The Art of Patience

The Art of Patience Ch. 38
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Naruto blinked and stared at his plate. The blond had had no desire to eat or drink at all since finding out where Sasuke had been dragged to and it was only with herculean effort that he'd managed to eat more than three bites of anything before pushing the dish away.


He and Itachi had gone through the motions of living despite everything being dull and featureless to their eyes. Work was an inconvenience, food had no flavor and even the world was tinged with a depressing gray overtone. "It definitely looks good. I just wish..." Naruto stopped talking and poked at the pasta on his plate. He really couldn’t bring himself to take even a half hearted bite with his stomach knotted up and likely shriveled to the size of a raisin.


The blond was about to take a bite when the phone rang obscenely loud and made him drop his fork back into the plate with an equally loud clatter followed by his char scrapping across the floor. Let it be news of Sasuke this time, he had to know what was happening!

Itachi sat at the table as well and didn’t even bother to eat despite his master’s pleading. He didn’t really feel up to it and it had been about 24 hours since he had last eaten anything. But he continued his day doing what he was supposed to do; went to work, went home and did his chores, made dinner, and finally sat down with the blonde to eat.

It had been very difficult for the older raven to go to work that day, knowing that Sasuke was in need of help and he could do nothing for his little brother. Hopefully Kakashi would be successful before any permanent damage was done.

Itachi jumped as well when Naruto’s cell phone rang and he looked up sharply as Naruto quickly got up from the table to answer it. He so desperately wanted to follow his master to hear what Kakashi had to say, if it was him at least, but knew that if he did follow the blonde, he would just be in the way, so he stayed put.

Naruto walked into the living room just far enough to not feel crowded by Itachi but close enough to be heard. It was so hard not to just launch into the questions that had been eating him from the inside all day. "Kakashi? I'm so glad you called I don't think I can last another day knowing Sasuke's in that perverts hands Do you have him? Is he alright? When can we see him?"

The blond paused and took a deep breath. He was wound up so tightly that he was in actual pain from not having his Kitty nearby.

Itachi stayed where he was but looked in the direction that his master had gone. He could still see the man but knew he shouldn't follow. If Naruto got up and moved away than he would respect the man's space. But he was beyond worried about Sasuke and wanted to know what was going on as well.

He did stand up and stood in the doorway of the kitchen, still far enough away from his master but close enough to intervene if Naruto had another breakdown.

"You got him??! Is he alright? When can we see him? Where are you?" Naruto stood up straight and looked around for Itachi and his keys. Kakashi had Sasuke, Sasuke had been saved! Now he could finally bring his kitty home and put this whole nightmarish scene behind him.

Itachi made his way into the living at hearing the words leave his master’s mouth and stood behind the blonde. Not wanting to bother him with silent questions. He was so anxious to see his brother he was practically shaking.

Kakashi sighed at Naruto’s questions. He gently ran a hand through Sasuke’s hair as the man slept, they were almost to the hospital and it was going to be hard as it was to explain what happened to the doctor. “We’re taking him to the hospital. I’m not going to lie… he’s in bad shape Naruto. I don’t think he’ll be able to come home for a while…”

Naruto stood like a statue and stared at nothing while something inside him wanted to both tear the walls down and curl up in a corner somewhere and start crying like a baby. Sasuke had been saved, but he hadn't been saved in time, Madara had still managed to hurt his Kitty so bad that he had to go to a hospital instead of coming home.

The blond looked around for Itachi and blinked when he found the long haired man behind him. Itachi was going to be really upset knowing where they were going to end up going to see Sasuke. "Which hospital? We'll meet you there."

Itachi almost ripped the phone away from the blonde to demand answers from Kakashi after hearing the word ‘hospital’. All other thoughts left his mind at that moment and all he could even think about or see was his brother, beaten and crying out for him and Naruto… It was too much and he sank to his knees and finally broke down; tears escaped his eyes. He couldn’t hold out any longer, it was too difficult to hold in all his emotion to be strong for his master…

Kakashi looked up and saw the sign of the hospital they were just passing. He rattled off the name and address to Naruto. He was going to tell the blonde about Orochimaru’s involvement, but wanted to wait until Naruto got to the hospital before saying anything; he did want his friend and his lover to get to the hospital safely. “He’s asleep right now but I promised him you two would be there when he wakes up.”

"Thanks for getting him out of there. I'll make sure Itachi and I get there in time." Naruto looked at Itachi and gently put a hand on the man’s shoulder in silent comfort. They were going to go see Sasuke They both needed to release their stress but they'd have to be ready to help Sasuke when he opened his eyes. "We'll be there in five minutes, ten if the traffic's bad."

The blond kneeled next to Itachi and hung up the phone so he could talk to his distraught Princess without being overheard. "I know this isn't how we wanted things to be, baby, But we just have to be strong for just a little bit longer until we get to Sasuke. Then we can let everything out and help each other get past this whole thing. I promise."

Itachi clung to the blonde and buried his face in the other’s shirt. It was so hard at that point to be strong, he just wanted to let it out and not have to hold everyone else up. “I’m just so scared Naruto…”

Kakashi hung up once he heard the click of disconnection and opened his car door and carefully carried Sasuke into the emergency area of the hospital. He knew for Sasuke it would be a long road but for his two lover’s it may seem even longer.

"I am too. I don’t want o see what kind of shape he's in or to know how badly he looks after being with HIM for longer than either of us wanted. I just want to curl up in a dark corner for months and just cry until I can't anymore." The blond knew better than to tell Itachi to suck it up and get ready to get to the hospital, it wasn’t what he needed to hear not to mention such a statement would be insensitive.

Itachi clung to Naruto for a bit longer before standing up. “We should go… I don’t want him to wake up without us there.” He had pulled himself together, he had to, at least for Sasuke… Who knew what state his brother was in.

"Yeah. I'll drive us there. You get some things together; I think you should stay at the hospital with your brother tonight." Naruto gave Itachi a quick hug and flashed the long haired man a smile before standing up. There were only a handful of things that needed to be done before they left.

Itachi nodded and headed to his bedroom to get a small duffel bag to put a change of clothing for himself and Sasuke. He was about to leave the room when his eyes fell upon something fuzzy. It was Sasuke's stuffed kitten that he had kept from when he was younger. The man never slept with it anymore, but Itachi thought that he may want it now as a little bit of comfort and familiarity.

Making up his mind, the long haired man grabbed the furry plushy and stuffed it into the bag as well before grabbing a book on his way out of the room. He heard that it was comforting to be read to...

Making his way back out, Itachi followed his master out the door and into the front passenger's seat. It was silent while they drove and usually Itachi could handle it but tonight... tonight he needed sound. "Where will you sleep?" he asked suddenly, not able to control his voice any longer.

Naruto jerkily handled the car and pressed his lips together in a line. He was wondering where he'd stay too. With Itachi at the hospital the brother’s place would be very empty and depressing which left either his place or renting a room at a motel near the hospital. "I'll probably park somewhere near the hospital and sleep in the back seat with my cell phone under my head so you can call me whenever. I really don't feel like driving back home knowing that Sasuke's probably in trouble."

Itachi frowned at that. "I don't think you should sleep in your car. What if someone tries to..." he stopped there, not wanting to think about anything else that could go wrong. "I can pay for you to be in a hotel, there's one right across the street." He looked at his master pleadingly, even though the man was paying attention to the road and probably didn't notice. "I don’t' want something to happen to you too." he said quietly as he looked away.

The blond smiled and felt both ashamed and relived that Itachi was offering to keep his master safe for a night. When this was over he was going to make it up to Itachi. "Thanks I'd appreciate that. And tomorrow we'll go home with Sasuke"

Itachi forced a smile but knew his master was incorrect. They most likely wouldn’t be going home with Sasuke the next day. From what he had gathered after the phone call, Sasuke was in pretty bad shape mentally and physically. But the long haired raven said nothing, not wanting to burst the blonde’s bubble at a crucial time such as this.

It was about another minute before they reached the hospital and Itachi got out the second Naruto stopped the car. He politely waited for the blonde, albeit anxiously, before heading into the emergency room. Please let Sasuke not be awake yet.

Naruto swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and grabbed Itachi's hand as they walked to the hospital. Now that he was here he didn’t know if he wanted to see exactly what had put Sasuke in such bad condition. "I wish none of this had happened."

Itachi squeezed the blonde’s hand in reassurance, even though he really had no more left in him to give. “Do you mind if I ask them about Sasuke? They’ll probably tell me more since I’m family.” He felt like shit the moment the words left his mouth. He didn’t regret them since it was a cold hard fact. But he knew how hospitals worked and how delicate they were with their information. All the same, he hated the way it came out, like Naruto wasn’t important enough. But the raven was sure his master would understand.

Naruto nodded and took a couple steps away from Itachi after they entered the hospital together. As much as he hated it Itachi was right. The people here were more likely to spill the beans to the family of a patient than to a friend but he still wanted to be right there with Itachi.

After talking with the receptionist and finding out where his brother was, the raven made his way back to Naruto. "They've checked him in to the hospital, so we have to go the actual hospital building... apparently this is a separate building." He sighed in exasperation. He just wanted to see his brother for fuck's sake. He took a deep breath to try and calm down before looking at the blonde.

"That doesn’t seem smart, why would anyone split a hospital up into different buildings. I guess it doesn’t matter really, let’s go see Sasuke."


Itachi just nodded and headed back out to the car. Fuck this was just too much. The raven tried to hold back his tears of frustration as they drove around the parking lot to the hospital which was just on the other side of the ER.

Once they arrived Itachi got out once more and headed into the massive building. This hospital was known as the best in the city; mainly to those who couldn't afford health insurance.

The raven led the blonde up to the third floor where the ER receptionist had told him to go and walked quickly to the nurse's station to ask about his brother. Hopefully this would produce better results, he was almost to the point of opening every single door to find the boy.

Naruto looked up and down the halls and put a hand on Itachi’s shoulder to help the man calm down a little. The older man looked about ready to cry and tear the whole hospital apart to find his brother. "It's going to be alright. I know we'll see him in a minute, maybe two at most. Then we can find out what happened from Kakashi if the nurses make him sleep again."

The nurse, a pretty blonde, was very nice and led them to Sasuke’s room, allowing Naruto to enter as well. She warned that the boy was a bit frazzled but otherwise awake.

Itachi entered the room and there, looking so small and lost was his little brother. The older raven almost ran to the boy and put his arms around him, but he refrained, not sure how Sasuke would react to fast movement.

When Sasuke saw the door open he shrank back into the hospital bed and unconsciously pulled the blanket a bit closer. People had been coming in and out ever since he woke up and every time it scared him to no end. He half hoped that his brother would walk through the door whenever it opened and was immensely disappointed when nothing of the sort occurred.

He had been a mess when he woke up in the hospital. He had not been tied down, Kakashi knowing that it would have made the situation worse if he was. Sasuke had looked around frantically and tried to sit up but a soothing voice told him that it was ok and he wasn’t in danger anymore. He had looked to where the voice was and saw the silver haired man from before next to him. Even though the man had held him down and made him sleep, he had the overwhelming urge to trust this man… He wasn’t sure why but his gut was telling him that he was no longer going to be in pain as long as this man was around.

The small raven shrank back still, feeling a bit wary despite his mind’s urge to give trust and he asked about his brother and reminded the man that he promised he would be there when Sasuke woke up.

The silver haired man merely apologized and told him that his brother was on his way along with Naruto. At the mention of Naruto’s name, Sasuke blinked and had to think for a moment and realized that he really didn’t want the blonde to see him like this; what would he think of him? Surely his master would not want him anymore, he was damaged goods.

That’s when the door opened for a final time and Sasuke was finally greeted to the sight of his brother. It took all his power not to jump out of bed and burry his face in the man’s clothing and cry until he couldn’t anymore. But he knew he would get the chance.

Then in walked Naruto… Sasuke had no idea what to do at that point. All he could think about was shame… shame at the fact that he was now soiled and most likely unwanted. He looked away from Naruto and his brother then… If Naruto wouldn’t want him anymore, then his brother most likely wouldn’t want him either.

Naruto hung back near the door to let Itachi have a moment with his little brother without having to worry about being seen crying or wondering what his master would think. He leaned against the wall and felt suddenly very tired as he looked at his lost Kitty. Sasuke was in a little hospital gown under a thin sheet with an IV taped to his arm and the whole scene paired with his desperately needy expression made the blue eyed man want to rush over there and tell the little Uchiha all the things he wanted to hear to make the young man smile.

Itachi made his way slowly to the side of Sasuke’s bed. Kakashi was there and he wanted to thank the man and give his whole life to him for saving Sasuke. But that could wait for later. He just gave a small smile of thanks before sitting in the chair that had just been vacated for him.

Sasuke just watched warily as his older brother sat down next to him and he couldn’t help but let the tears fall again. “Please tell me you’re really here…” he said in a hoarse whisper.

The older raven felt his own tears leave his eyes and he carefully took Sasuke’s pale hand in his. “I’m here Sasuke… You’re safe now, no one’s going to hurt you anymore.”

Kakashi paid no mind to the lack of thanks. He knew Sasuke was more important at the moment and he respected that. The silver haired man made his way to Naruto, looking at the man with purpose. “Hey.” He said simply. “Can I talk to you out here for a moment?”

Naruto nodded and pushed himself off the wall. Itachi and Sasuke could probably use a little time together without being watched.

"Yeah, sure." The blond walked outside the room and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up and down the hallway. Sasuke didn't look all that bad except being afraid and maybe a little paler than usual and there was probably some kind of trauma that he had no idea about. "What’s up Kakashi?"

Sasuke watched until Naruto and Kakashi left the room before he turned to his older brother. “I’m sorry…” he said simply as he looked down at the sheets once more.

The older raven leaned back a bit, surprised by this. “What are you sorry about? You didn’t do anything.”

“Yes I did… I wasn’t strong enough. I let them do whatever they wanted and didn’t try to stop them.” Sasuke clenched his eyes shut and fisted the blankets as he began to tremble. “I could have gotten away…”

Itachi leaned forward and gently took Sasuke’s hand, mindful of the IV. “No one knew this was going to happen. You had no idea… It’s not your fault. Nothing changes the way I feel about you Sasuke. Same with Naruto.”

Sasuke looked at Itachi then, his eyes brimming with tears. “How can either of you want me now?”

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Kakashi shut the door quietly to Sasuke’s room and faced the blonde who looked like he was ready to bolt at any minute. “There’s something you don’t’ know about all this. Believe it or not I’m way more involved in the situation than you think.”

When Kakashi saw the confused look on the blonde’s face he continued. “In truth, I’m a police officer. I joined soon after I got out of the military. I never told you because I was put on the case for Madara almost right away and was pretty much sworn to secrecy in the investigation.

He’s been charged and wanted for a long time Naruto. Mostly for money laundering and fraud, but this incident just solidifies his fate.”

The silver haired man paused for a moment before continuing. “Now that we have him in custody, there is no way he’s going to get away with anything. Sasuke will never have to worry about him ever again… I promise.”

TBC

Surprise!? And you thought the police weren’t involved :P Well, there’s another chapter for you all XD

~Sasu