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Battle for the Lemons

Summary:

Inuzuka Miyu hadn't meant to have a baby with Hatake Kakashi. It was honestly just a post-mission one-night-stand.

Now, usually, Inuzukas don't marry. Primary custody just goes to the mother. Secondary to the Clan. Any man is welcome to pitch in, even to move in if hey wanted (so long as the mother allowed it, which they generally did), but fathers are mostly told out of politeness. If the mother even knew who the father was, that is.

But it takes a special kind of fool to get between an Hatake and their cub. Which Miyu and Tsume aren't.

The question of custody stays, though.

It does take Kakashi an embarrassing amount of time to twig in that the drawn out custody battle for Raiden had shifted, and that he was fighting Tsume for custody of himself.

 

Best read after checking up meeceisme's The many lives of Hatake Raiden Series.

Notes:

Guess who went to the Lemon Tree Discord and tried pitching ideas at Meece for shits and giggles then hit herself with her own malicious plot-bunny.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Surprise baby

Chapter Text

The thing was, Inuzuka Miyu was on birth control. The Shinobi kind, that prevented her from even getting periods and smoothed over hormonal swings.

So while she did consider sex great fun and didn't refrain from it, she definitely hadn't expected to become pregnant.

Aomaru was formal, though. She smelled pregnant. She was also feeling a slight tenderness in her breasts, so it tracked. Ninkens tended to detect pregnancies very, very fast. Within a couple of weeks of the true start of the pregnancy (which wasn't exactly the moment the deed was done, but a handful of days afterward). Hormonal fluctuations had a scent. And since her hormonal scent wasn't supposed to be changing at all with her birth control, Miyu's partner was absolutely sure of his conclusion.

So, while she was reeling from the news, she did still book an appointment at the hospital to confirm, and to make what she already knew 'official'.

Though even before heading to the medics, she could already count the days backward. The father would be someone she'd slept between two and three weeks earlier.

...

Ah.

 

Well, someone definitely stuck out, then.

She almost dismissed her first thought, because honestly... It sounded almost conceited. But also, no, she could count. There was one or two edge cases, but logically, it probably was Hatake Kakashi.

Hatake.

The thought still seemed too surreal. What were the chances that the one time her contraceptive failed it would be for her one-night-stand with Hatake?

 

Very high, actually, based on the medic's explanation.

 

Basically, chakra was known to fuck things up. Especially things that revolved around body functions. Bloodlines were known to make chakra even more screwy. She had chakra, and a bloodline. So did Hatake Kakashi. And she didn't need to tell the medic about her suspicion to know that their two bloodlines had to be compatible.

Dogs or Wolves, both of them.

She instead asked if it meant she had risked pregnancy every single time she slept with one of her Clansmen. She got, pretty much, "heh, not really". Inuzuka was her bloodline. Sure it was compatible, but it was, as far as her chakra was concerned, nothing to write home about.

Besides, while her partner's chakra and possible bloodline would be a big factor to throwing her birth control on the fritz, she was still an important factor. Her own chakra had to involve itself to kick the uterine lining and ovulation back on track. And her chakra was hers it had her Yin chakra in it. It would not go directly against her wishes.

So making her birth control fail had to be a combination of her partner's chakra making her bloodline instincts take notice (possibly by bearing traces of a very compatible but not identical bloodline), and her not being particularly against having a child with said man.

That cinched it.

It definitely was Hatake Kakashi.

 

The thing was, though... She was nothing to Hatake Kakashi.

They had slept together a grand total of once.

A boring story. Some Noble lost his child and paid Konoha an exorbitant amount to find her. Which was why Hatake led a frankly overkill team of himself, an Aburame chunin, a Hyuuga chunin and an Inuzuka chunin (that's her) to the Client's Estate at full speed to look for the girl. Which was doubly redundant, because no one needed an Inuzuka if Hatake was in the team. But it was good to show the well-paying Noble that they took his plight seriously.

They had found the girl in less than an hour. She had gone exploring in an old annex that predated this Noble family's possession of the Estate, and found an old secret escape passage. The kind that only opened on the 'escape from home' direction easily and had a well-hidden secret mechanism to trigger the other way. A standard precaution so the 'escape passage' didn't turn into an 'invasion passage' too easily.

The passage's exit had been condemned, though, so the child had actually been in some danger. In one or two days. Provided that it didn't rain enough in the meantime for water to seep in so she could drink.

So basically, she was perfectly fine if a bit hungry and a lot frightened.

And they would have only needed one of them to find her. Hatake, Hyuuga, Aburame or her could all have found her alone. Thought it would have taken Aburame a bit more time.

 

In any case, the Noble was so very grateful, and threw them a party. It was fascinating how many sycophants hung around these types of Nobles. The party wasn't just a luxurious meal. It was a full on ball with a hundred guests.

Now Inuzukas really had no business being in a Noble's ball. It wasn't about self esteem or anything. It was about tolerance for stuffiness and bluntness that made them seem rude.

Miyu would have, by far, preferred a generous tip. And by the look of things, so would have Hatake.

Two hours in, they both found themselves trying their level best to be wallflowers. An endeavor helped along by the fact that both Hyuuga and Aburame were Noble Clans, and so their poor teammates bore the brunt of the guests' attention. She sympathized. But also, their Clan came equipped with temperaments much better suited to handling these situation.

Aomaru, by virtue of being a sizable and slightly intimidating Ninken, both repelled the delicate nobles and attracted Hatake's hands to himself, and so the Jounin had found himself at her side, idly petting her partner's head as Aomaru shamelessly pressed into the pets and leaned against his leg.

Even so, Hatake still radiated tension.

"Can I?" Was how things started off as she lifted a hand and gestured to his back. He shrugged and she slowly reached out to place her thumb between his shoulder-blades, then firmly pressed in and down along his spine.

It definitely was more of a canine-person trick than a true massage, but Hatake did straighten, stretch, then slump in response.

And then he turned his head to her fully. She didn't think the civilians would have seen the calculation in his eyes as he studied her.

Miyu did.

But when he reached for her face and leaned down to her, she played along. It was obvious he was angling for an excuse to retire early without insulting their Noble Client's hospitality. And she was all for it.

They didn't kiss then. Not properly. He had his mask, after all. it was more of a nuzzle involving the entire face. Nothing scandalous, really. But it gave them an excuse to press closer. Gave him an excuse to wrap an arm around her waist and lead her out of the ballroom with a wink (of a blink, who could tell, honestly) at their host and abandon their unfortunate Noble Clan comrades behind to their fates as they headed for one of the rooms their Client had insisted on having them use rather than run back home right-away.

Aomaru faithfully laid himself on the outside of the flimsy door to 'guard their intimacy'.

Miyu decided not to be creepy and flop into the bed un-sexily while removing her breast-binding under the cover of her shirt.

Maybe it was what did it. What got him to suggest making things realistic and start massaging her back.

Then his hands has 'slipped' toward her front, she'd flipped around, and...

 

She had a very good night.

The next morning, they both sported bite marks (her on the inside of her thighs and on the shoulders, him on the chin) and Aomaru quietly laughed at her.

 

And then they ran back home, said goodbye, and that was it.

Or so she had thought.

Chapter 2: Dastardly Plotting

Chapter Text

Being Alpha meant that Inuzuka Tsume was, by default, the mother of everyone in the Clan. Secondary mother, for some, but still. They were all hers. To love, protect, train and direct.

That's how the Inuzuka Clan works. The more human Konohans had trouble comprehending that. And to be honest, Tsume doidn't go out of her way to enlighten them. It's none of their business.

But anyway, She is Alpha, as far as animal instincts go, and Mother where human ones are concerned, with the Clan Head title only thrown in to make everyone not Clan who can get human-stupid shut up and respect her authority.

So when Miyu strolled in the sprawling 'Head House' (Clan Den), threw a sheaf of papers on the table and floped into the couch, she just raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her. Aomaru was sticking close, more protective than usual, and Kuromu perked his ears up after an inquisitive sniff, then troted over lean against Miyu's legs.

Tsume knew these signs.

She turned to the Den freezer and took out a raw meet Popsicle, then strode over to hand it over to the expecting mother and sit near. Miyu needed to feel that she and her child to be (hopefully; things could always go wrong, unfortunately) had the Alpha's full approval and protection.

Miyu sighed and grabbed the treat of raw red meat by the bone stick that got folded in before freezing so they could enjoy the treats without getting slowly thawing blood all over their hands in the process. The iced meat went into Miyu's mouth and she suckled and gnawed for a moment. Tsume felt the usual soft warm of providing and having her offering accepted by one of hers.

"I think we have a problem." Miyu sighed after a moment, pulling the popsicle out and wriggling higher on the couch to plop her head on Tsume's lap.

Tsume frowned, settled a hand in the girl's (woman, but that didn't count for Tsume, everyone was girl to her, except some of the elderly) hair. She reigned the protective anger in. Miyu sounded contemplative and sulky, not actually afraid. "What problem?"

Miyu sighed again. "I think Hatake's the father."

Ah.

Well.

On one hand, that was, like, the opposite of a problem. On the other... Damn.

Tsume smirked. "Wow. That's impressive, girl." She teased with an eyebrow waggle.

Miyu giggled. "You have no idea." Then she simmered back down. "I was on permanent contraceptive. From what the medic says, I'm pretty sure it was Hatake who fucked it up and got me fertile again. It might be someone I slept with after who's the father, though."

Ah. Yeah. Tsume got what Miyu was implying, but on the other hand. "I honestly doubt anyone else could out-compete an Hatake's seed. They are infamous for their virility."

She paused and thought for a moment.

"It probably wouldn't hurt to wait until the little one born to let him know, though, if you're feeling unsure. You don't need stress." Tsume took a deep breath and sighed. "And... If it doesn't... work." She paused, feeling sorrowful at the very concept. But it was always a risk, and being aware of it beforehand helped with coping, should the worst happen. "Then... Hatake doesn't need to lose anyone else precious to him."

Miyu's eyes went sad but she nodded.

It was a bit weird, the way their Clan felt about the lone Hatake.

Hatake weren't theirs. Had never been. And yet, they distinctly felt like they should. Or could.

Before the Hatake Clan deflated to one single member, the Inuzuka Clan had something approaching a celebrity crush on this other Canine Clan. A bit like how silly civilian academy girls get about worshiping popular sempais.

But then the strong, beautiful, charismatic Koshi died. And the Hatake became a Clan without a Matriarch. A Pack without an Alpha. And they felt... Pitiful. But Sakumo was just as strong, beautiful and charismatic, which mitigated the effect.

And then Sakumo died too.

Leaving behind a young, distraught orphan of a son. And the urge to adopt, protect, soothe the lone, pack-less child had hit them hard. Tsume had been young, but already a budding Alpha, and she had wanted nothing more than to snatch the abandoned baby and stuff him into the puppy kennel to snuggle and be dotted on by the ninken moms.

The urge should have died down as he grew.

Except he got more and more miserable and lonely and depressed. Though the pride, strength and 'stay away' vibe that had prevented them from performing an aggressive adoption when he was five stayed. And so did the inconvenient Village and Clan Laws that said Hatake Kakashi was the Head of his own Clan. A Bloodline owning Clan. And that forcefully acquiring him counted as bloodline theft.

By technicality, only. But they had two doujutsu-bearing Clans in the Village, and they were feral about the very idea of bloodline theft.

So the Inuzuka were left gazing longingly at the Pack-member they wanted but couldn't get.

Tsume gazed as Miyu's still flat stomach and smirked.

"Well. But once the pup is born... Only a fool would keep an Hatake from their cub. Such a shame the Inuzuka Clan Laws firmly state that any child had by an Inuzuka woman his hers and the Clan's before anyone else's. And that our Founding Agreements with Konoha are clear that we get to keep our own Laws on that." (There was a reason why neither Uchiha or Hyuuga men ever slept with Inuzuka women unless they were thoroughly sterilized. Inuzuka's custody over the children born to their women was absolute. And trying to wrest it away would be excruciating.)

Miyu tilted her head sideways and backward over Tsume's thigh, looking up at her quizzically.

"Guess Hatake will have to move in if he wants to be with his child." Tsume cackled. "And get adopted into the Clan to get any authority over your child at all."

Miyu froze for a minute, then started cackling. Aomaru and Kuromaru huffed. The ninken were of the opinion that they should have disregarded human rules and made a move on the Hatake ages ago.

"That's for later, though." Tsume rumbled. "For now, take care of yourself and your pup. We can start plotting once it is born."

Chapter 3: Newborn

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kakashi hadn't expected anything special to happen when he came back home from his latest long mission (an ANBU one). Gai tracking him down for a challenge, maybe. A particularly bratty-feeling colleague trying to prank him. That kind of thing.

When an Inuzuka spotted him, then immediately turned tail and ran, Kakashi got a feeling that 'normal' was about to take a hike. That hadn't happened since he was a very freshly orphaned genin. Or after Minato-sensei died.

He didn't have to wonder what the hell about him was repelling Inuzukas again for very long. That same guy who had fled his presence reappeared with Inuzuka Tsume on his heels.

Ah. So it wasn't about not wanting to be near. It was about telling the boss that he'd found Kakashi, then?

That was better. But it also meant that Tsume had given her Clan orders to let her know as soon as they found Kakashi, which was an oddity of it's own.

Kakashi stood still and watched the Inuzuka's Alpha stride toward him.

"Hatake." Tsume rumbled. "There is something I need you to see."

Kakashi tilted his head, waiting for more. When nothing came, he huffed and nodded. "Alright. Lead the way."

He hoped he didn't need to go far. He was just back from a mission. He was supposed to get to rest.

Tsume led him to the Inuzuka's Compound. Then toward the Head House.

What the h...

The air was smelling vaguely milky.

Kakashi frowned.

What.

Why.

Why the hell would Tsume be leading him straight toward a new mother and her newborn?

He stopped and rooted himself in place.

Tsume turned back toward him with an impatient frown.

"Come on." She growled. "Miyu has been expecting you for a while."

That unstuck Kakashi's tongue. "Miyu... Partner's Aomaru?"

Tsume blinked then smiled. "Oh, how many Inuzuka do you remember only by our Ninken's name?" Kakashi kept his mouth shut. Tsume didn't seem to take the almost admission badly, she grinned and patted her own dog's head. "Well in case you need a refresher, I'm Kuromaru's partner and my name is Tsume."

Kakashi didn't react to the light teasing, because his brain had just caught up to the newborn and milking mother's scent added to 'Miyu expecting you'.

Kakashi could, in fact, count all the way up (and even back!) to nine months. And it wasn't like he 'went around' enough to forget exactly what he'd done with Inuzuka Miyu a little over nine months prior.

Kakashi jolted and ran forth, letting his nose and instincts tell him the way.

Tsume didn't make a single move to prevent him from charging toward her vulnerable Clan members. Something that would have boggled his mind if it was still in working order.

As it was, he was finally close enough to smell cub (his cub, his!) over the stronger scent of their mother. He definitely wasn't up to thinking about anything. At all.

A door disappeared from his path and he barely had the presence of mind not to come across as aggressive in front of the new mother. His eyes caught onto a tuft of silver head resting on the woman's chest. He froze.

Miyu turned her head his way and smiled. (He only saw it in his peripherals. His eyes were glued in the perfect hair and wasn't likely to unstick anytime soon.) She moved her trunk toward him and gently turned the infant so he could better see them. Her.

"I almost waited to confirm with you before naming her, but it was just too obvious." Kakashi blinked dumbly as his legs took him closer without any input from his brain. "This is Raiden."

"Raiden." Kakashi echoed.

He stepped even closer.

Miyu's ninken (Aomaru) stepped aside letting him get close to his human and her child. A proof of trust he would have been floored by in any other situation.

Kakashi folded down on his knees by the bed and leaned into his perfect baby to inhale her perfect scent like a man drowning. She woke up and gave a perfect little giggle, patting at his face with her perfect little hands.

Tsume would need a crowbar to make him move.

 

Tsume did not, in fact, need a crowbar to make Kakashi move.

All she had to do was bark "Get your sorry ass up into that bed and get some proper snuggles in with the pup."

Miyu laughed and scooted sideways so Kakashi could do just that.

"And summon your partners, already!" Tsume added in a disgruntled growl. "Do I need to tell you everything?"

Kakashi blushed a bit. Right. The pack needed to scent his daughter. That way they could track her if someone stole her.

The thought made an enraged growl bubble up in his throat.

Tsume bopped on the head with a rolled up newspaper.

Where did the newspaper even come from?

Notes:

Some evidence of miscommunication, already. Or at least misunderstanding.

The Inuzuka did tend to turn around and go the other way when they saw baby Kakashi at his worst. It was to avoid the temptation of snatching him up and damn the consequences.
Also, Inuzuka do consider the pups to be both the biological parent and their partner's. Your ninken will be among the first to see the baby. Kakashi not immediately calling his dogs in to see Raiden feels wrong to Tsume.

Chapter 4: New life

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

He hadn't expected to be alive after he died. That was a given, honestly. The logical next step after dying was, well, death.

And his death had been pretty obvious as it happened.

But for some reason, there he was, alive again.

At first. There was only shock. A numb feeling of grief and loss. Considering that he was almost blind, kinda dumb, and perpetually sleeping, the realization of all that he had lost took a while to hit.

When it did, he had a spectacular meltdown that sent his new mom into a panic.

It was his aunt, he thought, who reassured his mom and settled him on the floor with a pair of dogs.

He wouldn't have thought that a valid way to soothe a baby's cries. He would have been dumb about that, though, because it worked like a charm, and within minutes, he was clutching at the dogs' fur and calming down to sobs, then whimpers, before finally falling asleep. Exhausted by his own tantrum.

 

Meltdown out of the way, he started to grasp what he had gained too. A loving mom, for one.

 

Raiden. That was his new name.

Or, her new name. As starting to turn her attention outward had informed her of a few salient details about her new body.

She honestly didn't really care about the change one way or another. Just noted that he was now a she, and moved on.

 

Raiden hadn't thought about her father up until he appeared. There simply hadn't been any men in the picture and she had rolled with it. Until a man barged into mom's room and knelled right by them, staring at her like she was the whole world. He smelled really, really nice. And safe.

Raiden added 'a loving dad' to her list of good things. And she snuggled with him happily.

 

Getting breastfed was not in the list of good things. But she obviously would have to get used to it, because milk bottles obviously weren't in her future. Mom was obviously one of these people who thought (rightfully) that milk from a baby's actual mother was the very best for their health.

The naked cuddles were something she was on the fence about.

She knew it was good for her. It was just kinda awkward to be laid out on her parents' naked chest in nothing but her diaper. Even more so with mom.

But it was also very soothing and nice.

The dogs were a definite positive.

Mom had a dog. Auntie Tsume had a dog, and dad had several dogs.

And if she thought that was almost paradise, that was before she and mom moved into the common baby room, where there were puppies! Tiny little wiggling puppies with their own diapers.

Raiden even got plopped right into the pile of wriggling puppies without a second thought on anyone's part.

Her new family apparently found it efficient to pool the babies in one place. And Raiden was not complaining about that.

There was another, slightly older baby she had to share her puppies with. But she quickly established dominance, and he never tried to usurp her place at the center of the puppy pile, so it was alright.

One of the puppies was especially attached to Raiden, and seemed to prefer sticking to her unless it needed to eat right this moment. She also had a few really familiar mannerisms.

It was probably why her first word in this new world was "Max". She thought it would be taken for simple baby babble. It wasn't like a newborn puppy would respond to the name of Raiden's beloved dog in her previous life.

Except the puppy yipped happily and wagged her little tail with enthusiasm.

Raiden blinked at the puppy for a few seconds. Then, fearfully, tried something. "Sit." She said. In english, rather than the Japanese offshoot people talked there. The puppy. Her puppy. Her Max. Sat on her bottom with a doggy grin.

"Max." Raiden repeated with tears springing to her eyes. Max jumped on her and licked her face.

The adults in the room cooed and laughed. The puppies' mom came closer to examine Raiden and Max, and then gave Raiden a thorough licking.

Apparently Raiden had been approved of.

From then on, Raiden never got separated from Max.

It definitely went in the good things.

Mom and Dad and everyone else seemed to know that Max was hers, and unless it was for something that really had to have only her (like feeding or changing diapers) then Raiden would be picked up along with Max.

Cuddle time with mom or dad was with Max. Tummy time was with Max. Nap was with Max.

Raiden really loved her new family.

Notes:

We saw in Meece's work that environment as a baby changes Raiden. This baby Raiden will be a gleeful nudist toddler. The Inuzuka think skin-to-skin cuddles are super-important, and as Raiden learns to deal with it, she'll get really chill about nudity.

Chapter 5: Creepy interest

Notes:

Trigger warning for Danzo being Danzo.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The endless toiling for the good of Konoha could sometimes be tiring, but it was a worthy and necessary labor that Danzo accomplished willingly. And, more to the point, with a lot more skill than anyone else possibly could.

Reading the pile of reports on the whispers running through the village was one of the tedious aspects of Danzo's never-ending quest. But he had found pearls burried in the gossip and rumors often enough to keep forcing himself to read the dry reports his operative wrote for him after eavesdropping.

It was a good thing that his operative were able to sort the useful from the useless by checking who spoke the rumors, to whom and how often. Danzo definitely didn't need to be swamped by an entire village's worth of 'who slept with whom, who cheated on this one and this other one and which kid's father definitely wasn't the one caring for it'. Making it so rumors were only reported to him if heard from at least ten chunins and one jounin didn't cut back on all of the uselessness, but it reduced it greatly.

Hmm. Uchiha not happy. Good. Another of Uchiha grumblings. great. Inuzuka bragging about... Wait?

Genius child?

Danzo stopped on his quick scan of the words and started again from the top, reading properly.

The youngest child to ever bound with their ninken. Only a few months old and already inseparable...

Hmm. That might not prove useful. Inuzuka had proven themselves to be extremely bad recruits for ROOT. They simply didn't bow unless their dog died. And if the dog was gone, they shattered disastrously and died incredibly quickly. Plus, the Clan made a completely disproportional fuss over each missing child. The Inuzuka were simply not worth it. If he could get his hands on a child that hadn't yet gotten it's dog, then maybe, but that obviously wasn't the case of this genius child.

For the moment, the Inuzuka were not a bad thing for Konoha. The Mutts had their uses. They simply weren't fit to be part of the mighty roots that fed Konoha's great tree.

Danzo almost tossed the report aside. But a set of characters caught his eye before he did. Hatake.

"Probably caught the genius from the Hatake father."

Now that was interesting.

An Hatake child?

Kakashi had been so promising. If only Danzo had gotten him just a little earlier, he could have been molded into the perfect ROOT soldier. Obedient and deadly. The perfect tool.

That child was obviously plenty young.

Maybe too young. Not even a year old. Might not even be weaned yet. And the bond with the ninken pointed to it not being the best potential recruit, but still.

It was a matter worth keeping himself appraised over.

Especially considering the chances of the Inuzuka Bloodline reinforcing the formidable Hatake one instead of diluting it...

And if that one child ended up unsuitable... Nothing said Danzo couldn't arrange for more Hatake children to appear.

A satisfied smile crawled upon Danzo's lips as he called in a team to go and survey the Hatake child.

Once the team left, Danzo turned his thoughts back to the upcoming peace talks with Kumo, and how he could turn them to His Konoha's benefit. Not understanding the doom he had just called down on his own head.

Notes:

Someone got a bit overconfident, dunyuthink?

Chapter 6: Stirred temper

Chapter Text

The Inuzuka shared nursery was a relatively quiet place.

Well. As quiet as it could be with Inuzuka babies and puppies playing, anyway. Kakashi had found himself made into the designated bed for the little ones whenever he was there (which was as often as he could get away with. He had absolutely no wish to be anywhere but next to his perfect daughter, watching her imperiously hog all the puppies to herself even before she could do more than belly-crawl).

Raiden was laughing, playing, babbling and smiling up a storm. A happy baby. And a joy to behold. Her puppy (who would probably never respond to anything but Max) still lacked coordination, but was all enthusiasm. The Ninken Mom, whose babies were still small enough not to have moved over to the puppy kennel where her babies would have the space and access to the outdoors to start running around, seemed to love Raiden.

Tsume's own children had joined the infant nursery for the day. Two years old Kiba staring at the babies intently. Halfway between fascination and 'how does this thing work'. Hana was eight, and appeared to be trying to seem adult by very seriously assuming the role of a babysitter.

As Kakashi watched, Kiba tried to get in a fight with Raiden over her hogging the puppies. She growled at him, bit him (even though she didn't have teeth yet), and projected the cutest wave of intent. Kiba found himself soundly defeated and retreated to his sister's side in a sulk.

Kakashi snickered and glanced at Miyu and Aomaru, who shared his amusement.

 

The light atmosphere disappeared in a single moment. With a room that had one or two Kunoichi in it at all times, one to three shinobi and two to five trained ninkens in it, all of them possessing keen animal instincts and very sharp noses, disturbances did not go unnoticed.

Not everyone might know what they were reacting to, but the feeling that a danger was there and vigilance was needed hit everyone at the same time.

Kakashi, for his part, had the skill, experience and knowledge to pinpoint exactly what everyone was reacting to.

Three cloaked presences. Almost perfect scent concealment. ANBU-type camouflage genjutsu.

Except there was no reason for ANBU to be in the Inuzuka nursery. Except maybe if they were fetching Kakashi for a mission. And if that was the case, they dearly should have announced themselves at the door. Or at least came in without a camouflage.

So excluding legitimate ANBU business... But still very ANBU-like...

Kakashi's eye flew to Raiden.

DANZO!

The thought had barely hit that Kakashi's arm was plunging into a chest cavity.

He hadn't even yet processed the reason why it angered him that Danzo sent his drones to spy on him (on Raiden!) that both other blank-masked forms dropped to the ground in a spray of arterial blood.

Electricity ran along the teeth he was baring in a snarl behind his mask.

He surveyed the room.

Contrary to what he was half-expecting, no one in the room was staring at him in horror.

The various persons had pulled the babies and puppies away from the blood, but they looked almost as angry as Kakashi felt. No disgust. No fear.

Miyu met his eye with a deep growl of her own.

The growl found itself echoed in multiple throats.

The other small baby (though bigger than Raiden) hiccupped and started crying in shock. His mother bounced him and shushed softly, but her face stayed hard.

"Hatake." Said Akina, the Ninken Mother. "Swift hunting."

Kakashi trembled in place.

"Aomaru and I will guard Raiden." Miyu assured him steadfastly. "And Max." She added, lifting up the puppy she had scooped up at the same time as their daughter.

"I will call for the clan to assemble and fortify the Den." Tsume growled from the Nursery's door, Kiba already clutching her legs. "Go. Kill whoever is threatening our pup."

Kakashi nodded. He absently checked that he had no blood on his face before giving Raiden a parting nuzzle, then he headed out.

The Inuzuka could take care of the bodies and of the blood.

Kakashi would teach Danzo never to even look at his daughter again.

Chapter 7: Explosion

Chapter Text

Konoha could be forgiven for not knowing the sheer danger of a pissed off Hatake.

Or at least some people in Konoha could.

The very person who provoked Hatake Kakashi's ire was one of the one who should have known better. Shimura Danzo, in his hubris, had decided that since he had been able to make Sakumo die, he was immune to (or stronger than) the legendary might of the Hatake. He was wrong.

The Inuzuka were not among those who ignored how terrifying an angry Hatake parent was. That was why they had allowed (encouraged) Kakashi to go seek vengeance on his own. Sometimes the best help you could be was to stay out of the way. Sometimes backup meant dead weight.

It would take the entire Clan guarding Raiden for Kakashi to deem her safe enough to let her out of his sight long enough to go kill the root of the problem. So the best help Tsume could be was to get her Clan to do just that and wish luck on Hatake.

He probably wouldn't need it.

The other side of helping as best they could was to prepare for the aftermath. These fake ANBU wore some very legitimate gear. It meant whoever sent them had to have clout. Watching Kakashi's back, in this case, meant having proof that his actions were justified. And there were corpses of three fake ANBU in their damn nursery that would stand as pretty solid proof.

Tsume sent some of her youngest Clan members out, who wouldn't be much help in protecting Raiden, to run messages. She may not personally like of the other Clan Heads (especially the Uchiha and Hyuuga ones). But they were pretty unmovable forces, and wouldn't stand for anyone trying to brush off what was pretty obviously a Bloodline Theft attempt (especially the Uchiha and Hyuuga Clan Heads).

While Tsume was ensuring that there were plenty of influential witnesses who could back her up on the fact that a little murder was entirely justified, Hatake Kakashi went forth to prove that the age old fear of his Clan was also perfectly justified.

It was, in the end, a pretty good thing for the Village that Elder Shimura Danzo wasn't at his perfectly legitimate house in Konoha when the urge to violently murder him struck Kakashi.

Kakashi had, after all, been in Root as a teenager, before he escaped with Tenzo in tow.

He knew at least some of the entrances and had a rough idea of the layout.

There definitely was a trail of dead and wounded to show the way he plowed through the underground tunnels on his way for his target.

Danzo, who had, so far, only stolen one pair of Sharingan eyes from his own teammate, and hadn't yet gotten himself an artificial arm, could only use Izanagi once. The result of that mainly being that Kakashi had the satisfaction of bodily ripping his head off his shoulders twice.

Kakashi understandably got the urge to thoroughly incinerate the remains of the old man who had sent spies after his daughter and who he'd seen come back from beheading. Some of the fire Jutsus he had copied were pretty damn hot, and by the time he was done, there weren't even teeth left to identify the smear of ashes. It was only a DNA scan of the blood on his clothes that would confirm Kakashi's account on the identity. That and the fact that ROOT agents would confirm that the place where the ashes were was indeed Danzo's office.

Once the threat to his cub was thoroughly neutralized, brain functions started to come back, and Kakashi realized that Danzo being dead could possibly be a problem. Especially if Sarutobi decided to make it one.

Being a shinobi through and through, and used to sabotage besides, Kakashi's solution was to search for ROOT's archives. Danzo was sure to have documented his misdeeds someway, right? He seemed so certain that he was the Hokage, after all.

There were a few more dead and injured before Kakashi found said archives. A quick snoop confirmed that a good chunk of Danzo's self-recorded actions totally counted as treason, so Kakashi got busy rigging the ceilings with explosive tags all the way up to ground level.

Of course, when a sinkhole violently manifested inside Konoha, various independent parts of the military machine went to investigate. The ROOT archives being right at the bottom of the sinkhole, and Shinobi generally being horrible gossips meant Danzo's various treacherous plots promptly became common knowledge.

Kakashi, for his part, was nowhere near when the Venerable Elder became Most Hated Person. He had already found his way back to the Inuzuka Compound, had taken a shower and grabbed a pair of spare pants and a bandana to replace his mask, and was happily snuggling his cub.

Chapter 8: Discovery

Chapter Text

Any other baby would not have understood. Would not have remembered. It was nothing much, after all. The room went tense, Dad blurred with movement, a new (old, old and familiar) scent hit her nose (she had such a good nose now) Mom snatched her and Max up and away, there was some growling, then Dad disappeared and she was brought to another room with the other babies. Then there was some more tension for a while (she couldn't tell how long since she nodded off for a while in the middle) and then Dad was back and nuzzling her again and the tension bled out.

As an actual baby, Raiden would have been a little stressed and fussy because the adults were on alert, but she would have immediately moved on as soon as the situation regulated. Since she had the intelligence and memories of a grown war veteran, though, it was an impactful memory.

Not a wholly negative one, surprisingly.

Her new family had been so loving. So insistent on Raiden getting tons of snuggles... Seeing them react to her dad killing people with anger at the people he killed (which she might have misunderstood as anger toward dad if she didn't start this life with some past-life knowledge of Japanese) was paradoxically very reassuring. They weren't peace-loving hippies. They wouldn't turn around and hate Raiden when they discovered that 'killing the problem' was one of her go to solutions. (You never truly came back from being a soldier. Not all the way. And not from being the kind of soldier she had been.)

The fact that there was no gunshot accompanying the deaths felt very strange. Definitely better for the other baby. Loud bangs would have been traumatizing. For Raiden... It said 'you're not in Kansas anymore'. What Dad had done was firmly impossible. Or it would have been in his previous life.

From then Raiden started paying attention. And since the time right after Dad killing three people also was a time where every single adult in mom's family (clan?) got into high alert, she got to see exactly what weapons they used.

Blades. A lot of them. Especially smallish knives (Kunai?). And more than half the adults had them.

So she hadn't been reborn in a peaceful place, for all that the first few months of her life had been completely free of strife.

But for all that life went back to it's normal, peaceful and snuggles-full state when Dad came back still smelling like blood even though his hair was wet from a shower, Raiden was aware that things were different.

Dad could teleport.

And no one found it strange.

So teleportation apparently was something the people there could do. Something she potentially could do too.

That's how she found her magic, waiting patiently inside of her in it's deep, mesmerizing well.

And now that she could recognize magic, she felt it everywhere. Dad had it. An almost blinding star of pulsing, warm, loving light. Mom had it. Wild and fast-flowing, but so soft and careful near Raiden. Aomaru and Kuromaru and Akina had it.

Max had it. Small and kept tucked in.

Raiden didn't stop to think about why her and Max's magic was kept tucked in so firmly.

She was curious and eager.

There was magic at her fingertips. She couldn't wait to find out what she could do with it.

And so she didn't.

She pulled. Pulled and pulled. The magic resisted. Tried to stay furled and contained. She didn't stop to wonder why.

She probably should have.

But she wanted to see what sorts of magic she could do, so she forced on and managed to wrestle the warm energy up to her hands.

Magelight she thought forcefully.

It seemed a pretty safe bet. No risk of burning herself, right?

The magic left her hands reluctantly, pulled from her belly in a thick stream, and a beautiful, shimmering ball of blue wreathed her hands.

Dad gasped.

The light flickered, then failed.

The world went black.

Chapter 9: Hospital

Chapter Text

Kakashi had been watching his cub, smiling at how she held her chubby little hands up in front of her and frowned like she was constipated and trying to poop. He hadn't been worried, for once. If she had actually been having problems with her bowel movements, she would have been crying, right? She was probably thinking deep thoughts about her hands and how they were hers, or something.

He gasped when raw chakra shone out of her hands, surprised and impressed. His cub was a genius!

And then the light flickered and failed and Raiden passed out and Kakashi panicked.

No one else had the time to react as he gathered her up (forgetting to grab Max along for once) and ran for the Hospital. He almost used Shunshin, but fear gripped at his heart. What if that hurt his cub? What if her gave her whiplash? What if her weak little neck snapped upon acceleration or deceleration?

So he refrained and settled for his fastest chakra-assisted sprint.

Everyone took several steps back when he blew the front door off it's hinges and roared for help.

Medics were terrifying and fearless, though, and an older medic strode right up to him with a scowl and peered at Raiden, demanding to know what happened.

Kakashi's report of Raiden using chakra was disjointed at best, but it seemed to work for giving the medic context, since she nodded and lit her hands green. After a glance at Kakashi to confirm that he wouldn't rip her arm off for touching his vulnerable cub (good call, honestly, Kakashi felt like he wasn't very far off from doing just that), she touched the green glow to Raiden and frowned.

There was a pause, then the medic sighed. "Chakra exhaustion." She then looked up at him with slitted eyes, and sighed again, looking back down at Raiden. He felt judged, somehow.

Ah.

That was why the medic looked familiar.

"Will she..." What did he even want to say next? Will she be alright? Will she die?

"She will recover." The medic frowned. "But you're going to need to find a way to let her know that chakra exhaustion is bad for her. Once is bad enough. Multiple times? At this stage? Stunted growth might be the least of her worries."

Kakashi felt dread settle into his stomach.

The medic beaconed him along and led them toward an office. "Especially when you consider that her fully grown, jounin father still doesn't seem to understand it." She grumbled acidly. With her back turned to him.

Wow, this medic really had no fear. She couldn't honestly expect Kakashi to not have heard her, right? Right?

Kakashi ignored the dig at himself. "Once is bad enough? What do you mean?"

Medic-sensei went to a filling cabinet and started rooting around. "Chakra is life, if you want to be overly simplistic about it." She explained with a distracted hand-wave. "It supports the body and the mind, and for infants, growth, too. What's her name?"

"Raiden." Kakashi answered automatically. "So she stunted her growth?"

"And possibly caused some damage to whatever her growth should be focused on at the moment. Also might have damaged her mind and it's progression. As I said. Once isn't too bad. Babies are surprisingly sturdy. They bounce back. But she can't let it become an habit. Last name?" The medic frowned.

Kakashi blinked. How could the Medic be so flippant about Raiden possibly damaging her mind? Hurt her development? How?

"What's her last name?" The medic repeated.

"Inuzuka?" Maybe? Probably? Kakashi wasn't there when Raiden's birth documents would have been filled, so it was likely that Miyu and Tsume put down the one that didn't need another Clan Head's approval to use.

The Medic closed the the drawer and opened the one underneath.

"What... Can we do something?" He asked helplessly. "To help with... The damage?" Raiden couldn't be truly damaged, right? Right?

"You and her mother can try holding her close and passively emitting more chakra than usual and hope she soaks some up." The medic hummed. "It might not help, but it can't hurt. She should be compatible enough to grab onto it. Also, breastfeed her on demand for at least a couple of weeks if possible. Aha. Inuzuka Raiden."

Kakashi watched as the medic grabbed a file and came back to the desk.

Paperwork? Really? When Raiden was hurt?

The medic grabbed a pen and flipped a page, then froze.

"Hatake-san." She said in that gentle but firm way senior medics tended to have. "I'm going to need you to set Raiden down."

Chapter 10: Clan Laws

Chapter Text

Miyu hadn't been in the room with the babies when whatever happened that made Kakashi bolt.

Bolt with Raiden but without Max.

It was Max's howl that got her to put down everything and go check. And it was Akina who told her what happened.

So Miyu grabbed Max and ran for the Hospital. (They were so lucky that Akina was so forgiving of them taking her puppy away from her.)

Kakashi was damn fast, and she couldn't even see him.

A good thing, on all accounts, since it meant Raiden would reach help faster.

She had expected to have to ask directions once she got there.

The loud growl proved her wrong.

Uh oh.

When she reached the room the growl came from, it was to see a flipped over desk, irate Medic, and an ANBU Team surrounding Kakashi and her baby.

The medic was entreating Kakashi to please put Raiden down while the ANBU Team looked very, very uncomfortable.

Alright. What the fuck?

Max whimpered in her arms, pulling Kakashi's attention to her.

Well. Nothing for it, then.

Hopefully being Raiden's mom would protect Miyu from Kakashi's anger.

"You forgot to take Max." She announced casually, walking closer.

Kakashi blinked at her. She reached forth and set the little puppy down on top of Raiden in Kakashi's arms. Max whined and whimpered and licked at Raiden's face worriedly.

Hmm at least the puppy intermission had served to reduce the tension somewhat. Kakashi's attention certainly had been partly diverted. Good thing none of the ANBU used the distraction to do anything rash like rush Kakashi.

"What's the problem?" Miyu asked the Medic.

"Hatake-san isn't a registered guardian for Inuzuka Raiden." The medic frowned. "But he refused to set her down and step away while an actual guardian was contacted."

...

Oh.

Oh, damn.

"I'm Inuzuka Miyu. Raiden's mother." She stated, grabbing her ninja ID and passing it to the closest ANBU for verification. "And now I'm here so there is no need for all of this anymore."

The ANBU Team passed the ID to one another, then to the medic before vanishing.

"Hatake Kakashi is allowed to be around Raiden and take her to the Hospital if needed. And you don't need to try and get her away from him." She stated as calmly as she could, walking further into the room and looking closer at the desk.

The medic crossed her arms. "Is there a reason why you didn't bother to let administration know that he had shared custody?"

Miyu blinked, halfway to putting the desk back on it's legs. "He doesn't." She answered simply.

Kakashi had found his words, partly, and growled an intimidating "what?"

She finished righting the desk and turned to him. "You're her father, but I'm an Inuzuka woman and Raiden was born to me. We have Clan Laws and agreements that say I get full custody, and then the Clan does, but the father only gets rights if he's an Inuzuka."

"You can't..." Kakashi vibrated in place. "You have no right!..."

"Kakashi." She tried to soothe. "It's only about paperwork nonsense. And to protect the children of the Clan's blood. We're never going to prevent you from being in her life."

Kakashi growled.

"Nothing has changed. You can still come see her whenever you want!"

Thankfully Tsume appeared right about then.

She swiftly gave a growling Kakashi a small bump to the head with her trusty rolled up newspaper, startling him into silence, and turned to the Medic. "Back to the important bit." Tsume huffed. "Is the pup in danger?"

"Not at the moment." The medic answered slowly. "She just needs to rest and eat plenty."

"Alright." Tsume nodded. "Miyu, how about you take Raiden and Kakashi back home? I will stay and talk with Medic-sensei to get the particulars of Raiden's health and settle administrative details about what to do when her father brings her to the hospital."

Chapter 11: Bag of Psychoses

Chapter Text

Kakashi held Raiden and Max close. He was being Managed. It was very obvious. Miyu and Aomaru herding him toward the Inuzuka Compound.

He considered bolting.

But the medic had clearly stated that Raiden needed to be breastfed to recover. Also, Max wasn't yet weaned. That line of thought immediately raised up the fact that Kakashi couldn't separate Raiden from Max. It would be bad for a pure Hatake baby to lose access to a dog they loved, but Raiden obviously had enough Inuzuka blood in her to make Max more than just a beloved playmate. Separating Raiden from her Partner would hurt her. And separating Max from her mother would hurt the puppy. So Raiden had to get back to being close to Akina so her ninken would have her mother.

And on the thought string unrolled. Raiden needed to have access to her own mother. Not just for the milk, either. The cub was emotionally attached to both Miyu and Aomaru. To Tsume and Kuromaru. To Akina.

Kakashi was cornered.

He couldn't react to the new revelation by grabbing his cub and running, because it definitely hurt her. At least emotionally.

So he had no other choice than to do exactly as Tsume had said and go back to the Inuzuka Compound with Raiden.

But letting Raiden be with her mother's Clan wasn't just a choice made for her well-being anymore.

It was not a choice.

It might never have been.

The Inuzuka had in iron grip on his daughter, and short of leveraging his superior skills and getting violent (which he couldn't because it would negatively impact his Cub), he couldn't buck it.

He was being allowed contact with Raiden.

A generosity that could be retracted at anytime.

The very thought made his hackles rise and a growl roll in the back of his throat.

It reminded him of being forbidden from being a part of Naruto's life.

Except Raiden was his. His Cub. By blood.

(Wasn't Naruto his too? He was sensei-step-brother's cub.)

(If Naruto could so easily be ripped away from him... No. Raiden was his!)

Raiden was his, but apparently the Inuzuka had the power to keep his rights from him.

And Kakashi had heard more than enough empty reassurances in his life.

Miyu said that nothing would change and that he would always have access to Raiden. But was that the truth? Was it? Or would his rights be whittled down and withheld for the sake of convenience as time passed? Things that had been a given turn into rewards for good behavior? (Danzo had... Even Hiruzen...)

Well, he had killed Danzo. And he would definitely kill again. Especially if it was to keep Raiden safe and happy.

But he would have to be patient.

Raiden was still out from Chakra exhaustion. She and Max were still far from weaned.

Anything drastic had to wait.

Anything drastic could wait until the Inuzuka started to prove his fears right.

But in the meantime, Kakashi certainly wasn't going to be quiet about his unhappiness.

Chapter 12: Explanation

Chapter Text

Tsume could almost feel Hatake dismiss everything she was telling him out of hand.

It was frustrating as hell.

But at this point, there wasn't anything she could do about it. Hatake wasn't hers to discipline (yet). She would just have to be willing to repeat things several times and prove her words through actions.

But also, getting Kakashi to actually fight and argue with her might be a good first step.

"You're not listening! Inuzuka sole custody of child borne by ours has nothing to do with you." She growled. Kakashi scoffed and sniffed, still gently cradling Raiden and gently radiating more chakra than usual. "Honestly, Hatake. You're pretty much the opposite case to the ones we worked these Agreements for! Are you going to deny her a Ninken Partner? Try to stamp out the 'wilderness'? Make her a good, civilized lady you can marry to the highest bidder?"

Kakashi snarled in rage. "NO! How could you even suggest!?"

"I'm not suggesting it!" She yelled back. "I know you never would. Your Clan is one of the ones we wouldn't have to protect our pups from! That's why I said the Custody Protections have nothing to do with you!"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes back at her and hitched Raiden a bit higher on his chest. "Then why I am still not registered as her guardian?" He seethed.

"We can't afford the precedent!" Tsume hissed back. "We know it's you. We know we don't have to hold that protection up against you. But if we lower it for you, then we create a weakness another prissy, well-connected man could one day use to rip one of our pups from us!"

"I killed Danzo for her." Kakashi growled lowly.

"And we thank you for it! But that's not gonna hold in the Daimyo's court of law as a reason why your precedent can't apply to some Noble who thinks he's entitled to one of our kids!"

Kakashi sniffed and looked away.

Tsume moved to stay in front of her and leaned toward him. "Look, would you have not killed Danzo for her if you knew you didn't have custody at the time?" It was a low blow, and Tsume knew it, but it made the pouting Hatake harrumph in grudging agreement.

"You can't do that to me!" He grumbled back anyway.

Tsume sighed and sat in front of him. "It's the opposite. We can't not do that to you. We ensured that this particular clause would be iron-clad for a reason."

"A Warring Clans Era reason!" Kakashi seethed, not done with fighting. "There is no reason to keep it this absolu-"

"Hyuugas." Tsume cut him off with. An argument she felt spoke for itself. "We cannot afford to set a precedent saying that another Clan can dictate what happens to pups born to ours. Not even for you."

Kakashi grunted and descended into sulky silence.

"Listen." Tsume sighed after a minute. "We have very clear rules about allowing outsider men, biological father or not, to come in and help out. They have been going for decades, and we have stuck to them. We aren't about to make an exception for you."

Kakashi growled and Tsume felt it was a situation where a newspaper bap was justified.

"It's a good thing, idiot." She huffed as the Elite Jounin rubbed his springy hair sulkily. The hit probably hadn't even hurt. It was meant more to surprise people into a different mindset anyway. "We have never denied a prospective father access to our pups unless they were physically, emotionally or verbally violent to a Clansman, woman, child or Ninken. That's it, that's the rules. So long as you abide by them and don't threaten the security of our Clan or Clanmembers, our own Clan Traditions say you can keep full access to Raiden. And we definitely aren't going to make an exception to them just to spite you. We'd be more likely to make exceptions for you the other way around anyway."

"But not to the point of allowing me custody." He shot back.

"Not to the point of weakening our protection of our most vulnerable members, no."

Kakashi hissed a long breath out, handed Raiden over to a silent Miyu and strode out.

"So..." Miyu sighed once the Jounin was out. "Do you think he actually grasped the part where we could adopt him and he'd have full rights?"

"Honestly? No, I don't think he did." Tsume sighed back. "We'll just have to keep telling him."

Chapter 13: Acting out

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kakashi knew that what he was planning counted as acting out like a child.

He decided that he didn't care.

Considering the current political landscape of Konoha, he was unlikely to actually be punished harshly for what he had in mind. Most of the higher-ups knew that he was the one who offed Danzo and were generally grateful about it if a tiny bit miffed that he did so without orders.

And with the delegation from Kumo coming in in the upcoming month, his hastily thought-out operation fell in the exact same category as killing a very corrupt Elder. Useful action that furthered the safety and peace of Konoha, though annoying for having it get done without explicit orders behind it.

Anything worse than a slap on the wrist would get Konoha on the edge of civil war, at a delicate time, too. Because of the unpredictable proportion of Clans or civilians that might get up in arms for Kakashi getting punished for doing good things.

The most likely punishment Kakashi was looking at was a disciplinary suspension. Or a couple of months of D-Ranks.

Frankly, with an infant daughter inside Konoha, both would be welcome.

Both would also give him time to think up way to find a solution to his lack of custody over his Cub.

And in the meantime, he could be satisfied that one of his long-time worries and heartaches was addressed and resolved.

Kakashi ghosted past the "guard" with a sneer of contempt. He was very, very tempted to stick a note on their backs saying 'my vigilance sucks' or something equally scathing. He was, after all, indulging in late teenage rebellion.

But it would also dramatically up the chances of his stunt being discovered early. And the more time it took to discover, the more successful it would be.

The security on the building itself was just as laughable as the guard detail.

Kakashi was astounded that no kidnapping had happened yet, honestly. (Maybe it had. Maybe Danzo was to blame for that too...)

He followed his chakra-sense to the correct window and looked in.

Whimpering hit his ears just as he shimmied the window open.

And the smell.

Had they...

Had they seriously let the boy go to sleep in a soiled diaper?

Anger slid into his blood.

Hiruzen had fucking promised!

Kakashi stalked to the cot. The lone cot, in the attic.

He took a deep breath, trying to clear the anger, and only chocked on the aroma of ripe toddler.

He wanted to go and check.

See if other toddlers were treated the same as this one precious baby.

No.

Time was of the essence.

And whether the answer was yes or no, the anger would worsen either way.

Anger would make him do rash things.

This wasn't a 'kill everyone' operation.

He needed his wits about him.

He carefully scooped up the stirring child and dropped his pre-prepared note in the cot instead.

It was only his customary henohenomoheji. To help restrict the collateral damage by letting the Hokage know just who to blame.

Kakashi gently weaved a sleeping genjutsu over the toddler and then jumped out of the window.

He still had work to do if he wanted to be back in the Inuzuka's nursery before Raiden woke up from her bout of Chakra exhaustion.

 

Kakashi slid into the Uchiha head house with a cleaned up Naruto. He had had to be inventive about diapering, because he hadn't actually thought to buy toddler supplies before night fell. But no matter. An old shirt wrapped up around the bottom would do until morning. Besides, Naruto had already peed. (On Kakashi.) (While he was removing the old diaper.)

Kakashi had also dyed the sunshine yellow and very distinctive hair into a much more Uchiha-standard black. (It smelled almost worse than the pee and baby poop. Kakashi would have to take a very thorough shower before getting anywhere near sensitive Inuzuka noses. Or Raiden's equally sensitive nose.) He'd also located a concealer that matched Naruto's skin tone and applied it to the whisker-like markings on one of Naruto's cheek and slipped the rest of the tub of makeup into one of his pockets. Along with his 'here is a baby' note.

The fact that he managed to sneak his way into the youngest Clan Heir's room without being detected was about as concerning as the state of Naruto's previous security.

The Uchiha were honestly lucky that he was there to add a baby, not steal one.

Well.

Kumo was sending a delegation in soon.

A wake-up call would do the Clan good.

A flash of red caught his head just as he approached Sasuke-chan's cot.

Oh.

Itachi-chan!

Standing in the door with active one-tomoed sharingans, an adorable little scowl and a bared kunai.

So cute.

"Hello there. I'm the stork." Kakashi murmured "I'm bringing you another free little brother as a gift."

Itachi narrowed his shiny red eyes in clear distrust.

Good instincts, but kid should have learned to scream loudly when he saw an intruder in his little brother's room, honestly. (Probably a side-effect of being so good at learning to be a ninja. Itachi was too confident he was able to do things on his own. Kakashi had been like that, too, around that age.)

"Want to see him?" Kakashi hushed, getting down to his knees and tilting Naruto's cute sleeping face toward the eight-years old little genius.

It worked and Itachi came a step closer to peer at the baby.

Well. Kakashi could adapt his plan.

He didn't have to put Naruto in Sasuke's cot.

He gently transferred the toddler into Itachi's arms, who adapted admirably to being offered a baby and was still staring at his face.

"Why don't you go tell your mom the good news?" Kakashi eye-smiled at the kid, depositing the letter and makeup tub on top of Naruto.

Itachi didn't move until Kakashi had left Sasuke's room via the window.

Good instincts on that kid, honestly. (Except the not screaming thing.)

It gave Kakashi more time to bug out anyway.

He did not want to be caught by the Uchiha's patrols.

It would take way too much time to talk his way out, and then he might not be there for Raiden's wake up.

Notes:

As you can see, we are pretty early in Naruto story. Right before the Hyuuga incident, actually.

And in case you're worried about Kakashi's age, he is definitely aged up, there. Picture the third war taking a couple more years to conclude, Rin dying a bit later, things dragging out a smidge, so Naruto was born when Kakashi was around 16.

Kakashi slept with Miyu a couple years later, so he's now nineteen. And Hinata is about to turn 3. Naruto is already 3, since he's two months older than Hinata. (And yeah, I know 3 is a tiny bit old for still being in diapers, but just assume that the orphanage people decided changing him less often than they should is less work than getting on top of potty training as soon as possible)

Raiden is not yet one.

Chapter 14: Baby piles

Chapter Text

Hatake came back to the Inuzuka Compound around dawn.

There was something in his eye, in his body-language, that told of a decision made. Of resolve hardened.

Tsume concluded that Kakashi had, in fact, been tunning her out when she explained about the custom of adopting men who wanted to be full fathers to their pups into the Clan.

Or he was entirely opposed to put himself under anyone's authority.

Tsume highly doubted that it was a simple matter of pride that kept him from taking the offer. That had happened before and kept some prospective fathers from committing. Not a big loss as far as she was concerned.

It might simply be attachment to his name?

She would have to let him know that they had worked a way to adopt men without them needing to change names. In fact, she should let him know how the scope of her and the Clan's authority over him would be limited to only his relationship with Raiden.

Though, admittedly that might not be completely reassuring considering the coldly patient look Hatake fixed on her as he gently took the girl from Miyu's arms and headed for the quiet corner of the nursery, hiking his shirt up all the way to his armpits and settling Raiden down on his bared skin.

Miyu shot her an amused look as Manae hiccuped and hid her face behind her son.

Tsume could sympathize. Did the brat not even know how attractive he was? Sure, they had all insisted on the importance of skin-to-skin contact with infants. And since he was probably passively emitting chakra to help Raiden recover from her exhaustion, the lack of barriers could only help.

But also, for some reason, the configuration of bunched-up fabric that hid his face and collarbones while entirely baring his pectorals and nipples was even more scandalous that simply being topless.

And the baby laying on his pale skin might make him look less... scandalous... in the eye of some. But Inuzuka considered men who were good with children even more attractive.

Right on cue, Max finished nursing and turned in a circle, whining, looking for her partner. Miyu huffed a laugh and went to grab the distraught puppy and settle him next to Raiden (on Hatake's impressive abdomen).

A few minutes later, the entire rest of Akina's litter finished with their meal too and started yawning.

Akina, being a very practical Ninken and wanting some free time for herself, lost no time conveying all of the babies to the convenient puppy pile that already existed so she could go out and stretch her legs.

Manae's son then woke up and started fussing at being the only one not in the puppy pile and making demanding noises at his mom, which also landed him on top of Hatake, even if his poor mother had some breathing malfunctions in the process of setting him down.

As another, slightly older child was taken into the nursery by his father (a born Inuzuka, not an adopted one) after obviously tiring herself out, and was then, obviously, set down on the already existing pile of babies, Hatake's eyes started drooping.

Kakashi barely stirred as he just kept being pilled upon with puppies and babies alike, prompting Tsume to conclude he'd fallen into a shinobi-doze.

She would have to discretely praise her Clan members for guessing her intent and helping it along so readily, though. She doubted the toddler and up aged children had the idea of coming into the nursery to nap on Hatake all on their own.

 

Which was part of why she was, understandably, unhappy to have Hiruzen (He no longer deserved a -sama, not that Tsume was very inclined to give one to anyone to begin with) show up at her Compound's gate asking to talk to 'the dear boy' and muck up adoption-related plans.

Though, then again, seeing how happily Hatake bounced over to the Hokage, he had probably done something to deserve the visit.

And considering the venomous "Took you long enough" that Kakashi shot out, barely veiled in enthusiasm...

Tsume waved the two away to go discuss whatever they were both angry about somewhere she could say she didn't hear anything.

She had a Clan to look after, and conveniently enough, Kakashi wasn't part of it (yet) so she could shield her own people from the consequences of his actions so long as she could conceivably argue that she had nothing to do with them.

Chapter 15: Unimpressed

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Kakashi was feeling unimpressed.

To be honest, he hadn't been impressed by much since Minato-sensei's death.

The difference between his ongoing state of being since the nine-tails' attack and how he had started feeling after meeting his cub was... Well. He was coming to the conclusion that up until he had a child of his own to burn the world down to protect, he had simply been apathetic. Now he was aggressively not impressed by a select few people. And increasingly willing to make these people know just how unimpressed he was.

Sarutobi Hiruzen? Not his Hokage.

And he didn't even need to say it out loud to let the old man know it. He simply stood in front of him, silent, face slack with contempt under his facemask and tilted headband.

Kakashi hadn't bothered to riffle through Danzo's files before blowing the whole ROOT base up, but the investigation teams had done that, and what they had found had made it's way into the jounin gossip mill, where Kakashi, along with a great many others, had found plenty of reasons for their loyalty to the Sandaime to find a quick and ignoble death.

They needed a new Hokage. Fast. A shame, then, that Danzo had gone out of his way to eliminate or otherwise cripple all the viable candidates.

Maybe Shikaku? But the Jounin Commander was way too fast for anyone to actually manage to stick him with the hat. Chouza, maybe? Or an Uchiha. The discovery of how they had been personally targeted by Konoha's new least favorite person might well give them the backing they needed to get one of theirs in the office. (So long as it wasn't Fugaku himself, Kakashi would weigh in for an Uchiha Hokage. But the Clan Head himself was out of the question. Konoha didn't need to get back to churning out child-soldiers when Raiden was so young, and seeing what Fugaku did to his own son didn't incline Kakashi to trust him.)

Hiruzen broke Kakashi's musings by clearing his throat. "Kakashi-kun, my boy..."

Kakashi huffed and shifted his stance a little, but didn't answer to the (condescending, had he always been so condescending?) prompt.

"Kakashi... Where is the boy? You have to understand how dangerous it is for him to stay unguarded." Hiruzen scolded, still sticking to his grandfatherly impression.

"What boy?" Kakashi asked back.

He wasn't going to give away Naruto's new living condition to someone who had endorsed criminal negligence against him. He was willing to say enough to let the old man know that he wasn't halfway to Kumo after the very lax security and near non-existent secrecy about the Jinchuuriki's identity had put him in so much danger. Not a single word more.

His antagonistic quip was, at best, circumstantial evidence. And he only had thrown it in on the off chance that the Hokage actually gave a single flying fuck about Minato's son. As little as Kakashi currently thought about his Village's leader, he had once believed in him. That was the only reason he wasn't letting Hiruzen think that his neglect had actually led to Naruto being stolen by another Village.

The only true and solid proof Hiruzen might ever get that Kakashi had, in fact, stolen Naruto (a note with a doodle on it was no proof. Anyone could have planted that there) was, conveniently enough, getting an Inuzuka to confirm his scent at the orphanage. Kakashi was willing to bet on them feeling just as unimpressed as he'd been by the smell of neglected toddler and refusing to confirm anything.

Well, that or making use of his autocratic Leader's power to...

"Do not force me to send you to T&I, Kakashi-kun." Hiruzen sighed, sounding actually reluctant.

To do that. Well. Joke was on him. "Oh." Kakashi grinned behind his mask. (Wolves didn't smile. Wolves bared their teeth in warning.) "I would absolutely love to let Inoichi know everything I know. Everything. I am unsure, though, if he would be willing to report any of that back to you once he knows exactly the 'guard' and 'care' you are planning to put his friend's son right back under if you retrieve him, and how very lacking it is."

The benevolent grandpa faced fluttered to the ground. "Ibiki..."

"Is not a Yamanaka." Kakashi cut across the Hokage's words harshly. "Nor a veteran of the second and third war. Pitch him against an Hatake who has every reason to hold his Pack's secrets, and no particular fondness for him at his own risk. I'm sure that will make Inoichi even more happy with you than discovering exactly why I 'know nothing' of Naruto's current whereabouts. And where Ino goes... Shika-Cho does tend to follow."

Kakashi had been looking up Clans stuff since he found himself with a daughter who would inherit the Hatake name. It highlighted a fascinating set of possibilities for him, and had made him curious where the other hotspots of Clan Power were in Konoha. The answer was a resounding everywhere. The Village was incredibly young, after all. Ancestral power wasn't an archaic relic. It was 'grandma's time'.

(Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything about Inuzuka and their thing with children of their women at first, and had been in no state of mind to go digging since. Something to rectify soon.)

Hiruzen glared at him, fuming (not his pipe, the tabaco was entirely missing) for a few moments. The the mantle of the weary old man slid right back up. Was it a lie? or was the other old man he saw the lie? Kakashi didn't particularly care, honestly. "The Council..."

"The Council." Kakashi growled back. "Does not have Danzo in it anymore. As for the rest of the old meddling foggies. Why don't you spin a story that the Kyuubi, seeing how hateful our great village was to an innocent, three years old BABY. Decided to drag the poor child to... Wherever and raise him himself so he can get his revenge when he's grown? Ought to get some Kami-damned SENSE into their senile heads. Just in time to NOT treat the rest of Dear. Venerable. Such. A. Good. Friend. DANZO's LEGION of other Kidnapped and traumatized CHILDREN like THEY too bear the PLAGUE for something they were VICTIMS of? Something Done To Them. With Your Damn Permission!"

Hiruzen shrunk in front of Kakashi.

Maybe he was aiming for innocent and weary.

Kakashi saw WEAK. Saw UNWORTHY.

"Is Naruto safe?"

"More than he ever was under your 'Protection'." Kakashi sneered.

And then he turned away.

He had a daughter to monitor.

Her Chakra Exhaustion. And making sure she recovered fully from it, was much more important than helping an old hypocrite make excuses for his misdeeds.

And also. Kakashi had a much better target against whom to be furious and he was already getting ideas on how to make them pay for the inconveniences their existences and sins caused him.

Chapter 16: Uchiha interlude

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Fugaku watched his wife.

She had been just as startled, afraid, and angry as him, when Itachi woke them up, holding a toddler that wasn't Sasuke in his arms, and seriously informing them that someone he was pretty sure wasn't actually a stork had just broken into Sasuke-chan's nursery to gift them with a free second little brother.

After the flurry of frantic activity, Itachi had sulkily confirmed that, of course he had waited until not-stork left to come to their bedroom. He was a good big brother. But then he had easily fallen into report and told them everything he had seen and heard. Which was when Mikoto opened the letter that came with the surprise baby while Fugaku informed his eldest that if he ever caught anyone in his little brother's room, the very first thing he should do was to scream. As loudly as possible.

An unexpected drawback of Itachi being so brilliant and becoming genin so soon. Even after the recent traumatic death of one of his genin teammates right in front of him, Itachi still failed to consider calling for help.

Well, at least the boy nodded seriously at Fugaku's instructions.

And then Mikoto had gasped, eyes glued on the new baby. Fugaku took the letter to read it too while his wife lifted the toddler from Itachi's arms and aggressively cuddled it, cooing affectionately.

The letter said 'This child is yours to raise, according to his parents' will. He's a bastard Uchiha that Danzo grabbed during the Kyuubi attack and that you recovered on your own after the trash died. It is, after all, your prerogative and duty as Clan Heads to look after your orphaned Uchihas. You probably can even call him Naruto and say you named him that in remembrance to your godson that just mysteriously disappeared because of how sloppy his guards were. Most of the populace does not even know Naruto's name, just "demon child". I will not be admitting to anything. And trying to wrest an Uchiha-looking child from your custody at the moment would be political suicide. へへののもへじ'

Fugaku stared at the child-doodle of a face that... That was one of Hatake's lackadaisical signatures. One that was infuriating because of how utterly falsifiable it was. Any child who could draw hiragana could draw it. But in this case... It identified the sender while still being entirely possible to deny if intercepted by anyone.

Mikoto was busy wiping the boy's cheek, revealing three familiar whiskers under skin-toned makeup.

There would be absolutely no getting between her and that boy. Fugaku just knew it. He wisely bowed to the inevitable and resigned himself to the surprise baby acquisition.

Yes. Of course. He was Clan Head. Since they had apparently rescued an orphaned Uchiha bastard from Danzo's grasping, eye-stealing hands, and he was sure to be traumatized from spending three years under the corrupt Elder's very dubious care, it was his natural place to take the child in himself and raise him as a proud Uchiha.

The blue eyes... Came from his mother. Of course. And were why he would never awaken his sharingan.

Fugaku blinked and glanced at his wife again and swallowed.

But of course, he would be just as loved even without the kenkai genkai. They weren't monsters. Or Hyuugas.

They would definitely have to stay on top of the hair-dying, though.

There was another concern Hatake obviously hadn't thought of, though. One that hadn't been as pressing with two sons as it would become with three.

Mikoto... His wife had always wished for a daughter.

...

Oh, well.

Danzo was dead, his Clan's reputation was at an all time high. And it honestly wasn't like he was truly opposed to trying for more children. Mikoto was, after all, beautiful. (And she glowed when she was pregnant.)

Chapter 17: Baby Life

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Raiden woke up feeling like shit, and weak (even weaker than usual), with both mom and dad fussing on her, and Max whining in distress at her.

Right. The fucking magic knocked her out. She used too much, probably.

Her chest/belly (she was small and it was hard to distinguish) felt hollow and aching. And of course, her stupid little body did what it was programmed to do when it felt unwell. Wail like a banshee.

It was embarrassing, but the instincts were stronger than her control at the moment. And human baby instincts really seemed to center around crying.

No wait. There was another one that said 'hide', that she didn't think was very baby-human-standard. But that one seemed to think that 'hide' included cuddling with mom and dad.

Dad situated her on himself, tiny nose pressed into his neck, and humongous hand covering... Most of her back, from the top of her head to the middle of her back. Though his fingers were particularly insistent on the back of her neck.

Dad smelled particularly nice, in a relaxing, safe way that tended to put her right to sleep most of the time. Mom also smelled... safe, and loving (even if Raiden had no idea how anything could smell like either since these were concepts not real scents) but... A bit less strongly? Or at least in a different way and proportion.

Anyway, dad's smell and heavy hand helped her tiny body calm down and shift from high, loud wails down to pathetic little whimpering whines of 'things hurt and I don't like it'.

Mom, Dad, Auntie Tsume and Aomaru all gently cooed and handled her gently. They all looked, sounded and smelled sad and pitying, but only a little worried. Which told Raiden that they knew what the problem was and were expecting her to recover fine.

Her little body quickly tired itself out simply from the crying, and she fell back asleep, aching and miserable.

 

She felt sickly for a couple of weeks, though it gradually improved all along.

Her caretakers didn't stop worrying, though. Once her health was no longer a pressing concern, they started watching her like hawks. And discussing how they could possibly get her to not 'use chakra' Raiden concluded that it was what they called the magic. Pretty unsurprising, seeing as they talked something a lot like Japanese. Magic and Energy had similar meanings.

Her starter pack of Japanese knowledge from her past life was really useful. Even if she hadn't been fluent, it gave her enough of a start to grasp what her people said.

And her parents spoke a lot about how bad things could get for her if she didn't refrain from using magic until a much more reasonable age. (Between three and six, apparently.)

Well, since she knew the very real risks from overhearing them, she was going to refrain from futzing around with magic (it wasn't magic, it was... Life force, if she understood the adults correctly. Life force that her body needed to... live). But the Adults didn't know that she knew, and they were stressing out watching her every instant, looking for any sign of her using chakra again so that they could... dissuade her.

She wasn't sure how they would do that, and neither were they. She frankly doubted they would hit her. But then again, seeing how dangerous a repeat would be, she couldn't blame them if they resorted to bodily punishment out of desperation. Actual babies didn't have the logic centers to understand a lecture, and creating a negative association was the easiest, and most reliable form of training for what they needed.

The thought of potentially making her unable to use chakra due to early trauma linked with it's use seemed to really distress dad.

Frankly, their distress was reassuring. She knew that they loved her it was evident in they soft touches and the care that permeated every interraction. But witnessing everyone's worry, how they hated the thought of using hard discipline so soon but were resigned to use it anyway in order to keep her safe... It said good things for the long term. For when she was no longer tiny and cute.

(Auntie Tsume convinced everyone that a very small swat to the nose and a firm no and frowny face should do the trick, with enough repetition. Which was even more reassuring. By then, she wasn't very surprised to see that the prospect of treating her like a naughty puppy reassured everyone in it's familiarity. Her new Family had a thing with dogs. Not that she was complaining. It got her Max back.)

In any case, it left her with two options. Using chakra again a few time to let them 'train her out' of it, or... Not using chakra again. Which might make them stress out over not knowing that she had learned her lesson the first time.

The dilemma occupied her thoughts while she recovered.

In the end, an opportunity presented itself on it's own.

Someone came to talk to dad while she was on him (in only her diaper, once more), and after looking down at her and the pile of babies and dogs around him for a moment, he brought his hands together.

She felt Dad's energy moving, coiling and... Oh.

She slapped him. Weakly, since she had puny arms, but imperiously, and cried a loud "no!" then started crying.

After the initial confusion and panic, the adults got a clue. Raiden kept slapping people and getting upset if they were about to use a lot of chakra. It made the adults in her life happier.

Chapter 18: Scorched earth

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Kakashi wasn't sure there even were words to describe how relieved he'd been when Raiden slapped him and gotten upset at him for trying to make a shadow clone when he'd been called for a pre-mission brief and decided a clone could do it as well as he could.

Well, not immediately. Right then, he'd been worried because she was crying. But after...

Raiden didn't like him using a lot of chakra because she knew that using chakra up could be bad. His cub was so incredibly smart! She had worked it out for herself! And she was trying to protect him! Him!

It was really difficult to bring himself to actually leave for that mission afterward.

But... The mission was also so very convenient.

He had spent the last couple of weeks plotting and gathering intel. It was time to actually make his move. And an iron-clad Alibi like 'I was on a mission on the other side of the Land of Fire'...

Kakashi chuckled as he made two shadow clones before heading out to the Village gates. If everything went well, he would come back home to such glorious chaos!

 

 

Being a clone was a strange feeling. Of course, as a clone, it tended to be the normal state of things. But shadow clones had their maker's memories and goals in them when created. It was what made them so useful. And that was also what provided a reference frame for how weird it was to be a clone.

Though philosophical musings on the meaning of being wasn't a priority. The first order of business for him and the other clone was henge. They only worked as an alibi if no one saw an extra Kakashi strolling around once the original was gone.

There was a thing about the combination of shadow clone and henge that no one really thought about. Another point in their advantage for succeeding in their operation undiscovered.

The Henge normally only spread a thin coat of chakra over top of a person, and manipulated that chakra to take on a new appearance. Flesh, after all, was tricky to manipulate.

Shadow clones, though, had absolutely no flesh. Only chakra. It meant that with the correct manipulation, with the right merging in, the henge could be made to change the actual structure of the clone rather than just it's appearance. It took a lot of concentration, so it wasn't useful in combat situations. But for what they were planning... The possibility of changing their own forms to a point where even a Hyuuga wouldn't be able to tell their true identity was critical.

The question of what form and tenketsu networks to adopt for their little operation had taken boss some deep thinking. They didn't want to implicate any innocents. But neither did they want to get caught right-away.

In the end, they had decided to split the difference. The outward appearance and the tenketsu network didn't have to match. Only Hyuugas saw tenketsu networks, after all. Plus, Kakashi didn't see tenketsu networks. The only way for them to know one was to use one that had been registered to serve as advanced identity proof. And there was one tenketsu network identification form Kakashi had been able to get his hands on easily enough. Side effect to the person it was on being dead.

It took them a while accurately mimic Minato-sensei's chakra network. Once that was done, the physical change was only a formality

One of them turned into the form of a civilian woman. Not any particular civilian woman, just a middle-aged woman with no particular characteristics. The other compressed it's chakra into a ten years old's body that looked like the woman.

There. They had made themselves all but invisible. That was a security breach on the part of the village, how they didn't pay much attention to civilian mothers, but in this case, it was being useful.

The hardest part of the mission was to not get distracted by the proximity of their cub and heading right to the Inuzuka Compound.

But they had revenge on their mind, and that was enough to push the parental need back. And the Inuzuka could, at least, be trusted with Raiden's wellbeing. Even if Kakashi was still sore about the custody thing. The Clan cared. Deeply. And his cub already having picked a ninken partner for herself only made them treasure her more. It was proof, as far as they were concerned, that she was theirs. (She was, but she was also his. Theirs. Kakashi's.)

Normally, they would either inconspicuously loiter around their target, or get into position and wait, immobile and hidden until the time to strike came. But... Hyuugas. It only took one looking in the right direction for long enough for their cover to get busted. They could only get into position once it was already time to act. No suspicious activity until then.

They went to a child park and the clone that looked like an adult started reading a book on how to raise a precocious child while the child one went to try and play with the ankle-bitters. Hopefully it would give them some Intel on how to best interact with Raiden. Children were so weird, and their original hadn't bothered to try and understand them when he was still a pipsqueak himself.

When they sky darkened, they left the play area (child-clone hadn't managed to make any 'friends' quite the contrary, actually) and strolled, hand in hand , across Konoha.

They 'passed by' the Hyuuga compound on their way. That was when they disappeared under heavy genjutsu and ANBU-level stealth.

Time to strike.

The two clones unsealed their brushes and fuuinjutsu ink and carefully skirted the guards.

The Kumo 'peace' delegation was in Konoha, which made the guard heavier than usual. It was, in a way, riskier to implement their plan at the moment. But it also meant that the Hyuuga wouldn't be able to make too big of a stink if (when) they succeeded. Best pretend it was their own idea, after all.

It had taken a lot of sneaking and spying to prepare this mission. And more thinking deeply about the intricacies of fuuijutsu than Kakashi ever liked to do. But they had managed to watch the Caged Bird seal be applied on a child (the Clan Head's own nephew) and copy it with their sharingan.

Some studying later, they had determined that it took specific command and seed seal to activate the torture component of any marked Hyuuga's seal. But, interestingly enough, the Caged Bird seal itself made it's bearer unable to trigger the torture component on any other seals, no matter if they used to have the seed seal to activate it before being marked. A sensible precaution. Probably implemented to allow the Clan Head and Council to punish someone who was overusing the seal for their own benefit.

In any case, it was very useful for their purpose.

The two clones split up and started hunting.

It was late enough for all the Main Branch Hyuugas to be at home, but not for all of them to be asleep. As planned, they started with the early sleepers. Lower danger target. They converged every thirty minutes to update each-other on their progress, so if one dispelled, the other would know what was left to do.

Two hours in, and all the easy targets had been sealed. It left the Main Branch Members who weren't isolated that late at night to deal with.

In a way, even with how horrible it was to think so, it really helped that there were so very few Hyuugas in the unsealed Main Branch. It meant they had fewer target.

The Kakashi-clone came together and went to find the last few targets. The ones who weren't alone, the ones who knew how to fight. Good thing most of these were way past their prime.

 

 

Hyuuga Hiashi gave them a hard time, but they managed to subdue him and knock him out without raising alarm, and one of them knelt over his prone form to draw the slavery seal on his bared brow.

 

 

The last stop was one they weren't the most happy with. But... If they left the little princess the only one of the 'legitimate' Main branch unsealed, it was way too likely that she would immediately get pressured into torturing her Clan Members at the entitled old assholes' behest. Three years olds weren't built to resist brainwashing.

It was kinder to her to remove the possibility.

With no one to 'hold the leash', the Hyuugas would re-regulate themselves.

Or the Main Branch would commission a way to remove the seal from themselves. And Kakashi would then happily steal the counter-seal and spread it to all corners of the disgusting slavery-based Clan's compound.

 

 

They were carefully activating the seal on the young Hinata when a breeze blew into her bedroom, alerting them to the opening window.

The clone on guard immediately sprung into action.

Even with the assailant (kidnapper?) taken off guard, the first clone got dispelled in the scuffle. But he had managed to disable one leg on the infiltrator (assassin?), and bought enough time for the other one to finish applying the Caged Bird to the young child.

The remaining Kakashi-clone jumped into the fight.

It was Kumo's Head Ninja! The leader of the 'peace talks'. Came to steal a Doujutsu.

But...

Killing him outright was dangerous, even if he was blatantly deserving of it. Kumo would absolutely lie their ass off and pretend Konoha had killed him without reason if he died. Who knew what Kumo's Plan-B was?

Though. No Body No Proof.

Kakashi-Clone surged around the man's guard and severed his throat.

Then he grabbed the closest bit of paper in the little girl's room and drew a corpse-storage seal on it, and sealed the body in it. He then stowed the bit of paper and carefully gathered the still sleeping princess.

Once Hinata was safely nested next to her insensate father, Kakashi-clone went back to the small bedroom and called up his most powerful Katon Jutsu. If the room went up in flame, the blood would disappear.

It took some fancy maneuvering to get back out of the Compound, as the burning section of the Clan Head's house had woken it up.

A good thing that the henge was still in place. And that the Hyuugas had other priorities than chasing him down.

 

 

Once well away from the Clan Compound and Konoha, the clone selected a deserted clearing, set the corpse not-scroll down and used the last of his chakra to thoroughly incinerate the remains of Kumo's head-ninja.

The destroyed seal belching out it's content in several chunks as it's dimensional workings got disrupted helped speed up the burning process.

It took a lot of control to direct every last dredge of the clone's chakra into the burning jutsu, but Kakashi wasn't called a genius for nothing.

When the construct finally failed and the Clone stopped being, the only thing special about his chosen clearing was a circle of charred earth.

Chapter 19: Gossip

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Kakashi felt very smug from the moment his second clone dispelled and brought with him the complete memories of his mission. (He had been a little concerned when the first one dispelled with Hinata-chan still in danger).

After finishing his own, official mission, he made his way back to Konoha, gave his report and headed straight for the Inuzuka Compound to see his cub. It was important to stick to his usual routine after what he had done. (Also, nothing was more important than go and cuddle his perfect baby.)

Frankly, he was being a bit over-cautious. No one had any reason to suspect him of wanting to mess with the Hyuuga. He didn't have a reason to.

"A Warring Clans Era reason! There is no reason to keep it this absolu-"
"Hyuugas."

Was it petty to go and wreck the entire power structure of a Clan because their existence was part of the reason why he couldn't argue with the Inuzukas about Raiden's custody?

Yes.

Yes it was.

But it felt really damn good.

Someone had to do something about the Hyuuga Clan anyway. Might as well be him.

If Minato-sensei was looking over him, Kakashi hoped that he was proud. If not of the reason for his stunt, at least for it's result.

(He didn't yet know the results. He doubted anyone would fully know the results for at least a few years. Konoha didn't stink of blood to high-heaven yet, so the newly freed Branch Hyuugas hadn't killed the entire Main Branch yet...)

Kakashi had a good, long nap with his daughter and whichever two or four legged child the Inuzukas saw fit to set down on him.

Only then, did he head back out to look for gossip.

The best place to gather gossip was the Jounin lounge. At least so long as he wasn't looking for the ANBU gossip.

The Hyuugas had closed their Compound down tight. Because of the fire in their little princess' room. (that's what they said, but the gossip mill was already doubting the real reason was different.) the Compound was buzzing and swarming like a kicked anthill.

Not even the Hokage had been allowed in. (That might have been different if the Hokage wasn't suffering from a major fall from grace because of the Danzo situation...)

The Kumo delegation was up in arms about the disappearance of their Head Ninja, but there was no trace of him anywhere, and their demand to search the Hyuuga Compound for proof had been shut down hard by Shikaku, who had answered to the demand by asking if they were implying they had anything to do with the arson of the Heiress' nursery.

The Kumo delegation was making noises about reneging on the peace treaty, but as there was no proof that their Head Ninja hadn't just used the opportunity of being far from home to desert with a head start, it was likely they would relent. Or at least go back home without signing and then send another peace delegation later on.

That could be a problem. Konoha was essentially waiting for the war to be officially done with Kumo to tackle the transfer of power to a new Hokage. Not that there was a clear replacement ready yet. So... Well, there was still time.

The suspiciously named new bastard orphan the Uchiha Head Family had adopted was a quiet little rumor. A whispered one. The Jounins were still loyal of Minato's legacy and most seemed relieved at the possibility of Naruto having been relocated into a loving family, with Kushina's best friend as his new mother.

Kakashi only knew that much because someone had discreetly asked him if he knew anything. Kakashi answered with no-comment.

Which was almost a confirmation, because everyone knew he wouldn't be relaxing in the Jounin Lounge listening to the gossip if he didn't know his sensei's son was safe.

The conversation then turned to what congratulation gifts they should give the 'new parents' in celebration of their new son. It warmed Kakashi's heart to see so many of his colleagues jump on the opportunity to spoil Naruto as soon as the orders not to have any contact with him didn't apply.

Kakashi deemed himself caught on on the gossip and went to the archive to requisition a copy of the Inuzuka Clan's Founding agreements.

With the Hyuuga Clan dealt with, and with his blood no longer calling for revenge quite as loudly, it was time to look exactly what recourse he had as far as his rights to Raiden were concerned.

Chapter 20: Clan Laws

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Tsume hummed to herself as she led Tachimaru to the nursery. The middle-aged ninken had volunteered to try and bond with Hatake. Tsume dearly hoped that it worked out. It was always heartbreaking when any Inuzuka outlived their partner, ninken or human. And for all the Kakashi couldn't replace Shintou, he could be a patch on Tachimaru's loneliness.

Well. And also, Tachimaru might serve as a bribe. The Ninken was, of course, aware of that. He had decided that being considered a worthy bribe by an Hatake was flattering enough.

She stalled a moment at seeing the thick sheaf of photocopied sheets Kakashi was holding, highlighter chakra-stuck to his forehead (Raiden seemed to think that this much chakra use was amusing rather than worthy of a scolding, her giggling was adorable).

Tachimaru trotted to the topless man's side and found a place to curl up by his side, only pushing two puppies out of his way in the process.

Tsume approached more slowly, noting the firm, steely look Kakashi gave her.

She saw why when her eyes scanned over the text. She recognized these words. These terms.

"Looking for loopholes?" She asked genially.

Kakashi didn't answer, instead lifting an ancient scroll from somewhere near his thigh and visibly comparing the clauses. Oh, Hatake mon. He was looking if his own Clan had made any arrangements that could be considered of equal priority to the Inuzuka ones.

"Not sure you'll find anything, kid." Tsume huffed. "Also, you won't find the arrangements for fatherly rights in the original treaty with Konoha. We only added them in later on."

Kakashi froze solid, his dark eye snapping to her with almost predatory intent.

"I remember where the updated Clan Laws on adopted and partially adopted members are archived." She smiled. "I'll get them for you, alright. That way you can read it over and check for fine print." She started turning around, then stopped and turned back to the frozen Hatake. "Right. I came to introduce you to Tachimaru." She pointed to the ninken, who gave a small yip at being addressed. "He's interested in getting to know you. And Raiden."

She stepped out of the nursery to the sound of the lanky, spotted dog greeting Kakashi.

Swinging by the archive, she grabbed the scroll detailing Clan Law update and then she made a detour by her office to get a copy of each adoption form options.

It seemed that Hatake had finally simmered down enough to actually listen to their adoption pitch.

She was probably the only person in Konoha that had suspicions about the whole Hyuuga thing.

But...

Hatake not being willing or able to think straight while he perceived a threat to his child wasn't a stretch. And his getting his ass in gear to contest the Inuzuka's sole custody right after the Hyuuga Compound closed down for mysterious reasons...

Looked like Kakashi had just blown up some steam. And considering that the Yondaime's son mysterious disappearance hadn't been enough to get Hatake back on track, Tsume doubted it was only a courier mission that had relaxed him.

Heh.

So long as she had no proof she wasn't required to report anything.

She sidled back into the nursery and handed the dry Clan Law scroll to their prospective new member.

Hatake straightened a bit to accept it, frown evident on his covered up face. His off hand was still gentle on Raiden's back.

Raiden looked at Tsume with unwavering, intelligent eyes. Tsume winked down at her.

Kakashi squinted at the old parchment for a few minutes. "Wait. This says... Adoption. You... I adopt myself as her father? I'm already her father."

"Not by law. Our Founding agreements with Konoha makes sure of that. This makes you her father in the eyes of law. I'm sure I told you so when we came back from the hospital." Tsume pointed out.

Kakashi squinted, obviously trying to recall the things he had initially filtered out.

Tsume snorted. "Okay, so this old text is horribly obtuse to parse out, so let me give you the short version, then you can look through to confirm." Tsume huffed, grabbing a few pillows and making herself comfortable on the floor. "Adopting yourself into the Clan as her father can be done in various steps of integration depending on how involved you want to be with us, and what Clan advantages you're looking to get. It runs from an honorary position to a full integration."

Kakashi nodded slowly, eyes flicking from her to the scroll.

"In any case, any rights you would get over Raiden would be only as an Inuzuka, not as whichever other identity you may retain. That means, if we're talking about anyone else, that the father can't make decisions that have root on their birth family. Can't take a child to their ancestral home without our authorization, nor draft up marriage contracts or apprenticeships on the orders or for the benefit of their birth family. That kind of thing. When interacting with our pup, an adopted father is seen as only Inuzuka, and as such, can't go against Inuzuka Clan Laws."

Kakashi slowly nodded. "And so you can countermand me."

Tsume made a so-so hand gesture. "As an Inuzuka, your rights are equal to Miyu's and mine, which means that if we both disagree with you, then it's us who get the say. If you and Miyu want something I disagree with, then you get the say. If Miyu was to die before Raiden is major, then her third of the authority either goes to her ninken partner, if he survives her, to a previously named guardian, or to the Clan Council. I only get to unilaterally countermand you if you go against the spirit or the letter of Inuzuka Clan Laws."

Hatake stalled, looking for her to Raiden and back.

Tsume huffed and handed the various adoption forms over to him. "There, look these over too. Tachimaru, Miyu or Manae can tell you the Clan Laws so you can make an informed decision." She got up and headed for the door. Only to pause in the middle of it once more and turn around. "In case it was not obvious enough: we would love to call you a full clansman of ours. And if you pick one of the more involved options, Tachimaru would like to be your partner."

Raiden giggled and clapped her hands with happy little "ta ta. Ta tou!" sounds.

Notes:

translation for "ta ta. Ta tou!": Dad, don't be an idiot and take the dog

Notes:

You're definitely welcome to help me with what tags I should add in the comments!