Tender Sea

Chapter 17

Dream

"Please... don't take him away from me! Don't take any more of my family away from me!" The ever-familiar blonde with bloodstained hair, trailing freely down her back and wartorn clothes, staggered towards the man she'd come to know as her brother. "Please!" She crouched by his body, noting the tiny shallow breaths, he struggled with.

"Na-ru...?" He turned his jade green eyes towards her, reaching up towards her with a blood covered hand. He had been taken down by a poisoned weapon, though from the way it had torn through his abdomen, it looked like it was going to be fatal regardless of the toxin. He was dying. His hand landed on her cheek, disrupting the steady flow of tears.

"Gaara..." Naru's vision blurred as the tears fell from her face. She couldn't lose him too, she wouldn't! "Just, hang on! Please...Sakura will be here any minute now." The red head blinked slowly. She should know it was hopeless, yet time after time she refused to face reality.

"N-naru," She tried to shush him, seeing as it was paining him to talk but he merely shook his head. "Stop crying... it doesn't suit you," He said slowly, smiling as she tried to furiously wipe away her tears for him.

"Please, stop talking Gaara," Naru pleaded, "Don't strain yourself." He gave a rough cough and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. These were his finals words, whether she wished to believe it or not, and he had to say them before his heart gave out.

"Thank you... Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto," He began with small brief stops in between, "For showing me how to love... how it was more than just a word. For healing my heart... and mending the ties between my family. For cherishing me... and becoming my... hope... all of our hope...I entrust you with the future...we all...believe in you."

"Don't entrust me with something that precious!" Naru shouted, tearing up again, "Live! And then we'll protect it together!"

"...I'm getting a bit... tired," The insomniac red head said softly, "I guess I should tell them hello... from Shikamaru..." The light in his eyes quickly began to fade, "Smile, Na-ru..." his arm went limp and his hand fell from her cheek, landing on the ground with a soft thump, as he gazed blankly up at the stormy sky.

"No, no, no, no!" She searched frantically for any sort of pulse, "Gaara, please, answer me!" He stared at her with now lifeless eyes and his rapidly cooling body. "Gaara... AARAHG!" She screamed into the sky, howling like an animal that had lost a member of its pack. Birds scattered and her voice rang out in the empty field. Her teammates heard her cry and hurried towards her, finding the poor girl trying her hardest to smile as she wept over the body of the Fifth Kazekage.

Reality

Miyu started awake, touching her cheek to feel the leftover tears from her dream. Unsurprisingly, it looked like she was back in Konoha's hospital, and very heavily bandaged.

''Kit,'' Kurama seemed relieved to know she was awake, ''you have finally awoken. I will come see you in a moment.'' He dropped out of the connection, leaving the girl back in solitude. Carefully, she tested each of her limbs, slowly flexing the muscles and checking for any pain. Other than a slight ache from her shoulder, most of her wounds seemed to be healed. Left with nothing to do other than lay there Miyu was swept up in a storm of her own thoughts. She assumed it was the close proximity of Suna which triggered the more recent flashback... or maybe the red of the puppeteer's hair...Sasori, she wondered what happened after she collapsed. Kurama had assured her before she blacked out that her team was safe so that was one less thing to worry about.

"I need to get stronger," Miyu sighed to herself, she didn't want to waste all her precious time in a hospital. The door swung slid open quietly, catching her attention, and a tired looking Iruka walked in with a fresh vase of flowers. He looked up and met her eyes, dropping the ceramic piece in surprise.