Title: Wishes Are Free
Author: Cheza-chan
Rating: R
Pairing: KakaIru, SasuNaru, SakuOC
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto—oh, I wish I did—but I own Kan'you, all the characters of the Hidden Wave Village. I own the Hidden Wave Village because I created it! I own the Hidden Wave Village's special jutsus, etc.
A/N: I made a new friend! Bomb-O-Maniac (or just plain ole "Bomb") and I hit it off like that:;snaps fingers;: Why are my chapters coming out so quick, you ask? Because I have too much damn time on my hands when I should be working on a damn important speech for my Public Speaking class. Well, as the princess of procrastination, I don't care! XD Enjoy the chapter, minna!
Chapter Twenty-Eight – You Want Answers?
'This is ridiculous!' Iruka was tired of having to place a lock on his bladder because Kakashi was rarely around to assist him anymore. He shuffled out of the clothes on his lower half and grabbed his crutches. He eased himself to his feet. This—what he was trying to do—was ridiculous, but having Kakashi hold him so he could relieve himself was downright embarrassing. The brunet whined softly and promised to clean the toilet and floor.
There was a dull slam on the other side of the room and his mind began racing to try and find a way out of his current situation. There was none. "Iruka-sensei?"
'He's calling me sensei again.'
"You shouldn't be moving about so much," the silver-haired man sighed, now standing in the doorway.
Iruka scowled, glad his back was to the elite shinobi so he wouldn't see it.
Kakashi entered the bathroom and placed his gloved hand lightly atop the Chuunin's shoulder. "Is there anything else you want or need?"
The dolphin turned and looked at the shower. Kill two birds with one stone.
"Sou ka." Kakashi turned the other man slowly and removed the crutches from under his arms. Iruka closed his eyes as he fell against the firm body. His arm was removed from one sleeve then the other, revealing a bandaged body that would only become even more scarred. Kakashi lowered the toilet cover and settled the young man atop it. He moved to the shower and turned the knob on, then stepped back to remove his own clothes.
The ANBU tattoo became visible.
Iruka tore his gaze away from it and lowered it to the floor with a sigh. He was easily lifted and taken under the warm spray of water with the shower curtain separating them from the outside world. He leaned his head back against Kakashi's shoulder, but his smile slipped away as the body supporting him stiffened. 'You can't even touch me anymore, can you?'
The shower became a platonic event that seemed to drag on forever. Once out, Kakashi allowed Iruka temporary use of his crutches so he could begin unwrapping the soaked bandages. He bit down on his lip, glad for the mask. The Chuunin's skin still had yet to properly begin healing and was a pinkish, off-white color. The Jounin lightly dabbed the towel across the wounds and grimaced as the skin moved. He did the dolphin's other side then stood and dropped the towel. He picked up the medicated gauzes he'd laid out and placed one on each of Iruka's side, then began the rewrapping process.
Iruka winced as the cloth was tied off then allowed Kakashi to assist him back into the bedroom. A bedroom. He smiled. It was more like a washroom with a window. Everything that seemed to have been on the bed was tossed onto the floor for his arrival. This only dirtied an already dirty place. 'He might be a genius, but he's human like everyone else.' He smiled and took a seat on the bed.
Kakashi was there to tend to his left arm. "Do you need anything else?" he murmured.
"Some coffee."
"I'll get it." He latched the ends of the wrap and stood. Holding the towel tight around his waist, he left for the kitchen, leaving the young man alone.
§§§
"Kakashi…"
"You shouldn't strain your voice," the Jounin sighed, not pausing as he found himself leaving his room once again. "The doctor said to let it come back on its own."
"This isn't about the doctor! This is about us!" The dark eye widened at the shout. "It's been four days since you opened and read that letter and all you've done is take care of me because you have to!" Kakashi clenched his hands into tight fists inside the pockets of his bodysuit. "You won't even stay in the same room with me!" Iruka coughed and his crutches fell away as he landed unceremoniously on the bed.
Kakashi spun and ran back to the bed. His hand froze centimeters from the other, fingers curling.
"You can't even touch me," the brunet wheezed, digging his fingers into the bed. His sides hurt so badly.
There were no excuses the Jounin could come up with because all that Iruka had said was true. He sighed deeply and dropped to one knee. Iruka forced his eyes to open and they widened as his left hand was taken. Kakashi raised his head, smiled, and Iruka was able to see it.
"You're right." He laughed as the fingers of the brunet's free hand danced over the lower half of his face. "You're right," he repeated. "I was being distant, but only because… God, this is gonna sound cheesy. When I'm with you, you make me feel like I'm actually still living and I couldn't stand the thought of you being gone."
Iruka laughed and swept his fingers over lips that had always been soft against his. The Jounin's face was the same pale complexion even though just about all of it was covered, and there were no blemishes or scars—like "Kentan" had. A firm, strong jaw and chin, straight nose, and magnificently bright smile.
"I think I do blow things out of proportion," the scarecrow sighed, nibbling lightly on a finger that had slipped between his lips.
"Who told you that?" Iruka asked with a smile.
"Hatake Kakashi." Kakashi isolated Iruka's ring finger while reaching into his pocket. He pulled out Risa's handmade keepsake and slid it onto the bare digit. "I love you," he whispered as he slowly stood. "Keep it warm and safe." Leaning over the Chuunin, he placed a quick kiss to his forehead and lips before easing him back onto the bed. "You should sleep."
"Stay with me," the brunet pleaded. "Please."
Kakashi climbed over him to get to the side of the bed that was pressed tight against the wall. Iruka smiled and placed his crutches on the floor before swinging his legs up onto the bed. Kakashi's touches were gentle as they both got settled and they easily fell asleep in each other's arms, to each other's warmth. Before completely drifting off, Kakashi freed a hand to pull his mask back up into place—just in case anyone was spying.
"Naruto-kun…?"
The blonde looked up from where he had been hunched over his bowl, noodles hanging from his mouth, and blinked at the blushing Hinata. Sasuke looked up also with a deep frown; he was sitting directly beside his lover. The girl gave a soft gasp and fiddled with her thumbs. "Nani, Hinata?" the kyuubi mumbled, slurping his ramen.
"Have you visited Iruka-sensei yet?" she asked in a soft whisper.
"He's still in Hidden Wave," Naruto grumbled.
"Oh." Lavender eyes widened. "I guess you weren't told. Iruka-sensei came back a week ago."
Sasuke braced himself against the counter at the tornado-like winds then stared at the pile of bowls left behind for him. He scowled and reached into his pocket for the money to pay for it all while thinking of ways to torture the blonde. He knew whatever he thought of would backfire and he'd end up being the victim. Hinata smiled nervously at the intense scowl on the boy's face.
While a raging kyuubi pounded down the door of Iruka's house, Kakashi gave up knocking on the kyuubi's door. The Jounin sighed and made his way to one of the windows and peered in. 'Empty?' His frown turned upside-down, as he was right now. 'One guess where he is.'
"He wasn't there! Hinata wouldn't lie, would she?" Sasuke shook his head, the action going unnoticed. "Of course not," Naruto muttered, still pacing. "Is Iruka-sensei avoiding me? Does he hate me?"
"No!"
His blue eyes widened as arms snagged him and stopped his pacing. He turned his head, nose brushing over Sasuke's, and smiled sheepishly.
"O-ha-yo-u."
Ebony and cerulean blue eyes narrowed and the boys turned to glare at the Jounin that stood several yards away; he was still inside the Uchiha's house.
"It's mid-afternoon," Sasuke scoffed, reflexively tightening his grip on his prize.
Kakashi's eye curved upward and he rubbed the back of his head. "Ara, ara. Sumimasen. I've been so busy lately. Anyway, I just came by to say Iruka-sensei's at my house." He tilted his head away from the accusations being thrown at him by both boys as to why the Chuunin had to be babysat, and sighed deeply.
"Is he okay?" Naruto finally mumbled.
"Hokage-sama says he has to stay with me until he's fully recuperated. When I left, he was still sleeping," the scarecrow added, guessing it had been the blonde's next question.
"We'll stop by later, then," Sasuke said, his arm rising so it was now around Naruto's chest. "We can take him ramen." Naruto's eyes brightened and the boy grinned.
Kakashi raised his hand to symbolize his departing wave and turned and left.
The blonde sighed and closed his eyes. Sasuke pressed his cheek firmly against Naruto's then turned and kissed him. The kyuubi responded in kind. He ran his fingers through the ebony locks then leaned back with a pout. "Sasuke, you should cut your hair. It's growing too long."
"So?" Sasuke scoffed, kicking the blonde's legs out from under him. Kneeling over the shocked boy with a smirk, he grasped the zipper of the orange jacket and pulled it down.
"Oh! I almost forgot—Oh." Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, eye curved into a high arch. "Hmm. I guess I forgot after all. So long!" He waved and disappeared, his chuckles lingering in the room filled with a dark chakra that radiated from the boys.
Kakashi didn't return home after leaving the Uchiha house. He ran into the Godaime on the streets, Shizune present beside the blonde—he hadn't seen the woman and her pig in a while.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Tsunade called out, waving. "Just the person I needed to see."
'That's not good.' The Jounin nodded and they met in the middle.
"A mission," Tsunade exclaimed, crossing her arms. "It's a good thing we met you here because I was on my way to the bar and I doubt I would've remembered what I needed to tell you."
Shizune sweatdropped as the woman beside her laughed loudly.
"It's a hush-hush mission, though, so… I'm going to have to ask you to join me at the bar. Maybe even have a drink before you leave?" the Godaime suggested as she nudged the man into turning back around. The trio headed for the town bar she had wanted to go to.
§§§
Iruka nodded in understanding and smiled at the special Jounin that had been sent to relay the message.
Genma shifted the needle from one side of his mouth to the other and clamped his teeth down on it. "Are you doing better?" he asked softly.
"Much. Thank you for asking."
He shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets. "I was concerned. Also, I'm not sure when he'll return, but it can't be more than a week. So, take care until then."
Iruka watched the man walk away then closed the door and leaned against it, one crutch under his arm; he only needed one at this point. Obviously Kakashi didn't keep his ANBU uniform inside the house because the Chuunin hadn't recalled being woken up to the sounds of searching. He sighed and smiled as he twisted the ring around on his finger. Kakashi would come back.
Sasuke rolled over and immediately sat up as he realized what was missing: Naruto. The space on the bed beside him was unoccupied but apparently had been slept in. He tossed back the sheets with a groan and ran his hand through his hair as his bare feet touched the floor. Maybe he did need to cut it. That wasn't important right now. "Where could that dumb blonde be this early in the morning?"
Naruto finally settled into the Main House after Neji dragged him there and tossed him onto the floor of the training room. It had taken generous amounts of self-restraint on the Hyuga genius's part not to use the Jyuuken technique on the boy.
Hinata was quite content with having the blonde visit. Naruto sat beside Neji in the sparring room, his orange jumpsuit sticking out among the dark ones. Hiashi had allowed his nephew to resume training with him and his daughter even though he doubted the boy needed it. His hidden agenda was to get Neji to help Hinata a little. The kyuubi had been an unexpected surprise but, surprisingly, not a distraction to his daughter.
Hinata stepped back as her father's movement ceased, her chest rising and falling as she panted, and dropped her hands to her thighs to brace herself.
"Go, Hinata!" Naruto cheered.
Neji's fingers pressed into his arm and pain shot through his body. The blonde released a loud expletive, grabbing his arm.
"Neji," Hiashi called out. Hinata bowed to her father then moved towards Neji's former seat as he took her sparring spot. She smiled innocently at Naruto as he rubbed his numbing arm.
"Damn Neji…" the blonde spat.
"Is there something wrong between you and Sasuke?" she asked softly.
"No way!" Naruto laughed. "It's just… we're moving in together and I wanted to allow him to get accustomed to me constantly being with him." He leaned his head against the wall with a lopsided grin plastered on his face. "I need help moving all my junk in anyway. Oi, Neji! How about you?"
So unlike him, Neji shifted his attention for less than a second and his eyes flew wide at the force from the palm of his uncle's hand stopping mere centimeters from his chest. He stumbled backwards, coughing.
Hiashi sighed and dropped his stance. His Byakugan faded and he turned away. "I'll leave you three for a few minutes," he said, walking to the sliding door. It opened and closed behind him.
With a hand clutched to his chest, Neji glared at the nervously laughing blonde with narrowed eyes. Hinata jumped in front of Naruto and pressed her hands against her cousin's shoulders, pleading with him not to bring the boy any harm. Neji didn't want to bring him harm, just kill him.
The door opened once more and Sasuke stepped in. He glanced at the Hyugas then glared down at the blonde. "You don't just get up in the middle of the morning and leave without notifying me first!"
"I didn't want to wake you," Naruto whined. "How did you find me anyway?"
"Ichiraku hadn't seen you. Shikamaru and Kiba hadn't either, so I figured this would be the last place I'd be able to find you."
"How do you know? I could've been painting the Hokage Monument. I could've been meeting with Tsunade-no-baachan! Doesn't matter. Since you're here, you and Neji can help me officially move out of my apartment. I have to turn in my key, too," he murmured. Naruto was completely unaware that just about everyone in the room wanted his head mounted on a wall.
§§§
Sasuke stood in the doorway of the empty apartment, watching the blonde stare wistfully around. He crossed his arms and leaned against the frame. He'd wait as long as the other needed.
Naruto folded his arms behind his head and grinned, scuffing at the floor with his sandal. This was it. In all his life, he would have never imagined leaving this place to move in with someone else. Moving in with Iruka, maybe, but Sasuke—the action never occurred to him. He turned to meet Sasuke's smirk and the couple left, locking the door to the empty apartment behind them. Naruto removed the key from his bunch and took the one Sasuke offered to replace it.
They met with Shikamaru and others later that day outside of Ichiraku, where Naruto managed to squeeze three bowls of ramen out of everyone there. In the end, he'd eaten about twelve bowls of ramen. Leaning back on his stool and patting his stomach, the blue eyes caught sight of nearby movement and he turned to see a quartet of ANBU members walking through the streets. "Aren't they supposed to move in secret?" he scoffed.
Four other sets of eyes turned to stare. Sasuke recognized one of the special Jounins. It wasn't hard to realize whom the unruly mop of silver hair belonged to, but he doubted Naruto knew.
"They can go where they want," Kiba muttered, raising his ramen bowl to Akamaru so the dog could eat.
"Mendokusee," Shikamaru sighed, leaning his head on his upraised arm.
"Shut up," the Inuzuka snapped.
Naruto glanced at them with a raised eyebrow and Sasuke almost believed for a minute that he would realize the Chuunin and Genin were a couple. Neji knew better; he thought of the kyuubi as limitless chakra ruled by unbridled emotion. That wasn't a bad thing by his new standards of living.
"Neji!" the blonde yelled even though they were only one stool apart.
"What now?" the Hyuga grumbled, raising his tea to take a sip. He wondered if drinking at his age would ruin everything he'd strived so hard for.
"I need you to buy some takeout ramen for me."
The cup shattered in Neji's intense grip and Kiba inched away from the chakra seeping out of older Genin.
"It's for Iruka-sensei," Naruto added, ignoring the boys. He was still watching the special Jounin squad. They disappeared behind the buildings and he turned back around with a deep sigh. "Sasuke told Kakashi-sensei we'd bring him some over a week ago."
"So let the Uchiha pay for it," Neji snapped, wiping his hand in his shorts. How he'd gotten dragged out of his home for this, he'd never know.
"I don't have anymore money," Sasuke said quickly.
Byakugan vs. Sharingan. The two geniuses glared heatedly at each other.
Naruto leaned forward to stare around them and addressed Shikamaru. The Chuunin obliged if it meant he would be able to get some rest somewhere peaceful and quiet. Who was he kidding? With Kiba as part of his life now, that dream had shattered into a million, irreparable pieces. He slid the money along the counter and Naruto eagerly waited for the food; he couldn't wait to see Iruka.
A/N: Oh! Just a quick little question down here. How old is Genma, really? Because just the other day I came across two different sites—I think one was NarutoFan, not sure what the other was—that said that he was 29. The thing is Absolute Anime says he's 23, so I figure AA knew better… :;shrugs;: Don't ask me why I thought that, but I did. Anyone know which one is true, if any of them?
