Yer, so sorry bout the late update. I am currently living in a tent, kinda like Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket... So technology is kinda short lived cause of the lack of power point's. Ok, so there was a little bit of writers block involved as well. Anyway, please enjoy :)

"Kakashi, seriously, I'm fine." I complained again as I was forcibly carried over the roof tops of Konoha. My struggling had ceased, running out of energy to keep it up and not wanting to bump any of my sores.

"..."

"Oh, seriously? You gonna ignore me?" I stared up at him disbelieving.

"..."

"Right, I see how it is" I turned my head away and focused on the streets below blurring past as Kakashi leapt through the air.

"..."

My eyes flickered up to Kakashi's unrevelaing face that continued to focus forward as he continued to ignore me. "Fine, I can play the silence game too" I finished looking away again, a frown forming on my face.

"..."

"..."

"Kida, just tell me who hurt you" He finally broke as he jumped down onto the ground and approached a large building.

"I just tripped. That's all." I stated nonanchidly.

"Damn it Kida! I'm your father so don't lie to me!" Kakashi yelled as he forcefully kicked the double doors of the hospital open with enough force to make the walls shake.

"Oh no, let's not do that. Let's not try and assert parental authority after 12 years of complete ignorance." I snapped, causing Kakashi's step to noticeably falter, as we finally made it to the check in desk.

Nurses swarmed me like ants to a crumb as I was taken from Kakashi's arms and placed on a white sheeted stretcher. The jostling around awakened the pain spreading through my body that had been dormant making me realise how gently Kakashi had been carrying me.

The nurses spoke loudly to each other as they began assessing my condition right there in the hallway, a drip was brought over and not so delicately jabbed into my arm.

I felt a sense of anxiety as they prodded at my wounds and I could feel my calm concept of the situation ebbing away as a worried expression inched its way onto my face. Just then they made me lay down on the firm surface as they began wheeling me away.

From behind me I heard a nurse speaking authoritatively to Kakashi. "I'm sorry Sir, but I can't let you go with her. And you need to explain to me how that girl came to be in that kind of condition! Just what kind of training are they doing at that Ninja Academy!?"

I tilted my head on the stretcher as it turned a corner and managed to catch a glimpse of Kakashi and the nurse who was making violent hand gestures as she scolded him and ranted about child safety. He stood there slouched miserably as he continued to look past her and stare sadly after me.

When that nurse finally stopped yelling at me and got back to her own work, I started walking casually towards the wing they had been taking Kida to as not to be noticed by the staff.

(Ok, so I get that in Naruto the hospital security isn't that great and people can actually just walk in. But in the real world hospitals are hard facilities to just walk into, there are cameras and codes and doors with buttons and s>.

Why won't she tell me what happened? I should have been with her... She's right, I haven't been with her for most of her life... It's only been a day... I'm a failure of a father...

I was pulled from my spiralling thoughts when a door to one of the examination rooms opened. My head snapped to the side and I was slightly disappointed when it wasn't Kida who emerged.

Iruka stopped mid step in the door way as he looked away from the ground and met my now shocked and curious gaze.

What the hell happened to him?

He had bandages over his hands, arms, legs, torso and chest, and there were band-aids on his face and neck. As the shock on his face was replaced by worry, he stumbled slightly getting through the door with crutches under each of his arms.

As my own shock wore off, I quickly stepped forward to hold the door the rest of the way open for him.

"Iruka! What happened?" I asked as I closed the door behind him and he turned around to face me.

Guilt flooded his brown eyes as he kept his gaze on the ground and the walls, anywhere but at me. "Well, um, I, um..." He stuttered incoherently.

"..." I stared at him for a moment, taking in his condition again.

The dots began connecting as I stared between a worried and guilty looking Iruka and further down the corridor where a very injured Kida had been taken.

An anger fuelled aura surrounded me as my muscles began moving, while my mind finished catching up.

Before I knew it, I had slammed Iruka into the wall with a loud thud as he cried out in pain, his crutches clattering as they fell to the ground beside him.

I pressed my arm against his throat as I glared at him, my one visible eye radiating the fury that I had towards Iruka at that moment.

"Why'd you attack my daughter?" I seethed between clenched teeth as the pressure I was putting on his throat got tighter.

"I was ordered t-" He began croaking out due to lack of air as he rested his bandaged hand on my arm, seemingly hesitant to try and pry it away from him.

"By who?" I continued as my glare hardened making his brown eyes widen even further in shock and fear, sweat beginning to perspire from his temples.

"The Hokage" He barely whispered, his face had gone red from lack of oxygen and his indecision of whether to pry my arm away from his throat was decided by his instinct to survive.

"Why?!" I yelled, removing my arm and letting him crumble to he ground, heaving for breath.

"He felt her skill level had to be assessed in a seemingly life threatening situation to fully evaluate her-" Iruka heaved out as he looked up at me, grabbing his crutches and using them and the wall for support to get on his feet again.

"SEEMINGLY LIFE THREATENING SITUATION?! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!" My fists were clenching and unclenching as I fought the urge to rehospitalise the man in front of me.

"Kakashi, she would have been fin-" He tried to continue.

"HOW THE HELL WOULD SHE HAVE BEEN FINE IF SHE HAD BURNED TO DEATH!" I yelled at him, not caring that we were in a hospital. "SHE WAS COVERED IN ASH AND SMELT OF NOTHING BUT SMOKE! JUST WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?"

"I would have gotten her out if she hadn't already-"

"NO! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

"Kakashi, calm dow-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! THIS 'TEST' WAS NOT IN A CONTROLLED SITUATION! ANYTHING COULD HAVE HAPPENED!"

"Kakashi." The calm but stern voice of the Hokage made me turn around, breathing heavily. He was flanked by Ibiki and the nurse who was lecturing me earlier, she grew redder in the face as she glared at me.

"Kakashi" the Hokage continued "The error was on my part, I asked Iruka to test her through any means to reveal the maximum amount of her potential as to determine her options for the future. I know now that you should have been informed of the proceedings and the examination should have been conducted in a more controlled manner. You have my apologies Kakashi, but please refrain from taking it out on Iruka who has obviously had just as a challenging day as Kida." The Hokage finished staring intently at me.

My breathing had calmed during his lecture, I turned back to Iruka who had his full weight resting on his crutches.

She sure did a number on him... But why didn't she just tell me it was Iruka? Probably because she knew I'd go after him...

"So, Iruka?" I asked him casually, putting my hands in my pockets.

He seemed shocked by my renewed calm demeanour as he replies hesitantly. "...y-yes Kakashi?"

"So, did she pass?" I asked as if it was an obvious question.

Silence followed as few people in the corridor watched the exchange.

I didn't let the surprise show on my face when Iruka began laughing as he looked at the ground. When he turned to face me again, a grin was plastered on his bruised and swelling face as he informed me proudly "Yes, she passed"

The Hokage chuckled lightly before speaking, "Well, the situation seems to be resolved. Ms Sohma, there shouldn't be any more disturbances in your hospital from him." He finished, nodding lightly towards the nurse before he and a silent Ibiki turned back down the hallway.

The nurse sent me one last warning glance before retreating back down the corridor as well, leaving Iruka and I alone in the hallway again.

I looked down the other end of the corridor, my eyebrows furrowing as I was hit with a renewed urge to continue my search for Kida's room.

"Hey, Kakashi" Iruka began getting my attention again. "I was wondering if you knew anything about someone Kida calls 'Ms Takashima'?" Iruka asked curiously.

"I think that was the name of the woman Kida lived with before journeying here... Why do you ask?"

"...Just something that happened when Kida was under a gen jutsu... I was just curious, forget about it..." He continued looking down the corridor.

"Hmm" I looked at him suspiciously. Wonder what happened...

"Well, I best be getting home to rest. And you aught to find Kida. I'm sure she'd want to see you" Iruka said, smiling knowingly.

I looked at him curiously as he readjusted his crutches and began walking towards the exit.

"We tried to get her to go to the hospital, but she insisted that she had other commitments to fulfill... I suspect she was supposed to be meeting you for lunch or something" Iruka gave one last close eyed grin over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner at the end of the corridor.

I couldn't help the small smile that slipped onto my face as I was left alone in the hallway. I must be doing something right then...

I continued my search down the hallway, relying on my intuition and instinct to find her. I soon heard voices from around the next corner. I peered around to see the cluster of nurses from earlier coming out of one of the rooms. As they disappeared down the other end of the corridor, I slunk around the corner and slipped soundlessly into the room.

When I turned around, I was met with dark eyes identical to mine peering at me from the pale blue sheeted hospital bed. The covers had been pulled up and bunched over the bridge of her nose. The drip remained where it belonged and her freshly bandaged arms were on top of the bed covers at her sides. Her hair had obviously been washed, as the ash, dirt and grime that had turned it almost all black was now back to a luminescent silver that splayed over the white pillow as the afternoon sun reached it.

Silence fell between us before I stepped forward, grabbing the examination sheet from the table and taking a place in the visitors chair next to her.

My eyes widened as I scanned the medical form. It's more serious than it had appeared. Most of her injuries were skin and tissue damage such as bruises, minor cuts, muscle soreness from over exertion, as well as overall exhaustion and dehydration. But according to this, she also had fractured knuckles, bruised ribs, three fractured ribs, minor burns to her legs, a more serious laceration to her torso, and all open wounds had to be extensively sterilized to remove the filth that had covered her to prevent infection.

She must have been in a lot of pain with all of this...

"Why didn't you just tell me it was Iruka" I asked placing the clipboard back on the table.

"...we have an understanding gained through an exchange of fists..." She replied bluntly.

"...right"

Mores silence followed before I continued "Why didn't you go to the hospital straight after this happened?"

She looked away sheepishly as she replied "Well, I was supposed to have lunch with you, but then I couldn't find you... and I was hungry."

I couldn't help the grin that over came my face, her eyes kept darting back to me nervously. The top part of her cheeks that were visible were tinged a light shade of pink as she continued to look between me and the window next to her.

As I laughed lightly, I reached out my hand and gently ruffled her silver hair. A growl rumbled from her accompanied by an annoyed glare as I slowly retracted my hand again. I was still chuckling quietly as I leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest and relaxing further in my chair. Her still glaring eyes were fighting to stay open as exhaustion finished catching up to her.

"You'd better go to sleep, you're going to be feeling this tomorrow." I told her as her eyes finally stayed shut as she drifted off to sleep.