A/N: I'm not sure if I'll continue on with this story or not, but I hope you still enjoy!
To My Love
Chapter One
"Shizune! Hurry, she's losing too much blood!"
Blinding lights.
"Apply pressure!"
Surgery knives.
"Get more packets of blood! Now!"
Many pairs of worried, urgent eyes.
"Kami, please save this girl…"
A sob. And.
A numbing pain.
"Ugh…" Everything in front of her was extremely blurred, and she couldn't tell right from left, or up from down. She felt as if making any movement would cause her to faint. She blinked, and a sudden pain crossed through her head.
"S…Sakura-chan…!" A sudden voice whispered loudly and surprised. The girl couldn't even tell who had said that. She tried craning her neck to the side, but her body just wouldn't obey her.
"Tsunade! Tsunade!" The sound of hearing someone yell was causing her more pain. If only she could talk. If only she could tell that person to shut up. She could hear the distinct sound of uneven, panicked footsteps that stopped right in front of her.
"Sakura…" Another voice flowed through her ears. The pink-haired girl coughed and the person beside her gasped. The girl could feel something hot running down from her open mouth.
A hand swiftly covered her mouth. The girl could see a glowing charka peering out from the bottom of her still blurry vision. And the hand continued up to her eyes, and she could see again.
The person in front of her was Tsunade. She had never seen her mentor look so distressed and worried. "Tsunade-sama…" Sakura croaked out hoarsely. Tsunade shushed her gently and quietly.
"Sakura, you almost died on me there," The woman told her with the smallest of smiles. Sakura tried her best to return the smile. "I'm…sorry," She answered back, her voice cracking terribly.
Tsunade sat up in her chair and shuffled uncomfortably. Sakura frowned. Something was wrong. But before she could ask why, Tsunade answered her.
"Sakura. I know you're the type of person who likes to know things ahead of time. And I know with something like this, you would want me to tell you as soon as possible," She told her strictly. The pink-haired girl nodded slowly. Her heart was racing. What happened? Was it that bad?
"Sasuke-kun…and Naruto. Are they…" Sakura choked on her words, but Tsunade quickly shook her head and put a hand on her face. "They're perfectly fine. But you're…" She drifted off. Sakura's eyes widened.
"You're going to die in one month's time," Tsuande said, her voice breaking on the last few words. Sakura's eyes were still wide. But no tears brimmed their edges and no words could come from her throat. The only thing she wanted to ask was 'why'.
"You saved Sasuke and Naruto from that explosion. But contained in that explosion was a toxic gas. While you were passed out, you breathed in that gas and the poison could not be taken out. I'm sorry"—
"It's okay," Sakura whispered. "I'm okay," She continued. "I know you tried your best. But there's something I need to request from you," Sakura said, looking Tsunade right in the eye. "Sakura…"
"Tell everyone I'm dead. Tell them the surgery didn't work, and that the poison killed me," She said. Her voice was still cracking, but she could feel it growing stronger already.
"Sakura, I already told them the surgery was a success"—
"Tell them not all the poison was cleared away. Tell them it came back immediately and killed me," The pink-haired girl said, close to the verge of tears. "The poison rotted away my entire body, except for my clothes," Sakura said, pointing to the pile of bloody ripped clothes on the table.
"Sakura, why?" Tsunade asked, putting her hands on Sakura's shoulders. "I…I can't have them look at my like they know I'm going to die in one month. I'm sure you already told them about my remaining time," Sakura told her. Tsunade sighed, and nodded.
"If they knew, they would suffer so much on my last day of living. I don't want to die seeing them with sad faces." Sakura explained.
"And when I saved Sasuke and Naruto, I smiled at them, and told them everything was going to be okay. I want my smiling face to be the last thing they both remember; not my suffering, crying face."
"So…please. Tsunade-sama," Sakura declared, bowing her head down. Tsunade shook her head slowly.
"Sakura, they'll be devastated if I told them you died," She said truthfully. Sakura managed a small smile. "They can handle it. I have faith in them," She said. Tsunade looked Sakura in the eyes, before sighing and getting up.
"I'll go tell them now. You owe me, okay? I'll probably be the only one talking to you from now on," The woman joked very slightly before slipping out the door. Sakura sighed.
'Thank you, Tsunade-sama. I definitely owe you.'
Sakura suddenly realized how much she was sitting up, and quickly sank back into the comfort of her pillow. She looked out the window at the dull, rainy sky, and wondered what Sasuke and Naruto were thinking about.
Sasuke sat down uncomfortably on one of the hospital's seats. His hands were tightly clenched, making them look paler than ever. His teeth were unconsciously grinding against each other.
Naruto, on the other hand, was right beside the counter, constantly asking the nurses when he would be allowed to see Sakura. His blonde hair was extremely wild looking, and his usually tanned face was flushed.
Kakashi was continuously sighing on a hospital bench next to a fake plant. His one visible eye looked painfully tired and half-lidded.
"It's…all my fault," Kakashi muttered. Naruto shook his head from the head of the counter. "It's my fault. I wasted all my charka. And I…couldn't do anything," The blonde said pathetically.
"Naruto, I wasn't even there. I should've been there," Kakashi pointed out, sighing once again. Sasuke didn't say anything. He merely stared hard at the wall, thinking.
When Tsunade stepped into the waiting room, Sasuke and Kakashi instantly stood up as Naruto rushed towards her.
"How is she?" Kakashi was the first to speak because the others did not know which question to ask first. Tsunade tried her best to look grim. And by the looks on their faces, she succeeded. Naruto frowned.
"Baa-chan…she's not…?" He spluttered out, waiting in the suspenseful silence. Sasuke didn't know if he wanted to know the truth or not. Kakashi crossed his arms, but his face still looked worried.
"I…" Tsunade sighed and pain went through their hearts. "I'm sorry," She whispered. Naruto instantly grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Baa-chan, you're lying! You're obviously lying!" He shouted, shaking his head. Tears built up in his blue eyes and Tsunade tried hard not to look away.
"You said the surgery was successful!" Naruto continued. His tears now cascaded down his face and fell down from his chin. Sasuke glared at Tsunade and Kakashi looked on with wide eyes.
"We can still see her though, right?" Naruto shouted. Tsunade shook her head, growing teary from Naruto's reactions. "Naruto, in the explosion she saved you from, there was a toxic gas that went out. And Sakura breathed that in."
"Unfortunately, the poison took over her whole body. Her body's rotted away into nothing but her clothes," She said, holding up the tattered red top and tan shorts.
"Sakura's…gone?" Kakashi asked, as if he couldn't believe it. The Hokage nodded slowly, dabbing constantly at her eyes.
"You weren't trying hard enough to save her," Sasuke stated angrily. "Of course I tried my best," Tsunade snapped at him just as angrily. "She still would've been here if you actually tried," The Uchiha pressed on as his nails dug into his palm.
"Shut it, Uchiha," Tsunade said as some tears fell from her eyes. Sasuke scoffed turned away.
"Kakashi…" Tsunade sighed. Kakashi shook his head. "I…have to go home now," The man said, quickly disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Naruto's hands fell limply away from her shoulders and he stood there crying.
"Sakura-chan…is so stupid," He muttered, clenching his fists. Images of her last smiling face flooded into his mind and his throat went completely dry.
Sasuke marched stiffly out of the hospital's glass doors. Tsunade heard the sound of a tree being violently kicked down. That crash was instantly followed by a string of curses.
Tsunade frowned. 'If only you all knew…'
Sakura was sure Tsunade had let the boys know by now. Thinking about them brought tears to her eyes. She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. But then she quickly shook her head.
'This is for them. It's better this way,'
Sakura sighed.
'I hope the thing they remember most about me was my last smile for them…'
Sasuke. She wondered if he even cared that she had 'died'. He only looked at her dully when she had saved him and Naruto from the explosion.
Her thoughts and flashbacks were interrupted when there was a knock on the door. "Tsunade-sama?" She asked cautiously. She was relieved when Tsunade entered the room. But she didn't look too happy.
"They're extremely depressed," The woman stated. Sakura managed a smile. "They'll be okay," She said, though she felt like she was just trying to convince herself.
"Sakura, are you sure you want to do this? You'll have to stay isolated for a month," Tsunade asked seriously. Sakura nodded sternly. "I've already decided. If I could go on a four month mission, then I can definitely handle a one month isolation," She said smartly.
"It would be okay if Kakashi knew…"
"Tsunade-sama. Please," Sakura said, sighing. Tsunade also sighed, muttering, "I know, I know…"
There was an awkward pause, when Tsunade finally cleared her throat loudly and stood up. "Well, I have some…work to do. Or do you want me to work here so you can have company?" The woman asked. Sakura shook her head. "I'm good," She replied reluctantly.
"Goodnight, Sakura,"
"Night, Tsunade-sama,"
When the door was shut, Sakura instantly felt lonely and extremely isolated, which she was. She cleared out all her pessimistic thoughts and turned on the TV. Nothing interested her. Nothing could interest her at the moment.
Panic hit her when she finally realized what she would be going through for a month.
Pain.
Loneliness.
Isolation.
Suffering.
But, as long as her friends and teammates were feeling better than her, she was content. She didn't want to be lonely. But even if she had thought the whole situation, Sakura would have still chosen to go on 'dead'.
Knock, knock!
"Tsunade-sama," Sakura stated, but was surprised to see Shizune walk in. "S…Shizune-chan. You're not to supposed to know I'm ali"—
Shizune silenced her with a warm smile. "I was the one who saw you wake up. I guess you were too tired to tell. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Tsunade-sama has already informed me about the situation," She explained.
Sakura hadn't noticed that Shizune was holding a tray of rice crackers, strawberry cookies, and a cup of tea until she put it down on the table beside her. "T-thank you," Sakura said, realizing how hungry she was. The woman nodded.
"Would you like company?" She asked kindly. Sakura smiled. "It's okay. I'm sure you have lots of things to do," The pink-haired girl replied, picking up a sweet smelling pink cookie.
"True," Shizune said, sighing heavily. "Well, I hope you enjoy the snack," She said as she neared the door.
"Really, thank you," Sakura said. Shizune turned around, smiled and closed the door.
The pink-haired girl took a sip of the fragrant tea and looked at the curtained window.
It was going to be a lonely night.
A/N: I usually use the AU world for my stories, and I usually write romance/humor, not drama. I've been trying to switch into other genres, so hopefully I can practice my writing more.
jiyonge yeoja
