The Little Things

Chapter 1

 At this point in his life, Kakashi Hatake was in his younger twenties. Still apart of the Third Hokage's personal ANBU Black Ops team, the young man was sharp as ever. The pain in his heart, caused so long ago by the loss of Rin, was just beginning to ease. Unfortunately, tonight, however, he was not so fortunate; and had once again been jerked awake by a terrible nightmare of her memory. Kakashi sighed heavily, threw off the covers, stuffed his feet into his shoes, and stumbled outside to clear his head. His feet carried him through the sleeping village. When thunder rolled overhead, Kakashi sighed, and looked around him.

 For some reason, he was at the North Gate. About to turn around as the first droplets of rain fell, Kakashi spotted a small figure just barely within the Gate. How had they gotten past the guards; he honestly had no clue. ANBU instincts kicking in, Kakashi silently drew closer to the figure until he could make out a small silhouette. Kakashi suddenly relaxed.

 A child? Frowning beneath his mask, Kakashi approached the young child, who he could hear was crying and see it was a female.

 "Hey, are you okay?" Kakashi asked, crouching down beside the girl as the rain intensified. The young child jolted and stared up at the silver haired stranger. Blood was splattered mostly on the left side of her face and her torso down. Her clothes were ripped and burnt. She looked about eight or nine years of age.

 She answered his question with a simple shake of her head. She shakily lifted one of her arms and rubbed at one of her eyes, possibly wiping tears away. Either way, it was impossible to tell with the heavy rain.

 "N-No.." She whimpered out. Her eyes weren't locked with Kakashi's, but on the center of his forehead. 

 Kakashi, of course, immediately took notice of the blood streaming down the girl's side, due to the rain. But luckily, it didn't seem like it was hers. What had just happened was another question the Jounin still didn't have a clue on. His first instinct was to ask, but now was not the time nor the place.

 Thunder clapped overhead as rain fell down harder.

 "Come with me," Kakashi said, holding out his hand to the little girl. He must've look like a sight, with his mask and scared left eye that wouldn't open. "Let me help you." 

 Tankina looked at the man's outstretched hand and, with even a second thought, reached out at took it. He offered help, and she would be willing to take it. The few singe wounds on her arms would also need tending, but that wasn't on her mind at the moment. 

 Kakashi picked up the younger girl in his arms, strangely enough.

 "Hold on," he said. Raising two fingers to focus his chakra, Kakashi and the little girl disappeared, and reappeared in front of his home. The silver haired Jounin pushed open the door, got out of the rain, and closed it behind him. Kakashi pretty much only had the one room, where his unfolded bed lied in the center. On a platform of wood on the side of the room, was a sink and refrigerator. There was another area to shower off a hallway immediately to their right. "Let's get you cleaned up, alright?" Kakashi asked. Tankina looked around for a moment, before turning to him, just giving him a simple nod in response. She stood on her feet as he lowered her and set her down. The majority of the blood was cleansed away by the rain, but where it dried out first, small blotched stains remained. A singe mark was then visible on her right jaw, as well as the ones on her arms. 

 "This way." Kakashi motioned to the child. He wasn't the best at being gentle, nor was he known for it, but he was doing his best for the child. Leading her over to the sink, Kakashi pulled out a medical kit from a cabinet beneath the sink. He wet a cloth from the tab and then sat down, crossing his legs, in front of the young girl. Taking care to be delicate, Kakashi took the girl's arm in his hand and gently scrubbed away the blood. It was almost fresh. "What's your name?" The Jounin suddenly asked as he worked.

 Tankina looked up at the male then back down at her arm.

 "Tankina. Tankina Hito." She replied. She winced slightly as one of the singe wounds sent off a stinging pain. Her arm just barely squirmed as a reaction. 

 "My name is Kakashi Hatake," Kakashi glanced up at Tankina, and smiled that smile of his that was rarely seen—just a soft closing of his right eye, before he looked back down at her arm. The blood was now cleaned off, but she did have a nasty gash on her upper arm. Luckily, it didn't look like it would need stitches. Picking up some gauze and setting down the wet cloth, Kakashi began to wrap the bandages around the wound. It seemed to be her only major wound, physically, at least. 

Tankina gave a small, crooked smile in return to Kakashi's. She went back to watching him patch her up. She winced as the wound let of a sting much like last time.

 "Thank you...for helping me." She said quietly. The silver haired jounin only nodded as a reply. He released Tankina's arm and looked up at her.

 "Do you know what you were doing, standing at the Village Gate this late at night?" Kakashi asked quietly. He looked at her through his right eye, gently. This young girl was in a delicate state right now, and he didn't want to break her more than she already was. She was covered in blood, for crying out loud.

 Tankina blinked, letting out a quiet whimper. She sulked slightly, looking away from the male.
"I.. Uh... I walked all the way here. From my home village." She murmured. It was rather obvious that what she said was only half of the story. Kakashi's brows slightly knitted together, almost in a squinting manner. Knowing well that he shouldn't pressure the child, he stopped himself from trying. But there was one thing he just had to ask—

 "Did you run away?"

 Tankina seemed to just go solid at the question. Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, realizing that was also a stupid idea. He blinked a few times and shook his head. "Never mind. You don't need to answer." He added quickly. He noticed the child relax, making him do so himself.



 Kakashi finally completed cleaning off what he could from Tankina's arms and face. After that, he patched up her burn wounds. Tankina's clothes were much more tricky to tend to. For now, the only thing Kakashi could do, was give her one of his shirts; since hers was the only article of clothing that needed the most cleaning. Kakashi's shirts were always big— Hell, sometimes even for him. Tankina, however, didn't seem to mind it. She was most likely just one of those kids that loved things like sleeves covering their hands. 

 Once Kakashi got finished putting the medical kit away, he went on ahead and set up a second bed next to his. There was nowhere else in the house to put Tankina, so beside him would have to do. Once he was done with that, he turned to the child and said, "I say we both get some sleep." 

 Tankina didn't seen to refuse. After all; where ever her home village was, it must have been at least a three hour walk or more. The young brunette gave a simple nod and climbed onto the spare bed, crawled under the sheets and immediately got as comfortable as she could. It didn't take her long to go ahead and drift off to slumber. Kakashi couldn't help but muster up a soft smile beneath his mask. It still pained him that this little girl had most likely been through so much in one day— arriving at the Hidden Leaf in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain, and covered in blood. The strange thing was that the blood wasn't even hers. Something had happened. Something bad. 

 Kakashi shook his head, brushing the thoughts off. He arched his back, raising his hands over his head for a simple stretch. He lousily made his way over to his own bed before flopping down on his back. The creaking of the bed springs luckily didn't wake Tankina up; let alone make her stir. The silver haired Jounin didn't even bother to cover himself with the sheets. It wasn't like he needed them, anyway. His head craned to the side to gaze at the sleeping, eight year old girl next to him. She seemed in full slumber now. The man blinked and sighed quietly to himself, turning his gaze to the ceiling. He took this child in, patched her up and offered her shelter. This would most likely mean it was now his duty to care for her now— Up until she was old enough, or until he could find someone else to take on the job of being an adoptive parent.

 Kakashi finally managed to close his eyes, moving his arms to behind his head. His body relaxed itself as his conscience drifted on elsewhere, resulting in the Jounin finally falling asleep.