Stumble [Rewrite]

Rewound

"I said you can't be in here!"

"Why not?!" a familiar voice growled. "You let everyone else in but me?! That's not fair!"

"You're a hazard, Uzumaki, that's wh—"

"I just want to see my dad! What's wrong with that?"

Kakashi's frown deepened as he rounded the corner and approached the room Mari was supposed to be in. The door was closed, and outside, Naruto was arguing with one of the attending nurses. The boy was dressed in a hospital gown and was completely covered in bandages and his IV tube dangled at his feet, but his expression was growing angrier and angrier the more the nurse refused his request.

"How could a man like him be a dad to something like you?"

Naruto faltered. And Kakashi intervened.

He set one of his hands in the mess of short, blond hair and leveled the nurse with one of his coldest regards.

"Apologize to him," he demanded. Naruto's breath caught in his throat as he stared up at his teacher, and the nurse sputtered at the killing intent that wound around the hallways like thick vines slowly rising up from their graves.

"Ex-Excuse me? He's causing a disturbance and I won't allow for—"

"I didn't stutter," Kakashi sneered. The nurse sucked in air through her teeth. "Apologize to him. Now."

The nurse pressed her lips together in a tight grimace before looking back at Naruto, displeasure flaring at the edges of his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he grit out. The boy nodded and watched in awe as Kakashi jerked his head and the nurse dismissed himself to 'attend to another patient'. His shoulder moved and he was edged into Mari's recovery room. He looked up.

"Sensei...?"

"I'll wait for you out here," Kakashi said. "Go."

Naruto hugged his middle before running into the room.

The last student he had to check on he couldn't find anywhere in the hospital. She was awake for one of the three days since being transferred with all the patients allocated form the tents, but on the fourth day, her records showed she left under the council's official jurisdiction.

That added more questions than answers, and he headed towards T&I against his better judgement. It was the one place he could hope to find any sort of explanation.

"Kakashi!" Anko crooned the moment he walked into the building. "Coming to visit me? Aw, you shouldn't have. I'm flattered."

He sneered and sidestepped around her attempts to sling an arm over his shoulders.

"Mitarashi. Have you seen Sakura?"

"Huh? Last I checked, she was recovering in the hospital. I just visited her yesterday," she said. Kakashi blinked at the genuine confusion in her face.

"She was signed out by the council."

"The council?!" she sputtered. "The fuck does the council have to do with anything? She's under T&I and Ibiki's her guardian—what business do they have with her?"

Her not knowing was probably a sign that things were far worse than he first anticipated. Anko growled an when Genma stepped through the foyer, she grabbed his vest and yanked him into their little group.

"Anko, what the hell?!"

"Did you have something to do with this?" she hissed. He looked back and forth between her and Kakashi.