A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed. Right after I posted chapter 1, I was writing the second chapter. Seeing that people actually liked what I was writing was (and still is) a huge confidence booster. And then there were the views that I was getting too. The same day that I posted chapter one I got over 100 views! MINASAN ARIGATŌ! I'll start doing A/N's and answers at the end of the chapter after today. Here are some answers to reviews.

yangyoseob92: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review.

thor94: Thanks! That's exactly where I was going with this and good Idea with the birth date. I hope to see you again in future reviews.

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Crimsonforest92: Here's the new chapter!

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Guest: Here you go! :)

Hope that everyone enjoys!

~Gray :3

Three things cannot be long hidden:

the sun,

the moon,

and the truth.

~Buddha

Finally returning home wasn't as good a feeling as I had hoped. Firstly, there were seals that I had to undo to enter the land owned by the Namikaze and then the seals to get passed the front door had to be undone as well. Let's not forget about the assorted traps that had to each be manually deactivated. All of this had to be done while holding a sleeping little boy and trying not to wake him up.

Once finally in the house the first thing I notice was the lack of electricity. Meaning that I would have to walk in the dark for now. The next thing was the smell. It wasn't the smell of rotting food or anything (although I will more than likely find all that in the kitchen), it was the smell of dust and just plain dirty. I have my work cut out for me this time.

Finally getting to a room, a completely random room, I find that the beds have a layer of dust on it which is understandable. No one has been here in 5 years.

I started searching the room and found a closet door and a bathroom that was equally dusty as the bedroom.

Kushi nee-chan would through a fit! I thought with a sad smile. That woman was mad when it came to having a clean home, especially when she moved here with nii-san.

I quickly made three shadow clones; one for cleaning the bathroom, one to heat water because there was no hot water, and lastly one find candles and clean the guest room we would be staying in. I went to open a window and sat down on one of the chairs, not really caring that it was covered in dust. The moon was high in the sky, full and round, letting in light into the room.

The child in my arms squirmed slightly in my hold and I immediately fixed him so that his head laid on my chest. I rocked him back and forth until he settled down again. I took my time to look at him. Everything was dirty on him. His cloths had been ripped and dirty, his hair was layered with mud, and so was the rest of him.

I wonder when was the last time he had a bath. I thought with a frown.

Although all this bothered me, nothing could bother me more than the angry bruise that was on his cheek and, as I found out after I took him out of my jacket, the rest of him was littered with little bruises. Here he laid, in my arms, this child that could not have been more than 3 years old, curled up and sleeping against me. All I wanted to do was make it all better. I wanted to make the little boy's suffering less.

Kami-sama, I though in udder sadness and anger, why must a child suffer. What could this little boy have done to deserve such cruelty?

Tears of anger and frustration filled my eyes as I looked at the little boy. Children were always my weakness. This were so small and fragile. They were meant to be taken care off and protected, not beaten and tossed aside. Maybe the reason that I felt this way was because of my own childhood or maybe because of the nephew that I would never meet.

I let a tear fall at that thought but no more. I swore to myself to stay strong now. Minato nii-san would not want me to cry and this child does not need tears. What this child needs is love and protection.

Something that I may not be able to give, but I sure as hell will try! I thought in determination.

Looking around the now candle and moon lit room, I can see that the shadow clone put new sheets on the bed and dust was mostly gone from the furniture. I nodded to the clone and dispelled it. Then continued to wait as the other clones did their work.

It was 20 minutes later that the clone in the bathroom came out and the clone downstairs heating water came up with a bucket of hot water. I quickly handed the little one to one of the clones and dispelled the other. I moved to the now spotless bathroom, feeling the clone follow me in, and put the bucket of water in the tub. I turned the tap and waited as the cold water cooled the boiling hot water inside the bucket. I then took the little one back from the clone.

"Find him a shirt to wear." I ordered the clone and turned back to the task at hand; waking up a very tired little boy.

It broke my heart, really broke my heart, because I could tell that this boy was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than for him to sleep to his heart's content but he had to take a bath and wash his hair.

The little one had been half asleep the whole time while in the tube and I had taken him a bath as fast as I could while getting as much mud and dirt off of his skin and hair. I managed to use all the water in the bucket on him. His hair will need a washing tomorrow just in case I missed anything.

The little one finally got his bath and had one of my smallest shirts on. I had also taken a bath, after heating more water, while my clone dried the little one with a towel and put him to bed.

Once I was done with my bath, I climbed into bed beside the little one and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, I felt a small body curl up to mine and I opened my eyes to look. The little one was snuggling up to me, shivering slightly. I sighed and pulled the cover higher up to his chin and threw my arm around him for extra measure. His shivering stopped a minute or two later and his breaths evened out.

I leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Sleep well, Little One."

Morning came in the blink of an eye.

I opened my eyes and squinted against the sun's rays that slipped through the open curtains. I must have forgotten to close them last night.

I sat up, carful to not wake the little one that slept next to me and stretched. I still felt tired but that was by far the best sleep that I have gotten in months. The nights with only 2 hours of sleep on the ground had begun to drag me down by the time that I reached the village gates. Good thing that the chunin at the gate knew that I was coming. It would have been a hassle to deal with all the paperwork at the gates, especially with the storm last night.

I slowly got out of bed and made summoned two shadow clones. I ordered one to heat the water for my bath and the other to go into town to buy ingredients for today's breakfast.

When I was finished getting ready for the day I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. The little boy that I had left sleeping was now awake, eyes wide and staring at me.

"Good morning, sleep well?", I said with a smile. The child hesitated a few seconds before nodding to me.

"Good! Now that your awake, let's see to getting you another bath." The little one looked at me with a fear in his eyes. I couldn't help but frown.

"Don't be scared little one. I swear I am not going to hurt you." I said to him gently, slowly getting closer to him. Once in front of him, I held out my hand and waited for him to take it. As much as I would love to huge him, I'm sure it would do more harm than good right now.

I waited and a minute later, he placed his hand in mine. I couldn't help but to grin at him but stopped when I realized something. This little one that I found yesterday did not know my name, I never introduced myself to him. Come to think of it, I do not know his name either. Then again, with him as scared and cold as he was yesterday, my main priority was to get him warmed up and clean.

"Ne, little one" I began with a smile, "I never introduced myself to you. My name is Namikaze, Hayashi. What's yours?"

The little one once again had the look of surprise and curiosity in his eyes.

" Y-you don't…know me?" the child's voice was soft and confused.

"Iie, little one. I only met you yesterday," I said, frowning in confusion.

"O-oh" He said looking down.

"Little one," I began, my voice low and soothing, "it's alright. Just tell me your name."

He looked at me again, his blue eyes showing more sadness than any child should ever show. Fear was there too. His wild spiked blond hair, that reminded me so much of my nii-san, fell over his clear blue eyes. He was looking at me as though he expected me to do something although I'm not sure what.

"M-m-my" he stopped and took a deep breath, making me worried. Why is he so worried?

"M-my n-name" he stuttered, "is Uzumaki N-naruto."

And my world shattered.