My first fanfic, haha ^_^
As he released another stream of lightning from his arm he sighed for the thousandth time today. Kakashi knows no amount of training will make the anniversary of his sensei's death any less painful. The memories are still so vivid.
"Do you know why I chose to train you exclusively for years, Kakashi?" the blonde man said.
"I was a prodigy sensei. Plus I'm the last in my bloodline. You wanted to preserve that, right?"
With a sigh the older man looked down and responded, "You're a smart boy, tell me Kakashi. Who is the king of Konoha? Who must you protect with your life to keep your home safe?"
"That would be the Hokage, Minato-sensei." The silver haired boy said confidently.
"One day you'll learn the answer for yourself. I hope when that day comes you will be up to the task of protecting our king. There's something I must take care of, I'll see you later Kakashi."
That was the last he saw of his sensei. His face is etched on the Hokage Mountain, but that isn't the same. Feeling remorseful, Kakashi made his way back to Konoha.
'It seems everyone else remembers what day it is too… Somehow it doesn't comfort me to know I'm not suffering alone.' He sighed, 'I suppose after all of that training I should eat something.'
The masked jounin made his way to Konoha's popular barbecue. Not wanting to be acknowledged Kakashi put more effort into avoiding people than he normally would have. Sitting in a dimly lighted stall eating his pork Kakashi began to get lost in his mind again.
"I failed. I failed to protect the king. I failed to protect Obito and Rin… I'm sorry Sandaime-sama I failed Konoha." The young Kakashi Hatake said trying desperately to keep from crying.
"King? Kakashi there will always be a King to protect. I'm surprised you don't know this yet. Tell me, who is your king?" The whiskered old man asked in a steady voice.
"Well… I suppose it's you now. I don't understand. Why do you and Minato-sama keep asking me this?" Through the mask, anyone could tell his face dropped at the mention of his old mentor's name.
"One day you too will learn the answer to our question. You must never forget there will always be people to protect, sometimes we are unable to protect the ones we love but instead of giving up we must strive to honor their memory rather than let it go to waste. Do you understand me, Kakashi?"
"I think so, Hokage-sama…" he said, in a barely audible whisper.
From Kakashi's dark corner of the restaurant he could see all the faces of people. Some he recognized, some unfamiliar ones. Nearly all of them frowning in memory of the fateful day years ago.
'Is this it? Misery? Where is the king to protect us? Is there even a King at all?'
Kakashi sat solemnly thinking to himself, through all of the noise and commotion his mind was still focused on that one question. In a sigh of defeat, Kakashi rose from his booth and made his way to the exit.
"Kakashi! How are you my friend?" the silver haired man turned startled when the cheery deep voice shook him from his thoughts.
"Asuma, I'm as good as anyone could be on a day like this. How about you?" Kakashi said out of politeness. Truthfully he didn't want to talk right now but seeing no way out he resigned to hoping for a short conversation.
"I'm doin' great! Why don't we take a walk there's something I want to show you."
'So much for a short conversation' he mentally sighed.
"Lead on." He said as he followed his friend.
"Kakashi. My father sent me here to talk to you. Though, he never did tell me what about. Is there something you need to talk about?"
His one eye wide in shock Kakashi responded "Erm, actually there is one thing. Asuma, who is the king of Konoha?"
Now it was Asuma's turn to be shocked. "It's been years since I've been asked that! Kakashi why do you ask?"
"You see eight years ago I was asked the same thing by Minato-sensei. At the time I figured it was the Hokage, but apparently I'm wrong." He pinched his brow in frustration.
"Ah, tell me Kakashi, what do you know about The Will of Fire?"
"It is the willpower to fight for Konoha, the character of each shinobi who vows to protect our village."
"Correct. Now, it is our job to pass The Will of Fire onto the next generation. To teach them the strength to fight for The Leaf. The children, the seeds of Konoha, are the king. A king we must protect so they can thrive to protect this village was we do now."
Kakashi silently stared at the ground. The king? Children? Was that what Minato-sama was trying to say all those years ago? That he wanted to teach him The Will of Fire?
"Thank you… Asuma."
"Don't mention it Kakashi." The man said already walking away.
Kakashi walked home feeling slightly better. It was indeed a lot to think about. Had Minato-sensei really sacrificed his life for the children of Konoha? For Kakashi? For his unborn son?
'I should see Hokage-sama and thank him for…' Actually, what did he want to tell the Sandaime? As he approached the Hokage Tower Kakashi thought back to all the times he came to visit his sensei here.
'Was it worth it, sensei? The sacrifice you made. You'll never get a chance to see your family. Kushina-san will never hold her son. You'll never see them. How could it be worth it?'
"Kakashi, you wanted to see me?" The aged voice said waking Kakashi from his thoughts once again.
"Yes Hokage-sama. I wanted to… thank you for sending Asuma. He really… Opened my eyes. I do have one question though." The silver haired jounin seemed almost nervous. Kakashi never gets nervous, thought the old man. "Why did he do it? Why did he sacrifice what he could've had…? A life with a family, now his family is dead. For the life of the village and the children in the village? Is… Is it really worth it?"
"It is time for you to know the truth, Kakashi." Kakashi's eye widened. 'I'm not sure I can take another answer to my questions today. Eight years in the dark, do I really want to know?' "Eight years ago when Minato-san died, he left behind the legend of The Fourth Hokage for the entire world to hear. But he also left behind something much more precious. What I'm about to tell you will never leave these walls. Am I understood?" seeing the hasty nod the Hokage continued, "It is true Kushina-san died, but it was after her son was born. Minato-san never wanted to die, but in order to protect his king; he would do whatever it took..." Kakashi stood frozen 'Minato-sensei… has a son?' "Hokage-sama I-" "Let me finish." He interrupted. "Kushina-san was the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi. When the fox got loose Minato had no choice but to seal it inside of a boy." 'That boy? I haven't seen him in years, I suppose he does look like Minato-sensei, minus the red hair.' Kakashi thought to himself. "By know you realize who the Yondaime's legacy is. Naruto Uzumaki is the son of the Fourth Hokage. He, is the king Minato-san was protecting when he died." The speechless Kakashi absorbed the information and exited the room after bowing his goodbyes to the Hokage.
'All this time… Sensei has had a son? And it's been that boy?' Still unable to grasp the knowledge Kakashi aimlessly walked towards the Hokage Mountain. He chuckled to himself, seeing Naruto's handiwork across the four faces. 'I wonder what he'd say if he knew he was drawing on the face of his father.' Kakashi was continuing his walk, face behind his mask and his book to feign normalcy when he heard sobs coming from a nearby alley.
"It's that kid! The one who took our Hokage from us!"
"He's no kid, that's a demon! This time we'll be sure to kill you for good!"
"He's ruined our families! Grab him!" the voices screamed at the crying child.
Having seen more than enough, Kakashi slid his ANBU mask on and dropped in front of the angry villagers. "YOU WILL NOT LAY A FINGER ON HIM." Kakashi all but yelled. Once one of the men recovered from the initial shock he growled, "He's destroyed our village! It's a demon! It's aging every year we should kill it while we can!" "I'm not up to arguing right now. You will never touch him again or I will find and kill you." Kakashi said while unsheathing the blade his father gave him all those years ago. The cowardly men ran off cursing Naruto.
"Please don't hurt me mister ANBU" Kakashi barely heard the timid voice say.
"Why would I do that? Have you done anything you should be hurt for?" he tested.
Naruto flinched before saying "N….no I don't think so. I promise I didn't hurt anybody. Why? Why do they keep hurting me?"
Kakashi's heart was broken. This was not the life his sensei had dreamt for his son. This was not the life for anyone. "They will never bother you again, Naruto-chan. Now, if I'm not mistaken today is your birthday is it not?"
'A trick maybe?' The boy thought. 'Why is he being so nice? No one is nice to me.' "Y….yes Why?"
"Well, everyone needs presents on their birthday. Follow me." Smiling under his mask, Kakashi walked towards his home.
As the doors opened to the apartment Naruto carefully stepped inside, still wary of the man next to him.
Taking off his ANBU mask, Kakashi said "Don't worry Naruto-chan, nothing bad like that will happen to you ever again. I promise." The seriousness in his tone frightened Naruto a little, but it felt… comforting.
"Okay ANBU-sama." Naruto bravely said. 'Maybe I can trust him… as a friend?'
Surprised that Naruto didn't even stutter, Kakashi replied "My name is Kakashi by the way, Naruto." He turned to see the child grinning shyly.
Kakashi smiled back and lead Naruto into his home. "So, Naruto, what would you like to eat for your birthday?" "RAMEN! I mean, could I have… ramen? Please?" Naruto said backing away slowly as if expecting punishment.
"Of course you can have ramen, Naruto. It is your birthday after all." Kakashi said, trying to hide his sadness from the poor child. 'He… expected me to punish him? For that? Naruto, what you must have gone through…'
"Thanks for the food." Naruto said quietly. "You're welcome son!" The old man replied cheerfully. "Hey Kakashi I haven't seen you around in a while! What brings you here?"
"Ahh you see, its Naruto's birthday today and he wanted ramen. So of course where better to go?" Kakashi replied smiling.
"Birthday? In that case, first bowl on the house!"
Naruto's eyes widened and began watering 'why are they being so nice? Is this what it's like to have friends? Real friends?' "Thank you mister!"
On the way returning from Ichiraku's, Kakashi had picked up a few things in various shops along the way. Naruto, being shy couldn't bring himself to ask what he was getting. So he decided to wait and fight out. Once they arrived home Naruto couldn't wait to find out what the "present" Kakashi had mentioned was.
"Kashi-san when do I get my present?"
Surprisingly not startled by the nick name Kakashi smiled and said "Oh not much longer I just need to find a few things"
The impatient child fidgeted on the sofa waiting for Kakashi to hurry. 'He's being so nice to me. I like this feeling. It feels like I have a family like the other kids. Even Jiji-san doesn't talk to me this much. Will he make me go back though?' A dark frown covered Naruto's face at that thought. Noticing this, Kakashi asked, "Naruto-chan what's wrong?" placing a hand on Naruto's opposite shoulder. "I… thank you. For everything Kashi-san. Thank you for saving me from those people and for the ramen and for the presents and-" "And what, Naruto? You have nothing to thank me for. I'm sorry I wasn't in your life before. But now you never have to live like that again. I promise." Kakashi said hugging the child. Kakashi placed a kiss on Naruto's crimson hair and continued, "You've been really brave Naruto. You really have, I know one day all of this will change and you'll be respected and loved by everyone. Until, and after, that day I'll always be here for you."
Naruto began crying. 'Crying? I'm supposed to be happy. Why am I crying? I'm not sad am I? No…' "Kashi-san why am I crying? I'm not sad." The confused child sobbed. A smile rose underneath Kakashi's mask "Sometimes when we get so happy, we cry. Sometimes we get so filled with good feelings the best way to express it is through crying. It's okay, let me go get your present Naruto."
Moments later Kakashi came in holding a dusty box, the bags they picked up on their way from Ichiraku's, and a pillow. He did train all day after all. Laying down Kakashi explained "Naruto I got you a few things. One of them however is extremely special to me. So special, in fact, I'm asking you to please take very, very good care of it. Can you do that for me?" he asked the boy. "I'll take special care of it Kashi-san. W-What is it?" Naruto asked taking the box from his friend. "My sensei gave me this special Kunai when I was 14. He told me that whenever I was in trouble, as long as I had this Kunai he would protect me wherever I'm at. Now I want to give it to you. My sensei won't mind if I give you this, so now I can always protect you." Kakashi said. Sure, he couldn't perform hiraishin, but regardless Kakashi would never let anyone harm Naruto like that again.
Naruto sat speechless, 'he trusts me with this? Am I really important? He… He's going to protect me now?' "Th… thank you K-Kashi-san..." Naruto sniffled. The smiling Kakashi just nodded.
"Now, for your other two presents. I'd never be able to top the first, so I got you this," he said holding up an orange jumpsuit, "and those." He finished, pointing to a box of Kunai and various ninja tools.
"I… thank you Kashi-san. I never have gotten a present before… I promise you I'll become the best ninja the world has seen! Believe it!" the boy yelled
"I do believe it, my King." Kakashi said to himself staring at the boy, seeing his sensei and Kushina in him. "I do."