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Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE:

The Hatake were loyal.

It was why the clan joined Konoha– Senju Hashirama was the grandson of Hatake Mitsuki and when the Senju proposed their idea to rally the clans together, the Hatake had cautiously agreed to side with their kin.

That loyalty was also why Konoha was responsible for killing the clan– the Hatake were loyal, and once they gave the village their loyalty they fought to their last breath to defend it, throwing themselves between fallen packmates and any threat.

Kakashi was a Hatake born and bred, loyal to the village that had made a murderer of him before even his sixth birthday. War had only made the blood staining him soak too deeply into his skin to ever be scrubbed away, yet he never flinched from his duty. His village had turned him into a weapon and Kakashi had submitted to it, bowing his head and barring his throat to the Hokage, following his orders, letting hands that knew only death serve to protect his village, even when serving Konoha cost him everything he had ever cared for, ever loved, before even turning fifteen.

The Hatake were loyal and Kakashi was a Hatake and he was loyal.

And then the village threatened Fuyuko.

Konoha had his loyalty, but Fuyuko was Pack and Pack was what kept a Hatake alive.

When Kakashi lost his father, Minato had become his Pack; Minato, who was charismatic and clever and drew people to him; Minato, who may not have felt emotions the same way most people did, but who had claimed Kakashi as his without hesitation and had then treated him as such, housing him and training him, letting Kakashi scent him and borrow his clothes so he could curl up in the ink-sharp-cool scent that meant safety-home-pack.

When Minato had taken salt-fury-flames Kushina as his mate, Kushina who Kakashi once saw tear out an enemy nin's throat with her teeth and laugh as blood ran down her chin, who hugged him with tight, greedy hands and let him scent her without hesitation, who let him rest his ear against the curve of her stomach as it swelled with her cubs, she had become his Pack too.

Kakashi would have killed or died for either of them. Just as he would kill or die for their cubs, for Fuyuko and Naruto, without hesitation. The twins were his Pack now; he had claimed them as his from the moment Kushina's scent shifted to that milky-cub scent, and the twins had claimed him back, had called him Pack even before truly knowing him. They had his loyalty, beyond any other alive– beyond the Hokage, beyond Konoha, beyond all of his comrades, and Sarutobi had sent Fuyuko to die.

Kakashi would never forget that betrayal. That was the moment the loyal soldier Inu had died and there was nothing Konoha could do, nothing Sarutobi could do, that would ever bring their loyal hound back to heel. He owed them nothing and he would give them nothing. Not anymore. He was the last of the Hatake and now the Hatake had lost their loyalty to Konoha.

It was only the knowledge that Fuyuko was alive and the sense of responsibility he still felt for Tenzo, his kohai (his almost-Packmate), that kept Kakashi on-mission long enough to kill the onmyōji. It wasn't a clean kill. He was intercepted by an oniwaban after slitting the onmyōji's throat and the resulting fight was violet and bloody. The shōgun's agents were among the best, even if they would never be ranked in a Bingo Book and their blank masks made it difficult for the Hidden Villages to identify them.

However good the oniwaban was, Kakashi was better– and he was a Hatake fighting with the protective fury of the Pack. He defeated the oniwaban, killed them so they couldn't report back to the shōgun, then slaughtered his way through the Earth Daimyō's guards that had been summoned by the disturbance caused by the fight.

He left almost three dozen dead in his wake as he escaped the Daimyō's Palace, henging to hide the blood soaking through his armour to his skin– most of it from the dead, some his own.

His ANBU team met him outside the Earth capital city. It was on high alert and the gates had been locked down, so Kakashi had been forced to add the patrolling guards to his kills in order to escape the confines of the city. He didn't care, too accustomed to ending lives to be bothered by the body count.

"Hokage-sama isn't going to be happy," one of Team Ro observed, stiff and unhappy and not trying to hide it. Kakashi had been the only one to carry out the assassination– it had been a risk and outside of mission parameters. Only Tenzo had known that Kakashi planned to slip away to complete the mission ahead of schedule and not according to their careful plan of infiltrating the Daimyō's Palace without being caught.

A bloodbath was to be avoided at all costs.

Kakashi just didn't care.

"We're leaving," he told them. They were already packed, ready to go.

"Do you need healing, taicho?" Tenzo asked and Kakashi shook his head sharply. He could deal with his wounds when they'd put distance between them and the city.

Running hurt. It tugged on his cuts which still bled sluggishly and Kakashi was forced to grit his teeth through the pain, changing the bandages while still moving. He wouldn't let Team Ro stop, pushing further and faster. They didn't understand, he knew. He just didn't care. Every moment he was away from Konoha, he felt the fear within him grow, the wolfish part of him snarling and snapping its impatience and anger, tense and furious. Konoha wasn't safe for Fuyuko or Naruto, so he needed to be there, to protect his Pack.

After nearly three days of running without sleep, they arrived back at Konoha. Kakashi didn't even bother with the pretence of returning to the Hokage first to report on the mission. Instead, he veered straight for the Yūkaku, where Sarutobi had seen fit to house Minato and Kushina's children.

He didn't even think about how he would look; ANBU mask in place, armour soaked in blood as he scaled the steps of the apartment building. He just pushed the apartment door open, already searching for his cubs.

There were three children in the apartment. One of them was vaguely familiar; he had that faint crackling scent of all nin with a lightning affinity, and the dark hair, dark eyes and pale skin of an Uchiha. Kakashi noticed how his scent soured in terror and panic, but dismissed it, turning to the other two children.

Naruto was sunshine and salt and fox-musk; golden-bright and too-thin, but still smiling with bright, sharp teeth.

Next to him, Fuyuko was frost and fox-musk and flowers; all pale, wintry skin, her hair a spill of blood over the white tunic she was dressed in.

Fuyuko's eyes met his– the blue of deep, unsettling oceans to drown in– and then she was on her feet, darting across the room as he knelt, opening his arms. Fuyuko half-crashed into him, her face pressing against where his heart beat solidly in his chest. Her shoulders trembled slightly as he held onto her with tight, desperate hands, able to feel her shifting bones under his palms, the round shape of her joints, the shiver of her spine.

Naruto collided into Kakashi's other side, Kakashi shifting his grip on Fuyuko to open his arm just in time to hold him too; Naruto buried his face into the curve where Kakashi's neck met his shoulder, latching onto the skin there with his teeth, desperate little cub. Kakashi let out a quiet rumble, moving his hand up to the back of Naruto's neck to grip lightly, feeling as the small boy went boneless against him.

Kakashi stayed kneeling there for a long time, holding his cubs, breathing in their scent. They were alive, they were safe, they were his. He would protect them, he would keep them from harm.

The little Uchiha watched from the couch, legs curled up to his chest, dark eyes cautious and uncertain, though his scent had lost that sour fear from Kakashi's entry into the apartment.

It was Fuyuko who pulled away first.

"You're hurt," she said, and Naruto let out a panicked whine, pulling back from where his sharp teeth were still worrying at Kakashi's skin.

"Anija*?" he demanded, "are ya hurt?"

"I... might be," Kakashi admitted. Mostly because his vision was beginning to grey around the edges and he was so exhausted his hands were trembling and he'd stopped feeling any pain from his wounds a full day ago, which he knew was never a good sign.

He just couldn't bring himself to care. Not when he had his cubs in front of him.

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun, why don't you try and help anija clean up a bit?" Fuyuko suggested. "I'm going to go fetch Kabuto-kun."

Kakashi didn't recognise the name. He also growled slightly at the thought of Fuyuko leaving his sight but she sent him a sharp look, those deep, drowning-blue eyes as commanding as Minato's had been, and Kakashi found himself relenting almost immediately.

Watching her leave was still painful. It was only Naruto's presence, and the knowledge that of the two, Naruto was less able to defend himself, that held Kakashi in place.

The Uchiha– Sasuke, Itachi's little brother– didn't seem comfortable approaching him, which Naruto seemed to recognise as he instructed Sasuke to heat some water as he carefully helped Kakashi strip off his armour, now encrusted with dried blood, and rid himself of the ANBU mask. Kakashi wasn't bothered by his nakedness, years of being a shinobi had stripped any body shame from him, and Naruto didn't blink at it either, only frowning at his wounds before helping Kakashi into the shower. The water was cold, which made him hiss– both in anger at the landlord and at the temperature. He didn't stay under there long, only until the water draining at his feet ran from reddish brown to murky pink to clear. 

Some of the wounds had reopened under the spray of the water and Kakashi blinked tiredly as blood oozed down his skin, soaking into the towel Naruto offered him. He wrapped the towel around his waist after drying the best his weary limbs would allow and followed his cub back to the couch, sitting down heavily before pulling Naruto after him, so his cub was curled into his side. Naruto snuggled under his arm, making happy-cub sounds, and Kakashi could almost relax as he waited for Fuyuko to return.

When she did, it was with the stranger he assumed was Kabuto. Kabuto was a boy, older than her– by about five or six years, he'd guess. The boy had ash-grey hair and dark eyes half-hidden behind dark-rimmed glasses. He was smiling, but it was an empty smile, with no emotion behind it.

"Anija, this is my teammate from the Chūnin Exams, Yakushi Kabuto," Fuyuko introduced the boy. "Kabuto-kun, this is my older brother, Hatake Kakashi."

There was a certain possessiveness in Fuyuko's voice as she called Kabuto her teammate. Kakashi nodded slightly. He understood the deep bonds that could be formed in combat– particularly in a team that had been sent to die but had clawed their way to survival instead. He didn't doubt that Fuyuko and Kabuto had seen the worst of each other during their time in Kiri, and yet Fuyuko had brushed her hand against Kabuto's wrist during her introduction, and Kabuto glanced down at her in response, his empty smile softening into something more real as he did so.

"Anija, Kabuto-kun is a talented medic-nin," Fuyuko told him, "he can help you. Will you let him?"

As a rule, Kakashi didn't like medic-nins. Most of them were useless in combat and cost the lives of their teammates who had to defend them. He also hated how they treated shinobi in hospitals, as if their patients didn't have very real fears of being vulnerable around strangers, instead of just being difficult patients for the sake of being difficult. But Fuyuko trusted Kabuto; she had brought him into her home, where she and her beloved little brother lived, and now she was trusting him with Kakashi's health. 

If Fuyuko could place her trust in him, then Kakashi could bring himself to allow the medic-nin to heal his injuries.

He nodded once; short, sharp, and Kabuto approached slowly, clearly projecting each of his movements as his hands lit up with the gentle green glow of healing chakra. 

For all his youth, Kabuto was just as talented as Fuyuko had claimed he was. He calmly and concisely narrated to Kakashi each of his actions, requesting permission for every step of healing. His chakra was cool and slippery, almost; it slid under Kakashi's skin like a scalpel so sharp that his flesh split painlessly under its edge. It wasn't unpleasant and Kabuto's manner did more to set him at ease then most medic-nin ever managed. 

Kakashi wasn't surprised to hear that two of his ribs were cracked, or that several of his cuts had become infected. "It hasn't led to blood poisoning yet," Kabuto told him, "but another day and you'd be looking at a hospital stay."

Kakashi just nodded shortly.

It took Kabuto a little under an hour to finish healing him. When he finally stepped back, Kakashi could barely keep his eyes open.

"Your body is fatigued and sleep-deprived, and I'm prescribing at least a week of rest to recover from the infection, but otherwise you're healthy." Kabuto said. Kakashi dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement and Kabuto turned to Fuyuko. "I have to return to the hospital to finish my shift," he told her, "are we still on for dinner with Chiyoko-chan tomorrow?"

"I'll let you know," Fuyuko said and Kabuto nodded, giving everyone a polite smile before leaving the apartment, his footsteps as silent as any skilled shinobi. Naruto brought him a blanket and helped Kakashi tuck it around himself, leaning in to nuzzle his cheek against Kakashi's before returning to Sasuke's side. Kakashi waited then for Fuyuko to lock the door to the apartment and– much to his approval– activate a series of trap seals before gesturing for her to come over. Fuyuko's mouth quirked slightly but she still crossed over to him, crawling up onto the couch. Kakashi stretched out, pulling her down so she was curled up across his chest, and closed his eyes, finally allowing himself to fall asleep, knowing that his pack was with him and safe.

He wasn't sure how long he slept. It was a dreamless sleep, a rare event that only ever occurred when he had truly exhausted himself. He woke eventually to the sound of low voices and when he opened his eyes, it was to the sight of brilliant, vivid red hair, spilled out across his chest and neck.

"Morning," Naruto chirped, from over by the stove. Kakashi sniffed the air, turning his head to see the sunshine-bright blond standing with a frying pan, Uchiha Sasuke next to him, and Tenzo leaning against the wall. His kohai smiled slightly at him, the slant of his shoulders relaxed enough that Kakashi was confident the Hokage wasn't about to send an ANBU squad to break into the twins' apartment and drag him out to report on the colossal fuck-up of a mission.

Uchiha Sasuke's continued presence was interesting. He was standing very close to Naruto and now that Kakashi wasn't quite so single-mindedly focused on the twins, he could see that there were signs of a third person living in the apartment, from the extra pair of shoes by the door, to the addition of a photo of Uchiha Mikoto and Fugaku at the altar where before there had only been origami foxes, seashells and a rock with the kanji for 'four' carved into it, to the third sleeping mat, neatly rolled up with the other two.

Kakashi didn't doubt for a moment that Fuyuko would have told Sasuke the truth about Itachi. Even if she hadn't, he suspected he might tell the child himself. Itachi was one of his– not pack, but one of his kohais. A boy he'd taken in, much like he'd taken in Tenzo, to train and care for and keep alive. The idea of letting Itachi's pack hate him was sickening to Kakashi– it went against everything the Hatake stood for.

"Breakfast is ready!" Naruto announced. Fuyuko made a small noise from her place sprawled out across Kakashi's chest before pushing herself up, yawning as she slid off him to stand. Tenzo moved over to Kakashi, pausing only to gently reach out and squeeze Fuyuko's hand, smiling down at her.

"Here, senpai," he said, pulling a sealing scroll from his pocket. "I brought you clothes."

"Ah," Kakashi said, remembering he was still wrapped only in a blanket. "Thank you."

He changed in the bathroom into a jounin uniform he must have left at Tenzo's before joining everyone else again. There was no table to eat at, so they all sat in a circle on the floor, the bowls of fried eggs on rice balanced on their knees. Naruto happily chattered up a storm, coaxing answers from the rest of them as he spoke about everything from his interactions with the local yakuza to the senseis at the Academy to the upkeep of the shrine he and Fuyuko prayed at.

It was shockingly domestic, something Kakashi didn't remember experiencing since before that terrible night when Minato and Kushina had been ripped away from him, and he felt a tension he wasn't even aware of ease from his bones as he settled in, content to be surrounded by his pack.

~

Notes:

*'Anija' is the more archaic, formal form of 'elder brother, big brother'– like how Naruto calls Sansa 'Ko-ane', which is short for 'Fuyuko-aneue', the formal and archaic form of 'older sister', Sansa learned a lot of her manners from Kurama and Mito, and she's formal and old-fashioned like that, which she passed on to Naruto