A bit late, but here is chapter 3. Warning: this won't be all that pleasant of a chapter – this is not a fluff story. There will be angst sprinkled into this piece as I develop it going forward. Not a ton, but enough. This will be the last time skip I do in this story for a long time. Having said that, this chapter will also set the tone for where I am planning to take this story. All mistakes are my own, and I am open to feedback of all sorts. Oh, and I still don't own Naruto.

"My burden is my purpose. Without it, I wouldn't be."
― Solange Nicole

2 Years later

Sitting upon the Hokage monument were two figures, both crouched over, looking upon the village. Today marked what was likely the last week that Kakashi would be the Jònin sensei of team 7, as he intended to enter his team into the upcoming chunin exams. Putting his arm around Naruto's shoulders, the copy ninja blew out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Staring ahead, Kakashi finally spoke, "Naruto, do you know why I brought you up here today?"

Still looking out into the distance, the blond could only shake his head, "no, Kakashi-Sensei, though I've been wondering."

Casting his student a pensive glance, the seasoned ninja started, "what you are looking at, Naruto, is a monument not just to the love your parents held for the village, but especially for the love they held for you. There is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind – the actions they took the day you were born are why anyone in this village is still alive. I've never gotten around to telling you anything about this, but now I think the time is right. Did you know that I was once your father's student?"

With a frown marring his features, the blond shook his head no again, "I honestly did not, sensei. Why are you telling me this just now? What were they like? Who was my mom?"

Pushing up a loose lock of hair with a strong exhale, the copy ninja allowed himself to chuckle. "Your mom, Naruto, was probably the only person to ever live that could scare your old man. She was as tough as she was beautiful." Letting out a sad smile, the white haired ninja pushed on, "her name was Kushina Uzumaki, and you have her face."

"He isn't wrong about that, kid. I know I've said this before, but I'm sorry….for the way things happened that day. If I could go back, I would do things differently."

Taking a deep breath, the blond let out a small smile 'I know that already, Kurama. Things happened that night, and being mad at you about it won't change a thing. Not all of it was your fault, and to be fair, the village had imprisoned you for a pretty bogus reason for almost a century. I'd have probably fought the moment I got out, too."

With an almost pained look, the fox had to turn away, "tch. You really are a different breed, Naruto. For what it's worth, you're the last jinchùriki I'll ever have. The day you face death, you won't be alone. Wherever your journey takes you, it is going to be a one way ticket for me. Let's make damn sure we go out with a bang, got it?"

Cracking a grin, the blond nodded, 'oh, you can count on that, Kurama. Believe it.'

Focusing his attention back on Kakashi, Naruto gave him an appreciative nod before asking, "and my father? About all I know about him is that he was the fourth."

With a faraway look, the former anbu settled himself in, "when I was a kid, I thought I knew everything; I thought I had the world figured out. I was like you are now Naruto, just not as good. I was advanced for my age, and a chunin just after I turned 5. My father was known as the white fang of Konoha, and was one of the strongest shinobi to ever grace the leaf."

Letting out another breath, Kakashi pushed on, "then, one day when I was 6 years old, I came home and found him in a puddle of his own blood. He killed himself in shame over failing a mission. Instead of completing the mission, he chose to save his friends. After that, I swore to myself that I would never break the rules on a mission like my dad did, and that I would never let myself feel love again. Looking back at it now, I have come to realize that I didn't know anything at all. I couldn't accept my dad's death, so I walked around pissed off all the time. After that, I was assigned a jonin sensei, and I was lucky enough for it to be your dad. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think that is when I finally started to heal. Your parents, Naruto…it is through them that I started to see the shadow of the family I thought I would never get back. I never really knew my mother, Naruto. The truth is that it was your mom who filled that void in my life. One of the things you will find about me Naruto is that it isn't just the team meetings that I am late for. My timing has always been woefully off. I was too late to save my best friend, and too hasty to avoid killing the girl I loved. I didn't make it in time to help your parents."

Looking affronted, Naruto tried to protest, "but Kakashi, you can't possibly blame.."

Holding up a hand, the silver haired ninja had an unusually hard look in his eyes, "let me finish, Naurto. Though I would have never admitted it back then, the truth was that I was still a kid. Some of those things I could not have changed. But there is one thing that I could have done. I could have been there for you sooner, Naruto. I let the death of your parents affect me the same way the death of my father did. I isolated myself, and was too weak to even look at you. I should have taken you out of that crib the day you were born and taken you home. The cold-hard truth of it all is that I failed you in a time when you couldn't afford for me to. I can't change that, Naruto, but I promise that for the rest of my life, I'll always be around for you. Even after that, if I can help it."

With a glassy look in his eyes, Naruto didn't have his voice, so he settled for nodding once more. "It's okay, sensei – I managed, and I have you in my life now. That's what matters. Ever since I graduated, you have been the older brother that I needed in my life. I promise that I will never forget that, Kakashi.."

With a curved eye smile, Kakashi pulled his student in for a side hug. "Know this, Naruto – I am beyond proud of you

Deep in the underground tunnels of Konoha sat an elderly man with bandages covering the left side of his face. With a hard look on his face, he asked, "is it done?"

Kneeling before him, the anbu turned root operative shook his head behind his owl mask, "the mission has been pushed through, and the hokage is not aware of what it entails. We will isolate the copy ninja and jinchùriki from the rest of their team, and the asset will take care of things from there."

With a satisfied nod, the elder council member pushed himself to his feet with his cane before walking around his desk. "It's a dangerous game that we are playing, owl, but it is necessary for the survival of the village. I will not allow our weapon to be tainted by the foolish ideals of the will of fire. The reality of the shinobi world is darkness. The moment the nine tails was sealed into his body, his life was forfeit to the leaf. He must embrace that darkness so that others may walk in the light. The death of his sensei is a necessary step for his maturation as a shinobi. In the end, I will always control him."

Walking slowly away from his operative, Danzo Shimura allowed himself a moment to say his final piece, "Oh, and when the job is done, kill the asset. We will kill two birds with one stone on this day."

It would be a day too late for the head of root to realize that Orochimaru was not an asset that could so easily be controlled, and Kakashi was not a shinobi that would go quietly.

Sitting in their customary training field was team 7, and to their shock, their sensei was actually on time. With an easy eye smile, the captain of team 7 began "today is not going to be the usual, my cute little genin. Today, I am going to hand you these forms. In 6 days, the upcoming chunin exams are going to be held right here in the leaf, and as your sensei, I have decided to nominate each of you. You've all grown well over the past 2 years, and I know that you are more than ready to meet this challenge."

With an excited gleam in each of their eyes, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stood to take the forms their sensei was passing out. "Each of you needs to sign this form, and you need to show up at the academy at 8 AM sharp for the first part of the exam."

With a clap of his hands, Kakashi started, "since I know you are all going to pass with flying colors, before we start training for the exam, I decided that we are going to take one last mission as a team. Meet me at the academy in 5. " With one last eye smile, the joùnin sensei muttered "ja ne" before shunshining out of sight.

Shuffling papers out of the way on his desk, the aged Hokage allowed himself a smile. Before him was team 7, and the client, a rough looking farmer by the name of kenshin, had specifically requested that he be escorted by "The copy cat ninja Kakashi" to the land of tea. While the path was relatively safe, and would normally only qualify as a C ranked mission, the cost of the mission was bumped up to B because of the client specifically requesting one of the villages best ninjas.

"I don't expect you will encounter much danger on this mission, but I trust each of you will do your due diligence to ensure the safety of both yourselves and the client." Folding his hands, the hokage smiled again, "dismissed."

With team 7 walking out of the door, Kenshin turned his back to the hokage to follow them, with a sinister grin flashing across his features. Indeed, this would be the last mission that team 7 ever took.

With their packs slung around their shoulders, team 7 trudged on, with their client following close behind. Though his genin had a carefree attitude as they progressed down the road, Kakashi was experienced enough to sense something wasn't right. It was a sense that only the most seasoned shinobi could attain, and one that had saved his life so many times that he knew better than to ignore it. Taking great care to avoid tensing, the copy ninja began to subtlely let his hitai-ate slide up with a push of chakra, before his sharingan was exposed just enough to him to see out of it. That's when things went to hell in a hand-basket.

Crouching in the trees above, the root agents disguised as Iwa anbu had a visual of team 7. Crouched next to them was quite literally the worst criminal in the history of Konohagakure, but today, he would serve his former villages purpose. They would take a giant step towards controlling the nine tails, and he would get his sharingan. At least he thought he would. Being as wary as they were of Kakashi, they noticed the subtle shifting of his headband, and instantly knew that the time for them to strike had arrived. They would separate the Uchiha and the girl from the copy ninja and the nine tails, and then Orochimaru would kill Kakashi and harvest his eye right in front of his most beloved student. Failure in this mission was not an option.

Stirring from his slumber, the kyuubi allowed his eyes to snap open, "Kid, something isn't right. There is something foul in the air. There is a group that is preparing to kill you and your team, and one of them is not someone we can afford to be fucking with. I need you to brace yourself for some discomfort, because in a few seconds I am going to coat you with my chakra. You're going to concentrate on getting yourself and your team out of this place. If you try to fight the presence that I am sensing, we are both going to die. Do you understand?"

With wide eyes, the blond couldn't stop the breath from leaving his body. "Kurama, what on earth could have you this concerned? What are you talking about?"

"There isn't time for this, Naruto. Just listen to every word I say and be quiet. Your sensei already knows."

Glancing at Kakashi, Naruto couldn't stop his eyes from widening. He was actually getting out his sharingan. 'Kurama…what the fuck is happe…'

Before he could finish the thought, what appeared to be 6 Iwa anbu stormed out of the trees from above, just barely missing the members of team 7.

As Kakashi got his feet under him, he barked out "Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto, protect the client and don't go anywhere out of my field of vision.

With a sudden, violent gust of wind, Sasuke and Sakura were blown away, deep into the forest.

With terror filled eyes, Naruto began to rush towards the direction his teammates were sent in, before being roughly pulled back by Kakashi. With Naruto in his arms, Kakashi immediately swung around to protect his student. Orochimaru of the Sannin was standing behind them, and the copy ninja knew that what he just did was going to cost him. In protecting Naruto, he took a deep cut from the Kusanagi, and he could already feel the poison spreading into his veins. 'Fuck.'

Jumping backwards, Kakashi took a moment to collect himself. 'No matter how I look at this, things are really bad. Fuck. If I don't do something fast, this poison is going to kill me before this guy does.'

Standing before them with a sickly smile on his face, the snake sannin allowed himself a moment to revel in the moment, "Kukuku, ah Kakashi, my dear boy. I do promise that I will look after your sharingan, and since I am in such a generous mood, I will even spare your dear student."

With narrowed eyes, Kakashi resigned himself to his fate. Kamui was his only recourse. "Listen to me carefully, Naruto. I need you to stay behind me no matter what. I'll warp him away with the mongekyo."

Sliding his headband up fully, Kakashi allowed the last of his chakra to flow to his eye, before his entire world became a thousand shades clearer. With the blood vessels around his eye pulsating, blood began to flow out of the copy nins left eye, before time and space around the snake sannin began to rapidly distort.

Trying to back up, the snake sannin widened his eyes as he felt fear for the first time since the third hokage had him cornered before he left the village. With the intense pressure of the kumai beginning to warp him away, Orochimaru began to thrash violently in a futile attempt to escape. With unhinged fury pushing across his face, Orochimaru cursed "when I get out of this, I'll break every bone in your students bodies. I won't leave until I see the light leave their eyes. Do you hear me?!"

With one last surge, Kakashi completed his jutsu. As he collapsed to the ground, the last of Orochimaru was warped away into another dimension.

Crawling to his hands and knees, the copy ninja coughed up a heap of blood before he allowed himself to roll over on his back. Looking up, the only thing he could see was the devastated face of his student. Reaching out a hand, Kakashi grasped his students smaller one for the last time. With a pained smile, Kakashi let out a combination of a laugh and cough, "what's with that look on your face, Naruto? This….is…a good thing…Naruto. I finally…was able to make it in time."

With tears streaming down his face, Naruto held the hand of his sensei as the last of his life ebbed from his eyes.

With a pained voice, Kurama muttered "Naruto…"

"Naruto…it looks like I won't be able to stay with…you" the joùnin muttered, "but I can…watch out for you. Naruto…my eye. Take it…so that I can…look into the future for you." With the last of his strength, the man that was a brother to Naruto in all but blood pulled out the sharningan that was once gifted to him, and laid it gently his students hand. Cracking one last smile, Kakashi died at peace, knowing that Naruto was going to live on.

Looking down at his palm, Naruto felt his tears falling in droves. Knowing the state that his tenant was in, the Kyuubi extended tendrils of chakra outwards, wrapping them gently around the sharingan eye, before he swiftly put it in place of where Naruto's left eye once was. Rushing his chakra to the socket, the Kyuubi seared, and then healed the tissue surrounding the eye, all without Naruto even reacting.

With Naruto otherwise incapacitated, and the rest of his team nowhere in sight, the "client" Kenshin allowed himself to slip away unnoticed, drifting into the forest in the opposite direction, leaving nothing behind but dust and echoes.

Out a few hundred yards into the forest were Sakura and Sasuke, who laid unconscious. Standing above them was the squad of root anbu, now having discarded their disguises in favor of their regular leaf attire. Scooping the two of them up, they started towards the jinchuriki's direction, where they would, per their leaders orders, return them safely and triumphantly back into the leafs embrace, having "thrawted" Iwa once again.

Kneeling over the body of his now passed away sensei, Naruto shut his eyes as tightly as he could to stop the flow of tears. With that, a flood of memories assaulted his mind. A silver haired anbu bringing him a stuffed dog for his 4th birthday. A silver haired anbu teaching him how to walk up trees with chakra. A sensei starting him on the path of elemental manipulation. A brother who meant more to him than anything. With fists clenched, blood began to seep out of the palms of the blonde's hand. Just as suddenly, it began to pool out of his left eye, and when he next opened it, it was pale blue, ringed with concentric circles, before he too fell to unconsciousness.

Sucking in a sharp breath, the strongest of all tailed beasts verbalized his disbelief. "Rinnegan."