A/N: Phew! Once again – and especially after how the last chapter ended – I'm terribly sorry it's take me this long to update! BUT at least the new chapter is FINALLY here! (cheers loudly and claps hands together with excitement9

Awkay, as much as you'd all probably like to get going, first things always first. Awww – thank you so much for those unbelievable reviews! (GLOMPS, and gives all kinds of treats from cookies to chocolate muffins) You guys can't even imagine how dear those comments are to me. MERCI BEACOUP! (Btw, I TRULY hope I ended up commenting all your reviews, because I was in a HUGE hurry while writing the responses! If you've reviewed and haven't received anything in return, do let me know so I can scrabble together a response and crawl under my desk in shame, yeah?) And yes, SUPER thank yous to Serenityofthematrix for the incredible, untiring work of proofreading!

Oookay, before any weapons start flying… Ladies and gentlemen, chapter ten! I really hope you'll enjoy.

Kakashi was having the headache of a millennium while he stood by a bathroom door in the mansion, furiously trying to find out what would be the proper next move.

" Kakashi." Yamato's voice barely reached him. Glancing to the side, he found the man looking at him with worry unlike anything he'd ever seen before. " The medics are leaving, and it seems there's something wrong with Ino and the baby as well. I'm going to the hospital with her and Itachi."

He nodded, extremely pleased that at least the brunette was somewhat functional, then let out a long, heavy sigh. " I'll go look for Sasuke with Sakura, and apparently Haku's missing as well. Call me as soon they know something, will you?"

" Of course." They exchanged a tiny kiss, as though to ensure each other that this wasn't some twisted nightmare. Yamato's face seemed unnaturally tense. " You also call me if anything happens, okay?"

He nodded, then followed the spur of the moment and brushed the brunette's hand. " Everything's going to work out", he all but whispered, hoping from the bottom of his heart that he could believe in those words.

As though reading his mind the man gave him a somewhat feeble look, then turned around and started to sprint off. After some moments sounds of distancing sirens could be heard.

He leaned his full weight against a wall, hoping that time would've stopped for a while to give him a chance to breathe.

Unfortunately he didn't get anything of the sort, for his cell phone decided to start ringing just then. He barely managed to will his muscles into moving enough to respond. " Hatake."

" Kakashi, it's Tsunade." The woman's voice immediately warned him that something wasn't right. " I thought I should call you... Neji was just brought in. He seemed to be in a pretty bad shape."

All breath left him for what felt like hours although it couldn't be more than seconds. His head spun when he finally spoke. " Yamato's just getting there. I'll tell him to look for you."

If Tsunade said something, it didn't register to him. As soon as he'd put his phone away he rubbed his face with one hand, wanting to scream out cusses.

Why did all disasters have to appear at one go?

CHAPTER 10: Where You Gonna Go?

When Naruto first woke up, having fallen asleep in the mansion's library, he knew immediately that something was horribly wrong. Those panicked thoughts only became confirmed when he heard the distant sounds of disappearing sirens, which sounded like screams to his sleep clouded mind.

After a couple of moments his eyes widened, and he realized that he knew. " Sasuke…"

He was up much faster than his head would've approved, dashing away as though there'd been a fire on his tails.

How he knew where to go he didn't have a clue, and he didn't even care. But he did know for sure that he had to hurry.

Up until that day, Gaara had thought that he'd felt all horror and rage that was possible for a human being to experience. While yearning for news of Neji in the hospital's stinking waiting room, however, he found that he'd been badly mistaken.

He threw away his about tenth mug of coffee that day once realizing that it'd gone cold long since, and buried his face into his hands.

Yes, it'd been Zaku's thrust – not his – that'd pushed Neji over the edge. But that thought didn't bring him any comfort, especially with the fact that he'd not only been unable to protect the one he loved, but also to keep Zaku from sneaking away. (He didn't know where the boy was at the moment, but he did know exactly what he would've done if he had.)

" You're a friend of Neji's, right?" Lifting his gaze with some startle, he met a woman who'd introduced herself as Tsunade, a doctor and Konoha's regular psychiatrist. Her expression chilled him. " According to what I found out, Neji will be kept unconscious until they know the severity of his head injury. There are also some broken bones, and his doctor is worried that there may be internal bleeding. But he's somewhat stable now. At the moment all we can do is wait."

Those words made him feel like he'd been smacked square across his face. He had to wait for several moments before he finally felt steady enough to speak. " Can… I see him?"

The woman nodded. " Sure. Usually that's not allowed, but I pulled a couple of strings."

Had he been able to, he would've smiled with gratitude. If it'd been up to the rest of the hospital's staff, he would've probably been given no information whatsoever. He'd never been good at trusting people, but he could tell Tsunade was well worthy of such.

The journey through ICU and towards the correct room seemed to take ages. That's why it was nearly amusing that he wanted to turn back as soon as he finally entered Neji's room.

To him, Neji had always been something close to invincible, a heavenly creature no harm of mankind could touch. That's why it shocked him beyond any belief to see the boy – the one he cared about above all else and reason – lay perfectly still and hooked on more tubes than he dared to count, covered by tons of bandages, face sickeningly pale. The Hyuuga seemed… lifeless, almost, and it terrified him more than he could've ever imagined possible.

It required all his courage, but eventually he managed to dare himself into approaching.

Heaven knows how much he detested showing any signs of weakness, but his hand nonetheless trembled while it took Neji's limp one slowly, hesitantly. His eyes locked to the Hyuuga's closed ones, soundlessly begging them to open, even if just a little.

It took minutes before his voice finally agreed to work, croaky and weak. " You better wake up soon, do you hear me?" If he'd been able to see his own eyes just then, he would've been amused by the look in them. " Because… I'm not going anywhere before you do. I'm not leaving you again."

It was tragic, really, that his words fell on deaf ears.

Silence had never felt as smothering as it did then, with him being able to do nothing but sit and wait for whatever fate had in store.

Naremi Kiamoto – mother of Hinata and Hanabi – hadn't even voiced the name Hyuuga since she'd divorced from Hiashi. Since she'd walked out of her ex-husband's house, apart from their still living daughter she'd resigned from everything else her old life had held – yearning for something better, her husband's shady 'coworkers', constant fear… It'd been one of the best days in her life.

That's why she was far from pleased when her doorbell rang late that evening, because even before opening she knew that it couldn't possibly mean anything good.

Her presumption was confirmed when she opened the door and met a badge. " Morino Ibiki, Konoha's police force." The huge, scar-faced man's expression was nothing short of stony. " I'd like to ask you some questions about your ex-husband."

-

When Hiashi approached his ex-wife's door about two hours later, he had a feeling that his welcome would be even frostier than usual. He wasn't proven wrong.

Naremi seemed just about ready to kill when meeting his face, and it took all his courage to speak out loud. " Something's happened", he announced in a remarkably hollow tone, worry for Hinata having wiped away all other emotions. " We need to talk."

" Yes. We do", Naremi confirmed, hissing like a snake. Her posture announced that she wouldn't let him into the house. " I just spent almost two hours talking to the police."

He swallowed thickly. So now they were involving even her in this… " I'm… sorry."

" Sorry?" The woman's voice slashed like a whip. She shivered, without a doubt under tremendous desire to attack him. " When I left you, I thought I'd gotten away from all that crap Gatô brought in – I thought I'd never have to answer to questions about your job again, that I could stop fearing! But now… Now…" She took several deep breaths, looking at him straight into eyes as though he'd been a monster of some sort. " That kid – Sai… You killed him."

He grit his teeth. " He was working for Orochimaru – he was about to rob that place."

" He didn't even have a weapon – I saw the security tapes! You… You butchered an innocent child!" she all but screamed, shivering even more violently. " You killed him because you didn't think! You… killed all those people!"

" Naremi!" He was surprised by how sharp his voice was. " Now's not the time, okay? Because…" He swallowed again, wondering how on earth he was going to be able to say this. " Hinata's missing. And I think she's in danger."

Right then, Naremi did what he suspected she'd been itching to do for years already. She lifted her hand and slapped him, so hard that he saw stars for a moment. Some tears of fury trickled onto her cheeks. " If… If anything happens to my daughter, I swear… I'll hunt you down and kill you. Do you understand? If those bastards hurt her…" The woman's voice faded away.

At that moment he did what he'd always done best. He turned around and walked away, hoping from the bottom of his heart that he'd be able to fix this mess.

Quite absently Sasuke knew that he was about to make a disastrous mistake while he forced Bucephalus through uneven landscape, desperate to get as far away from reality as possible.

/ For two weeks after the death of his parents Sasuke didn't speak a single word. Or that's what he'd been told, because he couldn't remember a thing of that time. His first memory after that day was Itachi's visit.

He wasn't sure if it was the look upon his brother's face – a storm of guilt, sadness and affection – or the familiar touch that did it, but when Itachi wrapped a pair of warm arms around him without saying a word, it took his all to not break down. He clung to his brother like he would to a lifeline, uncharacteristically casting aside all dignity.

It took several minutes before he found his voice, or at least a trace of it. " Promise me…", he all but wheezed, his voice raw from lack of use. " … that you'll never leave me." It took all his strength and pride to keep tears away. " Please. Because if you leave, too, I …" The rest died down under a wave of embarrassment, despair and pain.

Itachi's hold on him became far tighter, as though his brother had known already then. " I promise, Sasuke." It was nothing but a whisper, but to him it meant everything. " I promise that I'll never leave you all alone." /

He grit teeth, too numb to taste or feel blood when he bit his lip hard.

Why the hell weren't those pills working already? Had he taken too few?

Bucephalus gave him an odd look when he made a choked sound, but his unusually hard moves didn't give it a chance to stop. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, as well as his fists, even harder.

Had he been able to he would've screamed his heart out, but his mouth and throat weren't under his control anymore. A tiny mew, as though that of pain, erupted while yet another flash appeared.

/ Sasuke's very earliest proper memory was from when he'd been taken to the stables for the first time in his life, when he was barely five.

It was his pride that kept him from screaming when Itachi pushed himself onto a horse that looked like a giant to him, taking him along into heights. " 'Tachi!" he yelped, despising his tone.

" Don't worry, Sasuke." His brother's tone was so calm that he actually dared to relax slightly. " This horse is the calmest one in the entire stable. We're safe." Seeing his skeptical expression, the older smiled a little. " Just hold on tight, and you won't fall." /

After that memory, a part of him realized that his vision was starting to fade, everything spun in such a way that he started to feel sick to his stomach. He blinked sluggishly, feeling impossibly tired.

A tiny breath of relief escaped him.

Well finally…

In his current state, he didn't manage to notice the approaching tree branch until it was much too late. All he sensed was a hellish hit until it felt like his brain had simply been shut down.

He never sensed the harsh fall he took, nor startled Bucephalus' hoof hitting him.

As soon as Itachi woke up – with a crushing headache still sitting firmly inside his head – he could tell that something wasn't right. " … 'suke?"

The sound of a chair being moved felt like someone had been plunging a knife through his brain. " Are you awake?" It took a while, but eventually he recognized the voice as Yamato's.

He frowned, not managing to open his eyes or talk.

What… had happened? Where…?

And then, he remembered the dream he'd just been having. He gasped ever so slightly, although the pain it brought was almost more than he could take. " Sas'ke…"

There was a silence – so thick and heavy that it made him even more terrified than he had been. Something warm wrapped around his hand, and it took him a while to understand that it was Yamato's hold. " Itachi, you just had a very bad episode. You're in a hospital – the doctors are trying to make you feel as comfortable as possible."

Intelligence had always been one of the features for which he was known. That's why – despite his current state – he realized that the man refused to tell him anything about his brother.

Where… Where was Sasuke?

A horrible thought washed over him and he swallowed thickly, nearly wincing at how much the simple gesture hurt.

He wanted to speak – to ask what had happened to Sasuke, what his brother had seen, how much damage had been done. But just then a wave of pain almost as strong as the one he'd felt in the mansion appeared, and all he could do was give a tiny groan.

Yamato seemed to sense his discomfort, because there was another sound of a chair, then rushing steps, and shouts he couldn't make out.

He gasped again and felt his body convulse ever so slightly when the pain rose to such magnitude that it felt like an endless tsunami washing over him, swept away all his reason.

The sounds people made when barging into the room felt like hits of bullets straight to his skull, and he used all his willpower to shove his thoughts elsewhere.

He'd never been afraid of dying. But at that moment…

He winced when a needle was pushed through his unnaturally tender skin, nearly wanted to cry out in agony.

He… He couldn't leave Sasuke, not without seeing his brother, not before explaining, not before telling he was sorry. It was too soon.

It was fortunate that he or any of the other people in the room didn't know about the single tear that rolled to his sickeningly pale cheek.

He needed just one more 'next time'.

I'm sorry, Sasuke…

After that solemn thought the medication took him under.

Ino had never considered herself a particularly maternal type. Heck, she was probably as far from a mother figure as one could be. But nonetheless she was terrified out of her mind while waiting for news of her still unborn child, to know if the last thing she had left of Sai was gone forever.

She jumped on her bed when the room's door opened and glanced towards the sound with hopeful eyes. Her stomach sunk just a little bit with disappointment when instead of her doctor – Kurenai Yuuhi – she found Shikamaru, whom she'd chased into a cafeteria about half an hour earlier.

" So…", the boy said while slumping into the chair he'd been occupying since she'd been taken into this room. It was obvious that he was feeling somewhat uncomfortable. " Are you still in pain?"

She shook her head, glancing towards her bump as though hoping to see a sign of some sort. " No", she murmured in a somewhat lost tone. " The cramps stopped a while back. I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing."

Shikamaru nodded and seemed to search for words, but in the end never had to come up with anything. Both their eyes nailed to Dr. Yuuhi when the woman entered.

" Well?" she demanded, voice more tense than ever in her life.

Indescribable relief flowed through her when the woman smiled faintly. " According to tests the baby seems to be doing fine." The doctor's expression then hardened. " You, on the other hand, need to let go of stress. It's obvious that you've been pushing yourself far too hard lately."

She barely paid any attention to those words at the moment. All that mattered to her was the baby. " When am I getting home?" she managed after a long silence.

Dr. Yuuhi made some notes. " I'm afraid I'll have to keep you in for observation overnight. But unless there's something unexpected you should be able to leave tomorrow." The woman then smiled again. " This must've been a long day for you, so I'm letting you rest." The doctor glanced towards Shikamaru. " Make sure she stays in bed."

The boy scoffed a bit, which made her grin. " Troublesome…"

As soon as the doctor was out of the room she buried her face into both hands and gave a huge sigh of relief. Her heart thumped with realization.

It was over. Everything… was going to work out eventually.

" You okay?"

After some moments she looked towards the boy. " Yeah", she breathed out. " I think I'll be."

It wasn't until then she realized just how close to each other they were – dangerously close. And it was bound to have consequences.

Very slowly, the moves cautious and uncertain, Shikamaru started to lean closer. So badly in a shock she was that she couldn't make a move to stop what was happening before the boy's lips already brushed against hers, testing the ground.

She didn't know if she ever responded to the kiss before her muscles finally moved, doing what she knew to be right. Giving a small gasp to regain some of the breath she'd lost she pushed the boy away, licking away his taste that still lingered on her lips. " Look… You've been amazing friend, and I appreciate it. But…" She lost all words, not having a clue of how to proceed.

Fortunately 'stupid' wasn't one of the things Shikamaru was. His eyes flashed with emotion and understanding. " Hn."

She fought to come up with something to say, but fortunately the decision was taken out of her hands. They both shuddered when the door opened once more, and she swallowed hard when seeing Yamato standing by the doorway. Something from annoyance to tremendous relief was apparent on the man's face. " Your doctor told me what's going on." Usually gentle eyes hardened. " Now, I think it's finally time to talk about the baby."

Sasuke's mind drifted to several places at once when he opened his eyes slowly, staring at the spinning sky above him. He frowned, not liking how his mind tried to cling to too many things. Bucephalus moved nervously beside him when his hand twitched weakly, but all his concentration was on the world inside his head.

At the moment he was incoherent enough to imagine feeling a touch on his skin. " You've gotta stop running away from me", a voice that couldn't possibly be real murmured huskily, sending small chill through him.

He closed his eyes, too tired to keep them open especially when pain washed through him like a tidal wave. A distant sound of something extremely sharp – tires screeching, he would've recognized in some other state – tore his ears and head.

" Sasuke!"

That voice…

His eyelids twitched, but didn't inch open.

It sounded so far off, so surreal… It must've been another trick of his imagination.

Feeling very cold and the pain he'd been feeling becoming something distant and hollow, he allowed his mind to drift into a gray hue.

He was feeling so tired. Why shouldn't he sleep?

-

What he didn't know, was that two of the voices he'd heard had been nothing even close to a trick of his mind.

Naruto had never run like he did just then, gasping for air his lungs were screaming after, and his breath already wheezing. His legs hurt like hell and begged for rest, but he didn't give himself the pleasure of complying.

How far had Sasuke gotten? He'd taken Bucephalus, so…

Suddenly all those thoughts were swept away when there was a shriek like sound of tires. Once turning his head he felt his eyes widen upon realizing that he'd ended up in the middle of a road – and there was a car speeding towards him.

Oh… crap…!

After less than a blink a harsh thrust hit him, sending him to the pavement. He felt an explosion of pain when he landed, but couldn't tell exactly where it came from.

The driver – a young woman with brown hair in her twenties – rushed over to him with wide, horrified eyes. " Oh gosh…!" she gasped, surveying him with her gaze. " Are you alright? Should I call an ambulance?"

He shook his head, barely even hearing her, because his mind picked up a sound that rose above all others.

A neigh, coming from somewhere so close that he could feel it.

The young woman helped him get up, and despite the disarray his mind was in he flashed a thin, wobbly smirk of reassurance her way. " I'm fine", he announced, pleased to discover that he could stand and move easily, without feeling any pain whatsoever.

Had he been in the correct state of mind he would've felt her worried eyes on him as he went.

His blue eyes flashed while a dark feeling balled up in the pit of his stomach. " Sasuke!"

Somehow he had a feeling that wasting even one second could turn out to be fatal.

Hinata's eyes flew open, and she drew in a huge gasp when all she met was an endless sea of darkness. Instantly flashes of Hanabi, all the blood and shards of broken glass appeared right before her eyes.

Suddenly, all horrifying thoughts were chased away when a gentle hand was laid to hers. " 'Nata?" Turning her gaze, she met Haku's very welcomed face instead of darkness, and found herself smiling just a little. " You were having a nightmare. Are you alright?"

She nodded, and surprised herself with actually meaning it. " Yeah, I am." Her voice was uncharacteristically firm, free of all doubt. She rubbed her face with one hand, not wanting to draw the other away from the boy. " I just had… some unpleasant memories."

The boy nodded, and waited for a moment for her to calm down before continuing. " About Hanabi?"

As a response she pushed herself into a sitting position and rested her head against his shoulder. It surprised her that hearing her sister's name didn't bother her, not when it was said by him.

She shouldn't have been stunned, really. Unlike most probably thought they'd known each other for quite a while. They'd met in an institution where they'd both spent far more months than they would've liked, and this was the third summer they spent together in Konoha. They knew more about each other than anyone else did, and shared a bond that'd been strong enough to last through even the darkest of phases. If Hinata had believed in such a thing, she would've thought it was destiny their paths crossed.

" I dreamt of Zabuza-sama, too", Haku confided, pulling her out of thoughts. The boy's voice was even softer than usually. He glanced towards her. " I'm sure he would've liked you, although he would've never admitted it."
She gave his hand a squeeze. With how strained her terms with her father were, it was hard for her to imagine how much losing Zabuza must've hurt Haku. " That's good to hear", she murmured, playing with his fingers in what she hoped to be a comforting manner. " I think I would've liked him, too."

It was around then she started to realize that something was changing – in the atmosphere, in the shadows circling them, between them, inside them. Something that'd laid in wait for a long time was crawling towards the light.

She felt Haku shiver when she wrapped her arms around him like never before, and placed a tender kiss nearby his neck. " Are… you sure?" he inquired after a moment in a voice that also shuddered – with a startling realization and want, no doubt.

She nodded, still just as sure as she'd been before, and looked into his eyes with so little fear that it baffled her. " I'm ready", she announced in a voice that no longer belonged to the little girl she'd been before all this had started.

Haku seemed to see the change as well, and therefore he didn't hesitate to accept her invitation. Their moves were awkward and much too careful at first – with both of them having been shattered and trying their hardest to not break the other even further – but quite soon they picked each other's pace. Passion neither of them had ever felt before swept through, wiping them into a completely different kind of world.

They were both sick of wandering in the darkness. It was high time they helped each other pick all the scattered pieces.

Had they listened at all, they would've heard the sounds of approaching thunder rumbling in distance…

In the meantime Naruto kept running, desperation and utter horror chasing him forth. With each and every step the nagging sensation of dread building up underneath his ribcage grew stronger, until it became so great he feared he'd go out of his mind.

" Sasuke!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, not caring if all the tears he was nearly shedding could be heard. " Sasuke, where the hell are you?"

' Geez, kit… This is pathetic!' The voice was filled with so much amusement that he felt like roaring. ' You're making a fool of yourself because of some guy. Just forget about that loser already.'

He brought his hands to his ears while halting sharply. And then, he did something he would've never expected. " I love him, damnit!" he screamed out, howling like a wounded beast. " I fucking love him, so shut the hell up and leave me alone!"

It was like those words had been some sort of a magical sign to the universe. Because that exact moment, although his hands were still covering his ears, he heard a neigh – so loud that it could've easily challenged thunder itself.

He gasped, recognizing with chilling certainty. " Bucephalus…!"

He didn't bother to think anymore. Instead he ran, faster than he'd ever moved in his entire life. What he found when reaching a nearby hill went beyond every single nightmare he'd ever had, and only utter shock kept him from giving a scream.

There, on a stony ground, lay Sasuke, so unmoving that it sent electric chills down his spine. Bucephalus was stood nearby, seeming to be fighting with itself to not run away.

His heart squeezed into a tiny, extremely painful ball while he scrambled his way down the hill, falling down at least five times on his way and getting painful bruises. " S – Sasuke?" There was no reaction, and his throat became so tight that he could barely breathe while he froze five steps away from the raven. " Sasuke, you… you better…"

Finally managing to regain some composure he all but sprinted the distance separating them, ignoring the looks startled Bucephalus gave him. All strength leaving his muscles he fell to the boy's side, one of his hands landing to rest on a terrifyingly cold cheek. " Hey… Can… can you hear me?" Giving a choked sob, he made caressing motions on the other's skin. " It took a while, but… I'm… I'm here now, okay? Please, wake up."

As though having heard him the Uchiha actually obeyed, inching onyx eyes open like it'd been the hardest task in the entire world. He was startled when spotting some unshed tears in them. " Hurts…"

He swallowed thickly, feeling horrified beyond all reason. Only common sense kept him from scooping the clearly agitated teen into his arms. He didn't want to break the Uchiha even further. " Where?" he breathed out, continuing his caressing motions as though hoping that the simple gesture was enough to chase away all the other boy's agony. " Where does it hurt?" He wanted to fix this, desperately, but he didn't have the slightest clue of where to start.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but instead of words a wrenching groan of agony he could barely take crawled out, intensifying as the Uchiha's back arched with pain. " Damnit…"

It was then Naruto made some very unnerving discoveries, and cussed under his breath. Despite darkness, he could see even darker stains of blood on the ground before him. And Sasuke's back… Was there something wrong with it?

He tried to smile, although it was the hardest thing he'd ever done and came out bleakly. " It's… It's gonna be okay. Just stay awake. Stay with me."

Sasuke made a choked sound while black eyes locked to his, visibly desperate to maintain the contact. " Dobe…" Speaking seemed to take a lot of effort. The Uchiha's hand squirmed in his. " I…"

" Thank gosh, you found him!" Looking to side with surprise, he found Sakura dashing towards them, green eyes flashing with emotion. Soon enough the pinkette was also kneeling beside Sasuke, gaze filling with dread. " What's going on?"

He blinked, feeling so much at one go that it made him unable to respond. " I… I don't know." He then glanced towards the raven once more – right on time to see a pair of eyes closing. A stab of unimaginable panic went right through his heart. " SASUKE!"

What happened during the next endless minutes went completely beyond him. He was fairly sure he was screaming, still clutching Sasuke's hand desperately, until the boy's eyes fluttered open all of a sudden, filled with haze and pain.

Such relief flooded over him that he just had to smile a bit through blur that's appeared to his eyes. " Hey", he whispered huskily. " Welcome back."

Sasuke's hand tightened around his as a response.

There was what felt like a thunder of things he would've wanted to say right then, but he never got the chance to. Just then sounds of sirens appeared, and before he could do more than open his mouth medics were already buzzing around Sasuke.

He'd never seen anyone as scared as Sasuke was then. Even stood on the brink of unconsciousness the boy fought the medics with such fire he'd never seen before, as though the Uchiha's very life had depended on it.

One of the medics swore when Sasuke's fist met his cheek. " Shit! This kid isn't going to make this easy."

He growled a bit, not liking the situation. " Don't you think you're pushing him too hard?" He didn't want to see Sasuke like that. These people were crossing a line.

Another medic managed to check out the raven's vitals with a huge struggle and frowned. " We better get into a hospital, fast. I think he's going into shock."

The fight continued, and altogether three paramedics had to use all their skills to get Sasuke into the ambulance. The boy didn't stop struggling and muttering weak objections for even a second, no matter how weak he was getting. At one point Naruto was almost sure he heard the weakest of calls. " … 'Uto."

Eventually Sakura let out a snarl that startled even him, stepping forth. " Can't you idiots see that he's terrified?!" she all but shrieked, green eyes flaming with something he didn't recognize. " You'll get him killed if you force him into this! Let Naruto in – he's the only one who can calm Sasuke down right now!"

One of the medics seemed ready to start out a fight until another stepped in. " The girl's right." Sharp eyes locked with his. " Hop in, will you? We've already wasted too much time."

Sakura gave him a nod of reassurance. " Go. I'll find Kakashi and tell him what's happened."

He needed no further confirmation. He all but jumped into the ambulance, never even noticing how it started to speed off because all his focus was on Sasuke again. His chest kept making unnatural movements, and his head felt so woozy that he was almost sure he'd collapse right there and then.

Please, he pleaded with every last bit of his soul, feeling a burning sensation in his eyes. I'll do anything, just please… Please…

The rest of the world disappeared from his mind when Sasuke's eyes opened – slightly, but nonetheless. It took all his self control to not cry while he squeezed his hand as tightly around the other's as he could without bringing pain. " See, I'm right here, okay? So stop that worrying." He rubbed the back of the Uchiha's hand gently, affectionately, with his thumb, hoping from the bottom of his heart that the boy understood and took in his comfort despite all. " Everything's gonna work out, so calm down and let these people help you." His hold tightened still. " I swear I'm not going anywhere."

Sasuke looked at him with eyes that revealed a breathtaking amount of emotions that weren't in the boy's control, all the way from mistrust and terror to desperate hope. Then, ever so slowly, the eyes fell closed to him.

His blue orbs flew wide and his heartbeat spun out of control. " Sasuke!"

A medic's huge hand was placed to his shoulder. " Relax, kid. We had to give him some medication to calm him down – it just kicked in. He'll be sleeping until we get him examined properly."

He wasn't sure if he disappointed or ridiculously relieved.

At that moment he didn't give a damn about who was there to see what he was doing, paid no attention to possible weird looks and whispers.

Feeling like there'd been a ton of weight on his shoulders he leaned over the Uchiha, almost like shielding the boy, and buried his face into the other's barely moving chest. It was then he finally dared to break down completely.

TBC, or…? (Nah, just kidding.)

A/N: Oh… crap… (gawks with wide eyes as weapons are prepared)

I REALLY (and honestly, actually) have to get going now. So, without further… PLEASE, do review, although it's to scold how I seem to leave you hanging these days!

Until the next update, folks – I truly hope I'll see all of you then!

Be good!