A/N: I thank all those people who took the time to read my story and especially those who reviewed/favorite/followed my story!

If any errors are found, please do inform me, I'll correct them immediately. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.

Italicized words indicate emphasis/thoughts.

This story does not have any romantic pairing.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.


Previous:

In the room next door, Shikamaru Nara, was pondering the same thing, amidst a lot of swearing and running.

He too had found it….

The answer.


CHAPTER - 9


Hiruzen Sarutobi detested paperwork.

If he had been a superstitious man, he would have long since started to wear charmed bracelets and colorful, weird head gear so as to ward off the 'terrible-curse-of -the-never-ending-pile-of-papers' as a certain blonde had once wailed.

Minato Namikaze.

Sarutobi was, by no means, a stranger to death but the blonde's death was one of those ones that still invoked in him a deep sense of shame. Shame for not being able to prevent that calamity all those years ago. Shame for not being able to save the lives of Minato and Kushina, two wonderful shinobi.

But above all, the shame of not having been able to save an innocent child from the ugly face of hatred that the village Minato and Kushina so loved had shown to a young child. Their child.

The hokage leaned back and closed his eyes to let the images subside to the depths of his mind.

Minato's striking cerulean orbs…..Kushina's loud boisterous voice….their smiles….their laughs…..

"Jiji!"

Hiruzen snapped open his eyes to meet a familiar pair of azure depths, brimming with emotions. For a moment he felt as if he had travelled three years into the past, as if the sands of time had somehow been forced into reverse and made stagnant, like the still waters of a backwater on a calm day.

"Jiji? What's wrong?"

The illusion shattered just as quickly as it formed as the third hokage focused upon the face of his grinning young charge, whose eyes now reflected the confusion he felt.

The kind hokage simply shook his head at the confused child and smiled,

"Nothing, Naruto, nothing at all, I was just…..thinking about someone…."

The blonde before him seemed to accept this as a satisfactory answer as the confusion left his expressive eyes, to be replaced with the former joy.

"So Naruto, tell me, what do you want today?"

The toddler pouted at this, his whiskers giving the impression of an angry puffer fish.

"I don't visit you only when I need something, Jiji! I came to simply meet you"

The hokage simply chuckled at this, his eyes twinkling merrily,

"Of course, Naruto, I apologize"

The pout immediately disappeared making way for a bright grin, the puffer fish disappearing.

"It's alright , Jiji, by the way, where is that old witch?"

Brown eyes watched in amusement as the azure orbs, scanned the room even as the words were uttered, no doubt, in search for his secretary, Neethu, or as Naruto preferred the 'old witch'.

"She had an important errand to run, she won't be back for at least another hour"

His young guest breathed a sigh of relief at this and climbed up his lap, who was obviously waiting for the 'old witch' to ambush him from behind the desk or some such thing.

"Jiji!" he began after settling himself, " I made friends!'

The hokage brightened at this, his brown eyes expressing the genuine joy he felt.

"That's wonderful, Naruto! Who are they?"

"Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara" Naruto chirped.

Hiruzen stilled at this, surprise clear on his face. He hadn't expected this, an Uchiha and a Nara…..he wouldn't have expected Fugaku to allow such a bond…..and Shikaku was difficult to read as well…but nevertheless, he was surprised. Happy, yes, but surprised as well.

"How did you meet them, Naruto?" he enquired.

Naruto shrugged,

"They kind of helped me out the other day when…" he trailed off, his eyes staring at his arm, his bandaged arm, to be more precise.

Hiruzen was not prone to anger by nature, neither did he normally wish ill upon someone else. But on certain occasions, he was obliged to make an exception, and this was one of them. He forced himself to focus on his breathing to let go of the anger. It helped….somewhat.

"Tell me more about them, Naruto" Hiruzen injected a note of positivity into his voice.

"Well, Shika is …"

The hokage allowed himself a smile as Naruto began actively describing his two friends, his eyes shining with immense happiness. Within no time, Naruto had painted an extremely descriptive portrait of his two best friends.

"Sounds like you found two very good friends, Naruto" he commented when Naruto finally finished.

Naruto beamed and nodded before shifting uncomfortably.

"By the way, Jiji, I have two things to ask of you" he scratched his head sheepishly, remembering his claim from earlier on.

Hiruzen just smiled gently, waiting for him to begin,

"Well, I was wondering if I…..could live on my own" he finished nervously.

Hiruzen sighed sadly, his earlier good mood slowly leaking out.

"Naruto, you're three years old, you can't live on your own"

Naruto looked like he wanted to argue but seemed to understand that the answer won't change. His shoulders slumped.

Hiruzen sighed, he desperately wanted to make Naruto happy, but he couldn't. As much as he wanted to, he was helpless, as always.

But seeing the despondent look in those eyes…..

"I'll try to get you an apartment-"

Naruto instantly brightened, his eyes relaying his hope.

"- but not right now, maybe when you're a year older" he finished.

He could see the blonde wrestle with this idea, his expression not exactly happy but not nearly as slumped as before. After a few minutes, Naruto nodded,

"I'm okay with that"

He smiled slightly, his expression surprisingly happy.

"So what is your second request, Naruto?"

If Hiruzen had been hoping that the swift change in topic would distract the toddler, then his plan worked quite efficiently, for no sooner had the words left his mouth that the blonde began jumping in excitement…well as much jumping as can be expected when sitting in someone's lap.

"I want to learn fuin jutsu!"

For the second time that day, the hokage stilled, surprise flitting across his features. He peered at his young charge, looking for signs that the child was simply speaking without knowing what the words meant, but to his surprise, he found none.

On the contrary he seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.

"Strange…it's almost as if he's done it before…"

"Naruto, do you what fuin jutsu is?"

"Yeah!It's sealing jutsu, right?!"

His tone clearly indicated that it was not a question, but a statement.

The hokage tried to suppress his growing curiosity, but failed spectacularly.

"How do you know so much about this, Naruto?"

The blonde simply blinked up at him, as if the answer was obvious,

"Shika did, I don't know who told him but Shika said that fuin jutsu is a cool jutsu!"

Sarutobi mentally chided himself for forgetting the fact that as lazy as the Nara's were, they weren't idiots, even at three years of age.

But still the fact that the Naruto had chosen this particular art, the art that both his parents were known, the art that his namesake, the Uzumaki 's were known for, was a startling coincidence. It almost felt like Naruto was aware of his heritage.

But that was impossible, no, it was just satire on the part of fate. A cruel joke. Nothing more.

Having thus squished his wandering thoughts, Hiruzen turned back his attention to the young blonde, who was still staring at him with a kind of hopeful apprehension.

"Naruto, fuin art is an extremely difficult jutsu, it would require a lot of hard work and theoretical knowledge on seals, and that won't be easy, are you sure you're up to it?"

Even as he uttered those words, Sarutobi mentally began filtering all the shinobi he knew, for an appropriate teacher. Because if there was one thing he was certain of with regard to his young ward, then that was-

"I'm not scared of difficulties, Jiji! I'm going to be the hokage one day, remember?"

-that Naruto would do everything humanely possible( sometimes, even in humanely ) to achieve what he wanted.

A trait, that Hiruzen had often associated with a certain white haired shinobi.

A shinobi with….erm..some unusual tendencies.

Brown eyes widened, as the answer to his mental filter presented itself in his mind, a perfect solution.

"Naruto, I have the perfect person to teach you the fuin arts, but he won't be here for another two months, are you willing to wait?"

Naruto stared at his mentor with wide eyes, his surprise at the sudden announcement evident on his face, which within minutes, morphed into an expression of unexpected happiness. The expression of a schoolboy on hearing the news of an unexpected holiday.

"You really mean it, Jiji?!"

The said Jiji, merely chuckled at the boy's expression, merriment dancing in his brown eyes.

"Of course, Naruto, have I ever lied to you?"

The part of his answer was drowned by enthusiastic shout of the blonde as he launched himself off his lap and turned to wrap his small arms around the surprised hokage.

"Thank you, Jiji! I really, really love you!"

Hiruzen smiled with genuine happiness as he patted the golden head that belonged to his hyperactive young charge. For the first time in years, the hokage felt sincerely happy and lightened.

Just as quickly he had latched on to Hiruzen, Naruto launched himself on to the floor, his joy almost tangible in the air, like an actual physical object.

"Jiji, will that shinobi teach Shika and Sasuke too?"

He bounced as he enquired, golden strands catching the afternoon light and reflecting a golden halo around the room.

"I'll have to ask him, but I'm sure he won't mind" Hiruzen added the last part as he saw the slight apprehension expressed in the cerulean orbs.

This seemed to suffice for Naruto as he practically leaped towards the door,

"Jiji, can I go and tell Shika and Sasuke?!They'll love it!"

The blonde was already halfway past the doorway as he shouted out the request.

"Of course, Naruto, and next time invite your friends along too, alright?"

The hokage smiled as he heard the echo of 'I will' resound into his room from the streets, where no doubt, Naruto had already reached.

Sarutobi leaned back and allowed a content smile to linger upon his face before sitting up straight as he glanced up at the sun that peeked through the glass of the window, shining radiantly.

It's almost time.

Hiruzen sighed as contemplated the argument which would undoubtedly begin in a few more minutes.

As if an answer to his queries, he felt the minute chakra flare of his privacy seals, as a shinobi approached. Hiruzen straightened before relaxing on recognizing the chakra, allowing the newcomer to enter, on hearing the customary knock.

"Hokage-sama"

If Hiruzen had been a poet, he would have mused about the apparent differences between the boy who stood bowing before him now and the boy who had been bouncing at the same spot just a moment before.

"Yes, Itachi?"

The shinobi before him straightened up at the unspoken bid, and stood with his coal black eyes expressionless as usual.

"The infiltration was successful, no injuries were sustained"

Hiruzen stared at the extended arm before him, holding the folder with the details inside. Infiltration missions were usually assigned to higher ranked shinobi but Itachi had proved himself to be a far more capable shinobi than most of his jounin level shinobi, so Itachi was an exception. A genius, really.

But then why was it that every time he met those obsidian eyes, he felt a tremor of guilt?

Sighing gently, he took the intended document and kept it on his table, he didn't need to look to see its perfection.

The hokage smiled at the young protégé, who was now staring at him expectedly, obviously for dismissal.

Just as he was about to speak, he felt another familiar chakra approaching. Judging by the expression Itachi wore on his pale face, he knew he wasn't the only one.

"Hokage-sama, am I dis-"

"Stay, I think you'll find this interesting" the hokage interjected.

Before anything more could be said, a knock sounded on the door, to which the hokage replied in affirmative.

Itachi glanced up to see familiar figure of his senior walk into the room, his mask hiding his face but not his shock of silver hair.

Inu. Kakashi.

The shinobi curtsied just as Itachi had done only moments before, even though he could tell his senior was curious by appearance, he recognized the signs of the stealth training of the ANBU; don't go poking your nose where it is unnecessary. A crude rule but proved invaluable on many occasions.

Obsidian eyes watched as the two shinobi carried out the required formal form of conduct on return from a mission, at the end of which Kakashi, like he himself had, looked on with mild curiosity as to the reason their leader hadn't dismissed him yet.

"Kakashi, you may take off your mask, there is no need to be so formal"

A slight hesitation stilled the silver haired shinobi 's movements.

"Itachi is part of it too" came the reply to the unspoken query.

Itachi looked on as the young shinobi took off his mask, revealing his trademark half mask and tired deep onyx eyes, very much like his.

Hiruzen sighed as he took in the sight of those bloodshot eyes. Here comes the difficult part. Hiruzen thought.

"Kakashi, I have a new mission for you"

It only took the nineteen year old a few minutes to school his features from the obvious surprise he felt to that of professional detachment, inclining his head to hear the new orders.

Itachi watched as the hokage calmly folded his hands on his desk and looked the silver haired shinobi in the eye,

"I want you to take on the mission of guarding Naruto Uzumaki"

For a moment, nothing happened, stillness hung in the afternoon air with an almost tangible heaviness, before a tentative voice shattered the heaviness like glass,

"What?"

The words were uttered with perfect ease, as if his senior had simply been unable to catch the words, but Itachi was not fooled, he could read the signs perfectly well; the clenched fists, the pale, almost bloodless complexion but above all, the brokenness that resounded in that single word.

Kakashi Hatake was afraid.

It seemed he wasn't the only one to reach this conclusion, as he observed the hokage struggle to maintain his apparent cool composure, his gaze still the calm one as before,

"I want you t-"

"No"

This time Kakashi was shaking as he spoke, his eyes looking like that of a madman, crazy, lost and broken.

"Kakas-"

"NO!I can't…..I won't…."

"KAKASHI!"

Kakashi looked up at the voice, his mind unconsciously responding to the commanding tone,

"Calm down and please let me finish before you decide"

Hiruzen held up his hand as he saw the recipient looking to argue again,

"Itachi, speak"

The third hokage leaned back and observed as the young prodigy repeated the facts with an emotionless tone, his clinical voice adding gravity to the situation, with Kakashi listening with a cornered expression.

Even as a young child, Kakashi had always been evasive when it came to facing people, it had taken a lot of effort on Minato's side and many more missions with his comrades for him to finally open up a bit, but fate continued to be cruel to him, snatching away both his comrades and his sensei, leaving behind an even more gaping hole than before.

After Minato 's death, the teen had found solace in his ANBU duties alone, digging himself deeper and deeper. Now here he was, being asked to watch after the boy who in every respect, reminded him of his own failure to help out his sensei.

Hiruzen understood the desire to flee very well but it was time the young prodigy faced them.

A butterfly cannot fly when it is tied down by a stone, it has to let it go.

Even before Itachi had stopped speaking, Kakashi was emphatically shaking his head,

"But why me? Why can't you find someone else, anyone else?"

"Because only you can"

Kakashi turned his face to meet dark obsidian eyes, whose owner had answered his question.

But the clenched fists didn't relax, neither did the paleness subside,

"No, I have the right to refuse a mission if I want to and I'm refusing this one, I won't do it ,I won't"

The third hokage sighed wearily and held contact with dark frightened eyes, before breaking contact,

"Very well, Kakashi, if that is truly your final decision, then you may leave, I won't force you"

The silver haired shinobi stood still for a moment before speaking,

"Who will be replacing Jaye?"

Hiruzen simply glanced at him before answering carelessly,

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm sure I'll find someone"

Still the shock of silver hair lingered in the room, clearly not satisfied, but after a few moments, he stalked towards the door, slowly but surely.

He had just reached the door when the hokage' s voice reached his ears,

"Kakashi, meet Yuri immediately after reaching the base, he has something important to share"

The nineteen year old prodigy, who was listening with his body half turned towards the office and a hand on the door handle, nodded before tentatively putting on his mask and leaving, closing the door behind him.

Hiruzen sighed as picked up his pen to resume his work,

"You may leave as well, Itachi "

But the prodigy made no move, his gaze on the door,

"What is it that you're planning, hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen chuckled at this, his eyes twinkling,

"Now what makes you say that, child?"

Still Itachi made no move to answer, his gaze curious,

"I didn't command him to carry out the mission, because that would've been useless, he has to make that choice himself for him to let go of his darkness"

The third hokage once again laid down his pen, after answering the unspoken question, silently cursing the paperwork that still littered his desk,

"And besides, I don't need to"

He finished softly.

"But why?"

….

Kakashi felt the sun warm his face as he ran, but the tingling warmth gave no comfort to him, in fact, the protégé was oblivious to it, his mind still thudding with the frantic fear he had felt earlier.

He was not someone who was scared easily, fear and anguish had always haunted him, he was used to them. But the fear he felt back at the hokage' s office was new to him.

No, that wasn't right.

It was the fear he had worked so hard all this time to hide, the fear that was the first kind of fear that he had experienced; the fear of loss.

It was this fear that first presented itself when his father died, it was this fear that made him keep a distance from all those who tried to care. For a while, he was free from its clutches, when he had found his team

That was the first time he had felt true freedom.

But even that faded away, leaving him in the quagmire of that crippling fear again.

No.

He couldn't handle that fear again, it didn't matter that guilt roared in his ears every time he ignored that child, it didn't matter that he wanted to strangle Jaye or anyone who hurt that little replica of his sensei or th-

"Stop" he told himself "just stop thinking"

He sighed as he reached his destination, quietly slipping in to the grey colored compound, after providing the chakra signature.

He walked with quiet footsteps in the long winding corridors that interconnected the various rooms, his mind absentmindedly noting the stark difference in the bright outside world and the drab interior of the ANBU quarters. The place held no smell or color, it was all black or grey with variations in white.

A place without individuality.

Kakashi remembered Shisui having announced that the first time he came.

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, the silver haired shinobi made his way to the main hall, from where he could reach Yuri's room.

Slightly picking up his pace, he walked towards his destination. Presently, he saw the wide door that marked the entry into the hall and entered the brightly lit area, before stopping abruptly.

The hall looked as it always did, with chairs stacked in the corner, a table in the center with refreshments and an exercise ball rolled near it (what it was doing there, Kakashi had no clue).A lone bookshelf stood facing the entrance, with many thick and thin books and scrolls arranged neatly in it.

But that wasn't what stopped Kakashi in his tracks, it was the man that stood beside the bookshelf.

Biva Jayain or Jaye as he was more commonly known, was a dark haired, dark eyed man with an average build who specialized in mind confusing didn't know much about him, they had met once or twice briefly.

And the man who is supposed to look after Naruto, his mind helpful added to the bio data.

Biva looked up from the book he was reading, his expression neutral,

"Inu" the grave voice greeted.

Kakashi only nodded back, his fists clenched, before forcing himself to walk forward,

"I heard the hokage dismissed you from your previous mission"

Two sets of eyes widened at this declaration,

"What the hell is wrong with me?"

Kakashi raised his eyes to find that Biva had closed the book and was looking at him with narrowed eyes, a strange emotion gleaming in them,

"Care to elaborate, Inu?"

"You were dismissed because you never took any action to protect your client, Naruto Uzumaki"

"Why am I doing this?"

Dark eyes considered him, darkness swirling within them,

"Well, I guess that's true enough"

Kakashi felt his insides settle a bit at this open declaration, maybe it was all a misun-

"But, it's not like my ignoring that brat mattered"

"What?"

The shinobi before him, continued on, blatantly ignoring the obvious note of anger that laced the quiet whisper,

"The brat healed pretty quickly, so I saw no reason to interfere"

"So you simply watched?"

This time, incredulity accompanied the anger.

"My orders were to keep the kid alive and well, not to heed to his every need"

A slender finger traced the covers of the books, searching for a particular volume, even as the owner spoke,

"But he is a child"

A shrug,

"The brat's just being melodramatic, it's not like he was ever injured fatally, bruises, cuts, just that "

Naruto has been attacked 12 times… wounded and bruised by two civilians….

"The hokage is too soft hearted, that brat doesn't need protection"

orphanage complaining of Naruto…

"The orphanage takes care of him well enough"

not taking care to stop his blood from staining the sheets….

"His parents would have probably agreed with me o-"

The finger never found the book because the said finger now traced his own jaw, where a smaller fist had punched him, Kakashi' s fist.

"So the cold blooded Kakashi does care ab-"

The words lodged themselves painfully in his throat he saw the look of absolute hatred on the face that loomed above him, it held no bluff, only smoldering ashes of contempt.

So he did the wise thing; he stayed on the floor, where he had fallen to and watched the youth before him, breathe deeply, trying to control his anger,

"From now on, stay away from Naruto"

The words held no heat or passion but Biva was not an idiot, he knew the truth when he saw it and this was the real thing.

The dazed shinobi could stare in silence as silver haired youth straightened his posture deliberately, before abruptly turning around and marching towards the exit.

Leaving the dark haired ANBU to ponder upon this new development,

Kakashi Hatake cared about Naruto Uzumaki

.

Kakashi sighed as he fumed his way towards the quarters.

"What did I do just now?"

He had openly announced his attachment to his emotions, and that kind of thing was a grave weakness in the shinobi world. Blackmails could be extracted, vengeance wrecked and pain unleashed, it was a leverage in the hands of a potential enemy.

But having said all that, he felt no remorse.

The truth was that he was tired of running, of being afraid of fear, of being lost.

"I want you to take on the mission of guarding Naruto Uzumaki"

Even though he had refused earlier, now that he had practically announced that he cared about Naruto, he had no choice but to accept that mission.

For now he was certain that he wouldn't be able to turn a blind eye to this hatred now that it stared him in the eye, maybe if he hadn't witnessed this whole scenario, then maybe he could have held onto the excuse of ignorance.

But now he had no choice.

He rubbed his eyes, and leaned against the wall, the weight of his actions catching up to him.

"Hey"

Kakashi would have jumped if he had been any less of a shinobi.

He blinked as he immediately focused upon the gentle face of Yuri Nakaha staring at him, with a smile curving the corners of his lips.

The silver haired shinobi just stared back at him, his vocal cords in apparent distress.

"Is something the matter, Inu?"

A slight frown now marred the smooth features of the red head that stood before him.

This slight concern reminded Kakashi of his vulnerable position, effectively snapping him out of his reverie,

"Nothing, I'm fine, just tired"

The clear green eyes that stared back at him, held the light touches of amusement but Yuri made no move to oppose him.

"Well, then I guess that's my cue to leave"

The red head was about to make good on his word, when Kakashi spoke,

"Actually, I was looking for you, the hokage said that you have something important to share"

The red head hummed before answering,

"Yes, I completely forgot about that, it's in my room, how about we head over there right now?"

And with that Yuri walked on ahead, leaving Kakashi to follow. He made no attempt at small talk, those were one of the things that Kakashi admired in the older man; he appreciated the value of silence.

Within minutes, they reached the small individual rooms that stood together, resembling a school corridor.

"Here"

In the blink of an eye, Kakashi found a small scroll in his hands, carefully tied at the front.

His nimble fingers immediately began untying the knot,

"I wonder if Jaye has found it yet"

The probing fingers stilled, the owner in a like state,

"…What?"

Either the red head ignored the slight stiffness to the voice or was oblivious to it, continuing on in his soft humming voice,

"The hokage had ordered him to retrieve a book from the ANBU library, but for some reason he insisted that Jaye search in the main hall rather than the actual library, strange, wouldn't you say?"

Kakashi didn't reply, he was staring at the now open scroll in his hand,

"Kakashi, meet Yuri immediately after reaching the base, he has something important to share"

"Yuri, when did the hokage give this peculiar order?"

"Just an hour before you arrived, he sent someone over to relay the orders"

"Who asked you to give this scroll to me, Yuri?"

"The hokage, of course, it was sent with the same guy"

With that Yuri stepped out to the corridor, obviously deeming the conversation as over but Kakashi didn't move.

He had a sudden urge to ram his head to the wall, as he stared at the black swirls of the ink against the white paper,

"Kakashi Hatake, I'm glad that you have decided to accept the mission, your mission starts from tomorrow. Report to the office early in the morning for the specifics."

Damn that manipulative old fox.

.

"But why?"

Hiruzen breathed in deeply, his eyes focusing on the sunlight that streamed through the windows,

"We shinobi like to think that we're above the crippling effects of human emotions, that we're just shadows of power and nothing more, but the fact is that none of us can stop being human"

A pause, as only the sound of the wind chimed across the room,

"We shinobi are just as predictable as normal men, but because of the greater darkness that we carry, we just make ourselves believe we aren't. I know Kakashi will accept the mission, because I know his heart and the compassion that resides in it"

A breath.

"To me his human heart is what makes him so predictable, he won't run away anymore, because his emotions won't let him"

The pen was picked back up again,

"And then eventually, when he becomes a great shinobi, he'll finally realize that our emotions are the strongest of our weapons, the mightiest of all our blades"

The last part was softly spoke, as if no one was meant to hear it.

The recipient stayed silent, offering no expression.

But when Itachi saw the sullen looking face of his senior heading towards the hokage' s office early in the morning the next day, he couldn't help but smile softly.


Sorry for the long wait guys, I am kind of going through a difficult part in my life and writing became difficult for a while.

But thanks for all the support! Your reviews truly mean a lot to me!

Sorry if this chapter is a bit boring, my writing has gone a bit rusty.

Anyways, thanks for reading!