I seem to have a thing for torturing Sasuke, lol (Hurt/Comfort is my fave)

Ugh, I hope this chapter isn't boring, I promise I'll eventually get back into action.

Crime and Punishment

Naruto tried not to panic as he ran full tilt down the halls of the main building. The infirmary certainly hadn't moved, but why did it feel so far away? He burst in to find Shizune right in her office. She smiled when she saw him and didn't even wait for him to open his mouth.

"First room in the recovery wing," she said.

Giving her a cursory thanks, Naruto bolted to the specified room and threw open the door. Sasuke was sitting upright on the bed, Kakashi hovering beside him. Naruto's eyes took instant stock, and he felt a wave of relief. Clearly, whatever the problem was it couldn't be severe. Sasuke wasn't pale or injured or in any obvious distress. There was a clear IV bag draining its contents into him at the inner elbow, but clear was good. That meant either fluids or plasma.

Neither of those things indicated anything immediately dangerous.

Kakashi didn't look up from whatever he was doing with Sasuke's arm, but Sasuke did. He gave Naruto a mild glare. "Do you ever knock?"

Naruto hastened to his side. "Are you all right? When Gaara told me where you were -"

"I'm fine," Sasuke cut him off, voice firm but not unkind. "It's just a plasma treatment."

He looked fine, so Naruto tried to relax.

Until, that is, Kakashi said, "All right, the monitor is installed. If you take it out or if any drugs hit your blood, I'll be sent notification immediately."

Naruto froze, mind beginning to race. He said that right in front of me. That could only mean . . .

Kakashi looked up, his only visible eye pinning Naruto where he stood. "I'm well aware of your part in this. I know you've been instrumental in helping Sasuke quit, but the fact that you didn't tell me won't be going unpunished."

"But -!" Naruto immediately protested. "Sensei, if I'd told you, then I would have lost Sasuke's trust!"

The man's whole countenance softened, and he did that squint-eye thing that meant he was smiling. "I know. And believe me, I'm grateful. That doesn't erase the fact that you should have told me. So, since you took it upon yourself to take care of Sasuke by yourself, that will be your punishment."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Sasuke gave his guardian a highly suspicious look.

"I've already spoken with Tsunade," Kakashi said, suddenly sounding quite cheery, "and arranged for you two to share a room from now on. Naruto, every night you'll check Sasuke's blood monitor and make sure his plasma counts are in the green. You'll also be responsible for making sure he gains back the weight he lost."

Sasuke opened his mouth at once, eyes burning with anger.

Kakashi now turned to him. "Your punishment will be to tutor Naruto in academics. His scores in a lot of subjects are abysmal. I expect them to be pristine by the end of the year."

It was Naruto's turn to protest.

Kakashi once again forestalled them. "I'm being incredibly lenient with you both, so say 'Thank you, Kakashi-sama,' and take your lumps."

Subsiding, Naruto exchanged glances with Sasuke. It was true, they could be in a lot worse trouble. Then he brightened. Besides, sharing a room with Sasuke couldn't exactly be considered punishment. Hell, it was like Kakashi was trying to make it easier for him to fool around with the raven and grow closer to him so they bonded for sure.

"Thank you, sensei," he said, bowing his head and accepting his fate.

Sasuke said nothing, but his stony silence was probably acceptance, as well. Naruto found himself grinning. It was Sasuke, after all.

"Good," Kakashi said. "Now go to class. And you can find your new room assignment on your student accounts. All your belongings will be moved for you, and the door has already been programmed for you two." So saying, he strode out of the room.

Naruto bounded over and threw his arms around Sasuke. "I can't believe he's putting us in the same room! Could we be any more lucky?"

Sasuke grunted, pushing him back. "This still hurts, idiot."

Naruto quickly backed off, but he didn't release him. He cupped Sasuke's elbow and gently turned his arm so he could examine the small, protruding device. He'd never seen a blood monitor before. The thing was so thin it lay almost flush with the skin, and it had a tiny digital screen with numbers that fluctuated a little bit.

"How does it work?" he asked, gently rubbing his thumb on the skin around it.

The raven didn't try to pull free. "It has a needle on the underside," he said. "It's inserted right into the vein so the sensor has up-to-the-moment accuracy."

Naruto shuddered. Nothing like the sensation of getting a shot all the time. "That sucks."

Sasuke shrugged. "My arm will heal around it, and I won't notice it anymore. I've had to wear one a lot thanks to the hemophilia. I'm used to needles."

Leaning forward, Naruto pressed his cheek to Sasuke's forehead. "I'm so glad you're done with that," he murmured.

To his surprise, Sasuke slipped his arms around Naruto and hugged him. "Me too. And I'm glad it's out in the open. I don't have to lie to him anymore."

Naruto squeezed him. "I can't believe how awesome he's being about it." Then he straightened and pulled Sasuke off the bed with him. "But I'm still going to beat him!"

Sasuke's lips twitched. He didn't resist being tugged along. "At what?"

"Everything!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm going to be a better Controller than him. I'll beat all his high scores, and I'll spar him and kick his ass!"

"Idiot," the raven said, but his affection was audible.

Since Sasuke was wearing his uniform, Naruto pulled him along to the cafeteria. Before entering, Sasuke slid his arm free and put on the black arm cover to conceal the monitor. Their group of friends had already gathered, and Sasuke squeezed down between Gaara and Suigetsu.

Deciding it was all right since he'd get the raven to himself every night, Naruto plopped down by Kiba and Sakura. "Hi!" he greeted everyone.

Gaara looked at Sasuke. "Our room assignments changed. Why?"

"More importantly, why were you in the infirmary all night?" Suigetsu demanded.

Sasuke shocked the holy living hell out of Naruto by blithely admitting to Gaara, "It's punishment. Kakashi found out I was still using drugs."

Kiba, Sakura, and Ino all made choking sounds and stared at him.

He went on to Suigetsu, "My plasma count was down, so they did a transfusion. That's all."

It was unkind to laugh at his friends' state, so Naruto bit his lip and kept his mirth to himself. But really, what a way to deliver such information.

Gaara studied Sasuke in silence for a minute. He seemed satisfied by whatever he saw, and he pushed his plate toward Sasuke. Suigetsu ignored the first comment, fixating instead on the second.

"Your plasma count was down?" he repeated. "Low enough to need a transfusion? But why? I thought Kakashi always kept you current on those."

Sasuke shrugged one shoulder.

Just like that, the platinum blonde dropped it. Naruto had a feeling he was telling Suigetsu he'd talk about it later. He couldn't blame the raven for not wanting to tell the whole table.

"But that means you won't be able to spar with me," Suigetsu whined. "You have to wait a full twenty four hours after a transfusion."

Tucking into the other half of Gaara's breakfast, Sasuke shrugged again. "I'm going to work with Naruto today, anyway. The other part of my punishment is tutoring his dumb ass in academics."

"Hey!" Naruto protested. "I am not dumb! I can't help it if Physics and Astronomy are basically the most boring subjects on the planet!"

Kiba snorted. "I'm with ya there, man. Any chance I can sit in on your tutoring, Sasuke?" He finished his question with that flirty wink.

Normally, it made Sasuke get cute and blushy. This time, not a hint of color rose in those pale cheeks. Sasuke merely nodded. "Sure. As long as you both pay attention. I hate repeating myself."

While Kiba looked disappointed by this lack of reaction, Naruto felt utterly thrilled by it. So am I now the only person who makes you blush like that, Sasu~ke? Then he had to suffer his own disappointment. He couldn't get frisky with Sasuke for another one week and six days. He folded his arms and leaned back, trying not to pout.

"Aren't you going to eat anything, handsome?" Suigetsu asked.

Naruto hopped to his feet. "Shit, I almost forgot about that!"

His friends looked amused as he hurried to get breakfast. He couldn't wait until the free hour after lunch to have Sasuke pretty much all to himself.

~o0o~

Finding the dorm he now shared with Sasuke was as simple as logging into his student account and finding the number. It was just down the hall from his old one. He went inside to find his belongings as promised, and he started putting things away. A pulse of excitement fluttered through him.

It's gonna be me and him. Every night. In this room. I can't believe Kakashi is doing this. It's like he's giving me permission.

Feeling jittery with all the energy coursing through him, Naruto made everything look tidy just as Sasuke walked in. The raven paused on the threshold, eyes sweeping around in an appraising manner. It looked exactly the same as all other student dorms, but something was different.

Naruto grinned. "This is our room now."

Sasuke moved to the desk. "I want the top bunk."

"Sure," Naruto agreed easily enough. He planned for Sasuke to sleep in his most nights, if he could manage it.

Setting his books down, Sasuke opened a folder and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is a chart of the monitor's readings. It tells you what exactly it monitors, and what levels are acceptable for plasma, red blood, and white blood cell counts. All you really need to know is the plasma scale."

Naruto skimmed the paper. "It even monitors blood pressure?" he noted.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, heaving a sigh. "Hemophiliacs sometimes suffer from low blood pressure." A brief pause. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this shit."

Looking up, Naruto shook his head. "Don't apologize. I want to be part of all your life, not just some of it."

Sasuke gave him a rather sour look. "Why?"

"We've been over this," Naruto said. "You're my Coordinator."

He blushed. He was really cute when he blushed. "Not yet," he mumbled, but it lacked certainty.

Naruto moved to his side and perched on the edge of the desk by him. "I really wanna kiss you right now," he said. He leaned a tiny bit closer. "Can I?"

Sasuke stood up and walked to the closet. "I'm positive you're physically capable of it, yes."

"Sasu~ke," Naruto whined, following. He kept his hands to himself, though he really didn't want to. "May I kiss you, you fussy bastard?"

"No," Sasuke said. Flat denial. No hesitation.

"Why not?" Naruto whined some more. "I really wanna."

"Not until you apologize."

"What?" Naruto protested. "What for?"

"For the things you said to Hinata about me."

The frustration turned to amusement in an eye blink. Naruto fought not to grin. "But she didn't know I was talking about you."

"I knew."

"But they were all true," Naruto reasoned.

Whirling, Sasuke abandoned his fussing in the closet and raised a fist.

Holding up his hands in surrender, Naruto backed away. This time he couldn't stop the grin. "All right, all right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things."

Sasuke lowered his fist and closed the closet door. "I guess it's fine. I have complaints about you, too."

"What?" Naruto demanded, folding his arms.

The raven didn't answer immediately, going to the bathroom and starting to arrange things to his liking. "You're loud. And obnoxious. And you don't listen. And you're extremely pushy. And a tremendously huge idiot. And you -"

"All right, already," Naruto muttered. "Way to wound a guy. Jerk."

"You did ask," Sasuke's voice drifted from the bathroom. "I, however, had the decency not to say those things to the first person who confessed to me."

"Wait, what?" Naruto said, leaping to his feet. "Someone's confessed their feelings to you? When? Who? Wait, whaddaya mean you didn't say those things to this person?" Then he grinned. "You turned them down because you like me?"

Sasuke glided out of the bathroom, raising an eyebrow at Naruto as if he was an idiot. "Obviously. Try to keep up."

Naruto about swallowed his tongue. Then got all giddy. Then about flew right out of his skin. He likes me. He just said it. Right to me. Didn't gloss it over or change the subject or deny it. He knew he was grinning like a fool and couldn't help it.

"You like me, huh?"

Annoyance crawled over the other teen's beautiful face. "Clearly, I'm an idiot too."

The jubilation turned to suspicion again. "So? Who was it that confessed to you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Uh, hugely. Spill."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You probably don't even know her. Karin."

Naruto frowned. "I know her. Smart, but kinda quiet. And bitchy."

"And," Sasuke said with an abruptly imperious expression, "Ino and Sakura have both asked me to consider bonding with them at the end of the year. And so has Shino Aburame."

Obviously, it was time to stake a claim. Naruto suddenly wished powerfully that he hadn't been banned from linking up. He'd take Sasuke to the sparring hall and partner up with him in his third form right now, so every other damn Controller could see they had nothing on him. That they were all weak small fry. That there was no way Sasuke Uchiha would choose anyone else.

Because why would he, when Naruto Uzumaki commanded the immense and vast power of a demon?

He realized Sasuke was watching him with something at once curious and cautious. "Did you know," the raven said quietly, "when you get mad, you start leaking that chakra? And your eyes turn red?"

Chagrined, Naruto looked away with a grimace. "Yeah. I know. I'm sorry."

He jumped when Sasuke closed the distance between them and buried his fingers into Naruto's hair at the back of his head. The Coordinator clenched his fingers. "Don't apologize. Fix it. It just makes you look weak when you can't control it."

Naruto's body had all kinds of inappropriate reactions to Sasuke's closeness. He could practically feel his pupils dilate as he inhaled the other teen's scent. "Okay," he breathed.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I mean it. There's no way I'm bonding with someone weaker than me."

It somehow sounded more a plea than a threat. "Trust me, Sasuke," he whispered. "There's no way I'd let my Coordinator down."

Those ebony eyes held his for several moments longer. "Good," the raven said, draping his arms around Naruto's neck and fusing their mouths together.

It was the first time Sasuke had kissed him, not the other way around. Naruto wanted to grab him and pin him down. He resisted, placing his hands on Sasuke's hips and just resting them there. He did use his grip to pull the other teen a bit closer, but that was all. He responded to the kiss and didn't open his mouth until Sasuke demanded it, but he let the younger set the pace.

It was less aggressive, but no less demanding. A very distracting tightness gathered in Naruto's groin, but he tried to ignore it. Then Sasuke ended it with a sharp nip to Naruto's lower lip. His pupils seemed a little too big. He took a few slow breaths before pulling out of the loose hold.

"Now get your books. Kiba will be here any minute."

Naruto groaned. Physics and Astronomy were the last things he wanted to think about. Still, as his arousal wilted, it might be best. He still had five days and one week to go before Sasuke let him do more than kiss.

Might as well be forever.