A/N: hope you guys are ready for the s
Hinata wakes to the sound of gentle thunder and something rough and vaguely slimy sliding across her temple.
At first, she thinks that it is storming outside and either she or Kakashi forgot to close the window above their bed. But then she remembers that she is not home; that she is not safe and warm in the nest Kakashi built for them—
Hinata's breath hitches when a pair of arms flex around her, pulling her closer against a heartbeat she'd know anywhere.
Her eyes snap open.
Hope blooms in her chest, each new fragile petal unfurling and pushing against the very real possibility that this is all just another dream, don't fall for it, please, oh gods, I don't know how much more of this I can take—
Hinata blinks to adjust her eyes to the dark—the light of the full moon beaming down into their room helps some—and tilts her head up to where she knows she'll find him—the boy with blood on his teeth, ghosts in his eyes, and a heart so scarred that every beat is its own excruciating hell.
And yet he endures, mission after mission, kill after kill, he comes stumbling into her arms, porcelain mask clattering to the floor, 'I'm home,' whispered against her breastbone.
And each time Hinata rewards that unbroken promise with gentle hands and a 'welcome home, Kakashi', her breath shaking as her heart lays bare for him and only him becuase he knows what it's like to hurt there and it's becuase she knows that about him that she trusts him with it.
Red and black meet her pale gaze.
"Kakashi," Hinata gasps. She watches in fascination as his cat-like eyes expand, eating away the grey and red of his eyes. The three tomoes of his sharingan spin, preserving forever the way her eyes pool with tears and her face twists becuase he is here. In their home, surrounded by the smells of their family both here and gone— nonono, she can't think about that now.
Here she is, back in Kakashi's arms like she's never left, a gift she had never fully appreciated until it was taken from her.
Hinata bursts into motion, pushing him to make some space between them so she can up and grab at him, her hands twisting the fabric over his chest. Her breath trembles when she feels the steady tempo of his heartbeat. She spreads her fingers wide to better feel it—to reassure herself that Kakashi is here, with her, and alive. That the promise they made to each other all those months ago—to never leave the other—remains tried, yes, but true.
A soft whine pulls her from her thoughts and back to him. Hinata sniffs and her eyes dart back up to Kakashi.
To his pale and very naked face.
Hinata squeaks and immediately squeezes her eyes shut, trying desperately to bleach the sight from her mind.
She's only ever caught brief glimpses of Kakashi's face. Such things are unavoidable when they live in such close quarters. Over the years Hinata seen enough to know that he has a tan line and his scar extends farther behind his mask. She's never seen more than that and never so clearly.
Until now, that is.
Because Kakashi is a private person and Hinata respects this, always averting her gaze when they share their meals, redirecting the attention of any curious onlookers when they go out to eat, and making sure that their bedroom is dark enough so that he might rest, secure with the knowledge she cannot see him, not without activating her doujutsu which she would never do becuase they are shinobi. Their minds, their hearts, their bodies belong to the village. Nothing is really ever theirs. Not even their lives. At least in this, by respecting her friend's privacy, she can ensure that his face remains his and only his. That much she can give him.
Unfortunately, one moment is all it takes for her hard work to be ruined. Years of careful manoeuvring gone down the drain in the span of two breaths. Hinata will never be able to unsee the sharp ridges of his dirtied cheeks or the subtle, pointed tips of his fangs peeking from behind chapped, pink lips—
Heat blooms from her cheeks and up to the roots of her hair and then back down to her chest. Hinata squirms, trying to free her hands so she can cover her eyes, but Kakashi's grip on her waist only tightens.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry, Kakashi! I—I didn't mean to see! Please, you have to believe m—me!"
Hinata feels a puff of air blow across her face and then that same wet sensation from earlier returns—warm and soothing against her temple. She feels the prick-prick of sharp nails carefully poking her eyes, trying to get them to open once more.
Reluctantly her eyes flutter open.
Again, Hinata is greeted by Kakashi's face, embarrassingly close to hers. She does her best to remain calm, searching frantically for something to distract herself with. Hinata finds it in the form of a single beauty spot. On Kakashi's chin.
Cute, she thinks absently. Hinata's fingers twitch with the desire to reach out and touch it.
Kakashi suddenly leans even closer and it takes everything that Hinata has not to flinch. He hovers in front of her, his nose twitching as he sniffs her. It's only now with him so close, his slitted eyes dilating and constricting with each exhale and inhale, that Hinata finally notices that something isn't quite right.
She lifts a hand to touch his cheek gingerly.
"Kakashi?"
Kakashi responds by dropping his head and nuzzling her hand, smearing dried mud on her palm. At least that's what she hopes it is. Hinata tries to guide his head back up but he pulls away from her touch and proceeds to bump his nose against her cheek. He hovers above her, mouth falling open as he breathes her in. Hinata is too captivated by the sight of his long canines glittering in the moonlight to stop what happens next.
Hinata's belly does this odd sort of swoop when Kakashi begins to
gently
methodically
affectionately lick her face.
With his tongue.
On her face.
Some faraway part of her mind that isn't on fire wonders if he can taste the heat on her skin.
A smaller, even further part of herself wonders what he might taste like.
"K—k—ka—ka— kakashi!?" Hinata squeals as his tongue makes another pass.
He responds by pulling her impossibly tighter to his chest and snuffling behind her ear before also licking there. Hinata wriggles, her skin unbearably hot and itchy, but Kakashi's hold is firm, his sharpened claws resting carefully just below her ribs and on her hip.
Hinata looks up at the ceiling, breaths coming in sharp rasps through her nose. At the rate things are going she honestly might pass out.
Or die.
Whichever comes first.
Either way, her heart beating much too hard and much too fast for her body to sustain any longer, and her vision beginning to blur.
Hinata shudders when Kakashi's fingers flex, his nails lightly scraping the exposed skin of her side, her shirt having ridden up. He purrs long and hard, his rough tongue brushing the underside of her jaw. Hinata's eyes flutter shut and she can't stop the quiet, breathy sigh that escapes her when Kakashi moves back up and nibbles the tip of her ear. He chirps affectionately and his hands begin to knead her side like she's seen the stray cats that Obito used to feed would do to each other as they lounged outside his apartment.
Hinata finds herself melting into the warmth of their bed, surrendering herself to Kakashi's tender attention. She manages to finally free her hands and uses one to scratch the spot behind his ear that Hinata knows he likes while the other busies itself with picking out stray leaves and twigs from his tangled mane.
Kakashi snuffles happily against her skin and rubs his cheek against hers. Hinata giggles and shyly returns the gesture. Kakashi croons low in his throat and Hinata decides then and there that if she were to die here then it would be the kindest gift this world can give her.
Hinata closes her eyes and draws in a deep breath—
Her eyes snap open, her nose wrinkling at the same time. It takes more strength than what she's comfortable using in such an intimate setting to put some distance between the two of them.
"Kakashi, I don't want to be rude but…" she trails off as said person just looks back at her, his sharingan eye spinning lazily while the other remains dark and vague, "…you need a bath."
She grimaces, remembering her own unkempt state.
"Ano…myself included."
Kakashi tilts his head, a whine riddled with confusion slipping past his lips.
Hinata sighs and begins to get up, ignoring the unpleasant stretch of her muscles and the way her bones groan. She lifts a leg over Kakashi but before her toes can touch the hardwood floor, Kakashi springs up, wrapping his arms around her waist, effectively pinning her arms to her sides, and jerks her to him, flipping them over so he is laid over her body, weighing her down and in place.
Hinata wriggles, testing him. Kakashi's hold does not relent, his grip unyielding yet gentle in the same manner a snake winds around its clutch protectively. She drops her head back onto the bed and closes her eyes.
On second thought, perhaps the bath can wait.
From his place atop her, Kakashi begins to purr, the sound reaching past bone and muscle, echoing in the empty parts of her soul, in a melody meant just for them.
Kuromaru pads quietly into the living, the sounds of his claws clicking against the floor a comforting sound. Tsume stretches back against a wall of cushions, her back cracking audibly when she does so. She watches, arms lazily outstretched on the walls as the ninken come to a stop outside her nest.
Tsume rolls her eyes and jerks her head in invitation. Tch, as if he even needed one. Kuromaru's tail wags as he carefully paws his way inside, careful not to disturb Hana sleeping at her hip. He lays his head on her lap, legs tucked comfortably underneath him.
"The Hatake cub's mate has been returned to him." Kuromaru reports and just like that Tsume feels a great weight lift from her shoulders.
"Oh, thank the moon," she breathes, her body slumping and allowing the plush wall behind to consume her
Tsume is Alpha, an honor and a burden in equal measure. She knows she would have done what was necessary for the safety of the Pack.
Tsume looks down at the peaceful face of her sleeping daughter.
But that doesn't mean she would have liked it, no, to take out Sakumo's pup like that would have cemented the fall of her clan and everything they stand for.
Tsume closes her eyes and takes a moment to savor the knowledge that Hinata is safe and with Kakashi. With a rough exhale, her eyes snap open, sharp and focused on her partner.
"She okay?"
"The ninken say she will recover in due time."
Tsume growls, displeased that she has to recover at all. She can't imagine what it's like to have your loyalty called into question when all you've ever done is bleed for the very thing that now accuses you. To have your whole world rent asunder in one night, trapped in the dark without knowing if there is anything left for you out there in the light.
"And Kakashi? How's the brat doing?"
Kuromaru chuffs, "He's in rough shape but some time with his mate should fix him right back up…however," his voice lowers, thick with anger, "he still smells of deep shadows and blood-soaked earth ."
Tsume bares her teeth, "That slimy old bastard dares !?" Her nails rake through one of the cushions near her, the stuffing spilling out around them. "He dares come after one of our own again? Did he not learn his lesson last time?"
"Perhaps losing only an eye was too kind a lesson."
"Yes," Tsume hisses, remembering the fear that had gripped her clan when their pups started to go missing, "it was."
She remembers her mother holding her close, telling her to just please, Tsume, just keep yer godsdamned head down and shut yer trap and for love of the gods please don't go stirrin' up trouble we can't lose ya too.
There had been real fear in mother's voice then. Something about seeing her mother, such a wild and fearless woman, so fucking terrified sucked the fight right out of Tsume and she'd simply nodded, swallowing back her protests.
She remembers the clan-mandated curfew, how she and the other clan kids were immediately herded back to the compound after class, and the way her home had stunk with the putrid scent of their fear and death as the Second Shinobi World War raged on and more of her agemates went missing.
Most of all, Tsume remembers waking in the middle of the night to her father, their clan's most gifted tracker, readying himself not for a mission but for a hunt.
She never saw him again after that night.
The kids who'd gone missing though?
They came back.
Hand-in-hand they came shuffling back through the compound's front gates. They'd been so pale, Tsume recalls and looking so lost, so empty like living ghosts.
Behind the kids were two of their best and brightest jounin looking like they'd gone through hell and back, eyes bruised and bodies bleeding like a broken faucet. Bringing up the rear, were the Hatake clan heads, each of them with an arm wrapped around their limping Alpha, the three of them looking like they'd been chewed up and spat out by a bijuu. Despite all that, they all sported matching grins, blood still staining their fangs from a successful hunt.
Slowly, arms trembling due to nerve damage Tsume had later learned, her Alpha had lifted her arm. And there, clutched between her chipped nails, was a lone bloody dark eye.
The compound had never been noisier, cries of jubilation for the returned and howls for the lost lasting for days.
(It wasn't until Tsume became Alpha that she learned the truth of what happened that night.)
(Why her father had never come back.)
The clan suffered a lot after that. A good chunk of her clansmen had been mass shipped out to the front lines of the war and then those horrible rumors about them began to sprout like weeds. That they were all selfish, mindless, flea-ridden mongrels. It damaged their relationships with both the civilian and shinobi populations. Ninkens were banned from most establishments, the few missions sent their way paying poorly, and promotions were denied.
The Hatake had suffered more so, the clan dwindling until only a handful remained.
And yet none of them gave a rat's ass about any of it.
There were no more missing pups.
At the end, that's all that mattered.
Tsume smooths a hand down her daughter's head. Hana snuffles once before burrowing deeper into her mother's side with a happy sigh.
She cannot risk going to war with Danzo. Tsume cannot afford to lose any more of their pack to that man and his machinations.
But that doesn't mean she's gonna lay down and let that cursed man do whatever he likes with what's hers. Sure, she'd prefer a direct attack, go right for the throat, it's the way she was taught by her parents like theirs had before them and so on, but Tsume's got a little one to look after and another one on the way. She has to be smart about this.
Tsume won't let Kakashi go into this fight alone, to do so would be the final piece of evidence that her clan is no more, no better than the trash that clogs the gutters.
"Kuro, do me a favor and summon Motoko."
Kuromaru's ears perk up and he hums. "A good choice. She will guard the cub's mate well."
Tsume smirks, "Oh, I know she will."
There isn't much Hatake blood in her, about four generations removed, but the Inuzuka more than makes up for it with the spilt blood of others.
Kuromaru chuckles and leaves to fetch the chuunin.
It's not until Hinata sees something white and small wriggling in Kakashi's hair-turned-bird's-nest that she decides enough is enough.
When words fail her—Kakashi just stares at her, uncomprehending—she is resorted to herding him out of their bed and to the bathroom like how a sheepdog herds cattle. Kakashi is reluctant to let her leave at first but she eventually coaxes him into warily following, tugging his limp wrist when he becomes distracted by something outside, his head cocked as he listens to something beyond her senses.
Hinata jumps when Kakashi whips his head to the side and barks at the door.
Or more like at someone outside their door, she realizes when she hears the sound of startled shuffling and cursing as the person finds their footing.
Hinata would normally find the smug expression on Kakashi's face amusing but the knowledge that there had been someone posted outside their home unsettles her deeply. On reflex, she activates her doujutsu only to drop to her knees with a gasp of pain. It takes a moment for her head to clear enough for her to think past the throbbing behind her eyes.
Hinata doesn't remember moving but that is what must have happened because one minute she's in the living room and the next she's tucked into the corner of their hallway, far from the front door, with Kakashi crouched in front of her looking not unlike the wolf statues that guard the Uchiha's clan temple. His breaths are loud and agitated in the quiet of the dark apartment. He must sense her gaze because suddenly he's upon her, a sharp whine breaking the silence as he paws at her clumsily, searching.
"I'm fine, shhh, I'm okay," Hinata reassures him, smoothing down his hair, opening her legs and allowing him to crowd in closer so he can inspect her better, "I shouldn't have used my byakugan so soon, that's all."
Kakashi pays her words no heed, likely not understanding them. Hinata frowns at that. She'll have to check him over properly once she becomes reacquainted with her chakra. Hinata had gone too long with it sealed away and was now reaping the consequences of her imprisonment as her body struggled to adapt to the sudden access to her full chakra stores.
(Going to the hospital is not an option right now. Kakashi hates the place and she doubts he'll let anyone but her look at him. Not that she trusts anyone else to look at him besides herself.)
Hinata subverts his attempts to get her back in bed. Her determination to get them cleaned convinces him (somewhat) that she's okay and so they continue their arduous journey to the bathroom. Except this time Kakashi sticks so close behind her that it's a miracle he doesn't step on her heels. She bites her lip, holding back a shiver when she feels him exhale just beside her ear, goosebumps prickling along her arms and neck.
Once inside, she tries to close the door but the way Kakashi bristles, looking so much like a cornered animal, convinces her to keep it partially open. She fills the tub with water and once that is done she sprinkles some bath oils and rose petals because she deserves that much at least.
The whole time Kakashi just watches her from where he's squatting in the corner behind the door. Hinata tries to get him to turn around or at least close his eyes but he refuses, unwilling to abandon his role as her bodyguard for even a moment.
And Hinata appreciates the sentiment, truly she does, especially after having lost so much time away from all those she cares about, wondering if perhaps today would be the day her kage would finally tire of hearing the same story repeated and decide he was through with her.
(Of course, she kept quiet about the fledgling connection she'd felt with the Kyuubi. To speak of it would damn her. And she couldn't do that. Not until she had concrete evidence that Naruto was alive and well. Becuase though she is a loyal soldier for her kage to do as he pleases with, she is not a fool. Hinata is, at her core, a shinobi and shinobi lie just as easily as they breathe, the Hokage really should have known better than to think she was otherwise.)
But Hinata is tired of people watching her day in and out. She is tired of having her every move scrutinized and debated. She's sick of seeing all her flaws and mistakes pinned on a board like someone's twisted collection, everyone trying so hard to prove that she is a traitor.
Unworthy of her station.
Another failure to be swept under the rug, her name erased from her clan's records, and never to be spoken of again.
"P—please, Kakashi, please," Hinata begs, kneeling in front of him. Kakashi just blinks at her; clueless and wholly innocent in the way that only animals can be. Frustrated tears prick at her eyes. It's only when they start falling that Kakashi whines, clawed hands screeching on the tiled floor when he flexes them. He shifts, clothes rustling loudly in the tense silence that's befallen them. And then Kakashi's eyes slowly slide down and away from her, his chin tucked into his chest.
"Thank you, Kakashi, truly," Hinata praises and hesitates for just a second before petting his bare cheeks. His skin is soft and cool to the touch. She gives in and drags a single finger over the mole on his chin tenderly. "Thank you for listening."
He squirms in place, huffing a little but does not look up from where he is staring intently at the bathroom drain. Hinata doesn't waste time and quickly strips herself of the grey scrubs her watchers had given her. She wants to rid herself of the memory of that place forever.
(And yet Hinata knows that cell will stay with her forever, the echoes of her unanswered prayers and wails beating incessantly at her ribcage like her hands had done until they broke against the unforgiving bars of her prison.)
(Locked behind bars of bone it will stay, keeping her memory of the frontlines company until at last she draws her final breath becuase while, yes, she'd been one of the lucky few to make it back home alive, she'd never really left that place, some fundamental piece of herself buried among the broken bodies and dreams that fuel the battlefield.)
She scrubs herself until her skin is raw and pink.
(And yet the stain of her memories persists, the mark of having so many eyes watching her cloying itself to her person. That, she knows with weary experience, can never be washed away.)
Hinata reaches for the shower nozzle, her other arm wrapped around her chest, and glances nervously in Kakashi's direction. He remains in the exact position she'd last him, head down, eyes averted, and body alert and ready. Hinata relaxes some and rinses herself off, luxuriating in the feel of the heated water after so many months (weeks? She'd lost count after the first week) forced to take nothing but cold, brief showers. She turns up the heat to just shy of scalding and sighs.
When she's finished, Hinata stands and wraps a fuzzy, dog-print towel around herself. She takes a deep, fortifying breath, reaching for the veil of professionalism she uses at the hospital and wraps it around herself like armor and turns back to Kakashi.
"Kakashi," she calls gently, lowering herself onto the warmed tiles, "Kakashi, it's alright, you can look now." A minute passes and then slowly, very slowly, Kakashi raises his head. He meets her gaze, intense and searching and oh, how she's missed that. His head moves down and his eyes follow soon after, flicking over her body curiously. He leans over and sniffs. A giggle escapes her when he promptly sneezes.
"Come," she beckons, mirth lacing her voice as she tugs him towards the wooden stool that Kakashi had made himself, the seat itself carved to look like a wolf curled in slumber.
Breathing out slowly and evenly, Hinata methodically removes the battered remains of Kakashi's soiled Anbu uniform.
A pause.
Hinata counts her breaths and peels the rest off. Kakashi doesn't protest, limbs loose and allowing her to slip him easily out of his clothes. Hinata is delightedly flustered to find that the mole on his face isn't the only one of its kind. He has a trail of them leading down his neck and onto his shoulders and down his chest like a line of constellations leading her home.
She hesitates, fingers hooked on the waistband of his briefs, and looks at him. He blinks at her wholly unconcerned and so very trusting.
Hinata closes her eyes and pulls them down, throwing them with the rest of his clothes.
She tests the water to make sure it's just a little bit above room temperature like how she knows Kakashi likes before proceeding to rinse him down. He startles a little at first, so Hinata flicks her thumb to adjust the nozzle to its most mild setting. He tries to lean away from the spray but Hinata gently pulls him back by his shoulder. Kakashi immediately stops and stares at her hand on his bare shoulder and Hinata feels a flush of heat spread down from her face to her chest. Kakashi looks back at her, both eyes dilated and the tomoe of his sharingan lazily spinning. Hinata swallows, the first to look away.
She doesn't move her hand.
Kakashi rumbles and shifts closer to her. The rumble transforms into a proper purr when Hinata finishes the fourth rinse, satisfied that the water going down the drain isn't brown anymore, and she begins to carefully wash him down with a washcloth. Hinata allows herself a smile when she washes his back and Kakashi arches into her touch. Hinata turns away to grab the shampoo, her hand instinctively clamping around the back of Kakashi's neck like how she does with his ninken to keep them from shaking off the water and getting her all wet.
Hinata cries out when Kakashi suddenly goes limp as a noodle, slipping off the stool and pooling on the floor like melted butter. Hinata scrambles and fails to grab him, his skin too wet and slippery from all the soap to get a grip on. She tries to haul him back up onto the stool but it's no use, Kakashi just slides off the moment he's seated.
Hinata sighs and tucks her legs under her, adjusting her towel more firmly around herself. Kakashi's eyes roll up to look at her from where he's laying spread-eagle on his back. His tongue lolls out and he pants a grin when he notices her looking back.
Hinata laughs. "Oh, Kakashi," she brushes some suds away from his cheek so he doesn't accidentally lick them up, "what am I going to do with you?"
Kakashi's response is just more panting.
Her smile falters, genuine concern rising in her. What is she going to do with him? Even if she could convince him to go to the hospital, they'd likely just sedate him and stuff him in a private room. A solution Hinata wholly disagrees with. He is safer here with her where she can keep an eye on him.
Alas, Hinata is more familiar with the bloody side of medicine. Of course, Hinata had taken all the mental health-related courses she could find but such classes were rarely taught. What she did manage to learn was more about compartmentalizing one's feelings and the subtle warning that to ask for help was to admit you are a liability. The Yamanaka clan have been pushing for reforms but after Lady Tsunade left their voices faded without their most outspoken backer.
Hinata suspects his current behaviour to be some type of Hatake-clan-specific defence mechanism triggered by all the recent tragedies. She'd seen him go into a similar state both during the war and after he would return from a particularly difficult mission. Kakashi would display some animalistic tendencies, more so than usual, growling and pacing, but he had always remained lucid.
Until now.
Hinata has always known about the wolf that lurks underneath her best friend's skin. She knows that it is much a part of Kakashi as Kakashi is a part of it. Two sides of the same coin; man and beast.
Hinata knows without a shred of doubt that it means her no harm. Quite the opposite, really. The same can not be said for others. She hopes that by keeping it here in their home, a controlled safe environment, it will eventually retreat once it realizes there is no active threat. Hinata refuses to think of this as a permanent state, that Kakashi is well and truly lost to her.
Hinata gives up on the stool and instead draws Kakashi's head onto her knees. She squirts a generous helping of her favorite lilac shampoo into her palm and then begins working into Kakashi's hair. He purrs again, eyes fluttering close when Hinata's blunt nails scrub the edge of his hairline behind his ears. She washes her hands and splays her palm flat over his eyes to shield him while she rinses out the shampoo. Hinata laughs when Kakashi wags his head, trying to nip at her hand.
She presses down gently, "Stay still, please."
Kakashi whines but stops his wriggling, purring again when she lathers more soap into his hair. She rinses and repeats a few more times until she's sure all the grease and dirt, and other-things-she-will-not-name has been washed away.
Hinata gets up, pulling Kakashi up with her. He goes a little too easily, colliding into her with a wet smack. Hinata instinctively shoves him away, her body burning hotter than the Uchiha's forge. Kakashi lets out a surprised yip, arms pinwheeling as he goes careening backwards.
"Kakashi!" Hinata shouts and snatches his wrist, pulling him back into her. They crash into each other again but this time Hinata holds him close, their legs tangling as they struggle to remain upright on the slippery floor. Hinata makes to pull away, hyperaware that the only thing separating their bare bodies is her thin bath towel, but Kakashi's arms come around her, nails lightly digging into her back and he plants his face in her neck, breathing harshly. He shudders in her arms once and then again.
"Oh, Kakashi," she says mournfully, rubbing comforting circles on his back when he begins whimpering and purring, "I'm here now, we're going to be okay."
They aren't okay, not now, but this isn't the first time they've been stripped down to the very feral essence of themselves, had it torn into and spat out. But together—always together—time and time again, they'd taken the mangled pieces of their souls and with practised hands, they'd clumsily stitched the other back up, each thread woven with promise and soft words.
Hinata gently untangles them from each other. Kakashi blinks at her, tears dribbling down his cheeks, and Hinata sees herself reflected back at her: fragile and tender and desperate for a kind touch.
Hinata cups his face in her calloused palms and wipes at his tears, thumbs raising along the contour of his scar. Kakashi shudders and his eyes droop but never break away from hers. Something stronger than simple affection sweeps through Hinata's chest, leaving a warmth behind that no fire could ever replace. It makes her want to carve open her chest and set Kakashi gently behind her ribs. There she could keep him safe and protected from all the pain that awaits them outside.
But here, inside the home they've created for themselves, they are free from all that and Hinata plans to milk this moment for all its worth. And after, she'll take the memory of it and use it to keep her going even when she doesn't want to.
Hinata let him go, fingers trailing along his jaw and turns to double-check the water's temperature. Satisfied, she directs Kakashi into the bathtub. He obediently sits down and looks up at her with red-rimmed eyes and Hinata wants nothing more in that moment than to gather him back up in her arms again becuase here is this lost and broken boy, looking at her like she's the only thing that makes sense in this cruel world. It both terrifies and heartens her.
Hinata slips out of her towel, uncaring of her nakedness at this moment becuase she's shared far more precious, vulnerable parts of herself with him than this and he has never judged what he saw.
She settles herself behind him, arms carefully wrapping around his middle and rests her forehead between his shoulder blades. Kakashi sighs and relaxes back against her.
They sit like that for some time—just the two of them—the steam curling their hair and warmth in the air, in their lungs, and in their hearts. She turns, cheek smooshed into Kakashi's cool skin, and watches as a rose petal idly twirls around the surface of the bath water. Hinata's thoughts drift from her parents to her baby sister. She wonders if they are all alright.
Did the compound survive the attack? Did her faithful Kou, uncle, little Neji, and all the other branch members? Or had they thrown their lives away to the unforgiving main house?
What about Hayate, Shisui, and all of her friends?
Naruto?
Hinata barely feels the warmth of the bath anymore, a chill settling in all her extremities.
What of his fate?
She debates not for the first time if what the Sandaime said was true and not some sort of another platitude to keep her docile. She worries if Naruto is okay. If he's somewhere safe and warm and not cold and stiff—
Hinata jerks out her spiralling thoughts when she feels sharp teeth in her wrist. She feels Kakashi lap at the wound first in apology before twisting to face her. He whines high-pitched and sharp and noses her cheek, rough tongue swiping the tears she hadn't even realized she'd shed.
"You're r—right," she says, breathing through the sudden adrenaline coursing through her body "I sh-shouldn't think like that. Thank you."
There will be a time and place in which she can address all her concerns and grief. For now, she'll selfishly allow herself this one small, reprieve. Just this once.
Hinata has to close her eyes as Kakashi's tongue passes over her eyelids. He pulls back, studies her for a moment, and then seemingly satisfied with his work, he turns back around and wiggles closer to her, purring loudly enough to disturb the water. Hinata giggles, cheeks flushing when she realizes she can feel the sound echoing in her chest, sandwiched together as they are.
Hinata rests her cheek between his shoulders once more. She wraps her arms back around him, ignoring the sting when the hot water meets her bite mark, and shyly presses a kiss to the first beauty spot she spies, letting herself get lost those instead, knowing that no matter how far she strays they'll lead her right back where she belongs.
It has been three months since Hinata's (and by extension, Kakashi's) disappearance and Shisui is slowly losing himself. And it's beginning to show, his hair unkempt and matted and his missions sloppier than the last. His superiors don't even bat an eye anymore. Shisui isn't the only one hanging on by a thread. All they do is give him a few hours to rest and restock his supplies and send him back out.
Fugaku doesn't like it, Auntie Mikoto less so, but they cannot afford to deny the village of its soldiers. The clan can't risk looking reticent, not with the way things are going, the Uchiha losing more and more political capital as the days pass by.
Like sharks that infest Kiri's waters, if their neighbours catch even the faintest whiff of blood, they'll be upon them before they can think to run. The clans may be united under the same village but that does not erase centuries of animosity. Already the Hyuuga and Kurama clans have been testing them, prodding and poking their boundaries. And Shisui's clan is not known for their mild tempers so it's only a matter until the fire they've been stoking explodes outwards and consumes them all. The Uchiha never do anything by half measures.
Shisui holds out his arm and his summon is quick to land.
"Did you find her?"
A little bit of himself dies when Soua shakes her head.
"No. There has been no sign of your nest-mother."
"Oh." Shisui lowers his arm and Soua hops onto his head. She picks at his hair, removing leaves and other such debris. It's been a while since he's had a proper bath that wasn't in some creek.
"We will find her, my little summoner," she uses her talons to brush his hair, "now go home and rest."
"But Hinata is my home," Shisui argues quietly, pressure building behind his eyes. "I can't just—I can't stop until I know she's okay."
Soua caws angrily, nails digging into his scalp, "And you think she would not feel the same for you? You who is her hatchling as she is your mother? Do you think it would please her to know that you have rotted in her absence when she has taught you so much better? When she has entrusted us with your well-being? You truly believe all this would not deeply upset her?"
Shisui sputters, scrambling his brain for a reply and coming up with nothing becuase Soua is right.
The crow preens at her victory. She gently rakes her talons through his curls.
"Return to her empty nest if you must, so long as you finally allow yourself to rest."
"Okay," Shisui relents.
"Good, very good, hatchling." Soua pats his head with the bottom of her beak. "In the meantime, I and the others will continue the search for your nest-mother."
Shisui watches her fly away and disappear into the surrounding forest. He shuffles his way to Hinata's apartment, careful to steer clear of the paths to the Uchiha's temporary encampment, their compound having not survived the Kyuubi's rampage. Shisui doesn't want the others to see him like this. He doesn't have the energy to try and pretend he isn't falling apart at the seams. His goggles can only hide so much.
Shisui reaches the third floor of Hinata's building, his steps growing slower and slower until they come to a stop. He takes one look at the closed door—it's never closed, Hinata always knows when he's coming, always has it open for him—and that's it.
Shisui wipes desperately at his tears but they're falling too fast and too hard for him to keep up with.
He can't lose Hinata. She's all he has left of Obito. The last remnants of a happier, simpler time where all he had to worry about was his academy homework and how to get the stray cats to like them how they did his nee-chan.
Hinata is the closest thing he's ever had to a mother, for all that he calls her 'sister'. She'd been the one to teach him how to pack his weapons so they wouldn't hurt him when he fell. And when he did fall, Hinata had been right there with soothing hands and even gentler words, guiding him back onto his feet. And when he hadn't wanted to, had just wanted to lay there in the dirt, Hinata would take him in her arms and sneak him inside the Hyuuga compound, to their private gardens, sharing her one and only sanctuary with him. It was there, surrounded by the scent of eternal spring—there were always flowers in bloom no matter the season—and the blanket of warmth that was Hinata's love for him, she'd show him that this world isn't just violence and hurt. That together, with a little time and care, they too can plant seedlings for hope and peace. And for a boy who doesn't even know the name of his birth mother, who has only been praised for his ability to kill and maim, that had meant everything.
Shisui cannot lose her. He doesn't think he'd survive. He just—he just wants his Hinata-nee. Is that too much to ask for?
Shisui leans his back against the door and collapses like a stray newspaper caught in a rainstorm. He drops his forehead onto his knees and cries for another person lost to him.
And then he's falling, the door supporting him gone. Shisui bites back a cry when the back of his head knocks against someone's shins. He lies on his back, struggling to see through his tears.
"S—senpai?" Shisui sniffles; incredulous. "Where's your—why are you naked?"
Kakashi simply blinks back, clad in pair of black briefs and nothing else—no mask in sight—and Shisui marvels at the way he can actually see his lips turning down in a frown. He doesn't even react, too distracted by Kakashi's very sharp, very real teeth, when he reaches over and picks Shisui up by the scruff of his collared shirt. Shisui's legs automatically curl up to his stomach and he lets himself dangle limply like how he's seen kittens do with their mothers.
Kakashi closes the door. He lifts Shisui higher and begins to…sniff him? Shisui allows it, too bewildered to protest and something inside him—the same thing that warned him of the Kyuubi before it even appeared—telling him stay still and be a good kitten.
"Senpai?" Shisui calls, concern coloring his tone, twitching when Kakashi presses a cold nose to his neck.
Something is...wrong. There's no way the older boy would be caught dead without his mask. Shisui has spent the past few years trying to get even the tiniest glimpse of what lay underneath, managing to rope even Itachi into helping with no success. Until now he'd thought it had all been an elaborate genjutsu. That's the most obvious red flag. There are others—Kakashi doesn't look like himself, his regular composure gone and its place is something…wild. All that is left of his pupils are two thin, dark lines like a cat's and did he mention how sharp his teeth are?
Kakashi doesn't respond. At least not verbally. He does pull back and cock his head to the side before lifting Shisui's limp arm and scenting his armpit. Shisui holds still, cheeks flushed, and hopes he doesn't smell too bad.
Hey! He'd been on planning to shower after his breakdown. Not before.
Kakashi grumbles, sounding deeply satisfied, and then they're moving into the bedroom. Shisui blinks at the pitch-black room, the curtains tightly drawn. Fortunately, he is an Uchiha and it only takes another blink for his eyes to adjust. A cry escapes him when he spots the figure sound asleep on the bed.
Kakashi makes some kind of low comforting sound that makes Shisui's bones vibrate pleasantly. It uproots the anxiety and fear that had buried themselves so deeply in his chest, casting it somewhere far away.
Kakashi carefully deposits him next to Hinata. Shisui doesn't hesitate to scramble under the covers and under Hinata's arm so there is no part of him that isn't surrounded by her warmth. Kakashi climbs in after him, a solid wall of heat behind him. His presence is a solid reminder that should Shisui crumble, Kakashi will always be there to guard him and all his broken pieces.
Shisui buries his face in Hinata's chest. He lets out a shaky breath when a familiar hand begins petting his hair. Shisui turns his head so he can look at her, cheek smooshed against her.
"...'ello, Shi-chan," Hinata says sleepily, her pale eyes warming with the heat of her affection for him. A shaky purr starts in his chest as he clings to her. He's terrified that if he lets her go she'll just disappear again. And when that happens, Shisui knows she won't be coming back.
"…Shisui?" Hinata murmurs, brushing back his bangs so tenderly, so carefully like he might break if she presses too hard. Her brows crease when she frowns, "…you there?"
"Oh, um, h—hey, onee-chan, yeah, I'm…I'm here, yeah," he manages to say, swallowing back a sob, fingers hooking into the soft fabric of her sleep shirt.
Gods, he's missed her so much.
Hinata dips her chin down and presses a kiss to his crown.
"I missed you too."
Had he said that aloud?
"Yes," Hinata answers, yawning.
"Oh," Shisui turns his face into her chest to hide his burning cheeks.
Hinata laughs softly and curls her other arm around him, her breaths slowing as she falls back asleep. Kakashi croons and scoots closer, rubbing his chin atop Shisui's head with a chittering sound.
Shisui sighs, perfectly content to spend the rest of his life cuddled here in his nee-chan's nest-bed. He doesn't think he's ever felt more comfortable, more loved in his whole life than he does in this moment.
Shisui closes his eyes, his purr smoothing into something content, Kakashi echoing him from where he's curled against his back.
He laughs wetly.
Finally, after so long, he is home.
Kakashi sits and watches Hinata move around the eating area of their den. She reaches up into the highest shelf. Her fake fur—new ones; the old ones had been burnt to cinders and Kakashi had only been too happy to rid her of the stench of foreign hands and pain—rides up, revealing a strip of pale skin. Kakashi's focus narrows on it, wanting to feel its warmth against his like they'd done earlier when Hinata had taken them to the heated pond.
He doesn't understand why she insists on wearing the furs when he's perfectly capable of keeping the two of them warm. But she had and Kakashi could never bring himself to deny her anything.
That is until she'd turned her attention to him and tried to get him to wear the fake skins too. He'd dodged her attempts to trap him, diving under the bed and looking up at her with wide pleading eyes. Kakashi doesn't understand why she is so determined to confine him. How is he to protect her if he cannot feel the changing winds on his skin or sense the heat of challengers nearby?
They'd compromised when Hinata had waved a stick of dry meat in front of him, luring him out. Kakashi had let her clothe his lower parts—he does not need those right now, not this early in their courting—as he munched on the snack. He made sure to save her a nice piece, offering it to her. Hinata had reached forward to take her with her hands but Kakashi had leaned away and huffed. Doesn't she know not to touch food with dirty paws hands? Kakashi had rumbled in satisfaction when finally, she'd tentatively angled forward and taken her share with a flash of white teeth. He'd been tempted to try and lick inside but had opted not to. He didn't want her to think he was trying to take it back.
Hinata shuts the door to the cold-box with a huff, nose scrunching in disgust. Kakashi whines and paws at his nose, the smell of spoiled milk lingering in the air and the back of his throat. He blinks away tears and finds Hinata staring mournfully at an empty container of the salty-long-wet foodstuff they'd eaten last night.
"We need food," she mutters and throws the cup into the bin.
Kakashi perks up.
While he doesn't understand everything his packmate says, he can parse out some words and 'food' is one of them.
Their pup walks into the room, yawning and rubbing one of his eyes, Shiba following, his tail wagging and ears alert.
"I'm hungry," he yawns again and blearily looks around, "What's for breakfast?"
Kakashi shoots up from his crouch, joints cracking.
This is it! This is his chance to show Hinata what a good hunter he is, that he is capable of not only feeding her and himself but also their pup—present and future.
Kakashi gently bites the collar of Shisui's shirt and hauls him up. Shisui's legs fold up like the good pup he is. He drops him off in their nest.
"C'mon," he whines as Kakashi tucks him inside, careful not to nick with his claws, "I just got out of bed."
Naughty puppy. Kakashi growls when Shisui tries to get up. Stay put.
"…you know what? I still feel kinda tired so I'm gonna stay here. Yup. Not moving, no sir."
Kakashi purrs and nuzzles the top of his head.
"Kakashi?" Hinata calls his name from the doorway. Kakashi goes to her and guides her into the nest next. Hinata allows it though her confusion lingers in her scent. Kakashi nudges Shisui towards her and she takes their pup into her arms automatically. He wraps the two up in a blanket and leans back, admiring his work.
Safe. Warm. Together.
Kakashi purrs, deeply satisfied. He opens his mouth and inhales, embedding their combined scents of charcoalpupironkitten and ashminelavendersweet deep into his soul. This way he'll never lose them. Never again.
He turns to his ninken. The puppy immediately averts his gaze. Kakashi bares his fangs and chatters, making his intentions known.
Shiba nods and lowers his head, revealing the vulnerable meat of his neck.
The ninken is young, but he's smart and ruthless. Kakashi knows that Hinata and Shisui will be well-guarded in his absence.
He clambers onto the window, sparing himself one last look back. Hinata looks back him, with open, trusting eyes. Kakashi rumbles low in his throat, the storm inside crackling with thunder. He can do this—he must do this—because a wolf who cannot hunt, who cannot feed their pack doesn't isn't really a wolf at all.
Kakashi licks the tips of his canine, blood welling in his mouth at the light touch.
Kakashi is a wolf.
He will hunt.
He jumps out the window, landing in a crouch on the roof tiles below. Not a few seconds later he hears the familiar heartbeats of the two that have been paroling outside his den. The only reason he doesn't lunge with claws and teeth is becuase they smell like kin; it's distant, a few generations between them, but that's never mattered for his kind. Pack is pack regardless of blood.
And so Kakashi settles for a low, constant warning growl, watching the tall woman and her ninken partner carefully.
She whistles, the noise sharp and clear, her grin even more so.
"So that's what you look like under that mask." Kakashi's eyes narrow when her grin widens, revealing more teeth. "Can't say I'm all that impressed."
Her hard gaze bores into his. Kakashi bristles at the challenge, fingers twitching with the need to meet it and win. The ninken at her side watches him warily, edging closer behind the woman's legs, tail wagging anxiously.
"Hey, hey, relax kiddo," the woman takes a few steps back, eyes looking away and over his shoulder, "I'm just here to make sure you don't go off the deep end and rip off some poor schmuck's face, is all."
Kakashi doesn't know what she's saying but her body language is looser now, still ready for a fight if need be, but not as aggressive as it was before and he smells no ill-intent coming from her. Kakashi grumbles and slowly approaches her. She leans forward and he growls at the quick movement. She smiles, close-lipped. Kakashi keeps his eyes on her as he sniffs her and she does the same. The ninken joins in, wet nose pressing against his calves
Her scent memorized—spicefdirtkinloyal—Kakashi turns and heads for the forest. He snarls when the two follow behind him.
"Jeesh, okay I get it, c'mon, Momo, you heard the cub, back it up."
They fall back to the outer edges of his senses.
Kakashi huffs but decides to allow it.
On any other occasion, he'd appreciate their presence, wolves were not meant to hunt alone, but he cannot allow for any interference for this particular hunt. He needs to show Hinata that he can and will provide for her and their litter. That he is strong enough to kill for them—both to feed their bellies and to protect their pack. He needs to prove this to her becuase just the mere idea that she finds him lacking— how long had he allowed them to be apart? Much too long to be acceptable —is unbearable but nothing would be more agonizing than for her gaze to stray and see that there are far better suitors than him out there.
Kakashi swallows a whimper.
He cannot fail. He will bring back a meal worthy of her and their pup or he will die trying becuase only death can stop him and not even then. He'll chase the souls of every prey-thing for eternity if that's what needs to be done.
Kakashi stops, picking up the faint sounds of a small thundering heartbeat.
He lets his mouth fall open, scenting the air, drool dripping past his maw.
A rabbit will do nicely.
Speed and cunning will be needed to catch it, its small size and superior hearing give it an advantage. Control too will be required. Kakashi doesn't want to tear it more than he has to. He's sure Hinata will appreciate its downy pelt the most, right after its heart.
Kakashi gently lowers his kill at Hinata's feet, a line of drool and blood connecting them, and sits down to await her judgment. Hinata blinks slowly, very slowly and Kakashi struggles to stay still.
"Ano," she begins, looking away from the rabbit and back at him, "thank you, Kakashi."
Kakashi flexes his claws into the wooden floors and turns to where Shisui is peering at them over the nest's walls.
"Uh, yeah," he blinks, very slow too and Kakashi wiggles in barely restrained excitement, "thank for, um, the… meal?"
Kakashi half closes his eyes and purrs, the sound seeping into the floor beneath him and he digs his claws in deeper, their approval shooting heat through his body until he glows with it. He grabs the rabbit and, with the sharpest parts of his claws, he carves out its heart and presents it to Hinata.
She stares at it. Kakashi fidgets the longer she doesn't accept it. The expression on her face is unfamiliar to him and her scent is even harder to decipher.
"I can eat it, nee-chan," Shisui says quietly. Kakashi looks at him, head tilting. He looks to Shiba for direction but the pup is just as clueless as he is, not having quite gotten a grasp on the human tongue yet. "I won't get sick, promise."
Hinata eyes Shisui critically for a moment before finally accepting Kakashi's gift. He whines when instead of eating it herself she hands it over to the pup. Kakashi is disappointed for all of five seconds before realizing that of course the pup's needs come first. He and Hinata are still growing but Shisui has only just begun and therefore would benefit the greatest.
Good mate, good mother, he croons, pleased that Hinata will ensure that any pup of theirs will grow strong and healthy.
"Well, here goes nothing." Shisui takes a deep breath and swallows the heart in one gulp. He gags and shivers. Kakashi worries that the meat was too rich for him.
Shisui groans, smacking his lips "I don't know what's worse: the fact that I ate a raw rabbit's heart or that I kinda, maybe, liked it. Just a little."
Hinata laughs and Kakashi relaxes, secure in the knowledge that the pup is okay. He knows that Hinata wouldn't be so blatantly happy if that wasn't the case.
Kakashi whines when Hinata spews heat from her mouth at the rabbit, replacing the scent of fresh blood with ash. At least Shisui isn't bothered by the ruined meat, eyes sparkling when the flames collapse. Kakashi supposes it doesn't matter how they eat it so long as they do.
Hinata hands him and Shiba a piece and Kakashi can't bring himself to care that she's using her hands becuase it's her—his perfectly odd, kind, sweet mate-to-be.
Kakashi takes meat from her, playfully nipping at her fingertips when he does so. Her laugh rings pleasantly in his ears like birdsong. He purrs, crunching down onto the bone and letting the warm marrow spill down his throat.
Hayate has to stop himself from breaking down the door to Hinata's and Kakashi's apartment (again) when he senses her return. The only things stopping him from doing so are: one, doors are expensive. And two, Kakashi's chakra is...odd; unstable.
He's seen it like this only once. It was the time Hayate had found Hinata passed out in bed, feverish and whimpering. Kakashi had come bursting into the dorm apartment like a bolt of lightning, his single eye flashing and his hands hooked like claws ready to strike down anyone in his path. It had taken every ounce of training Hayate had not to flinch when Kakashi had turned that smouldering gaze to him, demanding to know where Hinata was.
And his mother had raised no fool, so he pointed the boy to he bedroom. His chakra had spiked, flaring out of control. It was only Hayate's concern for Hinata—the last thing she needed was to get freaking electrocuted on top of her fever— that had him try and calm the other boy.
Boy was that mistake.
Kakashi had actually barked at him.
At him.
Like a dog.
But like ten times scarier because there was definitely a bite behind that bark.
Hayate is reminded that Hinata had been Kakashi's first. And she'll always be his no matter how far he pushes her away. Like the moon, he's destined to orbit around her. There is nothing of this world or the next that can sever their connection.
(Such futile attempts. Not even the gods were capable of such a feat but oh how they've tried .)
(And failed.)
This time, Hayate decides to keep his distance, albeit reluctantly. Something tells him that this time is different. That Kakashi won't take kindly to his presence when before he'd just barely tolerated him.
Hayate knows he made the right decision when he senses the familiar wild chakra of the Inuzuka patrolling the building, turning away all visitors except for the little Uchiha that Hinata, and by extension Kakashi, are so fond of.
The one time Hayate had tried to wheedle an update on his teammate, the petty brat had simply grinned and then disappeared in a move that Hayate recognized from his own repertoire.
Touché, Shisui, touché.
Eventually, he is joined by Kou. Together they spare what little free time they have to camp outside Hinata and Kakashi's building, waiting for either Kakashi's chakra to settle or for the Inuzukas to lapse in their patrols.
Days turn into a week and still no changes.
Finally, as they're approaching week two, something does change.
Hayate doesn't know if has to do with the Hyuuga-Uchiha rivalry or maybe Kou just finally had enough. Perhaps it's a combination of the two. Either way, shit hits the fan when Kou finds out that not only has Shisui seen Hinata but had been allowed inside the apartment.
Kou, the little jealous elf, promptly loses it.
Hayate is tempted to leave him to his fate. One of the Inuzukas—Matoko, he thinks her name was—had promised to notify them when the situation was under control and they could visit Hinata. Hayate trusts them, knowing the clan to be unfailingly honest. It's an odd trait for a shinobi clan to be known for and yet it works for them.
True, it'd be funny to see the kid be knocked down a peg by a clan the Hyuuga saw as lesser. However, Hayate knows Hinata will never forgive him he knowingly let her favorite minion get mauled. And there is no worse feeling in this world than Hinata's disappointment.
So Hayate reluctantly follows after the huffy little Hyuuga. Between the two of them, they manage to narrowly avoid the Inuzuka patrol.
Kou huffs, short and angry. He stalks primly up to the pair's dorm room.
"I don't know about this…" Hayate trails off, sneezing into his elbow and wiping his nose with his sleeve. Kou's expression twists in disgust and takes a big step away.
Hayate rolls his eyes.
It's just his allergies acting up. It's not like it's contagious or something.
"I still think this a bad idea." Hayate spreads his senses. He hides wince when Kakashi's erratic chakra sparks back at him. "C'mon, it's not too late to go back."
"You can leave, if you like," Kou snaps, "No one is forcing you to accompany me."
"I'm not leaving you," Hayate mutters and then to himself he adds, "I'd like to though…"
"It isn't right for him to keep Hinata-sama sequestered away. We have a right to see her too."
Hayate totally agrees, he really does, but he doesn't think Kakashi will.
Kou knocks on the door. Two polite raps.
There is no answer.
Kou tries again, his impatience showing when the knocks come quicker; louder.
Nothing. Not even a creak.
Hayate watches as Kou throws away all formality out the window and pounds on the door with his fist.
"Hatake-san! I know you are in there! Open the door! Don't think you can hide Lady Hi—"
The door opens a crack and Kou actually stumbles back as Kakashi's slitted eye focuses on him, the heat behind his glare enough to melt steel. Hayate gulps audibly when Kakashi begins growling.
"Leave. Now." He snarls—his voice is barely human, the words garbled by the animalistic sound—and directs a blast of killing intent at them.
Godsdamnit, Hayate knew this was a bad idea.
Kou stammers, eyes wide. Hayate grabs the back of his yukata and yanks him closer in case they have to shunshin away. Kakashi suddenly goes still and Hayate has a moment to think 'oh shit, we're gonna die', and then there is Hinata, her head popping above Kakashi's through the gap in the door.
She smiles at them, a stark contrast to Kakashi's sneer.
"Hello, Kou-kun, Hayate."
"My Lady!" Kou cries and bows his head. Kakashi eyes the back of the boy's neck, chakra spiking. Hayate's hold on him tightens.
"Hey, Hinata, how are you doing?" Hayate asks, his voice strained as a headache begins to build in the back of his skull. Sage, can Kakashi just not?
"I am well."
There is no waver in her chakra signature so Hayate knows she's not lying. Hayate relaxes slightly. That is a big mistake. Kakashi's attention snaps from Kou to him. Hayate's head throbs painfully, sweat trickling down the column of his spine.
"Thank you for coming but…" Hinata's smile becomes a little tighter. She glances at Kakashi who's gone back to just silently glaring at the both of them, "…as you can see…now isn't a good time."
Kou meets Kakashi's eye with a scathing glare of his own. Hayate bites his tongue to hold back a groan as Kakashi's chakra turns electric, the smell of ozone heavy in the air. Not that Kou, the suicidal idiot, cares.
"If Hatake-san has done anything to you—" Kakashi snarls loudly, the outline of his fangs visible against his mask "—please don't be afraid to tell me."
Seeing that Kou and Kakashi are busy glaring holes at each other, Hayate takes the chance to look Hinata over. Her skin is a shade too pale and the grief in her eyes is a heavy thing.
"You sure you're good?" Hayate asks. Because if Hinata's not, Hayate's willing to fight Kakashi for her. He might not win, but damn it, he's at least going to make it hurt.
Hinata places her hand on Kakashi's head, cutting him off mid-growl, and smiles sweetly at Hayate.
"Hai, I am. Kakashi-kun is taking very good care of me."
"He better be," Kou grumbles. Something dark flashes in Kakashi's eyes, the sudden blast of killing intent triggering Hayate's fight-or-flight system.
Hayate isn't an idiot and chooses accordingly.
"So glad you're alive." Hayate clamps his hand around Kou's wrist. "Goodbye!"
Hayate shunshins them down the stairs just as Kakashi lunges at them, claws shredding through the space they'd just been standing in.
Kinoto weaves his way through the crowded tunnels of Root's base. They've been busy since the Nine-Tails Attack, the village needing the extra manpower now more than ever. Danzo had been forced to cease the final graduation test in response to the demand.
Kinoto is thankful for the mercy afforded to these new recruits.
He still has nightmares about taking his sister's life. Kinoto will never forget how his seals flared bright and blinding.
He will never never forget the bang that followed, ears ringing silently.
But most importantly he will never forget how he just stood there, his sister's blood and viscera sliding off his mask and onto the cold dirt floor. He can never, never forgive forget how he stood there and felt nothing.
And he would continue to feel nothing for a very long time.
(But then he'd met her. He had his mind cracked open like an egg and revelation had poured in, alighting his being and changing him forever.)
They may not have been biologically related, just another orphan like him, but she'd been his family—his sister. Their lack of blood ties did not mean that they were not bound to each other in another way. Their bond was woven with threads made of the pain of a hungry belly and the ache of a lonely heart. They'd chosen each other. They'd clung to each other with all the ferocity of desperate, scared children as they were suddenly thrown into Ne, doing their best to survive together in this harsh new world like they'd been taught.
(But who? Who had taught them this? Who had told them they were family?)
(A part of Kinoto tells him that there was another; someone who they had left behind when Root took them.)
(Yellow eyes, brimming like summer sunlight as they hold him and his sister tight and safe and warm. )
("S—shut up! I'm a girl so I'm allowed to like cute things!" )
( "Hey, hey," Kinoto ignores the fingers prodding at his mask, too absorbed in his work to pay them any mind. It's only when they abandon his mask in favor of the still-drying seal he's working on does he deign to acknowledge the woman's presence.
"Stop it."
"No," the pout in her voice is audible, "not until you say it."
"Leave me alone." Kinoto's grip on the ink brush tightens. "I'm not calling you that."
"C'mon, 'noto, why not? it's not that hard. Here, I'll even help you out," his teacher moves closer, her voice going up three pitches "onee-chan, onee-chan, oneEee-chaAAaan~!"
Kinoto winces, ears ringing.
"Onee-chan, onee-chan, oneeeee-chaaaan!" She continues.
Kinoto closes his eyes with a sigh and puts down his brush.
"Fine."
"Yes!"
Kinoto takes a deep breath, "Please leave alone, onee—"
He vomits all over his workbench.)
(There is a name floating through his subconscious. Akito? No, no, maybe Aiko? Closer, yes, but still not right. The name is on the tip of his inked tongue. He just can't remember. He can't remember why can't he remember his own si —)
Kinoto arrives at Root's fuuinjutsu department, passing through the security seals with ease that comes from having done the procedure every day for the past decade, and steps inside. The space is small given that they only have three members. One is agent zero-eight-zero.
Zero-eight-zero—or Zero as she likes to go by—is Ne's oldest living operative aside from his captain, Tsuchinoto, and even then she beats him by a good decade or two.
Kinoto believes Zero has only been allowed to live this long solely because of her competence in the sealing arts. She may not have taught him fuuinjutsu but she had allowed him to master it, or as close to mastery as someone nowadays can get.
(Kinoto has his theories about his teacher. His best has as a refugee that Danzo stole after Uzushiogakure's destruction. Zero might not remember her name or much of her past, but she is without a doubt a full-blood Uzumaki. Kinoto knew it the moment he caught sight of her red hair and the defiant glint in her eyes he's come to associate with her bloodline who'd befriended a god and tamed another.)
Their third and final member is one of Root's newest recruits, six-six-three. He'd only joined them after Kinoto was assigned his long-term surveillance mission, Zero requesting another pair of hands to help now that Kinoto was no longer around to assist her.
"Kinoto," Zero greets without looking up from the seal she is working on, her hair drawn up into a bun and mask thrown to the side carelessly.
"Zero," Kinoto replies.
Six-six-three perks up from his table—customized for his small size—and lifts an ink-stained hand to wave at him.
"Welcome back, senpai!" He exclaims with a sharp-toothed grin.
Kinoto mirrors him (minus the show of teeth, he scared the boy the last time he tried, the expression not quite right) and waves back, his arm swinging side-to-side woodenly.
Zero rolls her pale eyes and glares at the boy.
"Keep it down, newbie, or we'll have patrol sticking their noses in here and I'd rather not get decommissioned for treason today, thank you."
Six-six-three pales, hunching into himself.
"Oh, um, right, sorry, Sensei."
Kinoto walks up to Zero's table and looks at all the papers, each one filled with barely legible equations and notes. From what he can tell, she has had no luck in countering their cursed seal.
"Stupid compulsory matrix," Zero mutters. "Whoever commissioned this piece of shit was an asshole."
"I thought…" Six-six-three frowns. "...wasn't Danzo-sama the one who asked for it?"
"Exactly," Zero hisses. Kinoto casts a wary glance at the steam coming out of her mouth. She scowls up at him. "Don't just stand there, brat. Go on and make yourself useful. Danzo wants a new batch of these seals ready to go for the new recruits and the ink isn't done yet."
Kinoto nods and goes to the large inkpot. He takes out a kunai and slices his forearm, letting his blood flow into the pot.
"Will the new seals be ready by then?" He asks.
"They will be if—" Zero adjusts the metal shackles at her wrists and growls when the slip down again, "—you little shits would just shut up and let me concentrate!" She snaps, slamming her fist down on the desk. Six-six-three flinches and scrambles under his desk with a yelp.
The echo of metal chains hitting wood is deafening in the following silence.
Kinoto slowly makes another incision when the wound stops bleeding.
Zero swallows audibly and when she speaks next Kinoto detects a note of remorse.
"…but you know internal security's been kinda lax the past few years so at least I have some time before those bastards come snooping and rat us out."
Six-six-three pokes his head back up. Hesitatingly he says, "Well, Lord Danzo has grown com-pla-cent in his, um, ad-vanced age." He pronounces each word carefully.
Zero snorts, "Heh, yeah, the daft old bastard. I can't remember the last time he or anybody came by to check on us." She leans her elbows on the table, cupping her cheeks, her voice now coming out muffled when she speaks next. "The only one who bothers nowadays is Hinoto and she's more interested in checking to see if 'noto hasn't gone and blown his fingers off…again."
Kinoto ignores that last bit. He'd only lost three and Mizunoe had reattached them without issue.
"Six-six-three is correct. Danzo's complacency will be our master's downfall."
"Yup." Zero replies, popping the 'p', a smug smile settling itself across her face with the same self-assuredness a cat carries when making itself comfortable on the ledge of somewhere high and perilous.
Six-six-three slowly nears them, hands tucked to his chest. He eyes Zero nervously. She coos at him and the boy takes it as permission to approach them. Kinoto frowns behind his mask at the way Six-six-three is forcing himself, his body stiff and his bottom lip beginning to bleed where he'd been chewing on it.
"Whatcha got there, gaki?"
Six-six-three opens his tiny fists to reveal a roll of bandages.
"Are those for your senpai?" Zero asks him, taking care to keep her tone mild and her body lax. Six-six-three nods in reply, eyes downcast. Zero hums and glances at Kinoto, "My what a thoughtful kouhai you have, 'noto."
"…yes…" Kinoto carefully replies, at a loss.
Six-six-three lifts his gaze, eyes wide not in fear but…something else—something eager and light. Kinoto doesn't know how else to describe it. Other than it has no place down here in the Foundation.
The silver-haired child holds out his hand, offering the roll to him.
"…thank you…" Kinoto says, accepting the bandages.
Six-six-three beams, revealing his sharp incisors. Zero chuckles to herself at the sight.
Kinoto sits down at his table and fishes out a jar of medicinal cream from his pouch and applies it. Six-six-three frowns at it, nose twitching.
"Huh," he sniffs at it, "it doesn't smell."
"A gift from your darling princess, 'noto?" Zero asks, looking over at Kinoto with a teasing grin.
Kinoto doesn't bother correcting her. He knows better than to play into his teacher's games.
"If you mean Hinata-sama then yes, it is."
Kinoto's muscles tense when Six-six-three grabs onto him, sharp little nails digging into the thick fabric of his uniform.
"You know a real princess, senpai?" He asks him excitedly, a happy flush spread over his cheeks.
Kinoto opens his mouth to say 'no' but Six-six-three leans in closer, eyes sparkling, and he can't stand the thought of being the one responsible for ruining such a pure display of happiness.
"…yes…"
Kinoto ignores Six-six-three's 'ooh' and his sensei's snickering, focusing instead on the tingle from where he'd applied the gel.
Zero leans closer to him, her arms falling away and a smirk settling on her lips. "You sure are taken with her, huh? I haven't seen you this lovestruck since that one time Kushina nearly blew up the R&D department."
Kinoto doesn't reply. He doesn't want to encourage her and her delusions. Kinoto does not love. He is incapable of it. Kinoto does not know how to or what it's even supposed to look like. Danzo had made sure of that much.
(—yellow eyes like sunshine—)
("Hey, little brother—"
why can't he remember her name? WhywhywhywHyWHY?!
"—got you some more of those fuuin-whatever books you're so obsessed with.")
Kinoto does not do love.
What he can do is admire. He is capable of that, at least.
(And oh how he admires his star goddess.)
Zero goes back to her work. Kinoto, believing their conversation over, goes back to the ink cauldron. He puts his hands on either side of the chakra conductive metal pot and channels his chakra, mixing the ink, blood, and chakra all together to make a potent sealing ink.
This process usually takes three full days to make just one batch. However, six-six-three is good at giving him chakra pills when he needs them and making sure he stays hydrated and fed. With such careful tending, it should only take him twelve hours.
"Your hime…" Zero begins, tone sombre, "you think she can defeat Danzo?"
"Yes," Kinoto says without hesitation. "Given time and the right motivation…yes, she can."
"Motivation?" Zero asks. Her blue eyes then widen with realization before closing halfway, an impish tilt to her smile. "Ah, I see now…you plan to use our master's newest game to your advantage. How naughty of you, 'noto-chan. I'm impressed."
Kinoto opens his mouth and allows six-six-three to give him the first soldier pill.
He swallows.
"Yes. I do."
Uchiha Shisui's sacrifice is necessary if Hinata is to ascend. Kinoto knows the boy would agree with him.
"My, what a ruthless boy you are." Zero huffs fondly and Kinoto can't blame the heat in his cheeks solely on the soldier pill. Zero leans back against her chair, exposing her neck and the metal collar wrapped around it. She flicks her eyes over to their youngest member. "Yo, Shin, give me one of those, yeah? Mizunoe told the medics not to give me any more adrenaline and I'm falling asleep here."
Six-six-three looks around for this 'Shin' person. When he finds no one other than himself, Kinoto, and Zero in the room, he blinks back at the woman.
He points at himself. "Are you…talking to me, Sensei?"
"Yeah. I figured I'd give you a name. Six-six-three is such a mouthful."
Kinoto wants to protest. If anyone catches wind of Zero assigning six-six-three an unauthorized handle it will bring scrutiny down upon their department that they can't afford to have considering their plan to overthrow Lord Danzo.
But one look at the dawning joy on six-six-three's face is enough to cull any reservations Kinoto has. He will not hinder what little sunlight manages to make it here in this dark, unfeeling place.
"Shin…" Kinoto tries. Immediately, six-six-three looks at him with big eyes. "It means 'new', yes?"
"Yup." She waves her hand flippantly. "New era, new beginnings, yadda yadda."
Kinoto grunts, the bitter taste of the soldier pill fading, the adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream.
"How fitting."
" Sh-i-n … Sh-in ..." The child sounds aloud, his voice growing more excited with each iteration, "Shin...Shin! I like it! Thank you so much, Zero-sensei!"
"Yeah, yeah," Zero says dismissively and puts out her hand palm up, the broken chain of her cuffs swinging. "Now get over here and give your sensei one of those bad boys."
Shin scampers over eagerly and deposits a soldier pill into her waiting hand.