A New Will of Fire

It was a sound that woke Naruto up the next morning. His eyes slowly peered open to see Kakashi already dressed and checking the pockets of his jacket to ensure he had everything.

"Oh, you're up!" he greeted Naruto, who was yawning and half-heartedly trying to flatten down his bedhead. "We don't have time for breakfast so I left some snack bars on the table. Wake up Sasuke and let him know, would you?" He broke off from messing with his jacket to instead search around the armchair for something…likely the adult novel he'd been reading last night.

Naruto looked over to Sasuke's bed, shocked that he wasn't already awake. It seemed almost wrong that any of them should be up before him. He pegged Sasuke as a light sleeper, ready to spring into action in a moment's notice. And yesterday's mission wasn't really that difficult to wear them out to sleep in long. Unless it wasn't the mission that was the source of his exhaustion…

Again, he closed the gate on those thoughts.

Standing up with a wobble, he picked his way over Kakashi's now immaculate bed and stood beside Sasuke, hovering over him. The Uchiha had bundled himself under the covers, only a tuff of black hair sticking out. Naruto still wasn't keen to get close and instead nudged him with his foot. "Hey. Wake up, we're leaving." He nudged him a few more times for good measure.

"One, get your sweaty feet off me," Sasuke answered from below, his voice muffled. "Two, I'm already awake."

"Then get up!" Naruto yelled at him, turning to head back to his own side of the room to get dressed. And my feet aren't sweaty!

He heard Sasuke throw off the covers but immediately afterwards, Kakashi exclaimed, "You don't look too good, Sasuke. Caught a cold?"

He looked back to Sasuke and actually gasped. His face was flushed with a clear sweat on his forehead. He'd closed his eyes even after sitting up, but he had the palms of his hands against his eyes, trying to get himself together but it was evident his body wanted to rebel. He pulled what covers were still around him even tighter and shivered, sensitive to even the room temperature.

"Well this isn't good," Kakashi sighed, going over to Sasuke to put a hand against his forehead. The teen tried to pull back to retain some of his pride, but Kakashi wasn't having it, grabbing the back of his head to keep him still. "Maybe you caught it from the changing weather. Spring only just arrived."

"I went outside last night," Sasuke revealed, trying to stand up. His legs shook, but Kakashi caught him.

"In that?" Naruto gestured to the robe Sasuke was still wearing.

"Mm."

"YOU IDIOT!" both Kakashi and Naruto screamed, making Sasuke wrinkle his nose. They were probably giving him a headache. "It's still cold at night, you can't just wear that and think you'll be fine!" Naruto continued to chide him.

Sasuke actually managed to roll his eyes at them and remain standing. "You think I don't already know that? I just…needed some air." His voice made it obvious that he wanted to drop the subject.

Kakashi nodded sympathetically. "Alright, but we do need you to get ready, Sasuke. Naruto, help him. I'll go and see if the inn has some juice. Never fails to help me when I'm sick," he smiled as he left out. Which, once again, left Naruto and Sasuke alone with each other.

This time though, Naruto didn't feel apprehensive about Sasuke. He finished getting ready and was about to follow Kakashi's orders but Sasuke too was already dressed. However, his movements were slow and pained as he set up the futon, stopping every now and then to close his eyes and rest. Naruto wanted to at least do that much for him, but he knew Sasuke wouldn't accept the assistance. If the situation were reversed, he too wouldn't want someone fussing over him. Instead, he went to the table to pick up the snack bars that would serve as breakfast. On the table though was a rolled scroll that hadn't been there previously.

"Hmm? What's this?" he asked aloud as he picked it up. It was sealed…with a wax stamp bearing the Uchiha crest.

Sasuke, now finished, had seated himself on the armchair in the corner. One hand rested under his cheek, making him look more like his usual reserved self. "It's our mission report. I also wrote that last night."

Naruto frowned at him. "I thought Granny Tsunade wanted it from Kakashi-sensei. Why would you write it?"

Sasuke grunted a laugh. "I don't think she cares who it comes from, in truth. You suck at writing reports and Kakashi's going to be busy. That left only me."

Unfortunately, Sasuke was right about him and thus, he didn't even get offended at the comment. "Why would Kakashi be busy? He's going to be in the village too, right?"

With a sigh, Sasuke glared at him in annoyance, though the look fell a bit flat due to his illness. "How about the fact that he has a baby? That'll be the first thing he'll do when he gets back. I wrote the report so that he won't have to."

Again, Naruto couldn't even rebuke him for his snide remark. Instead, he was in awe at Sasuke's mindfulness to their teacher. He hadn't forgotten about Kakashi's new child, but he hadn't thought far enough ahead to consider anything that might pull him away from his family. Had he, he would've written the summary himself, even with his atrocious writing skills. Or given it to Tsunade verbally.

"Sasuke. Thank you."

They both turned to the door to see Kakashi holding a water bottle with the inn's name on it. He stepped through and went over to the armchair, handing the bottle to Sasuke and patting him affectionately on the shoulder. "I greatly appreciate your consideration. So you do have a feeling bone in that body," he joked, poking Sasuke in the cheek.

Sasuke had replied, but his words died in his throat as he gratefully drank from the cup's straw. Realizing his menacing comment was now ineffective, he waved Kakashi away, too absorbed to even want to reply at that point.

Kakashi chuckled at him, then turned to Naruto. "If you're also ready to go, let's hit the road. We have about a two hour journey ahead."

"Less," Sasuke finally got out, the cup now halfway empty. "I can summon a hawk, remember? We can just fly back."

"And we couldn't do that the first time?" Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke got up from the chair with more color having returned to his face. "It was a non-ninja village. If just walking by scared people, they probably would've launched an attack if we had flown in. Not just that, but a summon will stop respecting you if you constantly use it for things you can do yourself."

"Exactly, good thinking, Sasuke," Kakashi praised him.

Naruto clicked his teeth at his own shortcomings so far this morning and instead picked up his backpack. With their teacher leading, they left the room. Walking out the front doors, the innkeepers bowed, thanking them for their patronage. Since they didn't stop at the front counter, he figured Kakashi must've paid when he got Sasuke's drink.

Once outside, Naruto looked over to the Uchiha to see him biting his thumb and weaving the summoning hand signs. The dirt on the ground was kicked up as a large brown hawk appeared before them. Noticing Sasuke, it cooed affectionately, pushing its head closer to him to be petted.

Instead, Sasuke only collapsed to the ground.

"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed, running to his side. He sat him up, feeling Sasuke's heavy breathing. At the contact though, the bird gave a screech, flaring its wings in warning.

"It's fine," Sasuke assured the both of them, trying to stand back up. Naruto looped his arm over his shoulder, helping to support his weight. The bird finally calmed down, seeing that Sasuke wasn't in any danger. Kakashi took one of the snack bars from his pocket and distracted the creature with the food while Naruto helped Sasuke to climb up. "This is absolutely ridiculous," the Uchiha muttered, burying his face in the soft brown feathers. "I rarely get sick, why the hell now?"

"Maybe you were due for it," Kakashi shrugged, throwing more food on the ground. As the bird bent over to retrieve it, he gestured for Naruto to hop on. "I mean, you did go outside in a sheer cotton robe with little else on. This was pretty much par for the course."

Instead of replying, Sasuke buried his heels into the side of the bird, causing it to jump in surprise and throw out its wings again. Kakashi jerked back, his fingers already fitted with three shuriken in case this bird, like the last, had intentions of ripping out his innards. However, it didn't take their leader long to realize that tell-tale smirk from his charge and he dropped his stance. "Yikes, you really don't know how to take a joke! Okay, I get it, you want me to stop nagging you. Point taken," Kakashi surrendered.

Naruto shimmied on the bird after Sasuke but soon realized it was going to be a tight fit for all three of them. He could maybe grab a handful of feathers as well to hold on, but this wasn't his summoning creature and it might not take too kindly to that. Which left only one other option. He slowly turned his attention to Sasuke's back, gulping as he stared down the small Uchiha crest on the back of the collar.

Kakashi finished feeding the bird, dusting the last of the crumbs off his hands. Without hesitating, he ran around the side and also got on but took a unique approach of using his chakra as a means to bind him to his spot. "Alright, Sasuke, up, up and away!"

"On it," Sasuke replied and clicked his teeth this time for the signal.

This time, the wings were spread much wider, rocking them forward. As the lead, Sasuke had the advantage of using the bird's neck for support but Naruto felt himself dangerously slip to the side. On reflex, he threw out an arm to steady himself, clutching the back of Sasuke's clothes. There was another strong flap of wings and this time, they were airborne. Not only did his body lurch forward, but his stomach as well. He'd flown multiple times before, both on Sai's painted birds and on Gaara's sand but never had he gotten motion sickness. Was this yet another side-effect to his nerves being on edge?

He began to feel his hold weaken but a hand reached behind to take his, keeping him from falling. Sasuke pulled him forward just enough to lightly rest his arm around his waist. The touch was gentle and suggesting but not suggestive for which Naruto was immensely grateful. He wasn't being forced to do it and Sasuke clearly left it up to him to decide if he wanted to take the next step.

Which also means it's a trust exercise, Naruto exhaled with a bit of impatience. Sasuke was starting to give him whiplash with his sarcastic and sensitive personality changes. As it was now though, Sasuke seemed to genuinely be concerned about his safety and to only want to help. Removing the other hand from where he'd indeed grabbed a fistful of feathers, he slid it lightly around Sasuke's other side.

His face was burning as the contact also nearly put his face in Sasuke's back, but if Sasuke was affected by the touch, he didn't show it. In fact, Sasuke played it off as though it were no big deal. As they flew on, Naruto started to relax, assured that nothing untoward was going to happen.

At least he had hoped, until Sasuke leaned back, pressing against him.

His first reaction was to push him off, maybe even push him off his own summon but he checked himself before he made a dire mistake. "Oi, Sasuke…what the hell?" he complained, looking at the side of Sasuke's profile to try to gauge his expression.

As it turned out, Sasuke was asleep, or at least resting. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even, but Naruto didn't miss the slight red flush across his face. He was literally sick and tired. He knew the other teen hated pity but he couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. Without any reservations, he wrapped his arms a little tighter, ensuring he supported Sasuke's frame.

What would've taken two hours with running took only a half hour in the sky. By late morning, they had reached the village and came in at a graceful swoop, landing just inside the gates. Kakashi dismounted first, but looked back up at his students in concern. "You should probably get Sasuke to the hospital first. If jutsus that are almost elementary at his skill level are draining him, there might be something else going on."

But Sasuke shook his head against Naruto, his hair tickling his nose. "I already said I'll be fine. I'll just deliver the scroll and go home. This isn't anything that I can't resolve on my own." He opened his eyes, focusing their pitch darkness on their teacher. "Go on, go meet your new family. I can take care of myself." He sat up and then also slid off of the hawk. Naruto followed his lead and just as soon as his feet touched the ground, the bird was gone in a cloud of smoke.

"Actually, Sasuke…" Naruto started, "I'll go ahead and take the scroll to Tsunade. And…I can help you home, if you want. I mean, you know…it's up to you…" Great, he was getting bashful again. Sasuke likely was going to shoot him down and add something insulting to boot but he wanted to at least put the offer out there.

Instead, he was shocked when Sasuke indeed put the scroll in his hand. "I appreciate it," he thanked him, but there was no smile and his blinking was slow and tired. Without another word, he began to head in the direction of his house, evidently declining his second offer.

"Well then, Naruto, I'll be seeing you soon," Kakashi waved distractedly, clearly his own thoughts on home as well.

There was something though that Naruto wanted to ask and he really hoped his sensei wouldn't say no. "I…actually wanted to see the baby, too. If that's okay."

Kakashi thought it over before crinkling his eyes with a shrug. "Sure thing, why not? I'm sure everyone's pretty curious about the baby if they've not seen it before. Why not stop by real quick and then you can head over to Tsunade's, hm?"

Naruto gave a shout of joy and began to follow him through the streets. He knew where his teacher lived and it would only be a few rooftop jumps from there to then get to the Hokage's tower.

However, the direction they walked in was in the complete opposite direction of Kakashi's apartment. "Um…? Don't you live back there?" Naruto pointed behind them but still, Kakashi walked on without slowing down.

"I don't live there anymore," he announced. "Iruka and I own a house now. That apartment was small and old, which was fine when I was a bachelor," he smiled fondly. "But Iruka was adamant that he wanted us to have a house and a yard. How could I say no to him?"

His smile was infectious and Naruto found himself grinning as well. Their walk took them past most of the village until the larger buildings began to thin out to be replaced by homes of a modern standard. From his pocket, Kakashi pulled out a key and was about to turn onto the walkway of one of the houses when his feet came to an abrupt stop.

Sitting on a white porch swing was Iruka, though Naruto recognized many of his female classmates there as well. In his arms was a baby wrapped in a yellow blanket that he was feeding with a bottle. At his feet though…was a small cradle which he nudged with his foot to rock a second baby. He saw Kakashi before anyone else, but when Sakura, Tenten, Hinata and Ino also caught sight of them, they gasped, smiles shared all around.

Iruka rose from the chair, bouncing the baby a little when it protested at the shift. Kakashi still hadn't moved beyond the entrance, his face paralyzed somewhere between insurmountable joy and pure shock. Coming off the porch, Iruka went up to him to gently put a hand on his cheek. At last, Kakashi closed his eyes and Iruka nuzzled his nose through the mask. "Welcome home," his husband whispered and Kakashi nodded, now at ease.

Tenderly, the baby was passed over and Kakashi carefully braced it in his arms. Pulling the blanket back slightly, he looked down at the infant. "We have two," he whispered, stroking the sleeping cheek. "So this is the surprise you wouldn't tell me." He looked up at Iruka, his voice becoming shaky. "Iruka, we—"

"We'll be okay," Iruka assured him, putting a hand on his back to guide him over to the porch. Kakashi took a seat as well on the swing, leaning over to peer at the other baby. "The agency told me she was going to have twins," Iruka went on. "I knew we could afford them, even just barely, but forgive me for not having told you sooner. They would've had to put one up for adoption and…I just couldn't accept that. Siblings should be together."

"Absolutely agreed," Kakashi seconded. Again focusing on the baby in his arms, he asked, "So this one is a…?"

"Boy," Iruka answered. "Since we'd already talked over names, I hope you don't mind that I signed the birth certificates already. Isao Hatake."

"Isao," Kakashi repeated, rocking the boy. "Finally, a face for the name," he grinned. Then he peered down at the cradle. This baby was wrapped in a simple white blanket. "And this one…?"

"Girl. Kaiya Hatake, or Kai." Iruka stooped down to pick up the girl and he and Kakashi switched. At being woken up though, the baby began to cry, a loud, piercing wail.

"We really have our nights cut out for us for a while," Kakashi murmured, trying to bounce her as he'd seen Iruka do with Isao earlier. When that didn't work, he reached into the crib for the bottle. Instantly, she took to it, silencing her cries. "Phew…disaster averted!"

As the couple talked, Naruto backed up to the porch rail where the other girls were. "Wow, Kaka-sensei as a dad…" he whispered to Sakura.

She nodded happily and he was relieved that she didn't instantly get up and move away from him. Maybe because Sasuke wasn't there ignoring her. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself but we just so happened to be catching up with Iruka-sensei when he said he needed to get back home. I'm surprised he let us see the babies first," she giggled.

"Maybe he was just too excited to show them off," Ino put in. "A father's pride!"

Tilting her head, Tenten asked, "Isn't it maybe too early for them to be outside like this? I mean, I don't know much about kids but shouldn't they stay inside for some time so that they don't get sick?"

And just like that, the mood was ruined.

"Um, well…maybe a short amount of time is okay," Hinata quietly put in. "And the weather is nice now that it's spring so that helps. Um…right?"

"Great thinking, Hinata!" Naruto cheered and she blushed at his compliment. "People are less likely to get sick now that it's warmer. Well, except for idiots like Sasuke," he said and instantly regretted it. He slapped a hand over his mouth, but the damage was done.

"What happened to Sasuke?!" all four of the girls asked.

Aw, crap, way to go, Naruto. No choice but to say it now. "He…got sick on our mission," he revealed. "Nothing serious, just a cold! He told us he had gone outside last night but he was only wearing the stupid robe from the inn."

"Those things are thin, what the heck was he thinking?" Tenten shook her head.

"Yeah, same thing Kakashi and I said! But since he's not feeling well, he went home," Naruto continued. "And yet, even with him sick, he wrote our mission summary for us and even summoned his hawk to fly us back. But you know Sasuke, always resilient." He hoped that last part would make them not worry as much.

It had the desired effect, with everyone breathing a sigh of relief…except Sakura. He was already prepared for that though. Considering her feelings for Sasuke and her training as a medical ninja, he knew it was hard for her to hear all of this, knowing there was likely nothing she could do.

Sitting there made him feel uncomfortable, yet again being half the cause for why Sakura was unhappy. With an exaggerated stretch, he announced, "Well, better go turn this report in to Tsunade. I'll…see you guys around." He waved hastily to everyone before vaulting the porch rail. Within seconds, he was already out of sight, hopping up on the nearest roof and making a run for it.

Sakura was bound to find out about Sasuke's illness anyways, he tried to console himself as he dashed to the Hokage tower. It was probably for the best that she heard it from him first. All of this reminded him however that even though he and Sasuke had talked on their trip, he hadn't gotten a chance to really talk and air his grievances. Fine then, sick or not, he made up his mind to pay the Uchiha a little visit.

Thank you to the reader that reminded me of Sasuke's second summon :)