Chapter 2

February

Uzumaki Naruto, the youngest CEO of the oil industries, is not sulking; he just needed to take a walk. Yeah, walk a few miles from his building to the large flat that's on the other side of the city. Yeah, he might have left, supposedly "stomping his feet," after a rather long talk with his younger brother. But he's just taking a relaxing walk home, nothing more.

Yep.

Alright, okay, maybe the talk was nothing new, just another reminder that he had failed to keep his fiancée at his side.

But in fact it wasn't even his fault.

Not this time.

Naruto gave her five years of his time, and his money too. First three years they were dating, Naruto would dot on her, buying her things as a gift and or as apologies if she kept nagged at him when he didn't. Then they had became engaged two years later; Naruto having done it in Paris, at one of those famous high-end restaurants with the best champagne money can afford, it was absolutely perfect if you ask him. And now, four months before their big wedding, Naruto woke up to a letter on his nightstand; being a clear romantic at the heart, as you could tell, he believed that she actually planned something for his birthday.

Not even close to what he believed or hoped.

Don't look for me. I need space.

-H.S.

Holding down the note was a ring, not a ring that broke his bank account, but the amount of time to find his mother's ring. The only ring that would be perfect for a woman who Naruto deemed to be perfect; as she kept claiming to be.

But this happened four months ago, and today, had everything gone as planned would have been their wedding day. Or would the date be moved?

It was in the forecast earlier in the day that there would be heavy rain tonight; Naruto planned to be home by then. A dark and sleek car had pulled up next to him, Naruto didn't need to look to know who it was. He instead leaned against his car, staring at the sky, waiting for his assistant/friend to join him.

They didn't talk, just watched as the sky grew dark, pulling their jackets tighter around them as the wind started to pick up and grow colder; Kakashi pulled out two umbrellas when it started to drizzle. As the rain started to grow more and more fierce, both moved to get into the car; Naruto waited for the back passenger door to be unlocked as Kakashi moved to the driver's side. It was just as Naruto opened the door that he heard it.

"Hear that?" Naruto nearly yelled over the few feet at Kakashi, he looked around to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Suddenly the sound, scared whimpering, turned into a full out crying; Naruto felt something tug at his heart at the sound. A flashback coming to his mind of his youngest brother when they woke abandoned.

A cry of fear. A sound he had hoped to never hear again.

Ignoring the shouts of his name, Naruto started to do a light jog, looking up and down the barely visible alleys, keeping his ears open.

It hurt at the sight that he came across.

Two bodies, two little bodies, hiding between two foul smelling dumpsters.

One child, who was exposed to the rain, looked to be around four or five year-old and another was mostly hidden under a soaked sweater on the child's lap with only visible hands and feet under the drenched cloth.

Said hands were starting to have a pale blue tint to them.

Despite the fact that it was early February, the temperature had gone down further with this sudden storm that was making itself known at the moment.

The older child is crying, his eyes looking down to the small body in his lap. Heartbreaking sobs tearing out of his turning blue lips.

Flinching as another cry tore from the child's mouth, Naruto quickly took off his jacket and covered the two bodies.

"Hey, hey, it's going to be ok. No more crying, ok?" Naruto placed his umbrella in an angle to keep the rain off the already soaked kids, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if Kakashi had found him, not minding if he was getting just as soaked. Finally Naruto had spotted Kakashi just as he was passing at the mouth of the alley, "Kakashi! Get the car quickly!" Still crouched over the two children, Naruto turned his attention back to the two kids in front of him; the exposed child was no longer crying as much and was starting to fall asleep. Reaching out Naruto gently shook the ice cold child, "Stay awake, kid," he whispered in the pounding rain. Seeing that he was losing the kid Naruto then checked the wrist that was exposed from under the coat, unknowingly holding his breath as he waited to feel a heartbeat. Thump. . . . . Thump. . . .Thump. Too weak but still there, 'Thank Kami!' Naruto took in a breath, tension released

Looking up to the other kid and seeing him give in to the sleep, 'Where the hell is Kakashi?' Naruto moved his free hand, now kneeling on the cold, wet and rough ground to keep his balance, to the back of the child's head. His fingers gently messaging the boy's neck. "What's your name?" Hopefully having him talking will keep him awake for a few minutes, just until Kakashi came back.

"Itachi," the voice was so soft and horse that Naruto could barely hear him, even with him kneeling right in front of him due to the pounding of the rain and thunder.

"Alright, Itachi, you're safe now," Naruto wanted to pulled them to him, to protect them from the weather, "it's going to be ok now." A small smile could be seen for a moment before Itachi's head rolled back, his eyes lost their fight to stay open. 'Shit.'

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled from the end of the alley, rushing to him with a couple of towels.

"Come help me, there's two!" Slowly getting up, letting Kakashi come beside him to see. Removing Naruto's jacket and handing it back, both hitched their breaths at the sight of the tiny body outlined under the sweater.

The younger, just from looking at the outline, couldn't be more than a year old. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw a small diaper bag; Kakashi quickly and carefully uncovered the toddler and just as quickly recovered with a dryish towel, he reached down and carefully picked up the baby. Both their hearts ached at the sight; Kakashi make his way to the car, Naruto reached for Itachi, cursing under his breath when he saw the small puffs of air coming out.

"We need to hurry," both walking quickly and carefully to the car, Naruto moving to sit in the back with both children against his chest, his hands rubbing against their backs, to warm them up.

"I've already called Kurama and Menma, they'll meet us up at the hospital." Kakashi turned up the heater all the way and directed it mainly to the back and the window. Determined to make it to the hospital as fast as possible without crashing as the streets were starting to flood, the markings hard to see and the lights either off or flashing.

The drive was quiet, soft wheezing came from the two children as they breathed, and felt agonizingly long despite only half an hour had passed by the time they made it to the emergency entrance at the hospital. Waiting at the doors to the ER were a set of nurses and a couple of doctors, one standing out as Kakashi noted that Kurama, Naruto's middle brother, stood amongst the small crowd. Kurama looking like Naruto, both having the strange birthmarks on their cheeks but his hair being red and down rather than sticking up like Naruto's.

Not waiting for the car to completely stop, Kurama yanked open the door, his face professional while inside his blood boiled. Taking the child closest he passed down to one of the nurses to lay on a bed, swiftly part of the group followed the gurney.

"Grab another gurney," Kurama ordered as Naruto slowly moved closer to the door, the toddler whimpering at the cold that rushed into the car. Seconds later another bed appeared, Kurama carefully moved the baby from his older brother's grasp and onto the bed, this time following after with the rest of the crowd.

"I'll be in in a moment, Naruto," Kakashi said softly, grabbing Naruto's attention, "I need to return home to gather some clothes for both of us." Naruto nodded numbly before getting out and following after his brother.