The smell of something delicious slowly worked its way into Kakashi's subconscious. As the room swam into focus between squinting eyelids, he realized several things. First, that he must have been sleeping at some point. Probably the medicine Sakura had given him. The most important thing, of course, was that he could smell something delicious. His nose worked again. He almost hadn't realized how much his sense of smell had been missing until he breathed in a deep whiff of a thousand different smells. And promptly sneezed. Maybe not back completely, then.
"Hey, you awake, baka-sensei?" Naruto's grinning face invaded his thin line of vision.
"I am now." Blinking his right eye, he tried to further focus his student's face. "What's that smell?"
"Sakura made soup for you. I helped a bit, ya know."
"Yeah, sure!" Sakura called from the kitchen, "You just dumped a package of instant ramen in it when I wasn't looking!"
"You should be thankful," he whispered conspiratorially. "It would've tasted really bad without it. She filled it with vegetables and other awful stuff." He shuddered.
"That would've been a tragedy."
"I can hear you over here! The next person to insult my cooking gets punched through the wall, get it?!"
Both Naruto and Kakashi shuddered. "Yes, Sakura-chan."
She walked through the doorway, stepping carefully over the pulverized door, which still lay on the floor. Holding out the bowl of soup, she walked up to Kakashi. "Here, you should eat something. And my cooking's fine, no matter what Naruto says."
"I'm sure it is." Kakashi was still swimming in the glorious smell wafting toward him. As he struggled to sit up straight, Naruto put a hand on his back to help him.
"Here, sensei," Sakura held out a spoon, watching him carefully.
Wait a minute. He narrowed his eye. They were helping him, but they were also baiting him. The desire to see what was behind his mask showed clearly in both of their eyes, and there was no way Kakashi was giving them the satisfaction. As he grasped the spoon, his mind worked furiously. A henge was out of the picture, as his chakra control was questionable when he was sick. He looked towards Pakkun, motioning with his head. The dog nodded and hopped off the bed.
Kakashi reached his hand toward his mask.
Naruto and Sakura leaned closer.
An explosion sounded from the living room.
As his students' heads whipped toward the noise, he wrenched his mask down, threw the spoon at the wall, lifted the bowl to his mouth, guzzled the whole thing, and pulled his mask back up. Pakkun padded in from the hallway, smiling widely, and kids immediately grasped what had happened. Pink hair and blonde hair turned around again, and their jaws dropped open simultaneously.
"Awwwww!" Naruto whined. "That's no fair!"
"Are you an idiot, sensei? Did you drink the whole bowl?"
Admittedly, Kakashi felt a bit stupid as he tried to quit choking on the ramen, but it was worth the looks on their faces. "Yup," he wheezed. "Your cooking's quite good, actually." He bent forward, coughing. "A bit… hot, though… Burned my tongue," he choked out.
"And whose fault is that?"
Clearing his throat, he replied, "The stove. It was clearly malfunctioning."
Sakura put her head in her hand. "Of course."
Naruto looked around, noticing that the sun was shining outside. "Hey, does anyone know what time it is?"
"Hmm," she looked at her watch and frowned. "It's almost time for me to head back to work. They're pretty short-staffed at the hospital today, so I can't just ask for the day off."
"That means I've got to meet Pervy Sage for training!"
"Go ahead and go," Kakashi leaned back on the pillow. "I'll be fine here."
"Yeah," Sakura crossed her arms, "because that worked out so well before."
"I'm a grown man," Kakashi replied, insulted.
"Maybe on the outside," Pakkun cut in. "But seriously, I'm here, so I'll keep the brat in line. No worries."
"If you say so, Pakkun." Naruto and Sakura stood.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, baka-sensei."
"You'd better be in one piece when we get back."
They walked out, and Pakkun jumped on the bed again. "Looks like I get another nap, then."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He shifted further down under the covers, closing his eye. He sighed, letting himself relax.
He woke up to the feeling of Pakkun tensing up on his stomach. "Hn?"
"I smelled someone."
"As in… ?"
"As in Gai, brat."
"Not good, not good." His eyes flew open and he sat up. "How far away?"
"About thirty yards away. We don't have much time."
"Do you think he knows we're here? If not, we'll just stay put and hope he runs past us."
"He seems to be speeding up."
"He must have passed Naruto and Sakura on the way here and put two and two together." Kakashi had already swung his legs over the side of the bed and was attempting to stand, with varying rates of success. However, he never got past attempting, as he heard the sound of wood splintering, followed by the rough crack of the front door hitting an inside wall. His eye widened. "Not good!" He dove under the bed, sidling up to the wall, and Pakkun joined him.
Heavy footsteps drew closer, and suddenly stopped. "Aha! My eternal rival has been here, as I expected. I even see a bowl of soup on the table. But where is Kakashi? Perhaps the bowl is a decoy, or perhaps he was too sick to think to move it before I arrived. If that is the case…"
Kakashi saw Gai's feet take a step toward the bed. No, no, no, no, just turn around. The bowl was totally a decoy. Or perhaps it was meant to look as if it was a decoy because it looked like it wasn't a decoy that looked like a decoy. His fever wasn't affecting his mind at all. Nope. Perfectly sound reasoning. And it may have worked, if Kakashi didn't feel a sneeze coming on at that exact moment. Dang it.
"I, however, am inclined to believe th-"
He didn't get to hear what Gai was inclined to believe, as his disrespectful nose chose that exact moment to rebel. He sneezed. And then he sneezed again.
"Aha!"
It was over. He had failed.
"Come out from under there, my rival!" Gai's blindingly happy smile appeared, and his arm dragged Kakashi into the middle of the room.
Kakashi blinked up at him from the floor.
"I challenge myself," Gai began, thumping his fist against his chest, "to nurse you back to health as quickly and efficiently as possible."
"Gai, you really d-"
"If I fail, I shall run twenty-four laps around Konoha-"
"Gai-"
"On my hands-"
"Seriously, Gai-"
"Backwards!"
Kakashi sighed. There was no going back now.
"To begin, I shall put you back to bed." Gai picked up the copy-nin – bridal style – and placed him on the mattress. "Now," he tucked the covers back in, "I shall tell you tales of youthfulness in order to speed you in your recovery."
Kakashi looked at Pakkun desperately, mouthing "Help me!"
Pakkun just grinned. "Enjoy your tales of youthfulness. Take better care of yourself next time, kid!" And poof! He was gone.
"When I was a foolish and impressionable genin, my jounin-sensei told me this tale. It begins in a faraway land…"
Pakkun had a point. If he hadn't gotten himself into this mess, he wouldn't be getting Grin's Fairy Tales of Nauseating Youthfulness. That, of course, didn't stop him from picturing several different ways to murder his pug.
However, as Kakashi let Gai's words wash over him without listening to a single one, he was grateful for his friends. Pakkun, behind all the sarcasm, was always there for him, and Naruto and Sakura cared about him and respected him, despite their habitual insults. Even Gai, as obnoxious as he was, was a good friend. Kakashi wouldn't trade any of them for anything. Although he would trade Gai's stories for anything and everything.
"So, was the youthful and brilliant prince right, Kakashi?"
"Hm?"
"Did you listen to none of my glorious tale? You're so hip!"
Totally hip. And a genius. A hip, dangerous, and eccentric genius with some good friends who would look after him when he was being an idiot.
He couldn't ask for more.
It's been fun, guys, but this marks the end. Please let me know what you thought and if you enjoyed it. Thanks for sticking with me! May you all have as good of friends as Kakashi does. Stay awesome!
~JillianWatson1058