I woke up this morning with the vivid memories of a dream that I had. I decided to replace myself and my boyfriend in my dream with Naruto and Sasuke, because, well, they're my favs.

I also did cry multiple times when I wrote this, so good luck...

Enjoy!

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31

Sasuke Uchiha tapped his clipboard with the sleek thin, black, biro pen while humming a song that he had heard on the radio during his drive to work that morning. Lifting the paper and folding it over, his eyebrow rose when he saw the details about his next patient.

Konoha General Hospital was ripe with screams and the scent of disinfectant. Sasuke loved the smell - it made him feel clean and as if all the different people who held different virus' and diseases didn't have an impact on him. This wasn't to say that he treated his patients differently, but there was always that underlying tension about catching something that he could not recover from.

He would deny it, and blame his family on the fact that he was a wealthy doctor, but he genuinely enjoyed taking care of people and physically making a difference in their lives. The weeps of joy when someone was cured or the small smile that he received in exchange for the patients' discharge paperwork, it truly made all the extra overtime shifts and headaches worth it.

He lowered his clipboard and saw as Sakura walked towards him with a smile in greeting. "Morning." She noted, "What ward are you in next?"

Sakura Haruno was one of Sasuke's best friends. They actually started getting close at around the time that they were sixteen, when she confessed to him. He wasn't surprised, and curtly rejected her, she finally sighed and said, 'Thank god, now I can get over you - wanna go get pizza?'

"Well," Sasuke didn't know why he looked at his clipboard again, he knew exactly where he was going, but something about the photo of the young man on the top left-hand side of the page made him sigh. "Palliative Care Ward."

The Palliative Care Ward was for patients with serious illnesses, which usually always included their life being limited. The focus of it was to provide relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of having - in the case of his next patient - Lymphoma, a brain tumour which developed into cancer. The patient would most likely die, but not before enjoying the last couple of days, or weeks, or months of their lives.

Sasuke's job was to administer the correct dosage of painkillers and ensure that the patient had a good quality of life, considering it may be coming to an end.

He wasn't shy to admit that he disliked the Palliative Care unit; doctors had to take a Hippocratic Oath which meant that he would try his best to save each and every patient that he was responsible for, and the Palliative Care unit usually meant that there was no saving them. But he would try damn hard to do his best for the patient.

Sakura grimaced, "Hate that ward." She said simply, "Can't do shit to save them." Sasuke nodded, agreeing completely to what she was saying, although he didn't agree with the language in public. "Well, Dr. Uchiha, off you go." She patted his shoulder and rushed off after seeing Ino motioning to her.

Grunting, Sasuke straightened his white doctors coat and started walking to the Palliative Care Ward. It was one of the furthest units in the whole hospital, this was because the families of the patient, including the patient themselves, deserved their privacy as they have their own rooms and would be staying there for a while. Also, not many people wanted to willingly go to the ward with the highest percentage of guaranteed deaths.

He passed the Maternity Ward and nodded to Hyuuga Neji, who had the blood of a woman all over his gloved hands. Neji wiggled his crimson-covered fingers to Sasuke who scowled at the sight, Neji just chuckled and got back to work.

Continuing his walk, he saw the sign to the entrance of the Palliative Care Ward, seeing the brightly drawn flowers and animals drawn all over the walls on paper. The ward was split into two age groups, 18 and Under, and Over 18's. He was sure the old men and women didn't want to hear children running around all of the time, but he knew for sure that once a week the two sides joined together and had fun during sessions.

The older patients usually didn't have many people visiting them, and it was beautiful to see the smiles on their faces when a small girl held her hands up and requested to be picked up.

Anyway, Sasuke looked at his clipboard again and found the room number that he had to go to. He made his way to Room 9 and stood outside silently while skimming the details of the young man he was responsible for now.

The boy had been in the ward for a while, but his previous doctor had gone on maternity leave and so the job was passed to Sasuke. The boy was eighteen years old, and he had maybe a month to live.

He scowled again at the diagnosis, Lymphoma, a brain tumour which had become cancer, wasn't the most pleasant experience. Not that any cancer was, but Lymphoma attacked the cells that protected the immune system which fought infection. Meaning - a simple fever could kill the boy. Since it affected the brain, the behaviour and personality of the boy may change, movement and balance were affected, he could have seizures or even problems with eyesight. It was a horrible medical condition to have, (understatement of the century.)

Exhaling, Sasuke lifted his fist and knocked on the door three times.

"Come in."

The voice was light and airy, deeper than he expected but it held a tone of defeat. Sasuke opened the door and his eyes widened as he was met with a scene as if it was from a movie. The window was wide open, and the thin white curtains were lifted and danced in the wind, inside the room. The boy was looking outside, his bright blond hair moved as the curtains did.

The boy turned his head and locked eyes with Sasuke. He had three distinctive tattooed lines on each side of his face, providing the appearance of whiskers, and the most beautiful deep cerulean eyes that he ever saw.

"Good morning Doctor." The sides of the boy's lips rose, and he tilted his head.

Sasuke cleared his throat, "You must be Naruto Uzumaki." He said plainly, and then his eyes widened. "This window should not be open." He placed his clipboard on the bedside table and walked towards the window, holding the curtains with one hand and pulled forward the handle of the window with the other.

Naruto's spiky blond hair stopped dancing and the curtains fell, motionless.

"I wanted fresh air." Naruto chuckled.

Sasuke's eyebrow rose, "If you want fresh air, open it only slightly. You could get a fever from the window being completely open like that." He didn't have to add on the fact that it could kill him easily, Naruto already knew the ins and outs of his Lymphoma. "How long was it in this state?" He questioned.

"Only a couple of minutes." The blond quipped, "I swear." He grinned.

Sasuke stared down at the young man and sighed. "Don't do it again, just call for one of the nurses instead, please." He walked around the bed and picked up his clipboard again, feeling safe and secure if he had it in his hand. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I'll be taking care of you since Dr. Tenten is on maternity leave."

Naruto laughed, "Finally! Neji's going to be ecstatic!" Sasuke was surprised that Naruto knew details about Tenten's life, but went along with it and nodded. "Tenten was complaining about lugging around the extra weight for ages!"

Sasuke glanced at the chair beside Naruto in question, and Naruto nodded and waved his hand for the raven-haired man to sit down.

"So, Doctor, busy morning?" Naruto supported his head with his right palm and grinned with his eyes closed, trying to change the subject from the window incident to Sasuke.

Dr. Uchiha knew exactly what Naruto was doing, but let him get away with it. He leaned back in the chair, trying to get comfortable since he knew cancer patients didn't want to spend the rest of their lifetime with rude assholes. "Firstly, call me Sasuke." He stated, tapping his long thin fingers on the clipboard which was in his lap.

Naruto blinked and opened his mouth, then closed it, wincing slightly. Sasuke caught onto this instantly, before he could say anything, Naruto spoke, "It's okay, just a headache." Sasuke shut his mouth and noted to himself to grab some painkillers when they had finished their conversation. He watched as Naruto opened his mouth again and tested out his name, "Sa-su-ke." His lips morphed into different positions and Sasuke couldn't help but stare at the rosy lips as his name was whispered. Sasuke blinked, snapping out of his trance and looked up at Naruto's eyes, noticing the small pink flush on his cheeks.

At this, Sasuke smiled slightly - he wanted to give a smirk but catching himself and telling himself to be professional. He was always professional.

"Well, Naruto," He started, assessing the blond boy's appearance. He was thin, most likely because of the cancer, but he wasn't too sickly, "My morning was boring, just some simple cases of broken bones," Naruto stared at him and leaned forward in interest, "Some dumb teenagers got into a fight over an Xbox."

Naruto burst into laughter. His voice most definitely resonating throughout the halls of the ward, but Sasuke simply smiled, liking the sight of the bubbly blond lost in joy.

30

"I want ramen."

Sasuke turned his head and dropped his hands to his sides. He had been adjusting the IV drip which was connected to the blond the day after the window incident.

Naruto had sneezed once and Sasuke called three nurses to fit an IV into Naruto's arm, not taking any chances - despite Naruto's wails of 'I'm fine, I swear!' and his overall complaining. Sasuke just shrugged and said, 'take this into account in the future, don't open the window too much or this will happen.'

Sasuke frowned, "Honestly, who likes that sodium-filled garbage?"

Gasping loudly, Naruto smacked his hands on either side of his cheeks. "How dare you! Ramen is food from the gods!" He retorted, Sasuke shook his head. "Please?"

"Ask a friend to bring a couple of ramen cups for you." Sasuke wished he hadn't said that because Naruto's bright eyes suddenly dimmed, and his head lowered. "Or not."

Naruto sighed, "It's not that," He ran a hand through his blinding hair and leaned back in his bed. "It's exam season, everyone's busy revising."

"Oh." Sasuke took one last look at the IV drip and then sat back down next to Naruto.

The blond had started reading a book and was now on the third page, he hummed in appreciation, "Did you know that in the 19th Century, people suffering from mental illness where thought to be alienated from their own true natures?" He randomly recited from the book, Sasuke shook his head, he didn't know that. "Experts who studied them were therefore known as Alienists. That's a cool ass name!"

Sasuke snorted, Naruto just grinned up at him. Lord, his smile was beautiful, Sasuke thought, 'He's dimmer than a broken lightbulb, but his smile is definitely something.'

"Sasuke?"

The said Uchiha's head snapped upwards and he met Naruto's eyes, which were looking at him curiously.

"I'll buy you some ramen tomorrow."

Sasuke really wished that his heart hadn't skipped a beat when the blond boy stared at him in wonder and amazement, his eyes glistening and his tanned skin warping to make way for the massive beam of happiness that radiated from his face.

He had forgotten that the days were counting down.

29

Sasuke stared down at the plastic bag filled with the sodium-filled garbage and rolled his eyes. He had no idea why he used his own money and spent it on ramen cups for his Lymphoma cancer patient.

Naruto. His name was Naruto. But he was still a patient, and he had to treat everyone equally. Did that mean that when an elderly woman said she wanted chocolate, he needed to get her chocolate? Sasuke frown increased and he shook his head to get rid of his thoughts, he'd think about it later.

Knocking on the door in advance, he pressed down on the handle and entered, being welcomed by Naruto's wide smile.

"Sasuke!" He clapped his hands, "How are you feeling today?" He asked in interest, eyes fluttering down to the plastic bag every couple of seconds.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "I don't have many feelings." He said simply, grunting at his predicament and the obvious lie that he just told to protect his emotions. "I take them to an abyss deep within my soul and throw them off a cliff." He ranted, having completely no idea what he was talking about.

Naruto stared at him in amusement, "Why are you so weird?" He laughed.

"I don't know," Sasuke sighed, throwing the plastic bag at Naruto who caught them in surprise and was almost hit in the chest. He ripped open the bag and lit up while looking at all the different flavours; Sasuke tried not to look at Naruto's face. "I think it's just my factory setting."

28

Naruto didn't want to admit it, but he looked forward to the times that Sasuke came to visit him. He knew that it was the Uchiha's job, but he felt like Sasuke treated him differently.

Sasuke didn't treat him like a sick patient, didn't avoid him like some of the other nurses did out of awkwardness, but he treated him like a teenager who was simply in hospital for a common cold.

Once the raven-haired doctor had arrived in Room 9 and sat down, Naruto asked a question.

"How old are you?"

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. "Why do you want to know?"

Naruto tapped his chin, "You're pale, I wanted to know if you're like three hundred years old and a vampire." He joked.

Sasuke's lips turned upwards and he let out a low chuckle which sent chills up Naruto's spine. "Twenty-one." He spoke. "I'm twenty-one."

Naruto gaped, "And you're a doctor already?!"

Nodding, Sasuke shrugged, "What can I say, I'm smarter than you." He sighed in fake exasperation, shaking his head at Naruto.

"Bastard!"

27

The Lymphoma had affected Naruto's balance on Tuesday. He struggled to stand at all, and kept on stumbling and had fallen multiple times already.

"Stop." Sasuke held a hand up and then grabbed Naruto's shoulders and pushed him down to sit on the bed.

The blond Uzumaki felt a tingle travel up his spine and he questioned whether it was his Lymphoma or his body reacting to the handsome Uchiha touching his skin for the first time.

"I can stand." Naruto mumbled, clenching his teeth when Sasuke shot him a deathly glare.

"No, not today." He retorted. "Stay." He ordered Naruto and walked out of the room, leaving the door wide open. Naruto sighed and fell backwards onto the bed as he felt another faint spell coming over him.

What Naruto didn't expect was for Sasuke's voice to be muttering angrily outside of the door, kicking a wheelchair and stretching it out to open it. "This'll have to do." Sasuke straightened his doctor's jacket again and pushed the wheelchair next to Naruto. "Can you get on?"

Swallowing his saliva silently, Naruto nodded and pushed himself off the bed, shakily placing himself down onto the seat of the wheelchair. His hand slipped, and he nearly slammed down painfully but Sasuke grabbed him just in time, with one arm under his armpit and the other arm around his small waist. Both of them paused for a couple of seconds in that position until Sasuke cleared his throat and lowered Naruto down carefully.

Naruto's cheeks were like two glowing Christmas ornaments and he didn't look up at Sasuke, otherwise he would have noticed that the pale man was also not in the best state of mind.

Sasuke walked around the thin boy and started pushing the wheelchair out of the room.

"Where are we going?" Naruto questioned, wincing when his voice cracked out of embarrassment.

Sasuke hummed, "Just on a little walk." He himself didn't really know where they were going, but Naruto had been stuck in that white walled room for too long, it wasn't healthy - for anyone.

He pushed the wheelchair in silence and Naruto looked around the hospital in awe. Sasuke didn't know why everything was fascinating to Naruto, but the childlike curiosity and expressions that Naruto displayed definitely made him feel better, and that it was a good idea to let him travel around the hospital.

"Oh," Sasuke stopped pushing the wheelchair right in front of the maternity ward. "Do you want to meet Neji?"

Naruto stopped for a second and then turned his head and beamed, "Yeah!" Sasuke smiled down at his patient and pushed the wheelchair into the ward, looking around for the Hyuuga.

"Ew!" Sasuke had collided into Neji while looking left and some blood from Neji's hands had splattered onto Naruto's lap.

"Oh god, I'm sorry." Neji bowed and apologised, pulling off his gloves and throwing them into the bin, rushing to the side to get some spray and tissues to disinfect Naruto's skin.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Clumsy." Neji raised his middle finger as he rubbed the stain from Naruto's black shirt.

Naruto grimaced at the blood, thinking about where exactly it was from and shivered in disgust. "To be fair, you weren't looking where you were going, Sasuke." The blond studied Neji, who had his long brown hair tied back with a net over it. His eyes were light lavender and he could see why Tenten was attracted to him. "I'm Neji, you must be the one who's stolen Sasuke away from all of his fangirls." He chuckled. "Sorry about that, by the way." He threw the bloodied tissue in the bin.

Naruto blushed and looked down, "I suppose I can forgive you."

Smiling down at the boy, Neji chuckled, "Now? Or in six years?"

Sasuke flinched and glared at Neji. Of course, it wasn't Neji's fault, he didn't know what ward Naruto was from, he just heard that Sasuke had a new patient, and he saw that the patient was in a wheelchair - it was a simple misunderstanding.

Meeting Sasuke's glaring eyes, he realised that he had messed up. Naruto didn't react badly, he just smiled at him brightly and chuckled, rubbing his nose with his hand.

"More like a couple of weeks."

26

Naruto could walk normally on Thursday. But instead of balance, something else was affected. Sasuke knew that behaviour and mood changed once the Lymphoma worsened as it tainted the brain and parts of the brain which made Naruto... Naruto.

The said blond was raging in his bedroom until they had to drag him into a part of the ward called the Low Stimulus Room. There, they let Naruto relieve his anger and Sasuke watched through the circle-shaped glass window of the door as Naruto grabbed a beanbag chair and vaulted it over his head at the wall.

Sasuke was wide eyed and he had never seen Naruto like this.

Screaming and shouting, Naruto punched the wall so hard and started cackling, his eyes glinting red, in comparison to his usual sea blue as his animalistic mood caused him to notice Sasuke staring at him in shock.

Walking clumsily forward, Naruto smirked and placed his hands on either side of the circle-shaped window, staring straight at Sasuke's face.

Sasuke knew that this was not the usual Naruto, and the rest of the patients in the ward knew that this wasn't the usual Naruto. Numerous patients were standing around Sasuke, albeit further from him and the Low Stimulus Room, some crying and some staring in sadness, it was obvious that this had happened once before.

Looking back at the blond boy, Sasuke met his eyes.

"You can't save me." Naruto spat out. Sasuke felt his heart wrench as he raised a hand and placed it beside the window, presumably where Naruto's was on the other side. "No-one can."

25

"Who are you?"

Sasuke was sitting next to Naruto's bed and turned around to see another pale boy by the doorway. The boy was short and had crimson red hair, with a peculiar symbol on his forehead. Sasuke noticed that it said 'love' in Japanese kanji, and the boy's jade eyes stared blankly at him.

"Gaara!" Naruto cheerfully yelled, motioning for him to come in, "This is my Doctor! His name is Sasuke."

Gaara stepped forward and raised his hand to shake Sasuke's hand, who was surprised at the young man's polite nature and nodded towards him. "Nice to meet you Doctor, thank you for taking care of Naruto." He bowed his head and then dropped his hand. "May I talk to Naruto in private?"

Sasuke nodded and glanced at Naruto, who grinned and then turned to Gaara, "Ahhh, I haven't seen you in ages! Where have ya been?"

As the boys started chatting, Gaara calmly and Naruto using his hands animatedly, Sasuke picked up his clipboard, walking out of the room and shut the door behind him.

He felt irritation spike in his body. He tried to shake it off because, well, why was he irritated? Naruto had a friend come to visit him, that was great for him!

Yet, why did he feel annoyed?

24

Naruto was reading out loud to Sasuke about that book about Alienists - the same one that he referenced earlier - while Sasuke was doing some paperwork in silence.

It had become normal for them to spend time together, even if they were not particularly doing anything. Sasuke always had paperwork to do, and Naruto loved reading, plus, Sasuke was listening to the words that Naruto spoke and occasionally made comments while being able to do his paperwork. He could multi-task well.

Sasuke set his pen down for a second and stared at his tanned patient, eyes examining the lines drawn across Naruto's face in black tattoo ink.

"Why the whiskers?" He asked simply, interrupting Naruto who was reading the book out loud. Naruto yipped in surprise at the sudden input and turned his head to Sasuke.

He blinked a couple of times and then made an 'oh' with his mouth and grinned. "Well, when I got diagnosed, I thought I might as well get a risky tattoo that no one else has!" He traced the lines with his fingers, "I couldn't ever have something like this if I was going to live and start working in a professional environment, so why not?" He explained.

Sasuke understood that, he nodded and let a small smile cross his lips. "I like them." He added.

Naruto's cheeks gained a little pink hue and he cleared his throat, "Y-Yeah, well, Gaara and Kiba got tattoo's too! I told them not to, but they said it was to always have a piece of me with them, that kinda thing."

Sasuke didn't know who Kiba was, but he knew who Gaara was. He felt irritation spike again and he leaned back in his chair. "Oh, did they now?" He drawled out, not really caring about the response.

"Yeah!" Naruto shut his book and started motioning to his face. "You saw Gaara's 'love' kanji, right? Well Kiba has two upside-down triangles on his cheeks - his Mum went ballistic! But when she found out why he got it, she understood a little bit, but was still really angry." He ranted. "Then-"

Sasuke tuned out the rest of Naruto's ramblings about Kiba and Gaara. They must have been really close to get face tattoos for Naruto. Again, his heart skipped a beat and he felt annoyed, instead of reading too much into it, he simply propped his chin up with his palm and enjoyed the sight of Naruto's happy expression.

14

Sasuke stared as Naruto breathed in and out heavily while other doctors strapped him into the operating bed and stuck IV drips and other chemicals into him.

Naruto, the dumb idiot, had opened the window again during the night, apparently because his room felt stuffy, and closed it before Sasuke came to visit in the morning. The next day, Naruto was running a high fever and started having seizures.

Staying calm and collected, Sasuke pinned Naruto down onto his bed and yelled for assistance, watching as the convulsing blond was taken into the operating theatre to do what they could to stabilise him.

Once Shikamaru had exited the operating theatre, he sighed and ripped the gloves off from his hands. Sasuke walked to him and asked him about the situation. Shikamaru shook his head and explained the bad news.

Naruto had lost 10 days of his remaining life.

13

When Sasuke walked in on Gaara standing above Naruto, leaning forward with his lips pursed, pressed firmly against Naruto's forehead, he finally realised what the irritated feeling was whenever he saw or heard about the red-head.

Sasuke Uchiha, was jealous.

12

"So, is Gaara your boyfriend?"

Sasuke mentally slapped himself for the way that the question left his lips. He intended it to sound bored and slightly curious, but instead it came out harsh and rude.

Naruto furrowed his brows in confusion and stared at the onyx-haired man while blinking.

Sasuke stood his ground, he couldn't waver now, he had already asked Naruto and he couldn't be weak and regret what he said now. He continued to stare at Naruto's confused expression, slowly realising that Naruto's expression did not match what he thought would occur.

Naruto suddenly burst into laughter until tears fell down his cheeks. He slapped the hospital bed that he was sitting up on and held his stomach tightly, glancing at Sasuke multiple times and then bursting into laughter all over again.

Sasuke felt his eye twitch, "What?"

When Naruto finally calmed down from his laughing fit, he wiped a tear from his eye and looked back at Sasuke.

"You're a stupid bastard," Naruto chuckled, "Gaara's my brother."

Sasuke blinked. 'Oh.'

9

Sasuke had booked some days off for his older brother, Itachi's, birthday. He had made the plans and booked the two days off a month before, but now felt bad since he was taking care of Naruto. He had effectively left him alone for a couple of days. Sasuke had told Naruto why he would be away, but he still felt bad.

The young Uchiha was working the night shift for the first time in a long while. He had been in A&E for six hours until Tsunade, his boss, sent him away to go home. Wanting to find some coffee to drink first before he drove home, he started walking towards the Palliative Care Ward - assuming that Naruto would be asleep obviously, since it was 3AM, but he might as well drop off the extra ramen cups that he bought earlier before the stores closed.

Swinging the plastic bag as he walked, he hummed a random tune and looked around at each ward's entrance just to see who was still around. The lights had dimmed, and it was quiet.

Sasuke liked the night shifts. Although it confused his body clock and sleep schedule, it was so much more peaceful, the patients were asleep, and the loudest ward was usually A&E, but even then, there were a few drunks and patients who had fallen with broken bones. Yeah, Sasuke nodded to himself, he loved the night shifts.

As he approached the Palliative Care Ward he greeted the nurses who were still on duty, regretting his actions immediately when their faces flushed, and they giggled to each other. He was simply trying to be polite, now he can't even do that anymore without fangirls approaching him.

He stood outside Room 9 and raised his plastic bag, chewing the inside of his mouth and wondering how to broach the situation. He could open the door and place the bag inside the room, and risk Naruto waking up or simply being inappropriate as Sasuke always knocked before he entered a room - or he could leave the plastic bag with the nurses, and he really didn't want to talk to the nurses.

Deciding on the former option, he placed his hand onto the handle and prepared to open the door. His breath hitched when he heard the faint sound of spluttering and irregular breathing. Sasuke's eyes widened when he realised that it was... crying.

Naruto was quietly crying so as to not alarm anyone. When he cried, there was a rawness to his voice, to the extent that his throat filled with anguish and pain. It came in waves, Sasuke noticed, he had been silent for a couple of seconds and heard an exhale, but then the moan and quiet howls of agony and suffering worsened.

Knowing that he had to do something, but not knowing what, Sasuke grit his teeth and opened the door, blue misty eyes snapping towards him in surprise.

"S-Sas-" Naruto hiccupped, "-suke...."

The raven-haired man dropped the plastic bag, not caring that a pot rolled out across the floor as he walked towards Naruto and dropped onto his bed, beside him. He wrapped his arms around the warm young man and pulled him close, leaning Naruto's face in the crook of his neck.

"S-Sasuke...?" Naruto stuttered, eyes wide with embarrassment.

Sasuke lowered his head and dropped it onto Naruto's shoulder. "Just..." He clenched his teeth again, "Just let it out."

The words triggered something in Naruto and he clutched his doctor's jacket until his knuckles hurt. The blond Uzumaki sobbed into Sasuke's chest unceasingly, the pain came in waves, minutes of crying broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths, before collapsing again into tears. Sasuke held him tightly, rocking him slowly in silence as tears soaked his white linen shirt.

Sasuke shut his eyes as he felt a tear drop down his cheek. Naruto was always so happy, so cheerful, grinning from ear to ear, of course it must have been a façade. Sasuke never even realised that this must be what he really was feeling. Crying in the dead of night so no one could hear, feeling so vulnerable.

After about half an hour, Sasuke released Naruto from his clutches and shakily raised a finger to wipe away a tear from the boy's whiskered cheek.

Naruto looked up at the taller man and his eyes fell down to his pale thin lips. He swallowed a lump of salty saliva mixed with tears in his throat and looked up at Sasuke's eyes again.

In the darkness, the only illumination they received was from a nearby lamp post outside of the hospital, which shone through the window's curtains. The light hit Naruto's cerulean glassy eyes, Sasuke hesitated but placed his hand on Naruto's cheek firmly, while Naruto was still grasping the front of Sasuke's jacket.

Slowly, Sasuke gulped, knowing he shouldn't do this. It wasn't professional. He was a doctor, Naruto was a patient. And... he was dying. Not only will this hurt Naruto, it would hurt Sasuke himself. But he couldn't help himself as Naruto shut his eyes and leaned forward; his wet lips looking tempting.

Sasuke thought that maybe he was taking advantage of Naruto's vulnerable state. He was crying, he wanted someone to comfort him, and Sasuke was just there at the wrong place, wrong time, right? Sasuke's throat closed up as he stared at Naruto's lips, but then just remembered all of the small blushes, glances and grins that Naruto gave him.

They felt the same, right?

He wasn't taking advantage, right?

Naruto actually liked him back, right?

Sasuke leaned forward and shut his eyes. When his lips felt Naruto's warm lips, he felt an explosion in the back of his mind and it was as if fireworks had erupted behind them. Sasuke's hand moved from Naruto's cheek to the back of his head and the blond leaned forward so he was on his knees so that he was the same height as Sasuke.

Feeling the soft hair, Sasuke let his hands run through the blond boy's locks, wrapping his left hand around Naruto's waist and pulling him closer so there wasn't so much space between them. He felt like he couldn't get enough.

It was a perfectly innocent kiss, until Naruto tilted his head to the right so that he could get more access to the pale man's lips.

After a few seconds, they broke away from each other for air and panted, Sasuke's arm still around Naruto, and Naruto's hand still gripping Sasuke, sitting practically on his lap.

Naruto swallowed again, noticing his lack of regret from what they just did. He lowered his head and whispered, "Please, don't leave me tonight."

Sasuke pulled Naruto close to him again and spoke softly into his ear, "I won't leave."

Shutting his eyes, Naruto let another tear fall down from his eyes, thinking to himself, 'But I'll be leaving you.'

8

Sasuke had woken up the next morning in the same clothes, flexing his body to crack his back. He had made sure that he slept in the chair beside Naruto, rather than on the bed, just in case someone had walked in and saw the scandalous sight.

Lowering his head, Sasuke smiled and swept Naruto's hair from his closed eyes. He froze when Naruto groaned and slowly opened his eyes, sleepy, bright blue eyes exchanging silent emotions with Sasuke's black ones.

"Mornin'." Naruto mumbled and rubbed his eyes with his fist. He sat up and shyly glanced up at Sasuke.

Smiling at the sudden change in Naruto, Sasuke leaned forward and by modern day standards, it was a polite, chaste kiss. No tongue, no groping, no moaning. But - it was fantastic and reassured both of them, when Naruto kissed back, that the previous night wasn't a dream.

When they broke away, a blush covered Naruto's face and he covered his head with the blanket. Sasuke smirked, "Aww, is someone embarrassed?" He sang, teasingly.

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted, muffled by the blanket covering him.

Sasuke pulled the edge of the blanket and was met with some resistance, "Don't you trust me?" He asked. That got a reaction and Naruto slowly pulled the blanket off himself.

He pouted, "I don't trust anyone who looks good when they just wake up."

Sasuke chuckled and kissed Naruto once more, then stood up and picked up his clipboard. "I have to freshen up and get to work," Naruto looked downcast and Sasuke tilted his head and smiled in apology, "I'll see you in a couple of hours though, okay?" Head snapping up, Naruto beamed and nodded.

7

They had gone on another wheelchair walk around the hospital when Naruto lost his sense of balance again.

Sasuke's tone of voice and words were kinder and softer, being able to now fully express his emotions for the blond, albeit not in public, but instead in Room 9, where Naruto stayed.

They had greeted Neji and then Sasuke introduced Naruto to Sakura. The pink-haired girl smirked and looked at Sasuke's expression when he talked about the blond.

"So, when did you get together?" The question shocked Naruto and Sasuke enough for them to fall completely silent and imitate fish with the way that they opened and closed their mouths multiple times.

"W-What do you mean?" Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Sakura smiled, "Don't worry," She held a finger up to her lips and winked, "I won't tell."

That was the closest Sasuke had gotten to a heart attack, and Naruto was pretty sure he could have dropped dead at that exact moment.

6

Sasuke's first impression of Kiba was simple - he was loud, obnoxious, messy, but he loved Naruto, so he supposed that he was a good guy.

Naruto was conversating with Gaara and Kiba cheerfully and Sasuke noticed that Kiba was just as animated as his secret blond lover. The red-head was sitting back on the chair that Sasuke usually loitered at and made a couple of comments, but since Kiba hadn't seen Naruto in a while, they were talking the most. And oh, so loudly.

"How's Tsume doin'?" Naruto questioned.

Kiba let out a bellow, "Damn she fucking hates the tattoo, goes on about it every single day! But she knows that she can't pay for laser removal surgery, so it's staying! Besides, I don't want to work somewhere which stereotypes people because of their appearances." Kiba shrugged.

Thinking to himself, Sasuke agreed with Tsume. The tattoos on Kiba's cheeks were very clear and didn't leave much in terms of job prospects. But he supposed it was a nice sentiment, and he liked anything that made Naruto feel joy.

"Mmm," Gaara nodded, agreeing with Kiba. "So, how long?"

The air suddenly tensed as Kiba grunted and shot Gaara a glare. "Really? Straight to that shit?"

Gaara barely gave Kiba the satisfaction of a glance, "We need to know, it's the reality Kiba, don't deny it." Kiba bared his sharp teeth and then sat back down when Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder.

Connecting eyes with Naruto, Sasuke nodded and left the room and gave the teenagers some privacy.

It was only a couple of seconds later that the door loudly swung open and hit the wall, and the brown-haired animalistic boy had grabbed Sasuke by the collar and slammed him against the wall of the ward. There were gasps of surprise and terror as Sasuke's clipboard hit the ground with a clang.

"Five days left?" Kiba hissed, he gripped the Uchiha tighter and slammed him again against the wall, "And you can't do shit?!"

"Kiba!" Gaara had helped Naruto out of bed as he shakily stumbled towards his best friend and his lover.

Lowering his head, Sasuke swallowed in regret. "No," He whispered, "I can't."

"You're a fucking doctor!" Kiba shouted, his voice echoing through the halls as security rushed towards the pair. Sasuke raised his hand and stopped them from helping him.

Sasuke raised his head and stared at Kiba with sad eyes, "I'm sorry." He turned his head to Gaara and Naruto, "I'm sorry." He repeated.

Kiba released his grip and Sasuke had to lean on the wall as to not fall down. Scowling, Kiba spat, "Then exactly what good are you?"

5

Droplets of salty tears slid down Sasuke's face, hitting his knees as he sat next to Naruto's bed. He clenched his fists until he felt crescent shaped indents being made on his palms. Gritting his teeth, he let out a shaky breath and covered his eyes with his hands.

Naruto faced him with tears of his own falling silently, his head was tilted and there was a small sorrow-filled smile on his face. "Please don't cry for me, Sasuke."

Sasuke choked on a sob, refusing for Naruto to see his pitiful expression. He hated feeling weak, absolutely hated it. He hated Naruto for making him feel things and then knowing that he was going to leave forever. "But," He muttered, breathing in some air and letting out another sob again, "I-I love you."

Naruto's eyes widened at the confession. This was the first time that Sasuke had told him that specific phrase. He knew that it was something that meant a lot, but was practically useless considering his situation.

Naruto lowered his head and chuckled, clenching the blanket and letting the tears freely hit the cloth.

"Well, that's pretty stupid of you."

4

There wasn't a day that Gaara and Kiba were not sitting next to Naruto, either chatting, or doing their own silent reading and schoolwork. The two boys had found out the nature of Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, and although it bothered them at the beginning, they accepted that Sasuke made Naruto happy, and they would do anything to make him happy.

Especially considering how long he had left.

Naruto's health was deteriorating, he had an oxygen mask around his face for half of the day as his brain wasn't reminding him to breathe.

Tsunade had allowed Sasuke to spend most of his time at Naruto's side, realising that Sasuke genuinely cared for Naruto, and that was the least she could do after Sasuke's years of hard work.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Sasuke's head snapped to the side and his eyes widened at the sight of his brother Itachi standing next to him with a small smile.

Itachi looked inside the room that Sasuke was standing outside of, "Is that him?" He asked. Sasuke didn't trust his voice and simply nodded. "Would you like to introduce us?" The other Uchiha had found out about Naruto when he walked in on Sasuke crying silently one day, it didn't take long for Sasuke to spill everything to his older brother.

Sasuke nodded again and walked into the room. "Naruto?" He cleared his throat. The said blond turned his head and his eyes crinkled and he could only assume that he was smiling with the oxygen mask around his face. "This is my brother, Itachi."

Smiling kindly, Itachi walked forward and stood next to Naruto's bed, Kiba and Gaara moved out of the way. Naruto started grabbing the sides of his mask in an attempt to take it off. He didn't want to be seen like this, so weak and feeble. Itachi raised his eyebrows and placed a hand on top of Naruto's, stopping whatever Naruto was trying to do.

"It's okay, leave it on." Itachi told him, Naruto didn't want to, but he looked at Sasuke who was staring at him, teeth clenched. "I just wanted to meet the man that has captured my foolish little brother's heart."

Naruto let out a sound that seemed like a chuckle, and Itachi laughed. Sasuke rubbed the back of his head, "Itachi..." He started.

Itachi reached a hand into his briefcase and pulled out a couple of folders. "I thought you might want to see photos of Sasuke when he was younger, I've got so many baby photos." Sasuke's chin nearly hit the floor. "It'll probably put you in a good mood." Sasuke ran forwards and tried to grab the folders, which Itachi held out of reach. "Nope, these are for Naruto, let him have them!" He laughed.

Naruto gazed at the two brothers and joy filled his heart when his eyes landed on the younger Uchiha who so desperately was trying to get the albums out of Itachi's grasp. Gaara was smiling and Kiba had burst into laughter.

Yeah, this was nice.

3

It was night time and Naruto didn't have the oxygen mask on.

"I love you." Naruto admitted to Sasuke, who looked up at him from his paperwork in surprise, he hadn't heard the blond say those words to him yet. "I wish I didn't, and I wish you didn't love me." He told Sasuke honestly.

Sasuke chuckled, "Things would have been easier for both of us, I think."

Naruto hummed and turned his head away from Sasuke, looking out of the window. After a few minutes of silence, Sasuke lifted a knee and leaned forward, letting Naruto slowly fall back onto the bed, lips locked and passionately letting themselves enjoy the emotions that were running through their veins. Sasuke pulled away and placed his forehead against Naruto's.

"I don't regret loving you. I would never regret loving you."

2

It was a miracle in Naruto's eyes that with this short of amount of time he had, his previous doctor, Tenten, had given birth. She was whisked to the same hospital that she worked at and was met with Neji's astonished appearance and was promptly screamed at.

"Get this baby out of me! You did this to me you bastard!"

Naruto had laughed loudly as Sasuke relayed the story to him, explaining that Neji had abuse yelled at him continuously by his wife while he tried to calm her down and get their baby out of her.

"I've delivered so many babies and I've seen your vagina, so why is this so traumatising?!"

When the child was delivered, and a couple of hours had passed, Tenten and Neji had visited Naruto in the Palliative Care Ward.

"Would you like to hold him?" Tenten smiled at Naruto. With a hesitant nod, Naruto raised his weak and thin arms shakily. Tenten leaned forward and securely placed her new born baby into Naruto's arms. "I think I'm going to name him..." She smiled at the blond, "Naruto."

Neji gripped Sasuke's hand as he felt the black-haired man flinch.

Smiling, Naruto lifted a finger and beamed when the baby held it in response. "H-Hey, little Naruto." He whispered, "You've got a pretty cool name." He chuckled and held the baby closer to him, smelling his head.

Sasuke felt an overwhelming amount of emotion in his chest. He never used to be like this, he was calm, collected, strong, he was not one who cried multiple times a week and felt... feelings. But he didn't care, he loved Naruto, he loved the young blond boy's ability to make everyone and anyone change and smile.

It was the last straw for Sasuke, a tear slid down everyone's faces, including Kiba and Gaara's, when they heard Naruto whisper to the baby. "You take care of Neji, Tenten and Sasuke for me, yeah?" The baby gurgled, and Naruto took that as a yes.

1

The room was beautiful.

Everywhere you could see there were letters, cards, flowers, decorations, anything to make it seem as if Naruto was not in a hospital room. The flowers were fresh, the scent travelling to everyone's noses. There were people standing around Naruto, all in various stages of weeping as Naruto smiled with his eyes shut. He didn't have the energy to move, or speak or open his eyes.

"I love you all."

Everyone slowly said their goodbyes, there were many people surrounding the bed. Iruka, Gaara, Kiba, Tenten, Neji, Sakura, Itachi, and of course, Sasuke.

Sasuke was sitting next to the blond on his bed and gripped his weak hand with both of his pale ones. "It's not fair." He cried, "I want to be with you."

Naruto struggled, but managed to open his eyes, glad and thanking god that he was himself during his last day. That the cancer hadn't affected his mind when he needed to be himself the most. Sasuke's words splintered inside of Naruto, causing more pain than the cancer ever could.

There were going to be no more walks, no more laughs, no more kisses, no more feeling safe in Sasuke's arms, no more seeing Gaara's apathetic expression, or hearing Kiba's loud and passionate rants.

At least his life didn't include the four walls of the hospital and pain medication anymore.

He weakly gripped Sasuke's hand, "Can you open the window?" He asked. Sasuke swallowed and looked at Sakura, who opened the window next to Naruto as asked.

Naruto let a small smile dance on his lips, the wind made the thin white curtain and Naruto's blond hair dance in the air, just like the first day that they had met.

Sasuke looked at his lover in wonder as it was like nothing had changed, the same smile, the same wind, the same scene in some ways. Naruto always knew this was coming, ever since the first day that they met. "S-Sasuke..."

The said man looked up at Naruto for one of the last times and leaned forward, kissing him chastely on the lips, knowing that Naruto didn't have the energy to respond to his action. He pulled away, "I love you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Not being able to hold it back, Naruto let a tear slide down his whiskered cheek. "I love you, Sasuke Uchiha."

The pain that once burned in Naruto's mind had faded to an icy numbness, it made his breath ragged and shallow. Everyone knew it was too late to help, there was nothing they could do. The cries became louder and Sasuke's grip tightened. Naruto regret that he took Sasuke's heart and couldn't give it back, but at least he could leave all of his pain behind.

Naruto closed his eyes, his fragile, human heart beating one last time.

The sound of the heart-monitor confirmed everyone's thoughts, Sasuke's heart dropped and died when the heart monitor flatlined.

He loosened his grip, shaking uncontrollably when Naruto's soft hand fell and landed limply onto the bed. Sasuke screamed, Itachi started holding him in a tight embrace as Sasuke thrashed and punched the floor in heartache and despair.

Sasuke Uchiha never knew that meeting, falling in love, and saying goodbye to Naruto Uzumaki would be so painful.