"Let me tell you my story. Let me tell you everything." -Castiel; Supernatural

Four Years After the Nine-Tails Attack

If anyone had told Kakashi that entering fatherhood would be the happiest and saddest day of his life, he wouldn't want to believe it. Though finding out that he'd be helping raise a child had been a terrifying concept, considering his own upbringing, Kakashi was willing to give it a try. He wanted to be there for his child, to raise it right, to show that he loved it. But fears still lingered in the back of Kakashi's mind: What if he wasn't a good father? What if he let his child down? Was he too young? All these questions and fears rattled on in his brain, making him feel uncertain in his ability to raise his own kid.

"You'll do just fine, OK?" Kakashi's partner, Yuka, would always say that to reassure Kakashi's fears. "Don't get so worked up."

Kakashi and Yuka weren't an official married couple; instead, they were partners. When the couple first started dating—close to a year prior to Yuka's pregnancy—they agreed that, because of Kakashi's ninja status, they didn't see marriage in their future. For them, they weren't particularly interested in getting married. Being romantic partners was something they preferred instead. Their relationship wasn't always perfect, they had experienced plenty of bumps in the road, but they worked it out to the best of their abilities. But the day Yuka announced her pregnancy to Kakashi, that was the day everything else—every other problem they ever went through—seemed to disappear.

Unfortunately, just because every problem the couple seemed to have in the past felt like it disappeared, didn't mean the pregnancy didn't have its fair share of issues. From the very beginning, Yuka's pregnancy had been very rocky. Barely two months into the pregnancy, Yuka experienced bleeding, which the doctor deduced to be a threat of a possible miscarriage. Yuka was put on immediate bed rest. As it would turn out, Yuka didn't miscarriage, but she had come close.

"Her body is having a difficult time with this," the doctor had told Kakashi. "She's lucky she didn't miscarry, but it's still a probable threat."

"What do you suggest?" Kakashi asked.

"She'll need to have someone watching over her, just in case." The doctor put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "I'll have some of my nurses come by here to watch over her. You're a ninja, so that means you'll be gone frequently on missions, correct?" Kakashi nodded. "Then it is very important there's someone with her at all times," the doctor murmured. "If you're on a mission and something happens, who'll know? I'll make sure to have some of my nurses watching over her and keeping her in the best condition possible."

"Thank you."

The doctor's idea was useful. The nurses kept Yuka company, whether or not Kakashi was on a mission. Yuka was given special herbs and remedies to make sure the baby developed healthy, Yuka was expected to have a certain number of hours to rest a day. Kakashi was seeing an obvious improvement in her, and he was relieved. But when the day came for the baby to be born, that was when it all went downhill again. Yuka couldn't be taken to a hospital to properly have the baby, so it was obviously going to be born in Kakashi's and Yuka's apartment, in their bedroom. Despite Kakashi's wanting to be there for the baby's birth, he couldn't be. From what he could gather, there were some complications with the birth, and the doctors, midwives, and nurses needed as much room as possible.

Every pained scream that came out of Yuka's mouth physically hurt Kakashi. It felt like hours had gone by since she had gone into labor, and every second that he wasn't in there with her worried him. It scared him. Yuka needed him.

Eventually, Yuka's screams stopped, and a more higher pitched scream could be heard. It didn't take Kakashi long to realize what that meant. The door to his and Yuka's bedroom opened, and a midwife stepped out. Her hands and arms were bloodied, but she held a crying bundle in them. It wasn't just the crying baby that caught his attention, it was the solemn look on the midwife's face. The way the other doctors, midwives, and nurses looked.

The midwife holding the baby walked over to Kakashi, where he automatically opened his arms. She placed the baby in them without hesitation. "The baby is healthy," she said softly, "but her mother didn't make it."

Present Day

Marinette carefully walked through the halls of the apartment building, standing close to the nearest wall, one hand gently brushing against it. It was a special technique she used whenever she was trying to find the apartment she and her father lived in. Being born blind had been a setback of Marinette's for as long as she could remember; but the biggest setback the blindness caused her was the potential impossibility of becoming a ninja. Marinette's father, Kakashi, was a renown ninja in Konoha and around the world—though Marinette was only aware of his high status in Konoha—and she felt like it was her responsibility to become just as strong and powerful as he was.

Unfortunately, Kakashi didn't see it that way. Kakashi did make sure that Marinette had some kind of ninja training under her belt—at least the kind of training she'd be able to do at her age—but he didn't expect her to become some overpowered ninja, feared by everyone around her. He wanted Marinette to be strong enough to defend herself and her comrades. That was one thing Kakashi held in high regards; he wanted Marinette to understand the importance of comradery. For Kakashi, being able to defend one's teammates and companions was more important than anything. It had been something he held in very high regard when it came to personal values.

"Every shinobi is faced with a situation where they have to save the lives of their comrades or some other problem," Kakashi would say. "Whether it's the completion of the mission, or being able to save themselves, it doesn't matter. Those shinobi who choose not to save their comrades are worse than scum."

Marinette made sure she kept that value close to her, as well. Her father was so passionate about it! And since Kakashi was the only parent she had, and since she idolized him so much, she wanted to make him proud in her dedication to protecting her comrades.

The only problem was...she didn't have any comrades. Not many of the children in the village wanted to be her friend; a lot of them were in the Academy, or the ones who weren't made it their personal mission to make fun of her for her disability. They'd openly mock her, saying that it was "such a letdown her father had a kid like her". It made Marinette feel like her blindness was even worse than it really was.

Stopping in front of one of the apartment doors, Marinette pressed the palm of her hand against the door. Closing her eyes, she felt a flow of chakra in there. Her father's chakra. It didn't feel fresh, but it was still his. Carefully moving her hand to find the doorknob, she opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind her, Marinette made sure to lock it. Marinette knew right away her father wasn't home; the lack of fresh chakra was the biggest clue. Since Marinette couldn't see, she focused her concentration on her other senses. As a result, somewhere along the line, Marinette figured out a way to detect the chakra of others. She was able to distinguish the differences between the chakra between a decent portion of the villagers, which, in Marinette's opinion, was a big improvement. Though she had yet to tell her father about it.

Sighing, Marinette made her way over to where the sofa was placed and sitting down. She'd spent most of her day training in the nearest training ground near the village. Kakashi didn't like it when Marinette travelled too far from their apartment, but he made an exception if it was close enough for her to get home easily.

Adjusting herself so she was laying down on the sofa, Marinette rested her head against the sofa's armrest, her hands rested lazily on her stomach. For her, it had been a relatively long day. Even though she was accustomed to certain amounts of training at a time, it still wore her out a majority of the time. She may as well get some rest done until Kakashi came home.

(A/N):

Was this a good chapter? I don't know. Some of you may like it, others may not. I can't decide who'll like it or who won't. Besides, it's only the first chapter, it'll either get better or worse after this. Just let me know what you think, OK? That's the important thing.

Nothing in the Naruto universe belongs to me.

If there's any confusion on this chapter: Kakashi and a woman named Yuka are Marinette's parents; Yuka died in childbirth; Marinette was born four years after the Nine-Tails' attack; you guys can determine how old Kakashi was when Marinette was born; Kakashi and Yuka, even though they were in a relatively serious relationship, had no intentions of getting married in the near future; Yuka was going through some complications in the beginning of her pregnancy; Marinette was born blind. If there's anything else you think I should explain—just anything that's a bit squishy for you guys—don't hesitate to let me know, OK?

Let me know if there's anything I should improve on.

Thanks.

Kaia Milligan