熱病 (Fever)

Sasuke Birthday Fic by Shirohane

"Sasuke."

Dokun.

"Sasuke?"

Dokun.

"Sasuke—"

I wait for him to call my name few times before turning my neck slightly to look at him instead of answering. From deep inside me there is a thirst that cannot be quenched. When he calls out my name, for the briefest of moments that thirst lessens, but it returns even stronger than before. It hurts. There is a burning feeling in my chest. That burning only gets cooled when I see his face. Call out my name more. Look at me more. Do something about this burning feeling, dunce. It's all your fault, after all.

"Sasuke, are you okay? Your face color looks really bad! Can it be that even ice prince like you gets sick?" Naruto asks, a stupid smile pasted on his face. I want to slam my fist against his nose and wipe that smile off of his face. Don't smile at me. Don't look at me. It hurts if you keep smiling like that, you idiot!

"None of your business," I snap, narrowing my eyes. It must be the weather. That's it; it's because the weather is so hot. We've been standing around waiting for Kakashi for the last half an hour, and the sun was getting brighter and was practically toasting the top of our heads as the time passed. I must be getting a heat stroke.

"Sasuke, stop acting like you're all cool and stand under the tree with Sakura-chan if you're hot. Your cheeks are all red," Naruto says. He reaches out his hand and places it against my cheek. "Gyaa—You're burning up!"

I slap his hand away.

"Don't touch me!"

Dokun, dokun, dokun—

It hurts. It hurts so much! My heart is beating as if it'll burst out of my chest. I can't breath. I stagger back and cover my face with my hand, biting into my lower lip.

"…I'm going home."

The idiotic smile disappears from Naruto's face instantly. Looking worried, he searches my face through my fingers.

"What? You must be really sick. Want me to walk back with you?"

"Shut up and leave me alone already!" I scream. I know I sound hysterical. It's stupid, really. But if he looks at me like that my heart beats so fast that I know I'll die. Stupid, stupid dunce. He's no help in my life.

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" Sakura calls out to me from under the shadows of the trees. Thanks for asking so quickly, bitch. She's the one who told Naruto to watch out for Kakashi while she stays under the shades of the trees, so I had to follow the dunce out to the sunlight, too. I mean, if you leave the idiot alone he'll trip over his own shoelaces. Never mind that we're wearing sandals and we don't have shoelaces. He'll find a way to trip over the nonexistent shoelaces anyway. Anyway I'm getting sick and tired of that selfish bitch. I swear one of these days I'll 'accidentally' slit her fat, ugly throat during the missions.

I ignore Sakura and turn away, forcing my hands into my pockets. Naruto trails behind me.

"Go wait for Kakashi-sensei!" I snarl.

"Sakura-chan can wait for him! Stop with your melodrama and let me walk you home! You really look sick, you bastard!"

"Are you too stupid to understand Japanese? Get the hell lost!"

"Fine, be that way! See if I care even if you fall on your face on the floor while walking home and break your nose and die of fever!" Naruto yells. I hear his small feet going pitter-patter as he runs back to Sakura. Damn it. My head hurts. Muttering about idiots and annoying bitches under my breath, I drag myself home.

---

It was all his fault. It all started few weeks ago, during a mission. At the Water Country Naruto was being his typical, stupid, careless self, so I had to use my body as a shield to protect him. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I care about him or anything. It's just that it'll leave a bad taste in my mouth if I allowed someone to get killed right in front of my eyes, that's all. I knew that I would be able to get all the hits without dying by avoiding the needles from hitting my vital organs, but would the dunce know? Of course not! He'd be dead as a stone if I didn't interfere. So, like an idiot I am, I risked my life protecting that moron when I should have been thinking about getting stronger and trying to kill my psychotic rabid older brother. (If you think I have issues, you should meet him. I used to be a perfectly normal, nice kid, you know.)

That was all good and nice, but as I feared I lost too much blood. I felt my body being carted away as the paramedics asked my teammates if they can donate blood, as there was no time for them to go to blood bank and try to get blood for me.

"I'm O positive so he should be able to take my blood," I heard Kakashi drawl out.

"I'm O positive, too," Sakura added. "You can take as much blood as you need."

"Unfortunately this boy is AB negative. We need negative blood," the paramedic explained, sounding panicked. "You, boy. What's your blood type?"

"B negative," Naruto choked out. He must have been crying. "You can take all my blood, so please, please let Sasuke live! Please save Sasuke! Sasuke is… Sasuke is… Ueeeen-"

If I could have spoken, I would have told him to shut the hell up already. I hated it when kids cried. My body was starting to feel light and I was able to see flashes of light under my closed eyelids. But small, warm hands were desperately clutching my cooling hand, so I somehow felt like I couldn't die yet. I lost my conscious right after that, though.

When I woke up, I found Naruto sleeping next to me, his head lightly resting against my arm. They must've had trouble finding his veins, because his arm had transformed into a sponge while I was sleeping. I gingerly took hold of his arm and held it in my hands. It was surprisingly thin. It's because he always eats junk like ramen and fast food, the idiot. He should eat something more nutritious.

Someone had the window opened. A light breeze came in from the window, tossing Naruto's hair before being swallowed up in the humid summer air. A cicada was shrilly crying outside. Naruto's hair reflected the sunlight, shining as bright-gold as the sunlight that it reflected before it settled down on his head again, framing his round face. His long eyelashes made shadows in his cheeks.

I let go of his arm and put my hand against his cheek. It was very soft, like a baby's skin. He smiled in his sleep as I patted him, running my finger against the chubby fat of his cheek.

Doki. Doki. Doki…

It somehow felt like my heart was beating faster. My finger rested against his lips. The lips that had stolen my first kiss felt as soft as I've remembered it. His lips slightly twitched as I touched it, the pale pink skin contracting inwards at my touch.

Doki. Doki. Doki.

He had tasted like miso. Even though I wasn't exactly a fan of miso, he had tasted more milky and sweet than what miso would normally taste like. More out of instinct than anything else, I had forced my tongue in his mouth, and the warm, wet muscle I found it there had seemed startled at my intrusion. He had bit me.

Dokun. Dokun. Dokun.

Ah. My heart was beating faster and faster. It felt like my blood was boiling. Was the blood that Naruto had given me trying to go back to its owner? I had swallowed some of Naruto's saliva back then, but this body fluid was different. Inside me his blood flowed in my veins and messed up my entire body. My heart wasn't listening to my logic anymore. It stubbornly beat faster and faster until I was gasping for breath, my head spinning. Damn it. His stupidity must be contagious. I felt my cheeks heating up. I felt sick. It was all his fault. His fault. His fault. His…

So don't blame me for this, dunce.

I leaned down and pushed his hair away, covering his lips with mine. He still tasted like miso.

---

Something cold is resting against my head. I frown and try to shake my head, but it feels like my body had turned into a lead. I can't move. I force my eyes to open anyway and look around me. It's not my room. Instead of the familiar white ceiling my eyes rest on dirty, light-yellow ceiling. The paint is peeling off. There is a spider web at the corner. I groan and sit up. A towel falls off my forehead and lands on my lap. It's an odd contrast to see such a clean, white towel against ragged, dirty blanket that cover my body. My entire body feels sticky. I need to shower.

I try to stand up and that's when I notice a small weight against my leg. Naruto's sleeping again, his head resting against my leg. You'd think if a guy were nursing someone, he'd actually nurse him instead of sleeping on the patient. But that's just like Naruto to do something like this, so I can't help the small smile twisting my lips.

Fortunately it must have been a mild case of heat stroke, nothing else, because I feel much better now. If I caught a cold I would've been really pissed. Having a cold during the summer really sucks. I put my hand against my head and am satisfied to find my forehead cool. I gingerly step out of the bed and stretch my body, then turn to Naruto and ease him into the bed. He's light. He looks cute when he's sleeping and his mouth is actually shut for once. I want to kiss him again.

…the hell? I must still be sick.

I find the bathroom and pull off my clothes. My clothes are soaked with sweat and it's a relief to get rid of them. Why did Naruto put a blanket on top of me? It's in the middle of the summer, that idiot! Since that Water Country incident he keeps getting on my nerves and I keep thinking about him. It's really annoying. I think about him sleeping outside and my heart starts throbbing painfully again. I don't know if I caught some kind of disease from him when I got his blood transfusion or if it's the heat getting to my head, but for the last few weeks even thinking about Naruto makes my heart beat faster. Sometimes I feel like tearing my heart out my chest so it'll stop thumping so loudly already. I wonder if Naruto can hear my heart beating loudly whenever he's near me—after all, it's so loud.

I run the water cold and let the cool liquid wash away all the stickiness away from my body. I find his shampoo and leather some into my hair, but I instantly regret that. It smells incredibly girly. I don't know why Naruto's using a shampoo that smells like strawberry candy, but I should've used soap instead. I don't have weird hobbies like buying girly shampoos, you know.

His body soap smells like apple and I'm starting to wonder if Naruto has a secret fruit fetish or something. But if he's using soaps like these, he must smell really good if I try holding him in my arms. Would other part of his body taste as good as his mouth?

There is a burning, throbbing feeling down there when I think about that. My entire body feels hot. I make a face and make the water colder. I'm starting to act weirder and weirder. I might be going crazy. If I am, it's his fault. Anything and everything that goes wrong in my life is his fault anyway.

When I finish washing and start rubbing myself down with a towel, the bathroom door slams open. Naruto, his face a bright red in his excitement, yells, "Sasuke, are you in here! Sasuke—"

He stares at me and I stare back. His eyes travel southwards and I follow his eyes until—

"Uwaaaaa sorry!" Naruto screams, slamming the door shut. I roll my eyes and wrap the towel around my waist, opening the door again. The idiot's face is a bright red, and he flinches away from me. He bumps into the wall and turns even redder until even his ears are red.

"What's your problem?" I dryly ask. "We're both guys, you moron. Stop overreacting and let me borrow some of your cloth. Mine's all sweaty and sticky."

"R, right, cloth! Cloth!" Naruto repeats to himself before running away to his room at a terrific speed. In his rush he hits his foot against his door and clutches his wounded foot and howls, then glances at me before running into his room again.

I wonder if he's trying to be funny or if he's just stupid. I'd go with the latter, personally.

Naruto returns with a T-shirt and shorts and underclothes. I return to the bathroom and dress myself. All the clothes are a bit too small for me, but they smell fresh and it feels good against my body. These are the clothes that Naruto wore. Thinking that, I run my hand over the fabric before I realize that I'm being stupid and I open the door. Naruto's standing there like a statue.

"S-sorry about before. You were suddenly gone, so I was worried. Do you want to eat something?" Naruto asks when our eyes meet. I give him the dirtiest look I can manage and Naruto flinches again.

"What am I doing here?"

"Ah, um, you fainted on your way home, so I, um, brought you to my house since I don't have the key to your house. Um, sorry."

"Were you following me?" I snarl. Naruto looks scared. Good. He has no business messing around where he's not wanted.

"Sorry, you looked so sick… Kakashi-sensei told me to look in on you since the mission's easy enough for him and Sakura-chan to do alone today. I—"

Naruto pales as I reach my hand out, then tightly closes his eyes. His entire body stiffens, and his fat cheeks turn even fatter as he clenches his mouth shut tightly. He reminds me of a chipmunk. I roughly pat his head, messing up his hair.

"…Thanks."

"…Eh?" Naruto asks, opening his eyes. He looks so stupid that I burst into laughter. Naruto numbly stares at me before he yells, "You- You- I hate you! Stop making fun of me, you bastard!"

"You're a moron," I retort. I walk towards the kitchen. "Come on, I'll make you something to eat as a thanks. You can't live on ramen all the time, genius."

"Ah… Wait, Sasuke! No!" Naruto cries as he runs towards me, trying to stop me as I open the refrigerator. I stop and stare at a large cake sitting on the shelf. In a clumsily, ugly writing which only a dimwit can produce, 'happy birthday Sasuke!' is scrawled with blue icing.

I shut the refrigerator door and turn to the dimwit, who is fidgeting. I wait for his explanation.

"A… Actually, today, we were going to have a birthday party for you," Naruto says, scratching the back of his head. "We didn't have a mission. But Kakashi-sensei took so long to set up the presents and birthday cake for the party that you got sick and went home instead. I don't know why it took him so long. We even asked Iruka-sensei to help him, but he was still so late…"

…You send Iruka-sensei to Kakashi-sensei and wonder why it took them so long to get something done?

"U, um, anyway, I made you the cake. I don't know if you'll like it, but I tried really hard, so… Um…"

I detest cake. I hate anything that is overly sweet. But I find myself opening the refrigerator door again and taking the cake out. I get a knife and plates and chopsticks—Naruto didn't have forks—and cut two slices out of the cake, giving one to Naruto. If the cake was inedible, he was going to suffer with me.

Naruto watches me as I eat the cake. The cake is good, not overly sweet with vanilla aroma and lots of fresh fruits. I really do think he has fruit fetish. Anyway, when I reach for another slice, Naruto breaks into a smile.

"You like it?"

"…Even dimwits are good at something, apparently," I say, biting into the second piece. "It's not bad."

"You unappreciative bastard!" Naruto screech. I ignore him and walk back to the bathroom. "Don't eat while walking; you'll leave crumbs everywhere! I don't like cockroaches damn it! Sasuke are you listening!"

I set the plate down and dig in my discarded clothing before I find what I'm looking for. I take the key to my house out and take a hold of Naruto's hand, then drop it into his hand. He stares at me.

"Next time leave me at my house," I grumbled. "Don't bring me to this pigsty, you idiot."

I pick the plate up and walk back to the kitchen, eating the cake. I think I can eat the whole cake by myself. It's really good.

"T- thank you, Sasuke!" Naruto suddenly says. I nearly drop the plate. Doing my best to keep my face expressionless, I turn and look at him. He's smiling. He's smiling so brightly that it puts his golden hair to shame. Unlike his usual smile, this smile is only for me. My heart is beating fast again, but strangely, this time it doesn't hurt at all. It actually feels kind of good, like I'm floating.

I feel a smile rising to my lips again and this time I do nothing to hold it back.

"Anytime, Naruto."

---

-The End-

Because last year I bullied Sasuke so much at his birthday, I tried to give him a happier birthday this year and did my best to make this love-love sugary sweet story, but it turned out weird. Hauuuu—(cries) I, I really did try, Sasuke! I'm sorry! TvT

I tried my best to depict Sasuke to his original character, when he was being very antisocial(?) at the beginning. It was a lot of fun writing about how Sasuke used to be before he officially became obsessed with Naruto and became the stalker psycho pervert(...) that he is today. Wahahaha. Deny, deny, Sasuke! But you're already in love with Naruto. TvT

'Doki' and 'dokun' is a sound effect of someone's heart beating, by the way. It's a bit like 'thump, thump'.