The Online Sort Of Love

Chapter 8

There was silence between the two, the occasional sound of water droplets hitting against the porcelain sink breaking the silence. Cerulean eyes stared at the boy, body frozen in surprise while the other stared back, eyes filled with concern, eyebrows furrowed. 

"You sure? You looked pretty beaten up." The boy said, taking a step forward towards Naruto. Hearing the footstep, the blond boy woke up from his trance and immediately stepped back, looking down onto the tiled washroom floor. Cracking his knuckles in nervousness, Naruto whispered a quiet 'I'm fine'. Looking back at the mirror, he realised bruising was beginning to form on his cheek and temple. Anger raged inside him, small tears forming in the corners of his eyes. His body shuddered and in a quick motion, Naruto grabbed his backpack from the ground and began to walk in a fast pace towards the washroom door, trying to escape from the thick tension between them. He knew behind the concern were the questions the boy was wanting to ask. 

Before he could escape, a firm but gentle hand grasped his elbow loosely. Naruto turned to face the boy, his body rigid and eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

"What? I need to get back to class." Naruto said, shaking his elbow to get out of his grasp. 

Sighing with exasperation, the boy let go not wanting to anger or scare the blond in front of him. 

"Come on, I'll take you to the nurses office. You can barely stand upright, let alone walk to class." The boy answered back before taking Naruto's backpack from his shoulders and carried it on his own. Carefully, he manoeuvred the blond boy so that his bodyweight was leaning against him for support and with that, they walked out of the washroom and towards the nurses office. All the while, Naruto looked on in complete shock and bewilderment, his eyes zoned at the boy distrustingly. 

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. Just going to take you to the nurses office okay?" The boy said assuringly, taking small, careful steps so Naruto could walk along at his pace. The blond sent a small smile his way and leaned his head on the boy's shoulder. 

"Thank you Sasuke." He said gratefully and looked at their moving feet, missing the soft smile the pale boy had on his face. 

The wooden door creaked open as the duo entered the nurses office, Sasuke carefully walking in to make sure the blond doesn't bump into anything. A young woman turned around from her desk and gasped in surprise. 

"Naruto? Oh god... Sasuke please lay him down on the bed." Shizune said, walking to the cabinets to grab elastic bandages and ice packs.

Laying the blond on the bed, he grabbed a pillow and placed it at the head of the bed and gingerly brought Naruto into a sitting position and made him lay back on the bed. After making sure the hurt boy was comfortable, he stood there not knowing what to do now. Albeit the awkwardness, Naruto smiled softly at Sasuke. 

"Uh.. so well, I better get to class. Hope you get better." Sasuke said and turned around to walk out but before he could, bony fingers wrapped around his wrist. Sasuke turned around to see the whiskered boy looking at him, a shy smile on his face. 

"Thanks for helping me. No one other than my friends have before. I really owe you for this one." Naruto said softly, before letting go of Sasuke's wrist. 

Sasuke softly patted his shoulder. 

"It's no problem. Just take care of yourself." He said and walked towards Shizune. The young woman smiled at him. 

"Thank you Sasuke. I'm pretty sure Naruto wouldn't have come on his own will." She chuckled. 

"This happens often?" Sasuke asked, his face revealing his shock. He turned his head to see Naruto laying his head back, eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Shizune turned as well, her eyes filled with sympathy. 

"Yeah. Generally it's Kiba or Gaara dragging him here. It's horrible really... how much he is bullied." Shizune whispered. Shaking her head, she grabbed her gear and looked back at Sasuke. 

"It's nice to see someone else treating him nicely for once." She smiled again. Sasuke's eyes became soft as he continued to stare at the blonde boy. 

"Anyway time for you to go to class. I'll signed you a late slip. Thank you again." Shizune handed the slip of paper and then moved her attention to the hurt boy on the bed. Sasuke just sighed and proceeded to walk out of the office. Entering the silent hallway, he leant against the wooden door. He replayed the events, his thoughts stopping when he envisioned Naruto's grateful smile.

'Guess I have to keep an eye on him. Atleast he has Kiba and Gaara to protect him as well' With that thought, he proceeded to get back to his class. 

'Maybe we could be friends as well.' 

-------------------------------

And done! Sorry for the long wait T_T.

It's difficult to get back into the groove of writing and continuing this story so sorry if this chapter kinda sucks. 

Thanks for reading!