Behind the Mask

Chapter 5

"Th-thanks for the e-examination," Kuroko bowed to the adults and shut the door awkwardly, he felt very uncomfortable after that. Sighing, he tugged on the shirt he was given and looked around. Seeing that no one around Kuroko shuffled around, he paced back in forth in his spot. He had no idea where to go.

"Oh, you're done?" Yoshino appeared in the hall with a stack of clean laundry in her arms. "The bath is ready, take one with Shikamaru." She handed Kuroko a towel, put her hand on his back and pushed him gently to the bathroom. Kuroko looked up to Yoshino and was about to refuse the offer—he had a shower recently—but she sent him a very intimidating smile that refused to be defied.

He supposed that he was sneezing quite frequently since the game of tag. Yes, going against Yoshino-san would be terrifying. The bath might also help with his fever.

Kuroko slid the door closed behind him and saw Shikamaru with a towel around his waist, his hair still up in a ponytail.

"She told me that it would save the water's heat for later uses if we went together," Shikamaru drawled with a roll of the eyes.

"O-oh..." Kuroko fidgeted, uncomfortable with undressing.

"I mean just use a fire jutsu... Troublesome." He mumbled and went into the bathroom. He really didn't understand his mother's logic, women logic altogether.

Since the Nara mansion was traditional, like most of the other clan's housing, it followed the rule of the toilet being in a separate room from the bathtub and shower. The room with the bathtub and shower was connected to the entry room which serviced as a laundry room.

Kuroko undressed and wrapped the towel around his waist. He folded his clothes and put them in a basket. He had to keep the bandages around his hand on though since it was a fresh wound. He needed to keep his mask on though, lest Shikamaru see his appendages. Kuroko slid the door open a bit and saw Shikamaru look over to him, he was just entering the bath with its steaming hot water. Kuroko sat down on the stool and started washing. He could feel Shikamaru's eyes staring at him.

Shikamaru was careful to keep his face blank, Kuro's way too skinny. I... I can see his ribs! He frowned in concern, he's got a lot of scars too... Though from what he could see were just lighter lines of scar tissue, most of them were very faded and were hard to notice unless looking closely.

"Do you want me to wash your back?"

"Uh... Um, sure." Kuroko stammered. He heard water sloshing and heard Shika talk from behind him.

"You don't seem used to this." He raised an eyebrow when he saw that Kuroko still had his mask on. His face had been turned away from him and the black band blended in with his hair.

"I'm n-not!" Kuroko squeaked and jolted in surprise, flushing red when he felt the sponge on his back. It was different from when he was just by himself. He shivered as the sponge lathered his back, he bit his lip. Shikamaru smirked a bit when he saw that his ears were red.

"There. All clean," Shikamaru gave him a light pat on the back with a little grin.

"T-thanks." Kuroko needed to wash his hair ears and tail now without Shikamaru seeing. "Can... Can you look away, please?"

Shikamaru smirked at the implication and felt like teasing him now, "What? You got a har—"

"N-no!" Kuro's face burned heatedly, "That's not it! It's just... please..." I don't want you to see me.

"Alright."

Kuroko sighed in relief and looked to see Shikamaru turned to face the wall. He felt bad for making him do this, but he was scared of the consequences when he saw what he was. After he lathered his tail and ears, he washed off with the faucet and put his mask back on.