Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form. Now quit with the lawsuit notices.
Chapter Three
An Eye-Opening Visit to the Hospital
Morning light fought it's way through the many cracks of Naruto's main window. It refracted into rainbows of color that danced their way across the floor waking the tired Chunnin from his uncomfortable slumber. He was surprised to find Naruto up and preparing something in the kitchen. Rising groggily to his feet he went to see what the child was doing. On the floor the tablemat was set for one. Naruto turned away from the stove and poured the scrambled egg with sausage onto the plate and then turned back for the rice cake he had baked honey into. He indicated that Iruka should sit and eat and left to go to the bathroom all without saying a word.
In the privacy of his bathroom Naruto opened a hidden compartment and his medicine cabinet. Taking his stash out of the medicine cabinet he pulled out a green pill which he quickly swallowed before hiding the stash in the hidden compartment. He did grab enough pills to put on his happy, healthy face for the day first but that was all.
He hated the morning. He hated waking up alive but he knew he couldn't show that to anyone. Every night he hoped and prayed for morning to never come. Just to close his eyes and drift into sleep and never again wake up. But he always did. Morning always came and he would sigh and get up to face it reluctantly. He had tried hiding in the apartment once but Ojii-san had sent the Anbu to find out what was wrong with him. They let him know they were displeased with him for having to come find him. He'd never done it again. At least he'd never done it for longer than a day at a time. Sometimes he'd just go to the academy long enough to be counted as being there before ditching and coming back here to burrow away from the day But mostly that was just too dangerous due to his landlady or Anbu popping in to check up on his housekeeping. Mostly he just got up and popped enough pills to face the day and did what they expected of him.
He took a shower, as he needed time for the pill to kick in. He didn't bother to remove his battered orange jumpsuit as this was the best way he had of washing it. Only when the water streamed clear from the bottom of it did he peel it off. Turning his back to the spray he wrung the material as dry as he could get it and draped it over the edge of the shower door. While he was showering Kyuubi let his stomach growl at him but she knew the child would ignore it as the powerful drug kicked in.
He left the shower with a grin adorning his face and dressed quickly in another nauseating orange jumpsuit, stuffing his selection of drugs in safe locales about his person, before bounding out into the main room of the apartment. There he began to clean up from his middle of the night visitors as if it was an every day thing. He showed no signs of having been ill at all and, except for a single glance at his bookshelves, gave no indication he noticed anything missing from his shabby home. If Iruka hadn't known just exactly how ill the boy really was, he'd have noticed absolutely nothing unusual. Naruto was acting just as he always did. Hyper and loud.
"Time to go to school, Iruka-sensei," shouted the boy as he grabbed his books and headed for the door.
Iruka put his hand on Naruto's shoulder freezing him in place. He waited for the boy to look at him before he quietly said, "Oh no, young man. We are going back to my place and you are going to eat something and then straight to bed. Those are the doctor's orders and you will be following them."
"Why? I'm fine," sputtered Naruto. "See?" He gave Iruka his standard bright foxy grin but Iruka was too busy looking at his eyes to notice it. He saw the pinpoint pupils and said, "I don't know what you took but you are not going to school at all."
Naruto tried to shake Iruka's hand off his shoulder but the teacher held on with an iron grip as the Anbu Dog appeared behind the boy. He squirmed and tried to show he could stand just fine but sweat was beading on his forehead again and his vision was doing it's "let's go dark" thing again. Iruka and Dog watched as Naruto's eyes lost their focus and the child began shaking. Iruka let go of his shoulder thinking to maybe calm him down but the shaking grew worse. Naruto was watching the hypnotic silver sparks only he could see as his eyes slid shut and he slid once more towards the floor. Dog grabbed him and, putting the boy on his back, led the way out of the small apartment.
"Did you do something to make him pass out?" asked Iruka. Dog shook his head. "Oh I see. Let's take him by the doctor's place before we head for my place. I want the doctor to find out what he took this morning."
Dog nodded and headed for the Doctor's house. When they got there Iruka rang the bell and asked for the Doctor. As soon as the woman saw Naruto, she tried to slam the door in their faces but Iruka put his foot in the way and asked again for the doctor. "He's at the Hospital. Now get that filth off my property before someone sees it and don't come here again. I don't know why that man has to keep messing with that thing," they heard her mutter as the door slammed shut behind her.
They left and went to the hospital where they were greeted with much the same attitude. Only with a lot of patience and tongue biting did they manage to find out which floor the doctor was on. As they headed for the elevator a nurse came around the corner and when she saw Naruto she got a gleam in her eye that neither Dog nor Iruka liked. Dog tightened his grip on the boy.
"Oh it's back. Fifth floor will be so happy to see it again. Fifth floor has been so upset since it was taken away from them," the nurse gushed. "We'll admit it over here,"she said. "Just let me find the proper forms and we'll get it all straightened away. This time it won't escape us so easily."
Both Dog and Iruka had noted the number of times the woman had called Naruto it and both came to the conclusion that they needed to get out of here as fast as they possibly could. Iruka stammered, "He is already under a doctor's care. He doesn't need to be admitted right now. He's just sleeping." He backed up to the entrance doors with Dog and tried to slip away from the hospital only to find the gleaming nurse beside him with a clipboard of forms for him to fill out. Iruka didn't know what was on the fifth floor but somehow he didn't think it would be good for his student to be there.
"Don't be silly. Of course it does. Everyone needs to play the role they were born for and it's role is here. Just let us take it off your hands so you can get back to your own duties. It's delayed you enough. Just fill these out while I summon an aide to make it comfortable in the room. One of the doctors will see to it shortly." She smiled at the men and positively gloated at the child. "We know just how to treat it."
Just then the Doctor walked up and shooed her away. "Not this time Nurse Ilia. The boy is under my care. You will not be getting a chance to torment him today. Get back to your duties."
"Thank God," was heard coming from under the Dog mask causing both the doctor and the teacher to grin.
"Sorry about that. Most the staff just try to ignore Naruto when someone brings him here but unfortunately not all them do. Nurse Ilia works on the fifth floor where all the patients are terminal with not much time left. All the patients there have signed forms agreeing to try experimental treatments in the hope of extending their time or at least dulling their pain. If the fifth floor doctors and nurses had their way, Naruto would never be released from the hospital because there is always a need for testing treatments and medicines. But it's a better attitude than many of the villagers have towards him. Disgusting as I find it, at least to her, he has a use. A purpose." He shook his head and then asked, "Why did you come this morning?"
Iruka shuddered as he told him what had occurred since he had left them the day before and asked if he had the time to check the child over again. Neither of them saw the tight glare Dog was giving Nurse Ilia. His sensei's son was not a lab rat.
"Did you get him to eat anything yet?" asked the doctor as he led the way to an exam room.
"No not yet. I made him some broth and dry toast but he didn't touch it. Instead, he made breakfast for me this morning."
"Did you remember what I said about eating it yourself?" Iruka's wide eyed look confirmed his suspicions and he sighed. "It's important, Iruka. This child has been poisoned so many times by people he should have been able to trust that he trusts no one. You must show him the food and drink is safe. If you don't, he will not survive this." He indicated for Dog to lay Naruto on the table and pulled out a vial and needle to take a sample of his blood. He drew the blood and then checked the child over. In the process of his exam, Naruto's extra pills fell out of his pockets, though that wasn't the only place he had stashed them. He had come to and watched with apprehension as the doctor picked them up. He looked each one over carefully. "Self-medicating, are you, Little Man. This is so very dangerous."
"What do you mean?" asked Iruka. "I mean, I know for anyone to be using street drugs is bad but you sound like there's something that makes it worse for him than anyone else. Isn't it just universally bad news?"
"Most people would have a combination of different kinds of drugs. They'd have uppers as well as downers but Naruto doesn't. He's only taking anti-depressants. He knows he's depressed and is trying to hide it by taking street pills to make him appear happy. I'd say, having been his Doctor for a few years now, that he doesn't want anyone worrying about him." Looking straight at Naruto he said, "Do you?" Naruto gave a small barely noticable shudder and a single shake of his head.
"That's what makes this so dangerous. The pills suppress his appetite as well as give him a false sense of well-being. The pill or pills he took this morning should have disguised his condition well enough for him to have made it several hours before they wore off. But you said he got dizzy and disorientated soon after he came out of the bathroom. I will send someone to search his place later to find his stash. I'll need to know exactly what kind of pills he's been taking in order to assess a proper treatment for him and somehow I doubt he'd tell me the truth."
"One thing I do know for sure though. For the pill to have worn off that fast, it seems his tenant is worried more than I thought." He held out one of the pills. It was red with brown spots and didn't look all that imposing to Iruka but Dog drew in a sharp breath. Obviously he knew what the pill was. "This pill is a very strong anti-depressant. Usually I would only recommend this if a person was so close to suicide it was the only way to keep them from harming either themselves or someone else. While I'm not sure of the dosage of this pill I'd say it is still way too strong for a kid to take." He paused and shook his head.
"Now, while he's here I want to get an accurate reading of his weight and size before you leave. In order to know what diet to put him on I must have accurate information." Iruka and Dog helped Naruto Undress until he was standing in his underwear. Naruto stepped over to the scales in the corner. Trying to ignore his bony appearance, the doctor took down his weight, which was twenty-five pounds and twelve ounces. Then he measured his height before indicating he could get dressed again. "Ok I will spend the rest of today working up a nutrition plan for him but remember whatever you make for him you eat it too. Also tell Yamanaka to quit fooling around and find out what is going on in his head. We have no more time to waste here."
"Why? I mean I know he's underweight but you seem more concerned today then you were yesterday," Iruka asked.
"A normal weight for an eight year old child his height is between sixty to seventy-five pounds. He isn't just underweight, Iruka.. He passed that when his weight fell below the halfway mark. Now it is true that he is small for his age and premature babies forced into being born often have weight control issues that isn't the case here. Height wise he's not small enough to be considered undersized. He should be weighing at least sixty to sixty-five pounds minimum." The Doctor paused and took a deep breath. "When you get him back to your place I want someone in the room with him all the time. If the person needs to go to the bathroom someone else comes in to cover their absence. Don't even leave him alone while you answer the phone or door. I'm sure he has more of these," he indicated the pills, "somewhere and it only takes a second of inattention for him to swallow one. Don't let him burn up his energy with unnecessary movement if you can avoid it and if he goes to take a shower someone should go with him. That's not so much because of the pills as it is other things he can do that will harm his recovery."
"Like what?" asked Iruka. "Tell me as much as you know. He already tried twice now to get away from me." Trying not to let anyone hear him he added, "And I thought he liked me."
The doctor smiled, "He does like you but that doesn't mean he trusts you. He doesn't even trust me and I've been his doctor ever since the hospital instance when he was five. Anyway for what you can expect it's a long list. You can expect him to pass out if he uses too much energy whether it is standing in a shower or panicking over a strangers appearance or physical contact he doesn't expect. You can expect him to try and vomit any food you force him to eat when he doesn't want to or believes he has done something to deserve punishing. You can expect him to vomit anyway but especially if the food is too rich or he eats too much. Also expect gas attacks. His body has forgotten what it is like to be fed on a regular basis and chances are it will have trouble dealing with it. Try not to feed him more than once or twice a day until you can get him to eat more than a couple of bites. You'll know when it's time to increase his meals when he can successfully finish a normal sized meal and keep it down. Too much food presented to him will undue all the progress we make." He paused and Iruka waited knowing there was more. The doctor shut his eyes and then squared his shoulders. "You'll also need to watch for him to deliberately try to harm himself. I don't think he's suicidal but he is definitely depressed and due to the treatment he is used to receiving, he may believe he deserves to suffer. Since I know you won't harm him he may decide to take it upon himself to see to it that the suffering continues."
As Iruka nodded, Naruto got himself dressed after Dog had searched every garment for drugs first. Dog knew more about the habits of typical users than Iruka did and knew that if he had them in his pocket than it was likely he had others stashed in more unlikely locations as well. A sizable pile was found and left on the bedside table for the doctor to identify. Once he was dressed and ensconced on Dog's back again they left the facility. Iruka's head was swimming with all the information the doctor had given him and he wasn't sure he really could handle this at all but his honor demanded that he do his best.
Dog felt Naruto's sigh of relief once the fresh air of outside hit his skin. Obviously the child wasn't so out of it that he didn't know where they had been. And just as obviously he'd been afraid they'd leave him there. He smirked under his mask. No way in hell would he have left the child there no matter who had ordered him to but the boy didn't know that.
Iruka had heard the sigh also and he said, "He really doesn't trust anyone does he?" Dog shook his head but said nothing. Truthfully, like Cat the previous night, he couldn't talk while he wore the mask. Sometimes that was the hardest part of the job. "I hope I can handle this. Hokage-sama was right. This will be a big job but the most important thing I have ever done or ever will likely do again. I will not give up." Iruka clenched his fist as the fire of determination returned to his black eyes. Only Dog had felt the slight tensing of the boy on his back as Iruka had been speaking. He knew the child believed the teacher would give up on him even if it wasn't today. Calmly Dog pat the small arm around his neck.
The trio made their way back to Iruka's house and put Naruto back in the bed of the guest room. Dog stayed by the child's side while Iruka went to make the boy something to eat. Dog stared at the child in the bed and finally allowed himself to think about what he had heard that morning. Beaten the night before by drunks just because they could, terrorized this morning by a nurse who wanted to use him as a guinea pig for new procedures and drugs, twenty-five pounds total and a drug addict. His Sensei's son was dying and Dog finally faced it. Tears dripped under his mask as his shoulders shook but he refused to give up as he looked at the child lying so forlornly under the blankets. Naruto hadn't said a word since he had zoned out in the apartment and he didn't expect him to.
Iruka came back in with a tray holding three small plates. Scrambled eggs and glasses of juice with toast and a bowl of jam filled the tray and sent an appetizing aroma through the room. "I didn't make very much but I figured since he made these for me this morning he might actually like them. I do think you should remove your mask, Kakashi and eat with us. I know you are on duty right now but since we are inside and I already know who you are I don't see the need for it. Naruto already knows also so don't try to use him as an excuse."
Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Kakashi. He smiled a sad smile and weakly pushed himself up on the bed. Kakashi grabbed his shoulders to help him and positioned the pillows behind his back as Iruka fixed the tray across his lap.
Naruto looked at the food and immediately felt tired. Iruka settled into a chair beside him on the other side from where Kakashi sat. Iruka began to eat even though, since he had already eaten earlier, he wasn't hungry. Naruto watched as he swallowed every bite. He waited looking for signs that the food was no good but Iruka picked up his glass of juice and drank it in one long swallow. Again he felt Naruto watching him closely. "Now you eat, Naruto," said Iruka. In answer Naruto just pointed to Kakashi. He knew it was still possible for the food on his plate to be tainted so, quickly before Kakashi could get his mask off, Naruto switched plates with him.
Iruka was shocked and, he had to admit, hurt that the child was so suspicious but then if he had been through even half the stuff he'd read in the child's file he wouldn't have been all that trusting either. Someone knocked on the door and he rose to go answer it knowing it was likely someone from the academy come to get his lesson plan for his class. He answered the door to be met with a fist to the belly and a warning, "Stay away from the Demon or you're next. This village don't need no stinking Demon Lovers." Then the person kicked him and stormed off. He rubbed his tender stomach as he shut the door and went back to the spare room.
As he took his seat again he tried to rub his leg without Naruto seeing him but of course the boy did. He looked up to find the child staring at him with a look that plainly said, "I told you."
"It's not your fault, Naruto. Some people are just stupid. Now eat your breakfast." He watched as Naruto played with his chopsticks for a few minutes before dropping them tiredly on his tray. He hadn't taken a bite as far as Iruka could see but maybe Kakashi had gotten him to try it. Iruka looked to the Jonin as saw him shake his head. "Naruto," called Iruka. The boy looked at him. "One bite. Just take one bite. Ok?" Naruto sighed and picked up the sticks again. His hand trembled but he tried to pick up a bit of the eggs and bring them to his mouth. Truth was, he was hungry but he just didn't have the energy to eat anything. The egg spilt before he got it clear of the tray and he dropped the sticks.
Kakashi reached over and took the sticks. He placed a hand under Naruto's chin to turn his head towards himself. Since he had removed his mask, which was technically against the rules, and could talk freely, he said, "I'll feed you ok? Just this once, I'll feed you." A slight nod was all the response he got as he scooped a small bit of the eggs onto the chopsticks and guided them into the child's mouth. He waited as Naruto carefully chewed them and swallowed before loading the sticks again. He got the child to eat five bites over the course of an hour before the boy fell asleep.
A few hours later he was writhing in pain on the bed and crying out. Inoichi had shown up for his session and Iruka had passed the message on from the doctor. Both men had run to the room to see what could possibly be the matter. Naruto would scrunch up in a tight ball before throwing his legs and arms straight out as far as he could arching his back at the same time. Every time he went straight as a board he threw up a little of the food he'd eaten. His face reflected his pain as he writhed around.
Kakashi sat there, with his mask back in place, rubbing his back trying to make it go away and help settle the child but he had no clue as to the problem either. Inoichi however took one look and said, "He's got gas. Whatever you gave him this morning, has created tremendous gas in his system. This is how babies will react when they are allergic to their mother's milk. Dog, rub his stomach and Iruka make him a soda water drink. Just a small sip should relieve the pain enough for it to pass out of his system." Both men did as Inoichi suggested and when Naruto calmed down Iruka asked how he had known that.
"Ino was allergic to her mother's milk. We had to give her a special kind of milk or we'd have lost her. Now, since both the Hokage and his doctor want this done today, I'm going to enter his mind and see if I can find out how far gone he is. I need to do this so I can work up a plan to help him most efficiently." Both Iruka and Kakashi sat quietly waiting as Inoichi went lax in his chair.
Author Notes: Well this chapter is done. Remember tell me what you think and let me know if something seems out of whack. As far as the weights given they are accurate. Being the mother of four boys I do know what they should weigh as eight year olds and what would be considered life threatening. For those of you who are interested Naruto in this story is Anorexic. It is a very serious condition that attacks both the mind and the body. It rarely ever happens to children as young as Naruto is but it can have it's beginning at his age. Considering the crap that I believe the villagers have put him through over the years I thought it plausible he might suffer from the disease.