Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

ENJOY!

CARE

/ke(ə)r/

serious attention or consideration applied to doing something correctly or to avoid damage or risk; an object of concern or attention; a feeling of or occasion for anxiety; feel concern or interest; attach importance to something or feel affection or liking.

She fucked up.

She hadn't meant to, but she did. She had been scared, uncontrollably so. She couldn't stop herself from becoming afraid, and once panic sets in, she knows that it's only a matter of time before she really feels all of it. She knew she couldn't stop it once it began. However, she knew that she could have done something—anything—to stop from making Naruto feel like scum for having set off the panic. She didn't blame him for it. The touching felt so amazing. But she was scared of it turning into something not amazing, something scary… something like what her panics were about.

She really wanted to explain it to Naruto that it wasn't his fault, but she had no idea where to start explaining and apologizing. It wasn't like she could say, 'Oh, I was gang raped by my ex-boyfriend and the group he joined when he defected from the village because I was the ninja sent to chase them and bring them back to Konoha and I trusted him and now I'm afraid that every person of the male gender who touches me the way you were touching me is going to use me and leave me for dead like he did'.

Well, she could, but she didn't want to.

She didn't want to invite Naruto in. She liked being alone. She liked not having a commitment like a relationship. It was easy, and she didn't have to risk being hurt.

She didn't want to invite him in, but… she did want to, at the same time. She needed to, actually. Something about Naruto made her want to, made her need to. She couldn't quantify it or even begin to understand it. She didn't know what to think about it, or even what to possibly do about it. All week, these growing feelings for the Uzumaki had been finding their way into any moment they could land their claws on.

When she woke up she found her skin tingling, begging for Naruto's touch, Naruto's slender fingers on her body.

When she watched him she found herself wanting to be next to him rather than up in a tree, wanting to feel his warmth beside her.

When she left him in the evenings she found herself wanting to go to his house, wanting to curl up in his bed and wanting to feel his muscular arms wrap around her body, to hold her tightly against his larger chest and to whisper sweet nothings into her ear.

When she finally fell asleep at night she found herself dreaming of him, of his familiar scent, his familiar voice.

She was falling in love with him. She knew she was but she didn't know why. She wasn't ready for something like this and she doubted she ever would be again. She thought she was in love with her ex-boyfriend: that didn't turn out too well at all. These feelings were considerably stronger, the ones she felt for Naruto but all the same she was scared to let him in, because once she did those masks she wore—the porcelain and the emotional—would do nothing to keep Uzumaki Naruto out. She would be vulnerable, and she was scared to be vulnerable.

Her ex had capitalized on her vulnerability. When she had found him, she was prepared to kill him if necessary—but he laid those eyes on her and gave her that smile of his, she'd had a moment of weakness. She let her 'love' for him get in her way. She'd let down her guard, and his 'associates'grabbed her from behind and temporarily knocked her unconscious, long enough for them to begin and get a firm hold on her so that when she woke up, she couldn't fight back.

What happened next she would rather not think about but she remembered lying on top of the tatters of her uniform, blood dripping out of the wounds she'd received for her struggles, trembling and crying uncontrollably. She hadn't stopped for a moment since she was left for dead, and it only increased when Daichi and Takashi had finally found her, both of them covered with blood and grime and sweat, murderous intent still radiating off of them in waves. She knew what they'd done. She knew why they were so bloody, so angry; and she couldn't help but think she could've avoided putting them through that if she hadn't been so goddamned stupid.

It was still raw, and she still had nightmares about it. She was getting better but… she wasn't ready, not yet. She was still scared of it, but just because she was afraid didn't mean that she had to make Naruto feel like shit. She had to tell him. She had to tell him the truth—well, not the fact about her being ANBU but at least about the rape. He deserved to know why she'd reacted in such a violent way to something as simple as him bringing her pleasure. He didn't deserve to feel like shit, which she knew he felt like, based on the way he had shut himself up in his house for a week, isolating himself with his dejection. Just because she was damaged didn't mean that she had to inflict her pain on to him.

She was going to approach Naruto when Sasuke had beat her to the punch, forcing her to hang back, thankful she hadn't yet gone back to her apartment to change. When Naruto had gotten dressed, she knew that approaching him as Fuki was not an option. Feelings or not, she still had a job to do, and that job was to tail him as Wolf. And so, Wolf tailed them, hanging back just far enough to keep either shinobi from noticing her; the key to tailing Naruto—staying just outside Naruto's range of sensing, keeping him in her sight and keeping her out of his. While she did enjoy the game they played—Naruto trying to find her—this week hadn't made her exactly keen to play it when he did get out of the house.

She was slightly perturbed when she found they were not only meeting up with one of the infamous Sand siblings, the puppeteer Kankurō, but also with two of the best ANBU she'd ever come across—Kakashi and Hinata. She remembered Hinata from her days at the Academy; and Hinata had made it clear she remembered her as well, as one of the girls who had mercilessly picked on her. She didn't hold a grudge, but she didn't really like her. Fuki was glad that it wasn't worse. The prospect of having someone like Hinata hate her seemed like a death note.

She kept her distance, knowing better than to approach them, and merely watched Naruto, following them when Naruto was escorted by the Copy ninja. She knew she was walking on thin ice with this one—she didn't want Kakashi or Naruto to sense her, and they were both pretty sensitive individuals when it comes to their surroundings. It made her hang further back than she was really comfortable with, but she had no choice.

Kakashi took them out into what seemed to be the middle of the forest, making the two males sit side-by-side on a rock. He seemed to be talking to them, but she couldn't make out the words. Curious, she moved to go closer… only to feel the edge of a kunai pressing against her neck.

"Don't move forwards one more step. Turn around."

Yes, because I want my throat sliced open, she thought, holding her tongue as she turned slightly, the lazy grey eye of Hatake Kakashi glaring at her. She was thankful that the porcelain mask hid her emotions—she was sure that the fear she felt at the radiating aggravation and killing intent that Kakashi was extruding reflected in her features. "What're you doing here, Wolf?" he asked in a tone of tightly-concealed irritation.

"My job, Dog-sempai," she responded.

"I'll take over it for the night. Get out," he said.

"No," she said clearly, "It's my job. I need to do it."

"You misunderstand. I wasn't giving you an option," he spat, "I was giving you an order. What you're intruding upon is business of the Hatake clan. You're not Hatake."

"Neither is Uzumaki Naruto."

"You're walking on thin ice."

"I excel at that. I'm staying. He is my concern, not this 'clan business' you have going on. I honestly couldn't care less about it. My job is to protect him in case he is put in danger."

"That's why you can't stay here. Your duty is to protect him and this is something he cannot be protected while doing. Now go, or I'll wipe your memories until you have the intelligence of a two-year-old," he threatened.

"Still, no. The mission goes above all else, sempai," Fuki said, knowing that Kakashi's threat was in no way an empty one.

Kakashi glared at her, his kunai still against her neck. "Give me one reason I shouldn't slit your throat for disobeying orders. Like you keep reminding me with honorifics, you're underneath me in rank. My orders are law to you."

"You do that, Naruto will be depressed that he won't see me," she found herself sputtering.

Kakashi barely blinked, but it was noticeable enough. "Explain."

"He has an… interest, shall we say, in my plainclothes persona," she responded quickly, "And the last he saw of me, I had a panic attack after he was showing his interest in me. Physically. He's spent the last week shelled up in his apartment, only leaving to replenish his alcohol, milk, and instant noodle supply. I was taught that behavior like that signifies heartbreak."

Kakashi quirked up his eyebrow slightly. "So you're the reason Naruto looks like a kicked puppy?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I've yet to figure out a way to apologize." Without telling him I'm in ANBU, she wanted to add, knowing Kakashi would understand regardless.

"Hmm. This is a predicament. Either I kill you for disobeying commands and destroy my student inadvertently, or I allow you to stay and to keep destroying my student by your own choice, but still giving me a guilty conscience. Sound accurate enough?"

"Unfortunately, that's where this leaves us, though the second option allows me space to fix the predicament I've managed to get myself into."

"A fix you have no idea how to go about."

"Technically, yes. But Cat-sempai often commends my ability to think through variables to find the best solution, so the possibility of me leaving this fucked is very slim."

Kakashi sighed. "You are so lucky that I don't want to kill tonight," he grounded out, pulling his kunai back. She sighed in relief, visibly relaxing some. "You're to stay back. Whatever happens, you're not to interfere. Once everything is done, I'm wiping your memories of this night. This is official Hatake clan business, and I can't have outsiders knowing unless they have something to do with the clan."

"Is that why Hinata-sempai, the Uchiha, and the Sabaku are hanging back instead of coming with you?"

"Since I'm wiping your memories, it won't matter if I tell you. Yes, they are a part of the business, but they're not fully involved. I'm granting them full Hatake clan protection and, at the same time, inducting both Naruto and my son into the ranks of the Hatake clan."

She frowned behind her mask. "Does Naruto know you're doing this?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. He doesn't. I can't have him knowing what he's getting into. It's a part of the test." The other Kakashi began to back away, and the Kakashi in front of her straightened up. "Come with me. I don't trust you not to get involved, Wolf."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm not stupid, I can hear it in your voice; you have feelings for Naruto. I know the way you are, and I know you will try to help him wherever possible. I can't have you doing that. You'll invalidate what I'm doing, and I'll never be able to do it again. This is a one-shot deal, and they need a completely level playing ground," Kakashi explained bluntly, not attempting to lie or beat around the bush. It made sense—she was getting her memory wiped regardless. There was no point in beating around the bush when she wasn't going to remember there was one to begin with.

"These feelings will disappear," she muttered, not commenting on the unusualness of this supposed 'induction ceremony'. She wasn't an expert on it, but according to Daichi, clan inductions were calm and formal events, requiring kimonos and obis and manners. They did not include anything like going out in the dead of night and being ditched.

He flicked a glance at her. "If you feel half of the way I think he feels for you, then you'd know how false a statement like that is, Wolf."

The two of them moved in silence, moving quickly to meet up with the other Kakashi and the three other shinobi, the Kakashi she was with disappearing in a puff of smoke. Hinata frowned at her, recognizing the mask and, therefore, the person, but other than that, did not acknowledge her. This was the usually the extent of Hinata's interaction with her, and she knew that she deserved it.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment (or, more accurately, her hair). "Aren't you that girl who Ino threatened with a poisonous flower stem?"

She sighed. Leave it to the Uchiha to throw away her entire disguise simply by identifying her haircut and probably her chakra signature.

She pushed her mask off of her face, pushing her messy red locks down. "Please, never join ANBU, Uchiha-san. You'll end up killing your comrades like that," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, "And no. I was there, but not me. That was Ami she threatened, and only the roots were poisonous, not the stems."

Sasuke's mouth quirked slightly. "Regardless, it made for a nice story, especially with how distressed you and that curly-haired girl were when you were fawning over that bitch, from what I heard," he said, standing up.

Hinata frowned at him, standing up herself. "You know, there are some moments where you really do need to get that stick out of your ass."

Kankurō whistled appreciatively at his fiancé as he stood up. "I like it a lot when you're a bitch to people sometimes, hime. It's so fucking hot," he said, his arm going over her shoulders as he sloppily kissed her forehead. She smiled despite her irritation, a slight blush taking over her cheeks. Kankurō turned his attention over to Fuki, looking her up and down. "I'm Kankurō. You're the ANBU stalking Naruto, aren't you?" Just how many people did Naruto tell? Fuki questioned as Kankurō continued, "He's told everyone. It's no secret. We all thought he was crazy, yeah, but it was no secret."

Sasuke said, "I thought I felt a presence behind me when I fetched Naruto. Why are you shadowing him?"

"Don't feel left out; you're getting one, too," Fuki said, deliberately not answering the question. She turned to Kakashi, crossing her arms over her chest. "So what is this? A viewing party?"

"For now, it might as well be," said Kakashi.

Sasuke looked at his ex-sensei. "Viewing party? Explain," he ordered. Things really don't change, she thought, resisting the urge to shake her head at the Uchiha. He was still an asshole. It wasn't as bad as his earlier commentary, so they all ignored it. Kakashi's lips visibly twitched behind his mask, excitement in his features.

At almost exactly the same moment, all shinobi present raised their eyebrows at him, confused at the excitement. What could he possibly have to be excited about? What the hell was he doing?

"I don't know how to explain. So how about I show you instead?"

Due to his overactive imagination, Naruto had always had a slight problem with imagining things at the correct scale. He always imagined things to be bigger than they were. The first time he saw a real bridge, he'd been shocked at how much dinkier it'd been compared to the extravagantly engineered bridges of his imagination. The first time he'd gone inside the Academy classrooms, he'd been shocked at how normal they were compared to the imagined scenario where weapons and battle plans lined the walls. The only thing that had ever lived up to imagination was the portion sizes at Ichiraku. Basically, what his problem was that he always imagined it to be bigger than how it actually was.

Right now, his imagination seemed to disappoint and surprise him at the same time by teaching him a new and interesting fact—wolves were actually bigger than what he'd thought they'd be. In wilderness survival movies, the wolves were about the size of huskies. But, really… they seemed practically double that size. Or was it triple? He didn't know, he wasn't good at estimation, but he could tell one thing, and it was that a wolf was not only huge, but it was a hell of a lot scarier than how he thought they'd be.

And all he had in terms of weapons was a kunai knife meant for slitting throats.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if this was a sick joke on the parts of Kakashi, Hinata, Kankurō, and Sasuke, but he knew that none of them could be this cruel. The only shinobi he could think of doing something like this would be Anko, and as far as he knew she wasn't around and she dealt with snakes, not four incredibly large, growling, deadly wolves.

Without thinking, Naruto grabbed Hayato by the hand, pulling him close as a dark brown colored wolf began to circle around them, growling deep in its throat as it kept its reddish-brown gaze on the two of them. Hayato, bless the kid, wasn't quivering or displaying any fear except for his facial expression. Naruto would've felt proud of him if he wasn't freaking out himself, barely keeping it together as a black-and-brown wolf began doing the same thing, moving slowly and carefully.

"W-Where's my dad?" Hayato whispered; grey eyes wide with fear.

"I have no clue," Naruto murmured in response, "But I'm sure he'll be on his way back soon. Kakashi-sensei would never leave us out here. We'll be okay. Do wolves attack if you keep still? I read somewhere they don't."

"W-Wrong animal. That's b-bears," Hayato whispered shakily.

"OOOOOH," muttered Naruto sheepishly, blushing just slightly. "I get 'em mixed up sometimes." Hayato gave him an incredulous look, making the blush increase. "Sorry, I'm not around wolves and bears everyday. I don't have to worry about it. Hell, I didn't even know there were wolves near Konoha. I've never seen them."

Hayato kept staring at him. Did Naruto never do an ecological survey in the Academy? Hayato wondered worriedly, briefly, before a wolf with vibrant green eyes began circling them. Naruto tightened his grip on Hayato, his attitude darkening with the need to protect him.

"Climb on my back, and whatever you do, don't let go," he ordered Hayato, who couldn't move fast enough as he wrapped his legs around Naruto's waist, his hands clasping together around Naruto's neck, still allowing him full movement.

Naruto allowed Kurama to increase his senses, not noticing the increasing of his whisker-like birthmarks, nor the slight tinting of red that touched his blue orbs. The wolves growled at the tailed beast's chakra, the scent of fox touching the air. Naruto knew wolves and foxes didn't mix, but he didn't care; adrenaline pumping full force through his veins. Should he run? Should he fight? Should he save them both, or just Hayato? He looked back at the scared eight-year-old. He couldn't run with him on his back; not very fast anyways. Not fast enough to outrun four wolves that had his scent. He wasn't that stupid.

No. Fight was his only option.

A wolf launched at him as he made up his mind, and he narrowly avoided it, crouching low, feeling the superheated body of the wolf as it passed overhead. Hayato yelped out, but buried his face deep enough in the back of Naruto's loose black-and-orange sweatshirt to muffle it. Naruto reared up, testing out the capability of the kunai he was given as he moved to cut the wolf from throat to belly, cursing when the side he was trying to use indeed proved not sharp at all. It really only had one purpose!

Motherfucker. How does Kakashi expect us to survive? Naruto wondered as he leapt back, wishing he'd brought his own weapons. Well, in Kakashi's defense, I don't think he was expecting us to come across four hungry wolves… so… he's forgiven, for now.

If he only knew how wrong he was.

Kakashi was a good ways away, far enough for neither to notice or see him, but close enough so he could see everything going on as clear as day. The small tree house he was in was amazingly roomy and sturdy, roomy enough to fit all five of them, and sturdy enough for the aged wood not to collapse under their combined weights.

He sat in the open framework for a window that was either never installed or never meant to be there, leaning against it as he watched, blood boiling with excitement. Was this the way his father felt? How had he contained such a feeling? He wanted to howl with pure happiness. He wanted to run down there and join the pack, and to let loose his inner nature.

Hinata's jaw dropped as she looked on, watching as Naruto fended off the wolves and kept Hayato protected. She was scared, horrified, and fascinated all at the same time. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight of her friend and her adoptive little brother being surrounded by four wolves, wolves that were larger than any other she'd seen before in her life. She was terrified that something bad was going to happen—terrified they would be slaughtered by these wolves. She didn't want that to happen. It would be a cruel way to die.

Kakashi's laugh snapped her out of her trance, her head snapping to look at her mentor. Kakashi's eyes—both of them, even the Sharingan was out and recording the sight—were filled with excitement and joy.

"Are you sick?" she hissed, catching his attention. He turned to her, eyes wide with surprise at her words.

"No. I feel fine," he said, brows furrowing in obvious confusion.

Sasuke stared at his teacher, seeing more honesty in this look than he'd seen when he was a Genin. He shook his head quickly, taking Hinata's side. She was right. There had to be something wrong with him. There was no other explanation.

"You have to be. You're laughing at your son and your student as they fight wolves, Kakashi! Your son, who you've made it clear to the world that you love more than life itself! Naruto, who you consider to be your own son! We have to help them; they're going to die!"

Kakashi's eyes immediately turned cold. "Help them and you will be the ones dying," he growled, forcing a shiver to ripple through both Sasuke and Hinata's spines. "No one will interfere. This is a one-shot deal."

"No shit it's a one-shot deal, it's a fucking execution," spat Kankurō from his place across the room—he couldn't watch this sight. It was whacked. He now made his way to Kakashi, his arms crossing over his chest as he tried to hold in his anger. "Those wolves will kill them! Naruto's hindered because he's carrying Hayato! There are four of those wolves! They're going to die!"

"If he put down Hayato, he would find it easier," Kakashi hummed.

Kankurō's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. "'If he put down Hayato', Hayato will fucking die! He's eight years old, you sick fuck!"

Kakashi shrugged and turned away. "Ne, they'll be fine. Neither of them will die," he said dismissively.

"Kakashi, stop this. This has to be breaking laws," Hinata said, and from the back of the room, Fuki nodded her agreement, listening although she couldn't tear her eyes away from the bright yellow hair of Naruto, her heartbeat quick and arrhythmic with worry for him. "Kakashi, please, don't do this!"

"They'll be fine," he responded again, not even blinking as he stared down below. "They're not going to die. You'll see. They'll both be fine. They'll be better than before. Trust me." He turned slightly, his eyes touching upon Hinata. "Trust me. I wouldn't do something to hurt them."

Hinata swallowed dryly, but hesitantly nodded. She would. If Kakashi wasn't worried, then she would trust him. Kakashi didn't do things like this without reason. While they didn't make sense to her right now, mostly because she didn't know the reasons, she knew to trust him anyways. She knew in her heart that Kakashi wouldn't throw his son and Naruto to danger without feeling confident that they would be okay.

While she may have accepted it, the others didn't, specifically one infuriated Uchiha.

Sasuke exploded, "How the fuck am I supposed to trust you when you're sending Naruto to his death without rhyme or reason? How am I supposed to trust you when your son is down there, terrified out of his fucking mind, and all you're doing is recording it with your fucking Sharingan? How am I supposed to trust you when you won't fucking explain your whack job reason for sending wolves to attack your son?! How the fuck am I supposed to trust you won't turn around and do the same thing to one of us?!"

Kakashi quickly turned to face him, his eyes searching immediately for a sign of a joke or a lie in Sasuke's unhinged emotions, neither of which showed in his body language or his face. His smile faded slightly, and he blinked, closing his Sharingan eye and staring at Sasuke with his regular eye.

"Do you really think I'd do something like that?" he asked.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't tell. You say you love Hayato and would do anything to keep him safe and yet you're tossing him to wolves. Your words don't match your actions. You're going to kill them."

Kakashi shook his head. "I wouldn't."

"You are," Sasuke refuted.

"No, you don't understand. I really am not. Those wolves are not going to kill them," Kakashi said, standing up, his grey eye looking around at the confused shinobi. He pointed downwards, towards wolves. "Hinata; Kankurō. I told you I was going to align you guys with the clan, correct?" The two ninja in question looked at each other before nodding. "I've never gone into specifics with it; I guess I should've. Those wolves down there? Those are 'the clan' I was talking about. My clan. They're members of my clan—well, some of them, anyways."

Hinata blinked, and looked out to Naruto and Hayato. "S-Some?"

"The Hatake wolf pack is a pack of about roughly seventy to eighty wolves," Kakashi said, making all shinobi blink. "The Hatake clan adopted the pack before the idea of a shinobi village existed. We, and the Inuzuka and Aburame clans, are the only clans to have ever tamed wild animals without having an ocular dōjutsu or any sort of drug. They are not wild wolves. They are completely tame, just as tame as the Inuzuka dogs. Before my clan became nomadic, as it is now, this entire forest was—and still is—Hatake grounds."

"B-But…" Hinata stammered, confused, "W-Why…?" She swallowed, trying to get her stutter under control. "W-Why a-are they… why d-did you s-send t-them to f-fight them… a-and not us?"

Kakashi sighed, making eye contact with the worried Hyūga. While he knew that she hadn't lost any faith in him, that didn't mean to say that his motives went absolutely unquestioned. Now that he was getting a cap on his excitement due to the verbal beating he'd just received from Sasuke, he realized that his lack of explanation would be a cause for worry.

"I said I would align you with the clan, Hinata, nothing other than that," he said in a soft voice, "So I don't need to put you through what they're doing. What they're doing will not only give them an alliance with the wolves, but it'll also—"

"It'll bring the both of them into the Hatake clan," whispered Fuki, remembering the earlier conversation with Kakashi's clone.

Kakashi nodded. "Correct. I can't bring you guys into my clan. Sasuke and Hinata are set to inherit their own clans, and Kankurō will be a part of the Hyūga clan by annexation soon enough. I can't offer you more protection than an alliance with the wolves, whereas with Naruto, who has no clan… I can offer him a full induction into the clan. It'll connect us by blood, and offer him more protection than just the wolves." He sighed. "If I could offer you an induction into my clan, I would. But Konoha mandate states that any one person cannot have more than one clan. It's part of the reason why Nara Obito cannot change his last name to Uchiha. He may be Uchiha by blood, but by law he's Nara. Once inducted, one is forever a family member of that clan. They're indebted to that clan."

"And Naruto has no such allegiances," Sasuke said slowly.

"Right. He may be Uzumaki, but that does not make him a member of the Uzumaki clan, and his father was not a member of any clan—the only Hokage not to be." Sasuke, Fuki, and Kankurō's brows furrowed at that, but Hinata knew full well what Kakashi was saying. He'd long since told her about Naruto's parents, and of the night Naruto was born, from his point-of-view. She already knew that Naruto's father was the late Fourth Hokage.

"Wouldn't Naruto have to give up his current last name?" she asked, calming down. As long as she didn't look over at them, she was fine.

Kakashi shook his head. "He can hyphenate it, and continue to refer to himself as Uzumaki Naruto. His name will become Uzumaki Naruto of the Hatake, or simply Hatake-Uzumaki Naruto. It's his choice, granted that he even accepts the induction."

"He can still deny it at this point?" asked Sasuke, surprised.

"Of course. This is a test simply for eligibility to become a Hatake," said Kakashi, looking over at the Uchiha. "If he passes, he gets a choice to simply get protection or to become a full Hatake. If he fails, I'm still giving him protection. Either way, he's protected."

"The Inuzuka don't do anything like this," Fuki said almost quietly, "Nor do the Aburame."

Kakashi nodded. "That's because the Inuzuka and the Aburame typically don't bring any outsiders into their clan. The clansmen, born into the clan, are given animals as part of their inductions, life-partners. From the day they're born, they have an animal they can align with. It's predestined, and they must wait until the animal is born to be formally inducted into their clan.

"For instance, Inuzuka Kiba wasn't inducted into the Inuzuka clan until he was seven—when Akamaru was born, and his sister didn't become an Inuzuka until she was eight, when all her dogs were born. On the other side of the scale, their mother was inducted when she was three, with the birth of her dog, and Aburame Shino became a member of his clan practically hours after his birth, as the beetles that Aburame breed are born practically by the hour.

"The Hatake clan is the only animal-aligned clan in Konoha—possibly the only one in the world—that doesn't do predestined selections. Wolves won't respect their masters like that. In order to gain a wolf's respect, one must best them in a battle. The selection of the wolves sent to fight the prospective clansman is based upon the two best personality relations, and the one that attacks the clansman the most becomes linked to them. The link is made by the trading of injuries."

Kankurō nodded, full understanding now why Kakashi was doing this. It made sense. Barbaric, yes, but it made sense. Wolves, no matter how tamed, were not like dogs or bugs. They were born with the instinct to kill. It couldn't be bred out of them. They weren't pets.

Sasuke swallowed. "So the Inuzuka and the Aburame don't do that?" he said slowly.

"No. They can't bring even their lifemates into their clans, but they do grant them full clan rights, from voting in their issues to helping to breed the animals. We all do that in the same way, the bringing in of lifemates into the clan. It's called 'marking' or 'claiming'." Sasuke widened his eyes slightly, and Kankurō felt as if an amusing tidbit was coming on. Kakashi visibly smiled behind his mask. "It isn't done often, and I haven't done it, but I'll do a basic summation of it. They bite their lifemate, usually referred to as simply a 'mate', near a major blood flow and inject their chakra into their body whilst in the climax of unprotected consummation."

Sasuke went pale, and though she knew she shouldn't Hinata began to laugh, turning bright red with understanding what Kakashi said. Kankurō had to push his face into the crook of Hinata's neck in order to smother his laughter, his entire body shaking. Even Fuki, who was supposed to be playing the part of stoic-and-worried-ANBU, forgot her worries for a moment as she curled into a nearby corner, smothering her laughs by pressing her face into her thighs.

"D-Did y-you just s-say what I-I think you j-just said?" stammered Sasuke (and making all parties present wish they had a recorder). Sasuke would be cursing himself for stammering, but honestly, one does not simply recover from a dropped bomb like that, not even Uchiha Sasuke.

"Yes," said Kakashi, his excitement returning as he nodded, "I just said that Kiba has to bite you while you two fuck. Sounds romantic doesn't it, ne? Makes me wonder who'll be doing the fucking and who'll be the one getting fucked."

Sasuke stomach rolled. "I… I think I'm gonna puke."

Kakashi laughed. "Maa, you do that; I'm going to watch them. It's been an awfully long ten minutes, and I wonder if anything's happened yet," he said, turning his gaze back out to the two males.

They all seemed to calm down at the mention of Naruto and Hayato, worry returning. Kakashi could almost feel the change of mood, though it wasn't as tense as before. "I'm sorry I didn't explain what I was doing. But trust me, they will not die. I promise they won't die. I went through this when I was six, just before I graduated. My father told me he did this at five, and that my mother did it at nine. They will be fine. They will not die. They will not die. They will not die."

He felt like he was going to die.

Hayato felt like a million pounds on his back, a weight that only steadily grew with every moment that he ran around like an idiot in the small clearing, barely managing to avoid the wolves as they attacked. They steadily increased in speed, too, making it all harder. Naruto landed on the balls of his feet, sweat dripping down his face and his breath coming to him in heavy, painful pants, his blue eyes losing all sight before he gained it back in the same moment.

"N-Naruto," whispered Hayato, trembling. He was scared, scared for himself but not nearly as much as he was afraid for Naruto, who was expending himself for the sake of keeping him safe. "I c-can…"

"I… I'm okay," he said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead, one hand on his knee. "I have … high stamina."

Hayato opened his mouth to argue with the Uzumaki, but the movement in his peripherals had him saying something completely different, out of fear and a need to survive. "Naruto, behind us!"

The Uzumaki cursed loudly, a creative new one Hayato stored away for use in the future (after he looked up exactly what 'cunts' were) as Naruto leapt to the right, the green-eyed wolf soaring past them by hairs.

Hayato knew that Naruto was slowing down considerably, and he knew it was his fault. His fear was getting in the way. His fear was going to get Naruto killed, and if he survived and Naruto didn't he would always feel that guilt for getting him killed. He was a selfless man, and… this wasn't right. Naruto didn't deserve to die just because he was afraid of these wolves. It wasn't fair of him to force that kind of thing upon Naruto like that, though he didn't seem to mind and actually seemed to want him to. His father had taught him better than that, than to force someone to die in your stead.

Hayato made up his mind in that moment, wanting Naruto to live more than he did. He decided that he couldn't afford to be afraid. A child he may be, but if he was going to be a shinobi someday, he was going to have to learn to get over his fear. To overcome his fear.

So he sucked in a breath and let go of Naruto when he noticed the brown-and-black wolf sneaking up behind them, turning around and allowing the beast to drag its large claw down right down his torso, ripping through his clothing and skin. Hayato cried out in agony, but despite his pain and fear, Hayato grabbed the wolf's front leg, using the slicing kunai that he'd been clinging to for dear life in his gloved hand as he plunged its curved tip into the wolf's flesh, spraying blood all on his face as he pulled down with all his might, the wolf barking in pain.

He kept dragging it down until another wolf tackled him from the side, pushing him to the ground and making him let go of his kunai. He gave a strangled shout, which was slightly muffled by the amount of blood in his mouth, as he fell, the green-eyed wolf pushing all its weight down onto his upper arms and shattering the bones within. He screamed again, struggling to kick out, but mostly trying to avoid the wolf's snapping jaws by moving his head around.

I'm… I'm going to die, Hayato thought, I'm going to die. I… I don't want to die! I'm not ready to die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna! I wanna… I wanna… I wanna… I wanna live.

I WANNA LIVE!

Hayato's eyes snapped open, a single tome of a Sharingan spinning quickly in his eyes, startling the wolf enough for him to be able to bring his legs into his chest and then kick out at the wolf with all his strength, dislodging the canine enough for him to roll out, quickly getting to his feet. His arms hung uselessly at his side, and blood dripped down his chest. Each breath hurt him—a lot—but he hardly noticed it. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, making him feel absolutely alive. He felt that he could fight, even in his condition

He felt Naruto's presence come up beside him, and the green eyes of the wolf shifted from him to Naruto. Hayato looked up at the older male, red eyes widening as he noticed the angry red chakra surrounding him, his teeth bared and canines longer, longer than any human's teeth had a right to be, his pupils slit within bright red depths. He barely withheld fear at the sight of Naruto, and immediately reached out to touch him.

Naruto grabbed him by the hand, his grip rough and too warm. "You alright?" he asked gruffly. Hayato's mouth gaped as he nodded, not knowing if Naruto saw until he said, "Good. Now move."

"B-But… you're…" Exhausted, he was going to say, but Naruto definitely did not look like it. He looked completely fine.

"Not bleeding. I'm fine, and you're not. The other wolves stood down the moment you sliced that other one, except for this one. I'll deal with it." Naruto growled at it and it growled back, getting back onto its large paws.

Hayato's red eyes faded back into their normal grey, the adrenaline coursing his veins fading away, which he only noticed because the pain of the broken bones and the claw cuts returned tenfold. He winced, biting his bottom lip to keep his tears at bay. He couldn't cry now. He refused to cry. He was Hatake Kakashi's son, he didn't cry! He was better than that!

Naruto placed his hot hand on top of Hayato's head, ruffling the silvery blue locks and surprising Hayato. Naruto turned his face away from the wolf in order to give a [ironically] wolfish smile.

"It's okay to cry, you know. Crying just means you're alive, and that's good. It's okay to cry once in a while." Hayato stared up at him, eyes wide, not realizing the tears that started dripping out of them. Naruto rubbed his cheek. "Crying doesn't mean you're weak. I cry all the time. Am I weak?"

No, Hayato thought without hesitation. Despite the pain of his wounds, he gave a wobbly smile. "Y-You're strong, N-Naruto-nii," he said, giving the man the term without even thinking. Naruto chuckled, an act that was slightly gruff due to his current appearance.

"Damned straight, kid, dattebayo."

The moments in which Shizuka brought down his sword were the slowest of Obito's life. He knew it was not more than a few seconds, but they just went so slowly that it was surreal. Years would pass, and he would remember everything, even though he was not using his Sharingan. It was all simply imprinted onto his memory.

He would, for years, remember letting go of Hanabi. He would remember the strands of chocolate brown hair that hit his face as she began to run to Shizuka. He would remember each octave the man under Shizuka hit as he screamed. He would remember the feeling of each muscle group in his legs that moved him forwards as well. He would remember the sight of slowly watching Shizuka's blade moving closer, slow centimeter by slow centimeter, towards the man's chest. He would remember the look of terror on the visible side of Hanabi's face at the idea of her best friend—their best friend—killing a fellow Konoha shinobi in a moment of pure insanity. He would remember not knowing if he would actually make it to Shizuka before the blade impaled the man's chest bone, and he would remember not knowing what would happen if he did.

In the end, he didn't, and neither did Hanabi. They watched as sand came up around Shizuka, wrapping around his arms and stopping his movements, his arms trembling with the need to cut into the man's chest. The crazed look in his orange eyes turned into one of anger in a flat second, an animalistic roar escaping his lips as he moved to turn around, only for more sand to wrap around his legs.

Obito and Hanabi, in the meanwhile, were both moving too quickly to stop themselves, so they were aided by someone, an arm wrapping around each of their bodies, pulling them away from Shizuka. As time sped up, they caught up, and began struggling against the 'help' both of them wanting to get to Shizuka, wanting to help their friend.

"Let go of me!" screamed Hanabi angrily, activating her Byakugan and hitting a pressure point on the shinobi's elbow, forcing them to let go. She fell before getting clumsily to her feet as she forced herself to run again, screaming for Shizuka to stop. Another shinobi came down, this time in front of her, grabbing her by the waist and hoisting her up onto his shoulder in one fluid motion. She struggled, kicking her legs, but the shinobi—the same ANBU that Obito knew to be trailing him—refused to let her go, slapping a chakra-restraining sealing tag on the back of her neck.

"Hanabi!" yelled Obito, wanting to get free, but the man—or men, it seemed, he couldn't really tell anymore—wrapped more arms around him, pushing him to the ground and fully restraining him, slapping chakra-restraining handcuffs onto his wrists. He did his best not to struggle, his eyes flitting from his girlfriend to his best friend, wanting to help both but knowing if he fought too much against these people, he would end up hurting them all. "Shizuka!"

"I have to get to Shizu!" screamed Hanabi, kicking her captor as hard as she could. If he felt pain from it, he didn't show it, instead he kept moving, throwing her down to the ground beside Obito. Before she could attempt to get to her feet again, shinobi jumped on her, holding her down and slapping cuffs onto her. "He needs us! Get off of me so I can help! Please, let me help!"

"Shizuka, please, stop!" screamed Obito, his brown eyes trying to find his best friend in the psycho fighting against the flowing sands. The orange demonic eyes only increased in vibrancy, and Obito could see that there were truly horns coming out of his forehead. He didn't know what was happening to Shizuka, but he wanted to help him. He just wanted to help his friend. He was trapped in this darkness and he just wanted to pull him out of it.

"Shizuka! Stop! It's okay! It's all okay! I'm alright! We're alright! Just stop fighting! Please!" he begged.

The sand continued to wrap around him, encasing him. Obito recognized the technique—he'd seen it somewhere before but he just couldn't remember where right now, in that moment. In the end, it didn't matter to him. What mattered was that Shizuka was the one it was focused on. His best friend was being attacked.

He wanted to help him. To save him from it, the darkness; and to bring him back to the light. He wanted to save Shizuka… no, not wanted. He needed to save him. Shizuka needed to be saved. He needed to help him.

I need to save him because if it were me, he wouldn't hesitate to jump into the darkness to get me, was the last thought Obito had before someone—something-hit him hard, and his world faded into blackness.

The wolf moved to attack Hayato as soon as he turned his back, and Naruto attacked it before it got the chance, grabbing it around the neck and pulling to the ground, digging his claws into the wolf's flesh. He didn't care how much blood he drew, nor did he care how the wolf struggled. He was driven mad by the anger he currently had at the wolf for doing what it did to Hayato, and he wanted these wolves to get it into their heads that they weren't prey.

And then he looked up.

The other two wolves approached Hayato slowly, carefully as the boy knelt beside the wolf he'd left unable to walk on its front paw. Hayato did his best to shrug out of the brown jacket, but without hands to use, he found difficulty. He finally managed to shrug it off, and picked it up with his teeth, placing a knee on the fabric and tearing as hard as he could, creating a long strip. His body seemed to quiver as he craned his neck, laying the long strip carefully into the wound he'd dealt, pressing it in with hard, pursed lips, not caring about how odd he looked. When he finished, he rubbed his cheek against the wolf's giant paw, not caring in that momentif it was a dangerous creature, and whispered what Naruto could only assume were reassurances.

It wasn't the actions that really caught Naruto's eye, though. What caught his eye, really caught his eye, was the look of what seemed to be adoration in the wolf's large eyes as it craned its neck, rubbing its muzzle against Hayato's broken arm. He winced, and immediately it pulled away, seemingly knowing that it'd hurt him more. The eyes of that wolf told Naruto that the last thing it wanted to do was hurt Hayato more than it had already. It wanted… it wanted to protect him, it seemed. Maybe it was because they'd kicked the crap out of them and therefore proved their dominance, Naruto didn't know or care. What mattered to him was that Hayato wasn't in danger, not by this wolf, or the two others who stood there, staring. Hayato, even though he was losing a lot of blood, would be fine. That look said that Hayato would always be protected. That he didn't need to worry about it anymore, not right now.

It was that look that made him lessen his grip.

The green-eyed wolf pushed away from him, its claws ripping into his right arm as it rushed to its feet too quickly and collapsed back to the ground. It whined under its breath, in pain from the damage done by Naruto's bijū-induced claws. As the Uzumaki calmed down, the claws rescinded, his eyes turning to normal as he carefully approached the wolf, no longer holding animosity towards the hurt creature. He had no idea when his feelings towards the wolf suddenly changed, but he found himself pulling off his sweatshirt and, like Hayato with his jacket, ripping the end off, ripping it up into smaller strips in order to deal with the several small claw slices he'd left in the wolf's flesh.

"Not so bad when you're in pain, huh," he murmured to himself. The wolf whined again, staring up at him with those striking green eyes, something akin to confusion in its depths. Naruto chuckled to himself slightly as he dealt with treating the injuries, not understanding why he suddenly cared about the wolf that was trying to kill him but also not caring about why he cared about it, simply doing so. "You're actually… you're actually kinda cute when you're not trying to rip my throat out with your teeth."

"Not bad."

Naruto and Hayato both flinched, both of them whirling around at the familiar voice. Kakashi stood there, arms crossed over his chest as he looked between the two of them-or, more correctly, the two wounded wolves lying beside them both. Hayato's face filled with relief, and he began to say 'Otō' before Kakashi spoke again, his next words making their blood run cold.

"Now kill them."

CLIFFIES FOR DAYS

MUAHAHAHA

Some of my AN from last chapter got cut off. It meant to say, "I have Comic Con next Friday, so I'm uploading earlier than usual so I can get ready for it and you guys can enjoy the chapter earlier." Thankfully, that means it also cut off "I'll upload the next chapter next Saturday", which obviously didn't fall into place. I've been unbearably busy these past few days. Lotsa editing (I do photography) and writing for other fics (The Ripple Effect) and so I apologize to what few fans I have for this story. The Ripple Effect is amazingly popular; I wasn't expecting that to happen. Maybe it's because it just sits there for much longer than this story does. Maybe it's because it's just better. Not sure. Also don't care. I'm still interested in finishing this story. I want to see how it plays out.

Review if you understand my nonsensical explanation of the idiosyncrasies of the Hatake clan. They're completely whimsical and probably non-comprehensible, but I liked them because they're probably the coolest things I've ever conjured up with my depraved mind. I'm interested to see what people think.

I have another busy week coming up, and while I'm sure I can fall back in my schedule, I know I'm not posting the next chapter up so quickly. So I'm going to post it next Friday. So sorry. But I've got two jobs coming up this Saturday, one for my school's football team, the other for my aunt's party. Technically, the latter isn't really a job seeing as I'm doing it for her for free, but the other one is. I'm charging dirt cheap, like $5 for like fifty pictures (so I make like $.10 per picture, which isn't really bad to me because it's $.10 more in my pocket than there was before). At least I can put that down as slight work experience or something.

I'm just going to go ahead and dedicate this chapter to sailorangelmoon1, who is shitting on you guys with her lovely reviews :D I love you all, still, though!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I look forwards to seeing you guys next time.