-1Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto(duh. :rolls eyes:)

Chapter 2:

Friends

The first thing Sasuke was aware of was the throbbing pain on his arm. The next thing he became aware of was a quiet, steady beeping noise. He then noticed the weight on his legs.

Slowly, his onyx eyes fluttered open. His vision swam and the world spun. Shaking his head slightly, his blurred vision became clearer.

He wasn't in his room, that Sasuke was sure of. Four disturbingly white walls surrounded him. A few bleak pictures adorned the walls, and a slight ray of light was streaming from the closed curtains. The raven looked around and noticed that the beeping was from the heart monitor, and an IV was buried under his skin.

A hospital.

This angered Sasuke. His plans were failed. He didn't die. Now, he was going to have to listen to the villagers calling him pathetic and a coward for taking the easy way out. Fucking great, the Uchiha thought bitterly.

A slight grunt diverted Sasuke's attention.

Rising slightly, ignoring the pain his arm, Sasuke saw that someone had fallen asleep next to him, their head slightly on Sasuke's legs and their arms cupping their face, He had obviously fallen asleep on the chair and rested against Sasuke's sick bed. With slight surprise, the raven recalled the shirt and faded jeans as Kiba's clothes.

The Inuzuka had obviously rushed him to Konoha's hospital. Sasuke didn't know whether to feel angry at him for killing his suicidal plans, or surprised that he cared enough.

Sasuke didn't know how long he had lay there, staring at Kiba's back rise and fall with every steady breath, but he knew that soon, Kiba started groaning as he awoke. He rose slowly, stretched while yawing, and looked around sleepily.

Kiba's eyes then fell on Sasuke.

At first, relief was evident on the dog lover's face, but it was soon replaced by anger.

"You bastard!" yelled Kiba, making an odd ringing in said bastard's ears and his head to throb painfully. He reached up with his uninjured arm to clutch his head and groaned in pain.

"Oops," said the brunette softly. "Sorry," he murmured.

Sasuke didn't reply. He let the painful throbbing slowly die away before he looked back at the other boy. He looked worried.

"What happened?" asked Sasuke in a hoarse voice. He winced slightly at the pain in his dry throat and wished he had a drink of water.

As if reading his mind, Kiba got up and headed for the opposite side of the room and came back with a cup of water. He handed it to the Uchiha wordlessly, and Sasuke accepted it gratefully, drinking greedily. He handed the cup back to Kiba, who took it and set it to the table next to the hospital bed. The Inuzuka sat back down and looked at Sasuke.

"You fell on your right arm and seriously severed a tendon," said Kiba seriously. "Tsunade-sama managed to fix it, but it will take a while before it will return to normal. You broke three ribs and your leg. You got countless cuts all over your body and few got infected as you kept falling. Tsunade-sama managed to heal all your wounds and some internal bleeding." Kiba looked away. "You've been out cold for four days. I-If I hadn't brought you here so quickly… you… might have died from blood loss."

"Why didn't you let me?" asked Sasuke quietly, his bangs shadowing his eyes. "Now everyone will call me a coward for trying to take the easy way out. Now, I will continue to burden Konoha. I am no worth to anyone…" he let his voice trail off.

"Don't say that," said Kiba firmly. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You are wroth a lot to many people!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Konoha only accepted me because they wanted the only 'good' Uchiha in the village to bring more fame to it. If I died, the village would probably twist my whole death into some heroic story of me saving someone or something, just to bring good light to this place."

"You have got to be shitting me!" the brunette yelled, not caring that Sasuke's head had once again began to throb. "Would you stop being so fucking negative and appreciate what you have and are getting! You're getting respect and you think that you are only getting it for your name!.?"

Sasuke didn't say anything. He couldn't, with his head pounding like that.

"Don't you get it?" he whispered, once the pain began fading. "I'm not wanted here… I don't belong here…. I want to die!"

He then felt warm arms wrap tightly around his neck. He tensed awkwardly as he felt Kiba hug him. "Don't you dare say that crap. There are people who don't want you to die," he said softly.

Sasuke just sat there. When had he sat up? Slowly, hesitantly, he brought his unharmed arm to rest in Kiba's back. He felt a single tear fall down. He had never cried in front of anyone besides Naruto, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment.

Maybe he could live for Naruto. And for Kiba.

"Thank you," said Sasuke softly into Kiba's shoulder. "Kiba."

"You're welcome… Sasuke," he replied slowly.

The raven did not know how long he sat there, in Kiba's embrace, but he let the warmness lull him to sleep as he realized that he and Kiba had just formed an unspoken bond.

A nudge. Another nudge. Then a poke on his cheek. A frustrated sigh, then a rather hard shove.

Groaning, Sasuke opened his eyes for a second time. He looked around and saw that he was still in the hospital. He then saw Kiba, looking down at him. The raven noticed that he was wearing fresher clothes. A blood red shirt and khaki baggy shorts.

"Were you here for the three days I was unconscious?" asked Sasuke.

The brunette chuckled and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yeah," he admitted. "I told my sister, Hana, that you were in the hospital. Nobody knows why," said Kiba quickly. "The story is that we ran into each other on the Hokage Mountain and that you tripped and fell."

Sasuke was grateful and relieved that Kiba was able to cover his suicide attempt. He couldn't even being to think how the villagers would act towards him if they discovered that Sasuke had tried to kill himself.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke murmured.

"It's okay," said Kiba casually. "You've probably been going through hell and it was bound to catch up on you eventually. Let's just put behind us and start over."

"Okay," agreed Sasuke. "Wow. Now I have two friends."

"You have Sakura," he suggested, taking a seat in the chair he had occupied previously.

"No, she's an annoying fan girl," said Sasuke, slipping into his usual monotone voice.

Kiba frowned slightly and sighed. "I spoke to Tsunade-sama while you were sleeping. She said that once she runs some tests on you, you can go."

"When is that?" he asked, his tone dull.

"Right now."

Both boys looked over to the door, and sure enough, there stood Tsunade in all her busty glory. She made her way over to Sasuke's bed, nodding to Kiba on the way as a greeting. He returned the gesture as she took Sasuke's wrist in her hand. After staring at her watch for a while, she dropped his wrist and went over to the clipboard at the edge of the raven's bed. Picking it up and scribbling a few things, looking up to the machinery every now and them, she put down and went to stand next to the raven.

"I need you to lie down, Uchiha," she ordered. He complied, to tired to retort at being ordered around. She coated her hands in chakra and put her hand over the raven's head. Tsunade's hand didn't touch Sasuke's skin, but her hand was close enough for Sasuke to feel the heat raiding off her chakra-coated hands. Her hands ghosted over his body slowly, pausing slightly on certain places. She removed her hands and went back to her clipboard. Sasuke snuck a glance at Kiba and looked away quickly when he noticed that the brunette was starring at him intently.

"Uchiha," said the Godiame, "you are free to go. All your vital signs are up and running and everything seems in order." She gave him a stern look. "And no more suicidal idiocies." Sasuke glared at the blond woman. She chuckled briefly before turning around a walking away. She paused at the door, a hand on the knob. "Don't worry. Kiba only told me and you have my word as Hokage that I won't say anything." With that, she walked out.

Sasuke and Kiba sat on the room in silence.

"Your clothes were absolutely shredded," said the brunette finally. "I knew I wasn't going to be able to go

into your house so I brought over some of my clothes." He picked up a bag from the floor that Sasuke never noticed. He pulled out a black shirt and jeans. "You're pretty much my size, so there shouldn't be much of a problem." He laid the clothes neatly on the bed and made his way out. "I'll check you out as you change."

"Thank you," the raven said quietly. He tried to smile, but he was sure it looked lopsided. Kiba chuckled in a manner much like Tsunade before walking out.

Sasuke got up slowly, wincing slightly from pain, and crawled out of the bed. He slowly put on Kiba's clothes. The jeans were slightly loose and the shirt wasn't as tight as usual, but otherwise, it was fine. He threw the hospital gown on the bed and walked to the door.

Only to be pounced on to the floor.

Sasuke yelped as a blur of yellow and orange dropped on him and cringed at the sudden impact on with the hard, cold floor. He looked down to the person who dared attack him, Sharingan whirling rapidly in his eyes, ready to kick the heck out of whoever it was.

Glaring red eyes met happy blue ones.

Sighing and letting the red fade back to black in his eyes, he patted Naruto's head affectionately.

"As happy as I am to see you, get the hell off me, Uzumaki," he said.

The blond Jounin giggled childishly before lifting himself off the raven and helping said raven up. Sasuke rubbed his arm, which was beginning to sting slightly.

"So, why are you here, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, looking at his best friend.

Immediately, Naruto's happy smiled turned into an angry scowl.

"You bastard!" he screamed and he smacked Sasuke head slightly. "How the hell do you fall off a mountain and end up in the hospital!" Sasuke flinched slightly at the blonde's loud tone, but remained still. "You idiot! I go to a mission and when I come back, the first thing I hear is that you are in the hospital! Do you not know how worried I was! God, you such a… a… a bastard!" Naruto took a deep breath and sighed.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his flushed friend. "You done?" he asked pointedly. Naruto nodded. "Okay. Please forgive me for my idiocies," he said mockingly and smirked at Naruto's scowl. "And, I should say that you should--"

"Thank Kiba for saving his sorry ass."

Sasuke glared Kiba as Naruto let out a happy "Kiba!"

"Actually, I was going to say that he should shut the hell up before I shove a stick up his ass, but that's true too."

"What?" asked Naruto, looking between Sasuke and Kiba.

"Yeah, I saved Uchiha here after he fell off the mountain," said the brunette obnoxiously. "I swear, Sasuke, you're such a klutz."

Sasuke gave Kiba one of the famous Uchiha Death Glares, but was silently thankful that he did not mention to Naruto the real reason fro him being hospitalized.

"Thank you so much, Kiba," Sasuke sneered.

"Wait," said the Kyuubi vessel, still looking back and forth between the two shin obi, "did you just call each other by your first names?"

"Well, saving a person from death can really bring two persons closer," said the Inuzuka, shrugging.

Naruto glanced at them again before he, too, shrugged and let it go.

"You were leaving, right, Sasuke?" the blond asked.

Sasuke nodded.

"Let's go out to Ichiraku to celebrate this new friendship and your recovery!" he squealed.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, wondering if his best friend was simply a four year old in in seventeen year old body.

"Sure," agreed Kiba as Sasuke nodded.

"Great!" said Naruto happily, jumping up and down and clapping his hands. Sasuke and Kiba sweat dropped, along with everyone else in the room, as they stared at one of the most powerful shinobi acting like a child.

Suddenly, the blond grabbed the brunette and raven's arms(the good one, in Sasuke's case) and yanked them out of the hospital, yelling "Late, Baa-chan!"

This was a weird day.

Uhm… yeah. So that was my second chapter. I think that it was kinda blunt and rushed, so I didn't really like it, but it's your opinion that counts, not mine! XD

Uhm… about that, would you people PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS!!

It makes me feel loved X3

Lolz.

So, for the sake of my sanity, please leave reviews!

Nightingale