Iruka slept fitfully that night.
The entire day had left him exhausted, between the emotional turmoil of dealing with Getsumei's motherly appearance and the overstimulation of his sight. The headache had been building, and by the time it peaked he had finally laid down after putting on his newest eyepatch. The medi-nin had said that his hitai-ate was still too rough for the sensitive new skin around his eye, so this eyepatch was soft, with a stretchy fabric that curved easily with his cheek. It had a cool seal on the front, made to keep the sight of his Byakugan from activating while wearing it. He was, grudgingly, thankful that Hebari-san and Hiashi-san both made him practice his jujutsu while one eye was covered. He didn't think he was going to need the eyepatch after a month, naively, because he thought the drain on his chakra and the overwhelming sight wouldn't be as bad as they actually are.
Morning came far too soon, and while he got dressed for the day Iruka actually dreaded taking off the eye patch. The novelty of it had disappeared and the headache had lingered overnight. He was due to see the medi-nin that morning anyway, so he figured he'd get something for the pain before reporting to training.
He was told that he would finally start training in seals. He had been excited the day before, focused on improving and training and getting closer to his parents through their craft. But now… Iruka wanted to crawl back in bed and sleep for days.
After he was dressed and headed down the block towards the main dining hall, Iruka focused on his breathing and his swimming vision. It was like every step he took made all of the buildings around him wobble like kid blocks. He wondered idly if this was when he would finally keel over, and he found that he wasn't as opposed to the idea as normal - mainly because all he wanted was to sleep forever.
"Iruka!" Getsumei gasped upon seeing him. He had checked his appearance before leaving for the day and he didn't think he looked that bad. He wondered if it was because he didn't have the energy to brush his hair before stuffing it in a ponytail. "You look like death warmed over, let us get you inside quickly."
Getsumei guided him by the shoulders into the building and through the hallway towards the dining hall. Instead of heading straight for the table, however, Getsumei led him to a small corridor on the left and through a set of doors across the hall from the communal bathrooms. A medi-nin was setting up some syringes and other equipment, and when they entered she looked up and frowned at Iruka's appearance. "Come sit, quickly," she ushered, and Getsumei gently but forcefully pushed him into the wooden dining room chair. "I'm glad you called me, Hyuuga-sama."
"Yes, I am as well," Getsumei fretted, the back of her pale fingers ghosting across Iruka's forehead. "I had a feeling it would have been too much," she admitted when he looked at her questioningly. "You had already looked tired before the patch came off, and I knew that with the excitement you were not going to maintain yourself quite as well."
Iruka frowned up at her while the medi-nin wrapped his right bicep in a blood pressure cuff. "I know how to maintain myself," he muttered, pouting - not that he'd ever admit to pouting.
"Evidently," Getsumei said dryly, and the medi-nin laughed softly when his countenance scrunched further. "I suppose it is a good thing you'll be starting your seals training today. I spoke with Hiashi this morning and he told me of your first seal. I hope you are excited."
"I am," he admitted. "I was thinking about it all night and what kinds of seals my parents used."
Getsumei's smile turned slightly sad but still held joy and excitement for him. She reached for his hand and he gave it up easily, used to her tactile reassurance after a month and a half.
"They would be very proud of how far you have come," she said softly, and Iruka's throat closed. This is why it was hard with Getsumei. She was always sincere and nice, but she also was so personal, all the time. He had never been a very open person, preferring to let his goofy side hide all of his real thoughts, and Getsumei was forcing him to be more serious. She didn't want his walls up, she wanted Iruka open so she could come in fast and hard and save him from whatever doom she knew him to be spiralling towards.
He just wanted to lick his wounds in private.
"Thank you," he gruffed out. The medi-nin politely cleared her throat before asking him to open his mouth wide.
"Well," she said when she was done with her preliminary testing. "There's nothing physically wrong with you, and all symptoms are pointing towards chakra exhaustion. You said yesterday was the first day you had free reign with your new eye?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "and I was being really careful. But I guess I'm a lot weaker than I thought."
"That doesn't sit right with me. I'd like to run more tests, Hyuuga-sama." The nin had looked right at Getsumei and Getsumei's fingers gripped Iruka's more tightly. The medi-nin looked apologetic. "This amount of chakra exhaustion is not normal for anyone else in the Hyuuga clan. With the amount of surgery young Iruka-sama here has undergone, this leads me to believe Orochimaru" - Iruka flinched slightly at the name, unexpected - "was more careful about choosing Iruka-sama than a mere fancy. If that's the case, he would have known that Iruka-sama had the chakra reserves to use the Byakugan in a relatively functioning manner. The fact that he is chakra drained after only a few hours use is disturbing and I'd like to run some more tests. Please allow me to take him to the hospital."
"Yes, of course," Getsumei said forcefully. She drew to her feet and insisted on helping Iruka up despite his protests.
When they arrived at the hospital Iruka was dragging to the ground, the medi-nin and Getsumei holding him upright under his arms. His vision was going in and out of color to white, and his head had split open. He couldn't see himself but he knew his mouth was curled and brow furrowed as far as possible.
"We need a room," the medi-nin told a passing civilian nurse. "Quickly."
"This way," the nurse said, and Iruka passed out.
When Iruka awoke flashes of light quickly glanced across his vision. His whole body was numb and his head was foggy with a sort of weight that wasn't natural. His instincts screamed at him to fight, and he couldn't remember why this feeling was bad but it was. Muffled sounds reached his stuffy ears and he couldn't tell if they were words or just noises, perhaps both. The noises had increased in sound and intensity, and he wondered idly why. Iruka didn't know why it was important, but his body and his head didn't hurt at all. It made him feel better about the state he was in with that distinction.
" -out - yes . . . reserves failing - heartbe-"
" -hold the - the eye is taking . . . relapse in - too much!"
Iruka faded again.
…...
He smelled her before he saw her. Getsumei.
When he finally opened his bleary eye she was asleep next to him, fingers gripping his pinky and arm folded under a waterfall of black hair.
Iruka glanced around the room, noticing the IV stand, the shuttered window, and the woolen blanket that itched more than the itching powder he'd accidentally spilled on his lap a few pranks back. Without even coming to full consciousness Iruka knew he was at the hospital. The smell of the antiseptic and the chill in the air were too familiar, and in the past three months he had gotten to know at least half of the hospital staff.
He didn't want to know at least half of the hospital staff.
A tapping sound roused him from his sullen pout, picking at the tape around the IV needle in his elbow. Iruka thought it sounded like the window and he gently removed his pinky from Getsumei's resting hand to work on shifting out of bed. It was harder than it seemed and exhaustion hit him as soon as he started moving, but when he stood up? The tapping became more persistent and Iruka rolled his eye and finally stood, bare toes curling at the icy touch of the floor.
Tiptoeing across the floor, Iruka kept one eye on Getsumei to make sure she didn't wake. He just knew he'd never hear the end of it if she saw him out of bed after the fright he knew he gave her. Plus she was pregnant, no matter how early in the pregnancy, and she needed to rest whenever possible.
The tapping stopped when Iruka touched the shutters and he had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly who was bothering him at five in the morning. Why the clearly older teen was knocking on his window, Iruka might possibly never know since the mentioned teen was shadier than the Hokage monument at dawn. He unlatched the shutters and they swung open gently on their own.
"Leave," he deadpanned when the silver haired teen waved brightly at him.
"Ouch, Hyuuga-sama, already sounding like your clan," the boy parried back and Iruka clenched his teeth.
"Why are you here? How did you even know I was here?" Iruka demanded quietly, glancing quickly over at Getsumei to make sure he didn't rouse her.
"Come with me," Kakashi said instead of answering. He fell down the wall outside so only his head was seen above the window frame.
"Why?"
"Why not?"
Iruka stared.
Kakashi stared back.
"Fine," Iruka sighed, and went in search of his shoes and the jacket he knew Getsumei brought for him. When Iruka made to climb through the window Kakashi reached up and yanked him out, Iruka yelping on their fall to the ground level. The landing wasn't rough at all but Iruka still wanted to kick the older teen for the fright. "Learn some restraint, jeez."
"No," Kakashi said cheerfully, ambling down the street in a zigzag. Iruka followed at a sedate pace, already starting to breathe heavier. Kakashi noticed and asked, "So are you going to tell me why you're in the hospital?"
"No," Iruka mimicked Kakashi, bright and chipper. Kakashi scoffed. "Hey, you deserve no answers if you don't give answers."
"Nah, I get answers always," Kakashi lazily drawled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He tilted his head back to side-eye Iruka. "All in due time."
"Should I feel flattered or scared of your attention, Kakashi-san?"
It was quiet in the street while they walked, the occasional acquaintance hailing Kakashi or Iruka. Iruka wouldn't forget how Kakashi didn't answer him. He didn't know whether to be put on edge or not.
"Have you ever been to the slums of Konoha, Iruka Hyuuga-sama-chan?" Iruka's aim was beautiful, sometimes. The rock he'd kicked at Kakashi's head hit him right in the temple. Kakashi whined and rubbed the spot pitifully. "That's not very nice Iruka Hyuuga-sama-chan."
"Stop calling me that!" Iruka grumbled. "My name is Iruka. Call me Iruka."
"But I am," Kakashi said joyfully, finger up as if that proved his point.
"Yes," Iruka said suddenly instead of engaging. Kakashi glanced over, nonplussed. "I have been to the slums."
"Good, this will be quick then."
Iruka wondered once again where they were going.
After walking for a few blocks (further exhausting Iruka, who started daydreaming of ramen and sleep) they arrived at a peeling purple building, with cheery faded letters above the door spelling Konoha Orphanage. Iruka was scowling when they arrived, annoyed that Kakashi couldn't have just said they were going to the orphanage.
"I'll meet you in room 190," Kakashi said, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke and a small swirl of leaves.
"Not if I just leave," Iruka grumbled, yawning. But he was curious, and Kakashi was fun to be around when he wasn't being an asshole.
When Iruka walked inside he was assaulted by the smell of BO and urine. He knew most kids peed the bed until they were six or seven, but Iruka knew the smell was because these kids weren't being taken care of the way they should be.
An older woman was sitting behind the single desk in the main office, gold rimmed glasses perched on a hooked nose. She looked shrewd and calculating, and when she looked up at him she saw her piercing eyes take in the entirety of his appearance before clearing to look friendly. She remembered him.
"Good morning, Batto-san," Iruka offered politely, tilting his head in the 'Hyuuga bow,' as he liked to call it.
"Iruka-kun," she said, and steepled her fingers together under her chin. He didn't know why all old people loved to do that, but he vowed to never be one of them. "What a pleasure. How can I help you this morning?"
"I'd like to go to room 190."
Her face shuttered and Iruka's insides squirmed. He knew Batto Tsumari had a mean streak but it was different seeing it up close and so drastically.
"No."
The pause was intense, with Iruka and Batto locking eyes and forcing their will upon the other. It was an old tactic, one they both won and lost against frequently, but Iruka knew this time he had her. She would be hateful about it but she would let him through.
Finally, after another vehement glare, she relented and stood from the desk. "This way," she snapped, "urgently."
Iruka stumbled quickly after her, forced to keep up or miss his opportunity to see what the heck Kakashi wanted him to see. They climbed two sets of stairs to the third floor, which was the highest floor, and then to the last door. He had never ventured this far because he had been told that none of the kids lived in this hallway and he didn't care about exploring while he was too busy mourning his family.
The hallway was worn and dirty, and dust floated in the air through the rays of sun that peaked through the attic floor. When Iruka had felt better, he and a couple of his orphan friends built a clubhouse in the attic, and the thatched roof had been peeled away artfully to reveal the sky in an organized clutter. They had then hung tarps they'd painted in crazy colors and patterns diagonally to drain whatever water gathered on the roof. Water never got inside so Batto never went up to look at it. He wondered if she knew it was like that now, or if some other orphans found it and put it to good use.
There were a few doors missing in the hallway, each room he glanced into covered in dust, with white sheets to protect the furniture. Iruka was glad for the newer orphanage closer to the center of the village, where the kids lived cleaner and safer. Here, well, it was dirty and they lived in the slums. He had lost count of how many Jounin went ballistic nearby with just a little bit of alcohol in their systems and a lot of death on their minds.
They finally arrived at the last door to the right, a rusty brass 190 barely hanging on to the rotting door frame. Wrinkled fingers and a liver spotted hand wiggled a key in the rusty lock. Iruka noticed the small glow around the key as wards being deactivated and he wondered if Kakashi was already inside, bypassing the wards.
When the door swung open with an eeeeeerrrreeee Iruka had to lift a hand and pinch his nose. The smell was awful. Iruka was already on the verge of collapsing from his ordeal from yesterday and the smell hammered the nail in his temple a lot harder.
They stepped inside and Iruka immediately noticed the overpiling trash bin of dirty diapers. The floor was sticky and the paint was peeling on the walls. There were a few holes the size of Iruka's fist around the window frame, and he couldn't see Kakashi anywhere.
On the wall to their right, behind the door that swung into the room, was a cradle. It was broken on two legs, so it rocked diagonally with every movement the baby inside made. Iruka couldn't see the baby clearly until they got closer, but he saw blond hair and the air in his chest froze. He had a hunch that he knew exactly who was in the cradle.
"Come see me when you're through here," Batto said, voice snapping through the air like a whip. Iruka started, heart racing, and nodded at her.
"Thank you, Batto-san," he said in response. She huffed at him and closed the door a lot harder than the door could probably handle, but it stayed closed so he paid it no mind. "Kakashi," he called after a few seconds of waiting, staring at the cradle and not daring to go much closer until the older boy was in sight.
"Ye-"
Kakashi had attempted to be sneaky, voice starting with a whisper against his ear. Iruka had already reacted as soon as he felt the air breeze against his neck. He had jammed his elbow back as hard as he physically could in his condition, and Kakashi's devious attempt was foiled with a light yelp.
"Don't sneak up on me."
"Got it."
Iruka felt a smile pull on the corners of his mouth, and to combat it he alighted his eyes on the cradle again. Kakashi walked from behind him and towards the cradle which finally gave Iruka enough courage to follow closely behind him. The baby hadn't moved or uttered a sound while they had their interaction and Iruka wondered if he was asleep.
"Naruto," Kakashi cooed softly. "Naruuuuuutoooooo."
A gargle and small coo answered back from the cradle and Iruka could see the smile through Kakashi's body language.
"Hi there, precious one," Kakashi said, and reached in to grab the blond baby. Naruto giggled while he was picked up, blue eyes glancing around everywhere. Iruka sneezed and glanced at the window. It was wide open already and Iruka could literally see the dust filtering outside. He felt sick. "Did you miss me? I brought a new friend, would you like to say hi?"
Kakashi turned to Iruka and held the baby out, dropping him in Iruka's arms before he could protest. The baby didn't weigh a thing.
Ice reached up from his stomach to wrap around his spine.
"Say 'hi' Naruto," Kakashi encouraged, tickling the boy's stomach.
Naruto kicked at him in Iruka's arms, hands jerking through the air wildly while he giggled and wiggled. It was more than cute. Iruka could feel himself softening and at the same time becoming disheartened. The rest of the village really hated this kid.
"Hi, Naruto," Iruka whispered, and he brought the baby closer to his chest, forehead resting against soft blond hair that smelled like urine. His eye was watering suspiciously and he fought the knot in his throat with everything he had. "My name is Iruka.
"It's nice to meet you."