Kumiko Takagi and Imai Hatake had become really good friends after Sakumo Hatake helped Shuji Takagi and his wife escape the Village Hidden in the Mist.

It had been a few years since they'd come to Konoha as refugees, but now both women were pregnant and due just months apart.

Imai had given birth to her sweet boy, Kakashi, just six days ago and they were finally ready to introduce him to Shanan, who was already two months old.

Kumiko and Shuji arrived with a few gifts and were ready to stay for dinner.

Shanan had been pretty colicky and cried a lot, so it was hard to get out lately. But Imai assured Kumiko that she wouldn't disturb Kakashi in any way, even though he never cried.

Imai had the idea to put them in Kakashi's bassinet together and when they did, Shanan calmed down immediately.

And it was always like that with the two of them. Kakashi kept Shanan calm.

When Kakashi was about eighteen months old, Imai passed away. She had been sick for months and nothing seemed to help.

So Kumiko always kept an eye on Kakashi and brought meals over often when they weren't over at the Takagi's for dinner.

Kakashi still seemed happy. He was too young to really understand.

And then, when Kakashi was just five years old, Sakumo committed suicide. He had broken code and put his friends lives before his mission and was disgraced. Even by those that he had saved. He tried to be strong for Kakashi, but he knew he would be taken care of by the Takagi's if he died.

So Kakashi went to live with the Takagi's.

Kumiko treated Kakashi like her own. She gave him love, guidance and a home. And he still had his closest friend, Shanan, and got to spend all of his time with her.

Kakashi kept Shanan calm. But Shanan kept Kakashi happy and made him feel safe and comforted.

He had his own room, but most nights he snuck in to sleep in Shanan's bed with her so that he wouldn't be scared and Shanan always sang him to sleep.

Shuji was a scholar that worked for Lord Third Hokage. He taught Kakashi to read and write and introduced him to many books, often giving him one to read so that they could discuss it afterwards.

Kumiko was an artist. She often let the kids pick their own projects to work on in her studio while she painted and Kakashi had taken a liking to drawing. Kumiko showed him the basics and brought him a book to teach him how to draw certain things, but he was really good at drawing people and often practiced drawing Shanan doing different things.

Kumiko had given him his very own sketchbook and pencils and he carried them in a bag with him everywhere so that he could draw people no matter where he was. He also carried at least two books from Shuji's library with him at all times, because if he wasn't drawing, he was reading.

He was happy living with the Takagi's and with Shanan. He missed his father, but he wasn't alone like most other orphans in Konoha.

When they were both seven years old, things changed.

Shanan and Kakashi were on their way home from the Ninja Academy when Kakashi had to turn back to grab his bag that he'd left on the back of his chair.

"I'll see you at home," he told her as he ran off back to the academy.

He knew Shanan would be fine to walk the rest of the way home, they were already almost there.

His bag was right where he had left it, so he grabbed it and took off towards home.

When he got to the house there was water rushing out from the bottom of the door and it wouldn't open. Nobody would answer when he banged on the door and yelled, so he went to look through the window and saw it. The curtains were closed, but he could see that there was water halfway up the window. The house was completely filled with water and it was rising fast.

Kakashi started to panic and started kicking the door and trying everything to get in and just as he had thought to break the window, the whole house burst into a million shards and knocked him back as all of the water flew out in every direction.

He laid there for a minute as the water rushed over him and held him down. When he could finally get up, he ran to where the house had just been standing as the water continued to spring up from an unknown source.

He found Shuji and Kumiko and saw that they had been murdered. But Shanan was nowhere to be seen.

"Shanan!" he cried out. "Shanan!"

He suddenly heard someone coughing behind him and spun around to see Shanan sitting up out of the water gasping for air as he ran to her.

"Shanan, what happened?" he asked her, completely terrified.

She stared at him blankly.

"Who killed your parents?" he asked, tears forming in his eyes.

"My what?" she asked quietly.

"Shuji and Kumiko. Your mom and dad."

"Who are you? Are you here to hurt me?" she asked quietly.

Kakashi looked at her as he bawled his eyes out.

"You have to remember..." he sobbed.

Shanan stared blankly as he pulled her in for a hug and then he leaned back and looked at her face again.

"I'm sorry," he said, still crying, as he pulled his hand back and slapped her face as hard as he could.

Shanan put her hand up to her cheek and teared up as she looked around frantically.

"Kakashi..." she said as she put her arms around him, crying.

"What happened?" he asked gently as he squeezed her tight.

"They killed mom and dad and they tried to kill me. I think I killed them, but I don't know how," she sobbed.

Kakashi looked around again.

"You did all this?"

After that night, they'd had to move back into Kakashi's old home on the outskirts of the village. It was just the two of them now.