Kakashi scowled at his daughter's erstwhile teammate, teeth grinding as he and the Suna jounin disappeared in a puff of white smoke. A cursory glance with his Sharingan assured him that all other opponents were down, and he leapt into the air, rushing to the roof top where his Kage was last seen fighting within a barrier erected by Oto-nin. He wasn't the only one—Guy, Genma, Kurenai, Ibiki, and Jiraiya himself were there, among others. They all lingered outside a giant tangle of trees, exchanging low words and unconsciously grouping together into identifiable team formations. The sound of fighting still filled the air, but it was distant and subdued. The invasion would be coming to an unsuccessful end any moment now, he was sure.
"Ah, Hatake-taichou! A moment, please!"
He turned to face a masked Anbu, the shorter man looking oddly nervous. "Hmm? What is it?"
Mah, he sounded as tired as he felt. He'd need to cover his eye again, soon, or he'd be down for the count.
"Sir, it's about Hanako Hatake."
Suddenly, he wasn't tired at all, a cold energy pooling in his gut and spreading through him faster than his sensei's Hiraishin. Hanako. Where was Hanako? She'd been right beside him in the stadium at the invasion's onset, but he'd lost track of her in the ensuing chaos. She wasn't among those affected by the genjutsu, and she hadn't gone with the team he'd sent after Gaara—though, given how close they apparently were, that might have been a good idea. It's possible she had another objective he knew nothing about, but why would an Anbu tasked with protecting the Hokage be telling him about her?
"What about my daughter?" He asked with a smile that was as much as mask as the cloth on his face, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
The other man shrank under the weight of his gaze. "A-ah, taichou, about that...She used her summoning jutsu to bring the Raikage inside the barrier. She went with him and sent her ninken to bring some of us inside, as well, but the summoning was disrupted before we could use it. I'm worried she may have been injured after we lost sight of her in the Mokuton forest."
What.
The Anbu physically recoiled, whole body wrenching itself away from Kakashi as a wave of killing intent rolled off of him.
"Hmm? I'm sorry, I don't think I heard that right. It sounded like you said a group of Anbu just sat back and watched as an eleven year old girl entered a combat zone with a foreign Kage, but there's no way that could be right. No one could possibly be that stupid."
A hand fell on his shoulder, shifting his focus, and his rage, onto Shikaku Nara. The taller man's expression was grim, new scratches standing out on his weathered skin. "Kakashi, that's enough. We need to talk."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait," he said gruffly as he brushed the Jounin Commander's hand off. "I need to find my kid."
"Kakashi, the Hokage is dead."
He froze mid step, heart clenching in his chest for the second time. How had they confirmed that when they were all still outside? A Hyuuga, most likely, but a formal authentication was surely in order. Not sensing his chakra and not finding a pulse were two different things.
"We need to discuss a course of action before we go in there," the Nara was saying, tone weary but eyes sharp. "The Raikage may have fought on our behalf—and I'm getting reports that his younger brother helped out, elsewhere—but we can't present ourselves as a village without a leader to a potential hostile. Most of the Clan leaders are here, so we're going to hold an emergency vote regarding an interim Kage before we go in there." He scratched the back of his head with a quite sigh. "I get it, you know. There's nowhere I'd rather be than wherever that lazy brat of mine is, but this is where I'm needed. It won't take long—emergency votes never do."
He was right, of course. He almost always was. There was a part of Kakashi that knew he should obey, that Shikaku was the highest ranking officer in the village now that the old man was gone, but none of that mattered in the face of his kid's wellbeing.
"Just throw my vote in with yours," he said over his shoulder as he turned his back on the growing crowd. "I need to find my kid."
He leapt into the tangle of living wood, the trees looping in and around each other in an oppressive display of power. Immediately, Tenzo's Mokuton came to mind. The Anbu had called it Mokuton, hadn't he? The sickening realization that others might have survived Orochimaru's experiments overtook him.
"Wait up, brat," a voice called from behind. "I'm going with you."
Kakashi didn't stop, but he did slow, just a little. Jiraiya of the Sannin leapt after him, coming to run abreast of him in little time. The older shinobi ran beside him in silence, not even commenting as Kakashi scented the air through his mask, latching on to his kid's trail and following it like the tracker nin he was.
"You know," Jiraiya said as they made their way deeper into the knot of trees. "Your kid came to see me not too long ago."
No, he actually hadn't known that. Guilt rose up in him as her words from the Exam echoed in his memory. Had that only been a few hours ago?
"She was asking for a seal mastery," the Sannin continued, oblivious to his turmoil. "I have to say, she's pretty good."
Yeah, she was, wasn't she. He smiled a bit under his mask. "So? Did you give it to her?"
The older man huffed. "Of course, not! I'm not some push over. I told her I'd give her a proper test after the Exams—and if she passed them."
"If? Excuse you, Jiraiya-sama, but my kid would've made chunin, hands down."
A single white eyebrow rose in response. "Is that so?"
"Yeah."
He smiled broadly at Kakashi, the expression revealing deepset dimples not unlike his kid's. "Hah! If only Minato were here to see this—his most ornery student, a proud papa!"
As embarrassing as that statement was, his sensei's name had him sobering. "Yeah, he'd probably get a kick out of this, huh?"
"He'd have spoiled that girl rotten," Jiraiya affirmed with a nod and a faraway look. "Just like you've probably done, am I right?"
"How cute."
Kakashi closed his mouth, turning in place to look up at the person who'd spoken where they stood in the canopy. The Raikage glared down at them, arms crossed over his bare chest. There were a myriad of scratches on his dark skin, the scent of them only just reaching Kakashi's nose.
"Yo," he said, raising a hand as he slipped into his customary slouch. "Glad to see you're alive."
The Kumo nin sneered in obvious, if subdued, contempt. "Wish I could say the same about old Sarutobi."
Something told Kakashi that was the closest the village would get in terms of condolences.
He risked a glance at Jiraiya. The taller man was grim faced as he looked up at A, but seemed otherwise unaffected by the callous reference to his teacher.
"The village will miss him," Kakashi said in reply, going for brevity over wit. "In his stead, please allow me to apologize for the situation you've been forced into. Involving you in our affairs like this was never our intention."
A smirked. "Hah. It was that little girl's idea. I wouldn't even be here if she hadn't promised a fight with the God of Shinobi, himself."
"Speaking of little girls," Jiraiya jumped in, placing a warning hand on Kakashi's back. "We happen to be looking for one. Short, brown hair, a mask like his?"
A looked at Kakashi for a long moment, then threw his head back and laughed. "So, that brat was Kakashi of the Sharingan's kid? No wonder she had such guts! Incredible."
Was?
"Do you know where she is, or don't you?"
A met Kakashi's glare head on, smile never fading. "Nope."
Kakashi growled lowly in his chest, his chakra amplifying the sound. Jiraiya's grip on his shoulder tightened, grounding him through the tide of rage.
"If you'll excuse us," the Sannin said airily. "We need to find her. Another group of shinobi should be coming in, after us. Our interim Kage should be with them."
The insufferable man nodded with a grin and launched himself through the trees back the way they'd come.
"Come on, let's go find your kid."
Kakashi lead the way, his nose telling him bits and pieces of a story he wasn't sure he wanted to hear. Blood. Lots of blood. He didn't want to admit it was hers, but the severed arm, still clutching a sealing scroll, forced him to accept it. He stood, stock still, as Jiraiya picked up the appendage and stored it away, unrolling the seal with an impressed expression.
"Woah, this is complicated stuff. She had a plan, at least."
That was not comforting.
He pulled his mask down and scented the air again, ignoring Jiraiya's wide eyed assessment of his face. "This way."
His kid was laying on her stomach, wrapped around a thick branch just ten or so feet above the roof they stood on. Her hitai ate was missing and her brown hair hung over her face in wild ringlets made solid by sweat and blood. Red liquid pooled beneath her, the plink plink plink of dripping blood almost enough to drive Kakashi mad. It was a clean injury, at least, but that was the only silver lining he could find.
Gently, ever so gently, he rolled her over. Her face was bruised, and her clothes stained, but as far as he could tell she had only the one wound. She didn't react when he pulled her into his arms and stood, her bare face pale and drawn. How long had she been down there? Why had she been there at all? He knew she was smarter than that, so why?
"Kakashi," Jiraiya's dark eyes were sad. "Get her out of here. I need to find the old man."
He didn't need to be told twice. Careful of the child in his arms, he leapt through the forest again, his urgency offset by her injuries. Was the hospital still standing? If it was, would her case even register as an emergency? He had no idea what had gone on outside the arena, but it couldn't have been good if Killer Bee had really involved himself.
The sound of people caught his attention and he made to avoid them. He didn't have any time to waste.
"Kakashi!"
Damnit.
He let himself be pulled to a stop by Hana Inuzuka, her ninken greeting him with soft chuffs and yips. She looked up at him with a worried scowl which only deepened when she caught sight of Hanako's arm. Singular.
"Well, shit," she said bluntly. "I was supposed to make you come with, but I'm not sure I want to. That's a serious injury."
Yeah. He knew that. The green glow of healing chakra settled his nerves a bit, her hands wrapping around the stump below his kid's elbow gently.
She had the grace to look apologetic. "Look, Kakashi, I hate to do this to you, you know I do, but I think it might be for the best if you give her to me. I'm a medic, so she'll be fine with me, and you're..." She trailed off, gaze lowered.
"I'm what?"
She huffed. "You're the interim Kage. It was decided in a vote, like, two seconds ago. Nara-sama said you'd tied your vote to his."
Ah. So that's how it was. Hmm.
"Mah," he said with patently false cheer. "Just like a Nara to hand off the job, like that."
Hana placed a glowing hand on his kid's face, healing the bruises before his eyes. "That's what ma said."
Ah, yes. Tsume. She'd probably give him hell about this, once everything died down.
Damn you, Shikaku.
"Fine," he spat. "Take her to the hospital and don't let her out of your sight. She'll crawl through the vents if she thinks it's an option."
She smirked up at him. "Sounds like she takes after you."
Yeah. A little too much.