✔️Heal My Heart {Kakashi Hatake}

15 | little children

Picture is young Naruto (look how cute he is I wanna squish him~)

I woke in a hospital room lit with warm, yellow lamps. It was light outside, I could tell, but the curtains were drawn anyway. The bed was wide and comfortable, dressed with white linen sheets and topped with a thick quilt that trapped in a very comfortable amount of warmth. On the left was a small bedside table, upon which there was a simple digital clock and a small glass with a single yellow flower in it. To the right, beside the window, there was a cushioned chair that I assumed was for visitors. So this was the General Hospital. I decided I liked it quite a lot.

A couple of minutes later, a young nurse with blonde hair tied back in a bun and a long lab coat stepped in. She seemed more like a scientist than a nurse, if not for the stethoscope hanging out of her pocket. I wondered if she actually used it often enough to wear it, or if it was just for show.

"Ah, you're awake!" She smiled when she saw that I was sat up in bed. "My name is Kaira, and I'm in charge of your recovery during your stay here. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I replied. "Small headache, but nothing that won't heal with a couple of aspirin and some sleep."

"I'm glad to hear it." She pulled out a clipboard and consulted it. "When you came in here, you had significant damage to the mind, caused by Genjutsu, and some minor cuts to your wrists." I nodded; that was about right.

"How long have I been here?" I asked.

"Just a few hours, actually. You made a surprisingly fast recovery. There have been a few visitors; there were three by the names Mishiko, Yukimoto and Rainame and then a young man by the name Hatake. Are they friends of yours?"

"Yeah. When did Kakashi - Hatake, that is - when was he here?" I frowned. It was unlike Kakashi to visit people in hospital, even teammates.

"He left about an hour ago. Strange one, he was. Came in completely alone and then left after barely five minutes. Didn't say a word to anyone, and wore a mask that completely covered his face."

"Sounds about right." I relaxed a little. Maybe he was just seeing when I was going to get out. Could be that we had a mission that he wanted me to do.

"You haven't got a set stay time here." Kaira continued, frowning at her clipboard. "I'm just going to do a quick checkup, okay?"

"Go ahead."

Kaira pulled out her stethoscope, which as it turned out, was not for show. She checked my heartbeat only briefly before declaring it normal, took my blood pressure, breathing, and had me confirm multiple times that I was in no pain.

"I can't find anything wrong with you." She announced, scribbling on her clipboard. She tore off a pink slip and handed it to me. "You're free to go."

I thanked her, but didn't take my time getting out. I hadn't been home since yesterday morning, when we'd left for our mission. I was missing my solitary house, the lake and the training ground. Not to mention I missed the amazing food at the Konoha marketplace.

I was walking calmly down the street, basking in the springtime sun, when suddenly something small and bright yellow came hurtling out of nowhere and crashed into me. I glanced down to see the spitting image of Minato and Kushina looking up at me pleadingly through a child's eyes.

"Please hide me, lady! The ninja are coming!"

"Why?" I asked, surprised. "Why are they chasing you?"

"I kinda broke the bottle they were playing with. It was an accident, but they all got really mad at me." He pouted, bright blue eyes brimming with tears. A voice at the back of my mind whispered, he's the nine-tailed fox. He's the reason Minato and Kushina died. But I couldn't refuse his adorable little face; plus, I had a pretty good idea what those ninja had been doing and did not feel at all sorry that their bottle was broken.

"Okay, c'mere." I scooped him up in my arms and when he clung onto me, I took a detour to the edge of the forest and concealed the two of us up a tree.

Three ninja wearing typical shinobi uniform came rushing down the street. They sounded very drunk, despite it being the morning. They kept shouting to each other, looking for the kid. I could see why he was scared; they weren't being very respectful, and would seem scary to a child. After a while, they decided that he wasn't there and moved on.

The kid sighed with relief from where he was perched on my shoulders. "Thanks, lady. I owe you one."

"My name's Miyoshi. Anytime," I told him as I carefully lowered us out of the tree.

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I'm gonna be the Hokage someday, believe it!" he declared from his vantage point. I smiled. Of course they would name him Naruto; I was familiar with Master Jiraiya's first book, The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja.

"I was just going to get some ramen," I said conversationally. "Would you like to join me, Naruto?"

"Would I! Ramen's my favourite, believe it!" he exclaimed.

I took him to Ichiraku's. The man who stood behind the counter had been running the place since I was a child, although about ten years ago there came an assistant in the form of his young daughter.

"Morning, Teuchi," I greeted him.

"Miyoshi, it's been a while. I see you've brought little Naruto." Teuchi smiled. "The usual, I assume?"

"That would be great, thanks. Naruto, what do you want?"

"Miso ramen with extra pork!" Naruto announced enthusiastically. Teuchi served up our dishes with a smile. I took my veggie ramen gratefully, and by the time I snapped my chopsticks, Naruto was wolfing his down with almost inhuman speed.

"Don't eat too fast, you'll get sick," I warned.

"I'll work it all off, believe it," Naruto said through a mouthful. "I haven't practiced in a while anyway."

"Practiced?" I questioned. Of course he was going to be a shinobi; what else could he be? But at the same time it surprised me that he was already training at the ripe old age of four.

"To be a ninja!" Naruto's blue eyes lit up. He clearly loved talking about this subject. "I'm gonna be the Hokage one day, so I gotta train hard, believe it!"

"That's true." I nodded. "I remember training loads before I ever graduated."

"You're a ninja?" Naruto forgot about his ramen. He stared at me with wide eyes.

"Well... a medic." I amended. "Not quite the same job, but I can fight and use ninjutsu and stuff."

"Really? Will you teach me, Miyoshi?" Naruto was leaning to close to me I worried that he was going to topple over.

"I don't see why not." I couldn't refuse his adorable little face. "I don't think I'm doing anything today."

Naruto clambered eagerly onto my shoulders. "Let's go!"

I laughed and placed a bill on the counter to pay for our ramen, and carried the little kid back to my place. "You know, you probably shouldn't follow strangers to their houses all by yourself." I told him with a little smile.

"But you're not a stranger, Miyoshi!" Naruto protested. "Besides, I can look after myself. I'm a big boy."

I tried not to squeal at how adorable he was. "I'm sure you are."

I walked around the back of the house to the training ground, which Naruto instantly took a liking to. He leaped off my shoulders and started running around and hitting dummies, pretending he was a ninja.

"Hey Miyoshi, will you teach me some ninjutsu?" Naruto asked once he got tired of this.

I shook my head. "I'm afraid you're not supposed to learn ninjutsu until you start at the Academy. But I can teach you some basic Taijutsu, if you want." I offered.

"Please?" Naruto begged. "Ninjutsu is really cool!"

"No, Naruto. I'm not allowed. I'm sorry." I said firmly. "I can teach you as much Taijutsu as you want, but the fact remains that you're not allowed to know any Ninjutsu until you start at the Academy."

"Fine." Naruto pouted. "But I'm gonna start soon, so you have to teach me then, believe it!"

"Okay, I promise. But for now, we'll just work on your punches, yeah?"

"Yeah!"