"I can't believe Granny Tsunade wouldn't let us see him yesterday… What's her problem?!" Naruto fumed as he and his teammates walked down one of Konoha's many streets to the Hospital.

Sakura sighed, "Naruto, come on. Do I really have to-"

"Kakashi wouldn't want us to see him like that," Sasuke interrupted calmly but gruffly at the same time, "Idiot…"

"Sasuke…?" Sakura was a little surprised that he actually interrupted her. But then again, he was probably tired of Naruto's complaining too. She looked at him, seeing a tension in his face that she couldn't quite put in words… He looked almost like he was thinking hard about something… With a sad thought, she realized what was going on.

Sasuke was concerned.

Sakura always knew, no matter how cool Sasuke always acted- which was extremely hot! –that he cared deeply for his squad. But she didn't think she'd ever seen him quite this worried. Did he know something about Kakashi-sensei's condition that they didn't?

"… Yeah, I suppose you're right," Naruto grumbled, not liking the idea of Sasuke actually being right. He put his hands behind his head.

……………………………………..

Kakashi looked at them out of one of the Hospital's windows with Tsunade. She was smiling, "They were so adamant about seeing you…"

He chuckled, "You mean Naruto was. I could hear him yelling even when I was only semi-conscious."

The Hokage shook her head, "If you think that's bad, you'd better prepare yourself for when then see you up and about. He'll likely shout your ear off."

Kakashi's visible eye crinkled up in a smile as he turned around, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Probably."

Tsunade's smile faded a little, "But seriously Kakashi… Don't overexert yourself," Her eyebrows lowered, "I don't want to see you back in here, you got that?!"

He saluted, "Yes ma'am…"

She sighed, crossing her arms, "You really are something, aren't you? I can't believe you're actually walking around when yesterday you couldn't even move."

He shrugged, "Well, you did say that I would probably be walking today, didn't you?"

Tsunade smirked, "That's true," She began walking with Kakashi out to the entrance of the Hospital.

Tsunade stepped out first, meeting up with the Genin as they were about to round the corner to the entrance of the Hospital. Naruto, of course, was the first to say something to her.

"Granny!" He waved enthusiastically, starting to quicken his pace, "How is he? Can we-"

At that moment, Kakashi took a step out of the covered area of the Hospital entrance, taking the liberty to smile at his students. His voice was nonchalant, as if they were meeting up for some early morning training.

"Hi guys."

All three of them looked shocked at first, like a ghost had just spoken or something. Then, they broke out into beams. Even Sasuke, who usually just let a smirk cross his features when something good happened, couldn't hold back a relieved grin.

"Kakashi-sensei!!" Sakura and Naruto yelled in unison. The three of them ran up to him eagerly.

"Oof!" Kakashi staggered a little as Naruto slammed into him in a hug, "Take it easy Naruto… I'm not a hundred percent yet."

"Sorry," The blond replied gingerly, rubbing the back of his head with a large and dorky grin on his face after he had released his sensei.

"H-How are you feeling??" Sakura held both of her hands together, looking anxiously up at Kakashi, "You're already well enough to walk around?"

"Even if he is nor not," Tsunade said, crossing her arms, "You know Kakashi," She smirked towards the Jounin, who just shrugged.

Squad Seven smiled too, "Yeah. That is like him," Sakura agreed. Tsunade had succeeded in calming her nerves a little.

"Besides, he's in there so much that he probably wanted to get out as fast as he could," Sasuke said with a half-smile.

"That's true," Kakashi agreed, laughing a little.

Suddenly, Naruto looked like he had just realized something, and looked up at Kakashi's face with wide eyes. He then looked at Tsunade, then back at Kakashi.

"… What?" Tsunade asked, already not liking where this was going.

Naruto put a hand up to his chin, "So since… Since Kakashi-sensei was in such a serious condition… Did you…" He looked at Tsunade eagerly, "Did you actually see his face?!"

Kakashi half groaned half sighed. Naruto was as simple-minded as ever. He probably forgot that his sensei was standing right there.

Tsunade looked away from the three of them, her face becoming pink again. This, however, just proceeded to make the whole squad look at her in disbelief. Did she see his face?! Really!?

"L-Lady Hokage?" Sakura asked timidly, "Is that… I mean… Did you??"

The Hokage bit her lip, starting to get frustrated, "Whether I saw his face or not is none of your concern!" She pounded Naruto upside the head, causing the boy to deflate to the ground, whimpering and holding the large bump that had surfaced.

"Ooww!! What'd you do that for Grandma?!"

"Because you're a naïve brat, that's why!" The Hokage spat, still fuming.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head nervously. Yup. They were still the same squad he had come to know and love.

"Anyway…" Tsunade said after Naruto had gotten back up to his feet, "Kakashi's free for now, but…" She turned to him, "Remember what I said!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," He nodded, hands back in his pockets.

"And you three," She turned back to his squad, "You make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid, alright? I'm putting you in charge of making sure he doesn't wind up back in the Hospital!"

"You got it Granny!" Naruto gave a thumbs up, "Don't worry, we'll watch out for Kakashi-sensei!"

"We'll take care of him, Master," Sakura bowed respectfully.

Sasuke, no doubt the smartest of the three, said nothing, because he was sure Kakashi was already not looking forward to being 'looked after' by his own Genin squad. He just continued to smirk as he saw the man sigh again.

"Great…" Kakashi thought tiredly, "I'm going to be babysat by my squad. Terrific."

"Kakashi," Tsunade suddenly whispered as Squad Seven was preoccupied with chatting amongst themselves about how in the world they were supposed to keep tabs on their Jounin sensei. He turned to face her quickly.

"Yes?" He responded just as quietly.

"Don't use your Sharingan, alright? We don't know what'll happen if you do, so it would be best if you didn't use it at all."

"… Understood."

Moments after, Squad Seven was heading out, waving goodbye to the Hokage and walking down the street casually. Naruto was talking non-stop to Kakashi about his 'training progress', which Kakashi only paid half-attention to. He swore, sometimes that kid drove him crazy…

Sasuke followed behind them, his eyes on Kakashi. He, unlike Naruto and Sakura, had enough sense to listen on to what the Hokage had told the silver-haired Jounin. What she said bothered Sasuke greatly. Why couldn't Kakashi use his Sharingan? Was it because of that attack? If so, what in the hell happened to him that would make the Hokage that concerned about him using the Sharingan?

Sasuke's eyes suddenly widened a little in realization as he remembered why he wasn't allowed to use his Sharingan for a while too… His curse mark. His eyes narrowed again as he quickly ruled that possibility out.

He would only come to that conclusion as a last resort. And as a last resort only.

…………………………………

"Lord Orochimaru," A smiling Kabuto walked into his Master's office. Orochimaru lifted his head from various vials of liquid to look at him.

"What is it Kabuto?" He hissed. He was right in the middle of a series of important experimentations; this had better be good.

"It would seem…" Kabuto tapped his round glasses back, causing them to glint. He looked back up at Orochimaru gradually, "Kakashi is still alive after the twenty-four hour mark."

Orochimaru turned all the way around at hearing this, a sickening smile almost reaching up to the corners of his eyes, "Brilliant."

"There's more milord," Kabuto said, holding up a peach-colored file and scanning over a section of its contents, "According to our associates watching Konoha, he was even released from the Hospital today."

Orochimaru's eyes glinted with slight surprise, and his smile grew, if at all possible, "Really?" He turned back around so his back was to Kabuto, "That's wonderful… He is even exceeding my expectations. As to be expected of White Fang' son," He licked his lips in pleasure.

"Kakashi…" He held his fist up in the air, staring at it longingly and then clenching it fiercely, "You will soon be mine."

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Sorry about the semi-long wait! This chapter took longer than expected, mostly because I was momentarily at a loss of what to have happen in it…O.o

As a result of that, it kinda turned out to be a filler-type chapter. (Oh no! How could I?! XD) I knew for sure that I wanted Kakashi to have a speedy recovery, and I wanted to shortly flash over to the bad guy side and see how they're taking all of this.

Hope you're all still enjoying it! There will be more plot soon!!