Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine
-oXo-
Chapter 10: 31st of July
Naruto lay alone in his bed, looking at the ceiling. He wasn't used to being alone in his own apartment anymore. He rolled over onto his stomach. It was four in the morning; he never woke up this early.
Blaming Sasuke for this, he went out of bed to get a glass of water. It was in fact the third night he had slept alone, the day before Sasuke had gone on a mission with Sakura and Sai.
Yesterday Naruto had been called to come to Tsunade. He would go on missions again, since the seal had been stable for over three weeks now and Naruto was getting very annoying not being able to do something useful.
His day would be filled with simple D- and C-ranked mission in Konoha together with Tenten. This was because team 9 had originally been assigned to do a B-ranked mission the next day, but Neji had to do some very important Hyuuga business and Lee couldn't come because he had a broken arm; hence the perfect opportunity for Tsunade to team Naruto up with a more normal and above all sober person to keep an eye on him.
Normally Naruto would have protested against doing C- and especially D-ranked missions, but he actually felt right to begin with these simple missions. He still wouldn't show his tail in public, so this was probably the best way to practice and feel more comfortable with it or so Naruto had decided.
Naruto walked back to bed, after putting the glass on the counter. He still had two and a half hours to sleep before he had to go on the missions. Back in bed, Naruto fell asleep almost instantly.
He dreamed he was on a green hill filled with beautiful yellow daffodils. He felt good; very, very good. It was as if he was home, he had belonged here forever and would always be. He knew every flower, every rock and every curve in the small river.
He lay there along the stream paddling his feet in the water, when he suddenly saw it. His eyes were drawn by the most peculiar thing he had ever seen; for he had never seen it before. It looked somewhat similar to the daffodils, but it was not; the leaves were different. The colour was red, pure blood red, and the stem had pointy things on it.
He walked to it and touched it, but pricked his finger on a thorn and pulled away.
What was this beautiful flower, in a strange way more beautiful than the daffodils, but at the same time very dangerous. For which plant would want to hurt someone?
He wanted to touch it again, but this time he was more careful, only touching the pedals of the flower. He wanted to pick the flower and so he did. However as soon as he had, the flower began to bleed; all the red from the beautiful red flower was dripping out of the end of its stem and fell on Naruto's shirt.
He tried to stop it, but he was too late; the beautiful red flower was now becoming a dreadful black one. It scared him, for black was the colour of death and thus to be feared.
He wanted to throw it away, but it would not let him go. The stem had been growing vines, which were creeping around his arm. There were growing more and more vines, until Naruto could not move anymore. The vines were squeezing very tightly. He would die, he couldn't breathe.
Naruto woke up with a jolt. Still confused he turned to his side and felt his arms, but there were no vines there. He wondered what that had been for a dream. He had never had a dream like this before.
As he lay in his bed, mulling over the dream, his alarm clock sounded and he went for a shower, ate some and left the building.
He was again thinking about the dream on his way to meet Tenten until he saw the brunette and the dream was immediately forgotten, replaced by nervousness and enthusiasm about his missions.
Tenten looked very happy and waved at him when he arrived. She pulled out a scroll with mission descriptions on it out of her pouch.
"First mission is close by. A shop owner wants us to help paint the front of the building. Let's go."
They arrived at a small grocery shop and an old, plump lady stepped outside. "You are very early. How nice of you to come so quick, I only handed in the assignment two days ago," she said very politely.
She told them where the paint was and what had to be painted. She looked over Naruto again and finally asked, "Are you the boy that saved us from Pain, the fox jinchuuriki?" as she saw the whisker marks on his face. Her face was hard to read. Naruto hesitated for a moment but finally answered with a 'yes'.
Instantly her eyes became very friendly and she grasped his hands. "I've never been able to thank you for that. You saved us. If only my husband was still alive, he would have told you how you saved him and are just as much as a hero as the Hokage."
Naruto grinned embarrassed. "Aah." He scratched the back of his head.
"And is that your girlfriend over there; she is very pretty." She winked at Naruto before she walked over to Tenten. "You are a very lucky girl," she whispered, bending a little over to Tenten, which was not necessary since Tenten was taller than her.
The old woman straightened again, for as far as she could, because she was bent in her old age. "I'll be going inside now; I've been standing for too long." She went inside the shop, leaving a dumb folded pair of ninja behind.
It was a small shop; the façade was at most 4 meters wide. Naruto walked up the wall and began painting from the left top, trying to keep his tail covered at all times, while Tenten started from the right.
Two hours later they had finished, and wanted to go, but the woman insisted they had some tea with her. Being kind of thirsty and not wanting to be rude, they accepted her offer.
Next missions were a delivery, cutting grass in an orchard and picking strawberries. They were currently watering a very large garden of some rich family. Naruto loved watering, it was his hobby. Walking to the pump to fetch some water, swiftly sweeping his tail behind him, he saw Tenten standing there. He felt a bit guilty she had to do all of this with him.
"Tenten?"
She looked up at him, giving a small smile.
"You don't think this is annoying? I mean, doing stupid D-rank missions with me?"
Her eyebrows went a bit up. "Not at all. I don't mind doing some low-brain-activity jobs once in a while. Besides now I have a small break from Lee and Neji. Sometimes they get a bit too much, if you know what I mean." She winked at him and he smiled back.
When they had watered all the plants outside and Naruto discovered a greenhouse Tenten could hardly pull him away from it.
"But there are plants in there too," he said.
"The lady of the house said only to water the plants outside."
Finally Naruto let his arms drop and went to the owner with Tenten, telling her they had completed the mission, still sulking.
"That was about time too," she told them. "If my gardener hadn't convinced me that he couldn't do anything in the garden with a broken arm, I would have never let you come." She had a very stuck-up voice and way of moving, her chin up high in the air. "I thought you ninja could be so fast."
"We're sorry, oku-sama," Tenten told her patiently, holding Naruto back, who was already annoyed by the woman.
The woman looked them over and huffed. "Well, don't count on it that I will ask you to come again. Ninja really are a waste of time and money," she said, while turning her back to them, "Pathetic."
Tenten now had an even harder time keeping Naruto in check and to keep him to shut up. But she couldn't help him from growling loudly at the woman, as in giving a real animal-like snarl.
The woman turned around. "Have you got something to say to me?" she said daringly and looked Naruto over, scrunching up her nose as if he was something smelly.
Finally recognizing him as the fox jinchuuriki, she added. "I want you to leave my property at once. I don't want to see that boy here anymore." She turned around and went inside the building.
Tenten was surprised that instead of making a big scene, Naruto stopped squirming and walked away.
"She is just a very old and mean woman; don't let what she said get to you."
"I know. I've met her before; I'm used to it by now." He looked over to Tenten. "She's not worth winning over. Besides when I become Hokage, she will come to respect me." He said determined and smiled.
"You're right, Naruto."
-x-X-x-
That evening Naruto felt a bit tired, but satisfied. He waved Tenten goodbye and walked to his apartment. He was just eating his cup ramen, when knocking on the door could be heard. He stood up from his kitchen table and went to the door. When he opened the door Sai was standing in front of it.
"Hey, Sai," he greeted the boy, wondering what he was doing here.
"Konbanwa, Naruto." He smiled a bit and continued with the same smile, "Sasuke has been hurt on the mission."
"What? What happened, is he alright?" Naruto asked worried.
"He has been to the hospital, but is at home now. He would like you to visit him." The smile had changed into something that Naruto though might be considered worry. Or he was completely wrong and it was satisfaction, he couldn't really tell.
"But what happened?"
"He took a hit to protect the client and got poisoned. Sakura healed him, but he is still not feeling well. Sakura could only do so much with the resources she had with her. But he will be fine." Sai studied Naruto for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I need to go and hand in a report. Good bye."
Naruto waved at him and stood there for a while letting it sink in. Then he put on his sandals and cape and sprinted out in the direction of Sasuke's house.
Stopping in front of the door, gasping for breath, he knocked on the door like a madman. Sakura opened, looking a bit annoyed.
"What?" she asked. Then saw Naruto, who sprinted past her to Sasuke. Sakura closed the door and followed him to the bedroom.
Sasuke lay in bed, his eyes open, but looking rather pale.
"Are you all right?" Naruto asked.
When Sasuke didn't immediately answer, he turned to Sakura and asked again. "Is he all right?"
Sakura nodded and went to sit on the chair next to the bed, and placed Naruto on the bed.
"He just needs rest and let the rest of the poison out. I couldn't get everything out, but it's not lethal anymore. However to get the poison out, he will probably vomit a lot." She explained and Naruto nodded. "And you need to change the bandage, because there might also be coming some poison out of the wound. You need to clean it at least every three to four hours. I brought some clean bandages; they are on the dresser over there." Sakura pointed to Sasuke's dresser.
"Okay, I can do that."
"I thought you would. I'll be going then. Let him have enough sleep, okay?"
"I will." Naruto walked her to the door to let her out. "Thanks, Sakura-chan." She waved and walked away. She looked tired.
When Naruto entered the bedroom again, Sasuke lay there watching him. Naruto lay down next to Sasuke.
"Are you in pain?" he asked softly. Sasuke shook his head once, feeling slightly dizzy, he stopped.
"You want to tell me what happened?"
"No," Sasuke rasped a bit. "Just lie down here." He coughed. "Tell me what you did today." He closed his eyes.
"Okay." Naruto rolled on his back with his hands under his head, giving sideways glances to Sasuke every now and then. "Today Tenten and I did some small missions in Konoha." He told Sasuke about his day.
When he had finished he looked over to Sasuke, who was snoring lightly. Naruto grinned, stood up and went to the kitchen. He took out something to eat and sat on the couch.
Two and a half hours later he stood up, poured a cup of tea for Sasuke and walked to the sleeping boy. He had no idea where the wound was, for he could only see Sasuke's head coming from under the covers. Not wanting to accidentally press it, he thought it saver to wake Sasuke up.
"Sasuke?" Nothing happened. "Sasuke?" he said a little louder this time. Sasuke opened his eyes, still looking rather greenish.
"I have to change the bandages. I brought some tea if you like."
Sasuke sat up a bit with help of Naruto, groaning. He pulled up his shirt. A bandage was wrapped around his torso at the height of his stomach; it looked a bit green. Naruto carefully removed the bandage.
The wound itself wasn't much bigger then a kunai stab (which it probably was) and was not closed so the poison could get out. The wound looked a bit greenish next to the small parts of red flesh showing, but that wasn't what made the wound look bad. Neither the green puss that was on the bandages from the wound; it was odourless and looked quite clean. It was the fact that the veins around the wound were visible and blue-green looking, standing out on his pale skin.
Naruto grasped a small cloth and made it wet by dipping it in a bowl with water Sakura had placed on the nightstand. Very carefully he dabbed the wound. Sasuke grinded his teeth, but didn't make a sound. Naruto quickly cleaned the wound and bandaged it.
He went to wash his hands in the bathroom, cleaned the bowl and put the bandages in some cleaning water in the sink. When he came back, Sasuke had drunk his tea and was sleeping again. Naruto pulled out his own pants and lay down beside Sasuke. He set the alarm for three and a half hours later and fell asleep almost instantly.
When he woke up again it was because he didn't feel Sasuke beside him. The moment he opened his eyes he saw the light in the adjacent bathroom flicker on. He stood up and walked to the bathroom; a sound of puking came to his ears (and nose). Sasuke hung over the toilet, letting the brownish-green contents out of his body. Naruto sat beside him and rubbed his back, like Sasuke had done over a month ago to him when he'd felt sick as the seal had begun changing.
Sasuke kept bringing up wave after wave of green slime until his stomach was empty and could no longer push up anything to vomit. Sasuke groaned as he slowly leaned away from the toilet, feeling rather weak now that everything was out.
Naruto wiped his mouth clean and helped him up. He looked less green and much whiter in the face again. Not that Naruto liked the pale colour on Sasuke's face. It was a bit creepy, only Sai should look this pale.
Naruto half-carried the raven back to bed, his dark eyes half closed. Finally having Sasuke installed in the bed, he went to get a glass of water and gave it to Sasuke.
"Here, drink some. Are you in pain?" he asked again.
"No, just not feeling well." After emptying the glass (not too fast, he didn't want to vomit again so soon), Sasuke lay carefully down again. Naruto decided to change the bandages while they were awake anyway. After refreshing them, he washed them.
Quietly he lay down in bed as he already heard Sasuke's soft breathing.
This ritual of bandaging and puking would go on for the next eight hours, till morning.
-oXo-
A/N: It's a bit of a filler chapter I guess. Just to show that Naruto is working on his life to return to normal (as far as that is possible with a tail); taking it step by step. That is the only reason he takes D-rank missions, for I don't think he would normally do that. But inside he's still quite unsure of himself.