blackheart01: Yo peepz! How's it doing?

Sasuke: None of your business.

Sakura: Sasuke-kun, don't be rude. I'm fine by the way bh01-chan! (smiles)

blackheart01: (hugs Sakura while glaring at Sasuke) You're too cute and too nice for that teme Sakura-chan. Why do you even like him?

Sakura: I don't like him bh01-chan...

(Sasuke's and bh01's jaws dropped, gaping at Sakura)

blackheart01: Y-You don't? (Sakura shakes head)

Sasuke:...(looking away trying not to look hurt)

Sakura: ...It's because I LOVE HIM! (she grins happily)

blackheart01: Awww...Hey, Sasu-chan! Quit blushing in the corner and say the disclaimer...(smirks)

Sasuke: (glares at bh01, face heating up) That IDIOT (bh01 shouts 'hey!') writing this story does not and never will own Naruto...Hn...

Musician 9: Love Sick (Part 2)

"You're actually worried about me?...Does that mean you like me now? "

Sasuke's initial reaction of fear of the girl was completely washed over by utter worry when he remembered the girl's condition last night. He sat up properly on the bed, refusing to go down from it for a relevant reason, and squinted his eyes to meet the girl's emerald eyes glinting in the dark.

"Sakura? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in bed taking a rest" he grumbled, his voice sounding husky from sleep.

"You're seriously asking me why I 'm in your house when you were the one who brought me here?" she snapped, frowning.

"I meant, why are you here in my room. And to answer your question, well, I don't know where you live, so the only logical thing to do was to bring you to my house since I found out you were really ill from cold last night" Sasuke answered non-chalantly.

"It's your fault since you brought me to that place" she bit out icily.

"I know and I do apologise for that" Sasuke admitted guiltily. It was a rare thing for Sasuke to feel guilty and most likely admit his wrong doing. If Sakura knew him for a long time, she would've been surprised or probably think he was just kidding her. Fortunately, she took it seriously and nodded her head lightly, a sign that she forgives him...a little.

"What happened last night when I fell asleep, anyway?" she asked not directly looking at him, sitting by the edge of Sasuke's bed, since she found standing there a bit tiring, she was facing him sideways so in front of her was the window.

"Well while I was waiting for the storm to calm down by midnight, I suddenly felt you shivering on my side since you're next to me. I discovered you were having a mild case of hypothermia and your body was seriously cold..." his lips set to a grim line briefly as he remembered it "...as a last resort, I used the glass table top we used and threw it out to get the attention from the hotel staffs. Fortunately, it was raining so no one was outside and no one got hurt from me throwing out that glass. Some of the guards with the manager went up and managed to open up the door. I carried you to my car and immediately brought you here and let my maids take care of you..." he ended his story, not bothering to add that he was actually the one who took care of her.

"Hmm, that makes sense but I think you're only telling half the truth" she crossed her arms again in front of her chest.

"I'm not lying, I swear I don't know where you live...yet" he said defensively, adding the last word as an afterthought.

Sakura shook her head, a ghost of a smile gracing her pink lips at his answer. Sighing, she spoke, "No, not that one... I was just wondering why I keep remembering your face last night, instead of your maids' who were supposed to be aiding me...I think I even remember you feeding me some chicken soup?"

"You might have been dreaming" Sasuke suggested, looking away. He had too much pride to admit that he actually took care of someone in his entire life, well... except maybe his Mom, when he and his older brother Itachi were younger. But still, he never admitted that as well.

"Hm...Maybe you're right. You don't look like the caring type anyway" Sakura shrugged carelessly, letting go of the topic, while standing up again.

Sasuke ignored the little pinch he felt in his heart at her statement. That was weird. What the hell was that about? He never cared before about what other people thought about him. Why now? Even if he does like Sakura, she's still a complete stranger to him. So what if she thought he was the uncaring kind? None of his friends does sometimes and he didn't bother correcting them. Why does that make Sakura any different?

He took a glance back to the girl again and found that she was already walking towards his door to exit. "Where are you going?" he asked, distractedly.

"Back to that room from where I woke up from. I still can't go back home yet with all that rain. I heard some of the streets were flooded, so I have to wait until the stupid storm calms down" Sakura answered not so willingly.

He sighed. "Alright. You can call up one of the maids to assist you if you need any-(cough, cough) ..thing" he finished his sentence after clearing his throat. "'Sorry"

The pinkette stopped on her tracks and looked back at him. Even in the lack of light, he noticed how her emerald orbs, blinked in a startled way at him.

"'You okay?" Sakura's pinkish eyebrow rose in question.

"Y-Yeah, (cough, cough) I'm fine (cough)" he managed, through his cough that was getting louder than he plans to let out. Damn it! , he thought, covering himself with the blanket over his head, muffling his coughing fit using his pillows. This is embarrassing.

"Are you sure?" her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She started to converge towards him, her movements showing caution as she took another step so that she was on his side. She glared daggers the lump that was hiding underneath the blanket, on the cobalt-colored bed, her hands itching to pull out the covers again. This time she had no plan of him getting a hold of it.

"Hn. 'mfhine" came his muffled reply.

Her eye twitched in annoyance. "Well, if you're fine then why are you hiding under the darn comforter, Uchiha?" she drawled, with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"I'm feeling cold?" he retorted peeking out his dark orbs from the upper side of the warm comforter. "And I'm not hiding" he added, grumbling.

Sakura took that moment to touch the young Uchiha's forehead to check his temperature. A gasp left her mouth, as she took back her hand as if she got scalded at the contact. "You have a fever!"

"No, I don't" he mumbled, stubbornly.

"Uchiha you're seriously hot!" she snapped, completely losing her patience now.

Sasuke smirked. "Thanks. I get that a lot but... I didn't know it would feel nice to hear that from you"

Sakura paused, taking a moment to understand what he meant by that, and when she did, her cheeks took up the color of red wine. Thank God it was dark in here! "I-I didn't mean it like that, you jerk! You are literally hot! You're damn sick, that's what you are!"

"Uh-huh. Keep talking" Sasuke was already wearing a mischievous grin, eyes shining with amusement.

Gritting her teeth for her to control her anger and to prevent herself from growling more profanities at the boy, Sakura lunged for the comforters. She was about to roughly pull them out, but Sasuke saw her attempt. Just as quickly as Sakura yanked out the covers, Sasuke snatched her wrist to stop her. With both of them struggling, the pink-haired girl lost her footing as Sasuke pulled with much force. She fell on top of him. Half of her body, laid flat on Sasuke's torso. Sasuke didn't find the girl heavy at all, but the sudden impact was enough to knock out the breath out of him.

Sakura was gasping for air, not only because of what happened but also because of pain and embarassment. She tried to get back on her feet, her hands unconsciously latching onto a smooth-hard flesh for support... Wait, flesh? What the...?

Oh, it was just his chest.

She stared at her hands that were pressed at the really warm pale skin of the boy under her. Her eyes widen in realization. She stared back at the boy, her face completely turning crimson. He was staring back at her surprise can be easily seen as well, and it was probably what he was seeing in her jade eyes, too. The young man was about to lift his arm to help her to stand up again, but Sakura thought differently.

"Kya!"

Everything had happened too fast for Sasuke's mind to process things immediately. One minute he was lying on his bed having a tug of war with Sakura for his blanket, and the next, he finds himself, on the floor, on his stomach, on the snow white carpet, with the girl straddling his back-one knee on his back and the other by his left side. Sasuke would've found this position funny, if Sakura wasn't trying to pull his arms out of his body. It was the first time that Sasuke witnessed Sakura's inhuman strength, unfortunately she demonstrated it using him as her practice target. It was both amazing and mind-boggling. How can a petite girl like her, judo throw him- a much bigger and taller person than her- so easily?

Sasuke was forced out of his musings when Sakura pushed his arms tighter behind him. Ouch. He grunted. He knew he could easily roll them over to get the upperhand, but he doesn't want to risk it, in case Sakura knew more fancy judo techniques. So he just let her ride his back until her breathing becomes normal, or at least until she calms down.

It took her roughly five minutes to settle down and speak, but the first word she uttered made the young Uchiha snap his head to the side and to look at her indignantly.

"P-Pervert!"

"What?" he shouted more in disbelief rather than a question.

"Y-You're naked! And... and you were trying to g-get a hold of me!" Sakura shouted back and stuttered at the same time. She sounded like she was the victim here.

Well, technically he is half-naked, and trying to get a hold of her to help her get up from the bed, but he didn't find anything perverted about that. So he decided to clear his name. The problem was, when he was about to open his mouth to speak, his door opened and revealed one of the housemaids. She was an old woman, which Sakura barely recognized from last night.

"Young Master your... oh... I'm sorry to disturb you. I didn't know Miss Haruno is here. I'll just come back later then" the old woman, quickly exited the room as quickly as she entered it.

"Toru-san, wait!" Sasuke called out, but it was useless since his good 'ol nanny locked the door behind her ignoring his calls. Great, now she'll probably think he has a relationship with the pinkette. Then Sasuke thought it over. Well, that was what he planned in the first place, so, what the heck. He shrugged to himself. Let Toru-san think what she's thinking.

Sakura's grip tightened again. Sasuke groaned, feeling his arms getting numb. "Sakura, I still plan to keep my arms attached to my body, just so you know"

Sakura's hands loosened a bit when he spoke, distracted by the sudden appearance of Sasuke's nanny. The boy took it as a chance to take a long breath. "Look, I'm not exactly naked here. Just shirtless. And I wasn't planning to do anything to you. I was about to help you get off me, but I guess you thought wrong" he explained.

The young musician blinked and her eyes raked along Sasuke's lower part. He was indeed wearing a pair of black sweatpants. She grumbled and made a move to stand up. Sasuke finally managed to sigh in relief. He looked up in front of him to find Sakura reluctantly offering her hand out to him. The Uchiha reached up to the girl, secretly fighting off the urge to smirk for it might cause her mood swing again. The girl quickly pulled him up and took her hand back immediately and stepped back as if afraid he'd do something inappropriate again.

Sasuke discreetly massaged his aching arms as he stared at the girl in front of him. Man, this girl sure is strong. He mentally noted not to get on her bad side... Wait... He already was, wasn't he?

"Geez, Sakura what's with that look? You look like I ravaged you or something" he stated dryly, at her anxious expression. "...and now you look like, you're planning to attack me again" he added, when her expression turned from a scared prey to a murderous predator.

Instead of saying something, she huffed and turned her back to him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Will you just put some decent clothes on? You're already aware that you're sick and yet you sleep without a shirt? Are you trying to freeze yourself to death?"

Sasuke smirked teasingly, despite her not seeing this. "Am I actually hearing concern from that tone? Are you worried about me Miss Haruno?"

"No. You're imagining things" she deadpanned, still not moving an inch from her spot.

The young Uchiha could only imagine her flushed cheeks and the deep scowl on her pretty face. With a quiet sigh, he shuffled towards his dresser that was close to him and pulled out a random shirt, and put it on. He was about to tell her that he was done when he sneezed unceremoniously.

The girl seemed to be startled at the sound making her straighten up and asked impatiently, "Are you finished?"

Sasuke sniffed as silently as he can to avoid embarrassment and replied, "Hn"

The girl took that as a yes and slowly turned to face him again. With a frown that effectively hid her concern, she converged forward to his place and hesitantly lifted her hand to touch his forehead again. She grimaced unimpressed. "Yup. It's fever" she confirmed more to herself as she took her small hand back to her side.

Sasuke let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. He didn't expect her to touch him again, but feeling her warm hand against his skin, made him want to purr and rest his head onto it contently like a cat.

Okay, that actually sounded pathetic, he criticized himself inwardly.

"Go back to your bed, Uchiha" she ordered with a stern look, which reminded Sasuke of his mom when he was little, whenever he did something that she doesn't approve of.

"I'm not that sick-" he started to complain.

"Go back to your bed..." she repeated through gritted teeth, effectively cutting him off. "...or I'll kick your ass to get there" she added with a good amount of threat in her voice.

This made Sasuke want to pout like a three-year old. Fortunately, he caught himself and simply grumbled under his breath, as he dragged himself towards his huge bed.

"Good boy" she said mockingly while smirking, which earned her a glare from the Uchiha, which she completely ignored. "Now, stay put while I call your maids to take care of you-"

"No. I won't allow that" he said catching her off-guard with the seriousness in his voice.

Sakura's pink lips curled downwards in disapproval. "Why are you being so stubborn? You need help-"

"I don't" he snapped in a cold manner. Although, seeing her surprised reaction made him speak in an even voice again. "I appreciate what you're doing but... I'm not used to people helping me. If you want to give me a favor, just get me the medicine and I'll go back to taking a rest"

The music genius stared at him for a long time, as if he were a puzzle that she can't solve. After a few more seconds, she shook her head and sighed tiredly. "Fine. Then tell me where your medicine cabinet is"

"Are you sure that's safe to eat?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That...that soup. You just put a raw egg on it" Sasuke said gazing at the bowl in Sakura's hand in distaste.

The girl blinked at him and her eyes went down to the soup back to him. Covering her mouth with her free hand, she tried to stifle a small giggle when she realized what his uneasy expression was for.

"You were seriously worried about that?" she asked after composing herself.

Sasuke looked away from her. "I don't fancy the idea of eating raw egg. That's all"

"But I've learned that atheletes include raw eggs on their diet for muscle improvement and its actually healthy" Sakura informed him.

"I don't care if everyone likes it" he frowned turning back to meet her eyes, that was shining with amusement. It made him frown more when he felt his stomach did a somersault. Must be because of the egg, he concluded.

"Oh come on" she rolled her eyes. "It's no longer raw since the hot soup already cooked it up. See?" she stirred the said liquid food and sccoped up the piece of the egg. True enough, it was no longer a clear blob but a white solid piece of protein. "Here. Try it" she offered.

Sasuke gazed at the spoon filled soup suspiciously, then trained his onyx eyes at the pinkette. "You try it first" he stated.

The girl pouted. "But I'm not the sick one here. You are"

"Well... how can I be sure if its okay to eat that?" he asked monotonously. "Or if you put poison in it 'cause you're still mad at me for getting you sick" he added in a mutter.

"I'm not mad about that anymore -even though it really was your fault- since we both know you didn't intend for it to happen" she shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Thank you for not making me feel guilty" he replied sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" she answered back with a grin. "Now eat"

"You do it first" he said with an utter tenacity.

"Alright then" she quickly took a mouthful and scooped again. This time she shoved it in his slightly opened mouth, taking opportunity of his mild surprise.

She snickered lightly at his expression when he almost choked on his spoon and his eyes shoot daggers at her. "Neh, it's good right?" she asked innocently licking her lips to clean the remnants of the crab and corn soup from it.

Sasuke's cheeks gained a pink color that almost matched Sakura's hair as he watches her small tongue grazed her lips. The girl tilted her head to the side wondering if it was out of embarassment or because of his sickness.

"Hey, Uchiha. Are you sure you're fine? You're starting to look beet red" she stated, gently tapping a finger on his cheek, as if to prove her point.

"Must be the soup" he mumbled.

"You barely had any" she countered.

"..."

"...so?"

"Hn...so, what?"

"You and I already tasted it, and we're still breathing. So...are you gonna eat this or not?" she questioned.

"Sure. Give me that" he took the bowl from Sakura and started gobbling it down. In all fairness, it was a really good meal, and it made him feel a little better. Sakura retrieve the bowl from him when he finished and gave him the medicine he was supposed to take. After that, she started wiping him with a cold, damp towel to lower down his temperature.

Sasuke hissed as the cloth touched his chest, trying his best not to shiver. Sakura sniggered as she continued her slow torture. She no longer felt shy probing his body with the wet cloth even though at the first five minutes she can't even look at him without her face totally flushing brightly.

"Is this supposed to be done slowly or are you doing this on purpose?" the raven-haired boy grunted.

"On purpose? Of course not!" she smirked evilly, after dipping the towel from the ice-cold water from the basin, squeezing it out of excess water and pressed it against Sasuke's back who flinched both in surprise and from the cold contact.

"Why don't you just give me that and I'll do it myself?" he tried to reach for the said towel for the fourth time but it was still a failed attempt, as the pink-haired girl snatched the towel back.

"No can do. I want to return the favor since you took care of me last night. Let's just say we're even now" she said as she continued wiping him up again.

Sasuke paused. He doesn't even remember himself confirming that to her. "I told you it wasn't me"

"Okay Pinocchio, I believe you" she nodded her head, as she settled the towel back to the basin, before tossing back his shirt to him saying "Dress up" She stood up from the chair that was placed beside the bed and went to Sasuke's bathrooom, to place the basin in sink. When she returned to Sasuke's room, the boy was already dozing off. She ambled slowly towards the bed and studied its owner's sleeping form.

Hmm... He really does look handsome, she admitted inwardly, before berating herself for the random thought.

I thought you'd never notice, her inner commented dryly.

Sakura grimaced at her inner's remark. Her hand mildly placed the cold towel on his forehead so as not to awaken him. Thinking that everything was already sorted out, Sakura turned away from the boy with the thought of going back to her own room- not exactly hers but the one where she stayed in earlier. But a hand on her wrist ceased her from leaving. Her emerald eyes met sleepy onyx ones. She gave him a silent, questioning gaze as if asking 'What's wrong?'.

"Stay"

The girl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion from his request. His tone made him sound like a child who doesn't want to be left out alone in his room from the thought of monsters creeping out while he slept. Sakura almost laughed at her own imagination. Surely a guy like Sasuke, who oozed with confidence and authority with just his mere presence, would not let himself sound so vulnerable. Especially in front of a girl he barely knew.

It could be the medicine, she reasoned out.

No matter what the reason is, it makes him look cute!, Inner Sakura squealed, which made her sweat dropped. Sometimes she wonder if she really is a part of her.

A light tug on her wrist, made her look back at the boy. "Why?" she asked curiously.

He murmured his answer and his hand fell back to the bed, as he was finally eaten up by his much needed sleep.

Sakura was left blushing and gaping at his statement.

It really must be the medicine, she thought inwardly, trying her best not to believe him. She knew he was under the influence of his sickness and the medication, causing him to blabber such nonsense. But she can't deny the jolt in her heart at the very words he uttered before he lost consciousness.

"Because I like you Sakura..."

blackheart01: Kya! (squeals like a crazy fangirl) That actually made me grin like an idiot in front of the screen as I read this myself! Despite the cheeziness... I kinda like it...(-_-)' nyahahaa...

Sasuke:... (T.T)

Sakura: Neh, bh01 that was really sweet but why did you have to make Sasuke-kun sick too? (pouts)

blackheart01: Heh. I just want to make him sound more human. He was also drenched in the rain, it's only logical to make him sick.

Sasuke: What do you mean more human? (glares daggers at bh01)

blackheart01: You're already Mr. Perfect. I don't want to overdo it by making you immune to sickness too... hehehe...

Sasuke: Hn...weirdo...

Sakura: Don't worry Sasuke-kun, if that really happens I'll be your personal nurse! ^_^

Sasuke: (#T_T#)... (avoids looking at Sakura's face)

blackheart01: Hm... wonder what I'll do for the next chap... (evil grin)

Read and review?... nah, it's up to you... ;)