Ice Prince 7 END

"...Sas...ke...,"

"finally your ice melted..."


Chapter 7: Lost forever

And with that, Naruto's eyes in turn, turned to ice before it was locked away to a place where Sasuke could no longer reach.

Sasuke's heart was aware of the situation far earlier than any other part of himself, including his brain or mind and he felt a surge of burning heat flaring and all the heartstrings pulled in together the heart so hard that it was suffocating Sasuke till he was breathless. Too much pain was compelling inside him that he couldn't even find himself to cry aloud or bring out the tears which were a moment ago, falling freely down his frozen cheeks.

Small, disturbed cries barely escaped Sasuke's throat as he tried to cry and also inhale oxygen which he was very much lacking, but the pain was too unbearable to let the lungs function properly. Sasuke clutched his chest where his heart should be and leaned forward on Naruto.

Finally Sasuke's body found limit to the lacking oxygen and forced Sasuke to inhale air into his lungs which then gradually allowed Sasuke to sob fresh tears upon his team mate's body, a breathless repeating word of an apology which would never reach any team mate's ears any longer and then let out a long, loud and strangled cry of despair.

The sensation of being alone and solitary gave a heavy weight in Sasuke's chest and his mind was swallowed by darkness again.

He was just too late...

Too late...

Scrunching of snow was heard soon after and bright light flashed into the cave blindingly but no one in the cave was there to squint at the light which shone like hope, but in reality only making tragedy more visible than ever.

People walked into the cave, but Sasuke didn't care nor look up since none of his senses seemed to work, as if all his body and mind broke down to the point that it will never recover again.

"Hey..." a soft voice that belonged to Neji called out to the blank-faced Sasuke who now only became a mere doll with glassy eyes that continuously streaked his cheeks with tears which never seemed to stop flowing.

Nevertheless, Neji kept talking to Sasuke, "Kiba told us the whereabouts of this team, and we're here to take you back home."

Neji tried to pry away Sasuke's arms from Naruto with a few struggles but when Lee, Kakashi and Gai came into the cave after Neji, Kakashi saw the problem and pulled Naruto away from Sasuke slowly, "Sasuke. We're going home. I'll take Naruto," and eventually, Sasuke's grip became loose and was pulled by Neji onto his back to carry him back to Konoha. Kakashi also took in Sakura over his shoulder while Gai and Lee took the rest of the team.

Neji couldn't help but notice Sasuke's cold body and finding that not even his back was helping Sasuke regain warmth. He was surprised to see Sasuke like this, broke to pieces like a mirror broken into millions of shards, but then again, this was Sasuke's second time losing many of who he cared for.

Three days after the rescue, Sasuke was still in bed with his muscles all limp and unusable. He needed rehabilitation to be able to walk again, but it was almost as if his insides were mentally dead with depression overload, not that it could be helped after a tragedy like so. But with no mental strength, the doctors discussed with Kakashi that Sasuke will not recover as fast as rehabilitation would normally be.

Sandaime, third Hokage, came to visit Sasuke in bed on the second day and apologized for being reckless to send such young ninjas to a dangerous mission, but Sasuke wasn't listening nor did any of the Hokage's words reach his ears. The only words that he heard were all Naruto's words which repeatedly filled his mind, driving him insane. Yet his eyes were still lifeless like glass beads and no one was able to break through into Sasuke to bring him out of his depression.

When he finished rehabilitation after 3 months and was released from hospital, he went around to all his team mates' houses and apologized to each family, having just enough consciousness to do so.

All parents were crying and some smiled at him while others shouted at him, and Sasuke received all sorts of words and emotions from people.
The hardest to cope was at Sakura's house where there was screaming from the mother.

"Sorry isn't good enough! You stole my Sakura! Giver her back to me! Give my Sakura back you evil, twisted killer!" she screamed with tears flowing down her fury-filled face which was scrunched in despair and wet with tears of sorrow.

Sasuke had his head bowed low and tears glinting on the shadowed face as he was guilty for Sakura's death the most as he reminisces the last words he ever said to the girl who had feelings for him.

" Shut up Sakura! It's hell annoying. And if you didn't realize, the one's left excluding you don't even have a family"

Sasuke regretted those words so badly that he would have done anything to take those words back.

Sasuke walked aimlessly around the village alone after leaving Sakura's house, feeling empty as if his soul contained nothing whatsoever while his face wasn't even able to make a single expression. Since his last hope of a team mate also left his side.


-flashback-

2 months had passed and Neji often came to see Sasuke during all those times. Sasuke had said he wanted to apologize to the Hyuuga family and with Neji, he was allowed to go out of hospital for a short period of time.

Sasuke walked with crutches over to the Hyuuga house with Neji supporting at his side, and he knelt before the Hyuuga family, apologizing for not being able to save his team mates, including Hinata.
On the way back to the hospital, a certain someone crossed Sasuke's mind and he rounded to Neji.

"Where's Kiba?" Sasuke asked, wondering why he wasn't there to visit him at the hospital. Neji's lips turned to a line, looking grim before slowly opening his mouth to reveal the truth.

Sasuke and Neji went over to where Kiba was, which was back in the hospital, where Kiba was in a coma. It seemed that once Kiba had reached Konoha to get help, Kiba breathlessly told the whereabouts of the cave, before passing out. When he woke up a few days later, Kiba was taken to a place without explanation and then saw Akamaru get put down without a warning, right in front of him.

Akamaru wasn't going to be able to make it with any medical ninjutsu so it was the best solution for him, but Kiba couldn't take the shock and he lost consciousness to an unpredictable coma from mental shock.

"No..." Sasuke crumpled to the hospital floor beside Kiba's bed, "that's not fair... you getting to apologize then leaving me behind as well... "

Sasuke's mental breakdown this time was a light one, but nevertheless he was back in his own bed for a couple of days again with glassy eyes and unconscious body movements, auto-piloting his body.

"Nobody gives me a chance to apologize... "

-end of flashback-

Sasuke walked around the village, everywhere reminded him of someone who passed away, slipping from his grasp right in front of him. Sasuke was drowning deeper and deeper each day with the heavy feeling of guilt and the burning pain in his heart.

He wanted it to end.

He wanted everything to end.

Everybody noticed Sasuke's drowning presence and became a worried. Sasuke was making himself ill mentally and it was a matter of time before he broke down and became truly insane.

And those words spoke truth, Sasuke's legs had brought him to a cliff where Sasuke and Naruto came once in awhile to spar in their own free time, the one with slippery edges and pitch blackness at the bottom of the cliff where no one will be able to find any who will drop down there.

Sasuke looked down it and without much thought; he shifted a leg near the edge.

That was when Sasuke heard a voice from behind that he knew too well.

"No... it can't be," Sasuke whispered, not ever daring himself to look back to once again fall in despair after raising his hopes.

But his hopes hadn't betrayed him.

"Yes, it can. I was in a coma, but they didn't want to inform you that I could awaken because they didn't want to raise your hopes up for the worst."

Sasuke slowly turned around and widening his eyes at the sight before him as the person held out his arms, inviting Sasuke to an embrace.

Sasuke's legs weakened as he tumbled forward and landed in the person's warm arms, solid and real, not his eyes creating a hallucination. Finding that he wasn't dreaming nor had lost his mind, Sasuke wrapped his arm in a tight embrace, breaking down in tears as he heard the person spoke.

"It's okay now, former ice prince," Sasuke heard a grin in that voice, "I'm here for you now and always will be."

Sasuke longingly said out the name he thought he lost.

"Naruto..."

Naruto smiled.

"Tadaima, Sasuke..."


end





*tadaima= I'm back