Chapter Two: Fade Out

Sasuke carried the boy across the bathroom to the other side. He gently set Naruto down on the ground and supported him with is knee as he shrugged out of his school jacket. He folded it in four and placed in the ground beneath him. He then took Naruto by the shoulders and laid his head down on the jacket. He stared at the boy for a moment, noticing the furrowing of the other boys eyes as he was unconcsious. Sasuke knew that he wasn't just sleeping, he was relieving that whole ordeal that happened a little over a half an hour ago. He needed to wake up Naruto before the boy could slip any further into the darkness.

He took Naruto by the shoulders and gently shook him calling out to him to wake up. When the boy did nothing to signify consciousness, he got up went over to the sink, grab a paper towel from the dispenser and proceeded to wet it under the faucet water. He made the sure the water was just a little bit cold so it would shock the boy into waking up. He turned on his heel and hurried back over to Naruto. He kneeled down beside him and gently squeezed it over the blonde's face. When the cold water hit his face he stirred just a little but did not open his eyes. Once the boy stopped moving again, Sasuke shook him a little and called out to him again. "Naruto! You need come to!" He noticed the boy didn't move. He got back up, walked over to the sink and made to grab another paper towel when he heard shuffling behind him and then a yelp of surprise.

~~~BR~~~

Naruto shot straight up coming out of his flashback of the train incident in shock at something cold and wet on his face. He looked around and noticed that he was not in the stall anymore and that Sasuke was standing above him. Looking down worriedly at him, concern shining in his eyes. "Did I pass out? What in the world happened?" He thought suddenly. He looked down, away from Sasuke's concern and sympathetic eyes. He heard Sasuke kneel down next to him. Naruto kept his eye hidden behind his bangs.

"Naruto?" He heard Sasuke speak to him. He kept his head lowered and waited for Sasuke to continue. After a few moments, Sasuke continued. "Naruto, are you okay? Are you physically injured?" Naruto just shrugged and shook his head. He didn't want to speak to Sasuke, because he knew the moment he spoke he would start crying again, and he didn't want Sasuke to see him cry. He wanted to be strong in front of 'his' Sasuke. He didn't know how Sasuke would treat him if he thought he was weak!

~~~BR~~~

Sasuke noticed that Naruto had still not brought his head up, that he kept his face hidden with his bangs. He reached over and cupped Naruto's cheek, earning a slight twitch from the blonde. He ignored the twitch and lifted Naruto's face to see his eyes. They were still dull and a little lifeless but he could see something else in them. "Fear maybe? But Naruto knows I will never hurt him, he is..." He thought about that for a minute. "What amI to Naruto?" He stared into the sky blue eyes had unshed tears in them. "Oh dobe!" He said and leaned into hug him. He heard Naruto gasp, and felt his hands on his chest. He just sat there holding him. "It will be alright, Naruto. You will be alright. I know what happened scared you, but it is by no means your fault, do you hear me?" He waited for Naruto to respond. But all the blonde did was nod, but began shaking a little. Sasuke didn't know how to comfort him so he did the only thing he could think of, he got straight to the point.

"Naruto, can I ask you something?" He asked him. Naruto still shaking, nodded. Sasuke sat back from his hug with Naruto and looked into his eyes. Sasuke knew this was going to be a hard question because he knew he was probably not gonna like the answer. "Naruto, why are you afraid of me, why won't you look me in the eye? I already told you that I don't blame you for anything that happened, and I am not going to judge you so why do you not talk to me or look at me?"

~~~BR~~~

Naruto flinched as Sasuke asked questions he knew that the older boy would hate his answer to them. "Because I love you, and I don't want to see the person I love hate me and turn his back from me... wait a minute... did he just say he didn't blame me?" "B-because... it is my fault, Sasuke. I let it happen, and I know when you.. you... figure that out, you will turn away from me, and I don't want that. I wouldn't ever want that." Naruto spoke in a bare whisper to his secret love. He didn't want to go into any more detail about the way he felt because if he did he would surely break down and confess to Sasuke his feelings of love. He heard Sasuke gasp, and looked up to see Sasuke turn his head. It broke Naruto's heart to see Sasuke turn from him. "See... I told you... you would turn from me... I can't bare this... I got to leave... I need to go home... I have to get away before he hates me for sure... I will go to a different school, I will get away from him, I will run away if I have to... I have to go... I have to-" Before he could finish his inner lament of agony, he heard Sasuke whisper something. Naruto could understand what Sasuke had said so, he turned his head back toward the Raven and asked, "What was that, teme," He heard the fear in his own voice.

~~~BR~~~

Sasuke heard the fear in Naruto's voice as he asked, "What was that?" Sasuke looked down and saw that the boy was afraid and that he had an even more bleakness and glazed over look then before. "Oh shit! He probably didn't hear me and thinks that I hate him now. He probably saw that I turned my head away, but I didn't do that because I hate him, or even blame him, I did that so he wouldn't see my anger at the fact that he blames himself for what that fucking pervert did to him... if I ever see that pervert again, I'll-" But before he could finish that thought, he heard Naruto ask again. "What was that, teme?" Sasuke sighed, and with a thought of finality he spoke, "Naruto, I do not blame you for what happen to you, it was that damn pervert's fault. I only turned my eyes away from you because I did not want you to see the anger I had for him, not you. I am angry at you though, for blaming yourself, for feeling ashamed when you did nothing wrong. Why do you think I would hate you for something that wasn't your fault? Why do you even care what I think about you anyway dobe," He paused to give him self a deep breath before continuing. "Why dobe? Why are you so afraid of looking into my eyes? Why are you ashamed of yourself in front of me? Why are you so stuck on what I think about you? Why are you so afraid of me hating you? Why-"

Before Sasuke could finish his little tirade, Sasuke heard the thing that he would never expected to hear from Naruto shouted out of said blonde's mouth.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"

::::::::::SORRY FOR DELAYED UPDATE:::::
:::::ALSO SORRY FOR SHORTNESS OF CHAPTER::::
NEXT CHAPTER: ZONED OUT
::::::::PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THIS CHAPTER::::