By: Selim

Summary: When the newlywed Iruka wants to adopt a child, he meets a discriminated boy named Naruto with a dark past. Can Iruka and Kakashi obtain a small family with the boy, or lose him back to the boys original parents..

Pairings: Kakashi x Iruka, Sasuke + Naruto

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Information of this fiction: This is a slight AU. Though it has to do with Ninjas, has Kyuubi, and both Kakashi and Iruka are at designated jobs in the manga, some things are different. Instead of 25, Iruka is only 22, and Naruto is 9 along with all the other kids he grew up with in the manga. Beware of OOCness, because there are so many characters, and the amount of manga I’ve read only introduced a few.

“Hatake-san?” A polite voice echoed through the white halls, causing the two men to glance up questioningly. Kakashi reached down, grasping his lover’s – or rather, his husband’s - hand lovingly, bringing it to his lips soothingly. The man who addressed them seemed unfazed by this act of affection as he held the office door open. “We can begin with this meeting now, I’m sorry for making you have to wait.”

Standing up, Iruka waved his hand dismissingly. “No worries, we’re just a bit nervous,” he chuckled, his shaking hand visibly showing that he truly was nervous. Kakashi seemed indifferent to the situation as they walked into the room and the man shut the door firmly behind them. He was dressed in a formal suit, draping him with superiority, yet friendliness to those that came around. His dark brown hair was brushed back, but he bore no sign of ever having trained to be a ninja. He walked past the two, to the other side of the desk where he sat patiently, glancing between the two before speaking.

“My name’s Takanashi Rin, and I’ll be your Adoptive Community Councilor. My job, from this point until the final adoption date, is to make sure that both you and your, uh,” he finally voiced his uncertainty towards the two, but quickly shrugged it off, “husband are compatible for children. What I’d like first is to know what type of child you would be looking for, and then I’d like to get to know each of you to make sure the child will be safe under your care. I have no worries of the child’s safety if there is an attack, being that you’re both ninja’s – of high caliber,” he glanced at Kakashi, who smiled brightly behind the mask, “but several of these kids were children of ninjas, and I can assure you one out of ten had been abused by their ninja parent. For the sake of the children, we must do background checks, if possible.” Iruka nodded, understandingly. Kakashi didn’t nod at all, his head fell on his chest as if he begun snoozing, his lover did not appreciate that action and nudge the man in the ribs. The copy ninja jumped awake. Takanashi-san smirked at the two.

Turning, he pulled out a scroll-form, reading through all the lines quietly, before handing the scroll over to Iruka. “Fill this out,” he handed over a pen. “You need to fill in the bottom half, Hatake-san.” He addressed the bored copy Jounin. Kakashi waved his hand affirmative. With satisfaction, Takanashi-san pulled out three crates of files from under his desk, smiling politely. “Would you two accept a child with ‘special needs’,” he expressed real concern, his face still laced nothing more than business though.

“No, we couldn’t handle it.” It was Kakashi that spoke, surprising the councilor. He had thought this Jounin was mute by the way he had acted thus far during the meeting. Iruka nodded his head in agreement, glancing up with disappointment.

“Kakashi is usually away on missions every few weeks, and I’m a Pre-Genin Teacher in the Ninja Academy so, sadly, we wouldn’t have the time to place into a child that requires a lot of attention for health reasons. We must also state, that we cannot have an infant for this reason.”

Takanashi-san frown deepened at this, his eyes showing his disappointment. “Sadly, a lot of children would need a lot of time with their parents, even if one. The first six months is critical that an adopted child be with both parents for a reasonable amount of time.” Iruka’s eyes widened, as if part of him died with the thought that their career choices had reduced all chances for them to have any children. Takanashi-san removed one of the crates from his desk, moving over to a filing cabinet, his eyes narrowing a bit. “Then these children are off the list of eligible. Don’t worry.” He smirked. “I’m not holding it against you based on your jobs. I know that it’s possible for two working ninja parents to raise children. I’ve seen it, could stake my life on that.” He reassured Iruka.

Iruka grinned, nodding his head. “I could as well.” The two smirked at each other as Iruka slid the paperwork over to Kakashi, who grumbled as he began to fill out the forms, realizing it was just information to run a background check with the Hokage.

“Any demands on the child’s gender?” Takanashi-san smirked. Iruka blushed, shaking his head negative. “All right,” the councilor looked over what he’d written down. “Age preferred; eight and up – correct?” A nod from the teacher answered that question. “All right, let me tell you now though, past the age of thirteen, children failing to meet adoption privileges are placed into foster homes, so technically you’ll only be seeing a lot of eight to eleven year olds. Those older tend to be dismissed from the chances, since more people want young children.” The room fell to silence, except for the scratching of paper as Kakashi grumped under his breath about having to put in too much information about himself. Finished, the silver haired Jounin handed the paperwork back to Takanashi-san, who hastily looked it over. “Good, good. I already know you two would make fine parents, but law is law. Would you like to look at the children that are already in your criteria? They’re at recess right now.” He smiled, opening the door for the two men to leave with him.

“Recess, what do they do during the day?” Iruka asked; interested in this as he followed the man through the vast corridors within a cave where most of the children were kept. In one area, away from the rest of Konoha, but protected from attacks. It suffered no damage in a demon attack, nine years before – perhaps for the best. Iruka frowned at remembering that, since he was a preteen, he wasn’t expected to fight the demon, his parents were expected to, and lost their lives doing so. It was how he’d met Kakashi though, he was a Chuunin at the time, four years older then the boy that cried for his parents. Iruka shook the images out of his mind as an arm wrapped around his waist affectionately, turning his head, Iruka smiled at Kakashi.

“Well, mostly practice Ninjitsu. By the age of eight, we offer to send those with most potential to the Ninja Academy, but we just send five at most since it’s on Konoha’s tax payer’s dollars, but those that go graduate top of the class and are high ranked Ninjas in the aftermaths. We’re proud of that. I’m sure you’ve heard of these students, Hatake-san.” He smiled at Iruka, who nodded.

“Yes, I had one of them in my class this year, which is why I choose this place when adoption came up between Kakashi and myself. Though, I wonder. What about those that aren’t sent to the academy?”

“Trained by volunteer instructors of multiple classes, from agriculture to economic resources. We want them, by the age of thirteen and placed in foster care, to know what they want to look into.” Takanashi-san stated proudly as he opened a final door into an enclosed room with numerous small ceiling windows. Children of all ages ran around, chattering and screaming as they played. Few sat around reading from books, catching up on studies, as others goofed off and enjoyed themselves. Very few children were playing off by themselves, but one or two caught Iruka’s eye, but he dismissed them quickly upon realizing the child choose to be isolated due to shyness or lack of social behavior.

Kakashi moved his leg as a child ran past him, with waving ivory hair that stuck out in all direction. He grasped hold of Takanashi-san’s leg. “Takanashi-san, Takanashi-san! Naruto is misbehaving again. He’s using jutsu you told him not to use!” Takanashi-san frowned, taking the boy’s hand.

“Why don’t you get to know the kids while I handle this? I’ll be back shortly.” He walked off, leaving both of them alone. Iruka sighed as he watched Kakashi lean back against the wall, barely watching the children run about. He wanted to yell at his lazy lover, but couldn’t find the heart to do so in front of so many children that seemed captivated by him as he started into the room. A little girl quickly grabbed his hand, dragging him over near a far wall to show him her art. Before long, he was being dragged in every direction by eager children wanting to show off their creativity, talents, and other abilities.

As he was led over to a group of girls to play jump rope, He heard the bang of the doors being thrown open on the other side of the large room. On instinct turned in defense. His eyes watched as a little blonde boy scrambled out the door, running blindly towards the other door where Kakashi was leaning. The disturbance had caught Kakashi’s attention, Iruka realized as the silver haired man suddenly turned when the boy ran in reachable distance and grasped the boy. Lifting the child in the air, Kakashi glared at the boy, who was struck by fear suddenly. Sensing that something bad was going to happen, Iruka excused himself from the giggling girls pointing at the scene and walked in the direction of his lover. He was barely three feet away when the mumbling between the two ceased and the little blonde haired boy spat into Kakashi’s face. Shocked by the boy’s boldness, Kakashi closed his eyes and was unprepared for the waving feet that slammed into his chest causing him to drop the boy. Without glancing around him, the blonde fled again, out another door, and was finally gone.

“Kakashi, are you all right?” Iruka fell to his knees beside his lover, unable to hold back the grin that stretched his face.

“Damn little brat,” Kakashi caught his breath, sitting up properly, his sleeve brushing over his uncovered eye that was wet with saliva. “Wasn’t expecting him to attack like that.” He turned to face Iruka, glaring at the smirk. “He’s the Naruto that they’re going mad about, it seems.” Standing up, Kakashi brushed himself off before leaning against the wall again.

“I’m going to go talk to him.” Iruka whispered, turning to walk out the door, but Kakashi grabbed his elbow, stopping him.

“Just be careful, he spits then kicks.” Iruka chuckled; leaving to follow the trail where he’d last seen the blonde haired boy. It wasn’t long before he sensed life behind one of the doors, and Iruka had to take his chances and hope that it was the boy he’d seen not long before. Fate was there though, and it was the boy, sitting in a far corner, crouched protectively. Upon the door opening, the boy jumped up, preparing in attack stance.

Iruka waved his hands politely before walking in and pulling up a seat. “That was beautiful work,” Iruka smirked, “No one’s been able to touch Kakashi in years, unless he gives permission. I take my hat off to you.”

“You’re not wearing a hat.” The boy whispered, crouching down again, away from the teacher. Iruka frowned.

“It’s a figure of speech.” The Chuunin stood up, walking towards the boy. Sitting down, he glanced tiredly at the hunched shoulders, knowing the boy didn’t trust him. “What did you do that has everybody here so mad at you?” Iruka finally asked, running a hand through the blond hair. It was incredibly soft, the instructor gasped, brushing the strands again. The boy sniffled and turned his head to face the older male.

Matching the blonde hair was beautiful tan skin, obviously natural as the boy grew. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue that could have made the ocean jealous, and Iruka couldn’t stop himself from running a finger over those moist, baby fat cheeks. On both cheeks were symmetrical scars, three on each side, resembling whiskers. Being up-close, Iruka could sense great chakra emitting from the young boy. “I didn’t do anything that everybody else was doing!”

“Huh?” Iruka ran a finger over his cheek as the boy turned again, sniffling once more. “Hey, now. It’s okay. Just tell me, maybe we’ll find a solution…err, an answer.”

“My name’s Naruto.” The boy whispered, not turning to face the other man. “I want to be a n-ninja so people can respect me, but they won’t let me learn anything! I always have to sit out there and do nothing! They said that me learning ninjitsu is a bad thing, because I’ll just hurt everyone again. They said I wasn’t able to do those moves. I showed them though,” Naruto turned suddenly. “I learned one of their techniques they were teaching, and the teacher swatted me for going against orders.” He pushed his head down into his arms, but Iruka knew that his side of the story was far from over. “I just wanted to prove to them. I used one of my own techniques, and it didn’t work right. The cafeteria is flooding because I blew up a water fountain.”

Part of the teacher groaned, having seen jutsu gone wrong. Part of him felt he had a more dangerous job than Kakashi, teaching children how to work these skills often ended in some type of mayhem. This boy was no different. Frowning, the dark haired man shook his head. But, why were they so concerned about the boy hurting people again? He was about to speak, but the door opening beat him before he could say anything. “Hatake-san, there you are!” Takanashi-san smiled into the room, but when his eyes came across Naruto, his smile faded quickly. “Naruto, what is this I heard you were using chakra again?” He asked, but didn’t seem demanding of an answer. “Report to your room now, Naruto. We’ll discuss this at a later time.”

An idiot couldn’t have missed the look of pure fear that overcame the child’s face as he stood up and ran out of the room, only to be caught by Takanashi-san. “Aren’t you going to say anything to Hatake-san?” He demanded. The boy turned around, giving a deep bow.

“I’m sorry for the misfortune of which I’ve brought you,” he spoke, as if he’d rehearsed the same line over and over. Finally free, he took off out of the room, leaving both chuunin and councilor behind.

Bowing down apologetically, Takanashi-san kept his eyes to the floor as his voice echoed sadly. “I apologize profoundly for Naruto’s behavior. I hope that it has not changed your opinion of our adoption service, and we still fit your needs. If I may escort you back to the children.” Wearily, he followed behind the man being careful not to lose track of the directions he was going as dozens of children were led past him from the recess room. “Play time’s over,” Takanashi-san explained. “They’ll be heading back to designated classes.” Iruka nodded as they stepped into the very empty playroom, and Iruka glanced at Kakashi. The man thought he was so smart. He grinned. He was leaning on the other side of the door now, his knees covered in dirt, his hands pressed under his armpits, but Iruka could see dirt on his elbows as well. Seemed like someone had fun while he was gone.

Returning to his lover’s side, Iruka laced their fingers apart, ignoring the grimy feeling on the man. “The children are so well behaved.” Iruka admitted, earning a grin from the councilor. “Is there anymore information we need before we get really serious about the adoption?”

“Ah.” Takanashi-san nodded. “I will get in contact with you within the month for, uh, private interviews. Just to see who you are, get to know you since we’ll be working very closely until the adoption is finalized. Until then, I have some folders I would like for you to look at, pick children you would like to meet alone. Tell me when you decide, and we’ll see if we can get you two to spend as much time with him or her as possible.” Going into his office, Takanashi-san returned with a thick folder, handing it to Iruka.

“Thank you.” Iruka gave a polite bow, holding the folder close to his chest as he and Kakashi turned to leave the building they had spent the better part of the day in. As they were walking down the street, Iruka couldn’t help but smile up at Kakashi. “You weren’t on your best behavior today, but thanks for coming.” He kissed the man on the check, earning a blush from the usually stoic man. “I thank you so much for giving me this chance, Kakashi. I know well you’ll make a great father if you apply yourself.”

“Hm.” Kakashi replied, pulling his arm around Iruka’s waist. “I can think of better way for you to thank me.” The jounin pressed himself against his body, causing a small ‘eep’ to escape the younger ninja. In seconds, they were off the street and hidden within their apartment.

Hours later, a naked Iruka was looking through the folder Takanashi-san had given him. Kakashi was close to dozing on his pillow, but a lazy eye watched his lover quietly. “Have you narrowed your choices down?” Kakashi finally asked as the folder was shut and Iruka laid his head down with a nod. Interested, Kakashi crawled over his lover, positioning his body over the other’s and staring down at the folder, their fingers lacing together. A giggle escaped his lover’s lips as the copy ninja began kissing down his neck, and across his shoulder blades. “Oh, do tell?” He prepared to open the folder, but Iruka stopped him, kissing the fingers one after another.

“None in there. He wasn’t in there for some reason.” He turned his head to face his lover, pecking his lips. “I want to adopt Naruto-san.” He watched his lover’s eye twitch. “He holds so much potential, but the agency doesn’t see it. They scolded him for trying to learn. He seemed scared when they do so, like an abused child. He needs someone to love him, respect him. We can be that family!” Iruka froze as Kakashi pulled off of him, turning over to his side, away from the instructor. Knowing the jounin so well, Iruka pinched the man’s bottom. “You have to agree, he did accomplish spitting in your face. I know a lot of genin that have tried to do that while under your teaching, and here a small boy with no ninjutsu training was able to spit in your face, and kick you. Give him some credit.”

Glaring at his lover, Kakashi pulled up the covers to hide his own nude body, making Iruka groan in disappointment. “Maybe.” He finally muttered, causing a grin to take over the chuunin’s face.

“I love you, Kakashi!” Iruka yelled, jumping his lover. With a smirk, Kakashi reversed rolls, pinning Iruka under him for the second time that evening. Smiling, Iruka pulled the jounin down into a kiss that would, as always, lead to a romp of sexual desire.

The room was spotless, Iruka noted as he sat at the table across from an empty chair. His perverted husband was on a mission that week with his recent team, so Iruka had decided to go through with his interview with Takanashi-san. The man had a late appointment with one of the children, which was reasonable to Iruka, but his nerves were shot and he fidgeted every so often his seat, listening to children run by the room, their voices echoing. Somehow, it reminded him of his academy years back after his parents died. When he’d do something wrong and one of his teachers wanted him to stay after class for a discussion. That fear that he’d be denied admittance was still there, only it wasn’t to become a ninja this time. It was to become a father.

When he first brought up parenting with Kakashi, it had shocked the silver haired jounin, who had quickly learned that when Iruka suddenly jumped him after a mission and demanded sex continuously, the man wanted something. And Iruka did. After their third time and Iruka was rubbing his hands over his lover’s manhood, the dark haired instructor gazed lovingly at his goo of a husband and asked straight forward if they could adopt a child. At first, Kakashi had thought he didn’t hear right, but from further questioning on why Iruka had asked such a question, Kakashi had bluntly said no.

Of course, stubbornness was in Iruka’s bones. Since, obviously, sex didn’t win automatically; he’d had to try other routes. For a week and a half, he removed sex from his social life. Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t play horrible jokes on the jounin. From walking out of the bathroom draped in nothing but what he was born with, he shook his rear at the man sitting at the table. Each day, he began to worry that he wasn’t going to live to see tomorrow. Or at least not upright. Kakashi was much stronger than he was, and the looks the older man gave him said more than just anger for being denied sexually. They gave strong lust, a lot stronger than passion. After a little while, Iruka cooled down, since the lack of sex was beginning to affect him as well.

Idea two was to beg for children. Of course, Kakashi didn’t budge from the answer no. Everything else had failed, even logic. It took graduation night for Kakashi to cave in as he watched Iruka hug several of his students before they left his classroom, leaving the man in an empty classroom. No children, just himself (he didn’t see the jounin watching him from outside). Finally, after he felt safe, he broke into tears. Kakashi had been there for him as he cried out why he so badly wanted a family. A husband was fine and dandy, but children would make living reasonable. Kakashi finally agreed. Though, he made no promises.

Iruka smirked. True to his word, Kakashi was making this as hard as possible. Their first day in the building had been proof that Kakashi was going to make no effort for this to come true, just back Iruka up. It didn’t matter, when the time was right, Kakashi would get his act together and help out.

“Hatake-san?” Iruka glanced up as his husband’s family name was addressed. It was hard to remember that it now was his, even though his older students still called him ‘Umino-sensei’. Takanashi-san stepped into the room fully, shutting the door behind him. His arms were fully of folders, but he made no hint that this troubled him. “I’m sorry for my lateness. One of our children was having a behavior problem that needed to be counseled. I hope this hasn’t troubled you?”

“Not at all.” Iruka smiled nervously, inspecting his hands since he was unable to stare at the councilors face.

“Well, let’s get on with this then. Relax, this is just so I can get to know you and will hold no effect to the privilege of adopting.” He reassured, and Iruka nodded. “All right, I’ll have a series of questions for you I’d like you to answer. If I touch a subject you’d rather not talk about, we’ll move on, all right?” He asked, watching Iruka carefully, the dark-haired instructor nodded. “All right then, let’s start with the first question. How would you consider yours and Hatake-san’s relationship?”

Blushing, Iruka made eye contact with the man finally, staring into the pooling depths of the man’s firm face. “Our relationship on what level? All together, we get along fine – no different than any other couple would act. Of course, I wouldn’t consider us overzealous teenagers thinking they are in love.” He pressed his fingers to his lips.

“How about we move the question a little further?” Takanashi-san twiddled his thumbs. “How long have you two known each other?” He smiled, Iruka relaxed.

Memories seemed to flood his mind, causing him to blush before regaining his proper hue. “I meet him during the demon attack, nine years ago. I so badly wanted to see my parents, make sure they were okay when the main fighting had just begun. I remember the screams so clearly, then someone grabbed me. I tried fighting this guy off me, he was so much stronger though. I remember being dumped into a cave, a little away from Konoha with other children, and I remembered the guy’s dark eyes and silver hair. He told me to stay, but I didn’t. I think he dragged me back there at least three times before he knocked me unconscious.” Iruka noticed the color drain from the other’s face on the mention of the demon attack, but he brushed it aside. The man had asked. “Kakashi was the one that also told me my parents were dead. I hated him them. Called him a liar and went out to find them.” His eyes widened when he realized he strayed from the original question, biting his lip, he faced the man again. “Nine years, I’ve known him for nine years.”

Takanashi-san nodded, leaning his head into his hand. “That’s a long time, to be a couple.” He smiled, and Iruka quickly waved his hands.

“No! I was so vague, if that’s what you meant. We’ve dated for three years, and he asked me to marry him a year ago. We had our union ceremony six months ago.” Iruka felt his cheeks burn again, the third time in only a few minutes. If he and Kakashi had dated for nine years, he’d had been thirteen, and Kakashi only sixteen. Both only friends two years later when Iruka began to accept how things had turned out.

“Hm. Tell me about your childhood.” The councilor smiled. “Y’know, where you grew up, your fondest memories.”

Nodding, Iruka relaxed, letting memories flow. “I grew up here, in Konoha, born and breed. My dad was a ninja; I always idolized him for it. My mom was also, but she always took time off when I had something I wanted her or dad to do with me. She wanted me to grow up a good little boy, as did my dad. To understand values.”

“They seem nice. Can you remember how your punishment was, and what you were ever punished for?”

Laughing, the teacher nodded. “Yes, Yes. I can remember. My dad was lenient, stood firmly on the whole belief that ‘boys will be boys’. My mother never agreed to that though. I do remember a time when I was caught stealing. My dad’s face was so red. Sure, every child has stolen before. They want to see if they can outsmart adults. I almost did, too bad I decided to celebrate my theft on the way home. I stole gum, cheap at the time. That didn’t mean it was right, though. I didn’t know. My dad was so furious, made me walk all the way back to the store, apologize. Then I was grounded for a week, had two weeks without dessert. It was horrible. Mom kept saying he was being too hard on me, that I’d learned my lesson. Didn’t lessen the punishment though. I never stole again…”

“That’s a reasonable away to punish your child upon thievery, and yes, children are prone to steal. How would you handle it if the child you adopt stole something?”

Iruka stared up, frown taking over his face. “I’d probably do what my parents did. However, the reason may change. If he was on a mission by Hokage-sama to steal something, I wouldn’t be too mad.” He glanced at his hand, clenching it into a fist. “I’ve seen parents spank their children for wrong doing. It doesn’t teach the child much. I know I’ve lost my temper over things my students have done. Harmless jokes that go too far on bad days.”

“Would you ever hit them?” The dark haired councilor asked.

Shaking his head, Iruka gave a horrified look. “Gods! No! I’ve never even come close to doing so either. Usually the more stubborn ones I use some ninjutsu on them, tie them up with chakra.” He’d only done that six times, and the parents usually understood that he was dealing with nearly thirty students, and couldn’t keep his eyes on one; it would get too out of hand.

The man only seemed to nod, and Iruka began to wonder if he was just taking up oxygen talking. “You seem fond of your career, Hatake-san.” He suppressed a smile. “Why didn’t you go into the Elite, or ANBU?” He watched as Iruka closed his eyes breathing deeply what seemed regret.

“My dad was an elite.” He whispered after what seemed an eternity. “I wanted to be one, to live up to his reflection, but I couldn’t. After my parent’s death, I made wrong decisions. Acted like a class clown, did the wrong things to receive attention. I remember one of my teachers took me aside one day and gave me a stern talking to. ‘Iruka,’ he said, ‘It’s been two years. I know it’s hard to live without your parents, but think of them for this moment. What would go through your father’s head to find out his son is bottom of his class? Your mother would cry to know you needed to misbehave because you thought it’s the only way to get noticed. If you want to be noticed, make something of yourself!’ I remember those words fondly. Sure, Elite Jounin and ANBU are well known, but they can’t get attached to anything in fear of death. Being a teacher, I’ll be remembered for so much good. I can defend Konoha, but I can also proudly point, when I’m on my deathbed, and say ‘I taught that boy!’ The one who’s Captain of the ANBU, or our next hokage. It’s great pleasure knowing I’ll have that.” Iruka smiled, reflecting on that conversation.

“Isn’t Hatake-san,” Takanashi-san referred back to Kakashi, “an Elite Jounin?”

“H-Hai,” Iruka froze. “I know he is. Every time he has to go on a mission, it always flashes in my head that our last goodbye could be then. He always makes it worth my while, and leaves while I’m sleeping. He once left a rose on the pillow next to me, with a note that said that if I kept the rose alive, he’ll come back alive.” Iruka giggled. Kakashi could be a romantic fool without realizing it. “I now have a bouquet of roses. I’m planning on starting my own greenery on the balcony. Rose bushes in Konoha. Sounds nice to me.”

Takanashi-san smirked, nodding as well to that thought. “That would be lovely.” He stood up. “Hatake-san, I’d like to thank you for this talk. I’ve learned much about you. Let me assure you, if anyone deserves a child, it’s you. I can understand your husband will be a bit more difficult to get answers from, but I won’t let it reflect to anything.” Iruka’s face burst into brightness, knowing that Kakashi’s ignorant behavior wasn’t going to affect the decision. “Let me make you aware though. I’m not the final decision. You’ll have the child in your care for about six months, under surveillance of social workers. I can’t tell you when their visits will be, but I trust that things will be just fine. By the end of the term, you’ll have a case meeting with the Hokage, allowing him to determine if you’re suitable parents.”

“Do you determine the social worker?” Iruka asked.

“Sadly, I do not. I can be of help though if you give me the social worker’s name when the time comes. I know of several that will put their foot down and find any means to remove a child from adoptive parents or foster care if the parents are ‘unique’.” Iruka’s mind went blank with that thought. He didn’t want them to not allow him children just because he was with another male, or that said male was always on life threatening missions. “Anyway. Have you come down with a list of children you’d like to talk with?”

“Actually, I have.” The instructor nodded, finally standing up. “The problem is that I didn’t find any paperwork on him within the folder, as if he didn’t exist. I saw him, here, but I didn’t find his paperwork.”

“Well,” Takanashi-san scratched his chin, thinking for a minute. “That could be because the child has already been picked by a family and will be leaving shortly. This isn’t an auction where the child goes to the highest bidder, but to whoever wants him or her first. Which child is it, and I’ll look into it.”

“Naruto-san.” Iruka noticed the grimace that met the man’s facial structure. “He’s a sweet boy, reminds me of myself growing up. Besides, I think he made a real impact on Kakashi.”

Walking to the door, Takanashi opened it preparing to step out, probably for another meeting. “Naruto hasn’t been decided if he should be up for adoption. His parents still have full custody of him, but under the Fourth Hokage orders, Naruto is to be in this environment where he can be…safe, in a sense. He’s not safe with normal people, and wouldn’t only be isolated if in public.”

“Why is that?” Iruka glared at the councilor, his arms crossing. “I don’t see anything wrong with the boy. He has great potential with his chakra, from what I could tell. Nobody is giving him a chance.”

Takanashi growled lowly, his eyes narrowing to saucers. “You said you were here nine years ago! That boy has that demon in him! If it weren’t the Fourth Hokage’s wish that Naruto be alive, I can assure you, he wouldn’t be. For his own safety, as well as Konoha’s, we must oblige with demands, keep him here until he’s thirteen, then we plan to send him off far away. As far away from Konoha as possible.”

Taking an even breath, Iruka spoke evenly. “What, then, are the chances to adopt him at all?”

“Adopting him would require permission from Hokage-sama, but it would still be under the same rules as any other adoptee. Since no one has bothered trying to adopt him, we never bothered to look into it. Since his parents have legal custody over him, they might fight you from adopting him as your own, which will cause the adoption to be more stressful than it is.”

“Do his biological parents ever visit him?”

Takanashi-san shook his head negatively. “But that doesn’t mean anything. Some parents in this situation throw a fit when they lose the child they didn’t care for to begin with. Legal issues that take time, years. If you want Naruto so bad, I’ll write out the information about him, but don’t expect much. If Hokage-sama even permits this, it’ll be a miracle.” He left the room, leaving Iruka by himself. The information he’d just heard swarmed in his head, but that didn’t change his mind. No, he spoke to the boy. The boy seemed pure hearted and innocent. His eyes didn’t show any evil intentions. He still wanted the boy with all his heart.

“Hatake-san, here’s the boy’s information.” A young woman entered the room with the crinkled paperwork, handing it to the man. She bit her lip and turned, leaving the man standing alone again, glancing over the scroll in his hands. So little was known about the boy, Iruka frowned, closing the scroll to take it home with him, his mind racing over what information had been given to him.

Naruto, age nine, blue eyes, blonde hair.

And that was all it read. No talents, No height, no weight, no information. No medical records. It was just a blank sheet with a few Kanji letters on it. Iruka couldn’t help but want this boy more; to give the boy so much more than what he’d been given thus far in his life.

After patting down his husband, and finding no signs of any book by the name Icha Icha Paradise, Iruka was finally pleased. Though his lover still wore his mask, covering his lips (kissable lips, Iruka called them). His usual attire, which consisted of his jounin uniform, was at least clean from mud and grime. Nodding, Iruka opened the door, readying himself to leave for work. “Please, Kakashi, I beg you to be on your best behavior.” With a scowl, the man nodded, and Iruka smiled, pulling the mask down to press his lips firmly against his lover’s. “Thanks.” With that, he left the silver haired man alone in the room.

Glancing at the door, Kakashi turned in the direction of one of the kitchen cabinets, threw the door open and reached in. With a grin, he pulled out his latest book of the Icha Icha Paradise series, and with a poof was out of the room. His solid body made contact with the ground, and he slowly made his way to the lonely building at the edge of Konoha. A few people gave him critical looks as he walked into the building, but no one spoke of his choice. As usual, it seemed quiet around him, wherever he went. He preferred it like that. In crowded places it was harder to hear anyone approach him. War did that to peoples minds, he reminded himself.

A voice echoed across the corridor, causing the receptionist to look up from her desk and at Kakashi. She smiled, and he returned it politely. “You must be Hatake-san. Takanashi-san has been waiting for your meeting. I’ll show you to the room.” She began leading him through one of the doors that was the main entrance to the entire building within the mountain. A few children, mostly babies, were being carried to the nursery. A younger child seemed to be walking with a caretaker from that direction, her round violet orbs stared at Kakashi and she smiled brightly. He returned the smile.

As the little girl ran off ahead of them, the receptionist chuckled as she opened up a door to allow Kakashi to enter, only to freeze on the spot. Kakashi looked over her head, glancing at the small blonde boy he had seen on his first visit sitting at the table. The boy didn’t bother looking up from his piece of paper as he continued to roughly press the crayons into his drawing.

“Naruto!” The small boy jerked in his seat, staring up with wide, terrified eyes. The kind receptionist scowled; her voice no longer full of care as it had been moments before entering the room. Instead it was laced with anger and hatred. The name rolled off her tongue as if an insult, causing the boy’s wide blue eyes to fill with tears. “Don’t give me that look. You should be in the playroom!”

The boy threw his hands on the table, snapping one of his crayons in half. “Don’t make me go in there. The other boys were throwing balls at me, and the girls kept trying to hit me with a jump rope. I’ll be good, let me stay here!” He held up both his hands, clasping them together in a begging motion. Kakashi noticed a chakra seal bracelet on his left wrist. The bracelet wasn’t on his wrist the first time they met, Kakashi mused to himself. Also the alarming amount of chakra the boy had that day (Kyuubi’s more than likely, the jounin added silently) was no longer there. The boy looked drained. Often his head would fall forward, looking down at his art, but Kakashi realized he was trying to stay propped up.

“Come here.” The woman hissed at the boy, causing Kakashi to flinch. As if knowing he was in trouble, the boy fled towards the other door, swaying slightly. As the door slammed shut behind him, the receptionist calmed down some. “I’ll inform Takanashi-san that you’re here. Please take a seat.” She turned to walk away, leaving the man alone. Taking a seat, Kakashi pulled his orange book out from his tunic, preparing to launch into a well-deserved reading frenzy, but his eyes fell on the picture that Naruto had been coloring.

It was a fox. Colored in red and brown, coal black eyes staring off the paper. Where had the boy seen this animal? Kakashi grumbled, wondering if he should bring this up with the hokage. Lifting up the paper, he gave a better glance down at it, staring at the green grass that surrounded the fox. It was no different than any other child’s drawing, but since the content was such, Kakashi felt the need to keep it. Maybe ask Naruto when he could what the picture meant. Bending the sheet, he slipped it into his book and sat back, quickly going into his reading.

As the door opened again, Kakashi diverted his attention to the councilor who walked in, then down at his book again. The man wasn’t reason enough to put his book away. Hell, the Hokage wasn’t reason enough to when he just got to such a good part. The man cleared his throat, and Kakashi glanced back up, noting the flushed look that had overcome the usual calm demeanor. “Hatake-san…if I may ask for you not to read that book around this building?” He seemed confused on the fact that a man interested in adopting a child would be reading such material with children in the vicinity.

Shrugging his shoulders, Kakashi closed his book and placed it in his lap. “Let’s get this over with then.” He made a hand gesture, and the councilor looked down at his notebook he’d brought in with him.

“Um. I’m sure your husband told you a few of my questions.” Kakashi nodded. “Well, why don’t we start answering the basics by telling me about yourself, your past, and such.”

Frowning, Kakashi leaned back in his chair. “My name is Hatake Kakashi. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t feel like talking about his likes and dislikes! My dreams for the future are none of your business…but anyway, I have lots of hobbies.” It was the same phrase he told all his students the day he met them. The same day he would fail them as well. They needn’t worry about learning much about him unless they’d be a permanent fix. So far, only Iruka would be permanent in his life.

“I…see.” Takahashi-san muttered, his voice unsure. “You are aware if you go through with an adoption, this child will need for you to open up a lot. Not only will you need to understand how the child thinks, but also he or she will want to know how you think. Moving along. Would you care to tell me about your parents?”

Kakashi leaned forward again, shrugging his shoulders. “I had a normal life.” He was reluctant to continue, but the look the councilor gave him told him to continue. “My parents worked weeks on end, both ANBU, so I didn’t see them often.” He put a finishing tone in to get the point out he’d rather not talk about his family or his friends.

“It was Hatake Iruka’s idea to adopt a child, wasn’t it?” The man asked, taking down some notes. Kakashi nodded. “Do you want a child?” He asked smoothly.

Kakashi was thrown off by the question, but he kept his facial features calm and impassive. His mind began yelling at him to answer the man honestly, but he also wanted to lie. The part wanting to make Iruka happy won and he looked right into the man’s eyes. “At first, I hated the idea. I know what type of life this child will live, since only Iruka can spend the proper amount of time with him. However, the thought of having children makes Iruka happy thus it makes me happy.”

“You avoided the question. Do you want this child you’re adopting?”

“If you mean Naruto, then no. However, Iruka is as stubborn as a mule. He made up his mind, and I must follow his choice. Like I said, he’d probably be with the kid more than I will be. But, yes. Yes I do want a child with Iruka, even if it’s not our own creation.”

Takanashi looked displeased with Kakashi’s choice of words, glancing down at his notepad then back up at the Jounin, who had grown bored with the questions and was once more reading from him orange book. The man seemed startled by this, but Kakashi ignored him, glancing over the words, line by line – waiting for more questions on his personal life. Hands slamming into the table made him glance up. “Hatake-san, I must demand you put that book away, it’s inappropriate at the moment. Would you read such…material in front of Hokage-sama?” He demanded.

Smirking behind his mask, Kakashi nodded. “I’ve done so before. He’s learned not to be flustered about it. I listen while I read. Multitasking is wonderful training.” He lowered his eyes to the book, completely ignoring the stuttering escaping the councilor. Without another word, the councilor threw his hands up in the air and left the room. Kakashi chuckled. That was easier than he’d thought.

It wasn’t that he planned on ruining their chances of having children. He knew that they could adopt any child in this area at any time they so wished, having earned enough respect from the Hokage to do such an act. Kakashi stood up, but his eyes strayed back to the door that Takanashi had just left from. Suddenly, he wanted too learn much more about what was happening behind the scenes of this quaint adoption agency, especially since he’d seen Naruto in such a state of fear. Putting his book in his vest, Kakashi summoned the proper amount of chakra to act out the jutsu he had planned. With the movement of his fingers and the summoning of his voice, his body disappeared in smoke, becoming smaller and much more childlike.

He ran his hands over his bare eyes, getting use to the light before fixing the overly sized hat on his head so it covered his silver hair better. His seven-year-old form would have to work to get around here. He nodded, knowing he could hold this up for a while – long enough to get information.

Grasping the door (standing on his toes, Kakashi realized just how short he had become); he slid it open, staring out for anyone who’d grab him suddenly. It was empty. The pattering of feet a distance away told him that the hall led back awhile until connecting with other spiraling paths. Possibly, all entered the same place – the play yard in the center of the mountain. Nodding, Kakashi smirked. Perfectly understandable.

Continuing to walk down the path, Kakashi stopped at the first door and opened it, his eyes narrowed. A broom closet. The same was behind two other doors that he came in contact with, and after what seemed forever; he started finding closets full of linen, pillows, and other items for bedrooms. Kakashi noted he must have been getting close to the living quarters. He froze.

His sharp ears picked up a quickening echo of feet, Kakashi counted the thumbs, the chakras and such before coming to the assumption that there were eight people just down that corridor. His assumptions were correct as four little boys and an equal amount of girls, all around the age of thirteen, came running down the corridor at full force, laughing behind them at whomever they were leaving behind. Moving out of the way, Kakashi watched them pass. Soon, their beating feet were gone, and silence overcame Kakashi’s senses. Interesting.

Continuing down the winding corridor, Kakashi stopped at a break in what seemed like a never-ending straight path. His eyes glanced over in halls, looking at the Room Numbers hanging above each door. Six pink numbers on one side, six blue numbers on the left. Nodding, Kakashi opened the first door, entering in slowly.

A bedroom, just as he expected. For the first room, it was less than packed. There were a lot of orphans in the place and forty-five beds in one room, Kakashi counted. Beds that were in use had names above the headboard in crayon, as well as other drawings. Personal items lined on pillows. In front of the beds, each one had a trunk. Ones in use were locked. All the way in the back of the room was a single, unmade bed. The white sheets were old and tattered, spots of black etched into the old covers. Dried blood, Kakashi frowned. He knew that color very well. He walked towards that bed, studying how everything was thrown about.

Most of the beds in the room were made, this one only accompanied sheets, and the blanket and pillow seemed to be under the bed, in a mischief cocoon. Both splattered with the same near black color of crimson, the rest was an old tattered white sheets with yellow stains showing its age. Glancing up, Kakashi noted whom this bed belonged to.

Green letters, flimsily written by a child, cried out the name Naruto. Around the face were black markers scribbling out something, looking closely, Kakashi could make out the figure of foxes drawn in random places. On the walls, spare paper, notebooks. One was stained with blood, sending chills up Kakashi’s spine. There was much not right about the boy and his fascination with foxes, almost as if he knew. Knew of the Kyuubi, and the secrets wrapped around it. Instead of dreading it, the boy seemed to embrace it.

But all that was only an assumption based on the drawings. Kakashi couldn’t verify until he actually knew Naruto better than he already did.

The patter of feet caught his attention suddenly, his sharp ears picking up the heavy breathing of whoever was running. It was getting closer, and Kakashi stepped back, in defense. In a flash, a blonde head ran into the room, looking behind his back at whoever was following him. He didn’t notice the jounin-made-child standing before him as he made a dive under the bed, concealing himself with the blankets. Kakashi watched as the door opened and a red faced woman walked in, gazing angrily around the room. “You!” She seethed.

“Hm?” Kakashi looked up. She was a tall woman, her brown hair hanging around her ears, the rest tied back in a messy bun.

“Have you seen a small blonde, around the age of nine? Stupid scars on his cheeks, resembling cat whiskers?” She asked, her hands on her hips. Kakashi shook his head ‘no’, and smiled brightly, politely. Nodding her head, the woman turned to leave, her voice echoing over her shoulder. “You should run along to your math class, now. Don’t want to go see Takanashi-san due to bad behavior, do you?”

As she left the room and was a good distance away, Kakashi fell to his knees near the bed, staring under it questioningly. “Naruto?” He asked, unsure, the ruffling under the blanket tensed and froze, as if suddenly feeling unsafe again. “Hm. My name’s Hatake Kakashi.” He introduced himself, keeping his voice level and calm. The blanket lowered some, blue eyes shined brightly from behind it.

“I’ve heard of you. You’re gonna adopt me, aren’t you? …But, aren’t you older than this?” Naruto raised a fine golden brow.

A nervous look crossed the jounin’s usually impassive face as he scratched his chin. “Er, well. I couldn’t get in here being in my adult height. Don’t worry, this is just a disguise until I leave unnoticed. Can you do me a favor though?” He reached into his tunic as the small boy nodded. Pulling out the small sheet of paper the boy had left on the table at the beginning of the meeting with Takanashi-san. Straightening the drawing out, he slid the paper under the bed. “If you have a crayon, could you write a note on this drawing?” The boy nodded again, and ruffled around under his bed.

“What do you want written?” The child whispered, his voice squeaking in uncertainly.

“Something for my husband, Iruka. He’s really set on adopting you, and I’m sure he’ll probably sneak in here and kidnap you if he was denied.” He earned a giggle. “Why’s your bedding so … dirty?” He asked, staring at the dried blood, the boy froze, stopping any and all moving. Even breathing. “Never mind.” Kakashi whispered. The boy’s response was enough to explain everything. The movement started again before the paper slid out from under the bed.

Thank you, Iruka-san. Naruto-kun, 9

Kakashi glanced over the messy words, some words trying to write in Kanji to seem much older than he really was. The child stilled again, and Kakashi stared up, trying to find out why, since he said nothing. Footsteps were approaching the room. “Go away,” Naruto hissed, covering himself with the blanket. Standing up, the copy-nin walked towards the door just in time for Takanashi-san to enter the room, panting heavily.

“Who are you?” Takanashi frowned, glaring down at the boy. Kakashi smiled at his luck.

“My friends came this way, I’ve been here awhile. Obviously they’re not here, so I’ll look elsewhere.” He walked past the man, ignoring the glare. His hands, flimsily, holding the picture. Finally he approached the exit, and as he entered the conference room he had started in, his disguise gave out. . His adult form stretched, getting use to the height difference. Muscles ached and bones cracked, but he felt better. With his book in his vest and Naruto’s drawing folded in his hand, he left the building.

The cool mountain wind felt nice, the Jounin took in a deep breath. It relaxed him further. Now he had plans for his evening, maybe even get laid. That would make his day. The copy-nin smirked under his mask. Yes, that’d be great, but Iruka didn’t give out easily. He’d been on edge recently based on the adoption, so intercourse (besides verbal) hadn’t been on Iruka’s list of things to do. Also, Genin Finals were coming up, and Iruka was on his toes getting his students ready, last minute advice, strain.

Stopping at a florist, Kakashi picked up a single pink rose. Paying for it, he quickly stalked towards the Ninja Academy. His only eye that was showing was a crescent of happiness; people walking near him wondered how he knew where he was going. Hell, Kakashi was in such a good mood he felt like singing as he entered the tall building, walking through hallways until he reached the Iruka’s classroom.

He could hear Iruka’s stern voice speaking throughout the class before giggles followed, laughter from the boys all the way in the back. Many times the copy-nin had just sat in the classroom as Iruka taught, claiming he was ‘visiting’ his childhood when he had sat in one of those chairs. He would note that girls tended to sit up front, one or two flirting with Iruka for a grade; others sat near the boys, flirting with them. One or two would actually be interested in learning. The boys, at this age, were full of spunk. Made comments that got Iruka flustered up, to the point that he was stuttering as he tried to control the blood rushing to his face.

Sliding the door open, Kakashi held up his hand, the other hiding the pink rose and drawing behind his back. “Yo! Sorry I’m late for class, Iruka-sensei!” He put a cheerful deposition over his face as he walked towards one of the seats, propping his feet on the table as if he was preparing for a nap rather than a lecture. Without anyone noticing, he placed the rose and picture comfortably on his lap, hidden by his feet. Iruka’s face darkened as he tossed his chalkboard eraser at the class distraction.

“Get out of here, Kakashi!” The eraser was a direct hit with Kakashi’s forehead.

Sure, Kakashi could have caught it, no questions asked, but he wanted to be lazy. An eraser wasn’t going to kill him, no point to waste energy and catch it. “Ja.” He waved his hand indifferently. “You’re holding up the class, Iruka-sensei. Teach! Teach!” He earned laughter from the back of the room; the young girl next to him snickered behind her hand.

“Um…” Iruka stared around as his class became out of control, Kakashi mentally patted himself on the back. Still had it in him. He removed his orange book from his vest. Girls’ faces broke out red, reading the cover of the book. “Kakashi!” Iruka yelled, his embarrassment disappearing into anger. “Class dismissed, study for a test tomorrow.” His eyes never left his husband, but the copy-nin decided not to notice.

As the last student left, Iruka let out a startling yell, causing Kakashi to stare up. “I told you not to take that book with you! Where did it come from?” He seethed, reaching over to grab the book. Kakashi held it out of reach. Grabbing the rose, he held it up to the reaching Chuunin, who became startled with the action. “What the-?” He whispered, taking the flower.

Kakashi smiled. “My interview went well enough.”

“You didn’t read the book in front of Takanashi-san, did you?” Iruka whispered, fumbling with the petals.

“He was boring me.”

“Kakashi!” Iruka threw the rose on the table. “I told you to be on your best behavior! Now we’ll probably never get a child because they know you’re a pervert!” The younger male crumpled to the ground, about ready to cry. “I really, really wanted Naruto.”

Getting completely up off the table, the copy-nin approached his lover, sitting beside him. “I talked to Naruto today too.” He whispered, catching the dolphin’s attention. Holding out the folded paper, Kakashi handed it to his husband. “This is for you.”

Opening it, Iruka’s eyes lit up, a smile tugging on his lips as he jumped his lover. “Thank you, Kakashi!” He pulled himself on his feet and ran to his desk, looking for tape so he could put the art near his chalkboard. Kakashi watched as the Chuunin fluttered around, his emotions doing a complete one-eighty.

“Does this mean I get sex?” Kakashi asked, hopefully.

“Nope.” Iruka said, taping the picture on the wall. “You took your Icha Icha Paradise book to that interview when I said not to.”

“We’ll see.” Kakashi stared up, smirking to himself. He was going to have dolphin tonight. He licked his lips, anticipating how to get it.

Iruka twitched in his sleep before curling up in the blanket, breathing in the other side of the bed, Kakashi’s side. His face scrunched up, as if realizing that Kakashi was no longer in bed before his facial muscles relaxed, giving him a solemn expression. Reaching up to the fan blades, Kakashi ripped his mask off, reminding himself to ask Iruka why every time- every bloody time! – they had sex, his mask always ended up on the blade of the ceiling fan. It was a mystery of why Iruka threw it in that direction, but the Chuunin’s aim was never off. Sliding the article of clothes over his face and pulling on his pants, Kakashi headed over towards the bed and sat patiently. His fingers absently played with his mask before lowering it enough to show his lips.

“Mm.” Iruka mumbled, leaning further towards the heat emitting from Kakashi. Taking the academy teacher’s chin in his hands, he tilted Iruka’s face close enough for a kiss. Slowly, Iruka opened his eyes, allowing the light of day to embrace his sleep-induced mind. Kakashi’s tongue played roughly with the Chuunin’s lips, begging for entrance and with natural nervousness, Iruka opened his lips to grant permission.

With the permission, Kakashi dove in, mapping his husband’s mouth with vigor, seeking for more turn-ons that Iruka had. A suck on the tongue, a massage in a certain area and the dark haired man was putty under his stronger lover, holding onto firm shoulders to remain sitting up straight. Pressing his body over the academy teacher’s, the Jounin prepared to go further than where he already was when the doorbell broke sound barriers within the house. Kakashi froze, millimeters from Iruka’s swollen lips, debating whether or not to ignore the bell and continue his feast or actually answer the door.

Iruka’s flushed face won as Kakashi closed the space between their lips with a searing kiss.

The doorbell rang again.

Bringing his lips down to the academy teacher’s neck, Kakashi clamped onto the skin leaving a bruise for Konoha to know whom the man belonged to. Iruka groaned; throwing his head back further into the pillow as the copy ninja began licking the wound to pick up any blood that had escaped. “Kakashi-kun…” Iruka began to shake as the Jounin trailed kisses down to his nipples. “…Kakashi, we need to get the door.” Iruka pushed on his husband’s shoulders, knowing that if he didn’t put a stop to the pervert now, they’d end up doing more than needed that early in the morning. The doorbell rang again, this time it followed with countless knocks upon the hardwood.

Building up strength in his arms, Iruka pushed Kakashi’s shoulders again – this time he accomplished pushing Kakashi off him and the bed. Kakashi glared up at the flustered teacher before sliding his mask back over his face. Finally, standing up he left the room and approached the door, planning numerous things he was going to do to the person that dared ruin his playtime. With a flick of the wrist, the door slammed against the wall. “What?” He yelled.

A petit ANBU stood impassive, though his arm was raised in effort to knock on the door again had it not been opened. He was one of the younger people that made it into ANBU, hell he was the ANBU Captain. His black hair was long and hanging just below his ears. “Hokage-sama wishes to see both you and Iruka-san.” He gave a sharp nod of his head and turned away – having no reason to remain there since his pathetic mission was over. That was peacetime though; none of the elite ninjas had much to do and were taking any orders offered, even if they were C and D missions.

Shutting the door, Kakashi turned around. Iruka seemed to have pulled out of bed, because he was standing dressed in his trousers from the day before. He was rubbing the remnants of sleep out of his eyes, yet seemed confused at the same time. “Was that Uchiha Itachi?” Kakashi nodded. “What did he want?” Iruka seemed intrigued by the knowledge that the ANBU Captain would come to his apartment.

“Hokage-sama wishes to see the both of us.” Kakashi walked past the dazed teacher and into the bathroom. Seeing that Iruka wasn’t going to follow, Kakashi reached over and pulled the man’s arm, yanking the younger male to follow him into the bathroom. “Besides, he interrupted us.”

“K-Kakashi-!” Iruka called out as the door slammed behind him.

---~*~*~---

“When I sent Uchiha-san, I was hoping you’d come then, not three hours later.” Unable to fight the blush from his face, Iruka watched the elderly man in front of them, who just leaned forward and watched them in amusement. Kakashi was being himself, leaning back against the wall with his nose stuck in his orange book. “You should be careful, Iruka-san, I can’t help but feel Kakashi is giving you some of his negative traits.”

Bowing, Iruka fought to remove the blood from his face. From his perceptual vision, he could see Kakashi’s eyes leave the words in the book and admire his rear. Feeling self conscious Iruka stood up straight again, attempting to put his hands on his rear to block it from Kakashi’s vision. “I apologize, Hokage-sama. Something came up and it had to be dealt with…”

“I’d say two things came up.” Kakashi smirked.

“Shut up Kakashi!” Iruka turned around, his face as red as a tomato. Sarutobi’s eyes danced at the antics going on between the two, but he didn’t speak as Iruka began threatening to rip the orange book into millions of pieces. Of course, Kakashi’s come back was for Iruka to try. After letting the two fight verbally for a few minutes, Sarutobi coughed, catching their attention again.

“On to other news.” He breathed, taking the pipe out of his mouth and placing it on his desk. Iruka realized that was a sign that the elderly man would be talking for awhile. “Sit down, Iruka, you’ll be here awhile.” Nodding, Iruka sat down, never once glancing back at his husband. “I received a report from the Adoptive Community, yesterday evening – containing the reports for a small family, Hatake.” He watched them carefully before pulling the report out of his desk and pushed it towards the academy teacher. “Please read what they wrote about you.”

Iruka took the report in his hands, glancing up uncertainly. Should he read what was written about him? Sarutobi nodded, clasping his fingers firmly as he waited for the silence to wear down as Iruka began reading the report. After a few minutes, the paper became crumpled as tears fell from Iruka’s face. “Why were we denied? It said all our good traits, all our abilities, that we would be excellent parents. Are you sure it wasn’t a misprint?”

Sarutobi shook his head, his eyes closed as he calmed himself down. “I was shocked at first. I remember you saying that you were going to adopt, and I thought that you’d be accepted with no problem. I even believed that Kakashi would be accepted. I you would have been to, if it weren’t for the child which you choose.”

“That shouldn’t matter!” Iruka stood up, his fist slamming against the table.

“And it shouldn’t.” Sarutobi sighed, bringing his pipe back to his mouth. “Do you know who Naruto is? Everything about the child?”

“That he’s the Kyuubi? Yes, I know.” Iruka stared at his lap, noticing a shadow above him he turned to smile at his husband, clasping their hands. It was a weak smile, unable to bring out Iruka’s better features.

Sarutobi frowned. “Yes, the Kyuubi is part of him, but there’s much the villagers don’t know about Naruto, and much they do but have misunderstood. Let me tell you all you need to know about Naruto-san. Everything I say will not be repeated to other villagers outside this room – only between the two of you. Perhaps when Naruto is old enough to know the truth, I’ll tell him – if I’m still around for such.”

“Hokage-sama, don’t say such things.” Iruka whispered, Kakashi nodded solemnly behind – though both knew the man was reaching up in years.

“I can say all I want about myself. First off, let me explain one thing. Naruto isn’t the Kyuubi, more of a vessel then the Kyuubi. He was suppose to be seen as a hero, Yondaime wanted that for the boy that was chosen to save our village. I’d think he cries in his death due to how the villagers treat his son.”

“His son?” Kakashi and Iruka yelled in shock.

“Yes. Son.” Sarutobi nodded. “A good man, people say Yondaime was. Could do no wrong, did everything that was best for the village. Of course, what type of human would he be if he didn’t sin once in awhile? He didn’t drink a lot, only on occasions such as festivities and other festivals. He never stole, I knew him most of his life, he wasn’t that type of boy. I, too, believed the lies the villagers’ spread that he was like kami-sama. As though he were unable to lie and sin.

“Of course, it shocked me when he came to me one day. He was hokage at the time, he should have summoned for me, not came for me, but he was in great remorse. He cried onto my shoulder, ‘Sarutobi, what have I done. I should have known better!’ I didn’t know what he was talking about. So confused about what would make him cry like he was. I patted him on the head, trying to comfort him the best I could and asked calmly, what he had done. I wasn’t prepared for the words he told me after that.

“‘I’ve committed adultery Sarutobi. It was only one time, it’s been so long since I was with a woman, I hadn’t cared if she was married already or not, I took her and the next day it was as if nothing had ever happened. We saw each other, once or twice during the day, but that one night had changed nothing between us. Then, four hours ago, she approached me and said she was pregnant – and that it’s not her husband’s. I don’t know what to do, help me Sarutobi!’” The old man took a deep breath, his face seemed impassive as he remembered that conversation as if it were just the day before. “I was so shocked, I stood there, just watching him as he began to cry again, I’d never seen those blue eyes of his so broken as he begged for an answer. I couldn’t give it to him. These cases happen all the time, but it seems more frowned upon when a role model too many does such a wrong.

“After telling him to relax, help the woman out as far as he could, support her though out the pregnancy, and let her decide what to do, he left having come up with a plan somewhere along the way. It would be six months later when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Yondaime was also fighting the demon when he received word that a young woman had just gone into labor – the same woman who he secretly impregnated. Leave the battlefield to be with the woman who needed help, or fight for the village that needed you. Tough call, so he told the Chuunin to tell me to deal with the woman.

“She was beautiful.” Sarutobi whispered, becoming off track to the story. “She had wide blue eyes as he did, and the lightest red hair I’d ever seen, almost a pink but tinted just enough to prove it was red. She was scared, kept asking for both her husband and the hokage. It was then that Yondaime ran in the room and said he knew how to destroy the demon, but he needed the child. It was that day the Kyuubi was defeated and Yondaime lost his life.

“When the husband returned home, upon hearing that his wife had had the baby, he seemed happy. I stopped him before he entered the room where the baby’s crying could be heard, and explained the child had been used the seal the Kyuubi. I told him constantly that the baby was not the nine-tailed fox, but his child. I couldn’t tell him that it wasn’t his real baby. He pushed me aside, wanting to see his wife, to see the vessel.

“And when he walked into that room, he froze. His face etched from confusion to anger so quickly as he saw that the baby had no sign of being his own – a blonde haired baby with wide blue eyes that cooed for attention and a swirl around his stomach, sealing the Kyuubi. It wasn’t his child. He stared down at his wife and slapped her before leaving. Though she had just given birth, she stood up and wobbled after him, begging for forgiveness.” Sarutobi rubbed his eyes. “He did forgive her, for her adulterous acts upon knowing it was just one time. He demanded to be rid of the bastard, the fox. He was going to kill the child himself. He didn’t though, instead he and his wife completely forgot about the child, leaving it in the same place where it had been that dangerous night. Crying and begging for some type of affection. I had returned the next day to see how the family had held up to find this.

“Immediately, I demanded the child be taken into an adoption home to be cared for better. His parents, as of yet, have made no initiative to claim their own son. News spread fast about who this boy was, and no one wanted to adopt him or put up with him in foster care. He just sat there at the orphanage, watching children be adopted around him.”

“While he was abused by the caretakers because of Kyuubi.” Kakashi glanced up. Iruka clutched further onto his hand, taking this story in.

Sarutobi nodded, refilling his pipe with tobacco. “Yes. That’s why I want him out of there. No one else is going to try but you two. So I thought I’d tell you personally that I’ve approved the adoption – at least the first step. You two will still have to go through the observatory stage. You can pick up Naruto-san, next month. Good luck.” He smiled.

Iruka’s eyes were wide as he stared down the hokage. All this time, since reading the report that said they were denied adoption rights, the Chuunin believed that he truly was denied the chance of having a child. The hokage had led them along. Kakashi seemed surprise as well, his lazy eye wider than usual. “Wait…” Iruka started, trying to sort this out.

“I told you Naruto’s history, to see how you’d react and change your minds on him. Obviously he’s going to be a tough case with the Kyuubi inside him. He’s going to have to accept himself. Also, with who his father was, I know he has a strong bloodline that shouldn’t be taken too lightly. I know you two can take care of him, but don’t make me eat my words by showing me I was wrong.. Be the best parents you can be until I see you again for the final trail later on.” With a wave, the hokage excused them.

Grasping Iruka’s shoulder, Kakashi led the dazed man out of the room, sending a cheerful smile at the hokage, who returned it. Once the door was shut, Kakashi felt the tension in Iruka’s shoulders relax drastically. “We did it…”

“Yep.”

“Naruto’s ours?”

“For the most part.”

Iruka turned around, facing his lover. His smile lit up the room before he let out a startling yell. “We did it Kakashi!” He jumped the Jounin, crashing their lips together. With a smile, Kakashi brought his lover closer. Their lips were torn apart as Iruka hid his face into the copy ninja’s shoulder, wetting the skin with fresh tears that he couldn’t control no matter how hard he tried.

“It’s okay, Iruka.” Kakashi whispered, patting the younger man on his back. “Let’s go home, celebrate some.” Iruka nodded quickly, allowing himself to be dragged off by the extremely happy pervert.

Iruka couldn’t hold back the smug look on his face as Takanashi stood up at his desk, wearing a very confused expression that quickly changed to embarrassment when it was explained that the Hokage had decided differently about the kind of parents the two ninjas would be. He bowed down polite, apologizing for the dismissal of adoption, covering his story up by saying that he wasn’t the one that decided in the end, that he merely sent notes up to a higher desk the would approve or disapprove. Iruka didn’t believe it, nor did Kakashi.

“Follow me, Hatake-san. We’ll get Naruto ready to go if you don’t mind waiting in the lunchroom with all the other children. He’s eating breakfast right now.” His face was masked with a smile, his voice edged with criticism. If either ninja noticed, they made no move to make it known as they followed the man down the long corridors that they had walked so often recently.

A month before, after celebrating their approval for adoption (of which Iruka still blushed many shades in remembrance), Iruka had used the money he’d saved over the course of years to buy Naruto a bed for the guest room, some toys, several plush toys of the fox genre, and other furniture the boy would need. Unsure of what the boy’s size was, the happy teacher had abandoned every thought of clothes until they had Naruto within arms reach.

Squeezed in Iruka’s arms was a fox plush toy that Kakashi had “found” during his most recent mission, and, being the kind man that he was, he found it in his heart to save the toy from ravenous enemies. Knowing that it was just Kakashi’s way of saying he was looking forward to bringing the child into his family (having been more than willing now, knowing that it was his old teacher’s son), without actually saying it. Kakashi’s arms wrapped around his waist, reassuringly, making Iruka nod. “I can assume he’s not packed to leave, Takanashi-san?” Iruka inquired; his voice full of curiosity.

“The Hokage…failed to make us aware that he’d be leaving…” Takanashi explained.

“I wonder why…” Kakashi muttered, to himself, off handedly. If he meant for the councilor to hear it, the man did. His ears turned red, his face losing color. “We’ll get this all finished here and today, and in a few hours he’ll be nothing more than a child on file to be observed.”

“Not true, Hatake-san.” Takanashi-san muttered. “We must also contact his biological parents, let them understand of the adoption and question if they want to fight it along side the adoption hearing. Just so you know that it will be a tense adoption since Naruto isn’t exactly an… orphan.” His hands pressed on the door shutting the corridor off, sliding the escape open and letting noise flow out. Children’s laughter and chatter, a yell here and there, came loudly to both ninja’s sensitive ears, but instead of Kakashi who winced at the sound of simultaneous noise, Iruka was used to this kind of behavior in children. “Naruto eats over on the east side of the room by himself; I think he prefers it that way.” That said; Takanashi-san walked away, leaving the two parents-to-be alone. Nodding, Iruka stepped towards the direction they were instructed, where the crowd was less dense and the small blonde dressed in orange was slurping at his meal noisily.

As if sensing their approach over his small bowl, the boy glanced towards them, his eyes changing from fear to happiness. “Hi!” He put his bowl down. “Whatcha doing here today?”

Iruka smiled, sitting down across from Naruto, pulling the jounin down to sit next to him. “Kakashi and I are going to take you with us today. Home.”

If possible, the boy’s eyes grew wide with astonishment. Probably having never heard such words in his young life. “Home? Like, one of those buildings with grass and a fence? Dogs and … other cool things that people have?”

Iruka smiled, his eyes closing with happiness and embarrassment, but it was Kakashi that spoke. “More of an apartment near the academy and several small shops, a neighbor above us who has too many cats – I keep finding them lying about. The neighbor across from us has many plants and always stands outside to greet people that come by as if he knew we were coming.” Naruto smiled at that.

“That sounds like Aki-san. He shares the same dorm as I do, and always acts like he knew we were coming. Doesn’t want to admit he’s skipping a course.” He stood up, clutching his empty bowl in his hands, a smile lighting up his face and clearing up all traces of fear that had been there before. “If I’m leaving today, I gotta get packed up! Can I bring my drawings? Oh! Can I bring my crayons and all my foxes?”

“Foxes?” The teacher inquired.

“Yep. Foxes. They protect me.” Naruto gave his bowl to one of the cleaning monitors, who glanced at him with hatred before pretending to ignore he was there once more. “Takanashi-san always told us a story about a demon fox that attacked Konoha several years ago. He says that it was a bad fox, and that if we miss behave, we’ll have to suffer with its own hatred. But foxes aren’t hating animals.”

Interested, Kakashi spoke up with a deep voice, “why is that, Naruto?”

“’Cause…I don’t know.” Naruto looked at his feet. “I don’t think they do wrong.” Kakashi and Iruka glanced at him, but didn’t press their questions any further. “Come on, let’s go and get my stuff. I wanna show you to my friends!” He pulled on Iruka’s arm, laughing. “Come on!” With a turn, he dragged the high-strung man down the hall. Kakashi couldn’t hold back the snicker at the child’s extensive chatter, continuously asking questions that Iruka tried to answer before the next question popped up. Questions about the whole family seemed to drop the boy’s enthusiasm a bit, but he brightened back up when Iruka explained that their many friends were very close to the family, so the boy would always have someone to talk to.

“This is my room!” Naruto suddenly shouted, throwing the door open. A few boys, who had been sitting on the beds, glanced up before looking down to what they were doing before the intrusion. Naruto ran past everyone of them to his clean bed, seeming shocked about the change that had come to it. “Whoa! New sheets!” He pulled the blanket down, looking over the bedding. Iruka looked over, worriedly, at Kakashi, who nodded with a grimace. The adoption agency was hiding the truth.

“Iruka-san! Down here!” Naruto waved his hand from near his trunk, opening the large lid. “I gotta show you my art work!” Nodding, the Chuunin sat down next to their new son, watching Naruto pull items from the case, telling many stories about each drawing. Conflicting stories of how the fox in each one saved the day. One or two of the drawings didn’t contain a fox in any way; they were a disarray of colors flooding from greens and blues of the fields to orange and reds of an inferno of fire.

Iruka glanced over at the two landscapes, messy but perfect for a child at the age of nine. “Why did you draw these?” He asked, looking them over closely.

“I see them in dreams!” Naruto shouted cheerfully. “I had this dream around my birthday,” he pointed towards the fiery inferno, “last year. I liked the colors, but it was very scary! The green one had lots of bunnies in it during my dreams. Bunnies and deer, and other animals just playing together. They were big though! Humongous compared to what Maiko-sensei has in her books!”

Kakashi’s black eye seemed wide compared to the lazy look it had before, but his expression relaxed as he sat on the bed. “Pack up, Naruto?” He suggested, but his voice suggested that he really wanted to leave the building.

“Yes.” Iruka nodded. “We should hurry, Naruto. We’re going to take you out to eat, and then do some clothes shopping. Take you home so you can get all situated in that new bedroom.”

“I get my own room?” Naruto yelled, enthusiastic once again. Iruka nodded, causing a cheer to erupt out of the boy’s lips. With a turn, the boy did a small victory dance before glancing over that the two new parents. “Can we leave now?” He emptied everything he owned into a plastic bag, and Iruka helped him tie the bag close.

“Sure, but first we have to go confirm you leaving with Takanashi-san.” With a nod of his head, Iruka stood up and grasped Naruto’s hand, helping him to his feet. “Come, let’s go.” He smiled, Naruto began pulling him again towards the door.

“Bye everyone!” He yelled to the occupants in the room. One or two replied, others gave a raise of the hand in acknowledgement; the last two didn’t say anything, just continued reading their comic books. “Gifts,” Naruto explained as he led the way to Takanashi’s office, “for our birthdays. They save money, sometimes taking it out of their own pocket to buy a gift for one of us every birthday.”

“What do you get on your birthdays, Naruto?” Kakashi asked, remembering that the boy had only placed drawings and crayons in his bag, no real material goods.

“…They throw a party. I don’t like going though. I don’t think the party’s for me, more like for an attack that happened years ago. I don’t feel welcomed.” Naruto’s eyes strayed to the floor. Both parents dropped the topic quickly as they entered the Takanashi’s office.

The man was hunched over his desk, filling out paperwork. He glanced up at the open door, a smile smug on his face. “Ready to go, Naruto-kun?” He asked. The child nodded eagerly. “Very well then. Hatake-san, just fill in this release forms. Here. Here. And here,” he pointed out every space. Iruka read through the contract instead of just signing. “Observation periods, as I explained to you before, will be random. He or she might come during your work schedule to ask questions, or just show up at your apartment. Once in awhile, they’ll call ahead, but some of them will try to surprise you to build cases. The offer still stands that if you need to know about your social worker, contact me and I’ll tell you.” He bent down to Naruto’s level, his hands on the boy’s shoulders, causing the child to wince at the squeeze (though the man made it look playful). “’Sides, we want to keep Naruto in his good home now, don’t we?”

With a nod, Naruto hugged the counselor before latching onto Iruka’s leg, staring up. “Can we go now?”

Signing his name, Iruka handed the pen over to Kakashi, who started scribbling his name down in the designated areas without reading. “In a second.” Putting the pen down, Kakashi looked up. “Is that all?”

“Yes it is, Hatake-san. Naruto,” he addressed the child, “be a good boy for them.” Giving a thumb up, the boy let Iruka lead him out of the building, smiling along the way.

As they stepped out into the light, the small, tan skinned boy winced at the light, but a smile took over his features once more. “Where’re we going now?” He jumped from heel to heel.

“Ah. Kakashi?” Iruka asked, unsure himself where to start their adventure as a family, Kakashi glanced around at the streets leading into town.

“He just ate; no point in going now. We can wait for that. Let’s stop and get him clothes, then we can go show him the apartment. Later take him out to eat. How’s that sound? Iruka?” Kakashi smiled at his husband, who nodded with a blush. “Well, let’s go!” He waved his hand innocently. “Maybe we can get Iruka to try on some of the clothes I want him to wear.” This deepened the blush on Iruka’s face; Naruto just stared up at the two with confusion.

Leading the way, Kakashi lifted Naruto onto his shoulders to make them move faster. The boy squealed with his raise of height, grabbing hold of the jounin’s hitai-ate in fear of falling. Quickly, the man grasped the metal, leaving it in place. “Leave that be, Naruto.” He instructed, stopping the boy from running his hand over the metal frame then back to where the cloth tied under Kakashi’s gravity defying hair.

“You and Iruka-san both have one, what are they for?” The child asked, grasping onto one of Kakashi’s longer silver hair strands, holding himself up.

“It’s a badge of adulthood for those that graduate to become shinobi.” Seeing the look of confusion on the boy’s face, Iruka decided to clear himself up some more. “Shinobi graduate from the ninja academy over there,” he pointed in the direction. “First you’re a genin where you begin hands-on training to become a Chuunin.”

“Iruka’s a Chuunin.” Kakashi placed into Iruka’s lecture. “Just so you know, Naruto, he doesn’t get enough lecturing done at school, usually just brings it home to us and lectures. ‘Kakashi, feet off the furniture, you track in dust from other countries, put your feet on my furniture, and expect me to clean it up! What am I, a maid?’ Blah, blah, so on. You’ll get use to it.”

“I don’t always lecture!” Iruka yelled.

“Right.” Kakashi rolled his eyes with sarcasm; Iruka slammed his foot into the ground with a growl. “Let’s see, children’s clothes children’s clothes.” He glanced around, Naruto following his head directions. Finally, deciding on a building, he entered just to leave his raging husband outside to cool off.

Seeing them go inside, Iruka followed, planning Kakashi’s demise inside his head. With a brush of the door, a chime of the bell, both Naruto and Kakashi, who were being checked over by a young sales lady, glanced at him. “There he is, he’ll tell you what we’re looking for. As far as I know, clothes that he’ll probably rip some time or another.”

Naruto wiggled on Kakashi’s shoulders, trying to pull himself free. Kakashi did what the boy wanted, bringing him to the floor lightly before releasing all hold on the child. Naruto fled over to Iruka, grabbing the teacher’s leg with wide eyes. “What’s wrong Naruto?” Iruka whispered.

The boy just held on tighter, never looking up. With a sigh, Iruka moved forward, dragging Naruto with him. “Yes, but I’m sure we can handle finding the clothes ourselves.” He led Naruto towards the children’s area, busying himself by looking through shirts. “Kakashi, can you take Naruto over and try sizing his pants?” with small nod, Kakashi led the boy off. Still nervous, the boy glanced back at Iruka before at Kakashi. “What color do you like?”

“Orange!” He laughed.

Giving the boy an off look, Kakashi shrugged. “Orange it is then!” He led the boy in the direction of the trousers. Iruka frowned. What had caused the sudden mood change in Naruto? He seemed so cheerful when he first entered the shop with Kakashi. Glancing at the sales clerks, his eyes fell upon an older woman, the manager, sending glares in the blonde’s direction.

“Ah.” He whispered, turning away from the sneers. He had other things to do than worry about this. Picking up a few shirts, he followed after his husband and newly made son, watching them push through clothes arguing with one another about what was wrong with the outfit chosen. Parental choice and child’s lack of fashion shoved in one (or Kakashi’s lack of fashion, both were bad, Iruka mused). “What’s going on here?” He sternly asked, looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi glared at the boy. “He wants a pair of orange pants that will match nothing at all.”

“They’re really cool!” Naruto yelled, holding up the pants in defense.

“Uh.” Iruka blushed. “We’ll get one pair, Naruto. Blue jeans would be better though.”

“Fine…” Naruto kicked his feet out, pushing imaginary dirt around with the toe of his sandal. His eyes glanced around before widening. Like lightening he took off, leaving the two parents behind to stare at the clothes in their hands. The two began to match clothes together on the floor to make sure they had at least two weeks worth of wear since they were dealing with a nine-year-old boy.

“Boys like playing in mud, scratching their knees, and other things that ruin clothes.” Iruka reasoned, remembering when he was younger. Kakashi nodded glancing at what they’d collected.

“Iruka-san!” A voice echoed through the store. All the clerks glanced up. Kakashi glanced up. Iruka glanced up just as he was pounced by a ball of blonde fluff. “Look what I found! Can we get it also?” He held up an orange fox, his bead like eyes glaring at them. “He says he’s lonely here at the store. When he came to Konoha when he was a puppy, his mommy and daddy abandoned him and he moved in with these ladies waiting for a new home. He likes chicken soup and a salad on the side and,” he brought the toy up to his ear to pretend he was listening to it, “he says he also likes Naru-chan!”

Taking the doll in his hand, Iruka checked the toy’s price tag, frowning at how cheap the toy had been marked down to. He glanced at the old lady. Why would a woman who seemed to remember Kyuubi get a fox toy for her store? “Okay, only if he has a name. I don’t take people or animals in my house until I know their names!”

“You brought me in the house without knowing my name. Of course, by the end of the night you sure as hell knew it.” Kakashi chucked.

“Idiot!” Iruka flushed, hiding behind the toy, Naruto leaned into Iruka. “Don’t talk about those kinds of things in public!” He stood up, clutching Naruto to his chest in a hold, slowly; he let the boy slide to the ground near the pile of clothes. “Go try those outfits on, Naruto.”

“Okay!” Naruto smirked. “Hold Saiai, Kakashi-san?” He held out the toy. Taking it, Kakashi sat down relaxing on the wall. As the boy disappeared in a dressing room with all the clothes, he pulled out his orange book and began read. If Iruka’s face could turn redder, it did. His mouth fell open as he lunged forward to remove the perverted orange book from his equally perverted husband, only to find his lips pressed against firm ones.

Strong arms grasped hold of the academy teacher’s chin, bringing their mouths closer together and caused Iruka’s mouth to fall slightly open. With entrance, Kakashi dove in, deepening the kiss he initiated. The orange book lay forgotten on the ground as the two kissed deeply, losing themselves on the ground of the clothes store. “Iruka-san! These pants don’t fit!” Naruto’s voice cried out from the changing room. “They’re too tight! It’s the black one!”

“I’ll go find one size up then, Naruto. Set it aside!” Iruka pulled away from Kakashi. With a shake of his head, Kakashi opened his orange book again and began reading once more as Iruka tended to Naruto.

An hour later they left the store with three bags filled with neatly folded clothing and a happy Naruto cuddling his newly acquired fox toys, one bought from the store, the other Kakashi remembered he’d stuffed in his shirt when visiting the boy back at the academy. Originally, Iruka tried talking the boy out of buying the fox toy from the store, but Naruto gave a sob story on how the ladies at the door were very mean and hurt poor Saiai-chan. To stop the flow of tears, Iruka bought the stuff animal and led the boy towards their apartment.

Naruto was between the two. With captivated attention on their surroundings, he’d often run off from them to greet people walking around. “What happen back there?” Iruka had asked Kakashi as Naruto ran off to greet a fur trader from out of town.

“Just entered the shop and the old lady spotted Naruto and remembered a boy with whiskers on his face. Started saying they didn’t serve demons.” Kakashi watched Naruto run ahead of them to greet yet another old man.

“Oh.” Iruka whispered, unable to find other words. A hand grasped his own, causing him to tense and turn in time to see Kakashi kiss his knuckles.

“Don’t worry, Dolphin. What doesn’t kill him will make him stronger.”

Iruka glanced at the ground as Naruto’s laughter filled the streets. “But…What if the weight of Kyuubi-san does kill him? The glares from the village, the hatred of the Shinobi. They’re going to make his life miserable.”

Kakashi’s serious eye bore no shame as his voice echoed out. “If he can’t defend himself against the villager’s hateful glares and words, then Kyuubi will kill.” Both parents faced Naruto as the boy laughed joyously at a side merchant’s joke. For a brief second at the name Kyuubi, his head turned to face them. Instead of blue eyes full of love and joy were red eyes of hate and disgust. His whiskers sharper in the light, but they vanished as the merchant caught the boy’s attention by holding his hands out wide. Once more the child laughed, and those red eyes were no more.

“Should we worry?” Iruka whispered, catching the moment of change.

“Only if he ever does harm, but not right now. The boy’s still too weak for even a demon to care. We’ll worry later.” His face faulted. “Naruto! Let’s go home and drop this stuff off!” The boy turned and ran towards the couple, clasping his hands with both of theirs and began pulling in the direction of the residential area. “Ha! We’re coming Naruto, slow down!” The small family started down the road.

Someone was outside his window. Kakashi opened both eyes, his red one darkening to scan the area outside for the potential enemy. At first, he’d thought it was just Naruto, running around the house in his pajamas while trying to be quiet so the adults could sleep. He dismissed this idea when the noticed the chakra strain outside his window. Involuntarily, his hold on Iruka tightened.

“Humph…” Iruka mumbled in his sleep, wiggling to free himself out of Kakashi’s hold. “Not now, Kaka-chan.” He whispered, using Kakashi’s pet name affectionately. The jounin relented his hold around Iruka’s waist, pulling out of bed. “What is it-?”

Pressing his finger firmly against Iruka’s lips, silencing the man quickly, Kakashi pulled himself out of bed. Without bothering to put on his facemask or his hitai-ate he approached the bedroom window and with a ‘poof’ he vanished. In shock, Iruka rushed out of bed and towards the window, throwing it open in time for Kakashi to fall into the room with a body under him. One was joyously happy, though Kakashi didn’t seem happy in the least. “Gai-san! Kakashi!” Iruka yelled, startled.

“Much apologies for dropping in this early, Iruka-san! I heard the joyous news of your adoption being a huge success and had to come see the newest member of your small family! Seeing Kakashi was also a plus. We thought we’d never see him again. He’s always off doing this, or off doing that for the hokage. I thought I was going to have to get a new rival!”

Releasing his hold on the cheerful man, Kakashi stood up, brushing imaginary dust from his shoulders as Iruka walked towards him with his hitai-ate and mask. Pink sketched over Iruka’s face as he kissed his husband’s nose while putting on the man’s face wear. “Kaka-chan, could you go wake Naruto up and get him ready. I’m going to start breakfast. Would you like to join us, Gai-san?” He smiled at the green clad jounin instructor.

“Yes I would! But first -! My rival! Where is that son of yours?” He took off out the door.

“Gai-san! Please wait!” Iruka yelled. “Kakashi… Please, I don’t…”

Giving the academy teacher a peck on the lips, Kakashi pulled on his own mask. “I’ll go get Naruto ready for the day, you just fend Gai away with food.” With a smile, Kakashi walked out the door towards their adoptive child’s (a word that slithered off his back due to the freshness of use) room. Iruka walked past him as he stood outside, anticipating on how to wake the child up, calmly listening to Gai and Iruka talk inside the kitchen about what both had been up too since they had last met. Finally Kakashi opened the bedroom door and stared inside.

Iruka had gone into a cleaning spree when they first heard the news that they could take Naruto home. The bedding bought had a blue spread and white pillows that matched the white carpet on the floor. Beige walls were decorated with random pictures, from silly animals that they’d found in stores, to wall decorations that children were said to love. Around Naruto’s bed, taped up flimsily was all the boy’s artwork.

What shocked Kakashi was that the bed itself was bare from any lumps of human flesh hiding under blankets. Sheets lay disarrayed from being tucked under the night before, but no human form was under them. Blankets slid out from under the bed and finally a figure moved. A tiny hand escaped from the blanket under the bed before sliding back in. Then a foot moved out before sliding back under. The only sign that Kakashi was given that the small boy was sleeping peacefully was the small

Bending to his knees, Kakashi lifted the blanket high enough to stare at the round face of a little boy clutching a fox to his chest. “Naruto, time to get up.” He spoke loud enough for the boy to hear him. Still, the boy didn’t move to wake up, only tensed and clutched his stuff animal close. “Naruto, you need to get up, we have guest that want to meet you.” Kakashi reached under to pull the boy out, but when his hand met the boy’s arm chakra flared. Naruto’s eyes flashed open, narrow and red.

Breathing that was once even became rushed before relaxing. Everything relaxed but the glare of red eyes that seemed to analyze the jounin before turning. “Pathetic human, don’t touch me.” A very-non-Naruto voice whispered before crawling out from under the bed. Naruto sat still, red eyes glaring at the door.

“Kakashi, is something wrong in there?” Iruka’s voice echoed through the apartment and the door opened. Kakashi didn’t stop watching Naruto as the red eyes became large and blue and with a flash, the child clung to the other parent’s leg, staring up with aspiration. “Good morning, Naruto. Why don’t you get dressed and make your bed then come join us for some breakfast?”

“What’s for breakfast, Iruka-san?” Naruto asked, enthused.

“I made some miso soup with rice. Now go get dressed and make your bed.” Iruka smirked, grabbing onto Kakashi’s arm. “Stop your friend, he’s insisting I’m putting on weight and should do two hundred laps around Konoha.” He led the lazy jounin into the kitchen.

“You exercise every night with me…just horizontally and below sheets.” Kakashi spoke up, loud enough for Gai to hear. With red ears, Iruka turned and was about to slap Kakashi only to have his hand grabbed and his lips captured in a kiss. “You’re so cute when your angry and embarrassed.” Kakashi smirked, pulling his mask back over his lips.

With a glare, Iruka walked past the elite ninja. “You’d think with how many times he steals kisses, Gai-san, he’d completely rid himself of that stupid mask.” The fellow ninja nodded with a smile. “Breakfast is done, Gai, we’re just waiting for Naruto.” He explained, setting up plates for breakfast. “Kakashi, what did you do for Naruto to raise his chakra like that?”

Jokes aside, Kakashi sat down at the table. “Absolutely nothing. He was sleeping under the bed – which we should look into, that isn’t normal – so I reached under to wake him up. When my hand touched him, Kyuubi was startled awake instead. I believe the damn fox was expecting something because he relaxed when he took in the surroundings. Fell back asleep when you walked into the room. I’m going to stop by with the Hokage to see if he could check the seal. Kyuubi shouldn’t be able to escape as he has the last two days.”

With a hesitant nod, Iruka looked back at the food asking Kakashi to bring the dishes back over one-by-one so they could be filled. “The Kyuubi, my rival? Quite the challenge you’ve taken.” Gai spoke up. The two nodded.

“Food!” Naruto yelled, running into the kitchen in his new clothes. His bare feet slipped on the wood causing him to tumble, but he quickly picked himself and ran towards the table. “Can I eat?” He asked brightly.

“That’s why it’s there.” Iruka smiled. “Just wait until we get the table completely set, all right?” With another nod Iruka set into making the fourth dish. “Naruto-kun, why were you sleeping under your bed? Is it not comfortable?”

“It was comfortable, real comfortable! I just don’t sleep in the bed anymore. When I did, people use to try to hurt me with pillows and stuff. I remember once being dragged off my bed by my ear by Karina-sama because I didn’t wake up when she told me to, so my c-conscious,” the boy tried to pronounce the word but chose the wrong one, “told me to sleep under the bed.”

“Conscience.” Iruka fixed up his wording, Naruto nodded. “What do you mean…a conscience? Like two creatures on your shoulder that talk?” He set the example based on cartoons he’d seen on television, even when he was growing up.

“No. Only one. In my mind,” Naruto smiled. “He talks to me, my c-conscience,” he fixed his word, “but won’t give me his name. He tells me where it’s safe to go, and that I’m a good boy even when people say I’ve done bad things. He protects me like a conscience should!” The child nodded as everyone sat at the table. “Thanks for this food,” he said with everyone else before beginning to eat.

Kakashi glanced the boy over while shoveling some rice into his mouth. “Oh? You don’t need to worry about that here, Naruto.” The small boy nodded, putting his bowl down that once had miso soup in it.

“Yum! You’re a really good cook, Iruka-san!” Naruto smiled brightly at the teacher, causing a deeper blush to etch over the Chuunin’s face. As if Kakashi’s hand that suddenly slithered up his thigh wasn’t bad enough! “Who are you?” He finally asked, looking over to the green clad, bowl cut, man.

“I am Gai Maito!” He pointed towards himself. “Archrival to master Kakashi!”

“Really?” Naruto shouted in awe. “Who’s stronger?”

“I am!” Both Kakashi and Gai said at the same time. Iruka laughed. It was Gai that continued smirking as Kakashi slammed his palms on the table, glaring darkly at the other jounin. He was ready to jump the man and show him just who was stronger, but a hand on his elbow stopped him from doing such. With a backwards glance at the smiling Iruka, Kakashi sat down, glaring at the food before getting up. “I need to see the hokage, anyway. I’ll be back later.”

“I shall come with you!” Gai stood, following Kakashi outside. Naruto laid his head onto his shoulder with confusion as Iruka shook his head.

Note to self: Never let Gai-san baby-sit Naruto. Iruka mused, picking up dirty dishes. “Let’s clean up before they get home.”

“What are we going to do today, Iruka-san?” Naruto asked, picking up rice bowls.

Filling the sink up with water, Iruka thought about that. “Might as well head over to the academy and get you applied for the next semester. I need to drop off this weeks lesson plan to Anko-san. I still can’t believe she agreed to take care of a bunch of pre-genin for this week…” Iruka whispered in astonishment before a mischievous grin took over his face but he didn’t say anymore. The two stood at the sink in silence, cleaning the dishes before Iruka spoke out. “Let’s go now, Naruto. Let them dry some by the time we get back.”

With a nod, Naruto followed after the adult.

“Sit out here, Naruto. I’ll be right back.” Iruka held onto a number of papers he’d collected from several people upon entering the academy. The papers ranged from mission reports that needed to be dropped off to assignments that needed to be passed around. He tried to deny helping the people, but their pleading had won and he found himself dragging Naruto around on errands. The blonde seemed less than thrilled to have to do the boring work, but didn’t verbally say anything in fear of disappointing his adoptive parents – something Kakashi and Iruka knew they were going to have to work through with the boy.

Entering the class room, he was greeted with Anko’s yelling for silence, but the children only seemed to get louder as if they were mocking what lack of control she had. Feeling pity for her (since it was only her first day taking care of Pre-Genins at the academy) Iruka made his presence known with a sharp yell of “Quiet!” The room fell dead silent, all the student’s eyes falling onto their real teacher. “Hey, Anko-san. This is the lesson plan for this week. I will be back by Wednesday.”

“Thanks, Iruka.” Anko smiled, putting the papers on the desks that Iruka handed her. “Did you get that child you were after – Naruto?”

Nodding, Iruka couldn’t hold back the grin of achievement. “Yah. He’s outside the classroom right now. We’re going to see the Hokage after this, see if he can put Naruto in the roster next semester for the eight-to-nine year old’s class. Is there anything you need before I leave.”

“Hardly!” Anko bit back a laugh. “By the time this weeks over, you won’t even know whose students these kids are!”

Opening the door to his classroom, Iruka laughed at her antics. “I’ll hold you to that Anko-san!” He left the room, shutting the door behind you. “Let’s go…Naruto?” He turned the hall, looking for the blonde haired boy, only to find nothing. The hall seemed bare and quiet, all students inside the classrooms being taught by Chuunin teachers. Naruto, however, was also not in the hall where he’d been left. Iruka panicked.

This had to be the first time he lost his charge, ever. Usually he was very good at keeping track of important things and persons – which was why he was placed at the missions’ desk, taking up mission reports. He could remember who had and had not turned in their report and usually caught up with them to give it to him before they were due. This - This wasn’t a mission report, this was his child! “Naruto!” He called again.

The boy couldn’t have gotten too far, Iruka decided. He had only spoke with Anko for a minute so he should still be in the building. Of course, this was a child who seemed to have limitless childlike energy given to running around, based on how the boy acted the night before. “Naruto!” The Chuunin walked down the hall, looking in all directions, niches, and other various areas.

After ten minutes of searching the school, Iruka was hyperventilating. He’d checked into every classroom and found Naruto nowhere. He was beginning to worry that someone that had fought Kyuubi nine years before had sensed the boy’s chakra and lured the curious boy away. Maybe Naruto was lying dead outside! Iruka paled. “Naruto!” He turned and ran outside, a place he had yet to check.

With a brush down the stairs, he all but threw himself out the doors, taking in the surroundings outside. The courtyard for the academy was used mostly for graduation on nice days and training of the younger students for shuriken use. The courtyard was in use at that moment. Several small children were sitting around; watching and listening to their teacher explain to her example student how to hold a shuriken.

Glancing over the children, Iruka passed on the many blondes that sat there being they weren’t the one he was looking for. Instead, the one he was looking for was with the teacher, his tiny hands wrapped around the shuriken, confirming if his footing was right to throw it. With a nod, Naruto tossed the shuriken, barely glazing the target placed out for them. With a groan, he turned around and sat with the children as another one ran up to try, barely doing any better.

Iruka didn’t move, calming himself down as Naruto turned his head to talk to the boy next to him. The boy, a young black haired child with the Uchiha crest on his back, smiled at Naruto’s comments before turning his head forward with a wise crack about Naruto’s lack of control as his name was called to throw the shuriken.

Deciding it was time to get Naruto’s attention, Iruka walked towards the boy, sitting beside him carefully. “You scared me Naruto. Didn’t I say to wait outside the classroom?”

With a gasp, Naruto jerked to stare at his father. “Iruka-san! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“I’m a ninja, stealth is what I’m suppose to do.” Iruka joked.

“Oh.” Naruto blushed, watching the dark haired boy throw the shuriken directly into the target’s center. “I was waiting!” He whispered sharply as the teacher started talking, he didn’t say anymore after that as he listened closely to what the teacher was saying before she continued taking students up to continue shuriken throwing. The dark haired boy walked back towards Naruto, smirking proudly about himself. “You’re so cool, Sasuke-san!” Naruto cried out.

“My brother taught me that!” Sasuke smiled proudly.

Iruka watched the two carefully as they spoke, quickly realizing that the boy was the youngest of the Uchiha family. He didn’t pull Naruto away though, so they could leave. The child was having so much fun making friends.

“Iruka-sensei! I thought you were on a small vacation!” A laughing voice broke his thoughts away from the two boys. Glancing up, Iruka smiled politely at the teacher who had earlier been teaching the children shuriken use.

“I am still, it’s just… I stopped to drop Anko-san some paperwork and lesson plans and ended up losing him. I’m sorry if he’s hassled you any, Hikari-sensei.” Iruka stood up, brushing himself off. Naruto followed, playfully doing the same as Iruka had.

Hikari placed her fingers against her lips, a surprised look capturing her face. “Oh! I thought he was waiting outside the classroom for a brother or something. I didn’t think it was right to leave him there for another two hours, so I brought him along with my class.”

“It’s okay.” Iruka smiled. “He’ll probably be a student of yours next semester anyway, now he knows what to expect in this school.”

With a smile, Hikari patted Naruto on the head. “Well, I’ll see you next Monday than, Naruto.” She then turned around to continue her teachings – as soon as she got them under control again. With the conversation over, Iruka took Naruto’s hand after the boy waved goodbye to Sasuke.

“Let’s get you signed up for classes then. I know of a nice little place we can go eat lunch at after this. Do you like ramen?” Iruka asked cheerfully.

With an enthusiastic jump, Naruto cheered loudly. “I love ramen!”

“You’re not leaving me alone.”

Iruka tuned out his lover by busying himself with his work – making a bento box for his lunch. It had completely slipped his mind that the Chuunin exams were approaching, and the day before the semester changed, Anko would be leaving his class unattended so she could participate in her part of the exam, terrorizing genin into thinking they didn’t have what it took. With no one else able to teach the pre-genin course, Iruka was called up from his leave a little early to handle his students.

“-I wouldn’t know what to do.” Kakashi’s voice laced on about why he was unfit to be taking care of Naruto on his own. Said boy was lying on the floor in front of the television, drawing. The boy’s mouth moved in a wordless motion, as though he were talking to someone.

With a glance towards the boy then at his unmasked husband, Iruka rolled his eyes. “Really Kakashi, nine-year-old healthy children collapsing from heart attacks? If that happens to Naruto, I’ll stay home – but it’s not. Just get to know him. Do some things he’ll enjoys doing and what you enjoy doing – that’s not perverted! – and get to know him better. Even you could do that.” Iruka walked towards Naruto, bending down. “I’m going now, take care of Kakashi?”

Grinning, Naruto hugged Iruka. “Okay! Have fun!” With a quick wave, the boy turned back to his unfinished masterpiece, clutching his green crayon tightly as his eyes narrowed in concentration, closely Iruka could hear the boy whisper under his breath, “Are you sure that the fox should be drawn with a red smile?” Unnerved some, Iruka stood up and approached Kakashi once more.

“Why not go teach him to use a shuriken?” Iruka suggested heading towards the door with what few items he did take to class, including his bento box. “I’ll be back by five, Kakashi.” He smiled brightly before leaving the silver haired jounin alone in the room, blue eyes gazing up at him with curiosity.

“Hm. Shuriken training doesn’t seem too bad…” Kakashi set the breakfast bowls in the sink, deciding he’d wash them later.

“Ah…Kakashi-san?” Naruto whispered, almost softly. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-five, why?” He asked, pulling his orange book (the first in the ongoing series) from the couch cushions where he’d stashed it during Iruka’s thorough cleaning of the apartment before they picked up Naruto. The boy was still drawing on the floor, his hand moving quickly as he colored in a vast sky above green. Once or twice, Kakashi noticed, the crayon would slide off the paper and onto the hardwood floor and, in an act to hide his accident; Naruto would scoot over some so his paper would cover over the crayon marks.

“Then why’s your hair already gray? I thought only old people got gray hair? I knew a boy, once, whose hair turned gray when he was sixteen. He visited the orphanage recently, and he was bald!” Naruto jumped up, touching his hair quickly as Kakashi ground his teeth together. “I hope I don’t get gray hair when I turn twenty-five! I think my hair’s cool!”

Slamming his book shut, Kakashi lowered his head. With a firm rub to his temples, he stressed out evenly, “My hair is silver, not gray. Now, go grab your sandals, we’re going out.” With a nod, Naruto abandoned his coloring utensils on the ground next to the sheet of paper, taking off after the jounin. “We have a choice – training with a shuriken or I could drop you off at the park and we tell Iruka you trained today.”

“Can we do both?” Naruto asked, bouncing from foot to foot. Kakashi frowned. It probably would wear him down enough to actually go to bed early. Actually be dead asleep so that Kakashi could do as he pleased. With a certain dolphin of course. A smile made its way across Kakashi’s face as he threw open the house door.

“Only if you can keep up.”

As quickly as he could, Naruto ran out the door and down the hall, leaving Kakashi to close and lock the apartment door in hope to buy himself some time to be ahead of the copycat. A futile attempt, Kakashi observed Naruto jump down a few stairs before summoning the correct amount of chakra to move himself from that spot to the front entrance of the apartments. He stood there quietly, watching people walk by the apartment complex before the quick patter of feet drew his attention towards the small boy just leaving the building.

“That was cheating Kakashi-san!” Naruto yelled nearly flying towards Kakashi to slam his fist in anger against the trained jounin’s chest. With a grin, Kakashi caught both fists midair, lifting the boy off the ground. With a quick turn, he laid the boy across his shoulders, clutching the boy’s legs and upper chest to keep him from falling or causing serious harm.

Kakashi just smiled behind the mask, fingers brushing Naruto’s sides to make the boy giggle. “Kakashi-san?” Naruto voiced again after they left the district towards the less crowded part of Konoha.

“Hm?” Kakashi asked, adding a bounce to his step to make Naruto spring in the air some.

Naruto quieted some, his breathing falling short. “Both you and Iruka are boys, how are you two married…? I thought only boys and girls could get married.”

Kakashi slowed down, thinking on how to explain this. He had hoped this type of question would come later. Or at least when Iruka was around to explain it better. “Ah. Iruka and I love each other.”

“But neither of you are girls…”

“It doesn’t matter!” Kakashi breathed, trying to calm himself down. “We just fell in love, wanted to spend forever with each other, and were married. It doesn’t matter if we’re both boys, as long as we’re happy.” He lowered the child to the ground, bending his knees to look the boy in the face. “Do you have a problem with Iruka-san and me being married?”

“No.” Naruto whispered, brushing his sandal into the dirt. “Iruka-san is happy, and I like seeing him happy…even if it’s with a cheater like you.” He stuck his tongue out playfully before turning to run towards the upcoming park, leaving Kakashi glaring at empty space. “Sasuke-san!” His voice rang loudly through the space.

Watching the blonde haired boy drift over towards the dark haired Uchiha child, Kakashi dropped completely on the ground with a frown. That had gone a little to well. He’d expected Naruto to put up a little fight about realizing he had two daddies rather than a mother and a father. Of course, he is probably just happy to have a family at all. Kakashi stood up with a huff, pulling his infamous orange book out of his ever present vest. Might as well catch up on his reading while Naruto busied himself by playing.

With one quick motion, the jounin was sitting on a bench under a shaded tree.

“Sasuke-san!” Naruto waved delightfully as he ran towards the dark haired boy that was sitting on a swing, pumping his legs out without even moving the seat into the air. “Do you want to play, Sasuke-san?” He asked, running behind the swings to push his friend upwards.

“I’m waiting for my brother, Naruto.” The brunette pumped his legs out, still not moving far into the air. Naruto frowned. “He should be here any sec-ah!” He screamed as Naruto pushed him into the air. Trying to break the swing from moving, the toes of his sandals brushed against the dirt but it was too late as he was pushed forward again. “Naruto! Stop that-!” His body was sent once more into the air, defying gravity before he returned back to Naruto, who pushed him again.

No longer was he yelling for the blonde to stop pushing, instead laughter escaped his lips as he cried out to go higher, enjoying the heights he had yet to reach. As he came back down, Naruto was no longer pushing him, instead the swing was harshly stopped. Tilting his head back obsidian eyes met similar eyes and his smile was washed away. “Big brother!” He jumped out of the swing. “Bye Naruto!” He smiled at the boy before grasping his brother’s hand, both leaving the park.

Naruto slumped against the swings, sitting down and began moving his legs out to start moving. It wasn’t long before a firm weight pushed him into the air. In shock, Naruto looked behind him as the chair was returning to see who it was, only to see Kakashi’s concerned face. “Who’s that?” He asked, pushing Naruto up.

“Heh!” Naruto threw his legs out forcing himself to go higher. “That’s Sasuke, he’s in my class. I think.” With a squeal, he came back down before Kakashi firmly pushed him again. “I think he’s great. He can throw a shuriken really good. I hope he stays my friend.”

“When did you meet him?” Kakashi asked, amused by the child’s behavior.

“When Iruka went to the school a few days ago. I got to hang out with my class and play outside. There’s a lot of people in the class. I remember their faces, but I didn’t get to know their names, only Sasuke’s.” Naruto giggled. “There’s that one girl with pink hair that covers her eyes, she’s always looking down and brushing her hair over her face. Then there was a really fat kid who was talking to a kid that was yawning and mumbling about going to sleep. There was a blonde who was poking fun at the girl with pink hair, but I don’t think she was being mean. And there was…” The boy continued talking.

Finally Kakashi stopped the swings, allowing Naruto to unwind himself. “There’re more kids here, Naruto. Try to make more friends.” A suggestion, but Naruto seemed unsure of it.

“I want to go train with the shuriken instead.” Naruto sternly said, grabbing Kakashi’s hand. “Iruka-san said that you are really good with a shuriken.” He dragged his silver haired adopted parent towards the woods marked training grounds.

Kakashi smiled, allowing his ego to be brushed. It was something that rarely happened, by Iruka no less. Leaning down, the jounin smirk slyly as he whispered into Naruto’s ear. “What else has Iruka said to you?”

Grinning, Naruto ran ahead. “It’s a se-cret!” He laughed loudly.

Iruka stepped into his (and Kakashi’s) apartment, dropping the keys on the table stand near the door. The school day had lasted longer than he thought since he was doing genin exams for early applicants, even though the year wasn’t over. Several students had signed up, forcing the teacher to stay after school while they did every part of the exam, but only three had skilled themselves in both the written exam and chakra control. It left Iruka tired.

Being that it was nine at night, he wasn’t too surprised that Naruto hadn’t come to greet him upon entering the apartment. Instead, he was greeted by the flicker of light from the television lighting up the kitchen. Said kitchen had seen better days. Bags of ramen sitting next to a couple of cans of beer and juice littered the table with two empty bowls that seemed to have spilt.

Turning, Iruka glared at the lazy eye watching him carefully from the couch before pretending to go to sleep again. A blonde head ducked into the older male’s neck, trying to continue sleeping. “Look at this mess…” Iruka chided his husband while putting dishes into the sink and trash in the pail. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m taking care of two nine-year-old boys, and not just one.”

“Wouldn’t that make you a pedophile then?” Kakashi smiled. Iruka sighed.

“For the love of – Kakashi, what is all this ice cream doing on the counters! It’s melting into a sticky mess! Don’t tell me you let him have too much ice cream before he fell asleep?” Walking towards the couch, Iruka pulled Naruto away from the older man, rubbing his thumb across Naruto’s face. Skin stuck to his thumb, confirming the ice cream suspicion. “Get that kitchen clean, Kakashi. I’ll put him to bed.” He turned to walk towards Naruto’s bedroom.

Crunch!

In shock, Iruka lifted his foot to see what he’d stepped on, expecting the worse. His chocolate eyes widened at the drawing that Naruto had been working on that very morning. It wasn’t his usual foxes that he was always drawing. This one consisted of three block figures, one with spiky gray hair and one eye (Kakashi, Iruka smiled). Beside the block-Kakashi was a dark haired block figure with a scar across the nose to show it was Iruka. Right beside was a little blonde haired child-block. Our family, Iruka reflected, repositioning the heavy boy in his arms. “If he has a food-induced nightmare, you’re handling him tonight.” He finally made his way towards the bedroom, ignoring the glare being given to him by his husband.

Laying the boy on the bed, Iruka glanced over Naruto’s attire, deciding if he should test his chances of keeping the boy asleep and dress him in pajamas. Since it was turning rather warm, the boy was dressed in loose shorts and a tee shirt, giving him room to move around in the clothes, but it wouldn’t overheat him during the night. Pleased that Naruto would be okay, Iruka left the room and returned to the living room to help clean up the mess that remained.

Since he had cleaned the table, it was looking a little better. Kakashi was cleaning the dishes for that day which helped a bit. “Since the place is such a hazard zone, I can assume you and Naruto had a good day?” Iruka asked, walking behind his husband and wrapping his arms around the jounin’s chest.

“Yes.” Kakashi nodded. “He wanted to know why one of us was not a girl.”

Surprise came over Iruka’s face. “How did you respond?”

“Explained that we were in love. Asked him if he had any problem with us being together, he said he didn’t have any problem with it. Incase you’re wondering.” He added the last bowl in the drainer before turning to lean against the counter. Iruka leaned forward, joining their bodies against each other, his arms wrapping around the jounin’s neck to tug at the knot holding the mask in place. As it fell towards the ground, neither wasted time in pressing hungry lips together in a feverish kiss. When they pulled apart, Kakashi continued. “I took him to the park, pushed him some on the swing after the kid, Uchiha Sasuke, left the playground. Then, we went to throw some kunais at a target. He’s better now,” Kakashi said off handedly. “Later, he weaseled some ramen out of me. Defiantly Arashi-sensei’s kid. If I hadn’t saved all that money since I started getting missions, we’d bleed dry.” Iruka nodded. Who would have thought having a kid was so expensive?

Reaching up, Iruka played with the metal protector covering Kakashi’s eye. The copycat had made it clear at the beginning of their relationship that the protector wasn’t to be removed without his permission. It was Kakashi that removed the last face covering material, allowing his red eye to make itself known. Leaning forward, Iruka kissed Kakashi’s scar before tugging his lover’s hand towards the bedroom. “We’ll clean the rest tomorrow. I want to thank you for bonding with Naruto.”

“You know me, Dolphin.” Kakashi smiled, claiming the academy teacher’s lips in a quick kiss. “I aim to please.”

Seductively, Iruka pulled the jounin into the bedroom, the door shutting behind them. “Let’s hope that aim’s right then.”

The wonderful smell of the ocean breeze was always relaxing after a rough night. Of course, Konoha was nowhere near the beach so finding this relaxing smell was even harder. So when Iruka woke up to the bed sinking in during the middle of the night, he sunk closer towards Kakashi’s warm body, enjoying the extract of salty sweat and the wonderful smell of the jounin’s hair that seemed close to that tantalizing ocean breeze. “Iruka-san…” The teacher pulled closer to his husband’s protective embrace.

“Iruka-san…” The voice whispered and Kakashi’s breathing faltered in shock. Like lightning, Iruka felt himself being pushed off the bed and a small blonde blur being tossed in the air and against the door with a hallow thump.

Kakashi jumped off the bed. “Shit,” he hissed. Joining his husband to comfort the small, crying boy who was sitting down, holding his head before a scream escaped his lips as tears fell from his eyes. “I’m sorry, Naruto!” He reached to check the boy’s head, but the child swayed away from his hand and into Iruka’s arms (who was dressed in a robe). “You shouldn’t jump on me like that, Naruto,” Kakashi advised sternly. “When I don’t know what’s going on by suddenness, I’ll feel threatened and attack even if I’m still sleeping.” He explained, hoping the child would understand.

The boy didn’t verbally answer, instead choosing to nod his head as Iruka checked his head for large wounds before lifting him up. “Kakashi, get some ice and a rag. He hit the doorknob.” Naruto’s arms wrapped around the Chuunin’s neck, holding close to the man. “What on earth did you need, Naruto?” Iruka whispered, taking the ice that Kakashi was holding out to him and placing it against Naruto’s head as the kitchen’s lights flickered on so he could identify the wound more closely. The small wound seemed to have healed (Work from the demon? Iruka frowned) leaving traces of blood where it had bleed.

“I had a nightmare.” The boy sniffled, rubbing his eyes.

With a passing glare to the whistling Jounin, dressed in a pair of pants thankfully, Iruka leaned forward to hug the boy comfortingly. “What happened?” He whispered. “Maybe Kakashi and I can help you.” He whispered, his husband’s name used as a curse. He knew this was going to happen! All that ice cream, ramen, juice, and god knows what ruined a perfectly good night sleep.

“It was so scary!” Naruto whispered, taking the ice from Iruka’s hand, absently saying he didn’t hurt anymore. “Everything was on fire. There was laughter and screaming. I was standing in the center of the fire and people were going to kill me. Kakashi-san was going to kill me. Iruka-san was going to kill me. I didn’t mean what happened…” His eyes watered as he began to cry again. On instinct, Iruka comforted the boy again. Kyuubi’s memories, he realized.

“Iruka and I would never kill you Naruto.” Kakashi spoke evenly. Deciding his words. “And you’ll never do that type of damage. I know you wouldn’t…couldn’t. Come on; let’s get you to bed again. Go to bed, Iruka. It’s one in the morning.” Kakashi reached forward, about to take Naruto into his arms. As before, the boy moved away and further into Iruka’s robe. “I said I was sorry…” Kakashi spoke, defensively, when Iruka glared at him. Reaching over, he clasped Naruto into his arms and walked towards the back rooms to put Naruto back in bed, carefully, Iruka followed behind.

Kakashi was probably aware that Iruka had leaned up against Naruto’s bedroom door but he didn’t visibly show it as he laid the boy in the bed and reached under it to collect the blankets and plush toys. “Can’t I stay with you and Iruka-san for tonight?” Naruto whispered as he was tucked into the bed, the foxes next to him.

“No, because you’re capable of sleeping in your own bed – nightmares or no.” He picked up one of the toys and glared at it before looking at Naruto. With a quick tilt of his fingers, the fox’s head tilted. “‘Naruto, I don’t wanna sleep in the same room as Iruka and Kakashi,’” Kakashi whined out in a childish voice, trying to imitate the fox (of some sort). “‘Iruka kicks in his sleep, and clings.’” Kakashi smiled, rubbing the toys button nose against Naruto’s. “See Saiai-”

“That’s not Saiai! That’s Yoshino!” Naruto giggled, grasping hold of the other toy fox – Saiai - that was tucked in his bedding.

“Fine.” Kakashi ground his teeth. “Yoshino wants to stay in here with Naruto – in the bed – because she doesn’t like Iruka and I.”

In shock, Naruto reached over, grabbing his fox and protecting it from Kakashi. “That’s not true. Yoshino likes him, Conscience-sama named her because he likes you guys. He said that Yoshino means he trusts you – whatever that means.”

Iruka blinked, listening to all this. Naruto stared up at him followed by Kakashi. With a yawn, Iruka walked into the room, sitting on the bed. Hesitantly, Naruto laid in Iruka’s lap, allowing Iruka to brush his hair down in a loving manner. “Kakashi and I will stay in here until you go to bed. To chase the nightmares away because your conscience trusts us to do that.” With a nod, Naruto yawned and closed his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Iruka… you have work in the morning, you’re going to be stiff and grouchy – no one should be near you then.” Kakashi whispered, tucking Yoshino under Naruto’s arm. The boy held tight onto Iruka, trying to go back to sleep.

“If I can’t survive a sleepless night, then I have no right to be called a shinobi.” Iruka hissed back, continuing to run his fingers in Naruto’s spiky blonde hair. As if mocking the teacher, Kakashi raised a finger to his unmasked face before Iruka’s eyes widened. “Kakashi! Your hatai-ate isn’t even on your face.”

“He didn’t ask any questions, so I’m not too worried right now.” A trademark grin took over Kakashi’s face as he sat completely on the bed, his red eye scanning down Iruka’s robe. “My, my. You’re looking very sexy in that outfit. Wear it tomorrow.”

“N-no.” Iruka blushed.

“For me?” Kakashi whined, looking hurt.

With a huff, Iruka turned his head. “Haven’t you had enough for today?”

“One romp isn’t enough to sate me. I’m a young man meaning I can go a few more times. Only question is can you keep up with me.” The jounin leaned over Naruto, grasping Iruka’s ear in his mouth and nibbled on it. With a growl, Iruka pulled away. “I think he’s asleep, you’re up, I’m horny. We can solve this back in the bedroom.”

“You’re always horny!” Iruka cried out before calming down as Naruto clenched Iruka’s robe. “Just go to the bedroom, I’ll be in there later. Not to have sex!” Iruka hissed as Kakashi’s face broke into a grin. “Just go back to the bedroom, I’ll be there when Naruto’s completely settled into his bed for the first time.” Iruka relaxed against the headboard with his eyes closed. It wasn’t long before he felt himself being pulled up and a pillow placed behind his back.

“You’ll hurt yourself just sitting like that.” Kakashi explained, pecking his husband’s lips. “If you stay here, I’ll wake you when it’s time to get up.” With another kiss for promise, Kakashi left the room, leaving his small family in there.

“Hello! You must be Hatake Naruto! It’s so nice to meet you for this semester of school! I’ll be your teacher Ayami Hikari, but just call me Hikari-sensei.” Hikari smiled down at the boy next to Iruka. Naruto clutched onto Iruka’s pant leg, eyes wide. His book bag, a knapsack with a fox sewn on it (a gift from the orphanage for finally being adopted), was filled with supplies the nine-to-ten year old pre-genin class would need, but also two foxes heads hanging out from the side.

Before they had packed to leave for school, Naruto began asking about his last name, if he would have the same last name as Iruka and Kakashi. With a grin, Kakashi had said the boy had taken his last name the minute they adopted him (though neither parent mentioned the adoption had yet to be finalized, as far as they were concerned, Naruto was theirs). The whole walk to the academy, Naruto sung, excitedly, his name was Hatake Naruto. Now, when the name was being used, he didn’t know how to answer.

The classroom door was open, letting several pairs of eyes stare out at him with confusion or curiosity. Obsidian, emerald, pale. Various eyes that seemed to stare Naruto through and through, causing him to fear the first day of school more than his tour of the class before. “Go in there in sit while I speak with Iruka-sensei.” The teacher smiled, earning a grin from the blonde. When he was out of earshot, Hikari turned to face Iruka with a frown.

“You’re class doesn’t seem as packed, Hikari-sensei.” Iruka stared into the class, remembering the large class she supported before.

“When I sent out the roster for this semester, many of the parents took their child out of the class, changing the child’s teacher. I hate to say this, Iruka-sensei, but I can only assume that it’s the introduction of your son that has caused this sudden drop. It’s mostly the bigger clans that left their child in my class, but they’ve given warning about…the demon child.” She stared back at Naruto. “I’m not native to Konoha so I don’t fully understand what’s so wrong with such bright blue eyes. But, in the last few days this classroom has received threats that anyone who is near that child will suffer. Hokage-sama is placing Jounin outside the doors and windows, but I’m wondering if maybe you should wait and teach him yourself when he’s in yours – or Mizuki-sensei’s – class.”

“That’s two years, his eleventh birthday.” Iruka whispered, staring into the room to see Naruto surrounded by all the children, doing introductions. “I’d prefer if he moves along with other students now. No one will be hurt. Hokage-sama wouldn’t allow it. It’s a traitorous act to even attack the academy. I know they’re empty threats.” With a quick glance at the clock, he smiled politely. “I have to go to class. When school’s over, keep Naruto with you, I’ll come by to make sure everything went well.” With a short bow, Iruka turned to leave the quiet teacher in the hall, the sound of childish laughter floating around.

“Kakashi, I know you’re there.” Leaning back in his chair, the Hokage lit his pipe with a gleam of happiness in his eyes. With a push of the windows, Kakashi stepped in the room, rubbing the back of his head. “Our meeting ended two hours ago, Kakashi. What’s the excuse this time – dolphin drowned your alarm clock?”

“Oh no!’ Kakashi grinned behind his mask. “Had to feed my dolphin. Only the finest.” The jounin pulled up a seat near the desk and settled in the seat. “Did I miss anything important?”

Sarutobi shook his head, his fingers rubbing his temples. “Takanashi-san decided to go talk to Iruka instead; at least he’d listen better than you. Would you like to know what’s so important though?” Kakashi looked hesitant before nodding. Taking the pipe out of his mouth, the Hokage blew smoke from his lungs. “Well. You’re aware Naruto’s not an orphaned child, nor a newly adopted Hatake.”

“Yes I’m aware.”

“Good, that makes explaining this easier.” The Hokage stuck the pipe back into his mouth and glanced down at the desk. “Naruto’s parents have denied the adoption of their only son. They refused to disclose their reasoning, but they’ve decided to take Naruto back.” Suratobi stared up again to meet an empty chair. “Kakashi…” He whispered, looking out the window where the jounin’s chakra signature was. “I wish he’d stay here so I could explain the whole situation. Send a message to the Hatake family that I’d like to speak with them at their earliest convenience,” he glanced at the guard at the door, who saluted before leaving the room.

Iruka felt his head begin to throb as he stared over the group of students. In his years of teaching (though not that long) he knew that children this age had a short attention span, but this was ridiculous. When they exited the school to spend time at the training ground near the school for hands-on-training, Iruka was surprised to see a fellow Chuunin teacher, Mizuki, with his students, halfway through the course. Shoving two classes of students together became disastrous in no time.

Many had resorted back to being children, playing rather than paying attention. Iruka had never been so tempted to throw a kunai at them just to see reflex. Instead, he calmed himself carefully and walked towards the largest group of his students. “Pop quiz!” He yelled out suddenly, earning groans from a good portion of the students. “Line up!” He ordered, and the students formed together.

“H-Hatake-san!” A voice echoed through the training grounds, causing Iruka to tense and turn. Takanashi-san approached him with his hand waved. His walking was in quick strides, moving as quickly as his pressed business suit would move. “Your husband missed my meeting this morning, so I thought I’d come to you instead.”

“Um…” Iruka looked over the curious eyes staring at him. “Mizuki-san!” He yelled for the other chuunin’s attention. The silver haired young man turned to face him, smiling brightly. “Torture my students into submission!” He smiled, earning wide laughter from the other teacher, then a mock salute. “Let’s go somewhere else to talk then, sir. I’m sorry about Kakashi’s lateness; he’s always like this. He missed our wedding by six hours.”

“That must have been awful!” Takanashi yelled, his eyes wide. Iruka broke out into laughter.

“I wouldn’t have married him if I didn’t know what to expect. Though the wedding was suppose to be at eight that morning, no one showed up until one and we only waited an hour for him to show up.”

The councilor nodded, understanding. “Well, we asked him a few days ago when he was with the Hokage to come visit today at seven. He never came, and our meeting was very important. I thought I’d come to you than let him tell him – he doesn’t seem very reliable.”

“Important?” Iruka whispered. “What could be so important that you needed to speak to one of us?”

“We wanted to speak with both of you, but Hokage-sama suggested that I tell Kakashi first since no one knew how you’d handle this problem.” When Iruka’s eyes widened, Takanashi ran a hand over his forehead, brushing sweat from his brow. “I told you when you first took Naruto home with you that we had to tell his parents? Well, they came to my door not long after, the next day to take Naruto home with them. They said they would like to take care of their only son then leave him in a place where…two guys will adopt him.”

Iruka’s body slumped tiredly as he fell to the ground. “So what? Naruto’s not our child anymore?”

Waving his hands quickly in a dismissing motion, Takanashi explained himself. “Hardly. Cases like this, where the child was abandoned isn’t considered adoption, but the parents are considered unfit. The only thing that doesn’t make Naruto an orphan is that his parents are still in charge of him, though he’s under our care. As is we were a never-ending day care that the state pays for rather than the parents.”

“You’re not reassuring me. Tell me, Takanashi-san! Is Naruto still our child or did you come here to take Naruto away from us?” Iruka’s eyes moistened. Please don’t take Naruto; he grew attached to the boy in a little over a week. The thought of his life continuing without a son to take care of was daunting.

“No, Iruka-san. The last thing I plan to do is bring Naruto back to our agency!” Takanashi spoke harshly. “I just thought I’d tell you that at this point any error on your half could add up to Naruto being taken away from you. His biological parents aren’t on the best of terms to be taking care of children; this is a big plus for you. This means that if you fault, they could have a higher chance of receiving him in the end since they want him back. The Hokage has decided that there will be an intermediate trail to decide if Naruto should go visit his parents for a certain amount of time per month or if all parental rights have been removed from the parents. But, a case has already been brought to our attention against the Hatake family.”

Iruka felt his heart stop the further Takanashi spoke, his breathing slowing as he fought from crying. “An unknown source has brought it to our attention that you have left Naruto unsupervised and lost him.”

“I asked him to sit outside the classroom while I dropped off some papers and he became distracted by another class!” Iruka explained.

“Hm.” Takanashi nodded. “I’m not the one to tell that to. I just thought I’d give you an example of what you’ll be dealing with and explaining at the intermediate trail. I’m sorry Iruka, but I have other places I need to be right now. I hope you and Kakashi can sort these problems out.” He nodded, leaving.

With a silent cry, Iruka lowered his head, trying to push tears from his eyes before a firm hand pressed against his back, rubbing tension from it. “Kakashi…” He stared up, looking at the jounin. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

“A social worker approached me when you took Naruto to the academy. Just to introduce herself, but…her words said otherwise. Kept asking me if I knew Naruto wasn’t an orphan. If I knew what was in him. The trouble he’d cause for my family honor. I ignored her though, and left. Didn’t think too much of it until the Hokage brought it up at our meeting this morning. But don’t worry, Iruka. We won’t lose him.” He wrapped his arms around Iruka as the lunch bell rang. “Did you give Naruto his bento box?”

“N-no.” Iruka whispered.

“Then let’s go feed him! Because we’re still a family and if he starves, we’ll never hear the end of it when he comes home.” Kakashi rose to his feet, stretching supposedly stiff muscles.

Iruka glanced up, surprised. “So what? We act like nothing happened? Leave him in the dark?”

“Just keep this quiet. Let him enjoy the relaxing life of being a child, and when we become too deep, we’ll tell him everything. Right now, we’re doing great.” Kakashi walked into the academy, leaving Iruka in the waves of moving children.

Children’s laughter echoed across the small playground as the younger shinobi trainees ran around playing random games. Where some sat near the building and in random shady areas to read and catch up on assignments; others with more energy ran around, chasing each other in a messed up game of tag crossed over with hide and seek. These kids were various, from extremely plump to the skinny, but lazy. Children who would rather sit by themselves were joining in the game as they randomly ran around, yelling out orders for other kids to keep chase.

The name of the game was Missing Nin, a children’s game loved by all children. Like tag where nobody wanted to be ‘it’, these kids didn’t want to be the missing ninja, so the unlucky child was usually the slowest or not liked well enough yet. Like clockwork, Naruto was told to be the missing ninja since he was the new kid, and trying to make friends, Naruto quickly accepted the roll before taking off. All the other kids covered their eyes, counting to ten, before taking on the roles as play ANBU and Elite Jounin to chase after the missing ninja.

Rules for the game were very simple. The missing ninja could drag people to his team if they wanted to, but usually it was only the children that were best friends that truly wanted to stand up with each other as “missing ninjas”. The missing ninja would flee for his life, running around the play yard. He would lose if one of the ANBU or Elite Jounin (the other children playing the game) caught them.

All this Iruka was aware of as he sat, eating his lunch carefully, watching Naruto run around. It didn’t take long before Naruto grasped at Sasuke’s hand and took off, setting fury into the hearts of all the girls. Like magic, all females playing (or weren’t playing that suddenly joined in) doubled the effort to catch Naruto to save the daring Uchiha from the wrong. If Sasuke was angry about being pulled onto Naruto’s side, he didn’t show it as he laughed while being dragged up the largest slide.

One of the boys, a dark haired child bearing a stuffed dog, started to climb up the slide, trapping the two up on the top, and Iruka decided enough was enough. Standing up, he called out to Naruto to catch his attention and the boy glanced over with a large smile. “Come get your lunch Naruto before the bell rings!” He waved the extra bento box for added effect.

“Yay! Iruka’s cooking!” Naruto squealed, sliding down the slide and crashing into the little boy climbing up. Behind him, Sasuke slide down, trying to wash the grin off his face as the children that had chased them all the way up the platform followed suit causing one large collision to come down the slide. With another squeal, Naruto, the dog toy boy, and Sasuke fell into the dirt and sand before Naruto crawled away and towards Iruka, still holding his first friend’s hand. As they grasped Iruka’s hand, Naruto turned to face all the kids. “Safe!”

“Not yet!” A little blonde girl screamed, thrusting a sandal into the sand. “Release Sasuke-kun you-!” She tried to decide the right words so the game didn’t turn sour – especially not in front of the fake missing ninja’s parent.

“You can have him.” Iruka smiled, giving Sasuke a playful push towards the group. “Go play with them, Uchiha-san. I want to spend some time with Naruto.” With a nod, the dark haired child ran back towards the kids. “Come eat.” Iruka held up the bento box near Naruto. Tiredly, the boy slumped to the ground and whispered his thanks before he began to eat. Iruka relaxed his head into his palms, watching the children go back to playing, ignoring the noisy sounds of Naruto wolfing down his lunch.

After all but inhaling his lunch, Naruto glanced up, using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth. “The food tastes funny today, Iruka.”

“Kakashi made it.” With wide eyes, Naruto grabbed his throat and began to hack. “Oh stop that. It’s not that bad. I had to eat the food he made when he burnt everything.” With a quiet chuckle, Iruka closed his own bento meal. He had promised Kakashi he wasn’t going to tell Naruto anything about his parents fighting for custody, though Iruka still felt that Naruto had all right to know. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Oh yes!” Naruto said with a mouth of rice. “School’s so much fun, back at the Cave they didn’t allow me to sit in for training or academic classes, I had a friend before who would teach me how to read and write outside of class because he didn’t think anyone should be denied. I miss him. When the teacher found out he was helping me, he was punished. One day, people came looking for a son, and they pulled him out and worked their hardest to get rid of him. He was adopted that day. I’m glad.”

“How about with Kakashi and me? Do you like staying with us?”

Curiously, Naruto glanced up at him, his head tilted to one side. “Of course. I love having daddies, even though it’s weird.” He closed his lunch lid and stood up. “I want to finish playing with Sasuke, okay?” Before getting a response, the boy ran back towards they play yard where all the kids were playing - or more precisely Sasuke, who was studying again.

Standing up, Iruka stretched his back; his arms rose high in the air. As he opened his eye, he caught sight of a well-dressed woman, in her late thirties, near the academy gates. Her dark brunette hair fell into her face as she wrote down what she saw before glancing back up at the children. His son. Narrowing his eyes, Iruka marched towards the gate, pulling on a stern teacher’s glare. “Miss!” He called, catching her attention. “May I ask what you need?” He stared over his shoulder to all the children. Naruto was pulling on Sasuke’s arm, trying to get the boy to play with him again.

“I can presume you’re Hatake Iruka?” She stared him over with distaste as he nodded. “My name is Fujii Hana, I’m here to observe the interactions of the child, Naruto, while under the care of his prospective parents – that’d be you and your … husband. So far, I’ve seen nothing but trouble on both you and the child’s behalf.”

Pressing his palms into his hips, Iruka calmed himself. “What do you mean by that? We’ve only had him for a week; at this time we’re all getting use to each other. Overnight, the perfect parent doesn’t just come out.”

“Naruto is a special case-”

“We all know he’s not an orphan!” Pinching the bridge of his nose, Iruka sighed. “I’m getting tired of people reminding me of that, but all I care about is that he needs a family. I want to be that family; there should be nothing wrong with that.”

Fujii snorted unattractively, her hand brushing hair from her face. “Hardly. He’s special because he’s the Kyuubi. He doesn’t need a family, or love for that matter. He needs discipline, even death for all he’s done to us.”

“Kyuubi maybe,” Iruka hissed, “but not Naruto. Naruto wouldn’t hurt a fly. He didn’t ask for the Kyuubi to be sealed in him, it just happened. He doesn’t even know it.”

“Kyuubi or not,” Fujii growled, “he won’t need two fathers. It’s immoral to put any child in such care. The child needs a woman’s touch to keep him in line, to learn right and wrong. To learn how to care, learn about family values and understanding. Two men cannot do these things, and it’s only best for the child they’d be placed in the proper household with a mother and a father. Now, if you don’t mind, I have other people to speak to than you.” She walked past the gate and into the sturdy structure of the academy.

Taking a deep, sturdy breath, Iruka followed behind her and towards the kids as the school bell rang, signaling the end of recess. Like magic, Naruto ran to hug him, bringing along all his friends. Quickly, each one gave him a hug as Naruto introduced them quickly. The dog-plush toy boy, “This is Kiba!” The pink haired girl, “Heh, heh. This is Sakura-chan,” the boy couldn’t hide his giggle. Next was a lazy faced boy who looked like he’d rather be doing something different. “That’s Shikamaru, he’s really smart!” This followed by the plump boy who quickly hid a bag of potato chips he was bringing back to class. “That’s Choji-kun.” The other’s who were playing with him had already headed off to class, excluding Sasuke who was waiting for Naruto in the back.

“Okay. It’s nice to meet all of you,” Iruka bowed. “Head off to class though, I don’t want to be yelled at for making all of you late.”

“Okay!” The group yelled at once before turning to leave. With a smile, Iruka watched his son leave. As blonde hair faded inside the building, Iruka felt sadness overwhelm him. That was the first time he’d known there was actually a social worker. Maybe it was true that they could lose Naruto. Upon calming his nerves one last time, Iruka turned to enter the building, in hope that working with pre-genin’s would completely calm him.

A dozen hands shot into the air, waving enthusiastically to answer the question. The teacher was about to address one of the students who she thought was the first to raise their hand when a knock on the door sounded throughout the room claiming all the children’s attention. With a glare towards the distraction, Hikari approached the door and threw it open, giving a glare at the messenger standing behind it. The other woman seemed to have no problem with the glare as she spoke loudly, and clearly. “I’m here to speak with a Naruto.”

“Of course.” Hikari turned to face her curious students. “Hatake Naruto? Take your things with you, class is almost over. Homework is to study up on your shuriken throwing, and have Iruka-san explain those vocabulary words with you. Have a good day, Hatake-san.” Naruto smiled and ran towards the door. As it was shut behind him, the woman, who dragged him towards an empty classroom, snatched his hand painfully.

“My name is Fujii, to you.” The woman said; her hands on her hips. “I’m your social worker; do you know what a social worker is?” She asked, sitting down across a table. Naruto took a seat, looking very confused. “That means I’m here to discuss with you complications in your home life, situations that have come up with your recent…adoption, and other problems. This meeting is mostly just to understand each other and see what you’ve been up to since going under the care of two men.”

With a glance of confusion, Naruto rubbed his head shyly. “I kind of know all about social workers. Not much, but I can tell you this. I like Iruka-san and Kakashi-san.”

“You call them by their names?” Fujii frowned, marking in a notepad. “Why don’t you can them dad, or something like that?”

Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto moved around in his chair restlessly. “’Cause only one of ‘em can be a dad. Even though Iruka-san acts all motherly I don’t think he’d like me calling him mom. They haven’t complained, so I’ll keep calling them by their names until I can think of something to call Iruka-san.”

“I see. So you consider Kakashi more of the word dad than you do of Iruka-san?”

Fidgeting, Naruto brushed his hand over the bump on his head, though the wound had healed (he was a very fast healer compared to the other kids) the swelling was still there. “I think of them both as my dad. Kakashi-san’s really strong, but he’s really strange. He’s always reading books with big x marks on the back and making weird comments to Iruka-san. But I like him a lot because he acts like a kid, so he’ll play a game with me if I ask enough, or he’ll read me some of his weird books before bed. Iruka-san always gets mad when he reads those books, always saying he’s going to burn them, but he never does. Iruka can cook, like a mom. He kisses my wounds and will make sure both Saiai and Yoshino are treated equally-”

“Saiai and Yoshino?” Fujii glanced up from her notes with questioning eyes.

Nodding, Naruto dug through his book bag and pulled out the two plush toy foxes. “They’re Saiai and Yoshino. Iruka bought me Saiai when they first brought me home and Yoshino was a gift from Kakashi from some village of sand. I can’t remember what he said the name was though.” Subconsciously rubbing his head again, Naruto clutched both toys to his chest with his free arm.

Leaning forward, Fujii reached her hand over towards Naruto’s head where the boy was rubbing his head. “What’s wrong now?” She sneered, brushing her fingers against the lump, Naruto pulled away as though he’d been burned. “What happened there, Naruto?” She asked.

Quietly, almost voicelessly, Naruto told the woman about how he was trying to wake Iruka up so he could be soothed after a nightmare and ended up scaring the Jounin, causing him to be thrown across the room. “Kakashi said he was really sorry!” Naruto cleared up the act. “He says that I shouldn’t surprise him like that because he does things like that to protect himself in his sleep.”

With a frown, Fujii picked up her notes and prepared to leave. “Thank you Naruto, today’s meeting has been very informative. I plan to see you again within the week, before the hearing.”

“What hearing?”

“You mean Iruka-san hasn’t told you? How interesting,” she sneered before leaving the room and a confused Naruto behind. When she was gone, Naruto clutched his toys to his chest, tears in his eyes as he tried to sooth himself.

“Don’t cry, kit. No one is going to take you away; none of those bad tales from the orphanage are true. They never take away children from happy families.” A soft voice echoed in his mind, mellowed and emotionless. “If you love Iruka and the stupid Kakashi, then don’t give up. They’d never turn you away, because they love you like I love you.” The voice was followed by relaxing purring, a pitchy tune that hoped to be tranquil to the small boy.

“I know, Conscious-kun.” Naruto whispered. “But I’m scared. What if I’ve already been a bad child and they don’t want me anymore, and would rather trade me in for one of the better children at the orphanage?”

“What have you done to believe that? I think you’ve been nothing but on your best behavior, besides destroying Iruka’s floor with your incisive drawings, but that’s not reason to throw a child out like old garbage. Just be yourself, Naruto. Trust me; I’m here for you if they do get rid of you.” The voice chuckled before becoming nonexistent.

“Naruto?” The classroom door opened and Sasuke’s dark haired head stuck in to look around. “Class is over. Want to come over to my house and do our homework together? I can help you…” He whispered, a blush taking over his babyish face. “See, my big brother is on a mission and both my parents are working and I don’t want to be alone, so can you come over?”

Nodding, Naruto stuffed his foxes back in his book bag. “Yeah! Let me tell Iruka-san first!” He took off out the classroom and up a flight of stairs to the Chuunin’s classroom. He froze outside, hearing Iruka’s stern voice flow steadily outside the door before rapping his knuckles against the wooden door. When granted entrance, Naruto slid the door open and look around before running towards Iruka to grab his leg. “Can I go to Sasuke’s? Please, please, please?” the small boy whined. “We’ll do our homework,” he whispered.

Blushing, Iruka looked at the door as a Sasuke’s dark head looked in and around the classroom before pulling out. “Okay…” Iruka whispered. “I’ll come pick you up after school, don’t misbehave.” He pushed Naruto out the door before pecking the kid on the head before he took off out the door and after his best friend. “I’ll check your homework when we get home, so you better actually be doing your homework!” And finally the classroom door was closed.

Long fingers caressed sweaty skin before squeezing the stiff shoulder blades as he tried to remain quiet at the pinnacle of pleasure. Iruka’s lips fell open in a soundless moan as his body moved in friction with his husband’s, their mouths met in a passionate kiss that fought for dominance. The bed squeaked as both bodies pressed together quickly as Kakashi worked to bring Iruka to completion before himself and as nirvana struck, the bed stopped moving and the two seemed frozen in completion.

Spent, the jounin collapsed on the academy teacher, Iruka’s arms wrapping around the copy-ninja in a loving hug as they evened their breathing. Kakashi was about to pull out, but the younger lover stopped him. “Stay…” He quietly said, letting his fingers brush against Kakashi’s broad shoulders before brushing up silver hair.

It never ceased to amaze Iruka that during their sexual intercourse, Kakashi’s hair would remain spiked up, no matter how wet with sweat. Iruka hated that his hair would become knotted up and cover his shoulders, making him wonder if he should cut his hair. Every time he made the suggestion, Kakashi would tell him not to. Smiling, Iruka kissed Kakashi’s forehead, falling from his sexual high. “Thank you…” He slurred tiredly.

Pulling out of his husband with a grunt, Kakashi wrapped his arms fully around Iruka. The spring night chilled the room as Kakashi pulled the blankets over Iruka, mentally reminding himself to do laundry the next day. Before he could sleep though, he planned to enter Naruto’s room and make sure both their son and houseguest were asleep.

Right. Houseguest, Kakashi smirked, smelling Iruka’s hair. Naruto had begged to have Sasuke stay over that night, and though the two boys had gone to bed earlier, Kakashi remembered once upon-a-time he was a nine year old, sneaking up past his bedtime with a friend. As Iruka’s breathing slowed down and evened, Kakashi pulled away and out of bed.

Tugging his facemask on, he glared at his yakuta. There were two matching robes lying on a chair in the corner of the room, gifts from a fellow academy teacher to embarrass Iruka in a subdue manner. Neither went too low, Iruka’s barely to his upper thigh making Kakashi really too modest to go down his own hall and see if both boys were sleeping. Iruka considered himself a well-endowed man, he didn’t want the little kids to see too much of what they shouldn’t, since his own yakuta didn’t even fit him.

Deciding to ditch the yakuta in favor for his jounin uniform trousers, Kakashi left the room with a smug smile on his face. Today had been absolutely perfect. Compared to the rest of the week and the endless visits by the social worker, it seemed endless. The hokage had sent them notice that he’d personally see their case within the week, Wednesday at the latest. Though Naruto appeared to be unconcerned with the tension going around, he wasn’t oblivious. He knew a lot about the upcoming trial, about Fujii’s attempts to take him away from his loving family. Several times he appeared to want to ask about it, but he always avoided it by changing his mind and asking about something else. A smart child that didn’t want to upset anyone around him.

And by the end of two weeks, a lot of Naruto’s walls were vanishing. Instead of the quiet child they brought in the house that walked on eggshells around his parental figures, his hellish style was now coming out. Iruka had been angry when the walls of the boy’s room were dressed with foxes and other doodles. As discipline, Naruto was sent to clean off all the walls then help repaint over them so the walls didn’t look too dull. The little boy refused to draw for three days afterwards, as if punishing himself and Iruka for the behavior. When Fujii had caught wind that this had happened, she visited more often to bother the small family, making assumptions of abuse on Naruto.

Pushing Naruto’s bedroom door open, Kakashi stared into the dark bedroom, adjusting his eyes to find to small bundles of chakra lying on the floor. Sasuke was inside a sleeping bag, his arms wrapped around another lump of flesh. Naruto, Kakashi realized. Both boys lay together in each other’s arms, Naruto pressed against Sasuke’s chest. As if sensing someone else was in the room, Naruto’s (or, rather, Kyuubi’s) red eyes cracked open, a growl of warning escaping his lips. The dark haired Uchiha mumbled sleepily, upset in his sleep, but Kyuubi’s growling turned into a purr to relax the other child.

“Kyuubi-sama,” Kakashi spoke up finally, quietly, “what are you doing out? I thought Yondaime-sama sealed you into the child.”

“Foolish humans think a lot, but are rarely right.” The fox muttered, holding the dark haired boy close. “You humans hurt my vessel, I had no other choice than to come out and defend the kit. From people like you that fought with Yondaime, those that lost their family, blame my kit for my actions. I’ll be out as long as he needs my help, until the day he dies.” The small boy closed his eyes and fell asleep once more.

Frowning, Kakashi reached down and pulled Naruto out of Sasuke’s sleeping bag. The child whined before pulling closer to the warmth of Kakashi’s chest, tiny fist grabbing battle-scarred skin to tug closely. A ritual that Kakashi had become accustomed to within the last two weeks was working past Naruto sleeping under the bed so Kakashi or Iruka would enter the bedroom and tuck him into bed twice throughout the night. Once when he went to bed, the second time before they went to bed. It kept him in bed all night, even if he had a friend spending the night.

“Kakashi…” Naruto whispered, cracking open a blue eye.

“Yes, Naruto?” Kakashi turned again to sit on the bed. Reaching to the floor, he pulled up the two plush toys and wrapped them under Naruto’s flimsy arms.

“Fujii-san said there was a hearing. Every time someone came back to the orphanage was because of a ‘hearing’ and I don’t wanna go back. I like you and Iruka.” The small boy rubbed his eyes tiredly and released a yawn.

Frowning, Kakashi brushed soft blonde hair from Naruto’s face. “No one is going to take you away from us. I promise you, Naruto.” Kakashi leaned down and kissed Naruto’s forehead. “Now go to sleep, we have that hearing tomorrow. I can assure you, everything will go fine.” Nodding, Naruto turned over to his other side and shut his eyes.

Kakashi didn’t leave the room until Naruto was completely asleep.

Iruka glared. Naruto smiled. Kakashi rubbed the side of his head nervously. “You’re not wearing that Naruto. I don’t care what Kakashi said, you’re not wearing all orange today.”

While Kakashi was dropping Sasuke off, Iruka had Naruto take a bath and get dressed. While his hair was wet, Iruka had tried his hardest to put it all in a ponytail, but as it dried it started to spike up and look like a mess. At first he also thought that Naruto was joking about wearing the orange outfit, but the boy had put that on rather then the clothes chosen for him that was laid out on the bed.

“But I want to wear orange! Kakashi says that it’s okay!” Naruto exclaimed, holding his fox plush toys to his chest in a hug.

“Let him wear the orange, Iruka. At least he matches.” Kakashi sat down on the couch. He and Iruka were dressed in their shinobi uniforms to look as professional as they could possibly be.

Iruka contemplated the thought before throwing his arms up in defeat. “Fine. Come on, we need to get there on time. None of this three hours later.” He reached for Naruto’s hand to take him outside, Kakashi following him behind. “So what were the instructions Sandaime-sama said to you your last meeting?” Iruka asked as Naruto tugged on his arm in the direction of one of their neighbors (who chose to ignore him and enter their apartment).

“Naruto isn’t really needed in the meeting, but can if we want him to be present. They’re going to have an argument on why we shouldn’t have Naruto and it’s our job to defend our decisions during the situation.” Kakashi reached over, grabbing Naruto before the boy could break Iruka’s hold. “If we don’t want him in the room, Sandaime has asked Itachi to care for Naruto during that time. He’s one of the few people who doesn’t hold a grudge against…it.” He cut himself off as Naruto’s whiskered face turned to face him before smiling.

“I don’t wanna go to a boring meeting. Do I have to?” Naruto whined.

Shaking his head, Iruka took Naruto’s other hand so the boy was between them. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Nodding, Naruto waved his arms begging to be swung. The parents complied, waving the child mid-air as they walked towards the tower. Since Iruka’s apartment wasn’t considerably far from it (married to his work long before Kakashi came in the picture). In front of the building was Itachi, standing in his ANBU uniform, his eyes narrowed in its usual scowl, though they did lighten when Naruto greeted him loudly. “Good afternoon, Naruto-kun. Hatake-san.” He bowed to his predecessor and the academy teacher. “Hokage sent me to take Naruto from your care, show him around, entertain him, and such until the hearing is over. May I show you the way to the conference hall?”

“No thank you, Itachi-san.” Kakashi smiled behind his mask. “We know where it is. And Naruto,” he bent down to be eye level with the boy, “You be on your best behavior for Itachi, don’t make his job harder than it already is.” He tried to crack a joke. Itachi didn’t see the humor in it; instead he took Naruto’s hand and began to leave via stairs, preparing for a tour of the tower.

“He’ll be okay, Iruka.” Kakashi took Iruka’s hand and disappeared in a puff of smoke, his lover in tow.

“These are the Hokages since Konoha’s founding. Our recent one, the third, or Sandaime-”

“-But if we have a third now, why is there a picture of the fourth?” Naruto stared up at the pictures, ignoring the fact that he interrupted the other boy. His blue eyes were entranced by the Fourth. The man looked very familiar; he just couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe he’d seen the man in one of his history books? More than likely, Naruto reasoned, nodding his head.

“Hm?” Itachi looked over the smiling Yondaime, then at the boy, his mind making connections, deciding his words. “Well, he died nine years ago, in the great battle with Kyuubi. Still the beginning of his career, and when he died, Sandaime took over again.”

Frowning, Naruto reached his hand to touch the painting, staring nervously over the picture. “He looks familiar,” he stated, almost reluctantly. “But he’s hokage, so he was probably in my books!” With a smile he started down the hall again, his wide eyes taking in the surroundings. Finally, they rested back on Itachi. “What was the fourth’s name?”

Realizing he hadn’t said it, Itachi rubbed the back of his head absently. “Yondaime. Arashi was his first name, I think his last was Uzumaki, but it’s been lost throughout history. It is certain his first name was Arashi though. If you’re interested in him much, he is better known through Kakashi-san.”

“Really? Kakashi knew Yondaime?”

Smiling, Itachi began to leave towards the door. “Yes. Kakashi was Yondaime’s student back when he was a genin. I’m certain you can learn more about him through your dad then through any book you’ll find. Now come, we have more floors to look at before we go see your parents again.”

“Okay!” Naruto followed after, only looking back once at the haunting eyes of the man he spoke of just before. “Itachi-san? You’re Sasuke’s big brother, right? I like Sasuke, a lot.”

“Yes, I’m his brother.”

“That’s cool. I saw you when you were picking him up from the park. I was kind of scared of you when you just came out of nowhere, but Kakashi does that too, so it’s not too scary anymore. See, Sasuke is always talking about you. Conscience-san says he looks up to you, which can’t be too good. I think it’s cool, I look up to Iruka. I wanna be strong like Iruka, maybe even Kakashi. But Kakashi’s too silly…” Naruto ranted on, jumping from topic to topic. If Itachi was listening, he didn’t show it. Instead, they walked up stairs upon stairs until Naruto collapsed tiredly on the nearest seat, whining about his legs. “Why don’t you seem tired?” He asked to the shinobi.

Smiling, Itachi shook his head. “I’m not trained to be tired. Don’t worry, though, we’re at the place where we’re suppose to be. Their hearing should be finished soon, don’t leave this area. Okay?” Itachi looked darkly into the blue eyes, earning a wide smile.

“I promise!”

“Let me see your fingers.” He scolded. Naruto showed him them to prove they weren’t crossed. “Okay. I have to go back to work, just stay here and wait.” He turned to leave.

Smiling, Naruto pumped his legs in the air, rocking himself on the seat. Inside the room, he could hear chatter, someone yelling before everything calmed down. Turning, he watched as the doors opened and Fujii left the room with a pleased smirk on her face. When she saw him, she sneered and walked away, leaving the boy to sit alone. After her left two other adults, a male who’s face was scarred, his head shaved. He seemed to have seen much more battle time than Kakashi had, or didn’t have as much luck in getting out unscratched as Kakashi did. The woman took Naruto’s breath away.

She had a light shade of pink for hair, but was tinted in areas. Her face was a heart, full of flesh. Pale and beautifully flawless. She wrapped her arms around her husband’s arm and when her deep blue eyes fell on the small boy sitting quietly in the corner, she smiled and bent down. “Hello, Naruto.” She whispered. Her voice was as beautiful as she was; seeming enchanting a pure smile made everything better as she approached him without her husband.

“Hi…” Naruto whispered.

“My name’s Shizuki Yuki.” She reached over, running her finger over his cheek. “I’m your mommy. That’s…your daddy over there, Toshi.” She pointed over to the male that seemed less than amused about being called ‘daddy’. “We’ve come to take you home.”

Naruto stared them over, hesitantly. “That’s not true. I don’t have parents. That’s why Iruka and Kakashi adopted me. You don’t need to take me home, I’m waiting for them.” He started towards the door just as the two shinobi parents were leaving the conference room. “I’m going home now, bye-bye.” He ran towards them grasping Iruka’s leg. “Iruka! Iruka! Can we get ramen on the way home? I’m really hungry. What’s wrong, Iruka? Why are you crying?”

Leaning down, Iruka pulled the child into a hug, causing Naruto to stop talking. “Kakashi and I aren’t taking you home, today, Naruto. Your real parents are going to take you home today, and you’ll live with them for two more days, then you’ll live with Kakashi and me again.” He stood up, leaning against Kakashi, trying to stop himself from crying.

“What…” Naruto looked around as Yuki grasped his hand, pulling him into her arms so he could be hoisted in the air. “I don’t understand!” He cried.

“Don’t worry, Naruto-kun.” Yuki kissed his cheek. “I’ll take you out for some ramen before we go home. You’ll like our house; you have a big room you can fill with anything you want.” She patted his back as she stood up to leave. Her husband took her elbow quickly, walking both her and the child out of the room. Iruka fell to his knees as they were fully gone, Naruto’s small voice echoing in his mind, probably never planning on leaving him.

“No! I don’t wanna go with you guys! I want to go home with my daddies! I want my daddies!”

Setting Naruto on the ground, Yuki took his hand and began walking past the ramen shop, ignoring the boy tugging her towards the shop. “Can we get ramen now? That shop there is owned by Ichiraku-san, it’s his private business. He gives me a bowl of ramen after school, for free!” He pointed towards the shop, but Yuki stopped him from heading that way. “You said we could go!” Naruto cried.

“I know, but not today, Naruto. Toshi is getting bored; so let’s go home. I know you can’t wait to see our house. You were born in it.” She smiled, taking her husband’s hand. “Sweetie, aren’t you going to say anything to our son?” She asked hopefully.

Glaring over at the two, Toshi turned his head. “There’s nothing to say.”

Frowning, Naruto tightened his hold on his mother’s hand. “When do I get to go home with Iruka and Kakashi? I left Saiai and Yoshino at their house. I want to tell them I have a mommy and a daddy, along with two daddies.”

“You don’t have two daddies,” Yuki chided, “and never think of them as your daddies. That’s your daddy, and I’m your mommy. We might only live with each other two days out of the month, but I’m going to make you enjoy those two days because I want us to be a family again.” Bending down to the ground, Yuki hugged her child tightly. “Mommy’s missed you so much the last few years, but I’m going to make it all better from this point on. No one will ever take my little boy away from me.”

Leaning into her hold, Naruto stared up at Toshi, meeting his glare with curious eyes. “Can we get a fox toy before we go home since I don’t have Saiai and Yoshino?”

Toshi hushed his wife before she spoke; his glare seemed to narrow more. “Not in my house, we’ll have no foxes in there.” He continued walking, ignoring both wife and child. “Hurry, let’s get home, I’m hungry.”

“Of course sweetie.” Yuki lifted the nine-year-old again, letting Naruto hide his face in her hair. “Don’t worry, Naruto. He might seem mean and cold, but he loves you very much.”

“Why haven’t I lived with you before? Why was I always at the orphanage?” Naruto breathed in his mother’s hair, relaxing at the smell. His conscience seemed to be singing, loudly and obnoxiously, about pigs – making the child smile. That was why he loved his conscience. He might not have his plush toys anymore, but his first friend would never go away.

Yuki stopped walking, her hold on her son tightened as tears glistened in her eyes. “I was very…young when you were born, so I wasn’t a very good mother. Hokage-sama put you in the orphanage until I was a little order and much more mature to take care of my baby.”

“I’m not a baby…” Naruto whined. “I’m a big boy.”

Smiling, Yuki continued walking towards the end of town. “Of course, you’re my big boy. Oh! Look, there’s the house!” She pointed, easing Naruto close to her side. Naruto turned to face it with wide eyes. Recently painted white, covering newer wood and older evidence of the Kyuubi attacks. Obviously remnants of the attack nine years ago finally finished. “I admit it’s more of a relic than anything else, but its home.”

Not understanding what she meant, Naruto just nodded as he was placed on the ground. “Can I go look around inside?” When he received a nod of approval he ran towards the building, touching the old woodwork of the door before stepping inside the room. Toshi was sitting on an old couch, his feet popped up as he relaxed. “Hi…” He smiled at the man before continuing through the house.

It was a large house, a corridor opening where he took of his sandals before entering the large living room where Toshi was. A fine homely setting, much like Iruka’s, but with a feminine touch. Decorative blankets on the couch and chair, and a rocking chair in the corner dressed by a handmade quilt. Curiously, Naruto ran his fingers over the texture of the blanket before continuing towards another room. The kitchen.

Like the living room, it had a woman’s touch. Spotless from any piles, dishes put away and decorative rags and oven mitts on walls. As before, Naruto ran his fingers over each surface, taking in the location before turning towards the front room. “Where’s my room, Yuki-san?”

“Call me mom, and it’s that way. I’ll show you the way.” Yuki started walking towards the back room, her smile never faulting as she pushed open the door.

Compared to the room Iruka and Kakashi had given to him, the room seemed bare. A bed in the corner, with a baby blanket tucked around the pillows, a large bear sat in the corner of the room on a tiny chair and there was a small desk. In the closet were clothes hung up, each a cool color of blue to the dark of black, two white shirts and some khaki pants. Not a stitch of orange or other vibrant colors that Naruto liked. Alone was a deep blue fabric still in plastic lining, probably recently bought. “What’s that?” Naruto reached towards it and pulled it out to stare it over.

“The hokage has required of me to continue sending you to the academy, that’s your outfit for it. A little more ninja than orange and other bright colors you usually go to school in, but still flexible enough for you to move around on the playgrounds and during training.” The pink haired woman reached to put the outfit away. “So, since today’s your special day, what do you want for dinner?”

Without thinking of it, Naruto said, “Ichiraku ramen!”

“That’s not healthy.” Yuki sighed.

Tears shined in Naruto’s eyes but Yuki ignored the look as she started in the kitchen. “But you said…” He whined as he was left behind in the room. She lied to him. Again! Sitting on his bed, Naruto curled his knees to his chest. “Conscience-san, why does she lie to me, moms aren’t supposed to lie. Iruka didn’t lie to me.”

“Because you trust her too easily. Don’t worry; you’ll see Iruka in school on Monday. Run to him, ask for ramen, I’m sure he’ll deliver.” Conscience hummed, his deep voice echoing in Naruto’s mind. Suddenly, he began to sing again, about the pigs and a market. Instead of them heading home, they’d travel in the words where a hungry demon would…invite them to dinner; Conscience never specified anything further than that.

Grinning, Naruto uncurled himself and stared into the kitchen as Yuki was putting on her apron. “Can we have curry then?” He smiled happily as she returned the look.

“Fine by me, want to help cook?”

“Can I?” He asked hopefully as Yuki reached through a drawer and pulled out a lime green apron with a frog on the side. She helped him get dressed in it before turning towards the wet bowl of rice. Brightening up, Naruto ran toward her, ready to help cook whatever she asked him to.

After dinner, Naruto took his bath and Yuki put him to bed. Sadly she didn’t read him a story no matter how much he probed her about reading him a story, any story, she dismissed it by saying he was a big boy and didn’t need a bedtime story. Glancing over at the setting sun, Naruto growled in his throat. He never had to go to sleep this early in the day on a weekend! Struggling, he pulled out of bed and sat at the desk, looking for some paper so he could draw to pass the time away.

“Conscience-san, tell me a bedtime story!” Naruto squealed. The little voice in his head always knew some of the best stories, but they weren’t as fun as when Iruka told bedtime stories. Iruka could change his voice and play around in the story with Naruto. Kakashi rarely did the same, but when Kakashi read stories; Iruka would come running into the room to stop him. Unlike those two, Conscience spoke in the same intonation throughout the story, but they seemed more real than the magical stories in his books at Iruka’s house where everything turned out well for the hero.

One story the voice in his head had told was set in Konoha, talking about a great war (very close to the one in his history books during school!) where the demon was only going through the town to tell the Hokage (who was a kind man - in theory Conscience always reminded him) that the village was settling too far into the woods, taking over the demon’s home. Things went from there to the chaos would happen; people would throw things at the poor fox-demon who only wanted his home back.

And, like in the history books, the events didn’t end well. The poor demon fox was ‘killed’ (in theory, Conscience would remind him), the hokage was dead, and the mean villagers took more of the demons home. As much as Naruto disliked the story, he also liked it. It gave him love for foxes, always asking if the people in Konoha knew what the Kyuubi wanted when he attacked.

Tonight, the voice in his head seemed almost reluctant to tell him a story, but finally he relented and began his story while Naruto drew. A beautiful forest in the leaves, where animals lived and played with one another and the world was at peace. A utopia, Conscience described it even though the boy had no understanding what a ‘Utopia’ was. The voice continued to describe the forest of leaves as demons settled in it, living off the land in primal states among the other animals, and then humans came around.

Naruto tensed as the voice in his head became harsh in describing the humans’ actions upon the land before calming again to switch topics. “I can tell you about the human Arashi.”

“You can?” Naruto looked up from his artwork of the scenery Conscience had originally described.

“Yes, I could, but that will be a story for another night. It’s dark now child, go lie in bed. I’ll tell you one of those silly stories you like.”

Nodding, Naruto pulled away from his desk and walked towards the bedroom door. “First I want to tell Y-mom and dad good night.” He left the room and started towards the living room where stern words flowed. When his name was said, Naruto froze and stood just outside the room, waiting for the two to finish talking before he intruded.

“-You could at least be a little nicer to Naruto! Speak with him as a human being, don’t just humor me! He’s your son, or will be in a few months. He needs a strong father to look up to, or he’ll just turn out like those two that claim to be fathers. I promised his daddy before he died that I’d take care of our baby, and it’s the least you can do for the child as well!” Yuki’s voice seemed broken as she cried.

“He’s your bastard! I refuse to claim him, much less care for him! You decided to cheat on me; you can take care of your own responsibility! I agreed for you to take him back in, but I refuse to be a father to that – Thing!” Toshi yelled back, a loud thump followed after, likely his fist to a table.

Falling to his knees, Naruto wrapped his arms around his pajamas and listened closer to what they were talking about. “-If it weren’t for the fact that you’re infertile now, I’d never let that monster into my home!”

Sniffling, Naruto stood up and walked towards his room, carefully closing his bedroom door. He didn’t want to stay in this house anymore; he wanted to go back to Iruka and Kakashi’s. Or that place Conscience always spoke about, that utopia where everyone got along. Deciding that, he opened his window and crawled out, leaving the house and going towards the woods.

“Where are you going, kit? It’s far too dangerous for you to be wandering around at this hour, go back to that couple’s house – Toshi and Yuki’s.”

“No…” Naruto whispered, defiantly. Tears fell from his blue eyes down his chubby cheeks, moistening the ground as he walked. “Toshi-san doesn’t want me, he said I wasn’t even his son and didn’t want me in his house. I want to go to those places you always told me about, with the animals and demons that all get along. They’ll like me more than anyone here would…”

“What are you talking about? What about Iruka and Kakashi? They love you and would miss you if you disappeared. I think Sasuke-kun also has a thing for you.” The Conscience chuckled, but didn’t crack a smirk from the small boy. “Trust me kit, what I tell you are now stories. Woods where animals and demons live at peace are nothing but lies and shit like that, these woods are full of missing ninjas that would love a nice reward for slitting your neck. The satisfaction of killing both of us, head back.”

Instead, Naruto ignored the voice as he went deeper into the woods, drowning the voice out with rapid thoughts, replaying the conversation he’d overheard. He must have replayed it six times before he stopped moving and put his hand against the bark of a tree to catch the breath he didn’t know he’d lost. Owl hooting surrounding the area, followed by the rustling of leaves.

Naruto didn’t look up though as he fell to his knees on the ground and started crying. He grabbed his head, screaming and shouting until his voice was hoarse and his breathing rapid again before just sitting back against the tree and staring hopelessly around him. The grass where he’d stepped entering that part of the woods was no longer flat due to pressure and everything seemed past the disturbance he’d caused. The moon lit the sky just above him, reflecting the stars of a beautiful night as a chill came down from the mountains and for the first time since running in the forest, Naruto wanted to know where he was.

He couldn’t remember which direction he went upon leaving Konoha or which direction he turned in his anger. Deciding it was best not to move, Naruto remained seated, staring up at the clouds. “Conscience-san…” He whispered, but nothing replied to him besides the flapping of wings that followed with the shuffling of feet causing Naruto’s chest to tighten in fear. He looked around, trying to find where the noise was coming from, but couldn’t pinpoint it.

In a defensive position, he waited patiently for the disturbance to make a move against him, but nothing happened. Instead, the forest fell dead again as time ticked, making Naruto wonder how long he’d been in that area. It seemed forever before the shuffling started again and a voice rose through the movements. “Naruto! Are you out here?”

Crying, Naruto ran in the direction of the voice, not caring whom it was. He was scared and just wanted to go home, with either parent, he just wanted to get out of the woods! “Naruto!” The voice yelled again, this time closer, it wasn’t the same voice as before, but definitely a male one. Finally, he saw the two sources up front, which quickly turned to face whatever was coming at them. Iruka and Kakashi. If Naruto screamed with joy, he didn’t hear it as he threw himself into Iruka’s arms and cried.

“Sh. It’s okay, we’re here now.” Iruka whispered, sitting on the dirt with Naruto on his back. “We’re here…Sh.” He rubbed the boy’s back as he cried. When he finally quieted, Iruka took the boy’s chin in his hands and stared the boy’s face down, looking for any flesh wounds. “Why did you leave Shizuki-san? They’re your parents. You scared them when you just disappeared in the middle of the night.”

“No I didn’t!” Naruto cried, starting to cry again. “T-Toshi said he doesn’t want me because I’m not his kid!”

Iruka held the boy close again to calm him down once more. “Did he tell you that?” The boy nodded. “Sh. don’t worry. Everything will be okay. You scared Yuki-san though; she came over to our house crying that you ran away from home, thinking you came to us.”

Kakashi sat down, looking crestfallen. “Don’t listen to what Toshi-san says, Naruto. He might not want to accept the fact but Yuki-san really wants to be your mother, you have to give her a chance.”

“But I don’t like them! They lied to me that we’d get ramen on the way home, but we didn’t even stop for any! Then she said I could have whatever I wanted for dinner, but wouldn’t let me have ramen because it’s not healthy! Then they made me go to bed really early and didn’t even read me a bedtime story! Toshi didn’t say anything to me since they took me home. I don’t want to stay with them; I want to go home with you guys. Iruka can be my mommy and Kakashi can be my daddy! I don’t want them to be, please take me home with you!” Naruto screamed as he began to tear up again.

Reaching over, Kakashi took Naruto from Iruka’s arms and stood the boy up in front of him, dusting the child off. “We didn’t decide this, Sandaime didn’t want to do this, but he had to. He had to give your real parents a second chance, but he only gave them two days with you every month. They could see you randomly, but you only stay under their household for two days, the rest of the month you’re a Hatake, like it or not. You have to let them see the sweet little boy and give them a chance. It wouldn’t be fair if you decided based on one day that you didn’t want to stay with them. Remember, Yuki-san hasn’t had a little boy to take care of since you were taken from her and she doesn’t know how to take care of you, just like Iruka and I didn’t. She is approaching it differently, but don’t turn her down yet, give her time. She’ll relax and fall into an environment that you both like. Be good, for us?” He nudged the boy’s cheek but didn’t earn a smile.

“Does that mean I can’t come home with you guys?” Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his wrist.

“Yes, it does, but you’ll see Iruka on Monday.” Kakashi smiled behind his mask. Nodding, Naruto fell into Kakashi’s arms, hugging him while releasing a yawn. “Let’s get you back to the Shizuki house then.” Kakashi took Naruto into his arms and stood up, followed by Iruka who rubbed Naruto’s spiky, messy, hair while the boy fell asleep.

“I want him to come home with us, Kakashi.” Iruka finally whispered as they set up towards Konoha.

“I do too, Dolphin, but it’s only two days, two nights at the least, then he’ll be in our care again. We can survive that long.” Kakashi narrowed his eyes, not quite accepting his own words. They might be able to survive through all this until the final adoption trail, but could Naruto?

“Wouldn’t you rather eat lunch with Sasuke-san?” Iruka asked sliding an extra chair that he used during conferences with parents towards the desk before sitting down. Thanking for the food, the two broke their chopsticks and began to eat (Iruka savoring the food as he swallowed some sushi).

As Naruto finished the last of his rice he sniffled. “Sasuke-san doesn’t want to play with me anymore. His mommy and daddy said that I’m a bad boy and don’t want him to be around me anymore. Everybody stopped playing with me!” He bawled.

Reaching over, Iruka brushed Naruto’s hair back lovingly. “Don’t worry Naruto, I’m sure he still wants to play with you. Some people just…don’t understand how special you are and…don’t like the fact that you’re living with Kakashi and me.” He fought for his words, deciding to avoid the knowledge that the lack of liking was actually due to the fact that Naruto held the Kyuubi. “And, if Sasuke really liked you, he will decide later if he wants to play with you. But right now, he is going to do what his parents tell him to.” He closed his bento box after finishing his rice.

Kicking his feet out, Naruto frowned. “Sasuke said he wanted to play with me, but his mommy and daddy found out he was getting permission to play with me from Itachi-san and they didn’t like that. He said that his parents grounded him and told him not to play with me anymore ‘cause he can be hurt or get in trouble with the village. I don’t think it’s fair because all the others can’t play with me either, their moms and dads said the same thing. Am I really a bad boy like that?”

Sighing, Iruka pressed his chopsticks together and decided his words carefully. Never in his life had he been angrier at that law stating he wasn’t allowed to tell Naruto about the Kyuubi. “I don’t think so. They don’t know what they’re missing by not knowing you. I bet Sasuke will come back though, he really likes you.”

“Conscience says the same thing. He doesn’t think Sasuke will leave me by myself, throughout class he watched me and I saw he wanted to come sit by me.” The boy grinned. “But Itachi-san greets me with a smile. Sasuke told me before Itachi-san doesn’t smile for no one!” Giggling, Naruto closed his bento box and pushed his chair noisily against the floor as he ran to Iruka’s desk drawer to find some paper and pencils so he could draw. “On the way home can we stop for ramen?”

“You just ate, Naruto!” Iruka cried out, astonished.

“But we have a long time until school is over and I’ll be hungrier then!” Naruto whined, drawing on the back of paperwork that made Iruka squirm. Luckily he took out anything important from that desk drawer.

Chuckling, Iruka laid his chin against his palms as the door opened and Hikari entered the room. She smiled at Naruto as he greeted her happily. “I’m sorry to interrupt Iruka-san, but I need to tell you that I had to cut class short today because of a doctor’s appointment I have. We’ll finish tomorrow, and probably have class for three hours on the weekend if we don’t finish this week. Is that all right with you?”

Wide eyed, Iruka stared at Naruto before back at the teacher. “Ah. No problem, I can handle him from here I suppose. Thanks for telling me this. Um…do the other children’s parents know of this change?”

“Well, besides Sasuke, most of the kids were able to walk home because one of their parents was there. I sent each with a note explaining the situation. Sasuke said both his parents are working and his brother went to Sand with your husband on a mission. Uh, you don’t mind if I send him in here so he’s not out on the play yard this entire time? He’s a good boy and will love learning about chakra control.” She smiled, causing a small chuckle to leave Iruka’s lips.

“It’s fine, just…as you’re leaving, tell him to come to my class when the lunch bell rings.” With a nod, the other Chuunin teacher left, leaving Iruka and Naruto in the classroom.

“Kakashi-san is in Sand? Where’s Sand? Is he going to come home soon?” Naruto bounced in his chair. “Do I get to sit by Sasuke in your class?”

“No.” Iruka put their lunches away. Lunch was almost over, so students that had scattered around the academy or headed home for lunch would soon be returning. “Sasuke will sit on one side, you on the other. Can’t have you two playing around during my class. So instead, you guys can do any homework or unfinished assignments. I know you have a lot of studying to do, since exams are coming up. You want to go on to Mizuki’s class, don’t you?” He asked.

Glaring at the door, Naruto shook his head. “No. He scares me. Always smiling at me.”

Sighing, Iruka leaned against his desk. “He finds you amusing.” He cleared that up as the door opened and Hikari led Sasuke in along with both boys’ backpacks. Taking each bag, Iruka patted a seat on the far end of the room, near the window, which Sasuke wasted no time to take – childishly sticking his tongue out at Naruto (who returned the gesture). Naruto took the seat nearest to the door just as Hikari quickly explained to Iruka that Sasuke was the read some strategy scrolls in his pack while Naruto was to continue catching up in his classes. While both adults were busy, Naruto passed Sasuke another glance before smiling brightly – the look was returned with a quirk of the lips.

The bell rang just as students began to fill the room. Girls squealed when they saw the Uchiha child sitting in the corner, and quickly flocked to surround him, commenting how he looked so much like the “Great Itachi-sama”. Iruka broke the swarm off just as Hikari left the classroom. “Sasuke, Naruto. Do your assignments and try to stay quiet while I teach. The rest of you, leave the kids alone or you’ll be cleaning this room.” The class fell silent. “Good. Can anyone tell me what chakra is and why it is important?” With that, his class had begun again.

Throughout the class, little eyes would glance up from their work to watch what was going on, absorbing information like little sponges. Often or not, when Sasuke would bite his bottom lip, Iruka could tell that the small boy so desperately wanted to raise his hand and ask questions. Naruto’s eyes twinkled mischievously before looking down at his paper. Finally, when class was over, both boys packed their bags and waited for further instruction from their new teacher. When the room was deserted, Iruka turned to Sasuke.

“When will your parents return home?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Sasuke slithered into the arms of his backpack. “I don’t know, Hatake-san. They’re always working, or mom’s always with her friends. Itachi usually comes to get me when work is done, but he had to go on a mission.”

“Oh? Um.” Iruka stared at Naruto, watching the boy jump from toe-to-toe while chanting in a singing voice about ramen. “Would you like to join Naruto and me for an after school snack?”

Looking at Naruto, Sasuke blushed before whispering, “Dad says I can’t play with Naruto.”

Right. Iruka opened the classroom door, allowing Naruto to run past him. “I’ll explain the situation to him when we drop you off at home, after some food, maybe the park, or something.” Really, he just wanted to go home and relax. Lie around on his back while Naruto screamed he was bored. He wanted to feel like everything was normal in his life again. Naruto ran past him again. “What are you doing, Naruto?” Iruka sighed.

Pulling on Sasuke’s arm, Naruto tried going down the hall again. “Ramen! I want ramen! No more healthy food for me!”

Smirking, Iruka followed behind the two. “How about onigiri instead of ramen?”

Sasuke brightened at that thought while Naruto gave a totally opposite response by breaking into tears. “Ramen! Iruka-san lied to me about ramen!”

He still planned on taking Naruto out for Ramen, but he couldn’t fight the temptation to pick on the boy, even if just a little. They’d just have onigiri for a light dinner later that day, since Iruka never saw need to make large amounts of food when some of his family was gone. While Naruto was away, he only made enough for Kakashi and himself, never extra. With Kakashi gone, and while Naruto was gone, Iruka made light meals to sustain himself, just as he had done ever since his parents had died. Maybe he’d buy some snack for after dinner to celebrate Naruto’s return home.

That night, while Iruka sat in bed going over some scrolls he’d been given as a gift from the hokage on raising children when his bedroom door opened and a small blonde head stuck into the bedroom. Some of Naruto’s blonde hair was covered with a penguin nightcap that matched penguin foot pajamas. In his arms were both his fox plush toys, clutched tightly to his chest. Iruka’s pulse slowed as he saw crystalline tears going down his face. Patting Kakashi’s side of the bed, Iruka gave his permission for Naruto to completely enter the room.

“What’s wrong, Naruto-kun?” Iruka wrapped his arms around the small.

Naruto sniffled, rubbing his nose against Iruka’s shoulder and his back into Kakashi’s pillow. Relaxing, he spread his toes and tensed his shoulders, unable to fight off a yawn. “I dreamed that you and Kakashi didn’t want me anymore and gave me to my mom and Toshi. There, mom stopped being nice to me and Toshi hurt me and called me a bad boy and Sasuke didn’t want to talk to me anymore…” The boy ranted on, his voice draining as he closed his eyes. “I can’t sleep now. Tell me a bedtime story?”

Wrapping his arms around Naruto, Iruka rubbed the boy’s head. “I can’t think of any stories right now. How about I tell you how Kakashi and I met?”

“Mm.” Naruto muttered, though he didn’t look very enthused about the idea. “I don’t want to hear about that. Read me this!” Naruto slid halfway under the bed and pulled out an orange book, throwing the pages open. “Kakashi-kun left off with Miki being held down with fingers on her tummy.” He pushed open to chapter nine. “I want to know if she reaches the n-nir…vana.” He sounded out the word from memory.

Iruka’s eyes narrowed to the pages of the book before finally snatching it out of Naruto’s hands. ‘That god damn idiot!’ Rather than cussing his husband out loud, where tiny ears could hear, the academy chuunin choose to curse the man mentally. He’d caught Kakashi reading this book to Naruto twice, but judging on how far along the boy was in the book; he was starting to second-guess himself.

With a throw of the windows, the book was sent flying out of the apartment. One less book he’d have to worry about, Iruka decided, closing the windows with a huff. Climbing back on the bed, Iruka put all his scrolls on the floor before pulling the light blanket over both his and Naruto’s body. “I met Kakashi back…” He began his story, ignoring the groan from the small boy.

Halfway through his story, the near asleep Naruto muttered so softly that Iruka almost didn’t hear him, “When me and Sasuke have kids, I’ll never tell them boring stories.”

Iruka choked on newly acquired air.

Thousands of kilometers away, Kakashi snorted awake from his catnap with a feeling of dread. Why did it suddenly feel like he was better off not going home? Sighing, he scooted his back further against the tree as he watched charred ash from the fire still burn red. A little away from him, Itachi stared up to see what was with the sudden movement before relaxing again. “Naruto came home today.” Itachi stated, matter-of-fact.

“Yes he did.” Kakashi nodded. “I’ll see him tomorrow though, more than likely. I’ve been wondering, since we left Konoha the other day, what possessed you to come along with me to Sand. This isn’t a mission that someone of your caliber would need to be doing when Konoha would probably need you in crisis.”

Wrinkling his nose, Itachi picked up a twig and began to poke at the dead fire pit they had made at the beginning of their camping. “True, but I doubt anything will happen within two days that they can’t handle on their own. Besides, I just…needed to get away.” By nature, Itachi was usually reclusive. His words were soft and hesitant, trying to decide what he could say that wouldn’t offer too much information. Kakashi had realized this when he first met the young man.

The woods fell into silence again as Kakashi listened to the crickets mating calls that echoed loudly before dying once more. “What did you need to get away from?” He finally asked. Part of him kicked himself for even asking something, telling him to leave Itachi alone. Yet, he also was struck with sudden curiosity. “Itachi-san, you can tell me anything. Whatever you say out here will never need to be repeated unless you choose for it to be open news. Besides, who would I tell?”

“Iruka, Naruto, your Jounin friends. Obito.” Itachi muttered offhandedly.

Taken aback, Kakashi trained his expression to an impassive look. “The dead tell no tales.”

Rolling his eyes, the young ANBU captain rolled his shoulders as he relaxed. Taking a deep breath he whispered, “Fine, I’ll tell you. I trust you. Besides, I’ve been meaning to ask you some questions myself – which is why I asked to join you on the little mission.” Kakashi’s fine raised eyebrow allowed him to continue talking. “Questions beginning with why - mostly about your personal life, such as your choices. Answers to some confusion that has arisen, especially surrounding Naruto. May I ask you some questions? You don’t have to answer, but it’d be nice.”

“As long as they aren’t too personal.”

Nodding, Itachi picked up his stick, absently making circles in the dirt. “Why Naruto? Did you just decide to adopt Naruto because he’s Yondaime-sama’s son?”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “I ask myself that often. I believe, at first, I did want him with me because he was my dead teacher’s son. I wanted him because he was part of me that was missing, reminding me of what I’ve lost. But, when I see his smile as he played back at the apartment, comparing it to how he looked back at the orphanage, I realized the other part of it. I wanted him to have a different life. But, in the end, it does go back to Arashi-sensei. I don’t want him to know that we – we as in Konoha – have abused his son. I don’t want it to look that I’ve also turned the other cheek on the boy. But, with Arashi-sensei, I was also doing all this for Iruka.” He silenced himself, feeling depressed.

“Hm.” Itachi broke the twig. “How do you adopt? Generally I mean.”

Kakashi looked up, confused. “Explain a little further than that, you’ve lost me.”

“I can’t stay at home anymore. It’s breaking me. I’m dreaming of murdering my clan, Hatake-san. When my father is telling me to do things ‘for the Uchiha clan’, I feel the desire to tear all his vital organs out. The same with mother. I just want to see the whole clan die for the pressures they put on their offspring, and it scares me. I must get away from the clan before I do something I will regret.”

“And what does adoption have to do with any of that? For that, just approach Sondaime-sama and have him remove you from residency.”

“Ah.” Itachi narrowed his eyes. “No one else sees it, and I guess you don’t either. Sasuke will never been seen as a human in the main Uchiha Clan. He’ll be pushed to over exert himself, to become strong, to be only the best. Everyone, even outside our family, will compare him to me. Our father is the worse. He’s the most persistent that Sasuke either live in my footsteps or surpass me. By the time he is twelve, he will go insane and probably act upon the same desires that I have. Right now though, besides scolding him on low homework scores and weapon knowledge, though he’s the best in his class, our parents don’t pay any mind to him. We’re only trophy children to bring honor to a family with no love. I don’t want Sasuke to live the same life I’ve lived at this point. Since I am the one that pays him the most mind, when I leave I plan to bring him along.”

Sighing, Kakashi rubbed his temples. “I won’t offer advice or anything of that matter. I will say this though. Choose carefully because if you do decide to adopt Sasuke, you’ll be making a life changing decision. Children will take a lot from you, but I hear in the end they return it to you pride. A long time ago, I’d have probably just taken a mission to get out of Konoha, for a sense of adventure and something to do. Now, I have a family to support. I have to take whatever the mission hall will give me, pathetic missions like C class, or dangerous ones. I have to take them. Iruka is on a fixed salary, which usually goes to paying all the bills. Anything I make goes to our financial wants. Adopting Sasuke could mean that you’ll be taking on more responsibility than what you already have. You’re still a kid; try not to take too much responsibility.” Kakashi closed his eyes to fall into another catnap.

If Itachi was listening, he didn’t show it.

Iruka watched as the spring months turned to summer. His pre-genin students had mostly graduated so he was expecting a new batch of students along with his repeats this year. Naruto, who had come to the academy later in the year, had to spend his entire summer at the academy catching up on what he missed and was expected, by the beginning of the new school year, to have caught up with his peers in all sense of the word.

At first, he had thought that Naruto had passed the careful stages of his adoption. It was mostly based on the fact the boy was more outgoing around the house and outside. He made friends and considered himself part of the family. He thought that from that point Naruto would be a normal child, but a visit from their social worker said otherwise.

Fujii, as professional as a woman with a grudge could be, had stated that Naruto was only starting to spread his wings. The point of some of his behavior, the demand for bedtime stories and needing people to help him face his nightmares, was psychological. At those points, Naruto was reverting back to younger years, reliving primitive stages of his life with a family to build proper skills he’d need to grow up.

While visiting, Fujii had often met with Naruto alone – leaving the boy in tears and fear. When she’d leave, Naruto would become depressed, talking along the lines that he would have to move in with Yuki forever, but, five bags of ramen later, Naruto would be happy again and running around from one section of the apartment complex to the other. She also came to speak with Iruka and Kakashi once in awhile, to question their parental methods. One question, directed to Kakashi, was why he took the boy to the Kyuubi Monument when the boy had no right to be there. Kakashi begged to differ for unknown reasons. To Iruka, Fujii was ask him if he was failing in his parental duties to make sure Naruto was on top of his studies since the boy barely made it into the pre-genin classes.

The moment he had decided to adopt, Iruka promised himself that he’d give the child the decision of where in the class rankings he or she would be, ninja or no. He would love that child no matter what. Besides, Naruto came late in the year; Iruka wasn’t expecting the boy to be number one Rookie. Sasuke had that title.

And, when Fujii wasn’t around, Iruka would spend as much quality time with his family as he could. Feeling that Naruto had stabilized himself, he had assigned Naruto daily chores to help clean the kitchen after dinner and keep his bedroom a little cleaner. He wasn’t expecting miracles, but these were his terms for Naruto to work at Ichiraku. Yes, at Ichiraku.

It was rare for children under fifteen or not a genin to have a job, but when the old entrepreneur asked if Naruto wanted to help during the summer months, the small boy begged for permission. It was decided that Naruto could work there for tips only on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the week, he went to his summer studies and did his chores. Kakashi had stated that this schedule taught the boy responsibility.

Other changes had happened within the last few days. Itachi had moved out from his home, but the biggest news was that he had fought with his parents and the hokage for permission to either adopt his brother or take custody of the small boy. His case was dismissed and Sasuke continued to live with his biological parents whereas Itachi was stripped from the Uchiha Heir title. “Phht. Not like I care,” Itachi had muttered over breakfast with the Hatake’s, all the while Naruto chomped noisily at his pancakes.

“You can stay with us Itachi-san.” Iruka looked over the table at the teenage boy. “Until you find a place of your own and stabilize yourself.” Kakashi passed him a glare, but Iruka choose to ignore it.

Shaking his head negative, Itachi rubbed the pancake against his the syrup residue on his plate. “No thank you, Hatake-san. I’ve already found a cheap apartment near work and the Uchiha mansion. I gave Sasuke the address so make sure he comes to visit me, okay Naruto?” He smiled at the small boy.

Giving the thumbs up, Naruto put his fork down and waited for permission to clean his plate. Instead, Iruka continued to talk to Itachi about his future plans now that he was no longer part of the Uchiha clan. When it had happened, Itachi seemed almost thrilled to have the title off his head. Of course, since it had happened he had spent a lot of his free hours at the Hatake house.

Finally, Kakashi cleared his throat. “Itachi, are you busy Friday night?”

The ANBU captain thought about it before shaking his head. “Not that I know of. I was going to have Sasuke spend the night if he is given permission. Why?”

Sighing, Iruka laid his chin in his hands. “Well, since we adopted Naruto, Kakashi and I haven’t had…quality time with each other. Y’know, without worry that something could go wrong. We’d kind of like to go on a date, but most of our neighbors refuse to take Naruto, even if just for a night.”

Though a few had opened up to Naruto in the latest weeks, they had begun to close up ties again recently since foxes had paid the apartment a visit. Neither Kakashi nor Iruka had known about their late night visitors until Kakashi had woke up early in the morning from a fit of insomnia to find a red-eyed Naruto (Kyuubi) leaving the apartment with the next day’s dinner to find stray foxes to feed. After that foxes returned nightly, Kyuubi had said they promised to protect the kit as long as long as Iruka or Kakashi continued to feed them. Iruka had agreed, so now they had nightly guests in return for protection they didn’t know they needed.

Itachi looked thoughtful. Instead of speaking though, he turned to face Naruto long enough to let his gaze drop onto the unwatched boy pouring too much syrup on his pancakes, drowning the cakes before he started to eat happily. Iruka look disdained by the action and put the bottle back in the refrigerator. He’d seen enough to know Naruto wasn’t going to ration the sugary liquid. Smiling, Itachi dipped some of his bare pancake into the boy’s syrup. Sure, he didn’t indulge himself on sugary treats as such, but the startled yell from the small boy made it all worth it. “I’d love to take care of Naruto. I think Sasuke would like to spend some time with him.”

Iruka smiled politely, grasping his husband’s hand under the table. Kakashi, having finished his meal, pulled up his mask. Itachi said nothing about Kakashi’s personal openness within his own home. “Thank you, Itachi-san. We’ll pay you, like any other babysitter.”

“No!” Itachi jerked up. “I’m doing it for free. I-I want to.” He brushed Naruto’s bangs, earning a slap to his wrist from the eating boy, along with a warning growl. “I have to go to work. Thank you for inviting me for breakfast, Iruka-san.” He bowed politely to the academy teacher. Turning to Naruto, he rubbed the boy’s messy hair before leaving the house in a puff of smoke.

Standing up, Kakashi put his plate in the sink before bending down to kiss Iruka on the check, using his mask. “See you at the mission hall tonight.” With, what looked like, a smile, he vanished from the room, leaving a sticky Naruto sitting at the table and the blushing Iruka holding his cheek.

Licking his lips, Naruto pushed his chair back. “Conscience-san says a fox is going to take me to this park near the orphanage. Can I go?” He stared up with pouting eyes.

“Clean yourself up beforehand.” Iruka started to clean up breakfast dishes. “Remember, don’t stay out too long; I’ll be home until three, you and I will go to the mission hall together.” He gave Naruto a wet rag before turning on the water to start his dishes. Scraping at the door told him that the fox had just arrived to escort Naruto safely. “Don’t talk to strangers, Naruto.” Iruka said offhandedly. Naruto choose to ignore him as he threw the rag towards the counter and rushed out the door. When everything was silent, Iruka leaned back against the counter and breathed deeply before he stared at the dishes. When he slept, he could remember his family in dreams and such, but when he was awake it made him smile that he had constant reminder that he had a new family. A lazy husband who rushed off to work so he could be late anyway, a child that had their own schedule to follow, and his own work schedule. Was this how his parents were when he was going up? Unable to remember correctly, Iruka shook his head and went back to work.

Around the gates of Konoha was a memorial for those that had died during the Kyuubi attack. Though most of the year it was bare of flowers and essence, there was always someone there. Whether it be a proud adult wanting to tell family of their accomplishment or people who never gotten over the past, that a family member had died protecting the city they loved, someone was always there. In the morning was no different. People that walked around could claim that the silver haired jounin could be a statue sitting right in front since he always sat in the same place, talking as if someone were actually listening to him as he would tell about how missions had gone, things his lover had done or said, or actions by his child. Sometimes his voice would fall into a whisper, now allowing anyone to hear what he said, but whatever it was happened to be very important.

So when Kakashi showed up in a puff of smoke in front of the memorial, no one looked up or bothered to see what was going on. The man gave a polite bow to the stone before sitting down. Uncharacteristically he didn’t take out his orange book and read, for the sake of honor. He might read it in front of the hokage or an important official, but he could never find it in his heart to read in front of that memorial. He didn’t smile as he glanced up at the blue sky before down again at the words engraved. “It’s Friday, Obito.” He said offhandedly. “Same as every other Friday, but I stated that for a reason.”

Staring over the engraving of his friend’s name, he chuckled. “Rin always seemed happier on a Friday because Arashi-sensei never wanted to take missions on that day unless it was very important. He always said we needed a day off, but as you know I haven’t taken a Friday off in years. Can’t do so. I did today though, because I have to get everything ready. I’ve got it all planned out.

“Y’see, Iruka and I have almost been married a year. We’ve had Naruto a few months now, but in those few months we’ve all been very busy. When Naruto’s not around Iruka’s at work or busying himself to take his mind off everything and I take out of Konoha missions. It’s occurred to us, last Fujii visit, that Naruto, without meaning to, is tearing Iruka’s and my marriage to shreds. I’ve got to replace that spark in our relationship, he’s all I have left.” Kakashi let his hands touch his mask. “Iruka’s been really looking forward to this date since I planned it all myself. Our last date I took him on a small vacation to a resort just outside Fire Country, I think he liked that.

“Because of Naruto, though, we can’t be doing something that extravagant. Every action we take, we always have to ask ourselves ‘Will it be misinterpreted?’ That was how we lost Naruto the last time. The Hokage is being reasonable, letting Iruka and me have Naruto most of the month, but if Fujii spreads misinterpreted stories to him again, he’ll end up staying with Shizuki-san longer.”

Taking a deep breath, Kakashi tried to calm his nerves and find a better way to explain what he was saying. “I saw them. Hand shaped wounds on Naruto’s forearms. Usually Kyuubi heals bruises and wounds on the boy, but he didn’t last time. It was as though the demon was trying to tell us what was going on at the Shizuki house. I don’t think Yuki is the cause of any of it though. I’ve spoken to her enough to know she’s trying to keep her son. Arashi-sensei had a good taste in women based on personality, but made the wrong choice in which one to grab. Maybe he didn’t know she was to be married when he had sex with her, but I bet if the Kyuubi attack hadn’t of happened and Toshi wasn’t in the picture, he’d of married Yuki without question, but that’s just between you and me.” Raising his voice again, Kakashi leaned back on his elbows. He admitted to himself that he only fidgeted like this if he didn’t know what to say. Iruka, Naruto…

Not finding anything else to tell his friend about, Kakashi watched the clouds quietly before sitting up as a fox sat beside him. Reaching over, he pet the animal behind the ear. “What are you doing here?” He whispered, though he didn’t expect an answer.

Instead of remaining there, the fox started towards the village, stopped, and turned back towards him. Kakashi rose to his feet and started behind as the fox continued trotting into the village as though it owned it. Probably thought it did, Kakashi frowned as the fox sat just outside the park, staring at it expectantly. Kakashi stepped towards the fox to see what it was seeing. A group, a suspicious-looking group that had gathered in a circle.

Odd. Kakashi started towards the group, ignoring the yelling and taunts rising from all the adults’ mouths. Something was wrong. From the side, he could see another fox waiting expectantly for the outcome, followed by more. Foxes from all over seemed to be surrounding the group, watching just as shinobi started surrounding the area to see what was going on. A merchant? No, the yelling seemed vicious and unwelcome to be a merchant. Besides, in a park? Kakashi pushed through the group to get to the center when words caught his attention.

“Demon!”

“You caused Konoha great harm, get out of here!”

“Stupid demon, how do you like being pushed in the mud?”

Kakashi’s mind played a mile a minute as he summed the chakra to transport him into the middle of the crowd where Naruto sat, covered in mud and bruises. Tears filled the rims of the boy’s eyes, but he wouldn’t let them fall as he tried to stay strong. Reaching down, Kakashi took Naruto into his arms just as a rock flew their way, hitting Naruto in the back. On reflex, an “ow” escaped the boy’s lips in a cry as he clung around Kakashi’s neck. Just as the Jounin was going to yell at the adults’ behavior, the foxes that had surrounded pounced.

Kakashi felt every nerve in his body go raw. To be honest, he didn’t know what to say or do since he knew the reason behind the sudden attack. He was unable to blame the foxes for just attacking people as they were, but the other side said that it was his job to protect citizens of Konoha. “Stop them.” He whispered to Naruto, but the boy shook his head. “Stop them, Naruto!” Kakashi yelled, causing the boy to pull back scared.

Rubbing his eyes, Naruto stared around at the foxes before he stared back at Kakashi. “I don’t know how!”

Reaching forward, Kakashi grabbed Naruto’s shoulders, almost painfully. “Tell Conscience then to get rid of them!”

“Conscience-kun says they had this coming.” Naruto whispered, wiping his tears. “He says he’s not going to call them off because they hurt me!” A lone fox strayed away from the skulk, baring its teeth at Kakashi. Kakashi relented his hold on Naruto’s shoulders.

“Conscience! Call them off!” Kakashi yelled. Since Naruto always called Kyuubi under the name ‘Conscience’ it was how Iruka and Kakashi started referring the demon when they wanted to speak with the fox personally. “Before the village finds reason to kill Naruto, call them off!”

Naruto’s eyes flashed red, his canines sharpening with a growl. His small, boyish, voice became strong and deep. “Then tell your kind to leave this boy alone. He’s done nothing to them…yet. When something does happen, it’ll be my doing!” Like clock work, the foxes stopped attacking the people and backed off, one-by-one they left the city. “If you’d notice, they didn’t attack until they attacked my kit with that rock. I kept them away when they pushed him in a puddle and when they called him names, but I didn’t attack them. My foxes attack on their own free will, had I attacked you’d all be dead.” With a sneer, the demon marched Naruto’s body away from the scene. “Tell Iruka-kun Naruto will not be showing up at the mission hall this afternoon.”

As a mess of blonde hair vanished in the distance and people that had been in the park during the attack were taken to the hospital, Kakashi remained. His eyes wide, a rare sign that he gave to show he was scared. Originally, Kyuubi was kind to both he and Iruka, but it seemed he’d revoked that liking from Kakashi and still favored Iruka. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to follow the boy as Fujii’s voice behind him tsk’ed.

“This won’t look good at the final hearing, Hatake-san.”