Chapter IV
Sasuke decided, the next morning, that karma hated him. Maybe it wasn't karma, but someone definitely liked to see him suffer. His morning began with bad and only got worse.
When he rolled out of bed that morning, he had, somehow, accidentally forgotten about the books at the foot of his bed. So with one fell swoop, he knocked every book off, and they then started a domino effect. Of the few hundred books he owned, maybe fifty of them weren't caught in the crossfire, and that was only because his bathroom door was closed. And so he spent his morning grudgingly picking them up.
And then it just so happens that the grocery store by his house was closed, making him walk halfway across town to spend his money. Then on his way back, one of the bags ripped.
Suffice to say, this was not his day.
And the day could only get better; in a couple of hours he would be meeting up with the blonde nuisance. Oh yes, sarcasm was definitely his friend.
The one thing he refused to say, not that he was superstitious at all, but with the way his luck was going, he wasn't about to risk it; saying that nothing else could possibly go wrong. He thought it, hell it seemed like a mantra this morning, but he refused to vocalize those words. With the way his luck was going, a bus, an errant child, or something equally dangerous'd probably hit him.
And even though he didn't say "those words," the "gods" must have heard his thoughts. As he was eating breakfast, he somehow dropped the bottle of milk on his foot. Though luckily not all of the milk spilt out, just most of it. What a waste of money.
But by the time he was locking his door to leave and head for the hospital, he was in a positively foul mood. And though his walk caused him to loose a little steam, he was still radiating a dark aura when he was met with the smiling face of the blonde boy who obviously didn't hold a grudge.
"Good morning, you bastard," he said, absolutely beaming. He obviously felt pretty proud of himself for coming up with such a witty nickname.
Sasuke just grunted, his scowl still in place. He could just feel a migraine coming on from spending an entire day with this little ball of sunshine. But he realized that the sooner they began, the sooner they'll be done, so he ticked his head in the direction of the front doors.
Naruto, understanding what the other was insinuating, just nodded happily and began blathering blithely at his side, leaving little room for a word in edgewise, even if he was so inclined. So Sasuke just endured it as they walked through the building, "following the signs" to the main offices in the back, even though he knew where to go.
"And then I took the ramen… And I ate it!" Naruto finished lamely, but believing he did an amazing job in the retelling of such an epic tale. They came upon the desk they were looking for and Sasuke barely had a moment of silence before Naruto began talking again, though this time thankfully not to him. This time he was talking animatedly to the woman behind the desk, whom Sasuke knew to be Tsunade's assistant, Shizune.
When they had walked up to the desk, with Naruto slightly ahead of Sasuke, Shizune had given Sasuke a curious look; she had never seen the dark-haired boy with someone before. But at the sharp look he gave her, and the blonde boy talking happily, she understood that she wasn't supposed to know him. She was even able to understand the angry look that developed as the boy who introduced himself as Naruto explained that they were here for a school project.
Shizune finally realized why Tsunade had asked to conduct the auxiliary course for this weekend, instead of just asking her or one of the other nurses to do it. She wanted to see how Sasuke was going to handle being so out of control of his future. She just hoped that the older woman didn't let something that the boy didn't want known, accidentally slip, because no matter how angry she could get, she never have the pure rage of an irate teenage boy.
"Oi Uchiha! And Uzumaki," a voice called from down the hall, causing the two mentioned to turn to the voice to see the busty and infamous Tsunade. A glare was directed by the first, and a confused frown from the other.
"Hey…" The confused one looked over the woman. "I think I know you!"
"I should hope so, kid," Tsunade said, completely ignoring the scalding glare coming from the other boy. "Jiraya's an old friend and favourite drinking buddy of mine." She smiled proudly.
"Oh yeah! You're that old hag he talks about!" he replied, not noticing the angry tick of her eye. Sasuke wisely stepped back as Tsunade readied her fist towards the clueless blonde.
And just as he was about to ask why Sasuke had backed away like that, he knew because he became acquainted quite nicely with the floor. A large throbbing red mark appeared on his forehead, where he hit the floor, and rubbed it gingerly, "What was that for? It really hurt!"
Sasuke sighed and supplied the blonde with an answer. "Think about what you say, before you say it." He watched as Naruto frowned and almost snorted when the guy's whole demeanor lightened in recognition. "There you go."
"Heh-heh, oops?" he said, grinning sheepishly. "I thought I had just said that it my head, but I guess not…"
Tsunade looked at him in disbelief as Sasuke quietly snorted to himself. That was the most idiotic thing he'd heard in a long time.
"Anyway, first things first. Let's head to an empty waiting room, goodness knows we have enough of those. We'll also have to wait a few minutes, there are supposed to be two others taking the course," Tsunade finished diplomatically.
At the two boys' nods, she led them to an empty room, told them specifically to "Stay put!" and left to fetch the others.
Oh yeah, today definitely wasn't Sasuke's day.
Half an hour and multiple growls "I don't care" and "None of your business" and Sasuke was at anger level five. Which, it just so happened, was ready to commit a felony, no matter the jail time or likelihood of him getting caught. He could have sworn his ears were bleeding from the sheer volume, pitch, and ability to go on and on from the blonde.
Can't he just give him five minutes of quiet? Was that really too much to ask for?
Apparently it was as Naruto took a deep breath and begun talking again. Sasuke just couldn't understand why he was so curious about a person he didn't know and who obviously didn't want to know him. Naruto was asking question after question about Sasuke and his life, and when he didn't get an answer, he wasn't put off in the least and just asked another question.
And he was starting to grate on Sasuke'slast nerve. But the blonde was saved from sure destruction as the door opened with a bang and Tsunade walked in, followed by two women, probably in their thirties. And they thought it was just so cute that two handsome young men were doing their part in the community and helping out people.
Sasuke just gave Tsunade a very dirty look, letting his irritation with the woman known. The woman, who just gave him a deceptively innocent look in return, walked to the very front of the room where a blackboard stood proudly. She wrote her name on it with a grin. "Welcome to the month of April's volunteer auxiliary course for Konoha county hospital. I am," she pointed to her name sharply, "Nurse Tsunade. I'll be your instructor for the next two hours. And if you listen to me carefully, we'll get alone great!"
"NO! You don't just "take a peek" at someone's private, confidential, medical records!" Tsunade said, restraining the urge to pummel the annoying brat into next week. But she couldn't deal with any more lawsuits this month. Oh the lawsuits...
"Hey!" Naruto said, pointing an enraged finger in the direction of the smirking Uchiha."I don't see you spewing out all the right answers, do I?"
Sasuke gave a short look, as if to say, "It's so obvious," before he answered in monotone, "You take the files wherever they are needed, and under no circumstances are you to even think of looking at them."
Naruto sputtered. "H-how di-did you-?" He composed himself slightly. "Do that?!"
Sasuke deftly held up the packet they were given at the beginning of the class. "Because it's written," he pointed to the first page. "Right here. And it's in big enough font that you'd have to be blind not to see it..." That and it's common sense along with stuff he'd already known from the last time he took the course.
"Thank you, Uchiha. Now Uzumaki," she said as she waited for him to look attentively at her before continuing. "What do you do if something happens in the room your cleaning? For example, the patient starts vomiting blood?"
"Well, I'd go and help the guy...?" he answered nervously.
"EEERRRR! Wrong, you've now contracted HIV. Uchiha?"she asked, looking at the sad excuse for a class. After her little speech, those two ninnies ran from the room with their tails between their legs. Pfft, pansies.
"Call for a doctor, or nurse, and do anything within your power without physically touching them or having their fluids touching you. Like handing them a bucket, for example," he said offhandedly, barely having to think of the answer. He had been in a similar situation, once upon a time. When he was making the beds, a kid began getting sick all over her bed. So Sasuke had to simultaneously call a doctor in and keep the other kids from getting contaminated.
And since he technically wasn't medical personal, they couldn't even tell him what the kid had. It wasn't a big deal though, as later one of the older kids told him it was some rare blood-borne disease. Meaning it was a good thing that he fought his natural instincts to help and do what he was told in case of emergency.
It saved his life once. But now the knowledge was close to breaking his cover.
"You're... You're like a freaking sponge with all that you can remember!" Naruto said, not in the least suspicious, but more in awe. Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly in response. Better the blonde think him smart than learn his secret.
"Yes, yes, Uchiha is a genius, but can we please get on with this? Two hours is definitely not enough to cover all the material needed..." she muttered the last part under her breath. "And at the very end you get to get quizzed, whether we got to that information or not." Tsunade grinned satanically and waited as the children straightened themselves out. Really, was it so much to ask for a little undivided attention nowadays? The disintegration of youth indeed.
"Well," Tsunade began, "You've surprised me. I honestly thought you'd bomb it, what with the answers you've given me throughout this class. I'd say I'll miss you twerps if I thought I could get away with such a lie."
Naruto sighed in relief before the rest of the statement sank in. "Hey!"
Sasuke rubbed his ears. "I think you broke the sound barrier with that one. Or at least reached jet engine decibel levels. Can't you ever, I don't know, be quiet?"
Naruto took a hurt face, though if you looked close enough, you'd notice the mirth swimming in his bright blue eyes. "Nope. You're stuck with me in all my loud glory. These next few weekends are going to be fun!"
"Not quite the word I'd use, not even close," he growled back, his headache growing more intense by the second, as if to mock him.
"Okay, quit yammering. It's time to put my new slaves to work. Now, where to put you..." Her eyes lightened at the brilliant Idea that came to mind, but her hopes were dashed at the menacing look shot in her direction from Sasuke. She sighed, her fun for the day gone, and assigned them out. "Okay then, I'm assigning you to the elderly division; third floor, east wing. Go to the nurses' desk there and wait until someone shows up. They are just going to love you two up there; we've been so short-staffed lately that I'm sure you won't get bored for a moment while your there."
Sasuke nodded and turned on his heel, walking towards the stairwell at the end of the hallway, not coring too much that he was being rude to Tsunade or Naruto.
"Oi! You bastard, way to just leave me!" Naruto yelled as he ran after the retreating back of the cold Uchiha. About halfway there, Naruto turned around and grinned cheekily at the head nurse and raised his hand. " See you later, Old Hag!" And he was off sprinting down the hallway, not waiting to see the tick on Tsunade's forehead grow exponentially before she eventually exploded in an indignant yell and raised fist.
Sasuke turned with a raised brow when the blonde fell into step beside him. "Do you have a death wish, or are you really that stupid?"
And while a normal person in that situation would get offended, Naruto was obviously not a normal person and therefore he just grinned and laughed lightly. "No, I don't have a death wish, but you've got to admit, it's pretty funny to see Tsunade, or anyone for that matter, angry."
Sasuke just scoffed and rolled his eyes, opting for silence to a response like that. Plus, he wouldn't dignify something so dimwitted as that with an answer. They climbed the stairs in, surprising, silence and found the nurses' desk with no problems.
Only problem was, nobody was there. So Sasuke leaned against the desk, keeping a lookout for errant nurses supposed to be there. He had no fear about being here so openly; he never came to this part of the hospital. He was normally on the first floor, west wing, and the nurses from the two divisions tended to never interact.
They didn't wait long. Just a few minutes after their arrival, a harried looking nurse asked them of their purpose. And the woman almost swooned when they told her that they were volunteers, and that they were there to help out.
She quickly put them both to work; mostly making beds and doing really easy things like that. Things that not even four hours in was making the blonde moan and groan about his aching and tired feet. Sasuke,who was used to working so hard, wasn't complaining and found it faintly amusing that Naruto was this out of shape. His pounding headache had almost completely gone away finally, and he had his first weekend free of work in months.
So Sasuke was -almost- in a good mood. By his standards anyway.
Later that day and into the early evening, Sasuke sat peacefully beside a bed, quietly reading a story to the occupant. Naruto had left just an hour earlier, and Sasuke had made reluctant plans to meet at noon the next day.
He was loath to admit that, though he didn't like the blonde, his determination and passion impressed him. People just didn't have that sort of spirit or drive anymore. In a way, he was almost jealous of the carefree attitude the other held; that pure, childish energy.
But hedidn't want to ponder this "acquaintance" any longer. He wanted to be able to get the project over with and be done with the blonde. He didn't even bother to let the little voice in his head breathe the thought that he might be making a friend.
A/N: I liked Tsunade here I don't think this chapter is really "at my standards," but I liked it. Not sure why, but I did. This week has been hell, trying to get all my work in, and actually make time to write. And next week is just going to be worst: finals. And I know I'm not going to do so good, especially in my Latin finals. I'll just need to study, study, study! Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I really appreciate it! And an update at the end of next week, maybe the 20th, if I do well on my finals. 'Cause if I don't, then I may not feel up to writing…
Oh, and anyone who catches the small Death Note reference, you deserve a virtual cookie. I just couldn't resist putting it in!
ALSO: ITTLIG sequel is now out! Read it!