Sai stared at the ceiling, wondering about his sleepless night. He somehow couldn't fall to sleep because of the constant burnt feeling in his nose. He sighed when his alarm went off reminding him that it was already six in the morning. Even though he felt tired, he forced himself to get up and did his morning routine. The bleeding was coming to him more frequent. It was a lie to not admit that there was something definitely wrong with him. It was getting on his nerves.

He went to his art room, where he put his laptop. He was really curious about his disease, and he was sure he had one. The time he arrived at his art room, he sat down and turned on the laptop. He drummed his fingers on the desk while waiting for it to flare up to life. In a hurry, he double-clicked the internet shortcut. He typed, "constant bleeding symptom" before he clicked enter. Immediately answers of his searching were presented upon him. He clicked a various link for credible result. He knew Naruto was working on it but he just wanted to know his own too. Maybe it wouldn't be as accurate as Naruto's but at least he had little understanding and could anticipate or receive better about the outcome.

It was a lie if his hands weren't sweating through the research.

"Nose bleeding is caused by several things. The factors can be because of using drugs, gen, or diseases. Some of them are: ingestion process is too hard, accidentally injured the wall of the nose when scratching, dry and cold air which can cause the layer of the inside dry nose makes it more susceptible to get injured and infected..."

Sai was more relaxed by now. "Well, it's not that bad. Let's see what's next is... The shape of the nose is hook..." Sai touched his nose to feel if his nose was hooked or not. He shrugged and continued. "Sinusitis acute or chronic..."

He slammed his laptop down and cup his face in his hands. That didn't make any sense and ridiculous. He looked up and found his paintings. Some were hanging on the wall, some were still on the floor. There was a painting of a shirtless Naruto. It was a half body painting, from the head up to the v line, blonde hair was barely showing. Blue eyes were staring at the lookers, practically undressing people with them. Blonde hair was tousled in a sexy way. That paint, Naruto looked like a Greek God, except he was a Germany. Sai smiled at the painting before he looked at another one. It was his late brother, Shin. The painting was of him smiling. Sai's smile fell from his thinking of his late brother. Shin died because of blood...

Cancer?

~o0o~

Kakashi couldn't believe that he was doing this. He couldn't believe that he accepted meeting the Uchihas. He couldn't believe that he was now standing in front of the restaurant they had agreed on. He sighed and dragged his foot eventually inside.

Kakashi scanned the room and immediately got greetings from the staffs there. When he spotted what he was looking for, he walked to them.

Kakashi skipped the greetings and made himself sit across the two men.

"How are you, Kakashi." Itachi greeted. Kakashi observed the two men, and notice Sasuke's strange behavior. The over-proud Uchiha like Itachi was presenting now, was nowhere near the little Uchiha. He raised his eyebrow to look at the elder Uchiha. "Let's cut non-sense, shall we?" Kakashi said with a fake smile while crossing his hands over his chest. He could notice Sasuke flinched. He smirked at the display.

Itachi sighed. "Let's order first." He said and was about to call the waiter when Kakashi raised his hand to stop Itachi from doing so.

"Like I said, Itachi. Let's cut the crap and to the point." He raised his right hand to see the time on his watch. "I have another meeting in half an hour so please make this quick."

Itachi sighed again from Kakashi being too hard. "If you said so then."

Kakashi made a hand gesture for Itachi to continue.

"We saw him about a couple of days before."

Kakashi nodded, trying to be calm, which he succeeded in doing so. "Ya. He told me yesterday night. He said that some strangers just came out of nowhere and one of them," Kakashi said this while looking at Sasuke who was bowing his head, seemed to not have the courage to look at Kakashi. "...held him in a tight embrace which succeeded in ruining his date night."

"Please explain," Itachi said. That's what the meeting was all about.

"I have nothing to say." Kakashi was now starring at Sasuke while talking. Was the kid still unable to look him in the eye?

"He didn't know us."

"It's not rocket science and given that you two are Uchiha, it won't hurt your brain to guess what happened that night." Kakashi's eyes never left Sasuke by now.

"Where has he been these past few years then, Kakashi?"

This time, Kakashi looked back at Itachi. "Let me rearrange your question. The question should be where have YOU been the first year? I had been waiting for you to inform me about the situation but the phone call never came."

Itachi sighed. "Kakashi, don't be difficult."

Kakashi had the tendency to roll his eyes. "What. You want me not to? How? Let's imagine it's the other way around. It's Naruto who made mistake and your little brother here-" Kakashi paused to look back at the silent Sasuke. He was starting to wonder if this kid was mute. "-were the one who almost died in a car accident and lost his fucking memory about everything. What would you do?"

"Kakashi-"

"Look, Itachi. What has been done, let it be done. He has moved on and he now has a loving and well-mannered boyfriend, unlike a certain someone." Kakashi had to see Sasuke flinching again before he continued. "Now, deal with it. What is exactly the advantage of you two wanting Naruto? His life was a mess, and you Uchihas have no right to ruin his life even more. I almost lost him and I won't let that happen ever again. Besides, there are plenty of blue eyes, blonde people around the globe and Uchihas are gifted so it will be easy to get one. Just give up."

Itachi was now massaging the bridge of his nose. A headache was coming. "It's not easy. You don't understa-"

"I've lost faith with the two of you. I honestly was patient enough to wait for you to call me back just so I would know what exactly had happened that night. It wasn't a day, a week, or a month had passed. It was a fucking year, Itachi. And that was enough."

"I have to explain-" Kakashi cut him again from speaking.

"Listen to me, you hypocrite Uchiha. I had been waiting for any of you two to at least say something, but you didn't. Apparently, a year was my limit. And why now? Naruto needed to continue his life. When I say it's over, it's over. Just think of this. Maybe the relationship you had with my son," Kakashi said referring to Sasuke, "just a stupid teenager crush. It's not love, Sasuke. End of story and move on." Kakashi stood up and continued, "I gotta go."

When he was about to go, Itachi held his wrist preventing him from leaving.

"Kakashi, please. I have to explain."

Kakashi gave them both a look, he scoffed while releasing his wrist from Itachi and rolled his eyes. "This is ridiculous," he whispered. "Wait here. I'm curious. Who's dating who anyway? It seems like you, Itachi, was the one who's dating Naruto, yes? Sasuke, are you sure you want Naruto back? With that attitude? Tche. I doubt you could win from Sai. Keep dreaming." Sasuke's body went rigid at those sentences.

"Fuck off." Was Kakashi's departing words. He felt good about himself somehow. He was almost grinning but his stomach didn't let him when it growled, demanding food. Great. Now he had to find another restaurant to go to.

He sighed and drove off.

~o0o~

Sai sneezed inside his art room, and because of he had given up on his laptop earlier, he decided to paint. He was doing it absent-mindedly since he was only killing time until the time to meet Kakashi strike. He wanted to meet Naruto but he had received a text message this morning from the doctor himself saying that he couldn't meet him today because he had two surgeries he had to perform and he also had to continue his examination because it could take up to around ten days.

He sighed as he put his hand which was holding the paintbrush down his lap, closing his eyes. He was impatient. Why was his life never been good for once? Okay, he had a great time and he was grateful meeting Naruto even though it had happened on an unfortunate night. But for his 27 years of living, he had been through so many unfortunate things, he sometimes was jealous of Naruto, because he was the one who had to lose memories. Sometimes he wished that he was the one who had amnesia.

He had been experiencing the pain of losing his one and only brother dying and eventually died. He had to see his brother being cremated. He also had to be the one who threw his brother's ashes to the running river. He also had to experience losing both his parents from an airplane crash, without knowing their whereabouts. They died in an airplane crash, and he had no proper ceremony to hold. He almost lost the passion, reason, and will to keep living.

He almost gave up on that unfortunate night, right after his brother's funeral. He wanted to kill himself, realizing that he was all alone in this too cruel world. There was no need to keep living when everyone you loved all died. He had thoughts of joining them in the afterlife. But then the thoughts disappeared when that night he met Naruto.

He remembered staring at the unconscious blonde that night. He could see crystal clear the wet cheeks. He had the force to call the ambulance and he didn't know why that he felt like he needed to save this person's life instead of leaving the stranger and commit suicide. He remembered he followed the ambulance behind and went to the nearest hospital. He met Kakashi and was able to see Naruto in a better light and he was able to study the face. From that moment on, he decided to make Naruto as someone worth protecting. Naruto became the reason for him to keep living.

"Am I able to love you?" Naruto whispered from the red scarf protecting his neck against the cold, standing in the middle of the snowy night. The cold night of December was creating smoke. It was quite hard for him to speak when the cold was piercing through his thick layer of his coat. Naruto could only wish that the other person could hear his voice.

"Give it a try, Naruto..." Sai, the other person, said almost sounded like begging. He was helpless, but what else was he to do?

Naruto didn't know what to respond. Berlin was covered with snow! It was too cold he had hard time thinking.

"I'm helpless, Naruto..." Sai sighed with bowed head. He was helpless... If Naruto wouldn't give him a try, he would rather disappear. He never imagined that confessing to someone about his feeling would be this hard. It was worth it at least. This was nothing compared to keeping his feeling bottled up any longer.

"Sai... I don't know but I can't promise anything..." Naruto said as he looked away but still standing there. Somehow the snow had kept him immobile.

"Please explain, Naruto..."

Naruto looked back at Sai again. "I'm afraid if I allow this and end up of this being useless or making empty promises to you, or if I unable to give you what you desire, I'm afraid that I would end up hurting you..."

"Naruto, I don't care, honestly..."

"Sai..."

"Look. We have known each other for two years now. What do you think that I am still around you until now? I never left you after the accident. It may sound corny but the moment I set my eyes on you, I felt something in me that had died before came flared back up to life. Protecting you has become my purpose of living. I have been thinking if I never confess to you and keep this feeling bottled up forever, you will eventually have a partner and leave me. What if that happened? Speaking frankly, I was going to commit suicide that night if it were not because of you."

"..."

"You are the reason why I am still breathing right now. You are the one who has found my missing organ I never thought I owned before. You own my heart, Naruto." Sai scoffed. "What am I to do if you didn't give me a chance?" Sai whispered. "You are literally my oxygen. If you refuse the love I am offering, it's like I have lost my reason to live."

"We still could be frie-"

"It's different, Naruto..." Sai said determinedly. "It's different... I won't force you to love me back but at least give me a chance. But if you still refuse, I will leave your life." He flashed a fake smile which never went unnoticed by Naruto.

"..."

"I have thought about keeping this feeling bottled and stay as a friend with you but I just can't... I have never seen you in a friendly way. I confess because I want you to know that I like you in a romantic way. I want you to see me in a different way too..."

"Then... Give me some time to think..."

Sai smiled again. "I will give you the time you want. Just please give this a try... Give us a try... If in a year you still not develop feelings for me, I will leave your life..."

His phone rang when it showed that it was time to get ready to meet Kakashi at a restaurant somewhere in Shibuya. With a tired mind, he stood up and went to his room to prepare.

~o0o~

Sai raised his hand up in the air with a smile when Kakashi looked his way. He then approached the guy and sat next to him. Just when he situated himself to sit down, his phone vibrated. When Kakashi watched that the guy only stared at his cellphone without doing anything, Kakashi knitted his eyebrows in confusion.

"Who's that?" Kakashi asked out of curiousness.

Sai, who was still staring hard at the screen, shrugged as he put the phone back in his pocket. "Your son. Have you ordered yet?"

"Why aren't you picking it up? And no, I'm waiting for you first." Kakashi answered as he instructed a waitress to come to them. They chose their foods and waited until the waitress left to retrieve their orders before they continued.

"He doesn't know that I'm meeting you now, and I can't lie to him straight. He told me this morning via text that he would be busy having two surgeries and ordered me to take some rests. I didn't reply his text and won't pick up his phone and spill my secret meeting with you instead of being home resting."

Kakashi nodded eventually agreeing. "I thought you have a quarrel with him."

"Nah, can't stand that even for a minute."

"Right?" Kakashi smiled, agreeing. "You just can't stay mad at him for longer than a minute."

Sai smiled back.

"So, what's up? Do you want to talk before our foods arrived or after we finished?"

"I will choose the latter."

"Great idea! Because I am super hungry right now." Kakashi exclaimed, remembering how he skipped his lunch before because of his pride.

The two were chatting light topic before the waitress earlier came back with their foods. The two ate in silent and finished with thanks. Everything went well in a blur.

"So?" Kakashi asked while tapping his mouth with a napkin.

"I went on a date with Naruto a few days ago."

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto had told me the exact topic yesterday."

"Oh?"

"The kid is always curious about anything."

"I'm also curious by now about Naruto's past if you mind. I never knew that he had something with the Uchiha in the past."

There was a pause and Sai took it as his chance to added in. "I'm his boyfriend, in case you forget. I just can't forget about the memory of Uchiha Sasuke embracing Naruto in his arms."

Kakashi was silent.

Sai sighed. "I know you are trying to hide this and trust me, you did a good job so far. But Kakashi, this very day is bound to happen."

Kakashi sighed. Sai was right. "They were childhood friends." Kakashi started as he chose to tell Sai the truth. "The two of them got separated because of Minato, Naruto's father, had to continue the family business in Berlin. They met again when Naruto was about to enter high school. I was thinking of starting a new life here in Tokyo when Naruto was practically breaking apart from losing both his parents in a severe car accident.

"The two somehow entered the same high school. They became closer and closer each day until Naruto told me that he and Sasuke were going out. They even lived in the same apartment and went to the same university. Two years in the university, that unfortunate night came. You called and told me that my son had an accident.

"I called Sasuke first, but his phone was inactive. So I called Itachi. I want to know if they had fought or something. I wouldn't tell him the truth first if he didn't inform me about the situation why that night could happen because I had been thinking about it in a short of time of some possibilities. He promised me to inform me if something happened after he checked on his little brother. Sai, I waited... I waited for like a year. Nobody called me to ask about Naruto.

"So I thought that they weren't serious about making Naruto happy or the promises they made to protect Naruto no matter what happens. Not to mention that when Naruto woke up from his comatose, he didn't remember me. I almost lost Naruto, Sai. And I don't want it to happen again. That's why from there on I decided to start again Naruto's life without leaving any traces of his existences. Somehow I am grateful that he lost his memories. Oh, do you know how he could lose his memories?"

Sai knitted his eyebrows together. "He hit his head too hard?" and answered innocently.

Kakashi almost rolled his eyes. "Hah, funny, Sai... but the doctor said that when he hit his head hard it triggered something which unconsciously Naruto's brain refused to remember dark or painful memories."

Sai was silent. He had no idea what to respond.

"You have no idea how painful for me to see him breaking down when his parents died. There will be no one who will mess Naruto's life ever again. Not even Uchiha. Not even you, Sai."

"Kakashi... I don't think that they weren't serious about protecting Naruto." Sai elaborated with knitted eyebrows.

"Huh?"

"I don't think that it was just a high school thingy."

"No, Sai... They never called me or anything for a year, Sai... for a fucking year."

Sai shook his head. "You didn't see how the youngest Uchiha held Naruto that day. I was too shocked to see them... their chemistry, I had goosebumps seeing them I felt like something great I couldn't fathom what was emitting from them." Sai trailed off.

"Then if you tell me that... What do you think of breaking up with Naruto?"

"What?"

"Do you want to or not?"

"Wha- of course, no!"

"Then drop it, Sai. Naruto now is yours and Sasuke was only Naruto's past."

Sai was silent. Kakashi was right. Why would he somehow support Sasuke and Naruto together? Sai sighed. "I don't think Sasuke would stop."

"Naruto is yours and not him. Now take that fact and don't ever let Sasuke snatch Naruto away from you. Naruto is too naïve to this world."

"Yeah..."

"Any major he could get but why medical? Remember just how many times we flew to Berlin just to go to his parents' graveyard when his patient died from cancer? Any specialist he could get, but why cancer? I don't understand why he wanted to become an oncologist instead of a surgeon or anything..."

Sai smiled at that. "I don't understand how his brain works, honestly."

Kakashi smiled. "Now that you have known everything, you should go home now. Naruto ordered you to rest, right?"

Sai nodded. "Thanks, Kakashi."

"Don't mention it."

TBC

Published: Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 01.28 PM (JST)