A/N: Lol! I just checked the last chapter for mistakes and I was more than just surprised by some of the mistakes I had made xD – embarrassing. For example: I had wrote 'compliment' with and 'e' and wrote 'every' in a sentence where it should have said 'ever'.. Blaah! Though my biggest mistake must have been that I had wrote Iruka could see that Kakashi's nose was galled (he is wearing a God damn mask, LoveToTheCucumber, what the hell were you thinking xD?) But don't worry, I changed that part to something else instead (can't believe that nobody pointed that out?)... I just added a few things here and there, nothing big so it's not like the changes will actually make any impact on the story. So don't worry :)!

Chapter 19

"Hey Kakashi-san?"After that talk Kakashi and I had had earlier, I had moved some of my things over to his place so I would not have to go back to my own apartment every time I needed clean clothes and stuff like that. He had eaten some of the yoghurt I had given him while I was gone. Not everything, but at least some of it. When I was finally done unpacking, it was way past dinnertime and Kakashi and I had chosen to spend the evening in front of the television. There was not really anything worth watching and after sitting in an awkward silence beside Kakashi for nearly an hour, I just could not take it anymore.

Kakashi turned his attention away from the TV and looked directly at me, "Mmm?" he hummed.

"I was wondering about something, but I haven't asked yet since I figured that it wasn't really any of my business. But... Uhm... What is it Anko-san is doing right now?" I was actually being pretty rude. It was one thing to stick one's nose into others' business, but practically forcing someone to talk when they had trouble speaking seemed like an even worse crime. It was not just rude, it was inconsiderate of me, to put it bluntly.

"She had an audition and she got the part," he said and tried to make it sound like it was not a battle for him to answer.

"Anko-san is an actress? Wow, I had no idea. So where was the audition held and was she auditioning for a part in a movie or something for the theater?" It did not take more than that to get me curious enough to forget all about the obstacles Kakashi had to overcome just to answer.

"Yokohama... By train that's five hours away from here so that's why she couldn't shuttle to and from there... And it's for the theater." Now I finally understood why she needed someone to take care of Kakashi for her.

"Really? That's pretty cool. What's the play called and what role did she get?"

"See, that's where I'm a bad boyfriend. I don't remember the name of the play, but I remember her saying that it was predicted to become huge... She got the leading part, though. I guess it just doesn't really matter to me whether the play is famous or not, the fact that she got the part that she wanted is what makes me proud." I knew he had all the right to be proud of her, considering that it was his girlfriend and that she had achieved something big, but I just could not help myself from feeling a little down when he said that last part. If he was proud of her, that meant he actually cared about her, which made me kind of jealous of her.

"I can see why you're proud of her. That's really something," I sent him a small smile when he smiled at me proudly. Kakashi would not have to get some big role in a play to make me proud of him.

I quickly turned my head to look at the TV. How did I manage to get embarrassed about my own damn thoughts?

Kakashi leaned forward, grabbed a cough lozenge and began taking off the wrapping. The volume of the TV was not turned up high so the rustling sound of him unwrapping the lozenge drowned out every other sound that was present in the apartment. That made me feel guilty because I knew he only took one of those when his throat hurt really badly and I knew that this time it was all my fault. I should not have asked him all those questions.

For a while I tried to follow the almost depressing show we were watching, but it was just too boring for me and I started feeling tired. I was going to sleep on the couch, but I could not get myself to say that I wanted to sleep because it would practically be the same as kicking Kakashi out of his own living room. So I figured I would just rest my eyes for a bit until Kakashi would decide for himself that it was time to go to bed.

It did not take long for me to doze off and I did not become conscience of what happened around me again until Kakashi suddenly chuckled. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was so tired that even a simple task like that was nearly impossible for me to accomplish, but when they were finally opened enough for me to start orientating myself of my surroundings, I realized that my head was resting on something that moved along with the chuckling. It was hard, which made me conclude that it was definitely not the armrest that I had tilted down onto. It was Kakashi's shoulder.

Quickly I sat up straight and looked at him with widened eyes. I wanted to say something, but I could not. I just watched him as he stopped chuckling to cough instead. He then looked at me.

"I'm sorry for keeping you up," he said and I could tell from the way that his eyes curved that he was smiling widely.

"I-I didn't m-mean to do that," an apology would not change anything, but I could not focus.

"It's okay. It's late, we should probably go to bed now anyway," he got up on his feet with a bit of difficulty and he looked down at me. "Are you sure that you are okay with sleeping on the couch? You know you can sleep in my bed. I'm fine with sleeping here."

"No, no, you need lots of rest and you need to sleep in a proper bed. I'm okay with sleeping here, but... please don't go to bed just because I fell asleep."

"I'm tired too so don't worry," he gave me a small nod before walking towards his bedroom door, "Goodnight then."

"Good night," I replied quietly, watching him as he disappeared into his bedroom. Staring into space, I wondered what he must have thought about me when I had laid my head on his shoulder. I had to admit that I did not really feel like waking up completely after I had tried lying there. I had been kind of comfortable in that position even though his shoulder was hard to lie on because, in his case, his shoulder was one big muscle.

Sighing, I laid down on the couch, pulling the sheet, which Kakashi had so kindly provided me with earlier that evening, over myself and closed my eyes. That man was so hospitably inclined that I did not even know where to put myself when being in his company. I was always afraid that I would demand more of him than what he wanted to compromise with and that he would simply be too polite to just say no. Sometimes I wondered if he even knew himself where his limits were when it came to generosity.

The need for sleep was overwhelming and I could not keep myself from drifting off every five seconds so at last I gave into my tiredness.

"What are you gonna do about it, tell your parents? Oh right, I almost forgot - you don't have any parents," a boy said derisively, the other children behind him laughing in that very same tone.

I opened my eyes, seeing a group of children standing in front of a open closet. Only one child stood with his back turned against the closet, the rest stood facing him. Even though the boy with the high ponytail tried to look brave and fearless, it was still obvious to everyone surrounding him that he was frightened by the situation.

The boy with the hair so fair that it appeared to be almost white spoke again, "You're a loser. You don't belong here," the orphaned boy grit his teeth and held back the tears that were threatening to appear.

"Take that back," he whispered angrily, his reaction only causing the group of children to laugh at him.

"Loser!" they shouted almost in chorus as the platinum blonde with the plain blue bandana on his head pushed the brunette into the closet, slammed the door close and locked it with the small padlock that already hung on the outside of the door.

"Let me out!" the scared boy screamed while trying to kick and punch the door open again. The other children's laughter got louder and the leader of the group stepped forward together with a few others. They stared into the brunette's eyes through all the openings in the grilled door. Everyone gathered and started spitting on the boy who could barely move around inside the traumatic closet.

I could not bare to watch on, especially not when I began to feel their spit on me, so I turned around and looked to the right. Two boys coming into sight; the struggling boy and his attacker, but this time it was without the attacker's backup. The boy with the bandana was holding a pocket knife, which he pointed towards the other boy.

"No, not again," I whispered, closing my eyes and turning 90 degrees to the right.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a grown man with yellowish hair who was squatting down beside the same brunette as I had already seen twice before, the only difference being that the boy now had a scare across his nose.

They were both smiling and laughing, but it did not last long because suddenly the man rose and walked away from the boy who started crying. The boy tried to run after the yellow haired man, but a huge group of children as well as adults behind him grabbed his thin arms and pulled him back. Soon he was drowning in the crowd and his cries could no longer be heard.

My eyes wandered over the crowd. My heart was pumping faster by the minute. I could not catch sight of the boy.

"Please, stop it," I turned to the right one last time, wishing that I would finally find peace, but I was not that lucky.

There were a small group of youngsters sitting together in a circle. For some reason they all seemed a little distant.

My heart skipped a beat and a lump formed in my throat when a brown haired boy, which I recognized from the other incidents, got up on his feet and walked over to me. He stared up at me for several seconds without saying anything. He looked to be around 13 years old.

Suddenly, out of the blue, he took my hand, the palm of it facing upwards, and he placed something on it, closing my hand around it. I kept looking at him and his eyes never left mine, not even for a split second.

"This will take away your sorrow. It'll help you forget," the boy said with a goofy smile on his face, his eyes telling a different story.

I looked down at my hand and opened it. What I saw made my eyes widen and my head shot right back up, but the boy had already gone back to his friends.

"Iruka," someone whispered and I turned around on my heels, facing everyone that had taken part in the different incidents, "Iruka," they whispered again as they stretched out their arms towards me. Their walk was zombie like and the expression on their faces were dead and haunting.

I backed away from them, but then I head someone behind me calling out my name as well. Quickly, I looked over my shoulder. It was the boy and his friends that beckoned me to come up to them.

"Iruka!" my name was shouted from all sides of me and it felt like my head was going to explode.

"Leave me alone!" I cried out, but they kept on going.

"Iruka, Iruka, Iruka, Iruka!"

"Iruka-san?" I woke up with a jerk and sat up the same moment as my eyes shot open. My breathing was heavy and fast, my heart was pounding wildly in my chest and I was bathed in sweat, "Iruka-san?" the person standing a few meters away from me repeated. I finally recognized the voice.

"What is it, Kakashi-san?" I stood up and tried to shake the bad dream off me before looking around to find Kakashi.

The moon was shining through the windows of the apartment, allowing me to see almost everything clearly when my eyes had gotten used to the darkness, which did not take long. I discovered that Kakashi was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, clinging to the frame of the door. It looked like he was having a hard time breathing.

"I don't... feel so well," he panted as I walked over to him, "I think... I think I'm going to be sick," he placed a hand in front of his mask and gagged.

"Hold in there for a second, I'll find you a bucket," I said quickly and was just about to turn away from him to get one, but unfortunately it was already too late.

I looked away as he emptied his stomach onto the floor, he was probably going to be embarrassed about it later on and I did not think me watching him would make him feel any better.

"I'm... I'm sorry," he managed to say when his stomach stopped forcing his dinner back up again. His right hand was covering his face and I noticed that the surgical mask he had been wearing was lying on the floor all covered in puke.

"You don't have to worry about that, I'll clean it up once we have gotten you back to bed," I grabbed his arm, getting overwhelmed by shock when I felt how hot his skin was, "Kakashi-san are you okay?" I placed one hand on his forehead without asking for permission and discovered that his forehead was burning, just as I had already assumed, "You're feverish," I stated in astonishment, catching him as his legs appeared to be collapsing underneath him.

"I-I'm d-d-dizzy," he stammered and placed his left hand on my shoulder, but he could not stand straight so I had to keep holding onto him. This fever had come very suddenly and I began to fear that he was suffering from something very seriously.

"There something I need to know. Please, try to stand straight," he could not so I figured that I had to press his back against the door frame so that he had something to support him from behind, "Hold onto my shoulders," I demanded. His left hand was already resting on one of my shoulders, but he refused to remove the right hand from his face, "Both hand," his tired eyes sent me a grudgingly look and I breathed out heavily, "I won't look," I stared into his almost frightened eyes and tried to reassure him that I was not lying. When I closed my eyes, almost a minute went by before I felt his other hand on my shoulder.

All I had to do was open my eyes and I would finally see what it was that Kakashi was constantly hiding for everyone, but I could not make myself break the promise that I had made him and besides, I had more important things to do. There was not any time for me thinking what was behind that mask of his.

"Try tilting your head to the sides a couple of times and then look left and right. Tell me if it hurts," a few seconds went by before he answered.

"It does," I was not a doctor, not even close to, so I was in no position to diagnose him, but I knew what these things could be a symptom of and I was not sure if I was ready to risk his life and just let him go back to bed.

"Kakashi-san, I think you need to see a doctor right away. I just need to make sure of something first," I wrapped one arm around his waist, pulled him close and took small step back so now it was me that was pressed against the door frame instead. Kakashi's body felt a little uneasy and the sound he made was literally a sound of surprise, "Tip your head back and forth," he would not have been able to do that properly as long as he had been pressed against the door frame like that, "Does it hurt too?"

"Ye-yeah... a bit," he whispered and I had to stop myself from caressing his back to comfort him. We were just standing so close that it was almost unbearable. Geez, focus Iruka, damn it!

"Okay, I'll take you to the doctor now. I just have to figure out how," Kakashi pushed himself a little away from me, but kept hanging onto my shoulders so he would not fall. I got the hint and removed my hand from his back, crossing my fingers in hope of that he would not drop to the floor as long as he had at least some kind of support.

"What do you think... is wrong with me?" he coughed and panted heavily.

"I'm sure it's nothing, you just need to see one to be on the safe side," many of the symptoms were there, but how the hell could he have caught himself yet another disease? If I was right, which I hopefully was not, he had to be the most unlucky person in the world.

"But... how do we get there?" it was a good question. Neither me nor Kakashi owned a car and even if we did it would not help much since I did not have a drivers license and he was in no condition to drive. But he was not in any condition to walk either even though the doctor from the emergency service's clinic was not far from where Kakashi lived. I had no other choice.

"I guess there's no way around it. I'll have to carry you."

oOo

"Hmm... It's not meningitis," Kabuto stated when he was done checking Kakashi.

"Thank God," I breathed out a sigh of relief and sent a smile to Kakashi who tried to smile back with his eyes, but was in too much pain to fulfill it.

"I'm glad that you chose to come here anyway. It's better to be on the safe side," Kabuto poured Kakashi a glass of water and placed a red pill on the table beside him before looking over at me.

"Yeah, that's what I said," I nodded and locked eyes with Kabuto.

"The symptoms are common for his illness and since there's nothing alerting about his temperature, I don't think there's anything to worry about. The pain in his neck is most likely caused due to all those hours he has spent in his bed lately."

"I hadn't even thought about that. I'm really sorry for wasting you time."

"It's okay. He should just take some ibuprofen if the fever gets like this again and he should be perfectly fine," we both looked at Kakashi who was staring at the pill, "If your throat is too sore, I can give you the medicine as a suppository instead," I had to start biting my thumbnail to keep myself from laughing as Kakashi's eyes widened and he shook his head ferociously.

I had gotten Kakashi a new mask before we had left his house and I had not even taken one peek while he had not been wearing it, which made me kind of proud of myself. I figured Kakashi was not going to take the pill as long as we were looking so I made up a way to distract Kabuto long enough for Kakashi to take the pill.

"So, how are your girls doing?" Kabuto's smile grew so wide that it made it look like his mustache was even longer than it actually was. And then he started talking. And talking... And talking... And talking... When he was finally done telling me about his daughters' latest achievements, I helped Kakashi up on his feet and paid Kabuto for his services.

"We were lucky that it was you who was on duty tonight," Kabuto knew that what I meant was that I trusted him a great deal and that I had faith in his judgmental skills.

"It's was nice seeing you too, Iruka-san. Now you better get him back to bed so you can go home and get some rest yourself."

"Oh, it's no problem, I'm living with him," Kabuto raised a brow and me and sent me a weird kind of unsatisfied look, "... at the moment," I added when I realized how wrong it must have sounded to him. He did not seem convinced though.

oOo

"Thank you for taking me to the doctor, I feel much better already," Kakashi coughed his way through the sentence as I sat him on the ground after carrying him back home.

"Maybe, but you are far from being well so I think you should sleep on the couch from now on," the couch in the living room was closer to the bathroom, the kitchen and me so even though it was not as comfortable to sleep on a couch as in a real bed, I still thought he was better off sleeping there.

"Where will you sleep then?" he asked and sent me a questioning look.

"I'll just sleep beside the couch so you can easily wake me up if you need anything," a small smile appeared in his eyes and he shook his head lightly.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor, I have a spare mattress," he chuckled, but as always his throat could not take it and he had to stop to cough. I just sent him a smile back and nodded before we made ourselves ready to go back to bed in our new sleeping positions, "By the way, what were you doing when I came in here earlier?" he asked when we had both gotten ourselves comfortable where we had to sleep.

That was where it hit me. Kakashi had touched me and seen me and heard me right after I had woken up from that nightmare. My sweaty body, the panting, my racing heart against his chest, the jerk I had given when he called my name... He must have thought I was pleasuring myself or something!

"I had a bad dream," I said quickly, not making my case any better.

"Oh," that was his only answer, which made me sure that he thought that that was what I had been doing and that he probably did not believe my excuse... Great.

oOooOooOo

Sorry guys, I didn't mean for it to take this long for me to update. But hey, at least it didn't take me as long as last time, right :D?

Aah, so how do you like seeing Iruka's picture perfect image of Kakashi crumbling right in front of him xD? And about the last part of this chapter, you know Iruka is an unlucky person and I couldn't let Iruka get all the laughs. Kakashi strikes back, lol!

Guess that's all for now? As always, I would love to hear what you think of this chapter^^

See ya' next time :D!