Shinobi Isekai!

Dog Pile

Kakashi was having a bad day. A bad week, really, but today was the worst.

It started when Asuma was admitted to the hospital after a run in with Itachi Uchiha—who Kakashi was expressly forbidden from engaging, much to his chagrin. Gai had lamented the lack of actual combat, crying worryingly fat tears over Asuma's prone body as he was carried away. Then, someone came in to tell him that his kid had escaped the hospital. For a single, glorious moment, he thought she'd come out of her slump, that she'd come walking through the door to the Hokage's office and sigh reprovingly at him. Then, when it became clear that her escape was facilitated, by his other kid, no less, and that they'd immediately sped out of the village to gods knew where, that high plummeted into a gut wrenching worry. He wasn't stupid, naïve, or optimistic enough to think their impromptu vacation had nothing to do with the sudden arrival of another Uchiha in the village. His insides were tying themselves into knots, his every instinct demanding he pursue and bring the idiots back home and never let them leave the compound again. Certain people—the council, Clan Heads, and the Raikage—were all conspiring against him, however, keeping him all but chained to the Hokage's surprisingly plush chair with meaningless petitions he didn't actually have the power to oversee. If he were any less a trained professional, his leg would be bouncing with anxiety.

It was his fault, really. Being interim Hokage was such a convenient excuse—and a legitimate one, for once—to avoid his responsibilities. Of course, one of those responsibilities was a living person who was probably really upset with him for avoiding her. The last time he saw his daughter, she had just undergone emergency treatment. She lay in the hospital bed, too pale, too small, too quiet, her petrichor scent drowned out by the stench of antiseptics and foul medical concoctions. Looking at her, it wasn't too big a leap to imagine her laying on a metal table in the morgue, instead, to picture her name on the Memorial Stone, to see himself standing by it and running his fingertips over the unfortunate kanji that made up her name. The very idea had him fleeing the hospital with his tail between his legs, willingly burying himself in paperwork just to keep it from ever rising up in his brain again.

His cowardice stung, eating at him every time he spent more than two minutes unoccupied. Now, it was threatening to swallow him alive, nervous sweat beading on his forehead as he waited for two Sannin to come through the office doors.

Was it too late to escape? The window was open, a gentle breeze teasing him with the promise of freedom. He must have been too obvious, as Tenzou's chakra flared in the ceiling above him. Drat.

With a sigh, he slumped in his seat just in time for the door to burst open, Tsunade Senju storming into the room like the force of nature she was. She closed the distance between the doorway and the desk with quick strides, slamming her open palms on the old wood with enough force to shake it but nowhere near her full power. Her hazel eyes glared at him and he took a little pride in his lack of outward reaction. He smiled his usual sugar sweet smile, closing his one eye in the face of the Slug Sage's wrath.

"Yo, Tsunade-hime, it's been a while."

The older woman seethed, letting out a long, hissing breath. "Hatake. What the hell have you been teaching these brats?"

His eyebrows rose of their own accord. Looking past her, he noticed with a start that his two missing children were standing beside a grinning Naruto and a woefully put upon Jiraiya. Relief welled up in him at the sight of them, whole and unharmed, only to be dashed by the way Hanako avoided his gaze, ducking behind Sasuke and using the boy's superior height to hide from him.

Oh no.

The sight of her in Uchiha clothing certainly wasn't helping. The high collar hid her unmasked face, and he could recognize that Sasuke's options were probably limited when he busted her out of the hospital, but the reminder of her—non-Hatake—heritage was a kick in the gut. He shut his eyes, blocking out the unwelcome view, before turning back to Tsunade.