Chapter 1

Kushina Uzumaki knew the moment she woke up that it would be a bad day. Her first clue? The rain. Granted, it's not uncommon for her village to be drenched in rain every so often. They are, in fact, close to the boarder of the Land of Rivers where frequent rainfall keeps the rivers wet and the grass plush. However, that doesn't change the fact that Kushina hates the rain and for a good reason too. How is she supposed to make a living when she can't even open shop?

Kushina sighed as the curtain of rain refused to part before her, that was a silly notion anyway. Delivering her store's herbs to the village doctor would have to wait. She placed her basket filled with various herbal mixes down carefully on the chair beside her and took a glance around at her somewhat cluttered home.

"Guess I'll be cleaning today…" She mumbled to herself. Besides, it's not like the doc would be having any patients come in with the way it is outside. Only an idiot would go out on a day like today.

"Onee-chaaaan!"

"Shut up, you crybaby!"

Kushina sighed once more, pinching the bridge of her nose in a pathetic attempt to impede her oncoming headache. Speaking of idiots, she has her own two little dumb-dumbs to think about. Rolling her eyes as the sounds of physical fighting reached her from the bedroom farthest from the front door, she hurried over to her two charges. It was always best to break the fight quickly before someone —most likely Obito— got injured.

Walking to stand at the threshold of the room, she observed the scene before her. Kakashi, with his beautiful silver hair, his lazy eyes, and apathetic attitude, had managed to pin Obito, a sensitive, energetic boy with the blackest hair and equally black eyes, on the floor of the room and proceeded to shove a pillow in his captive's face, effectively cutting off his air supply if the other boy's wild flailing was anything to go by. How the youngest of the household always managed to get the better of the older boy is beyond Kushina and honestly, she doesn't care so long as both boys obey her.

"Kakashi, would you kindly remove that pillow from Obito's face? I'm sure he would appreciate it." Kushina said, leaning on the doorway. She worded it as a simple request, and with a sweet enough voice, but anyone that knows her can tell of the horrors that happen when her requests are disregarded. Kakashi frowned, obviously reluctant to allow the older boy the precious oxygen he so desperately needed. However, a fiery glare from the woman with equally fiery hair convinced him that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try smothering Obito, no matter how annoying the other boy got.

As soon as Obito was freed from Kakashi's clutches, he ran crying to Kushina about how horrible the younger boy was. Seeing the immediate change in Kushina's eyes from anger at him to sympathy for Obito, Kakashi sat back on the floor with a roll of his eyes and a huff as he prepared himself for the lecture bound to come.

"Shhh~ Obito. It's alright," Kushina soothed, petting the crying eleven year old's hair until his wails became sniffles, "Now tell me what happened."

"I-i was only trying to sleep when Bakakashi started bothering me and then….h-he just hit me! It really hurt!" Obito cried out, showing Kushina the bruise that was forming on his shoulder where Kakashi had hit him.

"Is that true, Kakashi?" Kushina, her gaze sharp, looked to the younger boy for confirmation, who's only response was to cross his arms and turn his head away. She sighed, swallowing down the reprimand that immediately jumped up her throat. She knew she had to be fair in this and hear both sides of the story before she proceeded to scold the guilty party. Taking a deep breath, she tried again in a less irate tone.

"Kakashi, what happened?" Kushina waited for his answer, seeing the boy look down at his curled toes for a moment before he looked up into her eyes.

"I didn't mean to hurt him." The answer was mumbled and quick, as if the words hurt coming out of his mouth, "You told me to wake him up but then Obito wouldn't wake up so I had to m-make sure he wasn't…"

Kakashi trailed off, his expression one of confusion as he tried to find the reasoning in his own actions. Kushina's eyes softened as she realized what had caused Kakashi to lash out when the older boy didn't respond to him, she realized it was fear, not anger that provoked him. Kushina had only become Kakashi's caretaker recently, seven months ago. The circumstances of his father's death left a scared and confused boy looking to be cared for, to be loved.

Kushina had taken him in when no one else would, after all, no one wants a broken child. After deciding to become the caretaker for Obito several years prior, Kushina had thought he would be the only one she would take in but looking into Kakashi's sorrowful eyes had broken her heart and so she took him under her wing too. She'd hoped she would do more good for the boy than any of the other villagers. After all, she had done well with Obito. However, it turned out that not all orphan boys were as sweet as Obito and with the troubled Kakashi came a whole new batch of experiences, and not many of them pleasant.

Eight-year old Kakashi had been the one to find his father, cold and dead on the floor, looking as if he were asleep had it not been for the blood surrounding him. Kakashi had tried waking him up, tried all night, but when morning came those eyes remained shut, never to open again. The memory of that night seems to be haunting the poor boy now, Kushina thought as she knelt down between Obito and Kakashi.

"It seems to me that you're both to blame for this little fight, Obito, Kakashi," She said, looking to each boy in turn, "Next time, don't ignore Kakashi when he's trying to get your attention, Obito, it's already past breakfast time so I told him to wake you up. Kakashi, next time, come to me when Obito won't wake up. Don't immediately resort to violence when you're ignored. Understand, you two?"

Kushina waited with a stern gaze until both boys gave her a nod before standing up, flashing them a cheerful smile.

"Now go eat, breakfast is on the table and it's already cold." Those words seemed to dispel any tension left in the room as both boys scampered off, their eyes alight with the prospect of food. It wasn't until several hours later when Kushina's second clue that it would be a bad day came, quite literally, stumbling up to her door.

I decided to end it there for pacing reasons. Most chapters are going to be about this long, maybe a bit longer. I find that it's easier to keep a reader's attention with chapters around 1,000 words. Longer chapters can get tedious to read. In case you didn't catch it while reading, Kakashi is 8 and Obito is 11. Please review, I would love to hear your thoughts on my story so far :)