Now that I think back now, I think Naruto was like this piece of apple.

If it was eaten quickly, or had been worked upon strategy such as dipping the apple into salt water, the apple would stay crisp, but if it was to be laid out, forgotten upon a plate, it will change into a dirty brown colour and shrivel.

Naruto needed the support, and the brat was probably the salt for Naruto.
The water, being me, wasn't good enough by itself...

Without the salt, the apple will turn soggy in the long run...

For Naruto to not lock himself up into the black hole he himself created, he needed that brat, and I understand that well now...

Chapter 10: Wheel of fortune starts to turn

Sasuke eyes showed less fear as the more he saw those red irises that Naruto quite frequently showed. Another month had passed and the weather was getting colder.

Tranquil time passed by as the bond between the two slowly grew stronger, creating friendship and trust.
Naruto would grin broadly as if he hadn't ever been that quiet, expressionless scruffy blond before. He radiated more life into his face expressions and his voice rang in colourful strings of tones, widening the range of emotions that had once been bottled up and locked away deep within his heart.
Sasuke had dug up that part of the soul that Naruto was lacking, bringing him more to life.

On the other hand, whilst Sasuke's face expression had softened greatly and more frequently played a smile across his lips, he still had that one thought nagging him without a rest.
He couldn't help but wonder what was happening to Naruto's body, what was so different with him, enough to be stared at like a freak, and what Naruto was afraid of.
He knew he couldn't ask, and just had to wait patiently until Naruto would talk about it himself, but his curiosity never ceased.

Naruto's eyes fluttered open, revealing the pair of azure blue jewels which is probably what I liked most about him. It was nature's hidden treasure that people were not bothered enough to look at properly.

It wasn't a good thing at all to know that people will not even try to look at how beautiful his eyes were, but a part of me was actually a bit happy to know that only I get to know how beautiful they are, and that I was the only one who could see them like this every day at a close range, as if they were my property.

Naruto groaned and rubbed his eyes as he struggled to sit up.

"Morning, sleepy head," I said, letting out a chuckle.

"Morn'n, jeez~, why the hell are you always so early?" he asked, groaning a bit more.
He still looked dozey, as if he was about to slump back and fall asleep right there.

It wasn't that Naruto wasn't an early waker, but after the incident of his eyes, the frequency of the occurrence seemed to drain his energy a lot more, making Naruto much more tired as the days passed, which was another thing that worried me to no end.

"Today's a real good weather. Do you want to go to the roof again?" I offered.
Sleepy-the-less, Naruto widened his smile and nodded.

"Yeah..."

Today was the day that the wheel of our fortune, which held the options of our destiny, came off the base, and started spinning out of control, down the hill, slowly chipping chunks out of the wheel, bit by bit until... what is left for us at the end.

"Watch your step, dobe," I joked at the clumsy Naruto who was tripping over a few steps up the stairs again. It was his usual routine and I got so used to it that I knew when and where to catch him or support him... or occasionally let him fall purposely when I knew it would cause only a light damage.
At times like that, Naruto would growl at me and I would laugh at him.
It was those kinds of prank that I was playing at again today...

We were half way up the stairs again, at the turning point where the stairs was wider so we'd turn 180 degrees to get on with the next half of the stairs.

Naruto tripped again, and I let him fall, and he fell with his arms reflex moving forward to the ground before his face, but nevertheless, he still hit his face on the ground with an "mpf!"

"Sasuke!" Naruto quickly turned around and barked at me who was already barking his head off with laughter...

...but quickly cut off short when Naruto turned around.
At that instant, my blood froze and my eyes widened.

"N-Na...ruto...," I managed to stammer after I found my voice, "are you... are you okay?"

"Huh...?" Naruto cranked his head and furrowed his brows, "wha-?"
He then probably felt something dripping down his cheeks, and his hands reached up to touch them.

It was blood.

Blood was dripping down his cheeks from his eyes like leaking taps from the red, voracious mammal like eyes. Fear gripped Naruto and his arms started visibly shaking, uncontrollably.
And then, as if his brain registered from that vision, he started clutching his eyes and started screaming in agony.

"AAAAAHHHHHH~! SASUKEEEEEE! HELP ME! IT HURTS! SASUKE-!"

I panicked and my hands were so numb I couldn't even feel my fingers. My mind went blank and I didn't know what to do. Blood was rushing and the heart was pumping so fast that I was starting to hyperventilate from fear. I had no idea what to do.

What do I do! What do I do! What do I do! What do I do! What do I do! WHAT DO I DO!

Without thinking, I went down to my knees and cradled Naruto, trying to get him to sit upright and onto my back so I could take him back to his room where there's a nurse call for us to call Doctor Tsunade.
My own arms were shaking violently as I tried to move the screaming Naruto forcefully onto my back to transport him.

Naruto seemed to have lost all his senses except the agonising pain and he just constantly screamed and screamed, shaking me to the core.

My legs were shaky as I desperately dashed down the stairs, almost toppling over.
I don't recall it much but I had probably crashed into the wall a few times, as my wobbly legs never managed to run straight.
But after what seemed like ages, I got Naruto to his bedroom and Naruto was still clutching his bloody eyes that didn't seem to stop flowing with bright red blood, staining his old, not-so-white patient clothes.

Immediately after the nurse call, Doctor Tsunade came with loud footsteps echoing down the corridor.
I was shoved aside, and was told to wait outside where I just shook uncontrollably, not being able to fully interpret what had happened, or calm my feelings down.
I gripped my clammy, cold hands together, trying to stop the shaking without any success and couldn't even attempt to stop the racing heart that was just panicking for what was happening to Naruto.
I looked down my shirt that was marked with drops of Naruto's blood, stanching like the smell of rusting iron.

What's going on! What happened to Naruto! Is he going to be okay! What kind of disease has that kind of symptom! Is he going to live! Why did this happen to Naruto! What's going to happen to him!

Millions of questions swirled in my mind that I didn't realise I was stressing and sweating and hyperventilating, making it hard for me to breathe.

I felt my body lose its strength and I fell to the ground, grabbing at my throat, choking from the lack of oxygen that was being transported to my lungs.
My vision was getting blurry and my body was starting to burn.
The last thing I saw was Doctor Tsunade coming out of Naruto's bedroom and rushing over towards me.

"Oi, brat! Are you okay! can you hea me...hey h..-ng n thea..."
And then my world went black.

Hey, Naruto... would you be okay...?
Please don't leave my side...
Not you too... please.