Sasuke was back from the hospital. He was now in the office. First thing to win Naruto back was to live his life as usual, and as usual meant that he had to do his routine and going to work.

In his room he sat on his leather chair behind a mahogany desk. He was thinking ways to start by twirling his pen with his fingers, what should he do next to win Naruto back to him in a way without forcing anyone? How?

Days ago when they met Kakashi, his mind had mental breakdown again, and suicide crossed his mind. When he did, he never knew that he would be admitted to the hospital where Naruto had duty at. Was it fate? He shook his head.

Only Naruto could throw his will of life to the pits of hell and then get it back and kiss it. Only a single sentence could make him change his mind. When he found he had no hope in living anymore, Naruto gave him one, "If you find the answer, I'm all yours."

That's all he needed to change route and win Naruto back.

Find the answer.

He sat upright and got his chair closer to the desk. He reached out his both hands on the desk. He got a hold of the mouse and keyboard and started pointing to his mail and began typing, trying to send an email to one of his men, named Juugo, finally found and idea to start his plan.

~o0o~

Blue eyes blinked, trying very hard to see through the dim light of the unknown room.

"Where am I?" he whispered to nobody but himself.

He didn't recognize the place anywhere. Through knitted eyebrows, he scanned the area, walking ever so slowly in hope that his barefoot wouldn't hit anything in the dim room. He could barely see anything!

"Hello?" he called to no one hesitantly, hoping someone could actually answer. The only noise he could hear was his uncertain voice echoed through the dim room.

"Naruto?" There came a familiar voice. He recognized the voice but he couldn't quite catch who the voice belonged to.

"Who are you?" He answered confusedly.

"Naruto? Come out, please…" the familiar voice again… But why it sounded so… sad? Why it was so desperate?

"Who are you?" This time Naruto asked quite demanding. Why wouldn't they answer him? Was it a hard question?

"Come Naruto. Get out from there…"

"But… How can I get out of here?" Naruto asked as he was getting desperate from not knowing how to get out of the dim room.

"Figure it out yourself. Come on, Naruto. You can do this."

The voice kept calling him and he kept walking, wanting to find the source of that voice. The voice sounded familiar but he just couldn't name who that belonged to. He kept walking and walking until the voice getting louder. He was finally met huge gates.

"Open the door, Naruto…"

Naruto did as he was told. But he couldn't open the door.

"I can't open the door!"

"Hn."

"What?"

"Dobe…"

Blue eyes opened looking straight at the white ceiling, breathing rather hard than normal. Shirtless tanned torso soaked with sweat, it was like he had been running for miles. He sat up with eyes closed, trying to collect his breathe. Weird dream… He buried his head on his palms and tried to replay the scene of his weird dream but only to find his head stung. He let go of his face and swung the cover -which was covered his lower half- to his right and got up from the bed, intending to wash his face in the bathroom. The room was dim but he recognized that it was his room in Berlin.

Last thing he remembered was that he was at the cemetery with Sai. By the way, where was Sai? He looked at his back just to see the guy was on the bed, sound asleep. He sighed before he headed to the bathroom and closed the door behind when he was inside. He stood there in front of the mirror just to find himself staring at his naked reflection. He wore nothing but his black trunks. What happened before?

He shook his head and decided to wash his face first because honestly, his mind was still stuck on the weird dream he had before. He had one familiar dream which almost the same as this one. When before he couldn't reach the gates, this time he could but the new problem was, he couldn't open them. Just what does that mean? There was a familiar voice calling for him, too… He couldn't name who the voice belonged to. He opened his eyes and stared back at the mirror. Now he could remember what had happened before. After they had arrived from the cemetery to the hotel, they'd made out and he fell asleep. There were marks all over his body, courtesy of Sai. He sighed. There was something nagging in his mind. Just like the voice in his dream before, he couldn't quite name what was the feeling. He somewhat felt he betrayed someone, but who?

~o0o~

"Hey."

The two found themselves inside the flying airplane, from Berlin to Tokyo. After yesterday, they had decided to leave the next day. Naruto still had works to do and Sai needed to finish his paintings.

Naruto looked at his left and smiled to Sai who was looking at him in concerned.

"You okay?" Sai asked through knitted eyebrows, reaching for Naruto's hand and rubbed circle on it with his thumb. Naruto was smiling but it didn't reach his eyes.

"I don't know." Naruto said truthfully with a sigh, eyes closed. The nagging feeling still wouldn't go away. The weird dream he just had last night still haunting his mind.

"Hmm… Say, what about the weird dream you mentioned before? Mind to tell me?"

Just after his musing in the bathroom last night, he found Sai was sitting on the bed supporting a sleepy yet concerned look. Sai had asked him why he had woken up, so he said about having a weird dream. Sai didn't ask for it as he tapped the area next to him, silently ordered Naruto to come back to sleep. Sai whispered about explaining the dream tomorrow and they should go back to sleep because they had to depart first thing in the morning. So they fell asleep, or so Sai thought, because apparently Naruto couldn't.

"Can we talk about this later? I'm sleepy, really." As on cue, Naruto yawned.

Sai studied Naruto's face before he sighed, giving up. He really wanted to know about the dream, but Naruto's face was giving off the expression where Sai didn't want to press it further. There were dark circle under the blue eyes and they were bloodshot. "You didn't sleep last night." It was not a question.

Naruto just shrugged and went to sleep.

Sai couldn't help it but wonder, what kind of dream Naruto was having? It was weird because this was the first time that had happened, or was it, a dream where Naruto wouldn't stop thinking about.

Had Naruto had started regaining his memory back? Was that even possible?

When they arrived in Tokyo, both men went on separated ways. The two were too preoccupied on their own mind to notice the other. Naruto was too preoccupied with the dream and his nagging feeling while Sai was too with Naruto's condition and his own health.

"I'm sorry, Sai." Naruto said absentmindedly. Sai studied the man. Naruto looked like he hadn't had any sleep for days. There were bags under his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot. He was unfocused. He seemed to look at Sai but he was actually looking rather behind him. It was like his mind was having a vacation even though his body was in front of him. "I want to get you home but I'm too tired." Naruto continued. To prove his point, Naruto massaged his temple with eyes closed.

"I am the one who have to drive you home, usually. I guess I am the one who have to say sorry because I can't drive you home? Because not only I don't bring my car but I also am too tired right now, speaking frankly." Sai smiled tiredly as he shrugged. He too was quite tired after the hours they had spent in the air. Normally before, when Naruto's patient died, he could still manage to drive Naruto home and went to sleep, or like last time, he still had the stamina to cook for himself and took a bath before bed. It also usually he only needed three hours recharge before he left for his studio. But not today. He felt his energy drained too fast recently and he needed more time to recharge.

In the other hand Naruto finally saw it, he supported the smile of pain at Sai. "I will get back to you this night. I just need some sleep. I promise."

Sai nodded. "I will hail the cab."

Naruto nodded and gave Sai a peck on his cheek. Sai rewarded him a blinding smile.

Sai kissed Naruto's temple and ushered the man inside the taxi when they got one.

"Take care." The artist said and got a nod from the man. This was the first time for him to be this tired. He couldn't even drive himself to the airport before. The disease was sure had taken its toll on him. This was bad… But what was he to complain?

Sai crossed the road and hailed a cab. "Arakawa district number fifty three." He said and hopped in the car.

The artist sighed and leaned on the seat with the back of his neck resting on it, eyes closed. He scrunched his nose. Damn it stung, his nostril burnt. He blindly reached for his handkerchief inside his pocket of his jeans and put it under his nostril. He wouldn't want to stain his white shirt with his blood now would he?

Was this what his brother felt and went through when he was still alive? Never had he in his life felt this tired before.

"We are here, sir."

Time sure flew so fast, so did his life. Sai opened his eyes without even removing the handkerchief from his nose and got up. He paid the cab before he exited the car. He waited until the car was gone before he stared at the sky. The sun was already up. It was around six in the morning and he almost couldn't stand it. He seriously had to go inside his apartment.

Never had he in his life missed his bed this much.

Carefully, he managed to climb to his apartment floor. Just when he was inside his apartment, he locked the door behind and put down the luggage and went straight to his room.

He scanned the bedroom and smiled absentmindedly. He let the handkerchief fell on the floor when he spotted his bed which somehow looked so inviting than normal. He slumped face first on the bed and sighed before he rolled his body to the center, so his back was against the bed, staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes. The disease had started its way on him. He should start to arrange his future with Naruto before it's too late. Let's think about the reality here. Life's a bitch and that was one of so many reasons why he was gay.

Let's see… He's going to die soon, approximately a year at the max he had left. He shook his head, no… He couldn't make it a year. He had seen his brother and in his case, it seemed that his cancer was much worse than his brother. It happened too fast before his very eyes and it was too scary.

He would leave Naruto alone. Naruto… How could he not cry if his boyfriend were to die? That guy even cried when his patient died. He even cried over the neighbor's dog when it died. What could possibly happen if he died? Would Naruto cry? There was a possibility that Naruto would be in mental breakdown. Kakashi had told him about Naruto when he was in mental breakdown when his parents died and it almost took his life.

He wouldn't want to leave Naruto behind but what was he to say, "Fuck off, you cancer!"?

His eyes still closed, it stung but he let them be… It could dry itself if they wanted to, right? He was too tired to even lift his hand to wipe the tears.

There was Kakashi, Naruto's guardian. He was way too protective when it came to Naruto. Well, sure Kakashi was too positive toward him being with Naruto but it's because Kakashi didn't know his condition just yet. If Kakashi were to discover it one day, even if he already rolling under the cemetery, Kakashi might still hunt his sorry ass down.

He had to ask Naruto about cremating his body and throw it at the running river.

What to do with his body after he died, fixed. What to do next?

There was Naruto and his so-called weird dream. He was sure that it was part of Naruto's past memory although they hadn't talked about it yet. What not with the Uchiha, Naruto's past lover, coming into the picture. The guy's presence might be the trigger of it. For years he had known Naruto, never had he seen Naruto in such situation, being, say, in different world like he did before back at the airport. Naruto might be thinking about it or was somehow in dilemma whether he should talk about it with him or not.

He would die. He would leave Naruto. It was possible for Naruto to experience another mental breakdown if he was to leave him behind and he wouldn't want that to happen. What could he possibly do to prevent that from happening? He loved Naruto too much and he wanted to prevent that. Not that he could prevent his death, but at least he could still prevent the mental breakdown.

There was Sasuke Uchiha. Kakashi had mentioned before of him being Naruto's past lover. If there were no departing words between the two, they might still be a couple. There might not be any departing words, judging by Sasuke's reaction when the two met for the first time after a long time, say, five years? But if, there were departing words between the two, and if it was from Sasuke, then Sasuke might be regretting his action. What if it was from Naruto and Sasuke didn't accept it well, something serious might had happened, but what?

Sai shook his head. This thinking made his head hurt.

Sasuke seemed to love Naruto. But, who didn't? The problem was just might be with Naruto, without the memory of his past. Sasuke could help him with Naruto, right? Sasuke could be the right person to comfort Naruto when he left, right?

Sai beat his chest. Sure, arranging or thinking about it was quite simple, but it hurt somehow… To say that he was not jealous at the whole idea was an underestimate. But then again, what else to do? That was the only possible way to prevent Naruto from having mental breakdown if he were to die later. Sasuke was the only person he could think of to prevent from hurting Naruto when the time came. But, could Sasuke do that?

He sighed. At least it was for Naruto's sake. Sasuke could help him save the trouble and it could also benefit Sasuke by getting Naruto back, so it was a win-win situation.

Through closed eyes, Sai smiled bitterly. Sasuke and Naruto were meant to each other. They meant to be together no matter what happened. He sighed heavily. He hoped that his next life he would be the main actor. Whoever was arranging his life better paid him well for the next life with better story, not this angst kind of life.

Sai nodded to himself. He could start the whole idea by searching for Sasuke's phone number later so he could ask him to talk and make an arrangement or two. He was too tired to do it now. With a deep sighed, he went to sleep.

TBC

Published: Thursday, November 23rd 2017 01.23 AM (JST)