Naruto Is Sick

Chapter 2

Alright so you guys win ha-ha. I actually decided to continue this a while ago, but never officially got around to it sorry about that. -_-. But anyways I'm glad so many of you like it, I wasn't sure if it was really any good until you guys started reviewing. So thanks to every person who reviewed, favorite, and followed this story. Hope you guys enjoy the second chapter~.

Reminder: Italics= Thoughts

Sasuke sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time as he stared at the snoring blond with a hot bowl of soup in his hand. He had finally finished making the soup and had decided to wake the dobe up when he realized he didn't exactly have the heart to do so. Nobody could have the heart to wake up Naruto right now, his stubborn side whispered in his head. Though deep in his heart, Sasuke detested how weak his best friend and rival looked at the moment. Even as Naruto slept, Sasuke could tell how bad Naruto's condition was. The blond shinobi's body shivered every five seconds; the blonde's breathing seemed to be labored and showed off just how sick he was, and small whimpers arose every once in a while as he slept. Carefully placing the soup on the drawer next to Naruto's bed, Sasuke sighed and placed a hand on Naruto's forehead to feel the boy's fever. He winced at the heat radiating off the boy. This can't be a cold, it seems a lot worse. Sasuke frowned while in thought before coming to a realization. Wait a minute, now that I think about it Naruto hasn't had any medicine. That's probably why his symptoms are this terrible, not to mention lack of food and probably even water. I hate to have to wake him up, at least he might start feeling better if he eats something and starts hydrating.

Making up his mind, the raven-haired shinobi reached over and gently shook the blonde's shoulder, "Naruto, wake up. The soup is ready." Instead of doing as asked, Naruto let out a small noise resembling a groan and continued sleeping. A tick mark appeared on the Uchiha's head as his annoyance became apparent. Still trying to be gentle, Sasuke gently shook Naruto again and this time a little louder, "Hey idiot, wake up. Your soup is ready." Once again, Naruto attempted to shove Sasuke off, and Sasuke felt himself about to snap, not used to having to be patient with anyone when a noise made its way to Sasuke's ears. Sasuke froze as he realized that the noise was not a groan, but a whimper that had sounded. The Uchiha looked down worriedly at his teammate as he realized that the blond was having a nightmare. As the blond whimpered again, Sasuke didn't hesitate to get the blond awake, "Naruto, wake up. Hey wake up, you idiot." When Sasuke was answered with a loud whine and lots of shivering, Sasuke snapped with remembrance of what his own nightmares could do to him, "Naruto, wake up right now!"

The effects were instant as Naruto's eyes shot open, and he flew into a sitting position. Sasuke watched cautiously as the blond took deep, troubling breaths to calm himself. Sasuke couldn't help but wince; not only was Naruto incredibly sick, but he was also having terrible nightmares. He couldn't even begin to imagine…

"S-Sasuke…" Sasuke looked at the younger boy and felt his heart break slightly at the sight. He had never seen his loud, rambunctious teammate so fragile and terrified.

Smiling weakly, Sasuke sat beside Naruto on his bed and whispered softly, "It's okay, Naruto. It was just a nightmare, you're safe." He watched as the blond took in his surroundings and relaxed just a tiny bit. Seeing that Naruto was still rattled up, Sasuke moved closer while grabbing the bowl of soup he had made, "You were sleeping. Remember? I'm here to take care of you because you got sick." Like an idiot, he said within his mind. However at the present moment, Sasuke found it a good idea not to tease the seriously freaked out and sick boy. Carefully placing a hand on Naruto's back and rubbing small circles on it, Sasuke moved closer and handed the blond his soup, "It's okay, Naruto, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you. Now, why don't you eat some soup? It should help you regain a little strength back." Naruto looked at Sasuke carefully for a moment before slowly taking the soup in his own hands. And although clearly freaked out (if the blonde's wide baby blue eyes and shaking were anything to go by), Naruto carefully leaned towards Sasuke and began to relax and quietly eat his soup.

As Naruto began eating, Sasuke felt himself relax- glad that his best friend was feeling a bit better and beginning to refuel a bit more of his energy. After he finishes eating, he's going to need some medicine though. But what should I do? I don't really feel comfortable with leaving the dobe by himself so I could simply go pick up some medicine. He can hardly sit-up with just how sick he is, let alone walk around. Not to mention that his nightmares are beginning to get the best of him as well. But what else can I do…?

As if on cue, there was knock on the door- startling Sasuke out of his thoughts and scaring Naruto half to death. Luckily, Sasuke braced one arm around the blond and the other hand grabbed the bowl of hot soup, before Naruto spilled and burned himself with it. "It's okay, Naruto; it's just the door. Keep eating; I'll see who it is."

"But…" Sasuke looked at Naruto in surprise, at both the fact that Naruto had finally spoke and the fact at how weak the knucklehead's voice sounded. Sasuke's eyes softened knowing that Naruto was worrying over the fact that it could be one of the more hostile villagers looking to hurt Naruto.

Leaning down to Naruto's level, Sasuke looked straight into Naruto's eyes with a stern expression, "It'll be fine. You and I both know that I'm more than capable of handling anyone who may want to hurt you, right?" Though looking hesitant, the blond nodded and Sasuke gave a half smile (because Uchihas don't full-on smile). "Good, now stay put."

With that, Sasuke got up and walked over to the door before opening it. He blinked in surprise at his guest, "Sakura?"

Said girl looked up in complete surprise whilst shouting, "Sasuke-kun! You're still here? Well of course you're still here, you're standing right in front of me after all. But I'm so glad! I've been looking everywhere for you and…"

"Sakura, calm down for a minute." Sasuke winced and looked worriedly at Naruto, who was thankfully not freaking out but watching them curiously. Looking back at Sakura, Sasuke sighed softly at her confusion, "Listen Sakura, the dobe is pretty sick and I don't think your yelling and babbling is helping his condition at all. Trust me, the dobe doesn't need a headache on top of everything else." Sakura pouted lightly, but did stay quiet. Sasuke opened his mouth to tell her to leave when an idea struck, "Actually Sakura, do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Of course, Sasuke-kun! I would do anything for you!" The Uchiha smirked, knowing that indeed she might not do a favor for Naruto, but she would definitely do a favor for her Sasuke-kun.

"Good. Then, I need you to run down to any one of the stores that's open and buy some medicine for the dobe. Any remedies that will help a cold will be just fine, and make sure to buy lots of it too. Thanks Sakura." The pink-haired girl froze in surprise, but nodded before heading out to buy the blond knucklehead some medicine. Sasuke relaxed now that another problem had been solved. He had begun to walk back into his teammate's house when he spotted three men out of the corner of his eye. What caught Sasuke's attention was the fact that the three men were not only completely drunk, but also the fact that they were watching Naruto's house with not-so-innocent looks on their faces. Normally, this would not bother Sasuke, since the Uchiha knew Naruto could manage to protect himself. However…

Sasuke glanced back at Naruto and frowned at Naruto's still vulnerable state, the boy looked exhausted and could barely even handle soup at the present moment. Sighing, Sasuke carefully eyed the three men, "Dobe, I'll be right back. I just want to check something outside real quick." Naruto looked at Sasuke before nodding softly and continued eating his soup.

Sasuke turned around and made his way down the steps just as the three men began walking towards Naruto's house. Villager one smirked lightly at the Uchiha, "Hello Sasuke-san, we thought we should warn you to head on out of here. We'll take care of your bratty, little teammate for you."

Villager two, on villager one's right side, cackled, "Yeah we'll make sure he gets lots of rest right, Karuma?" Karuma, villager three who was on the right of villager one, smirked and nodded in response.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously at the three villagers before him, "Sorry, but I'll have to respectfully decline. That's my teammate you guys are talking about, and I'll ask that you show a little respect for him."

Villager one frowned and gave a shake of his head, "Sasuke-san it's fine; you don't have to force yourself to defend it. We all know you had no choice but to be on the same team as it because of the Third Hokage." Without warning villager one suddenly found himself on his back, looking up at Sasuke in a daze. All three villagers froze as they realized the great Uchiha Sasuke had just punched one of them.

"I said treat HIM with respect. He has more courage, morals, loyalty, and a far bigger heart than any of you three boneheads put together. He is a great shinobi, and I'm happy to call him my teammate." Though I will never say it to him out loud. "I'm only going to say this once: get lost." The three trembling figures whimpered before sprinting away as fast as possible. "And don't EVER let me catch you around Naruto again."

Sasuke let out a hmph before going back up his teammate's steps and reentering the blonde's apartment. He relaxed and let a small smile grace his face as he saw the blond sleeping soundly once again. Continuing to walk forward, Sasuke went over to Naruto and placed his right hand onto Naruto's forehead once again. Still has a fever, but it's gone down slightly at least. Though not as much as I would like it to go down… It can't be helped; he could really use some medicine. Carefully, Sasuke picked up the bowl and began to put it in the sink, though not without frowning at the barely eaten content. He hardly ate a thing; goes to show how sick he's feeling. As Sasuke began to turn back towards Naruto, a small note caught the edge of Sasuke's eye. Turning to face whatever had caught his eye, Sasuke found his jaw dropping to the ground. Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, Sasuke let a quiet growl. That idiot! Why doesn't he ever tell us anything? I get Sakura, but he should at least talk to Kakashi and me. Close to the door was a calendar, and today's date had circled in red: "MY BIRTHDAY, CELEBRATION TIME XD."

"Ugh… I feel like…"

"An idiot?" Naruto's eyes shot open at Sasuke's voice. The blond made sure to stay lying in bed as he tilted his head to look at Sasuke. The raven-haired teenager was sitting backwards on a chair, keeping a watchful eye on his "idiot" of a teammate. Naruto frowned as he noted how angry Sasuke looked, for some reason unknown. "Sakura should be back soon with some medicine; it should help you feel a bit better." Naruto simply nodded in response. Awkwardly looking around, Naruto couldn't help but wince at the awkward atmosphere that had taken over the room.

It continued for a while before Naruto carefully asked, "Sasuke, are you mad…at something?" Naruto glanced uneasily at Sasuke as he waited for an answer, watching as Sasuke's frown only deepened.

"No, not something. I'm mad at someone." Naruto flinched at the broad statement and began to glance around nervously, wondering what he did to upset his teammate. Just as Sasuke was about to explain, a knock sounded from outside. While rising from the chair, Sasuke saw Naruto tense. Sasuke let out a sigh, "Relax idiot, it's probably just Sakura back with medicine.'" Sasuke walked over and opened the door, and as predicted, there was the pink-haired teammate standing annoyed in the doorway.

The moment Sasuke appeared in front of Sakura, the girl instantly turned her attitude around and began blushing wildly. "Here you go, Sasuke-kun. Here's the medicine you asked for."

Sasuke tried to not flinch at Sakura's usual devotion as he took the medicine from Sakura's hand. "Yeah, um, thanks Sakura. You can come in." Sakura practically skipped inside as Sasuke closed the door behind her. "Let me just get the medicine and some water ready, dobe. This should have you feeling a bit better." Naruto gave a grateful nod to Sasuke, and watched as his raven-haired teammate moved over to the kitchen sink, and his pink-haired teammate grimaced as she now had no choice to head over to the sick teammate.

As Sasuke prepared the blonde's medicine, Sakura simply glared at the poor blond. "Poor Sasuke-kun, being stuck here to have to take care of you. Honestly Naruto, how selfish can you be?"

The blond flinched and mumbled to himself, "I didn't ask him to stay and take care of me…" Even if did make me happy to have someone actually care for me for once in my life, and even happier that it was on my birthday. It does suck that I'm sick on my birthday, but at least now I don't have to worry about being alone on my birthday. But maybe I really should've sent him away and told him I was okay, even if it was a lie.

Sakura eye's widened up on hearing Naruto's mumble, and quickly narrowed her eyes in a glare aimed at Naruto, "How dare you! Poor Sasuke-kun is giving up his precious time to help someone like you and you don't ever care."

Naruto froze and his eyes widened with shock, "No, that's not what I-."

"Save it," Naruto flinched as the command came out as more of a snarl by the usually cheerful girl. "I really do hate you, Naruto Uzumaki. You take Sasuke-kun away so that he has no time to have during the festival and you don't even care! Honestly, just because you're his teammate, he forces himself to take care of you. Poor Sasuke-kun!" So he's only here because I'm his teammate, not because I'm his friend... "Honestly, Naruto, can't you do anything right?" Naruto couldn't help but flinch at the words he didn't want to hear these words especially on his birthday, the day he was supposed to be most wanted... "Well Naruto?"

Naruto blinked, unable to even open his mouth properly. If they hate me so much, why don't they just leave? "That's enough, Sakura." Sakura's eyes widened as she turned around to see Sasuke towering over her, an angered look in his eyes. "I think it's time for you to leave. Why don't you go to the festival since you're complaining so much about not being there? Even though, I see absolutely no point in going to that stupid festival." The cherry-blossom haired girl looked ashamed as she didn't even bother to make excuses for her actions. She quietly stood up and walked out the door, but not before giving Sasuke an apologetic look which in turn earned a glare from the said-raven haired teammate. The moment she left Sasuke began to move the medicine towards Naruto while mumbling about idiotic girls when the blond teammate mumbled something. "What?" Sasuke looked at Naruto confused since he had no idea what he had said.

Quietly and almost shyly, Naruto whispered again, "The festival is supposed to be fun not stupid..."

Sasuke let out a sigh, "I know, I was just tired of her insulting you, you idiot. I said that to make her shut up; she was getting annoying."

"You insult me too, Sasuke..."

Sasuke frowned at his abnormally depressed teammate, "I..." Sasuke started out hesitantly, "I don't mean it when I insult you, just like I would think you don't mean it when you insult me. It's just our way of getting along..."

Sasuke glanced at his teammate who was now looking at him with surprise, "So you don't really mean it when you say all that stuff?"

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed inwardly, "Of course not you id-, of course not Naruto. It's more of a habit if anything else."

"So then," Naruto started out just as hesitantly as Sasuke, "are we friends?"

"...if you want to call us that..." Just normally said this statement could be considered a probable insult. However with the obvious blush on Sasuke's face, it was fairly obvious he was saying that he and Naruto were indeed friends.

"Heh heh thanks you stuck-up jerk."

"Whatever idiot. Oh and happy birthday dobe." Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked at Sasuke in wonder. Sasuke simply jerked a thumb towards Naruto's calendar. "We'll celebrate it properly next year." The blonde's eyes once again widened as he gave a tearful-eyed nod. "And tell you what, if you're feeling better later, we can watch fireworks from your roof. But only if you're feeling better and only from the roof."

"Hai~!"

Without saying anything else, Sasuke handed the medicine over to Naruto, who went back to sleep after taking it.

*Later on the rooftop after Naruto wakes up, while fireworks are blasting in the sky.*

"You know I only half understand why people hate me." Sasuke glanced over in surprise at his teammate, but stayed quiet so the blond could continue. "I thought I understood why people hated me, so at one point I tried to change myself to be more likeable. But it didn't matter what I did whether I was totally obedient, silent, or whether I just avoided everyone, it didn't matter. None of it mattered. So I figured, what the heck: why not just gain everyone's attention? After all people either ignored me or hated me, and if I had to choose between the two, I would rather be hated than ignored. At least then I'd be acknowledged you know?"

"That makes sense," Sasuke mumbled in agreement.

"I was always jealous of how popular you were; it was why I chose to fight with you so often."

A snort erupted from Sasuke gaining a curious look from Naruto, "I was always jealous of you."

"Of me?"

"I always thought you were just someone who was able to openly express yourself. I wanted to be able to do that. Sure everyone knew my name, but no one actually knew me. I sometimes thought I'd be able to be myself around you."

Naruto suddenly let out a laugh, "We really are opposites aren't we?"

"You mean that you're an idiot and I'm a genius?"

"No."

"Oh you mean that you're a clutz and I'm skilled."

"W-what? No!"

"Then you mean you're a loud mouth while I'm cool."

"At least I don't have a five foot pole up my butt!"

"..."

"Yeah I went there! ...you jerk."

"..."

"..."

"You live on ramen, I dump ramen in the trash."

"Sasuke! You-!"

And end! We all know these lovable idiots can keep going on and on haha. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this ending a bit better. I tried to add much more to this and also tried to go with some suggestions that were made. And special thanks to my editor, who does not have a fanfiction account at the present. Hope you enjoyed, leave a review, and until next time~!