Umino Iruka was not a man much given to self searching and introspection. Usually he acted and he reacted instinctively to whatever fate threw in his path, preferring to face it head on, rather than to waste time and energy wondering what he should be doing… or could be doing. Usually.
Of course he knew that he'd given up most of his claim on usual long ago, when he'd accepted Kakashi into his heart and his home and, not coincidentally, his bed. Although not necessarily in that order. But somehow it seemed that in the past few weeks, various sources of tension large and small had been gathering in dark alleyways, exchanging secret handshakes, and generally ganging up with the sole purpose of keeping him on edge.
In fact, while he was perfectly honest with himself he'd have to admit that he'd long since crossed the border of uncomfortably on edge and was already fairly deep into the territory of distressed.
The irony, that it was his home life, his normal refuge from stress, that was his current greatest source of tension, was not lost on him. Although, obviously, for a competent but modest academy sensei to find it stressful to be in the middle of a major crisis with his only child, while his much more competent lover was away, could not be considered particularly… unusual.
That morning he'd left Keshi with Jiraiya, as he had every school day for the past two weeks. Naturally he was glad that she had apparently come to terms with her temporary babysitter, in fact she'd been happy to see him. Too happy. Now Iruka knew that the sannin had started taking her with him as he did whatever it was he had to do around the village, and he'd been glad. Really he had. Keshi had been cooped up in the house for much too long for a lively toddler. But he was also starting to have serious doubts about just where Jiraiya was taking her, and what he was doing when they got there.
His discomfort hadn't been eased at all when Keshi had flung herself on the white haired man and said, "Jirajiji, are we going to see pwetty ladies today?"
Somehow he doubted that they'd been perusing the woodcut prints of famous beauties on display at the Konoha library.
The wolfish grin, or had it been sheepish, maybe wolf-in-sheep's-clothingish best summed it up, that Jiraira had shot in his direction hadn't helped much either.
It was pretty obvious all along that arming a notorious pervert like Jiraiya with a cute little chick magnet like Keshi was bound to have… consequences. Iruka had just hoped that Kakashi's dangerous reputation and his own famous temper would keep them in check. But Kakashi wasn't there, and he was hardly in a position to loose his temper with someone who was doing them such a huge favour. All in all it was a recipe for giving an honest and decent parent stomach ulcers.
His only other option, as far as he could see, was to take a leave of absence from the academy until Kakashi got back. And that was likely to fly about as well as a lead duck. Kakashi could be gone for weeks yet, or months. Besides, Iruka was well aware that in the unlikely event that Tsunade agreed it would set a very dangerous precedent, and one that he was as unwilling to see set as anyone else in Konoha. Being a ninja wasn't a job, something that could be hung on a hook along with his chuunin jacket at the end of the workday. It was an identity, and the good of the village came first, every time, without hesitation.
His eyes flickered beyond the papers he was grading as he felt a familiar presence approach his classroom, but most of his attention was still on his class. It had to be. Especially with a roomful of ninja children and a door propped open to allow some cross ventilation.
"Konahamaru, using stealth to fold paper shuriken may be an admirable skill, but not one you are likely to find useful on the battlefield, and therefore not particularly relevant to this essay."
He flipped a thumb towards a receptacle in the corner as he stood and walked towards the door. "Bin them!"
The man he had expected to see was just beyond its frame.
"Kotetsu, what's up?"
The messenger jumped at his sudden appearance. "Oh Iruka, hey. Hokage wants to see you."
Iruka had been about to smirk at the reaction, shinobi should not jump when they're startled, as a matter of fact shinobi shouldn't be startled.
Then Kotetsu's words registered on his brain and an unhappy shadow crossed his face. "Now?"
It disappeared just as fast as he leaned back into the classroom and glared at the boy tossing origami stars into the trash container. "The three in your back pocket too Konohamaru. Then sit back down and finish writing."
But the fear that had provoked the shadow wasn't banished as easily.
Kotetsu took a step closer and shrugged. "S'what she said."
"But what about…?" Iruka used a sweep of his eyes to indicate his class, which had suddenly become very intent and unusually focused on their work. They may not be ninjas yet, but they were pretty damn close, and they'd had more than sufficient time to become fine tuned to perilous changes in their teacher's moods.
The shaggy haired chuunin shrugged again. "S'pose I'll just have to handle them until you get back."
Iruka sucked in a breath through his teeth. Kotetsu was good but it would take more than that to stay on top of this crew.
"Well they're writing an essay on the best kinds of weapons and chakra control techniques to use in an unexpected three-on-one battle. That should take them another half an hour or so. After that…"
Kotetsu rested an easy hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll come up with something to keep them busy. Just get going willya, she's in a bad enough mood already."
The teacher took one more look at the lowered heads of his students before staring his fellow chuunin hard in the eye. "Ok, but none of your party tricks. If I hear so much as a rumour that the late Hokage's grandson can blow smoke rings out of his arsehole I will know who to blame."
Kotetsu suppressed a snicker as he closed the door behind Iruka's scurrying footsteps. Smoke rings out of his… Yes that was one of his best, and Iruka's eyes the first time he'd demonstrated it, priceless.
Almost at once the impromptu substitute became aware of Konohamaru's hand waving frantically in the air. "Finished Kotetsu-sensei."
"Wha.. ? Already?" He walked over and scanned the boy's paper. 'The best kinds of weapons and chakra control techniques to use in an unexpected three-on-one battle.'
Three words were written in bold black letters, 'WOTEVER YOU GOT'.
Oh brother!
Oooooooooooooo
Iruka hurried towards the Hokage tower. Surely Kakashi wasn't… he couldn't be… Kotetsu wouldn't have been so relaxed and lackadaisical if he'd known that something bad had happened. And he would know! He and Izumo, his 'partner in crime' knew every titbit of information that went into or out of that place.
No, Tsunade had just got it into her head to talk to him about something. And she had the sense and sensitivity of roadkill sometimes, pulling him out of his class when he was busy teaching, dumping all those kids on poor Kotetsu, when Kakashi was going up against the Akatsuki, when he was going up against the Akatzuki with Naruto, when everyone knew that the Akatzuki wanted…
He found himself outside the Hokage's office and was ushered inside. Tsunade was seated at her desk, a scowl evident on her youthful features. There was a second woman present in the far corner of the room, tall and blond, with piercing blue eyes. A wave of familiarity washed over the teacher and he almost smiled and greeted her, assuming that she was a former student, until he realized that she wasn't. That he had never, in fact, laid eyes her before.
"Iruka-sensei, Kayuga-san, sit!" Tsunade indicated two wooden chairs pulled up against her desk.
"Iruka-sensei!" He was brought back to sharp attention as he was lowering himself into the seat. "I'd like you to meet Kayuga-san. She has been hired to take care of Keshi-chan, of Hatake Keshi."
She gave the woman a warning look that was otherwise unreadable. "Naturally the village will cover the expense as part of its general education budget."
Iruka felt his jaw drop. Take care of? Education? What the hell did that mean? The woman hardly seemed like a high level konoichi, but then looks could be deceiving. No one who didn't know him, and quite a few that did for that matter, would ever take Kakashi to be more than a lazy porn reading slouch.
"Bu…but Hokage-sama, Kakashi and I discussed this. We don't want Keshi to have a tutor, at least not yet. And surely there's someone we know, another jounin, Ebisu-san perhaps… or Kakashi could…"
His voice faltered as his loyalty to his village and his love for his child crashed head on and all his noble ideals shattered into a million pieces. The natural order was for a child to learn chakra control slowly, before they had the power to do very much more than fog up the air with some smoke. It was like giving a little kid a kunai to play with. Dangerous certainly, but a very small child didn't have the strength to hurt themselves or anyone else seriously. And the little cuts and nicks they'd get would be painful enough to teach them respect for dangerous weapons before they did have that kind of strength.
But Keshi's level of chakra wasn't a kunai, it was an explosive tag, a bomb. A fearsome weapon that could be set off at a touch, powerful enough to smash anyone caught in the blast radius. It required an adult level of control, which required an adult level of skill. Which would require hours and hours of rigorous training, every day, enforced by brutal threats and punishments if necessary. And for a child under three it would be necessary.
Iruka could feel his eyes starting to prickle. He didn't want Keshi to be trained as that kind of weapon, not yet.
"Iruka! It's not your decision to make, and anyway, Kayuga-san hasn't been hired as a tutor. She has no skill or training in the ninja arts. She will be Keshi-chan's nanny."
"A nanny?"
He felt himself wilt inside a little more. He didn't want Keshi to have a nanny either. Many of the more powerful and important clans used nannies to raise their kids, he knew because he taught them. He could always tell. They had a remote, sometimes disturbingly distant relationship with their parents, and the last thing he wanted was for himself and Kakashi to be bumped to second place in their daughter's affections.
If Tsunade noticed his reaction she ignored it.
"Yes. Your current babysitting arrangements are unacceptable." She flattened a scroll on her desk. "I've been getting complaints. From the women's bath house. And women's changing rooms and bathrooms at several stores. And dojos."
Iruka didn't need to look to know that they would involve a white haired man and his 'daughter', or perhaps 'granddaughter'. "Just bringing my little girl through, you don't mind, do you?"
"Not only that but during the past six months both you and Kakashi have lost far too many workdays attending to that child's 'special needs'. And Kayuga-san is exceptionally well suited for the job."
Iruka bowed his head. "I'm sorry Hokage-sama."
It wasn't fair. He hadn't missed that many days, four or five at the most, and he'd worked extra hard to make up for it. All his current students were on track to graduate on time. And Kakashi may not have volunteered for any extra missions, but as far as he knew he'd never refused one either.
"Iruka-sensei." Tsunade's voice was soft this time, almost cajoling. "I'm sorry to see that this has come as such a shock for you. And to be honest I'm surprised, it was Kakashi who suggested the idea in the first place."
Iruka was out of his seat in an instant his hands fisted by his sides. "What! Kakashi told you that we wanted a nanny? He wouldn't, not without talking to me. And anyway, how can a civilian possibly be expected to cope with…?"
He faltered, not sure how much he should and shouldn't reveal about his daughter's 'unusual' chakra, and her unfortunate tendency to use it to destroy everything in her path. The woman, Kagura-san, was after all a complete stranger.
Tsunade's irritation was back full force, but there was something underneath it too, something that betrayed an even greater level of discomfort than Iruka's.
"I can't speak for Kakashi, I'll let him explain himself when he gets back, but as I have already said Kayuga-san is particularly well qualified. As for the other matter, Jiraiya has determined that the temporary nature of the previous seals caused them to fail. As they faded some chakra leaked past them and Keshi instinctively used it to find a way to bypass the blockage to her chakra flow. After a while the seals would be useless even when freshly applied. To avoid this happening again we will have to apply a permanent seal, the kind that can only be broken by using a special jutsu."
"A blood seal? That will work?" This was something Iruka understood. He grasped at the ray of hope. "Then why not seal her now, that way she can go back to the nursery, as long as we're very careful, we won't need…" He shot a look at the woman beside him.
"We'll need to use her father's blood."
"Oh."
Right, he wasn't really Keshi's father, he didn't count. In Tsunade's eyes he was just the fool her famous father had hooked up, who was raising his kid because her mother had abandoned her.
And they couldn't use Kakashi's blood. Kakashi wasn't there.
"Iruka." The unexpected softness had crept back into Tsunade's voice, as if she had been reading his thoughts. "She has inherited this power from the Hatake bloodline, so it is his blood that must be used to seal it. Meanwhile we will continue to use whatever temporary measures we can, for as long as we can."
Sensing that he'd been dismissed, Iruka bowed deeply. He should get back to his classroom, if only to rescue what was left of Kotetsu. But he couldn't resist turning to take a final look at the woman who'd been appointed to take care of his child. Kakashi had asked for a nanny? Impossible.
Ooooooooooooooooooooo
The installation of the woman, Hatane Kagura, into the Hatake household was brutal and swift.
Two days later Keshi was out cold, sprawled on Iruka's lap. Iruka knew that he should put her to bed, it was way past her bed time, but he just didn't want to. He didn't want to give up the contact, the warmth of her small body, the little puffs of her toothpaste scented breath against his skin. He closed the book he had been reading and set it aside. Just what was it about the Cat in the Hat that reminded him of Kakashi anyway? The way he'd appeared in his life from nowhere, turned his whole world upside down and somehow made him happy in the process? Or maybe it was just the slouch?
He hoisted his little girl onto his shoulder and carried her to her bedroom. As he lay her down he carefully loosened the amulet around her neck. It went against every grain in his body to let her sleep in it, even though Jiraiya had promised that there was no way it could choke her in her sleep, that he'd designed it himself so that chain would release if too much strain was put on it.
But the real reason he was reluctant to let her go was that his worse fears had already come true. Keshi had taken to Kagura-san immediately. They laughed at each other's silliness, played in the mud together shamelessly, fitted together as naturally as two pieces of a puzzle. Iruka was afraid to guess at the picture in the completed puzzle, afraid that if he was in it at all he would be off to the side, in a corner.
Kagura-san was propped up on a second bed, a new addition to Keshi's room, reading. She stood up as Iruka entered with the sleeping girl, and came over to take his place at her bedside. As Iruka walked out of the room he saw Kagura kiss Keshi's cheek and start fussing with her covers. Then she followed him to the bedroom door and closed it behind him, shutting him out.