This is a really short one-shot that shows what might have happened if two genin were lovers on the night before one left to seek power from a corrupted source. Note the words "two genin". Contains mild yaoi. If you still want to read, I suggest you bring a box of tissues. This made me cry. (rated for a reason)

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because if I did, Sasuke and Naruto would be together and there would be a whole lot more fluff going on.

Damaged

Every night before he went to sleep, Naruto would count the scars on his arms. He tended to lose track after fifty; he never wanted to think about the days he'd cut since Sasuke was gone.

As he poised the knife above his wrist, determined for once to do it right and go through with it, the memory of that fateful night came back to him.

'As wind blew pink sakura blossoms around his head, Sasuke climbed through the bedroom window into the room. Naruto lay awake, having anticipated his arrival almost before he'd gone to bed.

"Why, Sasuke?" his voice was quiet. Soft. Cutting deeply into Sasuke with tangible despair.

The Uchiha felt something tug sharply at his heart. He couldn't bear to see his Naruto this sad. His face was practically rent with inner turmoil. He looked at the blue eyes shining and watery with unshed tears.

Begin Memory

"You're the only one I've ever loved. The only one who could love a demon like me."

Sasuke walked over to the bedside and captured Naruto's lips on a deep, passionate kiss.

"Don't talk like that." he spoke through the kiss.

Naruto felt something hard pressing upon his inner thigh and immediately broke away.

"You're leaving…and you want to have sex before you go?"

Tiny threads of anger sewed themselves between each word, but it was nothing compared to the outright deluge of tears that came next.

"Whatever makes you happy, Sasuke." Naruto's words were heartfelt, but they lacked something vital. The raven-haired genin missed this altogether.

He spent a few seconds slipping out of his shirt and pants before joining Naruto beneath the thin, threadbare sheets. Time and time again their lips met, but Sasuke never noticed that while he performed his ministrations, silent tears were busy leaking out of the corners of Naruto's eyes.

He needed this. This contact. This skin-to-skin connection. Pressing flush against Naruto's chest, Sasuke slid his tongue around a nipple while gently touching the other beneath his hand. Teasingly, he glided his hand down beneath the blonde's pant waist and took hold of the already-hard member.

Sasuke moved his hand up and down slowly, earning a low moan from the other. When he felt pre-cum dribbling from the slit, he rubbed a thumb over it, smearing the liquid over Naruto's member. Using one hand he shoved the boxer briefs down to the blonde's knees and flipped him over.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked, running a delicate finger over Naruto's opening.

"…I love you, Sasuke. I'll always love you." was the short, murmured reply.

Naruto hissed as he felt Sasuke press his large member into him. Guiding himself gently with a hand on each hip, the Uchiha went forward at a steady pace. Stars speckled Naruto's vision when he surrendered to the control and thrust eagerly again and again.

Not once did Naruto cry out. Not once did he stir or make any action to suggest that he wanted to be a part of the sex. He did only what he thought was best. He buried his head into the pillow, bit his tongue, and held onto the edges of his bed. Tears made the pillow surface scratchy and irritable, but he endured it for Sasuke.

'Whatever makes you happy…Even if it kills me.'

Sasuke came then, and Naruto let out a small gasp as he pushed himself deeply inside once more before withdrawing. He flopped down beside the blonde and they lay tangled up in each other's arms. Panting slightly, he wiped the fine sheen of sweat from his face; he was still oblivious to the other's tears, so he thought nothing of Naruto rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes.

"Was that good?"

This time Naruto permitted a humorous smile across his face. "I thought Uchihas were supposed to have more stamina. You disappoint me."

"Be quiet…dobe." Sasuke paused slightly between words, still slightly breathless from the experience.

"Teme." Naruto called back softly.

A heavy fatigue came over him suddenly. He opened his eyes to see the bleary form of Sasuke making several hand signs. Feathers as pure as an angel's blanketed the room, spontaneously appearing from nowhere.

"Nirvana Temple Jutsu." he murmured affectionately. "Good-bye, Naruto. Sleep well."

"I love you…" Naruto's voice met only air; Sasuke had already gone.

End Memory…

"…Ngh….Sasuke…" his tearful voice cut through the quiet like a scream in a small room.

Every syllable was whispered back towards him by the walls, the door, the windows, the moon. How he missed him. How he missed freedom even more than he missed Sasuke.

Sasuke had caught him up in a spell. Had woven a tangled tapestry of lies, mysteries, pain, and half-truths around him.

"You never…even said…that you loved me too."

Naruto brought the blade down, momentarily blinded by moonlight scintillating off of the smooth metal. Without wincing as it bit into his flesh, he drove it deep, puncturing the small veins near his wrist and slitting them up to his elbows.

The Kyuubi could not heal the injuries. He was bleeding out too fast. The room around him faded into a dizzying array of colors before exploding into an empty opaque blackness.

"You never…said…it, Sasuke…You never said…I love you."

A single tear trickled down his cheek, falling to the floor beside the bloodstained silver kunai. He looked up, the moon swimming before his eyes. Slowly the world grew dark and cold around him. Slowly…slowly he drifted away.

That was the way they found Naruto later that night: glassy cerulean eyes staring blankly at the moon. They found him with a kunai beside him, the words spoken with his dying breath still echoing hollowly in the air. The words of one forsaken and jaded by cruelty, yet loved beyond all reason by one raven-haired Uchiha who forgot to say "I love you."

Wah…Review. sniff-sniff. I might just continue this in a series, or make another chapter.