Ahem. Err...hi? I don't known if anyone is going to ever read this, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyways! I was inspired by the many, wonderful works of fanfiction on this site in regards to the Naruto universe, and decided to add my own work to the ever growing pool. This was specifically inspired by Silver Queen's "Dreaming of Sunshine", Lang Noi's "Catch Your Breath", Vixen Tail's "Déjà vu no Jutsu", and basically anything that black. k. kat writes. This is an SI/OC. I hope you enjoy the ride!

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Prologue-Reverberations

"Every decision that we make has significance. The tiniest choice that we make reverberates throughout the entire universe."-Anonymous

You know, whenever the concept of how she wanted to die came up, she tended to change the subject. First, the mere idea was morbid and horrifying, because, 'who wants to die, damn it?', but second, because dying scared her. She didn't want to just…just be gone, to exist no longer, to have nothing of her left behind in this world. She supposes that's probably the reason she always tried so damn hard to do things, to get involved in the world around her, not because she wanted to make a difference, but because she wanted some piece of her left behind even if she was no longer there.

At first, there is nothing. Just a numbness. Then, heat. Searing, horrifying heat that feels like its going to consume her from the inside out, its point of origin her chest, but the pain and fire quickly spreading to the rest of her.

So, this? The fact that she's currently in a hospital, hooked up to all manner of beeping and whining and wailing machines, and slowly drifting away? This definitely was not the way she wanted to go out.

Pain. Worse than anything she's ever felt in her life, and she both regrets and doesn't regret her decision. There was no other way, right? This was…it was for the best, really.

When she'd originally gotten the diagnosis, a year before she'd been about to take the next big step in her life, she hadn't believed them. There was no way the doctors could be right. There was no way she was…that she had…She didn't want to die! She wanted to live! She wanted to become a doctor, go into research, find someone to love, get married, raise a family…do so many things.

Things that she'd never get to do now, if the way her weak, weak, weak body was giving out was any indication.

Lightning, racing across her nerve endings. She can feel herself slipping away, but the pure shock and disbelief and terror, written across his face, keeps her conscious. She manages a trembling smile for him, trying for reassurance, always trying to keep him together and safe.

Always failing.

She supposes that the fact she managed to survive another year, against the odds, is a miracle on its own. She doesn't really care about that now, because the sounds of sobbing are penetrating the dark haze and the numbness, and she fights, she struggles, refusing to go out just yet! She pulls back long enough to offer up a trembling smile for her loved ones, for her family, the people she's…she's leaving behind.

They tried so hard to help her, to save her, to keep her alive, but in the end, there was nothing anyone could have done. But they stayed. They stayed, suffering along with her, even when she tried to get rid of them to spare them pain. Nothing worked, and now here she is, surrounded by them as she slips away.

"I'm sorry." She murmurs, slumping forward against him, and he lets out a horrified, gasping breath. She is slipping again, feeling memories rushing past her, of the life she's lived and the people she loved. She's sorry she's leaving them behind, but this was the only way to protect them, to keep them safe. "Thank…you…" She chokes out, and she...

is…

gone.

Gone for only a moment before other memories come rushing forward, subsuming her, erasing everything she is and ever was. Memories that make her scream and regret and ache, because no! No, no, no!

How could she have known? They were buried, supposedly scrubbed away, but why must they come back now, as she floats in the void of some place in between? Is she meant to suffer for her decision? But…but how could she have known, damn it?!

'Please!' She begs the darkness, the void, the emptiness surrounding her and slowly wiping her away. 'Please, let me try again! Please, let me save them this time. Please…please…"

There is a brief flicker of warmth in the dark, and she is surprised before she can suddenly feel nothing at all. She is once again gone, but in her place, is something…something different. Perhaps someone different. Someone who can make a difference, who can change things in a world once thought to be static and trapped in its fate.

He only hopes.

But…even though she's fading away, she knows they loved her. She knows that they'll move on and keep living, living for her, because it's the only thing she wanted. So, if this is the way she's going to die…well, she supposes that there are worse ways to go.