Hey everyone,

Sorry for the long wait. Actually, today's chapter was originally a part of the last chapter, but I had decided to make it a separate chapter and build on it. But since I think it's taking so long to write the new chapter, I thought I should publish what I have so far. It's emotional, but it's not long. I hope you like it.

I hope you had a chilling Halloween (mwahahaha). To all the Muslims out there; Happy Eid.

Mini Chapter 6, "Once again on the edge"

Naruto stood behind the wall, peeking at Sasuke. It was already two after midnight, and the raven was still straining his eyes in front of the computer trying to research Naruto's disease. The blond frowned, heart aching.

"At least he's more relaxed now," he whispered.

Earlier that day, he had fought with Naruto until the neighbors had called the police, complaining from the noise. It was mostly Sasuke shouting at him for wasting his time here instead of getting some sort of treatment. He then threatened to throw Naruto out if he didn't show him his medical records, and then stated that he was going to hire a private investigator anyway.

The Uzumaki let out a deep breath watching as Sasuke's fists clenched. He had feared that all along. He had wanted to save one life to make up for what he was going to miss after his death. It wasn't his intention to get someone attached to him, only to die and leave him half insane. Maybe it was a bad idea from the start, he thought. He was playing with fire dealing with a person who was already venerable. But then again, maybe it was all a part of gigantic design. As sad as his illness was, it was his original motivation to save a life.

He approached Sasuke, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Go away."

Naruto leaned against the desk, "Sorry I didn't tell you before."

"Don't apologize. It's none of my business anyway."

"Then why do you keep reading medical journals?"

"May be I'm trying to figure out if brain cancer is contagious!" Sasuke snapped lying.

Naruto didn't respond. Instead he walked over to the balcony, and slid the curtain to the side. "It looks really peaceful out tonight. Do you want to hang out there a little?"

The raven froze. He stood up, opened the balcony door, and climbed the balcony fence, sitting on it. Naruto ran to his side, immediately clutching the back of his shirt.

"I swear to God, Sasuke, you promised!"

"…"

"Sasuke."

"…"

Naruto whined, "Sasuke, get off the edge." He hugged the other's back, trying to pull him back. "Get off the edge please."

"You lied to me."

"I didn't lie…"

The raven frowned, staring down at the sidewalk trees. He wanted to say "What did you think would happen? You would enter a person's life when he's most vulnerable, and then would just leave? Didn't occur to you that if you stop a person from killing himself, he might just start…"

"Sasuke, come off the edge. Please. You know, the doctors say stress is bad for me," Naruto whispered feeling guilty.

"I don't care; I hate you anyway," Sasuke lied once more.

Naruto buried his face into Sasuke's nape, "Do you know why I'm so tanned?"

"Silly questions…" Sasuke mumbled.

"I wanted to swim at the summer Olympics. I always believed that I will win the gold medal one day. Last year, I had to drop out after I was diagnosed. I thought after few months, I'll be back, but then the doctors told me I won't live long enough to… even watch this years Olympics on the TV."

"Shut up…"

"I didn't care I was dying… but dying without doing the one thing I always dreamt of achieving… I couldn't stand it. It felt bad, and above that everyone around me was miserable. They wouldn't laugh anymore as if I was already dead. You know…" He started tearing up. "The day I saw you for the first time… I was going there too, for the same reason."

Sasuke turned around quickly, to glance at Naruto crying. He stared at the other in shock.

"That one idea tormented me. That I was unlucky. You'd think a person who lost his parents and then an ugly man spent all his energy abusing me, would have some good karma saved up. I felt so sorry for myself, not being able to do what I wanted the most. Then I saw you… I thought if I could save you, and you live to make your dream come true, then… somehow… It was part of a greater plan-"

"We're not in a movie, Naruto. We're not a novel where the author is trying to make some sort of point! If it was I would have found a cure just before the last page and saved you. It's not a story. Because I'll lose you, and I'll have to keep living carrying this loss around, even after the pages end."

Naruto nodded, "It was strangely poetic of you, but I get it. I might have been a little selfish-"

"You're not selfish enough in a very selfish way!"

Naruto stuttered, "I don't… What?"

Sasuke wiped the other's stray tear away, before pulling him into his chest. He hugged him tightly, feeling Naruto whimper and sob. He couldn't talk. He couldn't say anything. He could only hug him.

A few minutes later, after Naruto clamed down, Sasuke got off the edge. He held Naruto's hand, and the blond willingly followed him into bed.

They spooned, enjoying each other's warmth and the security that came along with it. As he began to fall asleep, Sasuke whispered, "Lets go somewhere together."

"We should…"

The next morning, Sasuke in the bed pretending to sleep as he heard Naruto 'sneakily' get dressed. Obviously, the blond didn't want Sasuke to tag along, but the raven had other plans.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke stated.

"Iruka…" Naruto chuckled nervous, before signaling for Sasuke to go back to sleep.

"You're going to another session? Instead of the one you missed yesterday."

The blond sighed, "Yeah… Kakashi is going to kill me."

"I'm coming with you."

"No need."

"Naruto, I'm coming with you. I need to talk to your doctor."

"I think you think you're my father," Naruto stated as he watched Sasuke get dressed in less than a minute.

"I think you think you can convince me otherwise."

"Not going to happen?"

"Not a chance in hell," Sasuke walked out of the door.

As they sat in the car, Sasuke went on lecturing Naruto. He started the lecture with a brief speech about what Naruto should and shouldn't eat. He even went the extra mile to yell at Naruto when the boy grumbled at the mention of broccoli. He went on to list the new equipment they need to buy; a shower chair incase Naruto faints, nosey cups, etc.

"God," Naruto whispered, frowning.

Sasuke turned around with a concerned look, "Are you getting dizzy? Motion sickness?"

"It hasn't been twenty-four hours and you're turning into them. I'm not dead yet. You're already making plans to buy disposable wipes in bulk in anticipation for when I shit myself. I'd like to believe that I never will. I don't want to hear any crap about crap."

Sasuke sighed, "I-"

"I'm supposed to be the one looking after you. Shhh!"

Sasuke hissed, looking away and mumbling, "He's hushing me."

- To be continued soon-

Review (-te kudasai).