Monochrome

By Rice-Ball247

Monochrome: A condition of colour-blindness, in which all colours are perceived as shades of grey.

Sinking, falling

Into a darker abyss than ever before

Holding onto faith

Grasping a chain

Of hope and of memories

But when that chain brakes

Sinking, falling

Into that darker abyss

Full summary: In a horrible accident, ANBU captain, Uchiha Sasuke has overused an important nerve in his Sharingan eye, causing him to suffer from the infamous monochrome condition. His world is colourless, a never-ending grey matter. His grass is grey, his sun white and his sky an ever consistent black. A resemblance to his blackened sky, are the eyes of his precious Uzumaki Naruto - who just so happens to hate his guts, and is stuck looking after him too.

Rating: M/R

Warning: contains heavy yaoi, use of vulgar language and unhealthy innuendoes.

Disclaimer: I, Rice-Ball247, disclaim ownership over the copyrighted materials of Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto 2002. The characters and ideals borrowed from the anime and/or manga are being used for non-profitable purposes.

The plot belongs to me, Rice-Ball247. Any sub-stories indicated throughout the story are also part of the plot that belongs to me. Enjoy reading Monochrome!

Do not speak. Do not make a sound. My ears are straining for what I want to hear. Your voice is too loud. Too loud, Naruto. Stop yelling. Che, stupid dobe. I'm getting a headache. Be quiet. Be silenced.

"SHUT UP!"

The room went deathly silent as I heard my voice echo inside the hospital ward I was in. The bed beneath me gave a slight groan as I shifted to a sitting position and tried to glare at the people in the room. Keyword, tried. The sterile bandages over my eyes were beginning to itch, so badly that I wanted to scream in annoyance. But no. Uchiha's do not act like that; I am an Uchiha. I must carry out my actions in the most graceful manner. But GOD-DAMN this thing was killing me!

"Uchiha, sit still," came the icy voice of Godaime Hokage. I was, for the first time, thankful that the bandages covered my eyes. They shielded me from the view of Konohagakure's village leader's furious face. "Naruto, go alert the nearest nurse that Uchiha Sasuke's bandages need to be changed. Now."

"H-hai," Naruto stammered as he ran out of the room, that loud 'thud', no doubt, being his chair that he had knocked over in the frenzy. I didn't know who exactly was in the room. But I did know that the Hokage and my ex-team were currently here. The apprentice medic-nin, Haruno Sakura a.k.a Team 7's kunoichi , who is currently studying under the Hokage, my ex-sensei, Hatake Kakashi, the infamous copy-nin and one of the three surviving people in the world to utilize the Sharingan eye (and the only one who wasn't an Uchiha) and last, but not least, my other team mate, Team 7's weakness and the number one surprise ninja, Uzumaki Naruto. I felt a warmth on my shoulder, and realized that the offending hand, did indeed, belong to a certain rose-haired kunoichi of Team 7.

"Sasuke," she murmured, her head resting lightly atop my head. On a regular basis, the girl would attach herself to my arm and make her presence known. It had been annoying, most of the time. Most of the time, I would scowl and try to shake her off.

But this time it was different. It was comforting. Comforting that she held me like this, a guide in my current state of darkness. A soothing hand brushed gently over my head and settled on my cheek.

"Oh Sasuke. If only I had taken more precautions. If only I had-"

"Enough," I cut her off, feeling the guilt begin to eat away at my insides again. I did not care for her in any way more than the friend that she had built herself to be. But that did not mean that I did not care for her at all. She mustn't blame herself for something that was not her fault.

"I'm the only one to blame here," I added, feeling the stares of all eyes on me. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

"Teme," I heard a bitter voice spit out the affectionate nickname that a certain blond haired male had bestowed upon me. I pulled away from Sakura's warmth and turned my head in the direction which I had heard the voice.

Naruto. The bastard. The monster. The weakling.

I could go on. But all in all, those three basically summed up what he had portrayed himself towards me. However, there was more.

Naruto. The courageous. The caring. The strength.

I could say more about him. Naruto, a living, breathing walking contradiction.

"Alright. Could all people in the room please leave?" the nurse asked kindly. "Hokage-sama, your assistance is required with a certain…problem."

My heartbeat quickened when I heard the scraping of numerous chairs against the hospital floor. So there were more people here. More people who, no doubt, had come to leer at me, eighteen-year-old Uchiha Sasuke, ANBU captain of Konoha and the world's biggest fool.

Who was I to joke? Who was I to kid?

I'm the biggest idiot, the biggest git of all. And all because of one stupid, one FUCKING mistake, which had nearly cost me my life, but had definitely cost me something of much more worth.

Normal POV

Naruto was not able to cease his pacing outside of Uchiha Sasuke's ward. To and fro, he scuffled the floors until black prints were inscribed on the plastic-like surface. The remaining members of their small group waited in either the waiting room or the cafeteria. It was already nearing nine in the evening, and visiting hours were already long overdue. However, due to the word of the Hokage herself, she had allowed the few select people, including the Rookie 9 and fellow teachers, to remain in the hospital with her and the raven-haired patient.

Naruto paused a moment to stare at the ivory coloured door before a cough brought him out of his trance and he, once again, resumed the maiming of the hospital floor.

"Naruto, you're making me feel nauseous. Cease movement at once," Hyuuga Neji, a nineteen-year-old jounin, spat out to him. Naruto turned burning blue eyes towards said man before scoffing and resuming his march again, without regards to his companions in the corridor. Neji and Naruto both took it upon themselves to wait in the corridor outside Sasuke's ward, in case of the event of them being needed, or the Hokage calling them or…oh screw it. Naruto was just downright worried about Sasuke, although he hated the bastard, and Neji…well, Neji had no excuse to be waiting for Sasuke. He, like Naruto, hated the other man with a vengeance. Truth be told, Neji was worried about Naruto. Ever since the Hokage had allowed them to wait in the hospital until midnight or so, he had noticed the visible recline in the kitsune's health.

For one, his skin was no longer baby smooth and tanned, but rather pale and pasty looking. His cheeks were blotchy, as if he had been crying and his eyes too, were red and puffy looking. His hair was not sleek and shiny, but dull and matted. Deep bags rested under his blank cerulean eyes. No doubt, the marks of a true shinobi revealed themselves in the tiredness that took over Naruto.

After a moment of silence, there was a soft muffle of voices and the door to Sasuke's room opened slightly. The Hokage sent a grim smile inside the room before softly shutting the door to a tight close behind her. She looked up in surprise to see both Naruto and Neji standing outside the room, their backs to the windows and staring at her expectantly.

"C-can you tell us what is wrong with him?" Naruto croaked out, fresh tears welling in his already dried out eyes. Neji sent the wayward boy a searing glance before turning to the Hokage with a slightly damaged composure and held his head up high.

"Yes, Godaime-sama. It would be appreciated."

Tsuande, the blonde-haired, busty woman, well into her fifties, sighed as she nodded and motioned for the two to follow her to the waiting room. She sent a nurse nearby to collect the people in the cafeteria to report immediately to the temporary meeting room. Once everyone was seated in the plushy, plastic blue seats, she cleared her throat and began.

"I'm sure you would…all like to know the condition which Uchiha Sasuke is in, and the severity of the matter," she started, cautiously watching where she said her words. The girls, Ino, Sakura, TenTen and Hinata, all leaned forwards with worry. They, being the females, felt a feeling of sympathy towards the Uchiha and all four were bitten down with worry. The males, however laid back they may have seemed, were just as stressed as their female counterparts.

"Due to an over-usage of his Sharingan, Sasuke has involuntarily worn out the nerves of his eyes. The central nerve has been damaged, as have the optic nerve and surrounding areas. He should be blind, but fortunately, the power of the Sharingan, as well as Sasuke's chakra, has saved him. The problem is that he now suffers from a condition which we call 'monochrome'."

Sakura, being a medic-nin, let out a tell-tale gasp as tears of disbelief filled her emerald eyes and a look of horror flitted across her face.

"N-no! B-but that can't! Please tell me it's temporary!" she cried, her breathing now sporadically paced. The others gave her incredulous looks and Naruto reached out to pat her on the shoulder, only to be pushed away. Hurt, the blond glanced at the Hokage, expecting a description on the 'monochrome' condition.

"What is monochrome?" Kiba asked, stating the question which had been on everyone's (well, nearly everyone's) minds.

Tsunade sighed. "Monochrome is a condition of colour-blindness, when the only colours that are able to be seen, are only shades of grey. Sasuke wont be able to see red, green, blue, yellow, pink or orange for that matter. Nothing. He won't be able to tell green from red, or orange from pink. He can't see brown or purple, not a single colour, but only the shades."

"How horrible," Hinata murmured, a small hand clutching the cream-coloured vest she wore. Kiba put a comforting arm around her shoulder from her right, while Shino gently patted her leg. Ino sat between her team-mates, staring at the white floor in despair. TenTen stood beside Rock Lee, who had his head in his hands, also staring at the floor. The teachers, Kakashi, Iruka, Gai, Asuma and Kurenai stood to one side, gazing at the scene before them in perfect silence, each pondering their own thoughts about the matter. Neji stood next to a saddened Naruto, who was quickly transforming his expression into a look of anger.

"That fucking bastard. What the hell did have to go do that for?"

A glare from his team mate silenced him, but he turned his head away to glare at the wall instead. "I hate him. Me and Sakura didn't need saving. We were-"

"We were in the middle of a life or death situation, Naruto! If Sasuke hadn't come…if Sasuke hadn't…come, we wouldn't be here right now!"

"If Sasuke hadn't come, I would have gotten you out of there and sacrificed myself! At least I know I wouldn't be missed!" Naruto retorted angrily, a snarl sent in the direction of the bubblegum haired girl. Bristled, Sakura stood up, extended her hand and slapped Naruto squarely across his face.

"Don't you DARE say that, Naruto! If either you or Sasuke had died, I don't know what I would have done! I love you both so much that it hurts to even THINK for one second, that both of you might have died!"

The anger that had welled up inside of Naruto finally burst and erupted with such frustration, such fury, that even a startled Tsunade had to pull a frightened Sakura back.

"AND YOU THINK I DON'T CARE? You're always worrying about Sasuke, ever since we were little you've been like that. Why do you think I was prepared to sacrifice my life for your sake, and for Sasuke's too? So that you would both be happy! But no! The idiot just HAD to play the role of hero again, didn't he? The bastard…"

Naruto had exploded and finally he settled down, his breathing once frantic, now calm.

"I didn't ask to be saved. I didn't want to be saved. His act was just a waste."

"Our lives were saved, baka!" Sakura screeched again, hand rearing back for another blow. Luckily, Kakashi and Tsunade both stepped in, the former holding Naruto back whilst the latter had grabbed Sakura around the waist and pulled her away.

"Lemmie go! That idiot should be hit!"

Sure enough, Kakashi gave Naruto a soft bop on the head with his bright orange book, before taking the kyuubi container by the arm and nodding towards everyone else.

"Please send my regards and condolences to Sasuke, should he awaken again while we're away. Iruka, Naruto and I should take our leave," Kakashi declared, loud enough for people in the waiting room to hear. Naruto carried a bitter look on his face as Kakashi steered him away from everyone else with Iruka trailing slowly behind them. At last, just as they reached the doors, Naruto turned to them all and gave a short and curt bow.

"I'll return again tomorrow, if possible, to check on the bastard's progress. But that's it. All he's done is made me feel indebted to him."

As he left with his two teachers, a hot, wet trail of a single tear left his eye. It was all that bastard's fault. But then, why did he feel as if he was the one to blame for all this?

So there's chapter 1 up! I want to continue this, but there really is no point if no one reviews. So to make sure that I'm at a good milestone, 10 reviews would be appreciated in order to post the next chapter up, a'ite?

Wow...this one wiped me out, sorta. I had to study the monochrome condition but I'm kinda feeling dizzy from my last research assignment. So please, to any smart/doctorish people out there, I apologize towards any ignorance towards the topic. This fanfiction was made for enjoyment purposes only and NOT to offend anyone, should they have the monochrome condition, or know anyone suffering from it! Thank you!

Rice-Ball247