Faded (Naruto Fanfiction) [Sasuke/Naruto] *Possibly being revised in 2020*

Chapter II

Naruto had been in the hospital for a week before Sasuke finally left to go home. The ravenette was walking to the Uchiha complex when he bumped into one of his old classmates, Kiba Inuzuka. "Hey! Watch where you're going, idiot." The fanged boy shouted as his canine companion barked.

Sasuke muttered a quiet 'Sorry' before attempting to turn away and continue, pausing when Kiba placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back to face him again.

"Sasuke?" he questioned, eyes narrowing as he twisted the other boy around. "It is you! That means Naruto brought you back. Wait. Where is Naruto?" Sasuke ripped his shoulder from the boy's grip, stumbling back a few steps as the grief overtook him again.

"N-naruto is in h-hospital," Sasuke whispered, the Inuzuka only hearing him due to his pronounced hearing.

"What? Naruto is in the hospital? You bastard." He shouted, growling at the Uchiha and pushing his shoulder. "What did you do to him?"

"It wasn't me." Sasuke said before walking a few steps towards his home complex. "Naruto was beaten by the villagers. If you don't believe me, ask the Hokage, she'll tell you." With that final sentence, the ravenette shunshined to his home before a singular tear slipped down his face, leaving a confused Inuzuka with his partner in the middle of the street. The boy immediately ran to the Hokage tower.

As he walked into his bedroom, Sasuke thought about all the times he had spent with Naruto before pulling a Space-Time scroll out of his pocket and summoning his clothes. He changed and washed quickly, rushing to get back to the hospital and back to his love. The ravenette pulled on a black top and some black trousers, strapping his pouches to him tightly before Shunshinning to the Yamanaka flower shop to buy some flowers for Naruto before he went back to the hospital.

He narrowly avoided one of his previous fangirls as he purchased yellow roses, bellflowers, and white, purple and red tulips along with a singular peony. All the flowers showed how he felt for Naruto, the peony showing all his regrets.

Sasuke walked to the hospital, before entering Naruto's room. As usual, there was no-one in his room as his only visitor was Sasuke because Sakura didn't really care, Tsunade was busy and none of Konoha twelve knew about it. The pale boy clasped the hand of the blond on the bed, tears leaking from his eyes as he pressed his lips to the lifeless hand. When the tears stopped, Sasuke pulled up a chair next to Naruto's body, resting his head by Naruto's side as he drifted off to sleep.

Lots of voices awoke Sasuke as his head lay near Naruto. Presumably, Kiba had gotten Hinata, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Neji, Rock Lee and Tenten. All nine of them were likely to be outside to door, so Sasuke stood up and walked towards it, pulling it open to reveal them all. "C-can w-we s-see h-him?" stuttered Hinata as she played with her fingers. Sasuke nodded before turning back around and sitting back down in his chair and intertwining his fingers with the boy's he loved.

The ravenette heard all the squads gasp as they entered the large room and saw Naruto surrounded by machines. "What happened to him?" whispered Tenten, the weapons master on the edge of tears.

"It began when Naruto and I fought at the Valley of the End." Began Sasuke, the other occupants of the room, other than the unconscious blond, quietening their muttering to listen to him. "I was overcome by the cursed seal's hatred that I fought him. We fought with Rasengan and Chidori. We both hit each other and I passed out. Naruto carried me back to Konoha, dropping me off here with Sakura before beginning to head home. Little did he know that it was the Kyuubi festival and-" Sasuke's voice cracked before he continued. "-lots of the villagers believe that Naruto is the reincarnation of the Kyuubi, as he has it sealed in him, so each year they put on the 'Fox hunt' where they hunt him down a-and they try their best to kill him." At this most of the group gasped and Sasuke swallowed. "B-because I weakened him, he had no stamina to run from them and was caught. The villagers beat him until he could barely breathe, even go as far to find some ninja to perform Jutsu on him." Sasuke croaked before turning back to the still body and pressing the pale tan hand to his face.

The nine other occupants of the room gathered around the bed, some crying, others looking murderous. "Wait, where has Sakura been?" questioned Ino, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I haven't seen Sakura since I found out Naru was here, that was a week ago" replied Sasuke, his nickname for Naruto not going unnoticed by the Nara.

"So you've been here all week since you woke up in here, except for when you bumped into Kiba whilst going to the Uchiha complex to go and change." stated Chouji, popping a crisp in his mouth every few words. The ravenette by the bed nodded, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"Why haven't you left him, you're rivals, right?" asked Shino, a slight buzzing sounding as he spoke. Sasuke nodded again before clearing his throat to speak.

"I... owe it to him. I caused him to be weakened and defenceless, meaning that he got cornered and beaten in the first place. In the end, it is all my fault and I..." The boy trailed off, not wanting to continue.

"And what?" questioned the usually 'youthful' Rock Lee with a solemn look on his face.

"Nothing." The other answered, the Nara picking up on his slip-up once again.

Konoha 9 lurked around the room for a while before being called out for missions or called home as it was late. The nurses in the hospital were neutral, not having hatred towards the blond carrier, letting Sasuke spend each of his lonely nights by the boy he loved to his core.

Once again Sasuke broke down in the middle of the night, whispering to himself and pleading for Kami to turn back the time so he could write his wrongs, so his love would be okay. Once again Sasuke fell asleep dreaming of Naruto with drying tear-stains across his face.