Disclaimer: Same one as always.

Warning: Sad parts in the story.

Bad News
(edited)

----

Naruto had fallen asleep. Cried himself to sleep actually and he had just woken up. He could hear Sasuke breathing loudly. Gasping for breath really. He was at Sasuke's side in an instant. He leaned down to Sasuke's ear.

"Please Sasuke don't do this. Calm down. Please just wake up. I need to talk to you again. If you die right now then a part of me will die to. Don't you dare give in now. You're stronger then this. Fight it."

It appeared that Sasuke had heard him. His heartbeat slowly went back to normal and Naruto sighed. What had just happened? Naruto didn't really care as long as Sasuke kept on living. He needed Sasuke like he needed air. He always had. Sasuke had saved him multiple times. He had been grateful then. And he was grateful now.

Naruto stood looking down at Sasuke. It was a little overwhelming to him but he didn't look away. Naruto stood there for what seemed like hours looking at Sasuke looking so helpless. If Naruto ever met Itachi again he would make him pay. Sasuke didn't deserve this.

----

"Shouldn't the boy be waking up now?" Akimitsu said to Itachi somewhere in the woods surrounding the village.

"Yeah he should," Itachi said. "You do have to remember though that the jutsu I used is more powerful to some people then to others."

"Sasuke was a strong kid though, I wouldn't be surprised if he were to wake up right now," Akimitsu said.

----

Naruto felt Sasuke's hand tighten in his own and gasped.

"S-Sasuke?" Naruto stuttered. He could see the boy's eyes flutter open. "Oh my god, you're awake!"

"Who are you? And where am I?" Sasuke asked not even knowing who he was.

"Sasuke You're in the hospital," Naruto said taking Sasuke into a huge hug.

"Ow, you're hurting me," Sasuke said with a strange coldness. "What is your name. You didn't tell me."

"I'm Naruto. Don't you remember Sasuke? Are you okay?' Naruto said standing back looking at the boy. His eyes looked different, distant. These weren't the eyes of Naruto's love.

They were the eyes of a stranger.

"Stop calling me Sasuke. I don't know who he is."

"What should I call you then?"

"Don't call me anything. Don't even talk to me." Sasuke said looking out the window. "Could you please go away now. You're making me uncomfortable."

"You don't remember anything do you?" Naruto said looking hurt.

"Remember what? There's nothing to remember."

'This boy seems to know me. He seems familiar but I just can't put my finger on where I met him.'

The two sat in silence. Sasuke tried to remember anything at all. Tried to concentrate. All that came to his head was the image of the other boy's happiness in seeing him awake. 'Who was this kid who kept calling him Sasuke?'

Naruto was confused at what had happened to Sasuke. Why had he forgotten everything?

Naruto then remembered that Itachi had crouched next to Sasuke. At the time he had only thought that it was to check his pulse. He must've done something to Sasuke. Naruto had been at an ungodly angle and hadn't seen much. Just Sasuke getting beaten up by his loving brother. There had to be something that he was missing. He was going to get to the bottom of it. Naruto was going to go to the Hokage when he was released. Was there some kind of of jutsu or something that Itachi could have used on Sasuke?

Sasuke looked over at Naruto. True to his word he had left him alone. Now though, it was quite lonely in the empty blank hospital room. There was nothing to look at outside and Sasuke couldn't get up anyways. He was sore all over from something. What had really happened to him?

"Umm... excuse me, N--," Sasuke started to say. He had forgotten his name.

"Na-ru-to. My name is Naruto. What do you want?" the boy asked turning over to face him.

"I was wondering if you could talk to me. Tell me what happened. I'd really like to know more about why my body is so sore. It's annoying." Sasuke said staring at the door.

Naruto was surprised that Sasuke would admit that something was actually painful. Or that he was in pain. He just had to remember that this wasn't the Sasuke he knew. It was one who knew nothing of anything that had went on. Totally oblivious to everything. This thought threatened to send Naruto to the ground crying. Why did this have to happen now? Him and Sasuke had been doing so well.

"What exactly did you want to know. Who you are? Or just what happened?" Naruto asked him.

"I want to know everything."

"Well, I guess we should start at the beginning," Naruto said feeling like he was talking to a little child. And not a teenage boy. "Your name is Sasuke Uchiha, you're 16 years old and..."

"And what?" Sasuke said looking at him enquiringly.

"And you live in the hidden leaf village also known as Konoha," Naruto said finishing the sentence quietly.

"Sas-uke?" the boy said. "That's what you called me earlier isn't it?"

"Yes," Naruto said getting the sudden urge to go over and kiss him. He looked so adorable when he was deep in thought. "Does it ring a bell?"

"No, not really... so what else can you tell me?" Sasuke asked smiling.

"Well..." Naruto said. This was going to be a long afternoon.

----

"Hello there. How are my sick little boys?" Tsunade, the Hokage said as she walked in looking at the records. "Oh my," she said when she saw that both of them were awake and sitting up on Sasuke's bed, looking out the window. "You boys should be lying down. Or at least be on your own bed." She said looking at Naruto. Sasuke smiled. Tsunade was happy that he actually had something to smile about.

"Naruto you are free to go. You were only here because you were asleep from over exhaustion. You look all better, so you may leave today."

Tsunade smiled as Naruto jumped up and did a victory dance on the floor by the bed. Tsunade and Sasuke watched him in silence. Naruto was in the middle of his little dance thing and he stopped. Aware of the eyes on him. He blushed. Sasuke and Tsunade laughed. Really laughed though. Sasuke was laughing. He had never actually heard Sasuke laugh like that before and he liked it. He would have to remember to make Sasuke laugh again in the future.

Naruto joined in on the laughter. No use sulking about his embarrassment. It was his own fault.

"I really want to get out of here. I haven't had ramen in days." Naruto said looking around to see if he had forgotten anything. His search around the room only served to give him another look at Sasuke and this gave him another pang of painful memories to his heart. It's not the same Sasuke as before. He might never remember anything ever again. Just walk away Naruto.

"Bye then Naruto, I'll probably be talking to you soon," Tsunade said giving him a look that said she wanted a full story of what happened to Sasuke.

"Bye," he said to Tsunade. "I'll probably see you soon Sasuke," Naruto said looking lovingly down on the boy. If Sasuke thought he was weird then he didn't show it.

"Bye Na-ru-to," the brunette said as a joke. Tsunade was surprised at how well he was recovering even though he didn't have his memory. He was joking around with Naruto, that was a good sign.

Naruto laughed at Sasuke's comment and punched his arm gently.

"Oww," Sasuke said smiling. What am I doing? I don't even know this boy and yet I'm so comfortable with him. What was my relationship with him? I obviously knew him.

"Don't hurt yourself," Naruto said smiling.

"What?" Sasuke said a little confused.

"Don't think so hard that you hurt yourself. It's okay to not remember. It'll come back soon. Take your time. I promise you'll remember," Naruto said sounding more sure of himself then he thought. He hoped that Sasuke got his memory back. If not then Naruto would be devastated. He loved Sasuke and he wasn't about to lose him to some stupid forgetfulness jutsu.

Sasuke had noticed that Naruto had looked at him a little more then a friend would've. Had he been--

"Sasuke, I'm sure Naruto told you that was your name."

"Yeah, he did."

"Good, at least he was good for something," Tsunade said smiling a little at her own joke. Sasuke didn't like her very much. She was kind of weird.

"What is the point that you're trying to get to?" Sasuke said with a stern look on his face.

"You are not to leave the hospital by yourself. You are not to leave the gates of this village with anyone until you get your memory back."

"Okay..." Sasuke said just looking at the woman in front of him.

"We, the doctors and I, think that we have found out the problem. You were hit by a special jutsu. It cannot be reversed by anything we do here. Your memory, if it comes back, will come back on it's own. We aren't sure when but eventually it will come back," Tsunade said almost like she was telling him that he was going to die in a week. Hell, he could die this week, he didn't know. He couldn't remember anything.

----

Naruto hadn't left like Tsunade had thought. He had been listening to the conversation between the woman and Sasuke.

And he didn't like it one bit.

They didn't know when Sasuke was going to get his memory back. Or even if it was going to come back at all. There was nothing that anyone could do.

Naruto was crushed. He loved Sasuke and wasn't about to lose him to some stupid jutsu Itachi had put on him. Sasuke was allowed out of his room. Naruto thought it might be fun to take Sasuke out to get some fresh air sometime. And maybe do little sight seeing.

Naruto had gone for a walk after hearing Tsunade's words. He hadn't even stopped for ramen. He'd gone off to sit on a bench. It was cold but it took him off his shaking legs. He had been so excited to eat but had been crushed at Tsunade's words. Even if it was the same Sasuke would he still like Naruto back?

He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't seen Sakura approaching.

"Can I sit here?" She said looking down at Naruto.

"I don't think it matters what I'm going to say you're probably going to sit down anyways," Naruto said still staring at the ground and not at the girl that he had once had a crush on. He was now over her. He loved Sasuke. Why couldn't people just leave him alone?

"What's wrong Naruto? You've been sad and depressed ever since you brought Sasuke back," Sakura asked him. She was worried about Naruto and Tsunade had asked her to talk to him.

"There is nothing wrong. Just leave me alone." Naruto said this in such a defensive tone it sounded like he was hiding something big. Maybe him liking Sasuke was big. Naruto was scared that this new Sasuke would get weird around him and other people who he had gotten to respect him would lose all of their respect for him. He didn't want that. It had taken so long to earn their respect in the first place.

"If you're sure," Sakura said cautiously. She didn't want Naruto to be upset. She would've liked to know what was wrong. If it had something to do with Sasuke then she wanted to know.

Why had Sasuke lost his memory? Who had done it? She knew she couldn't ask Naruto. Tsunade had asked her not to anyways.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Naruto said a question popping into his head. "Why didn't you come on the mission Sakura? What did Tsunade want?"

"Oh, there was an opening at the hospital and Tsunade wanted to know if I wanted to learn to be a nurse. She knew that's what I really wanted. That's why I'm spending so much time at the hospital," Sakura said looking at the building across the street. "It was hard at first but its pretty fun once you get the hang of helping people. It's really rewarding," Sakura heard Naruto's stomach rumble and grumble. "How about we go get some ramen? You must be hungry. You haven't had any in days. What do you say?"

"Sure," Naruto said perking up a little but still talking in a monotone.

----

Naruto only ate one bowl of ramen. He wasn't that hungry and it reminded him of the time that him and Sasuke had eaten ramen at the stand in the Wave country.

(Naruto's Flashback)

-'Are you coming? Or are you just going to stand in the middle of the street looking like an idiot?' Sasuke had said from the ramen stand.

-'I... I love you, Naruto. With all of my heart.'

-'How about that break?' Sasuke had said after he had kissed Naruto.

(End of Flashback)

He missed Sasuke. They had had a pretty good time on that mission. He could feel a bubble of emptiness rise up in him. It was like a thousand knives were stabbing his heart over and over. How could Itachi do that?

Sakura watched Naruto. His eyes had gone from loving, to sad to violently angry in a matter of minutes. He was the only one in the village who knew what had happened to Sasuke. Sasuke probably didn't know the whole story. And if he had, he didn't know it anymore.

Naruto finished his bowl of ramen and declared himself full. Sakura just stared at him.

What had happened to the Naruto that ate at least 5 bowls of ramen at a time?

Where had Naruto gone?

He was turning into a version of Sasuke.

She couldn't let that happen.

It was getting dark. They had walked and were quite close to Naruto's house. Sakura had to go back to the hospital but she said that he could come by anytime to talk to her.

Naruto walked up the stairs to his house. It was so quiet. It was going to be a long night. He could tell already. He had grown to like sleeping when Sasuke was around. It comforted him. He hadn't known what he had been missing out on.

He opened the door and was met by darkness. He walked through the house without tuning on any lights. He flopped down on his bed without slipping under the covers or removing any of his clothes.

He laid in that one spot for what seemed like forever and fell into an uneasy sleep.

----

The blonde haired boy woke up later in the morning then usual. He decided to eat breakfast. He put two pieces of bread in the toaster. He still didn't want to eat raman just yet.

He was eating his toast and he thought that since he wasn't doing anything today that he could see Sasuke and maybe take him for a walk if he wanted to go. He would take him around the village where he had spent most of his time. He was going to try to make Sasuke's memory come back. He wasn't going to let this ruin Sasuke. It wasn't fair.

----

Naruto walked into the hospital. He made his way to Sasuke's room and stopped at the door. What if he wasn't allowed? He turned around outside the door. He would ask Tsunade first.

He found Tsunade not far from Sasuke's room.

"Excuse me Tsunade," Naruto said quietly.

"Yes Naruto?" she said continuing to look through the files.

"I was wondering if I could take Sasuke out for a walk. It's a nice day out and I would expect that he's tired of being in the hospital room."

"I suppose. But you have to watch his collar bone. It is still broken," Tsunade said watching Naruto now, having found the file she was looking for.

"Yeah. I'll be careful. We would just be walking anyways," Naruto said smiling broadly. His plan was going good. All that was left was to get Sasuke to agree and get him out of the hospital.

Naruto all but ran to Sasuke's room. He threw open the door. To see Sasuke sleeping. He looked so peaceful. The blonde walked over to the side of the bed that Sasuke was facing. He watched the boy breathe so calmly.

Naruto watched Sasuke until the boy's eyes slowly opened.

"Whoa..." Sasuke breathed when he saw Naruto. "Where did you come from?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk out in the village. You've been trapped in this room so long. Just to get some fresh air. I can show you around if you want," Naruto said watching for the brunette's answer. He saw the boy's mouth open. "I already ran my idea by Tsunade. She gave me a thumbs up. It's all up to you. Would you like to go for a walk?"

It was like he had read his mind. Sasuke was going to ask if he'd asked Tsunade. He really did want to get out the hospital. "Sure, it would be fun. Take me somewhere I've been before."

"Anything for you," Naruto said lovingly. He was shocked that it had slipped out of his mouth. He'd hoped that Sasuke hadn't noticed.

Who was this boy? He knew nothing of him, yet he knew everything about the brunette. He was curious. Maybe this walk would be good for some answers. Or maybe some memories.

----

The boys reached the bottom of the stairs and were finally able to go outside. When they first stepped out Sasuke was amazed at how familiar the buildings were.'I've been here before. It seems familiar, but I can't remember what happened.'

----

--To be continued--