Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own Naruto
"Naruto…" At first, Sasuke's voice registered in Naruto's mind as another dream thrown in among the jumble. He mumbled in his sleep and smacked someone's hand away. "Naruto!" Sasuke's voice hissed again.
"Nnnnnnnmmmmhhh…! Tomorrow Sasuke!" Naruto whined in protest. (At this point Sasuke could not resist an anime sweat drop.)
"Dobe," he said flatly, raising his voice a little.
As if he had shouted in one of his ears, Naruto shot straight up and almost hit Sasuke in the process. He jumped to his feet and quickly spun, nearly tripping by getting his feet twisted up in the blankets. "Wha-? Sasuke…?" It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness as he attempted to kick the tangled knot of blankets away. In a sudden flood, memory came rushing back to him. With a sigh he plopped himself onto his bottom and threw off his sleeping cap.
"What do you want?" Naruto demanded somewhat sleepily. "I promised to leave you alone from now on… my word not enough for you?"
"No, that's not it Naruto…"
"Then what are you doing here?"
Sasuke paused, and seemed to be examining him. Despite the fact that he was more than a little angry at the Uchiha for the moment, Naruto couldn't help but blush. What was Sasuke thinking, sitting there looking at him like that? "I- I changed my mind," Sasuke finally mumbled.
"…Isn't it a little late to be changing your mind?" Naruto questioned, still frowning and trying to suppress a yawn. He glanced over at the window near the bed -it was still pitch black outside- and wondered what time it was.
Sasuke gave a huff. "God, Naruto, I'm sorry, okay?" He paused again, and Naruto took this chance to examine him.
The Uchiha's hair was all a mess, noticeably lacking it's usual smooth perfection. His clothes -he was still wearing the same outfit he had been in when Naruto had last seen him- were wrinkled and lopsided as if he had thrown them off and pulled them on repeatedly, and possibly even slept in them too. And Sasuke's face….
His eyes held a deep worry, despite the frustration he was trying to make apparent. He seemed shaken, anxious beyond words. Sasuke was not used to being nervous, Naruto reminded himself, and that was probably why the Uchiha boy was a little more than jumpy.
Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut at the look on Sasuke's face that obviously said, "Don't you dare ask me to apologize again…." With a wide yawn that made his jaws crack a little bit, Naruto leaned over the bed to pick up his alarm clock. 5:36a.m. "Did you stay up all night Sasuke?" Naruto asked, sitting back up.
Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, and Naruto noticed his hands shaking slightly. "I changed my mind," he repeated with a slight sniff. "Throw me a party. Do whatever you want. Use the mansion, pass out the drinks- I haven't had any of them. I haven't even gone to the mansion yet."
Naruto was about to ask what had caused this sudden change of heart when Sasuke suddenly sneezed and sniffed loudly. Naruto then noticed that not only was Sasuke trembling slightly, he was actually much paler than usual, and his nose was a bright pink. "You haven't been home yet…?" Naruto quoted. "So you've been out in the cold all this time? No wonder…." Sasuke flinched and looked on the point of jumping away when Naruto reached out a hand to brush the Uchiha's face with his fingers. "God Sasuke your skin is like fucking ice."
Sasuke tried to huff again, but it was drowned out in a cough that he tried his best to cover. "I'm fine," he said, ignoring the fact that his voice was cracking slightly.
"You're sick," Naruto pointed out. Sasuke glared at him, but Naruto didn't pay any attention to it. Quickly the blonde boy grabbed one of the blankets he had thrown to the floor, which had somehow mysteriously untangled itself, and draped it around Sasuke's shoulders, pulling it tight so to keep him warm. "And you must be starving. You've hardly had anything to eat all day-"
"I can go days without eating, dobe," Sasuke tried to interrupt.
"-and you'll need something to drink too. Water or milk?"
Sasuke took a deep breath, then said in a steady voice, "Naruto, I'm not sick. Uchiha's don't get sick."
"Water or milk?" Naruto insisted.
Sasuke gave an aggravated sigh and didn't bother to cover the next cough. "I hate milk."
"Water it is then. And I'll fix you some ramen."
"More noodles?" Sasuke asked with a pained expression as Naruto headed for the door.
"Of course," Naruto replied with a foxy grin. "Haven't you heard? Soup is the best thing to eat when you're sick." Sasuke scoffed. "And don't pull any ninja tricks while I'm gone," Naruto warned. "Which means no jumping away out the window. You'd probably just fall and break your neck anyway with how much the cold has eaten away at your chakra by now. Stay here, I'll be back in about three minutes."
Sasuke did not give a reply. Instead, he leaned back against the wall and shut his eyes, sniffing and coughing. Naruto took that as Sasuke's way of saying "whatever" or "okay, go fix the damn noodles, I'm too sick to fuck with you right now anyway." Naruto smirked slightly. He had gotten pretty good at interpreting Uchiha lingo.
As the ramen cooked, Naruto couldn't help but worry a little bit, despite his positive side telling him that Sasuke was strong and would be perfectly alright. But Sasuke was right - Uchiha's didn't get sick… in fact Naruto couldn't remember Sasuke ever being sick before. There's a first time for everything, he reminded himself, but still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was seriously wrong. Of course, he was glad that Sasuke had come back to him and had apologized, but depending on whether the sickness took a turn for the better or the worse, there might not be a party just yet after all. Sick on his birthday, Naruto mused. Man that would suck. I hope it doesn't come to that.
Finally Naruto brought back to his dark room the steaming bowel of noodles and glass of water, and was very relieved to see that Sasuke hadn't tried to leave… in fact it looked as if the boy had hardly moved. Setting down the ramen and water on a nearby dresser, Naruto crawled over to Sasuke -who was, of course, leaning in the far corner of the bed- just to make sure the Uchiha was alright. Naruto couldn't force down the sweet smile when he realized that Sasuke was breathing gently… he had fallen asleep.
Sasuke's nose was pink, his hair was all tangled and sticking up, his clothes were wrinkled, and he was surrounded by two puffy blankets. To put it in simpler terms, the guy was a mess. But for a moment, just a moment, Naruto was glad to see that Sasuke, just like everybody else, was above all, human. On impulse, he held his breath and leaned in close to give the sleeping boy a soft peck on the cheek.
Piping hot ramen on the dresser now all but forgotten, Naruto crawled in beside Sasuke and easily pulled him into a gentle hold. The Uchiha muttered protests, and his brow creased momentarily before he sank back into peaceful, dreamless sleep on Naruto's shoulder.
Sasuke's muscles were tight with worry and sickness, so Naruto took a little of his own blue-red chakra and massaged Sasuke's shoulders and upper arms and neck as tenderly as possible so the boy would not wake. Eventually, Sasuke's whole body relaxed and he let out a soft, contented sigh in his sleep. Naruto's own eyelids drooped as he watched the boy, and wasn't even aware that he was beginning to drift before he was already snoozing soundly with Sasuke wrapped protectively in his arms.
Memory did not come back very swiftly the next morning. Naruto opened his eyes and looked around, wondering why he was leaned against one of the walls with a cold blanket in his lap. Then he saw the ramen bowel over on the dresser and he remembered…. Sasuke! Naruto hopped out of bed and quickly pulled on some decent clothes, fully expecting to have to leave the apartment. Dammit, Sasuke… I swear, if you left as sick as you were, and if you're not dead by now, I'll kill you when I find you!
He gave a half-growl as he yanked open the bedroom door. He took two quick steps before his brain registered the sight before him.
Sasuke looked surprised to see Naruto out in such a rush. The boy was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of milk. His hair was still a mess, and his clothes were still wrinkled; it was obvious that he had just woken up. After a moment of examination, Naruto decided that the Uchiha looked considerably better. Tired, but better. "I thought you didn't like milk," Naruto commented casually as he sat across from Sasuke, as if he had not just been about to dart out of the apartment to go on a full-out rampage.
Sasuke shrugged. "It's supposed to be good for you. And, as I said, Uchiha's aren't supposed to be sick so… I might as well try to make sure it doesn't happen again." He took another sip and made a face. He pushed away the half empty glass. "Enough of that stuff and I might actually grow to like it," he muttered.
"So… you're better?" Naruto asked.
"Apparently." Sasuke made another face. "No more coughing, no more sneezing, and no more… sniffles." He winced at the word. "My chakra level seems back to normal, so I should be alright."
Naruto nodded and went about to making some breakfast. First, he grabbed some bacon and eggs, some frying pans, bowels, spoons, and whatever other implements it took to fix a proper breakfast. "You cook?" Sasuke asked curiously from behind. He sounded surprised.
Naruto snorted. "Of course I cook. I do sometimes -sometimes!- get the urge to eat something other than ramen, you know. Plus I've had to go on missions where the skill was necessary…."
Sasuke suddenly laughed. "Who taught you how to cook?"
The blonde grinned at him from over his shoulder. "Iruka and Sakura." Sasuke scoffed and mumbled something that sounded like "figures."
"Anyway," Naruto continued, "you have to get your strength back up. If it weren't for that I'd probably just fix you some fruitloops or something but…. You haven't eaten in a while, Sasuke, and if you have then it wasn't very much. With an empty stomach and being outside in the cold for so long, well, that's probably what caused you to get so sick."
"You don't have to worry about it," Sasuke muttered.
"The hell I don't," Naruto snorted.
They spent the rest of the morning in silence. The food was quickly prepared and served, and was eaten almost as quickly. Once every bite had been munched down, and both were content with stomachs now full, Naruto was the first to speak. "Happy birthday by the way, Sasuke." He could almost feel the gleam in his blue eyes as they made contact with Sasuke's much darker ones.
Sasuke nodded, turning his head to avoid looking directly at him. "Thanks," he said almost too quietly for Naruto to hear. Then he sighed. "So… what are we doing today?"
Naruto's face broke out with a grin. "Well, practically everyone in the village is expecting a party today at a certain mansion…. Still feeling up for it?"
Sasuke rubbed his forehead and sighed again. "Is this what it takes to make you people happy - driving me crazy?"
Naruto's grin had not faded. "You got it."
"Well… alright then. But… well, just…." He seemed to fumble around for the right words for a moment. "Damn, I can't put any rules down on a party can I? Even one in my own house?"
"Especially one in your own house," Naruto agreed. "Definitely not."
Sasuke groaned, and yet somehow managed to make it seem as though he did not completely hate the idea. "Alright, let's just get this over with."
A/N: sorry it's about half the size of the first chap. I promise I'll try to make the next one longer. Well, hope you like it so far, and hope you keep reading!