10. Soldier Pill
Character(s): Iruka-sensei, Naruto
Summary: One of the many unique trials of the shinobi parent. Little Naruto gets into Iruka's chuunin jacket.

Naruto stood at the base of the closet door, his neck craned back so that he could see all the way up past their futons and blankets to the very top shelf.

High, high up there he could see a green fold peeking out, and he shuffled with nervousness and excitement. It was his sensei's chuunin jacket, the special one he wore when he had to go away on missions. It was just full of stuff in dozens of pockets and secret folds, but the high shelf meant that he wasn't supposed to touch it. Ruka-sensei said.

It was because of the dangerous stuff in there, probably. But Naruto was a big, big boy now – way bigger than when Sensei made the rule. He knew how to be really careful.

Plus, Iruka was sleeping. He'd just gotten back after nearly a week – practically forever – and he was really tired. He hadn't heard Naruto force open the closet door, even when it made the creaky noise it always made when you wanted it to be quiet. No, Naruto was not going to get caught. He would just play a little and put it back.

The high shelf was really far up, but not too far for a ninja. Naruto was gonna be a ninja one day. Ruka-sensei said. So he climbed slowly up the lower shelves, careful not to let his feet snag on anything and slip. He climbed until he could almost reach the vest, just there at the tips of his fingers.

With a little grunt of exertion, the toddler jerked higher, snagging the green fabric and dragging it back with him. It slid over the side and dropped fast, too heavy for Naruto to hold onto it and not fall. He winced at the clattering noise it made when it landed and some of its contents came loose. Quiet reigned for a moment, and he listened…but there was nothing. He was safe.

It was harder getting down than climbing up, but Naruto only tripped on the last step. His head thumped on the floor, but he bit his lip and didn't cry, rubbing the sore spot with his fingers and rocking until the hurt went away. The jacket lay waiting, and he giggled compulsively seeing it, happy, happy. He'd gotten it.

The first thing that caught his attention were the things that had fallen out when it dropped. "Oh," he said, frowning at the half-opened navy pouch which had probably been sitting on top. There were metal handles sticking out, and one of the weapons had gotten loose and lay gleaming opaquely against the floor boards. Naruto knew what those were. They were sharp. Ruka said never, ever touch.

He pushed the ouchies off to the side, cautious not to touch the shinning edges. Afterward, he smiled. See what a good, careful boy he was?

Naruto dragged the vest into his lap, using his new skill at undoing buttons so he could begin exploring. The long thin pockets in front had tight rolls of paper. They had bright colors and Sensei's neat, pretty handwriting. He wanted to keep one, but it wouldn't fit down the bib of his coverall. Another compartment had more papers, white and rectangular with symbols all over. Those were stuck everywhere in Konoha – no fun at all.

More searching, more baubles. Naruto lined up his favorites beside him: lots of white balls in a tin that stuck to his fingers, a mirror the size of his fist, a sharp rock and bit of metal tied together with string, a bag of smelly powders, and a coil of wire.

The jacket itself was a puzzle. It was thick and heavy and smelled funny, like dinner when Ruka-sensei burned it on accident. He noticed a blotch on one side, sort of brownish and stiff. The cloth was ripped there, and Naruto poked his finger curiously through the hole, picking at the little strings that had gotten torn up. The stain was all over – Ruka-sensei really needed to wash it.

It was as he was turning the jacket inside out to see if the rip went all the way through that Naruto jostled the pocket full of beads. They spilled out on the floor in a pile by his feet, different sizes and colors.

What were those?

He poked at them clumsily with his pudgy fingers, moving the blue, black, and red pills around in a whirl. The little round ones vaguely resembled the chewy tablets that he ate in the morning with breakfast because Ruka-sensei said they made big, strong boys. They weren't nasty like other medicine; kind of cherry and good. But sensei only ever let him have just one at a time. These were probably good too, and now he could have lots if he wanted.

Naruto picked up one of the red ones and sniffed at it, but then drew back as he felt an infant pang of conscience. Ruka-sensei had given him one this morning, and Naruto was already a bad boy for getting into the jacket. He hated when Sensei wore his sad face, like he always did when Naruto was naughty. It was such a bad face, oh…

Whimpering with indecision, he stared down at the tempting treat. Finally, it was just too much. Opening his mouth, he brought the pill up.

"NARUTO!"

It was the hysterical nature of the cry as well as the volume that made the little boy jerk in his seat and drop his hand. A skittering noise echoed across the floor as the dropped pill fell back among its fellows. Naruto knew he was in trouble, but he was startled when his normally gentle guardian swept across the room and gripped him harshly by the shoulders. "Did you eat one of those?" he demanded. "How many did you eat?"

Terrified, the child shook his head. "Didn't!"

Slowly, Iruka-sensei's fierce rigor faded, and Naruto suddenly noticed that he was breathing really hard – fast, like he had run a race. He looked scared, and it was so much worse than the sad face that Naruto felt a hiccupping sob well up in him, miserable and bewildered.

"Oh, Naruto," Iruka sighed, and then Naruto was drawn tight inside his arms. Grateful, the little boy clung to him with the tight-fisted terror of the badly chastised. "I didn't mean to yell at you. You scared me."

Naruto sniffled. "Sorry. Got out the jacket. I'm sorry."

Carefully, his sensei pried little fingers away from his sleeves and rearranged his legs so that Naruto could sit comfortably in his lap. Tears dried under his hands, which then shifted to rub slow circles against Naruto's head, beneath his hair. Soothed, the child quieted, though sorrow still dwelt in his face.

Iruka reached to gather a few of the black and red tablets, holding them up for Naruto to see. "Do you know what these are?" he asked.

"Mitamins," Naruto answered surely.

His answer only made Iruka look conflicted, like he wasn't sure how to explain. And that was weird, because Ruka-sensei could always explain things good. He was Naruto's favorite teacher because he was so nice and told Naruto as many times as he needed without getting mad.

"Naruto," the man spoke very slow and clear. "These aren't quite like vitamins. A ninja might use them on a mission, but only in an emergency."

"Mergency mitamins," Naruto reasoned.

"Well…only sort of. " Iruka sighed deeply, rubbing his chest as though it hurt him. "You'll understand more when you're older, but what you need to know right now is that soldier pills are dangerous. You should never eat them, because they could hurt your body very badly. Do you understand?"

Timidly, the boy nodded. He looked down at the little colored circles with apprehension. Emergency vitamins were serious, like ouchies.

Naruto was startled to find himself drawn into another embrace; Iruka-sensei was pressing into him like he didn't want to ever let go. "It would kill me if you got hurt, Naruto," he said, his voice sounding hoarse. It was a trying-not-to-cry voice.

"Kill" was a term that was still a little uncertain to him, but Naruto knew it was something like "die", which meant to go away and never come back. The thought horrified him, and he squirmed to press his face into the warm spot below his sensei's collar. He could hear the heart there, beating fast.

"I'm sorry," he said, earnest as he knew how.

Ruka-sensei just nodded. "It's okay," he said quietly, more like himself. He'd stopped shaking so bad, but he didn't let go. "It's okay. Just please don't do this again. Our promise?"

"Promise," Naruto said, and he held on too.