It was a mistake. A simple enough mistake. Just a miscalculation.

Unfortunately, their line of work did not allow for mistakes.

There was the rumble as if of thunder tearing the earth asunder. There was a ragged scream of warning. There was a sudden burning pain. There was his blood bubbling upward from the cuts on his body and there was the blood streaming from the long gashes on the body protecting his and then there was nothing anymore.

oOo

There was something about poison something about poisoned weapons and he was lucky because very little managed to enter his body but not his sensei poor man did you see him when he came in gray and barely breathing you shouldn't be talking about a patient's condition so freely oh this poor dear is unconscious he can't hear can you imagine losing your father and losing your sensei right after but they were wrong and he could hear and he whimpered because he couldn't talk and couldn't yell at them to shut up that he broke the rules he knew and his sensei was hurt and everything was so heavy and shh little one let's go back to sleep and there was a cool liquid seeping down his throat and the heaviness was profound and he wasn't awake anymore.

oOo

Hands fluttered over him. They seemed unsure about what to do and alternated between straightening the sheet over him and absently touching his legs. They tickled. He started.

The hands froze and withdrew. They were replaced by a voice he didn't want to hear.

"Kakashi?" It was a woman's voice and he had no problem picturing her bright red hair behind his closed eyelids. "Kakashi, are you awake?"

He wasn't a coward. He was many things, but a coward wasn't one of them. However, he kept his eyes shut, preferring the darkness he knew to the reality he didn't.

oOo

When he opened his eyes, he was alone. His mask still covered his face. It was night and, from the purple-indigo, it was either ridiculously late or obscenely early. Clouds covered a sliver of moon and few stars braved the village's lights.

A small, callused hand felt the tight press of the bandages around his chest. Finding the edge, he began to pull them away from him. He had to sit up to unwind them from his back. His head spun at the change in position. A deep breath grounded him.

The bandages lay discarded beside him.

Three jagged cuts marred his side. The first arced from his hip to just above his navel. The second was a little smaller, a line just off-center that extended from the bottom of his breastbone to his bellybutton. The third carved through the other two, from his hip to the opposite shoulder, dividing his body into uneven diagonal halves.

All three were pink and still healing. When he moved, the skin pulled uncomfortably. He touched his fingers to the longest cut. His hands were shaking. Poison, he remembered.

Sensei, though… Sensei had been hurt too.

Shoving the sheet off himself, Kakashi tried to stand. His legs trembled under him and he collapsed.

He was found by a medic some time later, dragging himself on the floor. One of his cuts had opened, the blood lubricating his way.

It took three medics to put him back into his bed. He'd kicked a fourth medic and the man had crumpled. He continued fighting as the sedative he was given began to take hold.

As he finally gave in, a name bubbled to his lips. "Minato-sen-sei…"

oOo

The second time he awoke, Jiraiya-sama was in the room.

"Ji-Jiraiya-sama." In the presence of his sensei's sensei, and one of the Legendary Sannin, Kakashi tried to sit up. The new bandages, stiffer and tighter around his chest, impeded the movement.

"Take it easy, kid." Jiraiya's voice was gruff. "You already opened your wounds once. Your sensei won't appreciate it if you kill yourself after he saved you."

"Where's sensei?"Kakashi lay down and the sudden flare of pain receded to a dull twinge.

"He's in the intensive care unit."

Eyes wide, the boy asked hollowly, "How is he?"

"He'll be just fine,"Jiraiya responded sharply. "Just you wait. He'll be back to training you into unconsciousness very soon."

"But…how is he?"

Jiraiya turned away.

"Jiraiya-sama, please tell—"

"He hasn't woken up yet."

oOo

An argument kept him from sleeping.

"I can't belive you told him about Minato!" That was a woman's voice. Tsunade-sama's, if he remembered correctly.

"He has a right to know." From his tone, it wasn't hard to picture Jiraiya crossing his arms like an obstinate child.

"Yes. When he is stronger. How do you think learning about Minato's state will affect him? His recovery?" Tsunade's voice dropped and Kakashi couldn't hear what she said next.

"Minato will wake up." Jiraiya's voice was laced with anger like poison. "He will."

Again, an unintelligible murmur from Tsunade.

"You can save him, Tsunade. You can save anyone." Jiraiya's brimmed with confidence. His next question ruined the effect. "Can't you?"

Tsunade didn't say anything.

oOo

Kakashi learned that Tsuande was the medic in charge of his and Minato-sensei's case. She would stride into his room like a monarch through her palace twice a day. She would quicky check his vital signs before focusing on his wounds.

By then, the wounds were just pink marks marring his skin.

"These healed nicely,"she said as she helped him roll down his shirt. "The scars will be very faint and may fade away entirely. You were lucky the cuts were so shallow. We'll keep your for a couple more days for observation and then you can go home."

"What about sensei?"

Tsunade's hand paused on his chart, her hand tightening around the pen.

"Minato will need to stay here a little longer," she said cheerfully. Kakashi would have believed her if he hadn't seen her knuckles turn white. "But he'll be out soon enough."

"I want to see him," Kakashi declared.

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm sorry, but Minato needs rest."

"I won't bother him. I just want to see him."

"I'm sure you won't, but the answer remains no."

"I want to se him."

"No."

"I WANT TO SEE HIM!"

Kakashi very rarely acted up. He could not remember when he had ever thrown a fit. He had never been a querulous child. But he would be allowed to see Minato-sensei, he had to.

Tsunade didn't even blink. "No."

Kakashi stared at her for a long moment.

"I'm going to see Minato-sensei!" He grabbed the empty vase on his bedside table and smashed it on the floor. His chest heaved, heart tight.

Eyes narrowing, Tsunade stared down at him. "No. Especially not with this behavior." She turned on her heel and walked out, ignoring the screaming boy left in the room.

Left alone. Again.

oOo

He made a mistake. He charged forward when sensei told him to fall back. Whirling bades cut through the air so fast he could barely see them. So fast he had no chance to move aside. He was in the way.

And then he wasn't anymore.

oOo

When the door opened a few hours later, Kakashi sat in the middle of a warzone.

Everything even remotely breakable had been shattered against the floor and walls. The bed was upended, its stuffing bleeding out of it. The curtains lay in jagged pieces and the window's glass twinkled ominously on the floor.

Kakashi sat hunched over his knees, the bedsheets covering him. As whoever it was stopped in front of him, he didn't bother to unearth his head.

The sheet was unceremoniously tugged off him.

"Come on, kid." Jiraiya nudged the child with a sandaled foot. "If you want to see Minato, you better hurry."

Mute, Kakashi followed after Jiraiya dutifully. The man led him down the halls and into a different wing of the hospital. Kakashi avoided looking at anyone, keeping his gaze firmly trained on the white floor and the white walls.

"In here." Jiraiya pointed to a plain white door and slid it open. Kakashi slowly walked inside.

Minato-sensei lay on the only bed, a clear oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. His chest rose and fell rhythmically. He was pale, the bright yellow of his hair making him look even paler in comparison. Kushina lay beside him, curled around him as best as possible. Her impossibly long red hair fell off the edge of the bed, the longest strands almost brushing the floor. Her hand was wrapped around one of Minato's. Unlike him, she was awake.

Her eyes rose to meet the intruders. Upon seeing them, she lifted her head.

"Kakashi?" she asked softly.

"He wanted to see Minato," Jiraiya explained. "Tsunade wouldn't let him."

Kushina cracked a smile. "Tsunade will stand no one to interrupt her patient's rest, will she?"

"Terrifying woman," Jiraiya muttered as he sank into the only chair in the room. Slung around its back was Jiraiya's vest. In fact, the room looked a lot more lived-in than other hospital rooms. Random articles of food and clothing were gathering in the corners and there was a worn quilt resting over Kushina.

"It's okay, Kakashi. You can come closer,"she said.

The child was frozen by the door, expecting the man on the bed to jump up at any moment. Kushina's words triggered a reflexive movement of his feet. He paused next to her.

On closer inspection, Kakashi saw that dark bugs hung under her eyes and she looked very pale. Her hair was dull and unkempt. Her smile had a brittle quality.

"What's wrong with him?" Kakashi's voice was small. He barely recognized it as his own.

"The poison was fast-acting," Kushina answered softly. "Tsunade extracted it, but it managed to do a lot of damage. Tsunade told us he should wake up soon. We're lucky to have her; she finally managed to stabilize him three days ago when other medics gave him up for lost."

Kakashi tried to ignore how the implications of her words made him feel. "How long have we been sleeping?"

"You, three days," Jiraiya clarified. "Minato, five."

Minato-sensei's hand was near Kakashi. Hesitating, he touched a finger to the back of the sleeping man's hand. It was warm and Kakashi waited for Minato-sensei to take his hand, a weapon flashing into it to show him a new technique. Minato-sensei continued to sleep, his breath fogging the mask, his chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm.

oOo

Kakashi moved into Minato-sensei's room. Jiraiya had commandeered a futon and smuggled it into the room. Tsunade had been the first to complain, but Kushina had blackmailed her. The renowned medic quickly gave in, though not without vicious glares, muttered curses and property damage.

The boy quickly adjusted to the schedule Jiraiya and Kushina had adopted.

Kushina bullied a local restaurant that didn't deliver into delivering breakfast daily. She would pay the bemused delivery boy through the window as he barely clung to the branches of the tree next to the room. Lunch and dinner were similar occurrences. Kushina was of the opinion that hospital food made one sicker.

She and Jiraiya would talk loudly and cheerfully, including the unconscious Minato in their conversation. After Kakashi joined them, they would entertain him with stories about Minato-sensei's childhood, including the time he dyed Jiraiya's hair bright orange after Jiraiya spent all of his apprentice's money on sake.

"So then," Kushina spluttered with laughter, "over the crest comes the great Toad Sage with hair so orange it put fire to shame. And he comes up to me and starts yelling at me that I had gone too far with my pranks and no woman took him seriously and how was he going to live…"

"I never said that!" Jiraiya ejaculated forcefully.

"Shut up, Ero-sensei. Anyway, I'm screaming with laughter on the floor because he looked so amazingly stupid and trying to tell him that if I had dyed his hair, he'd know since I would have written my name on it in different colors. And Minato's off to the side, trying to look innocent, but you could tell he knew something he wasn't letting on…"

Things would continue like that until Tsunade slammed open the door to bellow at them to shut up, that this was a hospital, dammit, and they needed to be considerate. Kushina would scream back that Tsunade was one to talk, as she was the first to start yelling.

Kakashi would stare at the scene while Jiraiya massaged his temples. Jiraiya would eventually pull Tsunade away, though not before Tsunade threw a shoe at Kushina, leaving a lovely crater on the wall where the younger woman's head used to be. Kushina would yell something about Tsunade hiding behind Jiraiya's pillar of hair, earning her Tsunade's second shoe—this time chakra-enhanced and aiming to kill—flying through the wall after Kushina barely managed to duck and splintering the tree outside.

By the time night came along, everyone was equally exhausted and relieved. Jiraiya would seize his chair, the back of which he'd restructured so that it would lean back and allow him to rest more comfortably. Kakashi's bed had been installed next to Minato-sensei's bed and close to the door. He would collapse in it, pulling the thinnest sheet over himself. Kushina would curl into a small corner next to Minato-sensei, the quilt covering them after Kakashi had refused to take it from her.

They rarely slept. Jiraiya's snores were painfully missing. Kakashi would toss and turn most of the night thanks to the nightmares that haunted him that he was unable to remember upon waking. Kushina would hold Minato-sensei's hand and whisper so softly to him that Kakashi, lying next to the bed, couldn't understand her words.

All three waited expectantly for a voice they could not hear.

oOo

It had been a week since the battle.

Tsunade screamed at Jiraiya for sneaking into the women's recovery ward. From her position on the bed, Kushina snickered. Kakashi, used to it by then, polished his weapons, returned to him after Jiraiya interceded on his behalf.

"Honestly, sensei, those women can't defend themselves," quipped Minato-sensei.

"That's the point, brat," Jiraiya answered unthinkingly and flinched at Tsunade's bull-like roar of rage.

There was a pregnant pause.

Four heads swiveled simultaneously to the man on the bed.

Minato-sensei smiled faintly and waved. His hands shook. "Hi."

"You stupid idiot!" Kushina shrieked, smacking his head. Minato winced, but his smile widened.

"I love you too." He chuckled. His smile turned down. "Are you crying?"

Kushina reeled back, hands wiping her eyes. "I-I'm not. I've, uh, got something in my eye."

Minato-sensei's smile turned soft.

"Okay, you two, break it up." Tsunade shoved Kushina aside unceremoniously. The younger woman, not expecting it, crashed to the floor beside Kakashi, her head barely missing a pile of shiny shuriken. "I've got a patient to check. You three, out!"

Kushina reeled up, massaging her shoulder and trying to kill Tsunade with her glare.

"Wait." Minato grabbed Tsunade's arm. "Kakashi. How is he?"

"I'm here, sensei." Kakashi forced himself to stand. He swallowed the ball of emotion tightening his throat.

The relief that spread over Minato-sensei's face was palpable. Kakashi felt like scum.

"Out!"

Jiraiya, Kushina and Kakashi were herded out the door, Tsunade slamming it behind them. Kushina ran down the list of expletives she knew, a monologue that took roughly five minutes. The amazing part was that she never repeated herself once.

"That's not language fit for a lady." Jiraiya wagged his finger. His voice was a little shaky.

Kushina's glare was so strong Kakashi took a step back and Jiraiya jumped to the other side of the hall.

A short time later, Tsunade opened the door. She called over her shoulder, "You're paying for all the damages your visitors have caused."

Kushina dashed by her side so fast Tsunade almost fell. Muttering something about ungrateful kunoichi, Tsunade dusted herself off to have Jiraiya practically jump her.

He grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. "Thank you, Tsunade."

She smiled.

Kakashi hesitated by the door, feeling like an outsider. He had never felt so small in comparison. And he couldn't shake the dark feeling that it was his fault that Minato-sensei had gotten hurt. If he'd only followed the rules…

"Kakashi!" The boy jumped slightly at Minato-sensei's voice. Looking around the doorway, he saw Minato-sensei sitting up against the pillows. He was sagging against them bonelessly and his hands still trembled, but his eyes were alert. He motioned for Kakashi to come closer.

Kushina briefly squeezed Minato's hand and softly patted Kakashi's shoulder as she passed by him. She slid the door shut behind her with a crisp snap.

The silence screamed at him.

Kakashi wanted Minato-sensei to scream at him. He wanted his teacher to tell him he was wrong. He wanted Minato-sensei to punish him in some way, for what he did to him and for what he indirectly did to Kushina and Jiraiya and even Tsunade. He wanted the man looking at him to do anything except aim that happy and relieved smile at him.

As Kakashi kept his gaze firmly on his toes, Minato frowned. "Kakashi? What's wrong?"

His voice was too caring. Again, that desire to act like a petulant child seized him. But he wouldn't disrespect his sensei by acting out.

"I'm sorry, sensei," he said softly. He continued staring at the floor. "You told me to ignore the target, but I just wanted to complete the mission. I got us hurt and jeopardized the mission. I'm sorry."

"Kakashi, come here."

Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, Kakashi finally reached the bed. His head was still bowed. In apology? Shame? Fear? He felt Minato-sensei's hand on his hair, its warm weight comforting. Surprised, he looked up.

Minato-sensei was still pale and he looked tired. His eyes, however, were as warm as his hand.

"I think this past week has punished you enough." Ruffling Kakashi's hair, he teased, "Don't worry, kiddo. You won't get rid of me so easily."