Naruto: Lost In Kishimoto [Book 1]

Chapter Eight: An Unsure Mind

Sasuke POV

As I sat by her bed, unable to stop myself from replaying the events which transpired only days ago, I couldn't stop the anger which brewed in my veins.

The world I had accepted had experienced an irreversible shift since her arrival. Every goal that I had worked towards had fogged over, masked by the sprinkle of joy she attempted to throw in my direction every time we spoke. In some ways I hated her, hated her for distracting me from my path of vengeance. But in my soul I knew that it was just another front. A wall I had put up to stop myself from recognising the inevitability of truth. The truth that she had brought to the surface feelings I had long since forgotten. Feelings of loneliness.

Tazuna's daughter, who had introduced herself as Tsunami,  stood in the room with me. Carefully, she replaced Beth's bandages before moving on to the beaten Kakashi. Kakashi had woken up a day after we had arrived at Tazuna's house, his claims being that his injuries weren't ideal but far from life-threatening. Beth, however, had yet to wake. Her body still and frozen, her breaths quiet and shallow.

Tsunami reassured us that she would awaken, but in the back in my mind I couldn't help but listen to the figureless voice as it haunted me. "You didn't get to her quick enough. Another person dies because of your incompetence". Just then, a sharp pain erupted from my palms. Looking down, my eyes widened as I realised that I had somehow held my hands into so tightly a fist, my fingernails had cut through the flesh of my palm.

I had to calm down. Beth's condition wasn't my concern. There were other matters which forced my attention. I had to get stronger. Had to train harder. I was falling behind. He's slipping away.

The day before, Kakashi had spent hours teaching us how to better control our chakra usage. I had trained all day and night, attempting to climb to the top of a tree using only the soles of my feet. I couldn't understand how Sakura, of all people, had managed to complete the task so easily. In the end, I managed to get the hang of it, but it took too long, wasted too much time.

"How is she?" I asked before I could stop myself. Tsunami gave me a gentle smile, but it didn't take a trained eye to see right through it.

Though stable, Beth was still badly hurt. Heavy bruising covered the majority of her body, cuts and scraps scattered amongst the sea of purple and blue. She would be in a lot of pain when she woke up. Though it was obvious Beth had been pummelled by Zabuza during their fight, I couldn't help but wonder if the injuries she received were less serious than they had developed to be. From watching the encounter, Kakashi had seemed to receive the brunt of the violence, and yet Beth was the one knocked out.

Tazuna had felt responsible for Beth and Kakashi's injuries and had since become increasingly hospitable towards us. Although, I wondered if that was partially in response to Tsumani's wicked stare that seemed to find him whenever he threatened to shoot us another pointed comment.

As Kakashi entered, having been unaware of my solo presence in Beth's room, I immediately jumped up to stand. He was still walking with crutches, but he looked much better than he had the day before.

"Sasuke," he began, surprise in his voice, "still here?" I shrugged the pointed question off before moving towards the door to leave. On approaching the door, Kakashi sensei placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "You couldn't have got there any quicker. In fact, I was very impressed. You were right in your decision making." I gritted my teeth once more and turned to look at him.

"I know I did what was right. She was lucky our plan succeeded." Attempting to shrug off Kakashi's grip, I felt it only tighten.

"No. You did the right thing for both of them. Tazuna and Beth." I was silent as Kakashi finally released me, allowing me to make my way back out to the lounge room. Sakura and Tsunami had returned with a few bags of groceries, the vegetables small and of poor quality, none I would consider eating.