Part 2: First Ramen

Kurenai slowly cracked one soft maroon eye open, it took every ounce of her early morning will power not to let it fall back into it's proper place and let the sleep that still fuzzily poked her mind to take over. That is if a pair of mischievous blue eyes hadn't suddenly popped into her slanted vision and something very slimy had pressed it self against her cheek. Startled, both eyes flew open to see a small toddler dressed in a pair of fuzzy blue footy pajamas giggling with delighted amusement at her face. With a sigh she picked up the tiny body and swung him up into the bed. "What it is with you and spit?"

Her only response was another spit bubble right on her nose and another high-pitched giggle from the grinning toddler. Grabbing a tissue from her bedside she swung her legs over the edge of the mattress and proceeded to wipe off her cheek and nose. "Alright I'm up." The boy jumped off the bed with cat like reflexes and raced over to his bag. Sitting down on his bottom he grasped the flip top and with all his might pulled it up with the sound of Velcro ripping. Searching intently in the patterned light blue interior, he finally drew out a half full sippy cup of juice.

Standing up first on his legs and then pushing off of the floor with his hands he turned and ran back to the now melting women, his bottle held out in front of him. With a laugh she grabbed the small boy and threw him in the air, safely of course, hand's still on his side. "You are too adorable" she said bringing his face down to her and snuggling their noses together. Settling Naruto on her hip she moved towards the bathroom, shaking her head as he began to suck diligently on his juice. "Why didn't you just do this before if you were so hungry?"

The wide blue eyes didn't respond as she fumbled through her morning preparations, brushing teeth, washing face, ect. ect. All with the observant eyes trained on her, diligently watching every move. Running the brush through her mane of dark hair, she suddenly hit a snag in the form of one tightly ensnared, chubby fist. Glancing down she meet a pair of melted, puppy dog eyes that innocently stared up at her face and the cup still stuck to his mouth. "Your not going to let me finish this are you?" Setting the brush down on the counter she walked back out of the bathroom and through the slightly cluttered bedroom to the short hallway.

Avoiding the various toys that she had been too exhausted to pick up yesterday, she managed to maneuver her way to the small kitchen. Setting him in the booster seat, she carefully strapped him in before heading over to the fridge and scanning the contents with an exhausted eye. "How about some applesauce today?" she asked absentmindedly. Hearing no objections she pulled out the jar and set it on the counter, then going to the cupboard she pulled out a bowl, putting it down next to the applesauce. Unscrewing the lid, she poured a small amount into the dish and recapped the jar. Grabbing a wide handled spoon from the drawer she walked over to the table and set them both down in front of the boy.

Naruto carefully pulled the cup out of his mouth and set it down on the table, then grasping the spoon he focused all his attention on getting the food from the bowl and to his mouth. Sitting down at the table, this time with a plate of honey toast, Kurenai and Naruto proceeded to eat breakfast with no interruptions. Setting the dishes into the sink she ran water over them for a few seconds before leaving them for later. Then going back over to boy she picked him up, leaning over the small hands grasped the empty cup and pulled it to his chest. Going back into the bedroom, she set him down and he immediately went over to his back, put away his cup, and began to pull out various articles of clothing.

Shaking her head she walked over to her chest of drawers and pulled out her normal clothing, quickly changing she turned back to him in time for a sock to fly past her face. Bending down to pick up the tiny piece of cloth she marveled at how it could fit on anyone's foot. Standing up and walking over to the boy she helped him change into a pair of tan cargo pants and a grow-into dark blue t-shirt with the wayward pair of socks. "Alright you, go put on your waders and jacket," she said with a grin as the boy raced into the hallway.

Walking over to her bed she kneeled down and pulled out her shoes. Putting them on she went back out to the door, to the extremely excited boy hopping from foot to foot outside the door. Grabbing her coat she checked for her keys as she opened the door, hearing the satisfying jingle in her pocket she grabbed the small hand and stepped out into the fresh early afternoon air. Naruto pulled excitedly at her hand but she managed to keep a tight hold on him. It had been snowing off and on that day so a fresh coat of snow gleamed on the ground, the prefect place to make long trails of footprints.

They ran to the market and weaved in and out of stands before finally collapsing on the ground both out of breath and laughing. Pulling some much needed air into her lungs Kurenai sat up and winked at the small boy busily making snow angels. Slender hands brushed snow out of her hair as she stood up and proceeded to give her clothing the same treatment. Turning back to Naruto she smiled and opened her mouth to say something that is if a very familiar voice hadn't suddenly interrupted her.

"Kurenai!"

Half turning in surprise the clueless look on her face gave way to one of happiness as a bundle of a girl suddenly hugged her back. Laughing she turned in the tight grasp and returned the favor. "Anko!" her maroon eyes upturned in joy as she let go of the small Gennin who proceeded to hop from foot to foot, being almost impossible for her to sit still for any period of time.

The girls purple hair had grown a few inches longer since the last time Kurenai had, had the pleasure of seeing her last. She had also taken to the habit of wearing a long brown duster, something that her mentor; Orochimaru had an influence in, no doubt. Either way the girl seemed like a disturbing mix between him and Naruto, or at least the way the little boy was going to grow up to be. Shaking her head slightly she stowed her worries in the back of her head, that was something for another day, another time, besides the girl in question was giving her a strange look.

"Are you alright Kurenai-kun?" she asked, coming right up to the women, sticking her slender face right under her nose, cocoa brown eyes staring up worridly. With a laugh the women pushed the girl a few inches away from her and grinned apologeticlly.

"Sorry Anko, I was simply surprised at how much you've changed." The girl immedialy grinned and clasped her hands behind her back before twirling a bit, showing exactly how much she had grown.

"Well I suppose it could be a bit of a shock." she said a bragging tone held high in her voice "Seeing how much more beautiful I have become, if that's even possible"

"Ya, that's it" Kurenai said in a fake mocking voice, adding a sigh of torture in for good measure. Her only response was a hint of pink tongue from her companion that quickly fell in favor of a giggle.

"So what are you doing out here today, on this lovely wonderful day?" Anko asked excitedly her eyes sparkling with an unknown amusment.

The women shook her head, "Well I needed a few groceries and I thought that Naruto would enjoy a tumble in the snow." she said laughing.

Anko cocked her head in puzzlement, "That's cool... Did ya leave Naruto at the snowbank?" She asked referring to the popular children's hangout when it snowed. A steep hill that gathered the most snow during the winter usually parent's could leave their children there without fear they would wander off.

Kurenai frowned in confusion, "What are you talking about you know he's to young for that and besides he's right behind me..." she said and then suddenly trailed off when she actually looked behind her. A misshapen snow angel and a trail of tiny footprints leading to the main road was the only indication that there had been someone there at one time. In a panic she quickly scanned all sides of the market, there was no sign of a small toddler dressed in a bright orange parka.

:::

It was rather silent at the ramen stand, just after the lunchtime rush so just a few stragglers were in the calm shop. That happened to suit a particular Anbu quite well, he was sitting calmly at the bar, a softly steaming bowl of ramen sitting in front of him. He slowly ate from it, most of his attention focused on the novel he held in his left hand. It was one of his rare times to himself, a vacaion he rarely had a chance to take, mostly because of he had really nothing to do during the time. No family, barely any friends, and he didn't have any hobbies, he just worked.

So it was a rare thing to see the man simply sitting and relaxing, actually in clothing that wasn't his uniform. Instead he wore a pair of black cargo pants, black combat boots, and a black long-sleeved shirt with yellow stiching and a dragon on the chest. He almost looked like a normal teenager if it wasn't for the face mask and the forehead protector covering his left eye. That was something that never changed with him, still the mysterious, strange, and sometimes frightening person he would probably always be, but the one bad thing about all this time off... he was a bit bored.

A soft tugging on his pant leg pulled him out of his thoughts and he slowly looked down to meet a pair of stormy blue eyes, tears threatening to fall at any second. Accompanying the wide eyes was a spiky mess of blond hair, one chubby hand curled tightly onto his pant leg. Glancing around the stand he didn't see anyone the toddler could belong to only two elders of the village arguing over their food.

Looking back down at the boy he smiled winningly at him, "Go back to your mommy now" he said making a little shooing motion with his hand. His only response being a the small hand tightening on his pants leg. "Okay, so that's a no." Looking sadly at his book, he sighed and slipped into the right cargo pocket. Then looking back down at the boy he couldn't help but smile at the other hand which had stretched towards him.

Leaning down he picked up the boy under each arm and set him on his lap, his left arm wrapped securly around the chubby little waist so the boy wouldn't fall off. The boy looked up at him expectantly as Kakashi tried to figure out what exactly he should do with him. The toddler solved his problem for him by reaching out towards the steaming bowl of ramen. "So that's it huh?" he said chuckling, picking up his chopsticks he pulled out a few noodles, made sure they were cool and then let the little boy chew on them.

While he ate, Kakashi tried to figure out where exactly he had come from, their weren't many people around the smaller districts this time of day, but he could have wandered off from the main market. "Your parents must be going out of their mind" he muttered looking down at the adorable little boy who had pulled the bowl closer to him and simply picking the noodles out of it, instead of waiting for the man to get them for him.

"You're ingenius aren't you?" He asked, absentmindedly grabbing a napkin and wiping off the soup that had dribbled on the boy's chin and front of his jacket. Waiting until he had finished his noodle he took the chubby fingers and wiped them off, then he set him down on the floor. Standing up himself, he pulled a few crumpled bills from his pocket and set it next to the bowl.

Then looking down at the boy he smiled again, "Do you want to walk or do you want me to carry you?" he asked his eyes glimmering with amusment as the boy seemed to think it over and then held out his arms. "Alright carry it is" He said picking up the boy and settling him on his hip, one of the chubby arms went on his neck and the other went up so he could suck on his fist. Kakashi grinned, he actually was charmed by this little boy, he was utterly adorable and had already managed to wrap him around his spit slobbered fist.

"What is your name anyway?" he asked him as they walked out of the stand into the quickly darkening outdoors. Kakashi cast a worried look at the sky, it was getting so dark so early, he hoped that they would find the boy's parents soon. On top of that it had started to snow rather heavily and soon it would be almost impossible to see anything.

"Naruto"

Glancing down in suprise he realized that the boy had just answered his question, with a smile he pulled him closer to his body. "So you can speak huh?" The boy didn't respond rather rested his head against the man's chest, his eyes drooping in exhaustion. Kakashi smiled softly "Alright Naruto, let's get you someplace warm to sleep tonight and tomorrow we'll go see the Hokage." the boy seemed to smile as he snuggled into the warmth.

:::

Umm.... Hi, I know you probably want to kill me but I actually have a great excuse, parents suck. Yup I have been grounded off the internet since the summer began and technically I am still grounded but they let me go on once a month or so to download songs from the internet, thankfully I can say this takes a long time and manage to at least update then. The other reason I haven't written as much chapters I could have is that for most of June and July I was either not home or entertaining family. So around the time school starts I'll probably be able to get on more (school work) I just hope you guys can forgive me and still enjoy this story.

Okay let's face it a 17 year-old Kakashi is extremely hot... especially in that outfit... I would draw him except that I can't draw Kakashi or basically anyone from Naruto within my life... ::Sob:: It's so unfair... Oh well at least I can still write about it!

We'll I'm freaked out I'm about to get my senior pictures taken tomorrow (Well actually probably a couple days ago by the time I'm able to post this) I hope you guys can forgive me for not being able to update more and hopefully my parents will take that ban off soon, or I find a foolproof way to get on without them knowing... ya right not my mother, my father could care less and I love that about him.

Love ya! and thanks for being so patient

"Eke lullaby my loving boy,

My little Robin, take thy rest,

Since age is cold and nothing coy."

Gascoigne's lullaby, George Gascoigne