"What is this nonsense, Sasuke? What on earth do you think you were doing?" Itachi scolded Sasuke who was awake now. To tell the truth, Itachi was scared that he could actually lose his one and only little brother. But the person himself was unaware of that.
Sasuke, the-said little brother of Itachi, chose to stay silent. The younger Uchiha was only staring at the window of the room, unable to see his brother in the eyes. He already expecting this to happen. As long as Itachi was still around, his attempt would never succeed.
"What do you say about this, Sasuke."
"…"
"Oh… What's with the silence? Aren't you going to defend yourself?"
Sasuke still refused to talk. The sky from the window he was staring at was grey. It was about time to rain.
"Why would you do that? What exactly were you thinking?"
Itachi sighed and sat down near his foolish little brother's bed. "Speak, Sasuke. I can't seriously read your mind. I'm a businessman, not a mentalist."
Sasuke suppressed the urge to roll his eyes despite the situation. "Done?"
Itachi's vein on his temple popped up, eyebrow twitched violently, eyes closed. "You…" He had never had the urge to strangle his foolish little brother this bad before.
"I'm sorry, okay?" Sasuke snapped as he averted his eyes from the window, finally meeting Itachi's eyes.
"That's not the right way to apologize."
"Then how do you want me to apologize? Do I have to be on my knees, bowed down until my face just a centimeter away from your shoes, and kiss them while saying sorry ten times?"
"Stop being difficult, Sasuke…"
"Look, why are you always mingling people's business? Don't you have a fucking life?" Sasuke said wondering. He was slightly annoyed, to be honest.
"Listen very carefully here, Sasuke…" Sasuke unconsciously gulped when Itachi's voice had turned several octaves down. If he were someone else, he would have peed himself and run for his life. "Minding people's business is not my thing but yours is. Unfortunately for both of us, Sasuke is that I am your big brother that loves you and you are my one and only foolish little brother. If you expected me to not mingling your business, then stop doing foolish things."
"Kakashi was right… You were always the one who fight for my love."
"The more you prove him right by committing suicide, don't you think?"
"…"
"Then let me enlighten you in case you forget. You are an Uchiha. Uchiha gets what Uchiha wants."
Uchiha gets what Uchiha wants, which means… "I can win Naruto back…" Sasuke murmured absent-mindedly.
"Yes, win him over, not giving up like this by killing yourself. Are you admitting defeat? Such failure is not registered in our dictionary."
Sasuke eyed his brother.
"I could think of hundreds of ways of winning someone over. Do you think there is someone who can beat us? No. So from now on, you do your way. If you need anything, just ask. You have won Naruto's heart once, surely you can win him back the second time. Just do what you did a few years ago. Remember, this is the same Naruto as he was years back. Just this Naruto, he suffers amnesia, without a memory of you or any of his past."
"…" Sasuke averted his eyes to his lap. Itachi was right.
Itachi eventually sighed for the nth time that day. "By the way, guess who your doctor is. It's Naruto."
Sasuke looked up and met Itachi in the eyes again, non-verbally asking if he was being serious or not. What's happening?
Itachi nodded. "And I have found the reason why we couldn't track him down despite having the best men under me for all these years."
"…" Sasuke only stared, and Itachi knew that it was a sign for him to continue.
"I saw Naruto's nametag earlier. Uzumaki N. was what written on it."
"Uzumaki? Not Namikaze?"
"We were underestimating Kakashi this far apparently… He is a clever man."
Sasuke looked back at his lap, seeing that it was far more interesting than the window.
Itachi sighed. "I went to do the transfusion with the nurse here before. She is your friend back in high school if you remember. Her name is Yamanaka I."
"I only know one Yamanaka. Her name is Ino and it must be her. She knows Naruto is working here?"
"Kakashi is keeping everyone shut about Naruto's whereabouts. He even has his way changing Naruto's surname we can't seem to think of."
Sasuke sighed. "What did she say?"
"She said that Naruto had been working in the hospital for over a year now. And the pale guy named Sai who was with him days ago? Apparently, he is Naruto's boyfriend, no doubt. He is an artist. That's all she said."
"Itachi…"
"Yes, Sasuke."
It was a pregnant pause before Sasuke started with a sigh. "I'm sorry, truly. I promise this will be the last time."
Itachi sighed. "You better be, Sasuke. I wouldn't know what would happen… I had come to save you two times already. Who knows if I would be around if you do that again the third time?"
"…"
"You know what, Sasuke? You are one hell of a lucky bastard."
Sasuke smirked.
~o0o~
Gaara sat up which made the white sheet to fall off from his bare pale chest to his equally pale hips.
"What's wrong?" came a sleepy voice next to him.
Gaara looked at the person who was still lying down on the bed next to him and answered with a question. "My cell phone."
And sure there was vibration coming from… "It's from the nightstand."
Gaara nodded at the information and sure as he landed his eyes on the said nightstand, his phone was there. He grabbed the vibrating device and stared at the screen before he picked it up.
"Gaara." A paused. "Hey, what's up?" another pause as Gaara eyed the clock with a small smile. "Hn. I won't. See you there then." And he hung up.
"Who?"
"Naruto."
The person who was lying on the bed next to him nodded. With eyes closed, he asked, "What's up?"
"He wants to meet." Gaara finished as he got up from his bed.
"When?"
"At three. He wants to have coffee time."
That brought the other person to sit up on the bed. "So, are you going?"
Gaara who was halfway to the bathroom sent him a deadpan look. "Why wouldn't I?"
"What about me?"
Gaara just gave him a blank look for a good one minute before he left to the bathroom, not forgetting to yell, "Get up, Hyuuga."
Neji, the Hyuuga of whom Gaara was calling to, was silent before he fell back down to the bed.
"Neji!"
"Alright!" Neji sighed and stoop up eventually, following his partner to the bathroom. "What time is it anyway…" He murmured in annoyance.
It wasn't as if Neji was annoyed that Gaara would be meeting up with Naruto for coffee time, it was just that he was annoyed that Naruto called too early.
"It's one pm, Hyuuga."
"Oh." Maybe it was not too early after all.
Naruto… It was rare for him to call after what had happened before. At a random store, the two met Naruto alone with groceries in hands. They weren't believing in what they were seeing. Last time they saw Naruto was years ago during their class in a laboratory since they were medical students. Naruto was missing after that and it was like he was swallowed by the earth. It was like his existence never happened. So when they met him that time, they immediately approached him. They were hesitant when Naruto didn't recognize them. For a second they thought that it was a different person. They eventually rest the case and move on.
Out of curiosity, they ended up calling Kakashi and asked him to meet. Kakashi agreed and they met. They told that they met Naruto but he got no memories of them. They asked what happened to Naruto but Kakashi was being a hard shell, hard to crack. Thanks to Neji's sweet talk, Kakashi ended up telling the whole story of what had happened to Naruto, but with a condition. They have to keep their mouth shut about Naruto's whereabouts, especially toward the Uchihas. Eventually, they got to meet Naruto that day after Kakashi called the blonde to come, so Kakashi had some explanations to Naruto that the two doctors were his friend before he lost his memories.
The only people who knew about Naruto's whereabouts and his condition were Kakashi, Ino, and the two of them. After that day, they asked Naruto to meet again somewhere and eventually explained to Naruto that they were friends, close even. Naruto said he's sorry that he couldn't remember any of them and somehow their relationship became distant and kind of awkward. That was why it was rare for Naruto to engage Gaara to have coffee time these days. But Gaara made their relationship the same as before. According to him that it was still the same Naruto just without memories so they should treat him the same as before. He had a point.
Naruto was still the same Naruto though. What made it awkward was that they couldn't make things relatable to others because Naruto had no idea about the things in the past. But according to Gaara, it was just Neji's thinking.
~o0o~
Gaara arrived at the Konoha coffee shop five minutes before three. It had been a long time since the last time he was here. The place was Naruto's favorite years before and it hadn't changed too much.
Where's Naruto? He exited the car and scanned the parking lot to see a certain black car with orange interior and spotted one. He smirked before he headed to the said car.
The parking lot was deserted.
When he reached his destination, he found amusement to see spike blonde hair inside, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Gaara bowed slightly and knocked on the glass few times. He was sure that Naruto wasn't aware of his presence. He had to smirk when Naruto seemed to gasp. Gaara smirked watching Naruto brushed his hand against his chest with eyes closed.
Gaara eventually stepped back to allow Naruto to open his door and closed it behind. Naruto glared at Gaara but it only appeared as a pout. The redhead gave a blank look which could be translated to "idiot" toward Naruto.
Naruto cupped his own face with his hands before revealing it again. "Oh my god Gaara! My heart almost fell down! Thank god it wasn't created by a human!"
"Calm down," Gaara smirked in amusement. Being around Naruto was always entertaining.
Before Naruto could have the chance to complain again, Gaara grabbed a tan wrist and dragged him into the shop.
When they reached inside, they took their seats facing each other. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest, still smirking. Naruto did the same, it was just his mouth was forming a pout.
"You have never changed, haven't you?" Gaara shook his head while Naruto continued sending his glare to the redhead, which was useless. Naruto sighed when his glare didn't have any effect on Gaara. He called a waiter and ordered their coffee.
When the waiter left to retrieve their orders, Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry."
Gaara raised his non-existence eyebrow. What was he sorry for?
Naruto sighed again. "You are free today, right?"
"Naruto, if I weren't, why would I agree to this? Besides, why would you be sorry? A simple how are you won't hurt." Gaara shrugged.
Naruto worried his bottom lip which earned a sigh from the redhead. "How are you, by the way?" Gaara eventually asked.
"Hmm… I don't know…" Naruto shrugged. He said thanks when the waiter came with their coffees.
They continued after the waiter left. "And why is that?" Gaara asked.
"There are things I want to know… I want to ask Ino instead but she would probably bombard me with her own questions."
That's true.
"I asked Kakashi but he seemed to dodge my questions."
"…"
"Besides the two, I have you and Neji who knew my past and… since you are the closest so…"
Gaara nodded, clearly understanding Naruto.
"Do you know… Sasuke Uchiha?"
Oh? "Why yes… I know him. How do you…?"
"Umm, you see, I went to a d…date w…with um… Sai and I met Sasuke there." Naruto stuttered, casting his head down.
"How do you know if it was him? Did he tell you? Or do you remember anything?" Perhaps Naruto had progressed with his memories?
"Uh no." Naruto shook his head. "I didn't know his name until today when he was admitted to the hospital."
Admitted? "What happened?"
"He tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists."
"Fucking…" What exactly the Uchiha was thinking? Was he that desperate?
"It happened after the encounter."
"Shoot."
"I went to this place days before with Sai. The time I set foot to this place, I was being yanked into a tight embrace out of nowhere. I blacked out because my head was spinning."
"He is the trigger."
Naruto nodded. "When I looked at him trying to remember if I knew him, something played before my eyes. It was like scenes in a movie. I saw his face… His smiling faces." Naruto trailed off.
"Today he was admitted to our hospital and I became his surgeon because apparently there were no surgeons left at that time. Can you believe that? That was where I knew his name." Naruto paused and touched his lips. "That name somehow feels so familiar…"
"Naruto…"
"Those arms felt familiar too…" Naruto whispered losing in his train of thoughts. He then looked at Gaara square in the eyes. "Who is he?" Naruto sounded desperate by now.
Gaara sighed and looked up, thinking what to say. This was bound to happen, anyway. "First of all, his name is Sasuke Uchiha. He is, no, he was your boyfriend."
At the information, Naruto lost the ability to speak, so Gaara continued.
"The two of you were lovers. You two also shared an apartment because Sasuke was serious about you."
"…serious about me?" Naruto copied.
"Yes, know this. Sasuke was not the romance type of guy. I have known him since elementary. We were not that close but for all, I know that he had never been in a relationship. He seemed to be the type to not want to get himself involved in any kind of relationship. But he did, with you."
"…"
"I don't know what had happened between the two of you that night. I heard Sasuke was hospitalized because he was trying to hurt himself. And I didn't have any clue about you."
"…" Naruto looked away, feeling uncomfortable.
"You have involved in a car accident apparently. You lost your memories and we are part of them." Gaara finished with concern. He watched as Naruto clutches the napkin too hard his knuckles had turned white. Gaara joined his non-existence eyebrow as he reached Naruto's hands. "Don't do that."
Naruto eventually let go of the napkin and put his hands upside his lap.
"Do you want me to continue?" Gaara said. He just wanted to make sure that Naruto was comfortable to hear about all of these or not.
Naruto looked up and nodded. "Please do."
Gaara gave a look of "are you sure?" but seeing the look on Naruto's face, he gave in. "I believed when he held you, it was like how two people do when they haven't seen each other for a long time. No, not two people, because you weren't participating." Gaara corrected.
Naruto looked away, somehow feeling guilty.
Gaara understanding this, he elaborated. "It wasn't your fault…"
"No, it's my fault." Naruto eyed Gaara, a determinate look in his eyes. "It was not just a mere puppy love if you said that Sasuke and I shared an apartment. If there were no departing words, he is still my boyfriend, and it is unfair of me to show up all of a sudden after a long time with another man and the worst was, I had no idea who he was…"
"Well, whatever you want to put it but you can't blame yourself because you know nothing about this."
"Kakashi didn't say anything about this." Naruto looked away again.
"He is your guardian, your father… He is very protective when it comes to you. Maybe he thought that it was the best for you to move on with your life, with Sai."
"He could have just talked to me and we could arrange for it."
"It's not as simple as you said, Naruto…"
"Please enlighten me."
"Kakashi told us about how you were when your parents passed away. It was hard to even imagine because you actually didn't take it well when you heard the news. Hn, no… I actually have several patients which suffer from the same case. I can relate you from that. He said, he somehow was grateful that you lost your memory."
"So I have two boyfriends right now. Wow." Naruto said and laughed sarcastically.
There was a pang in Gaara's chest seeing him. "Naruto…"
"I asked who are you toward him and the look on his face…" Naruto shook his head. "I even joked to Ino that maybe someone dumped him that he actually tried to kill himself. I'm such an idiot…"
"…"
All appetite was gone and the two fell silent for a few moments before they decided to depart.
Naruto went inside his car and remained silent. He was lost in thoughts by the new discovery from Gaara. He now knew that Sasuke Uchiha was his boyfriend before the accident happened. He was so cruel for even thinking about getting mad at him for committing such thing. It was his fault from the start. Then again, he was suffering this amnesia for about five years and did Sasuke had been waiting that long? If he were him, to wait for years and finally met his long-lost-boyfriend, with a new man…
Naruto pulled his blonde hair with his hands. This was crazy.
If there were no departing word between Sasuke and him, then technically Sasuke was still his boyfriend, which meant that he had two boyfriends. Also, if there were departing word, no… There wasn't… But if there was, who said to whom? If it was Sasuke, then maybe he regretted it? Or if it was him, maybe Sasuke didn't take it well? But then maybe there wasn't, judging by what had happened at the coffee shop, the way Sasuke yanked him into a tight embrace, just like long-lost-lover.
What he did, he realized, be it he did it unconsciously or not, it was unfair for Sasuke. If he were to continue his relationship with Sasuke, what about Sai? If he were to ignore Sasuke, no… he was sure that he was the reason why Sasuke tried to commit suicide, so to stop or ignore his relationship with Sasuke was impossible. Then there was Sai… If he were to continue both, that's crazy. But if he were to stop both, was worst either.
What should he do? Sasuke's attempt at suicide happened after the encounter and there was no one to give the blame for but himself. Who else was the cause?
Also, there was Sai… The guy wouldn't go a day without bleeding.
Should he talk to Sasuke about this and sort things out? Perhaps it was the only way possible to do right now. And after that, he would go doing groceries. He had promised Sai to make dinner.
With that in mind, he nodded to himself before he left the hospital.
TBC
Published: Tuesday, November 14th, 2017 06.00 PM (JST)