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Iruka groaned in frustration and attempted to dislodge himself from the tangled blankets and piled dog limbs. He was overheated and his nose was stuffy again and his throat ached worse than it did the day before. He felt exhausted even after sleeping all morning and WHY was it so hard to just climb out of a stupid pile of ninken so he could go take some more stupid medicine!?
Iruka huffed in anger as he finally disentangled his arm and was able to sit up. Most of the ninken were watching him now, and Uuhei asked, “are you feeling any better?”
Bull’s hot breath ghosted across his arm and Iruka’s irritation spiked. “It’s too hot in here. You’re all too warm. Can you please not sleep on the bed with me?” His tone was sharper than he usually took with the ninken, but he was cranky and hot, and just wanted to get some sleep without feeling suffocated.
A mass shifting and mumbling in which Iruka was pretty sure he heard Akino say “we were just trying to help,” and eventually thankfully, the bed was gloriously empty. Pakkun stood watching him from atop the side table and made a noise that could have been the dog equivalent of clearing his throat. “Your medicine’s here if you want to take more.”
And so it was, perched next to Pakkun on the side table alongside a glass of water. Iruka took the pills gratefully and drained the glass of water, then threw the blankets off the bed and laid back down.
When he awoke again it was because he was shivering, and his toes and fingers felt like ice. He muffled a miserable moan into his pillow and sat up to crawl to the edge of the bed and pull the blankets back up. Moving around made his bladder insist on a trip to the bathroom, and when he returned, the ninken were all watching him again. The blankets on the bed had been righted, and a fresh glass of water was on the bedside table.
“Boss says you gotta stay hydrated,” said Guruko, and Iruka walked back to the bed to sit heavily.
“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you all earlier.”
Urushi trotted over to rest his head on Iruka’s knee, “We’re just worried about you sensei. Are you okay? Can we get you anything else?” Iruka had always had a soft spot for Urushi, the ninken’s angry demeanor betrayed a truly sweet personality. He dropped a hand to ruffle Urushi’s ears tiredly.
“I’m okay. I think I just want to get some more rest.” He hesitated, then asked quietly, embarrassed, “will you all come sleep on the bed again? I got cold.”
Urushi chuffed happily, and Shiba stood from her spot on the floor to jump gracefully onto the bed and lay at the foot. Iruka smiled and moved back under the covers, the ninken piling onto the bed around him, Bisuke snuffling his way under the blankets to tuck his head under Iruka’s arm.
Iruka blinked his eyes open a moment later to the touch of fingers against his forehead, and realized he must have fallen back asleep because Kakashi was standing over him, and he wasn’t due back until that night.
“Are you up for some dinner? I made miso.” Kakashi sat on the edge of the bed, the ninken shuffling about like they could predict his movements. Maybe they could, Iruka wouldn’t be too surprised. He sat up and took the bowl of soup as Kakashi pressed it into his hands.
“Thank you for leaving the ninken with me,” Iruka said, cradling the warm bowl in his hands. “They took good care of me.”
“Good.” Kakashi smiled, and Iruka ate his soup as the ninken excitedly chattered to Kakashi about how well they took care of Iruka-sensei while Kakashi was gone.