Hypothermia

"S-Sakura-ch-chan… am-am I g-g-g-going to d-d-die…?"

She sighed into her closet, before calling back, "And whose fault would it be if you did?" Where were those spare bed sheets? Didn't she usually keep them here?

"K-K-Kiba's!" He sneezed loudly for the sixth time. "He d-dared me!"

"So you let him build a snowman on you? That's the stupi – mmph!"

She'd found the bed sheets.

Naruto's head came up inquisitively at the strange noise. Bunching the blanket tighter around himself, he tried to crane his neck around the corner. "Sakura-chan? You okay?"

"You're in no shape to ask that question," her muffled voice pointed out. Her head breaking out of the avalanche, Sakura shook the masses of sheets and jackets out of her face. She eyed the mess she'd made of her wardrobe. She itched to restore its order immediately, but the idiot sitting in her living room was, as usual, her frustrating first priority. Exasperated, Sakura grabbed the sheets and returned to her teammate. "Here!"

Naruto didn't have time to yelp before an unbelievable amount of linen dropped on his head. Instead, the surprised exclamation caught in his scratchy throat and sent him into a coughing fit beneath the thick folds. Making a face while simultaneously leaving a note to be thorough with her laundry, Sakura hastily unearthed her teammate and tried to arrange the thick quilts around his wet, trembling frame. "Mou, I'm going to throttle Kiba."

Naruto grinned goofily. "Sakura's so protective of me," he sang.

She responded with an asphyxiating tug of the blanket around his neck. "No, I'm going to kill him for getting you sick and infecting my apartment with your germs," she scoffed.

Naruto sneezed again, looking miserable. "Sobby," he mumbled.

Sighing, Sakura picked up the towel she had left on the coffee table and threw it back over Naruto's dripping hair. He made grunts of protest as she towelled his shaggy locks, making loud sniffling noises in between. "Ew," she said. "Blow your nose."

"Bo tibbu."

"Just use your handkerchief." She knew he carried one. It was orange with a frog face printed on one side, and for some reason, was always perfectly ironed. But Naruto shook his head. "What, you didn't bring it? I thought you had it with you all the time."

"I boo," he answered. He sniffed vigorously, temporarily unblocking his stuffed nose. "I just don't want to use it."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Because?" She was surprised to see Naruto lower his head in faint embarrassment. He mumbled something inaudible. Frowning, Sakura leaned in. "Speak up, silly."

She was so close that her hair was brushing against his cheek. Naruto curled up, trying to direct his sickly breath away from her face. "That handkerchief's special," he said eventually.

Sakura waited.

"Well, see… it's only allowed to be used for Sakura-chan's tears."

The hand still idly drying his hair stopped. Naruto squirmed slightly, before sheepishly meeting Sakura's eyes. "A-Ah, don't worry, it's always clean," he added hastily. "And it's not like I want you to cry or anything – well, I used to so I could come to your rescue and look cool–" Her expression changed. Damn mouth. Naruto waved his hand quickly. "But that was when we were still kids! It's different now… uh… yeah, I could do with some tissues right now…?"

Of course, she didn't move. She was still staring at him and it broke through his chilled skin like hot flames. Naruto gulped, averting his skittish gaze.

Then her forehead gently touched against his. She was so warm. "Baka," Sakura murmured.

Naruto began to smile. His nose twitched.

"If only you looked after yourself that well." Sakura absently arranged the damp towel around his neck as a makeshift scarf. "I'm not a damsel in distress, you know," she continued. "I can take care of myself. And you."

Him too, huh? That sounded good.

"Looks like you'll be staying here tonight. Guess I'll be cooking…"

… That did not sound good. "Uh, wait… ah…"

"… Yes?" If he was going to bring up the last time she'd tried to make congee, she was going to-

"ACHOO!"

- kill him.

A/N: Uni is being hectic but I think I'm going to try work out a system so I can get enough downtime to write every now and then. I'll be updating my writing blog with news about that soon, so be sure to check it out.

Winter's slowly creeping in here (not really but eventually) so try not to get sick, Aussies. Oh, and don't forget daylight saving, haha.