A/N: Decided to kill two birds with one stone and practice writing angst while I try to get my mojo back. Hopefully it'll come back soon so I can start updating stuff. D:

Disclaimer: I don't smoke enough pot to write Naruto. XD

Arcane Theorem gets my eternal love for helping me in my runt!!!

When Sasuke's eyes finally cracked opened, squinting at the hospital's harsh florescent lighting, it didn't take Shikamaru's genius or Sakura's medical skills to know that he'd been drugged.

Deep down, Naruto didn't know why he expected anything else. For the last three months, he had visited his former teammate---religiously---in the cramped and guarded confines of Sasuke's white-wash hospital room. He would stroll past the hospital's double-doors with unrealistically high expectations: That since today was a different day, everything else would be different, too.

But Sasuke always had been best at crushing whatever hopes Naruto had set up for himself---where Sasuke, himself, was concerned, at least.

The first time Naruto had been sent to monitor Sasuke, the nurses had claimed it was only temporary; that it was just a precaution, even though they'd strapped him to the bleach-white sheets and secured the bed restraints around his arms and legs with trembling hands.

After the first months of strenuous testing and vague answers, it became obvious that they didn't have any intentions of doing anything else. 'Temporary,' his ass

He didn't know what they'd been injecting Sasuke with, and frankly, he didn't want to know what chemicals coursed inside Sasuke's latent frame as they attempted to prove that darkness could be bottled and demons could be caged.

Naruto clenched his fists at his sides as he watched Sasuke stare blankly up at the ceiling; too much like a doll that'd been misplaced and had fallen onto its back.

He hated it when they did this. But he hated it even more when they didn't, because either way, Sasuke wasn't the one in control of his mind anymore.

"Hey bastard," Naruto called out, desperate to get any reaction out of the lifeless Uchiha.

Sasuke curved his head towards him painfully slow, but Naruto knew that he wasn't really looking at him.

Even though he was staring in Naruto's general direction, his eyes were unfocused and appeared glassy---like windows to the soul he had sold long ago.

"Go to sleep," Naruto whispered, feeling his words echo in his hollow chest.

As he watched Sasuke turn his head back towards the ceiling and close his eyes without resistance, reality had finally hit him like a punch to the face. Sucking in a sharp and unsteady breath, he forced himself out the door on shaky legs and didn't look back.

For the first time in his life, he'd walked away from Sasuke. And this time, he wasn't coming back.

The Sasuke he knew was already dead.

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