Sick Days

Note: Hello! This is Pin. I've been working on this little fic off and on and decided I might as well post it, so here it is. It is still in the works and just to let y'all know: It is a yaoi. Sasunaru...my favorite pairing. I don't own Naruto nor any of it's characters, etc. And now...on with the story!

Sick Days - Chapter 1


He never thought there would come a time when he truly wanted to kill someone, but right now, he seriously wanted to kill someone. And that someone was the owner of the hand that kept knocking on his door. Repeatedly. Knock. Knock. He groaned and tried to bury himself into his futon cover. Knock. Knock. This was getting ridiculous. The knocks kept coming! Is more than one person standing out there? Most people would have given up after the tenth knock and just left.

Not this person…

He shut his eyes tightly and tried to will the annoying knocking from his mind. He could ignore it right? He’d been able to block out his sensei’s words easily enough in school. So why couldn’t he just block this out. He could block it out. It was easy. See, it was already fading. Almost gone. There it had stopped. No more knocking.

Naruto sighed in relief and snuggled deeper into his bed. He had awoken this morning around dawn and had tried to get out of bed but had failed miserably. For some odd reason, he wasn’t feeling like his normal self. He was very tired, which was strange since he had gone to bed rather early last night. His head felt strange too. It wasn’t pain, but it was…fuzzy. His entire body was rather tingly as well. It felt very strange. He had decided that he must have eaten something bad last night and was therefore just feeling the aftereffects of the food. But…his stomach didn’t hurt. It just felt…empty. But he wasn’t hungry. Which was also very strange. What was wrong with him?

“Yo!”

He winced as a rush of cold air hit his limp form when his blankets were pulled from him. When he cracked open an eye, he almost screamed at how close Kakashi sensei was to his face. He backed as deep into the bed and his pillow as he could, “What the hell? Kakashi-sensei??!”

Kakashi’s eyes squinted into cheerful arches as he leaned back, “Why didn’t you answer your door?”

Naruto glared daggers, “That was you?”

Kakashi shrugged, “No, it was Sakura.”

Naruto’s eyes widened slightly, “Why was she outside my door?”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, “We have a mission this afternoon remember? I told you to meet on the bridge at 10:00. It is 1:00 right now. Did you forget?” As he said this Kakashi looked rather…surprised. Naruto was not one to forget a mission and most certainly would not be late to unless it was for a very good reason.

“It’s 1:00 already?” Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise as he kicked off the rest of the blankets and threw his legs over the side of his bed. He looked at the clock, cursing under his breath. He quickly stood up and began racing around the room, trying to find his clothing and weaponry.

Kakashi watched the young ninja running around in mild amusement, it reminded him of Obito. His comrade from the past was always running late and making up excuses and on the days that Kakashi had to find him, he always found the ninja in a panicked state, running around trying to get ready. Before any bad memories could surface, he pushed the thought away and looked around the room. Naruto was like Obito in more than one way: they were both slobs. Naruto was definitely not the type to have a clean home. There were clothes and scrolls and old ramen cups lying all over the counters. But at least the home looked like someone lived in it. Compared to most ninja’s homes, the place was actually quite cozy. Kakashi was brought from his thoughts as he heard a groan from the foyer. He walked around the corner only to stop right in front of a prone Naruto.

His eyes widened in surprise as he leaned down, the boy was unconscious. He touched Naruto’s shoulder, trying to wake him, “Oi, Naruto.”

Naruto didn’t respond. His face was pale, yet his cheeks were flushed a bright red. Kakashi pulled off his glove and touched the boy’s forehead; it was burning hot. Kakashi frowned; Naruto had never once been sick in his life. He knew that for a fact. He couldn’t get sick. It wasn’t possible since the Kyuubi was inside of him. The demon fox would not allow it’s host to get ill, it would make the boy vulnerable, and therefore make the Kyuubi vulnerable.

Kakashi looked to the ceiling and then shrugged, it was no use. He was not a medical ninja. He gently grabbed the boy in his arms, and grunted. Naruto had gotten a lot heavier in the past four years. “Must be the ramen,”he muttered as he headed out the front door and started towards Tsunade-hime’s office. She was the number one medical ninja and the Hokage after all…and the only who knew about Naruto’s secret.

--

Tsunade was rarely ever shocked. However, when Kakashi came into her office with an unconscious Naruto who was suffering from a very high fever, she was definitely shocked. The boy had never been sick before in his life; it wasn’t possible. Yet, here he was, unconscious and very much ill. Something was definitely wrong.

“Set him down on the table here. Be careful not to jar him, I am not sure how ‘stable’ he is right now,” she said as she grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. It was fluttering erratically and Naruto’s breathing was labored.

“Call Sakura to come here. I’ll need her assistance,” she said quickly as she pulled a few herbs out from a pouch on her waste. It had been a long time since she had had to use herbal remedies to help ease pain, but she did not dare attempt to perform any medical jutsus on the Kyuubi holder without some assistance. Until Sakura showed, she would have to try and ease the fever naturally.

Kakashi looked at her, an eyebrow raised, “If she comes, you will have to tell her why it was necessary to call in two people to help with one person with a fever.”

Tsunade’s brows furrowed as she mixed the herbs together, “I know. I am not sure I will be able to handle any…backlashes that may occur due to my jutsus. With Sakura here, I will be able to help heal Naruto while she keeps him at ease. I can’t do this alone. Sakura will not abandon Naruto. She isn’t that type of girl.”

Kakashi nodded in understanding and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. He reappeared about three minutes later with a very worried Sakura and, much to Tsunade’s surprise and annoyance, an annoyed Sasuke. She looked pointedly at Kakashi, “I thought I asked for Sakura…only Sakura.”

Kakashi shrugged and scratched the back of his head, “You know how kids are these days.”

Sasuke and Sakura both looked to the table at Naruto. He looked awful, his hair was matted due to sweating from the fever and his face was sickly pale. His eyebrows were scrunched in pain and every once in a while a low moan would fall from his lips. They were both rather shocked; they had never seen their comrade look so miserable. Not even in battles had he looked this horrible. Sakura looked to Tsunade and moved in closer to the table, “What do you want me to do, sensei?”

“Keep his body as cool as you can and try your best to ease his pain without causing any fluctuations in the administration of power. I need him to remain calm,” Tsunade replied as she pulled up her sleeves and closed her eyes, already beginning a healing jutsu.

Sakura looked confused, “Why do you need me to keep him calm in order to heal a fever?” She blinked as she noticed her sensei was already deep into her jutsu and so she turned to Naruto and began to use what her sensei had taught her to keep him calm and relaxed.

Sasuke stood on the sidelines next to Kakashi and then spoke in a deadpan, “Why does Tsunade need two people to heal a fever?”

Kakashi looked straight ahead, “It is because Naruto is different from anyone else. Tsunade-hime is not sure she will be able to ‘handle’ him if something were to go wrong. That is why she called Sakura-chan here.”

Sasuke snorted, “I don’t see how the dobe is any different from any of us. He is just louder. That shouldn’t affect him in a situation like this. Why did she –really- call Sakura here? You know the reason and you know I won’t stop until I find out the answer.”

Kakashi sighed, why was it that he had to have the inquisitive types in his group? He looked at Sasuke and then to Sakura, “Tsunade-hime will tell you when she has finished with Naruto.”

Sasuke nodded, it wasn’t the answer he had wanted, but it was at least an answer that would lead to what he wanted. He was satisfied with that.

--

Tsunade stopped and called out to Sakura, “You can stop now. It isn’t doing anything…damn it. This is not your average illness. Kakashi, what was Naruto doing yesterday?”

“We were on a mission in the forest, assisting the old woman Kaede to her new home where she would be living with her son and his wife. There was nothing abnormal about the mission. You read the report; nothing happened. Naruto was in perfect health when I saw him leave the group to return home.”

Sasuke frowned, he still did not fully understand the situation; he hated not understanding everything. In fact, it was one of his pet peeves, “What is wrong with Naruto?”

Sakura nodded and probed as well, “Yes, Tsunade-sensei…Kakashi-sensei, what is going on?”

Tsunade looked to Kakashi who could only look back; she was the Hokage after all, she needed to deal with this on her own. Tsunade cleared her throat and dipped a cloth in a bowl of cool water and placed said cloth on Naruto’s head, “Naruto is different from you both.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, “Everyone is –different-, why is this such a big deal?”

Tsunade sighed, “No Sasuke. Not everyone is like Naruto. I am sure you have been having some fleeting thoughts here and there about Naruto’s massive amount of chakra and his strange changes when placed into extremely tight situations. Naruto is the host for the Kyuubi demon. When he was a baby, the Yondaime sealed the fox demon inside of him. He has been keeping this a secret for many years; do not blame him for it, he was not allowed to speak of it to anyone. Just as the adults who know in this village are also not allowed to speak of it.”

Sasuke and Sakura blinked, absorbing the information. It explained quite a few things: Naruto’s strange bursts of powerful chakra when it was obvious he had barely enough left to stand; it explained his mood changes, from angry to deadly in a split second; it explained why they had felt a small amount of fear at seeing Naruto in such a way.

“What will you two do now?” Tsunade asked in a quiet voice as she carefully dabbed the cloth around Naruto’s head and the wrung it out and dipped it in the cool water again. Naruto moaned in pain as the heat returned to him full force. Tsunade quickly placed the cloth back on his head and sighed in irritation; she was the greatest healer in the world, and she couldn’t even help the one person in the world she would die trying to help. This was the third time she couldn’t ease the pain of someone dear to her.

“He is the Kyuubi’s holder?” Sakura whispered, her mind absorbing everything. She looked at Sasuke who looked to be in deep thought. Her lips tightened, “The Kyuubi brought Konoha so much pain and death. Naruto has had it inside of him for all these years…”

“Hn, Kyuubi or no Kyuubi, Naruto is still Naruto. And he will always be Naruto.”

The room went silent; Kakashi blinked in surprise at Sasuke’s words. He really hadn’t thought Sasuke would be the one to say such a thing, but then again, Sasuke was pretty good at shocking people when he wanted to. Tsunade smiled and nodded her head then looked to Sakura who was also smiling a small smile.

“And I was going to add, that Naruto has had to bear this almost completely alone for his entire life. He shouldn’t have to. We don’t care what is inside Naruto, he is still our comrade and we will still stand by his side,” Sakura finished as she neared Naruto and Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded and looked to Naruto’s prone figure, her eyes widening as she noticed a small tear trickling down his cheek.

---

Tsunade ushered the group outside of her office as quietly as possible, Naruto’s symptoms had eased somewhat and he seemed to be sleeping. She rubbed her brow and sighed, “I can’t stay with him while he is like this; a Hokage’s job can not be put on hold. I need someone who can stay with him at all times until either this thing passes or we find a cure for it.”

Kakashi frowned, “With the lack of forces available, I am doing quite a few missions. I won’t be able to look after him.”

Sakura looked absolutely crest-fallen, which was somewhat surprising to the others around; they knew her feelings toward Naruto had changed, but not this much. “I have three missions lined up already and I am still studying for the Jounin exams…” she trailed off, worry written on her face.

Sasuke looked up as silence fell upon the group, he sighed, “I just completed my six missions, so I have a little down time; about a month. I’ll… look after him until I am reassigned.” The last sentence was strained as it fell from his lips and he groaned inwardly at the prospect of having to look over his usurutonkachi. Wait…-his- usurutonkachi. He frowned at that thought. He thought he had pushed those kinds of feelings away along time ago…apparently they were still there, just buried. This was going to be a bad situation. He could sense it already.

Tsunade nodded and then waved for Sakura and Kakashi to leave, “You go on ahead and prepare for your missions. Naruto will be safe. We won’t let anything happen to him and we will keep you updated on his situation, all right? Don’t let this…situation get out to too many people; the Akatsuki still has their eye on Naruto and if they found out about his vulnerability, we would have an even larger problem on our hands.”

Nodding, Kakashi and Sakura both disappeared in puffs of smoke. Tsunade turned to Sasuke and they both re-entered the office. Naruto was still sleeping soundly, but was covered in sweat. Tsunade wiped away the sweat near his brow and then whispered to Sasuke, “I’ll put together some medicines for him to help ease the pain. Take him to your home. It’ll be easier for you to care for him in a place you can easily navigate through. If he wakes up, don’t let him move around too much and try not to get into fights. I am not sure what is wrong with his body and any type of excitement might cause a relapse into his previous state.”

Sasuke nodded, mentally noting everything the Godaime said to him. Once she was finished he gently picked up Naruto and then swiftly headed towards his home.

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