Author's note: So many people asked me to update soon that I just had to do it today. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me blah, blah, blah…

Sleepless Nights

Chapter 11

Reality

It's so hard to move here, why is it so hard to move? Sasuke clenched his jaw and flexed his muscles hoping to be able to at least lift a finger, but nothing changed except for the shooting pain that stung his body. He forced himself still and clamped his mouth closed to muffle a pained cry. As he lay motionless the Uchiha almost panicked until he remembered what he was doing and what was going on. Oh, that's right. He was dead.

He was dead and it was dark. So dark that Sasuke couldn't see, or he didn't want to, he dared not take a look at what was around him for fear of what might be there.

Even though I'm dead, Sasuke thought calmly, nothing's happened. The devil must be waiting until I wake up to deal with me. If it was true Sasuke knew he would keep his eyes closed forever. Never seeing where he'd gone whether it be heaven or hell, Sasuke'd plunged himself into a self imposed purgatory.

It's not like I can move to run, and it's not like I'll die anyway so I won't do anything. The only problem is it's too heavy here, he thought. The immense crushing weight that pressed down on every inch of his body equally was too much for him to fight against, all Sasuke could do was tense his entire body to keep from being crushed and the pain of eternally broken bones if he was.

It's for the best, he thought again, hoping that if he said it enough times it would become true. Naruto'll come home and be happy; he'll go on with life normally as if I had never returned. Its's best for him… and it's what's best for me.

Much to Sasuke's dismay his throat tightened up at the thought of a smiling Naruto when Sasuke's body was discovered, he needed to believe that he'd done the right thing by setting Naruto free but couldn't let go of the feeling that he'd thrown away the only thing he'd ever loved. He'd thrown away Naruto.

As tears welled up Sasuke's eyes screwed shut, even in death he didn't want to show weakness, he wouldn't! He just… couldn't.

A choked cry escaped the raven's lips as a single tear rolled down his cheek. He groaned in agony as others followed, pouring out around him and soaking into the darkness until he felt like he was drowning in them. Sasuke held his breath and clenched his jaw again, the pain was just too great, the pain that went along with the knowledge that he'd done wrong in his depression. Naruto would be destroyed and it was all Sasuke's fault! If only he'd sat still until the blonde got home. The pain was nothing that one man should have to handle alone.

From a dull sting to a burning sensation, Sasuke's pain escalated until it felt like a million buzzing wasps encircled him stinging repeatedly from every direction. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out and no air would come into his lungs, and suddenly Sasuke was panicking. He was dying! The raven's mind went blank and nothing existed but worry. He needed to escape, to escape and get away… to survive.

Suddenly Sasuke felt himself struggling against the darkness that threatened to engulf him, and pushing back on the pressure of death. He would not let it have him now, no, not today.

His body tossed and turned infinitely lashing out at some unseen enemy and screaming to anyone who wasn't there for the help he could not receive. To Sasuke it seemed like an eternity before he could make sense of things again, what he was doing and with one final paroxysm on his part, he finally jerked into an upright sitting position. His eyes snapped open to madly survey his surroundings as cool air wafted down his windpipe and into his lungs and the smell of peroxide and chemicals momentarily stunned him. He was prepared for anything when he opened his eyes, but this wasn't hell. It was a hospital room.

Sasuke's first reaction was to cringe at the pain in his right hand that gripped the sheets beneath him with such a force that it definitely could have shattered bone.

That's right, Sasuke thought, I broke it. As memories flooded through his mind a dull pang of regret and fear rang in his chest, but he shoved it aside when he felt something move against his leg. Slowly, Sasuke looked down towards the movement, what he saw making him throw his face into his hands and scream in agony.

"I knew it! This is hell, I'm already dead! And Naruto –" he peeked through his shaky fingers at the spiky ball of yellow hair resting at the side of his bed.

Naruto was sleeping, breathing softly with his head resting on Sasuke's shin. That was the weight he remembered feeling, it was Naruto.

"Naruto." Sasuke reluctantly reached out a hand as though he needed to make sure that what he was seeing was actually there. He gasped as his hand made contact with the man's fluffy blonde locks, it was real, Naruto was there waiting for him to wake up.

More tears spilled down Sasuke's face and he choked on the words he tried to say.

No, this is hell, he thought, why else would he be here? They must be trying to torture me, making me face him again like this. Sasuke ruffled the blonde's hair and smiled sadly.

But what if it's not? Could this be what's called a "second chance?" I may be dead already but someone up there must really like me. He tilted his head back and mouthed a silent "thank you" to the ceiling before looking back down at the blonde who was all but purring under his touch.

A chance to tell him how I feel before I move on, how nice. Sasuke thought then he frowned. But it would be better if I could actually tell him, if this was truly real.

The room was fabricated; the pain he felt was a hoax, even the tubes penetrating the pale skin of his forearm must have been a farce. Nothing in this world was the real deal and Sasuke was perfectly okay with that as long as he was here and so was Naruto.

He leaned in as close as he could despite the burning pain in his midsection that threatened to hold him back. Even though Sasuke'd killed himself on a whim he wasn't stupid, he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity this good.

"Naruto," he whispered. Sasuke didn't want to wake him up unless absolutely necessary, if he could be woken up, "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of during my life, and I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. But, please, don't let any of that distort your memories of the way we used to be before I fucked it all up." He took a shaky breath and continued, determined not to cry anymore. "I was so happy when you agreed to take me in; even after everything I've done you still wanted to take care of me. I just want to say one thing to you before I go, and I honestly wish that you could hear me say that… that I love you."

Sasuke just sat there for a moment, basking in the glow of all his worries being permanently lifted from his shoulders. He'd said it; he'd actually done the impossible, the right thing for once in his life. He sighed contently and closed his eyes; completely surrendering himself to the darkness that he was sure would overtake him at any second. But that second did not pass.

"Sa… suke?"

What? Sasuke's eyes snapped wide open and he stared in horror at Naruto who stirred softly on his leg, he was waking up! No, how was that even possible? This wasn't supposed to be happening!

The raven immediately flopped back down on his back hoping that when Naruto woke up he wouldn't remember a thing; he would assume he'd been dreaming and not trust a word of Sasuke's confession.

It's not death, I'm not dreaming, Sasuke thought, he wasn't sure if he was excited or scared; it's a real second chance! I'm alive! I'm really alive!

Sasuke forced his frantic breathing steady and stilled his body completely, the less he shook now the less Naruto would suspect when he finally opened his eyes. The only thing he couldn't keep off his face was a tear and a smile as he settled comfortably into his bed.

I'm alive.

X

"I love you."

"Sa… suke?" Naruto was dragged back from sleep at the sound of the raven's voice in his ear. Had Sasuke woken up while he was sleeping?

The blonde sat up in a woozy stupor and yawned, stretching and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before turning his attention back to Sasuke. He was laying the exact same way he had been, sleeping on his back, devoid of life, cadaverous. He must have dreamt hearing Sasuke's voice.

Immediately Naruto looked at the heart monitor on the bedside table. It registered that Sasuke still had his own heartbeat that beat slowly but surely, and telling Naruto that Sasuke was going to live. That is, if he ever came out of the coma.

It had taken seven hits of the defibrillator before Sasuke took his first breath. After the first three his chances had looked bleak, later on Shizune had told him that they'd never saved a patient past that. Naruto cringed as he remembered the empty look in Sasuke's wide eyes when he'd come in to see him the first time after the blood transfusion. The man looked like he was already too far gone but the heart monitor told him otherwise every time he heard it beep as Sasuke's heart thumped out weak uneven pattern.

He loved that damn monitor, but there was nothing either it or the doctors could do to wake Sasuke up now. They'd all told him that the raven only needed time now. But Naruto'd given time, all of his time. Every moment waking and not since his confrontation with Neji was spent at Sasuke's side, helping the doctors feed him and changing the sheets of his bed every single day. Naruto was sure the doctors found his constant presence a nuisance but he wouldn't leave until Sasuke's eyes opened again even if it was years that passed them by instead of the weeks that already had.

As Naruto gazed into Sasuke's sleeping face he slipped a hand beneath his and held it tight. It happened all the time, that when Naruto saw the serine look on Sasuke's face and the slight smile on his pale lips he could not look away. Sasuke looked so much younger when he slept; free of worry, free of anything that would make his colorless face look anything except for absolute perfection.

Carefully, he brought the hand up and pressed it to his forehead, praying to any god out there that might be listening that Sasuke would come out of it soon. Naruto didn't know if he could hold on much longer without landing himself in the bed next to Sasuke's. He'd been unable to feel anything for a few days now; Naruto no longer felt hunger or thirst. He didn't need to get up and walk around or to talk to anyone, all he needed was to be at Sasuke's side, because when he was there the hole in his chest closed up a little and he wasn't so lonely anymore.

Naruto wanted to cry, but he didn't have any more tears for anything. They'd all been spent during those first few days when he moved his entire life to the two man hospital room, every time he'd look and see Sasuke just laying there he'd burst into tears, sometimes scaring the nurses into thinking that something was seriously wrong with him as well.

He just stayed there with the back of Sasuke's hand to his face, just listening to his heartbeat on the monitor and breathing in the raven's unique scent.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there in time, Sasuke." Naruto said.

Suddenly he froze cold. Blue eyes snapped open and became bright again when the sensation returned to Naruto a second time, he looked up at Sasuke then back at the hand in his. His finger had twitched twice!

Naruto shot up onto his feet immediately when the hand lifted up out of his only to drop limply back to the bed.

"Guys? Guys, he's waking up!" Naruto called out the door frenetically.

He leaned over the bed and placed a hand on Sasuke's cheek, the cold skin stung his hand but Naruto didn't care. He leaned in close as others filed in from the hallway to surround the two.

"Everyone back up! Give 'em some room!" Tsunade shouted angrily as she batted shinobi aside until she was standing right next to Naruto who hadn't even noticed any of their presences.

The blonde absentmindedly stroked Sasuke's cheek with his thumb as he stared anxiously into the man's face.

"Sasuke?"

Then everyone stopped moving, Naruto held his breath as the raven's eyelids blinked open quickly again and again before finally closing and opening slowly as he awoke from his slumber. The first thing he saw was –

"N – Naruto?" Sasuke reached a hand up and placed it over Naruto's, reveling in the smell of his skin and how warm it was on his face.

The two gazed lovingly into the other's eyes, sharing a moment so intimate that the others around them felt the need to look away as it seemed as though they were intruding on something they were not meant to see.

They could both feel it; the love that they had for each other was all that there was between them for that moment. Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes and all he saw was anguish and confusion while what Sasuke saw in Naruto's… was hope.

After a long while Sasuke looked away. "What's… what's going on?" he turned onto his back again to see everyone else who was in the room. Sasuke gasped and tears filled his wide eyes as his met with the faces of the entire rookie nine along with their Senseis all crammed into the tiny room to see him. These were the people that Sasuke had been convinced hated him ever since he stepped foot in the village during his return. Every one of them held in their hands either a teddy bear or a bouquet of flowers and balloons that read "get well soon" and "thinking about you" were tethered up all over the place.

Suddenly Sasuke's hands flew to his face as he erupted into a fit of tears. None of the bystanders said a thing as Sasuke bawled into his hands except for Naruto who reached out and removed the man's hands, keeping them from covering up his face.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked worriedly, "What's wrong?" his eyes searched Sasuke's face for any sign of pain or discomfort, but all he found was the smile that broke through his tears as the raven shook his head, grabbed Naruto, and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"I'm alive."

Author's note: Whew! Here it is, that took some kind of time to write today. Once again I'm sorry that it's so short, I'm just getting back into writing after such a long time ditching my work.

Oh my God you guys are the best! Thank you thank you thank you for all the wonderful reviews and for sticking with me even though I've been a butt and have been ignoring you… -_-

Reviews? Tell me what you like, tell me what you don't like, tell me what you'd like to see happen next. I'm always open for suggestions! ;)