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Naruto feels hot, miserable, and nauseous. What had he been doing to make him feel so awful? Was…. was he on a mission? Did he get poisoned? He thought he would remember something like that, but maybe the poison in his veins was messing with his head, because only poison could make him feel so terrible.
"Naruto?"
The voice rings as familiar, but he can't place who exactly it is. Surely though, if he's feeling so awful, one of his teammates would be there. Even Sasuke-teme would be better than nothing. (Then again, he might just be petty and let him be poisoned to death… so maybe it's better if he isn't here.)
"Naruto?"
He groans, he tries to pry his eyes open, but the brief glimpse of the world around him is just a smear of colors. He closes his eyes when it makes his head swim. He feels like he's gonna puke. "'Kashi-sensei?" he slurs, head falling to the side.
"No, Naruto, it's Hinata."
"Jeez, dad's really out of it."
Is he? And… "Hinata?" he repeats, brows furrowing. "Why're you here?" He's on a mission, shouldn't she be with her own team? "Is… hm… team eight?"
"Naruto, we're both at home."
"Where does he think he is? Is the fever cooking his brain?" the younger male voice asks.
"Does he need a doctor?" asks a new voice. It sounds like a little girl?
"Not yet. If it gets any worse we can take him in to Aunt Sakura."
"Sak'ra," Naruto murmurs. Where's his team? They should be here if he's sick and poisoned on a mission. "Sasuke? Kakashi-sensei?"
"They're busy, Naruto," Hinata says.
Naruto groans, flailing a hand until he can cover his eyes. Even with his eyes closed everything is spinning. "Wha– what em I poi–poisoned with?" he slurs out.
Laughter. "You aren't poisoned, dear. You're just sick."
But if he's sick… "Kakashi-sensei?"
Sigh and more laughter.
"Why's he keep asking for the old man?"
Naruto frowns at the disrespect. Kakashi-sensei isn't old!
More laughter. "Yeah he is! A super old man!"
He must have said that out loud. But the other voice is still wrong. "Shut up," he groans. "Wrong."
"He's actually delusional."
"It's the fever. Dunk the rag to make it cool again."
Something is lifted off his forehead– there was something there?– and then the sound of water splashing and then something cool is replaced on his head. "Thanks, sensei…"
A sigh. Why is Kakashi-sensei sighing? He must be irritated.
"I'm Boruto, not old man Kakashi."
That's… not right. Naruto frowns. Kakashi-sensei should be here if he's sick and poisoned. He's always there when he feels bad.
"You're just sick, Naruto, not poisoned."
"What's with him and being poisoned?"
"Must be remembering an old mission."
Exactly! Naruto was on a mission. A mission with his team– who should be here. Where's Kakashi-sensei? Is… is he hurt too? Sakura's the medic, is she with Kakashi-sensei? Then at least Sasuke should be here, unless he's standing guard. Are they in a hostile environment? But they all stayed together at Tazuna's house, even if they took turns staying awake. Where's Kakashi-sensei– surely he'll know what's going on.
"Holy cow."
A hum. "I'm going to go ring up Kakashi-sensei. It seems like Naruto wants him."
"No kidding."
"We'll watch over daddy!"
"If the rag feels like it's getting warm, douse it in water again."
"We got it, Mom. We can handle changing the rag."
"We'll do our best."
"I'll be right back."
Naruto's not a fan of all these voices talking all at once over him. It makes his head spin and feel all dizzy. Kakashi-sensei would make them be quiet by now. At least Sasuke wouldn't be so noisy. Sakura knows how to treat fevers and headaches and poisons and nausea. He's really nauseous right now.
"Ugh. Please don't throw up."
"Is he gonna be sick?"
"Maybe. Grab the bucket just in case."
Naruto sighs at the roiling in his gut and the swimming in his head, the sound pulling from a sad sigh into a pained whine. Where's Kakashi-sensei when you need him? Surely he'd have a jutsu to fix this. "Sensei?" he calls. Maybe if he's not here, someone can get him for Naruto.
"He's on his way."
"Mom, Dad's feeling really nauseous."
"That's normal. You have the bucket?"
"Yup! Just in case daddy throws up."
"Good girl."
Kakashi wasn't here? Naruto doesn't like that. What if they get attacked? Naruto can't do anything when he's feeling so awful. He hopes Sasuke and Sakura are feeling okay, otherwise they're sitting ducks. "Sasuke?" he asks. "Y–you good?" Sasuke's their strongest member besides Sensei, so if he's up and functional they should be fine.
"Sasuke-kun's just fine, dear."
Then where is he? Kakashi-sensei's gone, Sasuke's not here, and he hasn't heard Sakura once!
"Maa, but I am here, Naruto."
"Sensei!" he tries to flip over in the direction of the voice, but groans when it makes his head spin and his stomach flip. "Don't feel good, Sensei…"
"Yes, you have a fever."
"...poison?"
"Ha, no. You're just very sick." Yeah, Naruto feels very sick. "You worked too hard, so you don't feel great right now."
"M'a vomit."
"Please don't."
"Where– where's teme?"
"Who's that?" the boy kid asks again.
"That would be Sasuke. And Sasuke's working right now Naruto. He's busy."
"Sasuke-sama isn't an idiot!" the boy mutters grumpily.
Sasuke's busy? But they're on a mission– is Sasuke completing the mission so they can go back to Konoha? Naruto must have caught a flu on a mission. Which sucks. He needs to be ready at any moment in case they're attacked– he doesn't have time to be sick. Actually, what if there's enemies right now?
Naruto tries to sit up, dragging his elbows under him.
"Woah there, Naruto, where are you going?" Kakashi-sensei asks, pressing down on his chest until Naruto's forced to lie back down.
"Gotta, gotta finish the mission," Naruto mutters. "Is…" Naruto's brain blurs. "Wave mission? There was…" Naruto's line of thought disperses. "Enemies?"
"The mission's done, Naruto, you just need to rest now."
It's done? Thank goodness. Everyone else must have completed it. He doesn't like being deadweight, but he's glad everything turned out fine.
"And now we can go home?" he asks. He really misses his bed and tiny apartment right about now.
"When you're not sick anymore," Kakashi-sensei assures, hand patting on Naruto's head. A fresh wet rag is put onto his forehead. "But you gotta rest up to get better."
That makes sense, even when Naruto's brain feels like mush. But still, it's hard to rest when he doesn't have any clue to where his teammates are. "Sasuke? Sakura?"
"They're resting too. The mission was very tiring and they're sleeping right now."
"Oh. That's good." His thoughts churn slowly forward. "C'n I see 'em?"
"You're sick, Naruto. We don't want Sasuke or Sakura to catch your sickness too."
"Mmmmmmm, fine…" That makes sense, even if he doesn't like it. They're asleep anyways, and Naruto doesn't know if he could get up to go and see them. His head's still spinny and his stomach hurts a ton.
His mind drifts for a bit, minutes, hours, he doesn't know. He just knows he loses his train of thought for a while, but when he comes back to his own skull he realizes it's been quiet for what feels like forever. Is he alone again?
"Sensei?"
"I'm here. Go to sleep, Naruto."
"M'kay."