"Again. Again! On a routine mission! How did it even happen this time...?"

Kakashi looked up to meet her harsh glare, lying flat on the hospital bed and smiling sheepishly under his mask.

"Well, you see, that's a funny story actually..."

That start of an explanation never prefaced a clear answer. Shizune sighed, bringing a hand to her forehead in exasperation before continuing.

"Nevermind. We can come back to that later. I just...don't get it. The mission wasn't even outside of the village gates!"

"Um, Shizune-san...?"

Shizune looked over, meeting the eyes of the nervous young girl sat by her sensei's bedside, asking for her attention.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"How, um...How bad is it? I mean, will Kakashi-sensei be ok?"

"Ah, yes, he will. No need to worry. It's just chakra exhaustion. He'll be fine, he just needs some rest."

Her eyes snapped back to the man in question, reforming into another scowl.

"That said, it's no excuse for being so careless he ends up back here so often!"

Kakashi averted his eyes, chuckling nervously and wilting under the look he was being given. Another voice spoke up from next to Sakura, loud as his foot tapped incessantly.

"Ne, Shizune-nee-san! How long's it gonna take him to get out of here?"

Her hand ran through her hair as she pondered with a soft "hmm", before turning to meet Naruto's impatient look.

"Not too long, probably. I'd say he could be out well within the month. Probably even sooner if he actually stays and rests properly for the entire duration of his stay. Which he will do this time. Isn't that right, Kakashi?"

The man gave another anxious chuckle as he partially hid beneath the blanket's covers.

"R-right."

And if Kakashi looked nervous at the timeframe set for him, Naruto was absolutely mortified, almost shouting, much to his teammate's annoyance.

"A month!?"

"Naruto! You're in a hospital, quiet down!"

"Ah, sorry...but, a month!? Are you serious!?"

"It could be less, if your sensei is a good patient."

Naruto looked utterly defeated, drooping in his seat.

"Ugh...So a month..."

Sakura bowed her head alongside him, resignedly agreeing.

"A month..."

Shizune chuckled at the sight of Kakashi's subdued students, and a moment passed in mild silence before Naruto hopped back up in his chair, running his hands wildly through his hair in frustration.

"Rrrrgh! How're we supposed to learn anything with our teacher in a hospital!?"

"Naruto, calm down. It's not like you'll be doing nothing for the time being, you'll probably just have a temporary team leader until he's released."

That actually managed to catch his interest, and he paused his tantrum to look up at her curiously.

"A temporary leader?"

"Someone to keep you trained and performing well while Kakashi's unavailable. They'll take his spot as instructor and leader for the time being."

His interest turned skeptical, and he looked like he was about to complain, crossing his arms and leaning back against his chair.

"Mmm...So who're we gonna have?"

"That's not up to me. We'll go talk to Lady Tsunade about it in a minute, alright?"

It took a while to placate him, but eventually Shizune managed to wrangle a cautious agreement from Naruto, and Sakura seemed to be growing more and more interested in the idea of a substitute sensei herself.

A few more minutes passed rechecking Kakashi's condition and making sure he was going to rest properly before Shizune let him be, exiting the hospital and starting through the streets towards the Hokage's office with the man's students in tow.

"What if we get someone bad?"

Sakura looked sceptical at her friend's suggestion.

"I doubt they'd let someone bad be a teacher, Naruto."

"They so would! I met this guy once with like, really weird glasses and a bandanna, right? And he was terrible! He was totally a pervert, too!"

Though she deflected it a few more times, the idea that they could get someone worse than Kakashi as a team leader was starting to sound like a legitimate worry. Thinking to herself for a moment, Sakura tried to put forward a best case scenario.

"Well...What if we get someone really good? Oh, what if we get Kurenai!?"

Shizune spoke up at that as she opened the door to the administration building.

"Probably not, since she already has her own team. You likely won't get anyone who's already a sensei, though, you may still get a jonin. Still, you'll probably have someone placed with you as more of a placeholder than a proper teacher. They can oversee your training and make sure you're going through everything properly, but I wouldn't expect too much."

Naruto took that like a punch to the gut, deflating once more as he followed Shizune through the halls towards Tsunade's office.

"Aww...So nobody cool...Aw, what if we coulda gotten Guy!?"

Sakura looked horrified at even the suggestion of such a thing, and Shizune felt a shiver down her spine.

"Guy!? Why do you want Guy!?"

"Whaaat? He's so cool! He's really strong, like as strong as Kakashi-sensei, and did you see the stuff he taught bushybrows to do!? He's awesome!"

Sakura sputtered, struggling to properly word her argument, but seemed to eventually pacify herself with the knowledge that Naruto at least admired him for his skills, and not his fashion sense. Eventually she settled herself, but just the mention of Guy looked like it had exhausted her.

Amused, Shizune slowly came to a stop towards the end of the hallway in front of two large doors.

"Well, whoever you two are going to get, you'll find out in just a minute. We're here."

Shizune knocked lightly against one of the doors as the children chatted quietly behind her about potential teachers, and opened it a moment after Tsunade called out a muffled "come in", bowing after entering.

"Lady Tsunade, I brought Team 7 for you."

Naruto and Sakura stepped in, one on either side of her, and Naruto started waving with a grin. Looking up from her paperwork, Tsunade let a small smile onto her face as she looked them over.

"Very good. How's Kakashi?"

"He's...he's something. He'll be fine if he rests properly, and I don't foresee him staying longer than a full month in any case. Though in the meantime, these two had some questions about a temporary team leader."

"Yeah! We get someone cool, right?"

"Naruto, be quiet! Sorry, Lady Tsunade..."

Idly tapping her pen against the table and leaning back in her chair, Tsunade chuckled as she considered.

"Hmm...Yes, Team 7 needs a temporary sensei...Actually, to tell you the truth, I think I might have someone in mind."

"Really!?"

As nervous as Naruto had been when the prospect of a new sensei was first brought up, he was bouncing on the tips of his toes in excitement at this point. Even Sakura was leaning in curiously. Shizune simply hoped they wouldn't be disappointed over whoever ended up having to watch them for the next month.

"Yes, I think I know just the person. Naruto. Sakura. Your sensei until Kakashi is out of recovery will be..."

The two stood at attention, not even attempting to hide their anticipation. Tsunade looked just a bit smug, drawing out the moment before flicking the end of her pen out to point at...

"...Shizune."

.

.

.

"...eh?"

AN: Did you know Shizune is probably my favorite character? Because she is. Shizune story, hooray!
Weekly updates, since the chapters on this are a good bit shorter than Beyond the Mist.
Same time every Saturday, hope y'all enjoy!

And BIG big thanks to Nickia, who not only did the art for this story's cover, but gave me what I'm pretty sure has to have been the best commissioning experience I've ever had. You can find her on tumblr as either 'gianttol' or 'doodlejooz', please check her out! She also has an instagram and deviantart account, both with the handle 'doodlejooz' as well.

Remember to support your local artists, my dudes!