Chapter 10
Denial
Iruka was slowly eating his diner in his silent kitchen, munching on his steamed broccoli dully. The major disadvantage of having to cook for a sick person, Iruka decided, was that you also had to eat the same thing as them. Unless you wanted to go through the trouble of cooking yourself something else, which was NOT Iruka's case. Sure enough, the chuunin didn't hate cooking, but it didn't mean he was going to start cooking two different menus everyday. So he ate his broccoli in a resigned way, occasionally poking it with his fork with dislike. Sighing, the academy teacher tried to see the brighter side of his new diet; at least he was going to stay healthy eating all those servings of vegetables everyday. Eyeing the offensive cup of nutriment-added Godaime-recommended red jello mocking him a few inches away, Iruka snorted ironically. Now that was something to look forward to. Steamed broccoli and strawberry jello. His taste buds were skipping at the mere thought.
At any rate, he guessed Hatake Kakashi wouldn't miss too much the hospital food that way. That thought brought a bitter smile to his lips.
Kakashi... Iruka shook his head and tried to focus his attention back to the shockingly red dessert in from of him, but he knew it was futile. He had avoided thinking about it for a while now, but he knew he wouldn't be able to tonight.
He had noticed it a few days ago and had at once tried to push it in the back of his mind. He didn't know why he had tried to ignore it; maybe it was because some utopian part of him hoped that if he forgot about it, he wouldn't have to do something about it. But who was he kidding? He KNEW he needed to do something about it. He had known it perfectly well since the start but had simply prefered not thinking about it. Promising himself that he would take care of it later. Always putting it off, refusing amadantly to just accept it... But somehow as the days passed by, he couldn't help thinking more and more about it, even though he didn't want to. When he had fed the jounin half an hour ago, he had been forced to stop denying it to himself and had reluctantly acknowledged the fact that he really had to do something about it soon.
Because the Copy nin needed a bath. Badly.
Iruka sighed at the thought, feeling the beginning of a headache forming itself at the prospect of what giving the silver-haired man a bath implied. Undressing, hand-washing, drying and dressing up the jounin was, by all means, NOT something he was looking forward to, especially considering the jounin's troublesome issues with human contact. He had desperately tried to put off the unavoidable washing session, but he couldn't pretend being in denial about Kakashi's obvious lack of physical hygiene anymore - the mere odor the jounin emited didn't allow him to indulge in that kind of luxury. When was the last time the man had been given a bath anyway? Obviously it had already been a while when they released him from the hospital...
Tonight, Iruka suddenly decided. He was going to bathe Kakashi tonight. Get over with it now before the odor got any worse. Besides, it couldn't be healthy for him to be so dirty, right? So he was in fact doing him a favour by washing him... Yep, he was definitely doing him a favour. It was for his own good. But somehow he was sure the Copy nin wouldn't see it under that light. Knowing him, he was probably going to panic and be in denial about the whole matter althogether. There was a small chance that he would just remain emotionless and accept it passively, like he had been doing for the past few days, but Iruka doubted he was going to have such luck tonight. But he couldn't bear a grudge against him for refusing to acknowledge the fact that he needed a bath, as he himself had been pretty much in denial about it only a few minutes ago.
Not feeling up to eating anymore at the prospect of his self-imposed mission, Iruka eyed disdainfully his cold broccoli and offending cup of jello. Sighing heavilly, he gave up on the Hokage-approved menu, got up and unceremoniously threw away the remains of his diner in the dustbin - not without some satisfaction, he had to admit. Then the chuunin stood silently in his empty kitchen, playing nervously with his hands as he stared absent-mindedly at the kitchen sink. He needed to do it, didn't he...? Then he'd do it now. Before he could give it a second thought and back down. Better getting over it as soon as possible, Iruka repeated himself. Yes, that sounded like a good plan... Besides, he was probably overreacting; washing a wounded man couldn't be that bad, couldn't it? He'd had kids throwing up on him. He'd had a 3 foot-long weapon stuck in his back. He even had already been flirted by a lusty Anko once - he'd known worst. Really. Bathing Hatake Kakashi wasn't that much of a big deal.
Nevertheless, he was going to do it right away before he could change his mind.
Bracing himself for what he knew was coming, Umino Iruka walked resolutely toward the guest room. Inside the room, the man's chakra flow indicated that the Copy nin was still awake. Good, he wouldn't have to wake him up. Iruka tried to ignore the part of himself that felt disappointed the man wasn't asleep, his ultimate escape door vanishing into thin air in front of him. Mentally wacking himself for those treasherous thoughts, the brown-haired man resolutely entered the small room, turning on the lights quietly.
The jounin was lying on his back exactly in the same position he had left him half an hour ago, his single gray eye gazing blankly at the ceiling, his exposed face - he never slept with his mask on - not showing any indication that he had noticed his caretaker's presence. Iruka stared at the jounin wordlessly, suddenly feeling tense and hesitant.
How was he supposed to tell the jounin he had decided to bathe him - and, more importantly, to convince him that he needed a bath? Maybe he could try to bring up the subject subtly so that he wouldn't freak out the wounded man too much... But he doubted that would work, considering they never really talked to each other – surely some attempt at small talk would tip off the jounin on the spot. At any rate, starting any kind of discussion was not an option for the academy teacher anyway; he had been doing his best to avoid talking to the silver-haired man in the past few days, he wasn't going to start being friendly now. No, the best solution was probably to go straight to the point. Getting over with it fast, remaining calm and intransigent to clearly show him HE was the one in control and that protesting was not an option. Like he usually did with his misbehaving students. Yes, he'd handle the whole matter as if he was dealing with one of his students. Afterall, he wasn't going to go out of his way for Kakashi's sake. No sir.
Inwardly bracing himself, the chuunin quietly called out the man. "Kakashi-sensei."
Iruka had spoken on a deliberately low tone, the one that was vastly known by the student population and a few nins working at the mission desk as an omen of imminent DOOM. Obvioulsy, Kakashi had sensed the danger as well, as his uncovered eye shifted rapidly from the ceiling to him, vague anticipation now showing on his face. Somehow, Iruka couldn't fight back some satisfaction at getting the man's attention so quickly.
"You need to take a bath," the chuunin announced on the same soft but autoritarian voice, staring straight into the silver-haired man's uncovered eye. Like he had expected him to, he didn't take the news well. As soon as the words were out of Iruka's mouth, the jounin's gray eye widened and his face froze in a way that, he was sure, would have been highly comical under other circumstances.
"I don't need to," he blurted out at once defensively.
"Yes you do," Iruka pressed on on the same stern, dangerous voice.
"Really, I don't, I'm fine."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't."
Iruka closed his eyes and groaned with annoyment. He had expected this kind of reaction, yet he couldn't help feeling ridiculous to argue over it so... childishly. He felt like he was dealing with a six year-old. Ironically, it was the kind of discussion that usually took place with six year-olds too. He had intended to remain calm and collected no matter what, but somehow the jounin's immature attitude was already starting to thin his patience and his resolution.
"You mean you don't wantto," Iruka corrected him boldly, anger already building inside of him. The Copy nin opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out of it - obviously, he couldn't find anything to say to that. So he closed it and looked away uneasily, frowning slightly.
"Please don't make it more complicated than it already is," the academy teacher added sternly to the nearly-sulking man. "It's not like I'm all happy about it either; I'd rather skip that part of the contract if I could. But it's not like you'll magically be all clean overnight and, let's face it, you're filthy, Kakashi-sensei. Fil-thy. You need a bath and I'm giving you one, want it or not."
At the mention of the imminent bathing session, the jounin blanched, panic easily readable on his pale features. When he spoke, his voice was suddenly unusually rash.
"I told you, I don't need-"
"Kakashi-"
"Not necessary-"
"Kakashi-sensei, you're being irration-"
"There's no need to-"
"Don't deny it, you know you need-"
"I'm fine! It's not-"
"Stop pretending you don't need it!" Iruka's growled loudly, suddenly feeling something snapping inside of him. "You know perfectly well you do! Admit it, you're just scared of it!"
"No, I'm not! I just - I don't need-"
"Enough already! Be a man, Kakashi-sensei! Admit it, you're just SCARED-"
"FINE! I'm scared! I don't want to! Happy now!" the jounin suddenly shouted, his face twisted with a mix of fear, anger and embarrassment. As soon as the outburst came, the Copy nin's eye widened in shock, as if he couldn't believe those words had been his - or even that he had screamed to start with. The realization of it was like a slap in the face for both men, who pulled themselves together at once.
The chuunin hadn't even realized how his voice had grown steadily louder and more vicious with each sentence they exchanged and felt shameful for his appailing lack of control. He couldn't believe he had snapped so easily! The jounin seemed to be having a similar chain of thoughts; he looked away swiftly, obviously regreting his words.
"I'm sorry," the silver-haired man whispered, "I didn't intend to yell..."
"It's okay, I understand," the academy teacher half-heartedly mumbled back after a while. And he did. Ever since the jounin had been brought to his apartment, there had been constant tension between them. Even though he had tried to convince himself that he would be able to remain calm and collected out of sheer determination, he had known all along that all that tension was ought to result in another fight sooner or later. He had known all that bitterness and anger he still felt toward the man would not - could not - be repressed infinitely. It was unavoidable afterall - there were so many things he still wanted to say to the jounin. And even more things he wanted to forget...
He had been harsh with the Copy nin, he knew it. There was no need to start attacking him like that. It wasn't like him to shout and provoke people like that to prove his point, it wasn't like him at all. He just... got carried away. And now he felt a bit shameful for his offensive words - they were true of course, but there was no need to confront the Sharigan user about it so roughly. Especially since he knew the jounin had issues about physical contact and was obviously panicking. But more than anything else, it was the fact that he had lost his composture that annoyed him the most. He had wished to avoid humiliating himself again in front of the jounin and his previous blatant lack of control hurt his pride more than he cared to admit. Damn it, why couldn't he act rationally around the silver-haired man? What was it that always made him so impulsive when the Copy nin was around?
Somehow, Kakashi's outburst didn't offence the academy teacher much. He knew it was strange, but... The man had been so silent so far, staring at the ceiling and always docily submiting himself to Iruka's orders. Never complaining or asking for anything. Making it so easy to ignore him... And no matter how much he tried to tell himself he didn't care and that he prefered it that way, Iruka couldn't help finding it abnormal and slightly disturbing. It made him uneasy. But just now the jounin DID react; he panicked. He protested. He had had an understandable reaction and somehow it seemed to make him more... human, in a kind of twisted way. At least THAT made sense.
But it didn't change the fact that it was making things even more complicated, which was what Iruka had tried to avoid - and failed at so miserably.
The chuunin sighed heavilly and rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying to find the right words to mollify the wounded man and get rid of the building tension between them. "Kakashi-sensei. I know you're not easy with those kind of things, but... Don't make such a deal out of it. It's just a bath. It's not like I'm going to rape or torture you, I'm just washing you. And if it makes you feel better, I swear I won't molest you or stare at you - or anything, really. Believe me, I want it over as much as you do, and if you could just cooperate it'd make things much easier for both of us. Anyway," Iruka added as an afterthought, "I don't see what you're so afraid of. I've already touched you and seen you naked plenty of times - I've removed your bandages, remember? And I shave you and help you to go to the bathroom everyday, in case you've forgotten. I don't see how bathing you will be so different."
Actually, he did, but he was not going to say that to the reluctant jounin. Obviously, the Copy nin also appreciated the difference between helping someone to pee and bathing him.
"It's not the same thing," Kakashi murmured stubbornly, still looking away.
Silence ensued between the two men and Iruka didn't know what to say to convince the anxious jounin anymore. He understood the man's reluctance, but he had decided he was going to bathe him tonight, no matter what. He'd do it even against his concent if he had to. He couldn't say he hadn't tried to make things easier for the Copy nin. He had, really. But there was nothing more he could do about it; the jounin NEEDED a bath. It was not his fault he was such a prude - or that he had issues with being touched. There was nothing he could do about it.
But even as those thoughts crossed his mind, the academy teacher felt guilt stirr in the pitch of his guts and sighed tiredly, closing his eyes in defeat.
Why, oh why did it have to be so complicated...?
Hatake Kakashi was staring blankly at the ceiling. Well, where he thought was located the ceiling, since he couldn't quite see it in the darkness. In fact, he couldn't see anything at all, as the sunlight had long been swallowed by the night and the whole appartment was pitch dark in the cold December night. But the jounin didn't mind. Staring at the darkness usually helped him to fall asleep. Usually being the key word, as he was quite sure sleep wouldn't come fast tonight. Not after that narrow escape. His guts writhed painfully at the mere memory of it...
Iruka-sensei giving him a bath. Somehow he had managed to forget that it was also part of the caretaker's task to tend to their patient's basic body hygiene and it came to him as a shock when the chuunin announced him that he still needed to bathe, even in his condition. Having the academy teacher shaving him and wiping him when he went to the bathroom was already humiliating and embarrassing enough like that, he didn't want to imagine how it would feel to have the man bathing him. Undressing him. Gazing at every signle part of his anatomy. Touching him... He felt slightly nauseous just to think about it. The Copy nin had always being rather... reserved when it came to those things, but it seemed that the prospect of having Umino Iruka doing it instead of some distant stranger made it ten times worse. With what had happened between them... He knew he had sounded horribly childish back then, but he had truly panicked. The man's presence made him so uneasy, so tense, so nervous that the prospect of having him invading so blatantly his personal space had deeply upset him. And the chuunin had sounded so determined about it too...
He had been quite sure he was done for. He couldn't quite explain what made the brown-haired man change his mind so suddenly. One moment, his features were settled and grave, and the other he seemed to hesitate. Then he grimaced and told the jounin he'd be out for a few minutes and left, but not before sending him one long, stern look that obviously meant he had not given up on on him yet.
So there he was. Enjoying his small reprieve. But he wasn't kidding himself; he knew it was only a matter of time before Iruka came back to the attack with even more determination. He felt his throat tighten at the thought. But hopefully, he would manage to get used to the idea and not put up such a horrible show when the issue would come up again. He couldn't believe he had lost his composure so easily, shown his weekness so openly... More than anything else, he felt humiliated and angry with himself for it. He was the great Copy nin Hatake Kakashi, he was supposed to always be cool and in control. Not to have a panic attack like some scared five year-old. And especially not in front of Iruka-sensei, of all people...! Iruka-sensei...
The Sharigan user hoped the brown-haired man wouldn't think too badly of him after what had happened... The jounin mused anxiously with that thought for a moment before mentally slapping himself: of course Iruka thought badly of him! Iruka hated him! How could he have forgotten it so easily? The academy teacher despised him, he probably already thought so badly of him that his ridiculous little fit of panic hardly changed anything... Yet that thought didn't reassure the silver-haired man, but instead made him feel even more miserable. And that was saying something - he felt miserable enough on normal days... The sheer humiliation of being dragged around like a ragdoll, of needing help simply to eat or to empty his bladder made him feel totally helpless and left him bitter. And having Iruka helping him only made the matter worse, as he felt uneasy around the scarred man. But what was the worse was the way the chuunin did it, the way he was always so polite and the way his voice always remained carefully neutral and controlled. It felt like torture to the jounin to be treated so distantly by a man he knew to be straightforward and passionate in everything he did - he would have preferred to have him yelling at him than acting detached and polite all the time like that.
But tonight Iruka had yelled. Yet the Sharigan user knew he hadn't said what he truly had on his mind, so he guessed it didn't count.
... He couldn't quite believe he had shouted at Iruka. He hadn't intended to. In his inward turmoil, supressed frustration and growing distress, the words just rushed out of his mouth on their own. Surprising him. Shocking him. And shocking the brown-haired man as well, who fell silent at once...
He shouldn't have fought so much over it. Iruka didn't deserve this. It was already bad enough for the chuunin to take care of him, he didn't need to deal with his eccentricities too. Kakashi had promised himself he'd try to make things easier for the academy teacher, who he had hurt and humiliated unintentionally with his stupid scheme. And yet he hadn't kept his promise. He hadn't been able to. When Iruka announced him he needed a bath, he was so upset he totally forgot about all his good intentions. And now they were back to torment him...
The jounin mused darkly about the bath issue for God only knew how long, his mind plagued with remories of the argument he just had with the academy teacher. After what could have been mere minutes or several hours, Kakashi was brought back to reality when he heard the entrance door open and close silently.
With a strange distant interest, the Copy nin listened to the sound of his caretaker coming back home quietly. Faint, distant light pourred through the open door of the guest room and suddenly revealed the shape of furniture again as the chuunin turned on the lights of the small living room. Kakashi heard the muffled sound of clothing, then of footsteps as Iruka made his way through the small apartment. After a short moment, the footsteps died and there was a ruffling sound of plastic bags, followed by many other strange sounds Kakashi couldn't quite identify - not that he was trying really hard anyway.
His mind was starting to drift back to his inner musings when he heard something that made his blood run cold in his veins. Horror-striken, Kakashi could only gape silently at the darkness as the unmistakable sound of water pouring into a bathtub reached his ears.
His mind went completely blank. His heart was beating so fast in his chest that he couldn't think straight anymore, the magnifyed sound of his pounding heart and the redoubtable noise coming from the bathroom echoing in his head seemingly infinitely. It was only when the sound of the filling up bathtub died as suddenly as it had come that the Copy nin finally snapped back to awareness, his highly-trained ninja senses warning him of imminent danger. While the sound of water pouring into the tub had chocked him, the absence of sounds - and what it meant - was downright frightening him. His worst fears were confirmed as the sound of footsteps suddenly resonated through the silent apartment, each step drawing the brown-haired man closer to the guest room.
He tried to calm down and pull himself together. He tried to force his panicking heart to stop preventing him from having any kind of coherent and rational thinking process but to his own frustration, his efforts seemed vain as his body refused to listen to him anymore. Things didn't improve when, from the corner of his eye, Kakashi saw the shape of the academy teacher slowly approaching the guest room.
The chuunin stoped at the entrance of the room, his dark figure cutting clearly from the lit living room. At this impressive sight, the silver-haired man felt his throat tighen painfully. Before Kakashi even knew it, the words were out of his mouth.
"I don't want to."
"I thought we already went through that phase," Iruka answered calmly as he started to walk again toward the jounin, rolling his sleeves as he did so.
"I told you, I don't need - don't want...!"
The chuunin was now standing right next to Kakashi's side. From that close, the silver-haired man could make out enough of the academy teacher's face to see the man raising an eyebrow defiantly at him in the darkness and he knew at once that he wouldn't have as much luck this time.
"Let me remind you that you're in no condition to argue, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka answered lightly, his voice was heavy with irony. Those words cut through Kakashi like razor blades. Hurt and humiliation sweeped through him as he catched on what the brown-haired man implied and the jounin looked away, feeling his cheeks reddening with indignity.
He didn't know what he had expected. He should have seen it coming. And the worse of it was probably that he knew the chuunin was right about it - right about both his ashaming lack of maturity and his absolute helplessness. How he hated, how he resented this situation...!
Iruka seemed to understand his chain of thoughts. "Don't fuss over it so much," he told him on a more soothing tone, "It's just a bath afterall. There's no need to make such a big deal out of it... Let's get over it already, okay?"
Kakashi closed his eyes in a resigned way and nodded curtly. It was not like he had the choice anyway, like Iruka had reminded him so galantly.
He first felt Iruka's hands on his eye patch, carefully removing it from his sharigan eye. Then, his hands were on his clothed feet, his warm figers brushing against his skin as the man removed his socks carefully. Then the chuunin's fingers were on his torso, lightly unbuttoning his shirt. His eyes resolutely closed, he tried not thinking about it too much. When he was done with the buttons, Iruka passed his arm under him and lifted him from the bed, patiently trying to remove his arms out of his sleeves with his other hand. The jounin could feel the academy teacher's warm body mere inches away from his own, Iruka's scent invading his noistrils as he felt the man's breath against his now uncovered neck. Forcing his eyes shut tigher, the Copy nin swallowed hard and tried to calm down and ignore the way his heart seemed to want to crawl up his oesophagus with the remains of his broccoli serving.
After far too long, the chuunin managed to remove completely his shirt, moved away from Kakashi's exposed torso and neck and layed him down again on the bed, to the jounin's relief. Then the tanned fingers were on his the sides of his pants, brushing against his hips, then his tights as he pulled down his pants slowly and Kakashi felt the urge to kick his caretaker and his invading hands away, but his legs refused adamantly to move. His eyes shut so tight they hurt, he willed himself not to twitch or blush as he felt his pants and Iruka's fingers rubbing against his ankles, knowing far too well what was coming next. When the pants were off, Iruka's hands were back to his hipbones, this time working on removing the Sharigan user's boxers.
Once again, the chuunin's fingers trailed on the side of his hips. When he felt the boxers reach his knees, Kakashi swallowed hard and tried to forget how exposed he felt. He tried to chase away this stupid feeling of being watched that seemed to burn each centimeter of his skin. Yet he didn't dare to open his eyes to see if that feeling was a creation of his paranoid mind or if the chuunin was truly staring at his naked body, inwardly fearing that he would be the latter. In that case, he was better off not knowing.
He didn't have much time to muse about it because he soon felt Iruka's arms moving under him, one arm lifting his back while the other worked its way under his knees. The chuunin's strong arms brought him closer to his body and when Kakashi felt the naked skin of his side press against the brown-haired man's clothed stomach, he half wished he had died back then in that dark alley a few blocks away from the Hospital; at least he wouldn't have to stand there totally naked in the arms of the only person in all Konoha who made him uneasy, getting undressed and carried around bridal-style like a ragdoll to get a bath.
Kakashi cynically hoped that his caretaker wouldn't want to braid his hair afterward.
Gently, the brown-haired man lifted the jounin and carried him toward the barely lit bathroom. Before he even knew it, he felt the chuunin lowering him down already. The Copy nin expected to feel the warmth of the water against his naked back but was surprised when his uncovered skin first met with a thick layer of a light, foamy substence. His surprise didn't last long as he soon felt warm water surrounding him, his backside and legs resting on the bottom of the bathtub. The ex-anbu felt himself shiver as Iruka's second hand brushed against the tender skin of the nape of his neck to support his head and he opened his normal eye just in time to see Iruka crouching over him to gently lay down his head on the cool rim of the bath. His eyebrows slightly frowning with concentration, the chuunin was staring at him with a disturbing seriousness and to his own embarassment, the jounin felt his cheeks heating up. Looking away swiftly, Kakashi's eye rested on the foamy white substence floating on top of the water. Bubblebath. Of course. Now that he thought about it, the strong yet undescribable scent of the bubblebath was invading his senses, making the presence of a bathing product quite obvious. Why hadn't he noticed it before...?
For a while, his caretaker tried to shift him into a less awkward and more comfortable position, but his quest was obviously pointless as it was physically impossible to fit a half-lying full-grown man into a normal-sized bathtub. When the chuunin was satisfyed with the position was in, he straightened up and let out a breath and Kakashi was quite glad for the precence of the bubblebath, for it was hiding from sight the most intimate parts of his anatomy. Inwardly thanking the academy teacher for his thoughtfullness, Kakashi allowed himself to relax a bit in the warm water - he had to admit he had missed those, even thought he wished the first bath he had for weeks would take place in other circumstences.
His reprieve didn't last long as Iruka soon got out of a platic bag a bottle of shampoo and set it down on the rim of the tub.
"Let's begin with the hair, okay?" he asked very quietly.
Kakashi nodded faintly, not enthusiast at all at the prospect of having the brown-haired man's fingers going through his hair but quite aware of his lack of other options.
Carefully, Iruka bend his head over the tub and started to soak his hair. Then he put the Copy nin's head back on the rim of the tub and Kakashi heard him open the shampoo bottle and pour loudly a generous amount of it on the palm of his hand. To Kakashi's relief, the shampoo didn't smell like Iruka's - the omnipresent smell of the teacher was already making him uneasy, he didn't want to imagine how it would have been if he had smelled like him too. Then, the Sharigan user felt Iruka's hands on his head, soaping his hair.
It felt strange to have the man's fingers caressing his skull like that. He couldn't remember when was the last time anyone has touched his hair to start with... The sensation of the strong yet gentle fingers stroking his hair was new to him. It was making him uneasy, but it was not totally unpleasant. It was just... strange. To have a man massaging his hair like that. He didn't hate it but he wanted it to end soon nonetheless, because it was just... weird. Gross, even. Well, maybe not, but… It was still weird.
When the chuunin was done washing his hair, he bend Kakashi's head forward again and rinsed the soap throughfully. As his caretaker laid down his head on the rim again, the jounin started to feel apprehension rising in him at the prospect of what he knew was coming. After washing his hair... he had to wash him. Bracing himself to the blatant invasion of his privacy that was about to take place, Kakashi did his best to look calmer than he felt as he saw from the corner of his eye the chuunin remove a bottle of body gel from the same plastic bag as before. To his surprise, the academy teacher also took out of the bag something long and narrow - like a stick but with something blue and fluffly at the end...
For a moment, Kakashi stared at the stick without understanding what it was - maybe it was because he was feeling so nervous, or maybe because the room was not very well lit. When he saw the chuunin pouring the body gel on it, Kakashi suddenly remembered. Even though he'd never used it before, he had seen it before at his local drugstore. It was a sponge. A stick with a sponge at its end.
Relief washed over him like a hurricane at the realisation of what it meant. No hands touching him. No invading fingers on his naked skin... Unconsciously, Kakashi let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Suddenly, he felt a rush of affection and respect for the chuunin, who started to wash him with the blue sponge. They didn't exchange a word; they didn't need to. Kakashi knew the brown-haired man understood what it meant to him and how he appreciated the small attention.
After a throughout bath and an awkward but fast drying session, Iruka carefully carried the wounded jounin back to his bed and dressed him up in fresh clothes, careful not to touch him too much and make him uneasy. But Kakashi wouldn't remember about it in the morning, as he felt asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, emotionally exhausted but clean.
To be continued.