The Words I Couldn't Say

 A/N: Thanks to everyone who had read and rated :D

Here's chapter Fourteen. Please let me know what you think ^^

Chapter Fourteen

24^rd August – 2 Weeks and 6 days to the Wedding

He was aware of noises; rustling, shuffling, beeping, clunking and clanging. None of it made any sense, and his head hurt. There were voices, too, and he didn’t know if he was asleep or awake. He wished he was dreaming; at least then he would know that he was asleep. He wished that he could open his eyes, because then he would know that he was awake. Neither happened, instead the darkness of oblivion returned.

Later, noises returned; consciousness returned. He could feel his body, and it hurt. He opened his eyes carefully, wincing at the bright light. He was lying on his back, on a narrow, uncomfortable bed. That was strange. He glanced around the room, at the red and cream walls, the carefully chosen pictures that accentuated the colour scheme, and the Uchiha crest subtly emblazoned on everything. Hospital, his mind said. He struggled into a sitting position, dislodging his blankets, tugging at some of the tubes that seemed to be imbedded in his arm. It was weird and creepy; his mind felt like it was swathed in a sticky fog, and it made it really hard to think.

He tried to remember what had happened. They had been driving; there was rain, and then, and then…He snapped fully awake as the memory returned with punishing force; the fire, the blood, the screams.

“Naruto!” He gasped out. He was in a private room in the hospital owned by his family; how he had managed to end up there when the accident had happened hundreds of miles away he didn’t know. But they must have brought Naruto, too. He needed to find him, to make sure that he was alright. Sasuke remembered the blood on his face, the look in his eyes, and panic hit him square in the chest. He tugged the blankets away from his legs, and pulled the tubes from his arm, wincing at the pain. He hurt all over, a dull ache that was concentrated in his thigh, head and back.

He struggled out of the bed, ignoring the pain. He had to find Naruto. He raised his hand to his neck, and was hit by a new panic as he realised that the ring was gone. It hurt, that even that small connection to Naruto had been tugged away. He took a step, and pain shot down his leg. He remembered the blood, then, and the fear in Naruto’s eyes. Curious, he lifted his hospital gown. His whole right thigh was wrapped in a dressing. Sasuke was slightly relieved; judging by the pain, he didn’t think he wanted to look at it. He took a few more steps. Nothing seemed broken; it hurt, but that could be ignored. He had to find Naruto.

He got as far as the door before he was accosted by a nurse, a woman with short dark hair, and a snap in her dark eyes that warned against causing any trouble.

“What are you doing?” She exclaimed. “You should be resting.”

“I need to find my…friend. Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. He should have been brought in with me. Please, I need to know that he’s ok.”

Sasuke cringed inwardly. He could admit to himself that he probably shouldn’t be wandering around the hospital. He had almost referred to Naruto as his lover to a perfect stranger, who happened to work for his father. His mind was still on a go slow, and he was pretty sure that he had been given some kind of medication at some point.

The nurse let out a sigh, and grabbed his arm, leading him towards the bed. He knew he should rest, but he couldn’t, not when he didn’t know what had happened to Naruto.

“Mr Uzumaki is fine,” the nurse said, “slight concussion and bruising. I can’t tell you any more than that. You need to rest. We’re keeping you in overnight for observation, but you should be fine to go home tomorrow.”

Sasuke snatched his arm away from her, wincing as he caught a bruise. “What do you mean you can’t tell me more than that?” Sasuke demanded.

She sighed again. “Patient confidentiality, Mr Uchiha,” she said. “I only told you as much as I did because you came in with him. Any other information is only to be given to direct family.”

Sasuke ground his teeth at that. “I pay your wages,” he said through gritted teeth. 

She was unmoved. “Your father pays my wages,” she replied, “and he would be the one who fired me for gross misconduct.”

Sasuke scowled, sure that the woman was doing this on purpose. At least he knew that Naruto was somewhere in this hospital. Since the nurse obviously wasn’t going to leave him alone until he followed her instructions, Sasuke changed his plan. He allowed himself to be lead back to the bed, and tucked in, the drip or whatever the fuck the tube thing was stuck back into his arm.

“Where are my things,” he asked. “My phone... and I was wearing…” he trailed off, wondering if anyone had questioned the ring around his neck, or if they had noticed the matching one Naruto wore. Thinking about it, his skinned knees must have raised a few eyebrows when they were stitching him up.

Surprisingly the nurse smiled. “Everything is in here,” she said, gesturing to a cabinet beside the bed. She handed Sasuke a key. “I don’t need to remind you about mobile phone use on the ward, do I?” She asked sweetly.

Sasuke smiled and shook his head like a good boy. He waited while she checked his chart and made some notes, checked and prodded him a bit. He left it a full five minutes after she had gone before climbing out of the bed, and going to the cabinet. He unlocked it, a wave of relief settling his stomach as he picked up the ring. He fastened the chain around his neck, and locked the cabinet back up. He didn’t need anything else.

He snuck carefully out of the room, although wearing a hospital gown and limping made him a little bit conspicuous. Thankfully, endless visits to this hospital with Itachi meant that he knew his way around. He quickly found a store room, and borrowed some scrubs; the robe he was wearing came down to his knees, and was disconcertingly breezy. He felt far more secure wearing trousers. Plus, he would blend in to the general bustle of the hospital. He just hoped that no one would notice his limp.

He grabbed a clipboard, and tried to look like he knew where he was going as he hobbled down the corridor. He surreptitiously peered into each room that he passed, figuring that Naruto would be on the same ward as he was. The nurse had said that he was fine; surely she had no reason to lie. Still, Sasuke wasn’t going to rest until he knew for sure. He wrapped his hand around Naruto’s ring, squeezing it tight.

He found the right room at the end of the corridor; Naruto was sat in bed, eating a small tub of hospital issue jelly, and being fussed over by his mother. Sasuke almost collapsed with relief as he saw that Naruto was awake and well. He pushed the door open, his eyes fixed hungrily on his lover. Naruto had a large bruise on the side of his head bisected by a deep gash that appeared to have been stitched up; Sasuke remembered the blood streaming down his face, and felt like vomiting. He could have lost Naruto; he could have lost the man who had become his everything, his light.

Naruto’s head jerked up as he heard Sasuke enter the room, and his eyes widened. Sasuke saw his own feelings reflected in them; the fear, the relief, the love, and suddenly he was holding Naruto tight, with no real memory of how he had managed to cross the room. Naruto was gripping him just as tightly, making him realise that his back hurt, but he didn’t care. Nothing was going to make him let go of Naruto. Nothing.

Sasuke placed a gentle kiss on Naruto’s lips, noticing tears on his cheeks. He kissed them away, before placing his forehead against Naruto’s, and staring deep into his eyes.

“I thought I lost you,” he whispered.

“Yeah, me too. Good thing we’re tough.”

Sasuke tried to smile at Naruto’s quip, but he couldn’t. The fear was too fresh. “I was so scared,” he confessed quietly. “I really don’t think I could live without you, it would be like living with a huge hole in my chest.”

Naruto’s eyes turned haunted. “I know,” he said. “It’s the same for me.” His arms tightened around Sasuke pulling him halfway onto the bed. Sasuke buried his head in Naruto’s chest, and gave way to his tears. He felt broken, despite knowing that Naruto was safe, the what if’s circled his mind.

Sasuke’s tears eventually faded, leaving him feeling tired and slightly foolish, with a pounding head thrown in. His leg ached, his back throbbed, but he didn’t really care. Naruto’s hand was smoothing through his hair, and he could feel his heart beat against his cheek.

“Hey!” Kushina’s hiss caused Sasuke to flush with sudden mortification. He had forgotten that she was there. “That nurse is coming, and she doesn’t look happy.”

Sasuke very reluctantly pulled away from Naruto to glance towards the door, and almost fell onto the floor. Kushina dashed over, and helped him into the chair that had been set up for her beside Naruto’s bed. Naruto struggled out of his bedding, and was half way out of the bed when the dark haired nurse who had stymied Sasuke earlier came barrelling into the room. Kushina was right, she didn’t look happy.

“What are you doing out of bed?” She demanded, glaring at Sasuke.

Sasuke scowled back at her. “You wouldn’t tell me where Naruto was, so I had to find out for myself,” he replied.

“You’re in hospital for a reason,” she replied, “you can’t just go wandering about by yourself, and you can’t just help yourself to hospital property, regardless of who you are.”

“I’m not leaving this room,” Sasuke said flatly.

The nurse glared at him. Sasuke glared right back. If she wanted him to leave, she would have to carry him. And the moment she was gone, he would be right back where he belonged at Naruto’s side.

“You could always just move another bed into here,” Kushina said, “there’s enough room.”

The nurse held Sasuke’s eyes for a few more moments. She capitulated with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. “Fine. Wait here while I get a porter.”

In a matter of minutes, Sasuke found himself back in the hated hospital gown and tucked tightly into bed beside Naruto. Kushina, with an amazing amount of insight, made sure that their beds were close enough together for them to reach out to each other if they needed to. The cabinet with Sasuke’s belongings in had been moved in, and now sat in the small gap between the beds.

“Ok, no more wandering around,” the nurse said. “We’ll probably be letting you out tomorrow, we just can’t be too careful with head injuries. The doctor should be in to see you soon.”

“Thanks, Shizune,” Naruto said.

The nurse flashed him a brilliant smile, scowled at Sasuke, and took her leave.

“I should go, too,” Kushina said. “It’s not really visiting time, but Shizune let me stay.”

She seemed somehow subdued, Sasuke realised. He watched as she tousled Naruto’s hair, and placed a kiss on the un-bruised side of his forehead. Surprisingly, she also had a kiss for him, too. She had never been his biggest fan anyway, and Sasuke had thought that she would blame him for getting Naruto hurt.

“Not visiting time,” Sasuke murmured once she had gone. “I guess that’s why I woke up alone.” It shouldn’t have bothered him, but for some reason it did.

“Well, your mum wanted to be there, but she sort of fainted so Itachi took her home to rest.” Naruto said.

“Fainted?” Sasuke exclaimed, alarmed. “Is she alright?”

“Yeah, just exhausted mum said. And I would have been there, except Shizune wouldn’t let me out of bed. I didn’t think to cunningly disguise myself as a doctor and hobble around the hospital.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but inside, he was comforted by the normalcy of Naruto’s ribbing. “What about Sakura?” He asked. It wasn’t that he particularly wanted her there, in fact he was glad that she wasn’t, it was just that sitting by his bedside was something she would do.

Naruto snickered. “Well, we sort of sent her to get your pyjamas,” he said.

Sasuke shot him a puzzled look. “Naruto, I don’t have pyjamas,” he said.

“I know. I expect she had to go out and buy some. We just thought that the last thing you needed was her clinging on to you when you’re hurt.”

“We being?”

“Actually, Itachi suggested it. I was still a bit out of it at the time.”

Sasuke regarded Naruto for a long moment. He wanted to crawl into the bed beside him, wrap himself around him, and stay there forever. However, the hospital beds were far too narrow, and apparently a doctor was coming in to see them at any moment.

“Do you know what happened?” Sasuke asked eventually. It was all a bit vague in his mind; the rain, the fire, Naruto bleeding.

“Not much from the accident,” Naruto said, “it’s all a bit fuzzy, and no one wants to talk about it. I remember crashing, and the explosion, and you protected me.” He paused to shoot Sasuke one of his heart melting smiles, and Sasuke felt his heart thud in response. “And then you bled a lot,” Naruto continued, “so much that I really thought you were going to bleed to death.” His expression became shadowed with the memory.

“I’m sorry,” Sasuke said.

Naruto snorted. “It wasn’t your fault. Anyway, ambulances and fire crews came, and everything was chaos. I might have blacked out for a bit, because then I remember someone trying to take you away from me, and I wouldn’t let you go. It turned out to be a paramedic, but I was so confused I thought that they were going to separate us. I made them take us in the same ambulance. Once they punched your name into their computers, though, we were being air lifted over here. We went in a helicopter.”

“I stayed unconscious through a helicopter ride?” Sasuke asked incredulously.

“Kind of. You would wake up, but you were delirious. I wasn’t much better. I think I threw up.”

The door to their room opened, curtailing any further conversation. A woman with long blonde hair hanging down her back in two pony tails and breasts so large even Sasuke couldn’t help but stare at them for a moment entered the room. She looked vaguely familiar; judging by the white coat she was a doctor, so maybe she was part of the team who treated Itachi.

“My name’s Tsunade,” she said, shooting them both an appraising look with her brown eyes. “You convincing Shizune to move an extra bed in here has caused me a bit of a problem. I need to examine you, and it should be done in private. That’s the reason that we have private rooms.”

“Is that why it’s called private healthcare?” Naruto quipped.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Tsunade glared. “No,” she snapped. “Although apparently private healthcare now stands for letting the patents re-arrange the hospital at a whim because of who their fathers are.”

Sasuke surmised that she was unimpressed at them sharing a room, though he couldn’t see how it would matter to her. “I don’t mind Naruto being here while you do whatever you have to do,” he said.

Naruto nodded in agreement.

Tsunade sighed. “I should be in a casino right about now,” she muttered under her breath, glancing at her watch. Sasuke glanced at the clock on the wall. It was ten thirty am.

“Ok,” she continued, "blondie first.”

Naruto looked slightly indignant at the nick name, and Sasuke decided to remember it for future reference. He watched as Tsunade flicked through Naruto’s chart, then began to poke and prod at him, shining a small torch into his eyes, making him turn his head. She examined the wound on his head last, a small frown marring her brow. Then it was Sasuke’s turn.

He watched in morbid fascination as she carefully removed the dressing from his leg. The cut looked deep and nasty. It ran the length of his thigh, the dark stitches stark against his pale flesh. There was bruising all around it, as well. No wonder it hurt to walk. He was practically blinded by the tiny torch, and almost had his head wrenched off as she turned it every which way. Then she made him lie on his stomach. She lifted his gown, and began prodding at his back. Sasuke bit back a yelp.

He heard a sharp intake of breath from Naruto, and turned his head to look at him.

“It looks painful,” Naruto said.

“It is.” Sasuke replied tersely. “What happened?”

“When the tanker exploded it shattered the windscreen,” Tsunade said. “The glass is designed shatter safely, but with the force of the blast we still had to pick pieces out of your back. I’m just making sure we didn’t miss anything, and that you don’t have any signs of infection.”

“You protected me from that,” Naruto said softly.

Sasuke felt his face flush. Naruto’s eyes were too bright, and he felt that he would burn to ash if he held them any longer. He turned his head away, but could still feel them searing into him.

Finally Tsunade pulled his robe down, and allowed Sasuke to sit back up in bed. “Ok,” she said, “I can’t see any problems. We’ll keep you in tonight, but you should be fine to go home tomorrow. I’ll inform your families. Visiting time is three to four, and someone will be in with lunch around noon. If you need anything, just press the buzzer.” With that, she was gone.

Sasuke slumped back onto the bed, suddenly exhausted. He winced at the pain in his back. He was going to have to have a look at some point to assess the damage.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Despite what Tsunade had said about visiting time, their families turned up as they were eating their lunch. Sasuke had given Naruto his watery green jelly. He supposed it was supposed to be lime flavour, but it tasted like slimy nothing. Naruto seemed to enjoy it, though.

Sakura appeared first, laden with bags. Naruto scowled at her around his spoon. Sasuke allowed her to place a kiss on his temple with a twinge of guilt. It was unfair of him to be leading her on; as soon as he got home, he was going to tell his father. The wedding would be cancelled and he would be with Naruto. Sakura might hate him, his father might disapprove, but suddenly that didn’t seem to matter as much as it had. He was almost tempted to tell Sakura now, but he couldn’t risk his father finding out second hand. He had to explain it to his father first. So he gritted his teeth and played the part of the fiancé for a little bit longer, despite Naruto’s scowls. He would explain it to him once Sakura left.

“I tried to find your pyjamas,” Sakura was saying as she dumped a large bag on his bed, narrowly missing his injured leg, “but I couldn’t find them anywhere, so I brought you some.”

She began pulling various garments out of the bag. Sasuke watched in perplexed fascination; he was grateful that he had something other than the robe provided by the hospital to wear, but he didn’t see why he would need eight pairs of pyjamas for an overnight stay.

Sakura smiled. “I couldn’t decide which pair would be best,” she said. “Then I thought that you may need towels, and shower gel. And I brought grapes, because…well, that’s just what you do, isn’t it?”

With a nasty twinge of guilt, Sasuke realised that there were tears swimming behind her green eyes. She turned away, briefly scrubbing at her eyes, before unpacking her bags. The small table beside his bed was soon crowded; Sakura had brought a crystal bowl to put the grapes in, and she had also brought a bunch of bananas and a few apples to go with them. She stacked up a pile of cross word puzzle books, several pens, a mug, a box of chocolates, and a get-well-soon balloon. She had a picture which she hung on the wall, and a stuffed bear which she tucked into bed beside Sasuke. Naruto didn’t escape the influx of presents; he also had a mug, some grapes, and two pairs of pyjamas.

“Um, you do know we’re only here for one night, right?” Naruto said as Sakura straightened the painting. It wasn’t anything Sasuke had seen before, an abstract piece full of blue and orange swirls.

“Yeah, I know,” Sakura said “it’s just when I get upset or stressed or whatever, I feel the need to shop. Plus, you should be comfortable, even if it is for one night.”

Sasuke exchanged a look with Naruto, who gave him a puzzled shrug. Obviously it was a girl thing. Sasuke couldn’t really see why random art would make him more comfortable. Sakura took a while to get the picture just right. When she was done, she turned to them with a bright smile.

“There, it’s perfect,” she said.

The increasingly awkward atmosphere was broken by Kushina, Minato and Mikoto entering the room. Sasuke suffered through his mother’s embrace. She was shaking, and he felt bad for putting her through this. It was bad enough that she had to constantly worry about Itachi, without him getting himself hurt. Sasuke didn’t bother to ask where his father was. Fugaku rarely visited Itachi when he had to stay overnight in the hospital, and it wasn’t as if Sasuke’s injuries were serious.

“You scared me,” his mother whispered.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Sasuke replied.

He glanced over to see Naruto practically buried by his parents. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Sakura standing to one side, a strange look on her face.

“It’s not your fault,” Mikoto said, placing a kiss against his temple.

Sasuke let it go, but it certainly felt like it was his fault. He had been the one driving. If Naruto had died…he shook the thought away; it didn’t bear thinking about.

Kushina had brought along get well cards from pretty much everyone they knew. Since Sakura had filled the tables, Kushina borrowed some drawing pins and pinned them to the wall.

The next few hours were filled with banal small talk, while every one side stepped the issue of why they were there. It was actually pretty awkward, though at least Sasuke and Naruto could fall back on talking about their time in Scotland. Sakura wanted all the details of Hinata’s wedding, which made things a different kind of awkward.

By the time their guests left the room looked like the site of some very bizarre carnival, and Sasuke was exhausted.

“Well, at least we’re well provisioned,” Naruto said, popping a grape into his mouth. They had both managed to slope off into the bathroom to change into their pyjamas. Sasuke had to admit that Sakura had good taste when it came to clothing.

“They were all really freaked out, weren’t they?” Sasuke said. It had been really weird; Kushina hadn’t so much as glared at Sakura, and Sakura had kept her distance, but kept on looking at him, her eyes strangely shadowed. His Mother had seemed close to tears, and Minato had barely cracked a smile.

“You know, I had a plan,” he continued. “I thought that if I couldn’t get out of the wedding, then we could fake our deaths and run off somewhere together, I had it all planned out; I wrote it out in a letter to you when you were away.”

“Sasuke, that’s crazy.”

“I know that, but I thought…I thought that if it was the only option I could do it, but now I know I can’t do that to them.”

Naruto sighed. “I would never let it come to that,” he said, “you insane, melodramatic bastard.”

Sasuke had been staring at his fingers as they tangled in the sheets, twisting at the soft fabric. He looked up at Naruto, ready to see censure in his eyes. Naruto’s expression was soft, loving. It gave him strength

“I’m telling my father about us when we get out of here,” Sasuke said. “I don’t want to pretend any more, I’m sick of it.”

Naruto’s grin just about lit up the room. “Thank God,” he breathed.

“All I want is you,” Sasuke continued. “And I don’t care what he thinks. Well, I do care, but not as much as I care about you. And I won’t let him, or anyone else hurt you.”

Naruto reached out, and Sasuke caught hold of his hand. “I really wish we weren’t stuck in these pokey little beds,” Naruto murmured wryly. “I really want to hold you.”

Sasuke snorted. “I don’t want to pop a stitch,” he said.

“I don't mean sex. Well, I want that too, but I just want to know you’re close.” He tightened his grip on Sasuke’s hand. Sasuke squeezed back, comforted by the warmth.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was dark, so dark; he could hear his breathing, his heart beat, but he couldn’t see anything. Pushing down panic, Sasuke began to run. He felt like he was in the same spot, running in unchanging, featureless darkness. Somewhere in the darkness, he could hear screams.

Then, a light. Naruto stood, back to him, glowing in the darkness. Sasuke tried to call his name, but his voice didn’t work. He stretched out his hand, desperate to reach his lover. He wasn’t getting any closer.

Minutes, seconds, hours, Sasuke didn’t know how long his agony stretched on for. Then Naruto turned to face him. He was covered in blood; it ran down his cheeks, poured from a gaping hole in his chest. His flesh was corpse pale, and the light around him turned to flames. Sasuke screamed.

He jolted awake, heart pounding, breathing heavily. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark hospital room, and the fear from the dream lay heavy on him as the darkness echoed that of his nightmare. He let out a choked sob, trying desperately to calm his racing heart.

“Sasuke?” Naruto’s sleepy voice came from the darkness.

“Bad dream,” Sasuke managed to say. His voice was shaking. He heard Naruto shift in bed, and felt his eyes on him.

“How bad?” Naruto asked.

“Bad,” Sasuke replied. He wasn’t about to tell Naruto that he had dreamed him dead. He closed his eyes, but he could still see the image of Naruto covered in blood, as if it was plastered on the backs of his eyelids. He shuddered.

He heard shuffling, then a crash as something, probably the fruit bowl, fell onto the floor.

“Budge up,” Naruto murmured from bedside his bed. “I can’t sleep.”

Sasuke shifted over, lifting the covers. Naruto slipped in beside him. The bed was narrow for one person. To keep from falling out they had to press tightly together. Sasuke let out a sigh as he felt Naruto’s familiar form press against him. Their legs tangled together carefully avoiding the wound on Sasuke’s thigh. Naruto cupped Sasuke’s face, and kissed him tenderly.

“I love you,” Naruto whispered, his fingers brushing through Sasuke’s hair. Sasuke clung on to him, relishing the feel of Naruto, warm and real and breathing. He hadn’t thought that he would be able to fall back asleep, not after the nightmare, but being close to Naruto soothed him.

He woke to the room being filled with light. Next to him, Naruto let out a sleepy grunt, and buried his head in Sasuke’s chest. Sasuke opened his eyes to find the doctor, Tsunade, standing over them. A frown tugged her brows down, but her lips twitched as if she was struggling not to laugh.

Sasuke tried to sit up and shake Naruto off, but the bed was so narrow he was in danger of pitching them both out of it. Naruto raised his head, glaring at Sasuke with eyes still hazed with sleep.

“You do realise that this is a hospital and not a boarding house,” Tsunade said, her voice icy.

Naruto’s eyes widened as he noticed her for the first time. He shot Sasuke a panicked look. “Ummm, you see I can’t sleep unless I have something to cuddle so Sasuke…” he trailed off with an apologetic smile.

Tsunade picked up the bear that Sakura had left; it was lying abandoned on the floor surrounded by scattered grapes. “Next time use this,” she said.

Naruto laughed. Sasuke nudged him, subtly telling him to stop digging.

“Your hypocritic oath will stop you from telling anyone about this, right?” Naruto continued, Ignoring Sasuke.

“It’s Hippocratic,” Sasuke hissed at him.

“Because Sasuke really wants to speak to his dad first.” Naruto said.

Sasuke groaned.

“I mean, personally, the more people who know the better, but Sasuke wants to do things his way.”

“Naruto, please stop.”

“I’m a doctor,” Tsunade said, “I see far weirder stuff than this every day. I don’t care who you sleep with. What I care about is that together you are over the weight capacity for that bed, and they cost a lot of money to replace. If I had known you wanted to share, I would have brought in one of the special beds we have for grossly obese patients. I need to give you one last check up, then we’ll sort out the discharge paperwork. Back to your own bed, now.” She glared at Naruto.

With a sigh, Naruto slipped out of Sasuke’s bed, and back into his own. They were subjected to more prodding and poking. Sasuke was sure that Tsunade was dragging it out on purpose. By the time she was finished, Sasuke had a whole new respect for Itachi. He was going to make sure he never got hurt enough to end up in a hospital ever again.

“So we can go now?” Naruto asked as Tsunade slipped her tiny but insanely bright torch back into the pocket of her lab coat.

“Yes,” she replied. “You’ll both need to come back in a week so I can check your stitches. They should be ready to come out by then, too.”

“And we can just go on as before, there’s nothing we can’t do?”

“Yes; you’re both fully functional, though I would advise that Sasuke takes a bit of care with that leg for a few days.”

“What about sex?”

“Naruto!” Sasuke exclaimed.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. “Do it as much or as little as you want. I really don’t care.” She turned and left the room.

Naruto turned to Sasuke with a grin. “We’re good to go,” he said. “You know, Hospital is on my list of places to have sex. It’s after roller-coaster.”

“I’m sure our parents would just love to walk in on that,” Sasuke said pushing off the covers and half sliding half falling out of the bed. It was ridiculously high. “Wait, you want to have sex on a roller-coaster?”

Naruto shrugged. “I’d settle for a blow job,” he said. “Wanna go to an amusement park?”

“No.” Sasuke said with a small shudder. “I want to shower and go home.”

“I don’t mean now,” Naruto replied, smiling his bright smile.

Sensing that Naruto wasn’t letting this one go, Sasuke paused en route to the bathroom. “Naruto, I am not going to give you a blow job on a roller coaster. Ever.”

“Ghost train?”

Sasuke considered this for a moment.“Only as long as it’s not one of the ones that turn into a roller coaster half way through.”

“Deal. Ready to negotiate on the hospital one?”

Sasuke fought back a grin. “Storage cupboard next time Itachi has his treatment.” He offered.

The look in Naruto’s eyes turned sultry. “Hospital bathroom, now.”

Before he could even think of a response to that, Sasuke found himself inside the bathroom, Naruto’s mouth hot and hungry against his. His back connected with the door, and he twisted away with a cry of pain.

“Shit! Sorry,” Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke twisted the lock on the door just in case, and turned to his lover. “It’s ok,” he said. He stripped off the pyjama top, and twisted, trying to look at his back in the tiny mirror above the sink. He couldn’t see it all, but what he did see made him wince; dark bruises mottled his shoulder blades, and there were so many scratches that it looked like he had lost a fight with an angry cat.

“What a mess,” he muttered to himself.

Naruto placed his palms against Sasuke’s cheeks, gently turning his head until Sasuke was staring into his deep blue eyes. “It will heal,” he said. “You’re still beautiful.”

Sasuke snorted, but the comment had butterflies thumping in his stomach. Naruto kissed him, deep and tender, making the butterflies to melt. His hands trailed down Sasuke’s chest, before cupping his hips and pulling him flush against Naruto. Sasuke let out a small moan. This time it was Naruto’s back that met the door.

Sasuke pulled away with a small smirk. The bathroom was small; the shower cubicle, toilet and sink pretty much took up the whole floor plan. With his back and his leg, he didn’t think that he would be up for any of the positions they would need use in the tiny space, but there were still plenty of things that they could do. He dropped to his knees, taking Naruto’s pyjama bottoms with him.

“Settle for a blow job?” Sasuke murmured, his lips inches away from Naruto’s dick. He heard Naruto’s breath hitch, and glanced up to see Naruto looking down at him.

“Mmm, I suppose so, but only because of how hot you look with my cock in your mouth.”

Sasuke smirked, his eyes flicking back to Naruto’s cock he opened his mouth and extended his tongue, flicking at the head with it. Naruto groaned and tangled his fingers in Sasuke’s hair. Sasuke resisted for a moment, continuing to lightly tease Naruto with his tongue in a way that he knew would make Naruto loose it pretty quickly. The fingers in his hair tightened.

“Sasuke,” Naruto hissed, “Stop being a fucking tease.”

“Make me,” Sasuke replied, relaxing his throat in preparation.

Naruto pulled Sasuke’s head forward, thrusting with his hips at the same time, sinking his cock deep into Sasuke’s throat with a groan. Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s hips, tightening his mouth around the shaft. Naruto’s grip on Sasuke’s hair loosened, allowing Sasuke to move his head in time with the shallow thrusts of Naruto’s hips. The taste of Naruto on his tongue had Sasuke hard and aching, and he was almost reconsidering the whole sex thing. He wanted Naruto, wanted to be joined with him in every way possible. And if he wasn’t worried that his leg may give way, or a few stitches pop out, he would have suggested that they move on to the shower.

He settled for slipping a hand down his pyjama bottoms, gripping his own dick and stroking it in time with Naruto’s thrusts into his mouth. He could feel Naruto’s eyes on him, and it sent an extra spike of pleasure to his balls.

Naruto’s hands released his hair, stroking down his face. He gently pulled Sasuke off of his dick. “I want to continue in the shower,” he said, his voice husky with lust. And that completely quashed any worries Sasuke might have had about popping a stitch.

Sasuke let Naruto pull him to his feet; there was a slight twinge in his leg which he ignored because Naruto was kissing him again. Sasuke unbuttoned and pushed the pyjama top off of Naruto, while Naruto tugged down Sasuke’s bottoms. They stepped into the shower, which was just big enough for the two of them, still kissing.

Naruto turned on the water, twiddling with the temperature until it was just right. The shower gel and shampoo that Sakura had brought sat on a small shelf along with those provided by the hospital. Sasuke grabbed one of the hospital issue ones, and turned back to Naruto. He poured some into his hand, and began to spread it on Naruto’s chest, caressing his way slickly down.

Naruto took the bottle from Sasuke, and began mimicking him, a slow and sensual caress that had all of Sasuke’s nerves on fire. He moved closer to Naruto until their bodies pressed together, cocks brushing in a way that had Sasuke gasping.

Naruto slipped a slick hand between them, and grasped both their dicks. He began stroking them slowly, cupping Sasuke’s ass with his other hand. Sasuke’s legs threatened to give way, so he gripped onto Naruto’s shoulders. He pressed his lips against Naruto’s, feeling his mouth opening against his. Sasuke twisted his tongue with Naruto’s as the hand on their cocks began to move faster. The feeling of his cock pressed against Naruto’s, the water cascading warmly across his skin, Naruto’s mouth against his, and that hand, slick and warm and moving in the perfect rhythm, all conspired to have him gasping, his heart pounding. He could feel Naruto’s heart beating in harmony with his, and despite everything, the moment felt so perfect and right.

Sasuke came with a shuddering cry. He broke the kiss to watch Naruto continue to stroke his own dick, Sasuke’s come coating it and his hand. The sight was almost enough to have Sasuke half hard again. He joined his hand with Naruto’s, and watched as Naruto shot with a groan.

They washed each other, Sasuke taking particular care of the cut on Naruto’s head as he washed his hair. He hated to see his lover marked like that, and a small twinge of guilt still said that it was his fault that Naruto was injured. Looking at it scared him, because it brought back the memory of seeing Naruto slumped and bleeding, and not knowing if he was dead or alive. Sasuke suspected that that image would stay with him for the rest of his life.

They came out of the bathroom to find Sakura taking the cards down from the walls. Both their beds were made, and their things neatly packed, so she had obviously been there a while. Sasuke froze as she turned to them with a bright smile.

“I thought I’d help you get your things together,” Sakura said. “Suigetsu is waiting downstairs in the car, so we can just leave when you’re both ready.” She paused, and gave them both a quizzical look. “What were the two of you doing in the bathroom?”

Sasuke’s mind went blank; thankfully Naruto was on the ball.

“We were cleaning our teeth,” he said with a grin.

Sakura apparently brought the lie; she just nodded and went back to the cards. Sasuke and Naruto shared a panicked look. Then Naruto scowled.

“I don’t even know why I’m covering for us,” he whispered. “It would be better if she just found out.”

“I’ll speak to my father today, then I’ll tell her. I promise.” Sasuke hissed back.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and strode over to his bed, rifling through Sakura’s neatly folded piles to grab a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt. “Well, I’m getting changed first,” he said loudly, ducking back into the bathroom.

Sasuke went to his own bed to find something to wear.

“How are you feeling?” Sakura asked, her back to him. Her voice sounded subdued, at odds with the bright smile she had flashed.

“A bit sore,” Sasuke replied, “but not too bad.”

“I was watching the news, and they said that some people had died in that crash.”

Sasuke’s stomach clenched as he remembered the screams, the burning car, the explosion. The blood running down Naruto’s face. He and Naruto had been incredibly lucky.

“It’s scary, you know,” she continued, “because, I can’t help but thinking how easily that could have been you. I guess I’m just being morbid.”

“No, I know how you feel,” Sasuke replied. “It’s not morbid; it’s true.” He felt a bit sick; he had been so close to losing Naruto.

“Sorry,” Sakura said, “it must be worse for you. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just when I thought that, I felt…” She trailed off, then to Sasuke’s absolute dismay burst into tears.

Sasuke stared, stupid with shock, as his fiancée buried her head in her hands, and gave way to choking sobs. He should comfort her, but his feet remained rooted to the spot. Ironically, he knew exactly how she felt, and he sort of wanted to give way to tears himself. But seeing her so upset over him also made him feel like the biggest shit in the world. He was going to dump her less than three weeks before their wedding. Comforting her now suddenly seemed horribly hypocritical.

At that moment, Naruto returned, fully dressed. His eyes flicked from Sakura, to Sasuke. “You didn’t?” he exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“Of course not,” Sasuke hissed back, feeling worse than ever. He reached out an awkward hand and placed it on Sakura’s shoulder, hoping that it would count as giving comfort, while remaining abstract enough to ease his conscience. The minute his hand touched her, Sakura spun and launched herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest. Her body shook with her sobs, and Sasuke could feel the dampness from her tears. It was unpleasant. He shot Naruto a help-me look, but Naruto just shrugged.

Sasuke settled for running a hand through Sakura’s hair, and making soothing noises. He ignored Naruto, who was snickering to himself. Eventually, Sakura stopped crying. She remained in Sasuke’s arms for a few moments while she composed herself. His leg ached, but he forced himself to ignore it. Naruto had long since become bored, and had finished the packing that Sakura had started.

“I’m sorry about that,” Sakura said, pulling away from Sasuke.

“It’s ok,” he replied awkwardly. “I should get dressed, though.”

Sakura stared at him for a long moment, the look in her eyes unreadable. “Ok,” she said. “Naruto and I can take the stuff down to the car.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sasuke didn’t really want to let Naruto out of his sight. Ever again. But he had to speak to his father, and he had a feeling that Naruto would quickly become pissed off if Sasuke became too clingy; he remembered how stifling Sakura had been, although she seemed to be keeping her distance at the moment. She was all bright smiles again, even if, after her tears, Sasuke was sure they were all fake.

They dropped Naruto off at his house. The car Sasuke had been driving when they crashed had been a write off according to Suigetsu, but his other vehicle was fine. They had managed to extract all of their luggage from the boot, So Naruto was fairly burdened as he exited the car. Sakura was silent on the short drive to the Uchiha mansion, which suited Sasuke. All her conversation in recent weeks had surrounded the wedding, and he didn’t think that he would be able to plan something that he was going to cancel. He would talk to his father, then Sakura, then he would go to Naruto and never leave his side. Well, that was the plan, anyway.

After sending Sakura off to let his mother knows that he was back, Sasuke dumped his stuff in his room, and headed straight for his father’s study. He didn’t want to have too much time to think about what he was about to do, because he might lose his nerve. It was the right thing to do, he kept on telling himself that. It was just, it had seemed more right back in the hospital with Naruto than it did standing outside his father’s study. Sasuke took a deep calming breath, which didn’t work, and knocked on the door. He waited a minute that seemed like an eternity. There was no reply. Sasuke knocked again.

“What are you doing?”

He spun around to find Inabi, one of his cousins, giving him a puzzled look.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Sasuke snapped.

“Fugaku isn’t here, so it’s pointless knocking on the study door.” He turned the handle and pushed the door open to show how empty the study was.

Sasuke stared into the empty room, then back to his cousin. “Where is he? When is he coming back?”

“He’s in Germany, and we don’t know. Surely you knew that?”

Sasuke lost his temper. “No I don’t know that,” he exclaimed, “I just got back from the hospital; I was in a car crash, surely you knew that? Why is my father in Germany?”

Inabi stared at him. “A car crash? Are you ok?”

“Of course I’m bloody ok; I need to know why my father is in Germany and when he will be back. It’s important.”

“We don’t know when he’ll be back; there was an emergency with one of our companies over there, and he had to go in person to sort it out. He did say he would be back in time for your wedding.” Inabi smiled, as if Sasuke should be pleased by this. Sasuke tipped his head back against the wall with a groan. He muttered a thanks to his cousin, before striding off down the corridor.

This was bad; really bad. Now he knew why his father hadn’t visited him in the hospital. Fugaku could be gone for weeks, and Sasuke couldn’t cancel the wedding without telling him first. And he needed to be face to face to do it; he didn’t think that an email, or phone call, or even web chat would work. He needed to be in the same room as his father, but he didn’t think that turning up in Germany in the middle of an important meeting, or whatever it was his father was doing, for the sole purpose of cancelling his wedding would go down very well.

He had reached his car, sat down and strapped himself in without really thinking about it. As he placed his key in the ignition he paused. His heart pounded in his ears, so loud that he thought he would burst a blood vessel. The screams, the flames, the blood. It all echoed around his head, and he felt like throwing up.

“Don’t be an idiot.” He muttered to himself.

He closed his eyes, and concentrated on breathing slowly and evenly. In and out, in and out. There was no way that he was going to let the accident stop him from driving. When he felt calm enough, he turned the key in the ignition, and began to drive slowly away from the house.

He was lucky that Naruto’s home was close by, and the roads were rarely used. His heart was pounding in his throat and his hands were shaking by the time he pulled into the driveway. He let himself into the house, and numbly wandered to Naruto’s room. Since it was still the middle of the day, and Naruto expected him to show up after confronting his father, Naruto wasn’t there. Sasuke didn’t care. He lay down on the bed which smelled like Naruto, grasped his ring in his fist, and let the tears come.