Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or the song "Cancer", they belong to their respective creators.
A/N: I know, I know, I need to update my other fanfics, but trust me, I'm trying! Again, I'm sorry. I've really been trying but its just so hard when I have to study Anatomy almost every night, and have Art projects pilled up to be done, that are late! I'm stressed out and over run with stuff! So, if you're mad at me, I'm sorry and I hope you will still read my updates, if I ever have enough energy to focus on them. Also, I'm in the process of creating my own manga, for TokyoPop's Rising Stars of Manga. Again, sorry. If you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why. Anyway, I wrote this little thing after listening to "Cancer" by MCR a few times. I think it took me about an hour and a half to write. I hope you like it. Again, I'm sorry I haven't updated.
This story is AU, and has hints of SasuNaru, Thank You.
"Turn away Now turn away
If you could get me a drink of water
Cause my lips are chapped and faded
Call my aunt Marie
Help her gather all my things
And bury me
In all my favorite colors
My sisters and my brothers still
I will not kiss you
Cause the hardest part of this
Is leaving you
Cause I'm awful just to see
Cause all my hair's abandoned all my body
Oh my agony
Know that I will never marry
Baby I'm just soggy from the Chemo
But counting down the days to go
It just ain't living
And I just hope you know
That if you say
Goodbye today
I'd ask you to be true
Cause the hardest part of this
Is leaving you
Cause the hardest part of this
Is leaving you…"
Cancer-My Chemical Romance
Memoirs
"Room C32 sir, please don't make your visit long." The receptionist said as she pointed down the pure white hall.
"I won't and thank you." Replied a deep male voice.
He hesitated walking down that hall a moment, not sure if he wanted to see what was waiting for him. 'You can do this Sasuke, you need to do this for him…' He tried to consol himself as he took the first couple steps down the hall. His breath was uneven as he trekked the long ward, passing many doors, most closed. Glancing in the few that were open, what he saw did not quiet his fear at all. Closing his eyes a moment to calm himself, he continued forward. As he walked, he passed several nurses, all watched him walk. They all gave him small smiles, as if to say, "You're not the only one to make this walk." He gave a soft smile in return and they returned to their duties. Glancing at the door numbers, he counted them to calm his nerves.
'C27… C28… C29… C30… C31… C32…'
He stopped in front of the door, his nerves even more frazzled than before. He heard voices from inside, he recognized them all. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he tried to calm himself enough to stop shaking. Looking down at his hands, he found them trapped in an earthquake. Sighing, he closed his eyes and tried to relax. As he did so, he heard one of the nurses whisper, "It's never as bad as you think it is…" trying to help calm him. It did nothing but it did help bring all of this into perspective. As he reached for the handle, he remembered how a few days before, none of this worry and dread was his, how he was just another business man. But then, that call changed everything.
Sasuke had been sitting in his office speaking with his boss and older brother, Itachi, and his fellow CEO, Orochimaru. They had been speaking about the company's recent progress and how to continue this incline. Sasuke had been listening intently to Orochimaru's suggestion when his cell phone rang. Both men seem agitated at the sound, and Itachi ordered he answer it. Sasuke did.
"Hello?"
"Sasuke-kun?" Came a sobbing voice.
"Sakura? Why are you calling me now, I'm busy." He was frustrated and embarrassed.
"Sasuke… Naruto's in the hospital…" She sobbed.
"So what? Can't this wait till later I'm very busy right now!" He said in a demanding voice.
"Sasuke how could you be so heartless! Naruto is dying!" She cried.
Sasuke's face turned to shock and his voice refused to work.
Itachi knew what that face meant and sighed.
"Gaara and I admitted him this morning, they say he has only a bout a month left Sasuke! His therapy isn't working anymore… Please don't tell me you've become heartless like your brother… Please… Naruto wants to see you before… Please come Sasuke… He doesn't have much time left." She sobbed again.
"I promise, I'll come…" Sasuke's voice was shaky.
"See you soon Sasuke-kun." She hiccupped.
"Ja Sakura." He fought the tears that wanted to fall as he hung up his cell phone.
Turning back to Itachi and Orochimaru, he sighed.
"You have three weeks Sasuke… I'm sorry this had to happen." Itachi spoke as he stood and placed a hand on his shoulder before leaving all together. Orochimaru spoke nothing as he left. Once they were gone, Sasuke broke down and cried.
Fighting the tears in his eyes, he grasped the door handle and opened it. He closed it silently behind him. Setting his stuff next to what appeared to be Sakura's, he turned back to the drawn curtain. A shadow appeared on the fabric, coming closer. Sakura turned to Sasuke and smiled. Her puffy red eyes tearless at this time. Her pink hair was short now and she wore a red sweater and jeans. She walked up and hugged him, sobbing silently. He rubbed her back gently. She pulled back and smiled again.
"I'm glad you came Sasuke-kun, I thought you wouldn't."
"I said I would come, so I did."
"Gaara's here too, but he's sleeping for once. It took hours to convince him I could stay up with Naruto alone. He's real protective of his "adoptive" brother."
"He always has been." Sasuke hesitated. "How's Naruto?"
"Not better, but he's still smiling. When I told him you were coming, I swear he wanted to jump up and down like when we were kids. His smile was so big, I thought his face was gonna be split in half." She smiled.
"That's Naruto… Can I?" He asked shakily.
"Yeah, just don't wake up Gaara." She smirked.
Sasuke nodded and followed her around the curtain. First he spotted the red head lying on a cot under the window, clutching a pink teddy bear. Then his eyes traveled around the room, it was as white as the hall. It had one closet, one bath, a TV and lots of machines that beeped. His attention was snapped when he heard a boisterous laugh.
"Sasuke!"
There, lying in a white bed was Naruto. Just as Sakura had said, his smile looked so big it cut his face in half. His blue eyes just as bright as ever, but sparkled at seeing him. He wore a hospital gown and his blonde hair was shorter than ever. According to Sakura, they had stopped his Chemo a few months ago, so he's had time to grow his hair back. One thing that disturbed Sasuke was how thin and pale the dobe was. Sasuke smiled despite what he was really feeling.
"You're still a dobe Naruto."
"I'm not a dobe, Sasuke teme!" Naruto raised a thin, shaky fist in the air.
Sasuke laughed, and soon Naruto joined him.
"I think I'm gonna go get something to eat." Sakura woke Gaara and had him exit with her.
Sasuke took her seat, which was right beside the bed. As he sat, he began to get lost in thought. It had been years since he had last seen Naruto, or any of his other friends. Actually, the last time he remembered seeing the dobe was one Christmas during college. Itachi had actually invited Naruto over for the holiday. Sasuke remembered spending the entire holiday with the dobe. Now he regretted getting so lost in his work. A tapping on his shoulder brought him back.
"Lost in thought teme?"
"Just remembering that Christmas we spent together, back in college."
Naruto smiled, "Yeah, I remember that."
Then there was silence.
"Sasuke, I don't have much time left. I knew this would happen but… I'm scared." Naruto started shakily. "There's so many things I haven't gotten to do yet, so many places I haven't been. I wish I had more time." He sighed. "When they told me the Chemo wasn't working, Tsunade ba-chan started bawling. It hurt to see her cry like that Sasuke. It hurt even more to tell Jiraiya ji-san, I knew he wanted to cry too but he was trying to be strong for ba-chan. Then when I told everyone else, they all cried. I didn't want them to cry. No one should cry for me." He stopped. "I bet you didn't cry Sasuke, I know you, and you never cry. I bet you just brushed it off like…" Naruto was cut off.
"I cried Naruto."
"What?"
"After I got off the phone with Sakura, I cried. I just couldn't hold it in. I wanted to cry on the way here, even standing at your door, I wanted to cry dobe."
Naruto was silent.
"Really Sasuke?"
"Yeah Naruto."
Naruto smiled as he began to sob. "That means a lot to me…" Naruto started to cry.
To say Sasuke was shocked was an understatement. In the years he had known Naruto after the diagnosis he had never once seen him cry. No matter what he was told, he never cried. Before, Naruto was a cry baby, but after he was tearless. Now here he was crying. Sasuke didn't know what to do. Naruto sobbed before trying to speak again.
"I've always wanted to cry, but I couldn't since everyone else was. I felt I had to be strong for them. But you, the great and emotionless Uchiha, cried over me… It means so much to me…" His voice trailed as he started crying again.
Sasuke reached forward and laid a hand on Naruto's shaking shoulder. Naruto sniffled, wiped his eyes and smiled at Sasuke.
"Thanks teme, you were always my best friend."
Sasuke smiled. "Welcome best friend."
Two weeks went by, with no real major decline in Naruto's health. Until one night, at 2 in the morning, Sasuke received a call on his cell phone. Picking it up, he groggily said a hello. On the other end of the phone was someone crying, hard. After a few sobs, he heard a very familiar voice, Sakura. Instantly knowing something was wrong, he hung up the phone and rushed from his hotel to the hospital. Rushing down the ward, he saw nurses running wild. Reaching Naruto's room, he found a panicked and crying Sakura clinging to him.
"What's wrong? What's happening to Naruto?" He asked shaking.
Sakura sobbed, "His condition is critical… they don't know if they can save him!" She cried.
Setting Sakura down in a chair in the hall, he rushed in. Gaara looked about ready to kill someone when he spotted the Uchiha. He nodded to Sasuke, saying he could venture further. What Sasuke saw will haunt him forever. Naruto laid on the bed, his pale skin was white, nothing but skin and bones. His bright blue eyes were now dulled, his ashen lips parted slightly. He was surrounded by doctors, who were trying to save him. Slowly, he brought his dulled gaze to Sasuke and gave the weakest smile. Sasuke walked up to the bed, his eyes tearing up. He felt a hand bump his. Looking down, he found Naruto's frail hand open. Sasuke slowly wrapped his hand around the fragile thing. Naruto squeezed lightly, Sasuke squeezed in return. As he stood there, Tsunade and Jiraiya arrived and the doctors left, saying there was nothing they could do. Tsunade was crying on Jiraiya's shoulder, the white haired man was tearing up himself. As Naruto lay dying, he struggled to, but eventually brought his other hand to Sasuke's clasped hand. Naruto slipped something between their hands and smiled. A few moments later, the Heart Rate Monitor gave out a solid note.
Sasuke pulled back as everyone present began to huddle together. Slipping past the curtain and into the hall, he felt the thing that Naruto had given him. It was a piece of paper. Placing it in his pocket, Sasuke dashed off, hoping to get to his hotel before he started crying.
The funeral was a week later. Naruto was buried in orange. All their old friends were there, and even Itachi showed up. No one was really ready so say goodbye to the dobe but, they had no choice now. As everyone left the cemetery, the sunny sky started to cloud over. Soon, Sasuke was left alone, everyone else gone to mourn in privet. Stepping up to the new grave, he pulled out the paper Naruto had given him. Opening it, he found the dobe's unique scribble writing. But for the first time, he could actually read what it said.
"Sasuke teme,
I'm sorry I didn't keep in contact all those years and I'm sad that our first meeting had to be like that. I wanted to call you many times over the years, but never had the guts. I thought since you were so into your work, you had forgotten me and would laugh if I had called. I was afraid you never had any time to spend hanging out like back in high school. I'm sorry Sasuke, I really am.
Remember when we were kids, and we used to talk about the future? Remember how I said I would be so famous, everyone in the world would know my name? Remember how you said you would be filthy rich? Well… at least you accomplished your dream. I'm really happy for you Sasuke, I really am.
Please don't cry over me, please don't. You already cried enough. I don't want you to cry anymore…
I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I really care about you Sasuke, you are my most precious friend. I mean it Sasuke, I care about you so much. It hurt, those years we lost contact. It hurt a lot. When Sakura told me you were coming to see me, I didn't believe her. Then you showed up, and I was the happiest person alive. I really missed you Sasuke and I wish we could have had more time… I'm sorry.
Don't worry about me, I'm in heaven and am out of pain. I'm waiting for you, I'll wait forever…
Naruto"
Sasuke wiped away the tears that were forming in his eyes. Folding up the note and placing back in his pocket, he sighed. He stood at the grave for a long time, in silence. When he finally did decide to speak, it had started raining. Sasuke spoke with a smile, the rain hiding his tears.
"Don't worry about me dobe, I'll never forget you. And I promise, everyone will know your name…"