Disclaimer: not mine

So most of the suggestions for pairings for Riku at this point…I'm guessing you haven't all realised the age gap? They've been for Riku with members of the Rookies mostly, they are currently 12-13yrs old and Riku will soon be turning 17. At this point, that is not a good age gap.

Chapter 3

Kakashi watched the teen, seeing the thoughts and emotions racing across his face. His expression wasn't as unguarded as the average civilian but he showed more than most ninja…unless they were Naruto. He seemed genuinely shocked by the news that Kakashi was his Father. Despite his vaunted genius, he just couldn't work the boy out or his purpose. The idea that wanting to meet his dad had somehow brought him to Konoha…it was crazy.

"You're my…" Riku whispered, and Kakashi nodded. "What's my mother's name?" he suddenly asked, and Kakashi felt some relief that he wasn't that trusting, despite how accepting he'd been so far of everything.

"Moira," he offered, and Riku nodded. So he had remembered correctly, that was good, and it meant Riku had been conceived then, but how? "We…met when I was fifteen, which means you should be just turning twelve at the most."

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Wh…oh…okay, how was he meant to explain that?! He knew time could pass differently between Worlds though he'd never really noticed it, but that was a massive difference! He didn't know what to do. Would the fact the man was his father and had somehow travelled between Worlds once exempt him from the rules? He really wished he could contact Mickey for advice.

"How did you meet her?" he asked carefully. There weren't many ways to travel the Worlds, especially back then when the barriers between them were strong. "She never said anything about you and no one could or would tell me anything."

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Sora waited for Master Yen Sid to say something, anything, that would help them find Riku. He didn't know the man, the others seemed in awe of him, but really, what had he done? He'd given them some very basic info on Nobodies and the Organisation and then sent them on their way, that was it. He hadn't even given him his clothes; it had been the three fairies that did that. They really could have used help so many times but they'd been cut off from Twilight Town and the Tower most of the time…why?

"It is most troubling," the elderly man finally spoke, stroking his beard. "Riku must be found immediately, so newly returned to the Light he will be in danger from those who would seek to push him back into Darkness."

Sora sucked in a breath, clamping down on a growl of rage, feeling the tingle of that Drive Form in the back of his mind. Yeah, no that would be very bad to activate at the moment. How dare he suggest Riku would ever fall back to Darkness! He glanced at the others, seeing the worry in Kairi's eyes, she didn't seriously believe… Mickey was frowning at Master Yen Sid, was that good or bad? Donald and Goofy…were nodding. The King glanced at him and nodded.

"Master Yen Sid, I know Riku and he would never give into Darkness again. He walks the Road to Dawn and he will not falter. Yes, he holds Darkness but everyone does to some degree outside of the Seven Princesses."

Sora's Heart soared at the King's support. "The King's right," he agreed.

Yen Sid frowned, appearing stern, but Sora stood his ground, Mickey standing beside him.

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Riku slumped back against the pillows, an eye?! Somehow a transplanted eye had sent his father to the Destiny Islands and right into his mother's life. With everything that had happened to him…had someone…no, that was paranoid, crazy…wasn't it? But he had no memory of how he had returned which stank of someone bringing him back, from the timeline he knew of it ruled out DiZ (the real Ansem), or the two versions of his apprentice they had fought, Maleficent was very doubtful and likely had still been contained to her own World… so the original Xehanort? Mickey's Master, what was his name, Yen Sid? Yen Sid would have returned him to keep the World Order, but he hated to think what Xehanort's involvement could mean. There was also that Wizard from Traverse Town that Sora knew, he could have maybe?

This World was looking to be one of, if not the, strangest he'd been to. There was no magic! Light and Darkness sure, but no magic. They had something though, something that felt…familiar and he guessed that made sense since his father was native. Did Mickey know about powers other than magic?

He was glad he was alone for the moment, well except for the guards but they weren't in the room with him. His legs were still secured but that was no issue if he wanted to leave since there was no lock a Keyblade couldn't handle. Still, he didn't want to reveal the blade unless absolutely necessary and so far all they'd done was heal him and lock him in a room. With how he'd appeared, could he blame them for being cautious? And he had the feeling this place was a bit more militant than he was used to, he'd seen the pouches his Father wore, the various places on his vest for equipment and the vest itself seemed armoured or padded at least. He'd said he was a…jōnin? Some kind of soldier maybe?

He'd told him as little as possible, wary of the consequences for disregarding World Order. If he knew for sure that Sora had made it, then he wouldn't mind being stranded too much, it was a chance to get to know the other side of his family, something he hadn't dared to hope for. He'd never gotten the chance to just explore a World before, it could be interesting. He just wished he could summon his Keyblade and cast cure to finish his healing.

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Kakashi watched his kids train, mind in turmoil. He knew Riku had kept a lot back and he couldn't blame him when he would do the same in his place. He did believe Riku though when it came to not knowing about chakra or Konoha or even him, despite how insane it seemed for him to not know. Had he been raised totally secluded so that he would be able to appear totally uninformed? But that didn't make any sense, he'd have to know something to be a spy.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm?" he looked at Sakura.

"Are you okay?"

He blinked and then realised he wasn't reading his book or anything and since he always did that around them it probably did seem strange. "Ah, just didn't feel like reading but thank you for your concern."

He glanced at the boys and bit back a sigh as he saw them exchanging glares even as they supposedly worked together to get the boulder up the hill. Sometimes he wondered at the sanity of those who decided pre-teens should become shinobi. Hormones, weapons, and destructive jutsu did not mesh well as his two idiots had proved several times. With Riku, he'd gotten to skip this stage and even better, no nappies! He'd only done a very small amount of D-ranks himself but the two babysitting ones had been more than enough, even with sensei laughing at him since he hadn't been much bigger than their charge.

"Naruto and Sakura, you're up," he told the two. At least Sakura was taking training more seriously since the mission to Wave but she still wasn't anywhere near as dedicated as he wanted. It was part of why he was considering the upcoming exams, it might be the wakeup call all three needed.

He still had to report to the Hokage about his conversation with his son but for some reason…he trusted the boy. Because he was his son? Was he compromised?

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Mickey could tell Sora was close to losing his temper at Master Yen Sid and honestly, he didn't blame him. His old Master had never met Riku, if he had then he would know that his assumption was wrong. Riku knew who he was now, he might be tempted but he would never fall again. He was shocked that everyone else agreed with the Master though, could see it hurt Sora, it would hurt Riku too to know how little faith they had in him, especially Kairi. Since he knew nothing, Mickey got them all out of there as soon as possible, not wanting Sora to lose his temper with the Master.

At least with 'Ansem' and Xehanort as well as the Organisation dealt with, Riku should only face native dangers wherever he'd ended up. And Mickey did not think the Light would have sent him somewhere too dangerous, but why had it separated the boys at all?

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Hiruzen went over the file they had on the boy in the hospital, the medical section and clan information were the largest due to the treatment of his injuries and his newfound father. He'd filled it in with things Kakashi had learnt but honestly he didn't know what to think. If there were plans involving him, the boy himself appeared totally ignorant. Technically, he could lock him up because of his suspicions and he was very tempted to do that; hand the boy over to Ibiki to get the truth out of him one way or another. He could also release him into Kakashi's custody with a guard or remove him from the Village. Technically, he could have him killed, but he would not do that without overwhelming evidence that he was plotting the destruction of said Village.

He was a civilian, even if he was a member of a shinobi clan, and that made Hiruzen's authority over him tricky in some ways. Though, he might be able to be trained as a shinobi, he had the chakra levels and the way he'd adapted to the healing suggested his system was still flexible enough to learn to wield it. If Riku was, then he'd have to ensure a close eye was kept on him. Kakashi had been pushed to marry or at least father a child for the good of the Village, Hiruzen knew he'd gotten tangled up with Root when it still existed, so there were those who would try and take advantage of the boy and his situation.

he looked up as Kakashi was admitted to the office and then nodded to the paperwork on that side of the desk.

Kakashi walked over and picked it up, looking over the forms, before looking up at him. "I assume under surveillance," he commented and he nodded, inhaling from his pipe.

"Of course," he stared at Kakashi, hoping he was doing the right thing but he hated condemning children. "I suggest somewhere more suitable than a one bed apartment as well. As he is your clan, his teaching is up to you, but be careful," he warned, seeing the slight flinch, they both knew that unless he planned to try and get another apartment, there was only one option.

He finally nodded. "I'll need to hire a team to clean it up, when's he being released?"

"Tomorrow. I suggest taking him along to training, see if he can pick anything up."

"Hokage-sama?" he asked in surprise.

"Some of his injuries were from fighting, let us see what he knows. And if he can still be trained it will satisfy the Councils' concern over another dying clan."

Kakashi nodded in understanding, though he obviously didn't like it.

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Kairi glanced at Sora and then away, he was angry…at her? She knew Sora didn't want to think Riku could ever give into the Darkness again but what Master Yen Sid said, well, it made sense. And he was the King's Master! But…the King had argued with him over that as well. Everything was just so confusing away from the Islands. She wished they'd never left them, that life had remained simple, but wasn't that selfish? Without Sora and his Keyblade how many Worlds would have been destroyed by the Heartless or Organisation? Would they still be out there doing even more damage?

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Kakashi walked into the hospital room to find Riku sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in strangely styled clothing. Which meant it was the clothing he'd appeared in which made sense…he'd have to take him shopping later, joy. At least it seemed it had been washed since he couldn't see any blood on it..

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Go where?" Riku asked, standing carefully, not putting his full wait on the previously injured leg for a few seconds before cautiously testing it.

"You've been released from the hospital into my custody which means you'll be living in the Hatake clan compound."

"Clan…there's more?" the teen asked with wide eyes.

"Not anymore," he answered, and the boy winced.

"Sorry," he offered, and Kakashi shrugged.

"You didn't know." Which was still very strange.

Riku picked up the bag from the bed, hopefully it held a few essentials. "Your custody?"

"Konoha is a shinobi village and you're sudden appearance here is a security threat," he admitted.

"So shinobi are…like a military?" Riku asked warily, and he nodded. "Oh."

"You don't have a military?" he asked curiously, and Riku shook his head.

"We have police and there was a merchant navy back when I was little due to piracy but that stopped so they disbanded, it's just fishermen now."

That must be nice, to live somewhere so peaceful…and Kakashi knew he'd go stir crazy in weeks. So where and how had Riku been injured or learnt how to fight, he'd seen the callouses on his hands that came from weapons use.

"Ready to go?" he asked instead of mentioning that, for now.

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Riku staggered slightly as his father let go of him, looking around curiously. High walls surrounded them and in front of them was a building, a house? It seemed to be some kind of compound and Riku assumed it was where his father lived. It felt…empty, like no one had lived there for a long time though, which made sense with what he'd said in the hospital.

"This is the Hatake Clan Compound, I moved in with my sensei as a kid since I was… well now you're here so I've re-opened it."

How big had the clan once been to have a compound? He could see some other buildings further back, showing there'd been quite a few people once. Looking closer he could see signs of recent work and repair and he felt guilty, all that work and he would be leaving sooner or later. He couldn't stay, he had a duty to protect the Worlds; the Organisation might be gone but he doubted Maleficent would be content to 'house hunt' forever.

"You didn't have to, I could sleep on the couch or floor," Riku murmured.

"it's about time I got this place fixed up anyway,' was the answer as he moved up to open the door, Riku following him.

He copied him in removing his shoes, wondering why, back home it was to keep the sand out of the house as much as possible but there was no sand here. They headed down a hall and the older man slid a door open.

"This is your room, mine's at the end of the hall. It's got the basics but we can go get the rest of what you'll need, like clothes."

Riku blinked, he hadn't even considered clothes since the magical cloth meant they were highly resistant to damage and never needed cleaning. He'd been very grateful when Mickey had given them to him a week after they left Castle Oblivion. He'd have grown out of the clothes he'd been wearing when the Islands fell by now. He had Munny thanks to his pockets but if there was no magic… "What's the local currency?" he asked curiously.

"Ryō," was the answer but then he could make out a shift in the cloth of the mask that he was sure meant he was frowning. "You…don't use it do you?"

"Munny," he pulled some out of his pocket, and his father reciprocated by pulling out some ryō from a wallet, they were nothing alike and he wondered if whatever Munny was made of would have any value locally. It wasn't like he could take on some Heartless to get ryō, he hadn't sensed any since he'd woken and he had a pretty good range, plus they'd probably still just drop Munny.

With his permission, his father picked one up, studying it. "You'd have to check with one of the blacksmiths or jewellers but I think that's gold, or at least partially. If it is then it's worth a bit."

That was good to know. They went on a brief tour of the rest of the house, finding the kitchen stocked already. He helped prepare a meal, watching for cue on how to eat the food, knowing his father was eating slower to make it easier for him to do so. He also finally got to see the man without his mask and it was easier to see their resemblance once he pulled it down. The meal was quiet, Riku just didn't know how to talk to him, he had so many questions but he didn't want to be rude or anything.

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It felt strange to sit and eat a meal in the house, his son sitting opposite him, and his mask down. Riku had stared at him, searching his features, and Kakashi knew he was looking for the family similarities between them. He ate slowly and politely, letting Riku copy him, teaching his near-adult son but what little he'd seen of the Island suggested their society was rather different to Konoha. He didn't want Riku to be embarrassed to eat in public or to be shamed for a lack of manners when the kid was actually very polite, he just didn't know their social norms yet.

He could tell Riku wanted to ask questions but was holding back, he didn't shift nervously or anything, sitting still in a way a lot of teens couldn't. Most shinobi by his age could, but Riku was a civilian, or mostly?

"Riku?" he asked, and his son looked up at him. "Where'd you learn to fight?" maybe not the best way to start, but he needed to know.

"Sora's dad gave me the basics with a wooden sword since he was part of the merchant navy for a while, I passed it on to Sora when he was old enough. His dad…" Riku shrugged slightly, and Kakashi understood, the man had no longer been around to teach his own son. "We just kind of kept going from there, training against each other or others. Wakka's crazy, uses a Blitzball which hurts a surprising amount if it hits you in the face," Riku shook his head, looking amused. "Tidus would use a wood staff, and Selphie….well no one else ever thought of using a skipping rope but it really stings! Kairi never really joined in, she was content being the cheering squad and I know she regrets that now."

"How old were you?" he asked, how much had the man taught Riku? Though sword training was good so long as he hadn't developed too many bad habits without someone to continue formal training.

"Four when he started, he uh…there was some trouble, the last pirate raids…he didn't come home," Riku stared down at his rice bowl. "I was six, Sora was five and just starting cause he was always small for his age. He wanted to make sure we could look after ourselves since we were always off exploring."

Kakashi nodded. He'd lost his own father at a similar age and knew what it could do to a kid. By the sounds of it, the man had been the closest Riku had to a father back then and he'd had a younger boy to help through it as well. It was a pity the Hakkō Chakura Tō had been destroyed in the war, he could have passed it down to Riku. Maybe he should look into seeing if it could be restored or not. He could test how good Riku was at least, teach him some since he'd used a tanto in Anbu as well, he'd only stopped when he left to teach.

"Do you know anything about shinobi?" he asked, hoping he didn't need to explain everything, despite the fact that so far he shown no knowledge of what they were or did. Hmm…maybe he could con Iruka-sensei into giving him beginner lessons in private since the Academy was on break at the moment. He wouldn't dream of putting his son in a class with a bunch of pre-teens, that would be torture!

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Riku lay on the strange bed on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. He had finally received a very basic explanation of shinobi…ninja. Like Sora's friend Yuffie except not? He hadn't seen many Worlds with their own militaries outside the Land of Dragons, the two worlds shared some similarities but Konoha was the more advanced of the two since they had electricity.

At least they'd talked a little, that was a good start, wasn't it? He could still sense the watchers from the hospital, but he was "in custody" after all. His Dad was a soldier of some kind in a military in a World with no Heartless, did that mean…they fought other people? Other than when he'd fought Sora, all of his opponents had been Heartless and Nobodies, he'd never been faced with the choice of having to kill a person. He knew Sora's Dad had and now it seemed possible his own Dad had too. Was that the cause of the Darkness he felt scattered in the Village, those shinobi who had killed for their Village?

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Sasuke looked up and stared as their sensei appeared, still late but nowhere near as late as usual. He glanced at Naruto and Sakura, seeing their surprise. And he wasn't alone, there was an older teen with him…with the same silver hair as their sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei did you henge a clone?" Naruto demanded, eyeing the two warily.

"Ah, no Naruto. This is Riku, he'll be joining us from now on."

They stared at him silently demanding more information. Sasuke caught the small smile that flittered across Riku's face as he looked between them and their sensei.

"He's my son," their sensei finally answered, shocking them all. Kakashi-sensei had a son?

"Since when?!" Naruto demanded.

"Since he was born," was the flat return. "We only just found out and he'll be living in Konoha now."

Well, that was interesting. A foreign son...and he was just being allowed to wander around? No, there'd surely be Anbu or something keeping an eye on him, that was good. Except that meant they'd be watching them too.

So was that what Kakashi's face looked like or did he take after his mother? Not that he was interested in such silly things. He didn't move like a Shinobi and his clothing looked more civilian though not a style he'd seen around. So why show him the team and training? That seemed strange. Riku reached up to brush his hair back and Sasuke was surprised to spot calluses, weapons calluses, so not a civilian? He supposed they'd have to wait and see.

TBC…