"Hey, Kakashi, you ought to take a break from your ANBU duties tonight." Gai's infamous green jumpsuit and wide-toothed grin flashed before the sullen ninja. The two of them were walking along the streets of Konoha while the sun was setting.
Correction, Kakashi was walking to his apartment when Gai discovered and trailed him. He hadn't been able to shake him off since, not that he put much effort into it.
The tall, white-haired ninja shifted his mask slightly, grunted, and continued to walk home.
Unfortunately for him, Gai was having none of his ignoring. "You! Come on, Kakashi! Today is your birthday. What else could you possibly have to do at the moment?"
Hesitantly, Kakashi paused in his steps. He glanced down at the cat-shaped mask in his one hand, and a satchel in his other. He had spent the whole day running errands for ANBU in preparation for a mission. Tired, he shook his head at Gai.
"It's been a busy day. I'll pass."
Ecstatic, Gai nearly jumped out of his skin. Instead of letting Kakashi enter his apartment building, he pulled the other ninja so suddenly that Kakashi was nearly knocked off his feet. "This is the first time you've ever responded to any request! Hurrah! I'm going to take this as a positive sign. Let's go celebrate!"
Kakashi's mask and supplies had fallen to the ground. He shook the other male off his shoulders, pulling a face of regret. "And do what?" he asked suspiciously.
An hour later, Kakashi found himself sitting in the middle of the downtown marketplace at a table. Gai had forcibly dragged him to sit with Kurenai, Asuma, Iruka, and a couple of other ninja students that Kakashi remembered were from the same year as him in the Academy. They had ordered lots of meat, alcohol, and cake.
He ate his share of food and watched as Gai amusedly chatted up a storm with the others. Kakashi normally wouldn't have stayed put longer than a few minutes with this company. He normally wouldn't have sat or acknowledged them at all. But Kakashi was exhausted and that was the only reason he obliged that day to Gai's antics. Perhaps if he gave in just once, then Gai would leave him alone for a while.
"Ey, Kakashi. Happy birthday. You're now officially of age." Asuma raised up a glass and gave him a side glance. "You don't know how much we all respect and look up to you as a shinobi."
Kakashi turned his eye away. He wasn't sure how to respond to him. Contrarily, he knew what he wanted to say; Kakashi would have pointed out that he was a terrible ninja that could neither protect his friends or teacher. But that would have ruined the mood of the table. Across the table, Kurenai was laughing with Gai about a mission they had done together.
But Kakashi didn't end up saying anything because it wasn't worth the effort. He stayed at the table to eat and drink for a few more minutes, all the while devising a plan to sneak away while they were chatting. He would rather go home and get some rest.
"Oh, is that a cat trying to get into the rice patties?"
"Get it away!"
There was an instant ruckus within the restaurant as workers started shouting wildly. The moment everyone's attention focused on the commotion near the front of the restaurant, Kakashi dashed off.
He jumped out of the restaurant's window and into a back alley of the marketplace. He walked coolly towards the marketplace, patting his arms and legs. When Kakashi turned the corner, he came face to face with a tall individual with silver white hair. This figure's face was covered in a mask, and his headband drooped slightly to cover his left eye.
"Worked like a charm." Kakashi snapped his fingers and the shadow clone, which had planted the cat, disappeared. "They can't leave now, they just ordered another plate. Oh?" He noticed somebody staring at him.
Kakashi turned his head to see a small boy with spiky blonde hair peak out from behind a marketplace stand. He was short and scrawny but hard to miss in a crowd. Oddly enough, he was alone at that time of night. But he didn't seem to care or be frightened by it. He held an ice cream cone in one hand.
A beat skipped in his chest. Kakashi knew instantly that this was his sensei's son, Naruto. It was the hair that gave it away. Upon closer observation, he also noticed that the boy contained similar facial structure as Minato. This was the very first time Kakashi had ever laid eyes on Naruto.
"Hey! How did you do that?" the five year old boy exclaimed excitedly, pointing his ice cream cone to where Kakashi's shadow clone used to be.
"Ah, that's a little too complicated for me to explain."
"Come on, teach me!" Naruto pleaded, jumping up and down. He raced over to Kakashi, leveling just over his knee, and gave big puppy dog eyes.
Kakashi felt compelled to ruffle Naruto's hair with his hand. It was strange to see the familiar yellow hair so much shorter than him. Kakashi was always used to looking up at it.
"They'll teach you something similar in the Academy. Well then, I'll be off." Kakashi gave Naruto a final glance before walking away.
He reached his apartment building and was finally able to enter and take a shower. Once he was prepared for the night, Kakashi sat on the side of his bed, sighing. He had forgotten; Kakashi had grown afraid of sleeping. More specifically, he was afraid of dreaming. So he sat still in the dark silence, wondering how to proceed.
He could just read some of his jutsu history books. Or he could make sure he had everything packed for the trip his next mission would entail. But that mission didn't start until the day after tomorrow.
"Oy! Mister!" A rock was thrown at his window. "I'm down here!"
It was a tiny voice, but this part of the village was so quiet that Kakashi's keen ears easily picked it up. Curiously, Kakashi strolled over to open the window and peered down.
Naruto's flashy yellow hair could be spotted standing on the sidewalk. He was still jumping up and down, holding a soggy ice cream cone in his one hand. A huge smile was on his face. "I found you, Neko! I'm going to be the best ninja out there someday. Now teach me that jutsu move you were doing!"
A sigh escaped Kakashi's lips. He wasn't sure if he was actually bothered by this interruption, because it would prolong the inevitable sleep that would ensue. But he didn't know how to handle a little kid running around the streets of Konoha at night. Let alone Minato and Kushina's kid.
Then a sudden realization leapt into his head, making Kakashi's eye widen. Naruto was roaming the streets of Konoha at night. By himself.
"Hey, where are you supposed to be right now?" Kakashi called out, crossing his arms and giving Naruto a stern look. "It's late."
"Oh well…" Naruto looked up at Kakashi's window. "I don't know where the orphanage is! I'm lost!"
"Ha! I'm not falling for that. You were skilled enough to tail me to my apartment, I don't believe you when you say you can't find the orphanage."
Naruto made a face and stuck out his tongue in response. Still, he remained where he was, standing outside of Kakashi's window with ice cream dripping down his shirt. Kakashi imagined that he would get an earful from Minato and Kushina if they ever knew Kakashi left Naruto alone.
"Hey Neko-san, is it your birthday today?" Naruto had gone from grumpy to cheerful in a split second. "I saw you with cake! My birthday's a month from now. They said they would give me cake too, but they always forget."
A gulp emerged in Kakashi's throat. He remembered clearly when Naruto's birthday was. After some thought, Kakashi decided it was better not to have Naruto shout at his apartment building all night and wake up his neighbours. Kakashi grabbed his jacket and jumped from his balcony window to the ground lightly.
"You were spying on me? Maybe you will be a great ninja some day," Kakashi commented.
Naruto was laughing. "Yeah! We have the same hair." He pointed at Kakashi's spiky white head. "So I saw you! How old you?"
Kakashi squatted so that he was at eye level with the young boy. "I'll only tell you how old I am if you go back to the orphanage with me."
At this, Naruto frowned. He huffed and turned his shoulders. "You can't make me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Sighing, Kakashi realized that he may not get a chance to have that much rest that night. "Okay, if you're not going to cooperate, I'll have to do things my way."
With one motion, he had scooped the small blonde into one arm. Kakashi walked towards the direction of where he believed the orphanage to be. It was on the outskirts of the village, near the Uchiha district. He remembered passing by it a couple of times.
"No! I don't want!" Naruto started kicking and screaming while Kakashi walked carelessly. It was getting close to midnight, but there were still some people roaming around. They paid Kakashi no heed when they noticed Naruto, though.
"Settle down," Kakashi said stiffly, not reacting to Naruto's kicking and squirming. "And I'll teach you that jutsu."
"Really?" Naruto exclaimed, excitedly squirming in response. "Yes! I'm going to be exactly like you some day! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"
Kakashi felt unease at that statement. He didn't want Naruto to grow up to become like him. But he was grateful that Naruto was no longer kicking and shouting while he carried him with his one arm.
That was short-lived, however. "I don't wanna go back to the orphanage!" Naruto whined out of the blue a few minutes later. "Don't want!"
"Naruto, you need to go home and get some sleep," Kakashi told him tiredly, rubbing his eye with one hand. He was also in desperate need of a solid night's interrupted sleep.
"I don't care!" Naruto hollered, squirming out of Kakashi's grasp. "Ang!"
With a look of disbelief, Kakashi looked at his arm where the five year old was previously clung. There was a tiny bite mark embedded in his forearm. The boy darted from him and into the shadows before Kakashi could react.
It wasn't like he knew how to react. He thought that all kids were supposed to respect grownups, and one of the unspoken rules was to not bite someone's arm. It was an odd first day of being a twenty-year old adult. Kakashi didn't know how to handle kids. And now he had let one of them run loose into the night.
"Hey, Naruto!" he called out. Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had been too lazy to react and chase after the blonde kid. "I'll find him eventually." He put his fists into his pockets and walked in the direction Naruto ran off into.
It was probably around midnight by now. There were some lamps flickering, but many of Konoha's streets were darkly lit and filled with shadows. Kakashi wasn't worried about finding Naruto. He could easily be sniffed out or heard, since the young boy was loud and covered in chocolate ice cream.
"Hey, are you lost?"
Someone waved at him. Kakashi squinted his eye, trying to make out the figure. "No, I'm not lost, just looking for something. Actually, just looking for someone."
"Is it a little boy that ran by a few minutes ago?" The male person was around Kakashi's age and had short dark hair. As they approached each other under a flickering lamp, he noticed that the male wore an Uchiha crescent on his shirt.
"That would be him." Kakashi sighed, rubbing his head. "He's run away from the orphanage and I need to find him."
"I can help you, if you'd like."
"Not to worry, I'm sure it won't take long before he tires himself out." Kakashi shook his head amusedly.
"I'll walk with you as you search for him. You're Hatake Kakashi, am I right?" The other person let out a sincere smile and offered a hand. "Of the ANBU Black Ops?"
"That's right. I'm not on duty at the moment, as you can tell." Kakashi shook the person's hand firmly.
"I would have thought it was odd for ANBU to be rounding up runaway children." The person's dark eyes gleamed brightly. "My name is Uchiha Shisui."
"I should have known. You're a shinobi held in high regard in this village."
Shisui walked by Kakashi's side, his shoulders relaxed. "You and the ANBU Black Ops are too occupied, I'm aware of that. I've heard about you from Itachi."
"He's a brilliant new recruit."
"I agree," Shisui said genuinely, glancing around for signs of Naruto. "But sometimes I wish he had never joined."
Kakashi looked up at the night sky. He thought back to his sensei and the current Hokage. There was a small tug of pain in his chest again. "It's a dark place to be for someone so young," Kakashi commented.
"You weren't that much older. But that's not in my place." Shisui turned to give Kakashi a half grin. "The village needs ANBU for protection. The both of you are doing a great duty in protecting and serving Konoha. That's something that I absolutely respect and admire."
"Shisui!" A frightened cry interrupted their conversation. It was coming from a young boy as well, but clearly a different voice from Naruto's
The two of them ran over to a patch of land near the Uchiha district. There was a dense patch of forest situated near the lake, where another dark haired young boy was calling out from.
"Sasuke, are you all right?" Shisui darted towards the six year old with incredible speed. Kakashi's eyes widened.
"That bratty kid from my class fell into the water and he hasn't come out!" Sasuke exclaimed hysterically. "Shisui-san, I don't know what to do! I ran here, but I couldn't find him."
"Naruto!" Kakashi kicked off his shoes. He peered into the black murky waters, unable to see anything except for the moonlight. Kakashi cursed and lifted his headband to reveal his Sharingan.
He jumped into the spot that the Uchiha kid had pointed to. It seemed like he was swimming in the deepest part of the lake. Kakashi was unable to see anything but darkness in the water, but he dived further down. He could faintly make out Naruto's small figure at the bottom.
It lasted only a few minutes but seemed like hours before Kakashi finally emerged with Naruto. Shisui immediately pulled the blonde-haired kid up and pumped his chest with his hand.
"Is he…?" Sasuke's high pitched voice squeaked from his sitting spot on the ground.
Kakashi pulled himself out of the water, panting heavily. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Naruto's chest moving normally.
"He's fine," Shisui announced, placing Naruto on the ground gently. "Sasuke, you did really well. I'm proud of you."
"What happened?" Kakashi questioned, pinching himself for sounding a little bit harsh. The kid had looked like he was going to burst into tears. However, Sasuke quickly regained some confidence and spoke up to answer.
"I don't know." He shrugged, pouting. "I think he slipped and fell. He doesn't even know how to swim."
Kakashi shook his head, disgruntled. There couldn't be a shinobi that didn't know how to swim. He'd have to make a mental note to get someone from the orphanage to do so, soon.
"Thank you, Shisui-san, Sasuke-kun."
Kakashi assumed responsibility over the unconscious boy by wrapping him in his dry jacket.
"Are you going to take him back, then?" Shisui asked while getting to his feet.
"Yeah. It's been a very long night."
"Well then, take care Kakashi-san." Shisui gave him a small bow of his head. "Sasuke, I'll take you home."
After his heart had stopped racing and Kakashi finally made it to the front steps of the orphanage building, he paused in his tracks. He felt out of character, like he wasn't himself in his own skin. But it felt different in a positive, warm way. Kakashi hadn't remembered the last time he felt so open towards people.
He glanced over at the now sleeping blonde haired kid, curled up peacefully. His hair was a mess, and he had a couple of bruises. Kakashi wondered how Minato's son was able to make him open up like that. He was only fourteen when Naruto was born, so he was highly inexperienced on how to take care of kids. Kakashi doubted he could take care of Naruto even now. He'd be better off in the orphanage with the others.
So he laid the boy down into his own bed, quietly so he wouldn't wake up the other kids in the room, and finally made his own way off to his own bed.