6. Rumours
After the storm passed and school resumed, Sasuke noticed, the rumours about Kakashi and Naruto kept escalating. The blond was in the hospital for a week before he was discharged. Heck, all Sasuke had to say was that Kakashi was Naruto's father or guardian...but he said nothing.
Teachers eventually have caught wind of it and started talking about proper actions to take.
Naruto was still in bed as Iruka had taken a week off strictly to look after him. He looked at his new smartphone. He had barely used it since he was gifted the odd piece of technology. There was a third number under Hyūga Hinata. He touched the screen to text her.
"Hinata-chan,
Sorry for taking so long to text you. Thank you for all the gifts. I gave your father my word that I'd accept them...so my mom and I donated old things.
I hope you are having a nice day at school.
P.s I especially enjoyed the gifts you have selected...even if one of them was an expensive car"
Hinata was in class when she received that text. She smiled widely and put her phone down. He was so formal in texting, it was obvious he had never done it before.
"Naruto, I got called for work. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll bring some food from your favourite shop with me on the way home."
"Okay" he closed his eyes feeling the forehead kiss. As soon as Iruka was out the door, Naruto got dressed and left too.
He held on to his coat as he felt the cold creep in. He walked to school making it just in time for lunch break.
He walked in class, the group of friends that normally have lunch with Sasuke stopped to look at him.
"Naruto-kun!" The blonde chirped, she had been awaiting his return for a while. She even got angry with Neji who promptly kicked her out of the group.
"Ah.." Naruto felt on the spot, he has rarely been present for roll calls.
"My name is Ino...Ino-chan" she repeated.
"Ino-pig" she heard in the background as they snickered and laughed at the new nickname. They've been calling her that ever since they kicked her out. And the chants and nicknames came from none other than her supposed best friend, Haruno Sakura.
"What can I do for you, Ino-chan?" Naruto didn't seem to pay attention to them.
"Well...you helped my friend...so I wanted to thank you. But think of it as a belated birthday gift" she bowed offering the box.
"Ya.. ya...Ino-chan....Hinata-chan already...it's too much dattebayo? I haven't even done anything that big" he argued.
But the girl looked at him with sparkly teal eyes and he caved in accepting it as long as she promised it wasn't something expensive.
"I knew I heard your voice" Shikamaru leaned against the doorframe "shouldn't you be at home?"
"I feel fine..." Naruto cleared his throat.
"You're not allowed to leave...Wait until Kakashi sensei hears about it." he walked away, a cynical smirk on his face.
"Shikamaru, you can't tell him!" The teen followed his friend and their voices died out in the distance.
Quickly the rumours flew faster than they did any other day.
"Did ya hear? Kakashi sensei has a teen locked up in his house!"
"I heard he only ever feeds him once a week"
"So my cousin lives near Kakashi sensei...and he swears he saw him bring men....whaddaya think they're doing?"
"I heard he is using the poor idiot as a prostitute"
Everyone were busy texting on their phones that lunch break. And the raven who knew the truth didn't seem to bother to share the information.
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Naruto sat down frowning in the nurse's office after his father had given him a piece of his mind.
To his luck the nurse had to leave the office so he wrote a note that he was picked up and left back to class. Only problem was, as Naruto slid the door he remembered he had English class.
He tried to ever-so-gently close it back and leave.
"Naruto, nice of you to join us" his creepy dad said without looking his way.
'Why did he have to be an ex-agent?' the blond sighed.
"Take a seat," his father smiled innocently enough.
Naruto felt eyes follow him as he sat down. He started playing with the pencil as Kakashi read the play and asked questions.
Unusual eyes followed Kakashi's every movement and they caught him throwing a piece of paper on Naruto's desk and then brushing a hand over the blond's hair to get his attention.
Pictures were snapped in silence, even short videos were taken but everyone was in shock.
Naruto read the fatherly threat "we'll talk about this at home" he was on the verge of a panic when he saw police lights outside.
The class shifted its attention outside, everyone knew what was going to happen, except for Naruto and Kakashi.
"Uzumaki Naruto to the principal's office. Hatake Kakashi to the principal's office"
They both looked at one another. The teen went ahead to the principal whilst Kakashi waited for a teacher to come look after the class first. She shot him a nasty eye as she walked in.
Kakashi took his leave to the office, in a bit of a sprint worried his son got in some sort of trouble.
Naruto was sitting in the office, a social worker in front of him, police officers by his side and the principal ever so nicely offering him to drink.
He started hyperventilating, the only thing that made sense was something had happened to Iruka. Everyone were being way too nice.
"It's okay...you're not in any trouble." The social worker tried to comfort him "we're not going to let him hurt you anymore"
"Hu-hu-hurt me?" Naruto asked confused, easing his breathing a bit "Iruka is okay? Nothing happened to him?"
"Iruka? No sweetie we're not here about Iruka. We have had many reports about-..."
"Naruto!" He heard Kakashi call for him from outside. He was held back by police officers.
"Tou-san!" The blond teen went out, throwing himself in Kakashi's arms and crying "tou-san I was so scared...I thought something happened to Kaasan because of me" he visibly shivered in Kakashi's arms.
Kakashi hadn't heard him call them dad and mom since Naruto turned ten when he, out of the blue, decided to just call them Kakashi-niisan and Iruka. Although, occasionally when Naruto was too sick he would call them Tou-san and Kaasan.
"I'm pretty sure he is okay" he kissed his forehead.
The social worker went outside, confused as to why the teen would call him dad.
"Are you his father?"
"Yes I am" Kakashi kept his arms tight around Naruto "what's this about?"
"There were a lot of reports concerning sexual misconduct towards a minor. I'm afraid even in the light of knowing you are his father...we have to carry an investigation."
"I beg your pardon?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. His brain had processed it correctly but he just couldn't understand how that happened.
"I'm sorry....there were rumours just rumours... I should have said something. They won't take you away, right?"
"It's okay...We didn't do anything, okay? You're gonna go with the nice lady...and I'm gonna go to the police station with the nice officers, okay? Iruka is gonna be there with you, he's going to take you home afterwards...there's no need to panic. Okay?" He kissed his forehead and gave him a hug.
"Okay, you'll be home tonight too?"
"Most likely" he said with confidence and allowed the officers to shackle him.
Naruto watched his dad be taken like a criminal. The CPS's woman lead him to a car and he left with her.
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Naruto sat in the examination room feeling humiliated for the tests he had just gone through.
He felt exposed, vulnerable and violated by a person who was merely doing his job.
The Child Protective Services seemed to pressure him almost. As if he were lying about something of the sort.
"Naruto-kun, you know we will protect you-..."
"I told you a million times already. My dad never did anything remotely inapropriate with me. I don't understand why you want me to say otherwise...where's Iruka?" The teen continued fiddling with his fingers as a way of calming his raging nerves.
"He's detained as well for the investigation." She informed and that seemed about all the patience the teen had for the matter.
"I want to see my parents" Naruto got up walking to the door. His heart beating in his throat.
"Naruto-kun, you can't see them now."
"No no no I need to see them" he tried to open the door but it was locked, he started banging on it.
His breath breaking as he started panicking. "You have to calm down...if you behave yourself everything will go on smoothly..."
Naruto heard the words that echoed far in his head, muffled almost. A lie, he was told the same thing when they were taken for the first time.
When the banging stopped, it wasn't because they have calmed the teen but because he had collapsed.
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Iruka had been calmly dealing with the situation since he was detained. Both his statement, Kakashi's and Naruto's aligned perfectly. They made sense but they tried to pressure them regardless.
They assumed the teen would break down first and say it just out of fear but they were out of luck.
"Look, my son is sick. He can't really handle stress well. Just let me talk to him on the phone for one minute. That's all I'm asking" he pleaded again.
A tap on the window had stopped the investigator. He had walked outside to his colleagues and supervisors.
Luckily for Iruka, Kakashi's past job had ensured a smoother process. The grey haired man had a reputation amongst his friends.
All of them have testified against any of the allegations being true, including Gai who worked with him both in the old job and the new job.
They had no evidence to prove any wrong actions were done against the teen and the tests came negative. They could not hold them any longer than they already had.
"You're free to go" he gave Iruka back his stuff who just made his way out. He had a bad feeling that he couldn't shake off.
"I called Sasuke, he is already home with Shikamaru. They weren't rough with you, were they?" Kakashi asked as he saw his husband.
"No more than I expected them to be...we need to go get Naruto" he slid his hand in Kakashi's as they took a cab together to the CPS office.
Iruka saw the ambulance at the front of the building. He tensed and got out of the taxi.
"Naruto!" He called as he rushed in the building.
He knew the whole place like the back of his hand.
Seeing the uniformed EMT's at his destination only proved that it was his son needing the medical assistance. The teen was on the stretcher, an oxygen mask on his face, unconscious.
"Baby, I'm here..." He held his hand as he saw him coming around "I'm here" he kissed it.
"Kaasan" Naruto mumbled, seeing only blurry figures before he closed his eyes again.
Kakashi had an all too familiar feeling when he saw them running towards the front door. He saw Iruka on the verge of losing his sanity.
"You go with him." It hurt him knowing he couldn't go either.
"Sasuke's-..."
"I'll go home to look after him...just call me about Naruto" Kakashi interrupted.
Iruka nodded and left with him in the ambulance.
The sirens echoed in the distance, Kakashi found himself sliding down and breaking into tears. He had always been emotionally stronger than Iruka, or at least he appeared to be so.
He got home by himself, Shikamaru leaned from the kitchen.
"Kakashi sensei, you came alone?"
"Ha," he answered in a monotone. "Where's Sasuke?"
"In his bedroom, his brother just got here five minutes ago." He informed "are Naruto and Iruka coming home soon?"
"They're in the hospital. I'm waiting for Iruka to call" he walked upstairs. "Don't ask me if he's alright, Shikamaru. I don't know" his tone remained unchanged.
Shikamaru bit his lip. There was nothing he could do or say, Kakashi was remaining emotionally distant so he wouldn't break down. He knew that much about his sensei from years of befriending Naruto.
Kakashi walked upstairs and knocked on the door before walking in.
"Sasuke,..."
"Ah Kakashi-san," Itachi bowed "he told me about the misunderstanding. I hope everything worked out fine, he was worried" the older Uchiha looked at his brother as he slept.
"We were cleared,..." He informed and heard his phone "excuse me" he picked up right away. "Hey baby...how is he?"
"He wants to talk you,"
"Tou-san," the tired voice of the teen came through.
"Hey Champ, how are you doing?"
"Okay..., I'm sorry"
"It's not your fault. I told you everything was going to work out, didn't I?..we didn't do anything wrong"
"They kept trying to....make me say you did something...." Naruto broke down. Kakashi could so faintly hear Iruka comfort him. "I was scared"
"It's okay...fear is normal, Naruto. I get scared too. I love you okay? Now can I talk to Kaasan?"
"I love you too, Tou-san" he let Iruka have the phone as he cuddled to him, sniffling in the arms of his mother figure.
Kakashi sat down at the top of the stairs. Leaning against the wall.
"Are you spending the night with him?"
"You know the answer to that question"
"Is it serious?"
"He apparently had two seizures back to back. But they said not to worry. They're doing more tests in the morning." Iruka exasperated.
"Okay, keep me posted."
"Is Sasuke okay?"
"Yeah, Sasuke is fine. He is with his brother." Kakashi saw Shikamaru climb up with a bowl of fruit to take to the aforementioned raven.
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Sasuke asked his brother to spend the night. Of course Kakashi had allowed it and he was thankful.
"When's the trial?" Sasuke turned over to face his brother.
"She's still in the hospital from a broken back...but his trial would be next week" Itachi removed his glasses and closed his book. "how are you liking it here?"
"They're nice...a bit weird but nice" he confessed. "You're not planning to leave me here, are you?"
"Of course not dummy, as soon as the trials are over with, you can come home with me. You and Goldilocks getting along?" He chuckled when he saw his brother blush "you like him that much?"
"I don't like him...he had a fever and the world suddenly stops. "
"Are you jealous?"
"No....I mean...a little...Aniki, it's just not fair...I never had someone care for me that much" Sasuke gulped.
"Ouch..."
"You know what I mean" he felt himself pulled into his brother's arms. "They always stopped you..."
"Not anymore" Itachi reminded him. "Get some sleep" he kissed his forehead and started humming a song that he remembered their own mother singing to them when they were younger. He forgot the words but the melody of it was stuck in his mind forever.
He found his brother's jealousy childish but he couldn't really blame him. Sasuke almost had no childhood. He had been in an out of hospitals since his first diagnosis.
Itachi had wished more than once for it to be him instead of his baby brother. Sasuke was his to protect from everything. So the fact that Sasuke had to battle an illness all by himself was a continuous reminder that his goals were unrealistic.
Itachi had vague memories of his parents, he was about nine years old with a baby brother getting out of a burning hotel. He fell asleep, memories of that fire haunted him every single time he had closed his eyes.
From being the sons of the great Uchiha to becoming mere orphans that no one wanted.