Author's Note: "Hellooooo! Is there anyone alive out there?" XD Just kidding! I appreciate all of your favorites/alerts, even though you all aren't a talkative bunch. I'm posting this now because I'm going away for the weekend, so enjoy : )

Chapter 7

"Should we wake Sensei?" Sakura asked when Granny came to get them for dinner.

"No, let him sleep. He seemed tired," she said softly, as she led the three out of the room and quietly closed the door. She was beginning to worry about Hiroshi since he'd been gone for about an hour, but the line at the market may have been long, or at least that's what she told herself. As soon as they saw the spread of food for them, the genin started feasting since they hadn't eaten a real meal in a while. She sat down with them but didn't eat too much.

"Where's Hiroshi?" Naruto asked with a mouth full of food. "He's missing out!"

"I asked him to run an errand for me. He should be back soon," she said simply. "I'll save some dinner for him too, don't worry about that."

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Hiroshi sat by a small pond, watching some fish swim around. His father's words rang through his head "It's okay to be sad, but don't let it consume you". How could sadness not consume you when it's all around though? And how was he supposed to come to terms with his mother's death when no one will tell him what happened? Still, he felt like an idiot, running up to a total stranger and talking to her like he would his mom.

Hiroshi grabbed a small twig from the grass and put it in the water, just to watch the ripples move throughout. One of the fish swam over to it and started sucking on it.

"Stop stupid fish. It isn't food," he said angrily, swatting it with the stick. Blood started trickling from its side. "Oh no! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" He panicked, trying to figure out how to help this fish. Looking around, he saw a bucket that must have been abandoned by someone, but it would do. He filled it with water and pushed the bleeding fish into it. "Now what?"

He stood up, deciding that his dad would know what to do, and carried the heavy bucket as fast as he could back to Granny's house. He never made it that far though.

"Hey," he heard a voice say from behind him. Hiroshi stopped cold in his tracks, putting the bucket back on the ground. The voice was raw and angry sounding. "Kid, I'm talking to you." Slowly, Hiroshi turned around to face whoever this voice was. A man not much younger than Kakashi stood there in ragged looking clothes. He had a few scars on his face but besides that wasn't recognizable from one person to the next. "Come here."

"I'd rather not," he said, picking up his fish and slowly walking away.

"That wasn't a suggestion. That was a command," he said harshly. Hiroshi swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to think clearly. He could run from here to Granny's pretty fast and then his dad could beat the snot out of this guy… but what if this guy was faster? Then what? "You don't want me coming over there, so come here now!"

Then something clicked in Hiroshi's head. He wasn't going to run from this guy because that's what he's expecting. If he could just hit him once, maybe it'll shock him enough that he can run… but would he be able to? And would it hurt him enough to shock him?

"Kid!" the guy yelled again. Clearing his mind, Hiroshi spun around on his toes and charged at the guy. The thief pulled out a knife and swiped it where Hiroshi's legs would've been, but he jumped up, using the man's arm as a stepping stool and kicked him in the head with such force that the man flew back a few inches. Now he had to run.

He hurried over to his fish and grabbed the bucket, but he wasn't fast enough. The man ran over to him, enraged by being kicked in the face, and punched him in the back of the head, sending him flying easily a few feet. Hiroshi screamed in pain as he was stopped by a decent sized boulder that his back slammed into. He couldn't breathe. The wind had been completely knocked out of him.

The thief dusted himself off and started to approach Hiroshi. Even though his head was throbbing, his body ached, and he was having a hard time seeing, he knew he had to do something. He closed his eyes and tapped into the power that any human who is willing to survive has, got up, and charged the man again. This time he made sure that his fist made contact with his head, releasing a cracking sound, either from Hiroshi's hand or the thief's nose. The thief hit the ground, moaning in pain, and Hiroshi took his chance to make sure he wouldn't hurt him again. He started punching him anywhere he could, mostly in the head, until he didn't look like he'd move again.

All Hiroshi could smell was blood. He knew some of it had to be his own because he could feel it dripping from the back of his head. All he needed to do was get to Granny's, he told himself as he went to pick up the bucket with the fish, only to now realize that the fish must've died during the fight. He didn't have time to be upset because the world was closing in around him. Everything was getting dark and he was so dizzy.

"I- I just need to sit down," he said to himself as he fell on the ground. Everything hurt. His eyes started filling with tears as he wondered to himself if this was what it was like to die. He tried to yell for his dad but his throat closed up, making him unable to even form words.

"This is bad. How long did you say he's been gone?" Kakashi asked, now up from his rest and filled in on the situation.

"Almost two hours. I didn't think it'd be a big deal for him to go to the store… but something must've happened," Granny said, feeling completely responsible. "We can split up. I'll go to town and see if anyone's seen him."

"Don't worry about it. I'll have Pakuun track him," Kakashi said, summoning his loyal dog.

"Yes Boss?" A tired Pakuun asked.

"Hiroshi is missing again," Kakashi said. "Do you remember his scent?"

"You can't keep track of that kid, can you?" Pakuun joked. Kakashi was not amused to say the least. "Sorry, um yes I remember it."

"I'll go find Hiroshi. You three stay here and get rested for tomorrow," Kakashi said briskly.

"But what if something did happen? What if Hiroshi's in trouble?" Sakura asked, her voice rising with worry.

"Let me come with you, since I'm responsible," Granny said. Kakashi nodded and the two shinobi followed Pakuun to Hiroshi.

When they reached the pond, the first thing they both noticed was the sickening smell of blood. Kakashi's heart was pounding as his brain raced. This was way too far from town for Hiroshi to wander here on accident.

"Hiroshi?" Kakashi yelled. Pakuun ran over to the high grass near a boulder and found Hiroshi's crumpled self. He nudged him with his nose, trying to wake the kid.

"Boss, over here!" Pakuun called, sending Kakashi racing. Granny walked over to the thief, who had flies already beginning to devour him.

The first thing Kakashi did when he saw Hiroshi was check his pulse. At least he was alive. He knew he'd need a blood transfusion and hospital care, but they were further from the hospital in the land of tea than Konoha. Gently, he picked up his beaten son, careful about his head wound.

"Pakuun, go to Konoha and tell them that there is a six year old in critical condition who will be there soon and that they should prepare a bed for him," Kakashi said, keeping his voice cool and steady.

"I have to tell the police about this," Granny said, gesturing to the dead thief. "Whoever this man was, it looks as though he pulled a knife on your son…"

"Do what you have to do. I have to go tell the team that I'm leaving now to get Hiroshi to the hospital," Kakashi said as he was running from the scene. He was in the house in less than a minute.

"Sensei! What happened?" Sakura yelled as soon as she saw the bloody little boy.

"I don't completely know, but I'm taking him to the hospital. You all will have to get home on your own, but I'm sure you can do it. I have to go right now," Kakashi said, trying to not get frantic. He used his jutsu to transport, but he was still worn out from the mission, so he was unable to transport the entire way. He was able to cut a major chunk of time out of the travels, but he still had to dash to Konoha while still being aware of Hiroshi's wounds.

It took him a little over an hour to get to the hospital, but they followed Kakashi's instructions and had a bed prepared when they did make it. As soon as they were in the door, Hiroshi was taken into surgery to stitch up his head and give him the proper blood transfusions. All Kakashi wanted to do was rip his hair out at the thought of it.

Physically and mentally exhausted, the jonin threw himself in a chair in the hospital waiting room and closed his eyes. All he could think about was everything that could go wrong. What if bacteria got into his wounds and infection spread? There were so many things that could have gone wrong. Even with all of this worrying, Kakashi drifted in and out of consciousness for several hours, until a nurse came to wake him.

"Mr. Hatake?" she said gently, poking his shoulder. Kakashi jumped awake and looked at her with a blurry eye. "Hiroshi has been moved into a room and is stable for now. If you want to stay, you can go in there." A half awake Kakashi followed the nurse into Hiroshi's hospital room, where the boy looked as though he was only resting. She told Kakashi something about how he could come get her if Hiroshi's heart monitor began acting funny, but he was barely awake so he didn't hear much of it. As soon as she left, the shinobi kicked his shoes off, took off his vest, headband, and gloves, trying to make himself comfortable. Lastly, he rolled down his mask and placed all of his weapons on the end table, making sure he wouldn't accidently hurt Hiroshi.

Since the bed was significantly large, Kakashi laid down next to his son, putting a protective hand over his sleeping body. Hiroshi stirred slightly, but only to move closer to Kakashi because he was warm. That night, Kakashi made a solemn vow. He vowed that he would die before he would ever see his son in this sort of state again.