A Year Later
Kakashi loped easily down the dusty road that was one of Fire Country's main highways. His gait was measured, training-refined agility allowing him to keep up a respectable, by elite Jōnin standards, pace while avoiding rocking the little bundle strapped snugly to his flak jacket. A year of practice had allowed him to perfect this method of moving quickly while allowing the child to sleep. It was a particularly useful trick, considering the lifestyle he had been living the past year.
'He's getting heavier.. I hope he learns to walk soon.' Kakashi mused to himself. The child was asleep, tired from the trials of a grueling, week-long journey from the comfort of the snug country house on the border of Fire and Grass, to Konohagakure no Sato. Not that he'd know the difference, being a child.
It had been a whirlwind of a year for Kakashi. In a blink of an eye, his world had been turned upside down. He had analyzed, planned, and prepared for fatherhood with the near-manic precision required for an S-ranked ANBU mission, read two dozen books on parenting, child psychology and development, and consulted various "experts" on the topic. That said "experts" were fellow shinobi who made equally dysfunctional parents was lost on him.
Of course, questions had been raised about just why exactly Hatake Kakashi, ice-blooded, stone cold killer that he was was asking for advice on parenting. He had deflected them with the easy hand-waving of a man (teenager?) who specialized on such random esoteric pieces of knowledge that such oddities were nothing new. Simple hinting at some new, classified mission requirements was all the cover necessary. That most people thought he was preparing for a kidnapping or the assassination of a child was more a reflection of their cynicism than his sordid reputation. Right?
Of course, nothing could prepare him for the realities of being a parent.
"Hush..! Please Naru-bō, just drink the milk!"
The month old infant screamed in petulance again, wailing its hunger for the world to hear.
"Damn, come on, come on, it's in the bottle all you have to do is suck!"
The baby grabbed angrily at the milk bottle the Kakashi was desperately attempting to feed him with, tiny face still scrunched up into a scowl.
"Aw come on! Every single time! I heated the milk like the book said! Why can't you just.."
It had taken Kakashi five weeks to learn that heating the milk with a mild Katon Ninjutsu was not the optimal way of preparing baby formula.
'Alright. A weak fūton jutsu will blow the stench downwind, and it'll be easy to change the diaper without smelling anything'
Kakashi was not prepared for Naruto, tickled by the breeze he conjured, to urinate on him.
His ninken would never let him live it down.
Kakashi smiled ruefully, but contentedly. The little Naru was a generally even-tempered, but terribly mischievous little devil. Even at such a young age, barely able to verbalize his rudimentary thoughts, he was already showing all the signs of a prankster extraordinaire, not to mention future shinobi.
Kakashi's heart almost stopped as he returned from buying groceries from the nearby Village Market. Before him he saw little Naruto, not even old enough to stand, shuriken in hand.
"Oooooogaga" He gurgled happily, chubby little fingers oh so close to the razor sharp edges of the deadly weapon. And it was deadly, Kakashi himself had ended dozens of lives with the very same metal star that the little boy was so cheerfully clutching.
"By Kami-sama! Put that thing down right now!" Kakashi didn't even want to know how the child had escaped his play pen, let alone gotten his hands on the instrument of death. It had taken him five excruciating minutes to convince the boy to drop the thing, the fear of cutting him stopping Kakashi from forcibly taking it from him.
Kakashi also couldn't help the fact that the boy was absolutely fascinated by his Sharingan eye. He hadn't even intended to let Naruto see it until he was old enough to worry about fighting a Sharingan-wielder, but the little brat had ambushed him.
"Hush little baby, don't you cry.." Kakashi hummed absently, even as the whimpers slowly subsided into sniffing. Kakashi held the child out before his face, closely inspecting the bruise on his knee. He had no idea how the child had even got it, but wasn't surprised at this point.
The world suddenly slowed to a crawl, each and every movement and detail painstakingly clear to him. His focus on his charge's knee became excruciating, even the tiny, undeveloped tendons and muscles flexing beneath milk-soft baby fat becoming known to his vision.
"Gagahehekaah" the child's squeal of joy shocked him into awareness.
"How the hell? What?" Kakashi spluttered. The kid had shifted his hitae-ate, revealing his vaunted Sharingan eye to the world. He instantly felt the pull on his reserves, draining chakra at an exorbitant pace. Kakashi stumbled back, jōnin-level reflexes and his own presence of mind preventing him from dropping Naruto from the strain of using the dōjutsu. He carefully put Naruto down into his play pen, noting the almost dazed look of wonder on his little face, before carefully readjusting his forehead protector.
Kakashi hadn't let his guard down around the kid any longer after that. Infant or not, he had the blood of a Kage in his veins and a world-ending demon in his belly, and sure acted like a super-powered ninja baby.
Kakashi snapped out of his indulgent reminiscing. He was drawing near to Konoha, the chakra footprint of the security seals that ran along the Village's perimeter growing larger and larger in his mind's eye. He looked down at the dozing child. Innocence plastered over his cherub features. It had been a good year, away from the madness and death that was the Shinobi's way. Kakashi felt a warmth settle deep in his gut, even as his.. his child murmured quietly in restful sleep. He had nothing but good memories of that little, nameless village, one of many that populated the border area between Grass and Fire Country.
Memories were just that, however. It was time to go home.
Sayuki Keizo was bored. Not just bored, dead bored. His partner and best friend, Hokusai wasn't being much help either, the man content to read his latest copy of Icha Icha rather than to stand at attention like any proper guard. Today had been a slow day, even by Hidden Village standards. There was the usual civilian traffic flowing in and out of the village, but that's what rookie Genin teams were for, fulfilling their D-ranked mission for the day by processing basic civilian travel visas and merchant licences. Shinobi traffic was minimal, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Only a year had passed since the Kyuubi's cataclysmic attack, and Konoha's shinobi force was still struggling to recover. Foreign missions were kept strictly at a "we'll do what we can" level, with the Hokage only authorizing B-ranked missions and above. Those were the only missions worth the manpower and risk, anyway.
"Come on, Hoku. Look alive. Shift's ending in an hour anyway, you might as well pretend to be actually doing something." Keizo nudged his lazy partner, who grunted a disgruntled affirmative before stashing his little orange book back into his standard issue flak vest.
"As if we're expecting anybody today. I've already checked the mission records, nobody interesting is out in the field anyway, and you know that ANBU don't even come in by the front gate." Hokusai almost whined.
"Well, either way, duties are duties." Keizo reminded him, tempted to smack his indolent shift partner for his bad habits.
"Quite right, Chunin-san."
Keizo whirled around in shock, reflexively reaching for a kunai holstered at his thigh. Hokusai beat him to the punch, already leaping forward. Their unannounced guest merely sidestepped the Chunin, before vanishing in a blur. Keizo's hand got no further, finding itself gripped by a single gloved hand.
"WaaaeeahahhHHH" Of all the sounds the Chunin expected, a young child wailing in protest was not particularly high on said list.
"It's alright Naru-chan! It's alright. I'm here, no need to cry!"
"Ha...Hatake-san!" Keizo could only splutter in utter confusion. Kakashi turned back to gaze at him, lone eye twitching.
"Forgive me for my ignorance, I wasn't aware that attacking friendly shinobi was common courtesy at the front gate." Kakashi's voice was even, showing no trace of his annoyance.
"Ano… It is protocol to announce your arrival beforehand.. Usually by walking up, not appearing behind us." Keizo stammered, still in shock.
"Most shinobi can't sneak up on us anyway!" Hokusai, recovered from his markedly embarrassing fall, hollered. The Hatake only nodded.
"Ah. It is my fault then. I have not used the main gate in.. several years."
The two chunin were grimly reminded that the teenager before them had been a Jonin before they had even graduated the academy, and had been in the ANBU for years before they had even started doing gate duty.
"Please send word ahead. I will be heading to my apartment to freshen up before making my way to the Hokage Tower. Hokage-sama is expecting me."
"Ha-Hai, Hatake-san!" Keizo again stammered, still intimidated by the last living student of the Yondaime Hokage. Said student only inclined his head, before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.
"By Kami-sama, the guy is fast as hell."
"Tell me about it.. He took both of us out in a heartbeat… that's incredible"
"Wait... was that a kid?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was getting too old for this. Or at least, that was what he told himself. The legendary Kami no Shinobi, The Professor, Sandaime Hokage, puffed thoughtfully at the tobacco pipe lolling at the corner of his mouth. Not enough manpower, too many missions to fulfil, too many parties to satisfy. The Fire Daimyo grew restless at Konoha's apparent weakness, and Kami knew what that damned Onoki was up to. Several Iwa kill-teams had already been spotted in Rain, one even reportedly tangling with Sanshōuo no Hanzō himself.
"Hokage-sama! Shimura-dono has arrived." The young kunoichi serving as his current secretary politely called, peeking her head through the elaborate doors to his office. Hiruzen straightened in his chair, puffing his pipe once more. The distinct tapping of a cane heralded the arrival of Sarutobi's oldest friend and rival, Shimura Danzo. Hiruzen mused that for all his age, Danzo looked far worse than he did.
"You have something for me, Danzo?" Sarutobi dispensed with the pleasantries. The two elder statesmen had known each other for far too long to bother with platitudes. Danzo inclined his head, before tapping his cane twice. A single motion was all it took for Hiruzen to dismiss his hidden ANBU bodyguards. Some discussions were not meant for other ears, no matter their clearance.
"I have reports from Ame, and Mizu no Kuni." Danzo rasped.
"Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki is a fool. Bakuton no Gari was reported leading a team of Iwa Jōnin no less than twenty kilometers from our border."
"Jiraiya-kun beat you to the punch, Danzo. I received his report two days ago."
"My Root were able to engineer a clash between the Salamander and Gari's detachment."
"It was you then.. I shall not enquire as to how exactly you accomplished this." Sarutobi was keenly aware of the nature of Danzo's personal black-ops unit. There were, after all, certain interests that Konoha could not be publicly seen pursuing. Having a disavowed, publicly nonexistent organization capable of performing certain more delicate operations was a boon, one that Sarutobi was just barely willing to tolerate Danzo's warmongering for.
"Hanzō ran them off. My agents were unable to ascertain the extent of the casualties on either side, but you and I both know of Hanzo's abilities. Onoki will not be pleased when he hears of Gari's failure."
"He can be displeased all he wants. What of our esteemed neighbors to the east?"
"The Sandaime Mizukage was assassinated a week ago by an unknown, bloodline wielding shinobi. Loyalists have begun a purge of kekkai-genkai wielding families in response. Kirigakure will be in open civil war before the year is out." Danzo continued, the briefest hint of a smile ghosting his scarred face.
"That is.. unfortunate." Hiruzen had never met the Third Mizukage. The Village Hidden in the Mist was isolated at best, downright xenophobic at worst, and had never openly entered any of the three Shinobi World Wars or any other diplomatic arrangement with any of the other Five Powers.
"Their chaos is our gain. Kiri will be weakened tremendously. With our eastern border secured, it frees up manpower we can move to counter Iwa's provocations. We can also look to increase our influence in Wave and Tide countries. Perhaps re-establish a presence in Whirlpool."
"You overestimate our ability to project power. We have barely enough Shinobi as it is to cater to our obligations now."
"Send Orochimaru. Your prized student is growing bored being confined to the village."
"I… he.." Sarutobi faltered at the mention of another of his long life's regrets.
"You fear he would defect?" Danzo's voice was hard.
"I fear he will take as many liberties as he desires with the people of Mizu. Orochimaru-kun is many things. Gentle, he is not. With no Kage, he could very well destroy half of Kiri to satiate his hunger."
"I am surprised that you would speak of him in such a manner. There was a time he could do no wrong in your eyes."
"He has done.. truly terrible things. Many of them for you, Danzo." Hiruzen's voice lashed like the hardened adamantine of his staff.
"All I do, I do for Konoha." Danzo started.
"Enough. I will not argue this with you again." The Hokage's dismissal was sharp. Danzo knew when he could push his old rival, and more importantly, when it was wiser to let go. He shook his head slowly, allowing the tension to defuse.
"Regardless, we must keep an eye on developments in our eastern neighbour. Perhaps an opportunity to offer sanctuary to Kekkai-Genkai wielding clans may arise." The discussion continued for a little while, The Warhawk and The Professor formulating Konoha's foreign policy. They were interrupted by another knock on the door, the secretary pushing her head through again, discreetly coughing to draw attention.
"My apologies, Shimura-dono, Hokage-sama. Word has arrived from the front gate, Hatake Kakashi has returned from his extended leave. You are expecting him?"
"Yes.. Yes I am." Hiruzen smiled. Here was good news, after so long. Danzo knew that it was time to leave.
"You would do well to push the Hatake boy. He would be a formidable asset, utilized correctly." Danzo murmured, even as he turned to exit the office.
"Danzo." This time, Hiruzen's voice betrayed none of his weariness and age, but rang with authority."I allow you many things. Some say too many, because you and I both know you act for the good of the Village. However, on this, I will broker no compromise. Kakashi-kun is off limits."
The Sandaime Hokage did not raise his voice, but the strength that had carried him through more battles than any other living Shinobi shone through. Danzo showed no sign of acknowledgement, merely giving a respectful inclination of his head.
"Hokage-sama." He departed, cane tapping all the while.