Kakashi has officially decided that he really hates rain.

It's been raining since this morning, and consequently, Kakashi has been coughing his lungs out all day. The humid air irritates his throat, which makes it even more difficult to breathe than it already was. He's barely been able to get any sleep because of it, while he needs his sleep so bad.

It's been ages since he last felt this sick. At some point during the day, all of his various aches and pains had melted together, and now, he's not certain whether he's still a human being or just one big blob of misery. Whenever he coughs, he can't tell whether his injured side is protesting or his entire body. Whenever he makes a wrong move and accidentally jolts his wrist, he can't tell whether it's the fracture that hurts or his entire arm. Whenever he tries to move a bit too quickly, the normally-bearable muscle soreness that comes with the chakra exhaustion makes him feel nauseous with pain.

He's spent most of the day curled up on his good side, shivering from either the fever or the cold, and trying to force himself to finally pass out.

In the afternoon, he senses Naruto's chakra signature approaching, and he tries to drag himself upright a little. He's not entirely successful – it seems that slumping against the wall is the best he can do right now. Kakashi decides not to push himself; he's already admitted all of his weaknesses to Naruto anyway. The kid probably already thinks he's completely pathetic anyway, so what's the point in trying to keep up appearances?

Somewhere, though, Kakashi knows he should be more careful about trusting Naruto. The fog in Kakashi's skull occasionally makes him forget that it's Naruto's parents that were like family to him, not Naruto himself. The kid is being raised by the Hokage. Who knows what kinds of things Sarutobi Hiruzen has taught him – and yet here Kakashi is, readily trusting Naruto like he's Minato, blindly assuming that he won't use his weaknesses against him just because his parents were good people.

"Jeez, it's raining really hard outside," Naruto's voice drags him from his thoughts. He crawls into the room, water dripping from his hair. He squeezes some water from his jacket. "So, are you feeling any better, Dog-san- oh, wow, you look like crap."

"Thanks," Kakashi deadpans. Speaking makes his throat feel like it's tearing on the inside, and he stifles a wince.

"You sound like crap, too," Naruto observes matter-of-factly. He quickly shrugs out of his backpack. "Don't worry, though – I've got just the thing!"

Kakashi watches as Naruto zips open his backpack and pulls out a thermos flask, which he triumphantly hands to Kakashi. With a raised eyebrow, Kakashi opens the thermos flask and sniffs at its contents. His sickness is messing with his sense of smell, but he vaguely recognizes the scent of ginger tea. The tea doesn't smell like it's been poisoned.

Naruto watches him inspect the tea, sheepishly scratching at the back of his head. "I'd originally prepared the hot water so that you could use it for the ramen, but I got distracted and made tea instead," he admits. "It's ginger tea, because apparently that's good for you when you're sick. I hope it helps with… whatever is going on with your voice."

"For… the ramen..?" Kakashi echoes, somewhat bewildered. He's struggling to understand, and he's not sure whether his fever is the problem or whether Naruto just isn't making much sense.

"Oh yeah, I hadn't shown you yet!" Naruto replies, and he promptly turns his backpack upside down.

Five ramen cups bounce onto the ground – well, that explains it – followed by a plastic first-aid kit and a flashlight. Naruto shakes his backpack a bit, and a pale orange blanket flumps onto the ground as well.

Naruto grins at Kakashi. "I figured I'd bring some more stuff to help you out," he says, "'cause, well, you probably need it more than I do. Like, the first-aid kit. I don't use it, ever, but you kinda look like you need one. No offense."

Kakashi just stares at him. His brain is having trouble keeping up with what's happening. He and Naruto made a deal: they would trade food for information. But then, why- Why did Naruto bring so much more stuff than just food?

Why is Naruto putting so much effort into helping some random missing-nin that he's known for two days?

Naruto takes his silence as a cue to explain the contents of his backpack further: "And, I brought you a blanket as well, because… Well, I don't know. I guess sick people need blankets? Also, it's getting colder, and freezing to death would suck." He squats down and holds up the flashlight; "And I brought my flashlight, because yours isn't very bright – is it broken? The batteries of mine are about half full still, so they should hold up for a while. I wanted to buy new ones, but I'm kinda broke right now. Uh, anyway-"

He trails off, and Kakashi realizes that he should probably say something now. He stares at the collection of stuff that's arranged on the ground in front of him. He could use each of these items, but-

"What's the catch?" he asks, looking up at Naruto. "You're clearly trying to make some sort of trade – what do you want from me?"

Naruto tilts his head at him. "Uhm," he replies, "I guess I hadn't really thought about that. You can just borrow it? As long as you give it back, it's all good."

"But won't someone notice that you took these things?" Kakashi asks. Naruto lives with the Hokage – surely the Third would get suspicious if stuff was suddenly missing from his home, right?

There's something wrong about that assumption, though. If Naruto lived with the Third, then why would he say that he's broke? It's something that Kakashi needs to get to the bottom of – but he decides that he'll figure it out later, when his head no longer throbs with every thought.

Naruto frowns at him. "I didn't steal any of this, if that's what you're thinking," he replies. "This is all mine. No one's going to care if I bring you my own stuff." He shoves the pile of stuff towards Kakashi. "Look, you're being weird, Dog-san. Just accept that I'm trying to help you."

Kakashi is understanding none of this. It's not making any sense. Naruto could've easily used Kakashi's weakness against him – any shinobi worth their salt would – but instead, he's trying to help Kakashi.

Is overwhelming empathy genetic? Minato was always relentless in his attempts at helping Kakashi as well.

"I- I don't know how to respond to that," Kakashi says, before his mind has the chance to spiral him into another damn panic attack.

"A "thank you" would be nice," Naruto replies with a frown.

"Ah- Yeah. Thank you." Kakashi is still having a hard time trusting all of this, letting his guard down, but he supposes he should've realized that he should at least be polite. When did he forget how to react to genuine kindness? Maybe he never knew in the first place.

Naruto seems satisfied, and he holds out one of the ramen cups at Kakashi. "Are you able to eat again? If so, then you should probably eat some ramen. It's pretty good, even when it's dry, I promise!"

It's really difficult not to compare Naruto to his parents. But, well, Kakashi supposes he should be grateful that that's the biggest problem he has to deal with right now.


Naruto stays for a while, hanging the new flashlight from the ceiling. He ends up sheepishly asking whether he can have one of the ramen cups that he just gave Dog; he hadn't eaten dinner yet, and in his excitement that morning, he'd also forgotten to make lunch for himself. Breakfast was his most recent meal, so he's hungry.

Thankfully, Dog agrees easily, and they both eat a portion of dry ramen. It's crunchy, but still good. Naruto is pretty sure that it's impossible to make ramen taste bad, actually, no matter how it's prepared. It's just one of those foods that taste good no matter what.

Dog eats slowly; it seems like he doesn't have the energy to do anything quickly right now, not even eating. After he's finished his ramen, he sits back, Naruto's blanket wrapped across his shoulders. He looks tired, Naruto observes. The new flashlight is bright enough to illuminate the dark shadows underneath his eye and the raw-looking red flush on his face.

Naruto gets to his feet. "I'll leave you alone, so you can rest a bit," he tells Dog. "You look like you need it."

Dog raises an eyebrow at him. "No questions today?"

"Nah," Naruto replies. He'd feel bad asking Dog to use up more energy than necessary. "Just… sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

At that moment, thunder crashes loudly outside, followed by the rattling of rain, which quickly becomes louder. A cold gust of wind blows down into the room; Dog muffles a coughing fit in his sleeve.

"It's storming even harder than before," Naruto muses, crawling into the tunnel to peer outside. He can barely see the forest through the opaque curtain of rain. "Uh, hey, Dog-san? Change of plan… Do you mind if I wait out the rain for a bit here? I'll be quiet, I've got some homework I can do."

"Sure," Dog replies, closing his eye. His voice is even rougher than before, and he doesn't seem very intent on talking. Naruto leaves him be and pulls his books out of his backpack.

Naruto has never been very good at making his homework on time – he forgets about it half of the time, and he doesn't think it's worth the hassle the other half of the time – but he's decided that maybe it is worth the hassle, now. Iruka-sensei often makes him stay after class as punishment because his homework isn't done, and that's something that Naruto would prefer to avoid from now on. Dog is depending on him, after all.

He tries his best to focus on his homework, Dog resting next to him. Dog is breathing difficultly, and shivering a lot – Naruto feels a rush of guilt about the fact that he was only able to bring one blanket, while it's clearly not warm enough. Well, there isn't much that Naruto can do to solve that problem; he only owns one blanket, and it's currently wrapped around Dog's shoulders. He feels guilty about it regardless.

Naruto continues his struggle to focus on his homework, despite the fact that it's painfully boring. He's wrestled his way through two-and-a-half pages of The History of Konohagakure when he notices that Dog is blinking his eye open, a pained tension in his brow. He narrows his eye, almost like he's listening for something.

Naruto automatically tries to listen as well, though he doesn't hear anything. He gives it a few seconds, before starting: "What's-?"

"Shh," Dog interrupts him urgently, and Naruto quickly clasps a hand across his mouth. It's quiet for another few seconds, before Dog's eye suddenly widens, a startled expression. "Shit," he hisses, and he reaches out a shaky hand to turn off the flashlight.

In the new darkness, it's almost impossible to see anything; the only light in the room is the dim gray light that comes from outside, and the occasional flash of lightning. Naruto scoots closer to Dog, somehow feeling like they'll both be safer that way. He feels like he's supposed to be afraid, though he's not certain what he's supposed to be afraid of.

"What's wrong?" he whispers as quietly as he can.

"Someone's nearby," Dog hisses back. "Shinobi, I think. Five of them." Something glints near his left hand, and Naruto realizes that he's holding a kunai. He automatically takes out a kunai of his own.

Thunder crashes outside, and Naruto winces at the loud noise. He keeps trying to listen for something in between the rattling of rain – footsteps, maybe, or people talking – but he can't hear anything. Dog kind of seems to know what's happening outside, but Naruto is completely in the dark. It makes his limbs buzz with adrenaline.

Something rustles outside of the tunnel, and Naruto's heart stutters in his chest. Next to him, he can hear Dog's breath hitch. Slowly, soundlessly, Dog gets his feet underneath him in a crouched position. He's getting ready to fight, Naruto realizes.

"Someone's coming," Dog whispers at Naruto. "Get behind me."

Naruto tightens his hand around his own kunai, uncertain. It feels wrong to expect Dog to protect him, when he's trembling all over. "But-"

A shadow blocks out the gray light from outside; the yellow light of a flashlight follows, casting harsh shadows into the room. Dog shoves Naruto behind him. Naruto can hear footsteps now, though they're quiet. Someone is crawling down the tunnel. Naruto holds his breath, his heart thundering in his chest.

The flashlight's beam slides into the room. A person follows, cautiously.

Naruto feels his eyes widen with startled recognition.

Dog springs into action at the same time that Naruto yelps out: "Iruka-sensei, I can explain-"

Iruka raises his kunai, ready to fight back against Dog – but Dog, who had leapt at Iruka, abruptly seems to change strategy. He would have been fast enough to attack Iruka, but instead he only blocks Iruka's kunai and stares him right in the face.

Iruka's voice sounds startled. "Shit," he gasps, "you're- Kakashi of the Sharinga-"

Inexplicably, Iruka snaps his mouth shut after that. His face goes blank, his eyes unfocused, as though he's looking straight through Dog.

Even more inexplicably, he then lowers his kunai and turns around wordlessly. Naruto watches, his mouth dropped open, as Iruka crawls back out of the tunnel and shuffles the bush back into place. "There's nothing over here," he hears Iruka call out, and the silence returns after that.

"What the Hell happened?" Naruto blurts out at Dog. There were a million ways this encounter could've ended, but this had not been an option that Naruto had considered. Iruka just… left? In the middle of a fight? This is not the way he taught his students to fight, that's for sure.

Dog turns around to him, panting heavily. His face is cast in a weird red glow, and it takes a couple of seconds before Naruto realizes that that glow is coming from his left eye – his left eye, which Naruto hadn't realized that Dog still had. He'd been hiding a whole entire glowing eye underneath that scruffy hair of his?

Naruto is distracted when Dog sinks to his knees and drops his kunai, breathing harshly. With a stuttering groan, he grabs at his left eye. Naruto scrambles towards him, putting a steadying hand on his back. Judging by the way he's tilting to one side, he's barely able to sit upright.

"I used genjutsu on your sensei," Dog grits out, tightly pressing his hand against his left eye. His other eye is squeezed shut with pain. "I made him forget he saw us. We sh-should be safe."

"How did you-" Naruto starts, struggling to understand. "I didn't see you make any hand signs or anything."

"It's one of the abilities of my eye," Dog says, his voice breathy. He shakes his head; "I'll explain later. It uses up a lot of chakra. I might- I might pass out again-"

He slumps to the side, clumsily resting the side of his face against the wall. Naruto stays quiet and rubs Dog's back, hoping that that'll help a bit. Naruto can feel the feverish warmth of his skin through his clothes. His clothes are vaguely damp with sweat.

Dog is trembling uncontrollably, but his breathing evens out eventually. He doesn't pass out again, not to Naruto's knowledge at least. In the meantime, Naruto listens for any sign that Iruka – or the shinobi that he's with – is coming back, but it stays quiet outside. It seems that Dog's ruse worked.

That was close, though. Really close. Naruto had been really close to being in a lot of trouble, and Dog had been really close to being in even more trouble. They're both super lucky that Dog is so good at genjutsu.

A quiet cough from Dog distracts him from his thoughts; Naruto watches as he slumps further against the wall, probably trying to find a more comfortable position.

"Are you okay, Dog-san?" Naruto asks, before correcting himself: "Or, well, it's Kakashi-san, isn't it?"

Dog – Kakashi – huffs a wry laugh. "That's right," he replies.

"Is "Dog" a codename?" Naruto asks. "From when you were still a shinobi? Or is it just, like, your favorite animal or something?"

Kakashi actually laughs this time, although it turns into a coughing fit pretty quickly. "Both, actually," he replies. He sighs then, closing his eye. "I hadn't meant for you to find out my name," he admits. "It's more information than you should have. It could put you in danger."

"Well, you could just make me forget it all," Naruto replies with a shrug. "Like how you made Iruka-sensei forget stuff."

Kakashi shakes his head. "Later," he says, "maybe. I don't have enough chakra for it right now. For now, just make sure you don't tell anyone, all right?"

"I already promised that I wouldn't tell anyone about you," Naruto reminds him earnestly. "I'm not going to break that promise."

"That's good," Kakashi murmurs absently. "Thanks."

A silence falls after that, during which Kakashi tries to catch his breath. Naruto uses the silence to try and process everything that just happened – it's a lot.

People are looking for Kakashi, except they're probably not anymore. Iruka-sensei found out where he's hiding, except Kakashi made him forget about it, and now Kakashi seems so much sicker than before. And Naruto discovered Kakashi's name by accident, and it kinda seems like he's stressing out about it, even though Naruto has never heard of him before.

"Hey, Kakashi-san?" Naruto decides to ask, carefully – he's not sure whether Kakashi is still awake. When he hums in acknowledgement, Naruto continues: "I don't think it's fair that I know your name but you don't know mine. So, my name's Naruto. Nice to meet you, I guess."

Things have spiraled out of Naruto's control a little – or maybe they were never in his control at all – but he feels like he can at least try to help Kakashi's stress about Naruto finding out his name.

Kakashi gives him a weak little smile; there's something sad about the expression. He doesn't quite seem to know how to react, and Naruto decides that it's probably for the best to let him rest. If he's too sick to properly react to someone introducing themselves, then he's probably in pretty bad shape.

Naruto's assumption turns out to be correct; Kakashi passes out not much later, and he doesn't react at all anymore, not even when Naruto wraps the blanket around his shoulders. Naruto stays hidden until he thinks the shinobi must be gone, and he leaves quietly under the cloak of darkness.