"You've passed. Congrats! Meet back here at dawn tomorrow and be prepared for a full skills assessment. I want to see everything you know how to do. Everything." Then he was gone in a simple leaf shunshin.
The three newly minted genin left in their sensei's dust stayed behind quietly contemplating each other. Wondering if the two days spent keeping each other alive had changed them.
"Don't look weak tomorrow dope." Sasuke scoffed ignoring Sakura entirely and walking away. Sakura to her credit looked upset for a few seconds to have been so obviously snubbed before she let out an awkward squawk and trotted after her crush begging him to come to her house for dinner. Naruto left behind just sighed and rolled her lovely blue eyes.
A hand sign and a small squad of clones joined her in scavenging the medium sized clearing Sakura had chosen as their kill box for trying to take down their sensei. Being banned from every weapon shop on grounds of 'uncleanly demoness' meant good ninja tools were hard to come by for Naruto so sweeping the training grounds of the village was a good pastime to get the supplies that she couldn't make herself.
Sakura, Naruto found used the basic Academy tool kit, likely because she focused on books more and didn't see the need in learning special tools early. There was a Ninja supply store close to the Academy that offered a discount to current students but obviously not to 'piss haired demon girls' so Naruto had personally never been able to set foot in the shop. But the low-quality metal of the kunai and shuriken she was looking at in the 'Sakura' pile told her there was no need to be jealous. The shopkeeper sold mostly to undertrained civilian children that would be advised by their sensei on a more reputable shop to go to, if they made it that far at all, so his stuff wasn't very well made at all.
Sasuke's stuff on the other hand was very high quality, on level with some of the stuff she'd see Asuma-nii with before he left. The clan kids either had access to family members that knew how to forge and got their stuff for free or knew far better and more expensive shops in the Noble or Clan districts and most never set foot in the Academy weapon shop if there was no need for it.
Kakashi's left behind shit was the real jackpot in Naruto's opinion. ANBU level gear was a rare collection chance for her since Ninja of their skill level rarely used public training grounds or even had enough down time to train; usually being kept on a regular rotation of out of village missions. Most times when an ANBU was in the village for more than a week it was because they'd been wounded deeply or were on forced vacation under orders by the Head Medic and the Hokage.
Since Naruto was the only one to even think about cleaning up her used weapons it was evident neither of her teammates even thought about how expensive keeping up with ninja supplies could be. "Rich bastards." Naruto thought with slight envy, looping the high-quality wire Sasuke had used with quick hands. Soon the grounds were scavenged for every scrap of savable metal she could get her little hands on; the metal burnt and twisted under Jutsu fire was saved to be given to the shops in the higher number districts were the poor tended to buy from to be reused in pots and pans. As she finished up and her clones began to dissipate her Sensei finally pulled himself from the foliage where he'd hidden himself earlier.
Kakashi made a polite amount of noise as he approached his sensei's daughter from the forest so as not to startle her. As she turned her attention to him, Kakashi went to his knees and bowed with his hands at his sides and his head to the dirt. Above him Naruto let out a small squeak of shock as she took in the sight of one of the most powerful jounin in the village, a candidate for Kage, kneeling before her. The demon of the village, the most hated girl in Konoha, the class idiot. Was being given a bow of utmost respect that one would give to royalty. To one's Kage.
"What was going on?" Was Naruto's bewildered thought before Kakashi spoke.
"Naruto-hime I beg you hear this lowly ninja and allow me to give you an apology long overdue." Kakashi didn't wait for Naruto's permission and instead bulldozed his way into the speech he'd been mentally writing since the girl before him was mere hours old.
"Naruto-hime please forgive me. First, I must introduce myself properly, I am former ANBU like you said to your teammates. I used to be on your protection detail when you were young. I was given the name 'Inu'. I'm sorry hime that I couldn't protect you the way you should have been. You never should have been left in that orphanage. If it was up to the Old Man and his wife, you would have never had to leave the compound if you didn't want to. You would have been safe and loved until it made you sick. But we. No. I didn't protect you properly.
"I let grief and selfishness turn me away from my one true duty to you. And you should never forgive me for that. But at heart I know you'd never hold that against me so I instead will bear the burden of my shame and hold myself to the standard I should have set long ago." He looked up for the first time and let Naruto's endless sea blues bore into his. Driving all the determination he had in his soul into his gaze trying to tell the girl with words and heart that he wasn't going to leave her alone again.
Kakashi knew the most important thing to Naruto would be his actions or lack thereof. He would have to prove himself with more than just words to get her to trust again. And Kakashi had never been more determined to do anything in his life. He took a slightly shaky breath before standing. His next words couldn't be said to the ground. They were too important for that.
Kakashi looked eyes with Naruto, took another breath, and prayed to Kami that either of them made it through this next conversation without a break down. Naruto sensing a far more serious topic on the rise gulped but steadied her tiny little shoulders and raised her delicate chin. Someone so small shouldn't be so ready to take on potential burdens. "Sensei. Kushina-ane-sama. Your daughter is so strong already it's amazing. It's heartbreaking." He thought with mournful admiration before prying his jaw apart on his next words.
"I was a student of your fathers and close to your mother. Yes, I do know them. No, I cannot tell you who they are. That kind of knowledge could bring about your death if you're not strong enough to put down the enemies they could not. I ask humbly that you please have patience with myself and your Kage. Our most ardent wish is to tell you all you want to know but we can't. Not yet." He looked up slightly his lone dark grey eye-catching devastating blue. The sheer heartbroken hunger in that gaze to know more nearly made him run but he dug his heels into the dirt and held himself in the present. No more running away. Not from this. Not from her. Never again.
"Please know they loved you more than anything. If they could defy Shinigami himself and come back to life if only for just a moment with you, I know they'd tear heaven itself apart. They loved you Uzumaki Naruto. Never doubt that. Please never forget that." Kakashi swore to his future Kage. To a lonely little girl that just wanted to know she was loved.
Naruto's eyes were filled with tears, but none fell. "They, loved. Me?" Her voice was tinier then Kakashi had heard it in a long time, she'd been hiding under the mask of a loud troublemaker for some time. "They really loved. Me?" The disbelief in those eyes and that voice made him want to burn his own village to the ground.
"Yes." Kakashi made sure the conviction in his voice was unavoidable, undeniable. If he had to tell it to her every day for the rest of his life and for some time after he'd make sure his imoto never doubted her parents love again. Slowly he offered one weathered and beaten hand to Naruto. He wasn't sure she would accept comfort from him after 'Inu's' leaving her, but he wasn't going to leave Naruto alone to process all the information he'd just dumped in her lap.
Blue eyes focused on his outstretched hand. Naruto had seen the cruelest side of her own home village for years on end. Beaten and starved and ignored. Kakashi was sure there were hidden scars on her mind that had faded from her body that would drive him to try and kill many that he didn't know about but still in spite of that she still did something that amazed him.
Naruto reached out and took his hand.
She gripped his hand as relief and heartbreak took her knees from under her and she sunk into a crouch her face buried in her knees as near silent sobs shook her tiny shoulders. Kakashi simply gripped her back with just as much strength as he dared without risking breaking the small hand that was engulfed so easily in his larger one. Turning his face away so as to give his imoto some privacy Kakashi acknowledged the ghosts at his shoulders "She's still so small Sensei. To small for the burdens placed on her but she's learned to bare them so gracefully it makes me want to break something. Please don't worry you two I won't let her be crushed under them and I won't let anyone try to make her fall. Your daughter won't just live she'll thrive and find joy and know you are at her shoulders guiding her. I swear."
Naruto cried for some time letting out sobs so quiet the rustle of wind in the trees and birdsong nearly drowned her out. But Kakashi witnessed each little hiccup of breath and vowed to bring her one happy moment for each tear shed in sorrow.
As Naruto tears ebbed and came to a gentle stop, she looked up at him with red rimmed eyes and slightly puffy cheeks he met her eyes head on and kept his own silence. As the searching look in her eyes faded, Kakashi guessed she found what she was looking for since she stood up and kept her hand in his until her feet were under her again. A soft squeeze and then that small hand was gone, and she was bounding away through the forest for her home.
Left behind Kakashi looked at the little silver bell that had been slipped into his palm as clever fingers left his and knew 'Inu' could finally rest. The dog that lived in shadow and blood and was mad with grief had been given peace at last. Now it would be just Kakashi, a simple man who would do his best by his team and his beloved sister.