I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 20
"I got you!" Kakashi said, jumping onto a nearby building.
He held his wife as dozens of Anbu swarmed the intruder. "What is this?" the man seethed, fending with a scythe. He must have not counted on Raiden's loved ones to be intimately connected to the Hokage of Konohagakure. What a misfortune that the main target of his revenge plan was safeguarded by the Anbu Black Ops 24/7. It was a gross miscalculation to think Ayame was Raiden's 'woman'—a miscalculation not missed by Kakashi.
The frantic Seito family and Aoi were hurried away. Haruhi and Soota had to be picked up by Anbu members. Another lifted Yugao's prone form and body-flickered to emergency care as commanded.
The Hokage intervened at the last millisecond, seizing an opening where Ayame wouldn't be lethally poisoned or decapitated. He had summoned Fuko and several others. At his mark, Kakashi captured Ayame as Fuko charged the trespasser.
He observed the Matsu character easily dodge Fuko's gentle fist. Too easily. Others joined the fight.
Once his in-laws and Ayame's friends were completely removed from the premises, Kakashi retreated. He held his wife close, jumping from roof to roof with expertise and consideration for her condition.
His teeth clenched together. He had been on his way to meet everyone when the barrier surrounding the village blipped. Usually it's fortitude, when trespassed, sent warnings to every outlook tower on the defensive wall and on the outskirts of the village territory. The fact that it had fluctuated so demurely meant the trespasser had proficient sealing capabilities.
He landed in front of the hospital. Yumi and her family were to be escorted here along with the others. Haruhi's ribs were likely broken or fractured. Soota's resemblance to that man…it was as Raiden said. Pseudonym Matsu, origins unknown. Raiden had warned them of the poison user; a miscreant that crawled out of hell to torment the lives of innocents everywhere. He had a proclivity towards sealing, progenitor of Raiden and Ishimaru's summoning arm seals, and once held an unnatural attachment to a prepubescent orphan named Haruhi.
Unless the man was apprehended, each member of Ayame's party would need to be under protection until further intel. Kakashi wanted to go back and mangle the man's chest cavity with purple lightning. It had been a long time since he felt the personal burden of worry over a family member's life—it eclipsed the village and even his old students (who had surpassed him long ago and didn't need his strength). It seemed Tanako Raiden was being targeted as an underground traitor. As typical with these groups, they went for family and friends first.
"Ayame, what are you feeling?" Despite the desire to apprehend Matsu himself, the thought of leaving his wife in her current state made him sick to his stomach.
She looked to him, stupefied. He tried not to think too much about her actions. She had nearly taken Matsu's hand. A hand that would have lethally poisoned her. Yes, Sakura had created an antidote in Nami no Kuni. After extensive treatment Ayame would be spared a poisonous death but their daughter would not. She was too small and vulnerable, encased within her mother, totally dependent on a healthy anatomy to survive.
"Kakashi-san?"
"I'm here." He sat on the ground with Ayame in his lap. His hand went to work examining the large swell of his child, impatient for a medic to run out to them.
"Yugao-san—she's hurt!"
"She's inside the hospital." The babe was fine. Her heartbeat was excellent, and her limbs were as lively as ever.
"My family—Aoi-kun! Haruhi and Soota-chin—Raiden-kun!" she said, rapid firing through the list of people she needed to make sure were okay. She clutched at his flak jacket. "What's going to happen to him?"
"We'll form a plan. A platoon has the intruder surrounded. Everyone else is being examined inside."
She was frantic. That was clear to Kakashi so he held her closer, needing her to calm down. He placed his forehead against hers. "Breathe with me," he instructed. With frustrated tears, she mimicked his inhalation and exhalation with shaky breath. "Again." The exercise was as much for her as it was for him.
Almost losing his wife and child, Kakashi locked every vulnerable thought and feeling into an ironclad safe and proverbially buried it beneath tons of mountainous sedimentary rock. Within that safe he included thoughts of Minato-sensei losing the battle to protect his wife, who had just given birth. The sharp, intrusive image of Obito's treachery seemed fowler now than it ever had.
Later, Kakashi would deal with it. Later, he would dig it all back up and have a much-delayed, lengthy discussion with a professional at the Mental Health Clinic. Later.
For now, Kakashi's mind raced through everything he knew about Tanako Raiden's manipulated absence and his six-month mission. The man had been an invaluable help in desisting one of the worse human trafficking rings in the world and his earlier begging had stalled enough time for the Hokage and his ever-present Anbu to interfere in what would have been a civilian massacre.
"I promise you, Ayame. I'll bring him back home."
Ayame had circular plastic stickers placed on her temples, chest, and belly. Thin cables connected her to a beeping monitor. Someone on the medical staff brought her hot cocoa and a roll pillow for under-knee support.
From his dark, solemn corner in the hospital room beside the bed, Kakashi called the stickers 'electrodes' when Ayame asked. The man said very little else throughout her medical examination. Even now, his gaze was stoic as he reviewed a scroll. It looked like a map from where she was reclining. Or maybe a seal? Meh.
Ayame was deemed fit as a fiddle but when the doctor said the Daishukujo could be discharged, Kakashi inquired if she could be observed overnight, just in case. The doctor heeded the order masquerading as a question.
Really, she felt fine. Okay, it took Yumi visiting with the family, Aoi stopping by with a sleeping Soota-chin, and several affirmations from various medical sources that Haruhi and Yugao were in full recovery and would live to see another day for Ayame to relax.
Raiden's absence—anyway, Kakashi said he would personally see to it that the man returned in one piece. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had just left. The three had spoken with Kakashi just outside the door. So Ayame used that information to quench the high flames of worry. If Kakashi was sending those three, then—then Raiden would come back home safe.
"A platoon has the intruder surrounded."
"It's not just Yugao-san, right?"
Kakashi's attention stayed on the scroll. "At all times, there are at least eight Anbu in circumference of you. The instructions are to remain fifty feet in radius unless intervention is required."
"Like today."
"Yes." Although he said it without any external evidence of distress, he didn't like what happened today, she knew. Outside the hospital earlier, he had held on to her so tightly, the medical staff had to ask him twice to let go.
"Eight?"
"Eight, excluding Yugao." Nine, then.
"Because...because I'm a civilian?"
"Because you are my wife." His dark gaze glanced up sharply.
"And I'm not a ninja."
"No, you're not." At his words, and not for the first time, she questioned her shortcomings as Daishukujo for not being a kunoichi.
"I'm sorry," she said, ashamed. If she had been stronger, she could have helped Raiden protect everyone.
"Don't be sorry," he said, voice more tender than it had been all night.
She tried to laugh it off, "I guess I'm a lot of trouble, huh?" When he didn't laugh with her, she frowned. His eternal humor seemed to have deserted them tonight.
"It's not you." He set the scroll aside and reached out to hold her hand. "I love you just like this. A civilian, soft and delicate."
Ayame stared. He was so distracted. Seeing as his gaze was still faraway, in deep thought, she took the liberty to raise his knuckles to her lips and kiss them one by one. He managed an upward turn of the mouth. There we go, she thought.
"Yugao-san will be fine?"
"Yes." How laconic.
She really could not blame the extent of his somberness. She had felt shaken too but knowing the baby was perfectly fine, and that the others' lives weren't in danger, made everything tolerable. And she would believe in Naruto and his teammates to bring Raiden back.
"I…I'm surprised you're not out and about."
He released her hand and leaned back on the chair, rubbing his neck with both hands. "It wasn't a problem working from here tonight."
"Thank you."
He held her gaze. "This is where I want to be."
"We're okay, Kakashi-san." She ran her hands down her belly.
His eyes closed, brow furrowed as if in sudden, deep pain. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you."
Her eyes watered and her throat felt tight. "You didn't."
"Ayame, Matsu escaped."
She held her breath. "What's going to happen to Raiden-kun?"
"The plan is to meet Ishimaru in Nami no Kuni and use his arm seal to reverse summon ourselves to the various, possible locations of where Matsu could have sent Raiden. It'll be the fastest way."
The way he was speaking—he—he was going with them! "Anata!" she cried, swinging her legs over the bed. His arms caught her as she climbed on his lap to hold onto him. The electrode cords tangled around them.
"Ayame, we need to leave soon. The faster the better. Naruto will stay with you until we return. A week. Give me a week."
She held him tighter. He had warned her once that the Hokage also went on missions, discreetly and unbeknownst to the village, but as his wife she had a legal right to be made aware. And like any other spouse of a shinobi, she would have to do her patriotic duty to accept his obligations and patiently wait for his return.
As planned, Kakashi took Sasuke and Sakura with him. Sasuke intimately knew the details of the last six months and Sakura knew the innerworkings of Matsu's poison and carried several vials of its antidote and components. They sped towards Nami no Kuni to find Ishimaru, arriving within a day.
Tazuna and Inari greeted them at a construction site. They called Ishimaru over and the man was more than happy to help them, especially Sakura, the one who had saved his life.
The three Konoha shinobi led him to an isolated cliff that oversaw the town. It's edge was a huge bedrock of stone with a smooth surface. "This will do," Kakashi said, instructing Ishimaru where to sit and to remove his shirt.
Wide-eyed, Ishimaru sat in the middle of a rapidly growing circular seal made from Kakashi's blood. The bloody seal formula started from his shoulder and spiraled down his arm and out around him as the Hokage continued to extend the illustration. The man worked fast.
"I'm not sure I have enough chakra for this, Kakashi-sama," Ishimaru admitted.
"No worries," Sakura piped up from outside the circle. "That's why I'm here!"
"Alright." The man looked unsure, face and forearms deeply sun kissed from harsh labor under the sun.
"Sakura's more than capable," Sasuke claimed next to her.
"It's not that," Kakashi said, continuing to expand the blood characters. "He's uncomfortable about returning."
Ishimaru closed his eyes, ashamed. "I hoped to never return."
Sakura's eyes softened, understanding. "We'll bring you back to Ryoka-san."
"Thank you. I'm…I'm glad to help. Raiden was the best of us. The moment he found out what Matsu's organization was doing, he wanted out. I wish I could say the same."
No one replied, aware of the implications of the man's statement. Sasuke turned his back, glaring at the horizon. Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder.
Kakashi stood. "Let's get started."
It seemed the medical expert that was to discharge Ayame the next day was Senju Tsunade herself.
The legendary woman took one look at Ayame's grief-stricken face, smoothed a glowing hand over her pregnant belly, and said, "It's better if you stay until your husband returns."
Off to the side, Yumi and Naruto said nothing as Ayame began to cry.
After three days, two severe bouts of chakra exhaustion from activating a reverse summoning seal that could transport multiple people, nine abandoned underground locations, and a thorough scan via Sasuke's eyes, they finally found several, scattered chakra signatures—one being the one they were looking for.
They were somewhere in Kaze no Kuni, under a large dune Raiden and Sasuke had infiltrated and sabotaged three months prior.
The signatures weren't all shinobi and the four of them split up. Sakura and Ishimaru were to find and, if needed, rescue the non-shinobi signatures. The hard lesson was already learned that not all victims wanted to be saved (the prior undercover team had not given minors any say in the matter).
Sasuke and Kakashi sped towards Raiden's flickering chakra signature, making quick work of anyone who tried to stop their pursuit.
They passed many empty cells decorated to look like lavish rooms. Coming to a junction in the underground tunnels, they found a malnourished child who began screaming at the sight of them. She was no more than six or seven. She was chained to the wall by a collar around her neck. Kakashi broke into her cell, making her scream louder. Sasuke's sharingan spun and the child's eyes glazed over, hypnotized in a calming genjutsu he had specifically contrived for this.
"I'll bring her to Sakura," Sasuke said as Kakashi carefully destroyed the chain from the child's neck. "Take the left tunnel and there should be an open courtyard with more cells. Raiden is there."
Kakashi left the child to Sasuke and ran down the left tunnel. It opened into a half spherical enclosure with more cells lining the walls.
In one of the open cells, Raiden laid bloody on a full-sized bed, shirtless and shoeless. The cell was designed to look like a room. Satin tapestries dangled from the ceiling and bronze trinkets spilled across the floor. There was a rusted vanity with cobwebbed cosmetic products. The idea of what these cells represented repulsed Kakashi.
"Raiden, can you hear me?" He approached meticulously, kunai at the ready and guard up.
The rogue was out cold, summoning arm mangled beyond recognition. It was infected. Kakashi cursed under his breath, wife coming to mind. The man was still breathing but severely injured. Red lines of poisoned infection clawed into his left shoulder and Kakashi prayed none of those lines had reached a main artery yet.
"Raiden." He spoke more forcefully.
The man groaned, roused. He waved his right arm. "Get away from me."
Kakashi stopped and hovered over the bed. "I've come too long a way to do that, Raiden."
"Oh," Raiden's eyes widened, red and shadowed underneath. His usual tan was pallor and yellowing. Blood loss. Contamination. He stirred, feverish. His eyes were loosely focused. "The Hokage?"
Kakashi nodded. "That's right. I'm getting you out of here."
In a display of strength induced by worry, he managed to lift his head. "The prisoners..."
"My team is getting them."
Raiden's head fell back. "I'm glad. Is Matsu dead?"
"Unless you know something I don't, no. He's not. But it looks like he got you good." The fact that they hadn't yet run into the crime lord bothered Kakashi.
"He may kill my body, but he doesn't have my soul anymore." There was a burning fire in Raiden's gaze and Kakashi approved.
"Well said. Now let me look at you." Kakashi peeked at his toes and fingers, verifying they weren't purple with lack of oxygen. Only his left hand looked eerie. There was no telling how long the poison had been in his system. Raiden's eyes started closing and Kakashi snapped, "Oh no you don't. Talk to me, Tanako."
"I was upset Aya-chan would be marrying you." Well, alright then.
Kakashi remained silent and focused on examining each limb. The medical scope of a shinobi was rudimentary and only grew with battle experiences when medics were scarce. And Kakashi certainly had experience.
"It's not what ya think."
"What is it I should think?"
Fever. Five face lacerations in varying sizes. A deep, severely infected gash running down his left summoning arm. A lot of blood on both pant legs. Kakashi peeled the fabric out of the two wounds in his thighs to better assess them. His flesh was sliced deeply, halfway into both femurs. Scythes were funny like that. Raiden didn't even flinch when Kakashi measured the depth with a finger, disinfected with a ripple of electricity.
"Married to a kage…I was worried her life would be in danger. But look what's happened. I'm the one who brought danger to her. And now even you, being here while Aya-chan's ready to pop. You're doing this for her, ain't ya?"
"Let's stop the bleeding." The Hokage ripped his sleeves off.
Raiden turned his face away. A lone tear gleamed before disappearing. "What's the point?"
Kakashi's arms flexed as he tightened the makeshift dressings around Raiden's quadriceps and left arm. Sakura needed to examine these wounds pronto. "What's the point of what?"
"Going back. I can't stay."
"That should do it." Satisfied with his handiwork, Kakashi glanced up. "After all you've done, you think you're not one of us?"
"…"
"How long have you been thinking like this?"
"…"
"How depressing. You sure know how to put up a front."
"Screw you. You're one to talk—gah!" Kakashi may have interrupted the insult by poking the gash on the man's cheekbone.
The Hokage removed his headband and slipped it over Raiden's temples. "I'll tell you what. You stop with the dramatics and I'll personally draw up your citizenship."
Raiden looked away again. "Who's being dramatic now?" he mumbled; voice thick with emotion.
"You sure cry a lot for a man."
"You're such a dick—ow stop that!"
"I like this back and forth."
"Pervert."
"Up you go!" Kakashi hurled the man up.
"Oh fu—" Raiden retched. Kakashi held him away, disgusted.
"If you die Ayame will be very inconvenienced."
"Ain't she lucky to have such a considerate fellow—oi! Why's there two of ya?"
"Um. It's a shadow clone." There was no shadow clone. Kakashi really needed to find Sakura. "And you're wrong about me only doing this for Ayame. You're a comrade now."
"That so?" Raiden's words were slurring, and his breathing deepened as he was thrown over Kakashi's shoulder. The man was burning up.
"Raiden."
No response. Time to find Sakura.
Kakashi stepped out of the cell only to barely move out of the way from a multitude of glowing senbon. They hit the wall with rapid, light thuds.
"The Hokage himself saving an Ame rogue? How curious." Matsu stood in the middle of the open space, holding his scythe over his shoulder. "It seems his roots in your village run deeper than he once conveyed to me."
Not really having any other option, Kakashi unceremoniously dropped Raiden on the floor and stepped forward, knees bending and arms lifting in a battle stance, kunai in hand again. Why was it every time he was burdened with the fragile life of another did formidable foes want to fight? It was very inconvenient.
"What is your relationship to him?"
Not really wanting to disclose anything about the brown haired and bright-eyed connecting factor in his and Raiden's 'relationship,' Kakashi chose to say, "Is there any chance you can wait until Uchiha Sasuke comes to give me backup?" It wouldn't do for a stray senbon to hit Raiden in his state.
Matsu glared and lounged forward. Kakashi blocked the scythe's rapid and successive swipes with his kunai, clanks of metal filling the air. The man was fast—but not faster. Matsu grunted and jumped away when Kakashi imbedded the kunai deep into his sword arm.
"Damn you!"
Kakashi quickly made hand seals to create a clone and form a rock barrier to protect himself and Raiden from a shower of glowing senbon. In one fell swoop, he pivoted out of the way when Matsu kicked through the rock. The overpowered kick was his downfall because the momentum of it disabled him from stopping Kakashi's lightening induced tiger claw from penetrating through his chest.
Matsu's clone disappeared as the original took that chance to jump over the damaged rock wall and decapitate Kakashi with the scythe.
Unfortunately for Matsu, that attack left his flank wide open and the original Kakashi rammed a crackling, purple spear hand through the man's spine and out his sternum. The scythe dropped and clattered noisily on the stone ground.
"Urgh!" Matsu spit out blood.
"I guess I didn't need backup." Kakashi stated, ripping his arm out. He flung the gore off in a sharp motion as Matsu fell dead. Kakashi's headless clone poofed away.
The Hokage squatted by Raiden. There didn't seem to be any more harm on the rogue. Kakashi wished he could say the same as he dropped hard on the ground beside the rogue, pins and needles spreading across his torso and into his left leg and arm.
With a quickly numbing right hand, he pulled out three senbon from his side. He flung them away and they skidded across the stone. The poison worked fast. Matsu must've got him during his first attack. Kakashi blamed Raiden.
"Sensei!"
Now they showed up.
Sakura appeared next to him. She gasped when she saw Raiden.
"Check on him first," Kakashi directed.
"Yes, sensei!"
"We shouldn't have sent Ishimaru back to Nami," Sasuke said, coming to kneel by Kakashi, assessing the older man's upper left quadrant. He yanked out a senbon Kakashi missed.
"Sasuke-kun, we had no choice! The children were sick or poisoned. They needed medical attention. Nami's hospital staff will know what to do!"
He clicked his teeth in frustration. "You used most of the antidotes and sent your ingredients with them!" Sakura flinched at the callousness in his voice.
"Sasuke, that's enough. How many do you have left, Sakura?" Kakashi said as calmly as possible.
"One more."
"Give it to Raiden." She wanted to argue, he could tell, but he was glad she held her tongue.
"Kakashi," Sasuke said slowly, "It'll take three days to get to the nearest village. And even then, we don't know if they have the right components needed to counteract Matsu's poison."
"Hm," Kakashi stared up at the stone ceiling. "How close are we to Konoha?"
"Five days—maybe six."
"Let's head there."
"You'll be dead in two!" Sasuke retorted sharply and his voice echoed around them.
"No, he won't!" Sakura shouted and speared a syringe into Kakashi's thigh.
"Sakura!" Kakashi reproached harshly, knowing full well what she had just done.
"I used a fourth of Raiden's antidote on you, sensei. I'm not sorry. This will give us the time we need to get you back home. We'll administer the full doses for the both of you there." Her gloved hands proceeded to glow green and hover over Raiden's infected arm.
"His death will be on your hands, Sakura." Kakashi spoke evenly but with a note of disapproval. There was no telling how long an incomplete dose could extend Raiden's life.
"Leave the girl alone," came Raiden's slurred voice. "You dying will probably inconvenience Aya-chan way more."
Sasuke sat Kakashi up. "And your child," he said lightly, subdued now that his sensei had a chance of living. Kakashi ignored the pang of guilt their words and Sakura's sniffles brought.
"Sakura, I'll carry Raiden. He's too tall for you. Once we're outside, I'll summon Garuda."
"Got it!" They switched sides and picked up their respective men. Sakura hoisted Kakashi over a shoulder. Sasuke privately smirked at the image of a petite woman carrying a grown man like that. The Hokage couldn't have felt more undignified. Raiden released a giggle, completely sloshed as Sasuke mirrored what Sakura did.
It was midnight when Kakashi was flown back into the village a day earlier than expected, thanks to Garuda. Sakura perched Kakashi against a wall in the hospital, along with Raiden, then she and Sasuke went to go get help. Ayame was in her eighth month, so the moment they were out of sight, the Hokage summoned his favorite Hyuga.
"Welcome home, Hokage-sama." Fuko molded from out the tile, fist on the ground.
"Hey there." Kakashi flinched, holding his side as an electrical current of pain zapped up again.
Expectedly, a fourth of the antidote disabled some of the poison's effects. Unfortunately, that included its numbing property so Kakashi could feel every bit of his rapidly bruising organs. An unconscious Raiden slid sideways and promptly fell on the floor. His new forehead protector dinged against the tile.
Ignoring him, Kakashi said through his teeth, "Update."
"Ayame-sama went into labor this morning. No child yet."
Kakashi closed his eyes. Another zap. "Take me to her."
"You're injured, milord." Fuko received a pointed glare. "Very well." He carefully hooked Kakashi's arm over his shoulders. The Hokage groaned deeply from within his chest. Being poisoned was his least favorite form of assault.
"Where do you think you're taking him!" Sakura stomped over with four medics holding stretchers. Sasuke silently stood beside her, eyes narrowed.
"Oh God." Kakashi heaved.
"Hokage-sama!"
"Sensei!"
Kakashi's tongue felt numb. "You four, take Raiden. Sakura, get what you need to patch me up and meet us in the labor ward. Sasuke, you need a nap."
"But sensei!"
"If someone doesn't take me to my wife in the next three seconds, you're all getting demoted to genin." One of the medics gasped and scurried over to Raiden.
"AHH!" Ayame screamed as another contraction wrecked and stiffened her abdomen.
Yumi tightly gripped her sister's flexing hand. "You're doing good."
"Push only during the contractions, Ayame," Tsunade said from the foot of the birthing bed.
"I am—URGNN! It hurts!" Ayame wept, heart overwhelmed with pain, eagerness to meet her daughter, and grief that Kakashi wasn't there. The stress of Raiden's capture and Kakashi's absence had induced an early labor, despite all the relaxation techniques Yumi and the Godaime Hokage had tried to get her to practice.
"You can do this," Tsunade-sama encouraged.
Apparently Kakashi had left strict directives that only the Godaime herself would deliver his child. And so Ayame found herself in this situation: in early labor, a frantic Naruto and Teuchi pacing holes outside the hospital room, and the strongest woman alive getting a magnificent look at her hoo-ha.
"It's too soon!" The contraction dissipated but Ayame knew she would only have seconds of reprieve. The baby was coming with or without its Otousan present.
"She's fully cooked. I promise you that."
"I k-know, milady, but I wish my husband were here." Ayame sobbed, closing her eyes, utterly exhausted and coated in sweat and other embarrassing fluids. Thirteen hours of this was too much!
"Oh, well, I wouldn't be too torn up about that."
Not a second after Tsunade-sama said such confusing, hurtful words, the door burst open, and a group of people stormed in. Ayame screamed as another contraction ripped through her. She was flushed from top to bottom and faint with weakness.
"Ayame?" The man that was being wheeled in on a gurney looked absurdly like her husband. And the medic working on his side with a flask on a bunsen-burner looked a lot like Sakura. The gurney was rolled up right beside the birthing bed and Yumi had to move to the other side.
"Anata?" Ayame breathed, disbelieving her eyes.
Kakashi grabbed Ayame's hand. "I'm here."
Her eyes widened at his tousled state and her gaze zoomed back to Sakura's busy hands.
"Listen to me," he said, getting her attention again. "I'm fine. And Raiden's home. Sakura is just making some medicine. I want you to concentrate on delivering this baby. Can you do that for me?"
Ayame cried, vehemently nodding her head.
"Wonderful," Tsunade said, "Now that Kakashi's made his classic, spectacular entrance, I'm going to need you to really push on this next one, Ayame. Okay?"
"Okay! AHH!"
"There you go! One more!"
"Wah!" The deafening cry of a newborn filled the air and with it came multiple sighs.
Sakura administered the antidote while the child was given to her mother to hold and cry over. During the time the baby was washed and bundled, Kakashi was also scrubbed down and changed into sterile clothing. His gurney was replaced with a reclining hospital bed that matched the height of Ayame's, but it was only after an intravenous therapy needle slid into his veins and his arms got full feeling back that he was finally handed his daughter.
Kakashi held her in his arms while Ayame slept in the quiet of the room. They had been left alone about an hour ago.
Hatake Kanna.
What a beautiful child. His gaze beheld the premature human being. She was pink and bald, but her tiny eyelashes were a telling silver. Outside of that, she looked exactly like her mother. Tsunade assured them that her little lungs and major organs were properly developed despite the early delivery.
For Kakashi, thoughts of Hatake Sakumo swelled and ebbed as they often did. How could a parent ever leave a kid in the manner that the White Fang had? Finally holding his very own child, the idea was so repelling to Kakashi his stomach hurt.
"Anata," Ayame spoke gently. Her hand touched his forearm, the railing on their beds having been lowered and pushed together. "Don't look so sad."
His eyes stung. "Ayame…I'll never...I won't ever abandon either of you."
She squeezed his arm. "I know."
Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
…
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair!
-Charlotte Brontë, Stanza I and VI of 'Life'
