Leaving Her Alone

*Chapter 2*

Warmth. Dry, overly sterile-smelling air. Persistent, rhythmic beeping.

All of these things welcomed Naruto in his slow return to the realm of consciousness. Groaning dryly, he slowly opened his eyes, squinting against the fluorescent ceiling light fixed directly above him. After a minute or so, his eyes finally adjusted, and he dragged them over his surroundings.

The warmth came from the blankets he was currently nestled under.

The dry, sterile air? That was courtesy of the various bottles of ointment, peroxide, and rubbing alcohols on a rolling cart not too far from him, as well as the virtually clean...EVERYTHING...in the room.

The persistent beeping came from the machine standing next to his bed...a machine, he discovered, that was presently attached to him via an oversized clamp that currently covered more than half of the middle finger on his left hand.

"A pulse ox...?" he muttered, a knowing frown creasing his brow as he half-glared at the device on his hand. "Tch...what the hell am I doing in the hospital? And how'd I get here for that matter...?"

"That would be because I brought you here." Naruto turned toward the casual-sounding voice, and was none too surprised to see Kakashi leaned nonchalantly against the wall by the room's only window.

The blonde boy couldn't help the smile that curved his lips upward at the sight of the Copy Ninja; he was one of the few people in the whole village that actually gave a damn about his wellbeing.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." the silver-haired jonin quipped half-heartedly as he pushed himself out of his leaning position and made his way to his student's bedside.

"Heh, you make it sound as if I was out for a long time, sensei." Naruto replied groggily.

"Well you were - it's been a solid three hours since I brought you here, and that's not counting however long you were at the training ground prior to me finding you. ...I'm afraid to even ask what you were doing out there..."

Naruto's smile faltered slightly, the resurfacing of memories from the day's unfortunate events causing an uncomfortable tightening in his chest. Kakashi's visible brow furrowed, having noticed the subtle change in the boy's expression.

"Naruto..."

"I just went there to do some thinking is all." Naruto interjected, his smile broadening slightly, though - Kakashi noted - not quite reaching his eyes. "Heh, kinda dumb of me, huh...falling asleep in the rain like that? I mean, you'd think I'd notice myself going under like that..."

"I'd gauge it more along the lines of completely dumb, Naruto." Kakashi said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Because of this little stunt of yours, you've gotten yourself a high-grade fever and a sentence of bed rest. You should be grateful that that's the worst of it."

The blonde huffed, rolling his eyes. "So you're telling me that I'm stuck in here because of a stupid fever? Can't I be sick at home?"

"If the doctors release you, then yes you can. Until such time, though, you will remain here."

Naruto released a frustrated groan, crossing his arms over his chest. "I friggin HATE hospitals." he muttered.

Kakashi shook his head at the boy's petulant behavior before moving around the bed and heading for the door. "Alright, I'll be back a little later to check on you." he said casually; he paused just before exiting to glance over his shoulder at the blonde. "And Naruto...no sneaking out of the hospital this time, please."

Naruto huffed irritably before turning onto his side, facing away from his sensei and the door.

"Yeah, yeah..." he mumbled.