Shinobi Isekai!

It Really Was

Kakashi knocked on the door to room 304, rolling his neck with a sigh. His superiors hadn't been happy to hear he'd abandoned a mission before really starting it, but he'd meant it when he told Itachi it wasn't time sensitive. Another team was now investigating the river where the kid and her mother had been found, keeping an eye out for any pursuers. Meanwhile, the dead woman's body was being examined for any clues her attackers might have left behind. The kid would need to undergo some serious tests, as well as an examination by Analysis to make sure she wasn't a potential threat to the village, but she'd probably be adopted out to a family there in Konoha once everything settled down.

The door slid open, revealing a slightly harried doctor.

"Ah," she said with a wan smile. "Hatake-san. Please, come in."

He nodded politely to her and stepped into the room, only to stop in his tracks. The kid sat shirtless on the examination table, body riddled in bruises and swaddled in tattoos. She looked at him with bottomless black eyes, a small smile bringing life to her too serious face.

"You're back!"

He forced himself to express an ease he didn't feel. "Yo! How's it going?"

Her smile widened, revealing straight, white teeth. "Good! The doctor says I can go, now."

Kakashi tossed a glance at the doctor, who nodded. "She'll have to come back tomorrow for some other tests, but, for now, she's good to go."

"That's great, kid," he hefted her off the table and onto his hip. "What do you say we go get something to eat?"

She pulled her shirt over her head, hiding most of her bruises and tattoos under pale green fabric. Jumping to the ground with a comically high-pitched grunt, she turned to Itachi. "You wanna come?"

Itachi's face softened into a gentle smile. "Thank you, but no. I need to give my own report, and my family is waiting for me."

She nodded sagely. "Ok, get home safe."

Kakashi reached out a hand for hers and led her from the room and down the hall, ignoring Itachi's curious glance. True, he wasn't much of a kid person, but he was one of the only people in the village she knew. He couldn't just leave her with strangers.

A realization struck him as they stepped out of the hospital into the night air. "Hey, kid, what's your name?"

She turned those black, black eyes back on him. "Hanako."

For some reason, the normalness of it surprised him. "That's a nice name."

She looked away, short brown curls bouncing with the movement. "It's really not."

His eyebrows raised on their own. "Oh?"

She sighed heavily and turned her gaze up to the stars. "It's not hana as in flowers. It's hana as in sorrow."

Kakashi looked up, too, a little guilty that his expectations had been met. "That's not so bad," he said a little haltingly. "No one has to know that. You're in a new place now, you can change it to flowers, if you like."

She looked down at her feet. "Maybe." Her voice was smaller than she was, but Kakashi still heard her. Abruptly, she tugged on his hand with a wide-eyed expression. "Where am I going to sleep, tonight?"

Kakashi's own eyes widened. "Ah!"

🐶🐶🐶

The next morning, Kakashi accompanied Hanako on the walk to the Hokage's office. He watched as she jumped on fallen leaves, crying out in victory every time they crunched. During their little sleep over at his place—approved by her doctor—he'd noticed how little she resembled other children her age. She was serious, articulate, and able to grasp fairly difficult concepts. He typically avoided children her age because they required constant care and supervision, but Hanako seemed more like a tiny adult than a kid. Watching her giggle now reminded him that she was very much a child.