"Many a man is praised for his reserve and so-called shyness when he is simply too proud to risk making a fool of himself."-Joseph Priestley

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Emiko had silently followed the nurse, ignoring her questioning peeks and constant rambling. 'My head hurts,' she declared in her thoughts. 'She's annoying.' The previously quiet nurse was continuing to chat away with Emiko, oblivious to the look of annoyance on the young teen's voice.

'I wonder how many carrots I could stick in her mouth.' At the reference to carrots her mind made a unsurprising twist to carrots. 'Haha, Uchiha Bunny suit I forgot about that.' She contented to amuse herself while tuning out the blaring radio of a nurse.

Without her noticing the nurse had slowed, eventually halting before a door and turning to find only empty space. Her brow furrowed and she turned in the other direction to see Emiko still walking, her eyes were glazed and she was apparently in her own little world.

As the nurse opened her mouth to call the brunette back an empty bed appeared from the room, rolling gently along the ground as it moved into Emiko's path. The nurse wasn't quite sure what happened next, as she had closed her eyes to avoid watching but the sounds provided enough. Emiko let out a loud yell of shock, accompanied ever gracefully by the loud crash as the bed was toppled onto its side. The contents lying on the mattress scattered to the floor making an orchestra of sound as they skidded in different directions.

Emiko groaned and pushed a pillow from her face. The nurse who had been pushing the bed appeared above her, a slightly steamed look upon her face. Emiko managed to gather herself quickly under the gaze and attempted to gather some of the spilt supplies.

'Ah screw it,' Emiko thought hurriedly, her face already flushed from heavy embarrassment. By now half of the occupants of the hall had poked out to see what had caused the commotion.

"Gomen." She muttered and made a hurried dash for the nurse who was watching her with high amusement upon her face. 'Geez carrots would be handy right now,' Emiko let out a small yelp as she almost tripped. The blanket from the mattress had somehow caught on her foot and Flushing even worse, if possible, under all the stares Emiko desperately yanked her foot from the folds before half running towards the nurse.

As Emiko approached the room, the nurse couldn't help but giggle at the sight. She turned to open the door for the teen when she noticed it was already open, its inhabitant now leaning against the doorframe, his charcoal colored eyes focused on Emiko as she rushed towards his room.

"Shut up Uchiha." Emiko wasted no time and shoved him inside before following and slamming the door. Once inside Emiko leaned against the door, her face still red from humiliation. Slowly she slid to the floor and pulled her legs to her before she turned her gaze to the Uchiha who was watching her, his trade mark smirk upon his face and cruel amusement at her embarrassment evident.

"I said shut it." She hated being humiliated. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes, trying to find a sense of inner tranquility.

"Are you trying to meditate?" Sasuke finally asked, the sense of mockery easily traceable in his voice.

"Iie. If I was I wouldn't be trying to around you." She replied shortly although her voice wasn't as high strung and her features relaxed. The heat from her face receeded and she opened her eyes before standing up.

"So why am I here oh annoying rabbit one?" She decided to include the rabbit comment at the last minute and couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Sasuke open his mouth but pause upon hearing rabbit. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Did that fall rattle the sanity from your head?" He asked and Emiko shook her head, grinning now.

"No the rest of that fell out a long time ago."

"When?"

"When I decided to try and be your friend." Emiko's grin widened and to her surprise a smirk came to Sasuke's face, his eyes flickering for a second of amusement.

"I would've guessed it was when you're mother dropped you on your head as a baby." He replied smoothly and Emiko's grin dropped only to be replaced by a blank stare.

"Not funny Uchiha!" She remarked, inwardly happy he actually said something. "Besides you're one to judge. Who knows how many wires were unscrewed in that head of yours when you were a kid." Before she could enjoy the satisfaction of her come back Sasuke spoke.

"Wires don't unscrew."

"Shut up Uchiha they could!" She spoke at a normal volume but a sense of mock indignation was running through her tone.

"Iie they couldn't." Sasuke's arms folded before him and Emiko watched as his smirk widened. 'Is he actually enjoying this?' Emiko wondered, slightly taken aback by the idea of the Uchiha feeling something positive. She wasn't entirely sure what to call their exchange, teasing most likely.

"If you wouldn't contradict me then they would!" She retorted quickly before she quickly jogged and jumped on his hospital bed. Sasuke took hold of the silence and stood calmly in the room. It was a comfortable silence, but if anyone was asked Emiko could make anything comfortable. He glanced at her only to see her writing something on a napkin that had come with his dinner.

Her cheek rested against the palm of her hand and her elbow rested on the small table hovering over the hospital bed. Her eyes were slightly dazed as her hand flitted over the paper in short and brisk movements.

Curiosity got the better of him and he walked closer, trying to not show interest as he peered over her shoulder. She was writing something and seemed oblivious to him as he leaned in closer. Before he could stop himself his first thought fled his mouth.

"Your hand writing is terrible." The mood cracked and Emiko sighed before allowing her head to thud upon the table.

"Uchiha you're terrible." She muttered and he almost chuckled at her dull voice. It kind of reminded him of her lazy friend, the Nara kid. Deciding the moment was over and he was in a surprising mood to tick her off he quickly placed his hand on her side and in a swift movement shoved her from the bed.

Emiko's eyes widened faintly as she felt Sasuke's hand on her side and she immediately wondered what the hell he was doing. Unfortunately she was answered unpleasantly as she was pushed off the edge of the bed and felt the familiar welcoming embrace of the hospital floor as she landed with a loud smack. Her side ached as she sat up, glaring at the Uchiha who was now sitting in her place eating his jello quietly.

As her mouth opened to reprimand him her sight caught. It was barely noticeable through his shirt(he had changed back into his clothes) but she could see a glimpse of something. It looked like a red bump and after a few seconds she realized she was staring at his chest.

'That must be where he was hit…' Immediately she hopped to her feet and before the Uchiha knew it she smacked him on the back of the head, almost causing him to choke on his jello.

"Baka!" She reprimanded calmly before she turned on her heel and sat in a chair. Sasuke wasn't one to yell and he was forced to send her an angry and questioning glare as he made sure he didn't suffocate on jello.

"Why the hell did you let yourself get hit with that needle?" Emiko wasn't loud in volume, her voice was surprisingly calm but her arms were crossed and her eyes were stern as she looked at him to make sure he understood she wasn't pleased with his decision.

"How's your foot?" Emiko blinked, taken aback by the question. With a sigh she decided to just answer and began to think over the condition of her foot. It wasn't something she often thought about, the memories still caused her stomach to jolt and her throat to tighten. It stung but not always noticeably.

"It's fine." She answered hastily, not willing to tell Sasuke of her brief attacks of pain that would render her to her knees. 'I can handle it on my own.'

"Fine. Then show me." Sasuke stated as he tossed his empty jello cup into the trash bag. Emiko looked from the trashcan to him before she shook her head.

"You're the one in the hospital, not me. I'm supposed to be worrying over you." She pointed out. 'Which I was you jerk,' she mentally added but brushed away the comment. She was hoping the statement would distract him. In truth her best cleaning efforts didn't seem to do much good, she was constantly making sure to clean out the dirt but when she only had water and soap she felt little confidence in her disinfecting job.

Occasionally she would discovered a thick dark liquid seeping from the wound but she always cleaned it, insisting to herself that it was nothing she couldn't handle with a little more time spent on cleaning the cut. She wasn't going to take anyone else's help. She hated hindering people and the thought of having to acknowledge she needed someone's help to clean her own cuts was something she wasn't going to accept lightly.

"Kigurashi just show me the cut." Sasuke ordered, his black eyes latching onto her gaze as he made sure she understood his demand.

"Jerk." Emiko sighed irritably and carefully pulled off her shoe, followed by her sock. She prayed it would look normal. 'Try and clean it just in case,' she thought and lifted her foot so she could inspect it. Before she had the chance Sasuke grabbed her ankle and knelt down to examine the gash.

Seconds passed and Emiko felt her discomfort rise with each tick of the wall clock. Shifting in her seat she attempted to pry her foot from Sasuke's grasp but only felt his grip tighten considerably.

"Your cleaning abilities are terrible." He stated calmly as though he wasn't surprised. Truthfully he wasn't, something like the injury she had required at least hydrogen peroxide and probably medication to prevent infection.

"Uchiha, they're fine. It's just taking longer than it would with all sorts of pil-" Emiko's protest was cut short as she gasped for breath. Sasuke had slammed her injured heel on the floor the mixture of intense, sharp pain and chill from the floor trapped the air in her lungs and her eyes shut.

Sasuke opened his mouth to explain his action when Emiko's hand flew to hit him in the back of the head. He caught her wrist, quickly being accustomed to her reactions and released it where it fell to her side.

"You're going to need antibiotics." He stated calmly and gently released her ankle. Immediately Emiko jerked her foot from the floor and began to carefully redress it. Her head shook, causing her brown locks to become even more tangled than before.

"Iie, doctors and medicines cost money. And I can do it on my own." Emiko fumbled with her shoe laces and despite Sasuke's faint admiration at her determination to do it alone he quickly grabbed her ankle once again and banged it on the floor.

Tears painfully fought to rise to her eyes but she squeezed her eyes shut to the world and tried desperately to push it all away. Unconsciously she dropped her shoe and Sasuke took the opportunity to throw it onto the hospital bed. It would at least buy him some time to force her to see reason.

Seconds passed and Sasuke waited patiently, observing her features before she dropped her head. Her arms were wrapped around her and he wondered how painful it was. If it really caused her so much pain it was most likely badly infected and the infection could easily spread to the rest of her body. Finally he noticed her take a deep breath and lift her head, her eyes were the first things he saw and he immediately grabbed her gaze.

"Kigurashi you're being childish-"

"Iie, I'm not. Doctors and medicines are expensive. I'm not like you Uchiha." The contempt of her situation seemed to unwillingly rise in her voice. "I don't have tons of money to go to fancy high end schools or go to college." The words were spat onto the ground and left their, the anger in the words seemed to seep out and the atmosphere felt heavy.

"Shut up." Sasuke replied harshly, his eyes hardened as he continued to hold both her ankle at her eyes. "Don't blame your lack of money for why you go to a shitty school and why you can't go to college. Or why you can't get simple medications to prevent you from dying." The thought of no longer having anyone to bother made him slightly nervous but he didn't allow the feeling to live long. He wasn't angered much by her words, more her resignation. She was blaming the world for her position in it but seemed to do nothing to escape what she had been put into.

Emiko's mismatched eyes darted from his and she tried once again to wretch her ankle from his grip.

"Let go Uchiha I'm going home now." She ordered, the subtle anger in her tone was an underlying warning. She couldn't believe he had basically just yelled at her for being poor. 'He's an arrogant jerk.' She thought furiously and attempted to shove him away in hopes he would release her. His gaze never left her face as he tried to wear her down and she made conscious notes to not look up.

Abruptly she felt the cool air rush around her ankle as he released her. With a curt nod she stood and strode the few paces to the door.

"Kigurashi, you're forgetting a shoe." Her wonderfully planned cold shoulder crumbled as she looked to her feet to see he was right. 'Damn…'

Sasuke watched from his bed, purposefully sitting on the shoe as Emiko hobbled through the room searching everywhere imaginable for her lost shoe. It was only 10 minutes later that Emiko asked Sasuke to move so she could search the bed.

"No." Was his simplistic response. His face was as neutral as ever although Emiko couldn't see as she refused to look him in the eye.

"Uchiha…get off." She made an effort to push him off but he stubbornly managed to stay put like a stubborn mule with his heels dug in. "You're sitting on it aren't you!" The brunette growled as she finally grabbed a chance and matched his gaze.

'Man, he's creepy when he's blank.' His face looked as though it was carved of ancient stone, emotion weathered from his features and human qualities eroded by age. 'I like him more when he's actually alive.' She never monitored the words in her thoughts and focused on moving the stubborn Sasuke from his bed.

Realizing she would have to do something drastic she hopped onto the bed and grabbed his shoulders. Sasuke quickly studied her hands in question and Emiko took her opportunity as she began to shake him back and forth by his shoulders. For a moment it seemed it would agitate him enough to get him to leave but her hope was dashed to pieces as she felt strong grips on her wrists, halting the shaking.

"Get off my shoe!" Emiko protested and tried to jerk around the Uchiha. The force of Emiko's tugging forced them closer but Emiko failed to notice as she leaned in and tried to grasp for the shoe which was resting peacefully on his pillow.

'This should be easier then since he isn't actually sitting on it.' Her fingertips grazed the ends when she felt Sasuke's warm breath on her neck and froze. It was a second but it was all he needed and he forcefully pushed her to the end of the bed.

Finally the Uchiha acknowledged she wasn't going to give up any time soon, which was hinted as she lunged at him, attempting to knock him over in her quest to retrieve her shoe. Instead of waiting for her to tire he waited a moment and hit her on the back of the head. Instantaneously she fell limp and he smirked in triumph at the brunette now knocked out on his bed.

With a line of light insults in his mind he quietly walked from the room to find a doctor.

A/n: I almost had it go longer but I decided not to. I kinda like this chapter. It was funny in the beginning I wondered if I should make them kiss whether accidentally or not. (I enjoyed putting in the part where it seemed like they might) But to me they need just a little bit more time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to write. .

-shyshi

p.s. the next update will take a while because I'll be writing it differently from the other's and I want to make sure it's good enough for me to post.