The Eternal Chimera

Righteo, housekeeping.

First thank you to all those that reviewed even when I said that you didn't have to if you didn't feel like it, props to you.

For the feedback itself – well it has been positive so far. I haven't written a fic before due to some doubts about my skills as a writer. To get the feedback was a great boost to my confidence

At the end of this chapter is a list to vote from as to who the second pairing is for Naruto. Female Kyuubi is set in stone and there will be only one other (I was actually supposed to do this at the conclusion of the previous chapter.

Same rules: don't feel obligated to review

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Four years later

He was running. He didn't know, why. No, he knew why he was running, if they caught him then he then they would make him suffer; do painful things to him. What he didn't know was why they were chasing. He didn't dare stop to ponder; he had learnt that talking did nothing, only evasion till the Old Man came.

'Why was today any different from any other day? Usually they just settle for ignoring him, shooing him out of their shops and shielding other children from him. The Old Man had said it was his birthday today. Weren't people supposed to be nice to you on your birthday?'

These were the thoughts running through Naruto's had as he ran from a group of drunk and enraged villagers. His feet pounded the pavement as he desperately struggled to get away from his pursuers. He was fortunate for the many nooks, crannies broken fences that were around in this district. They cave him ample room to hide while the adults chasing him chasing him, or else a quick thoroughfare to another ally-way, while they were either force to climb over or find a different route if they still wanted to harm him.

While he was running, he wasn't paying too much care to his surroundings. He turned a corner, blindly hoping that the Old Man would come and rescue him. After turning the corner his face blanched; it was a dead end, and no one of those broken down fences so common in this area, but a solid brick wall, impossible to get around. He turned around in the hopes that he would still have enough time to back out and try to continue his escape; he had no such luck as the pursuers were already upon him each with an evil leer on their face.

"Lookie what we have here," one of their number said to his accomplices, a slight slur of alcohol affecting his speech "the demon has gone and trapped itself in an alley way." The man finished with a slightly crazed look about his face

Another spoke up, this time a woman, "It's even decided to take us to some weapons to help us finish the Yondaime's good work." She grinned maniacally casting a look about the ally-way and spotting some broken glass bottles as well as some broken plumbing pipes that looked ready to be ripped out of their moorings.

Anything that could be used as a weapon was taken up and swung, just to get a feel of the thing. Then it started, blood curdling screams could be heard from ages away, as Naruto desperately tried to protect himself by curling up into a ball and covering his head. His screams for mercy were ignored by the group

"This is for all the friends and family we lost, feel the pain we are giving you and know that it will never compare to the pain you caused us. We will never get our loved ones back" this time a boy in his late teens snarled at Naruto while viciously slashing with a broken bottle.

The crowd by this stage was growing frustrated, he was just simple not dying; more proof that he was a demon After all what normal human child could take such a beating and still move, much less scream I agony. Had they been more composed they would have noticed that the cuts and bruises that they were dealing him were healing almost as fast as they were delivered, only to be replaced by fresh ones.

"Hold him still." One of them grunted. The others did as they were asked.

"Well this is it demon, no one can survive without air." He promptly slashed a shard of glass across Naruto's trachea. At that point the air around them felt like it had gone completely frigid. It was a pressure so unbearable it was hard to breathe. They turned and looked for the source. A man with a mop of silver hair wearing standard Konoha Jounin attire was standing before them. He had a cloth face mask and his hitai-ate covering his left eye.

Kakashi was livid "WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

One of the crowd stammered a weak response "W…we are f…finishing what the Yondaime st…started and what you n…ninja are too w…w…weak to finish. We are killing the demon."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed "You have been made aware that the demon is sealed in Naruto and that they are not one in the same. You would also be aware of the Hokage's hard line stance on issues regarding Naruto. As it stands I need to get him to medical attention immediately, so I can't take you to Ibiki for questioning."

There was a collective sigh of relief; everyone, even civilians, knew of Ibiki's sadism, well him and his protégé Anko.

Kakashi continued "No, you punishment will be administered immediately, you will be executed for your crimes."

He drew a kunai from the holster on his leg and before the civilians even realised he had moved he was amongst their number killing them with cold efficiency. Once he was done he rushed over to Naruto to inspect the damage.

"Kami-sama above, what have they done to you?" he said to himself.

Naruto open a heavily bruise eye and all that he could see was a shock of silver, lost of blue an a little pink, probably skin, before he passed out. Kakashi was preparing to shunshin him to the hospital when he stopped to take notice of the cuts that were healing on his body.

'The Kyuubi is healing him' he idly though before shunshining to the hospital.

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He didn't bother to even try the general admittance; he shunshined directly into a room that was specifically set up for Naruto. He had been through this before and knew what to do. He hit the emergency button that called for a special team of doctors and nurses. It also linked to the Hokage's office so that the Hokage would be alerted any time the room was in use as the room was reserved for Naruto alone. Not 20 seconds later a group of men and women walked in and wasted no time in getting to work. The Hokage shunshined in shortly after,

"Kakashi, report." he stated in a voice that commanded authority
"He was attacked by a group of villagers, Hokage-sama" was the swift reply
"And of the villagers?" Sarutobi further inquired
"All dead, Sir. There wasn't time to bring Naruto here and take them in for questioning. Rather than let them get off scot free, I took the best course of action I could think of and killed them on the spot. Their remains are still in the ally-way."
"Very well then, I'll put Itachi on clean up duty then. You have done well."

They watched in silence as the medics went about doing their job of healing Naruto. Kakashi finally broke the silence

"Hokage-sama, I've been meaning to ask; where did you find a group of medics so willing to treat Naruto?"
"This group of people are the ones that cared for Kushina through her stay in the hospital while she was carrying Naruto. They never saw Naruto as the demon inside of him as they saw him being born, understanding that he is indeed human."
"I see." Was the only reply he received.

Once the medic nins had done all that they could a doctor by the name of Megumi Takani (from Rurouni Kenshin – no I don't own it) approached the two men but addressed the Hokage more specifically,

"He needs rest. He has been through a lot tonight and even though the physical damage is mostly repaired, he still needs to recover from the emotional damage. We will continue to monitor his progress and let you know of any changes to his condition. As a final observation the Kyuubi's chakra healed most of the damage before we could, by the time Hatake-san had brought him in here most of the wounds were healed or well on their way to being closed over."

Sarutobi answered slowly "Very well…I will wait here till he has regained consciousness. Kakashi, could you and Itachi Uchiha please go and clean up the mess before some innocent child stumbles across it?"

"At once, Hokage-sama." Even if the Hokage had wanted to, he wouldn't have got another word in as Kakashi shunshined away almost immediately.

'Strange,' he thought 'he is late for nearly everything and yet when he feels like it he can perform tasks with the swiftness of the wind.'

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White. That was all he saw when he opened his eyes. It couldn't be his room in the orphanage. The room was so dirty that the walls were caked in black filth. He looked around to see the Old Man talking to a young woman. He remembered her face; she was one of the few that were nice to him. There was the Old Man, some people at the hospital, Old man Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame and hopefully now the strange figure that had saved him last night would be able to join that list.

The Hokage watched patiently as Naruto roused himself from his sleep. Idly looking at him over the hours, he realised quite a number of things. The most obvious was that Naruto truly looked like his father. How no one in the village had picked up o it yet was beyond his understanding. While thinking of Minato he was reminded about the letter he was left.

'Naruto's letter MUST be given to him when he becomes a genin. He has trials to prepare for that only he can face. How do I know that he even wants to be one? It's not a choice really, if he wants to be considered clan head in either my clan or Kushina's clan he needs to be able to fight and fight very well.'

Sarutobi pondered the point for awhile before coming to realise that even without the requirement to need to fight well t lead the clan he was going to need some form of training if he wanted to live to see his 5th birthday. Nothing too serious. Perhaps just introduce him to the basic bunshin and taijutsu style used in Konoha's Ninja Academy as well as kawarimi and henge. These things could help him survive and escape the rampant crowds long enough for either him or his ANBU to arrive.

"Naruto, are we feeling better?" he was originally going to as 'are you alright?' but it seemed like a stupid question after nearly being beat to death.

"I'm feeling better, though I really wish that I knew why they pick on me so much, Oji-san."

Sarutobi looked back at him sadly and said "I wish I knew too, Naruto-kun. They have no reason to do when they do to you." He had answered the question without being too specific, something that he had to do more and more these days. He knew the day was fast approaching when he could not be so vague. In any case, at the moment it seemed to work as Naruto was satisfied that he was not at fault.

"Naruto, I've been thinking, how would you like to start training as a ninja." Sarutobi asked cautiously, when he saw Naruto's eyes light up he realised just what he had gotten himself into.

"Are you serious Oji-san? Like training me to move super fast? Or are you training me to hide in the shadows? Or like teaching me ultra awesome, super cool jutsu?"

Sarutobi had to hold his hand to stem the flow of questions that were coming thick and fast. Now Naruto had asked the questions he realised that he would have to decide what to have taught to Naruto by his sensei. Higher raking jutsu was out of the question, not until he got far more control of his chakra, otherwise using high level jutsu could have catastrophic effects, particularly considering how high his chakra reserves could be with his father being ho he was and the Fox adding to them.

"We will discuss that with your sensei when the time comes. For now you need to rest. Do you have any special request for food?"

"ICHIRAKU'S RAMEN." He shouted at the top of his lungs

The Sandaime had to twiddle his finger in his ear. Apparently he looked like his father but had his mother's behaviour to deal with; as a certain Nara would put it 'this could be troublesome'.

"You rest for now. When you wake up again your sensei will be waiting here for you with bowl of ramen you seem to love so much."

Naruto threw himself at the Old Hokage, wrapping his arms around his neck, practically screaming "Thank you, Oji-san. You're the best."

After Sarutobi had regained some semblance of hearing after and made sure that Naruto was asleep, he shunshined out to his office. Once there he summoned one of his ANBU, Ox appeared before him,

"Go find Kakashi Hatake and tell him that when he is done cleaning up that I wish to speak with him."

"At you command, Hokage-sama." And promptly left to complete his assigned task.

Sarutobi was left to his own thoughts as h waited for Kakashi to finish his duties before arriving. He sat there and looked at a picture of his late successor on the wall and thought to himself

'Minato, what would you think of you village if you could see what they did, what they still do to your son.'

After nearly an hour lost in thought, Kakashi eventually shunshined into the office.

"That took a surprisingly long time considering both you and Itachi were assigned. Were there really that many bodies?" Sarutobi asked genuinely interested.

"No, there weren't that many bodies, I finished shortly after getting the message but there was a chain of black cats walking across the city. I had to leave the city if I didn't want to cross their path."

A vein pulsed in Sarutobi's forehead. He truly didn't know what was more irritating; Kakashi's tardiness, or his lies which were obvious to even the youngest of children.

"In any case, I've called you here to ask you to be a sensei." Sarutobi decided to let his frustration go for the time being.

"I don't know why you bother asking me every time. No team has ever met my expectations. It's not likely that anything is about to change now."

"It isn't a team I want you to train, it's an individual," Sarutobi said with a grin "I want you to train Naruto."

"Naruto? In what?"

"Ballet." Sarutobi answered in a completely serious voice "The ninja arts of course! What else?" Sarutobi's voice now had a hint of irritation to it.

"Right…of course. Yes…sorry." Kakashi at least had the decency to feel a little ashamed of his stupid question.

"I want you teaching him the basic academy jutsu, taijutsu. Also we need to have him learn about stealth. Not only will it prove useful both now, while trying to hide from villagers till we get there it will be vital throughout his ninja career. Hopefully it will also help him to quieten down a little." Sarutobi added on as afterthought thinking about his still ringing ears.

"Very well, I'll accept. I'll go to the hospital and meet him. He hasn't really met me yet." Kakashi announced to the Hokage.

"Very good, but you will need to stop but Ichiraku's. I promised him his sensei would bring him some for when he woke up." Sarutobi added with a sheepish look about his face.

Kakashi, cursing the need to go across the city and then track back with ramen in his hands, shunshined out of the office to appear almost an instant later outside Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. He got there and ordered 2 packs of miso to go before holding them both in one hand in order to perform the half ram with the other necessary to shunshin to Naruto's room.

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Kakashi, looking around realised that Naruto was still asleep, place the ramen on the bedside table and turned to close the door to the room. In the time that he turned he heard furious slurping, lips smacking followed by a large belch. By the time he turned back he noticed that both packs of miso ramen were missing and there was a very content looking Naruto propped up against the wall, still sitting in bed.

"Weren't you asleep a second ago?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

"Yep," was the bright reply "the smell of ramen woke me up" he clarified.

Still in shock Kakashi went on, trying to maintain some level of composure "Right, well, Hokage-sama should have told you that you were going to get an instructor for the ninja arts, well that's me."

"My name is Kakashi. You can call me Kakashi-sensei seeing as I will be teaching you.

"Cool so what are you gonna teach me. Some really powerful fighting style? Ultra speed? How to make dragons out of air?" Kakashi couldn't get a word in. He finally started when Naruto had run out of breath.

"I will teach you how to hide really well, were gonna make you a lot faster. Were only gonna learn a few things and they are things you would learn from the academy anyway."

"But I really wanted to learn lots of cool things like how to beat a person with the flick of a finger."

Kakashi thought at the back of his mind, 'well if you can get Lady Tsunade to teach you then you might be able to'. In the middle of his wandering mind he thought of a brilliant way to get Naruto to co-operate.

"Naruto, how does this sound. If you can learn everything that the Hokage wants me to teach you then I will teach you an awesome move. Sound fair?"

"What's the name of the move? Every awesome move has an awesome name."

Kakashi pondered the point for a second before deciding on the name,

"It's called the Super Awesome, Ultra Flashy Jutsu."

Kakashi looked at Naruto who now appeared to have stars in his eyes at the prospect of learning something so 'awesome'.

"Alright then, you got yourself a deal Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi smiled, he took it hook line and sinker.

"You're due to be released tomorrow morning so I will pick you up from here. With noting further left to say to each other, Kakashi left Naruto so he could rest up for tomorrow, leaving him free to pursue…other activities. There was a very good book that the bookstore had just released that he wanted to buy, giving perverted giggle as he though of his purchase to be.

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Morning couldn't come fast enough for Naruto. By the time Kakashi had arrived, he was literally bouncing off of the walls, telling anyone who would listen that he was going to learn to be a ninja as well as the super awesome, ultra flashy jutsu.

It probably would have helped the hospital staff had Kakashi actually shown up when Naruto was discharged, rather than turning up two hours afterwards.

Alright Naruto time to commence your training. Do you know where the stream is? The one just near the hospital?" after receiving a nod of confirmation he continued
"I want you to race me there". Of course it was not a true race. Kakashi being a Jounin of the village could have beaten him there without even raising more than a hand. Ah, yes shunshin was a lovely thing. It was much easier to get him to work if he was having fun while doing it. By the next time he looked down Naruto was already down the hall, cackling like a madman about how he was going to beat his sensei in a race.

Kakashi kept tabs on him as he raced through the village, towards the stream. It would not do well to have him attacked again. As he kept watch he took note of the glares that nearly every villager sent at Naruto. The ones that didn't glare completely disregarded him, as though he wasn't there.

'Ignoring him, almost as bad as actively harassing him' Kakashi thought.

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When they both arrived at the stream Naruto was the first to speak.

"So, what are we going to do here…er…Kakashi-sensei?"

"We are first going to get to know each other beyond names. I'll start you know my name, it's Kakashi, likes – reading, my dislikes – well I can't really think of anything of the top of my head, and my dream for the future – I'll tell you when you're older." Kakashi said the last part without the usual traces of a perverted tone usually present in his voice when discussing such matters; indication that he might actually be serious about what he was talking about, though Naruto was too young for him to understand.

"Now you turn."

"Well you now that my name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are Ramen and people that are nice to me, my dislikes are the time that it takes for ramen to be cooked and people that are mean to me, dream for the future…"

Kakashi interrupted, "You don't have to have one yet, but I would appreciate that if you do get a dream, then you tell me, then I'll know that you are ready to hear my dream for the future." Naruto simply nodded.

"I am going to teach you how to swim." Kakashi suddenly announced

"I thought you were gonna teach me something cool, like how to walk on water." Naruto whined, not realising that it actually was possible to walk on water.

"Nope, swimming, while strictly speaking, isn't a shinobi skill, is still, vital for survival. What would happen if the Hokage gave you a mission someday that involved you getting wet in something deeper than a bath?"

"I…I wouldn't be able to do it" Naruto realised that this important.

Kakashi gave one of his eye smiles and said,

"Naruto, we are gonna do some things that may not seem like they will help right away, but trust me when I say that they will be useful later on. Now strip to your boxers and I'll do the same so we are ready to get in the water."

And so the lesson began. It wasn't all easy going. At first Naruto wasn't overly confident of being in the unfamiliar and wasn't too particularly trusting of Kakashi not to let him go and simply allow him to drown. In Kakashi's opinion this was hardly surprising considering the track record he had with misplaced trust in the villagers.

By the end of the hour Kakashi had Naruto laying flat on the water, rather than in an upright sit position. He was also surprised to see that his legs were performing the correct kicking motion rather than seeing the running motion that so many children display when learning to swim.

"Naruto, that's enough for swimming today. I think we should do something else while we dry off."

Naruto obediently followed Kakashi along the water's edge till they were in a small clearing. He didn't seem to have the usual spring in his step, probably just tiredness from the swimming.

"What now Sensei," asked Naruto, eager to learn more. He was soon learning that Kakashi was becoming someone he could trust, when Kakashi had said that he wouldn't let go in the water, he didn't. When Kakashi said he was going to let go and 'catch' him again in a short while, he did. It seemed that when he gave his word he kept it.

"We are going to meditate. This is for two reasons. The first I that we need to unlock your chakra in order for you do the jutsu you so want to learn. The second reason is that we can dry off before we put our clothes back on."

To himself Kakashi thought of the third reason,

'Hopefully it will calm him down and get him to stop bouncing around all of the time'

"How do I meditate, Sensei?" Naruto asked

"You simply need to still and try to relax. While you are doing this, for today, I want you to focus on finding a warmth within you. This is your chakra. When you think you have found it, don't shout out. Simply remain focussed and tell me; I will give you more instructions from there.

Almost an hour had passed from when Kakashi had started Naruto on mediation. If he had guessed, Kakashi would have said that Naruto was asleep; he didn't think that it was possible for the blonde to be this quiet and awake at the same time. That was until Naruto in a small voice said

"Sensei, I think I found it, it feels like a thought only really hard to think" Kakashi smiled at these words. When you first accessed your chakra it felt like a thought, or better yet a sentence on the tip of your tongue that you couldn't quite say.

"Good, now focus on trying to drag it forwards, try and 'think' that though," Kakashi coached, trying to use Naruto's own words.

It was another full minute before anything happened, then Kakashi felt it, Naruto's chakra came spilling out of him. So young and he already had a capacity of what had to be at least mid to high genin level, he was floored.

"Good, Naruto, very good indeed. I want you to remember that feeling. Never forget it. It is one of the most important things you will use through your life as a ninja."

"Now that you know what you chakra feels like I want you to try using it. I'm going to tech you some jutsu, but first we need to tech you the 12 basic hand signs."

Kakashi ran through the 12 hand signs, giving Naruto time to copy and himself time to correct any mistakes in his signing. After Kakashi was confident that Naruto had the different had signs down pat he showed him the hands signs for the henge. On Naruto's first try, the replica Kakashi had his weight distributed incorrectly, giving the impression of severely obese person instead of the fit person that he was. It took a further 23 more tries before Naruto got the dimensions correct. The only thing left to work on in at any great length was his eye for detail as there were things missing from the transformation, such as a kunai holster or the buckling on his sandals.

Next was the kawarimi. This jutsu had its own unique set of hand signs and again, Kakashi gave Naruto time to memorise them before getting him to perform it himself.

"Kawarimi no jutsu," Naruto announced to the world. Kakashi's eye widened for a split second; that was the only amount of time that he had to react. Something must have gone wrong in the hand signalling, for there was a huge boulder dropping through the air to their position. He quickly tackled Naruto out of the way and asked for him to repeat the process, this time focussing less on the amount chakra used but more on the hand signs. Kakashi opted to stay much closer this time in case a similar event occurred; he knew he could get them out of there if the situation called for it. When Naruto reattempted the technique, Kakashi was puzzled,

"What's wrong, aren't you going to try again?" he asked

"I already have" was the reply. Apparently Naruto had use too little chakra this time and had not moved any mass at all.

"Hmmm…alright then, could you try to concentrate somewhere in the middle, while, trying to use chakra that is in the middle as well.

A look of concentration crossed his features as he thought about what he was required to do, after announcing the jutsu a small flux in the chakra and realising that Naruto had indeed completed the jutsu successfully, albeit with a lot of wasted chakra, but successful none the less. With such large reserves at such a young age it was to be expected that his control over his chakra would be poor. With this in mind he thought about the final thing that he had to teach Naruto, the bunshin. Kakashi had serious doubts as to whether he would ever be able to get Naruto to learn this technique. Naruto's chakra reserves could be likened to a dam and the dam gates. It was like trying to get only a cup's worth of water from the dam gates while trying to not let any excess water to escape. In other words impossible. Well, he'd be damned if he didn't try any way.

"Naruto, there is one thing that I would like to teach you today. It's called the bunshin. It will create an illusion so it looks like there is more than one of you. However, if you can't get it after a few tries, don't worry, it's not your fault. The hand signs are as follows."

For the third time that day Kakashi demonstrated a set of hand seals, this time for the bunshin. Naruto attempted the bunshin and as expected the thing formed for a second before collapsing.

"As I thought, you have far too much chakra for you to use that technique effectively"

"Naruto tried to use the jutsu again, only to achieve the exact same results. Now starting to panic that his Sensei would not teach him anymore, due to him being unable to make a bunshin, he started trying harder. Recognising the signs from his body language, Kakashi walked over and out a hand on his shoulder. Naruto flinched at the action, expecting some form of physical punishment for his failure. When none came he looked up and saw Kakashi looking down at him with genuine concern in his eyes, the flinch had not gone unnoticed.

"Remember, I said not to worry about it if you couldn't do it," it's not your fault.

Hardly daring to believe his luck at someone else being nice to him, particularly after a failure, his eyes started to get moist with tears, though tears of joy at finding another person to add to the very short list of people who he could trust.

"Come on, let's get you back to the Hokage. We've done enough work for today. Let's head back."

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In the Hokage's office Naruto was left to flit about and look at the paintings on the wall in the office while Kakashi talked to the aging Hokage.

"Well how was it?" the Hokage asked, fully expecting to hear stories of how Naruto really tried his patience when he was far too hyperactive for Kakashi's liking. Imagine is surprise when Kakashi reported back.

"Very good actually, it was…enjoyable. While he might bounce of off the walls when he goes through everyday life, when he is being taught something he wants to learn, he seems most attentive. Though I can't imagine him keeping the enthusiasm through one of the more boring academy lectures."

The Hokage had to raise his eye brows, Kakashi Hatake, enjoying teaching? What next, his student Jiraiya gave up his perverted ways?

"There are a few issues I need to discuss with you though." Kakashi informed the Kage.

"Such as?" Sarutobi replied, showing that he was intent on listening.

"His chakra reserves are enormous, almost at Chuunin level." to say that Sarutobi was surprised was like saying Tsunade had a slight alcohol addiction problem. Kakashi continued, ignoring the shocked look on his commander's face "It's so large that he can't perform a basic bunshin. I was wondering if you would give me permission to train him in more advanced chakra control techniques.'

"What did you have in mind?"

"Tree walking, if possible. Most of his assailants these days are the villagers, if he can walk up the side of a building and just stay there for a while till we get to him then there shouldn't be too much hassle in getting him to save himself. It could also lower the body count as I could arrest the people responsible, instead of having to kill them on the spot in order to punish them, while trying to make haste to get Naruto to the hospital."

Sarutobi had to admit Kakashi did bring up some very good points.

"Very well, just do me a favour; don't turn him into a brilliant shinobi at the cost of turning him into a complete social recluse. I don't want him becoming like the Aburame, or worse yet, like Itachi. Only business and nothing else; no spark of life. I often wonder what it is that the Uchiha did to remove the life from that boy's eyes."

Kakashi smiled at the thought, "Don't worry, I don't think that there is ever a chance of that happening."

"Oh and one last request before you are dismissed," Kakashi stopped himself before he shunshined out of the place leaving Naruto with the Sandaime. Sarutobi chucked a wad of notes at Kakashi, "Get him some new clothes. Preferably 2 sets. One dark and another bright. If he can train in stealth in the bright clothes in broad daylight, then he should have no problem in hiding himself in the night with dark clothes on."

Kakashi only nodded before taking the ryou and Naruto in hand and simply walking to the shopping district where they could make their purchases.

Just before leaving he decided to add some information to the lot that he had already reported to the Hokage,

"By the way, I've taken it upon myself to teach him how to swim."

"Hmmm…yes; thank you. That was something I completely overlooked when I was considering what to have you teach him.

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Arriving at the shopping district, Kakashi was itching to whip out a little orange book and continue reading from where he left off, but reasoning told him other wise and he decided that it was for the best that he leave his reading till later. Both sensei and his late wife had constantly admonished him for reading 'Jiraiya's smut'. Both respected the man as a shinobi of the highest calibre, but would not tolerate the orange book he authored. He somehow felt it would dishonour their memories if he read the book they so heavily protested in front of their son.

He decided to simply settle for searching for a shop that would sell the items that he required. The first store that he walked into instantly glared at Naruto before turning to a highly annoyed Kakashi.

"Is there a problem, shopkeeper-san?" Kakashi inquired through a dangerously narrow eye and a voice daring the proprietor to say the wrong thing.

"I'm sorry, sir I didn't notice you, I just happened to see that walk in behind you. Don't worry I'll let it out then we can continue our business" referring to Naruto as though he was some kind of filthy animal.

"You didn't see me? Me a man standing some 6 ft tall, yet you notice the barely 3 ft boy, hiding behind my own legs no less." Kakashi retorted, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Now that he had put it that way the shop owner realised just how stupid he had made himself look. Not as though it mattered,

"In any case, my business concerns Naruto, so if you feel that you cannot serve us we will simply leave and be sure that no self respecting shinobi will ever be doing any shopping here."

The shop keeper had only now just realised just how much business he had lost, and was gaping like a fish out of water because of it. Kakashi and Naruto had already left so there was no chance of repairing the situation.

Back out on the street with Naruto and Kakashi, they were looking to find another shop to give their business to. Along the way they came across a shop called 'Higurashi Ninja Equipment'. He pulled Naruto in and they began walking to the counter. The person behind the counter this time addressed Kakashi first,

"Good afternoon, how may I serve you today?"

This was going to be a good way to gauge whether or not they would be shopping here in the future. Kakashi stepped aside to reveal Naruto.

"Actually, where here for Naruto," he stated keeping an eye on the man's reaction the whole time

"Sorry little fella," the shopkeeper said, didn't see you down there.

'Just the way it should be, instead of insisting that Naruto was more noticeable than a man he was standing behind, roughly twice his height' thought Kakashi while nodding to himself

"Yes we are looking for some clothes to for Naruto, a set of dark clothes and a set of bright clothes."

"Well let's take care of the dark clothes first. Name's Keiichi Higurashi, by the way; store owner. No need for you to introduce yourselves, you're both very well known around this city."

In short order, Keiichi had picked out a simple dark blue, almost black t-shirt and pair of shorts and given them to Naruto to try on. While in the change rooms Kakashi asked Keiichi,

"You evidently recognise Naruto, yet you serve him without any issues, why so different from the rest of the population here?" he asked "Not that I'm complaining of course." quickly adding the afterthought.

Keiichi looked very pointedly at Kakashi and said

"I sell katana here, Hatake-san. I can tell the difference between the weapon and the object that prevents is from cutting indiscriminately." Kakashi nodded understanding the message. It seems that he would be giving the Hokage a recommendation to use this shop in preference to others in the future. At some point through his musing Naruto had wondered out of the change stall and waited for inspection. Kakashi nodded his approval and decided to move onto the bright clothes.

"Well do you have anything in bright colours?" Kakashi was doubtful as there wasn't often a need for ninja to attract attention to themselves, and if there was, there would be far more efficient methods of doing it.

"Well, the best I have is this jump suit. Though it's so hideous that I don't think that any one would ever want to wear it." he took one the dust covered suits out from under the counter displaying what he was talking about. Kakashi could easily see what he was talking about, though it seemed Naruto had found a love greater than ramen, well almost.

"Awesome, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it." he yelled in excitement

"Apparently we are taking the jumpsuit as well as the dark clothes. How much for the lot?" Kakashi mused to Keiichi

"I'll charge you for the cost of the dark set only this time. I didn't think that I would ever get rid of those jumpsuits. When he grows out of that one just come back. I have more in larger sizes under the counter that I don't dare display."

That settled it in Kakashi's mind; this shop was getting a recommendation to the Hokage, not only serving them in the first place, but inviting them back for subsequent visits.

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When Naruto and Kakashi walked back into Sarutobi's office, the Sandaime had for a split second thought that the sun had walked through the office doors. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he realised it was Naruto in an extremely bright jump suit. Realising that they had gone and completed their shopping trip and that it was now time for Naruto to return to the orphanage. Kakashi informed the Hokage about Keiichi's shop and then proceeded to drop Naruto at the orphanage.

After dropping Naruto off to a smiling matron, Kakashi left, the smile from the matron's face disappearing immediately. She hit Naruto across the head before ordering him inside, or else no scraps for him to eat tonight. He scuttle in as fast as he could, not that it would have changed anything, her mind was already made up and Naruto was getting nothing to eat that night.

With nothing to do he started meditating the way Kakashi-sensei had taught him. He was focussing on brining his chakra out. Before long he was slipping into what had to be a dream

Mindscape

He was walking a long and dilapidated corridor that could only be truly described as a sewer. When he came to the end of the passage he found a giant iron cage, with some funny symbols on a piece of paper attached to the door. Inside he could see an animal thrashing about, a fox he realised. He tried calling out to it, but it appeared not to hear to him. He tried again, calling louder this time, still achieving no response. In the animal's wild thrashing, it turned to look him, and stared straight through him, as though it wasn't seeing anything all. Puzzled, he didn't pay too much attention as his surroundings slowly started fading into black around him. Then he knew nothing as sleep finally enveloped him.

The next morning he had no recollection of any of the strange happening that occurred last night. He simply waited for Kakashi to show so that he could continue his training. He had enjoyed spending time with Kakashi; he payed attention to him long enough, and not the usual kind of attention the villagers payed either.

The days training was spent further practicing what he had learnt yesterday, introducing arms to his swimming, something that he didn't quite get as he was having trouble remembering to blow bubbles and move his arms and legs, or he would forget to breath. Kakashi had told him what he had achieved was good any way as the stroke looked good, he just had to remember he wasn't a fish, the inference causing Naruto to giggle. It was then that Kakashi realised that this was the first time he had heard Naruto laugh, not that devious laugh that let him knew that a prank was coming, but a genuine laugh from joy. It was something that warmed his heart, something that he vowed to make happen more often. The hand seals and jutsus were also reviewed, though Kakashi intentionally left of the bunshin.

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Over the weeks Naruto was introduced to the academy taijutsu style, a very basic style, used only to give beginners a foundation on which to build their own techniques if they didn't come from a clan with clan taught techniques. He was also given a crash course in physical exercise in order to help him move faster and give him a higher stamina, not only in battle, but to outrun the villagers. It was best if he did not attack, though it was fact that he would only be doing so in self defence, the civilian council took precedence over the shinobi in purely non-shinobi matters. This included punishment of 'criminals' when necessary. It also included adoption when the few who sympathised with Naruto's plight tried to adopt him, they found their every motion blocked.

Finally, he was given the stealth training he so desperately needed. He learned about moving in the shadows, he learned about successfully hiding himself. Most importantly he learned that it was possible to be quiet once in a while, something that appeared to be a gift from the heavens.

The most memorable day was quite possibly when Kakashi introduced him to tree climbing. The twist was that Naruto couldn't use his hands. Kakashi had demonstrated as usual, and it had Naruto so excited he tried to charge up the nearest tree. It was amazing that he managed to get four paces up the tree considering that he did not realise that he had to apply chakra to the soles of his feet in order to 'glue' himself to the tree bark.

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It was some weeks after Naruto had started training with his sensei when Kakashi turned up at the orphanage to pick him up for the day's regimen. When he got there an eagerly awaiting Naruto was nowhere to be found. Upon asking the matron she stated

"I kicked him out last night. He sitting with his eyes closed and had some blue energy flying around him. I couldn't risk the other children's safety in case he was preparing an attack. So I kicked him out."

Kakashi was livid. There was a protocol to be followed if there was ever a situation with Naruto, and she had just blown right past it. Right now he couldn't really detain her, it was more important that he found him immediately before anyone tried to harm him. He quickly made 6 kage bunshins, similar to the regular bunshin, but they could interact with their environment while the regulars could not and when dispelled any info gained would be passed to the user. They went off in pairs, one to look after Naruto should a pair find him, the other to dispel to pass the location to the real Kakashi.

It was not long before the real Kakashi had found Naruto huddled in a dumpster, in a nearby ally-way. The bunshins were dispelled as Kakashi too Naruto to his house to get cleaned up before taking him to the civilian council.

This was the last straw. He was only a boy only just past his fourth birthday, living out on the streets. There was no way he could live on his own, he was simply too young and how in hell would he manage to maintain the place, much less find the money to eat and live. He walked into the appropriate sector of the office.

The person working on the desk looked up, saw who Kakashi was with and looked back down just as fast. Kakashi coughed to gain her attention before calmly saying

"I'm here to have Naruto Uzumaki put under my legal guardianship."

The woman didn't even bother looking up, "You will have to join the queue."

Kakashi couldn't tell if she was trying to be funny, because the room was completely empty, frankly he didn't care. He was fed up and he was here to put an end to it. He shot a quick look at Naruto and realised that he was distracted by something outside the door. Kakashi pulled up his hitai-ate and said rather forcefully,

"Will you at least look at me when you take to me?"

When she looked up she was immediately caught in a genjutsu given off by the Sharingan eye in his left socket.

"You will get me the forms to fill that will put Naruto under my legal guardianship."

She walked off in a zombie like state, retrieving the forms from a nearby filing cabinet, waiting for Kakashi to finish filling out the forms. After an hour and many miles of red tape, Kakashi and Naruto walked out of the guardianship office, with papers in hand stating that Kakashi was now Naruto's legal guardian.

He idly thought that he would have to go and inform the Hokage of the change in both his and Naruto's living arrangements. Naruto, well he couldn't get over the fact that he had been adopted, and by Kakashi-sensei no less. He was so close to crying tears of joy, you could see the tears well in his eyes. Kakashi, finally felt he was on the road to repaying the man he considered a second father. Training Naruto just didn't feel right; it didn't feel enough, but now, he felt being closer to being complete and repaying the debt he felt h had incurred to Minato Namikaze.

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End of Chapter One

The choice for the second pairing are

Hinata – ROFL when I typed her name out the first spelling suggestion was piñata

Female Haku

Tayuya

Ayame

Anko

Sorry if you wanted to see anyone else. These are the only characters I can do with any ability (at least I hope). I would like to do either Sasame or Isaribi but I don't know how he met them (I have only watched up to the episode where Ebisu gets knocked out by Jiraiya after the preliminary selection of the Chuunin exams)

Secondly, I'm taking the polls as a secondary. If I can plan it out properly I might have to remove a girl, most likely either Anko of Shizune. If I do and you wanted to see Naruto with either one I apologise. After all I've just taken you opinion and effectively thrown it back in your face, so once again, I am sorry if that occurs.