Mᴀᴅɴᴇss | Sᴀsᴜᴋᴇ Uᴄʜɪʜᴀ

Chapter Five

Naruto paced back and forth with a thoughtful look on his face. He tried to process the information, but nothing seemed to settle in his mind. He was a mess, unsure of whom he should be more worried about: Sasuke or Mei. Both had a special place in his heart, neither of them he wanted to lose, yet one seemed to be lost a long time ago and the other was quickly slipping out of his grip. He ran his fingers through his thick blonde hair and looked around unsure of what to do. He wanted to visit the small wooden house in the middle of the forest, but he was afraid that its owner would be very unhappy if he did.

"Why would Mei defend Sasuke?" he said out loud. "What's in it for her?" Naruto stopped and smiled sadly. "That's right. Mei..." Naruto closed his eyes. He felt miserable. "Mei always liked Sasuke. Always." At last Naruto dropped on his bed and placed his hands under his head. "I was always just a replacement." young man smiled once again. "Well, I got what I wanted, can't blame anyone." He turned over and closed his eyes.

***

"Uchiha do me a favour and sit down already." Mei hissed quietly as she mixed the herbs in a pot. She added a few drops of thick colourless liquid. A couple of drops of yellow liquid from a small bottle and something that seemed like a frog's leg. Sasuke raised his eyebrow but did not say a word. The mixture did not look trustworthy, but he was not in a position to complain.

"How long will this take?" he asked while Mei continued working on the medicine.

"I don't know." She replied honestly. "It is different for every person. Everything depends on your metabolism. It can take from three days up to a month, but in your case, I think you should approximately settle for a week."

"A week?" his voice was distant. Sasuke's gaze drifted away. He looked in front of him, thinking carefully of what he was going to do for a whole week, especially in a company of a strange female that made him shiver from time to time. He sighed recalling the events from the previous night. He quietly slipped into the house, not bothering to knock. As he made his way to the kitchen, he heard Mei's loud voice, he stopped in his tacks wondering if she was not alone. Sasuke peeked into the kitchen to see Mei pace around having a full-blown conversation with herself. Not only that she was talking out loud, but she was also mimicking the responses. Sasuke watched in amusement and disbelief. He leaned on the doorframe and cleared his throat. Mei looked at him wide eyed and...continued arguing with herself.

"What do you need that seed for?" Sasuke finally asked.

Mei's eyes sparkled.

"Ohhh...I have great plans for it. I don't see any reason to tell you though."

Sasuke frowned. The week was going to be long.

"Dreadful." He said. "Why am I not surprised?" the girl shrugged and put away the bottles. She placed the kettle on the stove and sat down waiting for the water to boil. "I don't care what you think." She said very simply.

"There aren't a lot of things you care about to begin with, right?"

"Spot on."

Time flew by fast and before Sasuke knew it, he lay on the only bed in the house with his bare back facing Mei. She leaned over it and studied it carefully, first with her eyes then with hands.

"It will hurt." She stated. "But only in several places."

Sasuke restrained from replying. He prepared himself for the pain, but it did not come. Mei's fingers massaged his back warming up his muscles and just when Sasuke started relaxing under her touch a sharp pain pierced his back. He hissed under his breath and clenched his hands up to the point where his fingers turned white. He turned to the girl abruptly, glaring.

"I did warn you." Mei shrugged and continued.

"This makes me feel like you have grudge against me."

Mei could not help but laugh out loudly. "Not at all, you surely aren't on my blacklist yet."

"I don't think I want to be there." Sasuke replied. He tried to sit up but Mei just pushed him back down angrily.

"Stop moving. If you want to get better, start listening to me already."

Young Uchiha, or now the only Uchiha, rolled his eyes. He felt something cold drip on his back in the same places at the same time. He got another urge to turn around and look at what Mei was doing but he resisted, not wanting to listen to her complaining. The places on his back that droplets touched burned like hell. It felt like somebody's hand entered his body and was roughly roaming through the insides. He clenched his teeth yet made no sound. Mei watched him carefully knowing how painful the procedure was, but she did not feel like making it easier for him. She clicked her fingers and continued massaging the designated areas on Sasuke's back, increasing his pain. Just when Mei started getting into it somebody knocked on the door. She froze feeling Sasuke's body go rigid.

"Mei, open up." It was Naruto. "It's me." His voice sounded different. Naruto was drunk.

"Hey Mei, come on, open the damn door. I want to see you."

Mei felt cold sweat run down her back. She looked down at Sasuke who finally managed to turn around and gaze at her oddly.

"Don't move." she mouthed and stood up. Mei quickly grabbed a blanket and threw it over Uchiha just in case Naruto wanted to look inside, although she realized that a blanket was not going to hide anything. Mei gathered her hair in a ponytail and walked to the door. Naruto was still knocking.

The door swung open to reveal a very unpleased Mei. "Naruto! What on earth are you doing breaking my door." she sent him a fake furious look and Naruto took a step back almost guiltily.

"Why didn't you open up sooner? I've missed you." he reached out and wrapped his arms around the girl, locking her in a tight embrace. Naruto was squeezing the girl tightly and rubbing his cheek on hers. "You are so soft. I can never get tired of touching you." he whispered passionately into her ear. Mei's eye twitched.

"Uzumaki, you damn drunk, go and sleep it off!" she pushed him away and fixed her top that was partially off after Naruto's experienced embrace.

"But Mei-chan, I need you. I feel so unloved. Let me hold you." he leaned closer once again, this time planting a kiss on her cheek. Mei placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away lightly.She looked at him with a stern expression. Mei did not want to hurt him, but she hated when Naruto got drunk. He lost himself completely.

"Naruto, please go home. I don't have the energy to..." she stopped right before the hurtful words escaped her lips.

"To what Mei?" Naruto pressed. He grabbed her arm and brought her closer. His face was serious. "You have no energy for me, right? After you saw him again?" he shook her but suddenly stopped. His facial expression froze, and the colour left his face. He was staring at something behind Mei's back. He stared so hard that he did not notice when he squeezed her arm to the point where a couple of tears escaped her eyes.

"Uzumaki Naruto." A cold voice could kill.

"S...Sasuke..."