A/N: Thanks to those who have been reviewing this fic. I'm glad you like it. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Fulfilling the Promise
Hiruzen was waiting when the silver-haired ANBU reported at the council office with the baby wrapped in a towel. He took the infant into his arms with a sad smile.
"Hiruzen-sama, I will leave the child with you as per Minato-sensei's wishes."
Hiruzen nodded. "Thank you, Kakashi." The older man looked at the young life in his arms. "Will you come and visit him again?"
"I suppose I can't avoid that since Minato-sensei has asked me to help him take care of Naruto. But I will not be able to come over so often."
Hiruzen nodded. Kakashi bowed politely and turned to leave.
"Are you going back to the battlefield?" The retired Hokage sighed tiredly.
Kakashi thought for a while, and then his hand reached into his pouch, feeling the item given to him by the kunoichi. "No. They already have a team there clearing up. I need to fulfill a last wish."
Hiruzen watched as the teen took off and then back at the infant who had fallen asleep from fatigue. He shook his head.
'There will be more orphans coming up. Who's going to care for them?'
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The medic-nins were surprised when an ANBU appeared in the morgue and started scanning the numerous bodies lying there. It wasn't surprising to see shinobi coming into mortuaries to identify bodies of their loved ones. But seeing an ANBU in there is rare. Usually, when ANBU die, their bodies are destroyed on the spot. It never reaches the hospital. And adding on to that fact, ANBUs' identities are supposed to remain a mystery. They would never enter the morgue fully dressed in their gears to identify a family member's body.
One of them approached him tentatively. "Is anything wrong, ANBU-sama?"
Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out the item which he had been staring at on the streets earlier. It was a white handkerchief, now stained with streaks of blood and wrapped in the cloth, was a silver chain with a pendant of elegantly craved leaves surrounding a dolphin in the centre. He scrutinized the corner of the hankie and noted the name 'Umino Iruka'. He glanced up at the medic nin.
"I'm looking for any dead shinobi that goes by the surname of 'Umino'."
The medic-nin eyes widened in surprise and then he quickly moved over to his desk and picked up his file, flipping through it and scanning the list of names which the medic team had managed to identify through the identity tags on the bodies. He glanced up at the teen. "There are two of them."
Kakashi sighed. 'So both his parents are dead. Unless this kid does have other family members who are shinobi as well.' Kakashi slipped the hankie back into his pouch and stared straight at the medic-nin through his ANBU mask.
"I want to see them."
The medic-nin hesitated and then motioned for the boy to follow him. He led Kakashi down the aisles of dead bodies and then stopped at one of them.
Kakashi lifted the white cloth covering the face and looked at it. It was a man. He nodded and then turned to the medic-nin. "I'm taking his identity tags."
"But –" The medic-nin sputtered. Kakashi held up a hand.
"I've been asked to deliver something to a family member of the Uminos. I'm just doing an extra favor to bring the identity tags to the family member as well."
The medic-nin nodded uncertainly, and then decided that he could trust an ANBU. He reached over and removed the tags, handing it over to the silver-haired teen. Then he continued down the aisle and stopped at another one. Kakashi repeated the motion and lifted the white veil.
It was the kunoichi who had handed the hankie and chain to him. He turned to look at the medic-nin who removed the tags and handed it to him as well. Kakashi scanned the tags in his gloved hand, and then he slipped it into his pouch and headed out of the morgue.
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Raidou leaned against the wall outside the shelter and glanced up when he noticed a familiar figure approaching.
"It's over?"
Kakashi nodded. "They are clearing up the area."
"How many?"
The ANBU shook his head. "Too many."
"Yondaime-sama……." The older teen trailed off.
"He perished." Kakashi swallowed thickly. He didn't want to be reminded that his teacher, the last remaining person who he had cared for, had died.
"Are you alright?" Raidou asked quietly. Kakashi sighed and nodded.
"Konoha is in no state now for me to grief." Kakashi turned his head away. "Sensei did what he should do as a Hokage. He saved the village. I'm proud of him."
"I really hope you are alright." Raidou looked at him sadly.
Kakashi shrugged, trying to hide his pain. He was thankful that he had his ANBU mask on. At least, it kept others from seeing the pain in his eye. He didn't need sympathy or pity. He didn't need any forms of comfort. Right now, he had to do what he had to. He had to keep the village that his teacher had sacrificed his life for intact. That was the least he could do in tribute to the late Hokage.
"Looks like this is another generation where children will be pushed up the ranks of shinobi to cover for those that we lost." The nineteen-year-old jounin said after a moment of silence, as he shook his head sadly.
Kakashi nodded. "That's the reality of a shinobi."
"So what are you doing here?" Raidou eyed him.
"Fulfilling the wish of a dead." The ANBU stated calmly. Raidou nodded in understanding.
"Who are you looking for?"
"A child. The name, Umino Iruka."
Raidou pulled the door leading into the shelter open. He entered the dark corridor and motioned for Kakashi to follow him.
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Iruka hugged his knees to his chest as the tears kept streaking from his eyes. He wiped them away and continued waiting.
Waiting for his parents to pick him up from this place. Waiting to go home, where he can perhaps enjoy a late night supper with his parents. Waiting for them to tell him the exciting stories of fighting that monster fox. Waiting to be tucked into bed again by his mother and the bedtime stories told by his father.
He waited.
Most of his classmates from the academy were in the same room. They had tried to pull a prank on him earlier on to pass time, but he had ignored them. He was too worried about his parents to bother about what the others were doing.
He turned his head slightly. One of his classmates, Mizuki, was talking to his friends in a corner of the room. Beside him, a girl sat quietly. Iruka recognized her as the girl who always hung around Mizuki. Her name was Tsubaki.
Mizuki turned and saw him staring at the group. He stuck out his tongue and then started pointing him out to his friends and muttering something. All of them burst out laughing. Iruka's face scrunched up and he turned away. Mizuki must be saying something horrible again. He always does. Even at the academy, he was always mercilessly teasing Iruka.
The door to the room opened and a jounin stepped in. Everyone in the room turned silent. An ANBU stepped up beside the older teen and everyone cringed in fear.
The jounin cleared his throat and Iruka recognized him as the teen that had carried him to the shelter earlier on.
"Anyone here by the name of Umino Iruka?"
Iruka's eyes widened and he sprang to his feet. Raidou turned to look at him and muttered under his breath. "Finally we found him." Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he recognized the boy as the one he had brought away from the battlefield earlier.
Raidou waved the boy over and Iruka approached him cautiously. After all, this was the shinobi who had forcefully carried him into the shelter earlier on. Who knows where he is going to forcefully bring Iruka next.
The ANBU stepped forward when Iruka came nearer. Iruka blanched and immediately backtracked. Kakashi was unfazed. He moved forward quickly and halted the boy in his steps with a grip to his arm.
"I have a message from your mother." Kakashi spoke in a low voice. Iruka hesitated at the sight of the ANBU and then smiled when the words set in. Finally there was news from his parents. Were they going to bring him home now?
The others in the room watched curiously as the ANBU stood in front of their classmate.
Kakashi flinched at the smile. The kid must have been hopeful that his parents were still alive. He straightened himself and turned towards the door, all the while wondering how he was going to break the news to the child. "Come with me."
Iruka hesitated as the ANBU walked out of the door. Raidou gestured to him kindly. "Go on. It's alright. He will take care of you."
Iruka stepped gingerly out into the dark corridor. He looked to see where the ANBU had gone and vaguely made out a figure moving down the passageway. He ran after the ANBU, trying to keep sight of the older boy under the dim light.
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