Disclaimer: We own us, but not Naruto…yet…hehe

Three Years Later:

Naruto cowers behind a three year old boy who is brandishing two identical knives. A five year old stands next to him with an unusually small short sword. A small pile of bullies lay at their feet covered with cuts and bruises.

"There!" announces the three year old proudly. "They never mess with us again!"

The five year old snorts, "Yeah they will. You big baby, get out here!" Naruto scuffles out from behind the other boy. "They're stupid."

Naruto nods alittle in agreement. "Th-thanks, Zander and Hawke," mumbles Naruto.

Zander puts his arm over Naruto's shoulder in a brotherly fashion, "Anytime, Naruto!" Hawke rolls his eyes and brushes some dirt from his short sword.

The caretaker rushes into the courtyard, being lead by several of the other children. "What have you done to these children?" she said in horror.

Zander smiles oh so sweetly, "Who? Me? Would I do dat?" He questions, expertly hiding his knives from sight.

The caretaker eyes him suspiciously before turning to Hawke. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Hawke continues wiping off his sword with his sleeve, not bothering to look up. "Who? Me?" He says as he cleans his sword. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Where did you get that sword?" she demands.

He pulls out a piece of flint and starts sharpening the blade. "What sword?" he says idly, his eyes still never leaving the blade.

"Give me that sword right now!" she says angrily.

He finally glances up at her with a dangerous look in his eye, despite his kind smile. "Where do you want the sword? Kidney, liver, lung, eye, heart, brain, or mouth?" She gawks at him as a murmur washes over the children. "As I said, 'What sword?' " Her mouth opens and closes several times, but no sound comes out.

The ANBU that was supposed to protect Naruto growls out from his perch on a nearby building, "Meddlesome brats, why can't they leave the demon to his fate?"

"Idiot," states the Anbu keeping watch over Zander and Hawke. "You broke the Third's Law!" The first Anbu deflects a poison-tipped sebon needle from the second Anbu with katana and rushes at the three orphans. The other Anbu rushes after him as quickly as he can.

The first Anbu's eyes burn with hatred, and he swings at the three children to decapitate them. His blade is deflected into the ground by two small daggers held by the three year old, who is crouching on the flat edge of the blade and glaring at the Anbu. Ninja wire wraps around the Anbu, the second ninja capturing him. He vanishes from the wire with a shushin, leaving behind his katana. A moment later, he drops from a tree with a gurgled yell. Hawke leans against the top branch, calmly wiping his short sword and new kunai off before sheathing them across his back using ninja wire.

He climbs down the tree, using a pair of kunai as handholds. Finally reaching the bottom, Hawke finds Zander arguing with the remaining Anbu. "I telling you, you gotta teach me how'ta use these things!" he yelled, waving a poisoned sebon needle around, trying to look menacing, but failing miserably.

The Anbu tilts his head, amused at the small child. "Give me the pointy needle back, boy," requests the Anbu.

"Not until you teach me!" declares Zander defiantly. The needle disappears from his hand and reappears in the Anbu's gloved hand. "No fair!"

The Anbu smirks under his mask and says calmly, "Ninja are not about fairness." With that, he slides the needle into his pocket and disappears. Naruto smirks and pulls the sebon out from behind his back.

"We can practice!" Naruto says cheerfully, trying to please his protectors. Zander grins and gives Naruto a noogy.

Naruto whines, but Zander grins evilly, "First lesson, evil Anbu information torture technique: the nooogy!!"

The blonde stops squirming as he absorbs the information. He pales and restarts struggling with increased fervor. "No torture! No torture!" he squeals.

Hawke picks up the big katana and slides it onto his back, making sure it is sideways enough to not drag on the ground. He slowly approaches the young blonde with an identical grin on his face. "Lesson two: Tickle Torture!" he shouts. He pounces on the already captive blonde, tickling his stomach and sides for all he's worth. Naruto starts crying from how much he's laughing.

"Stop!" he yells helplessly. "I'm gonna pee my pants!" They stop and exchange mischievous glances.

"Lesson three," Hawke whispers in Naruto's ear. Naruto pales further and gulps. "Practice, practice, practice," he murmurs. He turns slowly to stare at the other children. Naruto follows his stare and a slow grin crosses his face.

A kid whimpers, "Oh no! Another one!"

All three boys pounce on the kid that was leading the attack on Naruto earlier and apply their lessons until his head is sore and his pants are soaked, much to his embarrassment (which to this day, they never let him live down). The other children scatter in all directions, hiding wherever they can. The caretaker bends over Hawke and reaches for the sword strapped to his back. She freezes in her tracks as the poisoned sebon pokes up from the handle.

Xander glances up at her, "No, no, none of dat, miss'em!" he says with an innocent smile. Hawke turns to her, and she feels very disturbed at the icy glare that is accompanying his friendly smile in her direction.

"Goodbye, miss'em," Hawke states. She quickly brings her hand back and scurries across the courtyard to the office where her messenger pigeons are, only to find them all with their wings clipped, munching peacefully on their fresh food. The cage holding them is wide open. She reaches to close it and they all hop out onto her desk and run around like chickens with their heads chopped off. She huffs and puffs while she runs around her office, trying to collect the pigeons. She accidentally bumps a book, triggering a string which releases a small slingshot, hitting a water balloon that is just above the moving fan.

Zander and Naruto give each other high fives when they hear the panicked cries of the caretaker. "Success!" they say simultaneously.

Hawke raises an eyebrow, "Jinx, you owe me a candy bar." Naruto looks at him in confusion while Zander glares.

"Shut up!" he snaps. His older brother just smiles pleasantly in response.

The Hokage sighs as he stares into his crystal ball. "What do those two have against Konoha?" he murmurs.

His eyes widen in surprise when he hears Hawke mutter under his breath, "Konoha is full of demons. If anyone tries to hurt friend Naruto, they die." Hawke pats the new addition to his armaments protectively. The Hokage stares at the ball in shock when the boy looks up and what looks like directly into the crystal ball.

An Anbu appears in the window. "Lord Hokage!" the Anbu exclaims, "We need to talk about those boys in the orphanage."