"Welcome, Naruto, Inu-san, Pakkun-san. I hear we need to have a chat."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat at his desk, with his hands folded in his lap and a serious look on his face. The group had just arrived in the middle of his well-lit study, scattering a flurry of snow on the floor with their arrival. A bright fire warmed the room from the stove in the corner. The old man had decided to stoke it back to life when he heard there were guests coming. Now he took a moment to survey the new arrivals. Naruto looked miserable. Normally bright blue eyes were dim and slightly fearful. Kakashi was stoic under his ANBU robes, but the Hokage could feel the tension radiating from the troubled teen.

Pakkun wiggled his way out of Naruto's hold and landed on the floor, turning to stare at the boy. "Well pup, I need to go. The chakra Inu used to summon me has almost been used up. Don't worry," Naruto's face had turned fearful at the pug's comment. "You're here with Hokage-sama. Inu would never let anyone hurt you, either. After you three have your talk, Inu will summon me back. With the entire pack this time." The last comment was directed at the cloaked figure standing sullenly in the middle of the room. Inu nodded to show his understanding. "Well then, Hokage-sama," the pug dipped his head at the wizened figure before licking Naruto's fingers and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"May I have a hug, Naruto?" Hiruzen held out his arms and was gratified to find them almost immediately full of a small boy wrapped in a soggy jacket. "Let's get you out of this before you get sick," the old man hugged the small figure tightly before he started to remove the wet garments and lay them by the fire to dry. Reaching to his desk, the Hokage grabbed a pair of Naruto's pajamas, retrieved from the boy's apartment at the village leader's request. Working quickly, he helped the young blond get into the warm clothing before turning to Inu, standing tentatively in the center of the room. The confused young man had watched the entire domestic procedure with something akin to fascination.

"It's time to Open the Scroll, Inu." The Hokage's voice broke the masked figure out of his reverie. "You can hang your gear up to dry. It wouldn't do for you to get sick either."

At this, the ANBU agent reached up toward his hood. He stopped, however, when he noticed Naruto's eyes following his every move. Chuckling to himself, the young man walked forward and knelt in front of the boy. "Are you gonna take off your jacket, Inu-san? ANBUs aren't supposed to do that, 'ttebayo. They gots to keep their 'denty secret." Naruto's voice was a whisper, so entranced was he at the prospect of seeing what was underneath the cloaks that his protectors wore.

Inu nodded in answer to the boy's question. "Opening the Scroll is a phrase that means an ANBU agent is going to take off their mask. Hokage-sama has given me permission to tell you a story, and I'd like to do that as myself, not as Inu. Will you help me take my jacket and mask off, Naruto-kun?"

The whiskered face nodded solemnly, and the boy scooted himself off the Hokage's lap until he was standing on the floor. Slowly, small fingers grabbed the rough fabric and pushed back the hood of the cloak. Naruto watched as silver hair exploded to an impossibly spiky position above the man's head after it had been released from the hood. Inu stood and unzipped his cloak to reveal a chest plate and armguards made of a sturdy bone-colored ceramic covering a navy-blue bodysuit. The cloak was laid carefully over the back of one of the chairs in the office before Inu knelt to Naruto's level again.

Kakashi took a shuddering breath as small, gentle fingers reached up and grabbed the bottom of the porcelain mask, slowly lifting it away. His eyes closed as the young man waited for some reaction from the blond. He was unprepared for the dismayed exclamation from the youngest person in the room. "Inu-san, why do you have a mask under your mask? That's cheating! I thought I was gonna get to see your face, 'ttebayo!"

Both eyes flew open and stared at Naruto, who had turned away, pouting at the perceived injustice. Kakashi had all but forgotten the half-face mask that he always wore over his mouth. It had taken a bit of finagling, but he had been able to convince the ANBU quartermaster to add the nose-high covering to all his outfits. "Don't be too hard on him, Naruto," the Hokage spoke from his chair. The old man wore a warm smile and was chuckling to himself as he watched the two boys. "The last person Inu showed his face was the Yondaime. Even I haven't seen him without the second mask."

Naruto's eyes swung back to Kakashi's face at that, and the little boy gasped when he met Kakashi's gaze. Matching blue eyes were drawn irresistibly to the Sharingan eye that swirled slowly in Inu's left socket. "Your eye is red, Inu-san! And it gots little dots in it, 'ttebayo!"

"This is a Sharingan," Kakashi gestured to the scar running vertically across his left eye socket. "It was a dying gift from my best friend, Uchiha Obito. It's also a reminder of how much of a failure I am." Naruto's hands gently traced the scar running down the young man's face. Kakashi felt a chill run down his back at the contact; the hands were soft and the way they ran gently over the scar served to remind the young man of the fact that this was the most nonviolent physical contact he had allowed himself to experience in years.

"Now Inu-san," the Sandaime's voice cut through the room and reminded the two boys that they were not alone. Both sets of eyes jerked to the wizened face whose expression was kindly but housed a pair of eyes with unwavering steel in them. "I believe that you and I have discussed that topic at length. I know that Naruto will agree with me that your decision to continue martyring yourself for past mistakes will only prevent you from growing for the future and rob you of the opportunity for present happiness." Warm black eyes locked directly with Naruto's azures and the old man smiled.

"That's right!" Naruto turned back to Kakashi as he chirped his answer. "I was sad 'cause no one liked me, but Jiji told me that it wasn't good for me to keep being sad about it. There's people who's gonna be my family one day, and I need to learn how to be happy for them, dattebayo. I don't like being sad, anyway. 'Sides, your friend must have liked you a lot to give you his eyeball. Even if that is kinda gross." Naruto's face, as he considered the idea of taking someone else's eye, drew a full laugh from Sarutobi and a grudging chuckle from Kakashi.

"Besides, we need to explain ourselves to Naruto." Once again both sets of eyes swung toward the Hokage. The old man surveyed both boys, taking note of the surprise on Naruto's face and the panic that stole through Kakashi's eyes. "I do mean we both need to make an explanation, though. If you would like to start with your story, Inu-san, you may. Otherwise, I will explain why today was the first time that Naruto's ANBU guard ended up playing with him…"

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi's voice was slightly high pitched and rushed, betraying his worry at the old man's hidden threat. "I think that I would like to tell my story first." At the old man's nod and subtle smile, the silver-haired genius took a second to compose himself before he gestured to the chairs seated around the fire. "We should probably sit, Naruto-kun. Mine is not a short story, so we will likely be here for a while. Perhaps even beyond lunch. Maybe we should go and get our food before –"

"Already taken care of," Sarutobi's smile and the vaguely predatory glint in the old man's eyes told Kakashi that the Hokage would allow no more stalling or working around this situation. "I have arranged for lunch to be provided to us at noon. There is nothing to prevent us from hearing your story."

Kakashi slumped into a chair as he watched Naruto struggle onto the Sandaime's lap. He had been well and truly thwarted. Some genius he was. With a weary sigh, he began. "My real name is Hatake Kakashi, and I am the last living member of the Hatake family. My father died when I was five years old and left me all alone. Several years later, a promising ninja became my guardian and sensei. He was young, not much older than I am now, and Sandaime-sama had already promoted him to Jōnin and even entrusted him with a team of Genin. Yes, Naruto-kun?"

The blond's hand had started waving frantically in front of Hiruzen's face in the middle of Kakashi's introduction. "Kakashi-san, what's a Jōnin? And what's a Genin? And what do you mean a team of Genin? Is your sensei nice? Do you like him? Can I meet him?"

Naruto's questions stopped abruptly when he noticed Kakashi's posture stiffen at the last question. The trio sat in silence for several seconds before Kakashi shook himself and turned to the pajama-clad boy. "I apologize, Naruto-kun. Your question made me sad because it made me think of my sensei. You see, he was the man who became the Yondaime Hokage. I love and respect him very much, as do all citizens of Konoha. But, as you know, it would be impossible to meet him, as he died defeating the Kyūbi." All three heads bowed simultaneously at that comment, each person considering the tragedy that was the Kyūbi attack.

Naruto was the first to break from his mourning posture, his energetic nature making extended contemplation difficult. The blond took to studying the two others in the room until they noticed and returned their attention to him.

"Thank you for your patience, Naruto-kun. I'm ready to continue telling the story now." Kakashi steadied himself and returned his attention to the boy in front of him. "A Jōnin is an elite ninja who takes on many difficult missions for the village. Some Jōnin have a team of three junior ninja, or Genin, that the Hokage has trusted them to teach. This task is only given to the most talented Jōnin and speaks highly of the ninja's skills and character. Sandaime-sama," here the boy gestured with his chin toward the smiling face above Naruto's head. "asked the future Yondaime to teach a group made up of Uchiha Obito, Nohara Rin, and I."

Naruto grinned, closing his eyes to imagine a younger Kakashi playing with a group of friends and laughing together. After a moment, blue eyes opened to inspect Kakashi and the silver-haired boy's story continued. "We worked together for several years before the Third Great Shinobi War broke out. Even though we were children, we were given missions, and we fought against enemy shinobi. During our last mission together, we were sent to destroy a bridge that Iwagakure was using to bring food and equipment to their soldiers."

The masked teenager stopped and took several breaths to steady himself before he began again. "Rin was captured during this mission, and Obito brought me with him to rescue her. When we got to her location, an Iwa shinobi attacked us and damaged my eye so that I couldn't see on my left side. As we were escaping with Rin, the enemy collapsed a cave onto us. Obito saved my life by throwing me out of the way of the falling rocks. However, they fell on him and crushed his side. He survived long enough to give me his Sharingan and ask me to keep Rin safe for him."

The masked teen fell silent then, his brow furrowed and face ashen. The trio sat in silence for several minutes. Kakashi stared blankly at the floor, while Naruto watched the boy with concern written on the whiskered face. Hiruzen smiled when he was confident neither boy would notice. Kakashi had been far more open than the Hokage had dared hope. The old man felt confident that it was only a matter of time before Naruto forced his way into Kakashi's life and rescued the troubled teen from the horrors of past failures.

Naruto proved the Sandaime's suspicions correct, as the young blond seemed to decide that further contact was needed to support the troubled teen sitting across from the pair. Scooting himself off the Hokage's lap, the whiskered boy made his way over to Kakashi's chair where the small four-year-old clumsily pulled himself onto the seat and hugged the much larger teenager. His Sharingan spun hungrily as Kakashi looked down at the golden hairs tickling his masked nose. After several more moments, Naruto broke the hug and settled himself to a more comfortable position on Kakashi's lap. Blue eyes turned up and regarded the black and swirling red above him. "Kakashi-san, that's really sad about Obito-san. He sounds really nice, 'ttebayo. What about Rin-san?"

"I failed." Kakashi's voice almost broke with the admission, quiet as it was. "Rin was kidnapped by Kirigakure several months later, and I went to rescue her. I freed her from them, but it was a trap. The ninja from Kiri wanted me to bring her back to Konoha. They had made it so that Rin would destroy the village when she returned. I was determined to bring her back, but Rin knew what would happen and decided she would rather die than harm the village."

Kakashi's story continued, pouring from the damaged teen, as the audience of two bore witness to the scars of past failures. Sarutobi sat quietly while Naruto curled into the young teen's arms. "My sensei became the Yondaime Hokage not long after that. I was still sad about Rin and Obito, but he asked me to be part of the ANBU. I wanted to do something so that I didn't have to think about them, so I joined ANBU and became Inu." Kakashi's gloved hand gestured to the painted mask that he had re-settled on the side of his head after Naruto had initially lifted it away. "I worked as a bodyguard, keeping the Yondaime safe, just like the ANBU who watch Sandaime-sama while he works."

"And then," here Kakashi's voice did crack, "the Kyūbi came, and the Yondaime died making sure that the village of Konoha was safe. And I knew without a doubt that I am and have always been a failure. Every single person I've cared about has died, and I couldn't do anything to save any of them." The last living member of the Hatake clan lapsed into silence then, stewing in his misery.

The group was silent for a moment before Naruto reached up and grabbed onto Kakashi's armor. Hauling himself up to a standing position, blue eyes inspected the masked face seriously before the boy threw his arms around the older boy's neck and squeezed as hard as four-year-old arms could. Kakashi sat stunned for several seconds, before tentative hands reached up and returned the blond boy's hug. Eventually, the hug broke and Naruto leaned back to peer into Kakashi's mismatched eyes. "I'm sorry you're alone, Kakashi-san. I get sad sometimes, and I've never even had a family, dattebayo. You must be really sad, 'cause you can 'member your family and miss 'em."

Blue eyes inspected the masked face, failing to notice how it lost all color at the last statement. Then, whiskered cheeks nodded resolutely, and the boy clambered off Kakashi's lap and faced Kakashi once pajamaed feet were firmly on the floor again. "Kakashi-san, I need you to bring Pakkun-sensei back, please. I want to ask him something."

It took several seconds for Naruto's words to process and even when they did, they didn't make much sense to the silver-haired agent. "What do you need to ask him, Naruto-kun?"

"It's a secret." The grin that was suddenly plastered across Naruto's face left both adults in the room a bit nervous, and after a second Kakashi glanced at the Hokage. The Sandaime nodded, a smile starting to grow on his face, so the teenager pulled a kunai from his pouch and summoned Pakkun in a puff of smoke on the office floor.

"Kakashi, didn't you hear me?" Pakkun's gruff voice cut through the smoke before it had completely disappeared. "I said you needed to summon the entire pack this time. They need to meet the kid."

A gloved hand waved helplessly at the still-grinning child in the center of the office. "I thought we still needed to talk, but Naruto-kun asked that I summon you. Apparently, he has a question to ask you."

The pug looked at Naruto, who had moved over to a corner of the office and was waving the small dog over impatiently. "I got's to ask you a question, Pakkun-sensei. Can you come over here fast?"

Sighing to himself, the brown pug leapt to the corner where Naruto started whispering softly to the dog. Kakashi noted through his stressed confusion that the boy had taken the pointers from earlier to heart. Even with two seasoned shinobi in the room, he still spoke quietly enough so as not to be heard. It was probably due to luck that he had turned away from them, but it would be easy enough to coach that habit as well. The momentary distraction evaluating Naruto's skills evaporated when the Sharingan noted that Pakkun's face lost its perpetually bored expression. The dog turned so that neither set of lips were visible and began to whisper back to Naruto.

After several more seconds, the pair turned around sporting matching grins. "Well, Naruto, what have you found out?" Sarutobi's voice was happy and the barest bit smug. The old man's position had afforded him a better angle to eavesdrop, and he had apparently liked what he heard.

Still grinning widely, Naruto bowed low to the thoroughly bewildered Kakashi. "Gomenasai, Kakashi-san. I can't call you sensei."

Bewildered, and a bit hurt at the comment, Kakashi asked the obvious question: "Why not, Naruto-kun?"

"Pakkun-sensei told me it was okay to call you something else if you answered my question." Here the blond's grin grew so wide it squeezed both eyes closed. Kakashi noted with some trepidation that there were tears discretely leaking down the sides of the boy's whiskered face. "Kakashi-san, you said you're a failure, right? 'Cause you couldn't protect your family. Here's my question, Kakashi-san. Do you wanna be a failure?" There was a tinge of hesitation in Naruto's voice at the question, some indication that the answer might hurt him.

Mismatched eyes blinked slowly as the teen considered the question. He really had no idea how this answer could hurt Naruto. The silver-haired genius saw no trap with the words, so he chose to answer honestly: "No, I don't."

Blue eyes flew open, and Naruto started crying for real, large drops running down his cheeks. "W-well, th-then I'm gonna make you m-my f-f-family, right now. Y-you can have a little br-brother right now, 'ttebayo, and I can have a big brother."

Kakashi sat in shock for a moment before he offered a weak protest. "Didn't you listen to my story? I can't keep you safe. You'll get hurt from knowing me."

The teen looked at the young boy, masked face imploring the blond to understand. Naruto considered for a moment and nodded. "I heard your story, Kakashi-san. Everyone in your family got hurt and died, even though you loved them and tried your best to protect them. But you don't want to be a failure. If you don't get more people to care about, you can't not be a failure. There's no one else to not be a failure to. You need someone to be your family to try again with. And I want to do that. You played with me this mornin', and it was super fun. Will you please be part of my family, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi collapsed back into his chair as he surveyed Naruto's hopeful face, Pakkun's entirely-too-wide grin, and the Hokage's satisfied smirk. Blast! The old man had known he wouldn't be able to say 'no' to this boy. Pakkun had seen it too, come to think of it. How was it that the hypothetical genius was the only one who hadn't seen this coming? "You know, I'll still have to go on missions, right?"

He was grasping at straws now, hoping against hope that there was some way to save this boy. That feeble, selfish hope was shattered when Naruto nodded, beaming as he responded. "That's okay. I just want to spend time with you when you're back in the village, 'ttebayo."

Kakashi nodded numbly, and Naruto cheered. Leaping to the teen, the small boy crawled up to Kakashi's chest and nestled his head in the stunned teen's shoulder. Kakashi was the only one who heard the soft whisper, "We're family now, Kaka-nii."