There was a knock at the door.

The entire academy class fell silent at the sound, like they normally did. Usually it meant someone was in trouble, or that they had a visitor who was going to do a surprise lesson over something they'd been talking about.

Himawari remembered when Aunt Sakura did one once on medicine and how to take leaves and mash them into a healing paste. Uncle Shikamaru came and did one on strategy once too. She really didn't understand that one but hopefully she would when she was older. Being seven had some downsides to it.

But it was no surprise when Shino-Sensei opened the door and she saw her father standing in the doorway. Out of everyone that ever came to their classroom to talk, her papa was the most frequent. He would talk about everything and anything, and while Himawari loved her father, he wasn't the best speaker.

But the more she watched the two of them interact the more different it felt. For one, Shino-Sensei wasn't expecting him. He stuttered when he greeted her Papa. But Papa was wearing his fancy cape like he always did when he came to visit.

'I wonder if that's the real Papa?' Himawari wondered. She didn't mind it not being her real papa, she saw him plenty at home. But it was strange for him to come visit as a clone… he never did that. The two places you could always count on it being really him were in the Hokage's office and when talking to the kids at the academy- both important to him. So it must be the real Papa.

But the biggest thing that was off was their faces. First it started with her papa, his face looked pained and worried, and the more him and Shino-sensei talked the more Shino looked the same. At one point Shino even put his hand on Papa's shoulder.

'Weird… what are they talking about?' Himawari thought, staring more intently at the two.

"Hey, what's your Dad doing here?" one of her classmates asked, nudging her arm.

Himawari shook her head.

"I don't know, he didn't tell me anything about seeing us at breakfast…" she answered, not taking her eyes off the two across the room.

Shino turned back to the class.

"Himawari." He spoke clearly. Himawari jumped at her name, thinking she was in trouble for staring.

"Y-yes?" she answered nervously.

"Pack up your things, your father is picking you up."

Himawari hesitated. Why was she being picked up? She liked school, she wasn't feeling sick, her birthday wasn't today, it wasn't Boruto's, Papa's or Mama's either.

That must be it! Mama must have gotten back from her mission. She had been gone for two weeks and all of them were missing her, so he was picking her up to go and see Mama, that must be it.

She put her things away excitedly, her books and pencils, throwing it into her backpack. She left her backpack around her chair, not having any homework to get done. She then hurried down the steps of the classroom, not paying attention to the other kids that were staring at her.

If she had, she might've noticed that sad looks from those closest to the door of the classroom, them hearing most of the conversation.

"Papa!" she giggled, running to him as he bent down for her hug.

It was the real Papa. He was too warm to be fake. She could hear his heartbeat, and the feeling of his arms wrapped around her was something only the real Papa could do.

"Hima… Hima, Hima, Hima." He repeated, welcoming her hug. Himawari dug her face into his chest with a smile. She tried to pull away after a few seconds, but he held her for just a little longer.

"Papa, we're going to see Mama, right?! She's back?" Himawari asked excitedly as he picked her up in his arms.

He hesitated with answering.

"Yeah… we're going to see Mama." He answered before turning his head towards Shino.

"Thanks, Shino. Sorry to interrupt the class." Naruto apologized.

"Truly it's no trouble…" Shino replied, glancing over at the smile on Himawari's face. "And give Hinata my best regards."

….

"Papa, where are we going? Home is the other way.: Himawari asked, pretty sure she was right.

Ever since they left the academy he hadn't let her go. She was plenty big enough to walk herself home, she did it every day after school since mom was gone all by herself. She had only gotten lost once, and that was because she got distracted by a cat.

She could hear the murmurs of the people talking in the streets, pointing at the two of them walking down the street.

Her papa was quiet, not looking at her. She didn't even know if he heard her question.

"Papa?" she asked louder, pulling on his shirt.

"Hm?" he responded, turning his head down at her.

"Home is the other way." She repeated.

He raised his eyebrows, before narrowing his eyes- a pained smile on his face.

"I forget how smart you are." He laughed, but Himawari didn't get it.

"We aren't going home… we're going to the ah…" he trailed off with a sigh, not wanting to finish his sentence. He took a side step out of the main road, in between two shops. He bent down, putting her on the ground in front of him.

"Listen… Your mom is a great ninja, one of the best. But even the best can… can get hurt." He started.

Himawari looked at him confused.

"Did something happen to Mama?" she asked, watching as her papa shook his head.

"Ah…" he breathed in heavy. Himawari even thought he was shaking. "Yeah, something happened."

"Oh…" Himawari reacted, not sure what else to do. She looked down, trying to think of what happened. She had only see Mama hurt once, after she tried to save Papa last year when he was kidnapped. Maybe she was that hurt? Or was it not as bad? Or even worse?

"Why aren't you with her? Is she okay?"

Naruto looked down at his daughter, something he was avoiding since he picked her up. She looked just like Hinata- both of their kids did. Boruto was already with her, not wanting to leave her side. Naruto needed a walk anyway to clear his mind, just for a moment. Her hair was the same color, same silky feeling that Hinata's had. Her complexion, her gestures, the same sweet personality. On any other day, he loved that about their children, but today is was painful. He hated to admit it, but it hurt him to look at her because it reminded him of his wife.

He hugged Himawari again, picking her back up in his arms.

"Come on, let's go see you mom."

…

Himawari didn't know where she thought they were going, but the hospital wasn't it. It made sense when she thought about it, it made sense that if Mama was hurt then she would be here.

There was a secret part of the hospital, covered by a gen-jutsu that special patients were in. Sometimes it was used to hid those that were attacked by someone that wasn't caught, in case they were still after their victim, but it was mainly used for more well-known people. People who represented the village. High ranking Anbu, past Hokage, family members of them all, and that included Hinata.

No one in the village really knew what happened except for a select few. Naruto knew, of course. Their children knew, Sakura knew- being the one who was healing her, Shino knew from Naruto telling him, and of course the only person that was out on the mission with her, Kiba.

It was just a hunt down and retrieve mission. A genin had gone missing- he had gone out on his own without telling anyone and never came back.

She had wanted to go, much against his approval. She was in the room when the mother found out her son was missing, and she couldn't stomach what she was going through. He son was only a year younger than Boruto.

The look in her eyes was something he can't refuse.

Kiba said they found him tied up, like they knew someone was going to come find him. They both knew it was a trap, but even Hinata's byakugan couldn't find anything wrong with him. Nothing within the surrounding area either.

Hinata drew the short end of the stick between the two of them, deciding to make the first move. If Hinata couldn't see anything, Kiba was using his nose to smell.

The kid was unconscious but didn't look hurt. Hinata turned him onto his back, checking his vitals. When she couldn't find anything wrong, she positioned him on her back, making sure he was stable.

Then it was downhill from there.

They were a good hundred yards from each other, and both were attacked simultaneously. Kiba and Akamaru could defend themselves, but Hinata had to protect the boy on her back while still protecting herself.

And that's how they got here.

He opened the door to the room, and Himawari stared in. The first thing she noticed was her brother, standing between them and the bed.

Her Papa dropped her on the ground, letting her run over to her brother.

"Himawari, I see that dad picked you up." He told her, turning around to accept her hug.

"Mmmhm! He came to the classroom and everything." She smiled, but her brother had that same look in his eyes that Papa did. The fake smile and pained eyes.

Himawari slowly turned her head to see her mom. Surely, she was just a little hurt, she was Mama after all.

"Ma…Mama…" Himawari muttered out, walking past her brother.

She grabbed her mother's hand.

There was a giant gash on her head, covered in a large bandage. Starting at her neck she was bandaged down at least to under the shirt the hospital had her in, with her arms also wrapped up. There was dirt and cuts all over her face. She didn't respond to Himawari's touch on her hand.

"M-Mama!" she tried again, but still getting any response. She could hear Aunt Sakura talking to Papa, but she didn't pay attention.

"She's been out of surgery for about twenty minutes… and probably won't wake up for an hour." Sakura told her friend, but it didn't seem like he was listening. Instead he was just staring.

She snapped her fingers in front of his face, watching as his eyes blinked a few times back to reality. He slowly turned his head over to Sakura.

She sighed.

"Im glad you left to get Himawari from school, I thought it'd clear your head." She admitted, fixing her headband back.

"Sorry… I ah… What was that?" he mumbled out, not all there.

She stared at him for a moment before continuing.

"The surgery went fine, and she should be able to go home in a few days, once her stitches heal." She told him, glad to give him some good news.

"That's fantastic, thank you, Sakura." HE breathed out, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Sakura watched as he stared at his wife, the entire room filled with people. Him, her, their two children, and Kiba. Sakura felt like if she said anything out of line she could completely break him. For the strongest ninja in the world, his only weakness was things like this. He got like this when any one of his family got hurt. Anything that he couldn't fix or resolve himself, that he was powerless to change, that got to him. She remembered when Hinata had both their children, he hated the pain she was in. When Boruto first got hurt from a mission, heck even when Himawari had to get her tonsils removed- he hated every minute of those.

This one was probably the worst.

"Naruto… do you need a minute? Or time alone?" she asked him, knowing that's what he needed. She'd seen a lot of people in the same state, it was just so off compared to how he normally was.

He bit his lip, and held in a breath, thinking.

"Kiba, take the kids with you." He spoke clearly. Kiba turned around, seeing the look on Naruto's face made him understand what he wanted.

"Yeah."

Kiba turned towards Himawari and Boruto, trying to walk out with them.

"B-But Dad!" Himawari protested. She had just gotten here, she didn't want to leave.

"Like hell we're leaving!" Boruto exclaimed, throwing his arm out in frustration.

Naruto turned over his shoulder, glaring down at his son. He knew e shouldn't be mad, Hinata was the boy's mother, and he loved her just as much as he did. But he needed what Sakura asked, just a moment to himself with no one watching, no one judging.

"Boruto. You and your sister are going with Kiba." He strictly told him.

There was a stare down between the two.

"…Fine. Come on, Himawari." Boruto caved, knowing this was a fight he couldn't win.

Sakura was the first to leave, having other patients to tend to. She turned down the opposite direction of the exit, going further into the hospital.

Himawari and Kiba left next, followed by Boruto, who slammed the door as he exited the room.

Boruto was mad, fuming eve, that their father made them leave. He wanted to be there, wanted to see her when she woke up.

"Does Dad think that we don't understand the situation?" he huffed, not really talking to anyone individually.

"You'll have to forgive him, I'm sure he just needs time alone." Kiba explained as they walked somberly down the hallway.

"Why would he need that?" Himawari asked, tugging at Kiba's jacket.

Kiba put a hand to his chin.

"Think of it like this. She was the first person to ever love him. She supported him from the very beginning. She was his first and only love, giving him as much as he had missed growing up. The she gave him a home and a family…" he trailed off, trying to prove a point to the kids.

Boruto, after much insisting, finally got his dad to share some of the stories he had, but not all yet. The stories seemed to line up to what Kiba was saying.

"I never thought of it that way…" Himawari mumbled, looking down at the ground as they walked.

"Yeah… me either."

Kiba continued.

"Not to mention he's the one who sent her on that mission, I can't imagine how he feels."

Back in the hospital room, Naruto covered his eyes. He never slept well when Hinata was gone, and put that on top of the fact that she was hurt? Because of him? A nightmare.

He could slowly feel himself starting to break, his eyes growing heavy as he continued to think about it. How much pain she was in, what she sacrificed to make sure that child came back completely unharmed, how he knew she was just imagining it as her own son that was depending on her- he couldn't take it.

He felt the tears leave his eyes.

He knew that Sakura said she would be fine, like nothing happened, but he hadn't heard her voice yet. She hadn't moved on her own, been responsive, said that she loved him, he couldn't even tell her welcome home.

"Hinata…" he murmured as he reached out for her bruised and sleep induced face.

He put his forehead against her own, upset with anything and everything, but mostly at himself.

'I-I'm so sorry… Please, forgive me.'

….

This is for Naruhina Week day 3: "I'm Sorry." And I originally made a little comic and then it went to this big ordeal so here it is!

Also link to the comic - post/155648363864/naruhina-week-day-three-im-sorry-this-is