"You seem eager to get home, Kakashi." Minato stated as the duo sprinted through the trees.
Finally, after two weeks of crawling around in the mud in - how surprising - Mud-country, they were on their way back to Konoha.
His student – no, equalever since he has become a Jounin, almost a year ago – just shrugged, and didn't answer.
Minato smiled, and his eyes twinkled softly, "Is someone waiting for you to get home?"
At this, Kakashi snorted, "Besides Gai, no."
After a beat, "Considering that, I might not even want to go home. Gai wrote in that last letter he send me that he'd found something interesting to challenge me to… and I'm not sure I want to know what he has in mind…" 'If he says mud-wrestling, I'm going to kill him.'
Minato grinned and tried to ruffle his student's hair (Kakashi would forever be Minato's student) but the younger shinobi skilfully avoided the hand, and closed his lone eye in expiration, "Sensei!"
The teacher's grin only grew wider.
After a little while – filled with the usual banter between the two ninja– the gates of Konoha were finally coming into sight.
The massive walls had always been, and would always be, a sight to behold. But it was not this wonder the two shinobi were focussed on. In front of the huge, open gates was a committee seemingly waiting for someone's return.
Minato spotted a certain redhead in the middle of the small group, 'Kushina? Are these people waiting for… us? Wait, are those medics?'
The older ninja speeded up, leaving the younger one behind. As Kakashi started speeding up too, Minato signalled with his hand to the silver-haired boy to stay in the back. Kakashi slowed down, but kept on following his leader, albeit with a slower pace than before.
As Minato landed in front of the crowd, they all seemed surprised, as if they weren't expecting him.
The blonde smiled politely, but his tone was serious, "Hello everyone, may I ask what's going on?"
No one replied, and Minato looked at Kushina, whose eyes shone with worry.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the oldest-looking medic stopped her.
The older lady smiled softly, "You returned home safely, Namikaze-san. That's a relief."
Minato's smile froze. Just what was going on?
At that moment Kakashi decided to drop himself onto the ground. He tilted his head as he rose to a standing position, his gaze directed at Minato. 'Minato-sensei, what's wrong?'
In less than a second, the medics launched themselves at the younger shinobi.
Minato blinked, startled by the sudden movements of the squad of medic-nin, "What the-?"
Kakashi immediately backed away, trying to avoid the white-clad people, confusion evident in his voice, "Sensei, what are they doing? Sensei?"
Before Minato could come this his student's aid, Kushina had grasped the blonde's hand and started talking – it was more like rambling - to him, "I know it's wrong of me, but I really hoped someone else was hurt and not you, but I'm so worried for Kakashi now! I wanted to apologize, but you're always so incredibly stupid and selfless and-"
"Kushina, what is going on?" Minato asked sternly as he freed himself from her grip.
At the moment he would ignore his feelings for her – though he might apologize afterwards – since Kakashi's shouts had stopped, and the medics were all standing in a creepy circle around something or someone…
'Kakashi, you didn't hurt anyone, right? God, I hope he didn't hurt anyone!'
Kushina blinked a few times before the worry in her eyes disappeared completely and a smile grew on her face, "Don't worry, I had already informed the medics of your return!"
The red-haired woman was laughing heartily now, "Isn't that great?"
Now it was Minato's turn to blink sheepishly.
"What?"
Kushina was grinning like the idiot she was, "I knew you guys were coming back today, so I already called in the medics – I saved you lots of time, didn't I?"
Minato kept silent.
In the corner of his eye he saw the close-knit circle of medics slowly move even closer to its centre.
It was that moment realization dawned upon the blonde.
"You notified the medics?"
"Yeah!" Kushina pumped up a fist, "I'm amazing, ne?"
"Why did you call in the medics?"
"Because you were returning from a mission, moron, that's why!"
Minato stared at her, "…That's why."
He just didn't get it. Why would Uzumaki Kushina, idiot-ninja number one – the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero – get the medics because he and Kakashi returned from a mission? What was the point of that?
The oldest medic broke the circle as she walked towards the unofficial couple, "Don't worry, Namikaze-san, your comrade will be fine before you can say 'Hokage'." She was clearly very pleased with herself, "Young Hatake-san is sedated now, and can be escorted to the hospital safely, where he
will be able to rest and fully recover."
"B-but Kakashi didn't need to go to hospital..." Minato said, his mouth twitching as he tried to feign a smile.
"- We already prepared the chakra-drip, and soon he'll be able to-" The medic just kept on talking.
"Kakashi-kun is fine!" Minato said again, with more force.
This time, Kushina looked at him with a questioning look, "What do you mean, fine? One of you always returns injured, or unable to walk…"
"Not always!" Minato objected, "Today Kakashi and I both returned in one piece, without a scratch even!"
His almost-rant was interrupted by the distressed cry of a younger medic, who was kneeling next to a figure lying in the middle of the circle, "Boss, I think we injected him with too much tranquilizer! His heartbeat is slowing down! We need to get him to hospital immediately!"
And with that, the bunch of medic-nin raced past Minato and Kushina. The only thing Minato saw of his student was a glimpse of his hair.
The couple now stood in front of the gates, both too shocked to react.
'Did they just poison Kakashi?'
It was Kushina who broke the awkward silence, "Come on! We've got to get to the hospital too!"
Minato reacted before he could think as he grabbed her hand and used his signature jutsu Hirashin to materialize inside the hospital, just on time to see Kakashi being driven away on a hospital-bed to the emergency room.
He sank down on one of the plastic chairs designed for waiting persons. Kushina went to sit next to him, and was uncharacteristically quiet, until she murmured, "Sorry…"
Minato smiled weakly, "It's alright. Those-" he refrained himself from saying something insulting, "-medics will do their job, as usual."
Kushina smiled back.
"Minato-sensei," Kakashi said softly, almost inaudible, when he tried to sit up in the hospital-bed.
"How the hell did I get in the hospital?"
The question 'Why am I in the hospital?'went unspoken.
The white sheet that had been draped over the lower part of Kakashi's face shifted as he moved, and Minato reached over to readjust it.
Kakashi's dark eye was clouded, and the pupil dilated, only a small ring of his iris was visible.
An effect of the high dose of drugs he'd been injected with.
Minato grimaced as he noted that his student was too unfocused to even close his left eye, which would surely end up in an extended stay in the hospital because of chakra-exhaustion. Again, Minato reached out, and gently closed the red eye with his index finger.
Kakashi let out a breath.
His teacher smiled apologetic, "It seems we have someone who cares for us, Kakashi-kun…"