Atonement

Chapter 3

"I hope you have a good reason to call me at this time, sensei!" said a fuming Tsunade when she stormed into the office. When she saw Sakumo she calmed down a bit. This man let the legendary Sannins stand in the shadow and she admired him for his choice to save his comrades over the mission's success. She knew how most of the village thought about him and seeing him and the Hokage together, both with very concerned faces gave her the feeling that something huge had happened. 

"Hello, Tsunade-san," greeted Sakumo the young medical ninja while Hiruzen glared at her. 

"Hello Hatake-san, sensei. What can I do for you?" she asked politely, the hard glare of her sensei well aware. 

"We need you to have a look at young Kakashi here, Tsunade. Sakumo told me he had a mental breakdown and tried to injure himself. Unfortunately, he succeeded in cutting his wrist before Sakumo could stop him. Can you heal him and also have a look if anything else is out of the ordinary?" Hiruzen asked his student. 

Slightly shocked that Sakumo's son had a mental breakdown, Tsunade just nodded and motioned to Sakumo to lay Kakashi down. When she saw the young boy she immediately asked herself what had happened. Not only was his appearance questionable but also the fact that although he was unconscious, his body wasn't relaxed. He seemed haunted and ready to fight at any moment. If not for his age she would have thought to look at a seasoned warrior. Or rather a survivor. Her eyes fell on the blood-soaked bandages on the boy's left wrist and she quickly started to unbind it. 

The cut was deep but nothing too hard to heal, not even a scar would be left. However, what caught Tsunade's eye were the pale, thin lines that resembled old scars along his hands. They were probably from training so she didn't pay a lot to them. Instead, she searched the rest of his body for other injuries. Luckily for Kakashi, Tsunade's tired eyes didn't see the pale scar over his eye or the scar on his right wrist.

"There are no other injuries than this one as far as I can see, sensei. I'd advise that you don't train him too hard, Hatake-san. Too much training might have been the reason for his breakdown." concluded Tsnade while holding back a yawn.

"Okay, thank you, Tsunade. You can go back to bed."

She politely bid her goodbye before racing back to her comfy bed. Left behind were two tired men and one unconscious child. 

"So it was my fault?" whispered Sakumo, depressed. 

"I don't think so, Sakumo. The way you described him doesn't add up to simply too much training, there has to be something else. But for now, you two should go back to your home. It's almost 2 A.M. and I'm sure we all could need some more sleep. Come back tomorrow morning if you feel the need to," said Hiruzen. 

Sakumo understood the hint and took his son and left the Hokage Tower, but not before speaking out his thank you. 

Soon the two Hatakes arrived at their home and Sakumo tugged his son gently into bed. He gave him one last loving look before falling into his own bed and falling into a dreamless sleep. 

~ Timeskip 3 hours (5 A.M.) ~ 

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes and sat up. When he saw the grey ceiling again, he didn't flip out like last time. Who knows what would happen if his father found him sobbing again. He was pretty sure he gave him a heart attack when he cut himself. Talking about cutting, he inspected both of his wrists and found out that his left wrist was completely healed while his right wrist carried a pale scar. That meant that his father had brought him to a medical nin or a nurse, what meant in return that someone else knew about his mental breakdown.