A/N: And here comes another oneshot! (rolls eyes) Heh, these ideas just seem to pop out like crazy right now.

WARNINGS: sadness, definitely, and YAOI. general oddness

DISCLAIMER: Me, own something? (laughs hysterically) Yeah, right…

(I'm so sorry about this short AN, but I'm in a HUGE hurry right now!)

Awkay, with no further stalling… (grins) Here we go – I REALLY hope you'll have a great ride!

Six Years, Four Months

If there were two things Naruto hated, those were cold and dark. That's why his breath wheezed and he was shivering uncontrollably as he lay in what'd reduced to the remnants of his car that wintry night, fighting desperately to not panic or fall into the shadows of his mind that were calling him so very eagerly.

Or, perhaps his sensations weren't caused entirely by his fears. Perhaps the piece of metal that'd practically pierced his midsection had something to do with how hard it was to breath and how unbearably cold it was. Though he couldn't understand why there was no pain. Shouldn't he have felt at least something with these injuries?

"Naruto." Gosh, it felt so good to hear that voice, although it sounded almost scared to his buzzing ears…! "Naruto, can you still hear me?"

He coughed twice – blissfully unaware of the trail of blood that escaped – before turning his gaze slowly to meet a pair of onyx eyes that gave away everything their owner was feeling, deceiving the other male. He tried to grin, and liked to think he succeeded to at least some extend. "What's… with the face?"

Sasuke emitted something that sounded a lot like a 'Hn'. He was almost startled by how cold the raven's hand was when it ghosted by his face. "Where does it hurt?"

He stared at his boyfriend for a couple of seconds with nearly incredulous eyes, then shook his head slowly. "It… doesn't hurt", he admitted truthfully, not managing to become as bothered by that fact as when he'd realized it the last time around. "I'm just… cold, that's all. It's freaking… freezing here."

Sasuke nodded, and it was adorable easy to see how much his words had soothed the Uchiha. "Good." The other then gulped thickly – as though the action had hurt – and looked away for a moment before meeting his eyes determinedly. "Naruto, there's…"

The rest became wiped away, because as from then all his steadily dulling head could catch was the sounds of sirens, and steps rushing towards the car they were trapped into. In a flash there were hands and people all around him, and as they started to work on him he wasn't quite as painless anymore.

Did he yelp, or scream? He was fairly sure he did.

Darkness swallowed him in whole, but just before that he could've sworn he heard a shout…

"NARUTO!"

The next time Naruto woke up, all he met was white and his heart jumped a little. What if…?

"Sasu…ke?"

"I'm right here, dobe." Turning his gaze with quite a bit of effort, he found the raven sitting in a chair placed beside his bed with a strange expression he'd never seen before. "You sure took your time."

Worry flared through him all of a sudden, and a frown appeared although it hurt a bit for some reason. Were there wounds on his face, too? "Are you… okay?"

Sasuke's eyes changed, darkened. "Hn."

He was about to demand a clarification, but became interrupted when the room's door opened. Gosh, he'd never seen Tsunade's – his adoptive mother's – eyes look like they did just then! So much pain and sadness… Had she been crying? "Well hello", the woman greeted rather softly. "You definitely gave us quite a scare." Yes, her voice told. She'd definitely been crying, almost still was.

He fought the urge to wince, not wanting to feel the pain it'd cause. Or actually… There was no pain anymore, and he wondered if that was a good or a very bad thing. "Sorry." He then coughed without being able to stop himself, and winced at the foreign taste that filled his mouth. Damnit, his throat was so dry…

Tsunde, seeming to understand, took the mug placed nearby. "I'll get you some water."

He nodded rather feebly, and gathered himself for a couple of moments before speaking. "I'm… okay." He glanced towards the raven beside him. "Sasuke's… with me. I'm okay."

Tsunade – who had her back towards him while she filled his mug – paused her motions for just a second before going on like nothing had happened. After some seconds she turned around with a far too well composed expression, and walked up to him. "Here, let me help you drink, okay?"

He obeyed gladly, feeling thirstier than ever in his life. When he was done, he finally caught something in Tsunade's eyes. It was then he knew. He swallowed thickly and asked although he didn't even want to know. "How… bad is it?" he deadpanned as well as he could. "Don't lie to me."

Tsunade took a long moment before finally speaking, barely looking at him. "It's… You'll be okay, Naruto." Her voice sounded strange, off. "You just have to rest, alright?" Just then the sound of her pager pierced the heavy silence that fell. She moved away far too eagerly. "I… I have to take this, but I'll be back as soon as I can." With that she left.

He'd never felt as cold and sick as he did when staring at the closed door, knowing all too well now.

Sasuke's voice barely managed to catch his chaotic mind. "Naruto? What's wrong?"

He turned to look towards the Uchiha. His eyes stung, and suddenly it was very hard to breathe again. "I just, I… I'm so scared, Sasuke." For some reason it wasn't as hard to admit that as he'd feared. "I'm so fucking scared." He wasn't ready to die, wasn't…

For a couple of moments Sasuke simply looked at him with eyes that held so much it was impossible to name everything, almost like the raven had been holding back a turmoil or a outburst of some sort. Then – surprising them both, it seemed – the Uchiha moved, sat to his bedside. A much paler hand crawled closer to his, almost touching. "It's going to be alright, Naruto." Sasuke's voice was oddly calm and comforting – or perhaps it was because of the haze in his head. "Everything's going to work out."

Somehow, he found himself believing. But still…

Sasuke sat right there beside him, guarding silently, while he brought one hand to his face and shed a couple of proud tears.

Tsunade found it hard to breathe when she emerged from the room, and although she'd been a doctor for a very long time she had to look for the wall's support to not fall down. She ignored the looks people passing by gave her while she closed her badly sore eyes, feeling something inside her crumbling.

Naruto… He was her son, for crying out loud, in every standard that mattered.

He… He was her son, and now…

It was almost a miracle that she heard the cautious steps approaching. "Are you… okay?" Looking up, she met a pair of reddened, almost apologetic green eyes. Sakura's tiny smile was feeble and wry. "Sorry, stupid question."

Looking at the pinkette, she knew the younger one wasn't all right by any standards, either. The younger one was a paramedic, a professional, but she'd also been Naruto and Sasuke's friend since the three of them were toddlers. And she'd been amongst the group that'd appeared to that scene. Tsunade couldn't even imagine how horrible that must've been to Sakura.

She sighed a little, feeling very tired and old all of a sudden. "I'm… okay." After a moment she managed to add. "I just visited Naruto."

She could see how Sakura tensed up completely – with desperate hope or dread was impossible to tell. "How… is he?"

She couldn't look at the pinkette anymore, so instead she focused her eyes on the clock hanging nearby.

It was infuriating and unbelievable how seconds slipped away without a care.

"His injuries… were horrible. I'm not allowed to treat him, but even one glance tells that much." It was amazing she managed to talk, that her voice was so even – perhaps she was in too much of a shock to really realize what was going on. "Several of his organs were ruptured, most of the bones in his lower torso are shattered, and there's internal bleeding…" Her voice broke and she shook her head, feeling so helpless that it made her want to scream. She wondered it was a single tear she felt sliding down her cheek. "They… They said he's lucky if he makes it through tonight."

Quite vaguely, like through a thick fog of some sort, she heard Sakura emit a strange, wounded sound before falling to a chair.

She kept talking, more to herself than the pinkette who clearly couldn't hear a thing. "I just… I can't understand…" Her voice was barely audible. She rubbed her face with both hands, as though the gesture could've made her feel better. "He… talked about Sasuke, and…" She swallowed thickly. "It's… been over six years from the shooting, from when Sasuke…" She shivered, not wanting to say 'died' right now. "Does he… still keep seeing him?"

She ran out of words, and a thick silence crashed down on the two of them while they waited for the inevitable.

Inside the room, a already much calmer Naruto's thoughts were becoming jumbled while he and Sasuke's hands rested on the bedcovers, only millimetres from each other. Somehow, he could already feel the other's touch.

Sasuke's face held an unreadable expression of mixed, unhidden emotions when the raven looked at him. "What are you thinking about?"

All of a sudden, as he looked at Sasuke's eyes, he wasn't scared at all anymore. Instead he smiled faintly, ignoring absolutely all pain. "Nothing… in particular." He really wished he could've touched the raven already.

Six years and four months had been such a long time to wait…

He swallowed thickly before his voice actually managed o work for him. "Can you… hold me?"

Sasuke seemed almost surprised for a moment, before the raven nodded slowly. "I can try."

After watching the raven move for a second he closed his eyes, and sighed with contentment when feeling skin meet his.

Sasuke's touch was no longer cold, he realized with what can only be called joy. Instead it was the warm and soft one he'd been missing so damn much.

As the Uchiha lay down, he – noticing with relief that it didn't cause pain anymore – snuggled closer to the raven, nearly buried his face into the familiar chest. There was that scent he'd missed so much, or perhaps his imagination was filling out the blanks.

Honestly, he didn't care anymore.

As long as Sasuke was there like that, holding him and so real…

He sighed, pleased to discover that it didn't hurt, and tried to wrap his arms around the raven although they went straight through.

"Are you still scared?" Sasuke's voice was uncharacteristically soft, though it might've been partially because his head was growing hazy.

He shook his head as strongly as he could, feeling warm, groggy and comfortable. Not when you're the one who's come to get me. It took a long moment before he could speak. "Will you… go with me?" He didn't bother feeling ashamed by how hopeful he sounded.

"Yeah." He liked to think he felt Sasuke kiss his hair before the raven went on. "I'm never leaving you again, dobe."
A huge, wide smile spread across his face, and he sighed again with contentment. He was feeling so very tired…

A couple of seconds later he fell asleep, vaguely noticing that he was finally able to hold Sasuke back.

When a strange, white light swallowed him up he could've sworn he felt a hand in his, and squeezed determinedly.

This time Sasuke would keep his promise.

/ Sixteen and at the very beginning of their relationship, Naruto and Sasuke had felt comfortable while they lay on the rooftop of Naruto and Tsunade's house, watching how stars lit up above them as night fell. It was on that night a promise had been made.

"You, don't you dare ever leave me, Sasuke. Promise me."

Sasuke had almost smiled, the blond had been able to tell. The raven had rolled his eyes. "Yes, dobe. I promise." A hand had twitched a little in his. "I'll never leave you."

An enormous grin had appeared to his face while he'd pulled the Uchiha closer. "You better keep that promise." /

Owari.

A/N: (sniffs) Heh, still not a totally happy one from me. BUT, at least they got to be with each other in the end, ne? (sniffs again, loudly)

FURTHER INFORMATION: As some of you may have figured out, this fic is a continuation to the story 'Five minutes, thirty seconds' and 'Three hours, forty minutes' started – I've been feeling like completing that story somehow for a long time, and then this idea came to me. But of course this stands alone, too. (grins) I'm so sorry I didn't reveal that before, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Awkay, I've gotta start tuning out now.

Thank you so much for reading, and PLEASE review so I'll know whether I should delete this or… heh, something else. (grins)

Take care!