Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Soup's On	By : OfFansAndFlames Category: Naruto AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1793 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned. I make no money on this fiction.

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
Sasuke hacked into his tissue, holding an icy bag of peas up to his uncomfortably warm forehead. The peas were beginning to thaw, and Sasuke dabbed at the newly forming droplets with a washcloth. Naruto, meanwhile, bounced to the beat of Sasuke’s music while he played Halo on mute. He lay on his stomach, a leg swinging through the air absentmindedly from time to time.
Sasuke’s room was saturated with that unmistakable aroma of sweat and illness. It hadn’t taken long for Sasuke to catch Itachi’s virus. Winter bugs had the worst timing. Although Sasuke had already lost his lunch on more than one occasion, he couldn’t afford to rest. A missed day of school meant a missed day of sales. Sasuke only got sicker as the week progressed, but he refused to snooze. Other people were relying on him, after all.
Of course, Naruto looked as rosy as ever. As he’d bragged many times to Sasuke, he had the immune system of a god and practically never got sick. He even thought it was wise to gloat about this to Sasuke after he’d spent fifteen minutes hugging the toilet, only to receive a firm whack at the base of his skull. Served the dumbass right.
Since he’d come to live with Sasuke, he must’ve eaten well his weight in food. He was now restricted to instant ramen and Rice-A-Roni, but that seemed more like a reward to Naruto than a handicap.
Over the last several weeks, his face and body had filled out very obviously. His cheekbones were now softened by the generous flesh of his cheeks, and his arms and legs had developed meat. Without fail, he joined Sasuke in his daily exercise routine: pushups, situps, and weights. Sasuke could still do more pushups than him, but dammit, he’d had a head start! Naruto was thin, but he no longer looked unhealthy. Even now, he was munching on Skittles, his finished Hot Pocket resting at the foot of the bed.
“Hey Saaasuke, want some Skittles before I finish the bag?” Naruto sing-songed.
Sasuke glanced over, shocked that the entire two pound bag was nearly finished. Why was he even surprised?
“You’re a black hole.”
As if he had appetite for Skittles anyhow. Sasuke’s voice came out as more of a croak, and Naruto merely smiled back. Sasuke had been even more tight-lipped than usual recently, since speaking had become physically painful.
“I like to enjoy the finer things in life, Sasuke. Like Skittles, soda pop, pizza, and instant ramen. Lots and lots of ramen. Oh, and Pop Rocks. Do we have any Pop Rocks? Maybe we should get some.”
Naruto stopped rambling for a moment before shaking his hands quickly, “But not now or anything. I know we’re tight on money. Maybe some time in the distant near future? My favorite flavor is-”
Sasuke groaned. Naruto’s words were beginning to blur together, causing a tight clamp in the back of his skull.
“Shut up. You’re making my head hurt.”
Naruto quietly swore at Sasuke but stopped talking all the same. After a long pause, Sasuke snickered.
“When you first came here, I thought you only ate like that because you’d been starved.”
Naruto lagged a moment. What Sasuke had originally interpreted as the desperation of starvation was actually Naruto’s standard eating habits. Bursting into laughter, Naruto kicked his legs in the air as he shot another alien in the head. He was getting good at this game.
“You’re priceless, Sasuke.”
Sasuke grumbled with a smile on his face - one of the first he’d had all day. Sasuke’s smile caused Naruto to beam, feeling quite accomplished to finally get the sophomore’s lips to upturn. It had been so difficult for Naruto to get a smile out of Sasuke the past several days, and understandably so. The combined burden of Itachi’s sickness, selling drugs, and Sasuke’s own virus was quite heavy. To make matters worse, Sasuke told no one when he ran out of Zoloft last week after he’d weaned himself down. Insurance or none, there would be a copay at the very least. Sasuke was tough. He could manage.
Again, the sounds of Itachi’s sickness filled his room - muffled wretching and heaving. The virus that had been plaguing him lately had only strengthened. Itachi hadn’t been able to eat anything solid for almost two days. It was difficult, however, to determine how much of Itachi’s condition was due to the tumor, and how much was due to the virus, and thus temporary.
Sasuke’s smile vanished in an instant as Itachi’s situation was made evident, replaced by a deep frown that pained Naruto. Sasuke’s stress was obvious to him, though Sasuke went to great lengths to hide it. Sasuke slept fitfully, he woke up in gasps, and he wasn’t eating enough. Sasuke was willing to go to almost any length for his brother’s sake, even if it meant risking his own skin.
One of the first times he had hung out with Sasuke, Sasuke fretted because his brother was just short of an hour late. He’d called Sasuke strange, which he still believed was true. Sasuke was generally such an aloof character. The thought of him caring so much about another human being was a little offputting, if not endearing. If that small incident was enough to provoke that sort of reaction, he could only imagine what Sasuke was going through now.
Naruto also worried about Itachi. Though he’d never met the man, he’d seen pictures, heard stories, and sometimes was able to overhear Itachi’s conversations with Sasuke, or even with Itachi’s own friends over the phone. Naruto couldn’t help but admire him. He must have been a very strong and selfless person, to single-handedly support his younger brother immediately after the death of both of their parents. Even now, he tried to suffer alone. Of course, Sasuke wouldn’t have that.
Naruto wondered if Itachi was doing worse than he’d admit to Sasuke. Still, Naruto had hardly ever heard Itachi get that sick until the virus hit him. From what he’d been told, Itachi was eating and sleeping relatively well before this. How much would Itachi improve when he beat the virus? Would he beat the virus? Was it possible that Sasuke could end up like him?
Fortunately for the boys, the walls insulated noises reasonably well. However, when Itachi was especially sick, it was distinctly audible. Sasuke would try not to look at Naruto when this happened. He didn’t want his face to give him away. He didn’t want to be coddled. Other than his frequent attempts to tend to Itachi, he locked himself away in his own world.
Naruto sat next to Sasuke, gently combing his fingers through Sasuke’s hair before ruffling it, effectively counteracting fifteen minutes of styling.
“Hey now, fussybutt.”
Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s swivel chair, rolling him back so that Naruto had access to his shoulders. As always, his muscles spanned his collarbone like taut ropes. He kneaded the flesh softly, only for Sasuke to pull himself back forward.
“I’m fine, Naruto.”
Naruto frowned back at Sasuke, slapping the back of his chair. Yet again, Sasuke was pushing him away.
“Why can’t you ever accept my help?”
The Uchiha sighed. It seemed unfair that he had someone feeling sorry for him and rubbing his shoulders just because he was hearing his brother heave out his insides. Itachi was alone, probably rolled up on a cold tile floor. And of course, he wouldn’t open the damned door.
“Don’t fuss over me. I’ve got the easy job,” Sasuke responded, cocking his head in the direction of his brother’s room.
Naruto was taking his liberties now with the swivel chair, forcing Sasuke around to face him. This was not the first time for Naruto to use this advantage, and it made Sasuke wish he’d chosen another chair when given the opportunity. Childishly, Sasuke twisted his head, continuing to evade Naruto’s eyes.
“C’mon, Sasuke. Just relax. I like rubbing your back. It gives me an excuse to touch you.”
Sasuke smiled wryly, his voice hinted with seduction.
“You don’t need an excuse to touch me.”
The callouses of Naruto’s fingertips scratched against Sasuke’s smooth shoulderblades. Pains shot up to his cranium and down his spine. As good as his posture was, he always wondered how his muscles managed to get so tight. His psychiatrist told him that Sasuke held far more tension in his body and mind than he was aware of. Whatever the case, Sasuke hadn’t seen him in a while.
Despite his reservations, he acquiesced when Naruto tried to massage him again. He closed his eyes, slumping his body to make Naruto’s job simpler. Naruto would go for the tightest, most painful stretch of muscle and grab the sucker like he was trying to suffocate it in a life or death battle. He would show that knot! It made Sasuke want to claw his seat cushion, but his pride would not allow him to ask for Naruto to be more “gentle.”
Despite himself, Sasuke winced. Luckily, Naruto noticed this and readjusted his approach. If only for now, he tried to ignore his brother, tried not to think about how much he was suffering and why. Naruto smiled softly as Sasuke leaned back into his touch. Sasuke’s eyes slowly closed, and he twisted his neck around to kiss Naruto.
“Thank you,” he stated simply.
Naruto kissed back, their mouths opening just slightly before they pulled away. It was rare that someone was able to push through Sasuke’s walls, to help him when he was hurting. He told himself that only the weak needed that. Sasuke was strong. He didn’t need anyone to save him. But perhaps Sasuke wanted someone to transverse that boundary after all. It was a reckless indulgence, but then again, he’d excelled at being reckless lately.
His words, simple and devoid of sarcasm, caused Naruto to smile and kiss the area where Sasuke’s neck met his shoulder - a particularly arousing patch of skin for Sasuke. Sasuke tried to ignore the lustier parts of his brain. It was difficult to do anything sexual in this situation. Sasuke felt like curling up on his bed, and the ambient noise wasn’t exactly appealing.
The hours passed, and midnight dawned. The noises came and went, but the intensity only seemed to mount. A couple hours ago, true to form, Sasuke had tried to gain access into Itachi’s room. The noises quieted as soon as Sasuke’s presence had been made known to Itachi, only to resume soon after Sasuke returned to his bedroom.
He had never heard Itachi sound so horrible before. It was loud, steady, and suddenly...silence. Sasuke’s body began to tingle lightly with anxiety. This wasn’t normal. He cast an apprehensive gaze over at Naruto, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. The two nodded at each other, and Sasuke again approached Itachi’s door.
“‘Tachi!”
He had to yell to ensure that he was heard, which seemed to make his voice drop half an octave as it cracked conspicuously. Yelling was quite a difficult task for Sasuke right now, but it was a necessity.
“Hey! You okay in there?”
What was happening? Itachi had to be weak at this point. How could anyone vomit that much for hours and not be? He needed someone to take care of him. Suddenly, Sasuke heard a thud.
Sasuke hammered his fist down on the door, the wood rattling against its frame. Now was no time for courtesy.
“Itachi? Itachi!”
Nothing.
Several more loud bangs to the door, which Sasuke finished off with a heavy thud as the sole of his foot connected with the finished wood.
“Itachi, if you don’t open this door right now, I’m kicking it down.”
…
“I’m not joking. I will seriously kick this door down if you don’t answer on the count of three.”
He felt the need to clarify. They did not have the money to repair a broken door, but he had no idea what had happened in there. Perhaps time was of the essence. Naruto poked his head out of their door, staring at the other in confusion.
Sasuke silently mouthed, “Go away.”
The Uchiha swallowed, trying to keep his irritated throat moist so that he could continue to shout.
“Three.”
What awaited him behind those doors? A sick part of him was tempted to walk away, to ignore what was happening. At that moment, his stress felt almost like a physical weight. Nonetheless, this was a burden he must bear for his brother. He could not afford to be negligent here. He would do whatever was in his power to keep him safe.
“Two.”
At the start, Itachi had done his best to keep Sasuke from thinking that the word “tumor” was a big deal. He kept emphasizing that his tumor was benign, and that it would easily be fixed by a surgery. But the more Itachi padded his words, the more nervous Sasuke became.
“One.”
He didn’t want to kick the door down. What would he see? Would this be like the time he stood over his father’s hospital bed, his jaw literally dropped in shock? Was Itachi alright? Would he be alright?
Sasuke’s stomach turned to ice cubes and his bones to splinters. He was scared. Itachi was alright. He was fine. He was just tired. Maybe he was taking a nap. Everything was fine. Sasuke’s heart was loud and abrupt as it beat. This was no time for cowardice. His body coursed with adrenaline. Sasuke channeled it into his leg as his foot collided with the door, a loud slam resonating throughout the house.
This wasn’t as easy as it looked in the movies, the door denting but still mostly intact. However, one more kick was enough to gain entrance. Naruto couldn’t help himself, peering through a small crack in the door as Itachi’s door propelled backwards and splintered against the wall.
Sasuke ran over the course of the floor, Itachi’s bed uncharacteristically unmade and askew. He took only an instant to make it to the bathroom. The bathroom door was wide open, Itachi lying on his back with a pool of his own vomit in front of him. It was...red. Blood. A lot of blood. Itachi’s eyes were closed, his ribcage dramatically moving up and down as he took deep and slow breaths. Blood flowed down from Itachi’s blue lips and nostrils.
For an instant, Sasuke was paralyzed. He suddenly felt so distant from the situation, as if he were watching a film. His mind seemed intent on taking in the details of the situation before Sasuke could continue. He didn’t want to take in the details. He didn’t want to see any of this. He didn’t want to remember it. He just wanted Itachi to be alright. As long as this was the case, Sasuke would have no complaints.
Was Itachi even conscious? Sasuke rolled Itachi over to his side so that he wouldn’t suffocate should he become sick again. He rustled Itachi’s body.
“Itachi? Itachi!”
Itachi’s body was limp. He was tempted to be a little rougher with Itachi in hopes that it would awaken him, but he feared injuring him in the process.
“Itachi, you need to wake up.”
God, Sasuke felt... Sick. He felt so cold, the muscles of his chest cavity contorting acutely with anxiety. Could this really be happening? He’d worried about something like this, yes. But nothing could have prepared him for this moment.
“I-Itachi...”
He couldn’t wake Itachi up... At least not this way. Sasuke ran into his room, his frenzied footsteps clamoring through the upper floor. Naruto turned to Sasuke quickly as the boy darted in, his face conveying absolute confusion. Sasuke grabbed his cell phone, pivoting on the balls of his feet as he ran back towards Itachi’s bedroom.
“Sasuke? What’s going-”
But Sasuke was gone before Naruto could finish his question. In fact, Sasuke hadn’t even heard him. All of his senses were focused on finding that cell phone, not wasting a split second on the way. He didn’t remember his body moving. Suddenly he was back beside his brother, and his cell phone was there. His body operated automatically, no movement inefficient.
Itachi hadn’t stirred since Sasuke had found him. The instant it took for the operator to answer seemed to take minutes. Time stretched on endlessly as he took whatever actions he needed to promote Itachi’s safety. Even his body seemed to move slowly, though Naruto would definitely disagree with that.
“I need an ambulance. It’s urgent.”
Naruto had followed Sasuke briskly, peeking his head anxiously around the door frame.
“Holy shit...”
Sasuke would have told Naruto to leave, would’ve told him that this was a private matter. Maybe he would’ve been been embarrassed that Naruto was witnessing such a dramatic moment of his family life. He would’ve probably done and felt all of these things if he had even noticed that Naruto was there.
“What’s the nature of the emergency?” inquired a composed, female voice from his cell phone.
“My brother has a large benign stomach tumor and has the stomach flu. He started vomiting several hours ago, and there’s blood in it. He lost consciousness approximately one minute ago.”
For how quickly his heart was beating, his voice sounded eerily calm, even to himself. It was almost robotic.
“Expect an ambulance in three to five minutes. Stay with your brother. Lay him on his side. Are you alright?”
“Yes,” Sasuke answered. “Is there anything else I can do for him until the ambulance gets here?”
“Just stay with him.”
How could three minutes take so long? After he’d hung up the phone, he finally noticed Naruto’s presence. He stared at the ground before responding.
“How long have you been here?”
“Since you called 911.”
This was one hell of a way to “meet” Sasuke’s brother. His long hair, ordinarily so neat, was tangled and strewn about the floor. He was pale. Sasuke held the back of his hand up to Itachi’s forehead, which was hot to the touch.
Naruto sat beside Sasuke, putting his hand on the base of Sasuke’s skull and tilting his head towards Naruto’s shoulder. Sasuke resisted, keeping their bodies apart. He knew that if he allowed Naruto to comfort him, he would crumble. He would no longer think efficiently and promptly. He could decompress later. Right now he needed to be fully alert.
“It’s alright, Naruto,” Sasuke answered calmly, without a hint of distress in his voice.
The doorbell rang, followed by three prompt knocks. Sasuke answered the door, leading the crew up the stairs to the restroom. They lowered the stretcher and lifted Itachi onto it, a few long strands of hair straying off of the stretcher as it was jerked upward.
“Are you two his brothers?” the paramedic asked.
Sasuke shook his head.
“No, this is my boyfriend.”
In the state of mind he was in now, lying didn’t even occur to Sasuke. Naruto smiled. He felt a little selfish for being so affected by this after witnessing the sight of Itachi on the bathroom floor. This was the first time he’d heard Sasuke call him his boyfriend publicly. Of course, it wasn’t like they’d had a lot of opportunities. It felt wonderful that someone knew, even if this someone was a random paramedic that neither would probably see again.
“We can only fit one in the ambulance.”
Sasuke nodded.
“I figured. Naruto, if I call, the phone will ring twice. I’ll hang up and call twenty seconds later. Keep the phone by you and answer if I call.”
“Alright, Sasuke.”
He was, frankly, in awe. Sasuke had walked in on quite a scene. He didn’t shout, yell, cry, sigh, or even frown. He worked quickly and efficiently, almost as if he’d been trained for such situations specifically. He had always guessed that Sasuke would be the sort to keep his head under crisis. He would, indeed, make a magnificent doctor. Even Naruto felt more panicked than Sasuke appeared.
Of course, Naruto had no idea what thoughts and anxieties were crashing between Sasuke’s ears. As he followed the paramedics, felt a strong wave of nausea brew everywhere from below his throat to above his pelvis. His head swam with fever, thankfully low grade enough for him to function through.
They rolled Itachi into the back of the ambulance, hooking him up to a slew of machines. They fitted Itachi with an IV, flushed his veins with saline, and placed oxygen tubes in his nose. They collected information about Itachi’s medical history, his medication schedule, and their family history from Sasuke.
His body temperature had shot up to 106 degrees. When would he wake up? What was happening in Itachi’s stomach? When he woke up, would he be okay? Was this all because he hadn’t had his surgery yet? Perhaps the most pressing, what would Sasuke do?
Luckily, the hospital was near his house. He had spent the entire ambulance ride either explaining Itachi’s medical and family history or staring restlessly at Itachi and his monitors. He paid special attention to his heartbeat. It was depressed, tinkering around the low thirties. He bit his lip as the number of the machine dipped into the twenties for the first time, only to soon after shoot up into the nineties and fall down to the thirties yet again. Sasuke didn’t know what he’d do with himself if that number ever reached zero.
The ambulance door opened. Itachi’s stretcher was promptly removed, and the wheels hit the ground. They hit the back of the ER. Itachi’s stretcher remained motionless as two paramedics held back one of the double doors each. Sasuke was close by Itachi’s side.
“We’ll take him from here,” the paramedics told Sasuke.
“What?”
“You can’t come back here. The waiting room is that door, over there. If there’s any news, we’ll let you know.”
The boy stood back wordlessly, fighting the urge to cling on to the stretcher for dear life. No, he had to be there for every moment. He had to watch. He couldn’t let Itachi out of his sight. Anything could happen, then. Yet Sasuke knew, logically, that he would be every bit as helpless next to Itachi as he would be in a waiting room. This was typical procedure. If only for a little while, he had to say goodbye to his brother.
Sasuke reached down, grabbing Itachi’s only free hand tightly. Despite Itachi’s fever, it was so cold. Sasuke’s hands were warm, palms sweating slightly. Could Itachi feel it, even now? He let go quickly, hoping that no one had noticed. For what could be the last time, he stared at Itachi intently as he was taken through the two white doors.
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Soup's On