Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride
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Chapter Fourty Four:
Sasuke and Kiba practically barged into the hospital, running past the check-in and straight up the stairs. Both of them had no patience for an elevator at the moment even though logically using an elevator would take less time. But to them, standing still in an elevator didn't seem as productive as bolting it up the stairs.
They were running so fast through the hospital that they barely noticed the people walking by them, almost crashing into them, and they wouldn't have noticed Tsunade if she hadn't tripped them, causing them to fall flat on their faces.
"No running in my hospital, brats!" She sounded extremely agitated but Sasuke could tell that it wasn't just because of them, there was something else in that tone which made her seem immensely pissed off. Sasuke knew that running couldn't cause that.
They two boys pulled themselves up off the floor, prying their faces from the tiles they had collided into, and turned to face the big, blonde doctor.
Kiba looked as though he wanted to apologize for running so fast but he was too busy nursing his forehead. Sasuke was staring directly at Tsunade, not into her eyes because her eyes were focused on a clipboard she held in her hand, though it didn't look to Sasuke that she was actually reading or reviewing any of it.
"What happened?" Sasuke's voice was even, direct, and threatened that if she didn't tell him now there would be consequences.
Tsunade finally looked up from her clipboard, accidently tipping it over far enough that Sasuke could catch that it was a blank paper. She had been pretending to read, something was seriously wrong.
"Tell. Me." The raven nearly growled. He was tense and Tsunade's anger was starting to rub off on him. If Tsunade was this mad about what Sasuke assumed to be something involving Naruto, then he definitely knew that he should be just as, if not more, angry.
"Emi was here."
Sasuke could have sworn everything in his vision flashed red. "What?"
"Emi found out that Uzumaki was in the hospital and came here."
Sasuke suddenly began grinding his teeth together as he let his eyes wander. He couldn't quite grasp the reason she would show up here. This was probably because his mind was clouded with the hatred he felt towards Naruto's aunt, but he had a lot of trouble imagining why and how she would find out Naruto was here and even care.
"Sasuke?" Kiba's sudden intrusion into the conversation, if you could call it a conversation, startled Sasuke and the raven turned to look at him. He still couldn't think properly and probably didn't look like the happiest camper in the region but nonetheless he turned to see what his best friend wanted.
"Are you okay?" Kiba's eyes were both worried and slightly afraid. Sure Kiba knew what Naruto's aunt did to him and how much Sasuke wished her dead, but he had as much right as anyone else to be concerned.
Sasuke went to tell him that he was "fine," even though he was far from it, however he quickly realized that his jaw was so tightly clenched that it wouldn't open on his command. He closed his eyes, concentrating on opening his jaw without hurting himself before he exhaled loudly.
"Not quite." He hissed, turning his attention to Tsunade shortly after. "Why was she here? What did she say?"
Tsunade groaned inwardly, letting the arm holding the clipboard fall to her side.
Sasuke felt a sudden urge to punch her in the face because she was taking so long to answer him but he managed to stay as calm as he could to keep him standing in his spot.
"She wanted to take him home."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he fixed his eyes with Tsunade's own, which were conveniently staring back into his. If telepathy was possible, Sasuke hoped that his message of "stop with these fucking short answers and tell me what the hell that bitch was doing here and how she found out Naruto was here or I will burn down this fucking hospital" would be communicated to her through his eyes.
"I don't know how she found out. Word travels in this town, you should know that. Any member of my staff could have let it slip to the wrong person and Emi could have easily overheard this at work or anywhere in town if she was shopping."
Sasuke nodded tensely. He was furious, but there was nothing he could do about this now. She had found out and for some reason she came looking. Most likely to keep her name within the good graces of the town even though people didn't like her in the least. Sure they didn't despise her like Naruto or her sister, but Emi was still blood to the killer who destroyed many lives of this town and that wasn't something the people accepted very well.
"She stormed into my hospital, almost gave my nurses a heart attack when she came in. I could tell she'd been drinking but she wasn't drunk, thankfully or I would have had to beat her out of my hospital."
Kiba's eyes shifted from Tsunade to Sasuke, as though trying to ask "Why wouldn't she just call the cops?" But then his brain kicked in and he figured with Tsunade being... well who she was, she would be able to handle a drunken, violent woman she hated on her own.
"My nurses found me and brought me down to meet her on first floor before she could make a mess of my hospital looking for Uzumaki. I kicked her out immediately, told her that her nephew was in no condition to leave the hospital."
Sasuke winced. This meant Naruto was still in a coma. It hurt him terribly to be alone now and he wanted Naruto to come back to him, but if it meant keeping him out of his aunt's hands... he supposed it couldn't be all- no! It was bad, horrible, terrible, tragic. He didn't care about Emi, he could keep Naruto from her on his own without Naruto being injured and unconscious.
"Will she be able to take him back?"
Tsunade lowered her eyes for a split second but Sasuke caught it and felt his heart jump up into his throat. That was obviously a very bad sign. He bit his lower lip, waiting for the answer that he knew he wouldn't like.
"Once he's better, yes." Sasuke's heart sank, as did his mood. "She is his legal guardian, unfortunately. I can only keep him from her for so long."
"But if he's in a coma, he can't leave the hospital." Kiba chimed in, stating something Sasuke was thinking about also, but Sasuke held onto a large hope that Naruto would be out of his coma in no time at all. Kiba was still in the real world.
"That would be true if he was still in a coma."
Sasuke's head shot up instantly and he found himself two inches away from Tsunade. "He's not in a coma?"
"Don't yell in my face." She said flatly, not the least bit fazed that Sasuke was so close that she could feel his breath on her face.
"Why didn't you tell me he woke up? I need to see him!"
Tsunade stared back blankly at Sasuke's face which had finally physically portrayed how furious he was, and now he was even more angry because of this woman. She had no idea how to tell people important things quickly. If the boyfriend of your patient that just woke up from a coma comes into your hospital, telling him that should take priority over Naruto's bitch of an aunt.
"You should know the way to his room by now."
Sasuke's eyes melded instantly into a heated glower. Bitch, was the word that flashed through his mind at that moment. He shook his head, she had a point and that pissed him off more. He had let his anger get the better of him and he reacted spontaneously.
With a slightly huff, he turned, locking eyes with Kiba, and started walking down the hall towards Naruto's room with Kiba following closely behind him.
"What are you going to do about his aunt?" Kiba asked in a low whisper, probably unsure of whether he should let Tsunade, who hung back where she was, hear them.
"Later." Sasuke said, halting in front of Naruto's door. He took in a deep breath, turned the door knob and walked into the room.
Sasuke's eyes focused instantly on the upright blonde sitting in the hospital bed eating gross looking hospital food.
The blonde's blue eyes shot to the door and widened in excitement. A smile spread across his lips and he nearly knocked the tray of food off his lap.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke didn't think he could be happier than at that moment where he was bolting over to the bed. He practically crawled onto the bed to hug his boyfriend, upsetting the tray in the process. It was lucky that the tray was pretty much empty and that it fell to the opposite side of the bed.
Naruto gripped Sasuke so hard as Sasuke hugged him, but Sasuke guessed that being this close wasn't close enough because he soon found himself pulled onto the bed. Sasuke laughed once he found himself almost laying on top of his boyfriend who'd just woken up from an almost three week long sleep. Naruto joined in the laughter, squeezing him tighter.
They pulled apart just enough to look into each other's faces, laughter just barely dying on their lips as their eyes connected. Sasuke felt his entire body go numb. Finally he was calm. Finally he wasn't terrified that he would lose his love to a fate of silence. Leaning down, he gently touched their lips together. Naruto let a soft sigh escape his lips and that only served to drive Sasuke on. He pressed his lips harder against the blonde's lips and groaned when Naruto's pushed back just as hard. Naruto's hands snaked into his hair and pulled him closer. Sasuke joined the cause to merge their bodies by pressing his body down onto the blonde's.
The sound of someone clearing their throat awkwardly broke them apart and they both turned to look at the doorway.
"Not that I want to ruin this lovely scene but... I want to ruin this scene! Do you have to do that in front of me? Really? I mean, come on! I know I said I'm cool with you two being all homosexual with each other but do I really need to see you guys crawl down each other's throats? There is only so much a man can take!"
Sasuke's eyebrow rose as he listened to his friend's rant. Naruto seemed very confused and looked to Sasuke for an explanation. Sasuke answer was blatant laughter. He couldn't help it. Hearing his friend rave like that about Sasuke kissing his boyfriend was very entertaining.
Naruto's eyes shifted awkwardly and this time he decided to turn to Kiba for answers. Kiba just shrugged, giving a short laugh as he walked into the room, assured that the two gays wouldn't be making out any longer now that he spoilt the mood.
"How are ya blondie?" Kiba asked with a smile, walking right up to Naruto's bedside.
Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Sasuke rose up from off his boyfriend and sat himself on the edge of the bed, keeping close to Naruto's body. He locked eyes with Kiba, trying to hint at him that Naruto had been unconscious for their 'talks' before.
"Oh right... you weren't all here." Kiba chuckled, sitting in the chair at the head of the bed. "We had a lot of talks... that I'm probably going to have to repeat now."
Naruto looked up at his boyfriend. The poor boy just had no luck with getting explanations or answers of any kind for anything today.
"Sorry Naruto. A lot happened within these past two weeks."
"And by a lot, he means nothing. He refused to leave, didn't shower, never let go of your hand, I showed up occasionally, poured my guts out, apologized like mad, Sasuke still wouldn't leave, wouldn't change clothes, wouldn't eat. And then we did leave, and you woke up! Isn't that exciting!"
"Wow Kiba, I love your sarcasm." Sasuke said in a flat toned voice devoid of any emotion.
Naruto let a short giggle escape his lips. "You know... I don't think you're that bad anymore now that you're well... friendly."
Sasuke broke out into a laugh yet again. "Hear that Kiba, you're not a wild mutt anymore, you're a friendly dog now!"
Kiba's smile faded instantly. "Very funny coming from an emo."
"That's getting old and you know it." Sasuke retorted.
Kiba rolled his eyes. "Hey! Just because that's true..."
They both laughed and Naruto was left to chuckle along awkwardly. He wasn't used to seeing Sasuke joke around with someone else since he never really saw him around his friends much. He also hadn't been around Kiba when he wasn't... angry at Naruto for being... his mother's son.
"So." Kiba spoke, breaking the laughter and directing his attention at Naruto. "What do you say we make a clean start?"
Naruto stared at him for a moment, glancing up to see Sasuke's eyes also fixed on him. He knew that Sasuke wanted them to become friends more than anything, but he was unsure of this himself.
"Maybe..." Naruto began nervously. "Maybe after you replay those stories you told me when I was... when I wasn't all here." He offered a weak smile to which Kiba responded with a wide one of his own. He looked like a playful puppy to Naruto, strange enough.
"Sure. No problem. I guess repeating that same apologize for the fiftieth time wouldn't hurt."
Naruto's eyes narrowed and he glanced between Kiba and his boyfriend.
"Yeah." Sasuke answered. "He really did say that one apology that much. That was practically all I heard every day he came here. That and 'will you please shower, you smell like a wet dog!' It was painful."
All three of them laughed this time. Sasuke reached down and grasped Naruto's hand within his own, squeezing gently.
"And they're united again." Of course the Inuzuka had to throw in yet another comment. "Maybe we can get one of the nurses to stitch your hands together so you'll never be apart again."
Sasuke smiled wryly, "You know, that's not such a bad idea."
Naruto feigned being scared for a moment then smiled softly and gazed up into Sasuke's eyes. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind not being away from you again."
Sasuke returned the sweet smile and leaned down, kissing Naruto softly on the lips. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too." Naruto replied in an almost teary voice.
"And I miss my heterosexual vision..."
Both Naruto and Sasuke turned their attention back to Kiba, giving him a 'do-you-really-need-to-say-that?' look.
Kiba grinned, "I'll get used to it I guess. Just like I had to get used to this guy's horrid smell."
"Hey! I showered at least once during those two weeks." Sasuke shot back jokingly.
"Oh thank heavens for that!" Kiba laughed.
"Maybe that's why I was out for so long. Your stench kept me under." Naruto teased, poking Sasuke gently in the ribs.
"Oh don't you start." Sasuke threatened, squeezing the blonde's hand harder than before. Strangely enough, that hurt him a little bit. Sure he knew it was completely illogical that his not showering for nearly two weeks could keep Naruto in a coma but he still felt that it was his fault for other reasons. Family reasons.
"Sasuke?" Kiba spoke, waking Sasuke up from his self-induced misery, now used to Sasuke falling into depression at any random moment. Speaking his name was just enough to bring him back but then you'd have to cheer him up which was the hard part.
Sasuke laughed it off quickly, smiling sincerely down at Naruto who wore a look of concern.
Kiba furrowed his brows suspiciously but he supposed now that Naruto was conscious, cheering him up shouldn't be as hard as it had been. This made the boy much happier.
"So when can we go home?"
Naruto's abrupt question caused Sasuke's heart to falter and the raven and the brunet locked eyes. They both understood what was going on. They were aware of who had come for the blonde but neither knew how to tell him nor wanted to tell him.
"Um.. Tsunade says you're in no condition to leave." Sasuke managed to get out and was quickly saved by Kiba assuring it's truth and turning it into a joke.
"She's probably just being an over protective hag. Probably wants to keep you ill so she can watch over you like a hawk."
Naruto laughed at this, "Yeah probably. But I don't mind her concern. It's nice to have an older woman worried about my well being."
Naruto's expression showed a longing for what he wished his mother or aunt could have been to him and both Kiba and Sasuke immediately felt pity for him. Sure Sasuke lost his parents but at least he got to experience motherly love. Naruto didn't have any kind of love until he met Sasuke. The raven leaned over, kissing Naruto's forehead sweetly and he received a sad smile from the blonde.
The door knob turned and ironically enough the devil herself stepped through the door.
"Glad to see you didn't rape him already Uchiha." Tsunade spoke flatly without ever looking up from his clipboard.
Sasuke wondered if she had anything written on that clipboard now as he voiced a come back. "No, I'm waiting until we get home to do that."
"What!?" Both Kiba and Naruto exclaimed at nearly the same moment. They were both staring wide eyed at the raven, one with a bright blush and one with a look of disgust. Sasuke didn't even have to look at either of them and he could guess the expression on each of their faces.
Tsunade, on the other hand, didn't so much as blink. "I figured as much. Just don't reopen his or your wounds, because I won't stitch them back up."
"Not a problem." Sasuke smirked, still receiving gaping looks from his best friend and boyfriend.
Kiba was shocked that Sasuke was talking like this. His quiet, loner, anti-social friend was speaking openly about having sex, or rather raping, his boyfriend... which happened to be male if the word boy in boyfriend wasn't enough of a clue.
Naruto was just appalled that he would be saying this openly in front of both Tsunade and Kiba. One of which wasn't entirely comfortable with homosexual relations and the other was... well Naruto didn't understand Tsunade's opinions or motives yet so he couldn't really say what exactly bothered her about this.
Sasuke finally turned to view their expressions and merely laughed. He personally found it hilarious that they thought this way. Though it was true that the old him would never had come close to saying something like that in front of other people, but Naruto must have brought something out in him.
"So did you fill him in on what he missed while he was out?" Tsunade asked, finally looking up from her clipboard after she scribbled data from the machines that were still hooked up to Naruto onto what Sasuke had presumed to be blank paper.
Kiba and Sasuke looked into each other's eyes and realized that they hadn't really told Naruto anything important. Just that Kiba had said stuff to him, but not what he actually said, and that Sasuke hadn't left or cleaned himself. They left out all the major details about Itachi, how they made it out alive, how Tsunade owns a gun and has amazingly convenient timing, or that Itachi was now dead and they didn't have to worry about anything now... well except for Emi. But that was a topic that was to be avoided until the very last unavoidable moment.
"No they didn't tell me anything." Naruto spoke for the two clueless boys who should have filled him in already.
"Well... we didn't want to shock him or overwhelm him with information just after he woke up." Sasuke lied, however he did find this a very plausible reason for why they hadn't.
"Mmhmm." There was never a more doubting sound that Tsunade could have made. She knew he was lying and they all knew she called him out without having to actually say a word.
"Okay so... back to the house and Itachi-"
"Itachi!" Naruto's eyes flew wide open and he became instantly alarmed at that name. "What happened to him? How did we-"
"Calm down Naruto. We're fine, obviously."
"Except for a few bullet holes and a three week nap." Kiba added sarcastically.
"But-" Naruto continued urgently.
"He's dead." Tsunade answered for them, not caring that Sasuke was trying to calmly work Naruto through all the information.
"What?" Naruto asked, confused.
Sasuke sighed, glancing at Tsunade to make sure that she was going to be silent. That was evident from the way she turned back to her clipboard. Now that she got the story got the conclusion out of the way she was going to butt out and let Sasuke explain the how.
"After you pushed me to the ground, I blanked out and so did you."
"But I heard another gunshot, I was sure he killed one of us!"
"That was Tsunade's gun." Sasuke explained to have Naruto's features contort into a 'what-the-fuck" kind of expression. Thankfully he kept quiet. "She went back to her house to find you missing and her phonebook opened to the taxi pages, she figured you went back to my house. She heard gunshots, pulled out her gun and came in just in time to shoot Itachi."
Naruto was now completely silent. He was probably trying to process all of this new information.
"So you killed Itachi?" Naruto glanced at Tsunade, asking cautiously.
"More or less." Was Tsunade's answer.
"He died just after I woke up, a couple hours after we all got to the hospital." Sasuke's eyes were down cast as he spoke. It still hurt him that he was entirely alone in concerns to family now. He had no family, not even family he was scared was going to kill him. Itachi, however, made it clear that his intention had never been to hurt Sasuke, it was to protect him. With his older brother now dead, Sasuke would never find the reason for his brother's actions.
Naruto nodded, not asking for details. He could tell by the way Sasuke was talking that he didn't want to discuss anything right now.
"So... everything is fine now. We have nothing else to worry about?" Naruto inquired hopefully after a few seconds of silence signifying there was nothing left of the story to tell right at this moment.
All three of the people in the room were silent. Even Tsunade seemed to have that awkward aura of someone who had unpleasant news that one didn't want to tell.
"Well... it's not that simple..." Sasuke muttered, looking away from Naruto. He didn't want to be the one to tell him but he was the closest one to Naruto, so it was more his duty than anyone else.
Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to gain the courage to tell his boyfriend the truth. "Today... today your aunt came to the hospital looking for you."
Any expression Naruto may have had on his face vanished and was replaced with paralyzing fear. He was showing more fear now than he had ever with Itachi. The blonde seemed unable to speak, to express this and only stared at Sasuke.
"She... she wanted to take you home but Tsunade kept her from coming into the hospital and looking for you. Told her that you weren't in a good condition to be moved." Sasuke finished explaining with much difficulty. The expression on Naruto's face made his heart drop and he wanted desparately to take back what he'd said to make Naruto look like that.
All four were silent for so long that Sasuke thought about saying something to break the silence just so it wouldn't be as awkward anymore. However, he couldn't actually work up the courage to even open his mouth.
"No." Naruto spoke in a voice that was just barely louder than a whisper. Sasuke and the others had to strain to hear him.
"I'm not going back there." His voice was tense and determined. "I will not go back to that house. I won't go back to her!" Naruto was now becoming hysterical and he gripped Sasuke's hand and leg, moving closer to his boyfriend's body. "I want to stay with you! I don't want to go back! Sasuke, please!"
Sasuke was hugging Naruto to his body immediately, rocking him as tears fell from Naruto's blue eyes. "You're not going back. I won't let you. Don't worry, you aren't leaving me again. I won't let her have you."
He was serious in what he was saying. He didn't know what he could do but Sasuke was more serious than he'd ever been in his life. He refused to let Naruto out of his sight again.
"It's not that simple." Tsunade spoke up finally, looking Sasuke dead into his eyes when he turned to her. "She has custody over him until he's sixteen. He won't be able to legally leave her until October."
Sasuke gritted his teeth together. It was now only one week into the month of June. So much had happened within the six weeks of Sasuke and Naruto first contacting each other. It started with staring at each other from afar and now they were lovers refusing to part ways ever again. But it would be four more months until Naruto was of age. Now that Sasuke had gotten over his biggest obstacle in life... how was he going to help Naruto get over his?
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So for those who are wondering about the dates and how it is now a week into June for the characters in the story.. that is not guess or just random date I spit out of nowhere. I actually sat here and made an entire timeline for every chapter and every dramatic day. It all adds up to six weeks and roughly four days from the very first chapter. For those who would like to see this timeline to be sure or double check... in case anyone doesn't trust me... PM me and I'll send it over.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I told you there would be more cliffhangers hehe ;P