Bad Day, Great Day. A fic for a friend.... part 6
Naruto made enough noise to waken the entire population of a sleeping village, perhaps even the dead themselves. The door was slammed and something was knocked over as the lad bounded through the house yelling on Iruka. When he opened his eyes, Iruka had a moments panic, trying to figure out where he was. When he realised he was in his own house, in his own bed, he relaxed a little, but soon he began to wonder how he got there. As Naruto continued to shout in the other room, Iruka discovered he was lying in bed with nothing on but his underwear, and he had no idea how he got there or why he was stripped of his clothes. Hell, he had no idea how he had gotten into the house. The last thing he remembered was leaving the school and making his way home, spying his house in the distance was about the last he remembered before wakening up a few moments ago.
He sneezed and moaned, the motion causing him some dizziness that made the room spin. His entire body was aching, his head hurt a little, and he remembered the bump to his head that left him with a tender lump. Raising a hand, he felt at the lump on the back of his head, but instead, his fingers touched what felt like a wound pad and his eyebrows creased in confusion. He knew he couldn't have put it there, he didn't have any wound pads. They were on the top of his list of things to stock up on that he had planned to get over the weekend. So where had it come from, and who had put it there? He began to then wonder if he himself had stripped and jumped into bed or of someone else had, and suddenly he felt embarrassed. Someone had stripped him and put him to bed like a child and he had no idea who it had been!
Naruto burst into the room, his expression of worry disappearing when his eyes fell on a now fully awake Iruka. “Iruka-sensei! I've been looking for you!...are you okay?” he said, eyeing the bed bound man as if the sight was unusual. Which, of course, it was, as Iruka rarely took to bed in the afternoon. “Why are you in bed?”
“I...I wasn't feeling very well. Migraine and a bit of a...fever...”
That's right! He thought. I had a fever! He still had, but not to the extremes it had been, well, that he could remember anyway. That at least explained the aching in his body, but not the wound pad. He always had a great immune system, much to his annoyance as a child, as he could shake off illness pretty quickly which meant he was rarely off school or work. He was already shaking off the fever, but the snot still ran from his nose as if trying to escape his head and he coughed as Naruto sat down on the bed.
“I went to the school to help you out but you were gone and some folk I spoke to said you had went home and looked awful. They were right, you do look awful! Do you need anything?”
Iruka's head was spinning and he let his head drop back onto the pillow. “I'm okay. Just feel a little cold and sore.”
Naruto disappeared, only to return with the heavier blankets that usually laid over the back of Iruka's couch, then threw over the bed and Iruka. The heavy weight of the new blankets made Iruka feel instantly warmer and soon his eyes were closing, the heat and comfort luring him back towards dreamland.
“I'll come back later, Iruka-sensei. But if you need anything, just let me know.” Naruto went to leave but Iruka stopped him.
“Naruto, is there anyone else here?”
The lad looked at him quizzically, then shook his head. “No one but you and I.” He replied. “Why?”
“It's nothing, just thought I heard someone else.”
“You're imagining things. Get some sleep and I will come by later to check on you.”
With that, Naruto left, locking the door to the house as he went. Iruka snuggled down under the covers and while he tried to work out what had happened in the last hour or so, sleep slowly took him. He dreamed of a man with an obscured face and long white hair. He had a solid, well defined, warm body that Iruka seemed to fit next to quite perfectly. He dreamed of the man stroking his hair and smoothing it back in rhythmic movements that made Iruka smile and snuggle deeper into the bed. He dreamed of the man's calming words as he held him tightly, and the warmth that flooded his own body with the contact.
Iruka's eyes sprang wide open and he gasped in shock as his dream unlocked that which he had forgotten. Hatake Kakashi had saved him from falling down the stairs and breaking his neck. Hatake Kakashi had carried him into his house and stripped him of his wet clothes in order to stop him becoming more ill. Then, Hatake Kakashi had put him to bed and joined him there to share his warmth and now Iruka's face burned with the embarrassment that the most famous ninja in the village had seen him mostly naked!
Iruka sat up slowly, one hand stuck to his face as if to cover, unsuccessfully, the blush that made his full face glow like a Belisha beacon. If Kakashi had helped him to bed, where the hell was the man now? Surely he had not imagined it? Surely it was not just a really vivid dream that was too real not to be real?? He looked about the room, half expecting the white haired jōnin to be there somewhere, and slightly disappointed when he found that he wasn't. But through the open bedroom door, he saw into the living room, and there, at the side of the well worn couch, lay a flak jacket that very definitely was not his own.
“Oh....OH.....!” He sat there stunned, images flying through his mind of Kakashi helping him. Embarrassed wasn't the word he would use. Extremely mortified, was a term more likely to convey what he felt at that moment. Had he been standing up, he would probably have fallen over at the shock and as he struggled to get out of bed and pull on clean clothes, one thought crossed his mind.
“Thank Kami I put on clean underwear this morning!”
He sneezed and moaned, the motion causing him some dizziness that made the room spin. His entire body was aching, his head hurt a little, and he remembered the bump to his head that left him with a tender lump. Raising a hand, he felt at the lump on the back of his head, but instead, his fingers touched what felt like a wound pad and his eyebrows creased in confusion. He knew he couldn't have put it there, he didn't have any wound pads. They were on the top of his list of things to stock up on that he had planned to get over the weekend. So where had it come from, and who had put it there? He began to then wonder if he himself had stripped and jumped into bed or of someone else had, and suddenly he felt embarrassed. Someone had stripped him and put him to bed like a child and he had no idea who it had been!
Naruto burst into the room, his expression of worry disappearing when his eyes fell on a now fully awake Iruka. “Iruka-sensei! I've been looking for you!...are you okay?” he said, eyeing the bed bound man as if the sight was unusual. Which, of course, it was, as Iruka rarely took to bed in the afternoon. “Why are you in bed?”
“I...I wasn't feeling very well. Migraine and a bit of a...fever...”
That's right! He thought. I had a fever! He still had, but not to the extremes it had been, well, that he could remember anyway. That at least explained the aching in his body, but not the wound pad. He always had a great immune system, much to his annoyance as a child, as he could shake off illness pretty quickly which meant he was rarely off school or work. He was already shaking off the fever, but the snot still ran from his nose as if trying to escape his head and he coughed as Naruto sat down on the bed.
“I went to the school to help you out but you were gone and some folk I spoke to said you had went home and looked awful. They were right, you do look awful! Do you need anything?”
Iruka's head was spinning and he let his head drop back onto the pillow. “I'm okay. Just feel a little cold and sore.”
Naruto disappeared, only to return with the heavier blankets that usually laid over the back of Iruka's couch, then threw over the bed and Iruka. The heavy weight of the new blankets made Iruka feel instantly warmer and soon his eyes were closing, the heat and comfort luring him back towards dreamland.
“I'll come back later, Iruka-sensei. But if you need anything, just let me know.” Naruto went to leave but Iruka stopped him.
“Naruto, is there anyone else here?”
The lad looked at him quizzically, then shook his head. “No one but you and I.” He replied. “Why?”
“It's nothing, just thought I heard someone else.”
“You're imagining things. Get some sleep and I will come by later to check on you.”
With that, Naruto left, locking the door to the house as he went. Iruka snuggled down under the covers and while he tried to work out what had happened in the last hour or so, sleep slowly took him. He dreamed of a man with an obscured face and long white hair. He had a solid, well defined, warm body that Iruka seemed to fit next to quite perfectly. He dreamed of the man stroking his hair and smoothing it back in rhythmic movements that made Iruka smile and snuggle deeper into the bed. He dreamed of the man's calming words as he held him tightly, and the warmth that flooded his own body with the contact.
Iruka's eyes sprang wide open and he gasped in shock as his dream unlocked that which he had forgotten. Hatake Kakashi had saved him from falling down the stairs and breaking his neck. Hatake Kakashi had carried him into his house and stripped him of his wet clothes in order to stop him becoming more ill. Then, Hatake Kakashi had put him to bed and joined him there to share his warmth and now Iruka's face burned with the embarrassment that the most famous ninja in the village had seen him mostly naked!
Iruka sat up slowly, one hand stuck to his face as if to cover, unsuccessfully, the blush that made his full face glow like a Belisha beacon. If Kakashi had helped him to bed, where the hell was the man now? Surely he had not imagined it? Surely it was not just a really vivid dream that was too real not to be real?? He looked about the room, half expecting the white haired jōnin to be there somewhere, and slightly disappointed when he found that he wasn't. But through the open bedroom door, he saw into the living room, and there, at the side of the well worn couch, lay a flak jacket that very definitely was not his own.
“Oh....OH.....!” He sat there stunned, images flying through his mind of Kakashi helping him. Embarrassed wasn't the word he would use. Extremely mortified, was a term more likely to convey what he felt at that moment. Had he been standing up, he would probably have fallen over at the shock and as he struggled to get out of bed and pull on clean clothes, one thought crossed his mind.
“Thank Kami I put on clean underwear this morning!”