Kakashi knew he had failed. He had failed his sensei. Failed Rin. Failed Obito. There was not a single day when he didn't think about all those things he had failed to do. He was miserable and angry at himself for being so terribly pathetic.

He was spending his days wallowing in misery and drowning himself in one mission after the other, rarely spending a prolonged time in the village.

He was so focused on not feeling, not dying that he had completely forgotten that he was not alone in his loss. It had been his sensei's two-year-old son, Naruto, and oh kami – his sensei had a son and he had forgotten about it! – that had yanked him back into reality. The ironic thing was, that the child had not even done anything. He had just accidently crossed his path, looking sad and tired and so utterly alone.

Kakashi had been frozen in shock at seeing that miserable mini-Minato and nearly fallen down the branch he had been sitting on. Naruto. Naruto was still there. His sensei's son was still there. He had not failed everyone. He still had a chance.

The same night he had smuggled a paw-printed blanket into the child's room, throwing an almost challenging look at the child's ANBU guards as if daring them to stop him.

They hadn't – and from this moment on little Naruto had gained another silent guardian.

A guardian who was really furious right now.

Several veteran shinobi jumped out of the way as the Jonin passed them like a raging storm and the ANBU guarding the Hokage's office did not even attempt to stop him.

The Third felt a sudden sense of dread that turned into a very justified weariness when he was suddenly confronted with a very angry elite shinobi.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi began deceptively calm. "We need to talk."

The Hokage sighed deeply and activated the privacy seals. "Very well."

"You are angry with me," the old man stated once the barrier had been set up. Kakashi snorted. "Anger is not even close to what I am feeling right now, Hokage-sama. He is a child."

"It was done for his own protection," the Hokage stated calmly. "And you misunderstood my intention."

Kakashi crossed his arms. "Enlighten me then, Hokage-sama," he demanded.

The Third narrowed his eyes. "Careful Jonin Hatake, you are overstepping your bounds. But I will overlook it this once." He rose from his seat.

"I did not make Naruto a part of ANBU. I simply gave him strong teachers who happen to be a part of an ANBU cell."

Kakashi stared at him in disbelief. "Happen to be a part of an ANBU cell?" he repeated incredulously.

"There are not many people out there who are qualified to teach him, and you are needed where you are," the Hokage sighed, suddenly looking very much his age. "He is six, Kakashi. I only let him graduate because he looked so desperate to prove himself. But he is still vulnerable."

"You are trying to protect him," Kakashi concluded with the sharp insight that proved him to be the genius he was hailed as. "You gave him to Team Ke because you knew how protective they are of him." His posture relaxed. "But if it had to be a team…why didn't you choose mine?" The question was asked almost petulantly. If someone had the right to teach his sensei's kid, it was him. He was very put out at the thought of his chance being taking away from him.

"I already told you," The Third replied tiredly. "You and your team are needed elsewhere. You cannot be distracted."

The Jonin grumbled in displeasure and the Hokage suppressed a smile. "And would you not prefer being a brother figure instead of a teacher?"

Kakashi was instantly interested.

"Wake up."

Naruto blinked at the insistent voice interrupting his Ramen-filled dreams. Groaning slightly, he pushed himself up against the headboard and brought his hand up to massage his throbbing temples.

Tobirama was standing next to him looking rather serious.

Naruto opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but the man raised a hand to stop him. "Do not talk now. There are four ANBU waiting for you in your kitchen."

Naruto's eyes widened. ANBU? What were they doing here? Had something happened?

"Go in and act normal," Tobirama instructed him. "I will be with you. But remember, do not talk to me, or acknowledge my presence in any way. "

The child nodded, took a deep breath, and left the bedroom.

Four masked heads turned around as Naruto stepped through the kitchen door. Naruto's first impression was, that they were not in a hurry. In fact, their postures were rather relaxed, and they seemed to be quite at home in his kitchen.

He glanced at the owl masked ANBU who had apparently decided that his mask was quite a hindrance to his food consumption and had pushed it up just far enough to munch on a cookie.

Another one with a badger mask was busy brewing tea and number three and four were idly chatting in front of the window.

Naruto blinked at the strangely domestic scene. That was definitely not what he had expected when his sensei had warned him about his visitors. He did not know whether he should be relieved or disappointed at the ANBUs apparent lack of…well… ANBUness…

There was a moment of silence as the child and the elite unit simply stared at each other, before Owl broke the awkward silence and waved cheerfully at him. "Hey kid! Wanna have a cookie?"

Naruto slowly wandered over, confusion written over his face. "Uhm…okay?" That could not be too bad, right? Maybe it would make this situation less strange.

The mouth beneath the mask grinned and the man waved invitingly at the jar next to him. "Here, help yourself."

"Thanks," Naruto answered and cautiously pulled a cookie out of the bag. His eyes lightened up. Chocolate! Delicious!

"Like it?" Owl asked and jumped from the table.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed honestly. "It's good." It really was.

"Good," the man replied happily. "Eat as much as you want. There are lots of different flavors."

"Cool," Naruto answered and grabbed another one. "Oh. Strawberry!"

The ANBU with the Badger mask snorted. "Somehow it feels like I am looking at a creep trying to abduct a child."

The Parrot masked ANBU laughed. "It's the cookies."

"And perhaps the fact that he's a masked man visiting a child at the break of dawn," the Lion masked ANBU commented drily and joined Owl and Naruto at the dining table.

"Hello Naruto."

"Hello," the child greeted back, looking curiously at the Lion-masked ANBU.

"I suppose you are wondering why we are invading your home so early, right?" Lion asked and seated himself on one of the three worn chairs. "It is connected to your team placement."

"My team placement?" Naruto repeated. What did his team placement have to do with those people?

He asked.

Lion exchanged a look with his teammates. "Hokage-sama has entrusted you to us."

Next to Naruto Tobirama stiffened. "Hiruzen gave you to ANBU? What is he thinking?! You are way too young for that!" The air around the ghost condensed in calm, tranquil fury, and something dark flitted through the man's eyes. Naruto distantly wondered if that was how the Nidaime looked when he was about to enter the battlefield, before Lion's words hit home and he understood just what he had been told.

He had been assigned to an ANBU team.

Why?

Had it something to do with the Nine-Tails?

Naruto had been looking forward to getting a genin team of his own…other children to train and spent time with…and now he was not even getting that.

His heart dropped. Was he really that distrusted?

"Does ji- the Hoka-", he began quietly, struggling with words that refused to come out. The question he wanted to ask was just too painful. He was not even sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Naruto fidgeted and averted his eyes, unconsciously scooting closer into his teacher's direction.

The ghost automatically put a grounding hand on the child's shoulder and Naruto latched onto it like a lifeline. The Nidaime's imposing presence solidified beside him and Naruto could almost feel the man's unwavering calmness wrapping around him like a secure bubble. Just how strong had the Nidaime's momentum been when he had been alive?

Drawing his strength from the man's silent support, Naruto finally managed to ask his question.

"Are you…going to watch me?"

The easy atmosphere suddenly changed into something more serious, more meaningful.

"No," Lion answered sharply, more startled by the question than he should probably have been.

He exchanged another glance with his strangely quiet cell. The question and even more so the resigned sad tune it had been asked in, had thrown them off, too. He knew his unit well enough to recognize their tells. The tense line of Owl's jaw, Badger's rigid shoulders and the overly casual posture that was unique to Parrot.

Lion leaned forward, suppressing his sudden urge to take of his mask so that the child could read the seriousness in his eyes. "Look at me," he commanded.

His voice was so assertive that Naruto could not help but obey. "This is definitely not the reason you have been assigned to us. So, get this idea out of your head right now. We're here to teach you and not to watch you, got it?"

"Okay," Naruto answered slowly, not really convinced but still feeling slightly reassured. "But why don't I get a genin team?"

"You really are persistent, hm?" Lion sighed. "Fine. I am not going to lie to you. There are several other reasons I am not allowed to tell, but it has nothing to do with you being mistrusted. So just be happy about getting such a superior team."

"Yeah, we're really badass," Owl chimed in, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Totally," Parrot agreed cheerfully.

Naruto huffed. "Fine. So what now?"

"You drink your tea and eat breakfast," Badger answered and put a steaming cup in front of him.

"And then you will come with us so we can assess your level," Lion added.

"Okay," Naruto agreed and picked the cup up.

Tobirama watched as the four ANBU guided his charge to one of the restricted training grounds. He was not happy about this newest development. Naruto was way too young to get involved with the shady business of Konoha.

Just what was Hiruzen thinking, allowing the child to be taught by these people? He might not be a part of ANBU now, but with them as teachers he would inevitably walk down the very same path. It was only a matter of time.

Hiruzen might as well have tossed him into ANBU right away.

Hashimara would have been appalled. He was appalled.

He looked at the Hokage mountain. The sun had not yet risen, so his brother's stony gaze was still shrouded in darkness.

Tobirama sighed in relief and hated himself for being glad that his brother was blind.

"Hiruzen…What are they doing?"

"It appears that Parrot and Badger have taken the cookie jar hostage and Owl and Naruto have been tasked with retrieving it," the Third answered drily, blowing a smoke ring over the crystal ball.

"I can see that," Danzo replied equally dry. "Let me rephrase my question: Why is an ANBU cell running around playing childish games?"

"They are assessing Naruto's skill level."

"And they could not have done that in a less…moronic way?"

"I believe they want Naruto to feel at ease with them," the Hokage answered, watching carefully as the young child jumped from a branch and hastened after Owl who had just spotted their opponents.

"He does not need to feel at ease," Danzo reminded him sharply. "He just needs to learn and obey. Too much sentimentality will only make him a liability."

The Third ignored his friend's input with practiced ease. He would not get into another discussion about morals right now. They would never see eye to eye on that. So he settled for a simple. "It works for him." and resumed watching the child's assessment.

Danzo did not look too pleased but his attention still never wavered from the crystal ball.

The Hokage silently congratulated himself for taking the initiative and inviting the man to watch. At least this way he knew exactly what his old friend learned about the child.

They had found Badger and Parrot. Or more like, Badger and Parrot had found them. Naruto did not know when the rules had changed, but suddenly they were not longer the ones chasing, but rather the one's being chased – and to make matters worse, Owl had disappeared.

He was on his own. Well, almost. His sensei was still with him, but the man had yet to speak up.

There was no warning. Only a sudden feeling of danger, followed by a blur of movement and Naruto instinctively threw himself to the side. He could feel the cool breeze grazing his cheek as the fist cut through the air where his head had been only one breath before.

"Not bad," Parrot's voice complimented him from somewhere behind him. Naruto whirled around but the ANBU was nowhere in sight.

Where was he?

Had he left?

"Mind your surroundings," his sensei advised him calmly, "A skilled shinobi knows how to use anything around him to his advantage. "

Mind his surroundings? What did he mean with that?

Naruto looked around. There was not much to see. Just a couple of trees and a single log. Nothing speci- Wait. Had that log been there before? He was pretty sure it had been an empty clearing. So…maybe?

He threw a kunai at it.

The log vanished in a puff of smoke and Parrot appeared in front of him. "Good job, kid. Cookie?"

Naruto grinned and accepted.

"Report," Lion commanded and looked at Owl and Badger. The two ANBU exchanged a quick look, before Owl started to speak.

"His speed is not bad. He's quicker than you could expect from a recent graduate. I slowed down quite a bit but not as much as I thought I had to. I'd say it's comparable to someone who has already been two years in. I have also noticed that he moves very quietly when he wants to. There were some moments I had to check for his chakra just to be sure he was still following me."

"So he has an aptitude for stealth," Lion mused. "We will have to expand on that - If we can get the kid to stay silent long enough," he added drily. His teammates snorted.

"We can always bribe him with ramen," Badger offered, only half-joking.

Lion snorted. "Would probably work like a charm. Anything else?"

"Well, he does not recognize genjutsu," Owl added. "At least he just shrugs the regular ones off." He paused. "…and I have no intention of using that on him."

"And I am not asking you to," Lion replied firmly. "Badger, anything to add?"

"Just as expected his jutsu repertoire is not big, but he knows how to improvise," the ANBU answered. "The kid's not one for strategy, but when it comes to tactics, he's good. Would probably make one hell of a team with a Naara.

"Oh?" Lion definitely sounded interested. "We'll have to look into that one, too then."

"Yes," Badger agreed. "I don't know how good he's at tracking, haven't seen much of it, but that's probably something we should leave to Hatake – or we'll never hear the end of it."

Owl laughed and Lion snorted again. "You can say that again," the man muttered.

"That's probably something we should leave to Hatake - or..-"

"I did not mean it literally!" Lion interrupted Badger hastily before he got on a roll.

Owl snickered.

"Now what about the kid's taijutsu?" Lion asked, ignoring his amused teammate.

"Parrot is still testing him. As far as I have seen, he is mostly using basic styles. Got them down to perfection, though," Badger replied. "Not a single movement out of place. I've never seen a genin, hell, I've never seen anyone execute them so flawlessly."

"It's that good?" Lion sounded surprised. "Wasn't he mostly learning on his own?"

Badger shrugged. "I don't get it either. Maybe he's just done them over and over again."

"Hm. Well, we'll leave that for later. Parrot and Naruto are coming back."

The three ANBU turned around and looked at the two harmonious figures happily sharing the cookie jar between them.

"Oi!" Owl yelled loudly. "You'd better have left some for us, too."

Tobirama looked at the scene in front of him and relaxed slightly. Their interactions appeared genuine and Naruto actually seemed to be happy for once. It was a rare sight, and he could not bring himself to begrudge the child for it.

He was still not convinced about this arrangement and worried about the future implications it might bring, but for now he would give those people the benefit of the doubt.

That did not mean that he was not going to trail them, though.

Tobirama was not going to leave his charge in the hands of unknown people.

Especially not ANBU.

Sometimes it was really convenient to be a ghost.

Mah ~ And now someone's probably off stalking -eh trailing people. Shinobi don't stalk after all. *xD*

So, that's probably the last chapter I'll manage to upload before Christmas. So'll be wishing you a Merry Christmas! And please stay healthy. =)

Thanks again for your comments =) I'd love to reply to all of them, but I don't want to impede your reading experience by writing so long A/Ns, so I'll mainly address the questions/concerns, but I still appreciate all of them. :-) (If you want to, you can visit me on tumblr, though. (linewalkers. tumblr .com). I have some pictures and cut-scenes over there and I always love to chat *xD*)

Zooming Avid Reader To be honest, I have not planned so far. I rarely do. I just go with an idea and develop it along the line. But if I decide to write about that, Tobirama's coffin will probably stay closed, because his soul is not there.

Blu3b3rryT3a Um, Maybe? *xD* But could you please hand Shisui back? He can't wander into this story, if you keep hiding him from me. (Hint: I love him, too. ;-)

MoKhan97 I'll make sure to buy new ones for you. Cute name. :D But sadly, that won't fit here. :-( His code-/nickname will come up soon, though.

Sho Rei I'll have to see how things fit in best, but right now I am tending more to giving him a decent amount of skills that he can use creatively. I am not really a fan of flashy battles. So to answer your question, most of his ninjutsu will probably be amplified.

NoodleBoss Well, it's your choice to read it or not. *shrugs*I am just writing this for fun and I am not going to defend my choices, but I am completely willing to explain what I've been thinking. You are probably not going to read that anymore, but to anyone else who would like to know why it went this way:

1. The academy really does not have anything to teach him anymore with Tobirama there. It would be pointless to keep him there.
2. This Naruto has a cause he truly believes in, so he wants to get on with it and doesn't want to wait any longer.
3. He gets the attention and education he desperately needs, so his bragging and attention seeking tendency is inevitably tuned down, making him more "Mature" and level-headed. But does that change his core personality? No.
4. Naruto is the jailer of the Kyuubi and he is just six years old. Letting him join a random team would jeopardize the village's security, so putting him under the protection of an ANBU team would be a logical choice.

reader229 That's a rather good point to make. He would indeed make an ideal choice. :-) Let's see who it is? *xD*

Polyamory No need to say sorry, I get where you are coming from. I avoid those kind of fics, too and when I am writing I always try to keep a close eye on the power balance of my characters. Personally I think writing about someone getting stronger is rather enjoyable, because you can actually take the time to develop them. I don't have any intentions to rush, even if there's one point I am dying to get to. *xD* =)

Xenozip Glad you enjoy it so far :D Okay...that sounds like a really strange plot. I wouldn't touch it with a twenty foot pole. *xD*

Yamajiji Thank you! I am happy you like it so far and I am especially happy that you like Tobirama's POVs. Those are always my favorite parts, he's just so easy to write. :-)

dbtiger63 Well, he's certainly going to be strong. *xD* But he'll need it...

alharethabdelmonum Thank you. I do my best. ;D Ah, I can still hear the echos. And Kakashi is really an awesome guy.