Sorry about the long wait, but, as always, I've had loads of work to do. (sigh)
But on a happier note…it's the Easter holidays soon
Hope you like
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Chapter Six
As soon as they got home, Sasuke had tried to sneak away from his mother, but she, unfortunately for him, saw this and dragged him into the kitchen to do the unpacking for her. He gave her a glare before moving about the kitchen doing her chores. She bustled about the kitchen, making a cheese and tomato sandwich. Naruto was watching the pair from near the doorway, fiddling with the end of the sleeve of Sasuke's jumper. When Mikoto had finished making the sandwich, she placed it on the surface that was nearest to him. She fixed him with a steady gaze and ordered,
"Eat! You're nothing but skin and bones, we need to put a little bit of meat on you." She then smiled kindly at him before moving to help Sasuke. Naruto slowly picked up the sandwich and stared at it for a few minutes before taking a bite. It tasted good. He never had much when he was living with his father… and when he did it was always something small and always things like McDonalds… Not the healthiest of diets.
He knew that Mikoto was keeping an eye on him out of the corner of her eyes, so he made sure to eat it all, although it was a bit of a struggle. When he had finished, Mikoto came over and took the plate from him.
"Sasuke, go show Naru-chan yours and his room. Got that!"
"Hn." Was Sasuke's reply before moving out of the room, dragging the blonde by the arm. Sasuke's behaviour confused Naruto, ever since the… incident with his father, Sasuke acted completely different towards him. Maybe because Mikoto had adopted him and Sasuke wanted to be on good terms… maybe, the raven haired teen confused Naruto and he couldn't put his finger on the reason why…
"Oi, you listening Dobe?"
Naruto jumped and looked at Sasuke blankly. Sasuke sighed and said,
"I repeat… This is my brothers room on the left…don't go in there if you ever want to live… believe me I tried… and my parents room is around the corner…and this is my…our… room." Sasuke opened the door and pushed Naruto into the room. Naruto looked around curiously. There was a double bunk bed on the far wall, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers near the bed. In the corner near the door there was a T.V connected to an X-box 360. Near the T.V was a desk that had a high tech computer with a flat LCD screen and a neat pile of books. Naruto spotted a door that led into the bathroom.
Sasuke dumped Naruto's bag on the floor near the door and walked over to his desk, placing his own bag on the desk surface. He looked at Naruto and said,
"You can only stay in this room if you keep it clean… I don't want to sleep in a messy room. Got that?"
Naruto shrugged, which meant an affirmative. Sasuke nodded,
"Good."
There was an awkward silence in the room as the two boys stared at each other. Their staring contest was broken, however, when Mikoto called them downstairs.
Naruto followed the dark haired teen down the stairs and into the living room. Mikoto smiled at them and said,
"I need to change your bandages Naru-chan. Come and sit here with me." Naruto obediently went and sat beside her on the sofa. She smiled and removed Sasuke's jumper from his slim frame and folded it neatly, placing it on the coffee table next to her, which had several boxes of bandages in a neat pile. She removed his t-shirt as well and started to remove the bandages that covered his torso and arms. Naruto could clearly see Sasuke wince occasionally before standing up and going into the kitchen.
Naruto sighed and sat their patiently as Mikoto dressed his wounds which will take another few of weeks to heal due to the severity of his malnutrition. Mikoto made a few disapproving sounds as she twitched the last bandage over his last wound. Just then, Sasuke walked in with two steaming mugs. He placed one in front of Naruto and then settled in one of the armchairs.
Naruto picked up the mug and looked in it curiously. His nose twitched as he smelt hot chocolate. He took a sip and smiled, it tasted really nice.
"Thanks teme." He said.
"Whatever dobe."
Mikoto smiled and picked up the slightly blooded bandages and walking out of the room. Naruto sat there happily sipping at the hot chocolate, liking the way it warmed him. When he had finished, he set it down on the table and then picked up his t-shirt from the table, putting it back on. He yawned; feeling tired all of a sudden. Sasuke absently took his mug and went into the kitchen, leaving him alone. He sat there, trying hard to stay awake. He then felt a hand on his forehead and he blinked, looking into Mikoto's dark eyes filled with concern.
"I think you should go to bed. I'll wake you up for supper. Sasuke, take Naru-chan to bed for me please."
Sasuke sighed and led the blonde up the stairs again.
"Top or bottom bunk?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at Naruto.
"Erm… can I have the top?"
Sasuke shrugged, which Naruto took as a 'yes'. Sasuke watched as Naruto settled under the covers and fall into a deep sleep. Sasuke frowned, seeing how peaceful the blonde looked when he was asleep. He reached out and brushed some of the blonde strands away from his face. Naruto murmured something and curled into a tight ball. Sasuke smiled and then decided to leave the blonde before his mother started to get suspicious.
He came into the living room to see that his father and brother were home.
"Is Naru-chan asleep?" Mikoto asked. Sasuke nodded.
"How is he?" Fuguko asked. Mikoto sighed and said,
"The doctor said that he is severely underweight and malnourished. He told me to give him small meals once every two hours to get him used to eating regularly. The doctor told me that he may have possibly been days at a time with no food, and then when he did eat, it wasn't much. I'm surprised the poor boy has lasted this long."
Itachi nodded and took a sip of his tea, looking at Sasuke in a calculating manner. Itachi then smirked and turned away. Sasuke scowled, but shrugged it off, thinking it another of his brother's weird habits.
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A few hours later, Mikoto called from the kitchen,
"Sasuke, go wake Naru-chan. Suppers ready."
"Hai, okaa-san." Sasuke sighed and went upstairs. He went to the bunk bed and looked at Naruto's sleeping form. He sighed and reached out. He grabbed the blonde's shoulder and shook it roughly. Naruto gave a groan and stirred, opening his eyes to pout at Sasuke. Sasuke fought the urge to laugh.
"Oi, blondie, supper."
Naruto frowned and mumbled,
"I'm not hungry…I only just ate."
"Yea, a few hours ago. Doctors orders are to feed you every few hours, so get out of bed."
Naruto grumbled and pushed back the covers while rubbing his eyes in a cute manner. He slowly climbed down the ladder. Sasuke watched the blonde as they went downstairs and into the dining room. Naruto was sat in between Sasuke and Mikoto. Naruto was looking nervously at Fuguko and Itachi. Mikoto just smiled sweetly at him and introduced them to him. He shyly said a 'Hello' but otherwise did not speak to them.
Mikoto placed a plate of sushi in front of him and he sat there staring at it. He didn't feel hungry…he'd only just eaten. He sighed and picked a piece up before putting it in his mouth and chewing slowly. He liked it…the only problem was, was that he wasn't hungry.
"Try and eat as much as you can Naru-chan. If you eat more, you'll heal faster."
Naruto nodded and slowly ate another piece. He only was able to eat half of what was in front of before he felt bloated and pushed his plate away regretfully. Mikoto smiled kindly at him and started to clear the table as Fuguko and Itachi stood up and made their way into the living room. Sasuke stood up as well and asked,
"Do you want more hot chocolate? We have plenty."
"Please…" Naruto said before deciding to follow the other teen into the kitchen. Mikoto was in their placing the cutlery into the dishwasher. When that was done she, too, went into the living room, giving Naruto a small hug as she passed him. Naruto really liked Sasuke's mother. She was so nice and caring, but she seemed strict. But Naruto like the hugs more then anything since he had received none…well, not that he could remember. He didn't have a mother since she had died giving birth to him…maybe his father took out his anger on him for his wife's death.
"Oi, dobe!"
Naruto blinked and looked at Sasuke who was looking at him with a small frown.
"What?"
"You've been standing there spaced out for five minutes. Your chocolates over there." Sasuke said and pointing to the counter. Naruto took a sip of the hot liquid, burning his tongue slightly. He smiled at the elder teen and said,
"Thanks teme. You make nice hot chocolate."
Sasuke looked away and mumbled something that Naruto couldn't hear.
"What was that teme?" He asked.
"Nothing. Come on, let's go sit down." Sasuke replied, going into the living room and sitting on the sofa, Naruto settling beside him.
He didn't listen to the others as they talked away about unimportant things… he was just so tired. He looked into the remains of his hot chocolate for a little while before finishing it and placing the now empty mug in his lap. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling himself drop off to sleep. He would tell Sasuke how sleepy he was, but he hadn't the energy to tell the raven haired teen. Today had been very tiring on him and all he wanted to do was sleep…and soon he felt the blessed darkness surround him.
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Sasuke jumped when he felt a small pressure on his shoulder. He looked down at the source and blinked. It was Naruto. The little blonde was fast asleep with head on Sasuke's shoulder…not that Sasuke minded…
With a clunk, the empty mug that was lying in the blonde's lap fell onto the floor, which attracted the attention of the rest of Sasuke's family. Mikoto smiled and said,
"He's so cute when he's sleeping!"
Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. Itachi's lip twitched in amusement.
"Itachi, take him to bed. The poor child's had such a long day."
Itachi sighed and stood up, approaching the couple on the sofa. He carefully picked Naruto up and walked out of the room, to emerge a few minutes later.
"How long until he's healthy again?" Fuguko asked. Mikoto seemed to think about it and said,
"Several weeks. We have to let the cuts heal before he can go back to school, so he won't be going back for a few weeks to say the least. And if we manage it right, he will also gain weight and nutrients. We'll keep a close eye on him."
"Hn."
"Oh, don't be like that. Since when have we had such a cute boy in the house? Well, I mean, Sasuke and Itachi were cute when they were young, but look at them now. What happened to them?"
"They've grown into men…"
"Oh, I'm not to sure about that… sometimes I'm not to sure about you either dear."
Sasuke snorted and Itachi smirked. One for their mother…
Sasuke frowned. It was the middle of the night and he had suddenly woken up, but why? The answer came apparent when he heard a small whimper. He frowned and slid off the bed. He climbed the ladder to check on Naruto and frowned.
The blonde was tossing and turning in his sleep and muttering this like 'Please d-don't! I'm sorry!'
This made Sasuke's frown turn into a scowl. He didn't like seeing his blonde like this, so he reached out and roughly shook his dobe awake. Naruto gave a startled yelp and sat straight in the bed, panting heavily. He then blinked and looked at Sasuke, who was watching him intently.
"What's the matter dobe?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shivered and wiped his hair out of his face as it was sticking to him due to the fact that he was sweating.
"I-I had a dream…"
"I can see that, what was it about?"
Naruto looked at his lap and said,
"It doesn't matter."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Do you want me to go and tell my mother?"
"Erm…"
"Just tell me."
"It was nothing special… just some memories of when I was younger is all…"
Sasuke grunted. He then placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and gently made the blonde lie back.
"Go back to sleep. It's the middle of the night."
"Okay…"
Sasuke watched as Naruto's eyes slowly closed and listened as his breathing evened out. Sasuke sighed and got back into bed, wrapping himself tightly in his covers.
He looked at the clock and frowned. 3:38. Damn. He always hated waking up during the night as he always felt more tired the next morning. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep. Him, Naruto and Mikoto were going shopping tomorrow since Naruto hardly had any clothes. Sasuke guessed that his mother just wanted to dress his Naru-chan up and talk about how cute he was. Sasuke yawned and wiped thought from his mind so that he could go back to sleep.
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(yawn) there…I hope you like. I need to go to bed I'm so tired. Se ya!