Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Faint ❯ Part 13 - Hurting ( Chapter 13 )

Grrrrrr! Guys, I'm really sorry for this delay! Ff.net refused to let me log in but by sheer luck, I managed to log-in today! The heavens are smiling! Not only did I get to buy a whole bag of goodies from Aji Ichiban (a Japanese candy store), but hey! I can finally take down the chapters that are lemon and repost em' else where! No more lemons ere! Phew! Don't want my account shut down! Weeeee!

A big thank you to b4k4-girl for beta-reading this for me! Once again, I'm really sorry!

Enjoy!

FAINT 13

Genma sank his head deeper into the pillows, enjoying the softness and smoothness of the fabric and its scent of detergent soap and citrus. He found himself very comfortable until white-hot pain shot up through out his arm and startled him awake, a painful cry tearing its way past his lips before he could even stop it.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" He cursed, grasping his wounded and bandaged arm and winced, biting his lower lip to stop the pain, but to no avail. He heard the door being pushed wide open and a figure kneel beside him, only when he looked up, he found it to be a very different and almost unfamiliar figure.

"Shiranui-san! Shiranui-san!" His vision blurred for a bit and he was in the verge of passing out. "Genma!"

He held onto consciousness out of pure stubborn will and lifted his eyelids to stare into the dark brown depths of Iruka's worried eyes. For a moment, he just took pleasure at the present time in seeing the academy teacher dressed in nothing but an old white sleeveless shirt and loose cotton pants, hair down and about his face, and lips tinged a bit red. He even smiled at the sight.

"H-Hey Iruka." He groaned when he moved, grasping his arm. "Oh god!" He hissed, wincing and biting his lower lip so hard he drew blood.

Iruka held his head and gently laid him back on the pillow. "Shiranui-san! Stop moving or you'll hurt your arm even more!" He began to gently unwrap the bandages and paled in seconds flat at the state of his comrade's arm. "I should have taken you to the hospital!" Iruka quickly placed a hand on Genma's head, then his cheeks then his neck. "You're burning up! The wound must be infected! Shiranui-san! Please! Stay with me! Tell me! What kind of weapon where you stabbed with?"

"A b-blunt k-k-kuna-a-i." Genma answered and groaned in pain, hissing when he suddenly shifted and unwanted pressure came to his wounded muscles.

"Stop moving!" Iruka said, and quickly stood up, pulling his shirt off and grabbing the turtleneck and pants and quickly dressing. "Stay awake! Don't fall asleep just yet!"

Genma suddenly felt fear grip his heart. The mission the other night had gone a bit dirty and nasty and a fight broke out between two opposing Jounin parties. He was very lucky that he just got stabbed on the shoulder. One of his team members was barely alive when he was taken to the hospital the other night. He was stabbed by a rather blunt kunai and Genma swore that the blunt edge broke when he tried to lessen the impact by doing a simple taijutsu move with his hands. Maybe when he pulled the blade out, some remnants of the blunt kunai remained in his skin, like a small piece of scrap metal or something. Either way, he was starting to feel distant.

"Iruka." He whispered, turning his head away as Iruka slipped on his sandals. "I feel faint."

Iruka quickly rushed beside him and pulled the covers that were suddenly drenched in cold sweat off him. "Hush now! I'm taking you to the hospital."

"It's c-c-cold." Genma said, wincing and turning his head away, skin ghastly pale and eyes glazing. "I-Iruka. C-Cold."

Iruka pulled out the shawl Genma once gave him and wrapped it around Genma. "Shh! Don't worry. You'll be fine. You just need a doctor."

"I'm s-s-sorry." Genma whispered, head spinning with images of Iruka. "I-I couldn't t-t-tell you."

Iruka hoisted Genma on his shoulders and held him close and tight. "Whatever it is you want to tell me, it will have to wait till you're better. Focus on getting better, Genma! Just hang on!"

Genma watched as black spots appeared in his vision, that grew bigger and bigger until his world went black while Iruka performed seals with his hands and teleported them to the hospital. But Genma had a smile on his face, as he was laid on an emergency stretcher and wheeled in to the emergency room, oxygen mask strapped on to his face and anesthesia injected on to him. But he was stilly happy.

He said my name.

XXX

Iruka paced the waiting room silently. Genma came out of the emergency room a good hour later, but did not look like the Genma he knew. Worry gripped Iruka's heart as he caught a glimpse of a deathly colored Genma, with his whole arm in thick bandages, and an oxygen mask on his face, along with the hanging IV fluid and blood pack. Tsunade was now inside, doing her healing jutsu and she had been inside for the past forty minutes. Usually it took her but a few minutes to work her magic but this was taking too long.

He paced the room again and then the door opened and Tsunade came out. Iruka looked up expectantly, but watched with confusion as the nurse hang a sign on the door that read Do Not Disturb and left Tsunade after giving her a proper good bye.

"How is he? Is he all right?" Iruka asked, worried like a sick puppy.

"He could have lost his arm!" Tsunade snapped. She was NOT in a good mood. "Why didn't you bring him to the hospital?"

"He didn't want too! He said it was just a scratch." Iruka said, voice trembling.

"And did your crush blind you from logical decisions?" Tsunade asked, glaring. "A moment longer and his arm would have malfunctioned completely! A nerve ending and important blood vessels were damaged. It's a good thing that you brought him here immediately."

Iruka looked at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry." Tsunade merely gave out a curse, obviously not pleased with the idea of having one of her best people not able to function properly. "Can I see him?"

"No, you cannot. He doesn't want to see anyone just yet because of his condition. You're a man. It's an ego thing. You should understand."

The truth was, Iruka didn't. He would have thought that Genma would at least want to see him. After all, weren't they friends? Iruka felt his insides hurt and mesh so badly that he actually tensed up and flushed red. He thought Genma would honor him and quench his worry by just even having a little glimpse of his breathing form.

"I - I understand." He lied.

Tsunade studied Iruka for a moment. "Iruka, it's best if you just wait for him to be discharged. He specifically demanded that no one other than the nurses and doctors enter his room. You are no exception."

This hurt Iruka even more.

"If it is his wish, then I understand." Iruka said.

"Good." Tsunade said and patted him on the back. "He's fine. Don't worry. He just needs rest."

Iruka nodded and watched as Tsunade left the hallway. A hand unconsciously came up to his chest, which seemed to be heavy with hurt and a sense of betrayal by Genma's actions.

XXX

Days passed and Iruka didn't hear from Genma. There were little talks in the staff room and hallways that he hadn't been discharged from the hospital yet, but Iruka was not comforted by this. He still felt hurt that Genma refused to see him. He knew it was selfish of him to feel in such a way. After all, what was he to Genma? So there was a good relation between them in terms of camaraderie and co-working. But so what? Wasn't that enough reason?

Iruka picked out scrolls from the shelf of the staff library, reading the list from his hand. Naruto had left him a note telling him that he wanted some jutsu scrolls to learn off from, specifically water based and earth based ones. At least Naruto was there to keep his mind busy somewhat. But even then, he barely saw the boy and he knew, since the day Naruto graduated, that he would have to deal with the fact of seeing less of him. He was a genin after all and a growing shinobi.

"But still." Iruka whispered.

Finding the scrolls Naruto requested, he packed up, arranged his desk and exited the Academy building. He took a detour towards Naruto's small apartment to drop off the scrolls and found Naruto walking down the street from the opposite side heading to his apartment as well.

"Naruto!" He called out and he could have sworn that Naruto looked sad and hurt but smiled widely at the sight of him.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out, running up to him, beaming from ear to ear.

"I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been? Naruto! You've lost weight! Are you eating properly?" Iruka asked, worry in his voice.

"I have, of course." Naruto lied, and Iruka frowned. "Well, I've skipped a few meals."

Iruka decided not to press on the matter. "Either way, have you eaten dinner?" Naruto shook his head, a hopeful gleam in his eye. "Come. I'll treat you to ramen."

"Yes!" Naruto pumped a fist in the air. "You're the best, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto threw his arms around Iruka's waist and hugged him tight.

XXX

Six bowls and two cups of tea later, Naruto gave a burp and beamed up at Iruka. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei!"

"Any time. Though, I really wish you wouldn't skip your meals." Iruka chided, placing folded bills on the counter.

"I really try not too. But training is so tiring, that I fall asleep once I get home." Naruto said, wiping his fingers with the table napkin.

Iruka felt hurt at what Naruto said, since he knew that training kept one's mind off certain things. He didn't doubt that Naruto hated going home to an empty house, which is why he made it a point to make sure that it happened very little. It was just that the past few days - even weeks - had been rather hectic and tight-scheduled.

"Come. I'll treat you to something sweet." Iruka said.

"Oh! Oh! Can we try the snow cones? Chouji said they were really nice!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Of course! Lead the way."

A few minutes later, Naruto and Iruka sat on a park bench, overlooking a small pond and eating snow cones. Naruto looked happy eating his frozen dessert, and when he finished his, he turned to look at Iruka funnily. Iruka blinked at his frozen dessert, since Naruto ate his really fast, and laughed, handing it to Naruto, who all but jumped in the air with glee.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, suddenly looking serious, the frozen dessert half finished in his hand.

"Hmm?"

"You were alone too, weren't you?" Iruka frowned at the question. "D-Did you ever think of leaving the village?"

Iruka swallowed. It was a tricky question. "Well, once or twice, I did think about it. But my hopes and dreams and family heirlooms reminded me that there was more to Konoha than just being an orphan."

Naruto remained silent. "If you didn't have a family, would you have left?"

Iruka swallowed the lump in his throat once more, which was bigger than the last one. "That wouldn't really be necessary, don't you think?" Naruto looked up at him in puzzlement. "I have you." Iruka watched as Naruto stared up at him, lips trembling as he looked away to hide his teary eyes. "You have your dreams Naruto. Don't ever forget that." Iruka placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I know we're not related by blood or anything, but I still want you to know that I'm here for you, no matter what. I don't think less of you because of what you have inside you, Naruto. You're still my little kid to me."

"Ah." Naruto whispered, hands shaking. "Sometimes, it's hard."

"It always is." Iruka said, wrapping his arms around Naruto as the boy began to cry, not for the first time in his arms. "It always is. But that is why you have your precious ones, ne?" Naruto sobbed harder. "Remember your dreams and those close to you, and you'll be fine. Everything is eventual. That was what the third always told me." Iruka took the container with the melting shaved ice and placed it on the space beside him, since it was already threatening to fall on the ground. "Everything is eventual. Sometimes it just takes time."

Naruto nodded and just held on tighter.

TBC

I really suck at tenses. Ah, well no one's perfect. Anyway, this chapter was cute to my standards. I just love a weepy-weepy Naruto.

Toodles.