Messing with the Middle

Preparing

Sasuke hadn't spoken to Haku since they landed. Tsunade had returned his letter saying that she would be there in 2 week.

2. Fucking. Weeks.

Haku had 4 left and she was going to be here in 2. Sasuke had made it very damn clear that he would not be talking to his friend until Tsunade had arrived.

This meant that Haku got 2 straight weeks of the silent treatment. Don't worry, Sasuke could have gone on for a lot longer than that, he was happy to give the boy the silent treatment for the rest of the year.

It had been a week already and they had a week left, and it was at this point that Haku finally realised that Sasuke was really angry at him.

It's not that Sasuke didn't know, because he did. He was angry because the information came from Sakura and not Haku. So if that wrench never told them then Haku would still beleive that Sasuke was unaware of the poison.

That was what pissed him off. Haku is supposed to be his a current most trusted friend. Yet he hid the fact that he was poisoned.

So yes, it took a week of silence for him to realise this, not him getting punched in the face. A week of silence.

"Sasuke, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Haku asked.

"..."

"It's been a week already, when are you going to start talking to me again?" Haku tried again.

"..."

Sasuke ignored every single attempt and only focused on sharpening his sword. Sasuke then adjusted his scarf and continued ignoring Haku. Well it's not like he told Haku that he was gonna be ignored for 2 weeks.

"I just thought it was for the best. After all, I was meant to die ages ago. I figured it wouldn't matter if I died this time either..." Haku muttered.

"..."

This comment got Sasuke to twitch slightly, yet nothing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realise how much you were worried about me. I guess I thought you wouldn't care if I died, so I kept it quiet. You were so determined to save as many lives as you could I realised that I'd be taking up precious time if I told you. I thought that everything else was more important than my life to you, and I'm sorry for assuming that. Please talk to me..." Haku explained.

He never realised it before... but he really missed Sasuke's side comments.  His remarks, and rude comments made their journeys fun. Poking fun at Sasuke for his crush over the Hyuga and watching the boy get irritated made the journey... a journey.

Going without that and walking in complete silence or having a one sided conversation made Haku realise that he really messed up. So he did the one thing any true friend would do... he apologised.

"..."

"Please..." Haku whispered.

Sasuke looked up from sharpening his sword and stared silently at Haku. The poor boy looked hopeless, like he had just witnessed someone he cares for die... kinda like how Sasuke looked when he learnt about Haku's problem.

Sasuke stayed silent but slightly raised one of his eyebrows at the boy. Was him being silent that bad. From all the shit talking he does Sasuke figured Haku would be enjoying the silence while he could.

He thought it was better than him yelling at the guy, but then again that was definitely more Naruto's style... to yell out his feelings... ugh. The thought made Sasuke visibly cringe, which didn't go unnoticed by Haku.

Not the point. The point is that Sasuke wasn't mad because Haku hid being poisoned... well, he was but not the point. Sasuke's anger all came from the fact that Haku thought Sasuke wouldn't care if he died. It hurt him to know that his best friend, (yes Haku was currently above Naruto) didn't think he cared about him.