A/N: Yes, it's a rela update this time. This is the chapter I got stuck on when life happened to me. I'll try not to go more than 5 months between updates again, but I make no promises. Thanks for reading, all 5 of you. Excuse typos and such, please. My computer has been having issues and I wanted to get this up ASAP.
Disclaimer: *checks license" Nope, still not Kishimoto, so I still don't own this.
Lee observed Neji from the corner of his eye. The Hyuuga male was, in turn, staring openly at Sasuke, who was pacing the waiting area while alternating between muttering and yanking at his hair to the dismay of several nurses, patients, and relatives. Lee and Neji had been halfway home when Lee's phone blipped. A panicked Sasuke rambled off that Naruto was being rushed into surgery. Neji, with a frown creasing his forehead, made an illegal u-turn in the street and sped toward Konoha Hospital. Up to that point, their car ride had been eerily, tensely silent.
They arrived at the doors of the emergency room entrance, Neji tossing the car keys over hand to the flustered valet attendant. A quick inquiry at the desk lead them to a waiting area three floors up. Sasuke was almost incoherent as he made phone call after phone call, contacting his secretary, the university's lab, and Naruto's remaining family members. They sank into uncomfortable plastic chairs just as Sasuke stabbed at his phone to end a call, and let out a sound that was strangely between a roar and a whimper.
"Iruka's on his way," Sasuke announced to his friends, then collapsed into a chair. He scrubbed at his face, then sank his fingers into his disheveled locks.
Neji pursed his lips in thought. "Mr. Umino is still listed as Naruto's guardian?"
"Hn," Sasuke confirmed. "He's the official next of kin on Naruto's records." He chuckled dryly. "Don't matter how long we've been together, or how authority I have. In the end, I'm just Naruto's boyfriend. No one recognizes me as his official anything." He choked back a sob. "What am I going to do?" he whispered to the floor. "What am I going to do if he dies?"
"Uchiha!" Neji snapped. "Look at me!" When Sasuke's tear-stained face turned toward him, he continued. "Naruto is going to be fine. Snap out of it."
"And how do you know that? Do you even know what he really is?"
Confused, Lee and Neji shared a glance. "Uh, what?"
Sasuke laughed, but without any sign of mirth. "Oh, there's a story there, but it's not mine to tell." He paused, collecting his thoughts, when a new arrival swept into the room.
"Where's the brat?" a large-bosomed woman demanded.
Sasuke flinched, and struggled to his feet. "Tsunade," he said as he bowed deeply. "Thank you for comin─"
"Where's the brat?" she asked again, snatching Sasuke upright by his shirt front. "If you've hurt him─"
"No! It wasn't me. It was...that." He struggled in her grasp. For an older woman, Tsunade Senju's grip was like a steel vice, just as it was when they were still kids. Her face went slack only seconds before her hand did. Sasuke wheezed, and waved away the attention they'd garnered from the room's other occupants.
"Oh, Minato," Tsunade breathed, sinking into the first available chair. She closed her eyes, as if in prayer. Without looking at Sasuke, she asked him, "Has he been taking his pills?"
"Yes. They do not seem to be doing much good anymore."
She opened her eyes. "If you're lying to me─"
"I'm not."
"Do you have them?"
Wordlessly, Sasuke retrieved the half empty, brown pill bottle and passed it over. Tsunade opened the bottle, shook out two pills, and scrutinized them closely. She closed her hand around them, and crushed them into powder. Sasuke watched stoically as the woman stood, and began barking orders at the hospital staff. Lee chose this moment to bounce to his feet, helpfully calling over his shoulder that he was going in search of refreshment for the members of their group, both present and non.
He walked swiftly, heading toward the sign that declared "Vending", ignoring the call of his love, Neji, and focusing only one placing one foot in front of the other. Lee hated hospitals, had hated them ever since he'd awoken in one, with the news that he could possibly never walk again. Breath suddenly coming in pants, Lee stopped walking, and leaned his forehead against the cool wall. He needed to switch his train of thought; this was not about him, it was about Naruto Uzumaki, ball of sunshine and best friend to all. Calming himself, he pushed off the wall, and walked the remaining distance to the vending area. He smelled coffee, and spied a rack of sandwiches behind glass. He jogged the last feet, reaching for the wallet in his pants pocket. He froze once he reached the machines, though, realizing that he failed to ask his companions what refreshments they prefered. Smashing the heel of his palm to his forehead, he berated himself audibly, catching the attention of a pale-haired male reaching for the powdered creamer on the stainless steel shelf next to him.
"So, you're saying I shouldn't get the creamer?" the male asked, sounding a bit bewildered and slightly out of breath.
"What?" Startled out of his one-sided mental argument, Lee blinked rapidly, bringing the owner of the voice into focus. "Oh! My apologies! I beg your pardon for intruding on your drinking mixing ritual." Spying the aforementioned creamer, Lee snatched it up and brandished it triumphantly. "Here you are, sir! Shall I pour for you, with all of the power of my youth?"
"Uh...Thanks? I can do that myself, though." Hesitantly, he snagged the plastic container, suspicion clouding his bright green eyes. He poured the shelf-stable condiment into a cup that had, to Lee's interest, a tea bag floating at the top.
"Ah!" Lee exclaimed, jostling the other male and making a bit of the hot drink splash from the cup. The other male cursed and thumped both his cup and the creamer container down on the shelf. Lee, trying hard to be helpful, grabbed a wad of brown, recycled paper napkins from the dispenser and begin to soak up the spilled beverage. "My sincerest apologies! I will pay─" Lee winced here, thinking of his mostly vacant bank account, "─for any damages or repairs, or else I will sprint around this hospital on my hands!"
Taken aback, the pale-haired male paused, then doubled-over in laughter. He wheezed, and swiped at his eyes. "You're so earnest!" he exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you."
"Would-would that be a good thing, or a bad thing?" Lee asked with a frown.
"It's a new thing," he said, "and here I thought I was at the point in my life where I wouldn't experience anything new. Except maybe death," he tacked on so quietly that Lee was convinced he'd misheard. The male straightened, then thrust out his hand. "Name's Kimimaro. Kimimaro Kaguya." They shook hands, Lee using both hands to pump Kimimaro's arm enthusiastically.
"It gives me pleasure to make your acquaintance, my newfound friend!" Lee released Kimimaro's arm and again reached for his wallet. "Shall I replace the tea for you?"
Kimimaro shook his head. "No, it's fine. Really," he stressed, upon seeing Lee's skeptical expression. "Not a lot spilled, so it's fine." He retrieved his cup and sipped, offering proof that his drink had not been spoiled. "So...come here often?"
"Oh, no, not often at all!" Lee answered as he scrutinized the beverage options. "A dear friend of mine has taken ill, and I am here to…" He cocked his head in thought. "Actually, I am not quite sure why I am here. I suppose it is the thing to do for the Konoha 12, to be there for each other, linked forever together in the power of beautiful friendship."
Kimimaro smiled, but it appeared false. "That's...nice. I used to have something like that."
"Oh? What ha─"
"Lee!" Neji's voice sliced into the conversation. "There you are! You gave me a fright, running away like that." The long-haired male sidled up to his lover and checked him over with an anxious look in his eyes. "Are you alright?" He rubbed a thumb gently across Lee's cheek. "Mr. Umino has arrived, and the atmosphere suddenly became a bit sentimental and morose."
"I am fine."
A choking sputter alerted Neji to the fact that he and Lee were not alone. He narrowed his eyes at the intruder on their private moment, cold eyes sweeping across the other male's slightly unkempt look. "And you are?" he asked as he straightened, every inch the protective boyfriend he cast himself as.
"Ah, Neji! This my new friend, Kimimaro! We were simply discussing the merits of creamer in tea. Kimimaro, this is my beloved, Neji."
Kimimaro cringed when he saw the blatantly unfriendly look Neji was shooting him. "Uh, hey," he said with a cough. "Well...it was nice meeting you both. I'd better get back to my room, now, before someone notices I'm gone."
Lee frowned. "Your room?" he asked quietly. "You are a resident of this facility?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Long story," he wheezed, as another cough shook his body. "Ugh. Yeah, I've gotta go. Really nice meeting you. If you like, you could visit…?"
Lee dipped his head in acknowledgment, and waved as the pale-haired male vanished around the corner, gripping his cooling drink. Lee watched him go, remembering how it felt to be confined to his room, to his bed, and shuddered. He made a silent vow to visit the young man when he had the chance, then turned back to Neji.
"Has there been any word on Naruto's condition?"
"None," Neji answered.
Seeing his lover's jaw move, Lee cut off the questions he knew were coming, and instead asked, "What drinks should I procure for our group? Is anyone else due to arrive?"
"Just grab a variety. And here," he said, slipping Lee a small rectangle of plastic. "Uchiha says drinks are on him."
"How generous," Lee mused, once again peering at the extensive selection of beverages and snacks laid out before him.
Sasuke Uchiha dropped back into his chair, drained of energy. No matter who he threatened, no one would give him any information about Naruto. Iruka Umino, one of their former teachers and Naruto's guardian for a brief period, did marginally better: he brought them the news that Naruto was still in surgery, but the prognosis looked good. They doctors were repairing the rupture in his lung, which was what had caused his chest to hurt and him to cough up blood. Sasuke cursed Kushina, Naruto's mother, for the legacy she'd left her son, however unintentional it had been. He immediately kicked himself, and offered a short prayer, both in her memory and that his blond boyfriend would not suffer any more than medically necessary. He knew that Naruto had had a rough time with his inheritance, and vowed, again, the protect him as much as he could. He would get the blond to officially move in with him, and made a note to contact Karin about researching to costs and benefits of building a private research lab so Naruto could stop killing himself at the university.
He clenched his fists tightly and tuned out the low buzz around him, caused by their group of friends, plus Sakura. Lee and Neji had returned some time ago, bearing several plastic bags worth of bottled drinks and unhealthy snacks. They passed their purchases out, each of their friends calling out their preferences in subdued voices. Someone handed Sasuke a bottle of water, and he cracked it open, swallowing large mouthfuls without tasting a thing.
Sasuke glanced up when the noise level dropped to library-like silence. The waiting area had emptied; only people there for Naruto were left in attendance. Shikamaru slept with his head in Ino's lap while she read a glossy magazine. Shino and Hinata spoke quietly in one corner while Kiba fumed. Sakura huffed and shuffled, angrily turning pages in a different edition of the magazine Ino had, while Sai smirked at her side. TenTen and Chouji had set up a mini-buffet area, and were splitting the remaining snacks between the two of them. Neji and Lee sat unmoving, curled in on each other with their hands clasped painfully tight. Iruka was still missing, presumably bullying information from the nurses and hunting the doctors in charge. Tsunade, most likely, had strong-armed her way into the lab with Naruto's remaining pills, and was probably alternating between setting up tests and terrifying the pharmacologists at the university lab via video call. With nothing to do but wait, Sasuke began to think, another thing he hated to do, as his thoughts always ventured down dark, better-left-alone paths.
"Where am I going to do without Naruto?" he mumbled to himself. "I have to save him. My heart can't take this." A few curious stares were thrown in his direction, but he ignored them in favor of standing, and retrieving his phone from his pocket. He woke it up, noting that his battery was getting low, and scrolled through his extensive list of contacts. There was one name there that he'd sworn he'd never call. To his way of n, he no longer had a choice. He pressed the button to begin a call, moving silently out of the waiting area as he did so. As the call connected, Sasuke swallowed hard, and said, "Hello, is this Orochimaru?"