A/N: Sorry this one is so short; the next chapter will cover a lot more. Please leave me a review if you like it, and even if you don't let me know why, or how I can make it better. Thanks!
XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX
Jiraiya watched interestedly as Minato's student paced up and down the hospitals narrow corridor. His black pants and jounin vest were covered in grey dust, the result of barely surviving a cave in, crimson spatters marred what little bit of the young man's face could be seen, as the lower half was hidden by a mask and the left side covered by blood soaked bandages. His steps were quick and determined, like he had a definite destination in mind, and even though it was always just back to the other end of the hall he'd just come from, he looked like a man with a purpose. Unfortunately, as far as Jiraiya could see, his purpose seemed to be the irrational desire to wear holes in the hallway floor. Kakashi was clearly worried out of his mind and had not yet developed a way to deal with it. The constant sound of his shoes scuffling against the floor as he continued his endless ping ponging journey was slowly driving Jiraiya insane.
On top of that, the usually cheery, female member of Minato's squad had taken up residence in an ancient wheelchair she'd found rotting in the back of some forgotten storage closet, where she was currently curled up and sobbing into her knees. Always a sensitive girl, it seemed that today had been too much for her, and her emotions had completely run away from her. Jiraiya noticed the cuts covering her skinny arms and shins, the bruises beginning to form on her kind angelic face, and wished the perpetrators of the crime were standing in front of him so he could properly punish them for such an atrocity. Nobody should make Rin cry.
Minato had asked him to watch over his young team for him while he ran home to check on his recently recovering wife. It would seem the almost life ending threat to one of his precious students had made the young man extra concerned about his own family, and Kushina had been very ill when Team Yellow Flash had left for their mission. And Jiraiya could understand that, really he could, and certainly he could understand the turmoil his two young companions were going through, Kami could tell you how many times he had sat in this very hallway waiting for news about Tsunade or Orochimaru, but damn it all to hell he couldn't tell you which was worse; the never ceasing tapping and scratching of Kakashi's boots or the incoherent babbling from the sobbing kunoichi that occasionally sounded like, "it's all my fault," or "such a worthless shinobi." The toad sage resolved to do something about it before he was forced to kill the both of them, or much worse himself.
As Kakashi spun around to start his next trek down the long fluorescently lit corridor Jiraiya stepped out in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "Kakashi, why don't you try to calm down and relax a little bit? The Uchiha's have already sent over a replacement for his eye, Tsunade-hime is in there with him, and we haven't heard any loud swearing so I'm sure he's going to be fine. She's the best medic in all the hidden villages. You have nothing to worry about boy."
Kakashi stared blankly up at Jiraiya, never uttering a word. Grief contorted his face, and the toad sage thought the young boy might burst into tears from which he would forever be embarrassed by.
"Here, take this," he said, handing the teenager a thin orange book. "I just finished writing this. It's a first edition. Hours and hours of research went into the crafting of this fine piece of literature, and I'm sure you are going to love it. Go ahead, take it, enjoy it, it's yours. I'll even sign it for you when you tell me how much you like it."
Kakashi's right eye blinked slowly up at Jiraiya as he continued his blank stare, and even though he was now holding the book in his hands, the rest of his gangly body looked to be making no attempt at any motion, to read the book or otherwise. "At least he hasn't started pacing again," thought Jiraiya.
"Here, come on over here," Jiraiya soothed, as he herded Kakashi toward the decrepit wheelchair occupied by Rin. "Rin, why don't you go clean yourself up a bit and head down to the cafeteria. I could really use a cup of coffee. Would you mind picking one up for me?" He felt a little guilty using the knowledge that the poor girl would never refuse a request to help someone else to further his own agenda, but it was just a little.
Wide glassy red eyes peeked out at him from behind a pair of scraped boney knees, and Rin's bottom lip began to quiver. The Sannin wondered if she was going to break out in tears again and silently thanked Kami when she instead attempted to quiet her sniffling and managed to choke out, "O-okay, J-j-Jiraiya-sa-sama. D-do you w-want sh-sh-sugar and cream?"
"I definitely do Rin. Light and sweet please, just like you," he answered. "Why don't you get something for yourself too? An d maybe something from the gift shop for Obito? Balloons maybe? Or a teddy bear?"
Jiraiya handed off a generous amount of cash to the suffering girl and guided Kakashi into the abandoned wheelchair. Rin's trudged down the hallway, her shoes occasionally squeaking against the worn linoleum, and Jiraiya turned his gaze back to the skinny grey haired jounin. As Kakashi was already turning the third page, Jiraiya leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief, they were going to be okay, and he wasn't going to have to kill anyone today.