The world was spinning. He was nauseous; he wanted to throw up. But if he did, he knew he would be living in it. Everyone was too afraid to approach him anymore. He had snapped, and even he knew it somewhere deep in his mind. He may have been chained and broken, but the Kyuubi still stretched wild and free, sneaking into his mind whenever it felt like visiting the world of reality. The jinchuuriki wasn't sure if he could even tell the two of them apart anymore. It felt like the demon was always there, lurking in a small part of his mind... He wasn't even aware when it took over, but time didn't matter anymore, he had lost all sense of it, so he didn't know there were chunks of time missing in his memory.
He thought he had been there for weeks or months.
He had been there for years.
The door creaked open, and the blonde haired prisoner looked up. Sometimes he wondered if he had been chained here so long that was the only action that worked anymore.
The midnight haired man stepped into the room, the darkness sweeping into the room before Naruto could get a good look. He didn't know if Sasuke looked older or not. He never really got to see his face. It was too dark. Or he was going blind. There wasn't really a difference anymore.
His visitor glided across the room silently, stopping before the broken form of his former friend.
Naruto smiled a bloodstained smile; his eyes closed to blink but never opened- a habit he had formed after being in the cell for so long. "Come to say one last goodbye, teme? I heard you're finally getting rid of me since I've never cracked the secrets you're looking for, even when the Kyuubi's speaking."
The other remained silent.
"It's not like it matters. They're all dead. Why shouldn't I talk? But I won't. Do you know why? It's because I care. Because even though I grew up alone, they're my family and I won't give them up." He spat some blood on the floor that had welled up in his mouth from talking. "Even if they're dead. Even if I'm dead."
"Your logic is flawed." The raven spoke for the first time. "Don't you remember? If I was the prisoner of Konoha you would have given everything you had to save me. You would've given everything you have to find me. Me- a traitor; a criminal. You're already a traitor."
Naruto trembled. "You're lying." His voice was firmer than he felt.
Sasuke kneeled to Naruto's level, reaching out to prop an eyelid open, but the blonde flinched away from the movement, his eyes remained closed. "Is this the Kyuubi or Naruto?" He asked softly. Naruto's eyes opened in shock; though he still seemed unaware they had been closed. He flinched into the wall- away from Sasuke as his image suddenly appeared before him. "Why don't I test it? I do have a certain way to..." Sasuke leaned in toward Naruto, a raven lock of hair brushing his face. Naruto trembled- What was he doing? Was he going to kill him? He had to-
Sasuke's lips pressed against Naruto's.
The blonde froze and the raven quickly pulled away, the kiss over as suddenly as it had started. He smirked when he saw the other boy's expression. "Hmm, so it is you. Y'know, this is the first time it's been you and not the Kyuubi. He really hates when I do that. You just seem shocked."
Naruto remained silent, staring at the shinobi sitting right in front of him.
Sasuke licked his lips once before he stood, striding out of the room in a few quick steps.
He paused by the door, turning back to say, "Stay conscious, Naruto. I like you much better than the Kyuubi."
And then he was gone.