They made it to the hospital.
Kakashi ran, passing people and doctors and infuriated nurses, and reached the door that smelled like Naruto. Naruto's blood.
His hand grabbed the door handle.
"Nope. No visitors," interrupted a familiar voice, clipped and authoritative. Shizune.
Kakashi turned to face her just as Sakura caught up with him, breathless and gasping.
"We just finished patching him up, but he needs to rest. And you," she poked Kakashi's chest, "owe me some answers."
Kakashi straightened, abandoning the stooped pose he always used to appear non-threatening. "After I see him," he demanded quietly.
Shizune scoffed. "Oh, no. Don't try to get all commanding on me. I have known you since you were ten." She hugged the teen's medical notes close to her chest. "No answers, no visitation rights."
"You can't do that," gasped Sakura as she regained her breath. "Naruto doesn't have a family! We're the closest thing, so you must let us see him!"
Shizune frowned. "You're hanging out with kids, now? Who's that?"
"I'm her teacher. And his," he answered, wincing. "Tell me something, Shizune."
He knew Shizune. He knew that look – the pursed lips and the crunched nose – that she used whenever she made a rather extensive list of pros and cons in her mind. He had to be patient. He had to get to Naruto.
Finally, the woman sighed. "Fine, fine. No need to beg. He's on respiration as we speak, so we put him to sleep. My office, then." She led them to a small space with glass doors and walls. "Sit."
Kakashi remained standing. "Haruno, wait outside." When the girl hesitated, he crouched and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Please." He gave her a fiver. "Get yourself something to drink, all right?"
The girl nodded and accepted the cash. "I still want to see him," she insisted. "I can handle it." And left.
Kakashi waited for the door to close behind her. He steeled himself. "Tell me."
Shizune hesitated. "Are you sure you don't want to sit?"
Kakashi glowered.
"Fine." She handed him her notes. "He's in bad shape. Whoever did this… they did their best to finish the job."
Kakashi scanned the notes, reading as quickly as he could. For a moment, all he could hear was the drumming of his heart. Uneven and obnoxiously loud. "You can't be serious," he muttered.
Shizune sighed. "Broken wrist, right arm, and three ribs from the fall. Bruised lung – and that's besides the fact that he almost suffocated due to carbon monoxide poisoning. And then there are the burns. Water burns and fire burns, covering his limbs and one side of his face." She stopped, hesitating. "He may never see again with his left eye, Kakashi."
Kakashi put down the notes. His hand trembled. "All of this… from a fire?"
"It wasn't a fire," the woman snapped. "It was an explosion. We heard it all the way up in the hospital. Someone was trying to kill him, Kakashi." She leaned forward, and her voice grew soft. "It's him, isn't it?"
Kakashi could barely breathe. He could barely register her words. He could barely…. Think, idiot. Think. "Him?" he managed.
A hand led him to the chair, guiding him to sit – pushing his shoulders down when he resisted.
Shizune walked away and opened a bottle – and the scent of alcohol made it hard for him to breathe. "Minato's son," she said quietly. "I remember the two of you, always together. You were inseparable back then. Drink." She offered him a glass. "You're as pale as a ghost, Kakashi."
"When am I not?" He waved the glass away. "Let me see him."
Shizune hesitated. "You're not going to like what you'll find, Kakashi."
He stood up. "I promised him I'll find him," he rasped quietly. "I need to be by his side."
Shizune still hesitated, then surrendered. She led him to the same opaque door he faced before. "What about the girl?" she asked quietly. "And that loud friend of yours?"
"Deal with them as you see fit," Kakashi said, distracted by the mangled scent of Naruto's blood, drowning in the overpowering smells of medicine and cleanliness. "I stay with him."
Shizune nodded. She opened the door –
And Kakashi rushed inside.
He could barely tell the figure, covered from head to toe with bandages and casts, was Naruto. Only one eye, bruised and purplish, was visible. The golden hair, the parts that weren't charred and uneven, glistened with sweat. A respirator covered the rest of his face.
He was hooked to so many machines.
Kakashi sat next to the teen and caressed the golden strands as gently as he could. "I'm here, Naruto," he whispered. "I'm sorry I was late to find you. I'm sorry I failed you. Don't give up, kid." He closed his eye, focusing on the weak beating of Naruto's heart. "Don't give up."
Shizune patted his shoulder. "You plan to stay?" she asked quietly.
Kakashi nodded. "Until he asks me to do otherwise."
He could smell Shizune's hesitation. "Oh, right, sure," the woman mumbled. "I'll arrange for an extra bed – "
"No need," Kakashi muttered. "I'll keep watch."
"Right," the woman said. "Right. Well, uh, I'll take care of the… others, then." She walked to the door slowly. "I'm… I'm very sorry, Kakashi," she said quietly and closed the door behind her.
Kakashi listened to her receding footsteps.
Finally.
He chose Shizune's hospital because it operated directly with the organization he used to belong to. He knew Shizune would not raise the alarm, and, as he was hospitalized there pretty regularly in the past, he knew how the hospital rooms were organized.
He knew where they kept their syringes, for one thing.
Kakashi jumped from his seat and grabbed the first one he found. He did not know how quickly he had to act or how worthy his blood was, but he did not have time to find out.
He jammed the needle into his arm and sucked out as much blood as he could, then pushed the needle into Naruto's arm and slowly guided the red liquid into his body.
His blood.
Fuck.
What if he was wrong. What if the blood had to be drunk or poured directly over the wounds. What if he was too late. What if their blood type did not match, and that, for some reason, mattered. What if someone walked in and saw that.
What if he only made Naruto worse.
Kakashi rushed to the machines, searching for any indication that he did not just kill his student. He stared at the numbers, the blinking lights, and the annoying sounds and tried to make sense of them.
Nothing changed.
Fuck.
Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair. Not bad, but not good either. He ran back to Naruto –
Whose eye turned bluish, then green, then yellow, then red, then normal.
The swelling eased slowly, disappearing as if it had never existed.
He leaned over the teen and lowered his ear as close as he could to Naruto's chest without touching it, and… perhaps he imagined it, but he thought he could hear it; a rustle, fading away.
He was breathing better.
Kakashi hesitated. Shizune predicted a prolonged recovery and hinted at a coma. Even she might demand answers if Naruto recovered too quickly,
And yet…
And yet, watching him suffer was a torture he could not endure in silence.
Kakashi used a new syringe – a small, delicate one – and filled it with his blood. He traced his thumb on Naruto's neck, searching for his vein. Feeling his pulse.
"Don't you dare giving up," he whispered. "Come back to me, Naruto." And eased the needle under the tan skin, pushing his blood directly into the jugular.
He stepped away and threw the evidence, then rushed back and –
And Naruto's iris began to move, flickering back and forth under the thin skin of his eyelid.
Kakashi's breath shattered against his lips. "Good job, kid. Good job. I believe in you, Naruto. Come back to me."
Kakashi was a young man but an old wolf. He sat as still as a statue and kept his watch.
Outside, it began to snow, and the world turned black and white.
Pain. All that he felt was confusion and pain.
His mind was dazed, and his body was stubborn. It did not move like he wanted it to move.
It did not move at all.
Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
He opened his eye – and the world was blurry still, dancing and shifting beneath and above him. Was he moving? He could not move.
And he could not breathe. Something was going down his throat, blocking his mouth and nose. Beeping. Beeping that got faster and faster –
Naruto struggled against his binds, his heart's beating shaky and erratic, and suddenly everything fucking hurt –
"Calm down. Naruto. Naruto! It's me. Calm down, kid." A hand pushed him against… something, while another hand caressed his hair and angled his head, holding him. "Look at me. Look at me, Naruto. Can you hear me?" The voice was urgent and yet soothing. Why was it soothing? "I've got you. You're safe, Naruto. You're safe." Gentle fingers wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Look at me."
All he saw was white. White and shadows.
The man speaking leaned closer, blocking the light, and Naruto groaned. Sensei. Sensei came for him. He tried to reach for him, but his hands – both of them – failed to move.
His eye widened, and his breath quickened again. He could not move. What the fuck happened to him. What the fuck –
Sensei's face was torn with desperate fear and sharp worry – Naruto had never seen him look like that before, and his heart drummed hollow.
Sensei still held him. "You're safe, Naruto. You're safe. You're in the hospital. Calm down, kid. You're safe."
He heard voices and rushing footsteps. He could not breathe. He could not move. He wasn't safe at all. He thrashed against whatever was holding him captive, ignoring the spike in pain. He had to get out – he had to move – he had to –
His mind was soft and cloudy again. His muscles relaxed and eased and fell asleep. The world was slow and out of focus.
"Breathe. Breathe deeply, Naruto," said the same soothing voice. "If you can hear me, take a deep breath."
Naruto breathed.
An odd, uncomfortable sensation followed, as if something crawled out of his mouth, and a hand pressed down on his chest. "Breathe deeply. Breathe deeply, Naruto. With the hand. In, then out. Very good, Naruto. You're doing great. Very good."
His eye managed to follow the figures around his bed. The world was out of focus, moving and shifting unexpectedly, but he could see Sensei. He could hear him. He could feel his fingers in his hair.
Naruto wheezed, lips dry and cracking and parted, and focused on him.
Sensei found him. He found him.
"He should not be awake," said a feminine voice, clipped and agitated. "I don't understand. We ran all the tests…."
A bright light penetrated his eye and hid Sensei from him. Naruto groaned and tried to shove her hand away, but his body decided it was still very sleepy and did not move.
"He's a survivor," Sensei said. He sounded close. "How long before he can communicate?"
"Give him about two minutes until the drug wears off. We will need to replace the bandages early and check for damage. Can you keep him calm?"
"I'll try." Sensei looked at him again. "Naruto, can you hear me?" he said gently.
Naruto tried to reach for him again and failed. He tried to speak, but all he managed was a dry cough. His eye welled with tears.
Sensei's thumb brushed them away. "He's thirsty. Can he drink?"
"Carefully. Hold him up – but not too much, Kakashi. He broke his ribs."
Heels clicking away – Naruto caught a glimpse of a dark-haired woman – and then nothing mattered because Sensei cradled his head and picked him up, balancing him against his arm, and held a plastic cup against his lips.
"I'm going to tilt it so you can drink," Sensei explained softly. "I'll do it slowly. Blink twice when you want me to stop." He leaned closer. "Can you understand me?"
Naruto nodded. He could not look away, not when Sensei was so close and gentle and worried – about him. He was there, with him.
He wasn't alone.
Naruto parted his lips, and Sensei tilted the cup – and Naruto could have sworn that water never tasted so good. He tried to lift himself up and suck every last drop –
But his body failed him. A dull pain throbbed in his chest, and Naruto gasped instead – he choked –
Sensei put away the water and held him, his hand rubbing his chest while the other supported his back. He held him close to his chest. "Easy, Naruto. Easy. You're hurt. Don't push yourself. Take your time."
Naruto's tongue felt heavy and his throat burned and his lips felt foreign and torn. "Mo…re…" he rasped, his voice raw and broken. Sensei's fingers soothed the ache burning and throbbing throughout his body. Everything hurt except for where he held him.
Sensei held the cup to his lips again. "Slowly, Naruto," he warned and tilted the cup.
Naruto gulped greedily, but this time, he allowed Sensei to support him. He relaxed into his touch. The strong arm – as unyielding as he remembered, did not fail him. Naruto did not want to let him go.
Sensei lowered him back to the mattress. "You want more?" he asked quietly.
Naruto nodded.
Sensei gave the cup to the woman, who filled it up and gave it back. And once again, Sensei cradled him in his arm and helped him drink.
He felt warm and safe, but Sensei's eye looked blacker, and his face was paler than usual. Dark circles decorated both eyes – the visible and the hidden. His lips were pursed shut, and his hair was brushed back.
He looked exhausted.
Sensei lowered him back to the bed, and though the throbbing pain eased, Naruto immediately felt cold. "You found me," he croaked.
The man caressed his hair. "Shizune found you," he countered quietly. "She treated your wounds. You're getting better," he added, perhaps sensing the spike in Naruto's breaths. "Just focus on that."
Naruto waved his arm in yet another failed attempt to grab the man – hold him – but Sensei understood. He held his bandaged wrist as gently as he could. "What's wrong?" he whispered.
His breathing and heart rate jumped – and every machine in the room started beeping as if everyone needed to know. Fuck. Tears welled in his eye again. "Get me out," he begged. "I can't – I can't pay – get me out – "
Sensei's hold of his wrist tightened. He leaned closer, his one eye burning into his own. "You don't need to pay. I took care of that. It's fine," he added, his voice softer than before. "Don't worry about that. Just get better, all right?"
Naruto's eye kept searching the black abyss. "School – "
"I'll take care of it, as well." The man sighed and managed a small smile. "Perhaps you're already improving if you worry about those things."
The woman, Shizune, smashed her notes on Sensei's head, hmphing when he winced in response. "Too well," she bit, then turned to gaze at Naruto. "We need to run some tests, all right? Check your eye – "
Naruto shrank away. "Sensei – "
"Will have to leave, I'm afraid," she said, not unkindly. "He can wait outside with Gai until I am done."
Gai? But Naruto had no time to worry about that. He sought Sensei's eye, desperation and fear spiking again –
"I'm here," Sensei murmured. "What's wrong, Naruto?" His thumb brushed his skin, so he must have been crying again.
"M-my dog," he choked. "Is…"
"He's fine," Sensei immediately reassured him. His eye flashed with pain. Why would he be in pain? "I'll find him for you, all right?"
The woman smacked Sensei again. "No dogs in the hospital, Kakashi!"
The man glanced at her, annoyed, then returned his eye to Naruto. He offered him a small, pained smile. "I'll bring him to your new place. How about that?"
Naruto stared. "N-new…." His heart trembled again. "My apartment…."
Sensei brushed his hair with his fingers. "Gone, I'm afraid. The entire complex. Shhh… calm down, Naruto," he added softly, his brow furrowed with concern. "I've got a spare unit, remember? You can stay there."
Suddenly, Naruto realized he was sobbing. He did not want Sensei to go, even if that meant falling to pieces in his arms. "I can't…" he managed before his voice broke and he ran out of air. "I can't…." New and old pain trembled through him. "H-how much –"
"You don't need to pay me. Hey. Kid. Look at me. Look at me, Naruto," Sensei's voice sounded harsh, but his eye was soft and gentle, and his fingers – cupping Naruto's unbandaged cheek – were warm. "I don't want your money," he murmured, leaning closer. "I want you to get better, all right? That's all you need to do."
"But – "
Sensei narrowed his eye. "Naruto."
Naruto stared back stubbornly. "No." His lower lip trembled. His determination broke under the man's penetrating gaze, leaving behind desperation and fear and –
The man sighed. "You can walk my dogs," he offered instead. "Three times a day."
Naruto pouted, so the man added with a cocked brow, "There are eight, and one of them is quite large."
Sensei kept staring at him, so Naruto managed a small nod.
The man glanced at Shizune, stifled a sigh, and got up. "I'll wait for you outside, all right?"
Naruto's eye widened. No. No, he could not leave yet. He – "Wait," he blurted, trying to reach with his still useless hand. "Wait," he gasped.
Sensei immediately sat back down and held Naruto's hand. "I'm here. What's wrong?"
Naruto wished he could hold him. "Stay," he begged.
The man's eye widened, but it was Shizune who answered, "He can't. He is not your official guardian or medical personnel, and either way, you're old enough to withstand a little bandage change on your own." She offered a reassuring smile. "I promise to be gentle, and I'm very good." She smirked and leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially, "Kakashi asked for me specifically, you know?"
"Very humble, too," Sensei added. He sighed and met his gaze. "It's true. Shizune is the best doctor in the area." He caressed his hair. "You'll be all right, Naruto. I'll be right behind that door."
This time, he did not get up but waited for Naruto's approval. "Um," he managed. "Could you… can I ask, um…"
"What is it?" Sensei asked quietly. "Tell me."
His heart drummed again – which was very distracting because the machines started beeping almost as fast – "In my apartment, I had a… a metal box," he coughed, embarrassed and desperate. "It had important, um, stuff, and…."
"You want to search for it?" Sensei finished the sentence for him.
Naruto clenched his jaw and nodded.
"I'll take a look and see what I can find," he promised, but his eye was dark again. "Just… don't hold your breath."
Naruto's eye widened, tears treading the border, ready to jump –
Sensei caught them before they fell. "But don't lose hope just yet." He got up. "Call me if he needs anything, and I'll – "
"I know," the woman rolled her eyes. "The two of you did not change at all, did you?"
Sensei stared at her blankly, then left.
Naruto glared at the woman. "What?" he blurted.
Shizune shook her head. She retrieved scissors, a large container that smelled awful, and a pack of bandages. "I'll replace your bandages now. Check the damage." She glanced up. "If you'll behave, I'll tell you a story."
Naruto's curiosity was piqued. Pain and fear pushed aside, he leaned closer. "About Mr. Hatake?"
The woman nodded. "And about you," she winked.
Shizune started cutting the bandages on his unbroken arm. "Well, so. A long, long time ago – fifteen years, to be exact, in the faraway kingdom of Konoha…."
"What?" Naruto groaned. "Tell it normally."
"Don't ruin it! Where was I? Oh, right. I was thirteen, and my uncle started dating this wonderful woman who was a doctor. So, I decided I wanted to be a doctor too. And – "
Naruto winced and grumbled. "What does that have to do with me?"
"Just listen, you impatient brat." She finished cutting through the bandages. "My… this is…."
Naruto paled. "What, what? Am I dying? Am I going to lose my hand? Am I – "
"No," Shizune cut through his nervous jumble. "You just healed… remarkably quickly. That's just a first-degree burn, now."
Naruto tried to peek, but he could not lift his head without his chest protesting. "Still hurts," he mumbled.
"Well, that's a good thing," the woman mumbled. She started smearing ointment all over his arm. "Hmm, where was I? Oh, right. So there I was, learning math from the great professor Namikaze himself – Your father, Minato," she added. "And suddenly – bam! The door to his class was opened dramatically!"
Naruto winced but managed a small smile. "Sensei…?"
"Yes! Your sensei, known back then simply as 'the brat' because of how annoying and bratty he was, opened the door, holding a sobbing toddler. You, by the way."
Naruto's eye widened. "Me?"
"Yeah. Seems that dramatic tendency of yours didn't change, huh?" The woman smiled. "Anyway, Minato immediately ran to the two of you to check why his adopted son was holding his biological son – "
"Wait." Naruto's heart started racing again, to the delight of every machine in the room. "Son?" he choked.
Shizune shrugged. "Well, not exactly… I don't know the details. All I know is that after his parents died, he lived with Minato and that Minato was absolutely besotted with him. No idea why," she added, distracted. "He was so rude to everyone back then. Anyway." She bandaged his arm again. "So Minato crouched down and asked what was wrong, and Kakashi pointed at your knee. He needs treatment, is what he said. He ran to me, and he fell. I'm sorry." She taped the bandage and began cutting the one on his forearm. "And Minato just laughed. Kindly, of course. He patted Kakashi's hair and smiled at him. It's just a scratch, he said. Just wash it with soap and warm water, and he'll be fine. There's no need to apologize; kids fall all the time."
She sighed and started smearing more goo. "Your father was the kindest man I've ever met," she said quietly. "But, of course, Kakashi was a brat, so he was having none of that, y'know? He's crying, he pointed out, all dramatic. He needs treatment."
"Well, your father said. He's crying because he thinks something terrible happened. Because you're nervous, Kakashi. Just smile and act like it's nothing, and he'll soon forget. But no, Kakashi wasn't having that either. He held out his hand and – I kid you not – demanded twenty bucks. Just like that! No please or thank you or even a sentence. Twenty bucks, he demanded, and Minato just gave them to him. Just like that."
Naruto no longer felt the pain. "And…?" he gasped. "That's it?"
Shizune looked up and rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Thirty minutes later, the door is once again opened with a bang! And there was Kakashi, still holding you because god forbid you had to walk with a scratch on your knee, offering you back to Minato – all bandaged up. I've got class, he said. Minato came to pick you up. You didn't have to do that, he said. I did, replied Kakashi. Here's the change, he said and offered it back to Minato. Your father once again ruffled his hair and said, you can keep it. Buy yourself some snacks, all right? And Kakashi just grumbled and walked away. You, however, were delighted. Bye, Shi! You cried, waving your hand – "
"Shi?" Naruto frowned.
Shizune started working on his leg. "You were two, and Kakashi is a hard name to pronounce. You called him Shi."
Naruto blushed. "Oh."
The woman smiled. "Then you showed your dad your new knee, as you called it. You were very proud of it because Shi, as you said, made it just for you. Then, you insisted on napping on his coat under the desk, which you did pretty often when you weren't drawing frogs on random pieces of paper, walls, whiteboards… homework problems…."
Naruto's blush deepened. "So I really liked frogs?" He asked, almost shyly.
Shizune shrugged. "Gross creatures. But yeah, you did. Anyway… let's see… oh, right. One of the girls argued with Minato about a solution because she got a different answer though she did the same thing, and Minato explained that her Pi estimation was off. He had a thing with triangles and circles, don't ask me why, and then, a small voice cut through their argument. I know lots of Pi! You yelled."
Naruto's ears burned red. "I did?"
"Obviously. I wouldn't say it otherwise, now would I?" Shizune said, her voice clipped but her smile wide. "The entire class burst into laughter, especially when all we could see were your little hands grabbing the desk. Minato tried to calm you down, but you insisted he put you on the desk. I want to be tall, you said. And then you just started… listing about twenty, if not more, digits of pi."
She chuckled. "Everyone was shocked – even your dad! You just shot those numbers like it was nothing! I mean, we all knew that the son of a genius would be one, too, but you were just an adorable, grinning toddler. You didn't do anything genius until that moment."
Naruto winced when she touched his bruised leg. "Um. So how…?"
"That's the interesting part, isn't it?" Shizune smeared the goo a bit more gently. "Minato asked the same thing, and you told him that Kakashi invented a game. Each night you recited the numbers, and if you managed to get more than him, that meant you were a big boy and had to sleep in your own bed." She gazed up at him and smiled. "And then you hid your face in your hands and confessed that you tended to mess up some of the digits on purpose because you wanted to sleep with Kakashi even though you were a very big boy, using your own words."
Naruto's face burned red. The machines started beeping again as if he needed another reminder that he was close to bursting.
Shizune moved to his other leg. "I know... how cute is that? The entire class cooed. I cannot stress enough how adorable you were. You just kept snuggling into Minato's shoulder – who was the most smitten father ever – and – "
"How do you remember all that?" Naruto asked, still fighting a blush.
"Oh." She pointed to her head. "Tape-recorder. Anything that gets in doesn't get out."
Naruto stared at the large red marks staining his skin. "Um. Can I ask…." Shizune looked up, so he continued, "Did K-I mean, Mr. Hatake have a bandage on his eye, back then?"
The woman frowned. "Ah… yeah. Yeah, I think… Well, I started attending Konoha when I was thirteen, and he already had a bandage on. I don't know what happened," she added, perhaps in response to his parted lips. "Kakashi is a very private person. He will tell you the weirdest of lies before confessing the simplest of truths."
Naruto's happiness disappeared immediately. His mouth dried. "What… what happened to him," he whispered, "after my parents died?"
Shizune took her time. She finished bandaging his leg, her work slow and meticulous, and sighed. "Well, those also heal well," she mumbled. "Kakashi…" She sighed again. "Tsunade – the amazing woman I told you about – signed his adoption papers."
Naruto gulped. "So someone – someone took care of him, right? Someone – "
"He did not want to be taken care of. He refused to be taken care of." Shizune's voice was curt, and her eyes did not meet his. "He just wanted to study. He demanded to get his own small apartment and shunned everyone. He didn't even show up to class anymore – he studied alone, got top marks, and disappeared as soon as he could. He reappeared three years ago and started publishing an insane number of papers and started acting almost, sort of, friendly." She looked up and swallowed with difficulty. "That's all I know."
She sat closer to him and removed the bandage covering half his face. "He's probably very annoying and weird, but that's Kakashi," she said quietly. "You should – "
"He's not annoying at all," Naruto snapped. "He's really cool and brilliant and kind and he always helps me with stuff." His chest ached and heaved. "He's the only one I trust."
His cheeks bled red and his heart raced again and his chest – tense and ready to fight – throbbed with pain. Damn those machines and his broken ribs. His unbroken hand turned into a fist.
Shizune stared at him. "Oh. Well, that's good." She unveiled his eye. "I was about to say you should give him a chance, but I see I don't need to." She shone a light into his eye. "Very good," she mumbled. "Can you see, Naruto?"
"Well, I could," he grumbled, "before you blinded me."
The woman shook her head. "Cheeky. I'll arrange for a test." She smeared more stuff on his face and wrapped it again. "Still, you're healing very well. I think I might be able to release you in a day or two to recover at home." She got up and ruffled his hair. Her dark eyes were serious again. "Naruto… I cannot express how happy I am to see you. Well, alive." She smiled softly. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me, all right?"
Naruto nodded. "Thanks," he whispered. His voice was oddly strangled.
Shizune offered him a glass of water, but Naruto shook his head, so she placed it on the stand near his bed. "You have visitors," she said instead. "Would you like to see them?"
Naruto stared. "I have… really?" His throat tightened. "Who?" What if those were members of the gang who came to finish the job and hurt him and –
"Gai, a pink-haired girl, and a dark-haired, very grumpy teen," she listed, then frowned. "You all right?"
"Yeah," Naruto managed a sigh of relief. "Yeah. They're fine."
Shizune gave him an odd look, then sighed. "Right. I'll let them in."
And as she left, Naruto thought of his sensei. Abandoned, he thought. He's so secretive because he was abandoned, and he's scared to be left alone again. He's probably very lonely. Naruto's breath faltered. He's like me.
Notes:
I'm sorry I published at such a delay! Because of the degree, my schedule is starting to get packed, so I hope it's still Friday for you guys, wherever you are.
Another note – Shizune only knows half of the story, so what she told Naruto is only a superficial account of Kakashi's and Tsunade's relationship. I'll have Tsunade telling her version of what happened much, much later on, but it is accurate to say their start was rocky at best.
I have like so much backstory in mind, and even now, I'm trying to figure out if I can add more of it into the story and how… but I think that for now its enough to say that Kakashi and Naruto were practically attached at the hip and that Kakashi was a very, very protective older brother.
I just noticed that the next chapter is going to be rather short, so I'm kinda debating combining it with chapter 20 (which will make it a very long chapter). I think I know the answer, but what would you guys prefer?
Anyways, I love to know what you guys think, so please share! And I'll see y'all next Friday!
