How Things Change:
Chapter III~ The Awakening
A few minutes and a stiff hand later, Kakashi had finished signing the adoption papers. He couldn't help but worry about what he was getting himself into, however. He didn't have much experience when it came to taking care of children, and wasn't sure how he would handle it. This wasn't the sort of job he was used to doing.
He didn't have any younger siblings he ever had to take care of (not that he would have been able to, having been promoted to Chūnin at six), and the only time he was ever forced to watch over someone young was when he was on a mission, and in those time, said child's mother or father would be with him.
Kakashi was nervous.
What if he did something wrong?
What if he did more harm than good?
How could he be a father figure to someone so young when all he had ever been taught to do was to kill?
Kakashi shook his head to clear his mind.
'Look at me, the great Copy Ninja of The Hidden Leaf, cowering in fear at a bit of babysitting…'
He knew it was more than just a bit of babysitting, however, and that's just what scared him the most.
Taking a seat, he lowered his head into his hands.
"How am I supposed to handle this, Minato-sensei?"
'Give me an S-rank mission to complete and I can handle it without batting an eyelash, give me a kid to take care of and I turn into a total wreck…I'm pathetic.'
Minato smiled, though he knew Kakashi couldn't see it.
"It'll be alright, Kakashi. Kushina and I will be right here to help you."
And they would be. If Kakashi, Minato's former apprentice, were to become Hinata's legal guardian, then the elders of the village could no longer use the excuse that Kushina and Minato had no reason to show Hinata a bit of favoritism. They would have a reason for doing so now: Hinata would become Kakashi's, Minato's former student and best friend's, daughter. She would basically become family.
When Kakashi heard this, he began to calm down. He would believe in Minato to keep his word as he had no reason not to.
And as he calmed down he realized something. Something huge he had overlooked.
Looking up, he asked, "Minato-sensei…why was Hyūga Hiashi told to sign the forms as well?"
Kakashi could only think of one rational reason for it, but that couldn't possibly be why, could it?
There was a long explanation for this, he realized.
Minato frowned.
"I had a feeling you would ask this, so I guess I'll have to let you in on it as well. I probably should have a while ago, Kakashi. Don't think I kept this from you because I don't trust you, I just believed the fewer to know about it, the better…" Minato stood from behind his desk and looked out of the window that had the best view of the village. "The reason that I had Hiashi sign those documents as well is because Hinata is his illegitimate daughter."
Even though Kakashi had a feeling this would be the case, it still shocked him.
"How is that possible?"
"It's possible because Seiko had given birth to their daughter the night the fox attacked the village." Minato responded. "Seiko wanted to keep it from Hiashi because he was going to be getting married after she called their engagement off. He didn't know he had a daughter until a few days ago. If the Hyūga clan found out about her pregnancy, we were afraid of what would happen as Hinata was the love child of Seiko and Hiashi. Even though she is a bastard child, she is still Hiashi's first born and would have been next in line as clan head. They hated Seiko because she was not a Hyūga and they thought she was weak, and we believed that if they knew about Hinata their hatred would transfer to her, a "half breed" as they would call her. We were afraid the clan would try to seal her or worse if they knew about her. We were hoping Hinata would be born without the Byakugan as it would make hiding her from the Hyūga simpler, but that was not the case."
Kakashi nodded, understanding where they were coming from.
"However, there was another important reason we hid her pregnancy. It was also hidden from everyone because we didn't wish anyone to know she, not Kushina, was the Jinchūriki. Do you have any idea why we had to hide her pregnancy until after she gave birth, Kakashi?"
"I don't, Minato-sensei."
"I didn't think you would, it's not a commonly known fact…" He sighed. "The seal is at its weakest when a woman goes into labor, Kakashi. We—and by that I mean Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Kushina, and I— had taken Seiko out of the village in order for her to give birth in secret. We needed to be extra cautious when delivering her child, and we didn't want anyone to ask why. Her being pregnant was to be a surprise to everyone if all went according to plan, you see."
"But it didn't." Kakashi finished.
"You're right, it did not." Minato couldn't help but feel more depressed as he continued. "Seiko didn't want Kushina to help with the procedure as she felt Kushina would become too emotional, they were as close as any sisters after all. Seiko didn't even want Tsunade to help but she was the only fully qualified medical ninja that already knew of the secret we had been hiding, and she was also the only medical nin that Seiko trusted enough with delivering her child. So, instead of Kushina, I was put in charge of watching over the seal while Tsunade and Shizune were to deliver the baby. We were to do this while Jiraiya, Kushina, and the Third stood guard, but I couldn't keep the seal intact. The fox had begun to try to escape when it realized the seal had weakened. It had wanted its freedom and had every intention of getting it. I had failed at my job, but Tsunade had succeeded at hers. She had successfully delivered Seiko's child."
"And that child was Hinata." Kakashi whispered to himself.
"Yes, Hinata was Seiko's and Hiashi's first and only daughter."
Kakashi remained quiet while Minato finished the story.
"Before the fox escaped, Seiko told us Hinata was the only one suitable to contain the Kyūbi; she told us that only an Uzumaki could contain the demon and she also said that Kushina was too old for it to be sealed inside of her. After the fox got free, I fully intended on sealing the demon. However, Hiruzen refused to let me do the sealing and decided he would do it himself. Because Hinata is only half Uzumaki and because of his age, he had to summon the Shinigami in order to help seal the fox's chakra; only half of the Kyūbi's chakra was sealed inside of Hinata, and the other half into the death god.
"After the fox was sealed, it came to our attention that Hinata had inherited her father's Byakugan. When we realized this, we had decided to seal it away until she was strong enough to protect herself from her clan or, as I should say, former clan now. We had hid the fact that she was a Hyūga from almost everyone, Hiashi included. We didn't think she would be safe in that household, as I already explained. After that Kushina and I had tried to adopt her but the elders had kept us from doing so. After we had hid the fact that she was Seiko's daughter, we no longer had a reason to adopt her. The elders would have made sure the entire village knew that we favored Hinata, the one who had the beast who killed so many other children's parents inside of her, over everyone else.
"Not wanting to risk an uprising over that, we had put her into a very reputable orphanage and hoped everything would turn out alright. But, as you know, it had not. Whenever we visited Hinata we always thought she was being cared for. There were small signs to tell us that she had been getting neglected, but we ignored them. We didn't want to believe she wasn't getting the care she needed. I regret it more than anything now…I should have done something to help her, but I hadn't. I failed at protecting an innocent child."
Kushina, who had been listening silently, had her head lowered as she nodded. Her eyes once again began to fill with tears.
Kakashi bit his lip. Part of him wanted to tell Minato it was alright, but he knew it would have been lying. Minato and Kushina had both made a terrible mistake when they had done what they had done, and now Hinata was suffering for it. She didn't deserve any of it, and yet she had paid for their mistake.
Minato looked to Kakashi.
"Even you know I've done something terrible, Kakashi. I can see it." Minato smiled sadly. "I really am a horrible person, aren't I?"
"You're not a horrible person, Minato-sensei…" Kakashi let out a sigh of his own. "But I'm not going to lie. You and Kushina made a horrible mistake when it came to Hinata's safety, and now she has to suffer for it."
He wished he could tell them otherwise, but they would know he wasn't being truthful.
"We know this, and we swore not to make another mistake like this again. We are going to do everything in our power to keep Hinata safe from this point onward…I just wish we had done it sooner."
Kakashi nodded, and then a thought popped into his head, "Why is it you're having Hiashi sign over all of his rights to me? Couldn't we just pretend I've adopted her, that way she could take up the title of heiress at some point?"
Minato shook his head. "We think it will be safer this way. We want the adoption to be one hundred percent legal that way if the elders of the Hyūga clan ever found out about it before we want them too, she would be safe. Because, as of now, she is not a Hyūga, she is a Hatake. They would have no legal rights to touch a single hair on her head anymore because she no longer belongs to their clan. This would also save Hyūga Hanabi from ever receiving the cursed seal because she would still be the only one who could become leader of the clan. Hiashi signed all legal rights of Hinata over to you, so Hanabi is legally his only daughter." A small smile formed from Minato's lips. "I'm happy the clan has no laws passed regarding adoption. They've never had it happen before now, not outside of the clan, anyway. No one in the Hyūga clan had ever expected someone of the main house to sign over their rights of an unsealed child to an outsider and, even if it had been considered, no one had ever thought that their very own clan head would do so. What leader, after all, would be stupid enough to sign their parental rights over to an outsider?"
Kakashi nodded slowly.
"I can see why that helps with this, Minato-sensei," he shook his head. "But, whenever they find out Hinata is indeed a member of the main house, you know they'll try to fight it."
Minato's eyes narrowed which caused a shiver to run down Kakashi's back.
He always hated that look, it was frightening.
"I know they will, but they cannot stop this. As of right now, it is completely legal for Hiashi to do what he did. They may try to get a law passed in the future regarding adoption, but by then it will be too late to do anything as he did it when it wasn't illegal for him to do so." Minato sighed. "I know they won't back down without a fight, so a fight is exactly what I'll give them when the time comes."
Kakashi nodded in understanding, and then asked, "What am I to do about housing? I was only a year older than Hinata is when I moved into the ANBU barracks, but I, unlike her, was a trained shinobi. I don't know much about raising kids, but I do know that the barracks would not be the ideal place to do so. I don't own any other property so what am I to do?"
Minato answered somberly as he held out a pair of keys before Kakashi. "That's not true, Kakashi..."
Kakashi bit his lip, realizing just what those keys unlocked. "I don't think I have the strength to move in there, Minato-sensei…I told you this before." The idea of living there was almost too much for him to handle. "I wanted you to give that place away to someone; I didn't even want money for it. I told you that."
"I could set you up in an apartment, Kakashi..." Minato sighed, "But I have no desire to do so. This place is already fully furnished and has everything you'd need to raise a child, and it even has its own private training area for your personal use, even if it is on the small side. This place would give you both far more privacy than the paper thin walls of an apartment."
Kakashi knew Minato was right, but that house held many bad memories…especially the master bedroom.
"Please, Kakashi, it's time for you to accept your inheritance. Normally I wouldn't force it on to you, as I can understand why it'd be painful to live there, but it would be the best place to raise Hinata. She'd be safe there. After your mother died, your father had set up many security seals to keep you safe so you wouldn't have to worry about a thing, really. And this house is just a few blocks from my own estate." Minato stated, trying to talk his friend into accepting it.
Kakashi sighed deeply; there was no getting out of it this time.
"I know you're right..." he said as he accepted the keys that his former sensei held out to him.
Minato smiled sadly, he knew how hard it was for him to agree to take them. "On the bright side, each bedroom has its own bathroom so you would each have some personal space."
Kakashi forced a smile under his mask, trying to find the good in the situation. He obviously already knew what amenities the house possessed, but he appreciated Minato for trying to help him feel better about it.
"Well, I guess that is something to look forward to…it has been years since I've had a bathroom to myself as there are only community ones in the barracks." Kakashi paused for a moment, and then asked, "Is there anything else I should know about this, Minato-sensei?"
He meant about the whole situation involving Hinata.
Minato answered, knowing exactly what he meant.
"Yes, there are two more things I'd like to tell you." Minato sighed once more. "The first is that someone else knew Seiko was the true Jinchūriki of the nine tailed fox."
Kakashi was surprised. "If this was such a heavily guarded secret, how could that be?"
"I don't know, Kakashi." Minato breathed. "And that isn't even the worst of it. Not only did that person know that Seiko was the Jinchūriki, but he also knew she was pregnant, and that the seal that kept the demon at bay would be at its weakest when she went into labor."
Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose. "Do you know who this person was?"
"I have no idea who it was. It was a masked man, or I assume it was a man, and a very powerful one at that. He had fought against Kushina, Jiraiya, and the Third all at once and hadn't been defeated. And, he also went up against me later that same night, and had put up more of a fight than I had thought he would, seeing as he had already fought against three of the most powerful shinobi of the village." Minato frowned. "He also had the power to control the Kyūbi."
This surprised Kakashi greatly.
"He was able to control the Kyūbi? The demon that is said to be the strongest of the tailed beasts?"
Minato nodded.
"Yes. Kushina and Seiko—if she were still alive— have a special chakra that allows them to hold the Kyūbi at bay, but not even they could have controlled the demon like that man had."
"Whoever he was," Minato continued, "He isn't someone to take lightly, and I do not doubt we will be seeing him again someday. I was able to chase him away, but I don't think that was the end of it. He wanted the fox, and I believe he will be back one day to try to get his hands on its power."
Kakashi let out a long sigh, "Things today just keep getting more and more complicated…"
Minato patted Kakashi's shoulder, "I know, Kakashi, I know. I'm sorry to do this to you, but it was the best way to go about what I wanted done. You probably feel like I am using you, and I guess in a way I am, but please realize I am only do this to protect Hinata, an innocent girl who has suffered more in her seven years of life than she ever should have. You are my best friend and I would trust no other person with this task, and you know that. I need you to help me, Kakashi. Please."
Kakashi nodded his head in understanding, "I won't let you down, Minato-sensei."
Minato smiled sadly, "I know you won't."
Minato turned away from Kakashi as a grimace passed across his face. "And I know this day is getting more and more stressful, but I do have one other thing to add to it. You have a right to know what it is you are getting into as it could become more dangerous for you." He sighed.
"The second thing I wanted you to know about is who I believe masterminded the attack on Hinata."
"You've got a lead, I take it?" Kakashi asked, interested.
Minato shook his head. "Not exactly, it's more of an educated guess…" He let out a long sigh. "I believe the people responsible for this attack are Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu."
Kakashi's stared at him in surprise at the news, "You believe it was the work of the elders?"
Minato nodded grimly, "I wish I didn't, but I do. They are the guilty ones, I am sure of it. At the moment I cannot prove it was them, but as soon as I can they will be severely punished. They will not get away with this. I am the Hokage of this village, and the only one who had any right to sanction an assassination mission would have been me. They will soon learn why you don't mess with the Yellow Flash of the Leaf!"
Minato's eyes became even colder than before. They were icy.
Kakashi always felt uneasy under his gaze; that cold, calculating look. That was the look of the man who had single handedly defeated an entire army of trained shinobi.
Kakashi shivered, and then asked, "What about Shimura Danzō? Why do you not suspect him?"
"I don't suspect Danzō because of the fact that he believes Hinata could be turned into a powerful weapon for the Leaf. I don't think he'd risk killing her off just yet, not when he wants her to be shaped into the most powerful tool imaginable. I would never allow for that to happen as I don't believe in using my shinobi that way, but I guess it's better for Danzō to think this way, at least, when it comes to Hinata's safety. He would not have agreed to having her killed—not until he was absolutely sure that she was useless to him, anyways—I am almost positive of that…" he sighed. "Koharu and Homura are different, however. From the very beginning they wanted Hinata to be killed. They believed she posed a threat to the village. They never wanted her to live past her first birthday. I know they put the safety of the village above all else, but this time they went too far."
Kakashi nodded. He never had much love for the elders, but he never believed them to be capable of doing such a horrible thing. He knew the task he was to complete would be more dangerous with them involved.
They held power, and had followers who agreed with them, and until Minato could hold them responsible for the crime they had committed, they still held that power, though, they were sure to be careful around the Hokage when using said power seeing as they knew Nobuo Kuro was still alive.
The mission might not be as dangerous as he had first thought, when he realized that.
"How long will it take for you to reverse the effects of the seals that were used on Dai Takeshi and Nobuo Kuro?"
He was one of the few who knew that Dai Takeshi was still alive.
"It's hard to say," Minato started. "They are pretty complex, and because of our duties to the village it could take quite a while, but I am sure that Kushina and I can handle them. No matter how many hours or years it takes, we will break the seals and punish the elders accordingly."
Kushina, who had been quiet for most of the meeting, nodded in agreement.
"The seals are quite complex like Minato said, and powerful too, but I am not a Fūinjutsu master for nothing. I've never come across a seal quite like this one, but I refuse to give up. I will figure out a way to crack this seal, and reverse its side effects, or my name isn't Uzumaki Kushina—ttebane!"
Minato smiled at his wife, and then he looked to Kakashi once again.
"There is one other good thing about Hinata becoming your daughter, Kakashi."
Kakashi cocked his head to the side slight as he asked, "Oh? And what's that?"
"You would be more than capable of training Hinata when the time comes!" Minato exclaimed.
Kakashi laughed nervously at his former sensei's enthusiasm.
"I guess that's true…it would give me something to do now that I am going to have a lot of free time, not being an active shinobi and all."
Being forced into a temporary retirement still stung, but he refused to become irritated with Minato. He understood fully what Minato was doing, and, if things were revered, he'd probably do the same.
Minato nodded, and was about to mention to Kakashi that he might have less free time than he thought (raising a kid was a lot of hard work, after all), when Kushina noticed the time and interrupted him before he could get a word in.
"We should probably get going; it's almost time for us to be back at the hospital. Inoichi will be expecting us to show up around now."
Minato looked to the clock and knew his wife was correct and was going to tell Kakashi he was free to leave, when he realized something.
"Would you like to be there when Hinata wakes up?" Kakashi had every right to be there if he so chose to be.
Kakashi nodded after thinking it over, "Yeah, I do, Minato-sensei."
He was her adoptive parent, after all. If he wanted to help Hinata overcome what happened, the least he could do was be there for her when she'd need someone the most.
'That's what a real parent would do, right?'
He wasn't sure.
He had never really known his mother (she died when he was very young at the hands of one of his father's enemies), and he never saw his father much before his death (due to his father's busy shinobi career, and the fact that he separated himself from him).
'I've got a lot to learn about this parenting shit…' Kakashi thought to himself.
Minato looked to his wife while Kakashi tried to figure out just what a good parent was like.
"So, shall we go now?"
"I was the one who said we should in the first place." Kushina stated somewhat playfully.
Minato nodded and led them out of his office.
Kakashi followed with one thought in his mind, 'Well, when in doubt, wing it…'
Not the best of ideas, but what other choice did he have?
.
.
.
While Kushina and Minato were meeting with Kakashi and Hiashi, Inoichi had been able to finish his own work. Though, it had been extremely difficult for him to do so.
For the past hour and a half or so, he had been scanning through the memories that belonged to Hinata, and what he saw made him feel sick. She had suffered more than she should have the past seven years in the orphanage, but none of that had been nearly as bad as what had happened to her a few nights ago. She had suffered from something no woman should ever have to go through. And the fact that she was a child made it even viler. If there was one thing Inoichi couldn't stand more than anything, it was child molesters. He had never come into contact with one until Takeshi, and he was glad for that. Seeing that someone could do that to a child made him feel sick.
Another horrible thing about it all was that Hinata was not even a trained killer, a Kunoichi. She wasn't even a Kunoichi in training. She was an innocent child who had been tortured endlessly for hours. And what she had gone through could have even caused the most hardened Kunoichi to break. She wasn't prepared for anything like that, while a Kunoichi would be. Kunoichi always kept it in mind that something of that caliber could happen to them while in the field, while Hinata couldn't even put a name to it. She had never once in her life heard the word 'rape' before…
"Dammit." Inoichi muttered as he slouched against the wall with his head buried in his hands.
What he saw had disturbed him greatly and he now couldn't help but worry about his own daughter.
Inoichi never felt more concerned about his daughter than he did at that moment. He knew Ino looked up to him and wanted to become a great ninja like he was and it scared him.
What if the same thing ever happened to his baby girl?
How would he be able to handle it?
And, more importantly, how would she ever handle it?
Inoichi let out a long sigh.
If he, a trained shinobi, had trouble getting the images of what he saw out of his head, than how could Hinata ever hope to do so?
How would she heal from such a traumatic experience?
Inoichi silently cursed to himself once more. He really hated his job sometimes, and that was especially true at that very moment.
This wasn't the first time Inoichi had to look through the memories of someone who was raped and tortured, but it was the first time he ever had to see it through the eyes of an innocent child. Before he had only witnessed such events from the perspective of someone who had been trained to withstand such punishment; someone who wouldn't be as surprised about it as Hinata had been. He only ever saw something like this from the point of view of trained ninja; Kunoichi who knew the dangers of being a female in their line of work.
Inoichi bit his lip. Hinata may never fully recover from what had happened to her. And, not only that, but he realized she may never trust anyone again. Inoichi knew of the anger and hatred she felt toward everyone as he could sense it when he entered her mind...
Then a thought passed through his head. 'No, not everyone...'
The image of a silver haired man filled his mind. He, like almost everyone, had never seen his face before, but there was one thing that gave Kakashi away and that was his single red eye, his Sharingan.
Inoichi's eyes widened and he about jumped to his feet.
That was it.
He was the one she needed.
The only person who had any hope of helping the young girl was Hatake Kakashi. He was the only one who Hinata would trust at the moment and that was because he saved her. He showed her that she wasn't alone by doing that. At the moment, he knew, she couldn't help but feel he was her guardian angel….
Inoichi sighed in relief. He was glad that he found a small sliver of hope within the girl. With Kakashi's help she had a better chance of overcoming what had happened to her. Had she been alone—well, he'd rather not think about that.
'Now I'll just have to let the Hokage know—'
Abruptly Inoichi was taken from his thoughts when the door to the hospital room opened. Inoichi groaned in annoyance as he jumped in surprise.
'Well, that wasn't smart…anyone could have easily killed me with how well I was paying attention!'
He knew it was an overstatement, but he still didn't like the fact that he didn't notice three of the strongest shinobi approaching…their chakra signatures should have been easy to detect. He wasn't a sensor type ninja for nothing, after all. He just had been too preoccupied by his thoughts to realize they were nearing him.
'This just makes it easier for me, I guess. Everyone I need to talk to is already here.'
"Hello again, Hokage-sama." Inoichi tiredly stated; the task he had completed left him feeling drained of strength.
Minato frowned. He could easily tell that Inoichi was extremely bothered by what had happened to Hinata.
"I'm sorry again, Inoichi, for making you do this."
Inoichi waved his apology away. "It's alright; I knew what I was getting myself into. I could have refused to do this had I wanted to, but I didn't. I want to help her in any way I can, just as you do."
Minato nodded. "I guess you're right…"
For the next couple of minutes an awkward silence fell upon the group of ninja.
Kushina cleared her throat to break that silence and asked, "So…did you find anything of use for us?"
She held her breath, expecting the worse.
To her surprise, Inoichi smiled at her.
"I did, actually."
Minato raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"Hatake Kakashi." Inoichi responded confidently.
Since his named had been mentioned, Kakashi decided to inquire into it.
"I beg your pardon? What do I have to do with it?"
"What I mean to say is," Inoichi began. "Is that in order for Hinata to overcome this the easiest way possible, she needs your help, Kakashi. Without it, she may never be able to rise above it."
"Why is that, Inoichi?" Kakashi asked, curiously.
"The reason for that, Kakashi," Inoichi answered. "Is that when you stepped in to save her she had thought of you as her guardian angel. She had been put through so much that she began to feel hatred toward everyone…except for you, I realized. When she saw that you had stepped in to save her, relief filled her mind. She realized she wasn't alone. She doesn't know who you are, Kakashi—hell, at the moment, I don't even think she knows that you are a real person. I believe she really does think of you as the angel who came to rescue her. And that is why she needs your help. I know this will put a lot of stress on you, but she needs you. I really believe she does."
Kakashi let out a long sigh.
"This day is just not getting any easier, is it?"
Inoichi out of curiosity, asked, "Why is that?"
Minato smiled sadly, and looked to his wife, "I guess we had made the right choice, eh Kushina?"
Kushina nodded, and this just confused Inoichi more.
"What are you guys talking about?"
He was out of the loop, apparently.
Kakashi looked to Hinata, sorrow filled his eyes. He would help her, no matter how hard it was for him to do so. She didn't deserve any of what had happened to her, and he made a promise to her that he was sure to keep. He would save her from the darkness that filled her heart.
'I don't know how I will do it as I still have my own demons to overcome, but I swear to you, Hinata, I will not let you go down the dark path you are certainly headed for.'
Kakashi turned his attention back to Inoichi. He would answer his question.
"You're currently looking at Hinata's adoptive parent." Kakashi stated.
Inoichi's mouth fell open in surprise.
When he finally regained his composure, he said, "I can honestly say, I was not expecting that."
And he wasn't.
He never in his life would think of Kakashi as the parenting type.
"Welcome to the party." Kakashi answered.
When he had met Minato at the Hokage Tower earlier that day, he neither expected that he'd leave the room with a daughter.
Minato patted Kakashi on the back.
"It won't be that bad, I swear!" He smiled. "And, like I said earlier, Kushina and I will be there to help you through it. We promise we will."
Inoichi looked to Minato and Kushina. "She doesn't trust you guys or anyone but Kakashi, anymore."
It pained him to say it, but he knew it had to be said. They needed to know just how badly the attack affected her.
"She blames you guys for it. She blames everyone for it. In her mind she is cursing everything for it."
Tears filled Kushina's eyes, but she managed to wipe them away. "We expected as much."
She turned to Hinata. "But we made a promise to her that it wouldn't happen again. We will gain her trust once more no matter how long it takes or we will die trying. We will help Kakashi show her that she doesn't need to hate the world for what happened to her. We will help her realize not everyone is like Dai Takeshi or Nobuo Kuro. One day she will be able to see the good in people again."
Minato nodded. He knew Kushina would never give up on what she promised as that was her Nindō and his as well because of her. Grabbing her hand, he smiled.
How was he able to get himself the perfect woman?
She was strong in both the physical and emotional sense, and was kind (unless someone were to mess with her or her precious people, of course).
Kushina looked to husband and raised an eyebrow.
"What is it? Do I have something on my face?" She asked while she tried to rub off whatever it was she thought she had on her face.
Minato shook his head. "It's nothing…"
Looking toward Inoichi, he then asked, "So do you think it is okay to wake her up now…or should we wait a few more days?"
Inoichi shrugged. "I don't think much is to change in a few days, Hokage-sama. You might as well get it over with. I don't think any of us is looking forward to waking her up, but it needs to be done in order for her emotional scars to have any hope of healing. At the moment all she is doing is reliving that event over and over again. It has become her worst nightmare."
He frowned as they all looked toward the almost peaceful looking girl.
It was true. What had happened to her had been so horrible that that's all her unconscious mind had been able to think about. He didn't even have to search to find what happened to her…as soon as he entered her mind he was able to see it clearly.
Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the people in the room. "Should I go get the Doctor?"
He needed to get out of the room if only for a moment. Looking through Hinata's mind had affected him greatly. He needed air.
"That would be a good idea, Inoichi." Kakashi said lazily when neither Kushina nor Minato responded. "Tell her we're ready."
When Inoichi left the room, Kakashi swore he heard him mutter something about how Dai Takeshi deserved to rot in hell for eternity. Kakashi, in turn, whole heartedly agreed.
'I wonder if Minato-sensei will let me do the honor of sending him from this world when we are no longer in need of him? Then again, maybe not. I'd probably have to fight Kushina for it…And Hiashi too, if he knows Takeshi is still alive.'
Kakashi believed he did know, and that he was the one who left Takeshi in his almost dead state. He had no clue who had actually done it (he thought maybe it was Kushina's work), and it wasn't until after he found out Hiashi was Hinata's father that he suspected him. After he found that out, it was easy to connect the dots.
After a moment had passed, Kushina once again brought her attention to Hinata's sleeping form.
"I hope we don't mess up."
Minato and Kakashi nodded in agreement, though Kushina had not noticed. Instead her back was turned to them as she walked to Hinata's side and grabbed her hand. Leaning over she placed a kiss on the top of her forehead before returning to husband's side.
'No matter what, Hinata-chan, I will help you get through this. I swear to you on my life I will.'
Kushina forced her tears back while her hands formed fists at her side.
"You will never be left alone like that again—Dattebane!" She finished out loud, surprising both men.
Sometimes Kushina would forget she liked to think aloud, and now was one of those times. After a few moments she realized what she had done, and she blushed lightly in embarrassment.
Minato smiled at the actions of his wife and pulled her into a hug. "We'll both make sure of that, and you will too, right, Kakashi?"
Pulling his wife into an embrace, he gently kissed her rose colored lips before Kakashi could answer.
Kushina shivered at the show of affection. No matter how many times he had kissed her, he still was able to send waves of goose bumps down her spine. Pressing herself closer to him, she deepened the kiss.
A cough on the other side of the room reminded them that they were not the only conscious ones there, and Kushina pushed herself away from her husband, her cheeks were colored a deep shade of crimson.
"Ahahaha…sorry about that, Kakashi." Minato muttered, also embarrassed.
Kakashi responded as if nothing had happened to which Kushina and Minato were thankful of.
"What are you sorry for, Minato-sensei? All I was going to say was that I will try my best at helping Hinata as well."
Minato laughed while rubbing his head. "Ah, I see…that's very good to hear."
Kakashi couldn't help but have a little fun at their expense.
He looked toward Kushina and said, "My, my, what red cheeks you have. With that hair, and the color of your cheeks, no wonder you used to be called Tomato…I think it's a really fitting name for you."
Kushina's eyes narrowed dangerously. She hadn't been called Tomato in years. People learned to stop it early when they realized she was going to kick their asses for calling her that.
"What was that, Kakashi-chan? I didn't quite catch what you said."
Minato backed away from the two as he had no desire to get between them. Kushina was scary when she was like that, and he was not going to try and get in her way. Kakashi shouldn't have said what he did, and if he got beaten within an inch of his life it would be his own fault.
'You poor, poor fool, Kakashi…why couldn't you just keep your mouth shut?'
Kakashi did his closed eyed smile, and held his hands up in front of him in defensively.
"Nothing, I didn't say anything—"
"But I could have sworn you just called me Tomato." Kushina interrupted with an evil glint in her eyes.
Kakashi backed away a little, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"I would never."
Kushina was about to open her mouth again, but before she could, Inoichi entered the room with Chie at his heel. He was hoping it would take longer to find her as he wanted some air, but she had been pretty easy to find.
Inoichi and Chie stopped when they felt how cold the room's atmosphere was.
"Did we, uh, interrupt something?" Inoichi asked, nervously.
Kushina gave Kakashi a look that said 'don't worry, we can continue this later, I won't forget' before turning toward Inoichi, a smile adorning her face.
"Nope, you didn't interrupt a thing." She said.
Kakashi let out a sigh of relief, 'I'm safe…for now, at least.'
Inoichi nodded, and then waved lazily toward Chie.
"I've gotten her, as you can see."
Chie bowed respectfully, and stated, "Hello Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama."
Kushina hated being called 'Kushina-sama' but ignored that for now.
"Hello, Chie. How are you?"
"Tired." She responded. "And, you?"
"The same." Kushina answered.
It was then she noticed that Chie carried a single syringe and a vial full of a clear liquid.
"What is that for?"
"This, Kushina-sama…" Chie paused while she filled the syringe with the vial's contents, measuring it with much skill and precision. "Is the drug that will awaken Hinata from her medically induced coma."
Kushina nodded having already figured it out before she answered "I see. And after you give her the drug, how long will it be before she awakens?"
"A few minutes, at most." Chie answered as she stood at Hinata's bed.
In one quick motion, Chie quickly put the needle into her IV and released the medicine to flow into her bloodstream.
Afterwards, she carefully disposed of the syringe in the medical hazard box, and then asked, "So, who wants to be the first person she sees when she awakes?"
Six eyes turned toward Kakashi simultaneously.
Chie laughed at their antics, "Hatake-san it is then."
Kakashi sighed as he went toward the hospital bed.
'I wonder what will happen when she wakes up…'
And, unluckily for him, it didn't take long to find out. Kakashi had just reached the young girl's side, when her eyes began to flutter opened.
She blinked once, twice, three times before she noticed the man towering above her.
Kakashi smiled down at her, forgetting she wouldn't be able to see it under his mask, and was just about to tell her who he was and that she was safe and that he would be there to protect her.
However, he never got the chance. Just as he was about to speak, her eyes focused in on him, and a moment later a scream erupted from her mouth.
It was a blood curdling scream that sent shivers down all of their backs.
Kakashi's words remained forgotten on the tip of his tongue as he stared in surprise at the girl in front of him.
Everyone in the room stared at the girl agape.
No one was expecting Hinata to be terrified of Kakashi, her guardian angel.
End.