Hello. Yes, yes, I know I've got other fanfiction to be working on, but I had a light bulb moment and decided to write this down. It's really just going to be a series of one-shots of varying relationships. Any requests will be taken into consideration, so if you've got an idea, let me have it! I won't accept full credit for it and I will mention the name of the one who sent in an idea. Right then, enough chattering. On to the story.

Note: Naruto and Sasuke are both chunin in this episode. This takes place after the time skip.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all other characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Think if I begged long enough, I could have Itachi?

Warnings: Light fluff. Enjoy!!

One Shot: Chicken Noodle Soup

Never, in all his life, had Uchiha Sasuke been sick. No chicken pocks. No sniffles. Not even a mediocre fever. So why was it that today, on the day of his second C-Rank mission assignment, his body decided to give out on him and come down with a common cold?

"Damn it." he muttered hoarsely, burying further down into the cocoon of blankets that he'd unconsciously made in his sleep.

He was pretty sure he had a fever, and his throat was definitely sore, but this wouldn't stop him. He was an Uchiha. Not only that, but missions were his prime source of income. After all, the Uchiha Mansion didn't pay for itself. And he was getting low on food. He couldn't afford to waste his time lying in bed sick.

With a growl, Sasuke dug himself out of the twisted sheets, but he had barely put one foot on the floor when a shiver chased up his spine. The floor was cold! Glaring at the wooden planks as if they had done him a great personal wrong, he got shakily to his feet and proceeded to the bathroom.

Ignoring the pain that lanced through his aching forehead – just great, now he had a headache to go along with his sore throat and fever – he stumbled blindly in the still-dark room. His hand reached for the light switch and turned it on automatically. BIG mistake. The light scintillating off of the marble sink and mirrors made him want to scream.

"Shit." he hissed, and gritting his teeth through the tortuous spasms that wracked his chest.

'A cough too?' he thought bitterly, though he wasn't at all surprised.

Coughing slightly, as he managed to suppress the worst of it, he reached through a narrow opening in the sliding glass door and turned the faucet on all the way. In several minutes the room was full of steam. He breathed it in, feeling him-self began to decongest already. He flipped off the light switch, waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then stepped over the ridge delineating his bathtub from the shower door.

"Ah..." he sighed contentedly. "Nothing like a..." he broke off as a wracking cough seized him.

And for nearly a minute he coughed, doubled over, feeling the disgusting mucus sliding down the back of his throat each time he swallowed.

'It's disgusting...being ill. Absolutely disgusting...but I have to get to the bridge where that little idiot Naruto is waiting.'

Of course he didn't really mean to call Naruto a "little idiot". If anything at all, he felt quite the opposite, but he would never admit it. Not in a thousand years. He was destined to be alone, without love. Love was something he could not understand, just like he could not comprehend how he had fallen for that short, tan blond with that stupid, blinding grin on his face all the time. He had looked at it from every angle imaginable and still couldn't fathom it.

"Whatever..." he muttered hoarsely.

He stood in the shower, letting the tiny droplets of water pelt him with their warmth until the hot water was nearly gone. Just as he was stepping over the edge another coughing fit seized him. Deep, barking coughs that churned his stomach and made him want to puke wracked his chest; he doubled over, arms folded across his stomach, eyes shut in the darkness. His foot slid on the puddle of water that had formed near the door and he flew forwards, cracking his forehead neatly on the corner of the marble countertop.

He landed on the icy tiled floor with a thud, landing painfully on his hand and left hip. Starbursts swarmed into his vision until finally all the colors melted away and he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Argh. Where the heck is Sasuke?! He should have been here by now." exclaimed Naruto, who was currently pacing back and forth anxiously.

"Calm down, Naruto. I'm sure he'll be here soon." Kakashi said as he watched his pupil pace with one black eye.

He yawned, rubbed the back of his head lazily, and said, "Although, it is rather unusual for him to be this late, let alone the fact that he's even late at all. Why don't you go check on him?"

"Sensei, I can't just go barging into his home to ask him why he's late." Naruto replied, proving to Kakashi once more that he did actually have something in that space between his ears. "Although...what if he's sick or something and he can't come because he's too busy puking his guts out?"

Kakashi merely sweat-dropped at the statement. "Too much info, Naruto."

Naruto looked down at the ground sheepishly. "Sorry, sensei. You're right. I'll go check on him. Be right back!"

Naruto took off down the bridge and across the cobblestone streets, leaving Kakashi alone to muse thoughtfully.

'He certainly has changed a lot in the past three years. I never would have thought he'd have this much common sense. Still...I wonder if that makes up for the lack of developed thinking skills. Either way, he couldn't tell how his face lit up when I mentioned Sasuke's name. There's definitely something going on between them. They just haven't noticed it yet. Since we're already late, I might as well tell Lady Tsunade that the mission to the Land of Tea is postponed.'

"Off we go." Kakashi said to himself as he set off at a leisurely pace to the Hokage Tower.

Twenty minutes later he reached Lady Tsunade's office and was waiting in the lounge for her. After a short five minutes, in which Kakashi's perverted mind carried him to a fantasy land where he envisioned Naruto asking Sasuke to marry him...or...wait...it was funnier the other way around...Tsunade called for him.

"What is it, Kakashi? Can't you see that I'm busy with loads of paperwork?" the tall blonde woman said grumpily.

Kakashi sweat-dropped as he took notice of the mountain of paperwork on Tsunade's desk. He could not see past them to Tsunade's face, so when she spoke, it sounded as though the papers were speaking to him.

"Uh...But you see, Tsunade, I came straight from the meeting spot knowing you wouldn't be doing the paperwork, which is why I came to tell you that the C-Rank Mission to the Land of Tea will have to be given to another team. Sasuke's ill and Naruto..." Kakashi paused to stifle a rather childish giggle at the thought of just exactly what was happening over at the Uchiha Manor before continuing. ", ... went to go check on him."

"Kakashi..." Tsunade said in a voice that warned him a question was coming. "What do you know that I don't know? Do I really want to know what you know that I don't know?"

Kakashi sweat-dropped again as Tsunade stood, rising to her full height, minus the high-heels, which had been kicked off near the door.

"There's...something between Naruto and Sasuke."

"And your point is? Oh wait...you couldn't possibly mean...not that. Not that." Tsunade said in a voice laced with horror and disbelief. Then, as if she had already known, a flat look crossed her face. "I already know about that, Kakashi."

It was Kakashi's turn to be surprised. "You do? Wait...are we talking about the same 'that'?"

"The L-word." they whispered simultaneously.

"I know." said Tsunade, bending backwards and cracking her back loudly. "But does Naruto know?"

"He doesn't have a clue. As far as he's concerned, they're best friends and nothing more."

They continued their conversation while Naruto, sneezing, made his way to the Uchiha Manor.

'Dang it! Someone's talking about me behind my back!' he thought as he sneezed for the third time in a row. 'It's probably Kakashi. Stupid Kakashi...I'll get you for this.'

"Achoo!!" he sneezed again. "Ugh...If this keeps up, I might as well have a cold."

He stopped running and skidded to a halt in front of the Uchiha Manor. He stared up, mouth open in awe, at the large sprawling complex that was Sasuke's home.

"Well..." he swallowed. "I guess this is it."

He went to the door and knocked, but as he expected no one answered. He slid the door open and walked inside, shutting the door behind him. The air was stale and musty, smelling of old furniture and dust. Even so, as he walked through the mansion, he couldn't help but notice that everything was clean and spotless. He was afraid to touch anything for fear of incurring his friend's wrath so he walked through the center of each room that he came to in his search for Sasuke.

Naruto's eyes alighted on a flight of stairs spiraling upwards to the second floor. Crossing through the living room, he made his way to he staircase and started up it, trusting his instinct to guide him. Just then he heard what sounded like a sneeze, though it was obviously stifled by something or else in was just a very polite sneeze. He took the rest of the stairs two at a time and emerged on the second floor in what appeared to be a long hallway with many doors.

'Kami...Sasuke's lives here all alone. How does he manage not getting lost?'

Guided by a mysterious force, he bypassed all the doors until he came to the end of the hallway. Two doors out of the four on each side were open. They were parallel with each other, causing him to stop and think about which one to enter first. Then he decided that it didn't really matter so he went for the one on the left.

Naruto peered in. Nothing. It was the only room in the entire house that suggested daily use. He figured it must be Sasuke's room. Just then he heard a noise and turned around to see a tall pale figure draped in white clinging to the front door of what appeared to be a very expensive looking bathroom. He reacted the way anyone in that situation would have; he fainted.

"Narudo...Narudo...Wake up, Narudo..."

A faint, sickly voice echoed down to Naruto's ears. He didn't want to wake up. Didn't want to see the phantasmagoria again...that creepy wraith-like figure dressed all in white.

'But you know...' whispered a voice in the back of Naruto's head. 'That voice sounds an awful lot like Sasuke's.'

"Wake up, damnit." said the nine-tails fox, and with that, he shoved Naruto out of his unconscious mind.

"Ah!!!" Naruto cried, sitting up only to collide heads with the previously stated specter.

"Ow..." said two voices simultaneously.

Naruto blinked his eyes rapidly to dispel the tears of pain forming in them. When he opened his eyes for the final time, he was caught off-guard by a pair of deep obsidian orbs. He stopped breathing, stopped thinking. Those eyes...they made him want to...

"Narudo. Snap oud of id."

Naruto blinked again, shifted his gaze a little higher, and met Sasuke's face, which was paler than usual and accompanied by an unhealthy sheen of sweat. His cheeks were flushed red, though his forehead stood out as being extremely white.

"Sasuke. I was worried about you. How come you're talking so funny?" he said, blinking innocently.

Sasuke gave him a look that clearly read, 'Are you a complete idiot? I'm sick.'

"Are dou an idiod? I'b sick." Sasuke asked thickly.

Neither of them had noticed that while colliding heads, Sasuke's towel had slipped down from around his waist. Now Naruto could see that he was bare-chested, but when his eyes traveled further down without thinking, he saw that the raven was not wearing any clothes. Period.

"Sasuke..." Naruto began. "You're...Um...Y-Y-You're..."

"Spid id oud!" Sasuke shouted, immediately regretting his actions because of his sore throat.

"You're naked." Naruto stated simply.

The chunin looked down, turned redder than a fire engine, and immediately tried to cover his indecency with his hands.

"For da lub od Kami, don'd look!" said Sasuke loudly.

Naruto turned away, howling with laughter as Sasuke tried to maneuver the fall towel around his waist with his shaking hands. Finally, Sasuke got unsteadily to his feet and stood, leaning against the doorframe and panting heavily.

'Kami...that was embarrassing. He'll never let me live this down. Not in a million years.'

"Sasuke, is it safe now? Can I turn around?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke sighed. He nodded until he realized stupidly that Naruto couldn't see him nodding because he was currently facing the opposite direction. He wanted to avoid talking, wanted to avoid the usage of words at all because a headache was now pounding fiercely in his skull.

"Yes, Narudo." he said before breaking off into a coughing fit.

Naruto turned around and observed Sasuke with a concerned look on his face. Sasuke couldn't see this of course because he was holding his stomach as he coughed. Naruto could see something drip onto the floor from the back of Sasuke's head...something small and bright red.

"Sasuke, are you alright?"

He was at Sasuke's side in an instant, one hand on his back and the other on his stomach to make sure the chunin didn't collapse. After about two minutes his coughing ceased and he was able to stand straight again. He wobbled on his feet, the towel having fallen to the floor again, but Naruto didn't seem to notice or even care.

"Come on." he said softly. "Let's get you into bed."

With one hand on Sasuke's back, he led the genin to his room and helped him sit down on the bed. By this point, Sasuke was shivering uncontrollably due to fever and chills.

"Where are your clothes?"

Sasuke pointed with one trembling hand to a dresser directly across from them.

"Oh, duh!" Naruto slapped himself on the forehead, much to Sasuke's invisible distress, and went over to the dresser. He then pulled open a drawer, found a pair of loose grey sweat pants, boxers, and a plain white long-sleeved t-shirt. He retrieved a pair of socks from the drawer above it.

"Here." the blond proffered Sasuke his clothes and Sasuke took them.

It took him nearly five minutes to dress himself due to his shaking hands. He had trouble getting the shirt on so Naruto had to help him pull it over his head. A stream of red trickled down his face from a neat little cut on his temple just above his hairline.

"Bandages?" Naruto asked. "We need to clean your cut."

Sasuke pointed wearily to the bathroom. Naruto nodded and ran to the bathroom. The only logical place to look for medical supplies was beneath the sink, so he checked there and sure enough he found a small solid black box with a red cross on it.

"Gee. I guess this is it." Naruto said out loud to no one in particular.

He walked swiftly back into Sasuke's room only to see that Sasuke had managed to crawl under the covers and was sitting propped up by a pillow with his eyes shut.

'What an odd way to sleep.' he thought to him-self. 'But maybe he's not sleeping at all. He could just be resting. He looks kind of cute sitting there all by himself. Wait a minute!! I did NOT just think that. Nope. I did NOT just think that at all. I'm just going to ignore that last thought.'

"Sasuke..." Naruto breathed, tapping his friend lightly on the hand that was laying on top of the navy blue comforter.

Sasuke cracked open one eye.

"What?" he mouthed, not willing to speak unless it was absolutely necessary.

"I need to see your head. Did you fall? Are you experiencing any dizziness, nausea, or vomiting?"

Sasuke nodded once, nodded twice, nodded again, and shook his head minimally in response to the fourth question.

"Before or after you fell, cause I know you're sick now."

"After." Sasuke croaked.

"Well, lets hope you don't have a concussion. I'm afraid you'll...no wait...You can lay down."

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief that ended in a brief series of coughs.

'I've never seen this side of Naruto before. I didn't know he could be so serious...or so gentle.' Sasuke thought as Naruto dabbed a cotton ball soaked with peroxide across the cut on his forehead.

Even with all his training as a shinobi, he couldn't suppress the reflexive twitch associated with the sting of peroxide on a wound.

"Sorry." Naruto apologized. "I know it burns. Gees." he murmured as he tenderly touched the raised red area surrounding the cut. "You have a lump the size of an egg on your head, though. What'd you hit?"

"...sink..." Sasuke rasped.

"You're voice sounds terrible. Guess I should shut my damn mouth, huh?"

'Why would he say something that harsh?' thought Sasuke. The chunin observed a faraway look in the other's eyes. 'What could he be thinking of?'

"Oh...Sorry." Naruto said, snapping out of his trance.

He set the wet cotton ball down on a desk beside the bed and proceeded to coat the cut with liquid band-aid. The protective coating would prevent infections and it was impervious to water, not that Sasuke would be going out in the rain any time soon, but if he wanted to take another shower, it would not come off.

"There you..." Naruto stopped himself when he saw that Sasuke's eyes had fallen shut and his breathing was shallow but rhythmic. "...go." he whispered.

He replaced the first-aid kit and flushed the cotton ball down the toilet because he could not find a trashcan. He then tip-toed down the stairs without making a single sound and went into the kitchen, which he had discovered during his quest for Sasuke.

'Hmm.' he thought as he peered into the cabinets. It was mostly empty, full of nothing but cobwebby dust and a few cans of vegetables. "Ew. Veggies. Who in their right mind would eat veggies?' "Aha!" he said as he reached back into the cabinet and withdrew a can of microwavable noodles.

In the refrigerator he found a few slices of chicken on a plate. After some searching he found a cutting board, a knife, a bowl, a pot, a spoon, and a single chicken broth cube located in the dish cabinet.

He set about pouring a cup-and-a-half of water into the pot and set it on the gas stove to boil. He then found a newspaper and sat down to read it until the water was bubbling in the pot. Then he added the chicken broth cube and waited for it to dissolve completely before adding the noodles.

He cut up the chicken into tiny chunks, remembering Sasuke's sore throat and assuming that big pieces would be too difficult to swallow, and threw them into the pot. He stirred them with a plastic spoon until he was sure that the chicken was warm enough. Then he turned off the heat, poured the newly made chicken soup into a bowl, set it on a tray, and set the pot in the sink.

'I'll wash it later.' he thought.

He poured Sasuke a glass of water, placed the drink, a soupspoon, and a napkin on the tray. Then he lifted it with one hand and carried it all the way to the stairs.

"Here goes nothing." he said to himself as he started up the stairs.

Utilizing his ninja skills, he was able to successfully make it up the stairs without spilling the soup or the glass of water. Once in Sasuke's room, he set the tray down on the desk and turned to wake the chunin. But...somehow...he found himself watching said chunin sleep. His eyes traveled across the other male's face. He found simple beauty in the way Sasuke's dark raven hair fell over his defined cheekbones. He felt something stir within him as he continued to watch his friend sleep...something he couldn't quite identify.

When Sasuke began to stir an hour-and-a-half later, Naruto quickly diverted his attention elsewhere. He stared out the window until he felt Sasuke eyeballing him. He turned and got a look from his friend that quite plainly asked 'Why are you still here?'

"To make sure you don't fall again, for one thing. And to make sure you don't strain yourself because I know you well enough to know you'd try and do something idiotic."

"That's your job." Sasuke replied haughtily, his voice sounding much better after having rested.

He felt much better too. Perhaps his natural healing chakra was kicking in, taking the time to nurture his sick body back to health. Still, it was too soon to tell.

"Right. Well, I made you some chicken noodle soup. It's cold now though, but I'll heat it up."

He touched the edge of the bowl and concentrated briefly until a flow of chakra surrounded it. Steam emanated from the soup almost instantly. Unfortunately, the nine-tails-fox was in a mischievous mood and announced it so by sending a volatile thread of red chakra through Naruto's chakra system.

"Ow. Sonofabitch!" Naruto swore as the soup bowl tilted and he burned his hand on the steaming liquid. "Stupid..." he almost said it...almost said "fox", but stopped himself from mentioning the word. It wasn't like he couldn't control the demon's chakra, but when he was unprepared for its usage, it caught him by surprise and thus incidents took place.

Sasuke was looking at him strangely. Naruto sweat-dropped, cursing the nine-tails beneath his breath. He finally took notice of his hand, which had been burned more by the fox's chakra itself than by the hot soup in the bowl. It was completely raw and white in some places. It was blistered still in others and it hurt like crazy.

"Let me see your hand." Sasuke said.

"I-It's fine." Naruto replied, stumbling over his words.

"Idiot, let me see your hand."

"I'm telling you its –"

"If I have to get out of this bed you really won't like what happens next. Now...your hand, please." Sasuke insisted.

Naruto walked over and held out his hand. Sasuke had to hold back a gasp.

'What the hell? That's a second and third degree burn. He should be screaming in pain, not standing here calmly like nothing happened. The fox's chakra must have done this. The soup couldn't have...'

"Hold still."

Even in his ill state, Sasuke was able to generate enough healing chakra to treat the burn. Naruto let out a hiss through his teeth as the skin started to regenerate painfully.

"I could have done it myself." he said when Sasuke finished.

Sasuke, being drowsy again, wasn't thinking clearly so when Naruto said "I could have done it myself.", he interpreted it as something nasty.

"Oh yeah." he found himself say. "Could you do this by yourself?" he asked.

And then...he kissed Naruto. For a brief moment their lips met. It wasn't sloppy kiss, but Naruto was awkward and unsure and all over the place. Sasuke on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what he was doing even though he really didn't, and he was actually surprised when Naruto yanked himself away.

"What the hell did you do that for, idiot?" he roared, glaring at his friend.

His face was flushed red from embarrassment and his lips were slightly rosy as well.

"Because I like you." Sasuke said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You..." Naruto started. "You can't just do that to me. It's...It's not right. You can't..." he whispered brokenly.

"Naruto...I...It...It was just a mistake. That's all. A stupid lapse in judgment." Sasuke stuttered, having decided that telling him it was a mistake was better than telling him the truth.

"You idiot!" Naruto shouted.

His baby blue eyes glistened with unshed tears and his rosy lips trembled with the strain of holding them back.

"I can't believe you." he said. "Why would you do that? You don't make lapses in judgment. You're an Uchiha, for Kami's sake. You already stole my first kiss back in the academy. And now you've gone and..."

Naruto began to cry. Sasuke didn't know what to do. He'd never seen Naruto cry before, so he was at a complete and total loss. The only thing he thought he could do that might make it right was by bearing his soul. And that meant confessing.

"Naruto...I...I don't mean that. I'....I really do like you...As more....As more than a friend."

"You can't lie to me like that!" Naruto cried. "You just can't do that."

Sasuke found his own voice rising. He whipped the covers back and stood, grabbing Naruto's hands in his own. Then he took a deep breath and said, "Naruto, listen to me. I like you, alright. I've liked you for a long time, and I'm not messing around with you. I'm serious, okay. I...like...you." he said the last part slowly.

"I...I...You can't be serious." Naruto stuttered, unsure of what to say or think.

'He can't like me like that. But...he sounds like he's being honest. And I...'

Sasuke dropped Naruto's hands and grabbed his shoulders instead, looking deep into his cerulean eyes.

"I am serious, Naruto. And to prove it..."

Sasuke leaned forward and kissed Naruto on the lips again. Almost immediately, he ran his tongue long Naruto's teeth, seeking permission. Naruto, not knowing what to do, opened his mouth hesitantly. Sasuke's tongue explored the cavern of Naruto's mouth before he withdrew entirely.

"That's how serious I am. That's what I think about doing all the time. I've just been repressing and holding back all these feelings and I can't do it any more. I just can't. I want to be with you."

Naruto wore a look of complete astonishment on his face. He brought a hand up to touch his lips, which were slightly swollen and red.

"Sasuke...I...I don't know...but I...If I..."

Sasuke felt his heart teetering on the edge of some great indefinable abyss. If Naruto said "no", his heart would fall. If Naruto said "yes" than his heart would sprout wings and fly away from the abyss altogether.

"Yes." he said, and in that instant Sasuke felt his heart soar up to the highest peak of the tallest mountain into the biggest cloud. He was euphoric.

He drew Naruto into a tender embrace and they shared another kiss, this time Naruto mimicking Sasuke's actions from their previous kiss.

"I only hope." he said after they parted breathlessly. "That I don't get sick too."

Sasuke merely laughed.

The End...