Whoa. I seriously didn't expect this story to get so popular so fast! 10 reviews, 20 favorites and 42 followers! Thank you all! :) So happy that I basically half-killed myself getting this chapter out ASAP. You awesome peeps deserve it! Here we go: the next chapter!

Edit 4/30/14 - shortened the amount of backstory they share so it's more believable, added some more depth for Kakashi's meeting with the Hokage, and other small changes.

As Kakashi stared at the dining table of his apartment, he was silently berating himself for inviting these kids over for dinner.

They ate like monsters for Kami's sake!

Every. Last. Bowl. On. Kakashi's. Table. Was. Empty.

And Kakashi thought Gai ate a lot...

As soon as the trio had stepped into Kakashi's (admittingly not exquisite) apartment, they rushed from corner to corner, ogling at everything, from the couch to the walls to the bookshelf (Kakashi had firmly told them not to look, after all, they were a bit...young for his reading material), heck, even the toilet, which led Kakashi to wonder where exactly they did their, ahem, business. He later realized he didn't really want to know.

Kakashi could honestly say they treated his home as a person would treat a five-star hotel - staring admiringly at everything since you knew you had to leave very soon.

He finally decided the kids could use some entertainment, so he left them with a pad of drawing paper and some crayons (No, they were NOT his. Absolutely not.) for them to enjoy for a bit while Kakashi prepared dinner for the four of them.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were staring at the pristine white paper in awe. It sat perfectly in the center of the coffee table, just waiting to draw on. (The only paper they got was in the trash, after all)

"It's...it's so clean! Should I...draw on it?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

Naruto nudged Sasuke, who sent him a fierce glare in return. "Of course, Kura-chan! Didn't...what's his name again?"

Sakura flushed. "I...I don't really know. I don't think he told me." She looked around. "And I don't know where he went..."

The blonde merely shrugged. "Well, ojiisan gave it to us and said we could draw on it, right? So it should be ok!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "What are you going to draw?"

"I was thinking...that I could draw the three of us, since that's what's most important to me..." Sakura said softly.

Both boys gave her a genuine smile, or in Naruto's case, a blinding grin. "Awww...we love you too, Kura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed (loudly) and wrapped her in a bear hug that would crush any normal human being. But as we know already, Team 7 is quite far from normal...

The pinkette smiled happily through the hug would kill any lesser being, and turned to her siblings. "You guys are gonna help me, right?" she asked sweetly as Naruto released her from his death grip.

Their answering grins were response enough.

And with that, the three children opened the box of crayons and began their relentless attack.

Unknown to the three, a particular silver-haired man was listening the entire time with a smile on his masked face.

"...you guys are gonna help me, right?" Kakashi couldn't help but grin at how utterly cute they were together. You could see Sakura gaining a lot of courage with her boys with her, Naruto had someone to calm his crazy antics and keep him under control, and Sasuke had people to rely on and open up to. It was a good combination, with each other's strengths and weaknesses balancing each other out.

Oh Kami, he was thinking about them as a genin team! If anything, they were more of a family.

Yeah, it made sense...

Well, they probably grew up with one another, with the whole 'imouto' and 'aniki' thing, so I suppose that they must be really close...' Kakashi mused.

Kakashi could just see them as a genin team. Naruto, the blonde, seemed to be the unnaturally hyper one, also the one, Kakashi noticed, that had the most chakra. He actually had an astounding amout, almost to that of a jinchuriki.

Sasuke, the reserved and calm one, seemed to be the leader, and also the oldest. He also seemed unnaturally stoic for his age.

Kakashi gave a dry laugh as he prepared some cut vegetables for tempura. He was so similar to young Kakashi it was scary...

And finally, the girl, Sakura, was a very quiet, more analytical and smart than the boys, and also the one who got doted on the most by the other two.

Placing four bowls of rice on the dinner table, along with katsu and onigiri, and some fresh vegetables and fruits, he decided to...ahem, check in on the trio. (Read: spy on)

What he found was probably the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. Kakashi wasn't one for fawning, but all he wanted to do is wrap them in a hug and never let go.

The three children were draped next to one another on the couch (how did they fall asleep so fast!?), their younger sister in the middle and the brothers on either side. Naruto was snoring softly, and Sasuke looked slightly fidgety, as he was twitching in his sleep.

On the table was a single paper. It was a crude crayon drawing of the three of them together on a grassy field, complete with Naruto and Sasuke's spiky hair and Sakura's neon locks. The three kids were smiling crudely, pictured in black crayon, though they knew Sasuke well enough to only make it a half-smile for him.

Kakashi grinned. He shook the loudest one - the blonde. "Hey, Naruto, get up."

Immediately, the blonde sprung up, uncurling a knife from inside his obnoxious jumpsuit and shouted, "Who's there?!" and once again astounding (and deafening) Kakashi with his sheer volume.

Jeez, he was going to go deaf by the time this was over...

Kakashi held up his hands. "Hey, it's just me." He said in surrender.

Naruto put the knife away and scratched his head sheepishly. "Oh, sorry ojiisan, just instinct, ya know?"

Instinct? Man, he would make one hell of a shinobi, they all would!

Kakashi then felt a twitch in his eye as he remembered how he was addressed. "You little brat, I'M NOT A GRANDPA!"

By now, the other two had awakened and were watching in a mix of amusement and slight alarm.

"Um...excuse me, ninja-san, but what's your name?" Sakura asked curiously.

The man eye-smiled. "I'm Kakashi, kiddo."

The young girl looked at him with doe-eyes. "Kakashi-san, can we have some food now?" She asked pleadingly.

Kakashi laughed. "Alright then, c'mere kids. Dinner's ready."

Three blurs (oddly enough, one pink, one yellow, and one black) raced past Kakashi and immediately settled into the chairs.

Sakura, knowing her boys, gave them a stern look, and their fidgeting hands stopped inching towards the bowls. Though Sakura herself wasn't much better, and was staring at the bowls hungrily.

Kakashi soon joined them, and nodded to them. And they took off.

The three of them, as though it was a race, immediately snatched the bowls and started spooning food into their greedy mouths. At least Sakura and Sasuke had the dignity to use their utensils properly...

Naruto was a whole other story. He began simply putting whatever he could into his bowl and literally dumping into his mouth.

Kakashi watched the entire scene with a sense of morbid fascination, similar to how one watches a car crash about to happen. It's horrible and gruesome, but you can't look away.

And faster than Kakashi, with all his ANBU skill, could comprehend, three pairs of pleading eyes were pointed his way, with a synchronized chirp of, "More please?"

Kakashi felt his knees slightly give way and thanked Kami he was sitting down. "Um...that's it on dinner...but if you want desert..."

Pointing to his fridge weakly, he told them to get the teapot and dango, and they could talk a bit about each other. Or as everyone else oh-so-fondly called it: interrogation.

Stumbling into a sofa chair, Kakashi tried to think about happy things, anything but the gaping hole in his wallet these kids were going to leave.

A dango stick in each hand, Naruto speeded over to the living room and was asked to start first. "But ojiisan, what about you? We don't know nothing about who you are or what you do or-"

"Enough, Naruto." Sasuke cut off.

Kakashi sighed. "All right, you brat. My name's Hatake Kakashi, I'm a jounin ninja," 'As of now,' he mumbled under his breath, "And I like reading, training, and going on missions."

Sakura clapped excitedly. "That's so cool!" She squealed. "A jounin!"

Sasuke smiled at his younger sister. "Yeah, he's a ninja. Father told be about them before..." His expression darkened.

The other two kids seemingly understood. Naruto reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

Kakashi looked at them in confusion. "Well, since I know nothing about you guys except your names, how about you tell me what your favorite things are, your age, and a little about your pasts." Kakashi hoped they trusted him enough to give him some background.

Sakura and Naruto turned to their leader. "Should we?"

Sasuke grunted. "If he wanted to hurt us, he'd have done it a lot sooner. I think it's safe."

The blonde grinned. "Alright! I'm Naruto, dattebayo! I'm six!" Huh, a little older than he thought. "I like ramen when I can get some, Sakura and Sasuke, oh, and practicing with ninja weapons we find! And my past...I dunno, actually. I grew up in the orphanage, but there were so many kids there I wasn't really noticed, and due to..." He laughed sheepishly, "Unfortunate circumstances, I got kicked out and lived on the streets for...errr...

Sasuke grudgingly agreed. "I'm surprised you know the words 'unfortunate' and circumstance' dobe."

"TEME!"

Sakura sighed. "You two...but really, they're pretty close." She told Kakashi.

Naruto beamed. "Yeah, we're awesome, dattebayo!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Ok, Sasuke, you're up next."

Sasuke grunted. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha," Kakashi felt his eyes widen. What the hell was an Uchiha kid doing out in the streets!? "but I refuse to go by that name anymore. I'm almost seven. I don't like many things, but those things include tomatoes, training, and my siblings. I, as you probably guessed, was exiled from the Uchiha clan by my father, saying I wasn't worthy. But I don't know why." Kakashi winced. Kicked out of your own clan...

Kakashi realized the boy wasn't going to keep talking, in favor of crossing his arms and glaring at the totally innocent walls.

Naruto winced. "You gotta cut Sasuke some slack, oji-san. He's not...a big fan of the topic..."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "Alright, Pinky, you're up!"

Sakura smiled softly but nervously. "I'm Haruno Sakura, but I don't go by my last name anymore, like Sasuke. I'm six like Naruto. I like learning, my brothers, and dango starting today," She earned a chuckle from the silver-haired man, "and I've been living on my own for about a year and a half now. My parents disowned me because of my pink hair," she held up a lock with her fingers, "I was always the odd one out, and people would oick on me horribly for it...eventually my parents couldn't take it anymore and they left me out in the streets." She wiped a stray tear away and smiled at her brothers. "That's when Naruto-nii and Sasuke-nii found me."

Kakashi winced in sympathy.

Naruto wrapped his sibling up in another tight hug. "Yup, she's like our little sis now!" He shouted.

Sasuke groaned. "Stop being obnoxious, dobe."

Naruto pouted at the boy's words, but turned to Kakashi. "Psst, old man, I know Sasuke seems like a total jerk right now, but he's actually just bitter about his family," he smirked. "He's a total softie once you get to know him, 'ttebayo!" He whisper-shouted.

Kakashi shook his head. This team was so much alike Team Minato it was scary.

Naruto was Obito, obviously. They were loud, obnoxious, but also powerful and extremely hyper. Heck, they even have the same spiky hair and megawatt grin!

Sakura was Rin. They were both soft-spoken, gentle, and easy to get along with, not to mention both girls. The only thing Sakura was missing was Rin's temper when she got angry, but that would probably change as Sakura got older.

He gave a shudder. One angry Rin was bad enough, but two...

And finally, Sasuke. They were stoic, quiet, dangerous, and cold to anyone outside their little circle of trust. Plus, they both have (or will have, in Sasuke's case) the Sharingan. Though the three of them didn't need to know that...

"...Kakashi-san? Kakashi-san, you ok?" Sakura's concerned voice broke him out of his ponderings.

Kakashi nodded sheepishly, rubbing his head. Suddenly, an idea struck him like a bowling ball. The gears in his head turned like mad. It took all of his willpower not to smirk evilly. "Sorry about that, just thinking about how you three are so alike my genin team it's kinda frightening..." He replied nonchalantly.

Naruto gave him a confused look. "Geneen? What's that?"

Kakashi smacked his forehead comically. Sasuke found the time appropriate to intervene. "Genin is a rank of shinobi, or ninja. It's the first rank, right out of the ninja school." He looked at Kakashi for confirmation.

Kakashi nodded, giving Sasuke an impressed look. "Very good. People that want to be ninja first enter the academy at age 6-7, and train until they are deemed worthy to become genin. The average age is around 12." Kakashi felt no need to tell them he graduated at age 8. "As a matter of fact, this year's semester is starting in..." He mentally waited until he deemed it a believable pause. "4 months, to be exact."

"I want to join."

Three curious glances were thrown towards the Uchiha. Kakashi himself was inwardly smirking. Just what he hoped for - interest in the Academy. But in order to do that...

"I'm sure you'd be great in the Academy, but you've got a small problem..." Kakashi winced outwardly, inwardly praying this would work.

Sasuke turned his started glance to Kakashi. "What?" He questioned (demanded).

Kakashi sighed. "You need to have someone pay the entry fee."

Shouts of indignation rose through the group. "-What!? But we can't-" "-It's not fair! Now I'll never be a ninja, ojjisan-" "-What!? But how are we supposed to-"

Kakashi held up his hands. "Whoa. Let me finish. As I was saying, you need to pay for the admission. Now, normally, I would pay for your admission," the three kids beamed, "But I have to officially be your guardian."

Sakura blinked. "So basically...if Sasuke wants to be a genin, he needs to be adopted by you?"

"In a sense, yes. There'd be some paperwork and meeting with the Hokage and all that, but...pretty much, I'd become a guardian to you Sasuke." Kakashi noted the contemplative look on Sasuke's face.

"I'll do it..." Both his siblings were astounded, Naruto with his mouth hanging open, but Kakashi was inwardly cackling. And when there's one..."But under one condition." He said gruffly. "I want you to adopt my siblings and enter them in the Academy too." ...Others follow. Kakashi grinned in victory and nodded.

If Sakura and Naruto looked dumbstruck before, their very minds exploded now. "OH MY GOD YOU MEAN WE GET TO GO TO NINJA SCHOOL AND EAT FOOD AND BUY STUFF AND HAVE A HOUSE AND SLEEP IN A BED AND DO ALL SORTS OF AWESOME STUFF THAT WE NEVER GOT TO DO BEFORE?! OH MY GOD I'M SO EXCITED! SASUKE-TEME YOU'RE AWESOME!" Screamed Naruto as he started jumping around Kakashi's apartment like a hyper bunny rabbit.

Sakura, on the other hand, started to cry. She jumped into Sasuke's lap and started sobbing into his chest, while sobbing continuous 'thank you's' to a very overwhelmed Uchiha.

Kakashi was actually surprised that his soon-to-be students were this enthusiastic. He was contemplating this further when a bright yellow blob blocked all his vision and he suddenly found he couldn't breathe.

"Nrto gerrof m bfor I dy o lauk o arr!" Kakashi tried to scream. (Translation: Naruto get off me before I die of lack of air!)

The sobbing pinkette finally recovered from her crying fit to see a blue-faced Kakashi in the grips of a Naruto. She nudged her brother. "Sasuke! Help Kakashi-san!"

Sasuke complied. THUNK!

"Oww!" whined the yellow-haired boy, rubbing the growing lump on his head ruefully. "What was that for?"

Sasuke and Sakura instantly facepalmed. "He's hopeless." They said in unison.

The Hokage was seriously freaking out.

Here was Kakashi. Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi. Asking to become the guardian of these three random orphans.

Unbelievable.

Sarutobi rubbed his eyes a couple times and looked back up - and sure enough, the four people were still standing there.

Three cute little kids and one out-of-character/imposter former ANBU, staring at him strangely.

So it wasn't a dream.

Damn it. That meant it was the apocalypse.

Clearing his throat and trying to salvage what little bit of Hokage-ness he had left, he spoke. "So...Kakashi, you wish for these three to become your charges and enter them in the Academy?"

Kakashi gave an affirmative nod. "Yes, Hokage-sama, I will to officially become their guardian and enter them in the Academy this year."

Sarutobi had to admit, the kids were adorable. They had giant, pleading eyes staring at him the entire time, begging him to agree. And, Sarutobi hated to admit it, it was working.

Kids. They're evil. Pure evil.

Sarutobi went over each of their files, unsatisfied with the almost non-existent information.

Name: ? Naruto (Surname Unknown)

Gender: Male

Birthday: Unknown

Parents: Unknown

Classification: Unknown

Extra Notes:

Name: Haruno Sakura

Gender: Female

Birthday: March 28

Parents: Haruno Shiji and Haruno Himeko

Classification: Unknown

Extra Notes:

Name: Uchiha Sasuke

Gender: Male

Birthday: July 23

Parents: Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto

Classification: Unknown

Extra Notes:

"So Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura agree?" Sarutobi asked again.

The three little children nodded excitedly.

The Sandaime Hokage sighed. "I can offer you certain parts of this negotiation, but there is one part even I have no power over." Kakashi and the children looked at him with confusion and apprehension. "I cannot officially make you their father, since they have neither their parents consent nor do they even know their parents anymore, so instead I will make you their official protector and guardian. Care for them like they're your own, Kakashi." Sarutobi smiled.

"YES!" The three kids screamed in unison. They jumped up and brought everyone, Kakashi and Sarutobi included, into a group hug.

"Ahem. Well, thank you, children, but I'd like to have a word with Kakashi. Is that alright?" Sarutobi gasped from lack of air. Man, the blonde could hug tightly!

Kakashi, also looking a bit blue, nodded to the three, and they ran playfully from his office out into the hallway.

Sarutobi straightened his robes and sat back down, Kakashi doing the same. "Now, if you don't mind me prying, Kakashi, I simply want to ask you a couple questions." He paused. "And for you to sign the papers."

The ninja nodded, taking a seat once again and began scanning the documents.

"Anyways, Kakashi, I wish to ask you something?"

Kakashi stared at him. "About what, Hokage-sama?"

"Your motives." He said simply.

"Ah." Kakashi looked, for once, a bit sheepish. "My reasons for adopting, correct?"

Sarutobi nodded. "Even you must agree, suddenly having a soft spot for three random young kids. They're sweet, yes, but it's very...unlike you."

There was the longest pause as Kakashi pondered the question. "...To be perfectly honest, Hokage-sama, I really don't know. It's just..."

"They..." He sighed. "They remind me horribly of my old team. Obito, Rin...me," he said softly. "Our personalities are all there. And...I failed my team. This is almost like...like a second chance." He nodded towards the outside door, where the three kids were blabbering in excited voices.

The Hokage's eyes softened considerably. "I admire your motives, Kakashi, and you also will be helping their futures as well as your own."

Kakashi stared down at his lap. "I also have another reason..."

The Hokage looked at him in surprise. "What is it?"

Kakashi frowned. "...Minato-sensei. And Kushina-chan. They'd...they'd want me to do this. I can imagine Kushina shouting at me 'You heartless fiend! Abandoning children in need is cruel, dattebane!'" The Sandime laughed. "I should do this to...honor them."

"And the blonde boy...he looks so much of the Yondaime it's painful." He laughed sadly. "Plus, he has Kushina's temperament..."

The Hokage's mind was whirling. Could it be...

"Thank you for your time, Kakashi, you're dismissed." Sarutobi told him.

As soon as Kakashi shushined away, the Sandaime glanced towards the stone image of the former Hokage. The still stone face betrayed nothing of the infamous Yellow Flash's intentions. Minato...what are you hiding from me? Is this...the child that died in the Kyuubi attack?

"All right, my little soon-to-be students, since you're entering the Academy in about 16 weeks, it's up to me to prepare you for anything you could face."

The three looked up to him excitedly. "All right! With your help we'll graduate in a flash, dattebayo!" Take a wild guess on who said that...

Kakashi shook his head. "I'm about to warn you. This is going to be the toughest 16 weeks of your lives. I don't want any complaining, since you chose this. You got it?"

"Hai, Kakashi-san!"

"From now on, it's Kakashi-sensei to you."

"Hai!"

Whew! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!

Just to make a few things clear about the storyline: in this AU, the Uchiha Massacre hasn't happened yet, since that's after Sasuke turns 7, so the Uchiha's are still alive. I repeat, yet. I may or may not add it in ;) Also, the reason Sarutobi doesn't know about Naruto being Minato's son and the jinchuriki is the simple fact that during that day, after Minato and Kushina sealed the Kyuubi away and died, the Sandaime didn't find Naruto. Instead, a couple days maybe after the attack, some random person found Naruto, deemed him one of the orphans left behind from the attack, and sent him to the orphanage.

Now for a little poll: Who do you want to drop in and help the soon-to-be Team Seven with their training? You can pick one or two of the following:

Gai

Kurenai

Asuma

Anko

Shisui (read above)

Gemna

Itachi (read above)

Anyone else you wanna pick - just make sure they're chuunin or higher and have a Narutopedia page so I can get some info on them xD

Just review and tell me your pick (and maybe some feedback on this chapter, hint hint xD) and I will keep count! Your votes may or may not change the outcome of the story :)

Next up: Training, training, and more training. And some crazy teachers.

R&R!

HawaiianSunsets