-Naruto-

.

How the heck did this happen?! Isn't the stupid furball supposed to take care of this stuff?!

"Not a furball, brat."

"Shut up! I thought you said you'd kill all the sick so I wouldn't have to deal with it!"

Fuzzy scoffed irritably.

"Hey! Fix it, jerk!"

"No."

"Why the heck not?!"

"Figures. The stupid teacher finally says something useful, and you're not even paying attention. What was the point of going to the baby school for once if you're not actually getting anything from the class?"

"What does class have to do with being sick?"

"The teacher said your immune system gets stronger when you get sick."

Naruto stared blankly. Fuzzy sighed and summarized the lecture.

"When you get sick, your immune system fights back. But it's like training; if you've never fought before, you don't have the strength or experience to fight anyone. You get sick, and your immune system beats it back and gets stronger. Which means that your immune system sucks, because I've always killed all the sicknesses that get inside you before you can even begin to fight them off yourself. Something as pathetic as the common cold could totally kill you."

Naruto growled.

"Seriously?! How does that matter?! If you can kill all the sick, then why do I need to be able to do it?!"

"Think, brat! If you're ever cut off from me somehow, it would be absolutely pathetic to die because you caught a cold. I refuse to have a pathetic Jinchuuriki."

"Idiot! I'd die if you left me, so the cold wouldn't even have a chance to kill me!"

Fuzzy scoffed again.

"Prepare for the unexpected. Just because I'm strong doesn't mean I'm invincible. Look at your idiot father; he bested me while being impaled on my claw! And besides, fuuinjutsu can do some crazy things. It's entirely possible to cut you off from me without removing me from you. And in that case, you'd probably die by sickness, which is completely unacceptable. Think of it as training, brat."

"Some training! This headache sucks! I can't even sneak around because I'm hacking out my lungs all the time! I can't sneak up on a sleeping Nara right now, how am I supposed to play tag with the ANBU?!"

Fuzzy decided this was a lost cause and went to take a nap, completely unbothered by Naruto's indignant mental shrieking.

.

-Hinata-

.

Hinata was a little nervous to be heading to Naruto's apartment at first. Sure, she'd been there before, but never uninvited, and rarely without Sasuke or Shisui-san. Hinata had thought that Mikoto-sama would have come to help take care of Naruto, but apparently she was busy at the moment.

So Hinata knocked timidly on Naruto's door, and waited patiently for a response. When it never came, even after waiting a few minutes, Hinata snuck over to the window she knew Naruto always left open in case of an emergency (trapped with exploding seeds, of course. Good thing he taught his friends how to avoid his trigger) and slipped quietly inside. She searched for Naruto in his living room, but it seems he wasn't there. Most likely in his bedroom, then. Maybe Hinata should leave; she's been in Naruto's apartment alone with him, but certainly never in his bedroom. Father would have a fit if he heard she entered Naruto's bedroom, and just dealing with her own nerves was making her want to crawl in a hole until Naruto inevitably dragged her outside again.

Ah, but Naruto is still sick, and Hinata came to see if he needed anything, so she gathered her courage to look for him in his bedroom.

And promptly froze when she spotted him. Only one thought occupied her head.

Naruto-kun's so cute when he's sleeping!

He was curled up on his side, fever-flushed face in a mildly annoyed expression that somehow only made him more endearing. It was strange to see Naruto so still, but it only added to the preciousness of this event.

He groaned a bit and opened his eyes groggily, probably awakened by the sheer storm of... something... that Hinata was feeling. She immediately lamented the loss of the precious sleeping baby Naruto-kun, but forcibly dragged herself back down to earth when she noticed Naruto sleepily started mumbling something while squinting blearily at her. Hinata went red in the face and stuttered something about soup, then practically threw herself out of the room.

As Hinata took a few seconds to recollect her thoughts, she finally noted just how flushed Naruto-kun had been. It must be a very bad cold, to leave him bedridden like that. Naruto couldn't stand to sit still that long unless he was physically incapable of moving. And Mikoto-sama can't come to help right now... Itachi's out on a mission, and Shisui would probably not be much help in getting Naruto to rest. Sasuke would have a terrible bedside manner, so that just left Hinata to care for Naruto-kun.

Mind quickly made, Hinata started rooting around Naruto's fridge to find a few vegetables and some chicken to make some soup. Huh. Naruto has a lot of chicken. That makes sense, though. He often says that Fuzzy loves raw meat, especially chicken. Actually, wasn't Fuzzy supposed to keep Naruto-kun from getting sick? Is something wrong with Fuzzy, for Naruto-kun to get so bad?

Hinata shook her head. That's not what's important now. She and Sasuke puzzled out exactly what Fuzzy is a while ago, and he's more than capable of taking care of himself. And even if he isn't, there's nothing that Hinata can really do, as she knows next to nothing about fuuinjutsu and wouldn't even be able to get into Lord Fourth's seal to see what's wrong. But she can do something about Naruto.

On the subject of Naruto, he likes to cuddle his foxes quite a bit. Perhaps that would help him feel better? Oh, but he's probably not feeling well enough to cast the Summoning Jutsu, so maybe Hinata could bring Fate over? She's intelligent enough to realize that Naruto doesn't really need a playmate right now. But Hinata would have to leave Naruto to get Fate, and she doesn't want to leave him alone in this state. Better to focus on her soup for now. She can go get Fate to cuddle Naruto later, when he's feeling a little better and has some food in his belly.

Hinata debates using some of Naruto's instant ramen noodles to turn the chicken-veggie soup into chicken noodle soup, but dismisses the idea a second later. Naruto would almost definitely like it, but his ramen is sacred to him. Hinata isn't touching it with a ten-foot pole without his permission. Besides, ramen probably isn't the best thing for a sick person's stomach.

She quietly pads back into Naruto's room to bring her soup in, to find him only half-awake, mumbling somewhat angrily about "dumb freeloader foxes". She's debating over whether to disturb him, when his half-lidded eyes lock on the bowl and he starts to whine something about dreaming about good smells. It would probably be cruel to take the food away now, so Hinata sets the bowl down to help Naruto prop himself up against the wall so he can eat sitting up.

When they finish, Hinata nervously starts asking Naruto about his symptoms. She figures it would be a good idea to try and figure out exactly what kind of sickness it is. But Naruto's barely awake enough to register her questions, so Hinata just kind of awkwardly sits on the edge of the bed with her empty soup bowl, trying to figure out what she should do next.

Naruto made the decision for her. Apparently she was right to want to bring Fate, because it seems a sick Naruto is a cuddly Naruto. Hinata can't exactly say she minds it.