The Guardian

Taka: all the Iruka fans out there…he enters in this chapter. Yes there is going to be some KakaIru here, cos I think they’re a cute couple.

Chapter 6:

Shizune turned to Sasuke. “It’s ok. He’s just really stressed and over worked. His fever arises from that…it is pretty severe, but if you get him the medicines needed and feed him the right food, he’ll be all right in no time.”

Sasuke nodded, the worried look never leaving his face. “Um…do I have to take more days off from school? It’s a little difficult right now, but if you gave me a medical certificate or something. Please Shizune-san, I don’t want to call a nurse and I’m too worried to leave him alone.”

Shizune stared at him for a moment. “All right. But you’ll have a pretty big job. Don’t do things that stress him or let him run around. Keep him in bed for about a week if you can. Call another adult over…you don’t have to do everything yourself. Kakashi would be a good choice.”

Sasuke nodded. “Fine, then. I’ll call him right away.” Sasuke walked her to the door and then turned his attention back to Naruto. The blond was tossing and turning, forehead creased in a frown. He sighed and began to lightly massage Naruto's aching forehead. When he was sure the blond had calmed down for the time being, he wet a towel and spread it over his fore head, hoping the cold compress would work.

He picked up the phone and dialed Kakashi's number, which had been so hard to find, since Naruto had as usual dumped it in some place. Gosh the blond never ever arranged things! The phone rang for a long while before it was picked.

“Naruto?”

“No, it’s Sasuke.”

“Aa, Sasuke…what can I do for you?”

“Naruto isn’t well. You see his girlfriend Sakura…” Sasuke proceeded to tell Kakashi everything. “So I was wondering if you could come down? I can manage for a week or so, but I don’t know if he can manage once I get back to school. And you’re the closest thing he has to a parent, I don’t know anyone else.”

“All right I’ll be there in about two o three hours ok? Just put some sheets for me in the guest bedroom next to what I presume is your room and clean up a little will you. And if Naruto starts having a nightmare, see if you can get him to sit up and rub the small of his back in medium sized circles. He feels better if you do that. And if you have any chicken, look at the book in the shelf above the kitchen’s breakfast counter. It’s full of the easy-to-make recipes for chicken soup and such like. So if you can make some chicken soup and something solid for yourself. Don’t burn the kitchen down.” Kakashi instructed and Sasuke heard the slamming of a car door in the background.

“Yes, we’ll be fine until you get here, Kakashi-san. Thank you.”

Then Sasuke went to change the cold compress and then went to find the chicken soup recipe again. It had seemed fairly easy, better than yesterday’s recipe and he followed the instructions to the tee, though once more he was stumped when it came to salt. He always knew there was something missing but he could never pinpoint that it was salt. He tasted a bit and deemed it was alright. Carefully pouring it into a bowl, he carried it up to Naruto's room, hoping the man would wake up enough to eat it. Since Shizune had said no solids, he’d strained all the chicken out, retaining only the liquid part of the soup. He never had to care for a person who was sick before, so he fervently hoped he was doing the right thing.

He woke Naruto and lifted the blond man into a sitting position…it was now that he realized how much weight Naruto had lost, he was so frail. He looked so frail for a big muscular college dude. “Naruto? Naruto, wake up. It’s time to eat.” The blond opened sleep hazed eyes and blearily looked at Sasuke.

“Sasuke? Wha…?”

“I need you to drink what I’m giving you ok? Slowly…” he held fed Naruto, spoonful by spoonful. Half the time Naruto had no idea was going on and had to be woken up by Sasuke. The boy felt exhausted, since he’d been caring for the blond all night. He finished feeding Naruto and then went down to clean up. After that was done, he went back to watch over Naruto.

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Kakashi rang the door bell a few times…still no one came down. Sighing he reached into his pocket to produce a key and unlocked the door. The house was eerily quiet; he shut the door behind him and made his way upstairs to Naruto's room. Opening the door he saw the blond sleeping fitfully with an Uchiha in the chair by his bed, curled up and deeply asleep. Kakashi shook his head…the boy was going to get sick too, if he slept by the blond. He picked the Uchiha who didn’t even realize and dumped him, into bed in his own room.

Then he went over to check up on Naruto and the medicines he was taking. Then he checked the kitchen to see what food there was. The fridge seemed well stocked, with enough meat and vegetables to last half the week at the most. So Naruto was taking good care of the boy…such good care that he forgot about himself. Kakashi decided to decide on dinner…for Naruto he would make the Indian pepper soup, which cured illnesses very fast and for himself and Sasuke he would make some spaghetti with meatballs. Both were quick and easy.

As he made his way to the lounge, the phone began to ring, Kakashi picked up the extension quickly, not wanting to wake the other two up. It was Sakura, Kakashi’s lip curled in distaste.

“Hello? Naruto?”

“No, his guardian Kakashi. How may I help you Sakura?”

“Give it to Naruto! I have to speak to him about something.”

“Sorry, can’t. Naruto is in bed with a high fever and is no in a position to answer the phone.”

“Just give it to him! I think I left some stuff here and I want my stuff back! I left my favorite pink shirt there and I want it back now!”

Kakashi grimaced. “Sakura, listen to me very carefully. You broke up with Naruto. If what Sasuke tells me is true, then you called four times after he threw you out. I know your stuff is important. It is lying outside on the veranda. You can pick it up, but you cannot enter the house, got it. If you do, I will talk to a lawyer I know and ask that a restraining order be placed on you. You will never speak to Naruto again…whether in a group or not. You will forget about him and move on, whether you realize you’ve made a mistake or not. Do I make myself clear…? If I do not, I’ll be seeing you in jail!” He had no idea if he could do this, but if he could scare her off it was enough.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Want to bet on that? You have hurt Naruto…it’s not the break up….everyone breaks up, but you’ve caused him more mental stress than is advisable, you picked the wrong time to tell him, knowing he was sick. If I can’t see you in jail…I have other ways of making sure you do not see light of day. Yes I am threatening to kill you. So get your stuff and leave.” Kakashi hung up. Well at least the twit believed the nonsense about jail.

He turned on the TV and flipped through a few things. He watched for about two to three hours, even dozing off sometimes, getting up once to give Naruto his medicine. This was so boring…there was a knock on the door and Kakashi stood up frowning. If I was that Sakura bitch, then he was really going to blow. Why in the seven hells would she ring the door bell after him specifically telling her not to? He walked to the door and threw it open.

“Get lost. If I have to tell you one mo…” he trailed off when he saw a chocolate brown haired man standing by the door gaping at him. Kakashi cleared his throat. “Uh…I’m sorry I thought you were Sakura bitch…I mean I thought you were someone else. How may I help you?”

“I’m Naruto's Phonetics professor Umino Iruka. I heard he was sick and brought pepper soup, which I heard works wonders. I also heard he had a ward, so I brought a chicken casserole. I am right in assuming you are not the ward, since you seem too old for it, am I not?” The man smiled.

Kakashi looked him up and down, and then nodded, his mask covering his smile. “Oh well, come on in. I’m Naruto's guardian…I was once his guardian. His ward called me asking for help and so I came to their rescue. And you have just rescued me from the chore of cooking. So I am sure you will be having dinner with us?”

Before Iruka could reply, Sasuke came down the stairs holding a baseball bat. Then he saw Kakashi and sighed. “It’s you. Why didn’t you warn me? You should have woken me up. I’ve slept away most of the afternoon. Did you give Naruto, his medicine? And who’s that?”

Kakashi clicked his tongue. “Don’t be rude Sasuke. This is Umino Iruka, Naruto's professor. He brought some soup for Naruto and chicken casserole for us. It saved you and me the trouble of cooking. And well, he seems to have brought a huge dish, so I was just asking him to join us before you so rudely interrupted.” He turned back to the brown haired man. “And that rude barbarian is Naruto's ward Sasuke. Don’t worry about the scowl it seems to be a permanent fixture on his face…”

Iruka smiled at Sasuke, who directed an icy glare at Kakashi. “Nice to meet you Sasuke. If you don’t mind, can I go see Naruto? I maybe be able to help…”

Sasuke directed a pleasant look at Iruka a bit flattered that the professor had asked him and not Kakashi. “Go ahead please…I’m sure you’ll do a better job than the pervert over there…”

The man shook his head and headed towards Naruto's room after being pointed in the direction by Sasuke. The raven haired boy began to take the food to the kitchen. Kakashi helped him, putting the pepper soup onto heat so Naruto could have an early dinner and get back to bed. Iruka came down a while later…

“He’s not in very good shape, but it doesn’t seem too bad either. You seem to have been holding out rather well Sasuke-kun.” Iruka stated sweetly.

Sasuke nodded and then noticed the look Kakashi was giving Iruka. Oh god no…the pervert seriously couldn’t be ogling Naruto's teacher! Was there no limit to his crimes??

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Iruka blushed again. Kakashi made another perverted comment. Sasuke’s eyebrow twitched. Naruto tried to laugh, but ended up having a coughing. Everyone stopped doing nothing and rounded on Naruto making enquiries about his health. Naruto sighed.

“I’m fine!! Now cut it out!”

Sasuke frowned at him. “Sheesh, we were just concerned…”

Naruto looked at him shooting an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. It’s just cough….thanks to you guys my fever is non-existent. Remember you guys even did that victory prance around my room, when you noticed it had broken…and you gave me a splitting headache…”

Iruka blushed a bit. “Yeah well, we were very worried, Naruto.” He was about to say something else but the door burst open, to reveal Kiba, Neji, Shikamaru, Temari, Hinata, Ino and Chouji….Gaara trailed in after them. The men carried loads of beer.

“Naruto, man!” Kiba hollered, making Iruka cringe. “We heard you got better so we came right over. Heard what happened, that is one bitch man, don’t worry about the woman!!” he stopped and looked at the others.

“Kakashi! Yo dude! Long time no see! And Iruka-sensei…what the hell are you doing here?” Kiba threw an arm around the man, not noticing Kakashi's slight frown.

“I’ve been visiting Naruto. You shouldn’t bring alcohol in when a person is sick Kiba!” Iruka chided.

“Please Iruka-sensei….I really need some of that. And we can get pizza…I haven’t had pizza in ages…you and Kakashi can stay…join us. Sasuke can stay and eat the pizza…talk…whatever…” Naruto turned pleading blue onto who Iruka who caved in.

Once again the house was filled with people talking, laughing and drinking. For once Sasuke could sit opposite Naruto and watch him for as long as he liked. He noticed the way Neji sat extra close to Gaara almost hugging him. Sasuke waited till everyone was high, before picking up a can of beer. He very obviously opened it and waited….no one noticed. Smiling he downed it in one go, watching Gaara do the same.

Once the beer was gone, Kakashi broke out the sake and some vodka as well, so here was variety. It didn’t take much to get Sasuke pretty tipsy, by the time Naruto noticed and gave a drunken howl before taking the drinks away from him.

“Bad, Shasuke… naughty boy…I t’ld you not to drink…” Naruto shook a finger at him before draping his arms over the boy and hugging him close. “I want t’ be a g’d guardian…” Sasuke nodded too, feeling light headed, but still having his wits about him.

The pizza guy came and Chouji miraculously brought them in without spilling or eating them. Then of course everyone had to fight over the biggest slice getting some cheese on themselves. It was chaotic.

Kiba suddenly stood, bottle held aloft. “Let’s play spin the bottle. We’ll spin it twice and whoever it lands on will have to kiss…..” he looked around and then added “In the closet…” as an after thought.

Everyone clustered around the table. The bottle spun and landed on Kiba. It spun again and landed on Neji…Gaara growled, but Kiba still yanked the man into the closet. They came out looking like they’d suffocated…nothing had happened so Gaara didn’t kill the dog-man. it spun to Naruto and Hinata….now it was Kiba’s turn to get mad and when they came out, Hinata had her lipstick smudged which resulted in Kiba lunging for Naruto the same time Neji did and they ended up fighting each other.

Iruka sat in the corner blushing when the bottle came to him and crossed his fingers as it went to Kakashi. They disappeared into a room and didn’t come back down for a while, until Iruka came out in his boxers and ran for the door crying. Kakashi ran after him yelling that he didn’t think Iruka was a girl. Everyone rolled their eyes…or tried to…only Sasuke managed it. Suddenly Naruto had had enough and began to cough badly. He chucked them all out of the house.

After that they found Shikamaru sleeping behind the couch. Temari came running back for him and a melodramatic scene commenced. Then the couple sang “Ain’t No Sunshine” and killed…no murdered he song. Sasuke lost his patients and actually booted Shikamaru out. By the time he made sure Naruto wasn’t going out after explaining to the blond that it was his house and he didn’t have to go anywhere, he was pooped. And the alcohol he had drunk was making him extremely uninhibited though he fought to get a hold of his emotions.

But then again, there was a rule in some book up there which said that a Naruto would always cause a Sasuke to loose control with his cuteness. And that is exactly what happened. Naruto sat down in front of Sasuke, who was sitting on the couch and aimlessly twirling the bottle.

“Shashu…. The bottle…ish still shpinning…” Naruto squinted at the bottle that went round and round. He suddenly jumped when it stopped saying proudly. “It pointed to me!”

“Yes, yes…now quit yelling the room his swaying…” Sasuke informed him, giving the bottle another twirl…it was so much easier to concentrate on the bottle rather than a room or the beginnings of a headache…

Naruto sat back down and watched the bottle carefully. Sasuke sighed and looked elsewhere not intent on seeing where the bloody thing stopped. It was hard trying to concentrate when the dobe shoved his big blond head in the way. He sighed and made to stand up when he was suddenly pushed into the sofa. Naruto was holding him down, smiling at him all crinkle-eyed.

“The bottle pointed to you Sasuke…”

“So what the hell are you…” Sasuke got cut off as the blond’s lips sealed his.

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A/N: I know it’s short but I’m stopping here. I hop you liked it. I know spin the bottle is clichéd but I wanted to make it not soo….don’t know if it worked out. Anyway please review…motivation is at stand still with the no. of reviews I got for TNI…so please help me continue. Sorry for the delay but real life caged me and refused to let me go…!

Taka