A/N: And there were many apologies given by Kira for ignoring this story for so long. She dropped to her knees and begged forgiveness from the yaoi guardians of smut and fluff. Her life was spared and so she was able to write this chapter.

Somehow or another Sasuke had a growth. It was probably the most amazing growth in all of medical history because it while it was attached to him, it didn't always have direct physical contact. It trailed behind him when he walked. What was worse was that if Sasuke got annoyed with said growth and told it to more or less fuck off, it would start circling around him like a moon to a planet.

It was a large growth roughly an inch or two shorter than his entire height. It was unavoidable and there was no hope in ignoring it. This was mostly because it was characterized by an obnoxiously bright, yellow color and on top of that it talked. It even had a name.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said, exasperated, "Why don't you go sit down?"

Naruto pouted at Sasuke. Sasuke knew Naruto didn't mean to follow him everywhere. He kind of had to since Sasuke had been put in charge of him. Sasuke didn't understand why but he tried not to question it. Naruto was the only person who he could trust and the closer he could keep him the better.

Still, it didn't make very much sense to Sasuke. How was it that he'd become Naruto's keeper? Was it even protocol to do something like that? Everywhere Sasuke went he was required to take Naruto with him. It was an order from the warden, delivered by Dr. Kabuto.

"You don't have to be so mean about it," Naruto grumbled before sitting down.

Sasuke, somewhat relieved, leaned up against his usual wall. Sai appeared, almost like clockwork and took his unofficial post next to him.

"So," Sai said with mock friendliness, "How's the babysitting going?"

Sasuke glared at Sai. Sasuke could sense the smug satisfaction behind his co-worker's faux grin.

"I'm not babysitting," Sasuke argued, "He's a patient, not a child."

"There's not much of a difference here," Sai pointed out.

Sasuke watched as Kiba approached Naruto. The two sat together, playing with Kiba's imaginary pet. Sasuke couldn't help but feel the irony.

Sasuke glanced back at Sai, who looked somewhat cocky.

"So, how'd you manage to get stuck with him anyway?" Sai asked.

"I don't know," Sasuke admitted, "If anything I thought..."

You'd think they'd notice...

"You thought what?" Sai asked, intrigued.

"Nothing," Sasuke said.

Sai stared down Sasuke. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him before watching Naruto again. Naruto was laughing and smiling as he and Kiba played with the figment, Akumaru. Sure, the idea of it all was ludicrous but Naruto still looked-

Cute, Sasuke said flatly to himself.

"Y'know, if you want to have an affair with a patient, you really should be more discreet," Sai said.

Sasuke's head snapped towards Sai.

"What?"

"You heard me," Sai said.

"I'm not having an affair with Naruto," Sasuke tried to deny coolly.

"I never said it was Uzumaki," Sai noted, "But I did assume it was him. After all, I did drag you out of his room and into the break room last night."

Sasuke was speechless.

"Didn't you wonder how it was you woke up somewhere else?" Sai asked.

Sasuke paused. No, he didn't remember waking up somewhere else. He didn't even remember falling asleep with Naruto in the first place until Sai reminded him.

"You don't question very much, do you?" Sai asked, "You're just okay with blanks in your memory?"

Blanks in my-

A sharp sound assaulted Sasuke's ears. He doubled over in pain as he covered them. His eyes were winced shut. As he blocked out the noise, he wondered if it was another trick and forced himself to look around. Sai was in a similar position as was most of the staff and patients. Other patients, the more excitable ones, began screaming and throwing crayons and foam blocks. It really was like a playroom but for the mentally disturbed.

Sasuke looked to the entrance, the source of the sound. Hinata was there, her face beat red as she pushed along the comatose Haku in his wheelchair. However, one of the smaller wheels of the chair was missing and the metal prongs that were suppose to hold it were scraping against the hard floor.

Sasuke ran over to Hinata and stopped her just as she managed to drag Haku inside.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke ask, his voice flat and his face in an expression of a man surrounded by idiots.

She cowered at Sasuke. Her face was full of embarrassment as he confronted her. Sasuke could hear Sai in the background, calming some of the more violent patients.

"Well" she struggled, "Ino is b-busy with other p-patients so I-"

"No," Sasuke continued to scold, "Why are you dragging around this wheelchair?"

Hinata turned a shade darker of red and she nervously began to to tap her index fingers together.

"The wheel- it- it broke," she said.

Sasuke glared at her. Was she really this stupid? She couldn't possibly be this stupid. The woman had other lives in her hands.

"I gathered that," Sasuke said, "But why would you drag a broken wheelchair?"

"I-" she said, hiding behind her tapping fingers, "I couldn't find the wheel."

Sasuke sighed and as he did he looked down at Haku. Haku was leaning to one side, like a sack of potatoes sat down off center. His mouth was slightly ajar and his eyes were lifeless. If it wasn't for the quiet breath that slowly came in and out of him, Sasuke would have proclaimed him dead.

As Sasuke looked down, he saw a glint of light from Hinata's pocket. He leaned over and saw the wheel hiding in the white fabric of her uniform. Sasuke, too irritated with her to make her get it herself, reached into the pocket and held out in front of her face.

"Did you check your pockets?" he said as deadpan as ever.

"Oh. Um," Hinata said, a confused look on her face, "so that's where it went."

Sasuke sighed as he got down to look at where the wheel was meant to go. The screws were missing entirely. Parts were required to fix it.

Sasuke got back up and looked at Haku, who stared aimlessly into the distance. There was the matter of removing the patient from the chair first. Hinata stood there mumbling and stuttering away but useless as always.

Sasuke put the wheel in his pants pocket and then picked up Haku bridal style. His dead weight was a little harder to bear than Sasuke would have liked but it was only a mild discomfort. Sasuke would simply sit Haku down somewhere, take the wheelchair and repair it.

Sai put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke looked back and up at him. Sai had the shirt collar of a disgruntled Naruto in his other hand.

"I think you're forgetting something," Sai said to Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced down at Haku and Haku stared up directly at him. Sasuke had intended to leave Haku behind but Haku suddenly looked aware of him. Haku's eyes seemed conscious of Sasuke and it was as if they were trying to tell him something. Sasuke leaned in towards Haku's face, his brow knit together as he tried to understand this odd miracle of sentience.

"Sasuke," Sai called him out of concentration.

Sasuke looked back to the irritated boy Sai held out to him. The question of consciousness would have to wait for a moment. Sasuke would simply need to take his ward and the vegetable if he wanted answers.

"Naruto, carry the wheelchair," Sasuke instructed.

Naruto pouted at Sasuke as he pushed Sai's hand off of himself.

"I'm a patient, I shouldn't be carrying anything," Naruto said.

Sasuke gave Naruto a stern stare.

"Do as you're told, Naru," Sasuke instructed.

"Naru?" Sai asked, feigning delighted interest, "Since when did he become Naru?"

Sasuke played it off coolly. Naruto had always been Naru, hadn't he? It wasn't like Sasuke had suddenly called him cupcake or something. Naru was still a part of Naruto's name. It was just shortened for convenience. It was not a pet name or anything. It could never be a pet name. Naruto wasn't a pet.

Hinata's eyes lit up at the name, Naru. She stared at Naruto as he grumbled and folded up the wheelchair. Her fingers had stopped tapping and she dropped her hands completely. It was as if Hinata had gotten quieter if that was possible. Sasuke felt very uncomfortable as Hinata's eyes stared at Naruto in some mystified wonder.

Maybe she likes him, Sasuke wondered.

Naruto seemed oblivious to it as he tucked the wheelchair under his arm. Sasuke gave him an approving nod and the two took off out the door all while Sasuke felt Hinata's eyes watching them.

Naruto walked behind close to Sasuke. He walked a little too close as the wheelchair kept bumping into Sasuke's back.

"Damn it, Naru!" Sasuke shouted as he turned around.

"Well, I can't help it!" Naruto shouted back.

"You're going to have to!" Sasuke cotinued, "I'm carrying a person, remember?"

"I wouldn't have to walk so closely if I knew where I was going!"

"We're going to the supply closet!"

"There is no supply closet!" Naruto countered.

"Of course there is!"

"Well if there is," Naruto ranted, "then try telling me exactly where it is!"

Sasuke tried to think. Where exactly was the supply closet? Sasuke couldn't recall a particular room or corridor. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure what direction he'd been going in. Sasuke had just been walking, convinced that somewhere there was a supply closet.

"I- I don't know," Sasuke answered, "but that's besides the point!"

"Boys," a voice said, "play nice."

It was a beautiful voice resounding in low, feminine tones. It was like hearing the mother people wished they had speak. Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other, confirming that they both heard it. They looked to the sides of them but no one was there. They even looked up towards the ceiling as if to locate the angel who had spoken.

Finally, Sasuke looked into his own arms. Haku stared back at him as intently as ever.

"He- he spoke," Naruto pieced.

Haku's body was lifeless and unmoving but something had stirred in his eyes. Haku's gaze was never ending on Sasuke. It was as if he was trying to get Sasuke to understand something; something deathly important.

"Haku," Sasuke asked, searching the boy's eyes, "Can you hear me?"

Haku blinked.

"Blink again if you can," Sasuke instructed.

Haku's lids seemed deny him the blessing of another blink.

"I know he said that," Naruto began to rant, "because I didn't say it and I know you didn't say it and there's nobody else here so-"

"I know, Naru," Sasuke interrupted, "Hush."

Sasuke looked back down to Haku. He would wait for an answer. He needed something from Haku beyond the push to understand. He needed to know what to understand because if it was so imperative to Sasuke then maybe it could explain the strange things that were going on.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto said nervously, "I don't think the wheelchair needs to be fixed anymore..."

Sasuke broke his concentration to look at Naruto. Naruto was examining the wheelchair. He picked it up with both arms and struggled to hold it out to Sasuke. His face was mixture of confusion and panic.

"See? The wheel's...well, you see it, right?" Naruto asked, pleading for a confirmation, "Right?"

Sasuke didn't believe Naruto at first. It was highly likely that Naruto was just looking at another wheel and believed it to be the broken one. Naruto was a little stupid that way.

"Naruto, you're looking at the-"

Right wheel.

The wheel had been miraculously replaced. Not only replaced but screwed in perfectly as if it had never gone missing in the first place.

"That's impossible," Sasuke said bewildered before taking command, "Set up the chair, Naru."

Naruto was obedient and once the chair was fully expanded, Sasuke carefully placed Haku in it.

"How is this-" Sasuke entered a strange calm panic, "I took the wheel from Hinata. I had in my hand and then.."

Sasuke reached into his pocket and groped for the wheel. His hand discovered nothing but emptiness and fabric.

Sasuke looked at Naruto suspiciously.

"Did you do this?" he asked.

Naruto held up his hands as if Sasuke were carrying a gun and he was coaxing him not to fire it.

"If I did," Naruto answered, "Do you think I'd be this suprised?"

Sasuke quickly turned to Haku. Haku was in his vegetative state as usual but his aura had not quieted in the least. Haku's eyes still stared at Sasuke; locked on him as if he were the only thing in his dark void of a world.

"Did you do this!" Sasuke demanded.

Haku could not answer but continued to stare at Sasuke.

"DID YOU DO THIS!" Sasuke repeated, "Damn you! Why are you looking at me like that! What is it! What do you know! Tell me!"

"S-Sasuke," Naruto tried to calm Sasuke.

"I know you know something!" Sasuke continued to scream at Haku, "What are you trying to tell me? Who are you?"

"Sasuke!" Ino shouted as she appeared around the corner, "What in God's name are you doing?"

Sasuke tore his fury away from Haku as Ino grabbed the wheelchair defensively.

"Is this your way of helping people?" Ino shouted.

"Something is going on here, Ino!" Sasuke shouted at her, "I know something's wrong!"

A look of guilt flashed across Ino's face as she hid behind Haku. Sasuke was almost wordless as he watched Ino's shift from guilt back to defensiveness.

"You know something," Sasuke asked quietly, "Don't you?"

"I-" Ino tried to think of something, "I don't know what to tell you, Sasuke. You need to stop this crazy talk. If Dr. Kabuto or the warden were to hear you they might have you committed or-"

"Or what?"

Ino began to back away slowly, her heels tapping lightly on the floor. Sasuke took a step towards her and repeated his question more firmly.

"Or what?"

"Sasuke," Ino said, "I can't do anything to help you. I just work here, okay? Please understand that."

Ino turned around quickly taking Haku with her. She ran down the hall. Sasuke didn't bother to go after her. He knew what would happen if he tried. She'd turn a corner and disappear like she had before. It was pointless. Everything was pointless.

Sasuke turned, his face down and his fists balled, and punched one of the walls with all his might. Naruto jumped back, frightened by the outburst.

Sasuke hit the wall again. Then a third time. A fourth. It felt good. It felt real. Pain was reliable.

Naruto could see the blood coming from Sasuke's knuckles.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried as he tried to restrain him.

Sasuke didn't even fight Naruto. He slid down feeling defeated and Naruto followed him, embracing his back. Sasuke didn't know what to do. There were holes in his memories. There were things that had happened that didn't happen according to others. Impossibilities had become possible. The world had become madness.

Sasuke held his fists up to his face and examined the blood on his fists. It was a dark crimson red. It was so blatantly contrasting to his pale skin and the white background that Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off of it. The blood defied the world around him. It defied Sasuke himself.

"Tell me everything you know," Sasuke whispered to Naruto.

"...please stop," Naruto whispered back.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide. So Naruto did know something after all.

"I like it here with you," Naruto began, "I like you. All I know is that I like you and that if you don't stop, they'll take you away."

Naruto's hands rested on Sasuke's chest as he held him from behind. Sasuke placed a hand over Naruto's. Sasuke could feel his own heart beating.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, "I have to know."

Sasuke could hear Naruto sniffling.

"You don't."

"Tell me!" Sasuke shouted as he turned and grabbed Naruto harshly by the shoulders.

"Stop it!" Naruto cried out, "You're scaring me!"

Naruto had tears down his face which he angrily wiped away. Sasuke took Naruto's hand, gripped it tightly and placed it on his heart.

"I like you too," Sasuke said his eyes locked with Naruto's, "I like you very much."

Naruto smiled softly but tears still rolled down his cheeks. Sasuke couldn't explain what was happening. The scene was so tender, how long had they known each other? Days? Months? Hours? Years? It could have been a lifetime and Sasuke wouldn't know.

"I can't stop, Naru," Sasuke continued, "Something's making me figure this out but I wish I could because I like you too. Very, very much."

The words pulled at every available string in Sasuke's heart. It was true down to the last syllable. Sure, Naruto was annoying and loud. He was difficult and had too much energy but Sasuke liked Naruto for whatever inconceivable reason. He like him so much that-

"Lean closer towards me," Sasuke directed.

Naruto didn't know how to respond but obeyed despite his slight confusion.

Sasuke pressed Naruto's hand even tighter on his chest. Sasuke could feel the pressure start to hurt. Naruto's hand pressed down on his ribs but it still wasn't enough. He wanted Naruto to feel his heart. He wanted him to hear it. It was saying things to Naruto that Sasuke couldn't.

Buh bump. Buh bump. Buh bump. Buh bump. I love. I love. I love. I love.

"You," Sasuke said before pressing his lips softly against Naruto's.

A/N: Gosh darn it, fluff! You keep showing up. That is it! The next chapter shall be considerably unfluffy! Yes. Very unfluffy indeed...Reviews please! I know I haven't updated in such a long time, sorry! D: