Chapter II – Don't be so stubborn

[Whee... thanks for the reviews. This originally was gonna be a humor fan
fiction but I couldn't really get myself to make it... fun at all.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.]

Sakura and Naruto sat quietly in Sasuke's house, after putting him in his own bed and they waited for Kakashi to return after getting a few medicinal herbs. Sakura sat on a wooden stool, nervously tapping her fingers on her knees as she watched Sasuke sleep rather restlessly. She grabbed the wet cloth from the small bowl of water she had prepared earlier and wrung some of the water out, placing the cold cloth on Sasuke's burning forehead.

"Is he awake yet?" Naruto asked for the numerous time from his sitting place on the windowsill.

"Naruto, for the last time, no!" Sakura answered in a hushed tone then brushed some of Sasuke's hair away from his eyes. "Poor Sasuke-kun... why didn't he tell one of us..."

Naruto eyed Sasuke's forehead protector on the table then looked back at the two. "He's a jack ass, that's why!"

"This is your fault, Naruto!" Sakura hissed at him, shooting a glare at the said person.

"My fault?!" Naruto protested, pointing accusingly at the unconscious Sasuke. "He's the one that's afraid to admit anything and being a stubborn jack ass!"

"You are the one that kept teasing him in the first place! You knew he wasn't feeling well and you tried to prove something! He could have gotten really hurt!" Sakura rose her voice slightly.

"Oh, right! Like falling out of a tree won't get him hurt..." Naruto muttered sarcastically. "He should have at least broken his arm from the fall, when he was running at least he was closer to the ground!"

Sasuke shifted slightly, causing the arguing pair to go silent almost immediately. He might have fallen unconscious earlier but that didn't stop his imagination from torturing him with a nightmare. He was at its mercy...

"Sasuke-kun...?" Sakura asked quietly, seeing the boy grip the sheets tightly in a clenched fist.

Sasuke was trapped in the nightmare world and it was shadowy. He was standing in darkness in an almost intolerable heat and it was getting worse. He looked along the pitch-blackness, his breathing slightly more strenuous and the sound of his own heartbeat pounded in his ears. There was silence... deafening silence. It was starting to make him more anxious and he took a few hesitant steps back, only to hear a fast rushing noise then felt something stab into his shoulder. He winced and put a hand to his shoulder, pulling out a needle. His eyes widened slightly as he examined the small throwing weapon and recognized it as one of Haku's Senbon Needles. He heard the same sound again and couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. He looked around almost frantically then saw the points of the needles not even an inch from his eyeballs. He froze, trailing his gaze up the arm of the needle's owner and found a masked boy looking at him emotionlessly: Haku.

He didn't dare move, forgetting that he was stuck in a perilous dream and watched as Haku pulled his arm back over his chest, holding the needles out towards the side. There was more silence with exception of Sasuke's audible heartbeat. He narrowed his eyes slightly and brought his hands up, preparing to use one of his Justus when he felt the excruciating pain in his hands. He looked down and his eyes widened, finding his hands speared with needles by Haku. Sasuke started to back up again, seeing Haku raise more Senbon needles to throw at him. Sasuke winced when it seemed to rain from all directions... later finding out that it was storming needles ripping him to shreds.

Sasuke sat up quickly in bed, a cry caught in his throat but then resulted in a violent coughing fit. Sakura started patting his back, fearing that he wouldn't start breathing after the coughing fit that started to sound more like choking. The coughing had subsided for a moment but left Sasuke almost rasping for breath as he looked at his shaking hands, wide-eyed.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, worrying for him more.

Sasuke clenched his hands into fists but his grip didn't feel as strong before and he looked up at Sakura and Naruto. Naruto only blinked as he looked back at the other.

"... What are you-" Sasuke's voice cracked slightly. "... What are you doing in my house..."

"Sasuke-kun... you're shaking..." Sakura said as she moved her hand to his shoulder.

Sasuke flicked his gaze to Sakura and moved, almost falling off of the other side of the bed. "Back off... I'm fine..."

Naruto hopped down from his spot on the windowsill and walked over with his arms crossed over his chest overconfidently. "You fell out of a tree and wiped out on the field... Yeah, I'd say you're perfectly fine."

"Shut up, baka..." Sasuke growled, wincing and he put a hand to his throat as it burned.

"Oh, and you lost." Naruto went on further, an impish grin on his features. "Since you tripped, I win by default."

Sasuke blinked, thinking about what Naruto meant then he glowered at the boy. "I don't give a damn... get the hell out of here..."

"Liar! You lost and you're too chicken enough to accept defeat!" Naruto pointed at him.

"Naruto, stop bothering him!" Sakura glared at the said person then held out a glass of water to Sasuke. "Here, you should at least drink something..."

Sasuke shifted back and rested his head on the wall, closing his eyes. "I don't want it..."

"... Sasuke-kun, take it...onegai." Sakura said again, holding it out to him more. "You're running a fever..."

Sasuke muttered another 'no' and turned his head away. He didn't want to be bothered nor treated like a child and he definitely didn't want to be bed-ridden with people taking care of him each time he even moved. He glanced at the door to his room to see Kakashi standing there with a bag in one arm.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura said as she looked at him.

He waved a hand in reply and invited himself in. He set the bag on the bed and noticed that Sasuke was starting to climb out of bed.

"Sit." He ordered, seeing Sasuke tense immediately. "You're not going anywhere for a while."

"Hmph..." Sasuke sat back down, crossing his arms as he kept his back to them.

Naruto was about to comment but was cut short when Kakashi slapped his hand over the boy's mouth. He nudged the shopping back over to Sakura who looked at it curiously.

"You'll know what to do with what when you see each herb. If you could be so kind, Sakura, is to make tea for our sick comrade here firstly." Kakashi explained as he crossed his arms. "And Sasuke, don't even think about going anywhere."

"Just leave me alone..." Sasuke muttered.

"Naruto, go help Sakura. I have something else to attend to and I'll be back soon." As sudden as Kakashi had arrived, he had left again.

Naruto grinned, figuring out that he could bother his sick friend later and followed the resentful Sakura out to the kitchen. Sasuke was left alone in his room and he was grateful as he stretched back out on the bed.

'Why don't they just leave me alone...' He thought to himself as he tossed the damp cloth back into the bowl of water.

He heard Naruto getting yelled at by Sakura and only heaved a heavy sigh, turning onto his side. He felt restless but at the same time quite worn out, whether it has been from the training or he really was sick. Sasuke grabbed a pillow and covered his face again, the sunlight starting to bother his eyes for the umpteenth time that morning. He had officially gotten comfortable and he yawned quietly, ignoring the petty arguments from the kitchen that seemed to get closer. He shivered slightly, getting bothered by the slight breeze that blew through the window and ended up pulling the blankets up to his shoulders. The breeze felt like a nice change at first from the boiling feeling but it made Sasuke feel cold at the same time.

Elsewhere in the kitchen, Naruto was getting in Sakura's way and it was starting to annoy her more.

"Don't touch that!" Sakura once again slapped his hand away from the bag. "That is not for you, it is for Sasuke-kun!"

"Ow! That hurt, Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined.

"Then stop being annoying!" Sakura answered as she poured the boiling water into a mug with the herbs in it. "And keep quiet!"

"I don't know why you bother worrying about him in the first place," Naruto folded his arms behind his head. "He obviously doesn't want to be bothered and I don't think you babying him makes you so special."

Sakura froze, letting some of the hot water pour onto the counter as she grit her teeth.

"Ne, Sakura-chan... you're missing the cup." Naruto pointed to bluntly then caught her glare. "Eh?"

Naruto watched Sakura slam the kettle back on the stove and he took a nervous step back. Sakura stayed silent, showing a 'kill-on-the-spot' glare as she prepared the tea for Sasuke, completely ignoring the presence of Naruto. The boy blinked a few times, watching Sakura walk off back towards Sasuke's room

"Eh... Sakura-chan..." Naruto started following her then it finally clicked. "... Sakura-chan, don't ignore me! Gomen nasai! Sakura-chan!"

Sakura kept her gaze forward, an anger vein throbbing on her forehead as she took a step or two into the room before she noticed Sasuke.

'He must be sleeping...' She thought.

She walked over, ignoring Naruto's apologizing whines and she sat next to Sasuke's bed quietly. She then slapped her hand over Naruto's mouth, shushing him and she waited quietly, thinking whether or not to wake up the sleeping boy or deal with the other.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded in a hushed tone. "Sasuke-kun is sick and you know that already! How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet?! He's sleeping..."

"No I'm not..." muttered Sasuke through the pillow.

"Well, if you're up, you may as well drink the tea that I made for you." Sakura said, putting her hands back in her lap.

"I don't want it..." Sasuke muttered again, turning onto his other side so his back was to them.

"Sasuke-kun..."

"I'm not going to repeat myself..." Sasuke answered quite bluntly.

Sakura inhaled sharply, getting on the last of her nerves. "And I'm not going to repeat myself either! Sasuke-kun, until you're up and well again, you're just gonna have to suck it up and do what we tell you!"

Sasuke brushed the pillow off his face slightly, looking back at Sakura out of the corner of his eye silently. Naruto blinked a few times at Sakura then joined in the chiding.

"Hai! Sakura-chan is right, Sasuke! You're acting like a bratty kid!" Naruto said, pointing accusingly at the other.

"Nani..." Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, starting to get annoyed again.

"You're pathetic!" Naruto's impish grin widened at Sasuke's glare. "You can even stand up right and even Kakashi Sensei said that you're in no condition to train! If you're gonna be like that then you may as well admit that I'm better than you and stay sick all day in bed for all we care! Is that what the Uchiha do when they're sick? Sit around and do nothing to make it worse as they bitch at people to go away?"

Sasuke tightened his grip around the handle of the kunai that he had hidden from the gaze of the other two in his room. He closed his eyes for a moment, pondering what he should do as he heard Sakura sigh in defeat. He sat up with much more effort, feeling somewhat weaker than earlier and he held his hands out to Sakura as he kept his gaze to the side.

"Eh?" Naruto blinked a few times, wondering what the other boy was doing.

Sakura blinked as well the smiled, glad that Sasuke was being cooperative at least. She picked up the mug of tea from the night table and handed it over to him. Sasuke looked down at the tea he was given then started to drink it calmly and silently, flinching faintly.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura asked, watching him with worry.

Sasuke looked at the half-finished tea, his eyes narrowing slightly. "..."

"Sasuke-kun...?"

"Che... it's nothing..." He resumed drinking the tea then stopped, looking over the ridge of the mug as he saw Naruto inches from his face. The two glared at each other then Sasuke quickly kicked Naruto off of the edge of the bed. "I'm fine now so go the hell away..."

"Itai!" Naruto grabbed his head as he was kicked off of the bed and hit the floor.

"Quit your whining..." Sasuke said as he handed the mug back to Sakura crossing his arms afterwards.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Sakura asked, noticing Sasuke's flinch.

"I do!" Naruto shot up from the floor, looking hopeful.

"Not you, baka!" Sakura scolded then looked back at Sasuke. "I was talking to Sasuke-kun."

"... No." Sasuke lied, knowing very well that he was in fact hungry.

He already wasn't enjoying the treatment just because he didn't feel too well. He was being treated like a child who had stubbed his toe and his mother was being... well... motherly. He scowled at the thought of food, making a mental note to himself to get his own food as soon as everyone had left him alone... that didn't seem like anytime soon.

"Is anyone home?" A female voice came from the front of the house.

Sasuke shook his head slowly as he automatically knew who it was. Sakura's reaction was another clue from the way that she glared at the closed door, daring the girl to open it and walk in. Naruto, being himself and all, looked clueless as ever as he walked over to the closed door to see who was there.

"Why did I not say that I was asleep..." Sasuke muttered, having a vague idea what was coming next.

The doorknob shifted slightly and then the door was thrown open, revealing who it was... also earning Naruto a stinging face from the all too close acquaintance with the wooden door. Sasuke looked away uninterestedly as Sakura shot up from her chair, as if to guard the Uchiha boy.

"Ino..." The light blond-haired Genin only smirked and invited herself in.

[There we go... Course there are spelling mistakes but I always miss them. Eventually, I'll catch them... just not now. Got stuck a few times on this chapter and it may seem a little fast...but... eh... whatcha gonna do...]