Kakashi stood in the yard of the Hyuga compound, waiting. Getting Hiashi's approval of his idea was easy enough, and the only thing left was for him to collect his young charge for the weekend.

His young charge, though, did not seem particularly keen on being collected.

He decided he will wait for 5 more minutes and if she doesn't appear, he would go get her himself. Mentally, he wondered if that was how his students felt when he was late all the time whenever they had a meeting.

Luckily, it didn't get to the point when Kakashi would begin losing his patience, as Hanabi finally came out with a very sour expression on her face. If the girl was anything like Kakashi when he was her age, he was in for a troublesome weekend. He mentally prepared himself and went to meet her halfway out.

"What do you want?" he heard her immediately saying.

He sighed. Here it comes…

"I believe the first thing to say when meeting someone is 'hello'," he replied calmly, knowing full well that the girl was aware why he came. There was no way Hinata didn't tell her sister about their plans for her weekends nor for Hiashi to not brief his daughter about her schedule.

The girl just humphed, demonstratively looking away from him.

They set into a leisure pace, walking beside each other. For a long time, neither said anything; Kakashi not knowing what to say, and Hanabi not wanting to say anything to the bastard. Finally, Kakashi risked breaking the ice.

"So… Hinata spoke about you a lot…" he offered rather stiffly, waiting for a response.

He decided to at least establish a civil relationship, and then go from there. He did not have much experience with children apart from his students, and of all his students the only one, interactions with whom were remotely similar to the current situation was Sasuke. He did not think his handling of Sasuke was particularly successful, so he decided to base his further actions on the second closest thing – his ninken. He got all eight of them to listen to him, right? Thus, by all means, he should be fine. Heck, his team alone was troublesome enough back in the day. Besides, if Hanabi is anything like him, he was sure he'd manage. So, he patiently waited for her response. Which, admittedly, didn't take long to come.

"And what's it to you?" Hanabi spat, clearly unwilling.

Despite such a cold start, Kakashi remained optimistic. Copy Nin knew that her talking to him was a good sign. His younger self would have just ignored him.

"Hanabi-chan," he started anew, ignoring the way she bristled. "Hinata wanted to spend some time with you, so she asked me to get you for the weekend. You should know that you will be training with me for a part of the day, depending on my availability, but the rest of the day you are free to do anything. You can spend it all with your sister if you want."

She looked at him, still not quite believing, but the wall of distrust was unable to contain her excitement. It was abundantly clear that Hanabi was looking forward to spending the weekend with her sister.

An idea came to the last Hatake's mind when they came across an ice cream stand. It wasn't hard to deduce from the sheer number of children around that sweet things attract kids. Getting himself one, he turned to Hanabi and went down on one knee to get on eye level with the girl. Although, it was more like she was looking down at him now – Hanabi wasn't so short as to be on eye level with a kneeling man.

"I know that you study and train hard, Hanabi-chan"–he handed her a cone of chocolate ice cream–"so consider tonight as taking a well-deserved break."

The girl was studying her ice cream intently. Kakashi smiled to himself. It was simple, really, giving incentives to reward good behavior. He employed this method all the time with Naruto and his ninken. The results never disappointed.

'Or not,' he thought when he sensed something cold and sticky on his hair. He immediately identified it to be the ice cream he bought for Hanabi. Said girl was standing with her arms crossed, a defiant expression on her face. Kakashi sighed. This was going to be a long weekend.

"So, I get it you don't like chocolate?"

Instead of honoring him with an answer, she turned and went ahead towards their destination.

'The brat better be happy to meet her sister,' he thought, wiping off as much of the sticky treat from his hair.

A delicious smell of Hinata's cooking met the pair when they set foot inside the house. Barely getting rid of her sandals Hanabi ran to greet her sister at once. Kakashi lagged behind, entering the guest room to witness a heartwarming scene between two siblings. Hanabi was practically bouncing with excitement, while Hinata looked positively glowing. Seeing their happy faces only reinforced the thought that it wasn't right that the two couldn't meet each other often. Between Hanabi's intensive studies and Hinata's arranged marriage, the pair of them were potentially looking at weeks or even months without quality time together. Hinata made a point to visit, but Kakashi imagined it was hard to have an open conversation in Hyuga household, where manners and protocol did not allow them to act as the close sisters they were supposed to be.

"Neechan, how are you doing?" Hanabi asked her sister, concern etched on her face. The girl even dared to send Kakashi a suspicious glance afterwards.

Hinata only smiled reassuringly.

"I'm fine, Hanabi-chan, and what about you?"

Said girl directed a scanning look over her older sister, studying her from head to toe. Then once again sent a dirty look towards the masked man. Turning back to Hinata, she nodded, apparently satisfied with her examination.

"I'm alright. Tireeed," she drew out the last word to emphasize the point. "Father is driving me crazy with his training."

Hinata's smile dampened. Of course, Father and his draconian training.

She knew that Hanabi wanted to be a clan head, but Hinata couldn't help but think that if she weren't so weak Hanabi would have a carefree childhood. It felt as if she stripped her sister of that freedom by selfishly dumping her responsibilities on her. Hanabi, of course, noticed Hinata's distress. And of course, immediately knew what the cause of it was.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" she sighed. "Neechan, I don't mind it. And you didn't dump your duties on me, so don't blame yourself. If you want someone to blame, blame Father!" She then glared scathingly at Kakashi, indicating that Hiashi is not the only one to blame there. "Besides, it's not so bad. I get to learn a lot of cool stuff. Why, just yesterday I did this thing, and it's…"

Kakashi was observing the two while Hanabi was telling her lighthearted story in her attempt to distract her sister. Hanabi seemed to notice even the slightest shift in Hinata's mood, always acting accordingly. The girl immediately started reassuring her sister. It was baffling how they seemed to understand each other at a glance. It was quite clear for the Copy Nin that the two cared deeply for one another. Such bond was precious. Kakashi unwittingly got reminded of the days when he was a kid, when Obito and Rin shared a similar level of understanding with him. Now only Gai seemed to retain such an ability. The man still could often read him like a book.

Despite everything, what Kakashi witnessed now felt like it was even stronger. The two were not only friends, but family. And it was likely they had only each other to lean on for a long time when they were little. He felt guilty for stripping them of each other.

'Well, at least I managed to make it better for the two,' he consoled, regarding this weekend plan of his.

Hinata was so happy to spend two whole days with her little sister. She really did miss those interactions that you could have only in a private of your room, not thinking about Hyuga traditions. Just the two of them, being sisters. Thinking about it filled her with immense gratitude towards Kakashi. He went out of his way for all this trouble. She was about to tell him just that when she noticed something weird about his hair. For some reason it had a sizeable brown spot in it. It was splotched unceremoniously across the silver of his mane, reminding her of something less than pleasant.

"Kakashi," Hinata addressed him when her sister made a pause in her tale. "You have something…" She made a vague gesture around the top of her indigo locks.

"Ah, that is just some ice cream," he replied nonchalantly.

'Ice cream? What would ice cream…' she heard her sister snicker.

"Hanabi!" she turned towards the girl menacingly, making her still.

"It's not my fault, neechan," she pleaded. "He didn't even ask me what flavor I like!"

"But it's brown," Hinata deadpanned. "So, it was chocolate! You like chocolate!" she scolded her. Even Kakashi felt some second-hand guilt from his wife's stern gaze; maybe he should've covered for the brat this once. "And that's not even the point. Why would you do something like that?"

"You are right, that's not the point," Hanabi replied, suddenly looking at her sister with a matching anger.

The girl's shift in attitude was so abrupt, that even Kakashi became alert. Somehow, he didn't get a feeling that it was a trivial outburst.

"Then why did you do it?" Hinata's question seemed to be that final push that forced all the pent up frustration from her little sister.

"W-why?" she asked, not believing what she was hearing from Hinata of all people. "God, oneesan, don't you see why?" Hanabi knew she was making a scene, but she could no longer hold it down. "They sold you out! They sell you out to this– this old man, and you sit here all cosy with him!" Hanabi did not care that Kakashi heard everything she said. She wanted him to hear. She will not show any respect to the man just because of Hinata's misplaced sense of gratitude. How could her neesan stand being a hostage in that house? Hanabi had so much to tell her sister, but all the thoughts jumbled in her head, resulting in only one question. "Why?"

Why was her older sister so forgiving? Not only with Kakashi, but with everyone else too. Hinata just didn't seem to be able to stand up for herself sometimes. First Neji and Father, now Kakashi. Someone always bullies her, abusing her gentle nature. And one time she actually defended herself turned out to be a pivotal one – her relationship with Neji had gotten to the point he gave up his life for her. How couldn't neesan see that people will respect you only when you earn it?

Hinata, though, didn't seem to understand her sister this time.

The elder sibling did not want to have a fight with Hanabi the first ten minutes they were together. She understood the girl's anger, but it still hurt hearing her sister call her naive and implying her being too meek to fight.

"Hanabi," she started, "you don't understand–"

"Yes, I don't understand! I don't understand how my sister could be so weak!" she blurted out, immediately regretting her words.

Hinata's expression showed hurt for a moment, before she once again donned a strict mask.

"Regardless of how weak I am," she said, voice quivering just a little, "you should respect your brother-in-law. I would appreciate it if you apologize."

She was asking her to apologize to Kakashi?! She was hurt and disappointed but once again her precious Kakashi comes first, isn't it? As quickly as the guilt came, it disappeared once Kakashi was mentioned.

"No."

"Hanabi," Hinata started.

"It's fine–" Kakashi decided to interject but was cut short by a stern gaze from his wife.

"I said, NO!" Hanabi yelled, startling everyone. "I'm not going to apologize, I'll never marry some random person, and I'll never be miserable like you!"

Once again, Hanabi's mouth acted before she could think her words through.

Hinata's look suggested that she'd be better off if she were actually slapped. The words hurt more than swords indeed. She couldn't conceal her hurt anymore. One thing they never did was shout at each other. They never yelled, no matter how angry one of them got. And Hanabi always listened to her. Now, it seemed that Hanabi did not even care for her opinion.

Kakashi, who's been witnessing the falling out between the two, finally gave voice. "That's quite enough, Hanabi." Mentally, he was searching for a way to resolve the conflict.

His work seemed cut out for him as Hinata just sat there, shoulders slumped, dinner completely forgotten, the very picture of misery, while Hanabi ran off somewhere, the door audibly slamming after her. Kakashi sighed, he was sure Kushina had it easier with his younger self. Copy Nin didn't know how to comfort the woman even if said woman was his wife, so he did what he always did in unexpected situations where his options were limited and any delay in action resulted in irreparable damage – summoned his ninken. With a poof, all eight of his loyal companions appeared in his guest room.

"Hey boss," Pakkun greeted.

"Pakkun, no time to explain. Need your help."

Pakkun looked around the house, confused, before noticing a young pretty woman sitting on a chair at the table, looking all sad.

"Really, boss?" he asked. "Backup for this?" Asking dogs to help him with a girl had to be a new low for their boss.

"Look, guys," Kakashi addressed the ninja hounds, desperate to chase after Hanabi. "I need your help, keep Hinata some company while I look for her sister, will you?"

"Alright, but we expect an explanation. And a nice big steak." With those words, the whole company trotted towards Hinata. "Hello, my name is Pakkun, would you like to touch my paw?"

'I am doomed,' was Kakashi's thought upon hearing how exactly Pakkun planned to keep his wife company. His pads were undoubtedly soft, but it was doubtful that even it would be enough to comfort his wife in her current state.

In the end he resolved to give his canine friends a chance and focus on finding Hanabi. Copy Nin bet that if he got the brat to apologize her older sister won't take long in responding in kind.

If the girl was anything like him, she was probably already regretting what she said, and ran away from her guilt. These kinds of things had happened multiple times with him and Kushina-sama. Of course, he was a bit more dignified and didn't cry while doing so, and he didn't actually run. More like poofed away and hid until the Red Habanero wasn't mad anymore. Which wasn't long, the woman had a heart of gold. Or memory of a fish. One of the two, anyway.

Judging by Hinata's reaction, she wasn't mad either. Therefore, his mission was to convince Hanabi to come back and talk things out with her sister. He sighed, half relieved and half exasperated. The chilly outside wind was like a fresh breath of air after all the drama in his house.

Kakashi sprinted across the village, locked on the now familiar scent of his wife's little sister. He let out a satisfied huff once the wind changed its direction, allowing him a better grasp on the scent.

'Definitely easier than comforting a woman.'

Hanabi was sitting on a tree branch outside of one of the training grounds. Once she calmed down a little, she reflected upon what had happened. It's all because of him, she thought. She hated him. Hated his stupid mask, his ridiculous hair, his goofy attitude that only appeared when he was trying to be friendly. She hated that he acted all aloof when he was the one responsible for every bad thing happening in Konoha.

Happening to her family.

Hanabi sniffed. She may not know much about Kakashi Hatake, but she heard the adults speak about him. He'd done so many unfair things, like putting people in jail for speaking against Danzou, closing all the newspapers that did so too. He may not be directly killing people, but he was the one giving out orders and controlling the forces. He was the one who gave Danzou all the power, and repeatedly stood aside when the man plunged Konoha into corruption. She may not understand everything, but even she felt that the very atmosphere of the village changed. It became cold, and dark. Civilians were actually afraid of shinobi. She couldn't understand how it was possible to make people afraid of the ones who were supposed to protect them. Apparently, with the likes of Kakashi it was easily achievable.

Speak of the devil, she cursed, sensing Kakashi land on the same branch she was on.

"Hey brat," she heard him say once the wood underneath them stopped trembling. "I thought you'd be happy to see your sister after a week of being apart."

"Go away," she sniffled. Of all people to see her like this it got to be him. "How did you even find me?"

"I found long ago that this area of the village is usually very quiet, and this particular tree is a very convenient spot for hiding." He then smiled, adding, "Besides, I have a very keen sense of smell."

"Well, I'm not hiding!"

"Sure you are not."

That annoying eye creasing smile again. Why not get on with it and scold her? Or beat her up? Instead he was standing there and annoying her.

She heard him let out a heavy sigh. A moment and some more shuffling of leaves later, he was sitting right beside her.

"Listen," he told her, "I know that you don't like me"–she snorted–"and I'm sure you know that what you said back there was mean, so why don't we both just agree to behave for Hinata?"

She expected him to be angry. Maybe he was, but he didn't show it. She didn't expect him to accept the situation and move on like he did. She'd be damned if some two-faced jerk acted more mature than her.

"Fine," she replied, wiping her face with her hand. She would've used her sleeve, but her tutors would kill her for ruining her clothes.

Kakashi watched the girl pull herself together and couldn't help but add one more thing.

"You know," he started, looking pointedly at her, "it takes a special brand of strength to forgive. You may think your sister's forgiving nature to be a weakness," he turned his gaze towards the distant horizon, "but to me Hinata is one of the strongest people I know."

Kakashi didn't wait for her response.

With that tentative agreement, the pair went back to the house. Apparently, the time was past the curfew, because some Root agent stopped them and asked for identification. Kakashi just gave him his and they were good to go.

"So, everyone else is not allowed to break the curfew, but you can?" she asked him, bitterly.

"It seems so," was his only reply.

His apathetic tone infuriated her. Why approve of a curfew you are not even following yourself. It was so unfair. She knew that saying anything won't change his mind, so Hanabi just kept quiet until they got home. She chose to prepare her apologies to Hinata instead.

Also, no matter what she told herself, Kakashi's last words before they went back still resonated in her head.

"…it takes a special brand of strength to forgive…"

He seemed sincere when speaking those words. Hanabi spied a glance at her companion; Kakashi seemed pensive, if not worried. She decided to file that information for later. It just confused her too much.

They arrived home to an adorable sight of Hinata sitting on the couch with eight eager looking ninja dogs around her. She was absently petting Biscuit when the commotion in the corridor pulled her out of her reverie. She looked up to see Kakashi and Hanabi enter the guest room. His wife smiled at him before giving her sister a hesitant glance. Hanabi looked positively guilty. Now was the time for them to make up, Kakashi decided and left the two alone. He had some business to finish in the study anyway, not to mention a talk with his ninken, who silently followed out after him.

Hinata patted the empty spot on the couch, inviting Hanabi to sit. The girl obeyed. As soon as she touched the soft surface, she started apologizing.

"Oneesan, I'm sorry–" Hanabi felt her big sister's arms wrap around her, preventing her from finishing the apology.

"It's okay, apology accepted." Hinata smiled, and then looked sternly at her sister. "Do you know that running off like that when it is close to curfew could get you in trouble?"

Hanabi didn't know what to say. She hadn't thought about it then. Reflecting on it now, she understood how stupid what she did was. Not only what she said, but what she did after that too. If she got caught and Father learned of it, she would not be allowed to visit Hinata anymore. So, she apologized again, returning the hug.

Later that day, she would recall Hinata's stern and concerned face and hear Kakashi's words.

It takes a special brand of strength to forgive.

Kakashi picked up that day's newspaper once his ninken were satisfied with his explanation. He remembered seeing a big headline about the explosion and finally had gotten to take a look at the article. He wasn't surprised to see a big part of it dedicated to his beating of an innocent man. Just great. One more act of injustice that the village will hold against him. He rubbed his lower chest, still feeling the tender flesh albeit the sting was much fainter than hours prior. He snorted at the irony of it all.

Kakashi sighed, tossing the damned thing aside. Now he'll definitely have to deal with the newspaper. They just didn't listen to warnings! If things were allowed to go further, it wouldn't take long before Danzou himself takes interest in the matter. And then it's all over for those journalists; they would have more important things to worry about than losing their jobs.

Filling in the search warrant, Kakashi made sure to assign the mildest chunins possible for the mission. All he needed was to confiscate their equipment and printing press; no need to arrest people. He fiddled with his pen, that press might come in handy in the future…

It was only half-past twelve when Kakashi forced himself to go to bed. He did promise to rest more. So far, he thought he was doing well. He did not see Hanabi nor his pack of ninken anywhere in the guestroom. Weird.

Perhaps Hanabi was in the toilet. Deciding to be nice, he put bed sheets and a pillow on the couch for Hanabi to make the bed with, before going to his bedroom. There, he saw Hinata, Hanabi and all eight of his ninken lying on the bed. The dogs and the younger girl were sleeping soundly, all snuggled in one pile around Hinata, while his wife was reading a book. Noticing him, she sent him an apologetic look.

"Guess it's couch for me," he sighed.

Hinata was about to say something, before he raised his hand and stopped her.

"It's fine, I don't mind." He added then, jokingly, "It's just disconcerting that in a house with eight dogs I am the one who ends up in the doghouse."

His wife muffled a giggle at his lame joke. Satisfied, Kakashi went to prepare for the night. He managed to receive his daily fix of Hinata's laughter. He could swear it was the only thing keeping him going nowadays, with all the bullshit he got at work from ninja and civilians alike. Konoha's prominent clans seemed to be especially out for his blood. He knew that it's what one gets when he turns the whole village against them, but still, did Tsume Inuzuka have to call him names every time they met? At least others were a bit more discreet with their insults and threats.

He was glad that not much time managed to pass after Danzou took control, because the system had not completely rotted away. The change was happening gradually, but with every new inhumane law passing, every act of corruption, every injustice towards civilians, the situation was getting worse and worse. It layered, starting from the very top of their government and slowly going lower and lower. In a few years time, just removing Danzou won't be enough to salvage Konoha.

He knew that it wouldn't be long until Konoha returned to those dark warmongering times much like during his childhood, maybe even worse, Sandaime and Danzou's childhood. The mere thought of his village plunging into a chaos like that caused a shiver to pass down his spine. This time, though, it would be him and Danzou who caused this, not the state of a corrupted world.

Leaving the bathroom, Kakashi passed by the bed towards the guest room where his couch was located. He noticed his wife was now sleeping too. He tried to imagine someone like himself at her age cuddled to their little brother or sister. Needless to say, that picture didn't feel quite right. Shinobi from his time were killing machines, sheltering away their emotions in the name of their village and Hokage. Now, shinobi like Hinata or Sakura or Naruto were a welcomed oddity rather than a seemingly impossible stupidity. For someone, there is no difference, but for the Copy Nin it made all the difference in the world.

The next generation must always surpass the previous, both in power and character. Even if just a little, Kakashi would still consider it a success.

And he will do everything in his power to make sure this simple truth stays that way.

So, the younger sister makes an appearance.

Read and enjoy. Or not. Up to you. But if you do think it's bad, tell me why so I could prevent any mistakes from happening in the future.

Thanks again.

Edit: I just saw my chapter and cringed at all the mistakes I found. I will be extra careful to prevent such blunders in the future. Next chapter, as always, will come out Friday to Sunday.

Sorry for this "update".