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Enjoy reading :) The sexual tension will be building up with the next chapters.

Chapter 2

Posted on July 29th, 2021

Sasuke pulls the drape to the side and immediately blue eyes lock with black. The blonde man is sitting on the examination table and gives the raven the once-over. His blue eyes go back to lock with Sasuke's – and is that a smirk on his lips?

"I get a young doctor this time."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow and also gives the blond man the once-over.

"You look the same age as me. Let's get this over with."

"Exactly. Shouldn't you be getting your bachelor's? Rich daddy got you into med school early?"

Sasuke pauses at the way he speaks to him. He is used to people fawning over him, especially women. His directness and words throw the raven off.

"What do you know, moron? You took this job because you needed money for some pot with your hippie friends?"

To his surprise, the blond throws his head back and laughs – a genuine, deep laugh. Sasuke can't help but notice how his strong chest moves with the vibrations of his laughter.

"Exactly!" The blond locks eyes with him again. "Look at how perceptive that stick up your ass makes you. Maybe if you shove it in just a little bit deeper, you'd able to realize what a massive asshole you are."

Sasuke goes to respond - then the medical director walks in.

"Okay, let's get started here," Dr. Tsunade Senju says. "Sorry for the wait. Uchiha-san, I'll be helping with this one, the TA had to go home." Tsunade looks up from the tablet she's holding and quirks an eyebrow at the palpable tension and animosity between the two. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Sasuke says and steps away, waiting for Tsunade to set up the scenario on her tablet and give him the green light to start.

"Okay, Uchiha-san. Take it away."

Sasuke is the epitome of aloof when he goes through the drill of introducing himself and examining. He is looking forward to getting home after this and maybe going to bed early. The day had been long, and this moron had almost pissed him off.

"I'm Dr. Uchiha Sasuke. What are you here for today?"

The blond man quirks an eyebrow at him. "What, doc – you didn't read my chart?"

At Tsunade's stern glare, the blond sighs and changes his response. With a more innocent voice now he says, "You know, I've been feeling… weird during the last few days… like a week."

"How so?" Sasuke really wants to get this over with and yet can't look away from the blond.

"Well, I've been feeling tired… and I'm having body aches. I just generally feel like crap."

"Do you have any significant medical history?"

"No."

"Any medications?"

"Just vitamins."

"Any cough or shortness of breath?" The sitting man shakes his head. "Okay, I'll listen to your lungs." Sasuke takes out the stethoscope from his pocket. The man straightens his back, making the strong pectorals stand out from under the tight shirt Sasuke almost felt his breath hitch. The blond is in very good shape – lean and tight muscle visible under his tight clothes. The Uchiha instructs him to take deep breaths and listens to his lungs. From this close up, Sasuke can smell the other man – he smells very well, earthy and grounding, and Sasuke feels an unusual warmth radiating from him. "Your lungs sound clear. Now breathe normal, I'll listen to your heart… Good. Any pain in your abdomen?"

"Um… A little. Sometimes."

Sasuke eyes him for a second, trying to focus and stay on track with his assignment. He is still close to the blond and – is that mischievousness gleaming in his blue eyes?

"Can I have you lay back on your back for a minute," Sasuke moved to his side. "I'd like to perform a quick abdominal assessment."

"Very well!" Tsunade encourages. "Show me how you'd do that."

When the blond lays down, Sasuke puts his hands one over the other and presses gently around the area of the man's belly in each quadrant. Sasuke is paying attention to the assessment but can't help but notice how tight the man's abdominals feel. The cloth of his jeans feels rough against his fingertips, and his bare knees are showing from his ripped jeans. Sasuke wonders if his tan is real and how exactly it looks under his clothes.

There is a small whimper and Sasuke looks up to see the blond with his head to the side, hand over his mouth, eyebrows furrowed and… a small flush on his cheeks? Somehow, Sasuke feels satisfaction course through him, more so than guessing the correct diagnosis gave him. The blond is instructed to sit up.

"Your abdominal assessment appears to be normal. Have you recently gained any weight?"

The blond man's smirk widens, as if proud of him. Sasuke can swear that the slight smirk on the blond's lips had been there since he walked in.

"Um, yes. A little bit. I ate a little much during the holidays."

"I'll examine your thyroid. Lean your head slightly back."

"Like how?" The blond asks innocently, pressing his two forefingers together, and Sasuke wonders if this is a feature of the scenario or if he is playing with him for real.

"Like this," Sasuke reaches a hand at the back of his neck and his other hand holds loosely around his jaw. He tilts the blond's head back. Then the Uchiha's right hand goes down to the base of the man's throat and he presses there, examining his thyroid. His throat is tan and beautifully craned back and fits in his hand perfectly. Sasuke's hand lingers, and he looks up to the other man only to find his blue eyes lidded and darkened, his lips parted. Their eyes linger – then the sound of Tsunade writing something down makes Sasuke snap out of it and take a steady step back.

Tsunade jumps in the scenario with instructions. "After this assessment, Uchiha-san, you find that the patient's thyroid gland feels enlarged with palpation. How would you proceed after this and why, Uchiha-san?" Tsunade asks, wanting to evaluate Sasuke's reasoning now that the scenario was obviously coming to an end.

Sasuke's lips press into a thin line. How much easier could they make it? And they chose an idiot to play an idiot too.

"My suspicion is hypothyroidism due to the reported fatigue, weight gain, muscle aches, generalized weakness and slight abdominal pain. I would order blood tests. TSH, T4, T3, complete thyroid panel to check his thyroid function. Thyroid antibody test to test for autoimmune causes. Ultrasound of the thyroid gland to confirm enlargement and to exclude enlargement due to malignancy. If any thyroid abnormality is confirmed, refer to an endocrinologist."

"Excellent deduction, Uchiha-san. The blood tests come back – his thyroids labs reveal higher than normal TSH and low T4. These values are consistent with hypothyroidism. The thyroid antibody test is negative, so it is not autoimmune. You already said you would proceed by referring him to a specialist. Do you have any questions?"

"No, I don't."

"Very well. Naruto," Tsunade addresses the bland who is now sitting up again, his facial expression back to normal. "Is there anything you want to add before we wrap this up?"

"Yeah," the man, apparently named Naruto – a moronic name befitting a moron – slides off of the exam table and stretches. "Good job on guessing the diagnosis. But your bedside manner is sooo dryyy. Good thing they have you practicing with us first, you need serious help in that department. Siri has better social skills than you."

"What would a moron like you know about bedside manner?" Sasuke hears himself retort and forces himself to straighten the furrow between his eyebrows.

"A thing or two. Enough to know that all of your classmates had better social skills than you. If you talk to people like that for real, you probably never get laid. Good thing you have your looks going for you, otherwise you'd die alone. You know, it wouldn't hurt to pull that stick out of your butt juuuust a little bit and maybe try to socialize. I think you can learn a lot from others. That classmate of yours with the white hair and the sharp tooth? Suigetsu? He was awesome. He guessed the diagnosis and had a great bedside manner. I'm just saying you're not the only smart one around here, although you sure act like you are." He took a sip of water and Sasuke's eyes are glued to how the tan throat moves with each swallow. Then their eyes lock again and they hold each other's gaze.

Tsunade looks from one to the other and raises an eyebrow. She had obviously missed something judging by the mutual animosity and tension in the air.

"Ookay," Tsunade turns off the tablet, "I don't know what that was about, but it was good advice – maybe consider it, Uchiha-san. There is a lot to learn from your classmates. They all have well-deserved spots in our school. However, I would have to ask you both to refrain from using colorful language, at least when we're in school. I personally don't care, but I can't deal with complaints right now." Tsunade walks out and speaks in a louder voice, "Gather your things everyone and let's go home. Good work today. Get some rest and we'll meet tomorrow, same place and the same time, but this time we are beginning to grade, and the difficulty will gradually go up. Have a good night."

Sasuke hears rustling behind him and turns to see Naruto picking up a backpack and throwing it over his shoulder, walking past him.

"Well, that was fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go spend all my money on pot with my hippie friends."

"Sounds appropriate." Sasuke stares at him hard, having given up trying to figure out why this random man was affecting him so much. Sasuke would be satisfied as long as the blond somehow came out to be a dredge of society by the end of the conversation.

The blonde snickers. "Sure. Have a good night, Sasuke. Maybe if you weren't such an arrogant bastard, you wouldn't be spending it alone."

Sasuke watches him walk away and join the rest of the actors, all of them obviously knowing each other. The man with the slicked back hair who had been hitting on Naruto earlier throws an arm around his shoulders and they all went out, joking with each other. Sasuke finds himself annoyed for no obvious reason. He doesn't want to think right now why and how that man had managed to infuriate him so much, and definitely does not want to touch all the other emotions the blond had provoked in him right now.

They were all going to a bar? Sasuke almost shoves the stethoscope in his expensive backpack. When was the last time he had gone out? The few times he had gone out, it was with Itachi, mostly because the older Uchiha had made him. People approached Sasuke and offered him their company – in more ways than one. He had always had the opportunity, just found no interest in socializing beyond what was needed.

Sasuke walks out and starts his car. The ride home is usually around fifteen minutes, but it's rush hour and Sasuke finds himself progressing slowly. The thought of Naruto going to a bar with all those guys creeps its way into his mind. There would be women there too, everyone felt their inhibitions falling when drunk. Sasuke's jaw tightens. He wonders if Naruto will be hooking with anyone tonight, Then he pushes that thought away because he doesn't care.

He needs to go home and take a shower. Sasuke feels off-balance somehow and that isn't typical for him at all. It was a weird day for the young Uchiha.

Reviews for me are like ramen for Naruto. :)

Yes, there are actors playing patients and scenarios just like that in medical school, at least in the U.S. Sometimes the PA students volunteer to play patients for the medical students too. It's a way to break in people with little or no experience into interacting with patients and noticing details on-the-go before they are exposed to actual patients. What is described here is really the very first simulations.