A/N: I'm baaaaaack! (grins) 'Sorry it took me a bit longer than usually, but school's kept me insanely busy lately. (winces)

BUT, before jumping on with the story… GOSH, loads and LOADS of thank yous for all those incredible reviews you sent – they're so many…! (sniffs, and glomps ya all) Thank you so much – you can't even imagine how thrilled they make me! As per usual, responses to anonymous reviews can be found from underneath the chappy.

Awkay, because I think I've been babbling away far more than long enough… Let's rock – I sincerily hope you'll enjoy this one!

CHAPTER 4: The Slipping Control

Naruto's eyes were wide while he sprinted through the hospital's hallways, his heart hammering somewhere close to his throat. He didn't remember ever being as scared in his entire life. All he would've needed was anyone telling him that things would work out – that everything was alright – but everyone he passed by gave him pitying looks. And then, faster than he managed to gather himself, he barged into the right ward. The people running through the hallways gave him weird looks while he stood there – leaning to his knees, panting and barely managing to control his tears – but none of them had the time to come over to him. He opened his mouth, but didn't manage to make a sound. It was unbelievable how a person could feel as lonely as he did right then.

And then a hand was placed to his shoulder. He jumped a little at first, but soon calmed down when finding a doctor who's nametag said 'Kakashi Hatake' behind him. "I… I'm Naruto", he wheezed before the man got the chance to speak. "Naruto Uzumaki. I'm… here for… Iruka Umino." He finally managed to even his breathing, which left his head hurting from too many thoughts spinning chaotically inside it. "What's going on? How's Iruka?"

Kakashi gave him a somewhat surprised look before the man's eyes darkened significantly. The silver-haired seemed to swallow down a sigh. "The doctor's office should be empty. Let's go there so we can get a little bit of peace and quiet, okay?"

He nodded numbly, at the moment too horrified to feel anything at all.

Later on he couldn't remember the walk to the room they eventually entered, nor could he remember absolutely anything about the room. All that fit into his head were Kakashi's disheartening words. "Naruto… I'm not sure how much Iruka has told you, but he's been very sick for the past three months – so sick that he's almost been hospitalized for several times."

Those words struck all breath and warmth out of Naruto, made him feel sick to his stomach. Three months, and he hadn't noticed a thing?! It took at least a full minute before he managed to wheeze. "W… What's wrong with him?"

Kakashi visibly hesitated for a long time before speaking quietly. "It's lung-cancer." The man took his time before going on, constantly observing his face as though looking fot something. "According to his papears it was caught early on, but the radiation therapy and chemo have taken their toll. That's why he caught a pneumonia and collapsed earlier today."

Naruto couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't even think. For the upcoming five minutes all he could do was to fight against throwing up and collapsing under the cold wave that washed over him. All of this felt surreal to him.

Why hadn't Iruka told him? How could he have missed this?!

And then came anger.

This wasn't fair – this couldn't be right! Iruka… Iruka had never even smoked.

When he finally spoke, he barely realized that the words came from him. "Can I… Can I see him? Please?"

Kakashi sighed heavily. "I'm afraid he's still halfway unconscious; he wouldn't even know you're there. Besides, I'm not enterily sure if he's up to taking visitors right now – he's still pretty weak from fever and medication." He sensed the man looking at him, but couldn't bring himself to meet the gaze. "But I think you can come and see him tomorrow if his condition remains stable."

For several minutes, he had no idea how long, it was utterly silent until Kakashi spoke. "Is there anyone who could spent tonight with you?"

He thought about it for a long moment, this all still far beyond his capacity of understanding, then nodded slowly.

He sensed Kakashi's nod. "Good. I think you should call them, okay? If you want me to, I can give you a ride home – I've already missed my coffee-break, anyway."

For the next hour Naruto operated as though in a fog of some sort. At first he tried to call Neji, but the boy wouldn't answer his phone. ('Since when has he gone to bed early?' a distant part of him wondered.) Then – his fingers moving mechanically – he chose Sai's number, and jumped with surprise when the boy answered almost instantly. Without paying any attention to his words he gave a very jumbled explanation about what had happened. Once the phone-call was over he let Kakashi lead him forward. The only thing he later remembered from the quiet ride home was that Kakashi's car smelled like dogs.

When he made it home, he found Sai leaning against the wall of the house. It was easy to tell that the boy hadn't slept all night. Before he could ask what was wrong the boy noticed him and spoke. "Let's go inside, 'k? It's cold out here."

Both exhausted, upset and deep in thought, they made their way to the living room and flopped to the couch without saying a word. As soon as he stopped moving flashes of Iruka and the echo of Kakashi's words filled Naruto's head, and he had to blink furiously to ease the hellish stinging of his eyes.

Sai's words startled him; he'd barely remembered the boy was there. "Are you feeling any better?" His friend's voice was a lot softer than usual.

He focused on the ceiling and took a deep breath. "Not really." Then – worried about his friend and coming to a conclusion that he needed some distraction – he glanced towards the boy beside him. Sai never stayed up late; something was obviously going on. "What's wrong?"

Sai didn't look at him when responding after a long silence. "I… confessed to Ino today." The boy shuddered a little, as though holding back something. "It didn't go exactly as planned."

A tinge of sadness traveled through him, and he would've hugged his friend if he hadn't known that it'd only make the boy feel worse. "Sai…" For some reason nothing else came.

Sai shook his head furiously, rubbing his face with one hand. "I… I'd rather not talk about it, 'k?"

He nodded, undestanding better than well. He wasn't feeling exactly ecstatic about the idea of talking either.

And so they sat there most of the night, trying to give each other soundless support. Neither had ever had a night as long.

-

When Naruto woke up very early the following morning – sore from spending the night on the couch and still very tired – he discovered that Sai was still sleeping beside him with a frown on his face. It took a moment before he remembered what had happened, but when he did a heavy weight appeared to his chest and stomach.

The house was too cold and silent without Iruka around.

Stretching his stiff muscles, he decided that if he'd stay home all day he'd go out of his mind. That's why he left Sai a note – telling the boy to get some breakfast before leaving – then searched for some clothes and got dressed without paying any attention to it. He glanced towards the refridgerator while sauntering towards the door, but couldn't bring himself to even think about eating. His legs seemed to weight a ton as he started his seemingly endless journey towards Tengoku.

As soon as Naruto made it to his working place, he felt cold shivers travel through him once discovering how eerily, unnaturally empty and quiet the place was. He frowned.

Where the heck is everyone?

Then sounds of almost whispered words made their way to his ears. Curious as always, he followed them – and felt chills run through him when discovering the solemn crowd of doctors and nurses stood by the door of Sasuke's room. A taste he hated immediately filled his mouth.

Something was very, very wrong.

Just then Tsunade emerged from the room, seeming tired and worried, and noticed him. Her frown deepened when she looked at him. "Naruto? What's wrong?"

He barely managed to pay attention, for his head was whirring with entirely different matters. His throat was so tight that he barely managed to speak. "What's wrong with Sasuke?"

Tsunade sighed heavily, he shoulders slumping. "He… had a very rough night." Her voice was slightly raw. "Right now we're trying to coax him out of the room so he could get some medical attention."

He frowned, the coldness he'd already felt exploding tenfold. Worry made his heart jump out of sync. "What are you talking about?" Not waiting for her response he pushed his way through the crowd to Sasuke's room – and immediately wished he hadn't.

In the furthest corner of the room – all alone at the moment despite the huge number of people present – Sasuke had slumped down to the floor, back leaning against the wall and legs brought protectively to his chest. He'd never seen anyone's eyes look like the boy's did at the moment; the Uchiha seemed completely disconnected and fully alerted to attack anyone trying to approach him at the same time. What truly caught his attention, however, were the deep, still bleeding and obviously self-inflicted wounds on the boy's face and arms. Bloodied shards of broken glass were scattered all around the room.

He swallowed thickly, feeling ready to cry and scream. His knees felt weak.

Oh no…

What the hell had happened?!

"He's let none of us approach him", Tsunade explained in a dark tone. "But we need to get him out of there before he hurts himself again."

The words came before his thought. "Let me try." His whole system filled with desperation and determination, he met Tsunade's disbelieving gaze. "He… He'd never hurt me, okay? So let me try. Maybe he won't push me away."

Tsunade contemplated for the longest moment, then nodded with apparent reluctance. "Be careful."

Flashing a look of gratitude at her, he focused on Sasuke and started to move. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing, and he was scared out of his mind. But he was also filled with determination. Maybe this was a problem he could actually do something about – he couldn't stand feeling helpless anymore.

There was pitiably little he could do for Iruka, but maybe he'd be able to do something for Sasuke. At very least he was about to try.

Very slowly, as though he'd been approaching some very dangerous animal, he first walked towards where the other boy had taken his seat, then sat cross-legged about a step from the raven. He could tell Sasuke sensed his presence but the boy didn't react in any way, and he also kept his silence for a moment, wondering where he should start.

This was not something he'd have any sort of a training for.

"Sasuke?" His voice almost broke while his heart raced, and he licked his lips before managing to go on. "Sasuke… I know it hurts, okay? But… you need to let us help you. Please, let me help you."

Seconds stood absolutely still, and the whole room filled with anxiety. Then, very slowly, Sasuke lifted his head to look at him with somewhat hazy eyes. It took his all to create a smile instead of a grimace when he saw the new, deep wounds on the boy's face. Some of them were still bleeding, and blood traveled down the boy's cheeks like trails of red tears. All he could see, however, were the Uchiha's eyes.

It was very clear that those onyx pools were asking for help. And in all honesty, he had no idea if he had the way to offer such. But that wouldn't stop him from trying.

Risking it all, he outstretched a hand and laid it to Sasuke's. The boy jumped and cast a look of mistrust and threat towards him, but didn't retreat. "Everything's alright", he whispered, like it'd been a secret between the two of them. Maybe his quiet tone would force the Uchiha into really listening. "Let me help you."

Several agonizingly long seconds ticked by, until something none of the people in the room – least of all the two of them – had known to expect. Sasuke actually moved towards him – only to collapse right into his arms.

Naruto's eyes flew wide and his lips opened to a soundless scream while he caught the falling raven, subconsciously pulling the unconscious teen protectively close to him. His heart hammered and his head spun while he remained still, not daring to move.

The only thing that fit into his head was that Sasuke was a lot lighter, warmer and softer than he'd expected.

And then the normal order of the world resumed. He shivered a little with surprise when finding Tsunade stood before the two of them. There was worry and something much harder that wasn't directed towards him in her eyes. "Naruto, Sasuke's going to be okay, but he's lost a lot of blood and he's exhausted. You need to let us take care of him, okay?"

He swallowed thickly and realized that he was shaking. It felt like everything had been crashing down on him at once. "'K", he breathed out.

Letting go of Sasuke was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, and it took his all to convince himself that it needed to be done. It was even harder to watch the boy being dragged away. Once again he was shaking with emotions he wasn't quite allowed to show at the moment.

"Naruto." Turning towards Tsunade's voice, somewhat startled by her sudden presence, he was relieved to discover that it was just the two of them present. Her expression, however, didn't quite allow him to relax. "Shizune told me that Danzo was here last night. I went through Sasuke's papers twice, and came to a conclusion that the medication Danzo was reported giving him wasn't such he'd be taking." She took a deep breath, obviously not wanting to ask what needed to be voiced. "Naruto… What happened last night?"

In about seven fleeting seconds a million thoughts zoomed past his mind; worry for Sasuke's sake, intense fury towards Danzo and startle over the realization that Tsunade knew he'd visited Tengoku outside working hours. Then – as though his head had simply decided to give up – he sighed heavily and told the little he knew.

/ The words and sensations floating through Naruto's dreams felt almost like memories, although he was sure they couldn't possibly be such.

"My name is Naruto."

He could've sworn he felt someone swatting his head.

"You're a real dobe, aren't you?"

"And guess what? We'll be friends forever – I will never forget about you! And that's a promise."

The feeling of connection was so strong and real that even though he was asleep it almost took his breath away.

He felt pain, but it wasn't his.

"Don't you get it already?! There's nothing you can do to help me, so leave me alone!"

The stench he couldn't identify and screams were much too real, as was the pain in his stomach.

"SASUKE!" /

And then he woke up with a yelp, instantly bouncing into a sitting position when he felt a hand on his back. "Naruto?" There was a somewhat worried look on Sakura's face as she stepped so that he could see her properly. "It's five. Shouldn't you be going home?"

He blinked a little, working his hardest to clear his head. "Tsunade… said that I could go, but…" He trailed off, looking away from the girl. Somehow going to home – where it was empty and quiet without Iruka – felt far from appealing.

Obviously understanding that this wasn't something he was willing to talk about, Sakura fixed her attention elsewhere. A wide grin appeared to her face while she brushed the book he'd been practically sleeping on. "Aphasia, huh?"

He felt some heat sneaking to his cheeks. "I just… wondered if it'd be any good."

A somewhat tender smile rose to Sakura's lips. "It's not a bad thing that you care about him so much, you know?" She met his eyes, a lot more serious already. "Sasuke's… never had anyone, okay? Apart from us, of course. He enjoys having you around, although he doesn't know how to show it."

He looked away from her, not really sure what to think and feel; there was a little bit too much weighing his mind at the moment for thoughts to make any sense. Just then he noticed that they weren't alone. Sitting in the loneliest corner of the tiny library – his empty eyes fixed longingly on the rows of books – was Juugo, legs brought to his chest. It was easy to tell just how much ache lingered behind the boy's eyes.

He frowned, feeling a tinge of sadness. "Why is he so sad? I thought he was recovering."

Sakura's green eyes darkened. "He is. It's just that… well, some days are still much harder than the others." She thought for a long time before going on. "I'm not sure if you knew this, but… A little bit before you started working here a patient named Kimimaro died. It was a more or less public secret that he and Juugo had something going on, although it's forbidden." She sighed a little. "They always sat here in the library whenever it was raining outside – just like it is today. Kimimaro would read to Juugo for hours."

He found himself completely speechless, and was forced to fold his arms to his chest with a shiver. Once again the harsh reality of just how much these kids had gone through struck him across the face.

It was Sakura's voice that coaxed him out of his thoughts. "Go home before you fall asleep sitting again." She swatted his head gently. "And don't worry; Sasuke's gonne be fine. We all are."

He managed to coax a smile while nodding and starting to head towards the door. "See you tomorrow."

No matter how little he liked the idea, he'd have to go and face the silent house eventually. How much help would he be to Sasuke, Iruka or anyone else he didn't even have the courage to go home?

When Naruto finally made his way home – utterly exhausted, worried beyond any human belief and on the verge of tears after visiting a still unconscious Iruka, and having been denied from seeing Sasuke – he felt like wincing when seeing a familiar figure stood by the house's doorsteps, drenched wet from the rain that'd been falling all day.

After gathering himself for several seconds he kept approaching. "Neji? What are you doing here?" It wasn't until then he noticed that there was a huge, dark bruise decorating the boy's left eye, and a wave of coldness traveled through him. "What happened?"

Neji shook his head. "It's nothing important." The boy took a brief glance towards him. "Have you calmed down already?"

He swallowed thickly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'm still pissed, and disappointed. It hurts that you can't be honest with me."

Neji didn't look at him when speaking – in fact, didn't seem to be looking at anything at all. "If I told you the truth… you'd never see me the same way again. You wouldn't even know me anymore."

Not knowing what to feel and think, he sighed heavily and lifted his gaze towards the sky although rain fell directly to his eyes. It took a long moment before he managed to speak. "Do you really think anything you'd tell me would change a thing – that I'd somehow think differently about you? You should know me better by now." He lowered his gaze, and looked towards Neji once more. The boy was utterly unmoving. "But I don't think that's the real problem. Am I right?"

Neji winced. "I can't tell you, okay?"

Naruto could feel how his eyes darkened while an exhausted sigh escaped him. Honesty was the only thing he'd ever asked of Neji. And now…

He was too tired and irritated to finish that thought.

"Why did you come here?" The voice didn't sound quite like his; it shook with both anger and desperate hope.

Something dropped and turned cold inside him when Neji shrugged. "I don't know."

Swallowing against the bitter taste to rose into his mouth, he started to make his way towards the apartment's door. "Go home before you freeze to death. I'm too tired and fed up to keep circling around like this."

He already made it to the door before Neji's uncharacteristically quiet voice made him halt. "Are we over?"

He froze. Suddenly he had no idea what to respond. His hand moved mechanically, searching for a key and opening the door. Iruka's familiar scent hit him harder than a fist. "Maybe we should be." With that he stepped in, closed the door – and slumped to the floor as his legs gave way. And at that moment he finally did what he'd felt like doing all day.

He buried his face into his hands and bursted into hysterical sobs.

/ The first time Iruka met Naruto was the coldest and the most cruel day of winter.

A doctor named Jiraiya – whom he'd known for years – was waiting for him with an uncharacteristically solemn expression. "I'm sorry I called you this late, but this was urgent." The man sighed a little, quite clearly having had a very frustrating day. "I've spent all morning fighting to keep them from locking this kid into some institution."
He blinked twice, then frowned. "I'm just a teacher."

Jiraiya smirked. "A teacher and a psychologist, remember? They don't need to know that you've only ever worked as a teacher." The man then grew serious again. "You're my last hope, okay?"

Iruka restrained something – a smile or a groan, perhaps. This wasn't their first discussion of this type, and he doubted this would be the last. Silently admitting defeat, he started to walk alongside the man. "So… what's the kid's story?"

"He's Naruto Uzumaki, age ten. He's lived in a orphanage basically all his life – until he was delivered here this morning, by whom, we don't know. He doesn't remember anything but his name, and that he's lived in an orphanage." The man's eyes darkened, just like they always did when the older talked about something he didn't like. "When he arrived he was almost hysterical. We had to give him strong sedatives. He also had several pretty severe wounds, the worst of them on his stomach – that's why he was sent here in the first place."

He fought back a deep sigh. "So basically, he's in a pretty bad shape?"

Jiraiya nodded a little. "Yeah, that's about it." The man then gestured towards the tiny room before them. "There he is."

He looked towards the pointed direction, and felt a twinge inside.

Sure enough, Naruto was sitting on his bed, curled so that the child looked as small as possible. He could easily see that the boy was shivering. Messy and filthy blond hair drooped willessly, hollow eyes stared at nothing. He'd never seen a child look quite as defeated, and it broke his heart.

And then, just as he was about to speak, the boy lifted his gaze. Suddenly hope-filled, even scared blue eyes met brown. In an instant Iruka knew that there was no going back.

"I don't need any evaluations", he murmured, not managing to look away from the child. "Naruto isn't going to a group-home or another orphanage. As soon as all paperwork and legal issues are done, he's coming home with me." /

In the hospital Iruka's eyes opened slowly, as though with reluctance. A frown made it to his face when he saw a blurry figure hovering beside his bed. "'Ruto?"

"Naruto's alright, although scared for your sake." That voice… was so familiar… "I sent him home to get some rest – he sat here for hours."

Just then the figure started to clear, and his heart skipped several beats when he recognized the tired face looking at him. Several harsh coughs erupted. "Kak… ashi?"

Kakashi's expression was such he couldn't read. "You can't even imagine how big of a shock I got when I was told I had a new patient, and it turned out to be you." The man kept a tiny pause, most likely to compose himself. "I… would've never expected you to be back."
He tried his hardest to speak, but for some reason all words got stuck in his throat. He moved his hand weakly, but Kakashi didn't seem to notice.

The silver-haired turned around, clearly about to leave. "I'll let you get some more rest now. You have a pretty bad case of pneumonia – it'll get better, but it'll take some time and a lot of strength." The man seemed to be about to say something more, but in the end swallowed the words. "I'll see you again as soon as I can."
Desperation filled him, and his heart pounded as though about to break.

Kakashi…!

For a moment the doctor stopped, as though hearing somehow, but then kept walking on. The door's sound was hollow as it closed, separating them. Something hot and uncomfortable he couldn't recognize in his current condition filled his eyes.

I'm sorry.

With that thought exhaustion and medication pulled him to sleep.

Tsunade had never felt as tired, pissed off and disappointed as she did while sitting in the hospital's hallway that day, about a million thoughts bouncing around her head.

So Danzo had given Sasuke something he shouldn't have.

Danzo – a doctor – had harmed one of her patients, possibly beyond repair.

She was almost glad they hadn't been able to find the man just yet, for she didn't know what she would've done if she would've gotten her hands on him.

"I brought you some coffee." Shizune's tired voice brought her out of her dark musings. It was easy to tell that the younger woman barely stayed on her feet; the past couple of days had been long for a lot of people.

She nodded with gratitude, then took a sip of the drink. It tasted bitter, which she welcomed gladly.

It took a minute or two before she managed to speak. "How's Sasuke?"

"He's waking up, slowly but surely. They're keeping an eye on him to determine whether restraints are needed or not."

She winced inwardly. Sasuke and restraints were a horrible combination. She hoped dearly those idiots wouldn't reduce to such.

"Tsunade…" Shizune was almost cautious – the dark-haired knew she wasn't going to like this part. "We're going to need a blood test to determine what exactly was put into his system, right?"

She nodded with utter reluctance, feeling sick to her stomach. Taking that sample was not going to be pretty.

"I can do it." There was something almost despearate in Shizune's eyes. The woman hesitated. "I… I was the one who fetched the sedative for Danzo – it's because of me this happened. So, if there's anything…" She trailed off.

She sighed heavily, and gave a tiny nod. At the moment she understood her employee's guilt much too well. "Just be careful, understood? We both know what he can be like."

Shizune nodded this time, seeming to pale slightly, then turned and started to walk away.

As soon as she was left alone Tsunade leaned her head against the wall with a loud groan. She closed her eyes when they stung hellishly from lack of sleep and something else.

If she had to break her own rules and let a patient too close, why did it have to be someone this fragile? Because at the moment it felt like she'd been trying to keep melting snow in her hands.

Naruto didn't remember how long he'd been sitting by Iruka's bed, halfway asleep, when movement coaxed him into wakefulness. Shaking away the traces of sleep, he grinned faintly when noticing that Iruka's eyes were open. "Hey! I thought you were gonna sleep all day again."

Iruka tried to smile, but it didn't come out quite right. "Hey", the man rasped, then took a good look at his face and turned serious. He could've sworn he heard a heavy, almost defeated sigh. "You… know, don't you?"

And suddenly all the well-trained composure he'd managed to gain didn't hold any longer. His shoulders slumped, and a tiny sniff escaped. "Why… Why didn't you tell me?"

Iruka sighed heavily, not quite daring to look at him while struggling into a sitting position. "I… just couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't…" The man gestured towards himself. "… bring this on you, too." There was a long pause. "I'm sorry."

He didn't manage to grin while shrugging. "I can take this, okay? So stop worrying about me. Aren't you supposed to be focusing on getting better?"

The man's eyes flashed with sadness before the brunet broke into a fit of harsh coughs, barely managing to breathe under the attack. Feeling infuriatingly helpless, he made gentle circling motions on Iruka's back, hoping from the bottom of his heart that it made the man feel at least a little bit better.

At the moment it felt suffocatingly unfair to him that when he finally had people he cared about deeply, he couldn't even protect them.

Sasuke's head was hazy and his skull throbbed when he woke up slowly, quite soon realizing that the whole world was spinning before his eyes. He frowned with extreme discomfort, not quite managing to understand anything.

Very slowly his mind managed to register that he was in a hospital room. The combination of memories and the stench made his heart beat with such speed that he was sure it wouldn't be able to take more. Only something – the drugs those people had given him, perhaps – kept him from losing his composure completely. He hated feeling as confused and out of control as he did at the moment, and the pain ravishing his arms and face certainly didn't help matters.

What the hell had happened? Where was…?!

Just then the room's door opened. He bounced into a sitting position – so fast that he almost had to lay back down – but something inside him relaxed when instead of a staff-member he saw Naruto. The boy seemed utterly exhausted and had lines of worry on his face, which troubled him for some reason, but when seeing him awake the blond grinned with apparent excitement. "Hey, you're finally up!" A bit faster than he would've liked the boy walked up to his bed, and sat to the chair placed beside it. Suddenly the hilarity was gone; there was a serious look that shouldn't have belonged to them in Naruto's eyes as they examined him. "Sasuke… Do you remember what happened, at all?"

His eyes narrowed as he looked away, almost like trying to keep Naruto from catching a glimpse of the memories that flashed by his eyes.

/ "The more you keep fighting, the more this will hurt." /

/ "Silly boy. Did you really think getting away was that easy?" /

/ "Shh… Keep your mouth shut, now. We wouldn't want anyone to interfere, would we?" /

/ "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. We'll find you anywhere." /

Naruto's sudden words made him shiver a little. "It's okay, you know?" The blond was looking at him with a slight smile. "That you don't remember – it's okay. As long as you're feeling better, that's all that matters."

He couldn't help all but staring at Naruto, and it took a lot to hide everything there was bubbling underneath his skin. All of a sudden it wasn't so hard to believe that the boy he'd once known wasn't completely gone, after all.

So deep in thought he was, that he was almost startled when Naruto pulled out something and offered it to him. The gift turned out to be a sandwich of some sort. The blond grinned somewhat sheepishly. "I got this from the cafeteria – I figured you'd be hungry, seeing as how badly the hospital-food sucks." The boy looked at him as though trying to read his mind. "It's got tuna and tomato. I'm not sure why, but… I had a feeling you'd like it."

For several moments all he could do was look at the blond, feeling scarily lot like the past years had been nothing but a sick nightmare and he'd been back in his childhood-days again. Then, before he could process what he was doing, he'd taken the bread. After casting a look even he couldn't read towards Naruto he started to eat. A comfortable silence fell into the room.

-

For the first time in a while Naruto felt a wave of joy as he watched how Sasuke ate with a relatively calm expression, obviously feeling very much comfortable at the moment.

Feeling comfortable with him, he would've very much liked to think for some reason.

When Sasuke stopped eating – sooner than he'd expected – he couldn't keep himself from grinning. "I knew you were hungry. I'm glad you liked it." He then allowed a couple of moments of silence to drift in order to keep the raven from becoming overwhelmed. "Is there… anything else you'd need?"

Sasuke thought for a long time, as though not understanding his words at first, then shook his head slowly. Onyx eyes turned towards him, visibly desperately trying to say something he couldn't understand. He was about to ask, until he noticed that the raven's lips were about to part. He held his breath – as did the whole room – anxiously waiting for the words possibly about to come.

And then the room's door opened. Turning their heads, they saw a somewhat apologetic looking Shizune stood by the doorway with a needle. At that moment all hell broke loose.

He'd never seen anyone move as fast as Sasuke did then. Before he could even open his mouth the raven had jumped from the bed and made his way to the room's corner. Onyx eyes flamed with a wild aninal's uncontrollable terror as they drifted between the two of them.

Naruto swallowed thickly, feeling cold all over. He was no professional, but even he knew that if he wouldn't do something things might turn very, very ugly. And that's why he dared to move towards the obviously unstable Uchiha.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Feeling almost panicked, he laid a gentle hand to the boy's shoulder. "Sasuke, it's okay – everything's alright. They're just trying to take a blood sample, okay? It won't hurt, I promise."
But Sasuke didn't calm down. And after a few endless moments there was something he first thought was his imagination. "D-Don't…"

His eyes widened, already knowing the truth.

And then the voice – raspy and choked, raw from lack of use – spoke again. "Don't…!" Sasuke was panting heavily, the words clearly almost too much for the teen. And then came something that sounded like a threatened wild animal's yelp. "Don't touch me!"

TBC.

A/N: And once again I left the story to the about last spot you would've wanted me to, ne? (winces) I'm a real bullie.

GAH, it's already waaaaaaay too late and I should be in bed, but before getting there… PLEASE leave a review to let me know your thoughts on this chappy! Awww, c'mon, I know you wanna click that button.

IN THE NEXT ONE: Some time has passed, and everyone's trying their best to cope as things change in a dramatic pace. Some take steps forward, some fall backwards. The frail peace of Tengoku is disturbed when some new faces appear to work there.

Until next time – I really hope ya'll all be staying on board for that one!

Take care!

kai: Everyone's having a really hard time in this one, ne? (sniffs) Poor teens! But things can only get better from here for them… I hope…

GAH, Danzo…! (grits teeth, then spits) Not even going to get started there. Let's just say that in my opinion, a nice, long and painful punishment would be nothing more than he'd deserve. (growls)

Heh, right now I'm so filled with inspriration when it comes to this lil' story that there's no way I could take long breaks. (grins) Aww, I'm happy to hear you appreciate the somewhat timely updates!

Gigantic thank yous for the review!

See you next time, no?

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ZakuKura: Awww, I sure will! (grins from ear to ear) It's great to hear you've enjoyed the journey thus far that much.

Enormous thank yous for the review!

I really hope you'll be staying tuned.