Rating: PG-13 for some pretty strong language

Pairings: None

Spoilers: Um…some background info on Naruto but nothing that really gets into the anime or manga.

ETA 3/29/008

A/N: Yes, I know this is not an original story. I'm not even sure you can say I've put an original twist on it, although I would like to think that I have. I made it a bit AUish, but only on a few details. Mainly, however, this was for my enjoyment. A few things before you start:

Disclaimer 1: In no way, shape, or form do I condone seventeen year olds taking care of their own children. In fact, I would completely discourage it. Seventeen-year-olds in general these days do not have the mental maturity to take care of a human being. That being said, I know it happens and all my support goes out to those people who are successful. I could barely stand babysitting my seven-year-old brother, let alone an infant.

Disclaimer 2: Okay, the idea for orphan dorms? Has probably been done by many people. However, I specifically took it from Book of Changes' A Different Perspective. The orphan dorms aren't elaborated on in that story so I figure it's not too big a deal, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Check it out; it's in my favorites.

Disclaimer 3: This is the really important one…. I have a Kakashi Matrix T-shirt. Does that count? No? Damn. Then I don't own it.

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Hatake Kakashi sat down with the bundle cradled against his stomach, almost as still as the thing in his arms. But it wasn't going to stay that way and he was clueless as to what he should be doing.

Fire in Your Eyes

By Psychick

So sacrifice yourself and let me have what's left.

I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.

I'm going all the way.

Get away, please.

You take the breath right out of me.

You left a hole where my heart should be.

You got to fight just to make it through,

'Cause I will be the death of you.

- Breath by Breaking Benjamin

Chapter 1: Assignment

Oh crap. It's moving.

Seventeen-year-old Hatake Kakashi stared down at the bundle in his arms without the slightest inkling of what to do. It hadn't moved since it had been shoved into his chest by an ANBU four hours ago. It was even quiet as he had conducted his rather one-sided argument with said ANBU, which had ended in Kakashi being forced to (reluctantly) bring it inside what was left of his house. He had then sat with it cradled against his stomach, while it continued to remain motionless. But now it was moving and he was clueless as to what he should be doing.

In fact, the hell with that. Why should he be doing anything with it? Why had Sandaime-sama picked him to deal with this mess. Yes, there were obvious reasons. One was that he was seventeen, old enough to watch out for another living being. Another reason was that the thing he held now was related to him. But right now Kakashi wasn't particularly happy with him.

He had understood why it had to be done of course. Gods, he understood. He was a ninja of Konoha, a jounin; he had killed his first man before he could speak properly. He had killed to protect and killed to survive and killed and killed and killed and killed until there was nothing left, nothing, but that was the problem because he had absolutely no damn clue how to make something live. Even the people he cared about desperately, the ones he would give his soul and drench his hands in blood for he couldn't make live. The people he would drink the blood of his opponents for, the people he would sacrifice everything for just so they could stay alive he couldn't protect. So how the hell was he supposed to raise this?

"What am I supposed to do with you?" Kakashi voiced to the bundle.

It did not respond, didn't even cry or…or whatever these things were supposed to do, but it did start shifting again. Its small head twisted back and forth as if it were having its own nightmare.

"You and me both," the silver-haired man sighed.

Twenty-four hours. It was only a mere twenty-four hours ago everything had gone horribly right. The elite forces of Konoha were losing against the massive chakra and size of the demon fox that had appeared out of nowhere. The regular forces of ninja, genin and chuunin that had no place in this battle but also had no choice, were dropping like flies. Kakashi had thrown everything he had and more into the battle to protect the village that was more important to him than anything, to protect the people that were more important than anything, but it hadn't been enough. The damn thing was just too much for all of them.

Except for one.

Kakashi hadn't even known what was going on until it was too late. None of them had. The fool had stood there, staring down at his enemy and the jounin had been utterly terrified that he wouldn't reach them in time to save the Hokage. The seals they all watched their village leader perform produced nothing, not even an upsurge in chakra flow it seemed, and many of the rookies lost it, yelling that even Yondaime-sama couldn't save them, that they were all lost. Kakashi had no time for such scum and raced toward his former sensei to protect him.

But it was pointless. Even though the fox had stilled, stopped fighting back, nothing they did could harm it significantly. Not one of them could land a blow that made any difference, and all the while the Hokage simply stood there, staring at the demon, blue eyes blazing with ice. His breathing steadily became harsh and ragged, though he seemed to be doing nothing. The fox suddenly raged, the anger in his roar vibrating through every man and woman's chest down to their core. Then for no apparent reason it vanished, disappeared in a red blaze of heatless flame before it's form could hit the ground.

Everyone stared in shock at the place where the demon had been, but Kakashi had the presence of mind to look towards their leader, knowing instinctively that it was not that easy and that someone would pay. Sure enough, as he locked eyes with the Hokage, the blond man smiled. It was a smile full of hope and joy, of happiness and accomplishment, of unadulterated relief on the surface, but Kakashi had spent too much time around him to miss the underlying look of bitter defeat, of utter despair, of things left undone, unsaid and unseen.

The copy ninja would have swallowed his own kunai to miss that look. Late again, a voice mocked. Can you ever be on time? Less-than-scum.

He still didn't know what had happened. Only that Rin had pronounced Sensei DOA and Sandaime-sama, who had now taken up his old position on the council's insistence, had pronounced the village safe.

However, 'safe' in no way meant 'intact.' The Kyuubi hadn't actually made it all the way inside the village fortunately, but it had still dealt a lot of damage. The south portion of the wall was completely destroyed where the Kyuubi had charged it and the homes and buildings on that edge were demolished from its nine tails and paws. Even the buildings in the center of the village, where Kakashi lived, had started to come down from the shockwaves created by the demon fox's rampaging. The north end of the village, being farthest away from the battle scene, was the least damaged, so those who had lost their homes were invited to stay until they could build something that they could live in.

The biggest problem lay in the fact that homes were not the only buildings affected. The orphanage and its adjoining dorms resided in the south part of the village and would take quite awhile to rebuild. The older kids, about ten- to fifteen-years-old, would be okay. Most had followed in their parent's footsteps and become ninja, and their subsequent training had instilled a modicum of maturity in them that would make it no problem for them to board in the north district. The five- to nine-year-olds were a little tougher to accommodate, but the north district was the richer part of the village, and those who were parents of kids around the same age agreed to take them in, in exchange for some compensation.

It was the infant to four-year-olds that were more difficult. There weren't many of them. A lot of ninja women who had recently given birth simply held off their careers for a few years and a few retired from the shinobi way for good. Every so often, however, a kunoichi was summoned to duty and never returned alive.

The people of Konoha weren't heartless citizens but the fact was that it took far too much energy to raise even a toddler while the village needed rebuilding. An infant was even more work, as they needed constant attention in the form of playtime, regular diaper changes and formula feedings, and frequently woke up in the middle of the night.

Kakashi, of course, wasn't even vaguely aware of most of this. He had deduced so far that this thing in his arms needed to eat at some point, that it probably wasn't potty trained and that it felt as if it would break if he didn't support its entire body. Beyond that he was clueless.

"Shit," he said to the still-sleeping bundle, "you realize I don't even know how to hold you properly? So really, if this doesn't go the way you thought it would, don't blame me. You have Sandaime-sama to thank for that." The copy-ninja suddenly scowled, "Better yet, blame your father. I don't suppose you have any idea what was going through his head?"

The only reply he got was a scrunched face and a heel that had worked its way out of the blankets jammed into the top of his thigh. It kind of hurt but his numerous injuries from mission work had been far more painful and it couldn't really compare to the broken ribs he was sporting right now.

Even so, the strength of its kick surprised him. It had nothing to do with its size. Kakashi had met several ninja who had drawn the genetic short straw, no pun intended, and also had considerable strength, but he had always held by the standard that the less you trained your body, the weaker you were. This was true of every person he knew and so it followed that an infant, especially a newborn one, would be… well, a limp rag doll came to mind. Especially, since he had realized that moving his arm from under its head deprived it of all support. So how could something that couldn't keep its head up for even one second deliver a kick that would register as painful?

The silver-haired ninja decided to try something. If its legs were that strong already, what about its arms or hands? Gently—everything about this new being seemed to require a gentleness Kakashi didn't know he had—gently he pushed aside some of the blankets to gain access to its arm. He obviously couldn't ask it to aim a punch at him. Even if it wasn't asleep the copy ninja wasn't stupid enough to think it would understand him. Instead, he slipped one finger—and it barely fit—into its slightly fisted hand.

The reaction was immediate. Actually, it was more than immediate. Kakashi barely had time to slide his finger in before its fist closed tightly around the finger and refused to let go.

"…Woah…" he whispered.

It was a strong grip, too. Not strong enough that he couldn't easily pry his finger out if he wanted to, but the fact that he had to make an effort at all was incredible to Kakashi. The sight of that tiny, innocent fist gripping so trustingly to one of the deadliest, bloodiest fingers Kakashi knew made him a little breathless, too. It was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen.

There was a knock on the door, or what was left of it, and the jounin's breathlessness left him in the form of a frustrated growl. He hadn't been lying when he said that he didn't know how to hold it properly. How on earth was he supposed to get up?

He settled for just yelling at the person to come in, but as soon as he realized who his visitor was he wished he had gotten up so that he could have slammed the door back in the old geezer's face. It would have been disrespectful, sure, but it would have felt damn good.

He compromised by letting the disrespect ooze into his voice.

"Hello Hokage-sama. I'd stand but I seem to have my hands full. Please, sit. Anywhere. I'm not entirely sure where all my chairs are right now."

The Sandaime sighed. It was a better response than he had been expecting frankly, and he was reasonably sure that he had the child in his soldier's arms to thank for that. Yondaime had been very close to all his students and, while he wasn't expected to share everything with them, the formerly retired Hokage had known that Rin and Kakashi would not be happy with being kept out of the loop when he had insisted upon it. They would be even more furious when they learned of what had actually occurred.

The old man motioned for those who had followed him to bring in what they carried while he spoke to the young jounin.

"Kakashi. I'm sorry we are meeting again under these unfortunate circumstances. I'm afraid I haven't much time to spare but I have some information that must be discussed with you and it cannot wait."

Kakashi was only paying the Sandaime half his attention as the other half watched the men entering his house with boxes of…stuff. That one box looked like it might contain diapers in it but some of the other things he had never seen in his life. Wait…those might be clothes, but they looked awfully small. He knew that it was tiny, but could it really fit into those? They looked like they might fit on a doll, but not the bundle currently in his arms.

"You're really serious about this aren't you?" the copy-ninja asked. "You really want me to take care of this? You think I can actually handle it? 'Cause I'm telling you right now, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"It will be difficult," Hiruzen conceded, aware that he was probably understating the problem to the nth degree, "but I do think you will be capable." In actuality, it had very little to do with how capable Kakashi was. If Sarutobi had been able to choose from anyone he wanted to take care of the child, Kakashi would have been his absolute last choice. As it was, his choices were severely limited, and the silver-haired ninja had suddenly jumped to the head of his list.

"I'm not kidding, Hokage-sama. I literally have no idea what I'm doing. I'm a ninja, Sandaime-sama. One of your shinobi, and all I know is how to kill. How am I supposed to do this? What am I supposed to do with that?" Kakashi attempted to point at the boxes that were still being brought in, but his left arm was currently occupied supporting the infant's head and his right hand was caught in the young boy's fist. The jounin ended up pointing more with his elbow than anything else. Sarutobi prayed to any god listening that it meant Kakashi was already interacting with the child. It would make it that much easier to convince him to take this assignment.

"These are supplies you will need to take care of the boy. Every family that has agreed to take an orphan in is receiving some form of compensation, and those with infants are being given supplies for the first few weeks."

The young jounin gave a bitter laugh, "Family? So I'm a family now, am I? Years spent living on my own and suddenly I qualify as a fucking family-"

"You are the closest thing this boy has!" Hiruzen hissed, mindful of the fact that the infant was still sleeping. "Believe me, I wish I could hand him over to Rin. She's a much better choice than you, but she's also a medic-nin and we need as many as possible to help with the injured in the hospital. She has no time to take care of an infant."

"What happened to Sensei's girlfriend then? The ANBU said she didn't die in childbirth but he wouldn't tell me where she was. Isn't this her responsibility?"

The Hokage looked away from the copy-ninja so as not to make it seem that the disappointment he was feeling was directed at him. "The boy's mother has…disappeared. She recovered very quickly after childbirth and ran away. I have had ANBU looking for her everywhere, but we haven't been successful so far." He shook his head, "At this point, even if she does return to Konoha, she will not be allowed to take her child back. It is too dangerous for him."

Kakashi looked up at the old man in surprise. As far as he knew it wasn't like the Hokage to be so…condemning. But then again, he had only met sensei's girlfriend once, couldn't even recall her name, as the meeting had been brief and interruptive. Maybe she hadn't been as trustworthy as Yondaime-sama had thought. Especially if she was willing to abandon her own newborn.

Still, the jounin wasn't finished arguing his point yet. He was planning to pull out all the stops, or at least gain as much information as he could before the Hokage clammed up on him.

"How am I supposed to take on missions?"

And now the fight begins, thought Sarutobi. "You won't be."

"WHAT? How? Forget all this stuff I'm going to need! How am I supposed to pay for myself?" The bundle was starting to stir again. Kakashi absently tried to pull the blanket back over it with his finger still trapped in its fist and his eyes focused on Sandaime-sama. It hadn't occurred to him to remove his finger. It was the only thing reminding him that there was something fragile in his arms that he couldn't afford to break. Lucky Sandaime-sama.

"You won't be," the Hokage reiterated, "because you have already been given an assignment. Taking care of the boy is not simply a task that has been forced on you at an inopportune time. He has become your sole assignment for an indeterminate length of time." He took a deep breath and looked around the room. Those who had agreed to help bring supplies around had finished here and moved on to their next task. It left him free to discuss certain events.

"Kakashi. The death of the Yondaime, the disappearance of the boy's mother, giving the child to you of all people. These are not coincidences. There is a reason behind it." Sandaime almost, almost, continued but for some reason the words all I know is how to kill echoed in his head and for the first time he really began to worry about his choice. Yet there was no going back now. The council was giving him only this one chance. If Kakashi did not accept, the infant in his arms was going to die tonight.

Please, please. If there is anyone listening to this prayer, please let this work.

Out loud the Hokage asked, "May I hold him? I haven't had the chance yet and it would be a pleasure I haven't had in a while."

Kakashi looked startled at the abrupt change in topic, but he also looked slightly relieved to be relieved of his charge. "Sure, if you can manage it. I don't exactly know how to hand it over."

The father in Sarutobi winced at having a child called 'it' and hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come.

Picking up the boy was awkward. His old bones weren't as flexible as they had always been, even considering that he was a shinobi. They creaked and protested as he bent over, and gathering the infant in his arms wasn't made any easier by the fact that he hung on to Kakashi's finger like it was his last link to life. The Hokage shuddered at the image, praying that the jounin's prying to free himself wasn't as symbolic as it seemed. At least Kakashi had managed to work out that the head needed support, as he kept his left hand underneath until Sarutobi could do it himself. So there was hope after all.

Hiruzen cradled the infant, rocking him gently back and forth as he walked to the other side of the room, basking in the feeling of life in his arms. As a ninja he had dealt far too much death and seen too much of it as well. It no longer bothered him as it once had, but as he had grown closer to it himself he often wondered if that was not a tragedy, too. He sometimes envied the midwives who had the chance to bring a child into the world, something not so easily done as a kunai across the neck or a well-performed jutsu.

"I'd do anything to save this village. Protecting the people here is the most important thing I'll ever do. Especially now. But you know what I will regret? That I'll never know. Is it a boy or a girl?" A heartbreaking laugh. "Kind of makes me wish we had decided to find out, now." A pause. "We didn't even pick a name, you know? Wanted to wait until it was born. She hated the idea of a gender-neutral name. Now she won't even have to fight me about it."

The memory brought tears to the old man's eyes. Neither of them would name the boy now. As clueless as he was, even Kakashi couldn't call the infant 'it' forever. And since he was to become the primary caregiver, Sarutobi had decided it would be his right. If he chose to take the boy.

"Hokage-sama? What's going on? What did you mean 'not a coincidence'?"

Sandaime blinked the tears away and began. "Yondaime had discovered another forbidden jutsu several months ago. It is called Shiki Fuujin and allows the user to seal his opponent's soul away. Unfortunately, the user's soul is also destroyed." That wasn't entirely true, but for the purpose of quick explanation, it would have the same effect. "When the demon fox appeared, it quickly became apparent to Yondaime that there would be no stopping it. The Kyuubi was simply too powerful. So he devised a plan."

"Sealing the Kyuubi inside a dead body would not work, an unfortunate side effect of its power. Sealing it inside another adult would not work either; its chakra would overpower the adult and burn him or her from the inside out. A child might live longer, but that would not last. The only viable solution was a newborn, someone whose chakra paths were completely new and open to anything, someone who could adapt to the power of the Kyuubi and keep the body from overloading if the seal was ever cracked later on in life."

Kakashi wasn't stupid. Sandaime-sama knew he had figured out where this was going, and the widening of his one visible eye only confirmed it.

"He sealed… the Kyuubi… Sensei sealed the Kyuubi in his own son."

The jounin hadn't attempted to kill the child yet. Perhaps things would be okay.

"We think the boy's mother, who knew about what was to happen – Yondaime told her – ran because she wanted no part in taking care of a child that had her lover's killer inside. She is most likely not coming back, and if she does she will probably try to kill the boy. We need someone who can be spared to raise him and will protect him from that. Not just from his mother, but from others in the village. Yondaime's hope was that his son become a hero, as he did, but there will undoubtedly be those who will not see the boy as anything but the monster inside."

Kakashi did not say anything. He looked far away and Sandaime wondered if the last part of his speech had even been heard. The infant, who was surprisingly still sleeping, began to shift again, although he seemed to be closer to waking than before. Stay asleep, little one. Now is not the time to draw attention to yourself.

"Kakashi," Sarutobi said sternly, "you are the only one who can take care of this child. ANBU forces cannot be spared. Chuunin and genin do not have the ability to protect him from more powerful enemies. Very few of the jounin can be trusted, fewer still are available, and only one of those available was even remotely close to the Yondaime. There is no doubt he would have had you treat the boy as a nephew anyway. Of all the choices, he would want you to be the one."

The copy-ninja seemed to shake out of his stupor somewhat. He had focused on the Hokage by the end of the speech. The Sandaime figured that it was now or never. He would lay the cards on the table. If Kakashi refused, he would try to persuade reasonably but if it did not work—

"The council is only giving me one chance. Either you take the boy in right here, right now or… or they have ordered his execution for tonight."

That got the jounin's attention. At first the Sandaime thought he would agree. The infant would live.

Then Kakashi's one eye blazed with fury as he jumped up, "Then kill it! Kill the fucking demon! That bastard killed our men! Killed my comrades! That thing killed him! And you want to let it live? What the hell kind of Hokage are you?"

Sarutobi's calm demeanor rapidly deteriorated into cold fury as he listened to Kakashi speak. "I am the only kind of Hokage there is, boy. I am a leader who cares for his people. All of his people. This child, this human being is one of the people I was charged with taking care of and I will do my damnedest to make sure that happens."

"It's a monster – "

"Do you really believe that? If Yondaime were here right now, if your sensei were here this very minute, could you really tell him, straight to his face that his son, the child he wanted to raise with his whole heart is nothing more than the vicious monster that he put there himself? Do you really believe that it didn't break his heart that he had to put his own son's very existence in danger in order to save his village?"

The silver-haired ninja visibly started at that. It was a bittersweet triumph for the Hokage as it meant there was a chance the infant could be saved, yet if one of those closest to the Yondaime had not stopped to think how the man himself had felt about his son, how could the rest of the village be expected to do any better?

"Kakashi, my boy," Sarutobi said, gently now as if coaxing a mouse out of its hole. He took a few steps towards the jounin, praying it was the right move and slipped his own finger into the fist of the child. The infant reacted right away and then pulled the finger close to his chest, as if he were cuddling it.

"Kakashi, is this the action of a vicious monster? Or can you see the helpless infant boy who needs your care?"

The copy-ninja merely stared for several minutes. The child squirmed in the Hokage's arms and the Sandaime knew he would not stay asleep much longer. That he had not awakened at all yet was a small miracle in and of itself.

Finally, the young jounin took a shuddering breath and held out his arms. "Fine. If I'm the only one who can handle this, I suppose it's the least I can do for Sensei. But I'm warning you. I really wasn't kidding when I said I had no clue what I'm supposed to do."

The Hokage didn't even bother hiding the sigh of relief that left his mouth. When he got home tonight he was getting so drunk he'd have a hangover till the end of next week. "I'll have one of the mothers from the north district come over to help teach you what you'll need to know."

The Sandaime passed the bundle back to Kakashi. It was awkward this time around too, as the copy-ninja still didn't know how to hold it correctly, and it had started squirming around a lot more. The Hokage didn't say a word, instead shifting Kakashi's arms around until he finally was holding it securely. It still felt a little weird, but he figured he'd better get used to it pretty quickly.

Then suddenly, as if it knew everything was now all right, that it would be okay to greet the world for the first time, it opened its eyes. The bundle stared up at him and Kakashi had to sit back down in a kind of shocked amazement. It gazed at him with bright, gorgeous blue eyes that blazed with a sort of fiery ice. Gods above, Kakashi thought, he really is your son, Sensei. And for a moment the world had been perfect.

Then it started crying bloody murder.

A/N: So that people don't start point out my errors: Yes, I know Kakashi is old(er). I really liked the idea of Kakashi taking care of Naruto, but I also think that even for a ninja having a 14 year old raise an infant is a bad idea. See disclaimer 1 above.

Right now this story could stand as a one shot of sorts, but I am desperately going to try and write some more chapters. I do have a few ideas and I really like this story but college has a nasty habit of vying for my attention in the form of midterms. Right now, Kakashi is still a little volatile, but I plan to mellow him out into the excellent shinobi we all know and love.

Other than that, tell me what you think! I've discovered that reviews really are like crack so it might encourage me to write more. Not making any promises, but I'll do my best.