Disclaimer – If I did own Naruto, I wasn't writing this, was I?

Warning – This one-shot contains swearing, yaoi(malexmale), shonen-ai and kissing.

A Sign of Love

Written by – Innocent Passion.

He did it again..

Naruto was sitting on a gray plastic chair. He had his eyes shut tight, trying to push the feeling of crying away. He had his face buried in his hands, not trying to look up. But he couldn't help it; he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at the unconscious black-haired Sasuke, lying in the plain white hospital bed.

He saw the bandage around his arms, and around his head. He saw the wounds on his face, on his neck and on his wrists. He looked horrible.

Sure, Naruto was also badly injured because of the mission. Was. His wounds always took one or two days to heal, and the scars of them would go away soon, too. You couldn't even notice that he just returned from a mission. He wasn't that messed up like Sasuke was now.

It hurt Naruto every time he looked at him. But, how much it hurt him, the boy just couldn't help but lay his sky-blue eyes on the sleeping one.

He still could remember what the doctor told him, "He has bad injuries," was what he said. "It is a miracle that he still is breathing." And that was all his fault.

Naruto was blaming himself for all this.

Immediately, Naruto's eyes began to sting again, and he buried his face in his hands like he did earlier. His eyes were shut tight again, as he bit the insides of his cheek to push away the urge of crying. "Idiotic bastard…" he muttered under his breath, his teeth clenched tightly against each other. "Why…?" He curled his hands into fists. "Why..? I-I never asked you to do such thing…"

The picture of him holding the lifeless, messed up Sasuke flashed through his thoughts, and he immediately jumped up from his chair, glaring at the other male while the tears started to fill his eyes. "BASTARD!!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. "Why the hell do you never listen to me?! I never asked you to protect me! I can protect myself; I can do things on my own! I don't need your damn help, Sasuke!"

Naruto was panting, and he clenched his fists. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the tears were threatening to fall down. He gritted his teeth again and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before plopping back on the chair, his gaze turning to the white floor.

It was just like that day in the Land of the Waves one year ago. He still could feel the throbbing pain in his chest as he saw the sharp needles pierce every spot of Sasuke's body. He still could feel how scared he was as Sasuke slowly fell down in his arms while coughing blood. And he still could feel how his heart slightly started to pound faster as he spoke his last words before his eyes slowly closed.

Although Sasuke woke up, although he never felt so relieved that day, so happy before in his entire life… the throbbing feeling in his chest was still there.

Guilt.

Kakashi said to him after they returned to Konoha that it wasn't his fault. That sort of thing happened in missions. He'd get used to it soon.

His eyes turned to the sleeping Sasuke, who was lying in the hospital bed, and nodded his head in some short nods, giving him sign that he's right. After he patted Naruto on the head, Kakashi left with Sakura soon following him, leaving Naruto behind with Sasuke.

Naruto did nod his head to say that Kakashi was right, but that was a lie. It didn't feel like it wasn't his fault. Because, Naruto thought, he was too reckless. If he wasn't so reckless, this would never have happened. This would never have happened to Sasuke.

Ever since that incident had happened, Naruto decided to grow stronger, to train more so that nobody ever needed to protect him, that Sasuke never needed to protect him again, so that he would be the one who would protect him.

But no matter how much Naruto trained, how much Naruto grew in strength… Sasuke was always one step further than him. Always.

And he hated it. Naruto hated it so much that Sasuke was always the one who grabbed him when he fell from a tree or helped him when he was injured. Naruto always wanted to hate him. Not only because of the fact that he was just a rude, cocky bastard but also because he always saved and helped him while he never asked him for his help.

He wanted to hate him for those facts, and he still does. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. How could he hate a person who experienced the same feelings, the same things he did?

Ever since they came back from the mission and Sasuke ended up in the hospital, Naruto was always with him, sitting on the chair, and waiting for him to open his eyes. But that was almost one week ago, and he was still lying in that hospital bed, lifeless.

"Sasuke…" he muttered, his eyes slowly turning to the black-haired male. "Please wake up,"

His eyes turned from his face, to his hair, and his hand reached out really slowly to touch it. He stroked his hair, feeling its softness. Naruto was eyeing right now the pale face of his friend, hoping that he would react at Naruto's touch, but he didn't even budge.

He slightly creased his blonde eyebrows; all he wanted was to hear his low yet dark voice again, to see his onyx eyes again which where turned to him, to hear him calling his name again. Those were the only things he wanted right now.

"Bastard… wake up." Naruto tried again, hoping that he actually would hear him and wake up. But, of course, he didn't. This made Naruto only angrier.

Naruto sat down on the bed, staring at him before he touched his hand. It surprised him that while his hand was cold, Sasuke's hand was warm. The blonde one was hoping he would react at it, but again, the Uchiha boy didn't budge at all.

"Sasuke…" he called the boy's name again with a sigh and leaned closer to him so that he could rest his forehead against his. He inhaled his scent and closed his eyes. He felt Sasuke's warm breath blowing against his face.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes again. Frowning, he almost yelled, "Sasuke, I know you're there. Please wake up!" And then, in a split second he hugged him, feeling his warmth which he so liked. "Let me know that you're there, Sasuke!"

It was dark. There was nothing to see, only the thick darkness that looked like it could swallow you any minute.

The black-haired Sasuke looked around him, thinking that he was blind because of the darkness.

It was also awfully silent. He didn't hear anything other than his own heartbeats and his slow breathing. The cold silence made him shiver, made him uncomfortable, and he hated it.

He cleared his dry throat. "Someone there?" It wasn't a question; it was an order; he had a feeling that he wasn't alone, that someone was watching him behind the darkness.

He frowned deeply as he only heard his own echoes; a sign that he was completely alone.

But then, he heard someone yelling. He wasn't sure though because the voice was soft and it fainted away quickly. Sasuke raised his dark eyebrow and scanned everything around him again, wanting to know where it came from. But he couldn't find anything, only darkness.

Sasuke creased his eyebrows, getting annoyed.

"Sasuke…" he heard suddenly coming from above, and the male paused. After hearing his name again, he recognized the voice; it was Naruto's voice.

The black-haired male widened his eyes, shocked yet surprised to hear Naruto in this kind of place. "Naruto!" he called back, hearing as a response his name again. "Where are you?" he called, but then he heard him yelling, shouting at him with nothing else but anger, "BASTARD!!" Sasuke couldn't help but flinch at Naruto's loud yell. He blinked, not knowing what he did wrong.

"Why the hell do you never listen to me?! I never asked you to protect me! I can protect myself; I can do things on my own! I don't need your damn help, Sasuke!"

The male looked around him trying to find where Naruto was, but it wasno use. "Naruto!" Then, there was a long pause, and the cold silence returned back to him soon after.

Sasuke didn't know what was happening right now. He didn't know where he was or what this kind of place was. Was this real, or was it just a dream?

"Sasuke…" he suddenly heard again. "Please wake up." Wake up...? What the hell does he mean with wake up? the lad thought with a low voice. I'm fully awake, you stupid dobe! He wanted to say that to him, but when the onyx-eyed male wanted to call back, he felt something on his head. He frowned in confusion, touching his hair; he didn't know what it was, but it felt warm. He turned around to see if there was someone standing behind him, silently hoping that it was Naruto, but there was nobody…

"Bastard… wake up," echoed Naruto's voice again through the dark area.

Sasuke slightly jumped, twitching his eyes as he felt someone touch his hand with incredibly cold fingers. He glanced at his hand, scowling at it like it was to be blamed for all this. What the hell is this? Some kind of jutsu or something?

"Sasuke…" the blonde's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, feeling that someone was pressing something against his forehead. He frowned when he heard Naruto's voice again, yelling desperately at him.

He widened his eyes in shock yet surprise as he felt complete warmth surrounding his body, a warmth that he hadnever felt before. It was like someone was causing the warmth; it was like someone was embracing him with all his might.

"Let me know you're there, Sasuke!"

It was weird, but as soon asNaruto's echoes fainted away in the dark, a bright light appeared out of nowhere in front of Sasuke. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at it, finding the light too bright for his liking.

After some long seconds the male's eyes started to get used to the light and started to look into it, seeing plain white walls and a plain white ceiling. He saw also some blond locks waving in front of his gaze.

He blinked. Are those… from Naruto?

"Sasuke…" the male heard again. "It has been one week… Please open your eyes. I'm so lonely without you…" The last part came out as a low mutter, and Sasuke slightly widened his eyes.

This isn't a jutsu, the male realized. This is a dream. It has to be a dream. There is no way in hell that he would leave Naruto like that. He'd never abandon him or leave him behind, never. He'd always be there for him until the end.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as the blond-haired Naruto called out his name again in a soft voice; he was confused. He didn't understand why Naruto would say such things. Didn't he know that he would never leave him?

Ever since he found out how Naruto always had lived, he wanted to be… closer to him. Although they were different from each other and never could agree with one another, he wanted to be friends with him because there was someone who was just like him and didn't have any parents, who needed to take care of himself, who also knew what the word "loneliness" meant," who knew that others didn't see him like he wanted them to, who knew that nobody would ever understand what he had seen, what he had felt, and what his life was like.

Sasuke never would leave Naruto, who understood him like nobody else had He rather wanted to help him, save him, not caring if it would cost his life. As long as he was safe as long as he could live his life like it always had to be, he's happy… But it looked like Naruto didn't even know!

Sasuke narrowed his onyx eyes even more into a clear expression of annoyance and anger. He's going to make sure that Naruto would know it. And with that thought in his head, he reached out his hand towards the light to Naruto. But as soon as his hand touched it, the light started to brighten itself and surround the darkness and soon… himself as well.

The black-haired male creased his eyebrows a little as he felt a familiar warmth surrounding him. But soon, it started to turn into a sharp pain which was going through his body at a rapid speed. He opened his eyes and blinked to get used to the light. But soon, he closed them as he felt the same pain going through his body again.

He cursed mentally, feeling like there was something heavy lying and moving on him. Wondering what it was, his onyx eyes scanned around him, landing on a head with blonde hair next to him. He raised his eyebrow; though he couldn't see the face, the hair was already saying enough: Naruto was the one who was causing the heavy feeling and also the pain.

It looked like Naruto didn't even notice that he was awake because his head was resting in his neck withhis eyes closed, enjoying the warmth the other male was giving him. When Sasuke felt the blonde locks tickling his neck, he slightly jumped with twitched eyebrows; this was, to him, a little bit too much..

"Oi, Naruto. Get off me," the onyx-eyed one told the other with a calm voice, feeling him stiffen in surprise. Naruto had his sky-blue eyes widened, not expecting this.

He pulled his head away from his neck so he could face him. Sasuke bounced up his black brow as Naruto was just staring bluntly at his face. "S-Sasuke..?" was all what he could manage to get out after a long silence between them. "Yeah. Now, get off me, you moron," Sasuke returned to him with a low voice, his forehead slightly furrowed in annoyance.

It was like Naruto didn't hear him; he didn't even budge. His sky-blue eyes were still locked on the onyx ones, feeling the sting in his eyes returning slowly. "S-Sasuke…" The named male had enough of his stupid reactions and glared at him. "Naruto, get off—!" But he stopped as he saw a tear trickle down the blonde's cheek.

Sasuke stared at the moving tear before he turned his dark eyes to the blue ones. "Naru—?"

"Bastard…" interrupted Naruto him through clenched teeth, his eyes looking down, his eyebrows deeply creased. Sasuke slightly raised his two black eyebrows, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Bastard…!" repeated Naruto again, only this time a little bit louder.

Sasuke stared at him, this time his forehead furrowed deeply. "Tch, the only bastard here is—"

"I never told you to save me!" shouted Naruto all of a sudden, his sky-blue eyes turned up to Sasuke's face in an instant, glaring with anger yet sadness at him. Sasuke's expression changed. "I never told you to save me! And now this happened. Why the hell are you never listening to me?!"

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes before turning away from him and letting his head sinker deeper into the pillow. Naruto was still staring at him with an angry expression, waiting for an answer. But Sasuke didn't answer his question; his onyx eyes were turned to something else to keep them from turning back to Naruto's face.

"Sasuke!" yelled Naruto after a long time of silence, his voice higher. "Answer me, Sasuke! Why did you save me? Why do you never listen to me?!"

Again, the Uchiha didn't say anything.

"SASUKE!!"

"For God's sake, what did you want me to do then?" growled Sasuke back, his dark orbs narrowed as he turned his gaze back to the blonde, getting annoyed at Naruto's yells. "Did you want me to just run past you like I didn't see you, like you didn't exist, while you were getting beaten up by those men?" He felt Naruto clench his fists on his chest. "Dude, you would have died if I did that!"

"I don't care!" returned the blonde with a loud voice, his eyes shut tight. "I don't care! If you just ran past me like I didn't existed, this would have never happened to you!" Naruto looked at Sasuke's bandages.

Sasuke slowly lifted his head press his head back in his pillow.

"It is my fault…" he heard all of a sudden. His eyes turned to the light ones immediately after he heard that. "If I wasn't so reckless," Naruto muttered, his eyes still turned to the bandages. "If I wasn't so busy with shouting at you, I could have sensed them coming. Then, this would never have happened…" Another tear began to trickle down Naruto's cheek, falling on Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke rolled his eyes once again. "Don't be stupid, dobe. Their levels of power were high; even I didn't sense them."

"But still!" blurted out Naruto, his orbs turning back to the black-haired Uchiha. "That isn't a damn excuse!" Sasuke looked away, letting out a sigh of frustration escape his thin lips.

Naruto bit his lip hard after a long time of silence between the two boys before he mumbled under his breath, "It was just like that time…"

Sasuke just kept his eyes away from him, biting the insides of his cheek softly.

"I never knew that that could ever happen to me… I felt so helpless that time, just like now. I thought you had died, Sasuke!" Naruto stopped to give him an opportunity to reply, but the male didn't; he didn't even make eye contact with him. The blonde cursed him silently under his breath, before he continued with creased eyebrows, "Ever since that happened… I swore to myself that I would grow stronger so I could save you, protect you," All of a sudden, something began to boil up inside of him: jealousy.

Sasuke was now glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

"But I was always behind you; I never could keep up with you no matter how hard I trained… it never worked. I was always behind you…"

Sasuke creased his black brows. "What is your point, dobe?" he growled with a low voice, having had enough of hearing this. Naruto glared at him with all his might. "My point is that you never may protect me again!"

"So, you don't care if you die?" It was a question although it didn't really sound like one; Sasuke was glaring at him with his dark eyes, annoyed at what he just heard. "You don't care for the people you'll leave behind? The people who care about you?"

Naruto couldn't help but blink at the sudden question; he didn't know that Sasuke not only meant Sakura, Kakashi and all the others but also himself. Sasuke, who noticed that, only got more annoyed and angry than he already was.

"Well?" Sasuke spat after he didn't get an answer, and he leaned on his elbows to sit up a little. Naruto looked at him before looking away and clearing his throat, not knowing how to answer. "W-well… no. But—"

"Then what the fuck are you babbling about?" shouted Sasuke suddenly with full anger, and Naruto turned his gaze back to him.

"I don't want to see you like this anymore!" shouted Naruto back, and before the Uchiha could do something, the blonde male wrapped his arms around his neck and pushed him down so he could hug him again.

Sasuke flinched and closed one eye as he felt the stinging pain again and sighed deeply in frustration. He glanced at him from the corner of his eye as he felt cold water drops falling on his neck, and soon he could hear the soft sobs of the male.

He turned his onyx eyes to the white ceiling, sighing again. "Alright, I get it," he said silently. "You're scared." Naruto didn't reply.

"Don't be," continued the black-haired lad. "I'm here with you; I'm alive; there is nothing to be afraid of…"

Naruto didn't say anything to him. Instead, he tightened the grip not soon after Sasuke placed his hands slowly on the blonde's back, returning the hug.

After the two stayed like this for some long silent minutes, Naruto said through soft sobs, "Don't… you dare to do this kind of thing again…" Sasuke, who hadn't even noticed that he had closed his eyes, reopened them to glance at the blonde before he continued, "Promise me, Sasuke. Never… ever save me again. I-I don't want to see you like this anymore…"

The black-haired one turned his eyes back to the ceiling, blowing his bangs away from his eyes. "Maybe," he said shortly with a calm voice.

"I mean it, Sasuke."

"… Will you just stop complaining?"

And again, the silence echoed between the two boys.

The one who broke the silence first was the blonde one who finally stopped sobbing. "Why did you… do it anyway?" he asked, still his voice soft. "I don't know," answered the other. "My legs just moved on their own. And before I knew it, this happened." Naruto couldn't help but bury his face further in his neck. He inhaled his scent, feeling him twitch a little before he stiffened. A little smile slowly formed on his lips. "You're so full of shit."

The two males felt how the chill atmosphere around them slowly changed into a more pleasant one. Sasuke let out a soft and short sigh and couldn't help but close his eyes, enjoying this calm moment. But then, the blonde one tightened the hug even more, leaving another sting of pain going through Sasuke's body. Sasuke showed his onyx orbs again and frowned deeply at his friend. "Oi, you're hurting me."

"Sorry," was the only thing the black-haired male heard before Naruto tightened the hug even more. Sasuke placed his hands on each side of him and began to narrow his eyes at the blonde. "Oi, stop it, dobe."

"No."

Sasuke started to get annoyed. "Then get off me."

"No."

This made the Uchiha twitch his eyebrows in annoyance and in anger. "Do you want me to force you…?" It wasn't even a question.

"I'm not getting off you." The muffled voice of Naruto flew through his ears, and he only started to get more angry. "And why not…?" His low voice was threatening.

After some long seconds of giving no answer, Naruto suddenly removed his head from Sasuke's neck and sat up with his hands on the bandaged chest and his light orbs turned to the annoyed face of the Uchiha. Naruto smiled sweetly at him when he moved a little, giving Sasuke another shock of pain.

Sasuke glared darkly at him. "You're doing that on purpose," he growled angrily. Naruto nodded his head, still his lips forming that sweet smile. "As a punishment for what you did."

Sasuke twitched one of his eyes, ready to choke him to death. "Punishment…?" He should be thanking him for saving his life instead of punishing him!

"Yup," Naruto moved again to the dark-eyed male dismay of course; it was really hurting him. Sasuke grunted in annoyance. "Stop it." He gave the blonde one a threatening look, but it looked like he wasn't scared at all; his lips were still turned into a sweet smile until it changed into a thin line.

"Just…" Naruto took a deep breath, his eyes now serious. "Just promise me that you won't do something like that ever again. I don't want to see you like this anymore." Seeing him like this twice is more than enough, he thought.

Sasuke was now looking calmly at him, not replying at what he just said. Naruto's eyes were red and puffy, and still more tears threatened to fall down. Sasuke saw Naruto's hurtful expression as he was waiting for an answer. And, truth to be told, it was hurting him, too.

He started to crease his black brows; he was the one who was hurting him right now like he always did, and he hated it. He always wanted to ignore that feeling. But no matter how much he tried, it didn't work; it just didn't want to go away. Sasuke also never tried to hurt him, but in the end he always did.

Maybe what Kakashi said to him was true. Yes, maybe he really had fallen in love with the blonde male.

Sasuke snapped back out of his thoughts as he saw a tear falling down the other male's cheek. Naruto blinked; he didn't even notice that there were tears in his eyes. He looked down, hoping that Sasuke didn't see it and wiped the tears away with the back of his hands. "W-wait…"

But unfortunately the black-haired boy did saw it and furrowed his forehead deeply. He sighed deeply and slowly reached out for his face. Naruto blinked as he felt a warm hand touching his cheek and looked up, finding the soft look of Sasuke.

Sasuke let out a soft sigh again. "Naruto," he said with a calm yet soft voice and wiped away a tear with his thumb. "Why do you care about me so much?" Naruto stared at him, the tears still flowing down his cheeks. "B-because…"

Naruto bit his lip, a slight blush crawled over his cheeks. It wasn't that he didn't know the answer. It was that he didn't know how to say the answer. He was afraid of what Sasuke's reaction would be. "Be-because…" he tried again, but he stopped; he really didn't know how to say it. What if Sasuke would think that he's a freak and started to ignore him? He really didn't want to lose him.

Sasuke slightly raised his eyebrow as he felt Naruto's hands clenching into fists on his chest while tears started to come faster than first. He was scared, the male noticed. He started to caress his cheek with his thumb slowly to calm him down and felt the blonde one stiffen in surprise.

He couldn't help but curl the corner of his lips up into a smirk as he felt Naruto's cheek warming up; he was blushing, and the dark-haired male just couldn't help but think how cute he looked.

Naruto was looking down now, not wanting to make eye contact with the other; he was too embarrassed to do so. And while he was hoping that Sasuke wouldn't notice that, the named male already did.

"Naruto," he called him again, hoping that he would look at him. But he didn't. "Look at me." His dark voice made Naruto flinch; it was like he was angry at him.

This made it even more difficult to look at him.

Sasuke slightly frowned as Naruto didn't do what he was told.

He leaned on one of his elbows to sit up a little again, silently hoping that Naruto wouldn't notice it. He stopped caressing Naruto's cheek and removed his hand. The blonde one blinked in confusion, and before he could do anything else, Sasuke cupped his chin slowly with his two fingers, forcing him to look up at him.

Naruto blinked again until he saw the little, mischievous smirk on the Uchiha's face. His dark orbs locked on the light ones, staring at the blonde intently; it made Naruto nervous. Really, really nervous. "Sasuke, what's—?" But before the blonde could continue, he got cut off as the black-haired lad leaned closer to his face and quickly sealed his lips with a kiss.

Naruto's eyes grew wider in an instant, his face turning into a bright red color. Sasuke grabbed the back of his head, gripping his blonde hair a little to pull him closer to him and deepen the kiss.

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes slowly grew smaller at the warmth he was feeling.

When Sasuke moved and opened his mouth a little, Naruto closed his eyes and responded the kiss by pushing him back to lie down. After some seconds, Naruto broke the kiss, leaving a small gap between them. Panting because of the deep kiss they just shared, he stared down at the Uchiha who started the kiss. Sasuke just looked back at him with a calm expression on his face. And just like the blonde boy, he was panting, too.

Sasuke smirked as Naruto was still panting while he already could control his breathing again and said, "What? Too much for you?" The other male frowned at him; he just had to ruin the moment with his cocky comment.

Naruto blushed even more. "Basta—!" But Sasuke cut him off by sealing his lips again with a kiss. This time, it was more passionate. And Naruto, of course, couldn't resist it.

Then, after their lips parted, the blushing Naruto said something what the smirking Uchiha didn't expected, ".. I-I love you… Sasuke.." It came out as a soft whisper.

Sasuke stared at him with a surprised expression. While Naruto didn't even dared to make eye contact with him, Sasuke formed his lips into a smirk. That son of a bitch, he had the nerve to beat me into saying it. Ah well, this made it at least easier for him to say it back.

"I know," he replied, still his lips turned into that famous smirk of his. Naruto turned back to him, glaring at him with his red face. "… W-what's that… supposed to mean?" Sasuke sighed, wiping his bangs away to show his onyx eyes better. He placed his hand on Naruto's burning cheek, straight looking into his eyes while his lips were still forming his smirk.

"It means that I love you, too, stupid dobe."

Naruto blushed, if that was possible, even more. Sasuke widened his smirk, and the blushing male frowned in annoyance at that, before curving his lips into a small smirk too. "I knew that." He decided to imitate Sasuke's cocky behavior. "It was so obvious already."

Naruto chuckled not soon after, while the other male was narrowing his onyx eyes at him. "Funny," Sasuke said sarcastically, but his cheeks turned into a soft shade of pink. Naruto grinned. "Heh, thank you."

The black-haired Uchiha still narrowed his gaze at his crush but shrugged soon before pressing his lips against the other.

Their make out session ended when they heard footsteps outside the room. Naruto climbed slowly and carefully off Sasuke, making sure not to hurt him more than he already did and sat down on the plastic chair, gazing up at the door which opened slowly, and a nurse walked in to check up on Sasuke.

Her eyes turned from the still blushing Naruto to the now awake Sasuke and lit up. "Oh, Sasuke! You're awake!" She showed him a relieved smile. Sasuke just nodded his head one time as a response and pressed the back of his head back in his pillow again.

After she checked up on Sasuke and changed his bandages, the nurse took her time to look at the blond-haired male who was watching everything she did in silence. She tilted her head a bit to the left in a questionable way and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

Naruto looked up at her, blinking. "Huh? What?" Sasuke looked at him, too, raising his black brow.

"I mean your face. It is colored in a deep red. Are you sick?" She sounded like she was concerned, and pressed her hand on Naruto's warm forehead to feel if he had a fever. Naruto's temperature rose even more and shook his head wildly. "Oh no! N-no. I-I'm fine, thanks."

The nurse placed her hand on her hip, looking at him suspiciously. She shrugged some seconds later and then walked away to the door after saying goodbye to the two boys.

As she stood in the door way, she peered over her shoulder to Naruto. "Hey, I think you need to go soon, too. Sasuke needs to get his rest. You can come back tomorrow though." She smiled. Naruto was silent for a moment and then nodded his head as an answer. And with that, the nurse left the two by closing the door behind her with a soft thud.

The blonde male sighed and turned back to the other male who was smirking widely at him. "W-what…?" asked Naruto slowly, his forehead furrowed. Sasuke shook his head and shrugged. "Nah, nothing," he replied, though his thin lips were still forming a smirk.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, before he stood up. "Well, I guess… I need to go then." He started to get embarrassed again. Sasuke nodded and watched him head towards the door.

"Oi," he called out as the lad grabbed the doorknob. Naruto turned his sky-blue eyes to him, wondering what Sasuke wanted. The Uchiha smirked at him again. "Did you remember that you said to me about you wanting to be stronger? Stronger than me?"

Naruto couldn't help but blink before he creased his eyebrows, yelling, "Yeah! And I will by the way. I will grow stronger than you no matter what! So you won't have to protect me ever again!"

"Hn," he scoffed, his eyebrow slightly raised. "Well, then stop crying and complaining and just let me protect you until you succeed, dobe."

Because really, maybe it would cost his life, but he would never ever let someone hurt his Naruto…

Never.

A note – Really, this took some time to write this but it is finally finished. It is my first one-shot about Naruto, and I must say I'm pretty proud of it. Though, I don't really like the romance scenes; I think it kind of failed. -,-'

Also, the quotes that Sasuke says to Naruto, "Did you remember that you said to me about you wanting to be stronger? Stronger than me?" and "Well, then stop crying and complaining and just let me protect you until you succeed, dobe.". Those aren't from me. They are from the SasuNaru doujinshi, called, "It Is Tough Being a Genin". I just changed it a little. :)

Btw, credits to chris3169512 for beta-ing this (sorry if it was too much trouble =C) and to Unknown Pain for giving me some ideas to keep writing this. Thank you both. =)

Please leave a review, and I don't accept any kind of flames.

Love,
- Innocent Passion.