Within These Empty Walls
~SasukeUchihasGuardian~
Well here you go… chapter 5… I hope you enjoy!
*Extra: You wanted it! So you got it! More feverish Sasuke! Thank you to all my faithful reviews asking for requests! I appreciate it! It helps me write the story more to your liking than to my own! Thank you very much!*
Chapter 5: Sasuke's Tears
"…painkillers… two weeks… he's so… hasn't woken… safe… Anbu to go to… retrieve it… very scared… comforting… can't believe… Orochimaru didn't… take the pain away… want it…" Sasuke could hear parts of conversations from unknown voices. He blinked open his eyes groggily and groaned when he was met with bright blinding lights. Three medics and his sensei all turned to look at him when they realized he had woken up.
"Sasuke." Kakashi greeted as he placed a hand on the boy's head. "How are you feeling?" He asked. Sasuke didn't answer and turned his head to the side, revealing his pale cheek to his sensei. He put a hand on his forehead, and Sasuke noticed that he wasn't wearing his headband.
"Still got quite the fever…" he sighed. "it seems the fever reducers, even the most powerful in the hospital, aren't bringing it down at all…" He whispered sadly.
Sasuke closed his eyes tiredly, not able to fully comprehend what his teacher was saying. He pulled Kakashi's hand towards him more, forcing his sensei to lean down close to him.
"What is it?" Kakashi asked. To his surprise, Sasuke pulled back the covers, motioning for him to lay down next to him.
Must be his fever making him act this way. He mused, slowly taking his spot next to Sasuke, who had already drifted into feverish dreams. Kakashi pulled out his book, deciding to read the hours away while the drugs in Sasuke's system kept him asleep for awhile longer.
~Later~
Kakashi felt Sasuke stir and he turned to look at his student. He realized Sasuke was sleepily gazing up at him. "Sleep well?" He asked. To his surprise, Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, therefore confusing Kakashi himself.
"Sasuke?" He asked, a little unsurely.
"F-father?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi's visible eye widened. 'What? He thinks I'm his dad? What do I do?' He thought.
"I… I knew it…" Sasuke went on, closing his eyes and sighing in relief, clutching Kakashi's arms tightly. "I knew you weren't really dead… Itachi couldn't have killed you…" He murmured, smiling slightly. Kakashi suddenly felt a strong pang of sadness. Sasuke was hallucinating. He would once again feel the hard truth of knowing that his parents weren't coming back.
"Sasuke… I'm not your father, Fugaku. I am Kakashi Hatake, your sensei…" He whispered quietly.
"H-huh? No… you're… my dad…" he whispered, his eyes beginning to slip shut. Kakashi said nothing and waited quietly for sleep to take his student.
"F-father… why aren't you…?" He didn't even have time to finish his question before the fever pulled him under the black blanket of deep, drugged sleep. Kakashi sighed in relief.
Poor kid… he thought to himself.
While Sasuke had slept, an Anbu search team had been assembled in search of the cure. Pressed for time, they had to leave immediately. The team consisted of fifteen Anbu, seven of them being extremely high ranked, two being newly accepted Anbu, and the rest of them just normal ranked. The Hokage decided not to risk them not making it in time back, since Sasuke was the last of the Uchiha clan. She felt guilty that this had even happened to him in the first place. Now, she sat quietly in the room, waiting for him to awaken so she could examine him emotionally.
Kakashi was out of bed, but he was still holding Sasuke's hand, rubbing the top of it with his thumb to soothe Sasuke and reassure him he was still there.
"…Kashi…" he heard a quiet murmur. He noticed Sasuke's eyes just beginning to open.
"Where's… Ka…Kashi…" he asked Tsunade, only seeing her in his vision.
"I'm here Sasuke." He told him, sitting down next to him on the bed instead of standing.
"Kashi… g'ng… be… s'ck…" he suddenly whispered, and Tsunade grabbed the waste basket for him to throw up in. The two medics in the room used a medical jutsu to the best extent just to stop the vomiting. Even the best medical ninjutsu couldn't stop his churning stomach.
The next twenty minutes went by very, very slowly, and consisted of Tsunade mostly talking to Sasuke while he moaned and cried and pleaded for the pain to be taken away, and Kakashi comforting him to the best of his extent. Finally, when Sasuke had cried himself to sleep in Kakashi's arms, the platinum haired ninja looked up at his Hokage.
"Kyuubi was right. Sedatives and painkillers. That's all we can do for two weeks. I don't really want to not let him even wake up for two weeks, but if the pain is going to be this bad…" He sighed. "I don't know what to do…"
Tsunade sighed. "This is an extremely frustrating situation. For now, I will put Sasuke under anesthesia for just a few hours. He's in a lot of pain, and he needs some time to sleep, which the mark isn't allowing to happen. We will see how it goes from there." She explained to Kakashi, who nodded understandably.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage." He said. She nodded and after checking the anesthesia levels, left for awhile.
Kakashi sighed sadly and leaned down next to Sasuke's clammy face.
"We'll figure this out for you, Sasuke. We'll get the cure and you'll be back to your normal life soon. I promise…" Kakashi murmured quietly, placing a gentle kiss on his student's forehead, not for romance, but for comfort. He wasn't about to let his student suffer through the two weeks alone. Until the cure was found, he would stay by his side the whole time and make sure he was safe.
"Why can't this have happened to me instead? Sasuke… you're too young. You don't deserve any of this…" he whispered sadly.
He sat down on the chair next to Sasuke's bed, and pulled out his book again. He knew Sasuke wasn't about to wake up anytime soon, but he wasn't using that as an excuse to leave. He tried to read his book slowly so he wouldn't finish it too soon.
Hours later, Tsunade came in the room to find Kakashi laying down next to Sasuke, the both of them both asleep. She smiled to herself and lessened the amount of anesthesia Sasuke was under.
She gently shook Kakashi awake.
"Huh?" He whispered tiredly.
"I'm sure you want to be awake when he wakes up. I'm removing some of the anesthesia so he wakes up. When he's up, I'll remove the rest of it." She said. Kakashi nodded and sat up.
"Thanks…" he whispered.
A few minutes later, Sasuke was slowly beginning to wake up. Tsunade removed a little more so he wasn't as drowsy. He would still be sleepy, but hopefully not as much.
He awoke to Kakashi's hand rubbing his cheek soothingly.
"Kashi… what?" He asked quietly. "What happened?"
"You slept for a few hours." He told him.
"Feel sick…" He moaned. Kakashi held the garbage can by him as he once again emptied his stomach into it. Tsunade removed the anesthesia from his body and got him a glass of water to drink. He barely drank any of it even though his body was severely dehydrated from the fever. It concerned Tsunade but she figured as long as he was forced to drink some water, an IV wouldn't be needed.
"Kashi…" Sasuke whispered hoarsely.
"What's wrong Sasuke?" He asked.
"Father… father was here awhile ago… wasn't he?" He asked. "He… he's alive…"
Kakashi hoped Sasuke had forgotten about that. He sighed sadly. "No Sasuke… you were hallucinating. You though I was your father. I'm sorry." He whispered, pulling him into a hug.
"Oh…" A tear leaked out of Sasuke's eye as once again, reality hit him. He sighed sadly and let Kakashi hold him close and more escaped him and he began to cry again.
"I can't… I can't cry…" he whispered. "Uchiha's don't cry…" He hiccupped.
"Shh… I don't care what Uchiha's can and can't do. I'm your sensei, Sasuke. You can let it out in front of me. I will never judge you for crying, I promise." He whispered soothingly.
Sasuke sobbed when he heard Kakashi's words. He felt relieved he finally had a shoulder to lean on. Kakashi held him closer and comforted him as much as he could. When the sobbing died down, he loosened his grip and realized something surprising.
Sasuke had cried himself to sleep.
End.
Yea… a REALLY crappy chapter ending I know… but I couldn't think of a better way. -_-' Anyways… please review for me.
~SasukeUchihasGuardian