Guaranteed
She was sick. And when she was sick their house was hell. That's why the house was empty. Except for her. She didn't want to be at home, she didn't think it was contagious, and she felt she had expressed this all very clearly to her mom, but apparently not. "I'm just going to get some groceries…" "I'll be back in fifteen minutes, promise!" Tsume had said "I'm not trying to abandon you!" she'd said. "Just rest and take it easy, dear!" she'd said. But if there was one thing Hana hated more than being sick it was being useless. She grumbled and kicked the blanket off her legs, standing and disrupting her three companions who were more than content with being useless.
"You can stay, you can stay, I'm going to do some dishes…" she waved them back down as she stumbled to the kitchen. She sniffed and scowled. That was the worst part: no smell. All the familiar scents, gone. What was an Inuzuka without a sense of smell? She looked at the sink as it divided and merged in her vision. Maybe I stood up too fast…she thought blurrily.
KNOCK KNOCK.
"Come in!" she yelled. Who would be here that needed to knock? She clutched the counter for support as the room spun.
"Hello?" She would have turned to face the sickeningly familiar voice if she felt she could move.
"Hi…"
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"
Why does he always show up in these kinds of situations? "Um, yes. I was in bed. I was just doing some dishes- Oh!" Her grasp on the counter slipped as she dipped woozily. In seconds he was behind her, holding her up, arms tightly around her.
"You really should lay down if you're sick, Hana." He didn't wait for a response, but guided her back to the couch, forcing her down gently, and tucking the darned blanket around her just as her mother had, before settling down on the low living room table, watching her with large, dark eyes. "You have quite the fever. What were you doing up?"
"Who are you, my mother?" She smirked at him.
"No, no, I didn't mean to…well, I guess…Hm!" He glared at her teacher-esquely.
"What's on your back?" He scratched his scar, puzzled for a second, and then he beamed. Her cheeks suddenly felt warm, and not from the fever.
"I brought you some ramen!" he announced as he took off the backpack like apparatus holding a pot filled with steaming noodles. He smiled (was it shyly?) as he produced a spoon from his pocket. "Nothing cures better than ramen, you know! It will have you better by tomorrow, guaranteed!" Before she could reply he stuck the spoon and its warm contents in her mouth. Soon the pot was empty and he had found a different seat, one considerably closer.
"Don't get sick, Iruka."
"I won't: I don't get sick."
When Tsume came home, Hana was asleep on the couch. She tiptoed ever to peck her daughter's cheek and sniffed.
"Good…I see Iruka-sensei is a man of his word…and a bit more."
