Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine

-oXo-

Chapter 11: 1st of August

Naruto had just cleaned the plates and cups they had used for their breakfast in bed and walked back to Sasuke when he saw him already halfway out of bed.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked concerned, though he calmed down a bit when he saw he wasn't in any hurry for the bathroom.

"I'm going to the living room," he said, shivering.

"Let me help." Naruto helped him put on some trousers and a sweater and brought him to the living room. He had put all the cushions in the right position, laid Sasuke on them and covered him in a blanket. Sasuke asked for a book and Naruto got it for him.

After ten minutes Sasuke groaned and Naruto looked up as he sat leaning against the couch, sitting on the floor.

"What is it?"

"I can't read it." He shivered again.

"Why not?"

"I'm too dizzy." He looked at Naruto, promising.

Naruto snatched the book out of his hands and studied it for a moment. "I'm not going to read this too you," he said, "It's all in kanji."

"Then learn it, Naruto!"

Naruto scrunched up his face, foxy style.

"Can you come over here?" Sasuke then asked.

Naruto sat down on the couch next to him.

"I'm cold, hold me," he simply said. Naruto complied and Sasuke curled up against him. "You're warm."

"And you're really cold." Naruto began to rub Sasuke over the blanket, trying to warm him up a bit. But after a few minutes, Sasuke gave him a look that told he didn't wanted to be rubbed right now, so Naruto stopped.

However sitting still wasn't one of the things Naruto was famous for in daily life. After a while Naruto got bored and began shifting. First sweeping his tail, later he began moving his arms ever so slightly.

"Stop it."

"What?"

"The twisting."

"I'm just bored."

"Then think of something to do. Concentrate on your chakra, go read a book or tell a story or something."

"About what?"

"I don't know… your life… something." Sasuke wasn't sure if he wanted a story, but at least he would be able to block out what Naruto was saying if it wasn't important.

Naruto thought for a while. His life story wasn't really one to tell about and of the things he could tell, Sasuke probably already knew about.

"You know…" Naruto started after a moment. "You know why I like to sit on the Yondaime's head on the Hokage monument?" he asked.

"No. I must say that I always wondered why you would want to sit on the head of the very person that sealed the Kyuubi inside you," Sasuke answered honestly and looked up to Naruto, who gave a small smile. Sasuke looked so horribly pale, even for him.

"When I was fighting Pain, there was this moment Hinata came to help me and got stabbed. I thought she had died and I sort of let Kyuubi take over. It came to the point of eight tails forming and I almost took off the seal." Naruto paused for a moment, thinking how to say the next part. Sasuke waited patiently, seeing it was kind of important to him and because he felt a bit nauseous again.

"Yondaime stopped me. He appeared in front of the cage and I punched him in the gut." Sasuke said nothing, thinking it was kind of justified to punch the one that changed your life so drastically. "Though, he had already told me that he is my dad." That didn't register immediately.

"What?" Sasuke looked Naruto in his bright blue eyes. Of course he had seen a picture of all the Hokage's in his schoolbooks. The Yondaime had those same eyes, he remembered. That wasn't all that was the same. "You met your dad?"

"Yeah, short of." Naruto fumbled with Sasuke's blanket.

"You're the son of the fourth Hokage." Sasuke fell silent for a moment. "Hnn, I must say I didn't see that one coming. Though I guess you do look alike."

Naruto grinned. They were silent for a moment. Naruto absentmindedly again rubbing Sasuke, now on his arm even though he had stopped shivering.

"How come you never told me?" Sasuke swatted at Naruto's hand softly and it stopped rubbing him.

"I don't know, I never told anyone."

"No one knows?"

"Kakashi knows, Yondaime was his sensei after all. Jiraiya must've known. I don't know." He shrugged.

"Did you meet your mother as well?"

"No, I've never seen her."

"Oh." Sasuke shifted and tried to grip Naruto tighter, but he was still injured. He groaned in pain and felt nausea taking over. Naruto looked over to Sasuke and held him steady, so he wouldn't move anymore.

"You should be more careful, the wound is still open." Naruto began stroking his hair instead and saw how Sasuke relaxed a bit.

"Do you remember our mission to the land of mist?" Naruto suddenly asked.

Sasuke opened his eyes to look over to Naruto. "Of course, how could I forget?"

"I really thought you had died there in the mirrors of ice. I didn't really love you back then, but you were my best friend and… well, I'd never had anyone so close to me and especially not protecting me. Although you didn't really die and I would rather you don't do such things again, I think that on that day I really came to realize you were very important to me."

"Hn."

"Why do you always do that?" Naruto said indignantly, his tail brushing against Sasuke out of annoyance.

"Do what?" Sasuke looked up to Naruto.

"I sort of pour my heart out and you just say 'Hn'."

Sasuke said nothing and looked with his expressionless face back to Naruto.

"Oh, never mind." Naruto looked away from Sasuke.

When he turned back Sasuke had a tiny smile on his face as he looked out the window in front of him, which made Naruto grin back.

"Oh, I could cuddle you to death right now."

Sasuke's smile dropped. "Please don't."

Suddenly Sasuke became green again and Naruto quickly gave Sasuke a pail. His breakfast came all out again, very green looking. Sasuke heaved one more time and let the pail lower as a trail of green saliva hung from his mouth. He groaned. He began shivering again and Naruto gave him a small towel and brought the pail away.

When he came back he had the clean pail in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. He sat down on the couch and pulled Sasuke closer to warm him, wrapping his blanket around him more tightly and giving him his tea.

The raven nestled himself carefully against Naruto and closed his eyes. He hated being like this. Being in pain was better than this. At least his pain tolerance was pretty high, but nausea you couldn't really block it out.

He was glad Sakura had been with him as he got stabbed. That stupid client. If he had just listened to Sasuke, then he hadn't had to jump in front of him taking that kunai.

Sasuke had to admit it was also partly his own fault. He hadn't believed it necessary to use high ranking jutsus or even Susano'o in this mission; his own pride had let him from doing so. Sakura had been so kind to remind him of that as soon as she was sure he was stable enough that he could comprehend what she was saying. Nonetheless she had carried him on her back till they found Sai again, who had been wondering off after another attacker.

He sighed and immediately regretted it as bile rose up in his throat, but he swallowed it back. Naruto had apparently noticed it as his hand made a movement to the pail, but pulled it back when he noticed it was fine. The hand instead went up to the raven's hair again, playing with it.

Slowly Sasuke wandered off again and his head rolled a bit to the side as his breathing slowed down.

-x-

Later that day, Sakura came by to check if everything was okay. She was just changing the bandages when Kakashi came by as well.

"Yo," he said as he entered the room, seeing a half naked Sasuke and Sakura bending over him. "Are you doing a threesome?" He got an angry stare from all three. "Ah, gomen, gomen," he said, while scratching the back of his head and waving his other hand in defence.

Sakura finished up and sat down in the chair, Kakashi was sitting in the other. Naruto had made some tea for them all and then sat on the couch at Sasuke's feet as Sasuke was still laying on it. They talked for a while, but when Sasuke was half asleep, looking rather green again, they decided to let him have his rest.

Later he woke up, but this time not out of pain, a nightmare or of the urge to puke. He just woke up, or so he had initially thought. It was already four in the afternoon, his bandages had been cleaned and he had not even noticed.

He looked around and saw Naruto watering the plants… a bit too much. Water was spilling over the pot on the window-sill. Naruto always took very, very good care of the plants; what was going on?

Sasuke sat upright a bit too fast; thinking something bad was going on. It wasn't the seal right? But because of sitting up too fast, he felt the wound and because it was so unexpected he groaned.

Naruto looked around, a look of guilt on his face. "Sasuke, you're awake?" He looked a bit shocked, but kept pouring water on the poor plant.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked concerned.

Naruto wavered a bit, but apparently decided to just spill it.

"I'm sooo sorry," he said.

Sasuke's concern for Naruto was immediately replaced by concern for other things. "What happened?" he asked again, but this time his tone was more urgent and accusing.

"I was just… watering… and then I… knocked that pot over," he finished with a small voice. "I know it can never really be replaced, but I will, I swear."

Sasuke looked to the ground. A small simple pot made of clay lay broken on the ground. This had probably woken him up. Sasuke looked back to Naruto.

"I know it belonged to your mom, I will glue it back together!"

Sasuke looked back to the pot again. He couldn't help it, but he began to laugh very softly. Naruto raised an eyebrow. Sasuke laughed a bit more, but stopped soon, when his stomach began to hurt.

"What's so funny?" Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Naruto, you obviously haven't noticed, but I got a dozen of those pots. They are in fact on the closet in the bedroom. I couldn't care less if you broke one." Naruto looked at the broken pieces on the ground, on one piece was the Uchiha fan, and then back at Sasuke.

"I… I really thought this was very important to you. You could have told me!"

"I have, but you were probably distracted, like you tend to do when the topic is about pots and vases."

"Oh."

Sasuke couldn't help the grin on his face, but he thought he had tortured Naruto enough with making the blond believe that the pot was valuable. No need to make it worse. "Your plant is drowning."

Naruto turned around and shrieked. He put the watering can down, grasped the plant and went to the sink, carefully stepping over the broken pieces of the pot.

Sasuke turned to the kitchen, but that had not been a good idea, he began coughing. It hurt and he was coughing up blood with green slime. Naruto came running back from the kitchen.

"It's okay." He held Sasuke up, but felt very useless for not being able to do something about it.

Sasuke finally finished the coughing, looking very pale and a bit green under his eyes. Naruto cleaned Sasuke's hand with a cloth and then held the raven against him. He stroked Sasuke on the back with one hand and held the other on his neck. Somehow, this felt really good to Sasuke and made him feel slightly better, though still feeling nauseous. After some time Naruto laid him back carefully and cleaned up the broken pot. Slowly Sasuke dozed off again.

-oXo-

A/N: Although Sasuke doesn't like being ill, I think he secretly likes the attention he's getting :3