Wow...What a great response to my first chapter. This is definitely easier to write about than my other fan fictions because I don't have to know any jutsu or ninja battles or anything. It is so much more fun to write too, which is why I'm working on the second chapter now. Yeah! I own a big thank you to: Lotus.Under.Thorns, mav-tay, Kakashi-chanu, Yue White Eye, trish, Ryo Yuriko, Chantel, DeathNoteMaker, and Cerise Anouk. You all are awesome!!
Disclaimer. Naruto and all other characters are licensed to Masashi Kishimoto. I only wish I owned them.
Last time:
Kakashi plugged the stopper into the bath drain and turned on the water. He tested the water's temperature by putting a few drops on his wrist. Perfect. He was a little uneasy about undressing Naruto though. What if he woke up and thought something bad was happening to him? What if he'd been raped or something and...?
"Damn it, Kakashi. Get a grip. Quit being so paranoid!! He's just a kid. He's just a kid." he admonished himself.
Sighing again, he laid the kid gently on the floor and unzipped his orange jacket. He held up Naruto's body with one hand so he could pull it off, but stopped when he felt something strange. Rubbing it carefully, he ran his hand over what felt like an indent. He pushed the jacket aside and carefully slid Naruto's shirt up.
"Holy fucking shit." the words were out of Kakashi's mouth before he could stop them. "Iruka!" he called loudly. "Get over here and take a look at this!"
Chapter 2. Warmth
"What? What is it?" Iruka asked as he came running into the bathroom.
He was greeted with the sight of Kakashi pulling up Naruto's shirt to expose his back. A gasp escaped from his throat. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Most of the skin on Naruto's lower back was one big, nasty-looking scab. Blood and dirt had crusted up over the wound; the body's own attempt to heal itself. There was a small amount of pale scar tissue circling around it where the skin had already grown back. What Kakashi had accidentally felt beneath the thin black T-shirt was actually a deep, indented scar several inches wide that started at the top of Naruto's left shoulder and crossed down to the middle of his back.
"What in the seven hells happened to this kid, Iruka?" Kakashi's voice came out strangled.
Just then, Naruto woke up. He tried desperately to get away from the person who was gripping his arm, jerking his body away from the contact. Naruto turned around to face his "attacker" and pounced on Kakashi. He clawed at his shirt like an angry cat several times before launching a swift punch that landed painfully in his gut. Kakashi immediately released Naruto, who then crawled over to a corner of the room.
"What do you want me to do?" he mouthed silently to Iruka, massaging the assaulted area. 'Damn...he hits pretty hard for a kid. I think that might bruise in a day or two.'
"Naruto. It's alright. It's me, Iruka." Iruka made his voice gentle as he approached Naruto.
Naruto slowly moved his hands away from his face, revealing a pair of bright blue eyes wide with fear.
"No...Daddy, no. IpromiseIwon'tdoiteveragain.I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry. Daddy, no. No, no. Please. I'll begoodthistime.Please!!!" the little boy cried out between broken sobs.
Iruka spoke again, calling Naruto's name softly. He seemed to calm down, blinking hastily several times and squinting his eyes at the chocolate haired man. It looked like he was confusing someone else's image with Iruka's own. Finally he seemed to recognize the man as the same one who had talked to him at the park.
"Mr...Umino?" he asked softly after several minutes.
Iruka wanted to tell him that it was fine to just call him by his name, but didn't, fearing that it would seem confrontational to the boy. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Naruto. He was already terrified as it was.
"Naruto...I'm sorry if I...uh...scared you. I should have told you what I was going to do but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you." Kakashi apologized hesitantly.
He sat himself down on the ground and winced involuntarily as pain began to radiate around the injury. Rubbing the now tender area, he began to speak.
"You know. You hit pretty hard for a kid. By the way, my name is Mr. Hatake," he said, making a face. It sounded weird to be addressing himself so formally. ",but Kakashi will do just find." he finished with a chuckle.
Naruto frowned and started to move out of the corner, but flinched back. Iruka watched as the boy mentally battled his conflicting emotions. He could see that Naruto wanted to go to Kakashi, but pure, unadulterated fear held him back like a prisoner shackled to the ground. Slowly, ever so slowly, he stood up and put one foot in front of the other.
"If you don't like me, thats okay with me, but my friend here wants to give you a bath and get you all cleaned up." Kakashi said warmly, pointing to Iruka.
Gaining confidence from the kind voice, Naruto took two quick steps forward and tackled Kakashi, sending him to the floor with a crash. Kakashi emitted a surprised squeak that Iruka couldn't help but laugh at.
"What are you doing, Naruto?" he asked, raising his head up off the floor just enough to see the little boy spread out on top of him.
Naruto said nothing but carefully pushed up Kakashi jacket with one hand, mindful of the injuries he'd given to the man earlier. He stared morosely at the angry red welts on the pale skin of his stomach. The area was also slightly darker than the surrounding area, the faint hints of a bruise already visible.
Iruka watched with a confused expression as Naruto bent down to the area and lightly pressed his lips against the sore area, kissing it. Kakashi's breath hitched in his chest, not expecting the sudden coldness.
"I'm sorry. Naruto make it better?" the boy asked, tilting his head cutely to one side. He turned his bright blue eyes to Kakashi's black ones, pleading silently for forgiveness.
"It's alright, Naruto. It doesn't hurt anymore." Kakashi said, sitting up.
"Naruto. Do you want to take a bath by yourself?" Iruka asked, picking the boy up gently.
"Yes..?" he answered at first, then shook his head. "No...?"
'He sounds like he has no idea what a bath is. I guess that's a no then.' the younger man thought as he carried Naruto into the bathroom. He was shaken from his thoughts as Naruto let out a blood-curdling scream and attempted to climb up his shoulder.
"NO!" Naruto yelled as he wound his limbs around Iruka's right arm, very nearly cutting off the circulation.
"Naruto." he started.
"NO!" the boy screeched as he clung even tighter, if possible, to the arm.
"You have to take a bath and get all cleaned up. You're dirty."
"NO!"
"Yes, Naruto."
"NO!"
"Yes."
"NO!"
"Yes."
"NO! NO! NO!"
"Naruto." Iruka said sternly, causing the boy clamped on his shoulder to release his death grip and slide down his arm. He dropped to the floor, caught his balance, and looked down at the floor.
"Okay." he agreed so softly it was hard to hear him.
Outside the bathroom, Kakashi stood up and brushed himself off, tugging his jacket back down over his stomach. 'That was...odd. I don't think I want to stick around though. I'll go get some blankets and set them up on the couch. I doubt Iruka even had the chance to get any the way Naruto screamed.' He edged away from the door and went off to finish his mental checklist.
'Maybe I should make some food or something. I bet Naruto is probably starving. What do kids like to eat? I'll find out from Iruka. He probably knows better than I do.'
His stomach growled loudly as if to reply to his thoughts.
"Yeah...Guess I better make something." he spoke to himself as he grabbed a couple of thick blankets from a closet.
He dumped the pile onto the couch, eyes catching sight of the darkened streets beyond his window. Lithium street-lamps cast fuzzy orbs of light onto the concrete sidewalks beneath them. It was a cold night, temperatures expecting to drop below the thirties. Overhead, dark gray clouds huddled together to block out the night sky. It was definitely going to snow.
"There isn't any way Iruka will be able to get home in this weather. Anyone would be crazy to drive in weather like this." he murmured to the window.
His breath fogged up the glass. Feeling quite childish, he drew a smiley face on the surface before the steam could fade away. He stood back, drew the curtains over the window, and went to turn the heat up higher, having just remembered that Iruka strongly disliked the cold. A small smile flitted across his face. He curled up on the couch, feeling a little chilly himself, and threw a blanket over his shoulders.
Iruka couldn't help but wince as Naruto bent over and tugged his shirt off with both hands. The bloody wound contrasted vividly with the rest of the boy's otherwise light skin. He proceeded to sit down and tug off his sneakers and socks.
"Turn around." Naruto demanded, hands on his hips.
The chocolate-haired man, although greatly surprised by the sudden authority in Naruto's voice, complied, turning around to face the opposite wall. There was the rustling of cloth and then a few seconds later, a splash as he climbed into the tub.
"Okay. Are you in? Can I turn around now?" Iruka asked after it sounded like Naruto was completely in the tub. He didn't want to risk setting off the child again; his poor arm was still slightly sore from the death grip it'd been the victim of.
He wasn't really expecting Naruto to say yes, but he actually agreed quite cheerfully. He turned to see that Naruto was sitting in the tub cross-legged with a grin on his face.
"I did it!" he declared proudly as if he'd accomplished some heroic feat by stepping into a tub full of bubbles and lukewarm water.
'Wait a minute...Bubbles? Where did those come from? I don't have any bubble bath mix so Kakashi couldn't have put any in there..' Iruka stared at the foamy white bubbles floating on top of the water.
"Um...Naruto? Where did you find stuff to make all those bubbles?"
"From the magic bottle." he replied happily while holding up an empty container which had formerly been an almost full bottle of shampoo.
Iruka sweat-dropped as Naruto giggled and threw an enormous handful of bubbles into the air.
"That's shampoo, Naruto. You poured the whole thing in there?"
The blond, who'd previously been joyfully poking his small fingers through the foamy white suds, turned to look at him with the most somber expression he'd ever seen.
"I was bad, wasn't I?" Naruto's voice shook with renewed fear.
"No, no. It's alright. You didn't know. You use that to wash your hair, Naruto. I'll go get you a new bottle, but don't pour any more in here. Do you want me to show you how to wash?" Iruka said quickly, hoping to sooth the frightened child before he started to cry again.
Naruto nodded his head happily with a smile that warmed Iruka's heart. He searched through the spacious cabinets beneath his sink, but there was no bottle to be found.
"Naruto. I'll be right back, okay. I have to go get some more from somewhere else. Stay in the tub."
Not five seconds after Iruka left the room to retrieve another bottle of shampoo, Naruto let out an ear-splitting yell. Kakashi jumped up from the couch and dashed into the bathroom. The little boy in the bath tub appeared to be only afraid, but unharmed.
"What is it? What's wrong?"the silver-haired man asked.
"It's gonna eat me!! It's...It's." Naruto broke off and screamed again while pointing at some object floating in the water.
Kakashi came closer to look at what had caused the child to scream and nearly fell flat on his face when he saw what it was. Naruto was screaming at...a washcloth that had slipped off the edge of the bathtub.
Just then Iruka ran into the room, an unopened bottle of shampoo in his hand. He broke the seal and then handed it to Naruto, who then stared at the container with his head tilted sideways.
"Bubble bath?" he questioned hopefully, all previous traces of fear gone.
"Naruto." Iruka started firmly. "You can not scream every time I leave for a few minutes. Please apologize to my friend here. You really scared him."
"I'm sorry." Naruto said.
He scooped up a mountain of white foam using his hands as a shovel, and, bringing them to his mouth, blew hard. A flurry of tiny white bubbles were sent spiraling into the air at Kakashi and Iruka. He giggled brightly as Kakashi broke into a fit of laughter. It was just too much to much for him to take witnessing his friend's face as it was covered by bubbles.
Iruka wiped them off his face and laughed as well, that was, until he slipped on the wet floor. He flew back and probably would have seen stars for days to follow if Kakashi hadn't caught him. Of course, with the added weight at the angle they were at, Kakashi lost his balance and fell. It ended up with them landing in a very...awkward position.
Iruka was sitting on top of Kakashi, a leg on either side, straddling his stomach, while Kakashi was pinned down on the floor by his weight. As though kami had decided to grant him a reprieve for the injuries he'd taken within the last several hours, although maybe it was simply sheer luck, Kakashi was provided with a very nice view of Iruka's butt as it was currently about three or four inches away from his face.
For the moment, everything was absolutely quiet. No one spoke a word. Even the bubbles decided to pop without noise, though generally they always did that. Eventually Kakashi broke the silence by saying:
"Hello, Iruka's butt. How's the weather down here? Quite nice, don't you think?"
At that, Iruka blushed the deepest shade of red Kakashi had ever seen, Naruto burst into the loudest laughter anyone had heard from him yet, and Kakashi was, at the time being, the happiest person in the world.
"Ah...Kakashi. I'm sorry."
Iruka was still pink with embarrassment even as he stood up and pulled his friend to his feet.
"No need to be sorry. I'm only glad..." he broke off as he suddenly clutched his eye. Holding it with one hand, he faced Iruka and smiled. "I...uh...think your elbow might have hit me in the eye on the way down."
"Naruto. Put a little shampoo in your hand and wash your hair. Make sure to rinse out all suds and use that little square – its called soap – to wash your body. There is a towel right here." Iruka pointed to the toilet where a fresh towel sat neatly folded on top of the lid. "Dry yourself off and put the shirt on. Wear your old underwear until I can get you some new pairs. I am not leaving. I will be inside the room next to this one." Iruka stated the instructions clearly and turned to his injured friend.
Iruka helped Kakashi, who was still holding his eye, out into the bed room. It looked quite ridiculous because he wasn't as tall as the older man was and Kakashi had to hunch over to avoid forcing Iruka to stand on tip-toes.
"Sit here. I'll go get you some ice, Kakashi."
The younger man left Kakashi sitting up on his bed while he went to the kitchen to get some ice. He returned a few seconds later with a zip-lock baggie wrapped in a small gray kitchen towel.
"Here." he held it out.
"Iruka. I'm fine, really. It's not that bad." Kakashi said as he pushed the bag away.
"Then let me see your eye. I could have injured something."
"No. It's fine. Besides. I got to see your ass close up. If I can't see out of this eye any more, I want the last thing it sees to be your butt, not your hand poking it to check if my eyeball still works."
"uh...I-I..." Iruka turned red and looked away.
Kakashi frowned and let his hands fall to his side. 'Oh shit...I just said something wrong. You stupid idiot. You just couldn't be satisfied knowing that you liked him. You just have to know if he feels the same way. I mean, there is no way...'
"Iruka...I'm sorry. That comment...it was completely out of line. I shouldn't have said something like that at a time like this...Please forgive me, although I will understand if you're mad at me." Kakashi studied the designs on the bedspread while he spoke.
"Kakashi, you know I couldn't hold a grudge, even if I tried my hardest. It just isn't me." Iruka said as he sat down beside the silver-haired man.
'So that's it, huh. He doesn't feel the same as I do...Could we ever be just friends? I think I fell in love the first time I saw him. We have so much in common...We've shared so much of our lives together...Stupid...To think that he would ever return my feelings...'
"But it isn't just that..." Iruka trailed off, breaking Kakashi from his thoughts.
"Then what-?" Kakashi asked, heart racing.
He hardly dared to breath although he swore he could hear his own heart beating like thunder in his chest. 'Could he mean that...what I think he means...?'
He very nearly had a heart attack when Iruka reached a hand out and touched the side of his face. Swallowing nervously, he brought his own hand around and pulled the younger man closer. He welcomed the warmth of the other man's body against his own. Nothing could ever make him feel so alive inside other than the man he was with right now.
His lips connected with Iruka's own in a soft, sweet kiss. Kakashi was slightly surprised when he felt the younger man's tongue trace along the bottom of his lip, asking for permission. Before he had time to realize it, his mouth was open and Iruka was slowly exploring it with deep passion. When they parted for air, both of them were breathing heavily with new-found emotions.
"So..."Kakashi began after several long minutes of silence dragged by. "Was that your first...?" he let the ending dangle.
"Yeah..." Iruka replied. He sounded like he couldn't believe they had actually just been kissing each other.
"Mine as well." Kakashi said, as he couldn't really think of much else to say.
They both looked at each other for a long time, each reading the emotion in the other's eyes. After a while, they realized that they had stopped reading and started staring, admiring the person they saw in front of them.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Iruka asked, pulling away slightly.
Kakashi mentally begged Iruka to stay in his arms. He was already missing the warmth that had filled him to the very core of his being only seconds before.
"I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same. I would rather lose you as a lover than lose you as a friend, Iruka. I couldn't bear knowing that you never felt the same." he explained.
"Well, I don't think you'll ever have to worry about that any more." Iruka replied with a smile.
Just then he remembered about Naruto, who he'd left behind to his own devices in the bath tub. He was about to go get up, inexplicably worried that something might have happened to him, when a streak of blond and dark blue raced across the room and jumped onto the bed.
"All clean!" Naruto declared brightly as he crawled over and stood on the bed next to Iruka.
The T-shirt Iruka had picked out for him had been one of his smallest shirts, and as he expected, it was way too big for him, but he hadn't know the deficit was going to be so huge. The shirt had short sleeves, but in Naruto's case, the edges came down to just above his wrists. The bottom of the shirt came to rest on his small feet.
"Cold..."he said after a while and sat down on the edge of the bed, drawing his arms into the shirt and holding them to his chest.
"Okay, Naruto. Do you that you have a big scratch on your back?" Iruka hated to use the word scratch. It paled in comparison to the actual wound, which looked like a severe case of carpet burn.
"Yes...No..." Naruto answered hesitantly.
"Well, I need to bandage it so I can keep it clean. If you don't keep it clean then it will get infected and hurt a lot more than it does now."
"Doesn't hurt." Naruto said as he curled up next to Iruka.
The younger man sighed. The only way he would be able to dress the large scrape was if he waited until Naruto fell asleep. He didn't want to risk the child waking up while during the process.
"In the morning?" Iruka asked, trying to bargain with Naruto.
"'kay." he replied. "Sleep now? I'm not sick."
Kakashi and Iruka blinked, confused, but it hit what Naruto was talking about. Slightly amazed at the child's ability to recall something that had happened hours ago, he turned to Kakashi and explained.
"Earlier he had a fever. Now he seems to be fine. Naruto must have heard me telling you that he was sick."
Kakashi blinked.
"At the park." Iruka tried again to jog his memory.
"Oh, yes. That's right." the man's perplexed expression gave way to a smile.
"Yes, Naruto. We can sleep now."
Both Iruka and Kakashi felt sleepy. It had been a long, stressful day with Naruto and they were exhausted. They took turns taking a quite shower; Kakashi went first while Iruka stayed behind to keep Naruto company. He came out dressed in a soft cotton long-sleeved shirt, socks, and baggy gray sweat-pants. Iruka went in next to shower and reemerged a few minutes later in an outfit exactly the same except for the colors. He wore a navy blue shirt instead of white and pants the color of pale cream.
Kakashi looked at him and stared, causing Iruka to blush. He was secretly glad the room was so dark because he was sure Naruto would have asked a question about it.
"What?" Iruka asked.
"Nothing. It's just...I've never seen you without your hair in a ponytail, that's all." Kakashi chuckled as his
"Can we sleep now, please? I'm tired." came a voice from under the covers.
While Iruka had been busy taking a shower, Naruto had run out and came back several minutes later with a huge pile of blankets. He'd laid them on the bed, one after the other, and then crawled under the sheets so that he was sleeping beneath all of the layers of blankets.
"Yes, Naruto."
Kakashi flicked off the bathroom lights, decided against it in case Naruto woke up and needed to go, and flipped over the covers. Iruka quickly rolled into bed and scooted over to make more room. Kakashi slipped in behind him. He was now sandwiched between the man behind him and the little boy in front of him. The only sound besides breathing was a faint rustle of bedclothes as Naruto shifted so he was curled up tightly next to Iruka's chest. After he was sure the child was asleep he spoke.
"Kakashi?" he whispered in the darkness, turning his head slightly so he could see him.
"Yes. What is it?" the silver-haired man asked quietly back.
There was a few moments of silence, what sounded like an embarrassed laugh, and then:
"Why do you have a king-sized bed?"
Kakashi shook with silent laughter, clamping a hand over his mouth to prevent any noise from escaping. It took him a while to calm down since every time he managed to catch his breath, he would remember the question and break into another fit of sniggers.
"Because." he said, removing his hand and placing it around Iruka's waist, pulling him closer.
He stiffened at the sudden contact but quickly relaxed as Kakashi slipped his hand under the shirt and lazily began tracing a finger over his abs.
"It's a luxery I can afford...and all the better for me to share it with you."
The two pressed their bodies closer together, relishing in the warmth they shared with each other. Iruka further relaxed at Kakashi's soft, steady touch and drifted off to sleep. Kakashi smiled in the darkness, feeling the painful hole in his heart close up at last. 'I have someone to love now. Someone who loves me back. Someone who I can be with for the rest of my life.'
Naruto yawned in his sleep and moved closer to Iruka's chest, still curled up in a ball.
'Make that two someones.' Kakashi thought before closing his own eyes, one arm still draped around his new-found lover.
OMG, I think I deserve extra reviews for cuteness. I mean... all that FLUFF!!...If I hadn't ended it here I don't think I ever would have. Hard to believe I typed this in a few hours. Like I said, it is so much easier to write this. Don't think there won't be turmoil in this fan fic later on. I will get to the next chapter ASAP, but worsening weather conditions might foil my plans. Anyways, stay safe and drive carefully. -Bottlecaps