Sorry for the wait, I've actually been sick, I missed a couple days of school and here I am at home again. I kept telling myself to write while I was lying around (I couldn't sleep) but I ended up trying to solve a sudoku puzzle. I did write though, but to me this chapter came out a little warped which can be explained by my sickness.

By the way this story has been getting on my nerves maybe it's cause I don't usually write stories like these or it could be because it's the first one I've ever published. Oh well...

Disclaimer: I don't own it... I can pretend though...

Warning: same old stuff...

~Chapter 4~

Kiss on the fingertips-I'm here

Sasuke pulled the cover over his head in an attempt to shut out the sunlight coming from his window and to drown out the irritating voice trying to urge him out of his sleep. Couldn't his brother just leave him alone?

It was silent for moment until a finger poked his back. "Otouto it's time to wake up."

Sasuke growled at this, lifting his cover slightly to glare at Itachi. "It's Sunday" Sasuke grumbled then closed his eyes once more. "Just because it isn't a weekday doesn't mean that I will allow you to stay in bed all day" came Itachi's low emotionless voice. Obviously he wasn't going to cut Sasuke any slack today. But Sasuke still chose to ignore this fact and held on to the small sliver of hope that Itachi would leave him alone.

Two seconds later his sheets were ripped off, no such luck. "Otouto it's one fifty eight in the afternoon." Sasuke growled once more, but seeing as he now had no choice he sat up. He ran a hand through his dark black hair that was slightly tousled from staying in bed so long. "Alright I'm up, now get out."

After slamming the door on his brother's face Sasuke started to get dressed. Searching for a shirt he passed by the window, feeling an unwelcome draft of cool air. The raven grabbed a shirt from his dresser and turned back to the window as he slipped it on. He had forgotten to shut it last night, which could explain the uncomfortable chill he had felt as he'd slept.

Getting an eyeful of the annoyingly bright sunlight Sasuke wrinkled his nose and closed the window, drawing the curtains as well. Then he marched down the stairs still feeling a bit disoriented and made his way to the kitchen.

At the sound of footsteps his mother turned from where she stood by the sink, washing dishes. "Oh Sasuke you're finally awake" she commented in a cheerful voice.

Her son merely nodded in acknowledgement. Just the mention of sleep gave him the urge to yawn but instead he opened the fridge door, scanning the contents quickly before pulling out a small tomato. Mikoto smiled.

Sasuke walked over to stand beside his mother as he rinsed off the small red fruit, then he brought the tomato to his mouth about to bite in to it. Before he could he sneezed, loudly.

This woke Sasuke out of his daze and made Mikoto look over at Sasuke strangely, he just shrugged. Everything would have been fine Itachi hadn't chosen to pop into the kitchen at that moment. "Are you alright Otouto? I heard the flu has been going around lately."

Mikoto's ears pricked up as soon as the words had left Itachi's mouth. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to glare at his interfering older sibling. "I'll kill you" he mouthed, making sure Itachi understood this by glancing pointedly at the rack of knives.

Mikoto turned Sasuke's cheek as she inspected him worriedly, effectively and unintentionally ending the glare match between the two. "Well you do seem to have quite a chill." she said more to herself than anyone else.

Sasuke tried to brush her off subtly. "I'm-" he sneezed "fine..." he finished.

His mother shook her head "No you're not and if this keeps up you definitely won't be going to school. Now go upstairs and rest." she told him in an authoritative tone. Their mother was a fairly gentle person but when she spoke like that there was no disagreeing with her.

Sasuke groaned inwardly. It wasn't that he especially liked school or anything, it just gave him something to do. Though, he admitted to himself as he walked back up the stairs, it would be nice to get away from all those annoying fan girls.

So needless to say Sasuke stayed home in bed all day on Monday. Which was okay, by that time he'd actually begun to feel a little under the weather and it was nice to be able to sleep in for once. The same went with Tuesday.

On Wednesday though he still hadn't gone to school, his mother had made him stay home for Monday and Tuesday, that had been justifiable but for some inane reason she had decided it was best for him to stay home Wednesday. Which was way beyond absurd, so what if he had a slight fever and his throat hurt a little, it wasn't like he talked much anyway.

To make matters worse Fugaku agreed with his wife. Saying Sasuke should get as much rest as possible.

But by Friday Sasuke was completely fed up, yesterday he'd almost convinced his mother to let him go to school but then Itachi had butt in once again and his attempt had failed.

Right now Mikoto was standing in the doorway of the living room, purse in hand. Fugaku had already left moments before, headed off to work. So the only people left in the large house were Itachi, Mikoto, and Sasuke himself.

Mikoto's keys jangled softly as she lifted them off the table, she glanced at the youngest Uchiha. "Well I'll be going...Are you sure you'll be fine alone? I could call Kushina..." Sasuke had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, instead he just shook his head. After all he'd been home by himself for the past four days, and he was nearly fourteen he didn't need a babysitter.

Not that he had anything against Kushina. She was a nice person but she reminded him too much of a certain happy go lucky blonde. She had entirely too much energy for a person her age, a trait that had obviously run in the family. Not to mention she had a fearsome temper...

Mikoto looked uncertain but she nodded slowly and left the house with a wave, followed closely by her eldest son. Sasuke sighed a bit in relief, at least he'd finally have some peace and quiet.

()()()()()()()()()

Sometime in the afternoon after she'd gotten off from work Mikoto decided to go to the supermarket. She wanted to get home to check on Sasuke, but she knew he'd be okay, as independent as he was. No matter how hard she wanted to deny it, her sons were growing up.

Besides Itachi had probably arrived home by now anyway and she really would need groceries if she wanted to make the dinner she'd planned on tonight.

So with that settled Mikoto stepped out of her car, stopping for a second to look for the shopping list she'd written out previously that week. Then her phone rang, sighing she snatched up the small sheet of paper and twisted around slightly to grab her cell phone from her purse.

She flipped it open and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?" there was a pause as she slammed the door of the car and walked along the pavement to the store. "Oh! Hi Naruto"

()()()()()()()()()

Naruto drummed his fingers on his desk, their teacher was late again and he was bored. The rest of the class fared the same, they were either fast asleep or trying to think of ways to occupy their time.

On the other side of the classroom he could see a group of girls crowded together talking about something. Despite the fact that they were so far away he could still hear them. He wondered if all girls their age were that loud or if it was just the ones he knew.

"Yeah I noticed too!" came the "hushed" whispers

"It's been almost a whole week..."

"What if he's really sick?"

"He could be lying in bed deathly ill, in need of someone to take care of him" at this there was a chorus of drawn out sighs and then a voice louder than the rest, that could only belong to a certain pink haired girl wailed. "Not my Sasukeeeee!"

..."Who said he was yours forehead girl!"

Just as Naruto thought, they were talking about that arrogant bastard Sasuke, Naruto too had noticed his absence, it was impossible not to! Even when he was absent everyone was talking about him, especially Sakura.

But now that Naruto thought about it Sasuke had been gone for nearly five days already, this being the fifth day, and he hadn't heard anything, nobody had.

Naruto decided to take matters into his own hands, Sasuke's absence had been bugging the hell out of him. It wasn't like he was worried or anything, he was just frustrated that he had no one to argue with. So after two more minutes of waiting for the teacher to show up. Naruto stood from his seat and walked out of the classroom. What the heck, who was going to stop him anyway? School was nearly over.

He had a plan so he stopped at his house first to make a quick phone call.

()()()()()()()()()()

Before he knew it Naruto found himself standing outside the Uchiha residence knocking on the door. He lifted his hand up to knock a second time but the door swung open at that exact moment to reveal the older of the two Uchiha brothers.

Itachi's face was stoic as usual but Naruto could've sworn he saw an amused glint in his eye. Naruto opened his mouth to speak but before he could Itachi smirked slightly "Otouto is in the living room, I'm sure he'll be happy to know his little Kitsune is checking in on him."

Naruto was in slight shock at the fact that the Itachi's face had formed an actual expression, and that it was so similar to Sasuke's that the older teen's words didn't register. It was until the blonde was halfway down the hall that he spun back around to look at Itachi in confusion, but by then he had disappeared to another part of the house.

He thought about Itachi's last words. "Little...Kitsune...his..lit... Wait?.. WHAT THE HELL Itachi!" The words finally processed in Naruto's brain. What the hell? Now even Itachi was starting to tease him? Calming down he decided he'd ignore it for now, he'd come here for a reason after all.

He made his way to the living room expecting to see Sasuke at the brink of death surrounded by dozens of doctors and nurses. Instead he found a very bored looking Sasuke lying on the couch watching whatever was on the TV screen.

Naruto marched over to stand above him, blocking the raven's view of the television. "What do want dobe?" Sasuke asked forced to look up at Naruto and not looking at all surprised by the blonde's sudden appearance.

"I can't believe this! Do you know how frustrating it is to watch people fawn over you when you're not even there! I called your mom and she told me you got really sick, she made it sound like you were about to die or something and here you are watching TV!" Naruto fumed his voice raising slightly.

Sasuke gave an annoyed sigh "You can tell her that dobe, I barely even coughed and she made me stay home, I'm not exactly enjoying it."

Naruto ignored this comment, he wasn't finished talking. "I haven't argued or yelled at anyone in a week, that's FIVE whole days teme, I thought you might have died or something!" he said stressing the number of days by waving his five fingers in Sasuke's face. He waited for Sasuke's retort, not removing his hand from where it hovered above the other's face.

Sasuke couldn't really explain his actions, having the slender hand so close to his face gave him the urge to slap it away but instead his body acted out on his own and he did something else entirely. He reached out and took a hold of Naruto's wrist before the blonde could react and blew on Naruto's fingers making them curl slightly. "I'm right here" Sasuke said quietly and then just to infuriate the blonde further he pressed the fingers to his lips lightly.

Naruto's bright blue eyes widened, he felt his mind start to become unfocused momentarily. Snapping out of his daze he picked up a pillow from the other side of the couch and threw it at the raven. Of course Sasuke caught it easily. "What the hell is wrong with you? I came here to yell at you so stop trying to get me side tracked!" Naruto yelled trying to ignore the heat that was rushing to his face.

The dark haired teen shrugged from where he continued to lay on the couch. "You thought I was dead there's your proof I'm not , now get out of my house. All your shouting is giving me a headache."

He watched as Naruto didn't move but instead just glared at him silently. Sasuke raised an eyebrow "A staring contest? How childish can you get dobe?" A silence fell over the room neither one of them budging an inch. That was until the front door slammed making Naruto jump.

Mikoto appeared in the living room beaming at them with shopping bags in hand. "It's nice to see you Naruto. I didn't think you'd actually stop by, how thoughtful of you. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

The blonde really wanted to say yes but at the same time he didn't want to have to be in the same house as that stupid bastard of a jerk Sasuke any longer, especially since the smirk the raven was giving him was annoying him to no end. "Ah well... I ca-"

"I'm sure Naruto would love to mother, I've already informed his parents." Itachi stood beside Mikoto. Naruto could have killed both him and Sasuke at that moment.

"Well I guess it's decided then. I'll have dinner ready in a moment, make yourself comfortable Naruto." Mikoto said as she left to go to the kitchen. Naruto just sighed. How was he supposed to do that when he was all alone in the same room with two of the most evil bastardly people he'd ever met. Damn Itachi.

()()()()()()()()()(()

Nevertheless Naruto found himself at the dinner table surrounded by the Uchiha family after that. It was awkward to say the least, though he supposed this was normally how it went in this house. All the Uchiha's were pretty stiff, as far as Naruto knew, save Mikoto, but even she was super polite to everyone. This almost reminded him of that time in grade school when someone had farted rather loudly in the classroom, during the national anthem. No one had said anything for a full five minutes since they were all in a state shock.. and embarrassment.

Naruto still suspected the teacher...

Thinking back to the situation at hand Naruto looked around the table. He wondered if he should say something just to get everyone talking. Surprisingly he didn't need to because at that moment Itachi of all people decided to speak. "So how was your day baby brother?" He asked earning himself a glare from the person in question.

Itachi however seemed unfazed by this. "I'm sure Naruto did his best to nurse you back to health." Sasuke's eye twitched but he remained silent. Itachi turned his attention over to Naruto. "I hope you haven't caught his cold Naruto, your face seems rather red."

This made Mikoto look up at Naruto with a worried expression. She felt Naruto's forehead. "I hope that's not the case, are you feeling alright Naruto?" The blonde nodded vigorously.

Sasuke smirked "We wouldn't want the dobe to have to stay home sick "Naruto kicked Sasuke under the table, hard.

The raven stood up from his chair and glared at the blonde who just watched him innocently. "Ow! What the he-" His father interrupted "Sasuke please refrain from making loud commotions at the dinner table." Fugaku said not looking up from the newspaper he'd been reading. The raven sat back down, glaring at Naruto. "Yes father."

Naruto decided that he liked Sasuke's dad.

After everyone had finished eating Naruto sighed in relief about to stand up. "Why don't you help Sasuke with the dishes Naruto?" Itachi said smoothly and Naruto just stared at him in astonishment. What had he ever done to Itachi to deserve this?

"Itachi don't try to make our guest do chores!" Mikoto scolded. Itachi held his mother's gaze "It's Sasuke's turn to dishes and he'll need help in his condition. I'm sure Naruto would have offered to help anyway."

How was it possible for this guy to make everything sound so reasonable? It was aggravating.

Fortunately for Naruto someone knocked on the front door at that exact moment. Mikoto left the dining room to go answer it. They heard voices and then Mikoto returned followed by Minato. "Look who's here everyone!" Mikoto said waving a hand in Minato's direction. Fugaku looked up from his newspaper to say hello. "Though it's too bad you missed dinner Minato-kun, if I had known you were coming I would have saved some for you." she said with a smile.

Minato smiled back at her. "That's alright I ate out, I just stopped by to pick up Naruto."

Naruto smiled at his dad gratefully. An escape route! He walked over to his father, "Thanks for the dinner everyone, I'll see you later." he said pulling his dad along. Mikoto waved "You're welcome Naruto I wish you could've have stayed longer." Naruto gave her a small smile. He didn't.

He continued to tug his dad to the front door. As they walked down the hall they passed by Sasuke on his way to his room. Naruto felt a sudden agitation. "You'd better be at school Monday teme, believe it!" he shouted at the Uchiha's back. Sasuke snorted in response. With that said Naruto walked through the front door Minato in tow.

"Well someone's in a rush to go home." Minato commented when they got into the car. He looked at his son curiously. "I'm surprised you went over to visit Sasuke, it seems like you too are starting to become friends after all.

Naruto glared out the window at the Uchiha's house. "That jerk is definitely not my friend!"

Heh this chapter really was longer. I can't help but love Itachi.

But now that I think about I really don't feel that motivated right now about this story. Maybe it's just because I'm sick but I feel kinda down. Someone please tell me what's wrong with me because. God! Just writing this is killing me!

...I'm exaggerating I'm going to continue this anyway. Its kinda fun I guess and everyone has there ups and downs (I just have more downs ^ ^)

Review please, if you can. It only takes one button and I think I'd really love some feed back. By the way there will be time skips still but they'll be fairly short after this. If you're confused about the age just ask.

P.S. Sasuke and Naruto are one year apart in this fic.