As the swirling leaves surrounded him, Kakashi realized, for the first time since that day, he was really, truly scared for another's life.
The Sandaime was rarely mad. As a matter of fact, he was one of the kindest and most level-headed people Kakashi new.
Haing been Hokage once before, as well as the head of the Sarutobi clan, Hiruzen was excellent in being level-headed, collected, and making intellectually sound decisions.
If he was pissed, this was bad.
A sneaking suspicion told Kakashi that this was his little incident with the brat of a child who was picking on Sakura...not good. Definitely not good.
Kakashi tightened his grip on his three kids just a little. They gave a slight yelp of surprise but clutched his hand tighter too. He sensed them trembling, and immediately felt bad - after all, it was partially his fault they were confused and didn't known what was going on.
The leaves began to clear, and Kakashi braced himself for what would happen next.
What if the kids were to go to rehab?
What if he was stripped of his rank AGAIN?
What if the kids got taken away from him?
Chilling fear anchored itself in his heart. Those kids...they had somehow managed to worm their little way into his heart, and he was afraid - terrified - that he would lose them.
He couldn't lose them.
With those three, he could laugh and smile and rage and learn and teach and all the things that came with being a surrogate father.
No.
He had lost his family once, there will not be a second time.
Kakashi thought of Rin, and Obito, and Minato-sensei, and his father - those kids would not leave him too.
His feet touched the ground, and the three kids in his arms gasped slightly, disoriented from the Shushin.
Kakashi straightened them, and prayed to Kami that the Sandaime wasn't mad at them.
"Kakashi. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. Thank you for coming."
The copy-nin shivered as Sarutobi's voice echoed in the room. It was deceptively calm, with a dangerously steely edge.
Yup, he was pissed.
Fuck.
"Hokage-sama." Kakashi muttered, bowing slightly. The three siblings followed suit, murmuring along with him.
The copy-nin took a moment to examine his surroundings. There were three others in the room - the brat from before, with the plum colored hair, (he was smug to see that her hair was yet to completely grow back) and two others. The first was a man with bright red hair, scowling. He was tall, but still midget-sized in comparison to Kakashi's tall structure and domineering posture. The second one was a woman, with long blue hair and hard grey eyes, who was sizing up him and the three kids. He assumed they were the brat's parents.
Blue and red made purple, he supposed.
The two were standing rather close to the little brat, and displaying their distaste for him in a rather blatant manner, if their poisonous glares and clenched hands were anything to go by.
"So, now that we are all present... I believe we all know what the circumstances around this incident are. Setsuna-san, if you may...?"
The blue haired woman cleared her throat. "My daughter was minding her own business, playing happily, when that...that white haired monster over there attacked her with his little demon entourage! Her beautiful hair was ruined, she was soaking wet and covered in scrapes, and she returned home absolutely frightened!"
"Setsuna-san, that is a completely biased report. What your daughter seemingly failed to mention is that she threatened my daughter with physical harm, before acting on said words and causing her injury. My sons and I stumbled upon this, and we acted accordingly, as any distraught parent would. And you find fault in this?" Kakashi absently noted how he began referring to the kids as his "children", but didn't conern himself with it, focusing on more important matters.
"That...that demon girl and her siblings attacked my beautiful daughter! And their father, a shinobi nonetheless, partook in the violence! This is an act of violation of civilian rights, and I request that they all be suspended from duty!" She shrieked, her voice shrill with rage.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, keeping his cool - if THIS was what he was up against, he didn't know why he was so scared - "Firstly, Setsuna-san, these three aren't even on the roster yet. Civilian children beating one another up is fairly normal - frowned upon, yes, but not a crisis. Therefor, civilian violence is not a shinobi issue. Second, did you forget that she threatened to permanently harm Sakura-chan here - quite graphic violence, if I recall? Being a father, I believe it is a familial right to respond appropriately. Third, your daughter hardly suffered injuries beyond a couple scrapes and a bad haircut. I don't believe this is too big of an issue, especially if she is planning to be a ninja. We must be prepared for much worse than this."
The blue haired woman sputtered indignantly, immediately retorting, "My Ami-chan would NEVER do such an atrocious thing like hurting-"
"I believe," Kakashi interjected dryly, "that was the most overused and cliche line a mother could say."
Growling, the woman shouted, "So, because my Ami wants to be a ninja, means it's ok for an older, stronger shinobi to harass her?"
"Of course not," the Sandame interrupted smoothly. "However, I will say that the kids are mostly guiltless as this kind of thing is fairly common with civilian children. If I were to punish every bully in Konoha, well, I would be much busier than I am now.
"However, there will be punishments all around."
"Damn it, where the hell is Pinky?" Anko growled as she paced outside of Kakashi's apartment. She had been waiting for thirty minutes, goddammit!
It's not like Pinky to be late...from what I know about her she's very punctual. Hell, she was super excited to start learning some ninja tricks! Something's wrong.
Grimacing, the snake mistress tugged at her overcoat irritatedly. The day was hot and stuffy, her coat was hot, she was bored and tired and really wanted some fucking dango!
"A-Anko-san? If I might ask...what are you doing?" A timid voice came from behind her, and Anko spun on her heel, whipping a kunai into the face of one very nervous looking boy.
The young man - ok, he was older than a 'boy' - had brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing the standard chunin flak jacket and held a book in one hand.
"Who the hell're you?" Anko questioned gruffly, putting the kunai away once she verifed the Leaf insignia on his forehead protector.
"I'm S-Sako Haruhi, Anko-san. I-I'm a former student of Kakashi's."
"What's this? Kakashi isn't much of a teacher, from what I can tell." Anko commented, folding her hands in front of her chest.
The young man managed a smile. "He was my tutor from the Academy, since I needed help with my chakra control and Kakash's was the most advanced at the time...despite him being younger and multiple years ahead of me." He smirked. "I was incredibly embarrassed - being shown up by that dude! But he was a surprisingly good teacher."
"Ah, no wonder he kept that a secret. Kakashi hates looking soft." She raised an eyebrow. "But why're you stopping by? Aren't you a chunin instructor?" She pointed to his uniform.
Sako actually laughed. "It's Saturday, remember? Besides, Kakashi, believe it or not, asked me to come here and help him - imagine that! The Copy-Nin himself, Sharingan no Kakashi, asking me for help!"
"Now I'm interested." The snake mistress smirked. "What could he need help with?"
"Dealing with kids."
"..."
"I know!"
"You're kidding."
"Not a single bit."
"AHAHAAHAHAHA! I'll never let him live this down! Never!"
The Sanaime gestured towards the kids. "Firstly, a warning to you children. You're all aspiring shinobi, and this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in the future. Is that understood?"
The four children nodded, quickly scared by the stern look on the normally kind old man's face.
"Setsuna-san, Takao-san, this is also a warning. I will not tolerate nor be fooled by favoritism in a serious case." The couple nodded, albeit bitterly.
"Kakashi-san, I'm afraid the most sever consequences will be for you. You are well aware of the usual punishment for civilian terrorization, but due to the circumstances they will be slightly lighter than normal. I have a high S-Rank solo mission that needs to be completed, but all my ANBU are currently occupied, except for your team, which is searching for a new member. Since this is a solo mission, they obviously cannot be sent. Therefor, I will temporarily reinstate you for this single mission. Afterwards, you are banned from any missions above D-Ranks for a month. I will discuss the custody of your adopted children with you on a later date."
Kakashi nodded grimly. It was better than he expected, he supposed, since the custody of his kids were still yet to be determined. He still had time to convince Hiruzen to let him formally adopt them, as soon as they turned twelve and were considered 'grown-ups' in the shinobi world. Then, they could leave their families as they pleased and if they chose to, live with him.
The mission would be a pain in the ass but one he could deal with. D-Ranks sounded very unappetizing but he could always opt to not do any, he had enough revenue from earlier missions to get him by. The kids were way he was really worried for and they would be fine as well.
He still had time.
Noticing the parent's smug faces caused Kakashi's slightly relieved mood to turn into an angry one. They were amused by his, he supposed, but he certainly wasn't.
"When is this mission, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi questioned.
The Hokage reached for a scroll. "As soon as possible. Your instructions are inn he mission scroll." He passed the scroll to Kakashi, who took it firmly. "I expect excellent results."
"Yes, Hokage-sama. I leave immediately."
Sarutobi glanced towards the six others in the room. "You're all dismissed." He spoke to his three kids in particular, "Do you three need any help getting home?" He asked, much more kindly than before. The three kids looked shocked and scared, and Sakura's eyes looked watery. Kakashi wanted nothing more than to reach oh and comfort her but here he could not, not with the Hokage's mission.
His eyes widened. Who would care for them?
Suddenly, Kakashi realized it was Saturday and Anko would come by to teach Sakura. They could stay with her if needed and if all else failed he could send Pakkun to one of his ANBU friends, like Yuugao or Samai.
"No thanks." Naruto spoke for all of them, in a rather subdued tone. "We know how to get back. Ready guys?" With affirmative nods, the three Shushined back to Kakshi's apartment and left a proud father, two stunned parents, one jealous kid and a surprised and impressed Hokage in their wake.
Anko, leaning against the door in absolute boredom, was suddenly ambushed by a blur of pink. Tiny arms wrapped themselves tightly around her torso. "Anko-sensei!" The girl cried, obviously distraught. "W-we..."
"What's wrong?" Anko asked urgently, getting concerned. Sakura was trembling, and her eyes were squeezed shut with tears leaking out. "Are you hurt?"
"No..." Naruto murmured, looking distraught. "Kakashi just got in big trouble and we don't know when we'll get to see him again..." He clenched his fists.
Anko looked at them, confused but sympathetic. "Let's go inside." She said kindly, nodding towards Sako as well.
Once inside, the three began telling their tale in babbling voices, since they didn't quite understand what was going on.
"And the annoying lady with blue hair-"
"-the red haired man was all scowly-"
"-Hokage-sama looked really mad-"
"-and Kakashi-sensei got a mission-"
"-they said daddy had to go on an S-Rank one because-"
"-he can only do D-Ranks-"
"-but he didn't do anything wrong!"
Anko was being bombarded but could get the gist of it. "So Kakashi beat up some civilians who were hurting Sakura, and Hokage-sama chewed him out for it?" She chuckled. "Just like Kakashi, always getting himself into trouble. Reckless dumba- er, dummy."
Sakura whispered, curled up on the couch, "It's all my fault...I'm so weak and I couldn't use anything daddy's been teaching us! I'm so sorry!" She sniffed.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. I'm sure Kakashi-sensei doesn't regret it, and neither should you. That girl had it coming." Sasuke spoke, the first time since they had been called to the office.
"You bet your ass she did." Naruto growled in agreement. Anko smacked her forehead at censoring herself when they were just as corrupt. "I still steaming over that. Kura-chan, have you told Anko about it yet?"
The pinkette shook her head. "I'm sorry, sensei, but...I'm just not ready yet."
Anko nodded understandingly. "It's fine, Pinky, I know the feeling. But you three won't have your guardian around, so I can keep an eye on you guys. Come with me to my place."
The three nodded excitedly at the prospect of seeing Anko's house. From the other side of the couch, there was an awkward cough. Saku was sitting there, probably unsure of what to do.
"Sako, sorry about this but Kakashi's not going to be around for your lessons, I'll let you know when he is." Nodding, the young man stood and Shushined away.
Ta-da...no, not really. This is not one of my best chapters, it's pathetically short and not very well written but I promised myself I'd get something out before Christmas is over so here we are. I'm currently on vacation so different timezone, so it's not Christmas quite yet.
In case you haven't noticed, I'm moving all future AN's to the bottom, for reader's convenience since my AN's are long as hell.
So! We reached 200 reviews, thank you everyone! I love you all :)
I now have a special thingy to do - since the 222nd review, an amazing number, is coming up, whoever gets the lucky number will get a special sneak peek at some of my behind-the-scenes writing schemes, your choice which one! I've decided to do this kind of thing once every 10 chapters, because. Coolness, huh? Maybe? Eh, hopefully someone out there is interested enough to care :I
I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or just a fantastic winter break. It's the season of happiness and giving, and here is my present to you all :)
Next up: Living with Anko is...interesting, to say the least.
R&R!
Love,
HawaiianSunsets