Yay! Chapter 26 (O_O so long!) Man, school is kicking my butt right now but I'll try to get the next chapter up within a humane amount of time. =_= I get edgy if I don't do it within a set amount of time lol. I don't know about this chapter but I'm happy if you can enjoy it. Dedicated to razor 0603 for all his help. ^_^

Sore ja!~

Awakening for the second time that day, Sakura found herself lying in the same position she had fallen asleep in. Alone.

Ah, no, not alone.

On a second scan of her dimly lit surroundings Sasuke was there too; down by the lake on the dock with his feet in the water in just his shorts. Right, she still had his shirt on.

And Naruto? She cast around for him.

Up on the road, not too far away; a dark figure against the dusky colours of the sky and trees in the back drop, making his way slowly along the grassy edge of the path that ran right along the top of the rise as far as the eye could see. From what she could see he was looking straight ahead and walking at normal pace but as he neared his features became more defined in and he turned his face towards the lake, his feet slowing. Sakura turned to look too.

It was Sasuke that Naruto was looking at right?

Sasuke down on that lonely dock dangling his feet in the water causing the only noise to be heard.

Slosh. Slosh.

Sakura looked back to Naruto. He had completely stopped at the top of the hill, straight up from where she was lying at where the slope curved into flat. His face was sad as he gazed to the other boy. Sakura's heart ached as she watched him though confused as to why Naruto might wear such a face. Did something happen with the boys or something recently?

The sloshing stopped. Green eyes spun to meet black ones that stared straight over her head and up to the blue in the distance. Sasuke was looking over his shoulder, scowling lightly but Sakura felt the two boy's lock in the air between them; around her. It was much more than their eyes connecting now. Even though Naruto couldn't possibly understand how much today had meant, there was an understanding as they stared at each other over the top of her. She was merely a spectator watching something sad and nostalgic, something they somehow both understood to some extent.

She'd been a spectator all day and she had been happy to be. It didn't bother her anymore to be the one in the back because honestly, she would have absolutely no idea how to lead Sasuke and Naruto right now. She wondered if either boy saw her at all right now.

Sasuke broke away first, beginning to turn his face back to the water and Sakura looked back to Naruto to see what he would do.

At first he did nothing. As Sasuke's face turned he kept watching but as soon as the Uchiha boy was all the way turned back a new expression sprang to his features.

Wide eyes

Mouth hanging open in a small 'o'.

Eyebrows pulled together into a shocked face.

What was that? Why? Sakura didn't understand for a moment but then it hit her. Her stomach swooned with excitement or nervousness as she sat up and stared at the blonde.

Could Naruto possibly...? It was impossible right...? But... but... Naruto was impossible. Everything about him defied the laws of logic... why start being normal now, right...?

Was it possible that that face meant... Could he be... No... No... No! Yes!

"SASUKE KUN!~"

The scene turned slow motion... Sakura jumped to her feet, screaming for Sasuke. The boy started at his name and got to his feet too and as soon as he saw. They both rushed into a sprint in Naruto's direction; achingly slow as they watch the blonde boy's eyes flicker wildly from side to side as if trying to comprehend something neither of his team mates saw and then stood stock still, his body rigid and then... He was falling, his body already starting to drop to its knees.

Within their bodies, the chakra was muddled and uncontrollable; neither could run fast enough.

Naruto's fingers brushed the grass. His body would be next. Sakura's arms came out instinctively to catch him though she was still too far away. Sasuke's breathing was loud as it came ragged through his mouth beside to her.

If he fell...

If their baby fell...

If Naruto fell...

If his blue, confused eyes closed...

If his body hit the ground...

If his tiny feather light memory was...

One shoulder came to the ground but right before contact there was a flash of combat green and silver and Naruto's falling form was spirited away. Both Sasuke and Sakura fell over themselves on the slope as time caught up. The grass was still twilight tan.

Kakashi.

Did his eyes close...?

Was his memory...?

Did he...?

Their mentor had stolen him away before they could see.

Now what?

Where to now?

Stay? Go?

She struggled to catch her too fast breath.

Sasuke swore quietly and Sakura looked to him on his hands and knees just as she was.

"He was..." murmured the boy to the girl and she hummed a soft response back.

"Where do you think he took Naruto?" she asked carefully. Sasuke got to his feet as she spoke. He didn't reply as he turned and walked shakily back to the dock and Sakura watched him as he went and plunged himself into the water, still warm from the heat of the sun.

"Sasuke kun..."

She waited on the dock for a long time. Sasuke swam under the water, coming up for breath and then down again. When the sun had completely set he came close to Sakura's feet that were dipped in the water making the same slosh noise, and floated with only his head bobbing up between her calves. Thinking? Moments passed. And then he left. Just like that, without a word he upped himself onto the dock and walked away, collecting his neatly folded shirt from the dry grass that Sakura had long shed and traded for her mucky red dress. She shivered. It was suddenly cold.

Had today been bad or good?

.

Just as he suspected, Kakashi had taken Naruto to the hospital. When he asked at the desk for "Uzumaki Naruto" the nurses looked edgy. They exchanged glances and then told him he was unable to see visitors presently. Sasuke had huffed to himself and demanded the room number, fixing the poor woman with one of his glares. She had conformed and now he sat outside room number 211 with his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. He'd been there quite some time; so long that when he lifted his elbows he found two spots of skin that were slowly turning from red to a charming shade of purple bruising from the weight of his heavy head.

The door across from him was shut and had been as long as he had there. At least it was giving him time. Scratch that. He didn't know if he wanted that time. He was anxious. His inside's swirled with uncertainty. Just what had happened? One minute he was watching his reflection in the rippling water and the next Sakura's voice was yelling for him and then they were running and Naruto was falling and Sasuke's mind was just... Gone.

And then Kakashi took him away without a word, without a smile or a frown. Without any sign to the two about what was going on with to the blonde.

Was it bad? Good? How serious was it? "It"; what was "it"? Everything that had happened in the last few hours was short and restrained in his mind. Limited information about everything. He didn't understand anything. He was grabbing at nothing as he sat outside the hospital room trying to fit things together.

The door clicked and Sasuke's head shot up quicker than he'd liked it to. He was desperate again with no control over how he moved unless thinking it through first. It could be good news right? Kakashi could just be being over protective? Maybe Naruto got some memory without any damage?

He was afraid and he hated it.

The jounin stood before him in the quietness of the corridor.

"Sasuke." He acknowledged him but made no move; physical or verbal. Sasuke shakily took the lead.

"How is he?"

"Sleeping." Neither brought up the fact that Kakashi had been tailing them after training.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'." The boy wanted to yell but he didn't have it in him.

"Nothing."

"What did you do then?" Sasuke took one step forward and then backed off. Getting any closer to someone he "trusted" would put him in danger of becoming pathetic. Kakashi's response came calm and emotionless. Sasuke didn't notice how the older man's hands shook at his sides.

"I stabilized him."

"And the memory?"

"There was none."

"But... at the lake he was... he looked like he was..."

"Nothing came back Sasuke."

"I was sure that-!"

"Sasuke!" The boy drew back like Kakashi's voice had hit him across the face. Kakashi drew back too.

"I'll tell you 'what happened' OK?" The boy could only nod.

"There was no memory, only the push of one. He remembered nothing, he just got overwhelmed but I had to bring him back here to check everything was still OK. I went inside his head again and checked. I stabilized him. He got nothing back Sasuke and he never will. That is absolute. That's the reality that you need to accept."

Silence. Kakashi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Sasuke. He was unconscious as soon as he felt the pressure of whatever was trying to come to him. "

"His eyes were open."

"He was unconscious. I'm sorry."

"Shut up," replied Sasuke snatching his shoulder away and storming past Kakashi into the hospital room. The jounin made no move to stop him.

Inside the room it was like a different world. In the hallway the walls had been black with anxiety and his horror at his own feelings. Here there was almost a serene feel to the atmosphere. The curtains were closed, darkening the bright light from the moon through the clouds, turning the white of the hospital dusty blue. Naruto lay in his bed, asleep.

Sasuke sat down in the chair next to the bed only to get to his feet again to look over the boy before him. Apart from under his eyes being slightly shadowed he looked fine, sleeping peacefully with his lips parted just so, his near blond eyelashes lying still, his funny whiskers straight and perfect. Sasuke just stood and looked at him.

When he was asleep it was the best time for them. Or maybe it was the worst. When Naruto was asleep he was simply a body no different than he had been the last time he had muttered "Teme" or held a kunai. Seeing him, his Naruto somehow calmed Sasuke but at the same time it was a bit more than he could handle; having the body of Naruto lying there and resisting the horrifically devastating urge to shake him awake and the need to find him the same. However as soon as he awoke he was the new Naruto. It was soothing to be with him but it was also suffocating.

The pitter patter of rain started and there was a flash of lightning and a short moment later, the rumble of thunder somewhere not so far off. Sasuke turned his face to the window and listened. Thunder and lightning had always made him think of battles. His and Naruto's more specifically; they were most explosive. The sound of punches and kicks connecting, the noise magnified by the thrill of the battle, the zapping through his body every time he landed an attack. Thunder and lightning; he and Naruto were a lot like them. Naruto with his super heated temper that would go off at any moment making him run his mouth off without any thought what so ever and then the effect of even the simplest things that would calm him, much like rapid cooling only to strike again not too long after. And then there was Sasuke, he was like that too, he could snap when pushed and it was volatile at times, his harsh, hot headed words or his cool and sharp comebacks. Up and down.

But now the exploding thunder and the white shock of lightning against the calm, blue walls as it pierced through the curtains only served to cause a sour unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach, especially the thunder; it shook him to his core, making him unbalanced. The dark haired boy moved his eyes back to Naruto, seeking solace or painful distraction in his presence.

So quiet, so still...

Sasuke brushed the hair out of the other boy's eyes gently. He didn't stir from his coma like sleep. He touched his eyelashes and soft eyebrows, the skin around his lips, traced his jaw line. He wouldn't awake to find Sasuke next to him this time; no one would find him like this. Not Kakashi, not Sakura. The touches became more desperate until he was holding Naruto's face in his hands, one knee up on the bed.

"Uzumaki Naruto... What are you doing to me?"

Even though Uchiha Sasuke would never ever be coaxed into bed with someone else... this was different. This was his choice... Although, he wasn't sure he was comfortable with the idea that he was voluntarily lifting himself onto the small space next to the sleeping form and nestling himself half under the blanket. He laid with his face close to Naruto's, a hand that he couldn't control, resting atop the blonde's stomach beneath the covers. He breathed in deeply through his mouth and then through his nose. It was not until this moment that Sasuke had been able to place Naruto's scent. Usually he couldn't to really smell it at all; he was that used to it but in places where it was heightened and he had struck it, he had never been able place it. But now, in this hospital he could; honeysuckle, soft and milky with sleep. So incredibly nostalgic it made him ache. This was bad. But no one would come and Naruto wouldn't wake and see him falling apart.

Sasuke brought his mouth to the place where Naruto's neck curved into his shoulder and nearly cried out at how warm he was, at the familiar scent of his hair and skin. Pressing his lips to the side of the boy's throat, his hand moved under the hospital dressing gown, up past his underwear and to his stomach. He grit his teeth, willing himself to pull away, to get up and leave, but there was not enough of whatever he needed to stop. Naruto was so warm and his bare flesh beneath Sasuke's fingers...God... So soft, so warm... It was breaking him, tearing him apart but it felt so good to be so close again that the Uchiha couldn't stop himself lifting his face and kiss the corner of the smaller boy's mouth softly. He climbed onto his elbows and knees, one hand at Naruto's jaw, one still moving slowly over his stomach. The boy breathed evenly beneath him, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. He was so soft and so warm that Sasuke couldn't help moving to kiss him fully, struggling to stifle a moan of anguish at the petal soft feel of Naruto's mouth against his own, the taste of him. He couldn't help but kiss him again; softly again and then harder, again and again until his own lips throbbed with the beat of his racing heart. It hurt so much. He breathed all over the sleeping boy's neck, nuzzling his nose into the safe smell and warmth.

It hurt but he couldn't help it.

He couldn't help touching him without permission.

He couldn't help kissing him.

He couldn't help needing him.

He couldn't help the tears that stung in his eyes nor could he help tangling himself with unconscious Naruto, exhausted by nothing and giving up his pride in that little, dusty blue hospital room, the thunder and lightning battling overhead.

Kakashi...

I can't accept this reality; I have enough sense to know that I can't go on without him. I can't let him go.

Naruto...

What do you plan to accomplish in making me even more painfully taken by you? I can't leave you alone. You piss me off and make me so angry, but there is nothing but you, all the time... Even now, even when you don't know who you were, you know who you are just like you always did. You're that kid who does whatever he wants all on his own, your that boy who won't drop something until there is an answer, a resolution; always the hero in every situation, big or small. The one who always has a smile for everyone. You're the person who made me love. Damn you for it. Damn you.

I love you so much and I hate it.

Sasuke fell to sleep, not caring about what tomorrow would or wouldn't bring. There was just him and Naruto.

.

Kakashi returned early in the morning to the hospital while it was still dark and found Sasuke curled up against Naruto, his arms all snaked around the blond, his hand slipped inside the hospital night gown. The silver man sighed and moved forward to touch Sasuke's shoulder. He woke immediately.

"I knew you'd still be here," he said softly as Sasuke sat up in bed.

"Sasuke."

"What?"

"You need to leave. I don't even want to know what you were doing with him while he's unconscious but its not gonna be good if he wakes up with you all over him." The young ninja scowled and slowly removed himself from the bed.

"Sasuke."

"What?"

"I didn't tell the Hokage about what happened today."

"Are you allowed to do that?"
"No."

"Then why?" Sasuke was standing near the window now, staring out a crack in the curtains that Kakashi had created coming through them. Visiting hours had finished. A strip of his pale skin was illuminated by the weak light outside revealing the remains of tear tracks long since dried.

"Sasuke."

"Stop saying my name."

"Sasuke."

"What."

"Because you're precious to me and so is Naruto and Sakura too."

"Whatever." The boy's voice held a vicious bite to it even at its lowered night time volume. He was very different to the person he had spoken to in the hallway hours before. That Sasuke had tried to reason with him, insisting upon something he was sure he saw. But now he didn't care and obviously didn't want to talk to anyone.

"I've never had anyone this close to me. You three are special. If I had reported you, you two wouldn't be able to get near Naruto again. You're a danger to him and essentially the village. But I didn't report you"

"Like I care."

"Sasuke"

"What is it!?" he hissed.

"You should stop seeing Naruto."

"No."

"It's for your own good."

"Not your call, Sensei"

Sasuke turned to him and raised his chin, waiting for Kakashi's comeback.

"You don't want this life Sasuke." At this, the younger male recoiled and dropped his head, his dark, moonlight-glossy bangs falling over his hurt eyes.

"No shit..." he muttered. "You think I want him? Because I don't... I don't want him at all!" He lifted his head slightly, his jaw chin trembled. "But if I didn't need him I would have left him alone a long time ago!" Sasuke's voice pitched up and bounced of the walls in a yell, his shoulders rising toward his ears and then lowering as he collected himself. As always, Sasuke showed little and then closed himself up again. Although the time when Sasuke had bared all after finding out about Naruto's memory being erased had terrified Kakashi, he still sometimes wished Sasuke was more honest with himself.

Naruto didn't stir from his sharingan induced sleep.

There was a long time where neither ninja said a thing. Sasuke was looking out the window and Kakashi was watching Naruto.

"Sasuke." The boy turned to him, a strong glare etched on his features, his eyes hard, mouth turned down at the corners, jaw set.

"What," he snarled.

"You look like you're about to cry."

"Shut up, just... shut up..."