When Naruto was six, there were three days near the end of September during which he'd stayed home from school with a high fever, feeling like his head was full of cotton. He hadn't really been aware of any of it, actually - it was more like he'd fallen asleep that night with a scratchy throat and woken up at noon the next day blowing chunks. Deciding Rat-Face-sensei would slap his hands with a ruler if he did that in class, he stayed home until he didn't feel woozy after eating.
When he returned to school, Rat-Face was nowhere to be found. In his place was a lady with long dark hair and white eyes. She didn't yell at him for coming in with dirty shoes or messy hair, like Rat-Face had, but instead quietly asked him to take a seat and took roll.
During lunch break, while he scarfed down a sandwich he'd made with dry bologna, the new teacher approached him.
"Uzumaki-san," she said. Her voice was a little weird, like she was sighing instead of talking. "You were absent the last two days. Can you tell me why?"
He winced, because Rat-Face had always dealt out harsh punishments for skipping, "Got sick."
"Ah," she said, and reached out to feel his forehead with a cool hand. "Hm...I don't think you have a fever, so your decision to come to school today was a good one. But please find a way to let me know about absences in the future."
Naruto nodded, and took the handkerchief she offered to blow his nose on, promising to return it later.
[-M-]
"Uzumaki-san."
He froze. Several eyes focused in on him, very noticeable in the silence. It was a quiet workday, because the class (but mostly Kiba and Akamaru) had been too rowdy to allow for working with neighbors, like usual.
Handkerchief-sensei was staring at him. "Uzumaki-san, could you come up here, please?"
He did, slowly, and joined her behind her desk. "Uzumaki-san," she said, holding out a paper with blue marks all over it, "This is your last test. You had a lot of wrong answers even though it was all review material." Her voice was quiet enough that he doubted those who were trying to listen in could hear, and he was thankful for that. "Do you know what went wrong here?"
"Mah...it's just all so boring," he said with a slack expression. "Who cares what foxglove does?"
To his surprise, her lips quirked up, "It won't seem so boring when there's an enemy nin trying to poison your teammate, Naruto." He blinked. That was the first time she'd said his name. His eyes met her pale ones, "I think you can do way better than this. If you're not too busy after school, we can review the poisons together, ne?" she said.
He nodded and grinned, "Sure thing, sensei!"
"Good," she said with a smile, then gestured for him to take his seat and called the next student.
[-M-]
Handkerchief greeted him with a warm smile when he came in, and he gave her the biggest grin he could in return. They sat down together at the front, where a platter of rainbow-colored mochi had been prepared. To his disappointment, they weren't just treats. They were part of the lesson.
"Some of these contain poisons, and some are harmless. Your job is to pick out the good ones. If you want, you can eat them." She spread out ten colorful cards in front of him, each depicting a plant, along with a written trait, such as a bitter smell, and an effect of consuming it. "These are the poisons that we're using here today."
Naruto's eyes narrowed in on the words 'difficulty breathing'. "Demo, sensei, what if I accidentally take a poisonous one?"
She put her hand on a big box sitting just under the table. "I have antidotes here with me. Obviously, I'd rather not use them, but if you swallow something you're not supposed to, I can treat you."
"You won't stop me if I'm about to eat it?" he asked.
She smiled, "Sometimes that's the best way to learn."
Naruto pulled the platter of mochi to him, and began sniffing them.
After the tutoring session, Naruto came away full of sweets, with a very numb mouth, and nursing two Band-Aids on his neck where Handkerchief sensei had injected him after he'd consumed two mochi that he really shouldn't have. He was also a bit dizzy, but it didn't feel too bad. He'd enjoyed the lesson.
[-M-]
In November, Naruto showed up to class with a runny nose and hacking coughs which he desperately tried to stifle. The academy medic refused to help him, and so Handkerchief-sensei had taken to treating him herself when he got injured. Her only remedy for colds, though, seemed to be rest and food, neither of which were available at school, so she would send him home if she found out.
He made it through half the day until a particularly itchy feeling in his throat lead to a long, loud, gross choking noise that interrupted Handkerchief-sensei's history lesson and left a glob of phlegm on his shirt. He felt his face change color at everyone's disgusted looks.
"Uzumaki-kun, go ahead to the bathroom and get cleaned up. Nara-kun, please go with him just in case."
In the bathroom, Nara complained about having to accompany Naruto and miss the lesson 'just in case'.
"In case of what?" the other boy sighed. "Man, you're totally her favorite."
Naruto had never been a teacher's favorite before, and when the school day ended with the woman's cool fingers running through his hair again when she checked for a fever, he decided he liked it.
[-M-]
A knock interrupted his nap. Naruto prepared to turn over in his bed and ignore it, hope it wasn't one of the ones who liked to mess with his stuff, but Handkerchief-sensei's soft tones stopped him.
"Naruto-kun? It's Yukari, your teacher. I brought ramen."
That decided it. He quickly jumped out of bed and ran to open the door, the loud pounding of his feet probably letting her know he was coming before he got anywhere near the door.
"Hi, sensei."
Her gaze immediately zoomed in on his toes, "Why are you barefoot? Put on some socks."
He obeyed slowly, reluctant to let her out of his sight. Without waiting for him to do so, she walked into his kitchen and moved all of his dirty dishes into the sink, then pulled two bowls of soup out of the paper bag she'd brought with her. When he came back, she'd moved his drawings and homework into two neat stacks to the side of his table and set up the ramen bowls opposite each other.
"Let me feel," she said, stretching out a hand to his forehead again, and he stepped into it, wanting the sensation of her fingers in his hair again. "It's going down. Did you sleep?"
He nodded.
"Good. Now eat."
He pulled up a chair for her from another room before sitting down and saying thanks for the meal. "Sensei?"
"Hm?"
He paused. Thought about telling her how nice he thought she was, and how nice it was to have someone here to eat ramen with. Thought about maybe giving her a hug, but decided not to push it. "You're cool."
She smiled, "I'm glad you think so."
After they'd eaten, she picked up their bowls and put them in the sink, then began washing the collection of dirty dishes that had gathered there. Naruto stared for a second before jumping up and trying to help, only to be shooed away - "Either to bed, or to the table to do homework, but there's no need for you to be straining yourself while you're sick."
Naruto didn't know how washing dishes could be considered straining himself, or why letting a guest do such 'strenuous' work was acceptable, sick or not, but he didn't argue with her and sat down at his desk, pulling out the worksheet on haiku that she'd assigned that day and attempting to muddle through it. He and poetry weren't friends.
The white noise of the sink and light clanging of his dishes in Yukari-sensei's hands easily lulled him into a doze again, until a steaming cup of tea with lemon was set down in front of him.
"How's it going?"
"Ne, sensei, why's this important?"
"Well, think about it this way: a lot of people, yourself included, don't care for poetry, right?"
"Exactly!"
"So a lot of people - not ninja, but certain civilians - could look at a haiku and think it was just a dumb poem. But look here," she pointed to a line, "'Bright rays drown in sand' - that's a sunset in a desert, probably Suna. 'The traveler leaves quickly' - a target or a client has left, in a hurry."
"It's a code!"
"That's right," Yukari said. "You try the next one."
After a gulp of eye-wateringly hot tea, he picked up his pencil.
[-M-]
Yukari-sensei was at his house again, even though it was the weekend and he'd had nothing but a runny nose for the last several days. She'd stocked his pantry with cereal, noodles, spices and tea, and told him not to put anything in the fridge because she was getting it replaced - a genin team was coming by with a new fridge later that day.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because this one isn't keeping your food cold. Your milk is sour. The new one will do a better job."
"But...why?" Naruto asked.
Handkerchief-sensei met his eyes uncertainly, then came over to him and kneeled down so that they were face-to-face. "Naruto-kun...you remind me of someone who was very important to me, and took very good care of me. And I was unable to return the favor. Helping you...it makes me feel like I didn't fail them. And you're a very good boy. I'm happy to help you." Her fingers were in his hair again.
He couldn't stop the tears this time around, thinking of all the times someone had whispered about him being that child and it and how nice her hand felt in his hair and how his chest hurt. At this, Handkerchief grabbed him and pulled him to her, her hand pushing back his hair and her low voice - still sounding more like a sigh than real talking - murmured something into his ear - he couldn't hear her over his heavy breathing. She smelled like cinnamon and sugar, and his nose had started leaking onto her shirt.
There was a knock on his door. She gathered him up with her, answering the door like it was perfectly normal to carry him around.
"Hello."
He'd never just hung off somebody like this. He'd watched other kids get carried and had occasionally been manhandled off of places he wasn't supposed to climb onto, but the way her hand kept rubbing his back reassuringly was something new.
"Team Fourteen, reporting for duty." The voice was gruff and did not sound at all happy to be here.
"Thank you. Please, take that one out of here and to the back alley, and bring the new one in from the lobby," Yukari answered, only stopping her massaging of his back to point in the direction of his fridge.
Naruto kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see the glares of the ninja as they moved around in his home. He turned his face into Yukari's neck and breathed in her sugary smell, focused on the feeling of her fingers lightly scratching his back as she observed the genin working.
There was a heavy thump. "Any damage will be taken out of your pay," Handkerchief-sensei's voice cut through the air like a cold gust of wind. He hadn't even known she could be that strict.
"It was an accident."
"We're not about to botch a mission."
He felt her nod once. It was silent until the new fridge was brought up.
"Thank you. Your pay is at - "
"Yeah, yeah. We know." The door closed, a little louder than normal.
"Daijoubu, Naruto-kun? Are you alright?" she asked, her fingers touching the nape of his neck, a refreshing breeze.
"Hai," he said, pulling away from her and blinking at the shiny, white appliance, the genins' attitude already forgotten.
"Come on, help me push it up against the wall."
He did.
[-M-]
"Naruto, apologize to Sasuke."
Naruto gaped, the order ringing in his ears. "But, sensei - !"
"Sasuke didn't start the fight, Naruto. You threw the first punch. Apologize." Yukari was firm. Behind her, he saw two girls giggling into their hands.
Naruto scowled. Stuffed his hands into his pockets. Kicked at the dirt. "No!"
He ran.
[-M-]
How Handkerchief-sensei found him on top of the Hokage Monument he didn't know, since he'd never told her he liked to go here, but once the sun had just started to set, he heard the crunch of her sandals in the dirt.
"Naruto-kun."
"Go 'way," he mumbled into his arms, burying his face in his sleeves. She'd bought him new soap to use on his clothes, which made them softer than the other one did, and it smelled like all of her clothes did. Usually, he liked smelling like her, but right now he didn't want to.
"Are you mad because I tried to make you apologize to Sasuke?" she asked, sitting down next to him, regardless.
"He called me stupid and said I wasn't never gonna be Hokage," he said, angrily, looking at her pointedly.
"Well, it was pretty stupid to punch him just for that," she said, then grabbed him before he could run away from her again. "But, saying you won't ever become Hokage is stupid, too."
Naruto looked at her in wonder, "You think Sasuke's stupid?" He settled in her lap more comfortably. "Why can't I punch him, then?"
"I do not think Sasuke is stupid," she said, tweaking his nose, "He's a smart boy. So are you. Your entire class is very promising."
Naruto waited for her to repeat that Sasuke was an idiot. He just had to be patient, he was sure.
"But ninja don't punch others for no reason."
Darn it. "I did have a reason!"
"You punch others in combat, Naruto!" she said in exasperation, "If I punched someone every time I got annoyed - "
" - you'd smile more!" he finished for her.
She tweaked his nose again, "You'd be out of shape, that's for sure."
"Hey! I'm not annoying!"
"When you refuse to apologize when you've done something wrong, it's very annoying," Yukari said, "And not at all grown-up or ninja-like."
Naruto pouted.
"Can you apologize to Sasuke tomorrow for starting the fight?"
"I guess…"
[-M-]
"Thank you very much for such a wonderful year," Yukari-sensei says to them with a bow, and the class scrambles to return it, Naruto especially, his bow going so low, so fast that he almost tips himself over.
Then the bell dismisses them, and the group makes to leave, except for this one girl with white eyes just like Handkerchief who gives her a box that looks like it could be chocolates and says thank you again. The woman smiles at the girl slightly, and puts her hand on her head, "You're a very strong girl, Hinata-chan. Work hard and don't give up, alright?"
Naruto doesn't interrupt them, even though he feels strange seeing his teacher (he was her favorite, not this other girl!) patting the head of another student and giving her the same look she gave him. Handkerchief's too nice for her own good, he thinks, but doesn't say. He knows that he can't just take away the comfort he would give anything to have from somebody else.
Eventually, the girl leaves and it's just him and Handkerchief. He doesn't know what to do now, because it's goodbye and he really, really wishes he hadn't graduated this year, or pulled enough pranks that he got suspended and held back or something, because saying goodbye to people you love is stupid and hard.
She sighs, "So, Naruto-kun? Are you ready for next year?"
He nods. "Yeah. Thanks, sensei," he says around the lump in his throat. The floor under his feet is free of dust, ready to be polished and left alone until next year.
"Let's do something to celebrate," she says brightly, suddenly right next to his ear. He looks up and sees her white eyes smiling at him, hair hanging down on either side of her face like dark vines. "Ramen?"
He smiles, nods. "Un."
"Okay."
He didn't ask her to pick him up, but she does it, anyway. Scoops him up and plants him on her hip, then picks up her bag, full of papers - and heavy, he knows - and leaves like he's just a part of the things she has to take with her. He doesn't say anything - his chest feels too heavy to gather the breath needed for excitement over his favorite food - and just presses his face into her neck, her hair tickling his nose.
"I'll miss having you in my class," she says softly to him.
"Me, too," he says thickly, and tightens his hold around her neck.
…
…
A/N: Possibly just a oneshot. I wanted a fanfic of Naruto being taken care of. Maybe there'll be more someday, but I'm putting this down as 'complete' for now.