Drabble prompt: “My nightmares are usually about losing you.”

“Wow. You look like shit,” Naruto blurted out.

This was his first time seeing Sasuke in over a month. Sasuke’s face was a near perfect white, hair matted to his forehead with sweat. His lips were pale and chapped. He was sitting at their table with a completely full glass of water next to him. The ice in it had nearly melted.

Sasuke stared back at him with his mouth ajar, any trace of shock on his face only lingering for seconds until he launched into ire.

“Coming from you? Really?”

Sasuke gestured at Naruto, his voice a little raspy from his sickness.

Naruto sat before him in a wheelchair. He had an impressive black eye, one broken leg, a fractured collarbone, and a few broken ribs. He hadn’t bothered to change out of his hospital clothes yet.

This was the first time Sasuke had seen him since that mission that went dangerously awry. It was no big deal, Naruto assessed. He was a fast healer, and no permanent damage had been done. In only about a month, he’d be right back into the swing of things.

His friends had all visited him in the hospital over the week he’d been admitted. He’d had plenty of meals transported to him from Ichiraku’s. Sasuke was the only one who could not. Given the particularly nasty (and very contagious) sort of stomach flu he’d contracted, no one wanted him anywhere near a hospital.

“Naruto, could you explain something to me?” Sasuke asked slowly, his tone dangerous.

Suddenly getting smashed by a giant metal hammer wielded by a ten-meter tall behemoth last week seemed like child’s play. Naruto felt himself sweat. He nodded quietly.

“Do you recall, at the academy, when we were ten years old, and Iruka told us to at all times guard our back and spine?”

Naruto nodded.

“Then why the fuck did you allow yourself to get your ribs broken just a couple fingers’ width away from your spinal column?”

“I got him just where I wanted him to be! It was almost finished!” Naruto shot back defensively, immediately baited by Sasuke’s words. “How the hell was I supposed to…”

“You fucking idiot!” Sasuke shouted, abruptly standing up, the chair screeching out as it was propelled backward. “You could have been paralyzed! You could have died! Does that not get through your thick skull?!”

“Are you forgetting that I’m in ANBU? That we’re both in ANBU?” Naruto hissed and then winced as he felt a sharp pang by his ribcage. It was true that after this, their missions had become far more perilous. “It’s part of the job description!”

“You were reckless and impatient. What you did went against even the most basic training we’ve received since we were children. The job is dangerous enough without you fucking around!”

Sasuke’s knees buckled, the world spinning around him. He braced himself with his single hand, sloppily returning to his seat. He fought the instinct to vomit. He was too angry for this, but he felt so light-headed that he couldn’t even yell anymore. He glared at Naruto, making sure that his stare communicated just how displeased with Naruto he really was.

Sasuke was right, as much as Naruto hated to admit it. But he’d been so close to victory. And he had been victorious. He’d just sustained…a little bit more bodily damage than what might have perhaps been ideal.

“Sasuke…” Naruto sighed. “Have you eaten anything today?”

“Don’t change the topic,” Sasuke muttered, finding himself weak.

“You need to get some rest.”

Sasuke nodded.

“Don’t think you’re getting off the hook.”

---

The instant Sasuke’s head hit the pillow, he was out. Naruto wondered how long Sasuke had kept himself awake for Naruto’s return. Whatever Sasuke had caught was really a rough bug. Naruto could feel his heat from across the bed, the mattress giving as Sasuke tossed and turned. From time to time, Sasuke would grunt. Sasuke usually was so still and quiet when he slept.

The sharp pain in Naruto’s sides made any position painful. His leg, bound and in a cast, was awkward to move. He’d refused painkillers because he was tough, dammit, and he didn’t need an easy way out. Maybe that hadn’t been the best decision.

Suddenly, Sasuke shot bolt upright in bed with a loud gasp, holding his chest with his hand and panting hard, eyes wide open. The bounce in the mattress caused Naruto to wince, but in just seconds he was sitting up as well, despite the pain, his hand on Sasuke’s shoulder. Every muscle was tense.

Sasuke jerked his head to look over at Naruto, his body relaxing but Sasuke’s hand still on his chest. He freed his hand from his chest and ran it down Naruto’s marked cheek, as if he didn’t trust his eyes. Reassured, Sasuke collapsed backward, lying down again.

Naruto pet Sasuke’s sweat sheened forehead softly, pulling away Sasuke’s bangs as Sasuke’s breathing began to return to normal.

“Nightmare?” Naruto asked quietly.

“Mn…” Sasuke nodded

That day, when Sasuke was only eight years old… The day his family was massacred, and he came back to the mess to find the outlines of his parents’ corpses outlined in chalk…

“It’s okay, Sasuke,” Naruto mumbled, petting Sasuke’s forehead. It was wrinkled from his eyes being clamped shut. “It’s over.”

“What?” Sasuke mumbled, his voice already slurring despite how awake he had been just seconds ago.

“You’re safe now. You won’t ever have to endure that again.”

Sasuke still looked confused for a few seconds, his fever slowing his mind and dulling his inhibitions. Realization finally presented itself on Sasuke’s face.

“No. These days, my nightmares are usually about losing you.”

Before Naruto had a chance to respond, a soft and peaceful snore from Sasuke announced that he had fallen back into slumber.