Chapter 12: Being called into the headmaster's office

Summary: In which Calla learns about her new fortune and Tomo and Yori have a collective panic attack about a certain reckless young girl they have taken under their wing.

"Ah, Kara-san, there you are," Calla looked up from the assignment board she had just been trying to choose her next missions from and saw the man who manned the genin corp's mission assignment desk standing by the upper level overlooking the ground floor where she stood.

Aw, hell no. What could she possibly have done now?

… Well, there was that rather insulting bow to Yamanaka-sama – call me Inoichi-san. And boy, had Yori ever told her off for that afterwards; both the bow and her using his first names, even if he had asked for it. And Yori really hadn't been happy with her smart-ass remark that it was more insulting not to call the man by name given he'd asked for it.

Yep, that was definitely a boy who was helping raise his three younger sisters – he knew exactly how to make her feel childish and foolish and make it clear he expected better from her. Calla couldn't recall the last time she'd been scolded quite so thoroughly.

…

Well, that was a lie.

It happened after she told them about babysitting the Nara clan heir.

To say Yori hadn't been happy with her would be like saying Voldemort held a tiny grudge; both Tomo and Yori had been rather explicit in the many ways she failed in her duty and had made repeat endlessly just the many other options she should have taken.

Like take Shikamaru to the gate guard. Or anyone else within the Nara clan. Alerting any passing police officer on patrol that a recent genin – from the corps – was babysitting the clan heir, that there was no jonin to protect them from any kidnapping.

Calla had been rather subdued when Tomo and Yori both had rather vivid examples of child abductions – both attempted and successful – during the war. That being 'at peace' just meant it was more likely they'd be taken from their home rather than on missions, and the younger the better. They wouldn't remember as they grew up that there had ever been a 'before', a family, they could be properly indoctrinated.

And it was kind of fair – Calla would have been rather upset in this world if her child had been watched by a 10-year-old who hadn't even passed her jonin-sensei's test. And it wasn't like she could claim to be skilled enough to fend off a jonin; not without providing some sort of evidence. And Calla knew she couldn't – not without using other powers she had not explanation for.

So, yes, she understood she'd screwed up. And Tomo had made it rather clear that this world wasn't fair; although it had been Shikamaru's mother who had given her their child, no blame would ever fall on the clan head's wife. It would rest squarely at her feet – a member of the genin corps.

Disposable, in other words.

Tomo had tried to not quite say it so explicitly, but Yori had taken her aside afterwards, once Tomo was out of earshot, and he had not minced words. Yori knew she could handle and understand more than she let on – he had three sisters, he knew how to read her, and he understood that she wasn't to be underestimated just because she looked younger.

Plus, she really, really shouldn't have gone near either the deer or the clan forest. The two years she'd spent in the orphanage should have been a rather explicit lesson on the difference in treatment of clans versus nobodies like herself (and wasn't that an irony and a half in itself). And clan property was a big no-no.

So, alright, maybe there were a few reasons why she may be picked out specifically, but she really hadn't thought it had gone that badly. And Shikaku hadn't seemed that upset – apart from that little misunderstanding with the kunai to her throat; but, hell, Calla had once nearly gutted Draco – or bled him dry. And they had been great friends after war; him and Ginny had the same sarcastic, biting humour. So, who was she to hold a grudge? Besides, she could – and did – admire his defence of his family. It was an attractive trait.

…

Tomo had laughed herself hoarse when she'd found out the reason for Calla's blush as she retold them of her meeting Shikaku. Yori had rolled his eyes and looked like he was praying for patience before giving her a rather frightening lecture on being too young. For anything. Except maybe handholding, but that was only if Yori approved.

Calla had never felt quite so charmed and obstinate at the same time. It was endearing that Yori was protective of her; he behaved like Ron had with Ginny. Overprotective older brother and given the short time frame in which they had known each other, yes, Calla was charmed and flattered as well as oddly happy.

On the other hand – she'd never had anyone older than her looking out for her like this and Calla had always guarded her independence fiercely. It was the one thing the Dursleys had encouraged, for her to leave them alone as often as she could; well, so long as she did her chores first, of course. And even though it was well meant, a part of her wanted to dig in her heels and do the opposite just because Yori seemed to be trying to tell her what to do.

Yeah, not her finest moment, but never say Calla hadn't learned her lesson with Sirius' death. So, she shut up, enjoyed the positive feelings, and ignored the need to repay Yori's affection with anger.

Taking a deep breath, Calla abandoned the board and walked through the room of scattered genin – everyone of whom looked at her with clear curiosity. That alone was enough to tell her this wasn't the norm and everyone looked like Dudley had when they were younger – looking forward to her being told off, and glad it wasn't them.

The walk seemed simultaneously too fast and far too long and the man – boy? – looked amused, clearly noticing her anxiety. Calla quickly dropped the hem of her shirt she'd been subconsciously fiddling with, forcing her hands straight and pretending she was more confident than she felt. That, at least, she had a lot of practice doing.

He moved back to his usual spot behind his desk and looked at her.

"You asked for me?" She finally blurted out after another moment of quiet, inwardly regretting it moments later. Snape was right; patience really wasn't Calla's strong suit.

"Not me," he said with an even wider grin, pointing wordlessly at Sakai-san's office.

Oh fuck. She remembered from that first introduction he had told them all rather clearly they never wanted to be called into his office – or at least that was the gist of what he'd said, as far as Calla was concerned.

"Any idea why?" She found herself asking tentatively, hoping for an ally in the other boy, but he seemed a bit surprised and even more amused at her concern.

"You don't know?" He asked and then shook his head. "Well, you'll find out soon enough. Sakai-san's waiting for you – and, word of advice, Kara-san? He really doesn't like waiting."

Alright, she could do this.

Just like Moody.

…

Except not an imposter.

…She hoped.

"Thank you," she told him, because politeness was still partly engrained in her, even if it had yet to help her, it certainly couldn't make him like her less. She hoped.

"By the way," the man said from behind his desk, sounding very amused at her plight, "my name's Hasegawa Namio. You may call me Hasegawa-san."

Calla flushed; she had tried to find out his name discretely, but that was hard in a world which didn't ask their workers to walk around with name tags on their shirts, necks, or desks.

"Sorry," she blurted out, embarrassed at never having asked or caught his name before and rapidly making her way into Sakai-san's office and closing the door behind her with a sigh of relief; only to stiffen up the moment it dawned on her she had just entered her superior's office without knocking first.

She could hear Hasegawa-senpai laughing in the room she'd just left behind her.

Oh, well done, Calla. Making it worse already.

This was the same sort of luck she'd always had with Snape. He always seemed to catch her in her worst moments with her pants down – figuratively speaking, not literally, of course. Eww.

Face blanching, embarrassment having fled rapidly in the face of her apprehension, she turned around to face the head of the genin corps and fell quickly into a bow, eyes clenched shut.

Really, how did this always happen to her?

"I am so, so sorry, Sakai-san," Calla said, remaining in her bow for a moment longer. Then came the killing intent and once again, she found herself relaxing and then tried to compensate for it by artificially tensing her shoulder.

Looking up cautiously she noticed Sakai-san's eyebrows were raised sardonically at her clearly pathetic efforts and Calla bit her lip. Yep, not going great at this going unnoticed thing.

"Kara-san, is it?"

Ooh, san, not chan? Well, she supposed they were in the military now and however artificial and lower in rank, she was a comrade to him now, in some ways. And as her superior, he was likely conscious of any appearance of impropriety.

"Yes, Sakai-san. If I may, I'd like to apologise again for coming into your office unannounced."

Her apology went unremarked on entirely as the man's blue-green eyes zeroed in on her.

"Sit down, genin."

Against her will – and to her own surprise – Calla plopped down where she stood, staring up at him wide-eyed, and caught the momentary curl upward of his lip before his mouth flattened back into a straight line.

Huh. Maybe some things really were ingrained very well into them at the Academy. There definitely was a certain tone of voice she had been conditioned to respond to without question. When had that happened?

"I meant the chair, genin-chan, in case that wasn't clear."

Scrambling back up, Calla quickly took a seat on one of the chairs in front of his desk.

God, this was like McGonagall all over again. The same sweaty hands, heart pounding in your chest and the same panic making you do stupid things – like sit on the floor. Petunia would have swatted her with a towel for being a 'uncivilised, sorry excuse of a person'.

"Do you know why you're here, genin?" Sakai-san asked as he, too, sat back in his chair, looking at a file in front of him.

Oh no, was that her file? How was that her file? That was so large! Calla hadn't done anything! Plus, she'd been super inconspicuous; except maybe for that slight faux-pas at the Academy. And this recent thing with the Yamanaka and the Nara clan heads.

But surely that wouldn't generate such a big file… right?

The same file she'd been fixating on was snapped shut sharply and her eyes darted back up to look at Sakai-san, whose eyes had narrowed at her.

Oh shit.

"When I ask a question, genin-san," he said coldly, drawing each word out carefully, "I expect an answer."

She shook her head quickly but spoke up before he could reprimand her further and remind her to use her words.

Sometimes Calla wondered how old she really was. She certainly didn't feel like Sakai-san's equal in either age or skill.

"No, Sakai-san, and I apologise."

"And what are you apologising for now?"

"Ah, no-not responding to your question?" Calla stuttered out.

"Is that a question or an answer, genin-san?" Sakai-san asked, eyes still fixed on her.

That scar on his face was stupidly distracting. It was completely different to Shikaku, where he just looked more dangerous; Sakai-san radiated menace and the scar on his face pulled at the corner of his lip making him seem permanently displeased; who knew, maybe he was.

"An answer," she finally said, catching herself, straightening her shoulders and making eye contact.

Calla had never responded well to attempts at intimidation; hell, she had mouthed off to Voldemort and that man had actually been out to kill her. Sakai-san likely intended nothing of the sort.

Again, a slight quirk up of the man's lips. What was it with adults in this world? The entire structure of the village and the world even was of military dictatorship; she was part of that very military. Why did all the adult men – her superiors – that she interacted with seem amused at her lack of kowtowing? Where they should have been incensed at her refusal to toe the line, there was only ever amusement. Was it because of her age?

This world made no sense.

Calla had never gotten to the stage where she actually felt like an adult; she'd looked after Teddy, sure, but more as a sister than a mother. And Hermione had taken on all her official adult responsibilities. They had just come out of the war and Calla had simultaneously felt old and worn and yet so unprepared for life.

She'd had to fight for her life several times a year since she was eleven – admittedly not something which would even stand out as remarkable in this world, but it had been in her old one. But that was all she had learnt how to do. Calla knew battlefield healing, she knew how to give first aid and put someone in a short stasis. She knew how to fight, kill and eviscerate; knew the best spells to turn the environment against magically resistant creatures. She hadn't known the politics or what her options in life were – other than being an auror. Something she hadn't wanted to do after the war; ironic that she had signed up for something similar in this world nonetheless, in the end.

But she had never gotten comfortable off the battlefield, didn't know how to talk to adults who saw her suddenly as an equal when she still felt like a child stumbling blindly through life. Didn't know how to handle the newspapers talking about her life, her future marriage partners and children.

Calla had always longed for that – but she had always thought it would happen when she was grown up, had a good job and knew life, could help and answer questions for her future children. She couldn't fathom how people looked at her and saw her as an adult, someone who could do those things when Calla knew barely more than she had as a young eleven-year-old girl entering a new, mysterious world.

Hermione had called her a study in dichotomy; someone who wanted someone looking out for her for once but was also fiercely independent and refusing to relinquish any part of that.

"Acceptable. Now, Kara-san, I take it someone has informed you of what you should do next time you're entrusted with a clan heir?"

His voice was stern, blue-green eyes resting on her calmly as he undoubtedly analysed her response and her sincerity.

"Yes. Matsuda-senpai and Sato-senpai were very clear, Sakai-san."

There was another tug, this time not suppressed, at his lips at how she addressed Yori and Tomo, she presumed.

"Well, forget everything they told you."

Calla blinked.

She reran what he had just said, but, no, still sounded like he told her to forget it.

"Pardon, Sakai-san?"

Definitely amusement now as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, kid, don't know what the heck you did, but you must have impressed the hell out of the jonin commander and he must have put in a good word for you, because you are now the official babysitter for the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho."

Ah…

Maybe this flying under the radar thing wasn't going as well as Calla had assumed.

She cleared her throat, still staring at her superior's face.

"I- Pardon, Sakai-san. Did you say I was the babysitter for the clan heirs for the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clans?"

"You are, genin-san. Consider yourself lucky – they rewrote existing legislation for you."

Calla was gaping at him.

This was so not on her list of things.

It wasn't that she disliked the Nara or Shikamaru; he was adorable and she loved him already, but why had Shikaku done that? Calla hadn't done anything interesting – at least nothing a two-year-old would pick up on.

"Sakai-san, not that I don't appreciate the honour, I do, but I must respectfully refuse," her superior looked even more amused, interlocking his hands as he leaned back to look at her – the closest to an at-ease position for shinobi who needed their hands free to shape hand signs. Of course, it could also be read as an insult that he didn't think her a danger and even if she was, he could respond quickly enough to any threat she might offer despite the short distance between them.

"What makes you think that you, as a genin, would be able to refuse missions coming from clan heads; one of whom is your jonin commander?"

Definitely amused; Calla didn't appreciate it.

"But- I-" A deep breath in. "Respectfully, Sakai-san, but what threat would I offer to someone attempting to kidnap the clan heirs?"

This time the amusement fell away and he took her seriously, nodding slightly in acknowledgement of her considerations.

"There haven't been any kidnapping attempts on clans since the end of the last war. You will only ever be within village limits, most likely within clan land. There will be other clan members around as well as our police force on its regular patrol. The children should be secure enough. If something goes awry, you were taught the chakra signal for an emergency call to police and to ANBU?"

He waited for her to nod, before continuing, "then you should be safe. Also remember that it is the parents – and therefore clan heads' – prerogative to employ whomsoever they wish for guarding they child. Even an unqualified genin such as yourself."

Calla grimaced at his description of her but couldn't exactly refute the definition.

"Now, I am more curious as to how you endeared yourself to the jonin commander. Shikaku-san's not easily impressed. So, Kara-san, care to explain?"

Calla didn't doubt that it was an order despite Sakai-san phrasing it as a question, but the problem was she didn't know the answer.

"I don't know, Sakai-san," she admitted, and he glanced at her for a moment longer before nodding in acknowledgment.

"Alright, thank you, Kara-san. Do let me know when you find out," Calla nodded and he continued, "but regardless, we will have to change your missions. As you can guess, babysitting clan heirs takes precedence over anything else. I don't care if it's your first free day after months of works or if you haven't slept in a week. You will turn up whenever they ask for you, on time, clean and well-presented and you will look happy, got that? This is not our usual mission and you will face clients – very important clients who can make your life – and mine – very, very uncomfortable should they choose to. You will make sure they don't, you will make sure they look at the genin corps and think of us with fondness. I don't care what else is going on in your life – this is bigger than you and it will take precedence. You may not refuse this mission, so is that clear, genin Kara-san?"

Oh hell. Half these issues hadn't even occurred to her; she'd been steamrolled by merely being asked to babysit, she hadn't really had time to think over what this would mean.

It was like Lucius Malfoy suddenly asked for Colin Creevey to babysit his child – he was too high up and it was super-suspicious that he was asking for him, when he should have been so far below his notice. But anything Colin would do – or not do – would reflect on those like him.

Unfortunately, it also meant Calla was representing all those downtrodden ones usually ignored by clans and she had to make a good impression or otherwise reinforce every negative stereotype they already held of the genin corps. It wasn't fair or right, but here they were.

She thought of the casual dismissal of both Yori and Tomo, how they had been in teams but nonchalantly shuffled off and forgotten about when they were no longer in immediate need of them.

They were all children, ignored and forgotten, for the family they were born into, for not being a prodigy, for having lives outside of being a shinobi and not being able to devote all their time to improving; Children who often were never even given the opportunity to shine, who had no family scrolls with techniques they could access, no one to tutor or explain anything to them other than an already overwrought Academy teacher.

She wouldn't let them down. Not Yori or Tomo or any of the Neville's of this world who could be so exceptional if only any adult would ever give them the time of day.

Calla made eye contact with Sakai-san and nodded firmly. His eyes flitted over her expression, but he seemed satisfied that she had taken him seriously.

"Good. You are starting to understand. Now, you will no longer be assigned week-long missions as we would struggle with accommodating sudden changes and re-assigning other genin would build resentment. No, instead you will only have daily missions; this way any impromptu babysitting missions will take precedence and any missions you would have taken that day will be taken up by other genin."

He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, the two lacking fingers a stark contrast as he placed his hand back on the desk to pick up a pen.

"Now, as you may know normal babysitting missions are D-rank, even clan heirs. Yours will be classed as C-rank due to the increased danger and your need for self-reliance without jonin sensei. Kara-san, the corps needs you to put your best foot forward; so, what do you need? We have teenagers with kids and younger siblings as well as a few remaining adult members of the genin corps who have gone on to have families. Whatever education you need, we can find someone to provide it."

"Ah, I think I should be okay," Calla said only to find her superior's face darkening, lips tugged down in displeasure and killing intent oozing out for a moment before being reigned back in.

Shame, it was really calming.

"Genin-san," Sakai barked out, "I thought I was clear when I said you're representing the corps. I will be very displeased to find you overestimating your own skills."

"Understandable, Sakai-san, but I was being honest. I was in charge of two younger children at the orphanage for a time and I helped watch over my godson when he was their age."

"Alright, but you will talk to Hasegawa-san if you need help with anything for this mission?" He waited for her to nod. "Dismissed, then, genin-san. And I better not get anything but glowing reports."

Another nod and Calla calmly walked out of his office.

The moment she closed the door behind her, her eyes landed on an anxious Tomo and Yori, waiting for her by Hasegawa-san's side, clearly fretting over her. It was like Ron and Hermione, always waiting for her, watching over her, and she felt a wave of affection for the two teenagers who had taken her under their wing.

"What did he say?"

"Let me take you both out to lunch," Calla averted, "and I promise, I'll tell you."

"My next mission doesn't start until this afternoon," Tomo quickly affirmed, glancing at Yori.

"I just finished mine," he confirmed, a soft hand on her shoulder as he bent down to make better eye contact with her.

"Are you sure you can afford it?" He asked in a whisper, glancing at Sakai-san's office and Calla nodded, a wry smile tugging at her lips. With the regular C-rank coming in, she could likely take them out a few times even, completely aside from her inheritance.

The first mission wasn't long in waiting – in fact, she had been called back with a messenger half-way through lunch and escorted to the Akimichi home.

"Look, sorry about this," Choza started the moment he opened the door for her. "We had wanted to sit down with you and chat about everything so you had time to prepare, but I've just received an urgent mission and my wife is still at the restaurant, so I figured we could give this a try right now."

The large man was moving quickly around her, fastening holsters and restocking his mission pack.

"Can you cook?"

"Ah, yes, Akimichi-sama," Calla affirmed.

"Great – we will try and keep something ready in the fridge, normally, but haven't gotten around to it today as I was meant to be home. And fresh food is always so much better."

There was a hint of longing in his voice and Calla couldn't quite suppress her smile as she nodded.

"I agree, Akimichi-sama."

"Okay, I don't have much time, but here are a few things. First, it's Choza-san to you, none of this sama nonsense in my house. Now my son's name is Choji and he is a few months past his second birthday now. Don't know how much you know about Akimichi," he said, finally coming to a stop in front of her, as he knelt down in front of her just as Ringo had done all those years ago. "but we use our bodyfat in chakra techniques," he patted his rotund stomach for illustration, "so food is really important to us. Make sure Choji eats well, none of this dieting nonsense some civilians believe in."

He stared at her seriously, eyes hard. "My son's life may one depend on this, so I will not have sabotage here."

Calla shook her head quickly under the man's hard stare – a man, who just moments ago had seemed like an overly large teddy bear had turned cold and menacing in the blink of an eye and seemed to shed it again just as quick. Were all shinobi this bipolar?

"I will make sure he eats, Aki- sorry, Choza-san."

"Good girl," he actually patted her head. "Choji is currently having his nap. Just entertain him, feed him and Choji needs to go to bed by 7 pm. My wife should be home by 10 – you may leave once she's here. If you need anything or have any questions, just ask anyone in the family, alright?"

Calla nodded and bowed to him, only to be clapped on the back so hard she stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face. To his credit, Choza looked embarrassed and concerned – so obviously the level of force hadn't been intentional.

Tobirama-sensei had put it on her list of things to learn – chakra reinforcement. Everyone living in this world used it automatically to some extent – to run faster, jump higher, hit harder, and be hit less hard. Not Calla, of course, who still struggled through forcing her magic and chakra inside her body to cooperate. So for now she was a lot frailer than most people were in this world and while she was still one of the fastest and with the best endurance, that was all without chakra enhancement – something Tobirama had praised initially, as it would improve all the more once chakra was added to it, but had gotten rather frustrated with lately when her skills seemed stuck rather than progressing.

"Alright, thank you, Kara-san, and sorry for interrupting your lunch. You definitely need to eat more, but don't worry, next time we'll have a chat and get you on a proper diet to put some meat back on those bones."

Choza clearly reached out to clap her on the back again, aborted rapidly and instead ruffled her hair before waving and launching out of the house at a rapid pace.

Well, this was going to be interesting. Her new life was like a whirlwind these days – it changed before she had time to get used to anything.

Author's notes:

Hi - so there was some panic that I abandoned this just because I didn't update for less than a week.

Rest assured - not abandoned; but those things I should have been working on instead of the last three chapters? Yeah, they had to take priority. And they likely will for the next fortnight.

So, please be patient. Here is a short chapter to tide you over for a bit and I will update when I can, but please don't fret.

In the meantime, Kakashi is catching up again in votes, so here's where we stand:
Itachi/Calla: 170 votes
Kakashi/Calla: 164 votes
Shisui: 62 votes.

Feel free to vote still Sorry this chapter is so short, but it leads into a few babysitting missions and training montages before we skip ahead a bit :)