A/N:Thank you for taking the time to review! am shocked y'all find it well written. 'spesh cause i'm crippled with dyslexia...praise Bill Gates for his Microsoft word spell/grammar checker and my constant re-reading. ^_^

Chapter Three:

He was loath to admit that they had fallen into a routine of sorts. The plan of attempting to usher Naurto away from him within the space of a week had gone up in flames faster than a forest fire. The thirteen year old was practically his shadow, tailing him everywhere and anywhere, staring at him with those unfathomable blue eyes. He had grown used to glancing in his peripheral vision, the spiky mop of blonde hair often hovering by his elbow or hanging off a near-by structure as he tried to ignore the boy's presence. But ignoring Naruto seemed impossible. The little imp would be invading his personal boundaries or firing innocent questions while doing everything and absolutely anything to gain his approval, attention or physical touches.

And the sad thing was, despite all the pent-up stress and frustration the kid caused, Kakashi Hatake didn't mind.

Well, sometimes.

Kakashi still didn't know if he fully enjoyed Naruto's ever-increasing physical closeness. Especially when it was becoming a nightly habit to fall asleep with the boy so close that Kakashi could smell him.

The blonde held the aroma of something edible, sweet yet crisp all at the same time. It was a rare combination that Kakashi shamefully found appealing. So appealing, in fact, that the adult had to fight past the urge to moan at the delicious, mouth-watering scent…But Kakashi held strong, reminding him that the black mask that covered the portion of his face wasn't just for Daddy-issues, but also because of his hypersensitive sense of smell.

Of course, the Hatake did wear his mask for the shame of looking like his deceased father, but the other issue revolved around the heightened sense that had been passed down in generations through his clan. After all, there was a reason why the Hatake's held a summoning contract with tracking nin-dogs. The hounds and Hatake's were kindred spirits when it came to such a sense of smell.

But Gods, having such a skill (especially when not wearing said mask in bed) was a curse. On the rare occasions when Naruto did fall asleep and not spend all night watching him, Kakashi felt smothered by the teen's appetizing scent. The boy didn't help matters, either. Frequently Kakashi would blearily blink open his eyes to the masked face or sunshine locks blocking his vision, a sensation of Naruto's overly warm yet compact frame pressed up against the elder's chest or side or leg or…or anywhere.

Basically, Naruto Uzumaki had become a nightly barnacle to Kakashi.

But slowly, that nightly routine was encroaching upon daylight hours. For instance, right now Kakashi found himself walking along, his charge's arms hooked around his neck as the boy had all but latched onto his back. He could sort of handle Naruto's awkward ways within his apartment, away from social norms and judgmental, prying eyes. Yet outside was a different matter, leaving Kakashi to silently curse the idea of coaxing Naruto into walking with him on the streets as opposed to sprinting across rooftops and bounding in trees. It wasn't a particularly long walk towards the training fields, but time seemed to slow down when you knew your reputation of a fearsome genius was hastily crumbling around you.

However, the worst had come and gone though. Kakashi had listened to Naruto's bitter (and clearly paranoid) whispers whenever civilians and unimportant ninja had given second-glances at them, but that had been all. The boy obviously didn't understand that those who stared had been staring at Kakashi's behavior, not his piggy-backing limpet who happened to be the dreaded demon-container.

Now though, away from Konoha's early morning occupants that had been walking the streets, and by an empty path that led to the fields, Kakashi had finally neared his destination, unscathed. Nobody of key importance had spotted him.

No Asuma, no Kurenai, no Anko, no-

''Tenzou-sensei!'' a shrill voice called out, instantly making Kakashi freeze, ''Look, look, it's Kakashi-san!''

''Ah, so it is, Sakura…''

'Great,' Kakashi inwardly hissed, his hands quickly flying up to the arms locked around his neck. He tried to focus on removing the stubborn, human-shaped barnacle as the approaching noise of footsteps and young voices came closer. Resistance was futile though, especially if the Jounin held no intention of breaking Naruto's thin (yet powerful) arms for the sake of appearance. So he inhaled a breath of air, all the while trying to ignore Naruto's sweet smell, and exhaled calmly before forcing a cheerful smile on his face.

''Ah, Tenzou,'' Kakashi greeted his ex-ANBU junior, quickly turning around the view the man. ''I thought I could hear you and your little Genin nearby.''

Said brunette offered a weary smile in return. ''Then I'm surprised you didn't run, Senpai.''

Kakashi let out a brief bout of genuine laughter at the comment; he could feel the man's pain. The Sandaime had been pressuring the Hatake for years to become a Jounin-sensei, but upon numerous rejections, the old man had settled with asking for someone else. That someone sadly had been his old ANBU kohai, Tenzou.

The coffee-haired man hadn't exactly been given an easy ride when it came to having your first Genin team. After all, Tenzou had been saddled with the infamous 'Last Uchiha' Sasuke, a pink-haired female by the name of Sakura Haruno and a loud-mouthed ninja-wannabe called Shinji Kobayashi. All three of them looked (and was) a complete handful.

Sasuke was an angst-riddled teen who frequently tried Tenzou's patience, forever demanding extra training in an effort to become stronger for the need of vengeance. Sakura, on the other hand, while par with Sasuke's intelligence, came from a civilian family and was far more interested with fawning over said Uchiha than actual training. And then, lastly, there was the other civilian-born student, Shinji. Now that chestnut-haired boy was overbearingly loud, obnoxious and merely wanted to become a ninja for the 'cool weapons and fights'.

Kakashi wanted to clap Tenzou on the shoulder and ask for the younger man's secretes as to how he had lasted a full year with the Genin trio.

''Tiger-senpai,'' Naruto's rasped voice brushed by Kakashi's ear.

The Hatake suppressed a shudder and moved his head away from blonde head that was nestled against the side of his neck. He wasn't aware that Naruto knew Tenzou's ANBU name, let alone managed to recognize the unmasked male. Luckily, only Kakashi and Tenzou had heard the barely audible greeting from the blonde, managing to preserve the brunette's codename and privacy.

''Ah, Hello,'' Tenzou paused, his head nodding in silent greeting at the youth latched upon Kakashi's back. He recognized the whisker-swirled pattern upon the white mask, his mind reeling over why the blonde was away from the ANBU compound, attached on Kakashi-senpai's back and lacking ANBU armor. It made no sense why the kid was wearing his ANBU-mask yet donning the casual attire of a too-large orange shirt and black shorts.

''Hey, hey, Kakashi-san!'' Shinji boisterously called out. ''You gonna help Tenzou-sensei train us?''

''Maa, Shin, I'm pretty busy today…''

''Idiot,'' Sasuke sneered at his teammate, ''Kakashi's a Jounin, he doesn't have time for you.''

Sakura wasted no time to chime in, quickly defending her crush. ''Yeah!''

Shinji's face crumpled, his dark eyes darting about for some form of defense when he finally spotted Naruto. ''Hey!'' he all but yelled, a grubby finger pointing at the masked stranger. ''Who's weirdo wearin' the festival mask?''

With that said, the two remaining teammates peered up at the occupant upon the lazy-looking Jounin's back. It was a blonde-haired youngster, no doubt around there age or maybe a year younger due to his visible shortness. Sakura latched onto Shinji's obvious observation about the mask, silently realizing that it looked like one of the Hokage's hand-picked guards, the ANBU. Although the pink-haired female knew that was a stupid idea, after all, there was no way a kid could be an ANBU – so it must've been a festival mask some young kids wore during those particular celebrations.

Even Sasuke looked at the stranger with suspicion while Shinji frowned, his head darting between his teammeats. The Genin trio finally exchanged glances together, an unspoken conversation passing between them until they came to a silent conclusion of sorts and nominating Sakura as the spokesperson:

''Um, Kakashi-san…who's your friend?''

''This,'' the silver-haired man said cheerfully, purposely shaking his shoulder to jostle the clingy creature, ''this is Naruto.''

Naruto blinked out of his brief stupor from the movement, his blue eyes flickering between Kakashi and the trio of people that surrounded Tiger-senpai. He raised a hand in greeting, unsure whether to speak or not, his mind too busy with analyzing the fellow teenagers. It was odd seeing people the same age and roughly the same height as him after spending the majority of his life with towering, powerful adults.

''Naruto, nice to meet you,'' Tiger-sen…no, Tenzou-senpai was the first to wave back. The older male was clearly acting; Naruto knew that the man had recognized him. After all, when in ANBU, Tenzou would sometimes 'watch over' a handful of his first practical lessons when using chakra. Not that Naruto knew why. ''These are my students, Sasuke, Sakura and Shinji…I just call them the three S's for short, Haha.''

Peeling off of Kakashi's back, Naruto dropped down onto the ground and listened to the chorus of false greetings he received. The pink-haired female was trying to be polite, the overly loud male was curious and the pale, angry-looking male just grunted in acknowledgement.

The teens made Naruto feel uneasy and irritable. Instead, the blonde-haired youth gnawed on his bottom lip and listened to Tenzou and Kakashi exchanging words while the Genin trio shot him unreadable looks. The idiotic Genin, namely Sakura and Shinji, whispered about his 'festival mask' and how 'creepy' he was, none the wiser that Naruto heard those particular insulting snippets.

None of it mattered though; such childish murmurings didn't affect him in the slightest (or that's what Naruto forcefully told himself), he'd just listen to Kakashi's comforting tone and Tenzou's familiar voice.

''Kakashi-senpai, you've finally became one of us.''

''Us?''

''A sensei, of course! Wait till I tell Gai…he's been itching to find out where you've been this past week.''

''Maa, please don't.''

Yet the distraction of the older male's voices didn't last for long and Naruto reluctantly stopped staring at Kakashi. Instead, the young boy diverted his icy eyes towards the Genin trio, or more precisely, Sasuke. That certain dark-haired teen was glaring at him with a look of distaste, hate, vulgarity and…

Those eyes.

Sasuke was looking at him with those eyes. It was that the certain expression that Naruto always recalled being plastered upon the villager's faces as he rummaged through trash cans or walked through alleyways. He didn't do anything wrong back then, yet they made him feel like he did – even the Hokage said Naruto had done no wrong. So why was Sasuke looking at him like that? Why was that pink-haired female and loud-mouthed male whispering about him like that? Why…

Naruto clenched his hands at his sides, knuckles cracking loudly in the process. He needed to calm down; his ANBU-sensei's always told him to stay calm and not let his emotions override him. But those feelings (the anger, the distress, the sadness) they always remained and resurfaced no matter how many times he counted to ten or inhaled deeply. He could never dissipate them, especially when that red mist of anger swept over him…

Sinking his canines deeper into his lower lip to cause more pain and a tad bit of blood, the blonde began to panic. The usual calmness that filled him up from the lip-gnawing action didn't happen, leaving him to fluster at his lack of control while half-snarling at the boy that wouldn't stop looking at him like that.

'Like to see him look at me like that with no eyes,' Naruto internally thought, his thumbs twitching with anticipation of the idea of sinking into Sasuke's eyes. Some small part of him felt horrified at the thought, but the mental images of delving his thumbs into the other boy's eye sockets wouldn't leave him. Heck, he could imagine the warm, sticky feeling of blood between his fingers and under his nails.

Naruto shuddered unpleasantly, half grateful that the disturbing image quelled his growing anger as he remained eyeing Sasuke. The dark-haired Uchiha had stuffed his hands into his pockets, the continuing expression of viewing Naruto as 'unworthy' continuing to grow on his pale face. That is, until those eyes disappeared, only to be replaced with a furrowed brow and a sneer.

''You're bleeding,'' the Uchiha spat towards the blonde, unknowingly stopping his teammates bitching session and the adult's friendly banter. ''How pathetic.''

The blonde almost, almost lunged at the slightly taller male but the second he lent forward on the balls of his feet a familiar hand grabbed the nape of his neck. If Naruto didn't recognize the familiar touch of those fingers or the rough material of the fingerless gloves he would've happily whirled around and ripped off the limb that was holding him back. But no, the offending lanky yet strong limb belonged to something overly precious…

''Kaka-sensei,'' Naruto murmured, allowing the familiar nickname to tumble from his bloodied lips as he calmed down considerably. He felt the hand upon his neck loosen and move more comfortably (and confidently) towards his shoulder, delivering a mild squeeze.

Kakashi nodded, his singular gaze catching Tenzou's concerned expression before focusing solely upon the dribble of crimson that had dotted Naruto's shirt and speckled the dirt ground. He sighed, offering a merry goodbye to the Genin team and his kohai before ushering Naruto along the road.

Naruto, on the other hand, was far too distracted with the silver-haired man's hand on his shoulder that he didn't hear Sakura's comment.

''What a freak…''

''Mmmmm, wa' ish dish?''

Kakashi pulled up his mask, re-covering his face from inhaling his meal. He glanced up; content with a full stomach yet uncertain if he should grin or scold at the sight before him. After all, his masked charge was sitting opposite him on the worn wooden table of his kitchen-come-living room, scoffing down an unimaginable amount of instant cup ramen. He was (once again) surprised by Naruto. The quirky youth was finding such a joy in a simplistically cheap meal that Kakashi had pulled out of the cupboards, too lazy to boil rice or fry meat.

''Care to repeat that again, Naruto?'' he half-chuckled, unable to help himself.

The aura of excitement that surrounded the blonde over something as ridiculous as ramen was sort of…cute. Plus the sight of noodles hanging out from beneath an unseen mouth and wide azure eyes only added to the attractive quality.

''I asked what it is, Kaka-sensei,'' Naruto half-slurped, noodles disappearing up behind his mask. ''Do you have any more?''

''It's ramen…and no, you've eaten the only cups I had. I normally don't buy it.''

''Aw…''

''Take it you've never had it before, eh?'' Kakashi remarked, his hands already slotting the empty cups into each other, creating more table space. ''My sensei used to force my teammates and I into accompanying him and his girlfriend out for ramen.''

Naruto laughed at the image before shaking his head and replying, ''I've never had anything like this before. I usual ate boring stuff, like the meals you've been cookin', Kaka-sensei.''

''Vegetables, meat, fish, rice or noodles are not boring. It's called being a part of a healthy diet.''

''I've found my love and it is ramen, I can't go back now,'' the blonde sighed dramatically, one small hand resting upon the location of his heart. ''Doing so would destroy my very soul.''

A bark of laughter travelled around the room, instantly catching the Jounin by surprise upon noting it came from him. The boy just did it again and surprised him. Where the sudden inner-thespian came from, Kakashi didn't know, but it was highly amusing.

'No doubt from reading too many books,' Kakashi concluded, his eye closing shut from an uncontrollable grin.

''Ah, that reminds me!'' Naruto exclaimed, using previously used chopsticks to itch the side of his scalp. ''How'd you know Tiger-senpai? I thought he was dead.''

Sobering up from momentary laughter, Kakashi rolled his shoulders. ''I should be asking you the same thing. And, I know Tenzou because he was my Kohai during my stint in ANBU.''

''Oh, right,'' Naruto nodded, ''I only know Tiger-senpai 'cause he had watched over some of my first practical lessons of chakra. He was the first to…well, not speak, but, uh… say Hi to me and be less formal.''

The silver-haired man smiled fondly, that did sound like Tenzou, the man was too kind for his own good. However, the idea of having Tenzou watching over Naruto's practical lessons of molding chakra was no doubt down to the council. It was clear Naruto was unaware of the demon that resided in him, but the council must've taken advantage of the boy's location in ANBU by keeping a close eye on him. No doubt it was Danzo and his paranoid ramblings that had led to bending the Hokage into allowing Tenzou to watch Naruto.

The closed-minded bastards must've been anticipating the kid to fuck-up or the seal to wane during the Uzumaki's first time using chakra. Idiots.

''I only guessed he was dead 'cause most people who I did meet or knew didn't always come back,'' the blonde added, his voice a little more drawn, unknowingly gaining Kakashi's sole attention. The youth traced the wood grain of the table with a finger, blue eyes leaving Kakashi's lone gaze. ''I didn't get to see many people and I was only little when I first met Tiger-senpai…I never did understand if some ANBU died or quit.''

''Life in ANBU is often short lived, try not think about it too much,'' Kakashi offered, noting the other's glum tone.

''Heeeheee,'' Naruto swung back on his chair, quickly shifting the overly serious mood. He beamed behind his ANBU mask and swung his legs upon the table top while keeping his voice playfully light, ''It was pretty lonely back then, but now I've got Kaka-sensei!''

And this time, Kakashi didn't correct, he merely appeased enigmatic teen with a wave of the hand. ''Yes, yes, Imp, you've got Kaka-sensei.''

''Imp?''

''You heard me,'' the man automatically teased, ''I-m-p.''

A wonderfully musical laugh from the blonde was Kakashi's response…and he revealed in it. He stood up and collected the gathered ramen cups, allowing that joyous tune to wash over him as he dumped the items in the trash. The grin beneath the material of his mask continued to grow and, had the man's face been bare, he was certain he would've been flashing a mouthful of teeth.

Eventually though, Naruto's laughter dissipated, leaving Kakashi to smile softly to himself as he puttered about the kitchenette's units. The Jounin finished his brief domestic activity of tidying up before glancing over his shoulder, his singular eye widening at the blonde that occupied the rickety dining table. He could feel his jaw slackening as his breath caught in the back of his throat.

The boy was busy using one hand to tap his set of chopsticks against the tabletop, playfully creating some poorly constructed rhythm as his other hand idly shifted the ANBU mask. Kakashi felt his fingers twitch at the sight, half-tempted to shove his hitai-ate up onto his forehead and allow Obito's eye to take a peek, just to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Yet the older male didn't, he merely remained stock still, his eye straining as Naruto adjusted the bone-white mask, completely oblivious.

Naruto hadn't fully removed the mask, though. But instead, the thirteen year old had raised it slightly upon his face and tilted it somewhat to the right. This awkward-looking position of the mask allowed the boy to see out of the lower positioned eye-hole while giving Kakashi a view of the portion of the boy's face that resided under the still-hidden nose.

A rounded jaw line padded with a small amount of baby-fat greeted Kakashi's sight instantly. He remained staring at that section for a while, unable to stop scrutinizing the visible facial markings that were half-obscured by the ANBU mask. That is, until the Jounin spotted Naruto's plump-looking lips. Sure, Kakashi noted and frowned at the sight of the raw, blood-smudged lower lip, but it didn't hinder the adult's over all opinion of the youth's visible features.

They were very, very…kissable.

The word had popped into the silver-haired man's brain automatically, and he inwardly cringed. Mental images of gently running his tongue across the half-gnawed (and no doubt sore) flesh of Naruto's bottom lip flashed through his mind before he could stop it. He tried scolding himself, telling him to get a grip and grow the fuck up for thinking so strongly about such a thing, but the image still remained, instantly making his heart rate speed up.

'Something wet and warm across that bottom lip would make it heal faster,' Kakashi's inner-perverted self chimed in, trying to ease the mild guilt in the man's gut. 'You should at least mop away some of that blood and…oh, look, he's got ramen broth splattered around his mouth, too…'

The sound of a chair scraping back against the wooden floor kick-started Kakashi's brain into action. He instantly quashed other thoughts and images that revolved around Naruto and focused upon the youth in question. The blonde had slid off his chair and onto the floor, his visible blue eye staring at him and those beautifully kissable lips had tugged down into a frown. Kakashi managed to close his mouth by the time Naruto bounced over to him, the half-pouting lips pulling back to reveal a set of pearly white teeth as the boy spoke to him.

''Kaka-sensei?'' Naruto said, his voice sounding painfully confused and worried. ''What are you doing?''

'What am I doing?' Kakashi internally questioned, his lone eye staring at the youth's elongated canines and pink tongue. He didn't know what he was doing; he was staring at a mere child with a sudden lust-clogged thoughts infiltrating his usually in-control mind.

It was ridiculous that the sight of the lower-half of Naruto's face had resulted in such a burst of thoughts…but Kakashi suddenly wanted to yank that ANBU mask off Naruto's face and drink in the entire appearance of the boy.

Licking his suddenly dry lips, Kakashi focused his attention upon the kid's uncovered blue eye and frowned – Naruto was eye level with him. That made no sense at all to the Jounin, especially when he had grown accustomed to bending his back or straining his neck downwards to normally gain eye contact with the teen. He half-wondered if this was some odd dream with Naruto's half-removed mask and the sudden burst of height when it finally hit him.

He was sitting upon the floor; his back slumped against the kitchen counters.

''Kakashi,'' Naruto's voice called again, this time sounding completely different to the boy's usual tone. This time Naruto sounded in charge, frustrating and oddly dangerous. ''Kakashi, answer me before I make you.''

The demanding tone caught Kakashi by surprise, leaving him to blink dazedly at the blonde haired stranger. He didn't know this side of the blonde…should he be flattered by the dangerously protective (and strangely worried) attitude that had overtaken the usually energetic enigma?

''Ow!'' Kakashi hissed, the sensation of fingernails pinching the flesh of his ear. He batted away Naruto's hand, lone eye narrowing at half-masked boy before him. ''What the fuck!''

''Ah,'' The teen sighed, the frowning snarl that had overtaken his face disappearing in an instant to be replaced by blinding smile. ''You're okay, Kaka-sensei!''

''Y…Yes,'' the silver-haired man uttered, his attention drawn to the one of a kind grin before him. Even Minato-sensei's smile looked nothing like the one before him.

''I was worried, you just randomly turned around, stood there for awhile and then slid down onto the ground...''

''I did, huh?''

''Yup!'' Naruto laughed nervously, once again giving Kakashi a nice view of his stunning teeth. ''You looked like you were going into shock, I panicked.''

Kakashi merely nodded, his heartbeat continuing to pick up pace in his chest as the sudden bout of lightheadedness faded. He nudged the intrusive youth away from him and shifted to his feet, his hand rubbing at his abused earlobe. Shame, however, flooded his system upon realizing the brief tightness of his underwear and blatant lack of control. After all, it was just a reaction from seeing a portion of the boy's face...albeit attractive.

''Where are you going?'' Naruto questioned, hot at his heels.

''For a shower, I think the hot weather is getting to me,'' the Jounin smoothly lied, easily ignoring the semi-erected flesh between his legs. ''A long cold shower, for that matter...''

''Ah! I should join you!''

The bathroom door slammed shut a few inches from Naruto's nose, effectively stopping the blonde short in his attempts to follow the elder into the room. The teen scowled, his hand reaching up to idly scratch at his chin as he silently wiped away the drying substance of ramen broth. Only then, upon the contact of his hand touching his skin without meeting the resistance of his ANBU mask – he realized.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid… You almost slipped up, he could've ended up seeing your face,' Naruto berated himself, instantly wasting no time with tugging his mask firmly back over his face. He had gotten too comfortable around the silver-haired man and moved his mask for a brief moment; it was so foolish of him to let his guard down when it came to hiding his face.

Slapping a palm upon his masked cheek, Naruto silently repeated a mantra in his head - 'If they see your face they'll treat you like before, if they see your face they'll treat you like before…' – and exhaled heavily. Shaking the gut-twisting sensation away, he beamed underneath his mask, eyes squinting shut as he playfully banged his fists against the door.

''Kaka-sensei!'' he bellowed cheerfully, all previous negativity gone upon thinking of the wonderfully amazing and mysterious male in the bathroom. ''I once read a book about water conservation. So, let's shower together to conserve water!''

Naruto promptly laughed when he heard a yell of 'No!' reach his ears. That man was so funny; it wasn't like he hadn't seen Kakashi naked before.

'He saw a part of my face but he's acting the same,' the blonde noted, a warm bubbly feeling taking over his body. 'He isn't glaring at me or hurting me…'

The blonde had expected Kakashi's sudden burst to action and stuffing himself into the bathroom was down to seeing a section of Naruto's face yet that didn't seem the case at all. In fact, he could hear the monotone grumbles echoing about in the tiled bathroom from Kakashi. The man wasn't acting differently, he was as grumpy and weird as ever…

With a smile splitting his hidden face in two, Naruto recognized the rare bubbly feeling in his chest as something he had experienced before - Hope.

Hope that Kakashi wasn't like the rest of Konoha.

Sarutobi added another stroke of paint upon his calligraphy, joy and contentment filling up within his breast. He was an old man who gained particular delight with each completed task, be it simple or drastic. Standing back to admire his work, the Hokage smiled, his ink-smudged hands grasping a hold of a near-by rag. After rubbing away the damp black marks upon his withered hands, he glanced over his shoulder and stared at the double-doors.

'Finally, he appears,' the man smirked, noting the approach of a familiar chakra signature. 'And only late by four hours…amazing.'

''Don't bother knocking, just enter, Kakashi!'' he happily called to man that occupied the other side of the door. ''My wife is making her famous stew tonight, and I intend not to miss out.''

Said silver-haired man entered with his usual disinterested appearance and lazy posture before shutting the door behind him. The elder watched the younger male approach; his aged eyes picking up on the mild change that accompanied Kakashi's usually slackened posture. Anyone else would've missed the barely unnoticeable change, yet Sarutobi didn't miss a beat, the young man had a spring in his step.

''Lord Hokage,'' Kakashi greeted, his eye cruving shut with a smile, ''what do I owe the pleasure of being summoned?''

''The pleasure is all mine,'' Sarutobi chuckled, used to the Hatake's formal manner. ''I've merely called you to see how Naruto is doing. It's been a little over a week since he's been under your watchful eye...and I have yet to gain notice of you two moving out of your apartment.''

''Maa, you know how I dodge change, Sir,'' Kakashi hummed, his lone eye staring off out the window. ''Besides, it's not like the given home isn't being used, Naruto frequently visits to collect a new book or two.''

''Oh. And how is he coping?''

Kakashi frowned at the tone, not entirely sure how to answer. He held a gut feeling that the Hokage was tugging him along, already knowing the answers to all his questions. But still, Kakashi obeyed without any qualms.

''Fine,'' the Jounin answered honestly. ''Although, I must ask you, Sir…has Naruto been mentally evaluated?''

''Hm?'' Sarutobi's eyebrows crawled up to his receding hairline. ''Well, not officially. But Ibiki and I have consulted the boy's quirks a few years ago…it's nothing too serious.''

''Quirks?'' Kakashi prodded.

''He's a smart boy, a very smart boy,'' Sarutobi defended. ''Mild paranoia of the villagers is understandable from what he went through-''

''-Obvious displays of cognitive issues, blatant insomnia and a complete utter lack of boundaries,'' Kakashi interjected neutrally. ''Oh, and don't get me started on his safety blanket of an ANBU mask.''

The grandfatherly man's face immediately soured. ''What are you trying to say, Kakashi?''

''Nothing…'' because Kakashi was saying nothing, he wasn't trying to say anything. He just wanted to know more about the oddity that was Naruto Uzumaki. He wanted to make sure the strange imp wasn't suffering or…or anything else.

Sighing, Sarutobi eyed the helpless man and edged towards his desk. He plunked himself down into the comfy seat behind his workstation, old bones creaking. ''Aside from the lack of boundaries, it would be difficult to not name a ninja that had suffered or is suffering from insomnia or paranoia…it comes with the job, after all.''

Silence took over the room after that comment, leaving both Kakashi and the Hokage to fall into a thoughtful lull as they eyed eachother with unspoken understanding. However, in several beats of that silence, the Sandaime's eyes drifted down to his desk to retrieve something from the top drawers. Out of instinct, and perhaps habit, the Hatake stepped forward and held out an expecting hand.

''It's not a mission, Kakashi. It's for Naruto,'' the elderly man uttered, placing a book into the other's hand. ''He might not be willing to remove his ANBU mask, but that boy isn't going to be assigned missions unless he's accompanying you. So, enjoy your Jounin-sensei pay check and see to it Naruto gets his book.''

''Ah…wait, is this a…this is a gardening book.''

''That boy reads everything and anything,'' Sarutobi chuckled, earning a glare.

Kakashi nodded, pocketing the brown leather-bound book into his flak jacket and bid hid goodbyes to the elderly man. He was half-way out the door when he found himself being called back, leaving him to stand in the doorway and eye the seated Hokage with a raised eyebrow. The aging male held a tired yet wizened expression with a glint of amusement twinkling in his eyes as he spoke.

''You've treated him well, Kakashi, you're sensei would be upmost proud.''

The old man didn't stop there though; instead he moved his wrinkled hands upon the crystal ball that occupied his desk. Sarutobi's long, thin fingers drummed against the smooth glass as a thin-lipped smile spread across his face. Kakashi waited patiently, almost with bated breath and unstoppable curiosity as the elder finally continued.

''A word of warning and advice when it comes to our little Betobeto-san…He's an innocent adult that is trapped inside a body of a thirteen year old. When it comes to telling him things, you must be blunt or he'll continue to play with you. Don't give the boy any unnecessary pain, be honest and don't string him along.''

Kakashi narrowed his eye, words not entirely sinking in with understanding. His genius brain sputtered though, especially when he spotted Sarutobi tapping the crystal ball. The Jounin felt his blood turn into ice as goose bumps automatically appeared across his skin, an appalled realization hitting him -

'H-Has the Hokage been spying on me?'