Chapter 4 is here, people. Ugh…writing this story is uberly depressing… I guess writing about death and the events that precede it affect you like that. I don't know. This is really my first story concerning the dreadful topic. But I'll probably go through some other form of depression whenever I publish 'Tormented Love'. It's also a SasuNaru, but instead of death, there's abuse of so many varieties. Stupid Sasu-teme…I HATE YOU GO DIE!!! *clears throat* …hehe sorry about that…I really can't stand that Uchiha teme. (I love his brother though. Itachi is amazing!) Anyway, I'm not revealing anymore than that, but I would like for you guys to read it when I do publish it. If you actually like this story I mean. I'm not forcing any of you to read it...but it would be nice. And I realize this is shameless self-promotion, but I don't care. XD!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I repeat, I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. Eww. I sound like some sort alarm… Hahahaha alarm… Sorry, private joke.

Chapter 4: The Feeling

Two days later

As preplanned, Sasuke was required to move into Naruto's apartment as soon as his injuries were healed. Which, not surprisingly, only took about two days, thanks impart to Kyuubi's healing ability and a lot of bed rest.

Naruto had no idea what to anticipate when it came to his brain damage. Most of the information about it had been given to Sasuke by some of the medical ninja since the Uchiha was going to basically act as his caregiver. But what had surprised Naruto the most about it was that it didn't hurt.

He was no expert on the brain, but he really expected to feel some sort of pain.

Sasuke's things were already inside his apartment when the blonde unlocked the door and stepped inside with Sasuke not too far behind him. They both had been pretty irritable and irritated since that morning so they pretty much tried to avoid each other as much as possible. Especially Naruto.

This whole arrangement to him was a pain in the neck, not to mention very awkward feeling. The very thought made his stomach turn upside-down while the rest of him felt extremely uncomfortable.

For the first few hours, Sasuke sat at the table with his arms crossed whereas Naruto laid on the couch in exhaustion. He had never seen the blonde so tired before and frankly, it was getting under his skin in a big bad way.

Unable to sit in silence anymore, Sasuke asked, "Naruto, are you okay?"

"No."

Naruto's answer sounded annoyed and downright sad. Sasuke remained quiet for a few minutes before finally getting up and sitting on the part of the couch Naruto's body wasn't covering. Something told him that he needed to.

The blonde's face was emotionless and he didn't move at all when he felt the shift in weight on the couch. They sat together in silence for a few more moments, both in some form of thought.

"How would you feel?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Feel about what?"

"How would you feel if you…were gonna die?" Naruto asked, his quiet bordering on a whisper.

Naruto knew how he felt about it. At first, he was scared, but as he slowly began to accept it, he started feeling sad and depressed. He did want to know how Sasuke would feel, but in the back of his mind, he also wanted to know how the Uchiha felt about him dying.

"I don't know," Sasuke answered after sighing a little.

And with that said, Sasuke didn't talk anymore for the rest of the day. Nor did he interact with Naruto other than giving him his medication before the blonde turned in for the night.

This silence prolonged for two more days actually, neither boy very comfortable about speaking to the other. It was not as if they didn't want to talk, but more like they were not sure about what to say to each other.

At night, Naruto found it difficult to sleep, this thoughts to restless to even consider the possibly of slumber. But he never once opened up to Sasuke about it.

Two weeks later

Sasuke was out getting Naruto his special medication for the second time that week. For some reason, he was only given enough to last for about five days and he wasn't quite sure as to why he was always given so little.

After the initial awkwardness had lifted, Naruto and Sasuke communicated more and more each day. But Sasuke sometimes felt that the blonde wasn't letting on about how he was feeling most of the time, if he ever did at all.

With the small bag of medication in his pocket, Sasuke continued his trek back to Naruto's apartment until a certain pink-haired girl he hadn't seen in a while ran up to him in the middle of the street.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said excitedly when she finally reached the dark-haired boy.

Sasuke gave her a nod back, basically saying that he acknowledged her.

"So, Sasuke-kun, how's Naruto doing?"

"Better I guess," Sasuke answered, resuming his walk.

"You guess?" Sakura asked, walking alongside him, "You should know, right? Since you are living with him and all."

Sasuke didn't answer her, mostly because he wasn't sure about what to tell her. Sakura was slightly peeved about not getting a reply, but she decided that it was best to not press on the matter any further.

"Umm. Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called out after a moment's silence.

"What?"

"You don't think that Naruto will mind if I come see him today, do you?"

Sasuke stopped in his tracks at Sakura's request. In all truth, Sasuke didn't know how Naruto would react if he showed back up to his apartment with Sakura behind him. All he could figure was that the blonde probably missed seeing Sakura. Sasuke would never admit to missing anyone, but even he felt a little strange about not seeing the pink-haired girl on a daily basis.

Nether one of them had seen Sakura since Naruto checked out of the hospital. Naruto wasn't allowed to leave the village for missions anymore because the doctors didn't want him to receive any other injuries and because of this, Naruto mostly stayed at home.

Sasuke, on the other hand, did go out into the village sometimes, but those trips were only for food and Naruto's medicine. He was also not allowed to go on missions because he was basically assigned to be Naruto's caregiver.

"No, I don't think he'll mind at all," Sasuke finally responded.

"Okay," Sakura said, trying to hide the enthusiasm in her voice.

Sasuke nodded again and proceeded to stroll towards Naruto's place, Sakura not too far behind him.

When they got there, Naruto was sitting somewhat leisurely on the couch. He had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and there was just a tired look in those orbs. But most of that exhaustion disappeared when he saw Sakura.

"Hi, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, getting up from the couch.

"Hey, Naru--wow! Look at your eyes! Are you okay?" Sakura asked, leaning in closer to get a better look.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'm staying up too late at night," Naruto answered, scratching the back of his head.

Sasuke was sitting at table, choosing not to get involved too much. Naruto and Sakura eventually joined him at the table and sustained their conversation.

Sakura stayed over at the blonde's apartment for several hours, mostly just talking to the two of them. She mostly spoke with Naruto though since she was concerned about him and he was a more avid talker than Sasuke. She even made food for the three of them.

But she had to leave sooner or later and when she did, Naruto returned to his place on the couch in silence.

After shutting the door behind him, Sasuke got a pill out of the tiny bag in his pocket and filled a cup with water. He sat down next to Naruto, holding out the capsule and the glass.

"Here. It's time for you to take this," Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto didn't say anything, but he didn't take the objects from Sasuke either.

"Naru--"

"That was nice of you, you know," Naruto said.

"What?"

"Letting Sakura come here. That was nice."

"Oh. I see."

Sasuke sat the cup and the pill on the small table in front of the couch.

"She really wanted to see you," Sasuke continued.

"Yeah," Naruto said back.

Sasuke gazed at Naruto and really began to notice how tired, sad, and pitiful Naruto looked. It was almost as if Naruto was expecting to die any minute now.

"Sasuke," Naruto called out softly, his hair covering his eyes as he looked at the floor.

"Yes?"

Naruto deliberated for a moment before whispering painfully, "I-I'm really scared, Sasuke."

Sasuke was rather shocked to hear this, especially since Naruto hadn't even given a hint to how he was feeling the entire time he was there. Yet at the same time, it made him a bit sad.

Naruto started to shake as he said, "I don't want to die yet."

Unsure of what to say to that, Sasuke just sat still and watched the blonde boy tremble, grimacing slightly when he saw a tear fall from Naruto's covered eyes.

Sasuke reached out and wiped away the stain the salty tear had left on his tan face with his pale fingertips. Watery blue eyes turned to Sasuke and before he could stop himself, Naruto wrapped his arms around the Uchiha, buried his face into his shoulder, and cried some more. Sasuke draped his arms over the boy's back, figuring he could use at least some comfort.

As they continued to embraced each other, they began to get more and more relaxed by the second, losing themselves in the feeling of being held and forgetting about everything else.

Author's Note: AHHH! Again with the crying!! …Yeah…listening to Stefy and Kim Leoni while typing this was…interesting to say the least. But I least I didn't listen to "Why" by Ayaka cuz I would've started crying all over my keyboard and then I'd be royally screwed. It would've put me in a more suitable mood for sad writing though. Oh well…I love Stefy, Kim Leoni, and Ayaka anyway so it's all good. Anyway, that is it for chapter 4 and I've finally decided what I'm gonna do about Naruto dying. Buuuuut you guys are gonna have to wait until like…around the last couple of chapters to find out. Please review!