The Flower and the Avenger

Chapter 47- Last Chapter

Sasuke sat waiting anxiously.

His hands were bandaged; the cut on his face was almost completely gone, and the twigs embedded in his back were removed and the cuts were cleaned, all thanks to Tsunade.

Itachi was dead. He was sure of it. He even made Rin check his mangled body for a pulse and when she shook her head, he even went through the trouble of retrieving his sword from the tree and stabbing him repeatedly in the chest.

Rin, Hinata, Kakashi, and Yamato couldn't talk to him on the way back. They couldn't even glance at him to check if he was okay.

Which he was not.

But Sasuke couldn't blame them. How could he? He had just pounded his brother into his grave, stabbed him repeatedly in the heart, had twigs sticking out of his back and blood running through his cloak, and to top it all off, struck his own fiance with a blow that would kill an average person.

He hoped and prayed that she was not an average person.

Sasuke was locked inside the Hokage's office. His own servants, locking him inside of his own house- how amusing.

Could he break the door and rush over to see how Sakura was doing? Sure he could. He just didn't want to.

What if he did, and caused one of the nurses to make a mistake? What if he came in while she was awake? In which case, he wouldn't be able to hold back. He would kiss her immediately- no control of his brain nor body could keep that from happening.

What if she got overwhelmed? If he caused permanent damage to the head? There were too many what-ifs. In a nutshell, it was too risky.

Was this what Kakashi meant when gaining revenge wouldn't solve anything? This was why he was feeling worse than before? No, it couldn't be- surely it was just because his love, his future wife, was dying.

Because of him.

Because of me.

"Uchiha."

He jolted in his seat as a familiar voice entered his mind. "Naruto?" he said, confused. It had been years since Naruto had called him that- and so formally, too. Not at all sarcastic.

He had a solemn, yet grim look on his face. "She's awake."

Sasuke leaped from his seat to the door, almost shoving Naruto out of the way before Naruto wrestled him back inside and shut the door, turning the key with a click!.

Sasuke glared at him. "Let me go. Let me see her, Naruto." He shook his head.

Sasuke advanced and gripped Naruto's collar. "I know what I did wrong. I just need to apologize to her-"

Naruto shoved him. "Stop saying I. We're all at fault."

Sasuke's desperation quickly turned to anger. "What do you mean, you're all at fault?" he said carefully. "I'm the one who punched her in the head. I'm the one who should apologize."

"Wrong!"

Naruto glared at him right back, Sasuke standing dumbfounded. "Do you think we blame you for what happened? It wasn't your fault, Sasuke. You were doing something right- avenging your clan and saving Sakura."

"I didn't save her-"

"Listen to me," Naruto interrupted. "You did save her. She says thank you, Sasuke. She thanked you."

Sasuke stared at him. "What?" He felt shocked. "She actually thanked me?" Naruto nodded. "She said thank you."

"Then let me see her to accept her thanks!"