🦊Naruto Hatake🦊

Chapter 2

Puke and the Hokage

Yes, he knew all about nightmares.

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when a bang awoke Kakashi. Heart pounding, he leapt out of bed in battle mode with a kunai in each hand. He quickly scanned every inch of the room searching for enemies before he realized that he was in his home. Still unable to shake the feeling that something was amiss, he crept out of the room to hunt for intruders. There was nothing in the living room. Suddenly remembering the events from last night, he ran back into the bedroom. The boy was not there. He dropped to his knees and looked under the bed and then the closet; he was not there. He wasn't in the bathroom either. With only one place left to look, he went to the kitchen.

The boy was behind the counter digging through the trash that was strewn around the floor. He was about to put something in his mouth. "No," Kakashi shouted in disgust before he could stop himself. "Drop that now! That's very bad."

Naruto's whole body jerked in surprise before he scuttled away to the corner of the room with his hand raised above him. Big fat tears rolled down his hollow cheeks leaving white streaks on his dirty face. "Em baa, me sawwy. Me sawwy. Ungy."

Angry at himself for scaring the boy when he yelled, he sighed, "I'm not going to hit you, calm down."

Naruto looked down at the floor, "Em baa."

Kakashi was torn between surprise that the kid had finally spoken and confusion at what he was saying. He finally thought he figured out what the chibi was trying to say. He said gently, "You are not bad; Naruto, but eating trash will make you sick. Let's get you a bath and then something good to eat, okay?"

"Eee?" he solemnly nodded then allowed himself to be led to the bathroom. Kakashi ran the bath water then began to remove the clothes in disgust. When he took off his shorts, he was surprised to see an old cloth diaper. The kid had it on for a while, he could tell. He started to peel it off him, but Naruto began to cry in pain. He stilled his movements and placed both hands gently on his shoulders. He tried to not let the way the child flinched affect him personally, but it still bothered him a bit.

Kakashi looked him in the eyes and said, "Naruto, I have to take off your diaper. It might hurt a little, but we have to do it. I'm sorry, okay? But I promise I won't hurt you again."

His body stiffened and he lowered his head, but he didn't try to squirm away. Kakashi peeled the diaper off to see the whole groin area in flames from a massive diaper rash. The backside was even worse. He could see some scares on the chibi's body. He put the crying boy into the tub and gently washed the grime away. He had to refill the tub again due to all the dirt, but eventually he got the boy all clean. He lifted him out of the tub, dried him off, wrapped him in a towel then took him into the kitchen. Setting him on a chair, he said, "Now you just wait here and I'll make you something good to eat, okay?"

Kakashi was about to walk into the kitchen, when he glanced back at Naruto. He had a serious expression on his face that looked just like Minato. Memories of their past together flashed through his mind. His heart began to race and he felt dizzy. 'Oh no, not now', he thought as his hands became numb and his chest hurt. He stiffly walked into the kitchen and slowly slid down the counter until he was resting on the floor. With long slow breaths, he tried to control his harsh breathing. Knowing that this could take awhile, he shakily bit his thumb and summoned some of his ninken. He explained the boy's situation to them and asked for their help.

To Urushi, he said, "Watch the boy for me. Don't get to close though unless he wants you to. He gets scared real easy." He pointed to Shiba and Akino, "Go find the boy something to wear and a diaper." They nodded their heads and peeked around the corner to take a look at the little chibi, then ran out the doggy door to complete their mission. To Ūhei he said, "Go set up a meeting with the Hokage for me." Kakashi leaned his head against the counter and slowly began to count until his heartbeat returned to normal.