Chapter Ten

Confessions

Sasuke swirled in the dark depths of semi - awareness. He was not awake, nor was he really sleeping either. He could hear the soft beeping of the heart monitor and the soft voices of people in the room on the occasion he had visitors. His mind was working but the pain in his body whenever he tried to move was to overwhelming and it had sent him into a half aware stupor. It was almost like being in a coma. He knew what was going on and what was happening, but his body lacked the strength and his mind the will to move. The Uchiha was not really sure what had happened to him, he could not remember. He did know that Naruto had done it, but Naruto had not been himself. None the less he was still ticked off beyond all reason at him. Naruto kept saying he wanted to help and then he did something like this, it made no sense. Sasuke could not make sense of it. So he gave up and just tried to listen.

Once Sasuke remembered there was silence. He remembered vaguely a few things. Foot steps, and this time a voice whispering softly in his ear. A not so happy voice. It was a voice that was extremely familiar and yet he could not place it. He knew it was a girls voice though. "Naruto did this to you Sasuke kun... He attacked you," the voice whispered in his ear. It sounded angry and upset.

"He always told you that he loved you and yet maybe he did not... He would not have hurt you like this if he loved you so much," the voice whispered. Throwing Sasuke's mind into a turmoil. He knew Naruto did it, what if the voice was right? What if Naruto was jealous of him for some reason? He could not place why Naruto would be jealous of him, but with the blonde one could never tell.

"He almost killed you Sasuke kun... You can't love someone like that. So violent... He could be a threat to other people. Unpredictable and violent," the voice whispered, seething with hatred and something else the half aware Uchiha could not put his finger on. He twitched in his sleep.

"There are other people who would appreciate you more. Don't let him trick you into this trap again," the voice said. Then there was other movement and the owner of the voice startled. Sasuke vaguely heard the footsteps of departure before falling back into the darkness of pain inducing oblivion.

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Naruto stood outside the door of Sasuke's hospital room. He had not been able to actually go in and visit the Uchiha since that day. The feelings of guilt and agony were overwhelming him and no one had ever seen the Kyuubi boy in such a terrible state of internal pain. His heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly by something more fierce then the Kyuubi itself. The blonde haired boy could not stop himself from thinking that if he had of said something earlier then he would have been able to prevent what had happened to Sasuke. Yet despite that thought, he had still not confessed what had happened. Even Sakura had been afraid of what might have happened to Naruto if they had told the real story. She had made up lies and Naruto had simply gone along with them. He was terrified, and yet at the same time he knew that something had to be done about his problem. Or it would soon be more then just his problem. It already had become more then just his problem, it was Sasuke's too now. And Sakura seemed uneasy around him as well.

Naruto's head was bowed down so that he was starring at his feet. He had dark rings beneath his eyes. Naruto had not really slept since he had caused the Uchiha so pain. The blonde haired boy was holding tightly to a bouquet of worn out looking flowers. He had been meaning to bring them into the room to give to Sasuke for the last two days. The Uchiha had reportedly not woken up since the incident. Naruto felt his stomach constrict as he stood there, his thoughts churning and his mind in turmoil as he was torn between visiting or not. He was afraid that Sasuke would wake up. He was terrified of letting the Uchiha know of his presence. But what scared him most was what Sasuke would think of him after all that had happened. He was afraid that he had destroyed the love that Sasuke had towards him.

Naruto clenched his teeth tight and forced himself to stand straight and relinquish his strangle hold on the flowers. All standing out here was doing, was proving that he was weak. He owed Sasuke a visit, whether the Uchiha was awake to see him or not. Naruto took in a deep breath and walked into the room that Sasuke had been 'living' in for the last few days.

Naruto felt his stomach clench and tears spring to his eyes for the first time in a long while when he finally saw what he had been keeping himself away from all this time. Sasuke was hooked up to a heart monitor, an IV and he had been bandaged in many places. Naruto had not realized that he had done this much damage and the realization of it hit hard. He sniffled and edged closer to the bed, placing the ruffled feathers in a vase that had been placed there by someone else. The previous visitors flowers were dieing. Naruto figured that they had been left by Sakura. He took a seat on the chair that was left beside his bed for visitors and leaned on the bed a little, forcing himself to look at the damage he had inflicted. "I'm so sorry Sasuke kun... I never meant to hurt you," Naruto whispered, his voiced chocked and he sobbed involuntarily when there was no response. Not even a flutter of the Uchiha's eyes. Just the unsteady rise and fall of Sasuke's chest.

"I should have told someone before... I should have stopped when it started. I was so scared, I still am... Sasuke kun," Naruto whispered, talking for the need to talk. He needed to say these things. Even if Sasuke could not hear them he needed to say them to Sasuke. "I still haven't told anyone. Sasuke I am afraid of what they will do," Naruto told the seemingly lifeless Uchiha. He began to grow more and more upset with the lack of any reaction or motion from the Uchiha. Tears started to fall down his cheeks and Naruto hopped that no one came in and saw him like this.

"I never wanted this to happen. I love you so much... So why does loving you have to be so damn hard?" Naruto asked the Uchiha. His hands clenching the blankets as he sobbed, trying to be quiet despite his anguish. "I knew the Kyuubi was trying to control my body. He told me so. He even said he would kill you... Why'd I let him get so far..?" Naruto's voice had risen in it's volume. It was the first time he had spoken the real story out loud since Sakura had made up her lies to save him the trouble of confessing.

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand touched his shoulder and a dull voice came from behind him, "so that's what really happened." Naruto felt his stomach clench and he turned to look up into the black eyes of Hatake Kakashi. Naruto paled, to a point of nearly turning green with a sick realization of what had just happened. He had accidentally confessed.

"Kakashi sensei! I - I..." Naruto stuttered and trailed off. He had never seen Kakashi look so frighteningly serious. Not even when Orochimaru and Suna had attacked Konoha during the final rounds of the Chuunin exams.

"Uzumaki Naruto. You have a lot of explaining to do," Kakashi said sternly. There was no joke in his voice, no lightness that usually made Naruto feel so comfortable and willing to talk. Just stern seriousness. The reality of this terrible situation left Naruto's eyes dry of tears as Kakashi gestured for Naruto to follow him. Naruto could only nod stiffly to Kakashi. It was to late to take back his words now. Solemnly, Naruto rose from his seat.

"Gomen nasai," Naruto mumbled.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"For lying before..."

"You should be sorry. This is no matter to be played with. Especially of it has to do with the Kyuubi. I can't believe you let it get this far that you hurt Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes teared up again. "What are you doing to do with me then?" He asked. His voice filled with fear. Kakashi's face softened.

"Don't worry Naruto. We'll fix you up. But you've got to tell us everything," Kakashi responded in a comforting manner.

"What about...?" Naruto glanced back at Sasuke.

"That you'll have to fix on your own," Kakashi said softly. Knowing what Naruto was referring too. Together they exited the room, leaving Sasuke behind. Both were completely unaware that the Uchiha had finally woken up. Sasuke had heard everything. But at the same time, the words of his curious visitor echoed in his mind. The raven haired boy was torn between hate and love.