Author's Note; I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I've been away from the computer to clear my head and get a good grasp on book 2 for this novel series. It's coming along slowly because my thought process is being distracted by the original story line for Naruto Shippuuden. It's making me depressed :(

Naruto; At least this story is much better! D: I can't believe my creator did that to me!

Sasuke; At least you weren't forgotten about! This is utter bull shit.

Me; I know, I know :( Well, lets get on with the story.

Chapter 9

Naruto

I couldn't believe my father went behind my back and checked himself into a rehab center without talking to me about it. We had agreed that we would wait until I got home and talk about our options, but no. Great, now I'm sounding selfish.

But that wasn't the worst of my problems, while my father was away getting himself over his alcohol addiction, I had to stay with Sasuke and his brother. I know I was being left in good hands, but it's humiliating when your best friend had to take care of you. And watching Sasuke walk back into the room once Matatabi was done taking the gauze off my back, and all he did was stand there and stare, it made my blood start to boil. And with the fact that he's pale all together in general, but he paled two more shades and I could feel the anger and fury just radiating off of him from the door way.

In all honesty, I wanted to know what was going through his mind, what he's thinking, especially when it came to my injuries. I know he's not stupid, I know he knows the truth, well, most of it anyway.

"Hey, Sasuke, what are you staring at?" I asked, his staring now really starting to get on my nerves.

"Nothing." He said quickly before he finished walking back into the room. "Matatabi, Tsunade made sure I tell you you're staying overtime." He added as he sat down where I couldn't see him, but I could still feel his eyes on my back.

"Quit staring damn it, I'm not in the mood." I said, not realizing I was being rude until it was too late.

"Sorry," Sasuke huffed when I suddenly felt something cold on my back, making me flinch and hiss in pain from the sudden movement.

"Just some herbal salve Tsunade put together for you before she got real busy." Matatabi reassured and went back to putting the last bandage in place. "Now, do you have a shirt you can put on Naruto? It'd be best if there was something between you and the brace as not to cause a rash and chaffing."

"All I got is the shirt I wore here." I answered with a sigh. "And I don't know where it is."

"I think your dad took it home, I don't see it anywhere." Sasuke said as I heard him move around.

"I'll lend you a hospital gown, so it's alright." Matatabi smiled when I turned my head to look at her. I only nodded as she left to go get one.

"You thirsty Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his voice suddenly closer and I realized that he was sitting in the chair next to me.

"Not at the moment." I yawned. "But I'm ready to go back to sleep."

"You can sleep once the brace is back on." Sasuke nodded. I sighed in frustration. "And what's got you on edge?"

"My father told me that we were going to decide how we'd go about changing things at home when we got home together." I admitted, though I don't know why. "I feel betrayed more than angry."

"Naruto, I honestly don't know why you're giving him a second chance." Sasuke sighed, and I knew there was some point in his words, but I didn't want to face them.

"He's been blaming himself and me for Mom's death, Sasuke." I sighed, making sure I didn't make eye contact with him.

"That's a poor excuse." He mumbled.

"Tsunade told me that Dad used to be happy before I was born, he was happy that he was going to have a son, but not even Tsunade knew that Mom's heart was failing through out the pregnancy. Mom had a massive heart attack moments after she held me and gave me to Dad. She said she could remember Dad's smile like it was just yesterday. But when she died, something died in him as well. It slowly became harder for him to take care of me once I started school. Always claimed I looked like her in some way."

"Okay, I'm back." Matatabi's voice sang as she came back into the room with the gown, making me happy I didn't have to explain anything else to Sasuke at the moment.

"How will I put it on? It hurts to move." I asked.

"I've been thinking about that too, and there's only one way … you'll have to sit up." She said, and I sighed heavily before burying my face in my pillow for a moment.

"Then lets go." I sighed into the pillow and in one go, I rolled onto my side and used my good arm to push me up into a sitting position, grimacing and wincing all the way.

"You must enjoy pain." Sasuke huffed and crossed his arms, though I know he was joking.

I wanted to add to his comment but Matatabi was in the room, and besides, Sasuke would be furious even more than he is now, and I don't wanna see him that way, not right now.

It took Matatabi and I a few moments to get the gown on, all because of my IV that's giving me either morphine or vicodin for the pain, but we got it on all the same … after tearing the gown's sleeve and tying it off.

"I'm sorry, it's just that we usually have the gowns that tie on the arms too, but I couldn't find any." Matatabi apologized.

"It's alright, I'm okay with this." I told her with a smile on my face as she reached past me and grabbed my brace.

"Sasuke, wanna help me for a moment?" She asked as she tried to get the brace around me, I could tell she didn't want to risk hitting my back, but I couldn't help but get flustered when Sasuke got closer to me.

"We'll need to make it slightly tighter than earlier, just to make sure that it's doing its job and not moving okay?" Matatabi said when she heard my breath hitch through my teeth once it was on and secure.

"It's okay." I whined, "can I lay on my back now?"

"Not until Tsunade says you can." She answered.

"Great." I pouted, laying back down and rolled back onto my stomach. I was so bored that if Kiba was here and offered to take me out of here and throw eggs at someone's house, I'd go with him.

"I'll be back in later to check up on you." Matatabi smiled, walking up to the whiteboard and erased the bastards name and put her name in its place. Thanking God that something went my way tonight.

"See you soon for dinner Naruto." She added with a wave and left to do some other work.

"Hey Sasuke …" I mumbled, half of my face now unburied from the pillow as I watched him sit in the chair with my opened eye.

"Yes dobe?" He said, smirking because he knew I hated that nickname.

"Do you hate me?" I suddenly asked, my eyes drifting away from him as I waited for an answer.

"No, I don't hate you Naruto." Sasuke said after a long moment of silence. A kind of silence that made you wish you never asked such a thing. "I'm just … sorry."

I blinked, raising my head to stare at him. Did I just hear him right? An Uchiha said … sorry?

"Yea, I said sorry, deal with it." He huffed and crossed his arms in agitation. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this bullshit, that's all."

"Don't be sorry … please … it's my fault anyway." I said out of nowhere as I lowered my head back down to my pillow and looked at the head of the bed in front of me.

"Say that one more time and I'll smack you." He hissed, and I knew he'd live up to his threat, so I didn't say anymore for the rest of the night, not even when Gaara came back later with Itachi who gave Sasuke his change of clothes for tomorrow. I half expected Itachi to lecture me about what I told Sasuke earlier, but it doesn't look like Sasuke told him anything about it.

I could hear Gaara and Sasuke talking in the hallway, before that, I could even sense Gaara's worry over me and my silence because the two knew I wasn't asleep. I refused to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, Yaguro was there tormenting me every second I was there until I woke up screaming and shaking so hard my stitches threatened to rip like earlier. I didn't want that, and not with Gaara around, he'd get so pissed that he'd search for the bastard himself and rip him apart.

I couldn't tell you how long the room around me was quiet. The lights were turned off probably an hour ago and I could hear Sasuke sleeping at the foot of my bed in the chair. He was exhausted, and I didn't want to wake him up if I needed something. Gaara was sitting in the chair next to me, and I could tell he was awake, though there were moments when his eyes flickered closed for about a few minutes at a time every half hour or so. I knew, more than Sasuke, that Gaara hadn't slept decently in two weeks. The most the guy could handle was three weeks at a time with two hours of sleep total, and he was barely making an hour or so these two weeks.

"Naruto, if you don't fall asleep, I'll ask your nurse to give you something to make you sleep." Gaara whispered, making me tense at the sound of his voice. Damn it, what gave me out? "And to let you know, your breathing is what gave you away."

"I'm sorry, but I can't sleep." I sighed in a whisper, so Sasuke wouldn't wake up.

"Then I'm going to go get Matatabi, I'll be right back." Gaara sighed quietly and left before I could say anything to object and pouted in silence.

I could tell Sasuke was still sleeping, his breathing hadn't changed, so I knew I could try getting up if I wanted. I'm great at swallowing my pain so no one hears. I was about to push myself up when I felt a hand on my head, and I knew full well it wasn't Sasuke's hand.

"Why don't you want me being your nurse, Naruto?" His voice whispered in my ear and I swallowed a whimper because I knew if I did, Sasuke would wake up and he would be hurt as well. "And don't worry about the boy, I snuck some sedatives in his drink hours ago, he'll be out a couple more hours."

My eyes widened, no wonder Sasuke was sleeping so deep. Oh God, what the hell am I going to do now?

"Don't worry, he'll be fine, he'll just have a nasty headache when he wakes up." Yaguro whispered in my ear again as I felt another hand reach underneath the blanket and snake up the back of my left leg and found it stopped between my legs pressed up my ass. Then I could feel him force his thumb up against my entrance. I growled as I tried to move, but my back shot up in pain and I stopped moving all together.

"You learn quick brat." Yaguro chuckled, his hand leaving my ass and sliding underneath the waist band of my pants and boxers. Now his hand was grasping my bare ass as his middle finger prodded at my entrance before he reached further and grabbed my dick and balls. I wanted to cry out when he squeezed them so hard I thought they were going to burst, tears were welling up in my eyes and threatened to fall.

"What the hell are you doing in his room?" Gaara's voice echoed into my room so viciously that I thought it was someone else for a moment. I was saved, but Gaara was pissed off beyond recognition.

"Who are you?" Yaguro asked, his hand retreating quickly, making me wince when the ring on his hand grazed me a little bit. I was too scared to make a sound.

"Get your ass out before I kill you." Gaara growled, but he didn't give Yaguro time to make a move before I watched Yaguro get pulled down into a bending position by someone grabbing his hair and dragged out of my room. I watched Gaara throw him out with a loud crash that echoed over to me.

"And stay out you fucking bastard!" He yelled before coming back into my room and glared at me with such ferocity that I finally started crying my eyes out into my pillow.

"Naruto, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry." Gaara said quickly before he reached over and helped me sit up gently so he could hug me, and I hugged him back while crying on his shoulders, clinging to him so hard I thought I might break his ribs. But he never protested.

"What is going on in here?" Matatabi's voice echoed into my room loudly before the light turned on. I would have been blinded if I didn't have my eyes closed and crying.

"That guy was in here doing something to Naruto. I didn't see what it was because I didn't turn the lights on … wait, why isn't Sasuke waking up?" Gaara said, and finally realized that Sasuke was still out of it.

"H-He said th-that he put s-sedat-tives in Sasuke's drink hours ago." I cried hard into Gaara's shoulder, only hoping they understood what I was saying, because I sure as hell didn't.

"I'm calling Tsunade, Gaara, don't leave the room." Matatabi said, her voice having an edge to it that I never knew it had, and that's when I knew she was furious.

All I could think about right now, was Sasuke, and if he was alright. Matatabi didn't check to see if he was alright when I told her. That proved that she didn't understand what I was saying, so I pushed myself off of Gaara.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried he might have hurt my back.

"Sasuke, he drank sedatives!" I blurted out between sobs and pointed at Sasuke, who still had yet to move. "That bastard gave him sedatives somehow! He told me himself."

"I'm calling Itachi." Gaara said and pulled his phone out faster than I thought possible and had it up to his ear before I noticed he dialed the number already.

"Tsunade's on her way over." Matatabi said when she came back, the look on her face showed how furious she was, but when she saw that I was sitting up and pointing at Naruto and that Gaara was on the phone talking frantically and furiously at Itachi.

"Something wrong with Sasuke?" She asked, I could only manage a nod as she walked over to him and checked his pulse. "He's got a strong pulse, normal, but …" She said, stopping before she looked at me for an explanation, but I couldn't get myself to say it again. Then Gaara got off the phone and slammed it shut.

"Itachi's on his way. And Naruto said that Yaguro gave Sasuke sedatives through his drink, so he ingested some sort of sedative and I have no clue what it could have been." Gaara said, glad that he answered for me because it started becoming hard for me to breathe.

"Naruto, breathe, slowly, please." Gaara pleaded, something he never did when he grabbed at my shoulder with one hand and put his other on my chest.

"Excuse me Gaara." Matatabi said quickly, reaching past him as she grabbed an oxygen mask and put it over my face, my left hand was grabbing at Gaara's hand that was on my chest, but honestly, I wanted to just curl in a ball and wish all the pain would go away. My heart felt like it had stopped and was being squeezed so hard that it might burst.

"He's having an anxiety attack. I have to sedate him." I heard Matatabi said before everything around me started sounding muffled and the sting of a needle just above my elbow.

"His dad needs to know." I heard Gaara say before I passed out against someone.