A/N: : P … Done with this chapter, and just one left!
Chapter IX
Sasuke's week passed fairly uneventfully and all too soon it was the weekend and time for his and Naruto's final volunteer session at the hospital. The thought alone saddened him more than he would ever have thought it could.
The blonde was less of an annoyance now, if that was even possible.
Maybe annoy wasn't quite the right word, he mused to himself that Saturday late morning while still lying in bed, but much less intense than he was upon their first encounter. Less vocal, maybe.
He thought back on their very first confrontation in high school with a sardonic smile over how things can change so drastically, so quickly.
Sasuke woke up in a foul mood. He miraculously slept through his first alarm and had no time to prepare for the day, only barely able to rummage through his meager amount of boxes for clean clothes. He was even forced to run the entire way to the school if he was to have time to get his schedule before school actually started.
As soon as he got situated in his first period class, not even two minutes before class was supposed to start, a group of kids converged around his desk. An icy glare left more than one of them slightly apprehensive, but the ring leader, a blonde boy with way too much energy for so early in the morning, was not to be put down so quickly.
He shoved his hand into Sasuke's face, obviously wanting him to shake it. "Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, are you new here?"
Sasuke had felt his lip unconsciously curl and the glare he held intensified tenfold. The teen, Naruto, faltered slightly, and let his hand drop when it was clear that Sasuke wouldn't be shaking it. "Obviously," Sasuke said in a belittling tone of voice.
A couple of kids giggled and Naruto's smile dropped quicker than a blink, being replaced by an angry scowl. "Hey! I'm just trying to be nice, since you're new and all!" he cried indignantly, clearly not understanding why someone would be so mean.
If it was possible, Sasuke's glare darkened, yet still retaining all he emotionlessness as a blank stare. But the message was sent all the same – back off. A pink haired girl, with interest and attraction evident in her gaze, tugged on Naruto's arm, "C'mon, the bell just rang and the teacher is ready to start her lesson. You don't want to get into trouble, do you?"
Reason seemed to penetrate the determination to fight, to challenge those who challenged him. "Ba-bastard! I'll-" He was cut off before he could continue with the threat from a voice behind him.
"You'll what, Mr. Uzumaki?" the teacher asked darkly, the bad relations between the two evident in the momentary flash of terror in Naruto's eyes.
"Nothing," he said dejectedly and sat sullenly in his seat, casting an irritated glare at Sasuke who responded in kind.
"Tch… Idiot," Sasuke said, loud enough only for him to hear, the animosity between the two growing, though those would be some of the last words said to Naruto by Sasuke in a few years.
Sasuke wondered what happened. What did he do wrong to change Naruto's opinion of him so radically? When had his cover slipped so much? Or maybe, just maybe, it was just a twist of fate, a "second chance", that Naruto had decided in lieu or having an unbearably uncomfortable time with their current project.
The thought that he was just toying with him and his feelings didn't last long. Naruto was, in no way, that good of an actor, not when Sasuke was such a master himself. They had apparently called a truce; one that Sasuke was hesitant to break.
This hated hesitancy came from the realization that, despite being intense and annoying, he didn't hate Naruto like he thought he did. He actually liked him, against all odds. He never meant for anything like this to happen, to let the defenses he had put up to keep others at bay fall so easily.
His first ever, honest to god, friend. Someone who had no obligation to care. Someone he had not obligation to care about. Someone-
He abruptly cut off those heavy thoughts and threw the covers off of him, knocking a couple of books over in the process. He looked blankly at them for a minute before saying blandly, "I don't think I could care less…"
He ran a hand through messy hair before deciding a shower would be necessary. He meandered to the bathroom, stripped, and sighed when the hot water hit his back. He relaxed for a bit, did the cleaning thing, then turned the water cold to help him wake up better. It worked, if the yelp and quick exit were of any indication, so he shook the droplet of water from his hair, wrapping a towel around his waist and looking in the mirror before him.
His unruly hair, for once, lay flat, though he knew it wouldn't stay that way for long. It was growing out, however, so the spikes were just a little less intense, but at least it wasn't quite as unruly as Naruto's blond mess he called hair.
He brushed his teeth in silence and then got dressed in the same manner. He ate some toast quickly and tied up the laces of his shoes, making a mental note of the state of his sneakers and to think about getting a new pair. Grabbing his keys and wallet, he shut the door firmly behind him and set off for the hospital, unconcerned he was running a little late.
Little did he know that if he'd been early, he would have been able to prevent the happenings that followed.
"Thank you for finally showing up, Uchiha," Tsunade said, scoldingly sarcastic for it not even being noon.
Sasuke looked momentarily apologetic, and nodded a return greeting to Naruto, who was standing beside the busty woman. "Sorry," he said casually, not sounding particularly sorry, or elaborating.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Fine, be that way. I was just about to tell Naruto what your final duties will be for today. I want you to go over to pediatrics and do whatever they need you to."
Sasuke's eyes widened before he could stop them, nonchalance left far behind. Panic set in but soon turned over to anger he was barely able to contain. Through clenched teeth, he questioned, "Because…?"
"We're short staffed at the moment," she replied, lying through her teeth. The apologetic look she gave him didn't fool him in the slightest – she planned this. While Naruto gazed on nonplussed, Sasuke was unable to show quite how displeased he was. He had never before been so inclined to hit a woman than he felt at this moment of time, but stopped himself at the remembrance of how hard she hits back.
"Fine," he said in a clipped tone, motioning for her to lead the way while shoving his shaking fists into his pockets. Tsunade turned around and walked quickly for their destination, looking back to keep an eye on the Uchiha to make sure he didn't catch her off guard.
Naruto looked over at Sasuke, who was silently fuming, and voiced his concern. "Oi! Are you okay? What are you so angry about?" he whispered behind his hand like a kid would when telling a secret.
Sasuke didn't think that he could keep his voice under control so instead of answering, he forced all emotions off his face and shook his head, indicating a negative.
Naruto answered with a dubious look, but let it alone - Sasuke still looked like he really didn't want to talk about it.
All too soon, they stopped at the bright doors leading to the pediatric ward and Tsunade turned around, looking guiltily at Sasuke, wanting to spill the beans. But before she could utter a sound, Sasuke spoke, startling the two blondes. "It was Kakashi, wasn't it?" he spoke coldly, not a trace of the previous good mood represented. His eyes were partially closed and it looked like he was standing with great restraint, like a tiger, agitated in a cage, ready to pounce at the first sign of light.
"Ahh…" she opened her mouth to refute, but changed her mind midway. "For the most part, yeah, the whole thing was his idea. The hospital, your partner, and finally pediatrics today. I dunno why he was so adamant about it, or why he wanted me to do it."
"What was in it for you? You must have gotten something out of this deal," he snapped, at his wits end about everything.
"I'll…" she hesitated. "Tell you later, alright?"
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with." 'I'm going to kill Kakashi,' he thought but didn't add. He pushed open the door, grabbed the completely lost blonde by the scruff of his neck and signed his fate.
At first, when they walked through the doors, Naruto lost the confused look, replacing it with an interested look. But it soon became confused again when everyone, the nurses and other volunteers, seemed to know Sasuke.
And when he asked Sasuke about it, all he received was a short, "Later," and silence would again reign. If it wasn't weird enough having all these people know the emotionless Uchiha, it got even weirder when they entered the chronic illness ward.
All the kids seemed to know him too! Not only that, but the cold and unfeeling teen actually knew them and acted friendly and kind, unknown emotions to Naruto, coming from Sasuke that it.
He had no idea what was going on, and all that he knew was that he really wanted to. The longer they worked, the more his curiosity grew, until he could barely restrain himself. But he held it in, knowing by how tense Sasuke's shoulders were, this was not the time to be asking questions. He may be the definition of a "dumb blonde" but he does have some self-preservation skills, no matter what anyone else says
By the time their last hour was over, Naruto was ready to burst from all the questions he had, while Sasuke looked ready to commit a felony by murder. Tsunade was silent as she lead them to an empty break room, then closed the door behind them.
Sasuke walked around the table, purposely putting some space between himself and both Naruto and Tsunade, for their own safety they knew. "Explain, Tsunade. Now," he said quietly, threat clear in his cold tone.
Said woman, intimidated but unwilling to show it, sat as gracefully as she could. "First thing's first. I didn't want to participate in this. At first anyway, but then it got interesting…" she trailed off but the murderous look she received from Sasuke got her talking again, this time on task. "Anyway, it started with my weekly get together with Jiraiya. I had seen Kakashi earlier that day and he said he wanted to talk with me, so I invited him.
"And as it turns out, he is obnoxiously good at poker, and I quickly lost all the money I had, and then some. But instead of insisting for it, he said that I could just do a favour for him. I was just a bit tipsy and so I foolishly agreed to it. It was to let some of his students volunteer here, when I normally don't let kids to.
"Then he told me the kid was going to be you and someone else. I was intrigued, I'll admit to it. I wanted to know your purpose, I guess, like why you spend so much time here," she finished, curiosity almost burning in her eyes. Beside her sat Naruto who was looking almost as curious as she did, nodding his head vigorously in agreement to her statement.
Sasuke sat in silence for so long, they were sure that he wouldn't answer. But when he began, it was in a much quieter voice than his normal quiet. "I'm enrolled as an Epidemiology major. My focus will be chronic diseases. I have been volunteering in local hospitals since I was eleven, in their pediatric chronic disease ward."
He fell silent and the two blondes wondered where he was going with all of this. Naruto closely observed Sasuke, seeing if he could figure anything out by looks. With both hands resting on the table, slight tremors running through them and hair obscuring his face, that was looking at his hands, the standing teen was impossible to read.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, with hands stilled, Sasuke spoke in a hollowed, empty tone. "When I was younger, my parents were heavy smokers. A pack a day habit, starting long before I was born. My lungs were weakened because of that, my older brother's even more so." Naruto's eyes shot open even wider. Older brother?!
"They died not long after my eighth birthday – car crash by a drunk driver, instant death." At the incredulous looks because of the blankness of his tone from the two sitting occupants of the room, that he could just feel, Sasuke shrugged, continuing to look down at his hands, hiding his face away from the prying eyes. "I've made my peace with it. But the damage to our lungs had been done. And since my brother was born with weaker lungs, he was susceptible to disease. He was diagnosed Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease, which left him suffering. He'd get better, worse, then better again. Then, a little over a year later, he caught pneumonia."
Tsunade gasped, understanding the implications of a lung infection to a sufferer of COPD. Sasuke nodded dully. "Which was, figuratively and literally, the kiss of death for him. I watched as he slowly suffocated to death with no family or friends, besides myself. Which is why I do what I do now."
The silence that followed that depressing confession was absolute, that a pin drop would sound like a lion's roar. Tsunade was stunned with this revelation, but his dedication to his work and visiting the kids even when he didn't have the time, sort of spoke for him. It made her understand the amounts he was working, and though she didn't quite condone it, she understood.
Naruto, on the other hand, was completely flabbergasted. There was no way he could've guessed that was why Sasuke was the way he was. No way he could have imagined such a tragic past. And after everything was done, he was amazed at how strong Sasuke really was. And caring. Naruto thought it was an endearing quality, one he never would have thought of.
"Why," Sasuke said, angry tone back, startling both Naruto and Tsunade out of their internal musings. "Kakashi would dredge all this up… is beyond me. Do you know why he could be so heartless? Did he give you a reason, especially for getting him involved?" he pointed a finger before finally falling exhaustedly into the chair.
"He's not heartless," Tsunade protested. "He cares deeply about you, and he was worried." At Sasuke's unasked question, she explained further. "He said you're so reclusive that you have no friends, nor any interest in anything but school, work, and this hospital. Which was the main purpose of this assignment, I think."
Sasuke was quiet for a moment before replying elaborately. "I see." He lifted his head a little and set a hard stare upon Tsunade through the fringe of his bangs. "I still don't know what you would get out of this? Wait, just let me guess. You bet I'd make a fool of myself and spill the beans? Or that I'd make a friend?" He mocked the last question but almost saw red at the flash of guilt that touched her face for an instant. He spaced his next words and spoke carefully. "You bet on my social status?"
Sasuke sat eerily calm, but Naruto could tell that looks, especially for Sasuke, could be deceiving. He, however, felt no indignation over being an obvious puppet in their elders' play theater. Because if it hadn't been for them, he'd never have met, really met, Sasuke, something for which he was eternally grateful for.
Sasuke held his breath and counted to ten, then twenty when he realized ten wasn't nearly enough to calm him. "Whatever," he said as he stood up to look out the window, face a mask of indifference. But just beneath that surface, he was more humiliated than he had ever been. People he trusted betted on him. If he were in any less control of his emotions, his face would be burning with red embarrassment. He looked stonily out the window for a few minutes before he made his decision.
With the pink of a sunset behind him, he faced Tsunade and Naruto, head raised and eyes forward. He took a deep breath and was about to start into a rant until he realized that that sort of behavior really wasn't him, and let the breath out in a whoosh of air. So he just shrugged on his jacket and walked towards the door, with a final, "I'm done. Later."
Naruto wasn't sure who the "later" was directed towards, but barely five minutes after Sasuke had disappeared into the hall, he scrambled out after him, somehow knowing the other was heading for their home.
A/N: … Sorry if I make this short. I'm still depressed about my sister, who left yesterday. So thanks to the reviews for the last chapter, and thanks for the helpful input about my writing.
Oh, and turns out I don't start until Wednesday. So I have some serious writing to do if I want to finish this by then. Which, honestly, I doubt I'll be able to do. But it'll definitely be done by the end of the week. 'Cause I still have my entire Honours Chemistry assignment to do… That I haven't even started…