Hi everyone thank you all for your reviews, I was really worried the last chapter wasn't that good. I'm sooooo sorry for updating so late But I have three very good reasons this time and you will hopefully like this one.
1: I've began writing the next three chapters together so you won't have to wait as long for the next one.
2: LightningScar kindly pointed out that I'd made mistakes in the last Chapter. Like always I went back over it HORRIFIED to see that I'd uploaded a chapter like that. So I went back through the thing and corrected the mistakes. I can't apologies enough for not checking my work like that.
3: Kakashi ANBU Arc oh my fucking god! (Yes this did call for swearing) If you haven't watched the episodes yet please do they are amazing and have helped me write this chapter and the ones to follow.
A huge thank you to: harvestangel99 glad you liked it more sweet moments to come, darkhuntressxir you asked for it so I did it, kidney 4 lunch glad you liked the last chapter I hope this one meets you expectations, kirallie like I said in my reply I will never tell you only have to wait a little longer I promise, Tsubakigirl you're welcome for the chapter, moneylovermaire6 glad you liked the last chapter, Tdbank316 I'll never abandon this story not after all of you took the time to follow and review, guest bunnyguest thank you for your review I've always got time to write a chapter or two, Lobasola thank you for your review really liked the feed back and you will get to see Naruto and Nagato's conversation later, skylight96 more sweetness to come and I have something special planned you'll see, lightningScar I was so ashamed of the mistakes I actually went back through the last chapter and (Hopefully corrected and improved the last chapter) foREVor7fold thank you glad you're enjoying it, crystalVixen93 sorry it took so long, DaughteroftheMafifa Thankyou glad you're enjoying the story. And lastly I would like to thank the reviewer simply known as guest thank you for your insight thank for showing me where I've gone wrong and I'm very sorry you don't like the story.
I'm wrote this chapter and the ones following back to back so you'd get them a lot faster.
The beginning for this chapter is for darkhuntressxir.
I'm No Replacement
"Pant, Pant?"
At the speed the ANBU captain progressed through the trees he'd set a new sprint record. urged forward his chest and throat burning from exertion or his body screaming at him to stop and rest. But the wood user ignored his bodies complaints and pushed as fast as his legs would allow him. "I need to get back home as soon as possible" He thought as he tried to summon as much chakra to his legs as he could handle.
While on a mission away from the village the seal on the first's neckless activated alerting the wood user that Naruto sprouted six tails. As the frantic captain sped back the number of tails increased until it reached nine, before the number disappeared completely leaving him fearing the worst. The only reason for the number to vanish if the fox escaped or Naruto was dead. Both of these explanations held tragic implications.
Sensing he was close to his destination, Yamato surged forward but once he emerged from the trees, the sight that greeted with wasn't what he expected to see. Instead of seeing the familiar welcoming sight of his village. In its place was a deep crater. For a moment the experienced captain didn't know where he was. "I'm sure the village. But when he saw the undamaged Hokage monument looming over the hole.
"What happened here where is everyone?" He gasped searching frantically for any signs of life but found none. The only bodies he found were the destroyed Pains.
Leaving the disheartening sight behind him Yamato's hope rose when he saw pretty much the entire village population gathered on the outskirts of the forest. Shikaku pushed through the still growing crowd. "Captain Yamato, I didn't expect you to get beck here so soon." The jónin greeted him warmly.
Deciding to skip the formalities the wood user got straight to the point and began asking questions. "What on earth happened?" Yamato asked.
"Pain attacked the village." The jónin told Yamato about the battle in detail . When got to part where Naruto returned to save everyone. When the wood user asked about the nine tails the jónin confirmed his ears. "Yes the fox did make a brief appearance and for a moment it looked bad for everyone. But just when things looked bleak Naruto somehow suppressed the foxes chakra on his own. Then went on to defeat Pain."
"Naruto beat Pain all by himself."
With the epic battle explained in huge detail. Now came the question that worried Yamato the most. "How many have we lost?" He asked grimly. With the village in ruins Yamato expected the death to hit the hundreds.
"That's the strange thing about all this. While many civilians and ninja are receiving medical treatment but only for minor injuries. We did lose many ninja but not too long after Naruto went into the forest, the dead started to breathe again. That's why we're all waiting for him to come back. Kakashi went to find him awhile ago now but knowing him it could take all day for him return."
The wood ninja's concerns for the young teen rose up again. The last time the nine tails too over the chakra left Naruto burned and exhausted. Grotesque images of the blondes horribly burnt skin flooded his memory. "Oh no, what if he's hurt or worse. He'll be very tired and valuable to attack in his condition."
Without saying goodbye the wood user charged off into the forest to help search for the missing teen. He didn't travel very far when he found Kakashi carrying blonde on his back. Although skin didn't seem burnt as he first feared. But the boys slumped posture and lack of movement did little to reassure his worries. "Oh no, please no." he begged. Thinking the worst Yamato called out to them.
With Naruto still very much asleep on his back, Kakashi slowed his pace for his students comfort, there wasn't any need to rush home anyway. The exhausted teen seemed to give up holding on leaving his arms free to dangle. The copy ninja smiled as he watched him sleep. "Looks like he's going to sleep for a while." He thought. Just as he thought Naruto was going to sleep all the way back home, a loud and familiar voice shattered the peaceful silence. "SENPAI!"
Kakashi would never admit it to another living soul, but he almost jumped out of his skin and in a few years time he'd deny that he screamed, instead he'd tell them his student screamed. The copy ninja wasn't the only one caught off guard. Yamato's voice startled his sleeping passenger so badly he almost fell off his teachers back. "What's going on?" The blonde asked searching round fearfully instinctively he gripping Kakashi's neck rather hard almost choking him.
Yamato jumped down from tree and began checking the blonde over. While the wood user fussed over him Naruto yelled at the ANBU captain. "Holy shit Captain Yamato, you scared me and Sensei half to death." He bellowed unaware that he was still choking his teacher.
The copy ninja would've yelled at Yamato as well. But he need to breathe first. "Naru..to" Was all he managed to choke out through his crushed wind pipe.
When the teen looked down and finally realized how tight his grip was he quickly loosened his grip, allowing Kakashi to breathe again. "Gomen" he apologized quickly before going back to resting his head again.
After he managed to catch his breath back the copy ninja began scolding his former charge. "Yamato, you're an ANBU captain for crying loud, stealth should be in your blood!" He exclaimed. Truthfully Kakashi wasn't really angry with the wood user. He felt very embarrassed for letting his guard down so easily.
He'd never seen The wood user look so relived in all his life. "I'm sorry I startled you, but I couldn't help it. The seal I put on the first's neckless activated which meant Naruto sprouted the sixth tail. So I raced back as fast as I could. But on the way back home the number increased until it reached nine. But then the seal just disappeared that would only happen if the fox broke free broke or..." The wood user found he couldn't finish the sentence. "Then when I saw you carrying Naruto like that and I thought the worst."
Then the copy ninja remembered that Yamato wasn't in the village at the time. "Where were you when the seal appeared?" He asked.
"I was on a mission tracking Kabuto with Sai and Anko. We just found a fresh trail leading to a possible hide out when it happened."
This revelation left Kakashi lost for words, Yamato's ninja record didn't have one blemish and the third Hokage held him in high regard, you didn't get that kind of reputation by breaking rules and running off in the middle of a mission. At the same time it touched Kakashi to know that Yamato cared for Naruto that much to risk his reputation. "You mean you actually broke the rules." The copy ninja teased.
He's own actions. As an ANBU captain it was his responsibility to protect his comrades and insure their safety. "Your one to talk."
Meanwhile Naruto looked back in awe. "You abandoned a mission for me, why?"
The ANBU captain stared back surprised that Naruto would even ask him such a question. "Why? Because I knew your life was in danger, I wasn't about to stand by and let one of my comrades die." He eagerly anticipated Naruto to counter and say he already knew that. But the blonde's continuing silence implied otherwise. "You really thought I'd leave you to die?" This hurt the ANBU captain greatly to think that Naruto didn't trust him.
Naruto apparently sensed his anguish and quickly set about explaining himself. "It's not that I didn't think you cared. On are first mission together I lost control. Then after you told me what I did to Sakura you said I should fight with my strength not the foxes. So I just thought you'd be really disappointed in me for letting the fox take over again. And I know your wood jutsu can only do so much when it comes to the nine tails."
The youths explanation settled his worries quickly but he still "Now that he mentions it, I never apologized to him for what I said." And the way Kakashi was looking at him he'd better start. "You really are a baka, That time on the bridge was very different you let your emotions get the best of you." The blonde looked away at this. "But you've listened to what I've said and trained hard. And I know what happened during your fight with Pain. I know you wouldn't deliberately use the foxes chakra unless something happened. And just so we're perfectly clear, I'd never let anything happen to you. Senpai would kill me for a start."
Kakashi smiled at Yamato. "Ok, now that we've cleared that up, let's get back home I think a certain someone is feeling a little tired." He said looking up Naruto.
As they walked back Kakashi told his curious comrade his version of events. He described the battle with one of the Pain's and his death. When he got to this part he felt his student shudder on his back instinctively the jónin squeezed his student leg in reassurance.
Yamato didn't see the blonde's reaction but he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "You died!" He exclaimed, shocked beyond words. Even though he already knew Pain killed many ninja and civilians the thought that someone as skilled as Kakashi died in battle didn't seem possible.
Kakashi nodded. "Hai, Pain killed me during the fight." The copy ninja answered the question so casually you'd think they were discussing the weather.
"But then how are you standing in front of me?"
"From what I've heard Pain sacrificed himself to bring everyone in the village back to life including me. All though, Naruto wasn't too happy to see me at first."the silver haired ninja explained turning to very his drowsy student.
Yamato grinned as he imagined the heated argument. "I can only imagine how that reunion turned out."
Naruto smiled tiredly. "Don't worry Captain Yamato I've already dealt with sensei. He won't die anytime soon."
Confused the he gave his former mentor a raised eyebrow.
Seeing that Yamato didn't know about Naruto's demands. "He demanded that I stay alive. Or else he's going to resurrect me back to life just so he can kill me himself."
Yamato burst out laughing hearing this. The fearsome copy ninja being ordered around by Naruto of all people. "That sounds like a direct order to me, I think you should do as he says Senpai. Who knows what the consequences will be if you don't."
As the two of them walked out the forest the crowd cheered. Naruto carefully climbed down from his back looking very surprised to see so many people waiting for him. "You see everyone wants to thank you." Kakashi said as a crowd of kids swamped the teen asking him loads of questions about his fight.
But Naruto looked too stunned to speak especially when Sakura walked up to him and hugged him. Soon afterwards his friends began throwing him in the air. As the two of them watched from the edge Naruto being tossed in the air while everyone called his name madly.
Kakashi couldn't stop feeling unbelievably proud of his student's achievements. He couldn't help but remember the young loud mouth kid that loved to pull pranks, telling everyone he'd one day surpass all the previous Hokage and earn his village's respect. And now seeing all the people who once scorned the blonde's existence cheering and calling him a hero Naruto's dream was coming true at last. "Finally somethings going right for a change." He said.
When cheering stopped the reality of the situation finally hit home for everyone. With Kohana in ruins and Tsuande in a coma things life wasn't going to be easy for an awful. The hard work began very quickly. Everyone shared tents and beds out between the many now homeless people. Most began organizing where everyone would sleep.
Kakashi watched as his student helped give out supplies. He'd clearly heard Sakura telling the stubborn ninja to take it easy. "You might not be injured but your chakra's low you should get yourself off to bed and have a nice long sleep. I don't think anyone's going to mind." With Sakura's instructions
"Naruto what are you doing?" The copy ninja asked.
"Giving out tents. Sakura said it was ok." He replied as he walked to the next grateful family.
"That's funny, because I'm sure I just heard Sakura clearly instructing you to rest." He may have laughed but the boys lying was starting to get very old fast.
Naruto handed out the tents to the family before finishing his arguments. "But everyone else is helping." His argument might have held some weight if the blonde hadn't yawned and rubbed his eyes as he said it.
"You've done more than enough, Now I've already set up a tent for you, complete with beds." Naruto gave him questionable look at this. "Your sharing with me and Yamato." He answered. In actual fact he'd volunteered the wood users name without telling him.
"There's no way I can sleep after today I'm still pumped!" Naruto yelled
Despite his proud boasts as soon as the Naruto crawled under the covers he fell asleep. Kakashi smiled and lay next to his student for a moment and just watched him sleep. He only rested his head for a second but the next thing he knew he could sense someone else in the tent watching him. Then something shook Naruto awake. He sat up quickly. Three things looked different inside the tent, one it was clearly dark outside which meant the jónin fell asleep, two Yamato ,who'd been asleep as well, was also alerted to chakra signature and three Sai was the visitor.
"Forgive me, I just got back a few minutes ago. I just wanted to check on Naruto. And I also wanted to ask him if he wanted to stay with me and Iruka sensei." He explained smiling at a sleepy Naruto.
Exasperated with Sai's lack of common sense Kakashi remained calm when he told the pale ninja to leave. "Its late and I think Naruto would prefer to stay with me."
"Why don't we ask Naruto what he..."
Before Sai could finish his sentence Naruto quickly answered the question. "No!" The blonde almost shouted his answer before he composed himself. "I mean thank you for the offer Sai, but I really want to stay with sensei." He explained moving away from his pale teammate's touch. "Only If that's OK with you and Yamato."
The copy ninja found he couldn't stop himself from smirking triumphantly at Sai. "Of course that's alright. And don't you worry about Yamato" He whispered. even if he's not ok with it I'll just control him with fear until he agrees." The copy ninja promised winking at Yamato as he said it. Yamato shuddered at this.
The blonde didn't seem to notice the stand-off between Kakashi and Sai comrades. "You can do that creepy face too?" He asked.
"Who do you think taught Yamato that?"
"I thought he was born with it." The orange ninja said.
As the two talked Kakashi saw Sai skulk off without saying good night. "He wishes, now go back to sleep you need the rest." The blonde obeyed and fell asleep quickly.
In the weeks following Pain's invasion life Naruto and the rest of the ninja put in a lot of effort . That wasn't the only good thing that happened to a certain wood users surprise and relief his nights with Naruto went by without a single incident. Because he kept overusing his wood jutsu it left Yamato exhausted, and unable to protect himself at night. But Yamato's surprise and relief his nights were peaceful. Naruto didn't even keep him up with his loud snoring. As far as he knew the usually restless sleeper hadn't even snored once. Until now.
For the last few hours the blonde kicked him repeatedly. After the twentieth kick to his back Yamato couldn't take it anymore. Feeling grumpy Yamato fumbled around in the dark until his hands found the lamp and once he turned it on he could clearly see to see the blonde tossing in his sleep.
Without giving it much thought the wood user reached out to wake the teen up, but as he went to touch him Kakashi's firm hand grabbed his wrist. "Wait, look at his hand." The copy ninja warned.
Yamato In his hand the blonde held a kunia gripping it so tight his knuckles were white. "Why is he sleeping with that?" The sight of the weapon surprised Yamato, when on missions away from home holding a weapon under a pillow or under the covers was just common sense. But if you still did this at home people considered you paranoid.
When he studied Naruto more closely he could hear him muttering very quietly. "No, please leave me alone."
The sight of the weapon and the For past couple of nights the copy ninja took it upon himself to keep a very close on Naruto. And he knew full well he wasn't sleeping, if anything the boy only pretended to sleep most of the night.
"No please don't hurt them." Naruto's cry brought Kakashi out of his thoughts. " Yamato softened, he'd rather Naruto kick him to death than see him look so uncomfortable. Not wanting to watch Naruto suffer anymore he looked to Kakashi. "Senpai?" Waking Naruto up when he was clearly having a nightmare was dangerous. And since the wood user wasn't familiar with comforting others he didn't feel it was safe for him to handle this on his own.
Kakashi understood his friends apprehensive. "It's alright I'll deal with this." Unlike all the previous situations the copy ninja knew exactly what he needed to do. For much of his youth the copy ninja knew more than anyone how for countless nights the deaths of his two teammates Rin and Obtito haunted him for many years. For countless nights he was plagued by graphic dreams of their deaths. Minato often comforted him during those long, difficult and lonely nights.
Slowly and gently the copy ninja carefully removed the weapon from Naruto's hand while at the same time he rubbed his student's head in slow circles. Once he'd taken the knife out of Naruto's hand, he started speaking to his student. "Naruto, wake up." He called keeping his voice soft and gentle.
At first his student didn't seem to know where he was or who was touching him. "Get off me." He moaned pushing Kakashi's hand away before rolling on to his side.
Yamato just shook the blonde hard. "Oi, wake before you kick me to death!" He joked.
But this time the contact and loud voice startled blonde and he began throwing punches at anything catching Yamato in the mouth. Caught off guard by the boy's reaction Yamato moved away to avoid further damage to his face. "Why me?" The wood user cried nursing his now injured jaw.
Grabbing the first thing next to him ,which was his vest, the copy ninja warped in around his student and pulled him close. "Naruto your safe." After a few seconds Naruto stopped moving and looked at him wide-eyed. "Sensei." He called.
"Yeah that's right it's me." He reassured.
The blonde relaxed at this and settled down. "I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked.
The stunned ANBU captain couldn't believe how easily his superior handled the startled youth.
Kakashi knew better than anyone how much an intense battle can leave an effect on a person's body and mind. Once Naruto regained his senses at last the blonde turned to face Yamato only to see him with a big lip. "I'm so sorry I thought you were him." The blonde apologized.
Yamato nodded with understanding. "It's ok you've been through a lot."
"And you haven't slept well for the last couple of nights, have you?." Kakashi quickly added.
"No." He admitted.
"Is it because of Pain?" Kakashi asked reaching out to pull his student closer. But the boy moved away sharply. This left Kakashi feeling very disheartened he'd hoped Naruto would stop pushing him away at last. "Naruto it's just me."
The copy ninja wasn't the only one surprised to see Naruto shy away from Kakashi's touch. Yamato saw the pair together many times not too long ago he'd found them both sleeping next to each other without a care in the world. That wasn't his only argument. When he first met the blonde he'd never been shy about showing affection in public to the point it was embarrassing. "You've never been shy about hugging before." Yamato pointed out gently.
"Come here and sit with me." Kakashi instructed warping his arm around the boys waist and pulled Naruto towards him. At first he felt the blonde tense up and stayed still in his arms. To the copy ninja it felt like he was waiting for something to happen, but slowly his posture relaxed and he leaned into Kakashi's shoulder.
"It's alright Pain can't hurt you anymore."
"I wasn't dreaming about Pain." He said sleepily.
"What?"
But before ether of them could get answer the blonde fell asleep. Both Jónin looked at each other silently asking each other the same question. "If he wasn't dreaming about Pain, then what on earth is he dreaming about." Since they couldn't just wake Naruto up again both parties agreed to let him sleep. Kakashi gently put his student back in his own bed with the green vest still warped round him,
Kakashi got the shock of his life when he woke up and saw couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Naruto snuggled up at his side. Not only that the jónin . "Oh my god." It wasn't that he minded. o. Many of his superiors considered this beyond unprofessional he shouldn't be holding his sixteen year old student like this let alone sharing a bed together. Then he could see the bags and slight fear on his face. he remembered why they ended up in this position in the first place.
"He woke up again early this morning. He moved closer to you." Yamato explained. "What are you going to say to him when he wakes up?"
Kakashi left the boy to sleep and covered his student up."I'm going to ask what he was dreaming about him when he wakes up." He answered pulling out his book to read while he waited for his student to wake up.
A few hours later Naruto woke just as surprised that he was inside Kakashi's blanket. "I'm so sorry."
It's ok I don't mind
"How come you didn't wake me up?" He demanded looking outside only to find the sun was high in the sky.
Kakashi put his book down so he could talk to Naruto. "Because you looked like you needed a lie in." He answered bluntly.
As the blonde quickly got dressed he handed the vest back. "Naruto do you remember what you said last night." The copy ninja asked watching his students reaction carefully.
"No, not really last night's a bit of a blur." He answered. Kakashi got straight to the point before Naruto could escape. "Before You went back to sleep you clearly said I wasn't dreaming about Pain." The blonde stopped getting dressed and looked at his teacher nervously. The reaction told Kakashi he was on to something so he continued to question Naruto. "What were to dreaming about last night?"
For the longest time Naruto didn't say anything he looked like he was deciding something. At last he sighed. "In my dream..." Before the blonde could say another word Sai barged in seemingly out of breath.
"Naruto the rest of your classmates need to talk to you it's about Sasuke." The pale ninja looked round the room. "Sorry did I interrupt something?"
Kakashi almost answered, but Naruto go there first. "No Sai, Kakashi was just asking me if I slept well. Now what were you say about Sasuke?"
For the last couple of hours both Yamato and Kakashi searched the all the village for Naruto and Sakura. Getting frustrated with the fruitless searching the wood user tried to reassure the concerned jónin. "Senpai Naruto's fine he probably went somewhere to cool off Your worry about nothing." After learning about Sasuke's dealings with the Akatsuki Naruto disappeared leaving his sensei worried. He could tell by the slight change in his posture, breathing and frantic wanderings that he wanted to find Naruto.
"I'm not worried at all." He lied. "I just want to make sure he hasn't done anything stupid." The jónin's fears where well founded. "I need to find that hot head before he take's matter into his own hands. If he goes in all guns blazing, Danzo will confine him to the village at best." At first the copy ninja felt relief when saw the blonde approaching in the distance ,which meant hadn't gone after Danzo. That was before he saw his students bloody and swollen face. "What the fuck happened?" He demanded staring at Sai venomously.
"It's nothing." The blonde moaned through his injuries.
Kakashi couldn't believe how stupid Naruto sounded. "Like hell it is." The copy ninja spat as he inspected his students wounds closely. "You need to go and these wounds treated.I'll take you to see Sakura."
To Kakashi's surprise, Naruto refused to seek out Sakura's help. "No I can't let her see me like this it will only make things worse." Explained the reluctant teen.
Seeing that the blonde didn't want his teammate's help. Sai came up with an alternative. "Then why not let me take care of you. Kakashi senpia and Yamato could get a first aid kit and we can treat you ourselves." Naruto simply nodded to the suggestion. He instructed sending Yamato off to get the medical supplies. Sai went to help Naruto stand but the copy ninja pushed him away.
"Don't you trust me?"
"Being Honestly no I don't, Every time something happens to him you're never far behind. You never leave him alone." He said casting a
As he pushed the irritated ninja way again. Naruto quickly jumped to Sai's defense. "No, Sai didn't do this to me. He stopped them and helped me back home."
With Naruto telling him Sai's was innocent and with no evidence to support his accusation Kakashi finally accepted Sai's help, and between the two they got Naruto back to the tent. "Now, tell me exactly what happened and don't even think of lying to me." The copy ninja warned gently setting his student down.
Naruto winced as he sat on the bed and slowly explained how he got so badly beaten. "After you told me about Sasuke I went to see Danzo with Sakura to ask him to change his mind. Sai told us he went to something called the Kage summit. Then two cloud ninja heard us talking wanted to know about Sasuke so they could save their sensei.
"So you got into a fight with them." Yamato guessed handing Sai the medical bag.
"No I swear I didn't fight them." With his knuckles and hands free from injury. "Ok carry on what happened after you went into the forest?" He asked urging the boy to continue.
"I went with them to tell them about Sasuke and the Akatsuki. But when it came down to it I just couldn't sell Sasuke out. They weren't impressed So I let them take their anger out on me instead. I just lay there and let them to this to me."
"Why in earth would you let someone beat you up?"
"Sasuke's my best friend and like a brother to me when I know that masked man is using Sasuke." Kakashi
"Wait, what do you mean he's being used?"
"When I nearly lost control of the nine tails I learned something important."
"What?"
Naruto took a deep breath berofre he revealed what happened during Pain's attack. "When I lost control all I felt was pain I don't. The Kyuubi promised to make it all go away. I tried to ignore him but I could hear his voice inside my head tempting me to remove the seal. Then I could feel his chakra seeping out and I couldn't control my body. But just before I could free the fox My dad came and sealed the nine tails and saved me."
This revelation caused mixed feelings to stir within the copy ninja. On the one hand he felt happiness for Naruto to at last know some of his parentage, but at the same-time felt something else stir inside him."You did that's great right? I'll bet finding out your dad is the fourth was a nice surprise." Kakashi asked rubbing his student's head. But once again the blonde didn't seem to share his enthusiasm. "Naruto?"
"I've always looked up to fourth Hokage even when I learned he sealed the nine-tails inside me I wasn't angry. I wondered why he choose me instead of someone else. And ever since I can remember I've always wanted to know who my dad is. But when I saw the fourth standing there and he told me. I couldn't decide what to feel. I felt so angry and happy all at the same time. I had so many questions to ask him but he disappeared after he repaired the seal before I could ask."
"Why if you admired the fourth so much then shouldn't you feel happy he trusted you?"
Naruto looked angry at the question. "Don't you get it? The fourth Hokage sealed the demon fox into his own son then left me an orphan. The villagers wanted me dead I didn't have anyone to protect me or hug me when I was scared and lonely. I'll always hate him for doing that to me."
"As the fourth Hokage his duty is to protect the village Naruto." The wood user explained
"But what about his duty to protect me his son?" He countered.
"You need to understand he didn't just have you to think about. If you want to become Hokage one day this is something you need to learn."
Listening to the wood user to talk Naruto so harshly angered him greatly."Yamato, that's enough." He couldn't get too angry with Yamato, after all he'd made the same mistake before he left to train with the toads. He needed something else he needed to "Sai, Thank you for helping me take care of Naruto but could you please leave the tent I need to talk to Naruto alone."
With out a word Sai got up and left. Kakashi took the roll of bandages and began dressing Naruto wounds. "Naruto, before Pain killed me do you know what the last thing I thought about?" Naruto shook his head at the question. "The person that I thought about was you, I hated the thought of leaving you alone. I wanted to see what kind of man you'd become, see you fill your dreams. I can only imagine how hard it was for your father to make the choice to sacrifice himself for you. Sometimes parents need to make difficult decisions to protect their children. The blonde nodded. "I knew him very well he was like my second father and I know for a fact you're father loved you dearly and using you as sacrifice was probably the hardest thing in his life." Naruto sniffed clearly trying not to cry.
Now Naruto seemed to understand Kakashi asked his student to explain more about Sasuke. The blonde dried eyes and told them about the masked man behind the nine tails attack and that he was using Sasuke to do his bidding. When Naruto finished telling them both what he knew Kakashi felt very proud that Naruto didn't sell out his teammate. "Sasuke doesn't deserve a friend like you." He praised.
When he'd finished putting the last bandage on Kakashi smiled. "You look like me with that eye warped up like that." He pointed out.
Naruto smiled then giggled a little at this. "Yeah I guess I do."
The copy ninja looked at the laughing boy perplexed, for some reason seeing his student grinning startled him. Then he realized why. To his shock Kakashi found he couldn't remember the last time he'd actually seen Naruto smile. One of the blonde's enduring qualities was his infectious happy nature. Lately his smiles and grins felt forced. But really when he thought about it the blonde hadn't had much to smile about. "Was that a laugh I heard?" The jónin asked playfully.
The blonde shook his head still giggling.
"What do you think Yamato?"
The wood user was also a little shocked to see the blonde laughing for a change. "I don't know, Senpai maybe we need to integrate him with that special Jutsu of yours just to make sure. " He suggested
"I know what you mean. That jutsu is perfect for this situation." Both the copy ninja and the wood user made a fake hand sign. "Tickling no justu." They cried before they both began tickling the blonde's ribs playfully resulting in a huge giggling fit. "Hey now that's better. There's the Naruto we know."
"No during the submit it's vital that we stay in the village."
"But."
"The answer is no, for one thing you don't even know where the summit is held do you? And you have some of the worst tracking skills I've ever seen." The blonde looked down at this confirming that he really didn't know.
"Actually I was going to ask you where it was held then I could just go one my own that way none of you would get into trouble."
"It would be irresponsible for me to I let you go on your own. If something happened to you I'd never forgive myself." He explained. "And since I know you very well a quite chat with the l will end up sparking a war. So me and Yamato will take you."
"What you're joking right?" He exclaimed. "There's no way I'm agreeing to that if we get caught outside are village during the summit..."
The copy ninja turned his head. "Are you arguing with me Tenzo?"
The wood user backed away fearing for is life. He'd seen that glare in his nightmares for years. "No please stop with the glare I'll do whatever you want." He begged.
Meanwhile Naruto looked on in awe. "Wow that's so cool sensei. Can you teach me how to do that please?"He begged pulling of a very effective puppy dog face with the bandage's on his face only strengthened the effect.
Normally Kakashi would refuse to teach anyone his unique move, but Naruto's face won him over."Damn those puppy dog eyes work ever-time." He thought. "Since you asked so nicely I will. But for now you need to get some rest, while me and Yamato get ready. I have a few things I need to deal with here before I go." He explained.
As the two walked out of the tent the copy ninja Yamato knew exactly where Kakashi was going. "You wouldn't be planing on finding those cloud ninja?" When his mentor didn't respond to the question he touched his shoulder. "Senpai you can't do anything. I know this is frustrating but we need to stay calm."
Before he could stop himself, the copy ninja let his feelings known. "How can you expect me to stay calm after all that?" He said pointing back to the tent. "Nobody beats my child to a pulp and gets away with it. I don't care which village they belong to, I'm going to make them apologies!" He snapped storming past the ANBU captain.
Sighing the wood user walked along side his superior trying to reason with him."Senpai you need to calm down, I understand you only want to help but we can't just..." The ANBU captain stopped talking and stared at Kakashi while the jónin's earlier words sunk in. "Did he just call..."
The copy ninja stared back at Yamato ,who was looking at him like he grew another head, "What?" He asked finally stopping to talk properly to the captain.
When he finally composed himself. "You just called Naruto your child."
"I think I did say that didn't I" He said rubbing his head sheepishly.
"You don't need to explain yourself to me. And I'm not blind I saw your reaction when Naruto told you about meeting his father. Your worried that your taking his place aren't you?" The captain asked.
The copy ninja thought about Yamato words."I guess your right, I like I'm getting too close. I don't want to replace sensei. I just don't know what Minato-seinsei would say it if.
Yamato cut in. "When your dad died Minato became like your second dad right?" Kakashi nodded. "And no matter how close you two got, did he ever replace him?" Kakashi shook his head "Well can't you do the same for Naruto, everyone needs someone that cares about them."
"You can still play a huge role in his life. I think it's great you care this much, but Senpai you know if Danzo hears you talking like that it could mean big trouble. Not just for you but for Naruto as well." Yamato warned keeping his voice low. "Danzo's already making his move. Declaring Sasuke a criminal is just the start. I'll bet he also wanted to use this to provoke a response from Naruto."
"What aren't you telling me?"
"All I can say is I promised Tsuande-Sama I'd protect you and Naruto for her if something happened to her. She's really worried about Naruto."
"I don't need protecting and why didn't she ask me?" Kakashi demanded.
"She didn't think she needed to ask you, your already taking good care of him."
His instincts told the copy ninja that his comrade knew more than he let on. "She told you something else didn't she?" He asked.
Yamato sighed. "Nothing gets past you. But I can't tell you anything else when Tsunade wake's up I'm sure she'll tell you what she knows. But for now lets get start tracking those could ninja down before they get too far away." He said leading him to where they might find a fresh trail.
As the two walked Yamato smiled to himself. "Say Kakashi, with Naruto a hero how are you going to deal with all of his admires." He asked.
Kakashi half laughed at the wood users question. "I'm sure he'll be fine, I have no interest in his love life." But inner Kakashi didn't agree. "Shit I completely forgot. I need to keep my eye's open."
There trip to the Land Of Iron did not go well.
The plan to follow the could ninja payed off. But watching Naruto bow his head to another Ninja and beg for the ravens life broke both Yamato and Kakashi's hearts. "Oh, Naruto." No matter how hard the boy begged A refused to change his mind leaving Naruto looking very disheartened.
To make maters worse Madara turned up ,at the hotel, and told them about the impending war and revealing that Itachi wasn't the villain they all believed. They also learned shortly afterwards that Sasuke attacked the summit and took on all of the Kage's. The more they learned the more the copy ninja wished he'd never let Naruto come here. Now the blonde reused to come down from the roof,l the blonde wanted to try and track Sasuke using his sage powers. While Yamato repaired the damage Kakashi tired to talk his student down. He didn't mind him searching for Sasuke but rather the boy did it inside. "Naruto, please come down from there before you get hypothermia." Kakashi called.
Another voice called to Naruto. "Hey get down from there."
Naruto jumped down from the room and ran up to her cheerily "Sakura-chan, what are you Kiba and...Sai doing here?" He asked looking at her escorts nervously.
Now that he'd finished rebuilding the hotel Yamato saw Sakura and Naruto together. "What's going on?" Yamato asked.
"Sakura will cheer him up she always dose." He said watching as Naruto greeted her.
From a distance Sakura looked like she was blushing. "I came here to tell you I love you Naruto"
"Of all the brainless things she could say." He mentally screamed using every ounce of will power he possessed nit to strangle Sakura.
Leaving it there for now. You have no idea how hard it was to write that conversation between Kakashi and Naruto. I promise haven't Sakura bashed too much in the next chapter. But personally for me that moment is by far the WORST thing she has ever done. I've pretty much already written the next chapter. So it won't be too long. I apologies again for updating so late.