Kakashi held his head in his hands, mind carefully blank as Tsume Inuzuka slid into the chair across from him. Distantly, he was aware of his kid's chakra in the next room. Pakkun and Momiji sat on the table, the latter looking rather wilted.

"So," he began, raising his head to meet the Inuzuka clan head's intense gaze. "Want to tell me why I can't take my kid?"

The woman snorted, crossing strong arms over her chest. "Don't play that game with me, Kakashi. You know damn well, why."

Yes, he supposed he did. Reading a report wasn't the same as being told, though, and he said as much.

Tsume sighed, suddenly looking just as worn as Kakashi felt. "The Yamanaka want her here until they can rule out any permanent trauma, same with the Uchiha brat. The dogs seem to be helping so," she shrugged. "That brat of yours is really something, though."

Kakashi smiled despite himself. "Ah, I know."

He'd already learned of Momiji's desperate flight across the village, raising hell in the Inuzuka compound until the clan head herself was mobilized. The Uchiha compound was still tightly sealed, but he'd managed a glimpse as he'd returned to the village, called back by emergency missive with no explanation beyond Hanako.

Was it wrong to be relieved? So many dead and he could feel nothing but joy that his kid wasn't among them.

His tongue felt fat in his mouth, and he took a deep, steadying breath.

Why the hell had she been at the Uchiha compound, anyway?

"Do you know—."

A loud crash in the other room interrupted him and Tsume was on her feet almost faster than he could follow.

Almost.

He stood in the doorway as the Inuzuka head wrestled with what looked like her kid and Sasuke Uchiha, pulling them off of each other with a feral growl.

"Kiba," she snarled. "What is going on here?"

The boy hung limply in his mother's grasp, sharp eyes locked on the squirming Uchiha. "He started it! Stupid hit Hatake-chan for no reason!"

Sure enough, Hanako was sitting on the ground, eyes wide and watering with a hand on her unmasked cheek. Kakashi took advantage of Tsume's preoccupation and approached his daughter, placing a gloved hand on her head.

"Hey, pup," he said with false cheer. "Got any insight?"

She blinked. Black eyes met his with unnerving calm. "Sasuke-san's allowed to be angry."

Tsume's brat growled. "That doesn't mean he can hit you! You didn't even do anything!"

Her curly hair tickled Kakashi's palm as she shook her head. "No, I was insensitive. I shouldn't have said what I did." She looked up at Kakashi without prompting. "I said he shouldn't be thinking of revenge. It was poorly timed, so his anger is understandable."

Her bottom lip quivered and she sniffed loudly. In a rare display of vulnerability, she held her hands out to him in the universal signal for 'pick me up'. He complied, holding her loosely as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"What took you so long?" She whispered just loud enough to hear.

"Mah," he said with a humorless chuckle. "They wouldn't let me in."

She tucked her head under his chin with a sniff, probably wiping her nose on his shirt. Brat.

Tsume released the boys, sending them to the ground with twin thuds. Kiba was back on his feet in an instant, clearly used to such rough handling. He spared a glance for the other child before rushing over to Kakashi, stopping just within arm's reach.

"Is...is she ok?"

Kakashi sighed for the umpteenth time. "I dunno. Kid, you ok?"

She nodded. "I'm alright, Kiba-san. Thank you."

Kakashi watched as the Inuzuka brat rubbed at his nose as a blush spread across his face and marveled at the protective rush which had him swelling to his full height. Was this normal? It couldn't be normal. They weren't even ten—childish crushes were perfectly acceptable at their age, right?

Mah, he'd worry about that later, when his kid wasn't trying her hardest not to cry.

Sasuke Uchiha sat morosely on the floor, his dark eyes set in an unfocused glare. There were tears in his eyes, too, but Kakashi was far less moved by them than Hanako's. Still, he supposed he should show a little sympathy. The kid had survived a harrowing ordeal, the likes of which had never been seen in Konoha, before. Hanako was right, his behavior was excusable to a certain extent.

Balancing his kid on his hip, Kakashi walked over to the glowering child and crouched down beside him. "Hey. You got anything to say?"

The boy's expression twisted. "No."

Kakashi felt his brow rise. "Really?" He ignored Hanako's little hands smacking at his chest. "You're allowed to be upset, you know, and you're allowed to show it."

The boy leveled a sneer on him and his kid, seething through grit teeth and breathing heavily. "What do you know? How could you possibly know what I'm allowed to feel?" The boy's fists were clenched tightly, fingernails digging into his palms. "None of you understand!"

Mah, he couldn't really say much to that, could he?

In his arms, Hanako pulled herself away from his chest, her black eyes puffy and red. Her voice and expression were blank as she spoke, but Kakashi's heart felt heavier than it had when she cried.

"You feel helpless," she said bluntly. "You feel small and weak and totally helpless. The people who were supposed to protect you and help you get strong are gone, and you are afraid because that means they were weak and if they were weak then what are you? You're afraid because someone did this, someone who's still out there and can come back at any time and do it to you, too. But you can't act afraid, because that means you're weak and if you're weak then they'll get you and then what? You die or get captured and taken or...something..."

Sasuke's expression had slowly turned from anger to gaping astonishment and Hanako trailed off, burying her face in Kakashi's chest again. He placed a hand on her head, patting it gently as he looked from his kid to the Uchiha. Their situations were a little similar, now that he thought about it. Hanako's family had also been killed and the perpetrator never caught. It had never occurred to him that she might still be looking over her shoulder for that invisible threat, with nothing but dogs for company. Maybe he should take some time off?

"How?" Sasuke's voice wavered, tears falling for the first time since the adults had entered the room.

Hanako shook her head, burrowing further into Kakashi's embrace instead of answering. Tsume had retrieved her son and propped him up on her hip, both Inuzuka looking down at their guests with twin expressions of suppressed curiosity.

Yeah, he should probably take some time off.