I know you guys are really eager to see Danzou get his comeuppance, and I promise that's coming soon - very soon. This chapter has something else! More character interactions! Feels! So many feels! (I like to think so, anyway.) Guilt! (Thanks, Kakashi.) And some plot progression on a certain point.

So, back in Chapter 1, I said that one character's asexual, right? Most of you have guessed by now that character's Kakashi. However, while writing this story, I realized that there's another character I also read as being on the ace-spectrum. I'll let you figure out who that is. It should be pretty obvious. (I might do a little too much introspection but it's fun and also angst.)

Thanks so much for all the continued feedback! :D I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 10

Naruto couldn't remember having been this nervous last time. Or maybe he had been but he'd blotted it out because nerves sucked.

Right now he was a mixture of nervous and excited that made sitting still difficult. It was just as well that the first day of the Academy didn't actually require one to sit. He could stand and bounce around all he wanted.

Sasuke was here, too, although Naruto was keeping some distance between them. He could still see Sasuke if he looked over, and his grumpy-faced father as well. Fugaku hadn't even glanced in Naruto's direction, and he seemed anything but pleased to be here.

Which was strange, since just about every other parent Naruto could see all looked happy and proud of their children.

It highlighted his own loss all the more, although Naruto had to remind himself that he wasn't actually a child and he knew exactly how proud his parents were. But however sweet the reminder was, it was no replacement for the actual physical presence of his parents.

Even Sasuke's parents would be kind of nice to have… It was a wistful thought, which lasted until the next time Naruto caught sight of Fugaku's face and wondered just what had decided to rest up the other man's ass.

Maybe the same thing that had stuck up Sasuke's once upon a time?

Now Mikoto. There was someone who Naruto would like to get to know more.

Itachi was a great shinobi and did a really good job at helping Sasuke hide his friendship with Naruto, but he couldn't hide everything. At some point Mikoto had wised up to what Sasuke was doing on his days out of the house and started sending him off with food for two. She'd never said anything to Sasuke or Itachi, but it was clear enough that she knew and was fine with it.

Naruto's mom really did have awesome taste in friends.

Although Mikoto had relatively awful taste in men. Maybe there was something about Fugaku that Naruto hadn't seen yet? It was just…the guy could do a better job of being happy at Sasuke's first day at the Academy.

From what Sasuke had told him yesterday evening, Fugaku hadn't even wanted to go. It had been Itachi tricking him that resulted in Fugaku being here, since Fugaku didn't want Itachi skipping the important mission he was on.

The mission that would induct Itachi into ANBU. Kakashi had seemed mildly worried about it over the last few weeks, even if he hadn't said as much. There was a lot of history between Itachi and Kakashi, but Naruto was sure Kakashi could handle it.

Kakashi had handled Bushier Brows and Yamato well enough. Even if Naruto had seen Bushier Brows and Yamato coming out of the bookstore with some suspicious books. Kakashi had looked vaguely panicked when Naruto asked him about it and then refused to answer so Naruto still didn't have an answer as to why Bushier Brows was walking around Konoha blushing furiously while reading the books he'd bought.

Judging from Bushier Brows's shouts that he was going to someday manage it and be as cool as his rival, it was probably a challenge.

A challenge he was apparently failing.

Anyway, Kakashi had Itachi handled. Naruto had told him as much two days ago, only to be annoyed by Kakashi ruffling his hair and telling him to pay attention to his chakra control so he would stop summoning tadpoles.

Which…Naruto didn't need to be reminded about because he was still stuck with summoning tadpoles.

His less delicate jutsu were sort of back in his arsenal. If he didn't mind burning the insides of his mouth or drowning himself in a flood of water. It was definitely an option in the worst case scenario, although not one he'd do willingly.

Rasengan and its more advanced versions were completely out of the ballgame for now. Kakashi could manage the regular version, but he couldn't copy the Rasenshuriken with his Sharingan. And he didn't have the chakra to manage it either.

So while Kakashi was doing well enough, Naruto was probably as dangerous as a genin now. Maybe chuunin if his taijutsu was back up to snuff. Or if one of his jutsu backfired in a good way. (It could happen. If he just…aimed it the right way.)

On the plus side, Naruto's friendship with Sasuke was going swimmingly. Even if they spent a lot of their time in the library, looking through shinobi books. Sasuke had taken Naruto's suggestion on being ahead in the Academy to heart and kept making sure Naruto actually did his reading.

Which…worked out so long as Naruto was vaguely aware of what they were studying. Sasuke had given up on Naruto being able to spew back exactly what was in the books, settling for the bastardized version Naruto managed to come up with, since the books made no freaking sense.

Yeah, Naruto knew the stuff. It didn't mean the books made any sense. Somehow, even basic chakra theory that Kakashi had explained to him turned into gibberish when he read it in a book. It sucked, but then Naruto had known he was never going to be a book-smart shinobi. He'd leave that to Sakura.

Outside of the library, Sasuke had taken well to pranking. He didn't have much creativity when it came to coming up with ideas, but he was gung-ho for implementing them and even spicing it up a little. It had been his idea to add a few live insects during one of their "fishing" pranks, and to add some traps to the usual wire tricks Naruto and Sukea had done.

Sasuke also got along really well with Sukea on the days that Sukea was there. It wasn't entirely surprising given that Sukea was Kakashi in disguise and Kakashi and Sasuke had gotten along well when Sasuke wasn't out for revenge. Sasuke had even asked Sukea if he would be joining the Academy as well; Sukea had claimed he was looking forward to a lazy life as a merchant and didn't want to abandon it to be a shinobi.

Sukea being Sukea, the statement had been blandly delivered with a matter-of-fact expression, so Sasuke hadn't pressed for more beyond making a face because "really? He wanted to be a merchant?"

Naruto couldn't really defend Sukea because yeah, that did sound pretty boring. Not at all like being a shinobi.

On that train of thought, Naruto looked around for Sakura, seeing if he could locate her. She was supposed to be here, too. Especially if he hadn't messed anything up when he'd reached out to her all those months ago.

He didn't see her pink hair, but he saw Shikamaru, who was already wearing his hair tied back at this age. Chouji wasn't too far off, hanging close by his dad.

And when Naruto turned, he saw Hinata, head ducked and hands twisting at the cloth of her robes. Her father stood at her back, face blank and frowning slightly.

Naruto paused, eyes lingering on her small form. He hadn't known her this far back. He hadn't even known she was around. Would she still attach herself to him now? He wasn't the same person as the one she'd admired, the one she claimed to have fallen in love with.

That declaration of love was one Naruto could clearly remember even now when he looked at Hinata. He'd never forget it, but he didn't have more idea what to do with it now than he had before. Thankfully, that question was out of his hands.

Maybe, in another lifetime, he could have tried to see what could have come from a relationship with Hinata. That chance had been taken from him.

As had Hinata's own chance at some kind of happiness. She had still been alive at the end, but what kind of life had that been? She'd sought Naruto out a few times, wanting comfort, but Naruto hadn't been able to offer much aside from pretty words and hugs.

She'd probably wanted something else, but Naruto hadn't known how to give her that. It hadn't been until he registered just how strangely Sakura was looking at him that he even realized he'd goofed up.

It wasn't that he didn't want sex (it felt nice, okay?). Or find Hinata cute. But he'd just…not put two and two together? That sex could be used like that? And that Hinata wanted sex.

It was always so incredibly boring when ero-sennin wrote about it. He couldn't figure out what Kakashi found so interesting in those books, and Kakashi had never explained it either. So Naruto had never gotten more than ten pages into ero-sennin's Icha Icha series, even though ero-sennin had tried to get him to edit his latest work.

Sex was just… It was still kind of weird for him to think about it like that. Yeah, people's bodies were nice to look at. Hinata had been beautiful, but then so had Sakura. Naruto hadn't exactly put two and two together to realize that meant he should want to get into bed with them.

If someone offered and he was in the mood for it, Naruto wouldn't exactly say no, but there hadn't been a lot of that happening towards the end. At least not for him. He couldn't say the same for some others, since privacy was hard to get in close quarters.

At least…now Hinata had that chance she hadn't had before. Maybe this time she'd fall in love with someone else. If she'd even been in love with him.

What had she known about him in the end? Naruto hadn't ever spent that much time with her. It was easy enough to admire and fall in "love" with a picture. He'd done it with Sakura, and it hadn't been until much later that he'd let go of that picture to love Sakura as his family.

They all had that chance now.

Turning away from Hinata, Naruto noticed Ino tugging at her father's hand as she pointed to the Academy building, mouth moving rapidly as she spoke. Kiba sans Akamaru was by the playground with an older girl who must have been his sister and his mother. Shino was quiet and hidden in the shadows with two people who could only have been his parents.

There were others that he wasn't as familiar with. Who must have not made the cut after the graduation exam, remaining career genin or going into other lines of work that weren't so heavily focused on combat.

Some looked a little like Uchiha, hair and eyes dark. Naruto spent a moment longer studying them since he didn't remember them from before. If the massacre was stopped this time, there'd be no reason for them to die and never graduate.

It complicated things, like if Team 7 would ever form, but Naruto had to have faith. They'd all graduate – he knew that – so it'd work out.

His ANBU guard was finally gone. Naruto was going to kind of miss their presence, but for the most part it was a relief. It would make sneaking around infinitely easier, and he could probably spend more time at Kakashi's place.

He had his henge down pretty solidly by this point.

Yet Kakashi was around, lingering at the sides. Naruto couldn't see him, but that made sense since he wasn't supposed to be here at all.

Still, the thought was nice, warming him from the inside out.

Turning on his heel, Naruto looked back to where Sasuke and Fugaku were. Someone was speaking to Fugaku; Naruto didn't recognize the guy, but he seemed vaguely familiar so he must have been a teacher.

Sidling closer, Naruto was able to pick up on what was being said to put that pinched expression on Sasuke's face.

"If he's anything like his brother, then he'll do excellently," the man was saying to Fugaku. "Uchiha Itachi was an unparalleled genius; I haven't ever seen his like before. Youngest to graduate the Academy, wasn't he?" He looked down at Sasuke. "I suppose it's too much to hope for that he'll be like his brother, eh?"

Fugaku wasn't saying anything in Sasuke's defense, simply nodding along. Sasuke looked vaguely stricken, like he'd been punched in the stomach.

It made Naruto's chest hurt because that wasn't cool. Itachi was Itachi, and Sasuke was going to be a brilliant shinobi, but he wasn't ever going to be like his brother. He was too straightforward for that, and he hadn't really bloomed until later.

Just like Naruto wasn't his father or his mother, no matter what traits he'd inherited from them.

Not to mention the guy was just plain wrong.

"Actually," Naruto said before Fugaku or the idiotic teacher could say another word, "Uchiha Itachi wasn't the youngest to graduate. That was Hatake Kakashi. He was five, wasn't he? Itachi was seven. And maybe I'm not the best at math, but I'm pretty sure seven is more than five."

Fugaku looked a bit like he'd just swallowed a lemon. Sasuke looked a combination of upset and disbelieving, almost like he wanted to rush to Itachi's defense but couldn't figure out how. As for the teacher…the teacher was staring at Naruto like he was a bug under a microscope.

"You were not a part of this conversation," the teacher said.

"Oh, my bad," Naruto said cheerfully. "It's not like you guys were in a private room or anything, yeah?"

"What are you doing here?" the teacher said, eyes narrowing.

"First day of the Academy, isn't it?" Naruto flicked a thumb back in the direction of the welcome sign. "I'm gonna be a shinobi, ya know!" He snapped his fingers and pointed at the teacher, winking. "The best one ever! And I don't have to graduate early to do it!"

Sasuke seemed like he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it down when Fugaku glanced at him. He hadn't stopped staring at Naruto, though.

Naruto stared back, eyebrows raised. He didn't really care what Fugaku thought. It wasn't fair to have Sasuke compared to Itachi.

"I see," the teacher managed a moment later, sounding unhappy with the idea of Naruto as a student.

"I'm sure, sensei," Naruto said, grin sharpening slightly as he used the title. "I guess your classes will be interesting, huh? Keep on us our toes if it's history!" He thumbed his nose, gave the blinking teacher another sharp grin and then slipped away into the crowd.

Sasuke was probably going to refuse to talk to him for a while after this, but it was definitely worth the slack-mouthed expression on the teacher's face. The man clearly hadn't known whether Naruto was insulting or complimenting him.

The next day saw Naruto at the Academy again, this time for actual classes. Kakashi had left in the late afternoon yesterday for an ANBU mission, so Naruto hadn't been able to take advantage of his lack of ANBU guard beyond going to train by himself and several dozen kage bunshin.

He hadn't seen Sasuke either, which Naruto had totally expected.

He also half-expected the punch to the shoulder when Sasuke sat next to him for their first class.

"What was that yesterday?" Sasuke hissed, leaning in close. "Father's suspicious now!"

"He won't catch us," Naruto said idly, folding his arms on the table and dropping his chin on them. "Besides we're in the Academy now. He can't stop you from talking to me here."

Sasuke scowled, mouth twisting. "Screw that," he muttered. "It still doesn't make any sense."

Naruto shrugged lightly. He'd already mentioned numerous times before that adults didn't like him, and Sasuke had seen the evidence himself. It certainly had made for an amusing sight to see a tiny Sasuke scowling at the guilty parties whenever he saw them.

"Besides," Sasuke said quietly, eyes on the desk, "it wasn't like he was wrong, was he? I'm not as good as my big brother."

"Because you're Sasuke," Naruto said, eyes on the door to make sure their teacher wasn't going to come in. "You're not supposed to be a second Itachi. It'd be creepy and I'd miss my best friend because Itachi doesn't do pranks with me."

"I'm supposed to be better," Sasuke insisted.

"Then be better. Even Itachi wasn't always great, right? I mean, he wasn't, was he? Because that would be weird, too. Or was he born with a shuriken in his hand or something?"

The punch to his shoulder this time was much lighter. "Stop being weird. You know he wasn't."

Naruto faked a relieved sigh. "Well, you never know, do you? There are some weird shinobi out there."

Weirder shinobi than Naruto had known about before. That was one interesting thing that he had remembered from their constant reading.

Their teacher entered the room at that point, calling for the class to settle down and pay attention.

As the room quieted and everyone settled in their seats, Naruto caught sight of pink hair on the other side of the room.

The sight was possibly more relieving than it should have been.

Up until class actually started and Naruto realized exactly how boring this was. No wonder Shikamaru was already snoozing in his seat.

Naruto was going to join him any second now.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. Please take care of me."

Tenzou was first to greet Itachi, clapping him companionably on the shoulder and introducing him to the others.

Kakashi hung back slightly, head tilted to the side as he inspected Itachi. It had been a long while since he had last been so close to Itachi. And it hadn't even really been Itachi at that time, simply a jutsu sacrificing another man so Itachi could buy time for the extraction of the Ichibi.

He'd grown used to thinking of Itachi as the terrifying young man he'd grown into, that shinobi who had participated in the massacre of the Uchiha clan. This child wasn't yet the Itachi Kakashi had faced off against, but the makings were there.

And if Kakashi had anything to say about it, Itachi wouldn't have to leave Konoha and join the Akatsuki. It would mean a great deal if they could keep Itachi in the village, not roaming about as an S-class nukenin.

"That's Hatake Kakashi," Tenzou was telling Itachi, gesturing in Kakashi's direction. "He's our captain."

"Good to have you, Itachi," Kakashi said, dipping his head. "If you're ready, we'll head out to do some team training."

"Ugh, fuck, again?" Rat groaned. Eiji had gotten a bit too used to occasionally voicing his complaints. His teammates were wise enough to suffer in silence.

"For that you can be the guinea pig," Kakashi said without missing a beat, not even looking at the man.

"Guinea pig for what? We're always guinea pigs!"

"Itachi, of course." Kakashi gave Itachi a beaming smile, closing his open eye so it couldn't be mistaken for anything else. "Let's go." He bit back the "ducklings" comment at the last moment. He'd gone a long way to changing his stone-cold reputation, but not to the point where he could yet get away with a comment like that.

Itachi seemed just a little confused, but he followed along dutifully, mask on.

Then, once they reached the training ground, Kakashi did as promised and stuck Itachi with Rat for a rousing game of hide-and-seek, the two of them hiding from everyone else.

His team had improved greatly when it came to the wonderful art of stealth, so Kakashi was interested to see how Itachi's skills measured up even now, sticking a kage bunshin on the two so he could evaluate them later.

Eiji did a good job of helping Itachi out, laying false trails and in general obscuring their tracks to make it more difficult. That said, Itachi's skills were nothing to sniff at either, already at the level of the average ANBU.

"Good job, you two," Kakashi said once Tenzou had hauled them out of their hiding place.

"You found us," Itachi said slowly. "Was the point not to successfully hide?"

"You don't hide from Hound," Eiji told him mournfully. "You only delay the inevitable."

Kakashi frowned. "Stop making me sound like some kind of disease."

"Would you prefer a dog, taichou?"

Ignoring the comeback, Kakashi turned to Itachi. "You did well," he repeated. "You're about as good as they were back when we started these exercises. Now, we're going to move onto fighting. Hide again with Rat; he'll explain the drill."

Kakashi counted down from ten once the two were gone in a blur of black. After he reached zero, he gave the signal to disperse, hanging back to let his team track the two down.

Once it was clear that they were discovered, Itachi was the first to spring out and attack, hands flying through a series of seals that Kakashi recognized as one for a fire jutsu. He could have countered with a water one, but that wouldn't let him see how his team handled this.

One blazing fire jutsu later, Kakashi was left alone in the trees, crouched on a branch as he let his senses flick over each one of his team members.

It was a drill they had run multiple times before, pitting teamwork against a more powerful enemy. There'd been reluctance initially when Kakashi introduced it, none of them entirely willing to fight as a team against him alone. They hadn't wanted to hurt him, which was a serious risk considering they were all ANBU and had been told to take him seriously or they'd lose.

As it was, they'd learned quickly enough that they didn't have to worry. Without the Sharingan, Kakashi would likely have worried. With it?

It was an even match.

Kakashi pulled his hitai-ate up in time to dodge the fire jutsu aimed his way, spinning through the weapons hidden in the flames. He snagged several out of the air, flipping them around and sending them back the way they came, unsheathing his tantou with his other hand.

And with a clang of metal against metal, the fight was on.

It was more furious than usual, Itachi's presence adding another dimension to it. Genjutsu frequently overlaid the field, only to dissipate into crows when Kakashi dispelled them. They were subtle, but Kakashi had gone up against a madman with a highly advanced Mangekyou Sharingan for years and was keenly aware of how to combat them.

That, and he'd been training with Gai on and off, discreetly borrowing tips from him as to how to best fight a Sharingan user. Not that Gai was aware. He just really enjoyed fighting Kakashi when he was using his Sharingan, rare as the occasion was nowadays.

A crackle of a lightning jutsu later, and Kakashi demolished the wooden branches Tenzou had called up, disintegrating them into splinters. He darted past Tenzou, hand whipping out fast enough with a kunai to hit against Tenzou's head, knocking him out cold.

Even one down, his team rallied, working well together with Itachi despite only having met him today.

By the time Kakashi called the drill to an end, all but one of his team had been knocked out, and Itachi had tactically retreated to a safe point.

"Excellent job all of you," Kakashi told them once they were awake and groaning. "It isn't easy working with a new team member straight off the bat."

There was a silence that strongly suggested his team wanted to say something but decided they shouldn't. Smart people.

"Now, since we've all gotten the chance to know each other a little better," Kakashi continued, ignoring the snort Tenzou gave, "I think it's time we tell our newest team member a little about how our team works."

Itachi held still, absolutely no sign of life in his body aside from the subtle rising and sinking of his chest. It was clear he didn't know what Kakashi meant, having been informed by the head ANBU what it would mean to be on an ANBU team.

"Shinobi rule four," Kakashi said slowly, "states that the mission comes first. As ANBU, that's paramount given the type of missions we deal with. However…" He shifted, tucking his hands in his pockets, leaning his weight back on his heels. "That's not something I ascribe to. I don't abandon teammates. We go in together, and we come out together if at all possible. And on that note, we work together as a team as well."

Itachi's chin dropped slightly. Even with his face hidden by the mask, Kakashi could tell he was thinking about the exercise he'd just run.

"We're here for each other," Kakashi continued quietly. "There are things we do in ANBU that other shinobi will never know of. And so it's important that we can rely on each other. This isn't a team made up of individual people who are working alongside each other; this is a team of people working with each other."

Pausing on that note, Kakashi shifted towards Itachi, nodding at him. "Welcome to Team Ro, Weasel."

After a pause, Itachi nodded back, stance relaxing.

That was that. Uchiha Itachi was back in ANBU, and Kakashi had another chance at what he'd failed to do last time.

("You don't usually give those types of speeches to new teammates, senpai. Trying your hand at something new?"

("Thought I'd turn over a new leaf. Always good to sprout something new, isn't it?"

("…I don't know you.")

With the Academy officially having started and Naruto's ANBU guard no longer being a factor, Kakashi noted that Naruto seemed to have taken the initiative to move into his apartment. Or sort of move in.

It wasn't like Naruto had asked. No, Kakashi's first inkling of what was going on was that there were clothes stacked in his closet that weren't his.

They were too small for one thing. The orange color was another giveaway.

The instant ramen packets creeping into his cupboards were another hint. Kakashi had stared at them for a few seconds too long when he first saw them before deciding he didn't need to ask and going for the soup instead. He did buy more vegetables in retribution, stuffing them and a few fruits in Naruto's bag when he wasn't looking.

Then there was the textbook popping up on Kakashi's desk, one that Kakashi certainly hadn't had to open for years. It was thankfully the only textbook. Kakashi couldn't deal with more, especially since he'd actually opened it accidentally one time when groping for something to read. He didn't need to go through the shinobi basics again.

But that was about the extent of it. Naruto still had most of his stuff at his own apartment. It was just that he had some things at Kakashi's place now, since he could spend time there without worrying about the ANBU getting suspicious.

It did mean Kakashi had to remember to buy food for two. Naruto tended to eat with him more often than not now.

And while Kakashi had never actually told anyone how he liked his tea in this lifetime or the other one, Naruto had somehow figured it out and handed him his tea one morning.

Kakashi had eyed it suspiciously, sniffed it, and then had to drink it when nothing pinged his senses. Naruto's amused grin hadn't really helped, although all Kakashi could do was ruffle his hair when he went to get breakfast ready. He'd told Naruto he wasn't allowed to actually cook because he wasn't in the mood to move apartments if Naruto somehow decided to set this one on fire instead of his own.

Naruto's argument that he hadn't actually intended to set his kitchen on fire and that he was older now than he'd been that time did him no favors. He was still banned from doing anything more strenuous than setting the kettle to boil.

These types of mornings were new to Kakashi. Of course, there were those mornings when he was on a mission with his team; the mornings when he and his companions had put together the food they managed to scrounge up, relieved to see the dawning of another day. Yet those mornings didn't compare to this.

There was nothing to fear here. It was quiet and calm, and Kakashi had never had anyone to share his living space with like this before.

He wasn't sure if it would have been like this had he chosen to look after Naruto initially instead of abandoning his duties. Probably not, since Naruto really would have been a child, then. At least Naruto was self-sufficient. It was more like living with another adult – albeit a small one.

Naruto's thoughts were clearly running along the same paths judging from the considering expressions he often wore. Yet he didn't say anything, and Kakashi thought they might leave it at that until Naruto did actually bring it up one Sunday morning.

Kakashi had the day off, having come back from a week-long mission that had required assassinating some important political figures and planting evidence that would point the fingers elsewhere. Entirely routine, boring, and rather disgusting because politics. He'd likely go out and train later before continuing to scout out Danzou's base for the final touches.

Naruto probably had something with Sasuke planned; Kakashi hadn't asked.

Kakashi had just set breakfast down on the table when Naruto broke the silence, fiddling with his chopsticks. "Kakashi…I was wondering about something."

Kakashi made an effort at casually picking at his food. He kept his mask on. "Hm?"

"My dad was your sensei, right?" Naruto hadn't looked up once since he started speaking. "So…you must've known my mom, too, right?"

"You know the answer to that," Kakashi said quietly.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto nodded distractedly. "I just… So you, uh…must've known my mom was pregnant, then? With me," he added unnecessarily.

Kakashi's thumb rubbed along the side of his chopsticks. They hadn't let anyone know, but Kakashi hadn't been "anyone" as Kushina was constantly insisting. So, yes, he'd known. He'd been involved from the beginning, when Minato came to him wild-eyed and beaming, clutching him into an embrace and whispering that Kushina's pregnant, Kakashi! He'd been involved through the entire process of the two figuring out the logistics of how the Yondaime Hokage and Konoha's jinchuuriki could safely give birth without putting anyone in danger.

And then he'd gone and fucked it up by telling Rin's grave without checking that he was actually alone.

"They were so excited," Kakashi finally said. "Minato – he came to me when he found out. He wasn't technically supposed to tell me, but he…"

"You're family, Kakashi."

Letting out a slow breath, Kakashi met Naruto's eyes. "He told me I was family," he continued quietly. "So why shouldn't I know?" He tapped his chopsticks gently against the tabletop for a brief moment before letting them rest. "So yes," he added, answering Naruto's initial question.

Nodding once, slowly, Naruto spun his chopsticks through his fingers like a pinwheel. "What happened afterwards?" he asked eventually. "After…" One hand disappeared under the table, presumably to his stomach.

Naruto wasn't asking the actual question, but Kakashi knew what he was trying to find out. Why hadn't Kakashi taken care of him if they were family?

"I don't have an excuse," Kakashi admitted, voice low. "But…I was fourteen. And I had just lost the last two people I was close to. I was in no condition to take care of an infant, even if Sarutobi had been willing to let me take care of the village's new jinchuuriki with no one knowing what happened to the last one." He kept speaking, feeling like he was slowly peeling off a bandage. "And then…I was in ANBU. When I next turned around, you were almost walking. I told myself you didn't need me; you were doing fine." Naruto had been surviving; Kakashi hadn't expected anything else. "And…" He shrugged, not having anything better to offer. Because he'd been wrong to sink into his own self-pity, ignoring Naruto and telling himself it was for the best.

"By the time I left ANBU," Kakashi said when Naruto didn't say anything, "I was twenty-three. You were nine, about to take the graduation exam for the first time. Making myself known…what would have been the point?"

"What about now?" Naruto asked, voice suspiciously thick. "It's different now, isn't it?"

Kakashi closed his right eye, rubbing a hand through his hair. He'd hoped Naruto wouldn't ask. "I offered," he said quietly, "to look after you after the attack. After the worst passed and it was clear no one knew who you were. But…"

"Absolutely not."

"Hokage-sama—"

"You are fourteen, Kakashi. What would it look like to outsiders if Hatake Kakashi was seen taking care of a child so soon after the Yondaime's death? A child who looks like the Yondaime? It's well known that you were his student, that you were close to him. It's a risk we cannot take, not with Naruto as young as he is."

"I am capable of taking care of him."

"Not in this capability. …I'm sorry, Kakashi. But you are forbidden from seeing him."

And so Kakashi had joined ANBU, cut off from the last tie he had to his old team. Some days he was still surprised that he'd made it through those first years.

"Sarutobi stopped you?" Naruto's voice was quiet. "You're…not allowed?"

"It's an excuse," Kakashi said, "not a reason. I could have found a loophole if I'd tried. I didn't. I joined ANBU instead, was occasionally put on your guard, which was the closest I could be without raising suspicions. It wasn't an assignment I requested often." Not when Naruto reminded him so keenly of all Kakashi had lost. His smile was bitter. "I'm trying now."

Swallowing audibly, Naruto rubbed his hands over his face, letting his elbows rest on the table as his hands sank into his hair. "I wondered," he said, almost inaudible, "why I was so damn alone. Why the village hated me. I stopped after a while. Didn't do much good. But…I met Iruka-sensei. Sasuke, Sakura, you. Ero-sennin. It wasn't until later I realized that ero-sennin knew my dad – had been his sensei. That you'd been my dad's student. 'Course, I hadn't known then that the Yondaime was my dad, so I didn't put it together until later.

"That was when…I wondered again why I never saw either of you if you knew my dad. I never asked because why look back at the past?" There was a short laugh, so bitter it had Kakashi flinching. "It's done with, isn't it? Can't change it, so just keep moving forward. Ero-sennin was dead, so I couldn't ask him anyway. And you…you cared. I could see that. So why ask?"

Naruto paused, fingers digging into his hair. "I don't know why I'm asking now," he whispered, shoulders shaking.

Kakashi wasn't sure if Naruto would welcome a touch from him now, so he stayed seated, hands curled into fists on his thighs. "You deserve an answer," he said. "But I don't have one beyond I was wrong and should have tried harder."

"I remember being fourteen," Naruto said. "I don't know what the hell I would've done with a baby. You're a genius, Kakashi, but you can't have been that much different. Maybe…I would've liked it if you'd tried, yeah. If you'd been there." He looked up, giving Kakashi a wobbly smile that hurt his chest. "It could've been a little like this, couldn't it? If the old man had let you see me. Maybe you didn't have to take me in, but he didn't need to do what he did. I would've given anything to have someone there, even as a friend. Let alone a brother."

"I wouldn't have been much of a brother," Kakashi said honestly. "But I would have tried. I'm sorry I didn't."

"It's okay," Naruto said, smiling faintly. "I probably shouldn't say that, huh? But it is. I'm just glad to have an answer. I'm glad that you are here now. That you have been for years. You were there when you could be, Kakashi."

He wasn't, he really wasn't. But this wasn't about Kakashi. He couldn't make it about him.

"Better late than never, hm?" Kakashi said instead, managing a small smile himself.

Naruto's laugh was lighter than it had been before. "Yeah." He sobered, although he was still smiling. "So…does this really make us family now?"

"It's whatever you want, Naruto," Kakashi told him, picking up his chopsticks. The food was doubtlessly rather cold by now, but that didn't matter.

"It doesn't really change anything, you know," Naruto said slowly, smiling wistfully. "You were already family before. Now…I guess it's more? Knowing that maybe you would've been a big brother." His smile widened slightly. "Does this mean I get to call you 'big brother' now?"

Kakashi couldn't stop the small wince. "No."

Naruto was smirking now. "Yeah, didn't think so. Sounds just a little weird. But…" His smirk softened to a gentle smile. "You are family."

"I know." Kakashi pulled his mask down, smiling as well. "So are you."

"Great!" Naruto clicked his chopsticks together. "So I guess you don't mind that I kinda moved in?"

"Usually," Kakashi said blandly, "one asks before moving in."

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Ahh…sorry? So…you don't mind?"

"No, Naruto, I don't mind."

"Okay, awesome! Because I had some ideas about redecorating—"

"Eat your food, Naruto."

Class was so much more boring than Naruto remembered. They were discussing the basic tenets of shinobi, which consisted of the rules that by-the-book shinobi liked to spout. Rules that Naruto had largely never heard of until actually graduating and being put on Team 7.

He'd probably skipped these classes before. He was tempted to skip them again this time, but he was still on the fence about how he should perform academically this time. It wasn't something he'd discussed yet with Kakashi as to the details of how one needed to perform in the Academy to be put on teams.

Naruto vaguely remembered something about the entire thing having something to do with test scores, although he didn't remember exactly what it was anymore. Kakashi would likely know, so Naruto would check with him as to how they could really get Team 7 to come together again.

That said, these classes were practically useless. Naruto had absolutely no intention of following any of these rules except for the ones that kind of made sense, like what to do on missions or how to take care of weapons.

And if Kakashi had taught him only one thing (he'd taught Naruto more than one thing, but anyway), it was that teamwork was paramount to anything else. The mission didn't matter if his teammates were captured and he was leaving them behind for dead. One's comrades trumped that, and that was the opposite of what the fourth shinobi rule was preaching. And a few others, but in different phrases.

Yeah, fuck that.

And rule number twenty-five? Fuck that, too.

There was nothing wrong with tears. Not if you were happy, not if you were grieving. At some point tears didn't help anymore, but that didn't mean it was wrong to cry.

Naruto wouldn't purposefully burst into tears in front of an enemy shinobi out for his blood, but he wouldn't shy away from it either. He'd cried in front of Gaara. He'd cried in front of Sasuke. It wasn't a weakness.

So…yeah. These introductory classes were useless and Naruto was itching for something else to do.

He couldn't even nap. Sasuke kept poking him awake.

Which meant he was desperately trying to stay awake in class, failing, and then jolting awake every time Sasuke poked him. Or kicked him once it was clear that the poking wasn't doing much good.

By the time Kakashi told him that he needed to do some pranking during Academy hours, Naruto was almost – almost – disappointed about ruining his so-far perfect attendance record. No, he was more excited about the fact that he didn't have to sit through class and that he had a valid reason for not going.

Because he knew that look in Kakashi's eye. It wasn't going to be much longer before the die rolled.

Should he be looking forward to Danzou's death? He was looking forward to dismantling Root, making sure that Sai wouldn't have to go through that horror again. He wasn't entirely sure on Sai's personal timeline, given that Sai hadn't told him much at all even when Naruto asked. No, Sai had insisted that Naruto focus on what mattered; anything else was inconsequential.

Like hell it was.

As far as Naruto knew, though, Sai must have been in Root around this time. He was a little older than Naruto, and Danzou had no qualms about taking in small children.

Yes, Naruto was looking forward to the destruction of Root. But he wasn't sure if he should be looking forward to Danzou's death. He didn't usually like to hate people; it wasn't something that came easy to him.

But…Naruto probably hated Danzou. Danzou hadn't yet ordered the Uchiha massacre or stopped Naruto from heading back to Konoha to fight Pein, but he'd hurt Sai. He'd hurt so many other people.

Was it wrong to want him to die for that? Was Naruto a hypocrite for wanting it? He wanted to break the cycle of violence and revenge. It was why he hadn't killed Nagato when he could; it was why he always tried to save the people he fought, even when it would have been easier to kill them.

Killing Danzou now…it felt an awful lot like taking revenge for things that hadn't happened yet.

But Kakashi was right about what they needed to do. And Naruto trusted Kakashi. There was no one else Naruto trusted as much as Kakashi now, and it was a trust that hadn't failed Naruto yet.

And when everything was done, it was Kakashi who would have to land that final blow. Naruto didn't like that the thought was relieving, that he knew Kakashi wouldn't be nice about it.

Sometimes, Naruto didn't entirely like who he had become.

But it was what it was, and he had a job to do.

We're pretty damn close to Danzou getting his comeuppance. In the meantime, the first few days of the Academy! Where's Iruka? Not here just yet, but he'll be making his debut...eventually. I have thoughts about the structure of the Academy and where Iruka ties in. For now please enjoy the adventures of the history-challenged sensei and his beef with Naruto. *coughs*

One of the major issues I've had with Naruto is just...where were the people who should have been there for Naruto? Kakashi was Minato's student and knew about Naruto. Jiraiya...um...stop writing porn and take care of your godson? Leaving aside the issue of Jiraiya for the moment (which is a little more complicated than just writing porn), Kakashi and Naruto finally had a talk that was needed. Kakashi isn't blameless here; I hope that comes across well enough. Kakashi knows he isn't blameless, but he's trying now. Too late, but he is.

And in other news, I don't think I'll be able to stick to a weekly updating schedule right now. I'm turning most of my attention to an original work, and that will take up a lot of time. However, I'll be still be doing this one. So updates might not be weekly, but I hope to have them every two weeks at the most.

Thanks so much for all your feedback! I love reading all of your comments and thoughts and reactions to everything that's going on. Thank you!