So I'm trying to update sooner. Here I go!

Itachi sat in the living room, a cup of warm tea in his hand. It was almost noon and the house was far too quiet. Sasuke was normally a quite house companion, but never silent. Growing worried, Itachi stood up, setting his cup on the table and walked down the hallway to Sasuke's room. Sasuke had been noticeably more tired and he had paled quite a bit since Sakura's birthday about a month ago.

Itachi knocked on Sasuke's' door. "Sasuke," he called, "are you up?" There was a loud moan from the other side of the door. Itachi opened the door to find Sasuke still lying in bed. His pillow was over his head and he was completely wrapped up in blankets.

"Sasuke." Said Itachi again, sitting on the edge of his bed.

Sasuke groaned. "Hm." He sat up revealing his tired eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked now a bit concerned. Sasuke took in a breath, his hands going right to his stomach.

"No, not really." Sasuke closed his eyes.

Itachi put a hand to his forehead. Way too warm. "Your sick, Sasuke." He said, "You've been doing too much lately."

Sasuke sighed and fell back against his pillow, coughing. He sighed. This was the worst time to get sick. He was finally going to get to go have a nice lunch with Sakura, since he had been recovering nicely, and Naruto and Hinata might have joined them. He was going to finally get Naruto to admit he had been seeing Hinata. . . well that's going to happen. Sasuke shivered involuntarily. Once again. This sucked.

"I'll go get you some water." Said Itachi, "Are you hungry?"

Sasuke moaned. "I don't think I can eat anything."

"Alright," said Itachi, "I'll be back."

Itachi walked back to the kitchen and got Sasuke a glass of water. Just as he was about to go back to the room, there was a knock at the door. Itachi walked over and answered it to find an excited Sakura awaiting him.

"Hi Itachi!" she smiled, her grin made his mood lighten a bit.

"Hello Sakura." He said.

Sakura looked past Itachi into the house. "Is Sasuke ready to go?" she asked.

Itachi sighed. "Actually Sakura-"

"What is it?"

Itachi was almost stunned at how fast her face melted from being completely excited to worried and stressed. Her eyes had widened and it looked as if she would panic the second Itachi started talking about.

"He can't go," he continued carefully, "He's been doing a lot these past few months and his body just can't handle it right now. He's pretty sick Sakura." His voice sounded so sad.

Sakuras worry turned to pity. "Well do you think he would mind company?" she asked.

Itachi smiled. Sakura was sweet. "I'm sure." He said. "But be wary, he looks pretty miserable so he may snap at you."

"Alright," said Sakura. Itachi allowed her inside and she quickly slipped off her shoes. She noticed the water in Itachis hand. "I can take that to him." She said sweetly. Itachi handed her the glass and she walked down hallways to Sasuke's room. She knocked tenderly on the door.

"Sasuke?" she said. When she got no answer, she grew curious and decided to open the door just a crack. She couldn't see anything. She opened it a little more.

"Sasuke?" she said again. The she saw him. He was asleep on his bed. He was lying stomach down his arms outstretched over the bed. His sheet was pulled up to his waist, exposing his bare back and strong shoulder blades to her as they glistened in the sweet light that streamed through the window. His beanie was of course, on, which just made his look even more handsome in her eyes. It looked tough… but it didn't suit Sasuke. As quietly as she could, she shut the door and came to sit at his bedside.

She sat down at the edge, but afraid to breath, for fear that it might wake him up. Now that she was close to him she could see the sweat that was plastered to his face and his cheeks that were a little to red. She brushed his cheek with a gentle finger. He smiled in his sleep. Sakura giggled, but her laugher stopped when the boy coughed slightly and moaned.

"Sasuke," she said, her hand on his shoulder, "Come on sit up and try to drink this."

Sasuke opened his eyes. "Sakura?" he sounded surprised. "What's going on? How come you're here?" Sasuke mentally slapped himself, "Oh! The lunch! Dammit."

Sakura laughed. "Sasuke, its fine."

"But I wanted to do something today; it's been so boring lately. Just lying around."

Sakura smiled, "Well that's out of the question." She handed him the glass and he drank gratefully. Sasuke set down the glass and sat up, looking at the girl who sat, radiantly at the edge of him bed.

"You're wearing the clip." He noticed happily. She smiled and flipped her fake hair.
"Yep," she said, "It goes nicely with my new wig. Didn't you notice my hair is about six inches longer that it was yesterday?" she asked playfully.

Sasuke smiled. It was true. Now that he looked at it. Yesterday when she had come by she was wearing the wig she had been wearing, short and light pink, just like her real hair would have looked like. But now, it was still pink, but it was much longer that it was yesterday. She hadn't worn it that long since the chunin exams. It made her look so young and innocent, but at the same time, there was a new beauty about her. A mysterious, natural beauty he hadn't noticed before. He felt a blush rise to his cheeks. Sakura smiled, giving the red cheeks each their own kiss.

"I'll be right back." She said.

"Where are you going?" asked Sasuke, looking after the girl who had just basically kissed him and ran. She looked back at him, her bright eyes twinkling. He could tell she had an idea.

"Getting you the lunch you wanted." And with that, she sped out the door. Sasuke sighed. He was just getting to enjoy her company too. He laid his head back down on his pillow and closed his eyes. It wasn't long after he had finally dozed back off when he was being woken up again by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Wake up, Sasuke." Said a voice which he recognized to be Sakuras.

Sasuke opened his eyes. Sakura was at the edge of his bed again, just like she had been before, but there was something different about her eyes. They were sparkling just as they did before she left.

"Come on," she said, pulling at his hand, "Come outside. I want to show you something."

Sasuke allowed her to pull him out of bed. "What is it?" he asked her.

"You'll see." She said sweetly.

He stopped, his eyes twinkling just as hers were. "What's going on." He said, smirking.

Sakura came close to him, so her face was close to his ear. "I'm not telling," she said. She could feel his shudder. She loved teasing him. "You have to come and see."

"Fine." She heard him say.

Sakura laughed and pulled Sasuke through the hallway and to the back door. She slid the door open and Sasuke was met with a sight that made him laugh. Naruto and Hinata were sitting underneath the biggest tree in his yard, and blanket and food outstretched in front of him. Naruto waved and Hinata giggled.

"Heeyy!" he shouted.

"Since you couldn't come to the lunch, we brought lunch to you." Said Sakura.

Sasuke just smiled. "I thought you would do something like this."

Sakuras smile simply just broadened as she pulled him over to their friends. When they sat down, however, Sasuke went into a slight coughing fit. "I'll be fine." He said, noticing the worried looks he was getting from everyone. Sasuke took a seat on his knees and Sakura sat down next to him, making sure she was close enough to him that she could lean on him. Since it was a nice day, she didn't have to worry about Sasuke getting any worse… as long as he didn't do anything to upset his stomach or push himself.

Sasuke wrapped an arm around Sakura, his hand resting on her hip. He could use the extra support. He glanced over at Naruto. He was sitting comfortably with someone. Hinata was sitting, legs out straight in front of her and Naruto was behind her, his arms wrapped around her middle, his legs outstretched around her. His head was on her shoulder and he was looking admiringly at the food. Hinata leaned forward and grabbed the first plate.

"Please enjoy everyone," she said, "I made it myself."

"Wow Hinata," said Naruto, plucking a bit of sushi of Hinata's plate, "this is fantastic!"

Hinata smiled at him and then looked over at Sasuke and Sakura. "You can go ahead and eat if you'd like." She said.

Sakura smiled and grabbed a plate for her and passed one to Sasuke.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a low tone. Naruto and Hinata didn't hear her. Hinata was too busy giggling and Naruto as he scarfed down her food. Sasuke didn't answer. His eyes were glassy and he looked dazed. She placed a hand to his forehead.

"Sasuke," she said, noticing he still had a fever, "if you don't feel well you can go inside. We can do this another time."

This got his attention. He looked over at her. "No, no, it's alright. I'm alright."

Sakura gave him a look as if she didn't believe him, but he just smirked and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "I'm alright." He said, and thought his body was protesting against him with every ounce it had. As Sakura reached to grab a drink, Sasuke turned to stifle a cough. Sakura looked back at him, but he just smiled, popping a piece of sushi into his mouth. She watched him as he chewed it and, although his stomach was screaming not to swallow it, he did anyways. He felt it churn in protest. Still, he took a deep breath and ignored it.

As each of them finished off their plate, they all enjoyed joking and smiling together, something they had never done before. It was strange, but not something they couldn't all get used too. About an hour into the lunch, Naruto and Hinata had ended up lying in the grass on their backs as they watched the clouds and happily made jokes with each other and Sakura, who was lying with her head in Sasuke's lap. Sasuke, on the other hand, was too focused on keeping the sushi down to worry about talking and joking. Every once and a while, his stomach would slosh or churn angrily, and he would take a deep breath or clear his throat in attempt to make himself feel better. It was working for the time, but he noticed Sakura kept looking at him, giving him concerned or nervous looks, as if saying, "Really, we can go inside if you need to." But he would always say, "I'm fine."

They sat there for a long time, until eventually, Naruto and Hinata fell asleep in the warm spring sunlight and Sakura was napping on Sasuke's lap. Sasuke took a deep breath and stirred around, now feeling even more uncomfortable than before. He let a cough slip and it stirred Sakura to stir. Sasuke took a deep breath and placed his hand on his head, closing his eyes. He would not get sick. Not now. Sakura sat up quickly, and he felt a gently hand on his back.

"Sasuke." Said Sakura. Sasuke went to look at her, but he moved his head a bit to fast it made him extremely dizzy. His stomach protested the action with a violent lurch. Sasuke moved his hand to his mouth. He felt someone gentle grasp his elbow and help him to his feel. He staggered.

"Quietly, so we don't wake them up." He heard Sakura say. She guided him quietly and quickly, but efficiently into the house and down the hall. She turned when they reached a small room. The bathroom. Sasuke allowed her to help him down to the floor.

His stomach heaved painfully and he gripped the sides of the toilet and became noisily sick. He felt Sakura kneel down beside him.

"I'm s-sorry. I didn't want to…" He stammered leaning over the toilet. He felt Sakura's fingers brush pas this cheek, as if moving away some invisible strand of hair from his face. He was going to finish his sentence, but his mouth ran dry and he vomited again

"Shhh," she said, "It's alright. We all knew you were sick. It's alright." Sasuke closed his eyes, willing his stomach to calm. But, as he went to shift positions just a bit, his stomach pitched and rolled so violently, that he instantly dry heaved over the bowl.

"Calm down, Sasuke." He heard Sakura say again. "It's alright." Her words calmed him, but they didn't stop the nasty, warm bile from rising in the back of his throat and spilling out to join the rest of his lunch in the toilet.

After about five minutes, Sasuke finally calmed down a bit. "Are you finished?" asked Sakura kindly. Sasuke meant to nod, but it probably just looked like his head was lolling about on his neck, debating on where to look. Sakura ran a hand across his sweat drenched neck.

"Alright," she said, standing up, "Just stay here, I'll be right back."

Sasuke finally willed his head to nod, still not trusting an open mouth, and watched as sakura stood up and walked out of the room. In about five minutes, she came back with a cool cloth in her hand, but she didn't come from the direction of the kitchen.

"W-where'd you go?" asked Sasuke.

Sakura gently dabbed his mouth. "I told Naruto and Hinata that they should probably go on home. I said you were just to tired and it wouldn't be right for us to finish the picnic without you."

Sasuke nodded, to exhausted to retort. He allowed Sakura to help him to his feet and walk him back to his room.

He slipped under the covers and was immediately comforted by the soft pillow and warm blankets. He closed his eyes and felt the gentle dabbing of the cool cloth on his head. He slowly became aware that, aside from the creaking of his bed when Sakura would move, there were no other sounds coming from the house.

"Where's Itachi?" asked Sasuke.

"He had to go give something to lady Tsunade, he should be back soon." She said.

Sasuke was quiet for a while. Until Sakura spoke to him again.

"Today was nice." She said casually.

Sasuke looked at her. "I got sick in the middle of lunch." He said.

"That's alright." She replied. That seemed to be her phrase lately. It's alright.

"No it's not," spoke Sasuke, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Sasuke," said Sakura, cutting him off. She didn't say anything right away. But he suddenly became aware of the rustling of his covers and someone's arms wrapping around him. He opened his eyes. Sakura had slipped under the covers with him and was snuggling up to him, her head resting on top of his. "It's alright. It just means I get to spend more time alone with you."

Sasuke smiled. "Aren't you afraid of getting sick though? You know I'm actually sick, this isn't from my chemo or anything."

He could have sworn he felt her pause before she responded. "I don't care in the slightest. Now get some rest." She said and snuggled up to him. Sasuke smiled and buried his head in her shoulder, falling into a deep, fitful sleep.