Dis: I hear my Naru, I see my Naru, but I do not own my Naru…

Chapter 2!!- The first thing we must do.

WARNING- bits of bad language ahead…you have been warned!!

a/n- Ok hopefully this chapter will be a bit more organized…that last one was a mess… x-x

The room temperature had dropped from a steamy 83 degrees down to 75…right around where Naruto kept his apartment temp. Sasuke, however, was quite cold, not being used to his place being less that 80 degrees. But despite the now cooler temperatures, Sasuke noted, Naruto was beginning to sweat at insane levels. More than he had ever sweat during training or even in a full on battle. It felt as if his hand was going to melt into Sasuke's. Then, as if being stabbed to death…or something of the sort…Naruto began screaming so loud that his voice cracked and only horrifying stifled squeaks would manage to escape his throat. He clenched his fists, trapping Sasuke's hand in a painful death-grip.

"Ho' shit!!" Sasuke cursed as he clamored onto the bed and sat on Naruto's lap. He shook the blond and yelled in his ear, trying desperately to wake him.

"Naruto-kun!? NARUTO!!! WAKE UP DAMNIT!!" All of the raven-haired nin's efforts were lost. Unable to think of anyway else to wake the screaming boy from his nightmare, Sasuke did the only thing he knew how to do. He pulled Naruto against his body and wrapped his arms around him as tight as possible. Now Naruto was simply screaming into Sasuke's shoulder and Sasuke, wanting only for his friend to wake up from whatever horrible nightmare he was having, breathed shaky-voiced words into his ear.

"Naru-kun… wake up…God, please wake up…for me? Wake up, Naruto…for me?! Don't leave me alone Naruto…I won't let you. I'll have to kick your ass if you leave me here by myself! I- …….I'm sorry Naruto…I should have been there to protect you. God, now I can hardly live with myself because I let something like that happen to you…" Sasuke, in spite of himself, was now in tears and spilling out what ever thought came to his mind, clinging to Naruto and cursing himself, "Damn it all…Naruto… you can't die yet dobe! What about being Hokage huh?? Just think, if you die some other guy is gonna take that from you…your dream. And what about Sakura-chan? You're her friend dobe! She'll never forgive me if I let you die…hell, she'll kill me…and think of Kakashi and Iruka…Iruka…you know he won't be able to go on in life if he knows that the closest thing he has to a son is dead…and Kakashi…well who knows what that pervert will do…and …me…" Now Sasuke was yelling almost as loud as Naruto. He tried to tone his voice down some as Naruto seemed to be calming down. (for one thing, his screams were actually audible instead of petrified squeaks…)

"…What about me?? Huh?! What the hell am I supposed to do without you? Who am I gonna spar with!? Who's gonna argue with my smart-ass comments!? Who's gonna finish my ramen when I get full?!? Damnit! Who's gonna be my best friend!?!? Nobody can replace you Naruto!! You're all I've got! I NEED you! YOU. CAN'T. DIE. ON. ME!!!" Sasuke pulled the blond away and looked closely at him to see if he would wake.

In mid-scream his eyes flashed open and instinctively his head shot forward, slamming Sasuke in the chin. "AAA-…OW!" Naruto yelped after a scream cut short. He looked up at a shocked Sasuke and immediately flung his arms around the Uchiha boy's neck and started crying into his shoulder. "God, tell me it's over! Just please Sasuke…tell me it was a dream and it didn't just happen again! Every night Sasuke…I have the same damn dream every night…just please tell me it's never real" Suddenly it all came together for Sasuke. It wasn't the raping itself that made the boy turn so introverted. It was the dreams he had every night that made him relive the incident all over again. For months Naruto had relived being raped every single night.

Sasuke returned the hug, gently running his hand over Naruto's scarred and bruised back. "It was dream Naru-kun. I promise it was all just a dream."

"Sasuke…you woke me up…how did-? I mean that was the first time the dream didn't finish itself…but I took the pills…I should have been dead…Sasuke why did you wake me up!? I didn't ask you to!! I was finally gonna be rid of those dreams and you woke me up with all that stuff you said about needing to protect me and me being the Hokage and Sakura-chan…and sensei and you…you said you needed me…why?"

"…Because I do need you, Naruto. Dobe, I love you. And I can't let the one person left on this God forsaken planet that I really love die just 'cuz some bastard screwed him over." Sasuke, having kept his love for Naruto a secret from everyone for so long, felt relieved that he could get that off his chest so easily.

"You…you love me?"

"Yeah…love…"

"I…I'm sorry…I know I should love you back…and I think I do…but I don't know…it's like-"

"-like you don't even know what love is anymore."

"Yeah…how did-?"

"That's exactly how I felt after my clan was destroyed. But what you and I lost is totally different. The loss of a family creates scars that while they may heal, they will never go away. You lost…yourself…and every night that scar is reopened and never allowed to heal over. I learned how to love again when I met you. But your scars have been reopened so many times…it doesn't surprise me that you haven't been able to love. But, dobe, I'm going to be your teacher. You're going to learn how to love again if it's last thing you ever do. And the first thing we have to do is-"

Naruto leaned upwards and caught Sasuke's lower lip between his own.

"Well I was going to say "get you out of the house"…" Sasuke was taken aback by Naruto's sudden outburst, but enjoyed the light warmth that lingered on his lips.

"I'm sorry…" Naruto suddenly felt bad for doing such a thing. He should have known better.

"No, it's okay…really…I don't mind." Sasuke looked off to his right, trying to avoid eye contact with the bare-chested boy before him. He felt his face turn a bright red. A kiss was the last thing he expected from the boy.

"You didn't want a kiss…I'm sorry…I shouldn't be allowed near people…"

"Hey…don't say crap like that dobe…I did want it…you just caught me off guard that's all…it was good though. Really."

Naruto, for the very first time in months, grinned his big, goofy, grin. "That sounds like something I would say, Sasuke-kun!"

"It's good to see you smile again…I missed your smile. You were starting to make Hinata's shyness look like nothing compared to you. But you've got a long way to go before you're back to normal and I think I have an idea to help you recover from this…and maybe even stop those dreams."

"Really? God, you don't know how much I miss being me!"

"Yeah…I can tell…well c'mon dobe. Let's get started." Sasuke got up off the bed and dug his hands into his pockets and once more, lazily strolled out of his apartment, Naruto close behind.

a/n- NO, this is not the end of the fic…I promise…I had fun with this though…dunno why…there will be humor soon!! Hopefully!! It won't always be so serious and full of drama…