It was strange waking up during the middle of the night. Sasuke growled as his eyes adjusted to the dim lights shining through his window curtains. He made a mental note to go and search for new ones during the weekend. He groaned when he reached out towards his phone and saw that it was still three a.m. He sighed as he lay back down. The man closed his eyes, but immediately regretted it as various images shot through his head. He cringed when he remembered what he had done and with whom and where.

God, must I be so stupid? I can't believe I kissed Naruto of all people.

Sasuke brought a hand up and covered his eyes as he sighed in frustration. He then let it rest above them, on his damp forehead. He frowned. The man felt his forehead once more and then brought his hand up so that he could examine it. Dark eyes widened slightly when they noticed that there were a few droplets trickling down his pale fingers.

The cold air that entered through the window made the restless sleeper shiver. Sasuke rolled his eyes and tried to sit up so that he could go into the bathroom and examine the damage the previous days had done to his body. Unfortunately, all he managed to accomplish was a slight rise from the bed until his vision blurred, his eyes rolled back and his head began to pound.

"Fuck." The Uchiha muttered as his head started spinning. He brought his hand and covered his eyes before he mumbled, "Not this again."

His body then slumped forward. He moaned as his breathing became more ragged. He could not believe his luck. Why did he have to have the same reaction every damn year when that wretched day arrived? Couldn't whatever deity was currently watching over him spare him the aftermath at least for one year?

Sasuke waited patiently for the spinning to stop. He kept his eyes shut and was glad to find out that the darkness helped ease his discomfort at least a little bit. He sighed once his breathing returned to normal. Unfortunately, the constant sweating did not stop. Sasuke frowned once he felt something damp on his sheets. He opened his eyes and looked towards the bed. His eyes widened. A small puddle had formed. He then reached up a hand and felt his forehead.

"Shit." Sasuke whispered as he tried to rise once more.

All the man managed to accomplish was get up into a sitting position. With a few shaky breaths he succeeded in bringing his body towards the nightstand where he dialed an all too familiar number. Naturally he was able to tell the person on the other end of the line about what he had discovered about his current condition. Ignoring the chastising tone that followed, Sasuke barely managed to say:

"Kakashi, please, hurry."

After that he smiled sadly and slumped forward. As the Uchiha's body slowly connected with the floor the silent room was filled with worried shouts of said person's name.

The seconds were ticking by far too slowly for Kakashi's liking. He was currently at the hospital again, waiting for none other than Uchiha Sasuke, again. The silver-haired psychologist hated the fact that he had not been able to predict what would happen. He blamed himself for not thinking that Sasuke might drink too much more than once, but this time things were worse. The Uchiha was not only suffering the remnants of a bad hangover or the aftermath of intoxicating oneself with fleetingly pleasurable substances. At the moment Sasuke not only had a fever, but it seemed that he was having hallucinations as well. His body was beyond exhausted and his mind was in no better condition. It seemed that despite all the drugs that were bleeding their way into his system, trying to repair whatever they could, were not enough to quiet the voices of the Uchiha's guilty conscience.

Suddenly a nurse called his name and Kakashi immediately stopped his pacing. From what he could gather from her expression she was not all too pleased with the news she was about to deliver. She took a few uncertain steps towards Hatake and after a few shaky breaths she said:

"I am sorry to inform you, but it seems that there were slight complications during the procedure. It seems that the patient's body was not strong enough to endure everything it was given."

Kakashi's eyes widened before he asked:

"What kind of complications?"

The nurse sighed before she looked Hatake in the eyes and told him:

"Due to the fever Mister Uchiha's heart rate rose abnormally high and as a result his heart nearly stopped."

Kakashi's eyes widened. Sasuke's heart had stopped? No, it had nearly stopped, but why? That was the question Hatake could not help but voice.

The nurse shook her head, telling him silently that they still did not know. She then explained:

"The next 24 hours are critical. If we do not manage to make his temperature fall within the next few hours, I am afraid his chances at pulling through will be slim to none."

Kakashi's eyes widened. He stood there crestfallen as the nurse apologized and asked if he wanted to see the patient. Hatake merely shook his head. That was the only movement his frozen body allowed him.

He might not survive, but why? Sasuke is barely twenty-five. He-he can't just die. He still has so much to accomplish, so many things to do, so much… life left inside of him.

As Kakashi was walking towards Sasuke's room, he could not help but recall the last time this had happened. It was about a year ago, around the same date that had ruined Sasuke's life seventeen years ago. With a deep sigh Kakashi remembered how Sasuke had called him from a bar again. Hatake had had to drive all the way to the outskirts of town in order to find the Uchiha and then drive him to the hospital again, but he did not remember Sasuke having any hallucinations or fevers or anything of the sort. There had been mumbles, yes. There had been cries of pain, guilt and begging for forgiveness countless times, but there had never been a real risk for the Uchiha's life.

Kakashi mentally reprimanded himself for allowing such a thing to occur, but after all, Sasuke was an adult and as such he had the power to do whatever he wanted with his life no matter how bad or hurtful it might turn out to be in the end. The worst part was that this destructive and disastrous behaviour only occurred once and it was on that faithful day when everything had changed for the Uchiha family. The catch was that Sasuke would act differently only on that particular day or perhaps a day or two early, depending on what emotions were ruling his heart, but most of the time it took him a few days to recover. He had never before suffered, drunk and single handedly destroyed everything Kakashi had tried to build and save over the years for more than a week. And the worst part was that Kakashi had allowed it.

Kakashi stopped abruptly. He smiled sadly as he looked at the ironic number on the door – 666. Did he need a reminder of the fate of the creature behind that door through such grotesque detail? Apparently, he did. With a small sigh he opened the door and peered inside.

The artificial light swam through the sea of darkness and lit up only part of the pale body that was currently slipping away from this world. As slow as the process was, Kakashi could not help but note the change that was laid out in the open when he entered the room and flicked on the lights. His eyes noticed the redness of Sasuke's cheeks, the constant sweating that jus would not stop, the sharp gasps for air, the constant seeking of an anchor that was no longer in this world, the endless destruction that was about to take away every last bit of energy inside the young boy.

Kakashi walked towards Sasuke's bed and put a hand on the boy's forehead. He jumped back, horror written all over it. It was burning like a sea of lava that was slowly engulfing every last bit of solid land it could find. If a volcano had exploded from Sasuke's head, his forehead and entire body would not be this blazing fury of endless torture.

Kakashi's eyes watered slightly as he watched the boy's life flying away before his eyes. He clenched his fists, hating how helpless he felt. All those years he had been deluding himself that he had managed to help all those people and change their lives. He had even gone as far as to think that he had made an impact on Sasuke's life as well, perhaps he had, but the truth was that no matter how hard he tried he could not help the lost boy find purpose in his life again. That was up to Sasuke and Sasuke alone to decide and no matter how much it would hurt, if his life was supposed to be taken tonight or the day after, then Kakashi would not do anything to prevent it even if he could.

That was the reason why Kakashi stilled his heart and heavy breathing. He willed himself not to cry. After he had managed to collect what little willpower he had left, he made a few wobbly steps towards Sasuke's bed. He sat down and ran a hand through the damp locks. With a sad smile he whispered:

"It seems that after all these years he has finally come back for you, Sasuke." Kakashi then ran his fingers through the waves of darkness that was Sasuke's hair before he withdrew his hand and said to himself, "I just hope you will be happy there, wherever that there will be."

Kakashi then closed his eyes as a lone tear slid down his face. After that he slowly brought his body forward and placed a chaste kiss on the Uchiha's forehead. His lips only ghosted the skin, but it seemed that it had the desired effect for the Uchiha's eyes moved and formed a mixture of a cringe and a frown, but it was not a grimace. However, Kakashi did not allow happiness or hope to enter his heart. He simply ignored the unexpected movement. Instead, he withdrew completely from the body that was drifting away from him, got up and went towards the door. He opened it, turned off the lights, turned around and uttered:

"Goodbye, Sasuke."

After that he closed the door, allowing the darkness to swallow the dying Uchiha once more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. No profit is made from this story. It is written for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Thank you everyone for following, favouriting, reviewing and reading.

I apologise for the long wait.

I hope you will stay tuned for the next chapter. Since summer vacation is near, I hope you won't have to wait too long for the update.

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