Author's Notes:

Oh, my lovely reviewers! I love you all so very much! Thank you for the amazing words and the comments! I had fun reading them all, and I'm glad that you all have liked the previous chapter. Now, I'd wish this chapter meets your expectations as the last one did, and thanks a million to my lovely Beta, XxDreaming of RealityxX, for her wonderful work! I'll leave you now to the story, enjoy~


"Are these the consequences you were talking about?" Naruto muttered under gritted teeth.

Tsunade flashed the lights in her hands straight into Sasuke's right eye, estimating the amount of the damage made to it and spared a glance to the blond sitting with the weight of the world on his shoulders. She ignored his muttering and flashed Sasuke's other eye.

"Blink for me, please."

She checked again, and then returned the mini-light into her lab coat's pocket, fixing her hair; she put a hand under her chin, trying to collect her scattered thoughts together.

"Hey! Don't just keep quiet! What's wrong with him!?"

She rolled her eyes at the impatient child and decided to give him a bite. "In all honesty, I'm unable to provide you with a definite answer right now. I'll have to further examine his eyes and I think it would be best if an Ophthalmologist was to work with me here; since the eyes aren't really my field of expertise."

"Then, could it be the effect of the treatment you've done to him?"

Tsunade frowned. "A possibility, but according to his medical history, his eyes were already going bad. Perhaps his incident alongside my treatment have just provided into hurrying the process."

"N-No way…he still had time, that can't happen!"

"Well, it did. But, as I said, I can't give a firm diagnosis 'till further research has been done. Anything else would be nothing less than a mindless speculation."

"Then there is a possibility that your treatment was the cause?!"

Tsunade turned around, placed her hands on her hips and glared at the teen blaming her. "Listen here you, yes it's a possibility, but for the millionth time, you brought him to me because you had no other option and, as far as I can see, you wanted me to wake his ass up, and he is up! So, stop blaming me for doing the job I was hired for!"

"I…" Naruto clenched his hands and punched the couch he was sitting on. "It's not fair!"

"Fair or not, him losing his sight has been triggered by something, and our job right now is to know that something and find out if this blindness is just a side effect that will disappear in a few days or a permanent one." Tsunade sighed in order to control her nerves and remind herself that this was nothing more than a child in fear of losing someone important to him, and hence, he was irrational, she was the older one, the wiser one, and the rational one. Groaning at the reason inside her mind, she started walking towards the door saying, "For now, we'll have to find a good Ophthalmologist to assist me, and you better lose that tone of voice since I won't be as tolerant next time."

Naruto looked at his hands in shame and bit the inside of his gum. She was right, it wasn't her fault that Sasuke's sight has been taken, it wasn't, and he shouldn't have been treating her as if it was, since it was not. Looking at her with apologetic and exhausted eyes, Naruto spoke.

"I…I'm sorry; I'll try to control myself in the future…"

Tsunade smirked at the apology and accepted it with a wink. "It's fine, as long as you make sure to keep your temper under control."

"Yeah…"

"Excuse me, but about the ophthalmologist, I have a person who can help in aiding you, sensei, he is very capable and I trust him with my eyes," Sasuke broke through the silence with his sharp toned voice.

"That's good. Give me his name and I'll contact him."

"Naruto, give her Kakashi's contact information."

Getting jolted out of his own misery, the blond knotted his brows in question. "Kakashi? Does he know someone?"

"No. Kakashi is an Ophthalmologist himself, Naruto. Contact him."

Nodding, Naruto searched inside his cell for Kakashi's number and quickly scrubbed a long emotional message to him, in which he concluded of how much they needed him right now to fix Sasuke's eyes. A few minutes later, Tsunade's cell began ringing; she excused herself and stepped out of the room, leaving the two alone.

"Dobe, c'mere."

Hazily, Naruto walked towards the pale outstretched hand, he was yanked right into Sasuke's lap after taking it. Feeling the familiar scent of the raven circle him, Naruto closed his eyes and wished to remain inside those arms for as long as he lived.

"I missed you very much."

"Yeah, I know. I could hear your voice calling, through the darkness it was like a faint light. But somehow, a part of me refused to call back. It felt pretty comfortable to just stay in the place I was in, honestly, I didn't want to come back,"

"But I'm glad you did, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if you were gone."

The blond guided the soft touch into his face, and raised his lips to meet with Sasuke's. It was a brief kiss, Naruto felt his inner self object, but shook his head realizing Sasuke's wish not to initiate a contact right now.

"Naruto, I want you to do something for me now."

His eyes turned soft and he gave a kiss to the hand gently caressing his cheek. "My life is yours."

A smile that he'd never seen flashed onto Sasuke's lips, and suddenly his heart felt like tearing into two. And even though Sasuke's words were very gentle and quiet, they felt like knives being stabbed into his soul.

"I need you not to come here again."

Naruto told his tears and confusion to stay at pay when he was pushed away from Sasuke's lap and the face he'd always loved turned free from all emotions.

"I don't really feel like hearing your voice or your words. So leave. And never come here again."

Feeling a hard stab into his being, Naruto's eyes released one stray tear without his consent and his voice shook a little as he was trying to chock the word out.

"W-Why?"

"I was resting, had thrown everything behind me and I just wanted to go. Yet, you so selfishly chose to bring me back. Ignoring my wishes. I can't be beside a person who is so selfish as to always think of his own happiness, putting it above mine. And now, as I've awakened with these set of blind eyes, I don't want such a person to accompany me through my recovery."

"B-But…I…"

Sasuke looked at his hands with a blank expression on his face, "I wanted to believe that you were special, different from all those people who have betrayed me and ruined my life. But in the end, you're just like them. Leave, get out of my sight and life, I've suffered enough as it is! Don't have me suffer anymore!"

Naruto allowed his tears to fall down freely, he wanted to say something…anything, but Sasuke's words were true. He couldn't say anything to deny them. Yes, he'd ignored whatever wish Sasuke's body had so many times tried to convey to him, and he was selfish into wanting Sasuke back, but it was because he…

Naruto gulped a hand over his mouth not able to finish his own sentence. What was he doing all those things for? Was it for Sasuke? No, it was because the idea of living in a world without Sasuke was so damn hard, he felt like dying every time he thought about it. And everything had turned black in his eyes. So, it wasn't for Sasuke, it was for him. He robbed the happiness of his one important person just for his own. What type of human being was he?!

Gulping the tears down to be able to speak, Naruto released one word then rushed out fast to the nearest washroom, because his stomach has demanded him to puke right this instance and get the black substance that was his spirit right out of it.

"Sorry."


Sakura looked with grim eyes at her blond friend as he took his food-filled tray and pushed it into the trashcan holding his ball and sprinting towards the backyard to the old court to start another excessive course of training. She frowned as her hands moved to pull Gaara's headphones out of his ears then voiced her inner thoughts.

"Naruto isn't normal."

"Yes, he is."

"No, he isn't. He has never thrown food! NEVER! Even when it tasted like shit; he'd push himself to eat it never to waste a single bite! It's his fricking motto!"

"Maybe he is changing habits."

"Naruto NEVER changes a habit that has to do with food."

"Maybe he is starting to."

"No, he'd NEVER do that."

Gaara rolled his eyes at the girl as his mood started changing when he tried to grab at his headphones only to have her yank them away. "Everyone changes, and he might be following after the herd," When she opened her mouth to reply he interrupted. "Yes, I know, he'd NEVER do that, right?"

Frowning at being interrupted, Sakura chose not to comment on it and simply went with a nod. "I've known him for as long as I can remember…and this is the first I've seen him act like this. He did get into depressions before, and he would pounce back the next morning with a huge bright grin on his face, but never this…"

The red haired muffled his mouth with a piece of honey coated toast. "Den jwst wyt twil twowo,"

Sakura angrily pushed the whole toast into Gaara's mouth and waited until he'd finished chewing.

"No, I won't wait 'till towow! It's his fourth day like this! Can't you see him withering away?!"

Gaara swallowed and started following the toast with the strawberry milk he loved so much. "Not really, or more like, I don't see a reason for him to get depressed, Sasuke has woken up and is walking right on the path of healing. Everything is back to normal, and we have qualified for the finals with no problem. See, no reason for depression."

"Wait, Sasuke-kun has woken up?"

Blinking, amazed at how she wasn't informed about something like this with her vast information network, he nodded his head. "You didn't know? I thought Naruto would've told you already."

Sakura decided to direct her inner anger into breaking the pencil she was currently holding. "No, he didn't!"

"Weird. I totally thought he'd fly into telling you."

"Stop pouring salt in the fricking wound, would you?! Plus, when did his royal ass wake up?"

Gaara hid his satisfied grin under his strawberry milk straw. "Hmm…let me remember, Neji told us the day before yesterday, and so…yeah, last Monday."

"You mean four days ago?"

"That would be it."

"Naruto didn't come to school on Tuesday, and on Wednesday he came with a dark cloud on his head. Then, that means only one thing!"

Not bothering to over analysis the situation like the genius beside him, Gaara decided to ask instead of squeezing his brain to train with Sakura's brainy express. "What?"

"Something had happened between them! And by Naruto's condition, it's something big. Say, didn't this Neji of yours say anything about Sasuke? Like another problem happening or something?"

"Nope, said he'd just awakened."

"Then why hasn't he come to school yet?"

"Dunno. Haven't asked."

The vein inside Sakura's forehead popped at this, but still, she controlled a calm exterior. "Do you mean to tell me that your ACE player had been awakened from a freaking coma and none of you dared to ask when he was coming back to school?! Especially when you're in the finals in two weeks!"

Gaara looked blankly at her and sipped again from his almost finished strawberry milk cart.

"Nope. We were too glad to question. And even if he wasn't with us, we'd win the Interhigh. That's why no one bothered. Just him being alright was good enough."

"You are just a group of athletic morons really; I bow my hat for whoever is responsible for you idiots."

"Hey! Don't forget your precious Naruto-kun is also a member of the team."

"Only helps in proving my case more."

"He'd be insulted if he heard 'ya."

"No, he wouldn't. He knows it. Anyways, can you get me information, about Sasuke-kun's real condition?"

"I just told you! He is alive and kicking!" Gaara exclaimed with eyes that told Sakura he thought she was the dumbest person alive.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the log before her. "Can you please pay attention to what I'm saying? I said 'real condition', it's obvious that there is something going on over there, I don't think that Naruto would be this gloomy if Sasuke-kun's condition has, in fact, improved."

"Then," Gaara frowned at his next words, "You think he is what…dead?"

"Not necessarily, perhaps he did wake up, but is now suffering from something else."

"I doubt it, Neji would have told us."

"Would he really? Think with me for a sec, you are all a group of rookies, with some senpais, your Ace has been hospitalized, your psych has been influenced in a bad way, whether you know it or not, if you were told that your said Ace has woken up from his coma but is now suffering something worse. How would your hopes be?"

"For me, nothing would actually change."

"I'm speaking about normal people!"

"Oh, then they'd be somehow down, I would assume."

"Precisely. And that's why I think Neji-kun had chosen not to inform you of anything unnecessary and to focus only on the bright side, which is the awakening of Sasuke-kun."

Gaara's frown deepened at her words, and even though he didn't want it, the little mouse inside his brain started playing. "Even if that's so, Neji would never lie to me about something like this. And your words are all assumptions; there is no solid proof of him lying."

"But he didn't lie; he told you the truth, just not the whole truth. And there is a solid proof to what I'm saying…it's Naruto's current murkiness. It had happened on the same day Sasuke-kun is promised to have awakened in, and if there was nothing wrong, believe me, Naruto would be jumping with happiness by now. Besides, I have spoken to him on the same day that he'd gone to visit Sasuke-kun on, and Naruto was on cloud nine!"

Gaara threw the empty milk in the faraway trashcan and ignored the applause that rose from a group of students sitting beside the trashcan when his carton had hit the mark dead on.

"Let's assume your theory is correct-"

"It's not a theory, it's the truth."

"You don't know that yet."

"Yes I do."

Sighing, Gaara continued his words. "Fine, if the truth you believe has really happened, then we have nothing we can do. If Naruto is really depressed because of something that has happened to Sasuke's body, we have no way into interfering, and we'll just have to stand to watch 'till Sasuke's new illness is treated."

Sakura scowled at the words, not liking them one bit. "That is not possible, Naruto is wasting away, I can't just stand doing nothing and waiting for the day Sasuke-kun is treated to see my best friend smile again!"

"Then, oh big thinker, what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know yet, but when I come up with something, I'll let you know. For now, try to get me information about what's keeping Sasuke-kun away."

"His imaginary illness, of course!" Gaara mocked with a happy tone that came wrong with his stoic face.

Sakura smacked him with the broken pencil. "His real illness, Baka! And get the illness's details, too."

The bell rang singling the end of their little recess, Sakura scrubbed something down real fast and handed a group of sheets with the paper she has just written to the red haired who was starting to pull his empty lunch and head towards the cafeteria to drop everything.

"What's this?"

"This, you give to Ino. I won't be able to go to her house today, since I'll need to stalk Naruto. And tell her that the pink roses need watering approximately three times a day. Oh! And to put the blue ones that I liked the other day in a bag for me, I'll come by later to pick them up!"

Gaara glowered at her, not liking the treatment at all. "You know, I'm not your delivery boy!"

"Oh, yes you are! Just give them to her, thanks a bunch!"

Sakura bolted away from the scene before Gaara could decide that she needed to start doing her own work and stop relying so much on him to do it for her. Sighing, the redhead started making his way to the classroom – after a little stop at the cafeteria, and cursed himself for being such a pushover.


Sakura watched the orange-ish ball pounce back into Naruto's hands for the millionth time that day; she sighed and sheltered herself under her red umbrella with her school bag keenly placed between her legs protecting her precious books.

"Na. Ru. To. It's about time you stop playing. The rain's getting worse!" She called from her place.

A swift smile was given to answer her but no words were processed. Sakura sighed again and pulled herself alongside her bag from the bench that was already filling with water; she came into the court and walked towards the drenched blond.

"You'll catch a cold like this," She said as she put the umbrella over him as a refuge. "A cold won't allow you to participate in the finals."

"I won't catch a cold, Sakura. Did you forget your words that idiots don't catch colds?"

"No, smartass, I'm just changing them to 'idiots are the only ones who catch colds.'" She stuck her tongue out to him.

"It's unlike you to contradict yourself."

"And it's unlike you to want to kill yourself on purpose, either." Sakura came closer and put a comfortable warm hand on Naruto's wet shirt, frowning to herself when she saw how soaked he clearly was. "Naruto, what's wrong? You're feeling under the weather for a while now, and I know there is something wrong with you, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yes, I know and there is nothing to tell, Sakura, you're just imagining things." He chirped with fake cheerfulness.

Getting angry at being treated as a fool, Sakura released a cry of anger. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that lie one more time, Uzumaki!"

At her angry retort, Naruto felt a cold chill run down his spine. He retrieved the ball she had in her hands and dashed towards the basket attempting a slam dunk. Even though he succeeded into doing it, he slipped on the watery court on his way down, causing a worried Sakura to run into checking up on her depressed friend.

"Naruto! Oh my God! Are you alright!?"

At the snicker that left his mouth, Sakura felt royally confused. The blond supported his upper body with his hands as he looked up letting the rain wash over him.

"He said he liked the rain, Sakura. Loved how those little drops would come together cleaning everything as a whole. He loved the rain."

Sakura let a sigh escape her lips as she came to shelter him again under her red umbrella. "I don't think Sasuke-kun would've wanted you to kill yourself with the rain he loved."

"But I think he would. He said he didn't want to see me anymore, that I robbed him his happiness in favour of mine. That I was a mere selfish human who like all others has betrayed him and ruined his life."

"Naruto…"

"And you know what the funny thing is? I had actually done everything that he's accused me of! I wanted him back, not because of him but because I didn't want to part from him. It was for my own good, and I didn't even spare a moment to think of the hard life he is living right now amongst his messed up family members or what he would have wanted to."

Sakura tucked a stray hair back and kneeled beside the exhausted blond.

"Naruto, there is nothing wrong with being selfish. We're human; we're allowed to get selfish. It's in our nature. You wanted him back because you want him beside you, you want to wake up and see him, sleep and see him. I don't honestly think that that is something bad. Life is beautiful Naruto, and the fact that you wanted to share it with him doesn't makes it such a bad, selfish act to me."

Naruto shook his head. "I took away his inner peace of mind for mine. It's nothing beautiful. It's ugly and underhanded! I'm ugly and underhanded! I should have just let him go and not have forced him to open those eyes again!"

A slap was given silently to each of his cheeks and Naruto looked with wide shocked eyes at his angry friend.

"That's not true, Naruto! So, don't you dare say it is again! Naruto, you know I've lost my father when I was young. I'd do anything in the world to go back and help him survive! There is nothing peaceful about death, not to the person who dies or the people left behind! I don't believe that we'll find comfort into knowing he is in peace! Because 'till now, Naruto, I didn't! Not a day goes by that I don't wish to see him one more time, to be able to laugh with him…or just be together."

Naruto stretched a shaking hand to his best friend, he'd known that her father was gone, but she was always nonchalant about it, it never occurred to him that she was actually pretty shaken up about it. His hand was slapped away as Sakura pulled him by the collar and looked deep into his azure shinning orbs.

"S-Sakura?"

"If Sasuke-kun thinks that life is worthless and he is only coming back into a hell, then change that hell for him! Make him see the beauty in life! Educate him! Don't give up on him! It's worthless if you give up life alongside him! You should know better, Naruto! You do know better! Death was never an answer! So what if you acted a little selfishly and wanted him to come back?! The Ass should be fucking grateful for you! Life is too precious to be lost in a mere game! Open your eyes, Naruto, open your eyes!"

Naruto saw Sakura's face mix with water, her eyes were leaking and the sky above them was leaking, too. He didn't know which water was coming down on his face, Sakura's tears, or the rain. But as his mouth stretched into a tiny smile, he stopped thinking about that and pulled his friend into a calming hug.

Under the rain, with Sakura's umbrella thrown away and their clothes drenched to the bone, the two shared the calmest, most tranquil hug any of them has ever had. Sakura was the first to break free from the hug with a sniff from her nose.

"You awake from your self-pity now?"

Naruto grinned at her. "Wide awake."

Sakura smiled back and pulled herself up, quickly dashing towards her umbrella before the sudden wind blew it away and they got stuck inside the school parameters until the rain held up. She put the newly caught umbrella over her body and Naruto as she pulled her wet bag along.

"Nooooooooo~!" Sakura whined into the rain.

Blinking blue orbs shone at her whine. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

"My books," She turned with teary eyes at him. "They're all ruined!"

"Well, serves you right. Who told you to bring another set of books out of school at weather like this?"

"It wasn't 'a weather like this' when I took them out! The sun was still up!"

"Which was…how many hours ago?" Naruto asked as he started heading towards the exit to the old court.

"I don't know! It's your fault not mine! Since you kept on playing, ignoring my every plea to get going home! Now we won't even find a proper bus to take! Great Naruto, just great!"

Rolling his eyes at Sakura's second face, he ignored the words and helped her inside the school so they can reach the lockers, and the front gate.

"Stop worrying about your freaking books; we can get them dried at home. Just ask Iruka, I'm sure he has one or two tricks to make those books look brand new!"

Sakura sighed tailing behind her childhood friend. "Just because he is a writer doesn't mean he knows how to dry a book."

"It has nothing to do with him being a writer. When I was a kid, I'd always destroy his books, be it with water, paint, glue, whatever I could get my hands on, so Iruka learned from an early age how to protect and save what has been destroyed from his books."

"Gosh, you were really the annoying brat, Naruto. I pity Iruka-san."

A trademark grin was given to her as they passed by his locker; Naruto got his backpack out and closed it again with the combination. And once more, they started walking towards the front gate.

"Say Naruto."

"Hm?"

"How is your right leg? You slipped back there and fell on it, remember?"

"Yeah, wasn't anything serious though. I slipped on my butt more than on my leg. So, everything's good. It would be pretty uncool to break an arm and a leg in my first semester in the first year of my High School years."

"Well, it would just get into your record of inhumanely things. God knows your Middle School stories are already leaking from their pages." Sakura released a giggle when remembering a few of Naruto's former incidents.

"And as my bestest best friend in the whole world, you won't speak a word about my former history to a soul!"

"Why is that?"

"Because it would totally ruin any future plans I may have in becoming cool!"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes at him. "You still have hope in that field, Naruto? To me your chances have all came to zero the first day of school."

Buffing his cheeks on his best friend, Naruto pulled his wet hair back since it started leaking on his face. "That's something I would never accept no matter what! I'll be popular one day in this forsaken school!"

Sakura sighed and the ringing of Naruto's cell saved her from tiring her throat into trying to convince an ape-man that the fire was a crucial part in his civilization. The blond picked up the line and started speaking.

"Yes, Naruto's speaking. Oh senpai, what? No, I'm still at school…hmmm…no, not alone, I'm with a friend, no not Gaara…hum? It is fine, I'll make sure, yes, yes. The third seat on the fourth row, you say? 'Kay got it! Bye."

Sakura asked when he closed his cell with a sigh escaping his lips. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

He waved his hands at her and smiled. "Nothing's wrong, don't worry. This was Neji-senpai, he wanted me to get a book from his desk, seems like he's forgotten it."

"It's not like school is out tomorrow, he can just come to retrieve it later on."

"A kohai can't actually talk back to a senpai's request, Sakura. And besides, we are here, no harm into taking the book to shelter for him."

Sakura tagged behind with a tiny mumble of, "I still don't see why he can't just get it tomorrow."

Naruto decided to float his friend's annoyance and with a smiling face, made his way towards Neji's classroom.


"Call me nosy, but something is going on between you and Naruto. What's happened?" Neji questioned after making himself comfortable on the couch placed on the luxurious room Sasuke was placed in.

The raven looked passively at him through blindfolded eyes. "Nothing happened between us."

"Sasuke, I wasn't born yesterday, and I know Naruto and most importantly, you. He would die before letting you alone after you've woken up, and this is his ninth day not dropping by to see you. When you were sleeping, he would always come to visit, however busy he was. And it makes zero sense for him to stop when his sole wish has come true."

"…"

Neji helped himself to the fruit basket arranged on the table; he took the knife and began pealing himself an apple. "Sasuke, you should know by now that I'm not the type to consider worthless things like your emotions, and I'll be stepping on them as hard as I can, especially when they concern my Gaara."

Sasuke arched a brow at the place Neji's voice was coming from. "Just explain to me how he is concerned here?"

"Seems like the female that came searching for Naruto the day he broke his arm, hmmm…her name is Haruno something I believe, anyway, she is befriending Gaara now, and he seems troubled with what she had him do,"

"Shouldn't you be having this conversation with her then?"

"Nope, since she came with useful information that I have been looking past, but since my boy wants to know, I would do anything in my power to get the information out of you. So, speak, what happened between you two?"

Sasuke grabbed hard at the sheets he was holding and ran his tongue out to wet his dry lips.

"Nothing. He just realized the mistake he'd put himself in and decided to stay away."

Neji twirled the knife in his hand and smirked, "You know Uchiha, if your hands weren't grabbing the sheets like you'd piss any minute now and the tips of your ears weren't getting redder by the second alongside your agonized lips, I would've actually believed that lie even though it contradicts everything I know of Naruto."

"Hmph, it's your choice to believ-"

And Sasuke had to dodge the knife that found its way towards his head.

"I don't miss twice, Uchiha."

Sasuke released a glare through his own darkness and with a blank expression replied. "Go right ahead, I won't stop you. Aim for my brain and relieve me."

Neji walked towards the wall his knife had resident in, he pulled it out and threw it back without looking. Perfectly, it stuck into the red plump apple he was cutting earlier.

"And why would you want to die?" At the silent reply, Neji started adding things up. "Unless, you were the one who drove him away…Oh God, why didn't I think about this sooner! You sure would have done it, thinking of another stupid thing like how he is better off without you."

"He is better off without me."

Neji walked back into the couch, having already assured his thoughts. "Sasuke, sometimes you amaze me of how dumb you could get."

The raven cringed at the insult but didn't show its effect on his face, taking the satisfaction away from his asshole of a friend.

Disappointed at not even getting an eye twitch, Neji continued.

"And just to see you getting hurt, since you deserve it, I'll tell you a little something about Naruto, he is in a shitty condition. Practices all the time, doesn't eat right and a few days back, he collapsed after training his ass hard in the rain and is still on bed with a fever." Neji scowled remembering their first game without Naruto and Sasuke, even though they'd won, it was a very hard fight to pass through, shrugging the distant events away, he continued torturing Sasuke.

"Whatever your royal ass has said to him, it's tormenting him. I'm guessing you said something that blamed him, since if it was something like 'I want you to stay away because from now on everything would be a hellish ride' will not affect him with anything. But Sasuke, that was really low, even for me."

Sasuke released a tired sigh and returned back into the cushions. "It was the only way. Naruto needs to forget about me and live a normal life. Enjoy basketball, his high school life, graduates, goes to collage, find a good job and a beautiful girlfriend and most of all, lead a normal life that won't have him jeopardizing his very existence and leading the way for a blind man all the time."

"Wow, you've had all his life planned out, haven't you? But, I think you've neglected one simple truth. It's his decision to make, not yours."

"I couldn't give him the right to choose, since he'll choose to remain with me, and I don't want him to."

Neji picked up his knife again and continued cutting the remaining half of the apple. "Let me ask this then, what would you do if your decision had the opposite effect on him, like instead of forgetting you like you want, he goes and hangs himself out of depression and self-pity?"

Sasuke shook his head, refusing the idea. "Naruto isn't that weak. He values life too much to think of something pitiful like that."

"You thought about it."

"I don't value life."

"You value his life."

"Your point?"

"If you value a person's life, doesn't that make you want to live and continue watching over said person's life, hence valuing your own life?"

"Even if I'm not around, there will be people who would care for him and his wellbeing."

"Like the Haruno female."

Neji's face lit up with a smirk when Sasuke's facial features turned into a very obvious annoyed scowl.

"Yes. Like her."

"You're a very jealous son of a bitch, you know that Uchiha, a stupid, possessive, jealous son of a bitch!" The lilac eyed teen released between amused laughs.

"Better than a freakish, insane, lust-filled, kinky-assed sadist!"

"Oh, Sasuke~" Neji chirped. "I'm blushing, thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment, Ass."

"Seemed so to my ears. And as much as I would love to sit around talking to you, I'll have to bail, my love is waiting for me to teach him a new style in basket's love."

And Sasuke did nothing to hide his own disgust. "Spare me."

"That I shall do, bye, bye now."

Before the sound of Neji's feet squeak out of the door, Sasuke spoke the thought that was lingering inside his head for a while now.

"Neji…" When he heard the feet stop making any sound, Sasuke continued, "How serious is his condition?"

The raven flipped his hair as an evil grin told him to play with Sasuke's nerves before telling the truth, but then again, he was running a bit late, and even though the idea of Gaara fucking him with ropes as a punishment for being late sent him closing his eyes in ecstasy, he decided to save the kinky sex for after they finish with their second match. He needed a reward for his upcoming win, after all.

"He was in a pretty bad condition the first three days, but now, that he's passed his seventh, he is alright. Nothing to fear. But Sasuke, I'm telling you this as a friend who doesn't want to see you regret this decision later on, make up with Naruto. He needs you to function, and you look more dead than usual without him. You might not want him to go through hell with you, but that's his decision, stop denying him his right. There are different types of happiness, what would you know? His might lay with yours."

With that, Neji let himself out of the door and as he made his way into his private car, he rolled his eyes at himself for not questioning Sasuke about his own condition, skipping towards the exit, he pushed the issue to the back of his head, for right now, his mind switched into The-Gaara-Mode and the whole world turned grey.


Naruto told his heart to remain in place, he took a deep breath in and released the air out again, another one, in and out, in and out, and then he pushed the bell. A few minutes later, a tired voice answered him with the door unlocking open.

"Naruto!" An astonished Kakashi looked with eyes that had bags under them at the short teen, "What are you doing here?"

"Invite me inside, first," The blond retorted with a smile.

"Yeah, sure, come in."

Walking inside the apartment that he'd lived in for a period of two weeks and a few more days had Naruto remember the good lovely times he'd with Sasuke before anything bad had happened. His smile became slightly disheartened as he was invited into the living room. Kakashi threw his tired body into the couch.

"I see you have been working a lot."

"More than a lot. I haven't seen any sleep in three whole days; do you know how hard it's for me to keep a lid open right now?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, I'll be quick then," He shifted in his seat and pulling his strength together, he clasped both his hands. "I came to ask you about Sasuke, he doesn't want to see me, so I can't go see him at the hospit-"

"He was taken back home, no longer there even if you go."

"Oh, then the more reason why I won't be able to meet with him, not that I can, anyway. So, how is he doing?"

"For starters, we found out that his blindness was in fact caused by Tsunade-sensei's treatment, remember the vein that I told you will be untouchable in Sasuke's eyes?"

"Yes."

"The electricity seemed to have messed it up rendering Sasuke's eyes invalid."

"Is it temporary?"

"That, we haven't found out yet, it might take a few more days and a hell of a lot of work. So, why can't you go see him?"

Naruto gave his father's boyfriend a saddened smile. "He doesn't want to see me."

"I noticed, but why? You two were like honey and jam, totally sweet with each other."

"He's fed up with me. I'm too selfish and I can only think about myself. He doesn't want a person like me beside him, and I can't really object, but even though…I want to know about him. My heart hurts if I stay in the dark like this."

"What makes you think he's fed up with you?"

"He said so himself, and when I thought it over, he was right. From the beginning I was the one following him, stalking him and forcing him against his will to befriend me, then it turned into something more, and I got myself hurt, he was hurt trying to save me, and just when he was finally going to rest in peace, I pulled him into another nightmare with consequences that he'll have to bear for life."

"We still don't know if it would be for life or not, but let me ask you this Naruto, do you love Sasuke?"

"Love? I'm not sure…I still can't be certain that my feelings are truly love."

"Then let me rephrase, do you like him?"

"I do."

"Want to always be beside him, want him to be happy and smiling all the time, to live his life the way he wants it, you would trade everything good you have for everything bad he has just to see him smile?"

"Yes, without a second thought, yes."

"Then that's exactly what love is. It's not bad not to be sure, but you need to step out of that stage and into another one, and in order to do that you'll have to get close to Sasuke and figure it out with him. Naruto, Sasuke is a mess these days. He doesn't eat properly so we have been tubing him with liquid nutrients and he is paler than usual."

Naruto felt his heart clench at the words, his eyes turned pleadingly as he looked Kakashi in his visible eye. "W-Why? Why isn't he eating? Is it because he really wants to die? You can't let him die! Please!"

Holding a hand to clam Naruto, the silver haired doctor explained, "No, Naruto. He doesn't want to die, yet. He is missing you and, also, Sasuke is fighting."

He allowed his heart to skip at the 'missing you' comment, but chose to voice the question that hanged waiting to be announced. "Fighting?"

"Yes, fighting against his own better judgment, his heart is telling him something, whilst his mind is telling him another, and inside his own darkness, he's completely lost. I can't help him and no doctor in this whole world can. The only person who can aid him in his silent fight is you, Naruto."

Naruto clenched his hands with his eyes holding folds of sadness. "I can't. They won't let me in; he doesn't want to see me!"

"And he wouldn't. Sasuke is blind right now, can't see shit. You go; sit and he won't even pay attention."

Startled blue orbs looked at him, and the idea seemed to appeal to the owner since when the blond spoke, the disappearing tone of hope, has returned once more.

"B-But the Uchiha household, I haven't been there before, and I don't think they'll let me in,"

"One call to Itachi will sort all that out. Just make sure to go at night. That's when the air will be most quiet and you two can have a deep, long conversation and work whatever out."

As he bowed for the first time in his life for Kakashi, Naruto ran to the door, holding his cell close to his ear and dialing the number he'd come to memorize by now. Yet before he could run down the stairs, he shouted to the silver haired man.

"Iruka misses you like hell! It's nice to work and all, but give him a call or he'll think you've dumped him or are cheating on him!"

Kakashi sighed and closed the door after the running blond. He wondered how stupid Naruto was for not coming up with a simple plan as the one he'd just gave him. Shrugging the obvious answer, Kakashi walked towards his bedroom, deciding to give him love a call before drifting to the sweet, appealing land of dreams.


Naruto nodded at the fifth guard he come across on the long way inside the labyrinthine of a house; the guard guiding him towards Sasuke's supposed room made a turn to the right. Allowing Naruto a magnificent night view to the outstretched garden, the traditional looking pond blinked under the little scattered nightlights placed here and there. They crossed over a small bridge coming over the pond and Naruto noticed a few fishes jumping around, the tranquil view eased the throbbing inside his heart.

Finally, the guard guiding him pointed to a big white door, he spoke with an authoritative manly tone that Naruto had never heard except in movies and said.

"That's where Sasuke-sama is staying. This is as far as I can take you. Excuse me." With a bow, Naruto was left alone.

He breathed into the night's air and forced his feet to walk. The Uchiha house was more of an estate than a simple house and it was bigger than his by millions of acres, Naruto was sure. But, as he continued walking with eyes fixed on his goal, the traditional style had him calm down and remember his own humble residence. Really, rich old families did live life differently from him, he knew now that living in such an environment and having standards to follow, made Sasuke into the trust-less bastard he had become.

Standing beside the door, Naruto slid it so soundlessly not wishing to indicate or hint that he was inside. The lights were off, and so he had to close his eyes to adjust to the darkness and so slowly, he walked beside the bed.

As he looked at the laying picture of his friend, Naruto felt his tears gather at the corner of his eyes. Sasuke looked in a worse condition than the one he'd left him in. Sure the fuzz of hair had grown up a bit and Sasuke's beautiful midnight hair was flowing to a degree but his gorgeous eyes were blindfolded with a dark piece that Naruto found himself hating. He frowned at the way Sasuke's body appeared to be too thin to his liking.

Getting a bit closer proved to be a bad idea since Sasuke shot up to his legs the next moment pinning Naruto to the ground. If the blond hadn't been familiar with the fact that Sasuke was blind right now, he would have thought he was a perfectly fine human being, ignoring the skin that radiated a deadly hue, of course.

"Who are you?! And why are you intruding here?!"

And Naruto felt his heart breaking at the truth that was just being rubbed on his face.

"Answer me! Are you on Danzo's party, came to kill me when you heard I couldn't see anymore, eh?! Too bad for you! I've memorised the layout of my room and this whole house! I've been trained since young for the day I lose sight! So, I'm as good as a seeing man! Don't dare underestimate me, or you'll be the one meeting your death!"

His blue orbs gave up on fighting and released the tears gently allowing them to roll down Naruto's eyes' line heading towards his hair. He bit his lips, closing them tightly not wanting to release any sound that will have Sasuke recognize who he was pinning and then start on kicking him out.

Yet, his right hand couldn't obey to just stay put while the object it wished to touch was only a few centimeters away. Naruto sucked the happy laugh that wanted to escape his throat when his hand wasn't pushed away, and gently, he brushed Sasuke's cheek daring to cup it.

It didn't take long for Sasuke to identify the touch and the scent.

"N-Naruto?"

Black fine brows met in confusion, Sasuke stepped away from the blond and backed a few steps towards his bed steadying his feet and heart that seemed to want to get out of his chest.

"If you're Naruto, get out. I told you I don't want to see you."

Naruto gritted the painful words and stood up firmly, switching off all of his sense and reason and relying purely on his instincts. He ran with full power heading for Sasuke and succeeded into tripping them both onto the bed. Reversing their original position on the floor, he pinned Sasuke to the soft mattress.

Sasuke started pushing away but because his body was still too weak from the treatment he was taking, it was a battle lost in a flash.

"Naruto! Get off!"

The answer he got was a soft lick to his earlobe and a set of hot lips closing over his own. The salty, sloppy kisses mixed in with Naruto's tears made Sasuke's fighting-will cease for a moment. And as much as he wanted to kiss back, he stopped his lips from doing so, for he needed Naruto to leave him, get away and live a happy life away from him.

Cursing himself for what he was going to do to his precious blond, Sasuke bit the red tongue rooming so freely inside his own and waited for the pain to register inside Naruto's brain. It didn't take long for the blond to retreat, holding his aching tongue. Sasuke plopped on his elbow and wiped his mouth, forcing his own pain to bury down.

"Serves you right! Now, out!"

The blind raven pointed to where he thought his door was but wasn't prepared when Naruto jumped over him again with passionate set of eyes. Too bad he couldn't see them which left him wondering of what expression the blond was having right now. When he sensed the soft lips want to kiss him again, Sasuke kicked Naruto hard on the nuts.

He heard whimpers of pain and increase in the amount of tears Naruto was harbouring, but the blond refused to let go of him. Sasuke took a moment to catch his tired breath and Naruto took that moment to kiss every exposed flesh of the raven.

Feeling his will abandon him, Sasuke released a soft request.

"Naruto…please, let me go. Leave here and don't come back."

The blond quickly claimed those nasty lips shut, sparing his mind the agonizing thoughts and his heart the hurting words. But as Sasuke started moving his head away, refusing to kiss him back or to allow him access to his lips, Naruto felt his heart tear bit by bit with pain.

Not being able to contain himself anymore, Naruto released his tears letting them fall over Sasuke's face and even though he promised not to let his voice out, the hiccups refused to obey by his rule.

Hearing Naruto cry, sensing Naruto's tears and knowing that he was the reason for Naruto to be this sad and torn was too much for Sasuke to take, so he had to find a way to end it. He bit hard on the inside of his mouth, drawing blood and then he opened his mouth revealing it to Naruto.

"If you continue to kiss me against my will, I'll make sure you kiss blood!" He snarled coldly at the astonished blond.

Blue eyes widened in fear, Naruto quickly removed himself away from Sasuke, clenching his hands.

"Do…do you hate me this much?"

The question shook Sasuke's core, he knew the answer and had it on the tip of his tongue, but the answer he'd had and the one he needed to give weren't the same. He wanted nothing more than to go over there, hug Naruto, kiss the life out of him and tell him that all the mean things he'd said, all the things he did, were lies. But that will not let Naruto be in peace. And he wanted Naruto to stay in peace. So he gave his obligated answer.

"Yes."

And Sasuke squeezed his heart and mind shut when slow dead steps walked out of his room, closing the door with a silent tuck that seemed like a loud slam to Sasuke's numbed up ears.


I honestly feel sad now that I have finished this chapter. But hopefully, everything will work out just fine! Thanks for reading I'll be looking forward to your opinions! Review and review~