A/N: It's funny that I'm only getting around to doing this in the final chapter, but I don't own Naruto. I do own my OCs, and the plot of this story.
Two weeks later.
Despite the fact that he had been in her life ever since she was born, Hisa never really became too close to Sasuke. However, she would admit that he knew the best places to go when you needed to brood in silence. The rooftop she was currently sitting on gave her a beautiful view of the setting sun as it covered all of Konoha in shades of orange. She decided that she would check out that cliff he had recommended tomorrow.
She frowned when she heard a pair of feet landing on the roof. Maybe now would be a better time to check it out.
"Hisa?"
Oki. Of course it was Oki.
"Shouldn't you be off with your boyfriend?" Hisa said dully.
The footsteps grew closer, until Oki was directly behind her.
"Nawaki's at the hospital visiting Sakura. I thought you might like to come with me to see them."
"Nah," Hisa said with a shrug. "I'm fine here. It's nice and peaceful, kind of what I need right now."
Oki sat down beside her. Hisa kept her gaze firmly on the sunset, not willing to see the concern in her friend's eyes.
"How are you coping?" Oki asked gently.
"Everyone's asking me that." Hisa replied. "It's just like when I got the Rinnegan, except this time most of the genin and chunin and even some of the jonin are giving me nervous looks." She shrugged. "Not like I can blame them. The civilians were right all along. I couldn't control my power and ended up endangering everyone."
"But you didn't endanger everyone." Oki reminded her. "You stopped the Sage and took control back. Besides, it's not like the Sage would have hurt us all."
"I'm not sure about that." Hisa said quietly. "She really had no idea how much the world had changed. She probably would have killed half the shinobi in the world, just because they weren't being 'honourable' enough."
Oki shot her a look. Hisa sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But still, the Sage isn't as gone as you all believe."
"What do you mean?" Oki asked.
Hisa stared out at the village for a while, unsure of how to answer. Oki waited patiently until Hisa had gathered her thoughts.
"I can still feel it." Hisa said quietly. "The power. When I focus my chakra, it's right there, just outside of my reach. But I know that if I really stretch, I could get it. The problem is that I don't know if the Sage and the power are still connected, and I don't want to try and find out."
"Then don't." Oki said simply.
"But what if I'm on a mission and this big burly shinobi is strangling the life out of me? What's to stop me from using the power if I get desperate enough?"
"Us. Your team." said Oki. "Nawaki, Konohamaru-sensei and I will all be there with you. If you feel yourself getting desperate, just remind yourself that one of us will save you. Always."
Hisa grinned and extended her pinkie.
"Promise?"
This time it was Oki's turn to roll her eyes.
"We haven't done this since we were what, five?"
But she hooked her pinkie with Hisa's anyway.
"Promise."
Hisa smiled, and they were both quiet for a while.
"Feel better?" Oki asked.
"Not really." Hisa admitted. "But I will. Just give me time."
Oki got up and stretched her legs.
"While we're waiting…" she said cautiously. "…would you come with me to the hospital? It would be good for both you and Nawaki."
"Fine." Hisa sighed, pushing herself to her feet. "I suppose I can't brood forever. Otherwise, I might develop Sharingan. Oh wait, I already have one."
"Of course." Oki said dryly. "Excessive brooding. That's why you have the Sharingan."
"It's like a requirement if you want to be an Uchiha."
"You might actually be onto something there…"
!
Nawaki sat on the chair, staring down at the unmoving body.
His mother lay on the bed, a tube under her nose, and various wires connecting her to machines that Nawaki hadn't dared touch. He had a feeling that if he put a finger on any one of the fancy devices, he would somehow end up breaking it. Most of the machines emitted a steady humming noise, but one that he knew was a heart monitor made a beeping sound every second. It had been distracting at first, but now Nawaki found it almost soothing.
He glanced out the window. Night had fallen, and it was impossible to see anything but inky blackness outside. Three of the walls were bare, and the fourth one was made of glass. It separated the room and the corridor, and it let Nawaki see what was happening in the ward, and vice versa. But Nawaki hadn't seen anyone walk by yet tonight. Despite the noises from the machines, the place felt empty, deserted.
He shivered, turning instinctively towards Sakura. Every time he looked at her, a small part of him hoped that she would have changed somehow, shown some sign of life. Instead, she was motionless, her face blank. Nawaki focused hard on the wall behind her head. Seeing her like this… It felt like she was dead.
"Hey Mom." he said quietly. "It's Nawaki again. You're probably getting sick of me constantly being here, but… well, I miss you."
He stopped. Nothing changed. The only indication that she was alive was the steady beeping of the heart monitor.
"It's been… tough, coming back here." he continued. "Everyone kind of hates me, but I don't really blame them." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I screwed up Mom. I really, really screwed up, and a lot of people got hurt. A few people even died, and it's my fault."
"I'm sorry."
He looked at Sakura again. Nothing.
"Some things have been really good though." he said, his voice brighter. "I'm living with Sasuke now. He knows what it's like to have the village angry at you, so he does his best to shield me from it. It's kind of awkward living with him, but we don't really see that much of each other anyway, since he spends most of his time at the station. I'm not comfortable
enough to call him 'Dad' yet, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be, but we're trying to make it work.
Could Sakura hear him? If she could, how was she reacting inside? He couldn't tell, so he kept talking.
"Sasuke said something that I think you would have liked to hear. He said that he thinks he's in love with you. I know it doesn't sound like much, but put it in context. This is Sasuke Uchiha. Coming from him, it's like asking for your hand in marriage."
Still no reaction. Nawaki couldn't help but feel disappointed.
What were you expecting? He thought bitterly. That knowing Sasuke thinks he loves her will magically snap her out of this coma?
He kept talking.
"Sasuke and Naruto have agreed on what to do about me and Hisa having the Mangekyo Sharingan. We're not to use it except as a last resort, and when Sasuke dies, he agreed to let both me and Hisa have one of his eyes. He's my father, not my brother, so I don't know if it'll be perfect, but it should be enough to stop us from going blind. It depends on when Sasuke will die. We all hope that it won't be anytime soon, but he has a dangerous job. I hope you wake up soon, so that you two can talk properly, without the Ten-tails influencing you. Sasuke is the jinchuriki of the Ten-tails now, but he seems to be ok with it. I mean, he always looks grim, and he broods a lot anyway, so I don't think it's influencing him the way it did you. Maybe it's just the different seals."
He paused to stare at her stomach. For years, she had had a seal there, and he had never noticed. How could he have been so oblivious?
He shook his head, and concentrated on what else he wanted to tell her.
"So, yeah, being on trial was pretty scary. All these clan elders were yelling stuff and pointing at me, but then Sasuke stood up and just glared at them, and they all settled down. Then Naruto said that he thought I should be spared. He really is one of a kind mom. He lost his son because of me, and he still tries to defend me. It was… the strangest thing I've ever seen, but it also made me feel something in my heart, if that makes any sense."
Another glance. Still no sign of life. Nawaki gave a small sigh, and kept going.
"So, I'm currently on probation. I probably won't be allowed leave the village for another few months, and it'll probably be years before I'm trusted with a solo mission, but it's not that bad. I do D-Ranks around the village, and I do a lot of community service, fixing the houses that Obito destroyed and helping the families that were harmed. A lot of them give me dirty looks and try not to talk to me, but one or two little kids ask me to play with them sometimes. It's nice."
His head snapped around to face his mother. Had she moved? He stared at her for a minute, but the heart monitor continued to give a steady beep, and his mother remained still. In the end, he was forced to admit that he had imagined it.
"I'm suspended from my team too. But it's not as bad as I thought. I spent three days just sitting in Sasuke's house before I realised that I can't hide from them forever. So I went down to our usual training ground, and there they were. It took them a minute to notice me, but then it got really awkward. Hisa was calm, Konohamaru-sensei was unreadable and Oki's expression kept changing. She ran towards me, and at first I thought she was going to punch me, but then she just hugged me and I think she cried a bit. Then Hisa punched me in the shoulder and Konohamaru-sensei told me that I was just in time for sparring. I fought Hisa, and she won, but for the first time, I didn't care. I was just happy to be there, it didn't matter about beating her anymore. I realised then that I would have years to train and fight and eventually beat her, and that just made me really, really, happy."
He sighed and rubbed his Rinnegan eye.
"They act ok around me, but I know that it's not all fixed yet. I mean, Oki almost died because of me. We're still figuring out how to act around each other after everything that's happened, and Hisa's 'boyfriend' comments aren't helping. Konohamaru thanked me, because apparently the attack gave him the chance to save Hanabi from being crushed and because of that he got laid, but I don't think he's as comfortable around me as he pretends. Sometimes, I catch him staring at me, like he's waiting for me to snap and try to kill everyone."
His gaze had drifted from the wall to his fingers, which were twisting themselves around each other.
"But Hisa is the one who I'm most worried about. I mean, she lost her brother and… well, I'm not sure what Kawa was to her but he was definitely important and now he's dead because of me. But it's like she doesn't care, or at least, she doesn't blame me. She's not the same as before either. She's… lighter. She doesn't take herself as seriously anymore, and she acts a lot more relaxed. But at the same time, it feels like she's hiding something. It's like something's eating her up from the inside, and I don't know how to help her because I'm scared that I'm the one causing it."
His voice was getting hoarse, and it felt like he was choking.
"I just… I have no idea how to fix this, and I don't have anyone to go to. I need you Mom. You've always been there to help me when I messed up, and now that I've messed up big time, I've never needed you more. Everyone misses you. Sasuke, Naruto, Ino, Sai and your parents all come to visit you whenever they can. We need you Mom. We all need you."
He sighed, running his hand through his pink hair. There wasn't really a point to dyeing it anymore and people laughing at his hair was better than people glaring at his eyes in hatred.
"But I know that it's not up to me, or to any of us. It's up to you when you decide to wake up, and I can't spend my whole life sitting here wishing for what might never happen. Since I normally don't have much to say, I'm going to try only visiting you once a week."
He leant over and kissed her forehead. With one last look, he turned around, began to walk and-
-froze when he heard a small moan. He spun around, barely registering the jumping pace of the heart monitor. His mother had moved. She had moved.
He raced out of the room, dashed down the corridor, ran up the stairs past a startled Oki and a bemused Hisa and burst into the nurse's office.
"Nurse! I need a nurse! Quickly!"
The End.
A/N: Yup, this is the end. What happens next is up to your imagination. Maybe Sakura died, maybe it was a false alarm or maybe she woke up. Either way, this is as far as it goes.
Writing this has been amazing. I never thought I would get so much support for this story, and I'm grateful for everyone who took the time to read this to the end.
This story has a lot of flaws. There were patches of bad characterization, typos, and moments where the plot wasn't all that good. But at the same time, it's my first fanfiction, and I'm damn proud of it.
So, for the very last time, thanks to gameipedia, maitri, iluvninjas, nekochan1994, Naruto, , Duesal10, The Nett-chan, goldennagato, blade554, CeliaUchiha23, ermda, Heather, Hanna Lee, Judith121189, YamiHinata, awesomeinhumanfrom, Cindy, Eyman A iraq, makkyj13, Ari-cchi, nikkip62683, stop for a moment, mistertstewart, Xyz, Miranda, constantinite, Redsox31, Dave Brooks, kitkatlovesmakara, nnereus, candyish12345, Lily Evans Potter Black Lupin, Aoka-Senpai, anqiaj, Ayukazi with Kitty, shadowritergirl, Haisuli123, itachisasuke, Serious Sam, leafstone, LesMislover2013, RedEYES-Fallen, messijb45, December 25th, Kathya, , Hakuna , all the anons and anyone in the future, for all the reviews.