Completely On Purpose

Chapter 5

Sasuke found himself alone in bed when he woke up. He knew that Naruto was doing his rounds across the village, finding places that might seem out of the ordinary, or places that were hidden from view or the weather. Sasuke appreciated the silence and solitude. He couldn't have been bothered to do it, not at this hour. The sun was just barely peeking up over the skyline, and it was made even harder to see because of the light snowfall. Sasuke wished that he'd brought some socks with him, or extra blankets. He missed Naruto because he was so warm.

It had been going like that for days now, a week or so; Sasuke waking up alone and trying to make himself eat, and then getting back into bed, while Naruto was out for hours. Then, Sasuke would take his turn of rounds, which were significantly shorter than Naruto's, because Naruto wouldn't let Sasuke stay outside for very long. Naruto worked through the whole night and part of the day, so that Sasuke could "sleep as much as possible."

Sasuke drew the covers back over himself and thought about Yume again. He couldn't get her out of his mind, and it was weird. He wasn't sure if Naruto had felt it to the extent that Sasuke had, because it was strong . Then, as soon as she had looked away, Sasuke's mind had gone blank momentarily. He didn't like it. It almost felt like genjutsu, or maybe some kind of dojutsu. Maybe Naruto had felt it too? He kept forgetting to ask whenever Naruto was home. 

The only things keeping Sasuke company when Naruto was away were the strange symptoms afflicting his body, his thoughts about Yume, and a cat. A little black cat, that would sit outside of the window sometimes, or on the roof of the neighboring building, and watch Sasuke. Sometimes, Sasuke thought about letting the window up so that the cat could come in, because he was so lonely, but that was dangerous in more ways than one. It was deathly cold outside, for one. Sasuke also probably wouldn't be able to get the window closed, and there was no telling what would get in then. Sasuke also didn't know how Naruto felt about cats.

Sasuke had also received word back from Kakashi, who told them to do as Yume had instructed and scope the area. He had quite enjoyed writing letters; maybe he'd start trying to contact Sakura every now and then.

The door opened then, and Naruto came in all snow-covered and shivery, but he left his shoes on, which was puzzling. "Is it my turn? Don't you want to rest?" Sasuke stood and went to Naruto, wrapping his arms around Naruto's cold body.

Naruto shook his head, and returned Sasuke's embrace. "It'll be your turn when we get back," he said against Sasuke's hair. "Back?" Sasuke pulled away to look at Naruto. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the hospital. Did you think I'd forgotten?" No, Sasuke had just been wishing, hoping Naruto would forget. He thought that he had gotten pretty stealthy when it came to hiding his aches and pains. Apparently not. Sasuke protested the entire time he got dressed for outside. "This is pointless."

Naruto seemed to think all of Sasuke's complaining was pretty funny, by the way he was trying not to laugh. "I think this is the opposite of pointless, honestly."

"And why's that?" Sasuke's voice was flat.

"I don't want to tell you," Naruto decided after a moment of humming and scratching his chin. "I was hoping you'd figure it out by now. And, I mean, I don't really know, I could be wrong... but I don't think I'm wrong." The more Naruto spoke, the more confused Sasuke got. "Ok, ok. I don't even know what you're talking about, let's just go before I get back in the bed."

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Sasuke was beyond annoyed with the situation by the time they reached the village hospital. They hadn't made up any fake names, there didn't seem to be much of a point in that since they were so recognizable. Their only choice was to wipe the memories of the people they closely encountered, since they didn't know who knew each other, or how fast the information about their presence would spread.