Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own Naruto, or make money off of its existence.

And here I bring you the first installment of Ashen, the Bloodless side stories.

The first time he held Hana ranked as the best day of his life. Despite all the pain and horror that had led up to the point of holding his daughter, he really wouldn't trade it for the world.

"You look like she's hung the sun and stars, Kai-baka." Tsume's laughter only made him smile brighter. "Not to mention, you have to be holding her wrong, she's still crying."

"I don't think so, besides, she is the most perfect baby in the entire world. The most perfect to have ever existed." He draws a finger down the red birthmarks on her face, and marvels at her ten tiny fingers so abnormally perfect, and couldn't believe that he is actually a father.

"Bring her over here, will you, Baka?" Hana still hadn't stopped crying, and she had an impressive set of lungs, but really, this had to be the best day of his life.

Kaito doesn't think it strange that his little girl could speak to the Inuzuka dogs ever since she was old enough to focus. Tsume confides that she's confused late at night, but he brushes her off.

"She's our daughter, Tsu-chan. Why wouldn't she be prodigious?" Tsume huffs and sits down next to him.

"She's only two years old Kaito, but the clan's already pushing for her to join the Academy." The words put a hole in his perfect joy, and he wraps an arm around her waist.

"Like hell they'll do that to our daughter." She leans against his shoulder and runs a hand through his hair.

"They won't, Kai-baka, over our dead bodies make her the same as the Hatake boy." He remembers the sullen faced boy with his mask and permanent scowl and remembers that Konoha wasn't kind to it's prodigies.

"We'll be there to protect her, Tsu. You needn't worry that she's getting ahead of herself." He brushes back her bangs to kiss her forehead, and thoughts of Tsume's irritating extended family is forgotten for the moment.

His daughter is three years old when he realizes that she'd been walking to and from the closest library without even her ever effusive puppies for company. This worries him enough that he shadows her there, and then back despite Ensui telling him that this was a stupid decision.

"I mean, if your Flower's capable of taking care of herself with those overgrown puppies then she's clearly capable of taking care of herself without them." He glares at his friend.

"She's three years old, for the Shodaime's sake, Ensui. Three." He jabs a finger in Ensui's direction for emphasis. "Three is not old enough to be alone." With that thought, he turns on his heel to go speak to his daughter.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself, Hana?" She turns to him with those big brown eyes of hers and he can't resist. He scoops her up and sets her against his hip so they can keep on walking together.

There's a group of chattering old ladies who fall silent as he walks by and he wants to wince but knows that he can't. You can lampoon me all you want in public. I can take it, but touch my little girl and I will do my best to kill you.

He's finishing the dishes when his Hana tugs at his sleeve. Despite knowing that he should actually wash his hands before listening to what she wants to tell him he doesn't. Even three years after she was born, she's still the center of his world.

"What's the matter, Blossom?" She's chewing on her lip, which must mean that she's thinking, but if he's serious with himself he has no idea what it might be about.

"How do ninja do magic?" Oh, well he had been expecting the question sooner or later, but still, it's nice to know that she's thinking about how ninja are different than civilians. Granted, if he had it his way, his Sprout would never be a ninja, never have to fight and kill, but that's a foolish pipe dream, so he stores it away for later.

I was wondering when you would ask about chakra." She looked a bit offended, and it's all that he can do not to burst out laughing as he sits down. "There are two types of energy that make up chakra, physical and spiritual energy." The clearer explanation seems to mollify her, and had he ever been this curious, this smart? Everyone said that Hana was calmer and smarter because of him, he hadn't ever really been like this.

A child, and somehow not entirely a child at the same time. Oh please Kaito, she's just a child. Bright, but still a little girl. How could she even be anything else? What else would she be, you big idiot?

"Do I have chakra?" The question is a child's and he laughs despite himself and ruffles her short hair. "Of course you do, Bud. You've been using chakra since you were old enough to talk, and probably before."

"I have?" And of course, even her confused blinking is cute. But of course she hadn't noticed using her chakra, she didn't even know what it was.

"Well, you talk to the dogs. That's a pretty specialized form of chakra already. The concentration of chakra in your ears to better understand their language. Of course being an Inuzuka means that you understand them better. If I concentrated, their barking is louder, not clearer." It would be strange to admit this to any other child, that their father isn't invincible, but Kaito has never fibbed to his own little girl. It's too much like telling lies than he feels comfortable with.

Needless to say, a surprisingly fast meditation session later she understands how to find and redirect chakra and he's never been more proud in his life.

On his daughter's fourth birthday, he takes her out to the park to fly a kite, but they run into a truly reprehensible old woman. Hana is clearly distressed by the event, Kaito knows that she wouldn't want to walk around outside with him anymore. You're just a foreigner after all. Why would she want you? Thoughts that he'd banished since marrying Tsume surge back to the forefront of his mind.

But his daughter is stronger and kinder than he thought possible.

"i like spending time with you, Tou-san." Kaito can only give her his cupcake and bury his face in his hands.

"I forget that you're only four years old sometimes, Blossom. The amount of anger that old witch directed at you today wasn't fair." And it was all because of me. Oh Kami, what am I supposed to do? She pats his leg. "I think that they're mean because Tou-san's better than them." Something that sounds alarmingly like a sobbing laugh squeezes itself free of Kaito's throat. I'm not better than them. I never was.

"I moved here when I was six, when my father died." He looks at his Hana with his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. The cake lies forgotten next to him on the bench. "As you must have heard by now, from Iwa. Eighteen years later, and the civilians still think that I'm a foreigner." Something flashes in her eyes, and he just wants to hide, because now, finally she will decide that she doesn't want to be seen with him.

"We should go out together again tomorrow." She says, wrapping both of her hands around his wrists. "I don't care that they're mad. I just want them to stop being mean to you. They're never mean when I'm alone." Kaito pulls her into a hug to hide his tears.

"I don't deserve such a grown up child like you, Sprout." I really, really do not deserve it.

Before he knows it she's off to school and the house feels emptier somehow despite the fact that he's rarely home when she's not. Do all children grow up this fast? Does life always change so much?

He doesn't know, but he smiles, he's supportive and he makes sure that she knows how proud he is of her. It is enough, if only just for the next few months.

The day before his daughter's fifth birthday brings Elder Shimura to his lab in RnD.

"How can I help you?" He's standing at attention almost immediately.

"You are reverse engineering the explosion release from your home country right now, correct?" The way the council elder says home country sets his teeth on edge, and for the first time he notices how alone he is here, with only Elder Shimura.

"Yes, Shimura-sama." If only the man would go away and leave him in peace.

"Well, your project is to be discontinued immediately." His head snaps up.

"But Shimura-sama the project could be helpful to Kono-" Kaito freezes, not because he wants to, but because he can no longer move a single muscle in his body.

"There will be no help to Konoha by using another weaker country's jutsu." The elder's eyes are dark and furious and not for the first time, Kaito wonders if he made the right choice to decide to come to work this morning. Danzo pauses to sit him at his work table and tip the explosive clay onto his lap.

"Well, it seems as though you've made a very unfortunate accident, Inuzuka Kaito." The man walks out the door and Kaito grits his teeth as the slight amount of chakra the clay came in contact with pushed it over the threshold.

The pain is like nothing he'd ever felt before as both his work table and his chair shatters. He tries very hard not to think of what has happened to his legs. His last thought is of his family. Tsu...Hana...

"Tou-san?" He wins the fight to open his eyes despite the fire that is eating his insides. Hana. She's here. "It's Hana." She sounds so young, so frail, and Kaito doesn't know what to think, how to feel.

"Blos-" His voice cracks on the second syllable and he curses every muscle in his body for failing him. Kaito raises a hand to cup her face and she holds it there when it's clear that he won't be able to do it himself. There's still so much he has to tell her, and so little time to do it with.

"The se-" He takes another breath. "The second drawer of the dresser." He'd kept a copy of his research notes there. It isn't everything, but it doesn't have to be. Danzo's name nearly crosses his lips, but he bites it back. This isn't the burden to place on them. He isn't after them. He's after me, and he's got me already.

Hana nods, and she looks so grown up despite being a child, that it brings a smile to his lips. "I'm proud. Proud of you, Sprout." She smiles the biggest smile he'd ever seen and he wants to cry and laugh all at once but it's impossible.

"Don't go." She whispers and his heart breaks for her all over again. She's too young. Too young to lose a father. "Don't, Tou-san." His hand slips away from her cheek, but she holds it tightly anyway as it drops.

"Sor-" He breaks into a coughing fit that shakes his entire frame and his eyes slide shut. "So sorry, Hana, Tsu-chan."

A.N. Ahhh, writing everything from Kaito's perspective makes this so much sadder...but I promise you it's necessary. Of course, of course, his death wasn't an accident. Indeed it's vital to the plot.

Now, before anyone asks about whether Hana will find out and when, let's just say it's in the very distant future.

I won't promise the next part to be any happier than this, but a girl can hope that her muse doesn't want to continue torturing her heart with horrible ideas.

As always, tell me what you think.