CHAPTER TWO: SPIDER

Maki started to play with her fingers and laid on the couch. "Hey, make me some food…" As if on cue, her stomach grumbled loudly. She groaned as she grew to become more and more famished.

"We just had ramen like a hour ago…" Sasuke replied and frowned when he saw her taking up the whole couch. "Wow, very classy and ladylike Maki."

"Oh shut up." Maki sat up and opened her phone. "Since you're so boring, I'm calling Naruto." Naruto, the one person that could aggravate Sasuke enough to make him want to bury his head into the ground.

"Naruto?" Sasuke exclaimed and snatched the phone out of your hand. "No way, anyone but Naruto!"

"Awww, he's your team mate!" Maki smiled when saw saw the rarely panicked Sasuke shaking his head in disapproval like his life depended on it. "You two are best friends!"

"I just don't want to hear people talk right now." Sasuke sighed as he collapsed on the couch. He didn't say anything, since he didn't want to seem weak or vulnerable, but he has been feeling faint ever since he got home. It was probably the sudden change in weather that was causing this on his body. He was gone for a year because he had a mission in the Sand village, where it's always hot. The sudden temperature change must be hard on his body.

"Hey…" When he just bent his head back, Maki moved closer. "You okay?"

Sasuke didn't respond, and she just sat there, pouting. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Don't ignore me!"

At that, he bent over and rested his head in his hands. Maki was taken a bit back at this action, and suddenly felt guilty. "Hey…Sorry, I won't call him. So get up!" Seeing him like this made her puzzled. Was this the same calm and collected Uchiha she knew?

"It's not that." He groaned. "I think I'm sick…"

As sneaky as Maki could, she slowly moved herself away from Sasuke. Maki froze when she saw him smirk. "I know you're a germaphobe…"

"I can't help it! What good does it do if we're both sick?" She exclaimed and pulled on his arm. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"God, I feel like a five year old again..." Maki giggled at his shyness and tucked him into bed. Color crept onto Sasuke's face, and you knew it wasn't from his cold. "Maki, we're not speaking of this to anyone." He said coldly without even looking at you.

"Yeah, yeah, just try to get better." After Maki closed the door behind her, she hurried to the kitchen to make soup. "Now, where's that cook book…" When she found the cook book, she opened it to the soup section. Her bright eyes scanned the pages carefully.

"Carrots…Potatoes…Ginsengs are good to eat when you're sick…What a helpful cook book!" She happily ran over to the refrigerator and took out the ingredients needed.

Cooking like this felt like a dream. Maki always imagined cooking for her husband when she gets married, and this was good practice for the future. 'Sasuke? As my husband?' Maki thought to herself and shivered. "No way in hell."

Even though it hurt Maki's pride to say it, she couldn't cover up the fact that she sucked at cooking. Even though she tried so hard and followed the directions, something would go wrong. "I hope I don't poison him…" She whispered and placed the potatoes into the soup.

About an hour passed, and the dish was finally done. "Yay!" Maki poured the soup into the bowl and stirred it. She took the tray of food over to Sasuke's room and placed it on the table.

"And what, dare I ask, is that?" Sasuke's voice cracked. Maki fought the urge to smack him across the face.

Instead, she shot him dagger with her eyes. "You're so lucky you're sick…Come on, eat! You're not going to get better by just laying around!"

"I think I have a better chance of getting better if I avoid eating that…" He stirred the mysterious soup with his spoon. "Ginseng?"

"Yeah!" Maki clapped her hands together. "It's good for your health!"

"You should have grated it or something…" He picked a big chunk out and stared in awe. "Do you know how bitter these things are to eat as a whole?" Maki always hated it when Sasuke acted like he was so much smarter than her.

"Just eat!" Maki raised her voice. He looked around nervously and decided to eat, hoping to get better sooner. As he held his spoon up to his mouth, she jumped in excitement.

He finally placed the spoon in his mouth, and right away, he coughed and struggled to swallow. "What the hell is this?"

"It's soup!" Maki crossed her arms. "How bad could it be?"

He held up his spoon towards her. "You tell me." She was about to try some but saw how disgusting the soup looked.

"…Scratch that, just eat the ginseng."

He scoffed at her obliviousness. "You must really not know how revolting it is to eat one."

Maki held his nose and forced the ginseng into his mouth. "Chew!" Unexpectedly, he did as he was told and swallowed after chewing. "It's so bitter!"

"Yeah, yeah, you won't be complaining when you're better tomorrow." Maki took the tray and walked out of the room. When she smelled the soup, she almost gagged. "Wow, I really do suck at cooking…" She poured the soup into the sink and sighed.

Maki planned to bother Sasuke all day, but since he was sick, her plans were ruined.

All of the sudden, she heard Sasuke screaming. As Maki ran over to his room, she saw him sprint out. "Maki! Get that little shit out of there!" Her instincts kicked in, and prepared herself for the worst.

"What little shit?" She walked over and inspected the room carefully when nothing came out. "I don't see anything!"

"The spider you retard!" When Sasuke answered Maki, she just stood there dumbfounded. She slowly turned her head over to Sasuke and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"…You're scared of spiders?"

"You're not?" He shrieked and ran over to stand on the couch. "There could be spiders coming after me right this second!" For a split second, Maki thought she was hallucinating. Here Sasuke was, the strong and all mighty Uchiha, whining like a little girl because he's afraid a spider will come near him.

"Sasuke, you are such a girl." Maki gathered up her courage to walk into the room. Truth be told, she was scared shitless whenever she saw a spider in her bathroom. Her palms got sweaty as she looked around the room and saw the big spider crawling towards her. "HOLY SHIT!"

Without killing it first, she ran over to the couch and stood on top of it with Sasuke. "Sasuke, go kill it!"

"I thought you weren't scared of them!" Sasuke held onto her shoulders and pushed her. "Go kill it!"

"Let go of me!" Maki threw his hands off of her and noticed how close they were standing. "Would you get away from me? Back off!"

"I was here first!" He defended his self and pointed to the spider. "THERE IT IS!"

"What do we do?" It kept crawling closer to the couch. "It's coming closer!"

"Kill it with this!" Sasuke grabbed one of the cushions and shoved it in Maki's arms. "No way, it's brand new!" But when she saw how close the spider was, she panicked and threw it without thinking.

"Your aim sucks!" Sasuke punched her lightly on the back.

"Your manners suck." Childishly, she threw Sasuke off the couch and laughed as she saw him scrambling off the floor to run away.

"Alright, that's it! I'm sick of you!" Sasuke grabbed a dictionary and threw it on top of the spider. "Ah hah! It's dead!"

"Victory!" Maki high fived Sasuke who was genuinely smiling. As she saw his mouth full of pearly whites, she felt your cheeks get hot. 'His smile is perfect…' Maybe this was why Sakura was so obsessed with him. But then again, his smiles were rare.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Maki said and grinned. He looked over, still smiling. "You should smile more!"
He blinked in confusion, and frowned. "You're a freak…"

"Oh come on! You're so cute when you smile!" Using her fingers, she pushed the corners of his mouth up to make him smile. "Look at that smile!"

"Don't touch me!" He struggled to get her hands away from his face. Maki giggled at how easily Sasuke got embarrassed.

"Look! You learned how to smile while living with me! How lucky are you?" She pinched his cheek as he stared at her, irritated. "Go back to bed now!" Maki pushed him in his room and he stopped the door from closing with his hand. She looked up to see his lips curving up slowly. "Thanks Maki."