I'm open for any type of opinion in the comments (likes, dislikes, speculations, questions, etc). I'll appreciate constructive criticism that might help me improve. Just please no telling me that my English sucks. I KNOW it sometimes sucks, comes with territory of not having English as my first language. I'm trying my best, give me a break.
I also appreciate when people write a reason why they decide to drop the story. I'm just curious like that.
English is not my first language. This is not betaed, read at your own risk.
On the road of life I'm lost (and found)
It was official. The Hokage had gone senile for suggesting it and Kakashi himself finally lost the remaining fragments of his sanity for actually accepting it. Why else would he be standing in front of the orphanage, holding papers granting him guardianship of Naruto Uzumaki?
He could still back off. Turn around right here and now and return the papers to the Hokage, telling him that he changed his mind. He was an Anbu, one of the most proficient operatives in the shadows. They couldn't force a child on him if he refused. In the end, a broken soldier like him wasn't the most suitable person to look after such a special child.
And yet, his feet remained rooted.
A breeze blew past. Kakashi could feel wet specks splatter across the small uncovered part of his face, first heralds of the inevitable rain. The sheet of cloud covered the sky, light grey that deepened to dark steel. A blanket of stillness wrapped up tightly around the village.
Such a dank and dreary late afternoon. Its austere chilliness embraced Kakashi like an arm of an old friend around his shoulders, at the same time weighing him down like a sin clinging on his back.
It had been six years since that night. Six years of running. Six years of avoiding their child, of not wanting to face his grief and guilt, to even acknowledge it.
Kakashi forced himself to move.
At the entrance, he paused again. With Minato-sensei's disappointed gaze carved into the stormy blue sky and Kushina's dissatisfied ramble etched into a faraway thunder, with the guardianship papers burning his fingers, he wasn't allowed to flee anymore.
Kakashi's knock was jerky and fast. After a few moments, he heard steps approaching. Hinges whined as the door was pushed open by a stern-looking woman made of severe lines and detached professionalism. Time clearly favored her. She didn't look too old despite wrinkles around her eyes and more white hair than black in her neatly combed bun. Her pair of sharp eyes contained the heaviness and vicissitudes of time, as well as the harshness and shrewdness.
Kakashi didn't like her. "I came here to take over the guardianship of one of your children," he said instead, extending her the papers.
Without a word, the woman took the documents. Her gaze quickly skimmed the lines, lips pulling into a grim line at the child's name, and then lingered on the Hokage's stamp. She looked up, staring into Kakashi's face, before finally stepping back with a quiet, "Follow me."
Kakashi followed her inside.
The orphanage was dark and gloomy. Crude paintings on the walls depicted weirdly shaped humans and even weirder looking monsters they fought against. Kakashi quickly shifted his eyes from the creature with nine tails baring its teeth at the blond figure.
"Naruto Uzumaki is a violent child," the woman spoke finally. The jounin assumed that she was the head matron, Mieko Sakai. "He's unruly, belligerent, and disrespectful to both adults and other children. Completely uncontrollable." She stopped in front of the closed door and pinned the grey-haired ninja with her steely eyes. "There are other kids to choose from."
"I'm not here to choose."
"I see."
Pity was so prominent in her expression, Kakashi smoothed his bristling hackles down. He wondered why she was more worried over him and not a six-year-old being taken in by an active ninja.
Mieko opened the door and poked her head in. A feminine voice drifted from the room, telling a story about a brave ninja. His heroic sweeping in to save a princess was followed by a bunch of gasps.
Kakashi braced himself. He had fully expected Naruto to walk out from behind this door, but it didn't happen. Instead, an old guy came out. A crooked nose and slanted narrow eyes gave him a rough appearance.
Kakashi didn't like him either.
"Bring Uzumaki here," the matron said.
"Uzumaki?" the guy repeated in disbelief. His gaze slid onto the jounin. "Someone wants him?" A smirk slithered across his lips. With a muttered, "Finally," he turned and left.
Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets. "Why is Naruto not with other kids, listening to the story?" he asked. This place, these people—it bothered him.
The woman pursed her lips. "I already told you that Naruto Uzumaki is a problem child. He cannot be left alone with other kids," she explained. "We're not trained ninjas, Hatake-san. Considering his…" she frowned, searching for the right word, "…condition, we're hardly equipped to deal with such violence. The only measure that works on him is isolation."
Isolating a six-year-old as a punishment? No matter how violent the boy was, it seemed excessive.
"Just a couple of weeks ago, he killed a stray dog that another boy under our care found in the streets and wanted to look after. Sliced the poor mutt's stomach open. Eiji was so heartbroken." The matron shook her head, grimacing. "Who knows when he's going to start thinking about doing the same to his peers?"
Kakashi's blood might have frozen over in his veins, it surely felt that way.
"You have to be strict with the boy. Don't let him get ideas in his head," Mieko continued before she smiled, looking quite pleased. "But I guess that's why Hokage-sama ordered the ninja like you to watch over him."
Was it? Kakashi couldn't be so sure of the reason behind this arrangement anymore. He thought it was so that Naruto had a safe place to live. Due to the knowledge of his Jinchuuriki status somehow getting leaked to Konoha's general populace soon after the Kyuubi's attack, the boy became the target of their hatred. If he had been given the apartment to live in, it would have been under constant danger of someone vandalizing it. However, no one would dare to wreck the apartment of the famous ninja.
Two sets of footsteps broke Kakashi from his chaotic pondering. One was heavy thumps, loud and obnoxious and lacking any grace, another light and quiet pitter-patter against the wooden floorboards.
Kakashi had never sought out Naruto Uzumaki before, had never seen what his Sensei's son looked like. The only thing he knew was what the Sandaime had told him—the boy was the perfect blend of his parents.
The moment two figures emerged from around the dark corner he realized just how much truth that statement carried.
Naruto was a small and skinny thing in worn-out clothes that seemed a few sizes too big. His blond, unkempt hair stuck out in all directions as he had just woken up from a long nap. Yet his blue eyes were bright and alert, glaring steadfastly at the man, the latter's fingers wrapped around his scrawny wrist like talons. The boy struggled to keep up with the brutal pace the adult had set and at the same time strained away from him as far as his arm's length allowed.
"Stop dragging your feet."
With a flinch, Naruto ducked away from the man's sneer for a moment, only to stare back in defiance the next.
Minato's coloring, but Kushina's features. It was every bit as difficult to look at the kid as Kakashi expected it would be.
The man shoved the boy forward and he stumbled. Mieko caught him by his shoulder. The way Naruto winced under her grip showed that it was anything but gentle.
"This is Kakashi Hatake, your new guardian assigned by the Hokage-sama," the woman said, motioning at the jounin. "He'll be taking care of you from now on."
A surprise flitted across Naruto's face. In an instant, every inch of his attention was on his new guardian.
Kakashi looked away before their eyes could meet. Those twin pools of blue shined with too much hope all of the sudden. Hope was a horrible thing to have. He would fail Naruto in one way or another. Someday, somehow, he definitely would. He didn't want—couldn't promise anything to him.
Naruto's expression fell, the light in his eyes dimmed.
"Don't make any trouble for Hatake-san," the matron scolded the boy, her nails digging into the meat of his shoulder. "Listen to what he says and don't make him return you here."
Naruto nodded with his eyes cast down now. The man pushed the small bag into his arms which the kid hugged to his chest.
Kakashi wanted to be anywhere but here. The Memorial Stone beckoned him to come. Its demanding and unrelenting call together with occasional glimpses of those familiar eyes made him almost jittery. "Is that all?" he asked.
Mieko broke into a slimy satisfied smile. "Of course, Hatake-san." She released Naruto and nudged him towards the jounin. "He's all yours." Neither of these people even tried to hide the joy of handing over the young Jinchuuriki to someone else. "I'll walk you out."
A minute later, Kakashi found himself outside again, the orphanage's door firmly shut, the storm baring its teeth, ready to unleash its fury upon Konoha any moment now, the guardianship papers scorching his hand like a smoldering ember, and...
…and someone who caused his heart to break into tiny, gritty, worthless specks of dust at his side. Maybe it was for the best. Who needed the heart anyway? Kakashi definitely could do without it.
The jounin glanced down.
Naruto stared forward with empty eyes, his whole frame hunched around the bag in his arms to fend off the worst of the chilly wind.
He should do something. Scoop the kid and shield him from the elements, protect him from cruelties of this world, comfort and soothe.
Kakashi did none of that. Just because official documents stated that Naruto was under his care, it didn't change who he was: still the same broken soldier he had been before entering through this door the first time. Blood still covered his hands and his existence alone tainted everything beautiful and pure and innocent.
No. No, he couldn't let Naruto get any closer to him lest Kakashi desired to preserve the last thing that vaguely resembled a family. The boy would be safer without him in his life. Kakashi would think about this arrangement as if he just gained a new roommate for the spare bedroom that remained empty for years.
Lightning flashed above, illuminating the edge of clouds in a brilliant white. Like a gigantic chariot, thunder soon rolled throughout the sky. "Let's hurry up," Kakashi said. "If we're fast enough, we might reach my place before it starts raining."
Not his place anymore, his mind supplied. Their place.
Kakashi didn't voice it out loud instead opting to just start walking. He never checked, but by the sound of a light, hurried tread behind, Naruto followed.
In the end, they didn't make it in time. If Kakashi wasn't such a useless bastard and carried Naruto, they would have. Now he had soaked to the bone, shivering six-year-old in his apartment and no one to advise him what to do.
With his teeth mere seconds from chattering, skin covered in goosebumps, and hair stuck to his forehead, Naruto just stood there, pressing that small bag with too few belongings to his chest. No complaints, no childish outbursts, no tantrums—nothing. Not a single peep.
Kakashi's mantra of 'don't get attached' and 'don't let Naruto get attached' suddenly lost its momentum and didn't sound so convincing to his ears.
"Sorry," the jounin mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll prepare you a warm bath."
Naruto's head snapped up. "Warm bath?" His voice was so soft, he practically whispered it, an expression so full of awe, one would think Kakashi offered to pluck the stars off the sky for him.
He didn't deserve to be the target of such admiration. Kakashi made a conscious effort to look anywhere but the kid. He padded forward, past the kitchen and the bathroom. "That's my room," he said, pointing at the door at the very end of the short hallway. "And this one," he pushed open the door on his left, "will be yours from now on."
Kakashi cleaned it, bought a new bed, a wardrobe, and a desk, and used the bedding from his childhood with dog paw prints all over. That was it. There was nothing spectacular about the room. And yet, Naruto stared at it as if Kakashi glued those stars he had plucked earlier to its ceiling.
"My room?" the boy asked as softly as before. "With a window?"
Kakashi blinked at the last part. Any ninja worth their salt would choose the room with windows. It might be a structural weakness, but for them, they were also a secondary entrance or exit point. "You don't like it?"
Naruto shook his head so hard that droplets from his hair splattered on Kakashi's pants. It reminded the man of a clumsy puppy shaking water out of his fur.
"I-I do," the little blond uttered, eyes sparkling as he gazed at the rain pounding on the glass. "Windows are amazing, 'ttebayo."
Of course, of course, Naruto had to inherit his mother's verbal tic. As if his appearance wasn't enough of the reminder.
Also, windows were a weird thing to be fascinated about.
Anyway, "House rules, Naruto." The boy stiffened for some reason, but gave his undivided attention. "I might be your guardian by law, but I'm not here to be your parent. I'm an active ninja, most of the time I won't even be around, so you'll have to look after yourself. You're free to use everything in the kitchen and bathroom." He would have to keep an eye on the stock, especially the food. Kakashi himself rarely ate at home. Or ate at all for that matter; soldier pills sated his body's need just as well. "When I'm back from the missions, I expect peace and quiet. Don't be too loud, clean after yourself, don't enter my room, and we'll get along."
Naruto shrunk into himself again and instead of a verbal reply, he simply nodded.
Back to no talking, huh. Kakashi's hand twitched up, but he caught himself before he could pat the boy's head. An inaudible sigh left him as he turned to prepare a bath. Just this time, he swore, otherwise guilt would eat him alive much faster.
Don't get attached. Don't let Naruto get attached.
He only needed to follow this mantra and everything would somehow work out. Right?
Naruto really took those rules to his heart. Kakashi felt as impressed as he felt bothered.
He prepared himself for noise that any kid his age would make. The laughter, the broken dishes, the stomping around the apartment. Especially when he slipped in through the window into his room and the boy didn't even know he was home.
Nothing like that happened.
Naruto was quiet, unnaturally so. Besides his footsteps, the usual sound of running water and clinking dishes, he never made any other noise. No, there was one more: a tiny, "I'm home," under his breath every time he came back despite never receiving an answer.
Kakashi also braced himself for a mess around his home. Dirty clothes discarded on the floor, the kitchen in disarray, water spilled all over the bathroom floor.
It didn't happen either.
Naruto always cleaned after himself. Not an understatement to say that he didn't leave a single speck out of place after using the utilities. Kakashi always had been tidy and composed in his childhood, but even he was way messier and louder at that age.
He kept pushing the growing concern deeper and deeper, reasoning that it only made things better for him, that he didn't have to deal with matters he didn't want to deal with.
Don't get attached.
Don't get attached.
Don't get attached.
For a while, it worked. Kakashi immersed himself into Anbu, into his Dog persona, and it helped. To brush off stern looks from the Hokage was easy. He took care of Naruto, didn't he? The kid had a roof above his head, a clean bed to sleep in, a fridge full of food. The latter he checked and filled as often as he could. As a ninja, he took his duties seriously and it was just that—he was obligated to provide the necessary basics for the child under his care. Nothing else.
Don't get attached.
A week passed. Kakashi signed and delivered the papers for the boy to join the Ninja Academy.
Don't get attached.
Two weeks. Kakashi double-checked that he bought everything Naruto might need when he started the Academy before leaving all the goods on the kid's bed.
Don't get attached.
Three weeks. It just so happened that Kakashi took the route to the Hokage Tower past the Academy on its first day. Pure accident. Perched on the branch and hidden in foliage, he stopped long enough to witness the opening ceremony, eyes glued to the sunshine mop in the line of children.
Don't get attached.
It was nearing a month from the day Naruto began living with him. Nothing changed. The boy was still quiet, still almost invisible. Like a little mouse—heard and seen on occasions, but otherwise keeping himself carefully out of sight.
If Kakashi didn't know better, he would think that Naruto was a veteran ninja with at least a decade's worth of experience under his belt. The boy seemed to be naturally stealthy. A great ninja in the making. If he showed him a few tricks—
Don't get attached. Don't let Naruto get attached.
Kakashi shook his head to banish these ludicrous thoughts. It was exhaustion speaking. He just reported his three-day-long solo mission. He couldn't afford to shut his eyes even for a minute during it, so his bed was all he should be thinking about right now, not some silly things like—
A flash of yellow at the corner of Kakashi's eye caught his attention as he was roof-hopping towards his apartment. He landed and turned, gaze zeroing on Naruto's tiny figure at the entrance of an alley. The boy glanced to his left, then right, left again, right again, before darting into it.
Suspicious of his weird behavior, Kakashi tucked his chakra close to himself to hide his presence and jumped across a few houses to peek inside the alley. A small dog was sniffing the ground with mated brown fur and missing half of his tail. A stray. Naruto walked towards him, his steps confident and face determined.
'Sliced the poor mutt's stomach open.'
Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. He completely forgot about the matron's words. No... No. Nonononono. It couldn't be. Naruto was a good child. A quiet one.
Perhaps a bit too quiet, a nasty voice whispered at the back of his head.
The dog lifted his head. Naruto pushed his hand into his pocket.
Kakashi leaned forward, feeling the burning sensation of too much chakra gathered in the overworked muscles of his legs. If the Hokage knew that Naruto was a greatly disturbed child… An unstable Jinchuuriki was a threat to Konoha, regardless of his identity. If it was decided that they couldn't break Naruto out of his urges to kill innocent animals, Danzo might get his hands on the boy and—
Panic flowed through his veins like acid. He couldn't allow it. Had to do something. Kakashi was such a failure. He failed everyone he ever cared about, destroyed everything he touched. He already failed Naruto, but he could try to fix this somehow.
The dog's tongue lolled out, tail wagging. A grin stretched across Naruto's face as he pulled out a piece of bread.
…
…Bread?
Kakashi's mind sputtered to a halt. Not a kunai, not a knife, or any other bladed weapon, but a piece of bread? Naruto was feeding the dog, not trying to kill him. Maybe he attempted to lure the poor animal into trusting him first and only then would strike?
The blond was crouching now, arms around his legs and a smile on his lips as he watched the dog gobble the offered food.
There was no way the boy bore even an inkling of ill intent.
'Sliced the poor mutt's stomach open. Eiji was so heartbroken.'
Wrong. Something here was wrong. Very, very wrong.
"See? I told you the freak was in here."
Kakashi didn't miss Naruto's flinch when he heard the voice. Three older boys, maybe eight or nine-year-old, sauntered into the alley. The jounin observed Naruto jumping to his feet and positioning himself right in front of the dog, shielding him from newcomers.
"Another mutt, freak?" one of the boys sneered. The oldest one by the looks of it and most likely the boss of the other two. "Did you already forget what happened with the previous one?"
Naruto's expression crumbled. So much hurt and pain and shame. The sight that threatened to choke Kakashi and was now forever seared into his mind due to Obito's Sharingan.
The dog behind the blond growled. It seemed to snap Naruto out of whatever sorrows troubled him and his eyes hardened. "Go away, Eiji!" he yelled and Kakashi took a split second to process the fact that this was the first time he had heard the kid raise his voice. "He did nothing to you, 'ttebayo!"
"You fed him, that's enough reason to punish it!" Eiji pointed at the dog. "Catch the mutt!"
Cackling, the other two boys launched forward.
"Run!" Naruto screamed at the dog, but the latter's reaction was only a tentative tail wag. The bullies were almost on him. The blond gritted his teeth, snatched the small stone from the ground, and threw it with an angry, "Get out of here!"
His aim was true. With a painful whine, the canine fled in an instant. Naruto didn't have time to celebrate. Two boys slammed into him, pushed him to the ground, and held him down. "Let me go!" The kid put up a fight, resisted with everything he got, but they were older, stronger, and had better control over their chakra.
"Stay down, you freak!"
"I have an idea," Eiji said as he squatted in front of Naruto. A grin stretched in a cruel slack across his young face and turned it into something unsightly. He pulled a kunai from his pocket.
Naruto paled, flooded with fear.
"How about we carve his ugly mug? Deepen those disgusting whiskers, so no one would forget who—AAH!" A scream of pain ripped out of Eiji's throat as steely fingers wrapped around his wrist and twisted. Not enough to break it, but enough that he would feel it for days.
The kunai hit the ground with a dull thud.
Four pairs of terrified eyes met the furious mismatched eyes hidden behind the white mask.
"You three," the spinning Sharingan flicked between older boys, weaving a subtle Genjutsu around these little monsters to make them more complacent, "go home and wait for your punishment."
Children like these three had no place in the Ninja Academy. Ninjas were trained killers, but without any respect towards life, no matter how insignificant, they were nothing but mindless murderers. Without any regard for other human beings, especially their potential future comrade, they might become a liability rather than an asset to Konoha's forces.
Kakashi would make sure to report this incident to the Hokage directly.
The two boys were already gone when the man released Eiji. Nursing his hurting hand, he dashed away without a glance behind.
Kakashi looked down at Naruto just in time to watch in slow motion as the latter pushed himself into a sitting position and sniffled while rubbing his nose. The brokenness in the kid's eyes burned into his weary memory. Fear of the cruel world. Desperation for any hint of kindness and resignation that he wouldn't receive it. There was too much to take in all at once, but there was no way Kakashi would ever forget a bit of it.
Blood trickled down Naruto's forehead from a small cut near the hairline. Kakashi dropped on his knee, hand reaching for the first aid kit strapped to his back.
Don't get attached. Don't let Naruto get atta—
Fuck his mantra for once. His face hidden, his hair hidden, his voice warped because of the mask, standard Anbu uniform—no way Naruto could recognize him. He had never revealed his Sharingan to him either. And patching the kid this one time wouldn't make him attached more than he already was.
Naruto didn't notice the adult moving until he felt the touch at the side of his head, light and glancing. He immediately shied away from it.
"Don't be scared," Kakashi murmured as he gently brushed the bright strands away from the wound to inspect it. "Just let me take care of this and you'll be free to go."
Curious blue eyes stared at him in sheer wonder while Kakashi worked on cleaning the cut. It wasn't big or deep, thank goodness, and it was already healing. He stuck a plaster on it anyway.
"There," Kakashi said, standing up. "You can go now."
Naruto also stood up. As soon as a wispy, "Thank you," left his mouth, he turned around and ran off.
Kakashi watched him go all the way till he disappeared around the corner. Then, he leaped on the roof and hopped back towards the Hokage Tower. Sleep could wait. He had some misunderstandings to clear. Naruto wouldn't be branded as a violent, uncontrollable child for a single minute longer than necessary if he could help it.
There was an apple on the kitchen table. Round and red, without a single blemish on its surface.
Kakashi stared at it, frozen in the doorway. No reason to get all bothered about it. Yet, here he was, all bothered about it.
He looked around. Prickling his ears, listened. Naruto was definitely not here at this hour. Kakashi had been observing the boy these past couple of days after that incident in the alley. He seemed alright.
So why exactly did Naruto leaving an apple on the table bother him so much?
The kid always cleaned after himself, always put things he used in their appropriate place. Kakashi also didn't remember buying apples lately. Technically, Naruto was still considered an orphan and, as his legal guardian, Kakashi received the boy's monthly stipend. He had enough money to cover expenses for both of them, so he simply left Naruto's money on his bed to spend it however he wanted.
Did Naruto buy the apple and forgot this morning to bring it with him? Most likely. He was just overthinking. Paranoid for no reason.
Kakashi didn't touch the apple. When he returned home at night, the apple was gone, Naruto slept soundly in his paw prints covered bed, and the usual mantra went on repeat in Kakashi's head as he slipped out of the boy's room and into his own.
The next morning, a new apple was on the table. Still big, round, and spotless. More green than red this time.
Once again, Kakashi stared at it for much longer than necessary. Something weird was going on here, he could feel it in his gut.
His gut decided to growl at that moment, reminding him how starved for normal human food it was. When was the last time he ate? Kakashi genuinely couldn't tell.
Well, he thought as he picked up the apple, it was the kid's own fault for forgetting it for the second morning in a row. Before he changed his mind, he bit into the fruit. And it was delicious! Sweet and juicy, exactly how he liked them.
Kakashi briefly wondered where Naruto bought the apple as he left for the day.
A new apple welcomed him the next morning. And the morning after. A couple of tangerines next. An apple again. A small bowl of strawberries.
At this point, Kakashi was certain—Naruto was leaving all the goods for him. He couldn't fathom why the kid would do it, but decided not to confront him. It was kind of cute and endearing. He was about to go on a two-three weeks long mission anyway, the boy would forget about it.
Naruto found a dog plushy sitting on the kitchen table in the morning following Kakashi's departure for his mission.
Naruto didn't forget. He upped it to another level.
The first thing Kakashi saw as he wobbled into the kitchen the morning after returning from an arduous mission, rubbing exhaustion out of his eyes, was a bowl of steamed rice topped with an egg.
What the hell was this? When did his six-year-old become a chef? Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the dish in front of him. His stomach growled, letting him know its opinion about how appetizing it looked. He picked a fork and tried a bite. Already cold, as expected. A bit salty, a bit undercooked, but otherwise pretty good. As a matter of fact, so good, he ate it all.
It was a bit embarrassing to be cared for by a toddler. Not exactly a toddler, but still a very young child. Granted, a very capable and smart young child, but a young child nonetheless. Shouldn't Kakashi make him breakfast, not the other way around?
That day he stalked his own apartment waiting for Naruto to come back. The boy came sprinting down the street, just a little ball of excitement weaving through the crowd followed by glares and hushed curses. He didn't seem to notice, sweeping through like a whirlwind. The closer he got to the apartment, however, the more subdued he became. Naruto cracked open the door and listened for a few seconds before slipping in. He poked his head into the kitchen, then moved to check the trash bin.
Watching the boy through the window, Kakashi saw his face brightening, eyes alight with happiness and a beaming grin stretching his whiskered cheeks up. Tiny fists pumped the air in a soundless whoop of victory.
Kakashi's chest suddenly felt warm and fuzzy at the sight. The feeling filled up the hole inside his being, inside his soul just a little bit.
Well… if it made Naruto this happy, Kakashi had no qualms of indulging him.
Not everything the boy prepared was good. Sometimes it barely passed as edible. Like that too spicy omelet that Kakashi felt for the rest of the day in his throat. Or onigiri that crumbled on its own while still on a plate. The day their apartment smelled like someone burned a corpse in it, there was only an apple on the table.
It was the effort that counted and, in Kakashi's book, Naruto's effort was worth its weight in gold.