Yay Sasuke is finally waking up! And facing his worst enemy yet... dun dun dun! I didn't think I'd be able to finish the chapter today but here I am past 11pm and full of inspiration. Probably bc one of my gay OTPs in Swedish literature just became canon! Can't believe it. I've been waiting for years. Ah, the happiness knows no bounds.

Anyway, soon we can head into the romance part of the story. I mean, we've all been waiting for it, right? Can't believe it's taken me 18 chapters. What the hell have I been doing up until now? Nobody knows.

Enjoy!

Chapter 18: Waking up

xxx

The distinct uncomfortable feeling in his body was what alerted Sasuke to the fact that he was waking up. He felt heavy, slow, the opposite of the light flowing feeling he'd had before. His limbs felt stiff, too, and he awkwardly shifted to try and find a better position. Licking his dry lips he forced his eyes to start opening, sighing when he had to raise a hand to remove some sleep from there. It would be just his luck if he'd been out for days, and considering how stiff and sore he felt it wasn't impossible.

Peeking through his lashes he could see a hospital room, well that much he had already guessed. He'd also felt Naruto's presence as soon as he was conscious enough to register it, and therefore he didn't bother with being on guard. Judging by the sun's low position from what he could see through the window it had to be early evening, and he ran a tired hand through his hair and relaxed into his pillow. So much for staying in control.

Thinking back on the events before he had evidently blacked out, a frown found its way onto his face and he sent an irritated thought towards Menma. That guy just irked him somehow.

Taking a calming breath through his nose, Sasuke opened his eyes fully to search for a similar blond mop of hair. It took his sleep-befuddled brain a moment to realize why it wasn't as close as he'd expected it to be and also why it hadn't made any noise yet; Naruto was sound asleep in his chair, head lolled back in a way that would definitely be painful when he woke up.

Oh, and he was snoring.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke contemplated leaving him as he was and going to check if he could find someone to discharge him. On the other hand, Naruto looked a complete mess upon closer inspection. There were dark circles underneath his eyes, his hair was greasy and knowing the idiot, he probably hadn't moved far from Sasuke. Which meant that he probably had been out of it for a couple of days.

Running his eyes over tan features, cringing slightly at the string of drool by the corner of his mouth, he couldn't help but feel a sense of helpless concern. Naruto looked so exhausted, much worse than Sasuke felt, and most likely it was his fault. Ever since they arrived Naruto had seemed less energetic somehow, something that had been gnawing at him no matter how much he'd tried to ignore it.

With a frustrated shake of his head, Sasuke realized that the emotions that had flowed freely in that strange place had the audacity to continue in reality as well. He was worried, and he didn't like it one bit.

Leaning over, clicking his tongue when the needles tugged at his arm, Sasuke flicked Naruto's cheek.

"Wake up," he ordered, watching in satisfaction as the other first looked like he was about to object and go back to sleep, then jumped out of the chair and all but landed on top of him.

"Sasuke! You're awake!"

He raised an eyebrow mockingly, but Naruto's grin was huge, blue eyes sparkling with happiness of such an amount that Sasuke almost felt embarrassed. Thankfully he could suppress the feeling without much struggle.

"Dammit bastard what the hell were you thinking?! I told you you had to go to the hospital! And instead I had to carry you here!"

Naruto's happiness had morphed into anger, but Sasuke crossed his arms – as well as he could – and scoffed at him.

Naruto, however, wasn't fooled.

"Apologize!" he yelled, the tip of his finger a mere centimeter from his nose as he pointed at him.

Casually grabbing the finger to remove it from his vision, Sasuke sighed and stared at the light coming in through the window instead.

"He asked for it," he said, expecting another outburst from his friend.

Instead, he felt a hand squeeze his and hold it, as Naruto sucked in a shaky breath.

"It's good you're acting like normal again," Naruto mumbled, eyes downcast when Sasuke turned back to him. "It kinda sucked when you were all over the place like that."

At a loss for words, Sasuke awkwardly stared at Naruto before reclaiming his hand. Of course Naruto had noticed. He just didn't like how the sad look on his face seemed to cut through his chest, as if he felt guilty for making him worry.

"Whatever," he muttered, leaning back against the pillow again.

Apparently feeling a bit awkward too, Naruto weighed on his heels before deciding to sit down, pulling the chair closer to the bed. It had already been close, but now his knees bumped into the edge of it.

"Orochimaru said there was something weird going on with your chakra and hormone levels. How do you feel?"

Sasuke wasn't entirely sure what Naruto meant by hormone levels.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! I don't know what he meant I'm just telling you what he said!"

Now that he thought about it, wasn't hormones something girls suffered from? Kakashi had mentioned it once when he'd complained about Sakura's behavior. She's just suffering from hormones Kakashi had said. Was that it? Sasuke would suddenly start behaving like a lovesick twelve-year-old? That wasn't good. Maybe he should consider staying in this hospital room until he was certain it had passed. It might explain why he'd been thinking that Naruto looked pretty when they'd argued before his spar with Menma though. That was the kind of thoughts you had while suffering from hormones, he supposed. Nothing strange, then.

"I'll go get him, he better explain it now that you're awake!"

Naruto started towards the door, then sent an uneasy look back at Sasuke and after a moment of conflict, created a clone that ran off in his stead.

"I'll survive a minute alone," Sasuke informed him, but Naruto waved him off with a nervous little laugh.

It made Sasuke wonder if hormones were contagious and if maybe he really should insist that Naruto left the room. On the other hand he'd already stayed next to him for so long it was probably too late. The thought of Naruto acting like a lovesick fool was much more entertaining than he himself doing it, he had to admit.

They spent a few minutes waiting after that, Naruto unable to stay still. Sasuke tried to ignore how those tan hands twitched, sometimes resting in Naruto's lap, sometimes on the bed, sometimes fiddling with the sheets as if they needed correcting.

"I changed your bandage," Naruto eventually informed him, in the midst of smoothing out the bed sheet next to Sasuke's left hand.

"Okay."

"Your mark was kind of, umm, changing size."

Sasuke stared at him, confused. Why the hell hadn't he said so from the beginning?

"And you didn't tell me that until now because…?"

"Oh, well, I guess I forgot." Naruto chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I had to give you lots of chakra, too."

Two things hit Sasuke at once. One was that the warm, soothing feeling that took away the pain had been Naruto's chakra, and the other was that at the mention of it, a wave of longing crashed over him.

What. The. Hell.

"It was the only thing that worked!" Naruto yelled, flustered as if he was the one embarrassed, rather than Sasuke should be. "The painkillers didn't, I mean what the hell was up with that!"

"Oh. Well I guess my body mistakes it for poison and tries to get rid of it as fast as possible."

"That's stupid!"

Shrugging, Sasuke stared up at the ceiling and tried to pretend the memory of Naruto's chakra wasn't heating up his body all on its own. Luckily Orochimaru chose that moment to enter the room, practically dragged in there by the clone.

"Hello again," he greeted them with, his smile a lot less creepy than what Sasuke had gotten used to with the snake sannin, which kind of had the effect of being creepy by lacking it. "Did you sleep well?"

"Oh come on, just tell us what was wrong with him!" Naruto groaned, the clone agreeing loudly.

"Yes, alright. Get rid of that one, first," Orochimaru sighed and pointed at the clone. Once Naruto had done as told, he continued. "Sasuke, I'm going to ask you a couple of question, and it's important that you answer them truthfully. Nothing you say will leave your journal, alright? But I can't say what's been happening unless you do."

Staring at him, Sasuke contemplated his options. He didn't trust Orochimaru not to tell anyone about his answers, and Naruto looked like he was about to suffocate from holding his concern back.

"It's fine," he said, and surprisingly didn't feel so bad about it.

"Sasuke-"

"I said it's fine," he repeated, "I won't answer anything I don't want to."

"Let's not waste any time," the medic nin interrupted whatever Naruto's answer would have been with. "Sasuke, have you experienced traumatic events in your past? You don't need to specify."

He nodded, thankful for the last part. He might be feeling fairly good at the moment, but talking about his family wasn't something he ever enjoyed.

"Have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness?"

Sasuke stared at him, not sure what to say. Orochimaru must have noticed his hesitation, because he added another question.

"You do have mental as well as physical exams regularly, right?"

He glanced at Naruto, whose lips were thinned into a tight line.

"I guess not," he replied with, thinking back on Tobirama's explanation for the curse of hatred.

Did that count? But that was all about losing love and turning evil with hatred… Well, in a way that could be considered an illness, he supposed. He hadn't been feeling like himself at all, every decision clouded over by the darkness. If he'd ever been cured of it was another thing entirely.

"I see," Orochimaru mumbled, a contemplative look on his face. "And how are you feeling now, compared to in your past? In general and when thinking about the traumatic events you experienced."

Well, that was an odd question in Sasuke's opinion. Not to mention how annoying it was that people here seemed to be so obsessed with how he felt all the time. No one ever asked that back in his own dimension. Well, besides Naruto and sometimes Sakura.

"I haven't really had time to compare yet," he said, because it was the truth. "But it's strangely easy to talk about it like this."

"Try thinking about something that usually makes you angry," Orochimaru suggested.

Naruto seemed about to protest, but Orochimaru held up a slim hand to hold him back. Frowning, Sasuke reluctantly decided to do as told. He closed his eyes, and imagined someone talking shit about Itachi. He didn't want to pick something worse than that, but there had been a time in his life when the mere thought of someone badmouthing his brother had caused incontrollable anger to threaten to consume him. But it had never been enough, he'd never been angry enough, never strong enough, and it had always left him feeling frustrated that people would never come to understand him.

Even now there was anger simmering inside him, but that was just it. It was only simmering, not boiling. He was angry but he was also able to think rationally, to contemplate his anger and control it. There wasn't much of it, either.

So he tried thinking of something worse. He thought of his fight with Itachi, thought of all the times he'd lied to him, thought of the third Hokage admitting they had forced Itachi into murdering his family, thought of the night he'd found his parents dead…

"Sasuke…"

He hadn't noticed Naruto moving closer until he felt him awkwardly run a thumb along his cheek, wiping off the tears he hadn't noticed running from his eyes. He didn't understand. Why was he crying? He was supposed to be angry, and he gritted his teeth to make it stop but only managed to force down a sob.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked, not enjoying in the slightest how his voice broke a little as the memory of Itachi's last words flashed through his memories like it had happened yesterday.

"Honestly, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with you," Orochimaru told him calmly, his expression thoughtful when Sasuke glared at him through the tears. "Of course, we'll have to do a thorough evaluation later, but it seems to me as if previously, there were certain barriers blocking you from fully experiencing your emotions. Connected to your Sharingan, but that's just a guess. When you first came in we ran some tests, and certain hormone levels were too low, while others were too high. They seem to have been balanced out, somehow."

Sasuke inhaled shakily, pushing Naruto away because honestly he was feeling a bit crowded right now. Drying his tears with the back of his hand, he wondered if that meant he would randomly burst into tears whenever from now on. Nothing about that was appealing to him.

"I've never seen anything like this happening before, but I wouldn't worry if I were you. Of course, emotions can be uncomfortable and not always enjoyable, but they're certainly healthier in their intended doses than bottling things up."

He was starting to suspect that Orochimaru was finding this amusing for some reason, but couldn't bring forth any real force behind his glare.

"Why don't you rest for a bit and do some thinking, and I'll be back later with Tsunade. Okay?"

Another one of those non-creepy but still creepy smiles, and Sasuke found himself alone with Naruto again.

"You okay?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke huffed and sank lower in the bed, trying to disappear through the mattress.

"Are you ever going to stop asking me that?"

"Probably not," Naruto confessed, cheeks slightly red.

"Fucking great."

xxx

"Well?" Tsunade demanded, tapping a pencil against her hospital office desk.

"He's awake," Orochimaru told her, rubbing a hand tiredly over his face. "And stable."

"So our guess was correct?"

"I can't tell yet, but yes, probably. This isn't some mere disease."

Rolling the pencil between her fingers in deep thought, Tsunade took her time replying. Orochimaru would have appreciated a bit more efficiency, considering he'd just worked for twelve hours straight, but of course the Hokage wouldn't appreciate any comments. His pet snake wouldn't appreciate his lateness either, but at this point it was more than used to it.

"So it's safe to assume they aren't going anywhere soon. I don't understand why they had to come here of all places. Unless it is as we think, and they're here to replace our own Ashura and Indra."

"Maybe we're in need of an extra pair."

Heaving a sigh, the fifth Hokage dropped the pencil onto her desk and stretched.

"That would be even worse. I'm not looking forward to something similar happening to us as with my grandfather and Madara. Especially not with the elections coming up. We'll have to tighten security and make sure everyone is in top shape. The hospital, too."

"Of course." He always enjoyed having more work to do. "I'm guessing I'm in charge of their check-ups?"

"Make them every second day. And make sure you get as much information about them as possible. We need to know everything, history, future, weaknesses and strengths."

Sending a sad thought towards his research that would have to be put on hold again, Orochimaru nodded in resignation.

"You know, we could just send them away," he suggested.

"No, I already thought of that, but we need them right where we can see them. And most of all, we need them to care about us. If Sasuke can defeat the kyuubi with just one blow and not even using his Sharingan… I'd hate to have them turn on us."

Silently agreeing, he had to admit he was a little curious to try and figure out the truth about the two young ninja he'd been assigned. They would certainly make for some powerful enemies, and he could only hope they'd been brought there as help rather than forces of destruction.

"Keep them where they are for another hour, and I'll arrange things before talking to them."

"Assuming they can be 'kept'," he mumbled, but turned on his heels to do as told.

Hopefully Naruto would make sure Sasuke stayed put. He didn't seem like the patient type, and Orochimaru was only too used to his patients trying to escape the boredom of waiting to heal properly.

Maybe he should check on them just to be sure.

xxx

"Ughhhh, it's been an hour already! Where's that old hag?!"

"You're the one who said we'd definitely wait."

"Because what else could we do!"

Naruto was by the window, the sun barely peeking up over the horizon now. His hands were shoved into his pockets, and he'd put on his jumpsuit jacket claiming to feel cold. Sasuke wasn't entirely sure why he cared, but there was just something so unappealing about it that he'd caught himself on the verge of asking him to remove it several times the past hour.

"Leave? Not that we have anywhere in particular to go."

"We could go for ramen."

"No."

"What! Why do you hate ramen so much anyway?!"

"I don't hate it, I just don't want to eat it seven days a week. Do you really lack imagination that much that you can't think of anywhere else to go?"

Naruto glared at him, brightly yellow eyebrows furrowed as his lips pursed in annoyance even though they'd had this exact same argument a hundred times before.

"Ramen is the best food in the entire world," he growled, but Sasuke only rolled his eyes.

"You say the same thing every time I cook for you."

He had no idea why he said it, but it felt very satisfying to see Naruto's skin darken as he blushed, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tried to come up with a retort without making it even worse.

"Shut up," he snapped, crossing his arms and huffing. "I can stop saying that if it makes you happier."

It was childish, but Sasuke still didn't like the thought of it.

"You either compliment the food or make your own, dumbass."

"I could totally make my own!"

"Instant ramen doesn't count."

"Why are you being so mean," Naruto whined, stomping over to the bed when the only reply he got was a shrug. "Here I watch over you for three days and feed you my chakra, not eating or sleeping or anything, and all you can do is be mean to me!"

He threw his hands up over his head before letting them fall to his sides. Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke pretended there wasn't a small stir in his chest at the thought of Naruto worrying so much over him that he couldn't eat or sleep. Why would there be a stir anyway? Maybe it was another symptom because of those hormones. He should probably ask Orochimaru to check them again to make sure he didn't miss some of them being too high again. Like that twelve-year-old stalker hormone. Just thinking of it made him almost shiver with disgust.

"Does it really hurt you to say thank you for once? Or maybe apologize for getting yourself sent to the hospital again!"

"I really don't think this was my fault."

"Well whose fault was it then?!"

They stared at each other, and Sasuke recalled a mysterious fireplace and annoying questions, wondering if that was just part of his weird dreams while asleep or if he should maybe tell Naruto about it.

But he only shrugged, because it's not like he knew the answer, and it was better not to worry Naruto about strange old ladies who wanted to talk about sticks. Besides, it's not like Naruto actually expected him to apologize anyway, as he had made clear earlier.

Resigned to waiting for a while longer he made himself more comfortable on the bed, catching himself quirking his lips in amusement when Naruto started muttering about ungrateful bastards and late grannies.

"I can hear you," he commented, and Naruto stuck his tongue out at him. It should have been annoying, but Sasuke was glad that Naruto seemed to have relaxed and acted less serious. It made him feel less on edge, too. "As always you need to work on your insults."

Releasing a loud, dramatic groan, Naruto got on his knees and faceplanted into the mattress.

"I could sleep like this," he mumbled after a few seconds, the words muffled.

"It sounds like she's finally here, though."

Sure enough there were faint clicks of heels in the corridor outside, growing louder before stopping outside their door.

"Good to see you're both still in here," Tsunade said as she stepped inside, closing the door softly behind her. "I'll just check your stats quickly and you'll be good to go."

Naruto perked up at hearing that but remained kneeling on the floor, now with his arms crossed on the mattress.

"So there really isn't anything to worry about anymore?" he asked, smiling brightly when Tsunade made a confirmative sound.

"Well, nothing more than before he collapsed, at least."

"You just had to say that, didn't you…"

She patted Naruto's head as she walked past him to remove Sasuke's IV, efficiently healing his bruised skin. She then proceeded to place two hands on Sasuke's head, closing her eyes and concentrating for maybe two minutes. While he could feel her chakra buzz, he couldn't say it felt strange. Not that he enjoyed having someone look into his brain, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"How long have you had your Sharingan?" she asked after finishing, stepping back to observe him.

"Since I was twelve."

Tsunade looked surprised but didn't question the age.

"And the Mangekyo?"

"Sixteen."

She nodded, placing one hand over his eyes instead. Again her chakra gently invaded his body, almost tickling him.

"Try using it," she told him, stepping back again. When he gave her a look filled with doubt, she merely urged him on with a wave of her hand. "It should be fine."

Staring at the opposite wall, he summoned chakra into his eyeballs and focused on the pressure that always followed, enhancing his vision.

It was just that, the usual pressure wouldn't come. Instead he could feel a slight tightness behind his eyes, not uncomfortable per se but certainly not what he expected.

"Did it work?" he asked, unsure even though his sight was exactly like how his Sharingan usually made it.

"Yeah!" Naruto breathed out, staring intently at him.

It was then Sasuke remembered that ever since he'd received the Rinnegan, his Sharingan would just automatically switch into Mangekyo in his right eye, and Rinnegan in his left.

"Just the Sharingan?"

"U-huh. That's kinda weird, isn't it?"

Concentrating again, Sasuke switched to Mangekyo, again feeling the lack of painful pressure he was used to. It was strange, because he mostly used it while fighting or training, so it's not like he ever reflected too deeply on the feeling of it. Still, it was definitely supposed to feel less comfortable. Usually his jaw would tense and he'd have to shake off a slight nausea right after the switch was made, but right now he felt perfectly fine. He felt like he could keep it up for hours.

"You can stop now, I think it's safe to assume it does work. Try summoning your sage chakra instead."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Naruto asked, but Sasuke had already brought it forth, feeling it respond eagerly as it flowed into his left hand.

"I guess it was just a temporary thing?"

Naruto was gaping at him, snapping his mouth shut when Sasuke gave him a look.

"Then what the hell was all that fainting for, huh?!"

"You try it," he told Naruto, who bit his lip in a nervous gesture.

Frowning, Naruto held his right hand in front of him and summoned his chakra, but immediately let out a pained shout and jumped backwards.

"Fuck, that hurt!"

"Seems like it's only Sasuke who got his powers back," Tsunade observed calmly, stretching a hand out to help Naruto up before checking his wrist for damage.

"You don't sound surprised," Sasuke noted, not too happy that Naruto's wrist seemed like it had suffered again.

"Try not to use it too much tonight," she advised Naruto after she was done healing him, turning to Sasuke. "Nothing about you two surprises me anymore. Surprises are for those who don't prepare in advance."

"Lame," Naruto whispered, and Sasuke couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping his mouth, slapping a hand over it in horror once he realized what had happened.

Naruto stared in wide-eyed shock at him, too, but Tsunade didn't seem like she had noticed at all.

"Anyway, Sasuke, you'll continue staying with Mikoto and Fugaku, and you'll help out at the police headquarters, so listen to Fugaku's instructions. Naruto, I've found a job for you as well as another place to stay, since there's not enough room with Menma needing his room back."

It took a moment or two before Sasuke could shake off his stupor and process her words.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. If you're going to stay here for god knows how long, you might as well earn your stay. You're free to discuss your schedules, but keep in mind you're basically freeloaders. We'll help you, of course, but we can't just let you leech off of tax money. Understand?"

They both nodded, Naruto seeming to have ignored Sasuke's little accident in favor of listening to Tsunade.

"And what's my job?"

"You know Iruka? He's running the orphanage here, you'll help him with whatever he needs, such as playing with the kids and going grocery shopping. There's an empty apartment in the staff building, so you can stay there. There aren't a lot of kids currently so it'll just be the two of you. Is that alright?"

Naruto blinked at her, appearing to be at a loss for words. Sasuke couldn't blame him considering what he knew of Naruto's back story with Iruka, and how they'd both grown up alone just like him.

"Um, sure," he eventually agreed, and Tsunade left them after giving him the address and making sure Sasuke was ready to leave.

"So," Naruto said, looking as awed as he previously had once they were alone again. "You-"

"Don't."

"But-"

"Not a word."

Naruto was about to object but thought better of it when Sasuke got up and headed for the door, catching up to him instead in the corridor. They walked in silence until they got outside, Sasuke breathing in the fresh evening air with a sense of relief.

"But Sasuke I can't believe you just-"

"I said not a word," he hissed threateningly, because there was just no way in hell he'd just laughed at one of the idiot's stupid jokes.

He blamed it on the hormones.

Sasuke vs Hormones? Naruto as a professional babysitter? When will the madness end?!

Just kidding, it'll all be fine. I'm just gonna make Sasuke suffer first... ah yes, it's going to be amazing. Stay tuned for the obligatory meeting between Sasuke and Charasuke!