Forget Me Not
By The Ambitious Blank

Disclaimer- Naruto doesn't belong to me. ^^;
Comments- Decided the world needed more Naruto angst, even if it meant adding yet another Narusasu/Sasunaru to the mix of the thousands there are already. Pfft, oh well. ^_^ Death, angst, cursing, shounen-ai, you know the drill. Naruto and Sasuke are fifteen in this fic.. Orochimaru has been defeated, Sasuke's curse seal has been removed upon Orochi's death, and Tsunade has become 5th Hokage. (I think she does later on, but I'm not that far in the manga or the episodes yet, don't tell me what happens! .!)

Chapters are named for flowers.. I looked up the flower meanings doing a search on google. ^^; In case you're curious.

~*~Chapter 1- Dahlia, "Instability"

It had been three days.

Three days since Naruto and Sasuke had stumbled back into the village, Naruto hanging off Sasuke's shoulder like a dead thing. Both boys were covered in blood, though they by some miracle, had stayed alive. Their mission had been to eliminate the threat of Sasuke's brother, Itachi, and eliminate him they had, after a long and fierce fight. Sasuke had buried the body before they'd left to go back to the village, leaving nothing but a kunai jammed deep into a tree to mark the grave.

"He doesn't deserve much more than that." Sasuke had said gruffly before they'd headed back to Konoha. Naruto had collapsed several times on the way back, which concerned him.. before the fight had erupted, Naruto had been kidnapped by Sasuke's older brother, and had said something about Itachi partially removing a seal. He said that Sasuke had interrupted him when the younger Uchiha had burst through the window in a shower of shattered glass. In Naruto's half-conscious state, he'd seen the dark-haired boy as an angel, carried in by wings made of crystalline droplets.

But, alas, it had only been Sasuke.

Close enough. Naruto remembered thinking in his almost delirious state. Sasuke had defeated Itachi after a long, drawn-out, bloody battle, and eventually had defeated him by slicing at his eyes, disabling Itachi's Sharingan, and then cleanly slitting his throat. Sasuke had buried him quickly and escaped with Naruto, heading back to the village. Naruto had collapsed on the way, and Sasuke, concerned by this, had hoisted the blonde up onto his back and begun to carry him, taking small leaps and bounds to quicken the pace. Naruto rememberd an angry voice echoing in his mind.

Why does he carry me like I'm some helpless pup?! I am stronger than he'll ever be!

Sudden anger had risen up in Naruto like lava about to explode from a volcano. He remembered identifying that voice as that of the Kyuubi sealed within him, remembered his nails digging into Sasuke's shoulders. Remembered the cry of pain that ensued from this, remembered enjoying that cry of pain, then being disgusted with himself for doing so. He'd blacked out soon after that.

Naruto had woken up in a hospital bed. He'd looked over at Sasuke, who was lying in a bed a few feet away, then noticed that he couldn't sit up to go over there. His wrists and ankles were strapped to the bed.

Under normal circumstances, Naruto would have kicked and screamed and done all he could to get out of those bonds. But his clear blue eyes remained on Sasuke. The Uchiha boy was covered with wounds.. wounds that Naruto knew Sasuke didn't have when he'd last seen him. There was slashes all over his face, chest, arms, and judging by the red stain on the sheets, also on his back. One eye had been clawed shut, and his forehead protector was cracked just slightly in a few places. His shirt had been torn to mere ribbons. Blood soaked his body, fresher than that of Itachi's. Sasuke's own. Naruto's mind slowly came upon the realization of what had happened.

A scream echoed through the hallways of the hospital, reverberating against the pale walls.

~*~

"So what happened?" A concerned Iruka questioned Hatake Kakashi quietly. The Jounin frowned. Both of them flinched as they heard the yell, and Iruka was highly tempted to turn and run back to Naruto's hospital room, but a stern look from Kakashi kept him in place.

"Apparently, the demon fox has been awakened in Naruto." Kakashi began, slowly, as if expecting to be hit if he spoke the truth. "Even more so than before. While Sasuke was bringing him back here, the fox gained control of Naruto's body and attacked him. I have to go make a report to Tsunade-sama. Try not to fuss over Naruto too much.. I'm not sure the medical personnel need any more help." With a small smile, Kakashi vanished, and Iruka sighed, turning to head back down the hallway.

~*~

Iruka cautiously stepped into the room where Naruto was. The boy lay almost completely still, but his eyes were open, focused upon the boy beside him.

"Sasuke.." His voice was heartbroken, something that Iruka had never heard in Naruto's tone of voice before. Iruka cleared his throat slightly, and Naruto turned, blinking.

"Iruka-sensei.." He sounded vaguely surprised, and Iruka offered a small smile.

"You should be grateful to Sasuke.. he managed to bring you here even though you injured him." He said. Naruto flinched and turned away. Iruka bit his lip. Wrong thing to say.

"What I mean is that he saved you, Naruto.. you shouldn't be so sad. He's still alive, you know.. barely, but he is. I'm not sure how you two always manage to just scrape yourselves out of these situations." The man laughed quietly, and Naruto managed a small smile this time, but that vanished quickly.

"Iruka-sensei.. what happened? Did.. did I attack Sasuke? Was it the fox?" Naruto's voice got a little higher and higher pitched as he asked each question. Iruka fidgeted. He hated having to bring bad news to the blonde boy.

"Yes, Naruto. It was the fox. That's.. why you're tied down. The seal that kept it within you was almost completely removed.. luckily, it seems Sasuke was able to stop Itachi before he could get it off all the way, so the fox cannot completely escape." Iruka stepped over, putting a hand on Naruto's forehead comfortingly. "It's a good thing you've got such a strong will, Naruto." He smiled. Naruto nodded, his glance shifting back over to Sasuke for a brief moment. His eyes studied the wounds that lacerated his teammate's body, the overpowering smell of blood filled the room.

Blood. His blood. I caused him pain.

The voice of the fox echoed in Naruto's mind. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Iruka-sensei! Get ba--rrrr.." Naruto's voice was cut off as a growl replaced it, rising in tone. Iruka, surprised, jerked backwards. Naruto let loose a full-out snarl, saliva flying from his mouth as he struggled futilely against the bonds that held him.

"WHAT'S THIS?!" The voice shouted. Iruka knew that wasn't Naruto's voice. Naruto's eyes, suddenly blood red, turned to him, and Iruka flinched again, knowing he was staring into the eyes of the demon fox.

"YOU! RELEASE THESE BONDS IMMEDIATELY, OR I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" He shrieked. Iruka sighed. There was nothing he could do. He turned and left the hospital room, the fox screaming threats at him all the way down the hallway.

~*~Two Weeks Later...

"RELEASE ME!! I SWEAR, I'LL DESTROY ALL YOU DAMN HUMANS!!" Naruto's yells could be heard all along that floor of the hospital. Sasuke stared into the window of the room where he was being kept, alone, strapped to his bed. The blonde strained against the straps that held him, foaming at the mouth, shrieking. Another one of Naruto's "episodes".. rather, the small periods of time the demon fox could take full control of Naruto's body. Sasuke sighed, pressing his forehead against the window, watching several scared-looking nurses approach the fox and inject more drugs into Naruto's arm, making him fall still.

It had become routine by now. Naruto would warn them when the fox was about to awaken again, and then he'd begin kicking and screaming curses at them. It wasn't a pretty sight. They'd gotten a few visitors, the fox had even awoken when Sakura came to see them both, and she'd run out of the room, terrified, when the fox began describing to her all the ways he'd kill her.

Sasuke sighed again, turning to begin walking toward the building where the Hokage's office was. He'd been summoned to make a full report of Itachi's death, now that most of his wounds were healed. He knew he'd probably get a few scars out of this one, but he decided that a few scars was better than a new gravestone in the cemetary.

The long, winding stairs seemed endless, and finally Sasuke reached the top, pausing at the first doorway in the hallway, thinking he heard Tsunade's voice coming from the room. It had been left open, and Tsunade sat before the group of ninjas gathered there. Sasuke caught sight of Kakashi right away among the Jounins, and Iruka standing with the Chuunins that were there. Sasuke listened in to what the Hokage was saying.

"I'm sorry to have called you all here so abruptly. But, we have some interesting news.. after some extensive research, we have found a way to remove the demon fox from Naruto, without having to harm him in any way." She said. Sasuke's eyes widened. Remove the fox? Without hurting Naruto? There had to be some sort of catch.

"It seems too easy." Kurenai voiced Sasuke's concerns for him. "What do we have to do?"

Tsunade fell silent for a moment, and the whole room became uneasy. Sasuke felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.

"..we need a human sacrifice." She said, quietly. "Because Naruto relies on the fox's chakra to remain alive during a fight.. the sacrifice will have to give up their chakra. All of it. Which means.. they'll die. The sacrifice doesn't have to be any of you.. and you, Iruka." She turned to the Chuunin, scowling. "It cannot be you. We need you to keep teaching at the Academy."

Sasuke wasn't sure what compelled him to do what he did next. He'd always had feelings for Naruto, something he'd never quite figured out. Somehow, Naruto would always drag him back down from whatever high horse he was on. Naruto was quite possibly one of the only ones who didn't hold Sasuke in some form of high respect, and for that, Sasuke respected Naruto. But, the fact remained that they were both boys, and they were also both shinobi. Which meant admitting one's feelings was out of the question. Sasuke's sole purpose in life was gone. Itachi was dead. The only thing he had left, really, was Naruto's friendship, something he'd hoped to make into something more.. and it seemed that this was the only way to have that accomplished without having to say a word himself.

Heart thumping hard within his chest, Uchiha Sasuke stepped forward to acknowledge his fate.

"I'll do it."

~*~To Be Continued...

Whee! So there we go, my first Naruto fic. ^^ Next chapters will be longer, I promise!