"Sakura, you trying to play Sleep Beauty? Making me wait this long." Sasuke asked her, fingers combing through her pink tresses, gently loosing all the knots and tangles in her hair. Planting a kiss on her forehead, he mumbled, "Come on Sakura, wake up..."
The car crash was during the last days of spring, going into the early months of summer and now... summer was coming to a close. The hope that everyone had for Sakura waking up was slowly dwindling down to a single thin thread. But Sasuke... he still had hope in her. He knew that she heard everything he said, from the good mornings to his pleadings. He knew she heard them all, he just... knew.
Today though was going to be the last... the last of everything. Both them had agreed to fly over to the states to attend college; Sakura pre-med and Sasuke was to continue his studies in Business. They were going to share an apartment together, considering they were already engaged and Sasuke's possessiveness didn't help either. Everything was going to be fine and dandy, a classic happily ever after ending for the couple... that was until this happened.
Sasuke reached and searched for her cold, clammy hand. Grasping it tightly in his bigger one, he took a deep breath. "Please..." Shaking his head, a bitter smirk pulling onto his face, he said, "You're probably the first girl - no person, that I've begged to like this. You better feel special." Rolling his eyes, he muttered, "Oh, what the hell am I talking about. You're fucking special, so fucking special that I'm on my knees asking you to stay." To prove his point, he actually knelt down beside her bed, holding her hand tightly; a classic Sleepy Beauty scene.
Stroking her hand with his thumb, Sasuke choked out, "Listen to me."
"Stay. Stay with me - no, just stay. And wake up... that's all I'm asking. Open your eyes and stay." Sasuke mumbled hotly into her hand, his breath warming up her hands. "You don't have to wake up for me or because of me. Just wake up."
"You can't lay in this bed forever, Sakura. You...you just can't." He argued. "You have to - need to wake up. There's so many things that you need to do, to accomplish, to experience. And I can't - I won't let you let all this time pass by through your fingers just because you're tired and you're too stubborn to wake up. Do you know why?"
"Because you need to get your fucking ass out of this death bed and go to college, whether it's with me or without me, it doesn't fucking matter. You just need to, one way or another. You're going to fucking study your ass off and get that damn medic degree, you hear me? You're going to get that damn paper with your name all fucking pretty and sophisticated with the Dr. Haruno Sakura written all over it. Got it?" Sasuke couldn't even manage to sound angry, his voice was dry and hollow - defeated. "Then you're going to get yourself into the best hospital there is and have fun. You're going to work and enjoy it because you're a doctor and you love it. You're going to get your moment to shine in that pretty little white lab coat of yours, saving thousands of lives."
"You're also going to grow old with that special guy and have kids. And your kids will love you because you're the best mom they can ever have. There wouldn't be a moment where you wouldn't be showered with love." Sasuke continued. "But here's the best part," he began, smirking slightly, "you have to turn twenty-one, sweetheart. You have to experience the burn of vodka drowning down your throat, getting totally wasted at a bar on a Friday night, and that pain in the ass hangover the next morning. And all of the great things once you're twenty-one. Including sex. Yes, I said sex. Whether it's on your honeymoon or in your dorm, you're going to get it."
"I know that I'm speaking gibberish right now - hell, I don't even fucking understand what I'm even talking about but one thing I do know is that you have to stay. Please. Just please, wake up." He implored.
Sasuke glanced up at her, wishing, hoping that she heard him and she'll answer back. A twitch of her eye or her fingers, anything. He just needed something to keep his hopes from falling down. A minute passed by, nothing. And then another minute, and then it was five, still nothing.
"Come on, Sakura. Give me something here. Anything."
Nothing.
"I can't just leave here, fly across the world and attend college and live life like it's okay knowing that you're still here, in this bed. Doing nothing with your life. I need to know that you're awake and okay and living your life to the fullest then, I can leave. Although it kills me, it kills me to do so, I can because you're okay."
"And it'll be alright if you can't leave Konoha, as long as you're up and moving, everything will be alright. Just wake up, Sakura."
If it was possible to die of a broken heart, she would have been announced dead right then and there. But that wasn't possible. Yet, she felt and heard her heart crack at the sound of his voice - so dead, lifeless and full of desperation.
She heard it all, from the first day to the moment right now. She couldn't tell or figure out who he was but, she came around to love him never less. It was like a mother growing attached to her baby, one that was growing inside of her. Her heart reached out to him. The simplest touches from him would thrill her in ways unimaginable, making her heart swell as her stomach would explode with butterflies. His voice left shivers and chills crawling down her back, gripping her heart tight.
True, she didn't know who he was but she did manage to catch his name - Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. And that was all she knew about him aside from the fact that he practically had her heart in the palm of his hands. She didn't know how he managed it but he did alright and it was tearing it apart not being able to open her eyes and see his face. She just wanted to be able to at least twitch her fingers or something to tell him that she heard him and she's trying her best to answer his call. That didn't happen though; it just seemed like her brain was totally disconnected from her body, enabling her to do anything. Her body was just dead weight.
She felt his fingers brush some locks out of her face, stopping to rest on her forehead. The pad of his fingers were rough yet soft if that was even possible. The simple touches brought the irritating frustration pent up inside her to simmer down, calming her almost instantly. And then, he began tracing the outline of her face, making a full circle around her face. Straightening out the invisible crease between her brows, he brushed pass her eyebrows, trailing down her cheeks, touching her nose and then outlining her lips. Slowly, his fingers found their way into her hair, waving themselves in.
"Please...please... please... please...please, Sakura."
Her heart was ripped from her chest without another word. Her breath was knocked right out of her. His words left her drowning in emptiness, the coldness rushing to the ends of her toes. Her body was ruthlessly torn apart into pieces. She felt like she was being stabbed a thousand times over, pain exploding in every part of her body. If she hadn't drowned already, she was sinking deeper into an abyss of tears. His words clawed at what was left of her, leaving scars and marks in their path. And then, there was nothing but the numb, tingling sensation left over.
Fear was lodged tight in her throat - in her airways, making it extremely difficult to breath. Why? Why was he doing this to her? Fear had its hands posed tight around the column of her throat, squeezing it tighter with every second that passed. Fear of him leaving her there with a broken heart that he didn't know of. Fear of losing him without even getting to know who he was. Fear of missed chances to say 'I love you' to this perfect stranger. Fear of losing hope, losing her heart, losing what's left of her sanity to him. Fear of this fear.
Sasuke crying... he's crying.
The new found fact left her crying too. Everything was starting to fall down on her like a thousand stone bricks, not the just the physical things but the mental things too. This accident was leaving her with a giant black hole in the place where her heart should have been. She didn't know how she would fill that hold back up or fixed that shattered heart, no glue nor tape could help her at that point. So she focused on the one thing that she knew would pull her through; she wanted to just hold his hand so bad. So, so bad.
Sasuke holding her hand was the greatest feeling in the world, but she needed to hold his hand back. Holding his hand would mean peace from her whirlwind of emotions, love from her broken heart, salvation from her dying soul. And that was the reason why she tried so, so hard to grasp his hand. She focused all of the power that she had left in her body and surged it into her hand.
But nothing happened.
She tried it again. She knew she was weak but she had to try. So aiming all of the strength, encouragement, and love she received from everyone over the pass few months, she pictured herself interlacing her fingers with Sasuke's. And she squeezed his hand.
Nothing happened that time either.
She wanted to scream so bad, why wasn't her body functioning like she wanted to. Why? At that moment, she's never been so frustrated in her whole life, not that she remembered any of it. Anger began to boiling deep within her, making her body burn with rage. Why couldn't she do anything? Why? Everything she tried, everything, and she still couldn't hold his hand. Just a simple squeeze, one that a baby could even do but why couldn't she do it?
The shriek of the door withdrew her from her rising temper, light footsteps became louder as the newcomer came closer. Her nose caught a whiff of perfume, sending signals to her brain saying that it was Mikoto-san who came in. 'Oh, so you can do that but you can't get my hand to work, oh okay. That's just awesome.'
"Honey... it's time to leave..."
'Leave? ...What? No!' Her stomach churned as her insides turned cold. This couldn't possibly be happening... it couldn't.
"Your flight's leaving two hours, if you... don't want to be late... you should head out now..."
"... I know..."
A creeping silence came slipping in like a thick fog. She heard someone shuffle around the foot of her bed, fixing her blanket. "You and Sakura are going to be okay. You know that, right?" It was Mikoto who said that, her voice awfully soft and tender.
"..."
"It's not the end, Honey." Mikoto said. "Sakura will wake up, just maybe not at this moment. It would be great if she did but she's trying her best..." She felt Mikoto gaze on her as she continued on, "She's fighting her own battles and demons right now. It's not her fault that she's still in a coma... but I know she'll come through and wake up. The girl's too stubborn for her own good. You know her. She's going to have it one way or another, I mean we're talking about her life right now. She's not going to let herself be dead weight, laying here, while everyone around her moves on with their lives, accomplishing things. Sakura's not like that."
"...I know..."
Embracing her son tightly, she smiled, "Then quit being a crybaby! You're standing in front of your soon to be wife and you're bawling like a baby with a stolen lollipop. Cheer up, son. Hell, even Sakura's laughing at you, look at her."
She really felt like smiling at Mikoto's comment; Sasuke was such a "Momma's Boy" no matter how much he would protest it. Having Mikoto as her mother in law? Definitely something that she wouldn't mind, at all. Actually she figured it would be the best thing coming out of their marriage. 'Just kidding.'
"Aa." Once again, she felt his fingers linger on her face, this time he was tracing her lip. His fingers were light as ballet dancers on her lips. They slid across her lips from side to side, curving up a little, tracing a small smile on her lips.
She heard Mikoto give Sasuke a pat on the back as she left for the couple to be alone once again.
Sasuke had taken a deep breath, "So... you're really not going to wake up for a goodbye kiss?" No, she did... she just couldn't. "Damn... some wife you are, Sakura." Oh, god, did her eyes burn. She felt him touch her ring, caressing it. "..I'm...I'm going to leave now...," with what's left of her already broken heart, it tightened into a knot, "But don't worry I'll come back." Her body was filled with relief; she was so stupid to think that he would actually leave. "I'll always come back to...you. I promise you that."
His hand reached up to hold her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. "I know I practically begged you to wake up but... don't strain yourself out. It's okay... if you don't wake up... just stay..." He kissed her forehead in the way that he always did it; on each side of her temple and then right in the center. Moving down her face, he kissed both side of her cheeks. And lastly, he kissed her chastely on the lips. His lips lingered a bit longer than necessary but she didn't mind, she never did. "I love you." And those were the last words he muttered to her before he stood back up and left, not before gazing at her longingly equally tenderly.
His presence shifted as he began walking away, footsteps getting quieter as he went farther away from her. Then, the door opened... and closed with a soft click.
She wanted to cry so fucking bad, the dam that was holding back her tears was cracking. Everything around her turned gloomy, skies turning black, wind stilled. A storm was brewing and rain was to come pouring down just like her tears. A river of emotion was right there at the corner of her eyes. They were right there, making her eyes burn tenfold but it was nothing compared to the feeling blooming in her chest. It hurt... So. God. Damn. Much. Her heart was gone and taken from her body. Sasuke had done that much when he stepped out of that door. He left her wallowing in a hot, emotional mess. The ache in her chest was no longer dull; sharp needles seemed to be stabbing in the area where her heart once was. She knew he didn't mean to leave her like this... but he did...
No one came to visit Sakura much after that. Like Sasuke, everyone was heading out on their own ways. Shikamaru and Temari were heading out to Suna University. Neji and Naruto were heading over to the States like Sasuke was. Tenten and Hinata were dorming together here in Konoha at a nearby university. With the weekend over, Monday had arrived, thus all of her family members including Mikoto was reduced to go home and get going with their own lives.
Ino was her first visitor in days.
"Hey there, Forehead." It was always the same greeting when it came to Ino. "How ya doing?"
Ino left the door shutting quietly behind her as she entered. Walking up to Sakura's side, she sat down in the chair that was left there. Crossing her legs at her ankles, Ino propped herself on the white hospital bed. Giving Sakura a pretty little smile, she said, "So... shall I fill you in on the latest gossip?" Like always, she got nothing in reply. Though each time she would ask the girl, Ino was hoping for her to answer.
"The lazy bum head, Shikamaru dropped the question the other day. Like it was totally out of the blue, nothing special. Hmph, wouldn't have expected more from that lazy butt." Ino scoffed. "Anyways, we were standing outside of his house, we were helping him load the car. And then, BAM! He threw Temari a diamond ring and said, "Let's get married" like it was nothing. What the hell?" Slamming her hand down on the bed, she silently fumed in anger at the boy's lame proposal. "I seriously don't understand how Temari even said yes. Hell, if Kiba had done that to me, then that boy can kiss my ass goodbye. Imma find myself a better guy that can actually propose the right way. Hmph!"
Silence came rolling in as Ino sat back in her seat, calming her anger down. Sighing, she continued on, "Naruto and Hinata are such sweethearts. I swear, they're going to be together forever. They're like THAT couple, you know. I can just feel it." A smile made it's way to Ino's face, "Their parting scene was just adorable! A totally classic airport movie scene. The tears, the confession, and the big smooch. Man, you should have been there. God, the feels. THE FEELS! Those two are so sweet it's disgusting." Laughing, she shook her head, "Just kidding."
"Neji and Tenten's parting wasn't that special... but I think they already said their official goodbyes the night before. I think that's why, they came so late to the farewell party." Ino nodded to no one in particular but herself. "Yeah. That filthy rich bastard probably planned some fucking expensive dinner at some five star restaurant. But you know Neji, he's reserved, so their parting wasn't like Naruto's and Hinata's. It was sweet and simple. A parting kiss and that's pretty much it."
"Me on the other hand, I'm staying here in Konoha with the rest of the girls and Kiba's heading out to some veterinarian school that's nearby too. So no special, fucking overly romantic epic chick flick parting for me." Ino sighed drearily like it pained her not to have that experience. "And then," her voice got awfully quiet after that. "Sasuke...," Ino glanced at Sakura, whispering she said, "girl, why didn't you wake up?"
"You left him... so... so broken hearted. Why didn't you wake up, honey? Everything would have been... I don't know... perfect?" Ino whispered, sadness lacing around the edges of her voice. "He looked so lost out there in the middle of that airport, he looked like a lost boy... staring at all the other couples around him. I'll never forgot that sad look he had in his eyes when everyone said goodbye to each other. That's something I'll never forget. He kept on staring over our shoulders, and sometimes his phone, hoping... wishing... almost begging that you were there with him. Honey, why? ...You took his heart - no, you freaking ripped it out of him."
Ino was crying by the time she ended her story. The world was just so cruel for the two, it never gave Sakura nor Sasuke a break. First, the damn wretched wedding, then the bitchy insane Akame, and now this. Wasn't one wrecking ball enough? Why three? That was something she never understood in life, granted that she was only eighteen years old. Why did bad things always happen to good people? Sweethearts like Sakura... like why? And then all those bastards out there get everything good in life, like that god damn asshole who caused this disaster in the first place. That damn asshole got away too. Ino never understood life anyways.
"...I-I... I didn't take his... heart... He t-took mine before I even had the c-chance to t-take his..."
'What?' Ino snapped her head up so fast that she got a whiplash from it. She couldn't believe her ears, it was like she was in a movie at the moment. "...S-Sakura...?" Scenes like this only happens in the movies. But she better believe it because it was for real because she got an answer in reply. "...yeah...?"
Her baby blue eyes were replaced with tears of joy as she enveloped Sakura in a big, tight hug. "Oh, my gosh. You're awake!" Babbling incoherent things, she smiled through her tears. She was just so, so happy. "I can't believe this... you're really awake!" Ino leaned back slightly to inspect the girl in her arms, her eyes shining brightly. The girl looked the same as always with her luscious pink locks and vibrant emerald eyes. Nothing had change.
Just to make sure, Ino began blurting out questions like a professional doctor, "What's your name? Date of birth? How old are you? Where do you live?"
Sakura looked at her strangely, "My name is Haruno Sakura. March 28th. I'm eighteen and I live in Konoha."
"Yes!" Ino exclaimed. Hugging her tightly, she mumbled into Sakura's hair, "You don't amnesia either! God bless you, girl!"
"But... who are you?"
Ino's eyes widen, looking back at Sakura, who's brows were knitted together, confusion written all over her face.
Maybe... something did change...