Naruto - Tell Me Goodbye

Even as a sharp jolt shot through her body, there was only one singular thought on her mind. "Is he ok?"

He moved aside the cloak that was draped over his shoulders to reveal the safe little bundle cradled in the crook of the young man's arms. By then, she could see the other guards gathering around them in a protective circle. Or rather, around him to keep their lord and master safe from harm. Too little too late to save her from the task of coming to the rescue, though. But at the very least, they had been swift enough to move in and capture the intruder once all the confusion had settled enough to understand what was going on. The kunoichi could at least take comfort in that, what little it was worth now. He had chosen his guardians well. But even that much wouldn't have been enough if she weren't there.

"Why did you do that?"

Pressing down on her abdomen with a wince to try and staunch the bleeding, she shifted her eyes to meet his gaze. And there was a brief second of relief that washed through her when the kunoichi felt the pressure of his hand doing the same.

"You know, you ask a lot of questions for a genius," she rasped, suppressing the pending pain as much as she could by sheer will alone, if only to give him the benefit and comfort of a false perception of her condition. This, the kunoichi did easily and with little effort. Her entire life and career had been built on pain, both that of others and her own. And through it all, she had learned to steel herself from it as best she could for as long as it could be managed in order to complete whatever task was at hand. For the sake of the mission. For the sake of herself. But the blade hand run deep, and there was a coldness in her limbs that she had only ever remember feeling once before. And she had barely come back from that experience.

As if sensing the distress between them -- between his father -- the child in his arms gave a pleading wail, drawing the young woman's attention. And with a few tired blinks of her eyes, the fog that had begun to edge in around her vision cleared just enough to see the shinobi's face hovering close above her own. It was smoothed out in neutrality and indifference, betrayed little thought beyond the gentle knit of his brows as it always had. And to that, she could only give a wavering smile up at him. Because she could read the true tempest of emotions that resided underneath his hardened shell. She always could after he freed her from the chains of Oto.

Letting out a heavy breath, the kunoichi closed her eyes to the harsh light of the sun beaming down from overhead and lingered in that thought. It wasn't until she felt his grip suddenly tighten around her fingers that she thought of how her actions might have been perceived, given the circumstances. So it was in searching for his gaze and giving him every indication that she was still alive that the kunoichi thought to answer his previous question.

"You told me to protect him, and that's what I'm gonna do," came her quiet response. And though her fingers were far too bloodied to ever taint the pure soul of a baby -- both by time and by her own -- she thought to make this one exception. Koushin deserved that much of an apology, at least. "No matter what the consequences."

He said something then to the people gathered around them before muttering something to her. But the words were too muffled -- the kunoichi's mind was too clouded -- for her to make sense of any of what was being said. Not that it mattered much. It would be too late, she could tell, for any help to come. This was one injury that Sakura would not be able to mend. Already the poison had worked its way through half of her body, slowly yet surely, only to stop when the beat of her own heart ceased completely with a final thump of life.

There wasn't much time left.

"Besides, I made a promise to you, remember?" she continued, giving a sudden pause and a sharp inhale of breath when it seemed like her lungs would burst from a lack of oxygen, "To help you see your goals achieved."

The young man leaned in closer, his voice softer than she remembered ever hearing it. "And you've been more loyal than anyone."

"Well... it's not very good of a mother to just let their child die for the sake of her own life, right?" she playfully retorted with a scoff, "I might be a kunoichi born to kill, but my son's life comes first above everything else... as does my husband's."

And the comment was followed by a brief bout of chuckling. Or it would have if the dryness of the kunoichi's throat had not thrown her into a fit of coughing. All the while, she could feel more and more blood spill out from the cut that stretched across her stomach, spilling out over their joined hands as they made a futile attempt to stop it all. To stop time and the last few minutes before both their lives would change forever. But they were only ninja. They were only shinobi. And no carefully crafted technique could stop what was to come, no matter how much they willed it.

Carefully and cautiously, he laid the child over her chest, away from the red flow of her life's essence and within sight of the woman's already fading eyes. One last time, his actions said. One chance to say goodbye.

"They... were after me." His brows furrowed deeper then and there were red flecks of anger in his Sharingan at the helplessness he no doubt felt. "It should've been me."

Gently and with a bit of trouble, she placed her hand on his arm, his body already feeling so much warmer than hers as the kunoichi closed her fingers around the young man's wrist. And even as the focus in her eyes began to dim around the edges of her vision, still she kept his gaze. "I've never regretted anything I've done in this life... and you shouldn't either. You gave me a good life, and a better one that I could ever hope for."

And for the briefest of instances, his facade cracked and the pulse of his wrist wavered for two beats before continuing on like normal. And that was enough for her to know -- for her to tell -- his true feelings.

"Don't worry, I'll wait for you in the next one," the kunoichi mumbled, still managing to find some strength to tease at his expense, "Just don't be so stubborn this time."

And as her grip lessened and weakened, he hesitated a moment before slowly taking her hand in his. Before brushing aside the few strands of hair that had managed to fall free from the usual ties she used to keep her locks bound and out of the way of the daily toils of a shinobi. And in leaning down close, he did something that he would rarely do whilst in the eye of the public. Because such moments were meant to be special and private, he had once said. Because their shared lives were meant for them and them alone. No one else. And only after another brief pause of quiet consideration did she feel the light press of his lips against her forehead.

"Tell me, Sasuke... just this once."

But even while she could sense the heat of his body shifting around -- even while she could still recognize the caress of his breath against her ear -- the kunoichi could feel her spirit fading; her consciousness slipping into the darkness that was already surrounding her. Only through sheer will and determination did she manage to stay with him long enough to hear the words whispered to her dying soul.

"...I love you, Tenten."