Thanks Enough
By: fruor
Summary: Naruto didn't want to be there. That was a fact. Waiting for Sasuke to wake up was Sakura's job, not his. Written for wolfpilot06's floofless challenge in LJ. Canon!SasuNaru.
Rating: K
Genre: General
Pairing: SasuNaru
Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto-sama owns Naruto.
Note: Set after the Haku incident, before Team Seven returned to Konoha…so that would be during the time of the team's recovery. Just figured I should also post it here in ffnet.
Naruto didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be sitting, cross-legged, upon the worn-out tatami mats and facing the laid-out futon with one unconscious Uchiha Sasuke tucked underneath the comfy blankets Tsunami handed to them. If his tightly crossed arms and deep scowl didn't prove his displeasure enough, he didn't know what would.
Tazuna was out checking the bridge and everything around it. Kakashi was most probably in a good and quiet place, reading his notorious novel, in a place Naruto was sure he wouldn't find even if he wanted to. Sakura was out, buying whatever it was they needed for their trip back to Konoha with Tsunami, because Kakashi wouldn't trust Naruto with the money. And Inari? He was a boy. Would you even expect a boy to stay indoors when there was the option of playing outside? Naruto himself would've chosen the outdoors.
But Sakura had made him promise to stay by Sasuke's side until she returns and Naruto had always been a man of his word.
With a loud groan, Naruto flopped onto the floor and stared at ceiling, counting the cracks in silent frustration.
Watching over an unconscious person was surely the most boring thing to do – he didn't know how women could do it! Waiting had always been one of his weak points and this situation was not an exception. He wondered vaguely if he should just wake up his teammate, with a splash of water or something maybe?
Naruto didn't want to be mean though – at least not unless Sasuke starts it. As much as he wouldn't like to admit it, this "annoying bastard" sleeping upon the futon in front of him had just saved his life. On the brighter side, he could now proudly say that two people had risked their lives for his, specifically one Umino Iruka and one Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto blinked and promptly lost count of the cracks on the ceiling. He pushed himself up and stared at his unconscious rival. He should say his thanks to this guy. After all, that was the right thing to do but he wondered if he could do it. Talking to Sasuke had never been fruitful – cursing the brunette couldn't be called talking, could it?
Shaking his head vigorously, Naruto decided to stop thinking about such things and just do what he promised to Sakura. He'd wait for Sasuke to wake up then give him those apples that Sakura had cut for him. If only he'd wake up sooner…
Sometime during the wait, Naruto had found himself crouched just beside Sasuke's shoulder with a stick in his right hand. Eyes narrowed at the ever stoic face of his teammate, he carefully lifted the stick and pointed at the other's forehead. Surely, one poke wouldn't hurt and it's not like Sasuke would know anything about it.
The next thing Naruto knew, he was staring at charcoal eyes with a guilty expression written across his own face.
"Oi, dobe. What are you doing with that stick?"
In panic, he tossed the stick over his back, not bothering where it landed. He jumped away from Sasuke and sat cross-legged just past the edge of the futon. "What stick? I wasn't holding any stick! Maybe you were still dreaming!"
Sasuke looked at the blonde with doubting eyes but didn't bother to ask further into the subject. He draped an arm across his eyes and tried to remember what happened and how he ended up in bed like this. He would've asked Naruto but he doubted that the blonde would give him a decent answer.
After a silent moment, Sasuke decided to ask, "Where's Kakashi-sensei and Sakura?"
"Out." Came the abrupt reply.
Sasuke stared and waited for the rest but nothing else came out of the blonde's mouth. Pushing himself up with his elbows, he asked yet another question, "And you're here?"
"Yeah." Naruto answered, "What about it?" He stared carefully at the other's stoic face and wondered what it was he said wrong. Then Sasuke smirked and Naruto finally realized the point of the question.
"H-H-Hey! Don't get me wrong! I don't wanna be here!" Naruto stood up and pointed an angry finger at the brunette, "I'm not watching over you or anything like that! I'm only here because Sakura-chan asked me to! Don't go thinking that I was worried about you or anything like that!"
Sasuke shrugged and remained silent. Then a light weight fell on his legs and he looked and saw a plate of evenly cut pieces of apple sitting on his blanketed lap.
"I'm only doing what Sakura-chan asked me to." Naruto repeated, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, "I don't know what it is with apples and sick people but you should eat that or Sakura-chan will get mad at me."
Uchiha Sasuke glanced at the blonde before focusing his eyes on the apple slices and the toothpicks on each one.
"Well, if it makes you happy, I'm the one who put the toothpicks." Naruto said, turning his head away from the brunette.
Sasuke stared at the toothpicks and couldn't help but wonder if they were poisoned despite that echoing voice in his mind that kept telling him that Naruto had no poison-making skills. He picked up one piece, twirled the toothpick between his bandaged fingers, and ate the slice. Too bad toothpicks aren't edible.
As Sasuke popped one of the slices into his mouth, Uzumaki Naruto decided that what he said was thanks enough.
It took me a while to choose a good time in the whole series. I don't there's enough information on Sasuke and Naruto's character (mostly Sasuke's) in the current manga chapters to make an IC enough fic. We were left out on about 3 years time of growth.
I've read other fics that worked with the Haku incident but I think the main thing that they neglect is Sasuke and Naruto's ages. Shinobi or not, they're still 12 and therefore, have childish (or maybe childlike is more appropriate?) tendencies. Come to think of it, that might just be the reason for Naruto's reply when Sasuke said "I used to hate you."
And yes, it's short. It should be.