Sorry for the long wait! I hope this chapter is any good. I think it will show what's going to happen in the next coming chapters a little...

I also know this isn't really accurate. I apologies to the ones who went through this and see that it isn't right at all. I just roll with whatever fits best and for what I know what could happen. Hopefully you all still enjoy!

...

It was now a few days later and Naruto had settled nicely in the hospital. Sasuke had stopped by every day after he got back from the office and then stayed until visiting hours were over. That was something that really sucked. He could only be there for a few hours and not leave whenever he felt like it. They did eat dinner together, which was nice. Too bad the hospital food was kind of crap and Sasuke wasn't allowed to bring in his own.

But today had been an extra important day. For the past few days it had all been about getting Naruto comfortable and find out exactly how he was doing, but today he got his first chemo. Sasuke had done everything to get the day off and join the blonde during the difficult time, but his boss wouldn't let him get off early even.

So now Sasuke was hurrying out of the office and getting into his car as fast as possible. Of course traffic was horrible and it took him way longer to get to the hospital than it normally would. He just wanted to be there for Naruto since the blonde had been terrified and he already had to disappoint him by not being there during the procedure itself. Hopefully he would be forgiven for all this and it would be great if Kiba hadn't swept in and showed what kind of supportive guy he was.

Smoothly he made his way through the hospital, avoiding all the people who were currently here during the visiting hours. Some were incredibly slow and had no idea where to go and then those elevators, too crowded that it was a miracle it still moved. But he finally got to the right floor, it being one of the quieter ones, thankfully. He walked passed Tsunade who yelled at him for spending too much time here while he certainly didn't agree. Sasuke rather spend more time here, but yeah, he wasn't allowed…

The first thing Sasuke's eyes fell on were the two females standing around Kiba's bed and there were even more damn dogs! Were they multiplying?! He had just gotten used to that weird white one, but now there are four more. Sasuke decided to kindly ignore it all and focus on Naruto and only then he noticed that the curtain was closed around the blonde's bed. That had never happened before. Sasuke shot Kiba a desperate look, wanting to know what was going on before he went in. But the only thing he got back was a sad look and a shake of the head. So Naruto wasn't doing so well… Damn it, he should've been here!

Carefully he pushed the curtain to the side and stepped in, closing it behind him again. When he turned towards the blonde, it was obvious Naruto didn't want to look at him or anyone else for that matter. It must've gone really bad then or something. He took place on the side of Naruto's bed and laid his hand on the blonde's hip, wanting him to turn to face him already. But Naruto didn't seem to respond at all, so Sasuke just sat there in silence until it really got to him.

'How did everything go today?' he asked softly, stroking Naruto's sides now in a comforting matter. He really hoped everything was alright with the blonde. It really got to him seeing the always happy Naruto being so quiet and depressed like this.

Slowly Naruto then did turn around, but didn't look up at Sasuke, just stared at the sheets in front of him. 'I feel really tired,' he said softly, his voice having something raspy. He actually had huge bags under his eyes and the blue seemed a little duller than usual. This was not the Naruto Sasuke had fallen for…

'What did they do?' Sasuke asked then, moving his hand up to let his thumb slide over Naruto's cheek, noting that it lost a bit of his usual tan. Naruto really must be very tired.

The blonde shifted a little in the bed, making more room in his bed. 'Lay down beside me first,' Naruto said softly and Sasuke did what he was told, now sharing a pillow and staring each other deep in the eyes. Naruto started explaining on how the chemo worked. How they had brought him to another room and put a new infuse in his arm, the needle was actually still in there, so they didn't have to do it again. And then a clear fluid dripped into his arms. It really took hours before it was finally over and the more that dripped in, the more tired Naruto become. He also felt incredibly sick afterwards and threw up a few times. All of this didn't sound all too nice and Sasuke felt even worse about not being here.

He wrapped his arms around Naruto and hugged him close, the blonde settling in his arms and letting out a content smile. 'I'm sorry I wasn't here, Naruto,' Sasuke murmured softly, tightening his hold on his lover. 'I really tried, but my boss was being an ass and now I really feel bad. I promise I'll be here next time.'

'It's okay,' Naruto sighed out, nuzzling Sasuke's neck and closing his eyes. Whatever Sasuke said after that, Naruto missed, because the warm hold of the raven and the sweet smile he carried around on his skin, put Naruto right out. He was just so tired and it was nice to have the comforting hold of someone here. He was so happy he wasn't going through all this alone.

Sasuke just stayed silent and let his hand slide over Naruto's back. He listened to the busy voices outside and the dogs bark at their owners. It seemed Kiba was really close to the two women out there and he did look a lot like them as well. Probably his mother and sister or something. His mother was a lot like Kiba. Yelling and laughing a lot and then suddenly she got mad and started lecturing her son about things that didn't matter. His sister was more of the silent type or at least it seemed that way.

Not much else happened around the room, but the soft breathing of Naruto let Sasuke know he was sleeping and the raven didn't want to wake him up after the day he just had. He wanted to be there for his blonde and this seemed to be the only way at the moment.

And then suddenly the door opened and the room went quiet. Not that Sasuke could see who was coming due to the curtain, but he still held his breath, wanting to hear who it was. But then the curtain was pushed open and the pink haired girl from the front desk stepped in, smiling widely when she noticed Sasuke there.

'Oh, hey there. Didn't know you were here,' Sakura said happily and also a little too loud for Sasuke's liking. Couldn't she see Naruto was sleeping? Though he didn't think he would wake up any time soon. He just glared at her, but Sakura didn't seem to take the hint. 'Just here to check up on Naruto. He just had his first chemo, but you probably already know that.' Seriously, was she that dense? Just go away, woman. 'I'll just check his stats and then leave you two alone.' Finally she got the hint and she looked uncomfortable as well. Good, maybe she really understood now that he wasn't interested in her, but in the beautiful blonde sleeping in his arms. Seriously she had been hitting on him every time he walked past the desk.

Sakura walked around the bed and checked his IV and his heart monitor, writing something down and then tapping her pen against the paper. Something must be going on, but she wasn't panicking, so should be alright. Hopefully they would inform him when something did happen. He was now also the person they called in a case of emergency, so that was good.

The pink haired female stepped away again and smiled politely this time. 'I got everything I need, so I will leave you alone now. Everything seemed to be alright, so I'll come check after the visiting hours are over. You have about half an hour left though, so I'll come get you when it's time,' she said sternly, pointing her pen at Sasuke before disappearing behind the curtain again. He still wondered why someone would dye their hair that awful colour pink. Why, seriously why would someone do a soft pink? If you start washing it, it would fade way too soon and get all greyish or something.

And then she spoke up again, now saying something to the other family in the room. 'And the same goes for you. Mom and sister need to leave and those dogs definitely need to leave. How many times do we have to tell you that you can bring one at a time? This is not okay. We can't have that many dogs in here. Allowing the one is already a big deal.' The family murmured an apology and actually left then, but Sasuke could hear in their tone that they definitely would be bringing the dogs along next time. Just like they had done every time before. They really were a family that didn't care much about rules. Sasuke didn't want to think it, but they seemed a little like trailer trash…

Then everything went quiet again as soon as the door closed behind Kiba's family. Sasuke could hear Kiba shift in his bed and then the rolling of some IV thing. The curtain opened a little bit and suddenly the tanned boy was in there with them as well.

'Chemo is pretty rough on your body,' he said simply, taking a seat next to the bed. Apparently he wasn't done with socializing or something. Sasuke couldn't see him though since his back was to the chair and he didn't want to move with Naruto lying in his arms. 'It really is poison they drain into your body, but it kills the tumour. It will take a while before it is over though and he needs chemo every week. I don't know if they plan to operate, but it usually is nicer. His hair will fall out and he will weaken a lot. You'll see him in a lot worse state than this if you stay.'

Kiba fell quiet as he let the words sink in and Sasuke didn't know how to respond. For the first time it really was laid out to him what would happen. It still wasn't clear much, but he did know more. He wasn't sure if he was so happy about that though. He hadn't googled anything, because he just didn't want to know. But now he couldn't deny what was going to happen. He couldn't push the thought away of a hairless Naruto. It would be like staring at the sun without it shining down at him or a flower not yet in bloom.

'You'll make it through,' Kiba then suddenly stated, standing up again and walking out of the curtain. 'You don't want to see Naruto suffer and he would do a lot worse if he hadn't known you'd be here later on. He waited with sleeping until you were here.'

Sasuke heard the bed tip when Kiba got back into bed, but never said something back. It really got to him to hear that. Naruto had actually waited until Sasuke got here and then fell asleep right away, because he was finally comfortable.

Now he knew it was going to be rough, but Sasuke realised he needed to be here for Naruto. Not just because Sasuke cared so much, but because the blonde would get through this so much easier. So Sasuke would stay and take every blow that would hit them both. It would get hard, but he would stay.

Characters © Masashi Kishimoto

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