Author: Kimiko-08

Rating: T, possibly M for language later.

Pairings: Naruto/Sai, Sakura/Rock Lee, Kakashi/Iruka mentions of Naruto/Sasuke, and a one-sided Neji/Sasuke

Summary: Can Naruto keep a promise? What if it's one that can save Sasuke? When someone walks into his life will he break it? Or keep his heart when he thinks it belongs?

Author's Note: This is boy-boy love. Don't like, then, please don't read it. It'll save us all the grief. It's my first Naruto/Sai fic and I've deleted all my previous work. So, technically, this is my first fic. Please, read and review!!! It may be a little OOC but eh?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Letting Go

Chapter 1

The Past versus the Future

"Naruto…whatever happens, promise me that we'll always be together…"

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"Good evening Uzumaki-kun, are you here to see Uchiha-san?" asked a pretty woman behind a desk.

Naruto smiled, nodded softly, and continued down a hospital corridor. He had never been one for hospitals, if he could, he would've avoided them altogether. They made him feel like he was dying; he especially hated the smell. 'Someone is dying,' he thought to himself. Ignoring his thoughts, he turned down the corridor to his left and counted four white doors, it was like a maze but he knew it well. Too well.

He reached the door, decorated with several pictures, letters, and messages written on a bulletin board. He smiled, his friends were caring, and he wished that they didn't have to do those things, at least not this way. He pulled one off the door, it was recent, from Kakashi.

You can't keep missing school, Uzumaki; I can't keep letting you slide. You know Sasuke wouldn't want that for you. He'll be fine…you know that. At least come home, Iruka gets worried, you know?

Naruto knew that when Kakashi called him Uzumaki instead of Naruto that he was extremely angry but he could've cared less. He had been missing school for the past two weeks because Sasuke was showing promise. He looked as if he was getting better and he wanted to be by his side if he woke up. 'No, Naruto not if, when…' he mentally scolded himself. It had been months since it happened, just days after graduation, and Naruto hated himself for not being there.

6 months ago

"Hurry up, Neji!" screeched Naruto, who was seated beside the other.

"Damn it, Naruto! We'll get there when we get there! Sasuke and Gaara aren't going anywhere!" he retorted, clearly angry.

Naruto grumbled and settled down in his seat; he instead turned his attention to the radio, he started to push several buttons. He was currently riding in Neji's brand new SUV it was a graduation gift from Hinata's father. He was quite obviously jealous of Neji but didn't want to show any envy. 'I'll just damage the radio a bit,' he laughed wickedly to himself.

"Naruto…" growled Neji.

Naruto froze in his antics, he looked over to Neji—if looks could kill, and he grinned in his own silent protest. Still feeling the need to piss Neji off even further Naruto pushed one last button and he instantly regretted his decision. The car stopped abruptly and Neji turned in his seat; Naruto gulped.

"What part of stop don't you understand!" shouted Neji and reached over to punch Naruto.

Naruto couldn't have dodged the blow even if he wanted to; Neji's fist connected with his nose and he was out like a light. After what seemed like several hours, Naruto stirred, and noticed that the vehicle wasn't moving.

"You made your point Neji…get a move on…" he grumbled.

After getting no response, he opened his eyes, and noticed that everything around him was quite. He turned to look at the drivers' side of the car and realized with horror that there was no one there. Neji's door was ajar and that's when he heard them, sirens.

They were blaring somewhere near him and he got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was horribly wrong; he didn't want to move but he knew he had to. He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door to his side; looking up he saw the source of the sirens.

A squad car, ambulance, and fire truck were perched off the side of the rode. To his horror, Naruto become aware of another vehicle that was overturned a little farther then where Neji had stopped. He moved closer to the wreckage and with each step he felt his heart sink.

That's when he saw it.

That's when he became sick all over the road.

That's when he knew the world stopped turning.

"Sasuke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he heard himself scream.

End Flashback

Naruto pushed open the door, still clutching Kakashi-sensei's letter, and took a deep breath before fully entering the room. There he was hooked up to at least four different machines all monitoring something different. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to imagine that they weren't there…anything to keep from seeing Sasuke that way.

He took a seat right beside the bed and he took a hold of Sasuke's hand, it felt warmer than usual. This caused Naruto to smile like an idiot in spite of himself. He brought the hand up to his lips and gave it a small kiss. A single tear escaped his eye, landing on Sasuke's hand, he quickly wiped it off.

"I promised I wouldn't cry anymore, didn't I, teme?" Naruto sniffed loudly. "Kakashi-sensei sent me a letter about school. I lied to you Sasuke, I'm not on vacation, I've been skipping," he said softly.

Naruto waited for a reply, a word, or anything to come from Sasuke. Just so Naruto could know if he could hear him. All he received were the steady beeps of the machines keeping watch over Sasuke. He bent his head down and willed himself not to cry, it was a promise that he made to Sasuke along with several others.

The door to his room opened softly and Naruto glanced up at the clock. It was time for Sasuke's nurse to come and check his charts before she went to get the doctor. She was a darling person, she had been so sympathetic, and had let Naruto stay well passed visiting hours.

It wasn't Nurse Aoi (1) that walked through the door though.

Naruto quickly rose up and briskly walked to the door, blocking Sasuke from view. This person was in a nurses' uniform but he didn't recognize him. He was pale and had hair in his face, 'He can't be much older than me,' Naruto thought, as he furrowed his brows at the newcomer.

"Uzumaki-san, I presume." he said and brushed passed Naruto toward Sasuke's bedside.

"Your presumption may be correct but you are not Sasuke's nurse. Where is Aoi-chan?" he demanded a little too forcefully.

"I'm her replacement, she was sent to a different hospital in Tokyo just as I transferred in," he said quickly and took the charts off the side of the bed.

"Why—why wasn't I notified?" he questioned, following the nurse around.

"You're not related to Uchiha-san, why would you be?" the nurse said.

He had turned to face Naruto an elegant eyebrow quirked in a questioning manner. The nurses' dark eyes showed no emotion or any other form of sentiment instead they bore into Naruto's deep blues as if waiting for a serious response.

"If it were up to me, I wouldn't let you in and disturb the patient. Besides, you could be the one that is impeding his progress at any chances of ever waking up…" the nurse mumbled, off-handedly, still checking the chart.

The nurse had no time to know what it was that knocked him over. He fell backwards as Naruto's weight sent him careening into chairs that were located behind him. His back hit the side of a machine that was monitoring Sasuke which caused an alarm to go off.

The nurse stood up and rubbed his back before he started to fix the machine. No doubt that it had alerted doctors to come running but he punched in a few numbers to make the beeping stop. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small mechanical device.

"This is Sai in the ICU (2) to the Nurses' Station. I must've tripped a wire or something in Patient Uchiha's room. Please disregard the alarm, I apologize for the inconvenience," the nurse spoke into the handheld intercom.

Naruto watched 'Sai' as he put the com back into his pocket and went back to checking the charts. Naruto couldn't believe how calm the nurse had been, even after what he had done to him. A second nurse that Naruto recognized, as Nurse Ino, walked into the room.

"Is everything alright, Uzumaki-san?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Please, remove him…" he muttered.

Sai turned to stare at Naruto, his eyes showed a flicker of emotion. He was surprised that he would have him removed after basically covering for his ass. Sai, blinked the emotion away, and moved toward the exit keeping his head up high.

"You know, you're lucky I did what I did. Only because he's cute…you're not bad looking either," he grinned and waltzed out with Ino closely behind him.

This infuriated Naruto even further and he slammed the door behind him, the window panes rattled, taking full force of his incense. He walked back over to Sasuke, resuming his place beside him, and he placed his head in his hands. For the first time since the accident Naruto found himself crying.

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"What happened in there Sai?" asked Ino.

She had noticed how angry Naruto had been and she more than heard the slam of the door. Yet, she found herself asking Sai for what actually happened.

"It was nothing," came the calm reply.

"Come on, Sai. I know you! We went to med-school together! You were good enough to become a doctor and for god knows what reason you didn't but you NEVER make a mistake. Especially one as lame as tripping on a wire!" she huffed out.

"I told you it was nothing," he said quietly.

Ino didn't believe him but she kept her mouth shut. She knew better than to push Sai. She had known that since med-school, she had befriended him because he always seemed to wander around with his head down. She had never known someone so timid, so calm…so in control.

She originally talked to him for his notes, she wanted to be a good nurse and he was good enough to be a doctor; they just fell into place. He had once confided in her that he thought that being a doctor was too boring and that being a nurse was just as good but it was more flexible.

"Sai, can you give me the charts on Uchiha-san, for Gai-sama to look over, please," Ino whispered, trying not to arouse any anger in him, if there was any.

Sai wordlessly handed Ino the charts and walked away to go look after another patient. Ino sighed as she watched his retreating back and went to look for Gai-sama, he happened to be Sasuke's doctor.

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Naruto had gone over to the bathroom and was wiping away any traces of the tears he had shed earlier. He had let himself get vulnerable over some stupid comments made by some random person he didn't even know. That was what had sent him over the edge, the fact that some person who had no relation to him or Sasuke could see…

'See what?' he thought to himself bitterly. 'He was right. We aren't married, why should I be notified?'

He ignored his thoughts once more and returned to Sasuke's bedside. As he was seating himself, the door opened, and in walked Gai-sama. He was carrying Sasuke's charts and had a lollipop sticking out of his mouth at an odd angle. Naruto stood up immediately and rushed over to greet the eccentric doctor.

"Good Morning Naruto-kun! How are you this wonderful morning!?" he near shouted at the teen.

"I'm alright, Gai-sama, what are you going to look for in Sasuke today?" he asked the adult eagerly.

"I'm just going to make sure the machines are functioning properly. In case they picked up something that we might've missed."

Naruto watched as Gai-sama did his routine check-up of the comatose Sasuke. By studying the charts and the machines he could tell if Sasuke was getting better or worse. A frown settled upon the man's lips and Naruto continued to watch, his eyebrows furrowed together in worry.

"It says that he showing progress about two days ago but something must've upset the balance somehow. He's reverted back to his regular condition…" he said, a deep frown settled on Gai-sama's face.

"What do you think it was?"

"I don't know. I'm one to believe that the comatose patients can feel negativity around them. Did something happen Naruto?"

"I—I had a fight with the new nurse, Sai, it was an accident but…"

"That might have been it but don't worry! This is not even a minor setback! We'll have Sasuke away again…"

Naruto lowered his gaze to the floor and felt immensely guilty for having been the cause of such negativity. Still, that damned nurse had brought it upon himself to say those things about their relationship. Yet, Naruto felt that he had overreacted, 'If I just hadn't have been so stressed—I could've been…' He tried to justify his actions but he knew that they were inexcusable.

"Thank you so much, Gai-sama!" Naruto smiled and bowed to the doctor, who then took his leave.

The door shut behind the doctor and left Naruto to deal with his feelings of guilt. 'It's a self-made emotion, ya know?' his conscious teased. He didn't feel like fighting with himself so he growled in response and went to sit beside Sasuke, except that…

"UZUMAKI NARUTO!!!"

…he heard the screech of his impending doom.

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"Kakashi, I thought you said that you had talked to him already!" shrieked Iruka from behind the taller man.

"I told you, Iruka dear, that I'd written him a letter. I never said that I had spoken to him personally…" he grinned and ruffled his lover's hair.

Iruka gave a royal pout, crossed his arms, and stopped walking. Kakashi who could no longer hear the patter of footsteps behind him, also stopped. He turned around and noticed that his lover was giving him a glare and pout at the same time. Quite an accomplishment for a dignified man—or so Iruka claimed.

"What have I done now?" Kakashi questioned.

Iruka pursed his lips and pulled on the mask that covered Kakashi's face ninety-five percent of the time. "You lied to me Hatake-kun…" he glared.

Kakashi sweat-dropped.

"You told me you had spoken to my son, to your son, but you happened to leave out the details," he snarled, continuing to pull on the mask and stalk toward Kakashi.

Kakashi backed up into a wall.

"If he ends up being kicked out of the university because you won't tell him to come home, I swear, I'll hurt you Hatake-kun. And not in a way you would like very much," he murmured.

Kakashi tried to smile but the mask came forward suddenly and smacked him right in the face. A grinning Iruka was walking in the direction of the hospital. He reached the big white building and wandered inside not waiting for Kakashi and stalked toward Sasuke's room a little more than angry.

"Excuse me, sirs, but where do you think you're going?" came a soft voice from the Nurse's Station.

Iruka turned to find a young man with pale skin and dark eyes, staring at him. He was new, that much Iruka had figured out because he had never seen the kid, yes, kid before.

"Sorry, we're going to Uchiha Sasuke's room…" came the huffed reply from Kakashi.

"Oh! So, you are with Uzumaki-san?" he asked.

"Yes, he's our son can you---?"

"You have a very violent son…? I'm sorry I don't know your names."

"What do you mean violent?" asked Iruka, getting defensive.

"Just as I said, violent…there is not much definition to the word. Oh, believe me I have my reasons for saying so. He just so happened to push me into a machine this morning and I wanted to share with you, his parents, his odd behavior. You know, we have a wonderful psyche ward here…" Sai said, without any emotion.

Iruka was gone as soon as the words had left Sai's mouth. Kakashi stood there, studying the young man, which slightly unnerved Sai.

"You may have fooled my husband…Sai," he said, staring at the nurses' nametag, "But something tells me that you…provoked Naruto."

Kakashi left his words hang in the air before heading off in the direction of the patient rooms. Sai blinked several times before a quiet smirk settled on his lips, it seemed that he was giving off more emotion that he originally thought. (3)

Iruka had completely missed this confrontation between Kakashi and Sai because he had more important things on his mind. He was upset with his son, with his charge; he had promised Uzumaki Arashi several years ago that he would care for Naruto if anything happened. When they died he took that duty with the pride of a real father.

'Now he thinks he can miss school and push nurses into machines! I know he's upset but damnit...'

He passed Gai-sama in the hall and only nodded in greeting to the man before shouting out for Naruto.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO!!!"

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Naruto inwardly cringed he knew that he was in trouble now. He slowly went to the door and stepped out in the corridor, noticing an ultimately pissed Iruka and a slightly amused Kakashi.

"Iruka—please keep it down!" Naruto said, with pleading eyes.

The fuming parent managed to shut his mouth and glare at his son. A vein had taken up permanent residence on his face and his fists clenched and unclenched.

"What do you think you're doing? Missing school? Pushing nurses! Just have has gotten into to Naruto!?" Iruka seethed.

Naruto was about to respond when he heard about his tirade this morning. 'When did Iruka find out I'd pushed a nurse?' he questioned himself. Remembering the incident only caused him to become angry once more.

"I want to be with Sasuke, I want to be here when he wakes up," he answered with full conviction.

"Naruto, I know you love Sasuke a lot, but do you think he would want you to be missing out on your life?" said Iruka, his voice much softer.

"He is my life!"

"Naruto, you can't keep feeling guilty for what happened. This morning, pushing that nurse, I know it was because you were angry with yourself…whatever that kid said to you. You know that it's nothing to do with your relationship with Sasuke," said Kakashi, no longer grinning.

"He doesn't know us! He doesn't know me! I want to be with Sasuke…just let me stay with him. I know he's going to wake up soon, he was just tired from the accident…"

Naruto turned to look through the door window and he furrowed his eyebrows in sudden confusion. Sasuke's fingers had moved! They had moved!

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The end of chapter 1!

Nurse Aoi – It's made up, don't trip.

ICU - Intensive Care Unit [[For those of you who didn't know.

Sai's smirk – No, he is NOT evil in this one.

Oooh, I'm a meany aren't I? But I guess that's all my little brain could think of for the moment. I tried for a cliffy, obvious? Well, I hope you all like it!

PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW!

It'd be mucho appreciated.

Thanks a bunch.

Kimiko-08