Haruo was a diligent man. He may not have been able to bring himself to ask for help, but he had excellent instincts.
Which is why he had been showing his child a wild rabbit.
Her tiny hand reached out, just shy of the creature's nose as it vigorously sniffed. Haruo nodded, pleased, and released the rabbit back near its burrow.
"That was a rabbit, Kaiya. Rabbits are generally small creatures. They're herbivores, so they eat plants and vegetables." The man made eye contact with the child and she seemed focused, so he continued.
"I've eaten many rabbits before, on missions. They'd probably taste better if they were cooked in a restaurant, but I think they're pretty gross. It's good protein though, and that keeps you alive." She blinked and Haruo decided it was a sign of understanding.
"Okay, good work today." He said as he stretched. "Let's go have some lunch. Tomorrow we'll look at fish." Haruo picked up the child and turned towards the forest.
"Taiyo!" He called, and his faithful companion came trotting out to stand at his heel.
"Good boy." He praised with a pat.
You see, socialisation and exposure to new things is very important to a puppy's first 16 weeks. With that knowledge, Haruo decided he needed to show his daughter everything in the village in the first year. He was currently working her through the local fauna and flora.
His friends – also known as his canine companions – Taiyo, Tomo and Yo, proudly approved of this and helped with finding all kinds of things to show the child.
They brought mundane things like leaves and rocks, but also things like decades old, abandoned toys and bones.
Haruo didn't know what to expect, but decided it was normal Kaiya was interested in the creepier things they brought. They had history and she could tell.
Haruo often thought about the life skills Kaiya needed to develop, and how he learned them in his adolescence.
He didn't want his daughter to learn fire is hot by getting burned.
He didn't want her to learn the importance of rest by burning out.
He didn't want her to learn to follow orders by disobeying and getting someone else killed.
He wanted her life to be nicer, easier than his. But sometimes it is impossible for a parent to help their child.
Kaiya began screaming the moment he walked into the room with her.
"Wh- Kaiya, shh, shh. It's okay." But apparently it wasn't because his little girl was screaming like she had never done in the entire year she had been alive.
"Honey, what's wrong, oh, please stop crying." He cradled her and hugged her and rocked her to no avail.
"Oh dear, it seems someone's nervous for their blessing." Said Konoha's Yellow Flash as he smiled sympathetically.
"I'm so sorry, Lord Hokage. She's never like this, really."
"It's quite alright. It's not uncommon for children to feel discomfort in my presence. Though I do try my best, some young ones are simply sensitive enough to notice my chakra." He explained, and Haruo looked rather relieved… That is, until Kaiya got even louder.
Haruo was mortified, standing in the Hokage's office, attempting to have his daughter blessed with the will of fire, only to have her scream bloody murder at the thought, all witnessed by the god of shinobi himself as well as no doubt several ANBU, and anyone else in the building with a pair of ears.
"Though, if I'm being honest," The Hokage started with a slight grimace.
"I don't think I've ever witnessed it this bad before."
Haruo was so embarrassed by the comment, he wanted to start crying too. His daughter gave the Hokage the worst first impression he had ever had from a baby.
He didn't understand! Kaiya was a perfect baby! Didn't cry often, never cried for long, ate any food given to her, enjoyed company and playing by herself. And yet somehow, the moment he stepped through the door…
"Lord Hokage, I- I would like to test something with her by stepping outside. Would you please indulge me?" He tried to sound as professional as a man could with a screaming baby in his arms.
The young man gave a light sigh.
"Of course, Haruo-san, go right ahead." And with his permission, Haruo immediately stepped back through the door.
She stopped screaming instantly, instead panting loudly, red faced and covered in tears. Haruo stared in bewilderment, waiting a moment before carefully stepping back into the room, only for her to start screaming again.
He nearly tripped over himself as he backed out again. The screaming stopped.
"Oh, my." The Hokage breathed.
"What- What's wrong with her, I don't-" He was panicking. Something is wrong with his daughter. She's… allergic to the Hokage? Is his chakra is hurting her? He looked up at the blonde man, who looked thoughtful before speaking.
"Well, at least it's nice to know the chakra barrier is working fine. However, it seems your child is… unhealthily sensitive."
"Oh. Oh, Kaiya." Haruo looked heartbroken.
"For her sake I will make the blessing very brief. I advise you make an appointment with a medic-nin as soon as we are done."
"Yes, Lord Hokage, I will. Thank you."
Haruo was going for a walk with his family, when Tomo startled, sniffed the air, then trotted off excitedly into the bushes.
"Tomo? Tomo!" Kaiya did not react well.
"It's okay, Kaiya. He's just found something. He'll bring it to us in a moment."
"Oh… he should tell us if he's doing that."
"Hm, that would be nice. Maybe you can help me teach him to do that. He could do something specific – like bow then bark – to let us know he's going to check something out."
"Yeah! Can we teach him now?"
"Hm, let's have a meeting later to discuss it, then start teaching him tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay, sounds good." Haruo chuckled at that. He found it adorable how maturely she spoke. Probably caused by Haruo being the only person she ever talks to. He definitely needed to work on her socialising.
Tomo came back out of the bush with piece of yellow rope in his mouth. He brought it to Kaiya and dropped it into her waiting hands.
"Oooh. Good work, Tomo!" She praised as she inspected it. Tomo wagged his tail, happy and proud of himself.
"Tou, look! I can use this as a skip rope."
"Ah, very nice. I'll clean it when we get home and we can try it out."
"Yay!" She handed the rope to Haruo, and they continued on their walk as Haruo tried to decide their destination
"Ne, let's go to the park, okay?" He suggested.
"Okay!" She crowed happily. Like most children, Kaiya was very active, enjoyed running, climbing, jumping and falling over. The park was her paradise… except for the other children.
When they got to the park, there was at least a dozen other kids playing. Haruo didn't get a chance to encourage Kaiya to play with them before she began sprinting towards the ladder bridges that were currently abandoned.
He let her play for twenty minutes or so before calling her over.
"Hey, did you see me climb! I waved to you!"
"Yes, I saw. You were very cool." She devoured the praise with a brilliant grin.
"Hey, why not try play with someone?"
The grin was gone in an instant.
"Nah, I like playing by myself." She stopped making eye contact, focusing her attention to the sand mound that was currently not being played on.
Haruo sighed, feeling defeated at his only remaining choice; bribery.
"Ne, when you're done playing today, if you can tell me the names and ages of three children, we can go to that ramen place you always ask about." She stilled and gasped.
"What?! Really?! We'll really go to Ichiraku Ramen if I just get some kids' names?!"
"Yeah, if you think you're capable." He egged her on.
"Watch me! I'll have every kid's name, age and address in an hour, then you'll have to take me there tomorrow too!" He smiled, pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness of the bribe.
"Sure thing, kiddo."
And off she ran.
Haruo was a dedicated father. He spent almost all of his time with his daughter. Everything she had ever done; he had been there for. Everything she knew; she learnt from him.
Or so he thought.
"Tou?" Whispered a little girl from the edge of the hallway.
"Yes, Kaiya?" He responded, eyes glued to the bacon he was preparing.
"Um…" She gripped her sleep shirt tightly, fiddling with nervousness.
"Did I… Do something bad?"
"What? No." He turned to see his daughter, red faced and on the brink of tears.
"Why would you think that, darling?"
"B-because, you- you didn't wake me up last night!" She blurted out, lip wobbling and eyes holding tears that threatened to spill over.
Haruo abandoned the breakfast and knelt in front of her, racking his head, trying to understand.
"Why would I wake you up?" He asked gently.
"Because it's my birthday!" She shouted and began sobbing loudly.
"Honey, darling, it's okay. Hey, hey, don't cry. You must have been dreaming. It's the fourth of February today, honey." He reassured her as he hugged her tightly.
"I know! And you didn't wake me up!"
He grew concerned, pulling away to see her face.
"Kaiya. Today is not your birthday."
"Yes, it is!"
"No, Kaiya. Your birthday is the eighth of June." She startled, then froze.
"Oh." She breathed.
"Then… How old am I?"
"You're five years old." He indulged her, his concern growing more and more.
"Five…" She looked into space, tears still staining her face, but the distress that brought them had completely vanished
"Kaiya, did you have a bad dream?"
"…No, sorry. I just… Forgot." Haruo didn't know what to say to that, simply thinking and waiting for her to elaborate.
"I…" Her face creased in thought.
"I think I used to get woken up on my birthday."
"You… did? By whom?"
"My father, he would… I'm not sure why. Maybe for presents."
"And… when was this?"
"Huh?" She looked confused by the question.
"It was before I was Kaiya." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh." Haruo breathed, completely lost.
"And... So, before you were Kaiya? You...? Who were you then?"
"Hm." Kaiya's face creased in thought.
"Don't remember. I know I did lots of working and cooking."
"Ah, I see." He responded, even though he didn't see what she meant at all.
A short silence followed as Haruo flipped through countless theories as to what she meant.
Kaiya didn't seem to notice his inner turmoil at her words and made her way to sit at the table.
"Ne, what's for breakfast?"
Haruo was an emotional man, so even though the village seer told him that his little girl had years of experience and wisdom from her previous life, he still teared up as he sent her off to her first day at the academy.
They grow up too fast.
"Do you think I'll learn anything today?" She asked as they walked together.
"Yeah, I think you'll learn the names of your classmates."
"Ugh, nooo, I meant, like, chakra stuff."
He chuckled at her eagerness.
"Kaiya, you'll have years to learn everything. Please promise me you won't harass the teachers for information."
"Fine." She conceded, sighing dramatically.
They came to a stop at the academy gates and watched the families that filled the field. Older academy students snuck by, some stopping by to see their little siblings.
"Ne, Kaiya?"
"Mm?"
"Before... Did you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Huh? Um, I think so. I was the baby of the family. I had an older brother I think, and possibly two sisters. It could have been three. Why do you ask?"
"Ah, no reason." He brushed it off and they continued to watch the countless children. Some were crying, some were playing, some were waiting patiently for the welcoming ceremony.
"Don't worry, Tou." Kaiya said after a while.
"Tomo, Yo and Taiyo are the best siblings I could ask for."
Oh no, his heart couldn't take it. Haruo snatched his daughter up in a great, big hug and thanked the gods again for his perfect little girl.
"Ah, let me down! Please, I promise I'll never say anything nice ever again!" She squealed and swatted at his head before he finally let her down.
"Alright, alright. Back to normal." Haruo morphed his face into the Serious Dad Look™.
"Try to make some friends, okay?"
"Hm. If I feel like it." She replied, rolling her eyes.
"Kaiya..."
"I'm kidding! I'll try, Tou. I'm gonna go now." She said and pulled away from him.
"Okay, have fun. I love you!" He called as she stepped through the gates.
"Love you, too!" She called back, then disappeared into the crowd of new entrants.
Haruo was a patient man, so he waited one hour and thirty restful minutes as children spilled out of the exam room, before Kaiya finally emerged. He waited again, for her to celebrate with her classmates and get her round of pats on the back.
Then he stood up to greet her with a smirk.
"Well? Is it time my baby bird left the nest and built her own?"
"If you're implying I build a house or start a family, then no, no it is not that time. But I got one of these things." She announced smugly and, with a flourish, revealed a standard blue Konoha headband.
"Ooo, very fancy. I say that stylish headpiece is worth at least two bowls of ramen!"
She startled at that.
"I don't know about ramen. Feels... Unauthentic..."
"What? I thought you loved going to Ichiraku?"
"Well, yeah, it's cool. It's just... Not for me, y'know? I think it's only my fourth favourite place to eat, anyway. Let's go to KaiKaiseki!"
"Eh...? I mean, okay sure. If that's what you want. Then off we go! Me and my little shinobi!"
Haruo was a proud man, and nothing in his life had filled him with more pride than his kid.
Not despite her extra memories, visions of the future, strange views of the world or tendency to act so unlike a child should, but because of these things.
She was the most interesting, weird and lovely person he had ever met, and he was so, so proud of her.