Naruto, who lived very close to campus, and also worked there, didn't technically need a car. But the car had been a gift, and he liked that this way he could go on hikes that were further out of the city without fuss. Besides, he actually enjoyed that he could help people (namely impoverished students) with things like moving or picking them up from the airport.

This was the first time someone had asked him to pick them up from the hospital though, and if Naruto speeded a little, or a lot, on the way there, well, he figured the situation warranted it.

He tried to think about all the situations that could land someone in the hospital on a Saturday night. Alcohol poisoning? Mugging?

Normally he'd think of car accidents, but Sasuke had said he didn't drive. Well, no, he'd said he didn't like driving, so maybe that was still a possibility?

Maybe Naruto needed to calm down a little. Sasuke had sounded fine. Naruto just didn't do too well with getting ambiguous calls, particularly not if they came from a hospital.

Was Sasuke the type to get into a fight? Naruto wasn't sure. The other boy was a black belt though (probably), so that could explain why he'd sounded fine.

Naruto just hoped that the other guy wouldn't be getting discharged from the hospital anytime soon.

Wait, that seemed pretty ethically questionable though? Why was he thinking about this anyway, Jesus.

Naruto squeezed into a parking spot close to the hospital and practically ran out of the car before he paused and reminded himself to calm down. This wasn't a TV show, he wasn't going to barge into the emergency room.

Instead, he sped walked in, and after a few conversations, found himself speaking to the person in charge. Before he knew it he was signing a discharge form, while also trying to take in all the information this woman was giving him about what Sasuke needed to do in the next few days. Eventually, she agreed that he could go and get Sasuke from one of the rooms.

It so happened that Sasuke, sitting on the edge of the bed, was in the middle of putting on a button-up shirt as Naruto entered the room.

Naruto froze near the doorway, staring at the huge bruise that was covering the boy's collarbone, disappearing below the shirt fabric.

"My eyes are up here." Sasuke said dryly, as Naruto continued to stare at the long fingers that were quickly buttoning up the shirt, covering the bruise from view.

Naruto slowly looked up to meet the other boy's eyes. Sasuke looked tired, a little pale with dark circles under his eyes, but he met Naruto's gaze with a neutral expression.

"Hey…" Naruto said gently as he walked slowly towards his bed. He wasn't sure if the other two beds in the room were occupied but they both had the curtains closed around them.

Sasuke rolled his eyes "I'm fine!"

"I can see that." Naruto said in the same tone as before, staring pointedly at where the bruise was now covered up by Sasuke's shirt.

"Maybe you can stop looking at me like I'm dying then?" Sasuke looked like he attempted to smirk before giving up halfway.

Naruto reached the bed and stood right next to him. At his expression, he had to stop himself from…he wasn't sure exactly what, maybe putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder?

"You got hit by a car." Naruto told him, just as gently as before.

"Yes, I was there when it happened." Sasuke said dryly.

"Jesus Sasuke." Naruto snapped at the joke, though his voice was still quiet, "They said you have a concussion."

"It's not serious." Sasuke told him with a sigh.

"Who was it? A drunk driver? Someone texting? Seriously, what is wrong with people, I can never…" Naruto could feel his temper rising as he looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced away "No, it was my fault."

"You were a pedestrian!"

"I essentially jumped in the middle of the street without paying any attention" Sasuke snapped back.

Naruto went silent.

"Look Naruto, it doesn't matter how it happened, I'm just…." Sasuke shifted on the bed "I'm…really sorry about this. I wouldn't normally bother anyone like this, let alone someone who barely knows me"

Still looking away from Naruto, Sasuke started to move further forward on the bed, bending down towards his shoes.

Naruto put a hand on his chest to stop him. Sasuke sent him a questioning glance, but Naruto just shook his head. Then he bent down to pick up one of the shoes, bringing it to Sasuke's feet.

"You don't need to do that!" Sasuke sounded the closest to panic that Naruto had heard from him, which was insane given just a moment prior they'd been talking about him being hit by a fucking car.

"Just let me." Naruto snapped at him, and maybe he sounded more intense than was warranted, but it worked in silencing Sasuke's protest.

He put on one shoe, holding onto Sasuke's ankle with his other hand, and then repeated it with the other shoe. Then quietly, he tied the laces, not looking at Sasuke once.

"Alright." He said when he was done, still looking at the shoes.

"…Thank you." Sasuke murmured, and Naruto found himself looking into his eyes again, a strange look seemed to pass between them that Naruto couldn't quite name.

Still, having calmed himself down in the past minute, Naruto attempted a half-hearted smile. He wasn't sure he managed it because Sasuke looked more confused at his expression than anything.

"It's no problem, and you don't need to apologize for asking me to come, you know." He tried to keep his tone on the lighter side, but it ended up sounding a little overly bright.

Sasuke gave him a questioning look "I was just thinking of who to call when you rang me, and well, I thought…" He looked uncomfortable as he explained.

Naruto's smile came more naturally this time "Way to make a guy feel special."

At Naruto's teasing tone, Sasuke seemed to let go of some of his tension. He smirked. "My apologies, I thought it would be inappropriate to tell you that after I had a near-death experience, it was only your face I needed to see."

"I love it when you're inappropriate" Naruto told him with a smile, trying not to let the mention of a near-death experience dampen his mood again, though he knew Sasuke had just said it as a joke.

Sasuke looked like he was going to return joke, but instead he paused for a moment "It was also because I knew you'd be the kind of person to help even a perfect stranger."

"You're not a stranger Sasuke" Naruto told him and hoped he could hear how much he meant it. Then, without giving him a chance to respond, he added "You're really feeling alright?"

Sasuke nodded "As good as new"

"Like a virgin?" Naruto asked before he could stop himself, and Sasuke shot him a long-suffering look. "Touched for the very first time?" Naruto continued in a sing-songy voice, because well at this point, he might as well.

Sasuke shook his head and muttered something about how he should have let the car finish the job.

"Hey, don't joke about that." Naruto told him, his tone more serious than he intended. "I'm… really glad you're alright. I'm glad I called just then too."

Sasuke glanced at him but seemed like he didn't know what to say in response. So, Naruto thought he'd be a good person and help him out.

"I just love visiting hospitals." He explained grinning, "There is something about the smell of antiseptic that makes me feel so alive, and to think I could have missed out on the chance if I hadn't called"

Sasuke stared at him for a moment and then shook his head, clearly giving up. Then without warning, he moved to get off the bed. Naruto immediately leaned forward and snuck his hand around Sasuke's mid-back.

Sasuke slipped to the ground with no issues, and then raised his eyebrow at Naruto, who was now significantly closer, and still had his arm around him "Is this you taking advantage of me in my vulnerable state?"

Naruto snorted, though he felt his face heat up just a little "Vulnerable? You said you were fine, didn't you?"

Sasuke actually chuckled in response, which made Naruto feel significantly better. Not seeing any reason not to, he slowly let go of Sasuke's back, and when he seemed perfectly fine standing on his own, Naruto took a small step back.

"What. So you're not going to carry me out bridal style?" Sasuke asked, a small smirk finally gracing his lips.

Naruto shook his head "You're such a bastard" Still, he couldn't stop the returning grin from spreading over his face.

"Your seat belt's on?" Naruto asked once they were in the car, and he'd checked twice that Sasuke felt okay. Though he'd seemed fine walking out of the hospital, Naruto had caught him wincing a few times from the corner of his eyes, when Sasuke thought he wasn't looking, which had made him doubt the truth of all of Sasuke's claims that he was alright.

"Yes mother." Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto turned towards him as he talked, but before he could say anything, he saw a sudden look of pain come over Sasuke's face before he'd even stopped speaking. Which of course, made Naruto panic immediately.

"Hey! What just happened?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped to his "What?" His expression smoothing out again.

Naruto blinked, wondering if he'd imagined it. "Uh, for a second there you looked like you were in pain."

Sasuke looked taken aback for a moment before he wiped that expression off as well.

"It's almost as if I was just hit by a car." He said, as dry as ever.

"I thought you said you felt fine!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I am fine." Sasuke said easily.

"But you just…? Argh, you're so frustrating sometimes, you know that?" Naruto told him with a groan.

"I thought you found me charming." Sasuke returned without batting an eye.

Naruto just shook his head, not having anything to say to that.

Sasuke had looked pained right then. Naruto knew he'd seen it. Besides, why had he been so distracted that he'd just walked into a road anyway? Naruto wanted to talk to him about it but getting Sasuke to open up to him seemed like an impossible task at times.

It was a good thing Naruto thrived at the impossible.

"Who were you going to call if I hadn't rung you right in time?" Naruto asked casually.

Sasuke seemed to think for a moment "The friend I'd normally call is out of town right now, and Suigetsu doesn't drive, so it probably would have had to be Karin, but I didn't really feel like I'd want either of them to know, so I was debating different options."

Naruto glanced at him "You realize we have to tell them now, right?"

"Why would we do that?" Sasuke asked him coldly.

Jesus, it was like the temperature in the car dropped down by 20 degrees. He could just flip a switch, couldn't he?

"Because you have a concussion? Did you forget that little fact already, because that's a bad sign, and I might have to take you back."

"I have a concussion, what about it?" Sasuke returned.

"Someone's meant to stay with you for the first 24 hours? Were you not listening to anything they said?"

"The two of them are going to be there anyway, since you know, they live there. They don't need to know anything."

"That's not how it works! Someone needs to be checking in on you." Naruto had the urge to hit his head against the side window "Are you really going to be difficult about this?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, which was answer enough. Naruto tried to take a few calming breaths.

"Okay look, if you really don't want to tell them that much, you can stay with me tonight. I don't have anywhere I need to be tomorrow. I'll keep an eye on you."

Well technically he had a shift at the gym, but he could swap that with someone.

Since they were driving through a busy intersection, Naruto couldn't look at Sasuke's expression, but the other boy was silent for a moments before he said, "I can't ask that of you."

"You're not asking, I'm offering." Naruto said, "It's not a big deal."

Sasuke was silent again and this time Naruto managed a glance at him, which the other boy caught. "What if you stay at my place instead?" He asked after a moment.

Naruto snorted "You're negotiating? What happened to I can't ask it of you?" Before Sauske could respond, he added "Anyways, how would you explain me randomly staying in your room to your housemates without telling them what's happened?"

"It's none of their business" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"…I'd tell them we're hooking up?" Sasuke said after a moment, sounding like he was trying to hold on to the small hope that he'd get his way.

"Like they'd believe that." Naruto told him, shaking his head.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "Should I be offended?" He asked dryly.

Naruto rolled his eyes "How are they going to believe it when you told Suigetsu I'm very straight literally yesterday?"

Sasuke turned towards the window and muttered something. Naruto thought he heard something about straight men and maybe 'it wouldn't be the first time?', which Naruto thought he would do better to ignore right now if he wanted to maintain his sanity.

"Well, what are you going to tell your housemates?" Sasuke asked him after he was done muttering.

"I mean we can actually tell them the truth since I doubt you care if a few strangers know you were in an accident." Not that he understood why Sasuke didn't want his own friends to know about it. "And anyway, Kiba is gone away for the weekend, and Shikamaru's really not interested in anyone's business, trust me."

After another few moments of silence, Sasuke said "Alright." Then grudgingly "…Thanks."

Naruto pulled the car into his usual parking spot "You're welcome, and we're already here anyway." Then he turned to meet the other boy's glare with a grin.