A/N: for those of you who have stuck with me this far, first I'd like to say THANK YOU! You're awesome. Second, this fic is going to be pretty long – around 10 chapters or something. So it won't be over any time soon! But again, chapters are kind of short. And sorry that there isn't any more Shika or Hinata in this chapter. Don't worry, it'll come back!
Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and the poem belongs to Fran Walsh, but the fic is mine
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With a sigh you turn away,
With a deepening heart, no more words to say.
You will find that the world has changed forever.
And the trees are now turning from green to gold,
And the sun is now fading.
I wish I could hold you
Closer.
- Fran Walsh
Chapter 3 – Tension
Naruto and Tsunade moved their hands over Sasuke's bruised arms, chakra glowing blue as it bled into his skin. Kakashi sat at the end of the hospital bed, watching anxiously. He had already used up most of his chakra. All he could do was wait until the Uchiha was able to be moved to the hospital wing.
The copy-ninja looked out the window. Everything was completely black. The sun had set and all stains of light had been swallowed in the gloom. Suddenly, Kakashi's head snapped back to look at the unconscious Sasuke. Naruto had noticed it too—the Uchiha's eyes were flickering open.
The Hokage and the blonde ninja paused as Sasuke opened his eyes. He tried to sit up, but Naruto took him firmly by the shoulders and lowered him back onto the pillow. The dark-haired ninja struggled at first, but stern looks from his sensei and the Hokage discouraged his efforts.
Tsunade put a hand on the Uchiha's arm. "Your muscles were torn badly and your arms and hands were burned and bruised, but you are almost completely healed now. Your healing went this quickly thanks to your team-mate here."
Sasuke glared murderously up at Naruto, who grinned uneasily and put his arms behind his head.
Tsunade coughed to get their attention. "We still need to finish healing you, Sasuke, so be patient."
Sasuke gazed angrily up at his rival as the blonde ninja took his arm again, moving his hand over it as he concentrated chakra in his palm. Naruto tried to ignore the Uchiha's stare, but Sasuke wouldn't look away.
Naruto kept his eyes downcast, focusing on the healing jutsu, but he found that this was also distracting. For the first time, the blonde ninja noticed how soft his rival's skin was. He faltered, blushing at the feeling of his hand against Sasuke's arm. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve, replacing his look of concentration with one of boredom. I can't look worried, I'm not worried, I don't care about this stupid Uchiha, I don't care if he get's hurt . . . Naruto tried to clear his mind, but he realized with anger that the idea of Sasuke being in any more pain put his stomach in turmoil.
Sasuke was still staring at Naruto, determined not to show any emotion besides disgust. The feeling of Naruto's gentle hands on his arm was torturing the poor Uchiha. He gritted his teeth, angrier than ever at his weakness. Naruto healing me . . . I never thought of anything more humiliating . . . now he knows I'm weak, he knows . . . he knows I'm worthless. He looks disdainful! To him, I'm just something to take care of, to protect . . . For a second, Sasuke remembered that he wouldn't mind being protected if he had Naruto's love or even just Naruto's acceptance. The Uchiha closed his eyes and growled in annoyance.
"There, you're done." the Fifth Hokage announced, taking her hands off the dark-haired ninja's other arm.
Sasuke opened his eyes and sat up in bed. It was then that he realized his shirt was gone. He blushed with embarrassment. Sliding his feet over the edge of the hospital bed, he got up, leaning on the wall for support. Suddenly, the Uchiha's legs shook and his vision swam before his eyes. He stumbled, barely catching himself against the wall.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto rushed over to hold the Uchiha in his arms, supporting the embarrassed ninja in his embrace. Sasuke shivered at the touch and pushed his rival away angrily, falling to the floor with a grimace. "Get away from me, Naruto!" the dark-haired ninja snarled in a rough whisper.
Naruto glared down at Sasuke, lips slightly parted over his clenched teeth. Kakashi and Tsunade rolled their eyes at the angry ninjas before them, who were still glaring hatefully at each other. The Hokage dragged the Uchiha to his feet, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder. "I need to take Sasuke to the hospital wing," she told the other two ninja. "Kakashi, bring that basket." Tsunade pointed to a basket she had filled with bandages and ointment. "Naruto, help me with Sasuke."
The Uchiha in question wrenched his shoulder out of Tsunade's grasp. "I don't need any help!" he spat, scowling at Naruto. The dark-haired ninja coughed and then straightened, stalking towards the door and flinging it open.
Kakashi, Naruto and Tsunade followed the angry ninja down the hallway. Tsunade stopped and pointed to a door. "This room will do."
Sasuke turned around and crossed his arms over his bare chest. "I don't need to spend the night here. I'm leaving."
Kakashi lowered his visible eyebrow with worry, muttering to himself.
Naruto clenched his fists and dashed after the Uchiha, standing in his way and poking a finger at the air in front of his face. "You can't leave. Don't you understand?! You need to rest! You hurt YOURSELF! And I'm not letting you out of my sight."
Sasuke put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and tried to shove him out of the way, but his rival merely took his wrist and pulled him into his arms, picking him up and carrying him back to the door of the room. Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. If Sasuke had gotten away from the three of them, he would have hurt himself even more. The copy-ninja opened the door to the room and held it back for Naruto and Tsunade.
Sasuke growled, struggling to escape from Naruto's arms, but the Uchiha stopped as coughs shook his body. Naruto softened his hold, looking down with worry into his eyes. He set the boy down on the bed, arranging the pillows under his midnight-black hair. The blonde ninja turned back to his sensei and the Hokage. "Why is he coughing, Grandma Tsunade? Kakashi-sensei?" The look of worry in Naruto's eyes softened the Hokage's heart.
Tsunade sat down on the side of the bed and placed a hand on Sasuke's chest. She closed her eyes briefly and turned around to face the other two ninja. "There's something I missed. It seems that the center of his chakra network was strained as well. This isn't good. This isn't good at all! I'm surprised he hasn't started coughing up blood."
Kakashi sat down in a chair by the bed, his visible eyebrow furrowed in alarm. Naruto looked horrified. "Do something, Grandma Tsunade! Do something QUICKLY!!" he wrung his hands and paced restlessly as Tsunade concentrated chakra in both the palms of her hands and placed them on the middle of the Uchiha's stomach.
Suddenly, the Fifth Hokage gasped. The blue glow of her chakra had disappeared. Naruto spun around.
"What is it, Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi asked with a sense of foreboding.
"I'm out of chakra!"
"WHAT?" Naruto's eyes were as big as bowls of ramen.
"I must have used up all my chakra on the healing we did before!" the Hokage explained in exasperation.
"Oh no! What can we do?!" Naruto exclaimed melodramatically, holding his head in his hands in panic.
Kakashi stood up and put a calming hand on his student's shoulder. "Naruto, you'll have to heal Sasuke—you know the healing jutsu and that's all you need."
Naruto mouth fell open as his sensei's words hit him. "Me?!" he asked.
Kakashi nodded impatiently. "Look, we don't have much time, Naruto!"
Tsunade moved away from the side of the bed to make room for the young blonde ninja. Naruto sat down and placed a cautious hand on Sasuke's stomach. The Uchiha shuddered at his touch, looking away as a faint tinge of pink crept into his cheeks. Naruto concentrated chakra in his palm and pressed down on the ninja's soft skin.
Tsunade and Kakashi watched anxiously as the blonde ninja worked, wincing as Sasuke's chest began to heave with coughs. Naruto immediately wrapped his arms around the Uchiha and pulled him into a sitting position. Sasuke's arms intuitively circled his rival's neck as he clung to the blonde ninja for support.
The Uchiha's breathing gradually quieted. Naruto could feel Sasuke's heart beating against his. The wounded ninja was staring straight ahead, trying to convince himself that he couldn't feel the warmth of Naruto's hands around his body. He shivered as the blonde ninja lowered him slowly back into the bed.
Naruto turned his head to look up at his sensei and the Hokage. "He shouldn't be lying down—we need to prop him up." The three ninja moved the pillows behind Sasuke, raising his upper body.
Naruto finished healing the dark-haired ninja and Tsunade took the bandages out of the basket and sat down on the side of the bed, wrapping the white cloth around Sasuke's stomach. The Uchiha's arms no longer looked purple with bruises and his palms where white with new skin. Nonetheless, the Hokage smoothed ointment on his hands and bandaged his wrists and forearms.
She stood up and turned to the other two ninja. "Sasuke's injuries have been completely healed but I still want you, Naruto, to stay and keep watch over him."
Kakashi nodded at Tsunade in agreement.
"Huh?" Naruto tipped his head to the side. "Why does he need to be watched? I thought he was healed now."
Kakashi looked down at the Uchiha. He motioned for the other ninja to follow him out into the hall. Once outside, the copy-ninja turned to them. "Sasuke hurt himself because he thinks that he's . . . he thinks he's not strong enough. He wants himself to be stronger, so he pushed himself to his limit. There's no reason for us to believe that his feelings have changed. We need to be careful. I don't want Sasuke to hurt himself again."
Naruto's eyes widened. Sasuke feels worthless? But . . . that's ridiculous . . . he's stronger than . . . everyone. The blonde ninja looked down. I'm the worthless one— I'm the one who needs to prove himself!
Naruto clenched his teeth, but then paused, remembering . . . I don't want Sasuke to hurt himself again . . .
Kakashi's words echoed in his mind.
His sensei placed a hand on his shoulder. "We need you to stay and watch Sasuke, Naruto. As the Hokage, Tsunade can't afford to lose sleep and I'm leaving on an important mission tonight."
"What about Sakura? Couldn't she do it?" an embarrassed Naruto pleaded. The idea of being stuck in a room with Sasuke all night made him nervous.
Kakashi shook his head. "Sakura is . . . busy."
"Busy?"
"Ehhh . . . yeah . . . um, remember when you first started healing Sasuke and I went off to see if I could find her?" Naruto nodded. His sensei had gone to find the pink-haired kunoichi at one point because the girl would be able to help them, unlike other medic ninjas who would be too busy working at the hospital. "Well, she was having an important conversation. I didn't want to interrupt."
"What was it about?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
Kakashi fluttered his eyelashes, placed a hand over his heart, and said in a high voice, "Oh Lee! I love you! Will you be mine forever?!" The ninja folded his arms and raised his visible eyebrow. "Yeah, of course she said more stuff too . . . I didn't want to interrupt them . . . it would have been kind of awkward."
Tsunade smiled, laughing a little. Naruto squinched up his face, wincing visibly. "Oh. Yeah. Um, okay, I guess I'll stay with Sasuke then. I would not want to interrupt Sakura in the middle of making out with Lee!" he explained, shaking his head vigorously. "She'd kill me a thousand times over."
The Hokage turned to him, laughing slightly. "Well, thank you for staying with Sasuke, Naruto. We'll see you tomorrow then!" She turned and walked away down the hallway with Kakashi. "Goodnight!" she called to Naruto, disappearing around the corner.
The blonde ninja took a deep breath and opened the door to Sasuke's room.
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Naruto opened the door to the hospital room, preparing himself for the verbal beating he was about to get from Sasuke. Sure enough, the Uchiha's angry voice burst out as soon as he saw his rival.
"NARUTO! What the hell are you doing here again? Why don't you just go away for once and leave me in peace?!" the dark-haired ninja seethed.
Naruto closed the door behind him and crossed his arms, glaring back at Sasuke. "I have to stay and make sure you don't need anything. You're still in bad shape, you know."
Sasuke growled with anger, trying to sit up. He gasped in pain and fell back on the pillows, chest heaving with the effort. Naruto's eyes widened anxiously, but he turned his back on the Uchiha, suppressing the urge to hold Sasuke in his arms.
I don't care about him . . . I don't . . .
Sasuke cursed as flickers of pain ran through his chest, turning on his side to look out the window into the darkness. He tried to ignore his rival, who was sitting down in the chair by his bedside. Naruto started humming a tune and tapping his feet on the floor.
"SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled, hitting the pillows in anger.
Naruto shut up but glared in resentment.
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It was late at night and everything was silent. Naruto didn't remember falling asleep, but he knew he had once he woke with a start. He had slipped down from the chair he had been sitting in while he slept. His elbow now rested on the seat, his body sprawled across the cold stone of the room's floor.
The blonde ninja got up sleepily, massaging the stiffness out of his back. He looked over at the bed where Sasuke was sleeping, lids closed and hair spread over the pillows. The covers came up to the Uchiha's waist but the pale skin of his chest was bare. Naruto smiled as he studied the sleeping form of his rival. The dark-haired ninja glowed faintly in the moonlight that fell softly through the window, the curves and angles of his body highlighted in the faint illumination.
Naruto realized that he had unconsciously walked closer to the sleeping ninja. He was startled out of his daze as Sasuke turned over, face contorted as he muttered loudly in his sleep.
"Itachi!" the Uchiha murmured, clenching his fists. Naruto backed away from the dark-haired ninja in alarm.
"Why . . . WHY . . . my own brother . . ." the sleeping ninja whispered.
Naruto twitched. Suddenly, he had the strange desire to comfort Sasuke for some reason. The funny thing was he'd imagined Sasuke saying the exact words the Uchiha had just uttered in his sleep, wondering if the Sasuke really had nightmares. Naruto had laughed at the thought. But now, he realized that it was far from funny.
The blonde ninja decided that it didn't matter and climbed into bed, putting his arms around Sasuke's shoulders. Naruto held the sleeping ninja until he quieted and lay still, breathing gently.
He looked down at the Uchiha, moving his hands farther around the boy's body and snuggling closer. Damn it . . . I think I might kind of like him, Naruto realized in horror. No, he corrected himself, I really love the bastard, don't I? He hid his face in Sasuke's dark hair as a furious blush spread across his cheeks.
I guess tomorrow's the perfect day to tell him then . . . because tomorrow's Valentine's Day, dattebayo! Naruto hugged the dark-haired ninja again and let himself fall asleep like that—with his arms around his rival.
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