lingered on her reflection though she stopped seeing it after a few minutes.

Her reflection faded and was replaced by images of Sasuke. Images of every time he'd so much as looked at her with those cold eyes of his. Just once, she'd hoped he would look at her with something other than the disdain he reserved for everyone. She had gotten her wish just before he left. She saw some warmth in his eyes when he'd looked at her, even if it was when he'd told her she was annoying. Without noticing it, she had begun to cry again, her tears falling to the water below.

As if her tears were the catalyst, the images of Sasuke began to fade, only to be replaced by her memories of Naruto. Surprisingly, she could remember almost every instance of his smiling face looking at her. It seemed like he always smiled when she saw him. Sure, he was serious when he needed to be, but his smile far outweighed any of that. His eyes always held mischief along with that smile of his but she knew that they could hold a determined gaze that could give almost anyone hope. She'd seen it herself plenty of times. She saw his fierce determination first when he fought Zabuza and then again on the bridge. There were many times she'd seen it but the most recent in her memory was Naruto's fight against Neji. She'd never seen such eyes on anyone but Naruto. She never doubted that he would win after his eyes hardened. Still staring into the water, she saw those eyes again in the look he gave her when he'd made his promise. Something was different this time, though. She saw the grin and the "nice guy pose" as Lee had put it, but his eyes held a little less life. She had no doubt he would keep his promise, but why did she feel that the promise he'd made had hurt him.

Finally, she listened to the phrase echoing through her head. "Sakura-chan, you really like Sasuke, huh? I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand." He could understand? How could he understand? The one she loved had just left her behind to seek his precious revenge. How could he ever understand that pain when he could smile so easily?

She was given no more time to dwell on her thoughts when she heard someone yelling her name.

"Sakura! Sakura!! They're back!"

Sakura turned and saw Ino running towards her, arms flailing in the air to get her attention. At first she couldn't really comprehend what her friend was screaming. She was just too frantic but as Ino neared, her words became clearer. "They're back?"

Seeing that her words hadn't really sunk in yet, Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and began dragging her toward the hospital, "C'mon forehead girl! Hurry up! They came in 15 minutes ago."

Finally, Sakura grasped just what Ino was saying and ran of her own accord, just about leaving Ino in the dust. Sasuke-kun…Naruto…please be alright. She chanted her plea all the way to the hospital like a mantra, making herself even more anxious to just be there. She kept bumping into people as she ran, muttering apologies to those she knocked down while continuing on. She could see the hospital in the distance but it never seemed to get any closer to her. It was like she was running in slow motion and would never reach it. She knew that was silly of course but she couldn't help but wish she knew some teleportation jutsu or something. When the crowds became too much, she took to the rooftops, bounding from one to the next without the hindrance of people blocking her way. That made the trip much faster for the pink haired ninja and soon she was at the hospital registration desk, gasping for breath. She paused only long enough to catch her breath so that the receptionist would understand her, "The genin squad that just returned, where are they?"

The old woman behind the counter looked the girl over and smiled in a matronly way, "They're pretty popular for new arrivals. Let's see." The woman began to go over her charts, her brow furrowing further and further with each name she read, "Chou: intensive care. Condition: Stable No visitors. Hyuuga Neji: taken by a Miss Shizune for special treatment. Kiba and Akamaru: sharing a room on the fourth floor. Condition: stable. His family is already up there with him." She looked over her glasses at the pink haired girl, then looked back down at the list, "Uzumaki Naruto: Room 6B. Condition: critical. I'm sorry dear, but the prognosis is pretty grim. You'd better hurry if you want to see him. It will probably be your last chance." The way the woman said it shocked Sakura to her core. She said it as if she were commenting on the weather. That didn't matter though. All that mattered was what she had said. Naruto probably wouldn't make it.

That thought spurred her feet as she ran up the steps. She didn't want to wait for the obnoxiously slow elevator so she sprinted up the steps, thanking her training for giving her the stamina to take the steps so easily. It took her less than a minute to run up the six flights of stairs and into the hall. She breezed through the almost empty hallway and stopped before the door that said 6B in large black letters. She was just about to enter when several voices caught her attention.

"What happened, Kakashi?" came the angry voice of a woman behind the door.

Kakashi's usually bored voice was absent, replaced by the voice of barely restrained anger Sakura had only heard used when he spoke to Zabuza. "Nearest Pakkun and I could figure, he and Sasuke fought with all of their strength and Naruto lost. The chakra those two expended could be felt for miles, Hokage-sama. It even made me flinch. It's not surprising to see Naruto like this considering the amount of power they used." She heard Kakashi sigh and groan, probably sitting in one of the chairs, "I should have stopped him when I had the chance. I never thought Sasuke would go this far, trying to kill his own teammate."

Sakura gasped at that. Had Sasuke really tried to kill Naruto? No, not Sasuke. He was just shy of perfect. He wouldn't try to kill his friends just for his revenge, would he?

"If Naruto dies, we will classify Uchiha Sasuke as an A-rank criminal and a missing-nin. I will see to it that every spare Jounin will hunt him down and bring him back here to face his punishment." Tsunade all but shouted from inside the room as she spoke to Kakashi. "And I will personally carry out the execution."

Tears streamed down Sakura's cheeks, dripping onto the floor unfettered. Slowly, she turned the handle on the door and entered the room. What she saw made her tears flow even more. There was Naruto, battered and bruised, looking white as a sheet as he lay there hooked up to seemingly hundreds of little machines. Gone was his ever-present smile and look of mischief, leaving a husk laying in a hospital bed. She was vaguely aware of the eyes of the two adults focused on her as she approached the injured boy. "Naruto…" she whispered before wheeling around on the two in the room, "They said he probably wasn't going to make it. That's not true, is it? She was looking at someone else, right?"

Kakashi just looked away while Tusnade shook her head toward the girl before answering, "I'm afraid not. There's nothing more that we…that I can do for him. It will be a miracle if he lives through the night." Tsunade couldn't stand the look in Sakura's eyes. They were the eyes of someone who had given up.

"Can I stay with him?" asked Sakura in a tiny voice that almost made Tsunade burst into tears.

The Fifth rested her hand on the girl's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze, "Alright. I'll let your parents know you're here." Giving a meaningful glance to Kakashi, Tsunade left the room with the jounin in tow.

Wiping the tears from her face, Sakura sat in the soft chair beside Naruto's bed. The rhythmic beeping of the machines that sustained his life bothered her at first but soon faded into the background as thoughts and memories again invaded her mind. Again, she saw Sasuke looking at her with those cold eyes of his, but this time, she didn't even feel the most remote stirrings of affection. In fact, she felt nothing. She didn't hate him, but she certainly didn't love him any more. How could she love someone who could do this to one of his friends? If it was the last thing she did, she would hunt Sasuke down to get the answers she desired but right now, she would be with Naruto, the last of her team and her innocence.

She stared at the boy's pale face and brought back her thoughts from earlier. How she wished she could see his carefree smile now. She would give anything for him to just sit up and tell her it was all just one of his stupid pranks and have him laugh that stupid laugh of his. That Naruto was gone, though and she knew it. He had grown considerablhy in the time they had been teammates. His practical jokes were few and far between now and he wasn't half as annoying as he had been. At least, not to her. She would have been hard pressed to come up with an instance in the last six months that he had annoyed her. Granted, a few of those months were spent elsewhere but the point was still the same. Naruto had matured. Despite that, he always had that mischievous smile and that carefree laugh that made her feel better. To think, she would probably never see it again.

His chest rose and fell with each labored breath and each pause brought terror to Sakura's heart until he breathed again. She vowed to herself that she would be there until the last breath came. She would not let him die alone. Her gaze moved to his lips, hidden behind the respirator mask and she sighed, wishing he would just smile once.

Unbidden, the phrase she'd repeated in her head returned full force. "Sakura-chan, you really like Sasuke, huh? I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand." He understood eh? How did he understand? It wasn't like there was someone he loved; an unrequited love that tore apart his insides whenever he was rejected. It always showed in the eyes and she saw it often when she looked into the mirror after being rejected. Light would leave the eyes of someone spurned for a time, kind of like the eyes he had when he made his promise to her. Wait, what? Like the eyes he had when he made his promise? No, that wasn't possible. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the memory, trying to remember just what his eyes had looked like that day. The clarity of that memory startled her. She could remember everything about his face. The sad eyes, the fake smile, the utterly defeated look, everything. He really did know what it felt like, didn't he. And he knew because she was the cause of his heartache.

With wide eyes, she stared at the unconscious boy. She knew he'd had a crush on her in the academy but she had thought it a passing infatuation. To realize the depth of his feelings for her shook her to her core. How could he still care for her like that? She had never given him even one solitary indication that she might be interested in him in that way. Hell, it wasn't until after their first few missions as team 7 that she could even consider him as a friend. He had always protected her, put her life before his own. He'd even faced down a monster that made even hardened jounin blanche. She had been floored when Sasuke told her who really saved her in the fight with Gaara. She never understood how Naruto could have ever had power enough to defeat something as fearful as Shukaku. It just didn't make sense.

What did he see in her, anyway? She always insulted him, calling him names and telling him to shut up. Every time he tried to do something to impress her, she dismissed it to fawn over Sasuke. She never even gave him the time of day. And what about her looks? She was scrawny and without the curves other girls her age had, not to mention her huge forehead and tiny breasts. What the hell did he see in her? She didn't deserve to be loved by someone like him.

Memories flew through her mind of all of her time with Naruto. The memories were good, bad and everything in between, but in almost every one she saw his smiling face. She had to admit, he was cute when he smiled but only when it was a real smile, only when he smiled with his eyes as well. Those bright, blue eyes, so full of life and laughter. She knew then that she was lost. She began to see him in a new light that led her down a path from which she would never stray. When she thought about those eyes of his, she couldn't help but feel a stirring in her heart. The very same feeling she'd had about Sasuke. Why did she have to find it now? Here he lay dying and she was just now on the verge of discovering real feelings for him. "Naruto…" she whispered, taking his hand in hers, mindful of the tubes that were keeping him alive, "I'm so sorry, Naruto. I'm so sorry that I hurt you so many times. It's my fault that you're like this. I was so blind. If only I'd known before it was too late." She stood from the chair and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his forehead, "No matter what happens, I will be by your side from now on." As she pulled away, her tears splashed on his face making it look as if he were crying too. She stood over him, just staring until the steady beeping of the machines changed to a rapid succession of beeps and then into one, long, terrifying sound. He was dead.

The door flew open and several nurses and doctors rushed in to tend to try to save him but Sakura knew in her heart that they were too late. They roughly shoved her out of the way to get to him but she didn't care. Nothing mattered now. She was alone.