Chapter 4:
"This again...you've haven't gotten rid of your love of alcohol, haven't you...?" The young physician lets out a sigh as he removes his delicate hands from his patient. One young ordinary man and the young master of the Uchiha clan could be seen in the dimly-lit room, which was filled with the wretched smell of dust.
In the corner of the room which was much larger than what people would normally call a bedroom, there was an expensive looking bed, a man undergoing treatment and physician conducting it. There was also what appeared to be a servant watching the whole thing.
"The bottle is my friend, it is no less than a friend like you. It has stood by me much longer then even you, Neji-kun."
Sasuke had bared his chest for Neji to observed him. He hasn't been feeling himself ever since that tragic incident. He spoke unapologetic to Neji, almost as if angry at him.
"Sasuke-kun..." Neji said, a worried look on his face, "Your body only looks well because of the medicine I've given you. However, if you continue to drink too much then what you could normally handle, the treatment will become meaningless."
He looks at Sasuke in his eyes, pleadingly, "...Trust in my judgement. Refrain from drinking."
Sasuke closes his eyes, thinking about this carefully. He then speaks, "I thank you...though, only for the sentiment."
He then looks at his servant standing in the back, silent as a fox, hiding her identity perfectly, "...Ino. Another glass. Put water in it slightly, that way, Neji-kun can relax."
Ino looks a little worried, holding the bottle of wine in her hand, "Are you sure Sasuke?" she switches glances to the doctor and her master quite evenly. Afraid of who she will offend and obey. She then looks at the ground, hearing no answer from Sasuke, she nods her head and carries her orders out faithfully.
Neji gives a sigh once more, watching the red liquid fill the wine glass in Sasuke's hand. There was a smell filling up the room.
...This sweet, poisonous aroma felt as though it melted the heart, if not, the soul itself. It was the smell of that venomous red wine that Sasuke could not part ways with.
Sasuke grabs the freshly filled cup and looks at the physician with his cold, dead eyes, "Neji-kun...you are my close friend and we known each other for a very long time. I am grateful for what you done to keep me working for this long."
Neji grunts, feeling the pain fill his heart, just like how the bottle of wine filled Sasuke's cup, "I have done nothing...ever since the incident. You have not litsen to an ounce of my advice as your physician."
Sasuke leans his head backwards, resting against the cusion of his bed, "Hahahaha...and you never listened when I begged you to kill Sakura...It seems we are even."
Ino cuts into the conversation with her head bowed so low, "Master..." Ino didn't want to pour the wine, but she had to and she did. Sasuke's grateful to her as he bows her head despite his role as master, "Thank you..." he then looks back at Neji, "I wouldn't die if I ran out your medicine, but I would've died if I ran out of this.
Sasuke ignores Neji's last resigned look as he leans the cup backwards, washing it's horrible contains into his worn out tastebuds. He finishes this and then finally sets the empty cup on the table in front of Neji. He isn't done talking to him just yet.
"Neji. Be honest with me. How long will it take for Sakura to remember everything."
Neji reclines slightly further back, swallowing hard, "Well now...How short must I make it if it would stop you from drinking?" Neji has really given up now. Then he finally speaks to Sasuke as another glass is poured for Sasuke.
"In the rate she's going...she doesn't have much time left before she remembers everything." Neji replied with a soft whisper, hoping Sasuke was too drunk to hear anything.
Sasuke catches on and looks at Neji with a stern look in his eyes, "What precisely do you mean by that?"
Neji ignores Sasuke this time and reaches for a board game under his bed. Neji isn't smiling, but he does have a nostalgic expression fitted on his face, "Let's discuss it over a game of chess. You have always beaten me by checkmate, but you've never cornered my king."
Neji sets the pieces up and looks at Sasuke, awaiting him to make the first move. Sasuke smiles slightly and looks at the pieces on the chess board. It's awkwardly fixed already to the last stage. Neji's memory is quite top notch. The black rook and bishop were cutting deep into the enemy's lines.
The match had already been beaten. The king is already trapped and cornered, there is no way Neji could win. Even an amatuer like Naruto could see this game is over and done with.
The reason why their both okay with having this game fixed like this is because they've been playing the same game for over several years. When Neji first became Sasuke's physician, he brought a chess board over to try and win Sasuke's happiness back. They would make a single move each everytime Neji would check up on him.
Neji was hoping, at first, that Sasuke would be too depressed and quit, announcing him the winner for the first time. These were not words from a physician, but more so of an old friend.
Neji closes his eyes with his hands behind his back, "If you were a normal patient. I would ask you to make a will..."
Sasuke snickers, looking bitterly at Neji, "And what is a will for...Neji-kun? Words on a piece of paper of how I want my name scattered into a million parts?"
Neji calmly opens his eyes slowly, shaking his head, "No, that's not it at all...as the word says, it is a will for future generations to see your mark. I'm not talking about your death will...I am talking about your will of fire."
Sasuke's face turns sour, "Will of fire nonsense. I almost hope you were talking about my death will..."
"You will not get anywhere in this world unless you walk..." Neji replies, feeling bitterly sad for his long time friend.
"I walk quite fine..."
"I beg to differ...you still have unfinished business with Sakura, don't you." The painful subject rides the bumps against Sasuke's spine. He hangs his head in the shadows, "Naruto will take care of it." Neji smiles, "And what if he can't?"
Sasuke grunts before turning away from Neji, but Neji would be one step ahead and jump in front of Sasuke, "Don't run away from your will...you love Sakura don't you?"
"I do not!" Sasuke's voice bellows, making Ino twitch slightly.
"I could see it in your face. You should not lie to your physician..." Neji said, trapping Sasuke just like how Sasuke trapped his king in the game of chess. Sasuke stands up and pushes Neji off by force, "I will lie to any physician in this world or the next!" he grabs his cup of wine and drains it in his body as if throwing trash inside a waste bin. Neji slaps the cup from Sasuke's hand and grips his hand forearm until he is looking directly at him.
"Then do not lie to your friend..." Neji said in a soft whisper. He looks at Sasuke once more, almost glaring. "Tell me again...do you still love Sakura?" Sasuke pauses for a while, but finally speaks, "I...do..."
Neji then smiles and releases his grip, only to place it directly on Sasuke's shoulders, "Then let me help you...we can win her back."