Fur Doesn't Cure the Flu

A/N: Hi, guys! This fic is dedicated to Summer Leigh Wind, who is the winner of the review contest posted on my other Naruto multi-chapter one-shot collection called Warmth, which elaborates on the relationship between Kakashi and Kushina.

Summer Leigh Wind's prompt was: "Rin and Obito meeting Kakashi's ninken for the first time (not in battle or on a mission). Preferably I'd like to see their ages be somewhere between ten and eleven".

Let's begin!

"Bakakashi has officially lost the right to yell at me for coming late," Obito muttered as he trudged up the stairs to his teammate's apartment. Beside him, Rin's frown deepened. Kakashi had been so late for training today that Minato-sensei had actually asked them to check on him. He would have come along too, had it not been for an urgent summons from the Hokage.

"I hope he's okay. This is so unlike him," the Nohara replied.

"Oh, he's fine," Obito muttered, not looking entirely convinced. "I'm sure he's just being lazy, the jerk."

The door to Kakashi's apartment was dark brown, and always looked a little unfriendly. As doors went, this one seemed like a fortress, and perhaps it was, Obito supposed. Kakashi seldom let anybody in, and even when he did, the door seemed to stand guard, ready to boot out the next person who bothered the Hatake. On sleepless nights, Obito would lie awake imagining the door as a monster, with vicious red eyes and an evil laugh.

Understandably, he didn't try to knock. Rin did.

Tap-tap-tap.

"Kakashi? Are you in there?" she asked, a crease forming in between her eyebrows. Obito took a step towards the door, sniffing the air.

"Do you smell that?" he asked her.

"Smell what?" and Rin took a deep breath. "Oh. Yeah. What do you think it is?"

"Smells like dog," Obito replied, shooting her a dubious look. "Kami, he's so weird, that guy."

Tap-tap-tap.

"Hey, open up! It's us!" Rin called, her voice gaining volume.

"BAKAKASHI, IF YOU DON'T OPEN THE DOOR, I'M GOING TO KICK IT DOWN WITH MY MAD NINJA SKILLS!"

"Obito! Quiet!" Rin squeaked.

And that's when Kakashi's evil door swung open.

"Mad ninja skills? Please," the prodigy scoffed. Well, he actually said something like, "Mad d'inja skills? Plea-d'."

The visible parts of his face were flushed, his eyes were red and puffy, and there was a trail of used tissue paper leading up to where he was standing. Apart from that, he looked disheveled and there seemed to be what looked like fur on his clothes. Just as his teammates were about to comment on his appearance, the Hatake reared back, looking slightly alarmed, and then sneezed, pulling his mask down and covering his face with a tissue in one fluid movement.

"What the hell?" Obito muttered, taken off-guard. "Hey, jerk-face, are you alright?" he added as the Hatake buckled over, seized by a series of coughs.

Rin was a lot more forceful in her approach. The medic-nin-in-training swiftly dragged Kakashi back into the house and made him sit on the nearest chair, deftly navigating her way through the tissues on the floor.

Obito followed her with a bit of reluctance, but stopped as he entered the living room and sniffed the air. "Definitely smells like dog."

"Who are you calling 'dog', brat?"

The gruff voice made both Obito and Rin jump. They turned sharply, and while Rin's face lit up, Obito's scrunched.

"It's a puppy!"

"You're a puppy? Wait, a talking puppy?"

"I'm a summon, thank you very much," the pug puppy muttered as he ambled towards Kakashi. "You look terrible, kid. I told you, you should have just ignored the door."

Kakashi, whose mask was still down, sniffed in response. He looked enormously undignified, most unlike how he appeared usually. Apparently, though, he was too sick to care. Instead, he mumbled, "Obito, Rin'd, this'd is Pakkun. He's one of my subbons. That's why he can'd talk."

"One of your summons?" Obito cried, "How many do you have?" And that's when seven other puppies trailed out of Kakashi's room.

Methodically, Kakashi introduced, "Bull, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akin'do, Uhei, and Guruko."

"Can I pet them?" Rin asked sweetly.

Kakashi looked at her, then at his dogs, and then with a deliberative nod, he said, "Yes."

Rin squealed in happiness and began to scratch Pakkun behind the ears.

"Hey, wait, I'm a ninja dog, I—" and then Pakkun broke off with a moan of pleasure. "That's good, that feels good." Kakashi smiled a little as he watched the dog lean into Rin's hand.

Obito was standing ramrod straight, looking right at the Hatake. "You never told me you have summons."

"They're Hatake subbons," Kakashi muttered, "A'd they're still you'g. They're still trai'ging." As an afterthought, he added, "I keep them'b here som'betimes."

"So you can cuddle them?" Obito teased.

Kakashi shot him a glare. But the look was somewhat ruined by the series of hacking coughs that followed.

"Wow, you're really sick, huh?"

This was when Rin looked up. "And dog fur just makes the flu worse, Kakashi."

He was still coughing.

"For Kami's sake," Rin muttered, standing. There was still affection in her tone as she said, "Obito, can you get him to lie down? I'll go look for some medicine." She seriously doubted the Hatake even kept medicine at home. Something about him just screamed of an empty med cabinet. And even with her ninjutsu, there wasn't much to be done. At the most, she could relieve his headache. But it was just the flu, so there weren't any actual procedures to cure it. As always, it had to cure itself.

Obito watched Rin leave the living room, before turning back to his teammate. "Right, Bakakashi. Let's get you up."

"I dob't n'deed your help," the Hatake spat. "I'b fib'e!"

"Riiight…"

Just then, the litter of dogs formed a circle around Kakashi. Pakkun looked at the prodigy with severe eyes as he said, "Come on, pup. Let's get you to bed." To Obito, the pug said, "He's such a drama queen."

The Uchiha smirked. "I know, right?"

Kakashi glared at both of them, but the attempt was very half-hearted. With a sigh, he picked up the nearest puppy—Bisuke—and mumbled, "Come on, then," before marching towards his bedroom. Obito snickered as he saw the rest of his teammate's dogs scuttle after him, with small yips and barks.

Two weird sights already. Kakashi sick—so sick, in fact, that he'd given up playing 'tough guy'—and Hatake ninken summons. Or 'subbons', as Kakashi called them. What was next? A herd of rainbow unicorns?

When Obito followed his teammate to the bedroom, he was shocked to find the Hatake curled up on his futon with the puppies sleeping on his stomach. The dogs that couldn't fit on their master took their positions around him, forming a protective wall around the boy.

Obito bit back a laugh. The third weird sight! This was going to be excellent blackmail material some day.

Right now, though, he was just going to enjoy the view. He never thought Kakashi even had a soul, but seeing him so vulnerable, and seeing his dogs so possessive of him, made Obito smile. The Hatake's eyes were closed, but Obito wasn't sure the silver-haired ninja was asleep.

Rin entered the room, her hands full of a bowl of warm water and rags. She stopped at the sight before her, and smiled. Pakkun, curled up on Kakashi's chest, was looking at the both of them with a very studying gaze.

"He's totally out," the pug muttered. "Poor pup didn't get any sleep last night. Was coughing his lungs out." He paused, musing. "What are you two going to do?" There was an edge to his voice, a slightly menacing tone.

"We aren't going to hurt him," Rin replied, her voice soft. "We're his teammates." She approached Kakashi now, fully aware of all the ninken curling closer to the boy.

"Rin's a medic-nin," Obito supplied. "She knows what she's doing."

Pakkun still looked a little suspicious, but didn't reply, allowing Rin to come closer. The Nohara sat down by the futon and began to wipe Kakashi's forehead with the wet rags. His skin was hot to the touch. "You're very protective of him," she said to Pakkun. "It's so sweet."

"I guess he needs it," the pug replied. "Someone's got to look out for him, right?"

"Hey," Obito protested, albeit softly. "We look out for him."

Pakkun rolled his eyes. "Sure, on the battlefield. But he doesn't show his soft side, much, does he?" At their identical looks of confusion, the dog said, "Well, I'm going to sleep too. Close the door on your way out."

After that, Rin and Obito sat in silence for a while. This had been more than they bargained for, but neither of them really minded. The Uchiha knew what his female teammate was thinking. He was sure she was worried about the fur making Kakashi's health even worse. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"They're good for him, you know," he said, looking at the ninken.

She chewed her bottom lip and nodded. "Let's go. It's getting late."

"Yeah."

It was dark as they exited Kakashi's apartment building. They walked in silence, before Minato-sensei appeared before them.

"Hey. The meeting with the Hokage just ended. Did you check on Kakashi?"

"Yes," Rin replied.

"And?"

"He's covered in fur," Obito chuckled, affection coming through in his voice.

Rin smiled too. "Yes, he's covered in fur, but he'll be okay."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. Summer Leigh Wind, I hope I did justice to your awesome prompt.

If you're interested in more Kakashi-centric fics, you can check out my profile. I write mostly Kakashi-centric stuff in the Naruto fandom. Also, check out my one-shot collection, Warmth, which focuses on the relationship between Kakashi and Kushina.

Thanks for reading! Please review!

Bye!