"So, wait. Let me get this straight…" Suigetsu was not comprehending what they were saying. He was trying to take it in without over frying his brain but it was too shocking to understand. He crossed his arms and looked over at Sasuke whom they had pulled the red bed out for. Sasuke looked at him like he was crazy which Suigetsu had probably become for a minute. "You went for cake without me. Oh, you bastard. You know how much I like cake."
"It was a date get over it Suigetsu." Sasuke said and turned his head to look at Naruto who was sitting on the side of the bed. He stroked his hand with a finger getting his attention as their eyes connected for a warm minute. The cover Itachi had planned was working; all they had to do was keep up the act. "Would you really want to sit there and watch me make out with Naruto?"
"I would." Karin said happily gripping her hands in her lap. She sat smiling and eyeing them from the blue couch. She smiled at them which made both of the boys inch away from her direction.
"Karin!" Suigetsu said angrily. He walked over to her and leaned in whispering. They could all hear Karin's defense of he already knew this about her. She smiled innocently and kissed him on the cheek. She made him sit down on the couch and calm down. Suigetsu did but then noticed something. "Than why did Itachi and Deidara go?"
"I was actually going to meet Deidara at the bar, but it was over crowded." Itachi said like he normally would have. Itachi's persuasiveness was kicking in. "I figured Sasuke and Naruto would have gone home, but oh well. If you're so upset about it, why don't you take Karin."
"You guys suck." Suigetsu muttered and grabbed Karin's hand. She smiled and said they could go out later. As Suigetsu sighed agreeing when Kisame came bursting into the room exhausted. "Yo, Kisame, what's up?"
"Itachi, can I speak with you, outside?" He said. He stretched and took in as much air as he could waiting for Itachi.
"Um-hm." Itachi hummed lowly. He followed Kisame into the adjoining basement and watched his friend gain his normal breathing pattern. "What's new?"
"First, garbage disposal's broken." Itachi sighed and rolled his eyes swearing under his breath about how it was new. Kisame stopped him and continued. "I got a call from Nagato, he's going to need more help on this, he's having trouble by himself. We may have to call him in to help Sasori, I know it…"
"It risks exposure. Get him in then. Hell, if we have to I'll drag in Orochimaru to help." Itachi huffed and shoved his hand in his pocket and felt the smooth card. He turned around for a second and took a calm breath. He comptemplated for a second and nodded his head facing back to Kisame. "On second thought, tell them to stay on stand by and keep up the work. Tell him to exchange the information he has with Sasori over Facebook. Most people wouldn't know what they're talking about, should be pretty safe. We should wait until later tonight when most of the campus won't recognize him."
"Right. So he didn't have a cure?" Kisame asked. Itachi shook his head slowly biting his lip in frustration. Kisame smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "It's gonna be okay. Sasuke's too stubborn to die. He literally might cure it himself, and I think we should let him try."
"Right." Itachi said smiling a bit. Kisame ruffed his hair up in a friendly manner and opened the door to the Black Bird basement. Itachi walked in and collapsed on the bed next to Sasuke and Naruto who were cuddled up. "So?"
Both Naruto and Sasuke turned to him, their expressions not as light as his was. Sasuke clicked his tongue and groaned. "My head feels like its split in two."
"Hello? About damn time!" Deidara's yell pierced through the house. He walked down the stairs the phone attached to his ear practically. He paced for a bit before stopping and looking over at the bed full of people. "Right, yea we'll bring him right away. Sasori's got the bed at the old medical building ready."
"Cool, Naruto, could you go pack Sasuke some extra clothes just in case?" Itachi asked sitting his head up getting the blond's attention. Naruto sat up nodding he stood up.
"Yea, sure." Naruto smiled and began to walk away as Karin stood up. "I'll come and help."
The two took off and headed up stairs making Sasuke think. He turned to his brother. "I'm not going to be there long am I? I have school."
"You hate school." Itachi said not understanding. Sasuke looked down and didn't respond. "Why's school so important now?"
"Naruto hates it when I miss." Sasuke said quietly. Itachi 'ahh-ed' and looked away.
"We'll try to keep it to a minimum. In the morning I'll call and tell them you're in the hospital." Itachi said smiling. Sasuke wasn't sure that Itachi could do that, but knowing him, Itachi had already switched everything over to his custody. Itachi patted Sasuke on the shoulder and sat up. "He can pick up your work for you and you'll be back ASAP."
"If I'm not I'm going to kick your ass, mon frere." Sasuke said with a smile. Itachi got a little worried but ignored it and got up.
-------(blAck bIrd)--------
"Sasuke was lying. Where'd you guys really skip off to?" Karin asked as she picked out Sasuke's clothes. She had banned Naruto from picking out clothes as he was just going to shove them from the drawer to a plastic bag they had grabbed out of the kitchen.
"We went to see Orochimaru." Naruto said quietly sitting on Sasuke bed. He looked at her as she stopped in the middle of folding the third black tank top. Slowly Karin finished folding the shirt and put it in the bag. She closed the drawer and turned to Naruto waiting for an explanation. "Sasuke's going to get worse, and there's no cure. We just have to keep our heads high and put all our faith in Sasori and the others."
"Oh my God." Karin shook her head and pulled out a few pairs of pants not taking the same care she had with his shirt.
"It's Sasuke, he's got to come out of it, even if he is genetically mutated or physically scarred or has the eyes of a vampire." Naruto said. He got up and put a hand on Karin trying to get her to look at him. "See, we got to keep up the happy. It'll help him. If he's too stubborn to see what's wrong, than so are we."
She nodded and tied the bag close at the top. Karin adjusted her glass and smiled heading out of Sasuke's room. Naruto followed her to the stairs. "You ever thought about a public speaking career?"
"No, but I think I should look into it." He said scratching his head.
-------(blAck bIrd)--------
"You understand, right?" Itachi asked of Naruto as they headed to Kisame's hummer. Sasuke was already in there thanks to Kisame being as strong as an ox. Sasuke wasn't getting any better and Itachi paternal, or fraternal, instincts were kicking in; he needed to be the closest thing to Sasuke or he was going to freak out.
"You're his brother, plus, you've gone through this. He needs you right now." Naruto said. Itachi smiled at the level of understanding. Naruto just smiled heading over to the passenger seat. "I'll just make faces at him from the front."
Naruto opened the front right door and hopped in to have Sasuke's blood-red eyes glare at him questioning the seating. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and smiled. "Why aren't you back here? I was kind of hoping on laying on you."
"Itachi wanted to sit back there with you. He's still kind of freaking out." Naruto said sitting in the seat backwards. He offered a hand out to Sasuke and their fingers were locked in Sasuke's vice grip of a hand.
"I know." Sasuke muttered and looked up out the door to see Itachi open it. Itachi looked down at his baby brother who was sprawled over the seats.
"Karin, Suigetsu and Deidara will be coming after a while. All of them have some homework to do apparently." Kisame said getting in the Hummer. Sasuke muttered 'figures' and let go of Naruto pulling himself clearing the seat for Itachi and Kisame. His brother smiled as he climbed in. "Should have done it earlier."
"Well, Suigetsu only has to copy off of Karin probably." Sasuke flopped back on Itachi jolting his brother a bit. Sasuke rolled onto his side facing Naruto and used Itachi's leg as a pillow. He smiled as Nartuo sat down and they grabbed their hands back together. "Shouldn't be that long."
The ride was quite to the college with just Naruto and Sasuke exchanging glancing. To them they were alone; to Itachi it made him feel alone. As the car stopped outside the old medical building Itachi looked down at Sasuke while opening the door. "Hm?"
"No, you're comfy." Sasuke said purposefully being a pain. Itachi simply slipped out of the Hummer with ease and watched as Sasuke glared angrily at him. "I hate you."
"Right. Come on, Sasuke." Itachi smiled. Naruto got out after Kisame and helped Sasuke out of the car and onto his feet. They walked up a few meters before the door swung open to show Sasori without jacket and sleeves rolled.
"Good, you're here. How are you feeling?" He asked promptly as they assisted Sasuke through the door. Sasuke grunted for a minute.
"Like my head's going to explode, or implode."
"Come on the bed's this way." Kisame and Naruto led Sasuke into a sterile white room that smelled of bleach. Kisame let go and Naruto pulled Sasuke onto the bed and than crashed with him. "I've been talking with Nagato, we'll be conferencing tonight and start a full treatment tonight. Until than, I'm going to be filtering your blood and putting in something Nagato found to stabilize it temporarily."
"Right." Sasuke said. He turned to look at Naruto and smile. Sasori coughed loudly getting both their attention. "Once I get all the tubes in, you'll have to evacuate the bed."
"Now you're all attached to strings." Itachi said picking on what his brother had told him all those years ago, but only he, Sasuke and Kisame remembered that. Itachi and Sasuke glared at each other before Sasuke gave and smiled back at his mon frère. "You need anything?"
"Go get me dinner, I want a steak, at this point it does not have to be cooked." Sasuke said half laughing. He didn't know why it was funny, but apparently to him it was and everyone noticed. Sasuke stopped and looked down somewhat embarrassed, his cheeks flushing a brighter red.
"Incorrect emotions are a part of the mutation. Don't worry; it'll stop at some point." Sasori assured and checked over a page on his clip board. "Liver would be better than steak. You're body is telling you to get more oxygen which would be by consuming more iron. I'll get you some Ferrous sulfate if Itachi will go get the food."
"I suppose, but you owe me, steak's expensive." Itachi muttered and began to head out the door.
"Wait." Sasuke said. He pulled out the tattered old wallet that belonged to his imprisoned uncle and opened it. He flipped through and pulled out a twenty waving it towards Itachi. "Here."
"Is that Madara's wallet?" Itachi asked taking the bill. Sasuke gulped slightly before gaining a bit of confidence.
"Well, it's mine now isn't it?" Sasuke nodded his head reaffirming himself. He looked at Itachi, he knew his brother's query by facial expression. "It only came with a couple dozen bucks, calm down."
Itachi nodded his head shoving the bill away as he left the room. Itachi nodded after Kisame who was his ride away. Naruto waited until he heard the front doors close loudly. "You're not going to tell him about the black credit card, are you?"
"Madara obtained a black credit card?" Sasori asked, his face scrunching like he was disgusted. "Why on earth would he want that? You really should tell Itachi that Madara has a black card."
"Well, it's mine now isn't it? And I don't want Itachi to know otherwise I'm going to have to scrap change for coffee in the morning." Sasuke rolled his eyes and began remembering how much of a penny pincher Itachi was. "It's like he hates money, and no human can hate money, its money. It's like hating air."
"Funny." Sasori rolled his eyes and pulled a stand out and began piling bags of blood on the table. Naruto knew it was time to move and got off the bed swiping his finger tips against Sasuke's face. He sat down in the chair at the far corner of the room and watched Sasuke watch him. Sasori finished and hung on of the bags up. "Alright little puppet, off with your shirt and on with your strings."
"Great, the fun part…" Sasuke tossed off his shirt and through it at Naruto and made a seductive kiss with his mouth slowly. Naruto just laughed silently to himself turning red.
Sasori rolled his eyes and smiled. "Well, considering your condition, you seem to be in good spirits. It's odd to say the least." Sasori put the first needle into Sauske's arm and attached it to an empty bag hanging from the bed. He then crossed to the other side of the bed and put in a needle that was attacked to a bag hanging from a hook. "Didn't always believe laughter wasn't a medicine, but it did help the patient's out a lot."
"It's because then they don't dwell on what's happening. It's not psychosomatic." Sasuke said and looked up at the ceiling tiles in an old pattern. He sighed his chest lowering greatly. "Remind me to write down my schedule for you so you can collect stuff for me, alright?"
"Okay." Naruto smiled and watched as Sasuke faked his smile. Even though it was a little one Naruto could see it as bright as day. Sasori's phone rang so he excused himself leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone. "How are you really doing?"
"Really?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded and walked over to the side of Sasuke's bed and grabbed his hand squeezing it. The smile disappeared and Sasuke stared straight ahead as if looking at a ghost. His eyes began to tear up and he inhaled sharply. "I'm scared I'm going to die Naruto… And it's all my fault."
Naruto didn't know what to say to that. He couldn't directly respond to Sasuke thinking he had accidentally incurred suicide. Naruto lowered his hands to Sasuke waist and in a flash squeezed him as hard as he could. He lowered his head onto Sasuke's chest so he avoided the stare of the Uchiha. Naruto gritted his teeth. "I don't know what I can do, but I'm not going to let you die."
"Naruto…" Sasuke reached a hand down and patted Naruto's thick hair until he looked up and saw a smile that had arisen despite his worries. 'Than I'm going to live Naruto, just for you.' "Don't frown like that, mon petit renard. I'll be fine now."
"Cool." Naruto smiled stupidly and began to crawl up to meet Sasuke by the lips. Sasori was at the door shaking his head while smiling, he was tempted to yell at them reminding them that Sasuke was sick with IVs in his arms, but he felt he would be ignored. He shut the door slightly and walked down to the observation room where he had been gathering information. Sasori pulled out his laptop and got online with Nagato through the built in web cam.
Nagato tilted his head slightly. "You seem distracted."
"Slightly." He said and spared a glance at Sasuke and Naruto through the one-way mirror. They had stopped and were cuddling on the bed, still against what he asked. "Sasuke's being a teenager… Anything new?"
"Not that you want to hear, I assure you." Nagato was handed a shoulder-strap bag from Konan who had appeared in the background gathering things. "We're coming in. We'll be there in about twenty minutes, I'll bring coffee and you're going to need it."
"Great…" Sasori muttered running his hands though his hair. "Park on the side of the building and I'll open a window, it appeared Tsunade's been having her assistant watch me."
"Right, congrats on the nomination, by the way." The screen shut down and Sasori laid his head on the laptop trying together his composure for a minute. There was a knock at the open door and Deidara walked in slowly with a large bag of greasy fast food. He smiled and Sasori just grabbed the bag muttering about heart disease. He ignored his own warning and began eating a greased burger. Deidara looked through the mirror and smiled. "Aww…"
"Yea, aww… Naruto has to get down soon, I have a dialysis machine being cleaned, I should be able to retrieve it in the next hour."
"Geez, you're a ray of sunshine aren't you? What's gotten up your ass?"
"I have a dying boy on my hands who I can't properly treat, there's the Dean of Medicine breathing down my throat if I mess up in the slightest and I have to go in tomorrow afternoon for an interview for the Dean of science position and I don't even know if I want it or not! That's what's gotten up my ass." Sasori whispered hoarsely. He quickly took another bite and turned away from Deidara who muttered 'And…' "No and."
"AND!" Deidara stomped his foot.
"My niece, the one with the three kids… She's dying in the hospital right now. The kids don't have anywhere else to go, but one's in college already and another's going into it in fall." Sasori said and sighed looking up at Sasuke and Naruto who had obviously fallen asleep in each other's arms. "I was going to petition to get them, but I don't know if I can handle a teenager going through depression."
"If Itachi can do it, you won't have any problem." Deidara said put a hand on his shoulder. "Plus you've been putting up with me, right?"
