Friends & Family   von dragonfighter
                           (The Clumsy & The Lonely)
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                        Kapitel 23: Step 23 - Breakdown
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Machines can break down. Systems, constructions and buildings. Just like humans
too. Sometimes a breakdown can be a good thing. When a computer or phone breaks
down, it is said that it has died. It may have overheated, due to overuse and/or
overwork. A system sometimes works perfectly again after a breakdown, because it
comes to a standstill for a moment. It gets a break. A system also needs
something like this. Not just us humans. It can also be that, despite the
breakdown, the problem persists or even worsens, but still you know that there
is a problem, making it able for you to search for the problem, repair and fix
it.

A knock sounds from the office door, making the youngest Uchiha lift his head in
torment. "Come in!" It comes in a rough tone over his lips and he hopes that the
person in front of the door is able to hear him, since his voice has been
failing him ever since the early morning hours. The door opens quietly and a man
enters the room. "Hey little brother." The voice of the older of the Uchiha
brothers sounds in the room, as he closes the door behind himself again. "Hey."
Sasuke replies rather unwillingly, since every word leaving his mouth is
scratching his throat, making him grimace a little while trying to make it go
unnoticed. The man with the dark brown eyes approaches the table and sits down
in the armchair across from his brother. “Are you okay?” Itachi inquires
after briefly examining his brother. "Yes, yes. Everything's fine.“ Sasuke
waves him off and looks at his brother rather confused. “What's up?” He then
asks instead, since his brother rarely visits him in the office. The elder sighs
briefly at the question and gives his brother an examining look. "Sasuke. What
is going on with you at the moment?” The long haired man begins after a moment
of silence, keeping a close eye on his little brother. "What do you mean?"
Sasuke asks back rather confused at his question. “Sakura came to me on
Wednesday. She says that you are distant and cold towards her. What's happening?
You've never been like this to her, not even after the wedding. You have always
been kind to her, but now you seem to treat her like a business partner, a
stranger. Tell me why?” Itachi then continues and lets his hands drop on his
thighs. "So she went to you that day." Sasuke states and smiles slightly. He
should have guessed it. "And why are you only coming to me now? That was almost
an week ago." He then continues and looks at his older brother, who lets out a
sigh.
 
“I told her to wait and look if there might be any chance that things get
better over the weekend again, that it’s possibly just a phase, but since you
haven't changed, she called me earlier. What's up Sasuke? Nobody can help you,
if you don't talk about it. Is it because of the dreams you told me about the
last time?” Itachi examines his younger brother searchingly, as if hoping to
find an answer in his face. Sasuke just glances up at his big brother and the
latter realizes, by looking into his eyes, that he will not answer him. “You
have to talk to us. You are worrying Sakura with your sudden distance too much
and she can't handle it. She actually realizes that you have problems, but she
doesn't know what exactly is bothering you to the point were you leave her in
the dark. Sasuke. Talk to us. Talk to Sakura, with father, Kakashi, or even
Ayame. But please just talk to someone about your struggles and what's 
bothering you.“ Pleads the older one. Thinking about it, he puts his hand to
his lips and watches his brother, who just stares straight at him or looks at
his trousers for a moment, maybe even at the table. "I know." Itachi then
suddenly adds with a soft laugh, before he continues. "Mom was always gifted
with this special talent that you really liked. She always only needed to give
you a single glance, in order to know what’s wrong with you. She always knew
what the problem was and what to say or do. But you have to consider,
Sasuke...” The older of the two pauses for a moment and looks up at him with
saddened eyes. “Unfortunately, mom is no longer with us and none of us has her
special talent to read your problems out of your facial expressions. Maybe
Sakura will be able to do that someday, after all, Mum didn't choose her for you
without a reason, but until then you have to talk to us and if you only provide
small clues. But please say something. We want to know what's wrong with you. We
are all worried.” Itachi smiles towards him and hopes to find out something
after his rather long speech.
 
The younger breathes in deeply, before breathing out just as soundly.
"Everything is okay, there’s nothing to worry about." Sasuke just mumbles and
looks to the side. The long haired man sighs resignedly at his answer and lets
his hand fall back on his thigh with a loud thud. "There’s nothing to worry
about, you say, but you really don't look good Sasuke." He finally says,
watching his little brother frown. "I'm just missing a bit of sleep and my
throat is scratchy, but other than that everything is okay." Explains Sasuke,
while running erratically with his fingers through his hair. A deep sigh leaves
his lips and then looks back at all the papers on his desk. “If there is
nothing else, I need to keep working. Unfortunately I don’t have as much free
time as you, so there’s still a lot I have to finish till afternoon.“ It
comes rather annoyed from the younger one and to underline this statement, he
takes his pen back into hand and lifts one page up to read through it. Itachi
sighs resignedly at his brothers words and stands up after a quick last glance
at him. He approaches the door and puts his hand on the handle, but he doesn’t
turn back again when he says his next words. “Talk to Sakura. Please. This
silence is killing you and her too." Annoyed, Sasuke throws the paper back on
his table after his brother has left the room again. He should have expected
that she would go to Itachi. Of course she didn’t went all the way up with
him, since it would have been obvious if she suddenly went to the right instead
of going back to her office. He would have asked her where she’s going and she
probably didn’t want him to ask that when he is the one distancing himself
from her in the first place.
 
Sasuke sighs out softly. It's all right. Nobody needs to worry about him. He has
only been sleeping bad and restlessly lately and just can’t get rid of that
stupid cold. He distances himself a little from Sakura so as not to let her see
how he is and risk possibly infecting her. After all he doesn’t even know if
his condition is contagious. This cold just wears him completely out, which
keeps him from working and he hates that. 
 
Sighing, the youngest Uchiha presses the palms of his hands against his eyes,
presses his head against the cushion of the headrest and carefully rubs over
them. His head is booming as if someone is working with a jackhammer right next
to him. Beside that it’s also throbbing, as if someone keeps hitting him with
a hammer at regular intervals. His ears and eyes sting, just as they are
burning. His throat is scratchy and the fever makes him sweat. His mouth and
throat is also constantly dry and he feels scratches in his lungs whenever he
breathes in and out. It's just unbearable and keeps him from doing his work as
efficiently as possible. If it weren’t for this problems, he would be able to
have more breaks in between to relax.

Tormented, Sasuke puts his hands on his head. He's been feeling like this ever
since the early morning hours, all of a sudden, just right after the weekend
ended. It's almost unbearable. He can’t sleep, or eat and even breathing is
sometimes difficult. For a month now he has only been sleeping restlessly or
waking up at night. He looks around his table for a moment, grabs his glass and
greedily drinks out the liquid in it. His throat burns and hurts with each
swallow. He takes a deep breath and tries to collect himself, squeezes his
burning eyes for a moment and then shakes his head a few times. He has to pull
himself together! It's not even noon yet, which means he still has a lot of work
to do. Even if he has difficulty concentrating, he can’t simply stop working
because his body is limping. He's just missing a little sleep and that’s all.
The Uchiha grits his teeth and devotes himself back to work.
 

 
~> * <~
 

The pink haired woman laughs. Natsuki too is laughing aloud to the extend
she’s about to throw herself on the ground. Ever since Karin got her two
warnings and got put back into her place by both Sasuke and Kakashi, the mood in
the women’s office has been even better than usual. Sakura leans her elbow on
the armrest of her chair and lets her head fall back from all the laugher. The
sudden ringing of the office phone is the only thing that is able to make the
two fall silent. Grinning, the Haruno caresses a tear from the corner of her
eye, before clearing her throat and picking up the phone, because it's usually
always just her phone anyway. Somewhat surprised, she looks at the name on the
display, as certain numbers are stored with names. She groans a little annoyed
when she realizes what this is going to be about. "Hello Ayame." She greets her
husbands secretary friendly and sighs inwardly. When Ayame calls, it's always
because of Sasuke, because he wants or needs something from her and she
seriously doesn't feel like going to him at all. “Tell him I'm not in mood, or
that i have no time, whatever, I don't care. I don’t care what he wants." She
then continues immediately and examines her fingernails, looking for possible
nail polish that could have chipped off. It's his own fault, he distances
himself from her and sometimes even ignores her, she doesn't feel like giving
him attention after all that now and she doesn't really need to. "Mrs. Uchiha,
you must come immediately!“ She suddenly hears the desperate and hasty voice
of her husbands secretary. Confused, she raises her eyebrow in response. On one
hand because she agreed with her that she would address her with Haruno and on
the other hand because she sounds so desperate. “Has something happened?”
She explores relatively calmly, awaiting the woman’s explanation. “Mr.
Uchiha! He suddenly broke down!” Explains the secretary hurriedly and
obviously scared.
 
Her eyes widen in shock, as her grip on the receiver loosens. The green eyed
woman is almost dropping the receiver, as she feels very much reminded of a
situation that has happened not too far back. "O-Okay. I'm coming." She utters
briefly, quickly gets up and accidentally slams the receiver back onto its
place. In the next moment she turns around and overcomes the meters to the door
and storms through it, her surroundings disappearing from her vision. Everything
she sees is the door in the end of the path. Her heels come up on the carpet in
quick and short intervals. They echo dully through the hallway, which she walks
along and past her colleagues who look at her in confusion and surprise. Some
even evade her in order not to collide with her.
 
Without knocking, she slams the door to Ayame's office open, which bounces off
the swing of the door stopper and falls back into its lock. She carries her legs
further into her husbands office, whom she sees as soon as she steps through the
door. He is lying on the floor, in the middle of the room, only two steps away
from his desk. Suddenly a similar memory shoots through her head and she can
think of nothing else, only a straight line and a high sound. Her heart skips
for a brief moment, knocking the breath out of her lungs. "Mrs. Uchiha!" The
secretary calls out to her, a little relieved. "What happened?" Sakura asks
completely shaken and approaches her husband with quick steps, rushes to his
side and gently runs her fingers through his hair. He is laying on his stomach
with his face turned to the side. "I don’t know. I just heard a loud crashing
sound and when I came to check on the situation, I found him unconsciously
laying on the floor.” The older woman reports and looks panicked at her boss. 

 
“Sasuke, you idiot! Wake up! Stop this crap?!“, Sakura grabs the black
haired man by his shoulder to shakes him lightly, but he doesn’t even flinch.
"Sasuke!" She calls out once again, while panic slowly spreads through her whole
body. She bends very close to his face, which is covered by a wet film of sweat
and is glowing in heat, perceiving his breath very faintly. "We have to get him
into the stable side position!" She comments and looks up at Ayame. "Have you
already informed Fugaku and Itachi?" She then asks, overwhelmed, while she turns
her husband on his side and places his head on her stripped blazer. Goosebumps
immediately spread over her arms, but she hardly notices the prevailing cold.
She puts her hands on his cheeks. "I have already informed Fugaku." Ayame says,
when Sakura jumps up and runs through her hair in panic. She just doesn't know
what to do next. "And what about Itachi?" She asks desperately. "His line is
busy, I can't get through to him and his secretary is free today.” Explains
the secretary and looks at her boss's wife with concern. Said woman immediately
turns around and runs out of the office. "Ms. Uchiha?!" She hears Ayame call out
to her, but instead of turning back, she immediately runs down the hall to the
elevators, in order to get to Itachi's office.
 
Without any warning or knocking, she storms first into the secretary's office
and then further into Itachi's. Jumping up in his seat by the sudden opening and
slamming of the door, he looks up and at her. "Excuse me, mr. Tachimoto!" The
older brother interrupts the man on the other end of the line. before turning to
his sister in law. "Sakura. I'm in the middle of wor-" He begins, but when he
sees the panic in her expression, he stops. “What happened?" He then starts to
ask instead and immediately gets up from his chair. “Sasuke… Sasuke broke
down. Please Itachi, don't tell me that it's the same as your mother's. I can't
handle that one more time!" She comes up to him in panic and clings to his
shirt. He can see tears well up in her eyes. She said what she had been fearing
all along. "Sakura, please calm down. Otherwise you will get a panic attack.
What happened?” He tries to calm her down, since he barely understood a word.
“Sasuke collapsed! He's lying unconscious on the floor of his office!” She
exclaims in panic and tears run down her cheeks. Itachi stares at her in shock
before turning to his phone, pressing a button and picking up the receiver. "Mr.
Tachimoto, I’m truly sorry, but an emergency has occurred. I have to leave
immediately." He speaks into the receiver and hangs up shortly afterwards.
“Sakura, go ahead and take care of Sasuke. I'll follow you immediately.” It
comes from the Uchiha, while he looks into her tears stained face. "He doesn't
have anything like Mikoto, does he?! He won't suddenly disappear just like she
did, right?! He mustn't leave me alone. I can't do it alone, I need him!" She
asks him panicked. Her hands are shaking and her breathing slowly turns into a
kind of gasp. "Sakura! Sakura, please calm down! Take a deep breath.“ His
hands grab her shoulders tightly when he sees a light film of sweat on her
forehead. Her attention is on him. "No. Sakura, he doesn't. Calm down. Take a
deep breath!" He instructs her again and she nods tentatively before sucking air
into her lungs, only to exhale again. She repeats this a few times, before he
raises his voice again. "Are you okay?" He looks worried at his sister in law
and watches her nod in silence.

Relieved, he quickly takes his smartphone to hand and then leaves the office
together with her, locks the office door and returns with her to his brother's
office. Halfway through, the green eyed’s pace quickens. Concern for her
husband drives her forward and lets her walk the remaining meters into his
office. When she enters said place once again, Fugaku looks at her, while Sasuke
is still lying on the floor unchanged and Ayame kneels next to his motionless
body. "Sakura." Her father in law calls out to her with relief. "Where have you
been?" She looks at him with a desperate look. "I- I went to get Itachi." She
says and as if on cue, said man enters the office right behind her. He
approaches his father and looks at his brother critically. "I should have sent
him home, he was already pale earlier." Itachi notes and shakes his head in
defeat. Worried, Sakura sinks back to the floor next to her husband and gently
strokes his hair. "The rescue team has already been informed." Reports Ayame and
rises up from the ground. “Good, Sakura, I want you to take him to the
hospital. We will follow you directly. I'll take your car and father will drive
his.“ The older of the Uchiha-offsprings raises his voice. "No, you should go
with us." The overstrained woman shakes her head, glancing back at her husband.
"No, you are his wife and you should be with him." Her brother in law explains
and smiles encouragingly at her. "I don't know, Itachi. Maybe one of us should
go with them." Fugaku now gets into the conversation, so as not to overwhelm
her. The whole situation is already enough for her after all. However, his
eldest son turns to him and whispers something into his ear. "She'll do it."
Itachi then says out loud with confidence. "But... I don't know anything about
your family’s medical history." The Haruno then protests, watching him smile
at her. "That doesn't matter." Itachi explains with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Please go with him, Sakura." The oldest Uchiha in the room, now agrees to his
son as well, watching her nod resignedly.
 

 
~> * <~
 


The pink haired woman leans her crossed arms on the windowsill and stares out.
The room is dominated by silence, nobody dares to say a word. The youngest
Uchiha is still lying unconscious in the hospital bed, while Fugaku is sitting
at his side and Itachi is sitting at the foot on another chair. Only she has her
chair almost at the other end of the room. They have been waiting for him to
wake up for almost an hour and a half now, but he still hasn’t even budged.
She could no longer sit, especially not calmly, because the anger inside her
became too unbearable. She is so damn angry at him, she would like to grab him
and shake him until he wakes up. Her spirited manner has come through again
after such a long time. She stares at the tree below in the hospital courtyard.
Of course, Fugaku and Itachi noticed her anger, but nobody says anything, maybe
because they partly understand her. She doesn't know for sure. A low sigh breaks
the silence in the room, making her look around and at her father in law, who
rose up from his chair. “I'm going to take a walk.” He explains himself
briefly, which is not surprising. After all, he has only been sitting lately and
the doctors have already crossed out any worrying possibilities, such as heart
problems or perhaps something with the head. The only thing that is known right
now, is, that he has a high fever. The doctors being unable to say more right
now. "It's okay." It comes from the pink haired woman, trying hard to stay
friendly. She has always made sure that only those people suffer from her anger
who are responsible for it. Fugaku leaves the room, which is actually intended
for two patients. But since the patient is an Uchiha, a second one is not
assigned. After all, they are considered celebrities and so their privacy is
protected in hospitals.
 
Sakura turns her back to the window and leans against the windowsill again. Her
indefinable gaze lays on her husband, whose chest rises and falls regularly and
he actually looks like he's sleeping. A melody suddenly sounds in the room and
her gaze slides to Itachi, who takes his smartphone out of his inside pocket.
She looks back at her husband, the reason for her anger. “This is Misuki. I'll
go out briefly and talk to her. You're not going to kill him while i’m gone,
are you?” Her brother in law turns to her with an amused smile, drawing her
attention back to him. A slight grin lies on his lips when she lets out a sigh.
"I can't make any promises." She mumbles truthfully, but in the end she can't
suppress a small smile either. The long haired man laughs softly at her response
and leaves the room, accepting the call. Nobody seems to be really worried about
Sasuke anymore, which isn’t really a wonder. After all, the serious things
have been excluded. Her anger at him also predominates. He's such an idiot.
That’s what she thinks over and over again.

The young woman groans in annoyance and pushes away from her window, slowly
walks across the room, heading for her chair close to the door where the second
bed is standing. When she arrives at the chair, she briefly looks at her
handbag. She was so shaken about his breakdown that she hadn't even thought of
her purse or anything. Itachi brought her handbag and jacket with himself, when
he came to the hospital not much later. He probably also shut down her devices
while he was at it. A low snort comes over her lips as she turns and walks back
to the window. Sun shines through the thick glass, it’s almost funny and kind
of ironic. The whole time they wanted the warm sun back and exactly when Sasuke
collapses and is brought to the hospital, the sun suddenly comes out again.
 
The green eyed woman hears her husband taking a deep breath and looks back
around at him. Tired, he squints his eyes and rubs his right hand with the
infusion over his eyes. She walks slowly towards the bed and comes to a halt at
the end of the bed, while he blinks and then looks at the needle that is stuck
in his forearm, to a tube that leads to the infusion attached to it. "Oh damn
it." It escapes his dry lips with a groan, his gaze wandering from the white
ceiling until his eyes meet hers. "Hey." He mumbles and even seems surprised for
a moment. The fingers of her right hand drumming angrily on her left upper arm,
as she still keeps her arms crossed in front of her chest. She tries to calm
down a little, counts down from 10, but it doesn't help. "Tell me, are you
insane? What was that shit about? Breaking down while you work! You almost gave
me a heart attack!" She yells at him immediately. Counting definitely didn't
help. Of course not. Lately he has treated her so coldly, he even ignored her
and then he suddenly collapses out of the blue. Should she have pity on him too?
Her eyes are almost sparkling from anger and she doesn't care if it's a hospital
they are in at the moment, just as she doesn't care how he feels. If he has a
headache, it would even be a satisfaction for her if it hurts even more.

He grimaces for a moment, apparently he actually has a headache, but she is not
sorry. Though, unfortunately there is no feeling of satisfaction either. He
looks a little surprised at her before he raises his scratchy voice. "Sorry."
She can hear his raspy voice, before it turns into loud coughs, which only makes
him grimace again. But in her anger she doesn't go into it any further. "You are
sorry. How great, really, but that doesn't help me either now. If you had talked
with me, we'd both not be here now."
She growls mercilessly at him and spreads her arms to draw attention to the
hospital room. “What happened?” The black haired man explores and lets his
wife keep ranting on him. "What happened, you ask? I will tell you what
happened! You broke down at work because work is more important than anything
else! What the fuck? Damn it, Sasuke! If you have a fever, just stay home! I
thought it was something else, maybe something to be taken seriously. But no!
No, everything is fine, my husband just collapsed with a fever of just under 39
degrees. But other than that everything is okay!” Towards the end she stops
screaming and becomes sarcastic instead. She snorts aloud in disbelief. "I'm so
mad at you. But that's not your problem, is it? You'd rather stay at a distance
and watch me struggle. Damn you! you make me so angry I- agh!” She yells and
in the next moment storms towards the door to get out.

The black haired man looks a little perplexed after his wife, while he is also
relieved. Her screaming didn't do his headache any good. Sighing in agony, he
lifts his upper body slightly up from the bed and pulls the pillow up, adjusting
it so that he can lay a little more upright and then puts his throbbing head
into the soft and fluffy cushion. His eyes burn, even if not as much as they did
in the morning, but his lungs and throat are hurting, making the cough from
earlier cause him even more pain. The door through which the Haruno rushed out
and left a crack open, opens again slowly. Sasuke looks up at the soft creaking
sound and towards his brother. The latter smiles mildly at him and closes the
door behind himself, immediately sinking his hands into his trouser pockets and
stepping to the end of the bed, where Sakura was standing just a moment ago.
"What was that just now?" It comes tiredly over the younger ones lips and raises
his eyebrow while he looks briefly back at the door.
 
A small smile pulls on Itachi's lips when he looks briefly at the door. "She is
temperamental." He notes with a shrug and looks at his brother lying in bed "And
really pissed off because of you." This time he even looks a bit serious as he
says this. A sigh comes from the younger man's dry lips. “I scared her, I get
it. But she doesn't have to exaggerate, does she?” He says and every word
hurts in his throat, making him moan slightly. Normally, Itachi would have
snorted in amusement or even laughed briefly by now, but nothing like that
happens. "Sasuke." He exclaims seriously and waits until he gets his brother’s
attention. "She didn’t exaggerate. To be honest, she even understated the
situation." Sasuke just raises one of his eyebrows in disbelief, as it is one of
the few things he can do without being in pain. "Oh yeah?" He asks the question
which he was trying to express with his facial expression. Itachi nods briefly
in response, before raising his voice again. "Yes. Firstly, you didn't have a
fever of under 39 degrees, but 39.4 degrees." He grins slightly while he says
this. Of course, normally he doesn't like giving bad news at all and would like
to avoid it, but if not now, it may never work. The younger Uchiha clicks his
tongue with a grumble, because his brother apparently just wants to annoy him,
which is typical for him. However, his thought are disturbed when he sees his
brother's look suddenly turns serious again, making him look up at him with
surprise.

Itachi sighs again before starting to speak. "Sasuke, i’m not joking. The last
time Sakura came to the hospital because mom broke down, she never saw her
again. Do you know what kind of a shock it was for her when you suddenly broke
down too? Lying motionless on the floor in your office? She was one breath away
from a panic attack because she was afraid that you would never leave the
hospital again either." The brown eyed man reports the events, which took place
while his brother was lying unconscious on the floor. Almost shocked, the
younger stares at him, swallowing and almost not even feeling the pain. "Damn
it." He utters and closes his eyes. He had no idea what he has done. Itachi
sighs at his reaction and examines his brothers face, which is still as pale as
it was in the morning. “Sasuke you have to talk to her. It can’t go on like
this. Did you think that she won't notice? Of course she noticed that you have a
fever, but you were so cold to her, that she didn't even dare to say anything.
That's why she's so angry at you.” The older of the brothers explains briefly,
hoping to give his brother a push into the right direction. Sasuke now looks up
at him in disbelief. "Because of that?" He asks skeptically. Sakura was so
furious because she didn't dare to talk to him about his fever? His brother must
be trying to make fun of him again. "Yes." The man with the longer hair nods
briefly and looks up from the bed frame at his brother. “Do you think she's
saying this for fun, that you should stay home when you have a fever? Sasuke,
also fever can be dangerous. Yeah even life threatening." He continues and looks
his brother serious into the eyes. "She is worried sick about you and all you do
is distance yourself and are cold towards her. Do you want to punish her for
something? What did she do to you?” Questioningly he looks at Sasuke, who
lowers his eyes on the blanket. She hasn't done anything, he's just an idiot.
Itachi pauses for a moment and looks out into the surroundings, lit by the
bright sun.
 
"You worry her by ignoring her and then you even collapse in the middle of work
and drive her to a near panic attack." Itachi finally says and looks into his
brother's dark grey eyes. Said man looks up at him ruefully. It hadn’t been
his intention to cause any of this. He was just thinking of himself, he's a
damned egoist. The older one sighs at his silence. “She's angry with you
because she's worried and cares for you, because you are important to her. Even
if you say that you don't love each other, I can see clearly how important you
two are for each other. Heck you even jumped after her when she went overboard.
But suddenly you only worry and scare her. If it’s because of your dreams,
then you need to tell her.” He explains briefly the behavior of his sister in
law and can even understand it. The dark grey eyed man looks at him in silence.
What his brother said concerns him. Of course. After all they are talking about
his wife here. Itachi's gaze is directed at him, his dark brown orbs filled with
sadness. “Sasuke, she was crying. Do you know what she said? She was literally
begging me. I quote: Please tell me that it’s not the same as with Mikoto. He
mustn't leave me alone. I can't do it alone, I need him. I can't cope with this
one more time.” The older Uchiha reports bitterly to him and Sasuke can see
that his brother doesn't find it easy, he likes Sakura. "She thought that she'd
never see you again and the last thing she saw of you was a cold look." Itachi
almost only whispers towards the end, as if his voice is failing. Sasuke feels a
stab in his chest, making him gasp silently. He had never intended to hurt her
with his distancing, but now he even made her cry. "You have to talk to her
Sasuke." The older one adds with an emphatic voice.

The youngest Uchiha sighs and puts his hands on his face, pressing his head into
the pillow. What did he do? Of course, his collapse was not planned, but had he
only not been such an idiot and listened to her, on one hand he might not have
ended up here and on the other hand he wouldn’t have let her go through such
thoughts and pain. It wasn’t his plan to hurt her. He distanced himself from
her only because he couldn't cope with his own self. He acted as if he wanted to
punish her, but that wasn’t it. It wasn’t her fault. She is not responsible
for Karin pushing her into the sea and thus triggering everything and getting
him into so much troubles. All these nightmares night after night, his cold, his
fears... It is not her fault and he never intended to make her feel like it is.
It’s all just the Kaseguchi’s fault that it all came this far, that he felt
so troubled and went on distance out of fear. He was an ass to her and she still
stayed by his side and took care of him! He doesn’t deserve it. Desperate, he
presses his hands to his face. What did he do? Just what the fuck did he do?
 
"I'll go look for her then." His brother explains after a while of silence,
leaving the room with quick steps.
 

 
~> * <~
 

Sighing softly, the pink haired woman grips the bottle of lemon iced tea, which
stands in front of her at the table. She shouldn't have yelled at him like that.
They are in a hospital and he collapsed, even if she was venting out her anger,
she still shouldn't have yelled at him. Apart from that it was unnecessary,
since she is still on the same level of knowledge as before. It wouldn’t
wonder her at all, if she has just lost her last chance, that he will ever talk
to her about it. All just because she couldn’t hide her temper.
 
Sakura looks around the large room. After running back and forth for a while and
a few minutes outside in the park, she retired to the hospital cafeteria and
bought a bottle of lemon iced tea. She smiles slightly at the bottle. Sasuke
loves this stuff. A dejected sigh comes from her lips and she lets go of the
little bottle with which she was playing around. If they loved each other, he
would have had to run after her and somehow she also wishes that he would do it
even now. But she knows that he won't do that. He's in such bad shape, who knows
if he can even stand. Actually, as his wife, she should be upstairs and stand by
his side and take care of him, but who knows if he even wants to see her at the
moment.
 
The double door to the cafeteria swings open and causes the pink haired woman to
look up. Yes, she just wished that it was him who came after her. She averts her
gaze from the man who has just entered the room and looks back at the bottle in
front of her, running her thumb over the label. "Hey, you left him alive.”
Itachi rises his voice and lets himself sink into the chair opposite from her.
"I'm sorry that I yelled at him like that. I'm still angry with him, but he's
not doing so well and besides, we're in a hospital.” She says, while running
her hand through her hair to cling to it. "Don’t worry. Hospitals should have
that much of soundproofing, I mean, how often do women scream in despair when
their husband dies or something? You can't ask them to be quiet either.”
Replies her brother in law, making her snort in amusement. He's actually right.
“Do you think he'll talk to me?” The pink haired woman explores and looks
up. Itachi sighs softly at her question and runs his fingers through his hair.

"I hope so. I just talked to him and told him what he did with his behavior and
why you are so angry. He looked rather remorseful. I really can’t promise you
anything, but I hope so." A gentle smile forms on her lips at his words. "Thanks
for your efforts Itachi, I really appreciate it." "Hey, we are family." He
replies with a smile of his own and ruffles her hair. "The only problem is that
your husband is an idiot.” He adds playfully, making her laugh slightly. "Come
on, let's go back, otherwise father will be worried." The black haired man
raises his voice after a while, watching Sakura nod silently as the two of them
rise from their seats. She takes the bottle from the table and then follows her
brother in law towards the double door. They are walking leisurely down the
hall, while she plays around with the bottle's label again until it finally
falls down. Sighing, she picks it up and looks at Itachi, who has stopped a
little surprised. "Sasuke always drinks that stuff." He remarks after a quick
look at the bottle. “Yeah. I bought it as an apology for Sasuke. I prefer
peaches and I've already emptied it.” Explains the woman as they step into the
elevator. "Oh man, Sasuke really doesn't deserve you." Itachi exclaims with a
shake of his head and an amused smile. Pressing the button to the wished floor,
he finally leans against the elevator wall with his hands in his trouser
pockets. Sakura snorts in amusement at his comment. “You sure are a nice
brother. You have Misuki anyway." She interjects and looks at the floor display.
"Yes, I do and I'm also glad and grateful for it, but I'm sorry that you got
such an idiot." He then replies with a crooked smile, making her laugh once
more.
 
The elevator finally stops on the 7th floor and the two of them get out,
silently walking side by side across the hospital corridors, past nurses,
doctors, patients and some visitors. It seems like the patients are getting
their food, meaning, visiting hours will soon be over. In the hallway, in front
of Sasuke's room, they finally see the head of the Uchihas smiling at them. "Why
are you standing out here?" Itachi explores in confusion. "A doctor is currently
examining him." Fugaku explains only briefly, watching the two averting their
gaze towards the door. "But you can go in, Sakura." With a nod, he points to the
door, watching her approach it. She swallows a little uncertainly and finally
knocks on the door. Without waiting for a response, she opens the door and
enters the room. Her gaze falls on her husband, who is sitting upright in the
bed, dressed in a hospital shirt and looks at her while the doctor is listening
to his lungs. The older man looks up briefly and then concentrates again on his
patient. Sakura puts the bottle in her purse and straightens up again, looking
her husband in the eyes. He returns her gaze in silence, not taking his eyes off
of her until the doctor asks for his attention. "Okay." The man in his white
coat exclaims silently, picking up the medical record to make a note on it. Then
he turns to the heart machine and presses a few buttons before scribbling into
the file again. "Okay, I'm done, the gentlemen are welcome to come back in." The
man finally announces, while standing at the end of the bed.

The pink haired woman glances at her husband to find out if he wants that too.
When she sees him nod, she approaches the door again and opens it. "You can come
in." She then announces and holds the door open for them. Both men enter the
room, before she closes the door again. She gets up to Sasuke's side and shakes
up his pillow when she notices that he wants to lean back into it. "So, mr.
Uchiha." The doctor raises his voice once more and looks up from the medical
record. "Your lymph nodes are swollen, your throat is inflamed, as are your
eyes, your lungs are occupied and you can also see on the X-rays that you have
bronchitis. Your sinuses are blocked and currently you have a body temperature
of 38.5 degrees." Reports the doctor and also briefly shows the X-ray, which
Sasuke can’t even see in his laying position. "In short, together with your
other symptoms, headaches and body aches, you have the flu." The doctor finishes
his explanation and looks at his patient. “However, since flu is usually
triggered by viruses and we haven't found any in your blood, the question now
arises whether you might have been infected somewhere. Influenza is transmitted
via droplets.” The man continues to investigate. "No, I haven't had much
contact with other people lately, especially not any sick ones." Sasuke replies
with that scratchy voice of his. The doctor nods in understanding. "Do you have
any other idea where you might have got the flu from?" He asks further, giving
everyone else in the room a quick look.
 
The youngest Uchiha just shakes his head. "We went overboard." The pink haired
woman suddenly begins. Confused, the doctor looks at her. "I beg your pardon?"
He explores a little baffled. “We went overboard around a month ago. He caught
a cold because of it, but ignored the cold and therefore never really cured it.
That was almost two weeks ago.” She then explains matter of factly. The medic
nods in understanding and notes something into the file. “Of course it could
be that the cold you missed has developed into flu, especially in your
condition.” The doctor looks back to Sasuke, who raises an eyebrow. “You
seem a little starved and stressed, in general you are also a bit pale. I guess
you didn't eat too much, because of lack of appetite caused by the flu. The food
contains nutrients which are important for our skin and the immune system. You
are clearly overworked, mr. Uchiha.“ The doctor explains seriously, who now
closes the file and holds it in both hands. “That, in combination with the flu
and the high fever caused the break down. We will continue to monitor you over
night, but I think we can discharge you already the next day.", The doctor
finishes and then approaches the door. "If you will excuse me, I have to go to a
few other patients now." He then explains and leaves the room behind.

"Jackpot! Flu, bronchitis and overworked all in one!" Itachi exclaims with the
clap of his hands. "Well, now that we know what you have, I think I can go
without having to worry. Misuki is waiting and you have Sakura anyway." He then
continues and smiles. Patting his brother on the shoulder, only to bid them
goodbye. "Thanks Itachi." Said man smiles back at her before he walks towards
the door, waves again briefly and disappears from their sight. "How long do you
think it will take him until he realizes that he can't get away from here
without me?" Fugaku looks at his daughter in law questioningly, when he realizes
that she was talking to him. She smiles gently when the door opens again and
Itachi peeks in while holding onto the door frame with his arm. “Uhm, Dad?”
He utters briefly, watching Sakura laugh, as Fugaku lets out a sigh. "Yes, yes,
I'm coming." He quickly waves his first son off, only to turn to the other two.
"You're just like me when I was younger." He then says at his son and gently
puts his hand on his shoulder. "Oh yeah?" Sasuke simply mumbles, watching his
father laugh at his question. "Yes. I worked myself to exhaustion until I broke
down." Fugaku answers with a nod. “And that is a sign that something has to be
changed. But we'll talk about that when you're back to health again.” He pats
a few times over his son's shoulder and gives him an encouraging smile, before
he makes a step back. “You should get some sleep, Sasuke. And listen to what
your wife tells you.” The older man then suggests and takes his hand
completely away. “I should slowly go too. If there’s anything you need, you
know that you can always call me, but there are enough doctors and nurses here
anyway." Sasuke watches his father bid goodbye to them as well and gives Sakura
a last hug, before he approaches the door. "Bye.” Sasuke exclaims silently
with that croaking voice of his, as they watch his father leave the room and
close the door.
 
The young woman sighs once and then looks at the bedside table, on which she
sees a tray with food. "Come, you should eat something." She pushes the table to
her husband so that he only needs to take the spoon and fork. "I don't want to."
The Uchiha growls and looks at the glass of water. "What did the doctor just
say?" Sakura warns him with a sigh and crosses her arms over her chest. "I
can’t swallow that. Not with that throat." Sasuke explains with a shake of his
head, watching his wife taking off one of the covers and putting the plate
closer to him. “Then at least eat the soup. It will do you and your throat
good." She then explains and hands him the spoon. Reluctantly he lets himself
give into it. She smiles slightly and then takes the iced tea from her handbag
to fill the empty glass with it. Then she takes the cover from the second plate
off as well and watches Sasuke grimaces when he sees the plate. Taking the fork
from before into her hand, she sits down on the edge of the bed and eats the
curry in his place. "Yuck, hospital food." He utters when he sees her seriously
eating that stuff. Sakura just shrugs her shoulders in response and empties the
plate while Sasuke eats the soup and then drinks his iced tea, which by now
turned lukewarm. But he doesn’t want to complain about that. Not after she
bought him that on her own free will, although she still seems to be mad at him
and since cold it would only damage his throat further anyway. The pink haired
woman puts the empty dishes back on the tray and then pushes the table to the
side again, only to sit down far away from him, on the chair near the door,
where her handbag is still laying.

With crossed arms, she watches him as he uses the remote control to lower the
headboard of the bed to bring it into a flatter position. Her gaze is directed
out of the window. The sun has set and has given way to the darkness of the
night. The room has also got dark, only the lamp above Sasuke's bed providing
the room some light. He sighs softly and finally, after staring at the ceiling
for a few minutes, turns to his right side, searching for his wife. With her
arms crossed, she sits on the chair at a safe distance and returns his look. He
doesn't deserve her and yet she's sitting there instead of just going home.
 
"Come here." His voice sounds silently through the room, lifting his blanket
slightly up and trying to invite her to lie down with him. "No!" It comes from
her, while she looks at him with a slightly angered look. "I'm sorry that I
yelled at you earlier, but I'm still mad at you." She then continues, to make
the situation clear to him. He sighs softly at her words and lets the covers
sink back down again. He doesn’t question it, after all it only turned out
this way because he pushed her away first. "Okay." He says quietly and closes
his eyes for a moment before looking at her again, staring at her in silence for
a long time. "I don't understand why you came back in the first place. I didn't
deserve it, but I understand that you're still mad at me.” He looks at her
ruefully, while her look stays the same. "I'm sorry, I should have told that I
wasn't feeling well this morning.” He then includes before closing his eyes
again, swallows and grimaces in pain. “That's not why I'm angry at you. Why
are you distancing yourself from me like that? Just why? What have I done?”
She replies angrily. Sasuke opens his dark eyes again and looks towards her. In
pain, he lifts his head slightly from the pillow and finally lowers it back down
again. "I am sorry. You have done nothing. It’s not because of you. I've been
an egoist, I really don't deserve you and your care. It's...” He pauses
briefly and swallows again. His throat just feels so dry. “I jumped after you
so selflessly. I could have died just from trying to save you and still I jumped
after you. I didn't even think. I just jumped without any hesitation, because I
knew that otherwise I would have never seen you again…” He starts to explain
and looks into her now dark green eyes.
 
Sakura's tense posture loosens and her eyes soften. “That fact got me to
think. I'm generally quite reserved, aloof and cold towards people, but when
it’s you i’m suddenly so different. Mother already told me once that I will
feel scared at one point when I discover things I never did before my entire
life. But even though she said that, you becoming this important to me, shook
and scared me to the core.“ The Haruno looks rather surprised at his
explanation, before her lips curl up into a soft, but still amused smile. “You
were afraid of showing care towards another person?” She asks and all the
anger seems to have disappeared. He smiles with relief. "No. It’s not that. It
all happened so quickly. Do you know how long it took Ryosuke or Naruto? How
long they had to bother me until I could even tolerated them around me? How much
longer it took me to accept them as friends? Until I let Naruto get away with
calling me his best friend?” The Uchiha ask, trying but failing to ignore the
pain he feels with every word he says and she notices too that it is difficult
for him to speak. She looks at him worried and smiles gently. He knows that she
wants to tell him that it's okay, but he wants to sort it out now. "It all took
me years to accept, but then you suddenly come into my life and everything
happened so fast. I accepted you around myself within a few weeks, your friends
have become my friends. We have been married for almost half a year. You have
become an important friend. My best friend by all means. It was even more
important to me to save you, than to think about my own life. It all happened so
quickly, that it seriously frightened me.” Taking another short break, he
tries to breath in deeply, but fails as it end up in a mess of coughs. She
quickly stands up, but he just hold up his hand to signal her that it’s okay.
After he calmed down again, he looks back at her and swallows unwillingly to
give his dry throat a little soothing, even if it hurts. "I kept my distance not
because of you, but because I was so frightened at this sudden change. Even
though she told me it’s normal to discover such moments, it still threw me off
the seat." He finally ends and looks into her eyes.

Sasuke swallows in pain and watches his wife stand there with that surprised
look. Slowly she step closer to the bed, putting her handbag down next to it and
holding out her hand to gently run her fingers through his hair. "It's okay."
She then whispers sincerely at him. "It was stupid of me, but it was so
unfamiliar that distancing felt like the best thing to do." He closes his eyes
with relish at her soft touches. “It’s okay, you don’t need to explain
yourself further. I need to apologize too. I should have come to you and
confront you about it, instead of leaving you alone with your struggles and
doubting your intentions like that.” He doesn’t open his eyes or says
anything in response to her words. He just feels glad, that she seems to accept
his apology and that everything seems to be okay again. "Sasuke?" The Haruno
raises her voice again after a few minutes. "Hm?" It comes relaxed over his dry
lips, listening in to her voice. “What are the dreams that are plaguing you
night after night? We have to do something about that. You really need your
sleep. A quiet and healthy sleep.“ He hears her whisper and opens his burning
eyes slowly. Again he tries to lift his head a little and looks into her eyes.
Nothing left in her gaze of her previous outburst and anger towards him. He
sighs a little pained. "It's always the same dream in all its facets." He starts
and looks away from her eyes. "I see mom dying.” He continues and clears his
throat before he swallows and grimaces again. "Shortly afterwards you die too
and leave me all alone." He explains and she looks at him surprised but also a
little shocked, but he doesn’t stop and keeps telling her what he keeps seeing
every night. “You always die differently, but most of the time it doesn’t
happen naturally. You get shot, hanged, stabbed, drowned and many other ways."
His eyes still stare down, until he decides to look up into her eyes again.
Sakura puts her hand on his cheek, which is still burning. “You know what they
say about dreams. It is the subconscious that processes your wishes." She starts
to explain while moving her thumb over his warm skin. “But it also shows your
fears.” Now she understands everything. Especially why he was drinking himself
until wasted, even though he doesn’t even like to drink. It was all to drown
his fears.

"We have to find a way to get you back to sleep." She then finally mumbles
thoughtfully, already trying to think of a solution. "Your proximity." He
suddenly replies, making her look at him in surprise. "What?” He has to smile
at her reaction. He finds it kind of cute. "On the nights when I slept
peacefully, I always found you laying cuddled up to me in the morning or you
were simply holding my hand." he says, briefly, seeing her blush a little at his
words. "You mean, it’s my warmth that you feel and makes you sleep well,
because your subconsciousness notices that I am with you?" She then asks with a
smile and cresses his hair again. Sasuke lifts his dark orbs and looks back into
her eyes, his lips curling up into a gentle smile. "I don’t know, but
wouldn’t that mean that you always have to cuddle with me at nights?" He notes
with that scratchy voice of his. Sakura hums thoughtfully at his question and
looks out of the window with one of those looks before she smiles at him. "I
think that can be arranged." She then whispers with a small grin. "Come here.”
Sasuke immediately repeats his statement from before and lifts the blanket again
so that she can get in. Smiling, she slips out of her shoes, before she climbs
under the covers in order to join him and lies down on his right arm.
Immediately he wraps his arms around her stomach and presses her close to his
own chest. "Be careful, or I'll get sick too." She giggles, but leans back
against his chest. “The doctor said something about droplet infection, not hug
infection.” The Uchiha grumbles against her ear and cuddles his cheek against
her head.

"I'm sorry I was such an idiot." he whispers wearily. “I guess we all agree on
that for once.” She grins with closed eyes. "What? Who?” It comes confused
from him, looking down at her. "Itachi, you and I." She counts and makes him
chuckle silently. "I will try to improve myself." He says and strokes her
stomach with one hand. "Mmm." She mumbles tiredly. He smiles slightly and closes
his eyes, cuddling himself a little closer to her. “Next time don’t drown
yourself in alcohol, when you were the one asking me to drink less in the first
place.” She suddenly adds, making his eyes flutter open in surprise. He lifts
his head again to look into her eyes. “You remember it?” She just nods once
and shyly at his question, watching his lips lift up a little. He didn’t
expect that to happen. Laying back down, he hides his face into the crook of her
neck and closes his eyes. Taking in a soft breath, silence resounds in the room,
until tiredness overwhelms the both of them and pulls them into the land of
dreams. The day was long and exhausting. Filled with lots of emotions, ups and
downs.

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