Sasuke found himself in a hospital bed. He could tell without opening his eyes because the beds were still as hard as ever. He felt the IV in his left hand and a machine to his left beeping every so often.

He almost snorted, but he held it in. The dobe was awake and he could feel the tension in the room.

Wait, the dobe?

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly, prepared for the brightest white in the world. He was stunned when he still couldn't see anything. He almost panicked before settling into thinking they had blindfolded him so he couldn't just hypnotize them.

He smirked when he heard the blond shift his position and fall off his bed. He muttered his curses and glanced Sasuke's way.

"Hey, the teme is awake!" he cried out in pure joy. He grinned widely and got up off the floor, standing next to Sasuke's bed.

The impatient Uchiha nodded his head once. "Yeah, dobe." He was still upset at not being able to win. His pride was wounded. Plus, he couldn't risk leaving again to get more power. They would probably kill him before they let him leave.

Sasuke let out a huff and flipped over in bed. He found he could move his arms and legs, which made no sense if he had a blindfold on. That meant he could just…

Oh.

Shit.

Sasuke did panic this time, moving his hands around his face. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes frantically. He sat up straight in his bed. When a hand touched his shoulder lightly he whipped his head around. "Who-who's there?"

His voice squeaked and he cringed. He was scared. He didn't even know someone else was there. The touch was too light to be Naruto's.

Tsunade flinched when he sounded like a frightened little kid. He was already awake. She sighed. She wished she had more time to study up on the subject, or even cure it. But no. He had to wake up and give her no time to think up how to tell him of his…condition.

Sasuke waited for an answer, clutching the blanket closely. He was scrunched up in a ball, his legs drawn in close to his body. When the person didn't say anything, just sighed, he spoke up again, this time trying to sound normal.

"Who are you and what is going on?"

Tsunade finally answered him. She sounded sad. "I'm Tsunade. Do you know who you are?" She chose to skip over answering the second question for now.

Sasuke nodded easily. He could never forget that. He had the most powerful eyes! He waited for her next question. He could tell she had another.

"That's good. Okay, Sasuke. Can you open your eyes for me?"

Sasuke tilted his head slightly in thought. His face scrunched up and he shook his head. "They're already open."

The female Hokage nodded sadly, knowing what he didn't. "Mm. I know. Sasuke…I hate to say this, but…you're blind."

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Naruto had stayed quiet this entire time, just listening to their conversation. He had been told ahead of time that the Uchiha was blind. He had sobered up and took in their thoughts of what happened.

Kakashi and Tsunade thought that whatever happened to Naruto back at the valley messed with the both of them somehow. Sasuke had lost his sight because of him. Naruto refused to believe it was entirely his fault. What could he have done? Killed himself instead of going on to hurt the teme?

Besides, he thought. At least I didn't kill him.

Naruto winced when he heard Sasuke's voice crack. He didn't believe the old sanin. Naruto almost didn't, at first. But then he learned what Tsunade did from text books and a few well placed medical jutsu.

The blond yawned and rubbed the back of his head. He was still sore from the other day. He did hurt, but it was mostly his muscles. And his mind.

His mind had been processing a lot. He was still trying to figure out what that was, and what really caused Sasuke's condition. He also thought that whatever happened to him drained his mind more than he knew.

The Kyuubi hadn't bothered explaining anything. All he had told Naruto was that, "It wasn't me." And that was it. Naruto had accepted this truth and asked for the demon's healing power. His cuts and physical pain were gone shortly. The only thing left was muscle aches.

Naruto felt his heart break when Sasuke break into tears. Not once had he seen the prick cry. And now he was crying. Naruto quietly got out of the bed, shuffling his feet slightly so he wouldn't scare the other boy, and walked over. He sat on the edge of Sasuke's bed, placing a hand on his back and rubbing it back and forth. He had been comforted like this once. Just once. But he knew it made him feel better.

And it wasn't just the close proximity. It was knowing that someone was there. Knowing that someone cared. Naruto let Sasuke drench his shirt in salty tears when he clung to Naruto like he was the last person on Earth.

Because Sasuke was his friend. Is his friend. And friends stick together. He murmured a few encouraging words, including it'll all be okay. I promise." He closed his own eyes for a moment to see, or not, how it was like to be blind. He looked around slightly, trying to figure out his surroundings. It was difficult.

In fact, it was quite frustrating. He opened his eyes again to see Sasuke asleep in his lap. He slowly got up, moving Sasuke's head back to a pillow. He smiled at how innocent the raven looked.

Usually the darker haired boy would be scowling or looking like life was about to end and he didn't care.

Now he looked like he wished he could go fix it.

Naruto thought about what he would do in a situation like this. He would probably cry his soul out. He wasn't that much more mature than the last Uchiha. But it was still the best thing to do. Best get it out all at once rather than during an entire day. And once you focused on something else, it was all over and better.

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Little did Naruto know that Kakashi was still in the room, hiding behind the curtain that could quickly surround the bed. He didn't know how to make the scene unfolding in front of him. He decided to let them solve their friendship and other problems on their own.

It built character.