Chapter Eleven

Irreparable

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly when he was sure that no one was in the room with him anymore. He was fairly sure that he was alone but one could never tell when they were blind. The raven haired boy reached up slowly despite the pain to touch his face absently as he had gotten in the habit of doing every morning since he had lost his sight. Still there was only blackness and he sighed to himself reluctantly. He felt like he had nothing left anymore. His sight was gone, he could not defend himself, and the one he had loved seemed to have betrayed his trust.

Sasuke felt like a moron for ever letting Naruto gain his trust. He could not understand what had happened. Sasuke let his arm fall down weakly to his side again, letting out a soft noise of pain when it hit the bed. He could not even begin to imagine the extent of the damage that had been wrecked upon his body by the blonde shinobi. But it seem to have been a lot. Even the cursed seal had not had time to activate before he had been battered into an oblivion. The Cursed Seal. That was another factor to his blindness. It seemed that nothing ever went right in his life and Sasuke was beginning to think that he was on this planet for nothing better then to suffer. He wondered vaguely how easy it would be to pull the plastic tubing of the IV out and blow air into his own blood stream, it would be an effective suicide, that much is for certain.

"Sasuke kun! You're awake!" Sakura's voice was filled with relief and he heard her race over to the bed. She was an irritating interruption to his thoughts of suicide. "How are you feeling?" Her tone had softened and he felt the weight of her body settling itself down on the side of the bed.

"Like shit," Sasuke responded. His voice was so hoarse that he could hardly be understood.

"Hold on. Let me get a nurse. She can bring you water or food or something," Sakura said excitedly. He heard the rustling of flowers being placed on the bed side table and he caught himself wondering if Naruto had brought him any flowers.

Why should I care if he brought me any flowers? This dobe was the one that did this to me... I hate him for that... Sasuke thought to himself viciously. Sakura came back in with a nurse who helped prop Sasuke up on his bed. Sasuke felt a lot of this was pointless. He could not see flowers, propping him up didn't matter, he couldn't see his visitors any better, and who cared if he chocked on his drink and died?

"Here's something to drink," the nurse said, placing it carefully in Sasuke's hand. His grip was weak and the water felt obscenely heavy for such a small glass. Shaky handed Sasuke brought the glass to his cracked lips and took a sip. The cool water washing over his lips and into his mouth was refreshing and the Uchiha had to force himself to not drink it to quickly.

"Better?" Sakura asked, he could hear the smile in her voice and imagined how relieved she was probably feeling about seeing him awake.

"How long have I...?"

"Um... Three days..." Sakura responded, he imagined that she was fidgeting now. Naruto had done a lot of damage. "Naruto feels so terrible about it all. He really di -"

"Don't even talk about him around me," Sasuke snapped viciously when she mentioned the blonde. He was burning with hate inside for how Naruto had put him in this crippled state. He never wanted to be weak. He had always promised himself that he'd never let anyone destroy him so utterly again for the sake of his clan, and Naruto had done just that.

"But Sasuke... he - "

"If he thinks he can explain it me then let him do it himself," Sasuke responded, cutting her off again. He did not want to hear Sakura's excuses. He wanted Naruto to come out of hiding and say these things himself.

"He can't..." Sakura said weakly.

"What?" Sasuke looked in the general direction of Sakura's voice. He could not see her himself but the expression on the Uchiha's face was one of surprise. Why couldn't he? That made no sense at all.

"He's under quarantine right now. He's basically been caged up," Sakura said, since Naruto's accidental confession the other Jounin had decided that Naruto was to dangerous to be left in public while he was in such a fragile state.

"What do you mean he's caged up?"

"You see. The seal is breaking and he's loosing control of the demon," Sakura sobbed and Sasuke reached out to her clumsily, trying to figure out where her hand was. By some manner of luck he found it without touching anything awkward. "He can't control it. Whenever he goes to sleep he has horrible nightmares about the Kyuubi. He's so scared Sasuke. He doesn't want to hurt anyone..." Sakura whispered softly. Sasuke felt a tear hit the back of his hand.

"What do you mean they can't figure out how to seal it again?" Sasuke asked, trying to figure out as much as he could. His concern for Naruto was suddenly overriding the words he had heard while in his coma like state not so long ago.

"I don't know. They tried. Jiraiya came and tried to fix it but it just cracked again. They said something about Naruto's crumbling will and the demon foxes rising strength," Sakura responded, her voice filled with hopeless despair.

"I hate the bastard for what he did to me," Sasuke hissed out, pained when he started moving. The Uchiha was getting up. He swung his legs around to the bed side, agony shooting through his body in waves so strong that he was nearly knocked back onto the bed again. But he refused to relent. "I'm gonna give that idiot a piece of my mind."

"Sasuke! You're not allowed to move yet!" Sakura squealed loudly. Sasuke waved her off and stood unsteadily. His legs shook and all he was wearing was a hospital gown but for once Sasuke did not really care how he looked.

"Get me a cane," Sasuke demanded.

"But - "

"Sakura," Sasuke's eyes narrowed on her so perfectly that it was hard to think that he was blind. The famous Uchiha glare sent her squirming beneath those eyes. They were even colder now then they had been when they were kids. That was the first time Sakura had been under an honest Uchiha glare since before the Uchiha boy had run away. It was scary seeing how much that look at changed to one of a frighteningly deadly murderer instead of an innocent genin trying to look intimidating.

She scurried out of the room and Sasuke tested his mobility until she returned with fretting nurses and a cane to help Sasuke walk. They babbled and gaggled and tried to convince Sasuke to stay still but the Uchiha refused all of their concerned cooing and took the cane. "Take me to Naruto," he demanded next. A steady glare sent all of them into silence and Sakura timidly began to lead the way. Sasuke was scary when he was angry like this and Sakura decided that she did not really want to be the subject of his wrath. Though she felt sort of guilty because she had a funny feeling that Naruto was about to become the victim of an enraged Uchiha Sasuke.

After all that idiot has preached to me and he's the one falling? What ever happened to never giving up and always staying strong? Stupid moron! Sasuke thought to himself as he followed Sakura. He itched at his cursed seal, it was tingling irritatingly. Sasuke had not realized that his chakara levels had started to rise until that moment. The tell tale pain in the seal announcing that it was attempting to reopen again. I didn't spend all that time studying forbidden techniques with Orochimaru to let it all go to waste. Lets see what these idiot Jounin have been doing wrong with that seal... Sasuke thought to himself. Orochimaru had taught him many things, including repairing broken demon seals. That one had been taught to the Uchiha so that Sasuke could use the technique on whatever demon containers Orochimaru had planned to pit him against in the future. It would have kept the demons from activating. Being blind would make all this extremely hard but Sasuke did not care. He would teach the Konoha Jounin a thing or two.

"Sasuke... " Sakura called timidly to get the Uchiha's attention, "we're here."

Sasuke took pause. He had not heard anything so he had just assumed that they were still on the way. The pink haired girls grip had tightened considerably on Sasuke's arm. Her nervousness was evident and it was starting to make Sasuke a bit skittish too.

"Sasuke...?" This voice Sasuke recognized immediately. But it was different in that he had never heard it use this helpless tone before. Sasuke definatly did not like it. It was the voice of Naruto, it sounded weak and pitiful.

"Whatever happened to never letting anything get in the way of your goals Naruto?" Sasuke hissed out coldly. He felt Sakura relinquish her grip on his arm. She muttered something about leaving them alone before her footsteps disappeared.

"I tried but I can't fight it!" Naruto yelled angrily back. He was supposed to keep his emotions in line to avoid giving the Kyuubi a chance to break loose but Naruto lost it when Sasuke was around.

"You're just to much of a coward to admit that you need help," Sasuke retorted.

"No I'm not..." Naruto sounded weak again. He knew it was true. He had been to frightened of what would happen to him, and know he had let it get to far and he was trapped. Sasuke smirked.

"All this time you said you wanted to help me. But no wonder you couldn't Naruto. You can't even help yourself. And now you've hurt me. They said you almost killed me... I trusted you Naruto... I put my life in your hands and you almost took it away. For that, for that I will never forgive you!" Sasuke responded, his voice lowering on the last words. "I want back the things I've lost. And you'd started giving me hope. Do you think this is funny? Watching my pain?" Sasuke asked, his voice was full of passion and hatred. He heard Naruto moving around in whatever cage he was being held in.

"NO! I didn't want everyone to see that I was loosing control of it! I was so scared that they would - "

"They would what Naruto? Exactly what they've done to you? They've put you in cage like an animal. They're treating you like the monster inside you - No - They've caged you like the monster you are. You're such an idiot that you couldn't think it would be safer to admit that you had a problem. Is that what had happened so long ago when we almost sparred the first time we'd spoken? Why didn't you say something then?" Sasuke snapped angrily. In his hate he had said the worst thing he could to Naruto. He had just called Naruto a monster, he had made reference that Naruto was indeed the beast that he harboured within him.

"I never wanted to hurt you Sasuke... I... How could you call me that...?" Naruto asked softly. The blonde's voice was bordering on anger and despair now.

"Only a monster would knowingly endanger their friends and do nothing about it," Sasuke whispered. He started to turn around to walk away. Hoping that he remembered the route enough to get out of the room with Naruto safely.

"Sasuke! Wait!" Naruto called out, reaching between the bars after Sasuke. He felt helpless. Like an animal.

Sasuke paused. "What?"

"Please help me... I think... That you're the only one who can..." Naruto said. He was desperate. He wanted out of this situation. Out of this cage.

"Why should I help you when you've caused me more harm then good?" Sasuke asked. This time as he left Naruto did not try to stop him. He settled down in his cage feeling hopeless. Lost, and positive that he may never gain that affection again. Naruto felt himself choking up. The one person that had ever truly loved him back, would perhaps never speak to him again. Naruto was hurt, torn inside about what he should do and could do.

Sasuke on the other hand was not. He got out of the room and for the first time since the death of his clan he collapsed. He broke down on the floor and the tears flowed freely from his eyes, wrecking his body with helpless sobs. "Naruto you idiot... I love you, why do you have to confuse me like this?" Sasuke dug his finger nails into his own scalp. He loved him and yet he hated him. Inside he knew that he had carried it to far by calling Naruto a monster. He wished that none of this had ever happened. That they could go back to having fun like they had at the festival and in the river together.

Sasuke just wanted his eyes back and he wanted to live in peace. He wanted all the bad things in his life to just go away. To leave him alone. He had never done them any harm and yet everything seemed to turn against him in his life. Just make it all stop... The combination of the pain and the overwhelming emotions caused Sasuke's torn and worn out body to push his mind back into unconsciousness.

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You guys never cease to amaze me with the speed you keep sending me reviews at. It's absolutely fantastic to see how quickly you guys read up. And as usual it's inspired me to write another chapter as soon as possible. I hope that you guys all enjoy.