Don't own anything, wish I owned Kakashi…=[

Beta: Bloodcherry

Thank you for cleaning this up, =D.

AN: This chapter seems to drag on and for that I'm sorry, I'm sure it shall speed up in the next chapter.

Chapter 2

Actions

Sarutobi thought that their reactions were amusing to say the least. Why wouldn't he? He'd never seen that expression on Kakashi's face, but it would have been better if there wasn't a mask to hide the rest of his face.

Kagome blinked in surprise; why were the three of them being given the mission? Did this even qualify for someone who was an Anbu Captain? "What exactly is wrong with Uzumaki-san?" She could turn this down if she wanted, but it seemed intriguing. Why would the Hokage put two well trained killers and one Genin in charge of the Kyuubi container?

One black eye widened. He did badly with children. He could handle watching over the kid and he could probably handle training him, but the fact was: he knew nothing about children. What was Sarutobi thinking? Kakashi nearly choked when his fellow Anbu Captain started asking questions. Was she serious?

The Genin on the other hand simply sighed. Oh yeah, this was a really important mission. Why was he needed? On the other hand, why were two Anbu needed? Something was extremely wrong!

Sarutobi sighed; of course Kagome would ask a thousand and one questions until she was satisfied before taking the mission. "Naruto, as you three know, is the Kyuubi container," He paused a moment watching as Iruka stiffened slightly while Kakashi's eyes went dark with sorrow. "Because of this fact many of the villagers have been taking out their hatred and anger on the boy. The last Anbu members to have spotted the boy found his features and actions…well, disturbing—such as eating from garbage cans, shying away from human contact, and taking on more animalistic features." He sighed despondently, it hurt knowing he couldn't protect Minato's son the way he needed to be.

A small 'hmmm' of noise came forth from Kagome's throat. Could she really abandon the little boy? No, definitely not. Kagome promptly went into a very long conversation with the Hokage, asking a large amount of questions, while the two boys in the room simply watched wide-eyed as the question and answer session seemed to volley back in forth.

After it was all said and done with, Kagome and Sarutobi had manipulated both boys into agreeing to work on the mission together as a team. It hadn't been too terribly hard with a mass of fast talking for the Genin and a reminder of a promise from his Sensei for Hatake, things were progressing along at a nice and easy pace!

Both Kakashi and Iruka just looked at each other; neither of them was quite sure how they'd been talked into this. Apparently, Sarutobi expected all three of them and the little brat to live together in the large five-bedroom and four-bathroom house in front of them. But why would they need this much space?

"Bye-bye, Hokage-sama!" Kagome waved as Sarutobi left back toward his pool of paperwork; Kagome was secretly positive that those stacks of paper bred together when the Hokage blinked. Eyeing her new teammates, she wondered where they should get started. They needed to find someone who would understand this type of reaction. They would also need someone to help them treat the child when they actually managed to find him.

Chocolate colored eyes seemed to become extremely serious while a small pout seemed to cross the younger boy's face. "So what exactly should we do first?" Iruka finally asked. He'd never been given this type of job before, and now that he was on a new team, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Doctor Hitomi Kagewaki usually treated Naruto when I was last assigned to watch him, and getting Tsume Inuzuka to help out would be of great assistance; she'll probably understand and be completely willing to work with us. Ne, gaki, think you can handle that? If Higurashi and I find Naruto?"

"Don't call me that! I get it enough from everyone else, so I don't need it from you, too!" Iruka's distressed wave suddenly caused something akin to ground zero.

Within a minute, Kakashi was opening his mouth to reply but, before he could get started, Higurashi cut him off.

Kagome's eyes went wide. 'That was dangerous…How did he do that?' She thought. "Okay you two, cut it out now…"

Both boys went quiet. Both had learned from an early age that a pissed of woman, who happened to be an Anbu Captain, was like a death sentence.

"Umino-san, do as Hatake-san asked. I'll cover the South side and you take North side, Hatake-san." Kagome looked at the two of them before throwing them hand-held radios. "Channel 3—use it when you get things set up or find Uzumaki." She quickly sped away using rooftop after rooftop. Both boys split ways, all the while making faces as they left.

OoOoOoO

Iruka sighed; he knew neither Kagewaki nor Inuzuka very well. All he had was field information about them and he wasn't too terribly comfortable going into the Inuzuka compound.

Sighing softly, he moved through the Konoha Pediatrics ward. It had taken a long time for the nurses to answer him, and not only that but Kagewaki wasn't in his office.

Iruka was fast coming into a rage. He didn't know how this had happened, but he'd been roped into helping with one chore to another. After being distracted, he finally managed to get a hold of Kagewaki's secretary only to find out that the good Doctor hadn't even been at the hospital during the day.

Leaving the hospital, Iruka could only sigh. He didn't really want to disappoint his new "teammates" as it was pretty obvious that he was no longer on Team 12. Why his Jounin-sensei didn't simply tell him what was going on in the first place, had been weighing heavily on his mind. These thoughts and questions about his teammates put the young boy in such a daze he didn't even realize he'd knocked upon the door of Kagewaki's home.

Iruka blinked when a boy about his age opened the door—he was small, almost delicately so, with white-grey hair and dark black eyes covered by large circular glasses.

"Ne, what can I help you with?"

"Ah, is Kagewaki-san here?"

"Yeah, Hitomi-san!"

Iruka winced as the younger boy turned around and yelled rather loudly for the man to come to the door. The older gentleman who appeared, seemed to have a grandfatherly feel.

Kagewaki was a tall man, standing above a crowd much like the Gama Sanin. His hair was relatively short, cropped close to his skull. However, his face was the most interesting; it wasn't a hard face but was instead covered in laugh lines of someone who tended to smile more often than not. "Ah, yes Umino-san?"

"How do you know my name?" Iruka asked; he'd never met the man before so how did he know?

Kagewaki laughed merrily, "I can recognize anyone in this town, and I've treated enough adults and children of the Umino affect. Now, what can I help you with?"

'That's just creepy, my clan isn't that well known…' he thought. "Well, Uzumaki Naruto is in a lot of trouble and will need medical attention."

A pained expression swept across the old man's face. "Take me to wherever he's going to stay, I'll go ahead and set up."

Handing the man the address of their new house, Iruka said, "The house is open, just pick a room. I need to speak with Inuzuka-san." And with a rush Iruka was gone, leaving the doctor and his assistant to fend for themselves.

"Come Kabuto, we need to get things ready."

"Hitomi-san, who is Naruto?"

"A very unlucky little boy that should be treated like a hero." It was all Hitomi was willing to say. It was bad enough that many of the students of the academy treated Kabuto badly; he had been too young to really have anything to do with what had occurred at Kikyo pass.

Kabuto simply stared at the older man who'd literally saved his life before hurrying after him, determined to make the older medic-nin proud of him.

oOoOoOo

'There were so few people who actually cared about that kid,' Kakashi huffed, and he'd failed in a lot of ways. One of them being unable to take care of his mentor's son; most people didn't notice it, but the older that little brat got the more he looked like Minato had. It had been nearly ten months since he'd seen the kid. With mission after mission, Kakashi and his Anbu squad had been taken off rotation for the "Kyuubi Watch".

The first thing he'd done with his free time was check on the kid. On the first sight of the orphanage, Kakashi knew something was wrong. There was neither hide nor hair of his favorite little blonde that he looked after, and after questioning the caretaker he learned that nearly a month before, Naruto had simply wandered off one day and never returned.

What was more disturbing was that the Hokage had no clue; apparently, the last several squads that had been on rotation were more concerned with "other matters" than they were about a little boy that couldn't fight back against adults and had to watch out for poison from over-eager murderers.

He sighed; he didn't know how many times that he had been neutral toward the boy that had been yanked. Someone had every intention of killing the boy, the question was who? There were very few people who could change orders for Anbu. In fact there were only four that he could think of; the Hokage, Danzo, and the Hokage's two ex-teammates.

"Hey, Shibi." Kakashi waved at the older male in front of him.

A thin black eyebrow simply rose.

"I have a favor."

Said eyebrow seemed to rise even higher.

"Stop that. I was wondering if you could use your Kikai bugs to find a little fox for me."

"For what purpose do you look for Uzumaki?"

"I need to get him to a doctor. I'm one of his new…caretakers."

"Very well."

'Geez, Shibi are you trying to be a robot?' "Thank you, Shibi."

"Hn…It's about time the boy has a proper caretaker. At this point sedation would be advisable."

"Ayah, I agree."

Several moments passed as the two men stood in silence.

"He is near the Southern wall, close to one of the training grounds, Kakashi. If you need help with children feel free to speak with Noa, my wife has a love of children."

"Hai and thank you, Shibi." Kakashi wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth; if the Aburame was offering his wife's time and knowledge of children then Kakashi wouldn't mind getting the information from her.

The stoic Aburame simply waved as Kakashi took off toward the south.

OoOoOoO

Dropping down near the Inuzuka compound, Iruka was hesitant to enter. While in his own little world, an amused little girl followed by three small nin-pups was oh-so steadily sneaking up on the innocent little Genin.

A yell of surprise could be heard all over the compound. All the while, a small girl giggled wildly while sitting happily on her new friend. Watching, the Haimaru brothers couldn't seem to decide if they should gnaw on his clothing or lick the young boy's face.

"Hana, what are you doing?"

"Just playing, Kaa-san."

"Hey get off, would you? Stop it…no, don't lick there…hey, cut it out!" Iruka protested from his position on the ground between pushing away nin-puppies without hurting them, and the shorty sitting on top of him.

"Haimaru brothers, stop and stay. Hana get off the boy." Tsume growled out, but a small amount of amusement seemed to color her commands. Bending down, she grabbed the younger ninja by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him to his feet.

"Thanks," Iruka muttered, pushing his shirt back into place before putting his hair back into its customary ponytail.

"What can I help you with?" Tsume asked.

"Well, my team and I need help understanding animal behavior."

"Why? Hana get to the house, you need to practice with your kunai."

"But Kaa—"

"NOW."

Iruka watched the girl leave. "Uzumaki-san has been living on the streets for the last few months. Supposedly, he's been acting like a dog or animal of the canine variety. None of my team members or myself has any experience with such things."

"The boy's going back to his animal instincts?"

"Not completely. From the report, he can speak well enough but doesn't trust anything human…at all." A frown formed on his young, innocent face.

Tsume found herself blushing, but from what she wasn't too sure of…'What the hell? Does this kid use pheromones or something?' She wondered. "Well, it's something I'll help you with. When would be a good time?"

"Ah, we still have to find him first and see what kind of condition he's in."

"Come back then, or send me a message."

"Hai!" Waving he left to return back to his new…well, their new home to help the doctor set things up.

oOoOoOo

A soft harmony could be heard if you were near a black blur that was canvassing the south side of Konoha. For the last few hours she'd been picking up small evidence that a child was indeed living in the streets.

While her nose wasn't as sharp as an Inuzuka's—or Kakashi's for that matter—she could find this scent. It was incredibly strong in the way of an unwashed body. Looking down, her sharp eyes caught a trail; it could be the size of a small child or medium-sized dog, but most dogs didn't break things up like this one did.

Small patches of spare fabric could be found in the bushes she was looking through; nope, the child had moved from this hiding spot. Moving on, Kagome continued to find trail after trail with many of them leading to trash cans or dumpster areas. Kagome had a sick feeling in her stomach that the little boy she was looking for had been digging for leftover food from the garbage.

The farther Kagome followed the different trails, the more it seemed that the trails became fainter as if whoever was making them was getting weaker. It also seemed that they were getting farther and farther from society, or at least where civilians could or would find them.

Kagome almost moved over it, almost missed the small bit of yellow hidden very well behind a bush covered in the fur of stray dogs. What she saw woke something up that had been dormant for a very long time; rage, utter and uncontainable rage seemed to sear her to the soul.

The tiny boy was covered in dirt and was lacking in any clothing. He seemed to have pads upon his feet and parts of his hands from running. Leaves covered the small child; he was small, smaller than he should have been for someone over halfway through his third year of life. He should have been at least four of five inches taller, and she didn't want to imagine how low his weight was. He was completely bare and completely unconscious. Kagome was relatively sure that she could see at least an outline of every bone of his body and could plainly see the indention of his ribs and the protrusion of his small, delicate hips.

After the rage had passed nothing but utter sorrow started to fill her heart. Was she any different than the other in this cowardly village? Ignoring something like this was all but impossible; how could she or any of those who live in Konohagakure ignore something like this?

She thought of using her jacket; it was nothing special, just a hoodie that she always wore in rain, heat, and snow. Seconds later, the whirl of wind of the Shunshin no Jutsu moved behind her.

"Kagome, what…?"

"He's right here, Kakashi." As Kagome moved the strays fled, fearful of her and not too attached to stay with the boy. Tears overflowed down her face before she removed her jacket. Hunching over the small body, Kagome laid the jacket out.

"Shit…" Kakashi cursed.

"I feel so foolish, I know little about the boy. But still, to this degree of ignorance…it's disgusting. The strays treated him better than we did!" The sorrow that filled her form was painful, but gentle hands moved the small body before wrapping it tightly in the warm jacket.

A warm hand touched her shoulder. Kakashi could feel the hurt, because he was experiencing it too. It was disgusting; he'd never thought it would have gotten bad. "Come on, let's get him to a doctor."

Kagome could only nod; if she tried to speak at this point she would do nothing but sob. Pulling the limp boy toward her body, she cuddled and warmed him the best that she could. Kind fingers stroked a thin face before caressing soft blonde spikes of hair that would probably never be controlled.

After several moments of composure she decided that she needed to ask. "Who…who do you think caused this and be honest. My team should have been on this rotation nearly three months ago, but we were pulled at the last moment."

Kakashi paused, unsure of what to say. It wasn't just any one; it seemed in the days following this, Anbu was going to be in upheaval. "Who pulled your team?"

Blue eyes darkened. "Danzo."

"Hmmm, we can finish this later right?"

"Hai…I'll meet you at the house then."

Kakashi watched her go. Konoha should have never messed with the boy. It seemed Ice Queen Higurashi had a maternal gene after all, and he honestly felt sorry for whoever got in the way of her path. Because he wouldn't be the one to try to stop her, in fact he might lend a helping hand or summons to get the job done. His singular black eye seemed to darken further momentarily showing the anger that he hid so very well.