Something More
Chapter 1: Blurry
Summary: sasuxsaku How could it end so quickly? How come it took me seventeen years to live, but only a matter of minutes to slip away into the quiet abyss of death? Sasuke… No… Sasuke… I just need to tell you… one more thing…
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Notes: Hello again :D
Due to popular (or so I like to think) demand and my lack of creativity to think of a new plotline, here is the alternative-ending-turned-into-a-new-story of What I Wanted. It follows chapter 9, Betrayal, right after Sasuke stabs Sakura. Even though this is an alternative ending, it's more like a sequel that starts from the middle of the first story XD
I hope it's still as enjoyable as What I Wanted with a little less angsty parts :D Or… so I tried XD This chapter has my normal dose of confusion and impossible event XD
If you haven't read What I Wanted, you can find it in my authored stories :D Or you can just read the overview of the plot so far below.
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What I Wanted Overview
On a summer night, Sakura's and Sasuke's parents are killed by none other than the infamous Uchiha Itachi. Soon after displaying his affections for Sakura, Sasuke leaves Konoha. Sakura grows a strong bond with Naruto and Sai, who are both on her Genin team and attracted to her. However, Sakura thinks that Sasuke is the only one for her even after two years. Unexpectedly, Sasuke returns to the village and asks for Sakura's help in his mission to murder Itachi. However, Sasuke realizes how immature and weak Sakura is, and leaves the village once again to find his sensei, Orochimaru. Finally, at the age of seventeen, Sakura finds the hide out of Orochimaru and Kabuto, but Sasuke's greeting to her is sharp and bitter.
"There was never an us."
Suddenly, he raises the kunai that he has been sharpening. In the light filtered through the window, I see that it is inscribed with two interlocked S's.
And he stabs me in the heart.
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I grit my teeth through the pain. I won't lose to someone like Uchiha Sasuke. His eyes are toward the ground, void of emotions. Using renewed strength, he digs the kunai even deeper into my body.
"Sasuke-kun…" I squeeze out the refreshing sound of his name from my closing windpipe. "What… were…" I can barely hear my own voice anymore. "…we…" The world is spinning around me and everything seems a hundred meters away.
He wrenches the weapon out of my weakening body, letting it drop to the bloody floor with a clatter. Suddenly, he brings me close and I can feel the summer breeze playing with my hair again.
"My… blood…"
Is dirty.
My eyes begin to close as Sasuke's arms tighten around my thin waist. Let me just sleep… I'm so tired.
It hurts too much.
Unexpectedly, I see the blurry images of Naruto, Sai, and Tsunade-sensei step in. How… impossible…
Sensei rushes over and pushes Sasuke roughly off of me.
No… I need the warmth… No… stop… please…
Everything begins to become hazy and the image of sensei's panicky expression as she tries to fix my broken body becomes only a shadow.
The dark pool of crimson rapidly increases in diameter as my life slowly slips away. How can it end so quickly? How come it took me seventeen years to live, but only a matter of minutes to slip away into the quiet abyss of death?
Sasuke… No… Sasuke… I just need to tell you… one more thing…
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I awake with a start on an unfamiliar soft, white surface. The hospital? I rub my eyes to rid myself of the hanging cloud of fatigue.
Turning my head slowly to my left, I see a familiar black and orange clad boy on an uncomfortable hard stool next to my bed with his head down on the stark white sheets.
"Naruto…"
"Nnnn…"
"Naruto… NARUTO!"
Naruto sits up immediately. "Sakura-chan!" he exclaims with obvious shock.
My outburst comes as a surprise to myself, and I gasp as a searing pain in my chest takes over my body. Suddenly, my breath becomes scarce, almost as if the air is choking my lungs. Naruto runs out of the sickly white room in a mad dash to find a nurse, but by the time she makes it to my room, the attack is over.
"Sakura-chan…" Naruto sighs, clearly relieved.
The nurse smiles and whispers something to Naruto. Even though her words are inaudible from my position on the bed, I can tell the subject of her sentences is me. Naruto's expression drops to a mature and emotionless level. Soon, the nurse leaves after a one-way conversation with him.
Feeling my stare upon him as the nurse exits, Naruto looks up at me with the same carefree smile that I have grown accustomed to.
"Sakura-chan… about that… incident," he finishes awkwardly. "That… Tsunade-sama barely saved you from the edge."
From his tone of voice and words he has chosen so carefully, I can tell that something is out of place.
"Sakura-chan… what I mean to say is that…" He starts to fiddle with my sheets, setting his look outside the window.
"You had a heart transplant."
Sakura-chan… you're so weak.
I force my lips to form a smile. "Well, then I'd like to thank my donor."
"That…"
The silence embraces us, and, for once, I wish Naruto wouldn't tell me the truth. I wish he could just say that it was some poor soul who was from a foreign village. I wish he would say it was just a joke.
"It was…"
If possible, the room could have exploded from the tension.
"Itachi."
My jaw drops open. Honestly, I had expected the name of someone more familiar to roll off of my best friend's tongue.
Wait… there was still something wrong.
"Itachi…" I begin.
"I killed him."
Another lie?
My heart sinks.
"But…"
Naruto cuts me off abruptly, "Sasuke killed him just a few hours before you found Orochimaru's hide out. Even though he said he loathed his brother, Sasuke's instincts were against him. He left Itachi hanging onto just a sliver of life. When we found him, Itachi had left his mangled body only minutes before."
I pull the thin white blankets up to my shoulders.
I'm disgusting.
"And Orochimaru?" I ask, biting my lip.
"He escaped."
A film of water distorts my vision. Is he lying?
Seeing my distress, Naruto excuses himself, "Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei is calling me to train with Sai. I'll be back in the afternoon."
What did I do wrong?
I hug my knees up to my chin under the white sheets and lean my forehead on them.
As I rock back and forth is a soothing rhythm, the softest footsteps entering my hospital room capture my attention.
Sasuke.
I don't know how to react, so instead I pull the loose hospital garments closer to my thin body. His eyes lock with mine, but his emotions are still a mystery to me.
Like with Naruto, my breath suddenly becomes short and the desire to sleep strengthens. Just as I can feel the cough about to rupture from my parched throat, a calloused hand touches my shoulder. I flinch at the foreign contact and the feeling of impending death ebbs away.
"Sakura…" he starts, but I don't let him finish.
The anger and betrayal I've tried for years to mask is brimming over the edge now.
"What was I to you?" I ask dangerously.
Silence.
"Did you know how it felt to live without knowing what you were doing?"
Silence.
"What is your fucking problem? Is it that hard to look at me?" By now, my voice has reached an extreme high. My heartbeat quickens to a risky pace, but I don't have time for that right now.
I reach over to the bed stand to find anything that I can hurt him with. If I can't hurt his heart, I can hurt him physically. Finding a white porcelain plate of fruit, I raise it, about to destroy that repulsive, twisted face.
But I can't.
That small part of me that still believes in love is tugging at me again.
My hand clutching the plate falls limply to the white blankets.
I turn to look out the window, letting my pink hair fall to the side of my face.
"What are you planning to do about Orochimaru?" I ask tentatively. He might leave me again; he might betray me again. But maybe…
He might love me again.
Sasuke shifts his position next to the bed. I can't bear to look at him because I don't know what I'll see. I might see an enemy instead of a lover.
"I don't know." He stands up to leave. Something tells me that if he leaves now, he'll be the one in the oasis of blood, not me.
My shoulders begin to shake uncontrollably.
"Is it that hard to choose between me and Orochimaru? Sasuke-kun, did you know what I wanted to say before you almost took my life?"
Before my mind can grasp the situation, the water is streaking down my cheeks.
Through my blurred vision, I can see his retreating figure turn around ever so slightly. Just a little more…
I need you.
His fingers brush the doorknob, but the deafening slam of the door never reaches me. Quickly, I wipe the tears from my eyes, trying to understand the situation with my best sense. My newly found vision is greeted by the close proximity of a certain dark haired juvenile.
"Sasuke…" This is so weak, but I was never born with the courage and strength he has. Throwing my arms around his strong neck, I cry into his fresh shirt.
And amazingly, he doesn't withdraw.