Shinobi Isekai!

System Failure

Hanako sat alone at her desk, staring at the bento—a real life bento!—Kakashi had packed for her. It was a sweet gesture, and one that she appreciated, but she found herself in a quandary.

How the hell was she supposed to eat with her mask on?

Kakashi had been surprised when she asked if she could wear one, but he'd supplied it without question. She was thankful. The first time she saw her face in a mirror without bruises or bandages, she almost screamed. The face in the mirror was the face in the water, reflected back at her with black, black eyes, pale freckled skin wet and glistening and dead. It wasn't her face. Not the one she remembered having. Not the one her real mother gave her. She didn't want to see it if she could help it—didn't want anyone else to see it.

Hence the mask.

The anime had never covered how Kakashi ate without exposing his face and Hanako had completely overlooked that when she left the apartment that morning. Normally—if anything could be considered normal anymore—she ate at home with Kakashi.

She sighed.

"Hey, new kid!"

Oh, boy.

She looked up at the taller girl, very much aware of the hush that had come over the classroom. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't expected to be confronted in some way, but not quite so soon.

"What's with the mask?"

The banality of the question surprised her, but Hanako answered honestly. "My dad wears one, too."

Her dad. Dad. Even now, months after officially joining the Hatake clan, that word gave her shivers. Mentally, she was probably older than her new father, and embarrassing memories of self indulging fanfiction would likely keep that word tainted for a very long time.

"Why?"

Hanako shrugged, not really certain, herself. Despite her debilitating crush on the man, she'd never cared about his mask beyond 'it looks cool'. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

The other child's face twisted in a sneer. "I bet you're both ugly."

Ha! As one of the few people alive to have seen her father's face, she could proudly attest that thirteen year old her had very good taste in men.

Eugh, she wasn't allowed to think like that anymore! Dad!Kakashi was not for ogling! Bad Hanako! Bad!

She shrugged, her lack of reaction visibly taking the wind out of her would-be bully's sails. "Think what you like."

The other kids in the classroom were beginning to lose intertest, turning back to their own lunches and conversations. Hanako herself was already thinking of how to eat when two little fists hit her desk with a bang.

"Ugly little kids shouldn't be in this class," the bully girl shouted, her face flushed with anger. "This class is for serious shinobi only!"

Hanako stared blankly at the panting child, thoroughly confused by the leap in logic. They were the center of attention again, though, and the bully seemed pleased by this.

"Wait," Hanako said slowly, choosing her words carefully. Mysterious rebirth aside, she was still the adult in the situation and she would like to avoid hurting a child's feelings if she could help it. "You're mad because I'm ugly and little?"

Someone snickered behind her and Hanako winced internally as the little girl flushed even brighter.

"You're too young to be in here," she huffed. "You'll just hold the rest of us back."