(Things are subject to change by the chapter
(Things are subject to change by the chapter. Keep an eye on the warnings and rating.)
Title: If Only
Author: myfailsafe (But please… call me Nevi.)
Pairings: Sasu/Naru
Rating: T – For Foul language and Suggestive Gay-ness
Warnings: I mentioned God, if it's touchy for anyone or offends anyone. And there is a cliffy.
Summary: Our loveable little blonde has caught pneumonia. Our broody raven is his doctor. What happens when Naruto keeps playing hooky just to see Sasuke again, and what come out of these strange encounters, and what happens when Sasuke finds out?
Authors Notes: I have many, many, many, excuses, but, writing them all down would actually be longer than this chapter I've come up with…so, in short; I apologize and here's the chapter.
Beta: AlchemyGaara
Here Naruto was, back at the doctor's office three days after getting injured, except this time he now had a cold. Sakura sat next to him on his right, her jade eyes downcast towards a magazine she was currently flipping through, and Hinata on his left was rubbing his back soothingly.
Naruto couldn't help but think that visiting Shino was the dumbest idea he had ever come up with. Sure, the blonde had come up with some ideas in his day, some crazy ones, but this took the cake.
"Naruto Uzumaki, the doctor will see you now."
The blonde looked up from his lap and sighed. He didn't want to move. His body ached and he felt like hell; moving felt out of the question and yet this woman wanted that. Damn her.
Naruto groaned as he pulled himself to his feet with his crutches, Hinata and Sakura smiling and reassuring that they would remain there, and he hopped along towards the attractive woman who stood in the doorway patiently waiting.
"I see you're back rather soon, so there is no need to weigh you, but I'm just going to have to ask you a few questions once we get you seated."
The blonde couldn't help but groan. Why in the hell did they have to ask questions? Why do they ask questions anyway?
They always ask the same questions three damn times. Why do you need to come in? They ask it once you call, once you get in, and once you see the doctor; talk about memory failure. Besides, couldn't they just give him medication and send him on his way; it made so much sense to him and it would be so much easier.
Yet, Naruto couldn't help but amuse himself with the image of a drive through doctor.
"So what brings you in today Mr. Uzumaki?" The woman sat down at the computer and brought up his file quickly.
"Sneezing, coughing, and sore throat." Naruto mumbled.
"Any fever?" The woman began to type rapidly.
"Yes. Around a hundred-something." Naruto sneezed and then coughed. Naruto wished there was an off button for the mucus that was flowing through him; it was downright disgusting.
"Alright, I'm just going to take your vitals, and your temperature and then we'll get Dr. Uchiha in to see you to clear this up."
"He has a magic wand?" Naruto looked up from his lap where his head had been limply pointing towards.
"Uh…no." The nurse paused with the thermometer in her hand wondering if she should write down 'delusional'.
"Ah, you said clear this up, so I was thinking he was either a magician or a miracle worker. I don't see God anywhere… so I was going with magician."
The nurse let out a small and polite giggle before thrusting the small object under the blonde's tongue making him gag and cough.
A slight beeping met the pairs ears a moment later signaling that, either the chicken was done, or Naruto might just be slightly feverish.
"Oh, dear. 102 on the dot. Well, I'll go grab Dr. Uchiha and why don't you just lie back till he comes in."
Naruto immediately flopped back like a rag doll on the uncomfortable and lumpy table before the nurse could even make it to the door to grab the knob to make her exit. Naruto really couldn't help it, he was downright exhausted, and he felt like crap.
At least with the pneumonia he didn't remember half of it; with this it's just downright annoying.
Plus it didn't help it was just when he got his promotion. Not a second too soon; just his luck. Naruto laughed bitterly at the thought. Then he remembered he needed to thank the good Dr. Uchiha for getting him that promotion.
Before Naruto could even try and practice how to talk to the gorgeous doctor and try and form the 'thank you' sentence, a knock came and the door opened.
Naruto flung himself up, a few stray blonde hairs tickling his face suddenly, and his head suddenly spun fiercely. Naruto's tan hand swung up and smack the left side of his face in an attempt to stop the spinning, but only got a different reaction.
Sasuke couldn't help but laugh as he shut the door. "Sorry, but that had to hurt."
Naruto attempted to glare at him with his uncovered right eye, but his head was still spinning, and the face he made at the fact made the blonde much less then any type of threat.
"Yeah, it hurt! My head's still all banged up, and now it's all screwy from this cold or whatever the hell I have! I just don't know how to stop it from spinning when I sit up."
Sasuke resisted the urge to snort as he proceeded to wash his hands. "Well, trying to give yourself another concussion is not the way to go about it."
Naruto slowly removed his hand from his face and watched Sasuke turn around almost entranced; his smile was mesmerizing simply because Naruto knew that it was something rare.
"So before we get to the new stuff; how is the leg and the head?"
Naruto shrugged. "I didn't start bleeding out of my ears and eyes, and I can see perfectly straight. Oh, not to mention I can use all my limbs without anything messing up so I'm pretty sure there's no brain damage."
Sasuke pulled a stool up in front of the blonde and pulled out a small flashlight. "Good. Now if you could just follow the light with your eyes for me."
Naruto's eyes flicked back and fourth and side to side while Sasuke's heart skipped a little at the sight of the gorgeous color.
"I'm just sore otherwise." Naruto's eyes flicked upwards and followed the flashlight.
"It's common, but it should go away with a little time. Alright," Sasuke clicked the flashlight off and stored it away back in his pocket, "tell me what's going on now…"
"I'm coughing a lot, I have more mucus flowing through and out of my body than I really knew existed, I'm sneezing like it's an Olympic sport, and I have a lot of chills."
Sasuke chuckled and took his stethoscope from around his neck. "How does your breathing feel. Good, bad, or regular?"
"A little worse with all the coughing and congestion. It's not horrible."
"Good, then let's hear it. Lift up the back of your shirt for me and then take a deep breath in."
Naruto did as he was told just as the raven-haired doctor stood, but jumped when the round metal piece was placed on his back from the sudden cold spot.
"Sorry, now, take a deep breath in and let it out as slowly as possible.."
Naruto took a deep breath in, and proceeded to let it out slowly, causing the blonde to become light headed.
The procedure was redone a few more times just to check the condition of his lungs, and by the time Sasuke was finished checking, Naruto was dizzier than he had ever been in his life.
"Go ahead and lie back Mr. Uzumaki. Just wait till your head stops spinning. It looks to be like a sinus infection on top of some bronchitis forming. Easy to fix and doesn't take long to get rid of either."
Naruto suddenly sat up, making his head spin worse; he was on the verge of falling off the seat he was on currently.
"Mr. Uzumaki?" Sasuke questioned suddenly, in front of the computer where he was writing in notes and debating on medications.
"I needed to thank you before I forgot!" Naruto grabbed his head and swayed on the spot on top of the patients table.
Sasuke stood up and rushed over and grabbed onto Naruto's side; preventing the blonde from sliding off the side without even realizing it.
"What are you going on about? You need to lie down for a moment to let your head calm itself." Sasuke tried to remind the blonde.
"You got me time off work. Then you got them to be more lenient with my schedule so I can get to school, and not to mention, you got me a promotion. I owe you."
Naruto looked up at Sasuke, a light smile playing on his face, and not realizing he had leaned into the stomach of the raven as soon as he rushed over. Naruto really couldn't help himself, the raven is just comfortable to be around, and Naruto was more attracted to him the more he saw him. Naruto smiled up at the raven lightly while Sasuke's brain temporarily went out of service before it was smacked back on.
"It's not a problem, Tsunade and Jiraiya can be such hard asses, and sometimes they forget that people have lives outside of work. Not to mention Tsunade was rambling on about how you were such a great worker, and she really wasn't sure why she hadn't promoted you yet except she was scared it would get in the way of school. If she starts acting up again, mention my name and she'll shut the hell up." Sasuke smiled lightly back down at the blonde, not really trying to move from the position he was at, holding Naruto by the shoulders and the blonde next to his stomach; it was oddly comfortable.
"Can I take you out for food as a thank you? I'd buy you a gift, but I don't think we've reached that stage in the friendship level." Naruto chuckled.
Sasuke went rigid and his heart suddenly started pounding against his chest, and that was the time Sasuke found it good to sit Naruto up straight and by himself without any support.
"That would be a lot of fun Mr. Uzumaki, but I'm not allowed to socialize with my patients like friends. I'll get fired." Sasuke walked slowly back over to the computer desk wishing he could bang his head against it.
"You can get fired for a hell of a lot of shit." Naruto stated. The blonde didn't mean to use such foul language, but he really wanted to go out and really get to know the attractive doctor. Somewhere inside Naruto he felt like he'd been rejected.
"I'm sorry, but maybe once you get better, and you don't have to come and see me then we can go out and get a bite to eat on you." Sasuke said softly. Sasuke honestly wanted to go tonight and stay out all hours of the night with the blonde. He had never been more attracted to anyone before.
"Sure…" Naruto said half-heartedly.
Sasuke's head rested against his cold desk, and his arms limply covered his head sadly. Sasuke was suddenly beginning to hate his favorite job.
"Well, little brother, I haven't seen you this glum since Mother and Father… well… you know."
"He offered to take me out to lunch and I had to decline." Sasuke mumbled to his desk.
Itachi hummed in understanding as he leaned against the doorframe leisurely as accustomed. "It's not easy is it? Being so attracted to someone, feeling such a connection, and then opportunity knocks, but you have to ignore it to keep your career. It's a hard shot in the balls, but it's something we sometimes face."
Sasuke snorted. "I've never crossed this before. Obviously you have more then once."
"Ahh, that my dear brother is where you are wrong. It was only once, and that moment will never let me live it down, but at the same time I really didn't want to risk my business for something that might not be possible. It's these risks that sometimes we have to face."
"Then how in the hell did mom and dad come to marry is all I want to know!" Sasuke sat up and slammed his hands down.
He was frustrated, tired, and sick, but all of rules. He just wanted to go out to eat with the blonde because even if they couldn't cross that friendship barrier, something within him felt he would be content being in his presence and staring into his eyes for quite some time.
"Because once mother was taken with father, she became overly insistent. She wouldn't give up seeing him till she had him; I think we have her hardheaded way about things when I think about it." Itachi trailed off absently.
"It just… It bothers me." Sasuke admitted.
"Well, if you keep letting it bother you so much, it will rule your life. Remember dear little brother; you weren't even sure if he swung that way. Get home and try to get some rest… And take tomorrow off before you come in and destroy my patients over this man once again."
Sasuke couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle as he shut off his desk light and stood to make his leave with his older brother.
Rejection.
Naruto knew it wasn't technically rejection, but it had the sting of rejection, and the hard aftertaste of rejection. He couldn't quite get the whole thing out of his head. It was just lunch. Nothing more, nothing less, and that's why he didn't get why it was such a big deal.
Maybe Sasuke had sensed Naruto coming onto him, and so he made a hasty escape out. No, that just didn't seem right. Maybe he just wasn't the social type; he really didn't look like he got out much anyway. Or maybe he really couldn't go out because he could lose his job, because when Naruto saw his face, he looked so…upset that he had to decline Naruto's offer.
Sure, Naruto sometimes didn't understand what the big deal would be about risking his job, but then again, Naruto really didn't have a job to be passionate about. Most doctors got into the field because they want to help people and they love what they do, and Naruto can understand Sasuke not wanting to risk that for a burger at some Ruby Tuesdays.
The thing was; Naruto wasn't the type that gave up that easy. If he wanted something, or felt strongly about something; the blonde would do anything to obtain it.
And if that meant Naruto had to stop seeing Sasuke to see Sasuke, then he had a great idea just to go about things.
Author's Note: It's regrettably short; I know, but I set it up for chapters to come, which I needed to do. Thanks for everyone who still reads this and still waited to read it. Means a lot.
