A/N: Light alternate universe, minor changes in the events that progressively snowball into bigger changes. The Third Hokage has some trauma. It affects his actions, but won't change the events much, just his position. Kakashi lost it after Obito's death, but Minato managed to pull him back…but when he died, there was no one left to keep Kakashi's trauma and madness in check. The story will follow Kakashi, Sarutobi Hiruzen for important decisions and then Naruto when he becomes old enough to do something useful. The events leading to Minato's death won't happen because Obito is really dead, like he seemed to be in original Naruto (when we saw him die on panel and Kakashi and Rin cry).

Warning: Not for children. This story will feature violence, death, inner darkness and madness. Basically the main characters could be compared with Star Wars' Sith, they don't give a fuck about ethics, they kill, they crush, they stomp, they infiltrate and slaughter.

Magic system: as cool as jutsu are, they're everything but what I want in a world like Naruto's with silent assassination. I'll trade elemental jutsu for Avatar the Last Airbender's elements bending, much more serious and much less obvious (let's just make a series of twenty hand signs to launch a giant dragon in the middle of an infiltration mission, yay! And let's make a forty and a few hand seals in the middle of a high level fight to launch a giant water dragon instead of just cutting the opponent's limbs and head! Naruto can be a really stupid manga sometimes…).

Taijutsu/Kenjutsu: replaced with actual martial arts. Of course Fog Hill of the Five Elements/ATLA martial arts, not beginner level karate in real life. Let's keep some cool fights.

Major change: Instead of the Jinchuuriki being hunted to reform the ten tails and bla bla [insert Deus Ex Machina crap], it's just, you know, wars, political assassinations, opposing factions fighting physically or by taking over each other's trade routes, accords…and WORLDBUILDING, the big thing missing from the chuunin exams arc to the end with minor exceptions (quick glances at Suna and Kumo, but not much really for their importance in the history of the elemental nations).

No Bijuu, they didn't make the manga better, just more crappy in shippuden and they barely change anything in part 1. Kyuubi's assault could as well have been an assault by Kumo with the third Raikage trying to kill Minato and them killing each other, Kushina killed by his son and Naruto could be just…you know…an orphan whose identity would have to be kept secret because of actual threat of assassins sent after him before he could become a second yellow flash, and Hiruzen is not as good as Minato and not as young either to defend him. Naruto being kept a secret means he's seen as a bastard child, which are generally not well liked in traditional societies.

No Daimyo bullshit. The Kage have no reason to listen to a civilian leader. They could kill him every second of each day passing and get away with it. Daimyo make no sense in Narutoverse and they seem perfectly unconcerned by the great ninja wars that have been ravaging their land, which is stupid.

X

Chapter 1

It had been four years since the Third Great War. Minato Namikaze had become Hokage, succeeding Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Third Hokage had done too many political mistakes that lead to the Third Great War and Minato had played a big role in Konoha's victory, his skill and intelligence praised by many. His popularity became so high that he was pushed for the title of Hokage over more experienced leaders in the village.

Kakashi was very thankful towards his teacher. He had helped him overcome the trauma of Obito's death and then Rin impaling herself with his tanto to avoid being used against Konoha. The gray haired teenager had lost himself to depression, revenge, hate and…the void. After avenging Rin, Kakashi didn't feel any better. He just felt empty. He had lost everything and didn't have a goal anymore. He had become an empty assassin, just a weapon, a mad dog thrown at the village's targets.

Minato had finally been able to reach out to his student, pulling him away from his inner darkness and void, slowly but surely. It had taken a whole year for Kakashi to find a new goal in his life. He had been living with him and had noticed a red haired woman around him.

When he had seen her belly start to grow rounder, he had found his new goal. He would be a good uncle for the child. He could do this. Kakashi, uncle of the Hokage's child, of his teacher- and big brother in heart's child. He would bring back the honor of the Hatake clan…

X

Naruto was born. His father's identity had been kept a secret. Minato had kept visiting Kushina's house in secret, Kakashi being one of the few who knew about it. After the Third Great War and with the Hokage's reputation, any leverage that could be used on him was an issue making him and his relatives paranoid.

Kushina had given birth at the hospital, Mikoto at her side and Minato visiting under someone else's appearance, as a friend. Kakashi hurt himself just to go to the hospital and sneak out of his room to go see the kid.

"Enter," invited Kushina.

Kakashi entered the room. Naruto had short blond hair and was very small. Kakashi hadn't seen a baby in a while, so it looked weird to him to see someone so small and fragile.

"Isn't he handsome? Say hi to your nephew, Kakashi."

She could talk freely because of the seals she had put all over the room now that she could move again.

"Hi, Naruto, how are you doing?"

"He's sleeping, but he's gonna wake up in ten minutes crying like a pig in a slaughterhouse. He's already loud when he's hungry and he's very voracious! Isn't that true, little munchkin?" she asked the baby.

"I'll stay until he wakes up, I want to meet him for real," said Kakashi.

"Okay. How are you? Did you hurt yourself just so you could sneak in here without looking suspicious?"

"I'm fine, I just hit a wall very hard without using chakra. That's nothing."

"You should take better care of yourself Kakashi. You shouldn't hurt yourself like that. After all you've been through, you should start to consider your body a little better. Just like your mind."

"Okay Kushina, I'll remember it."

"I know you won't. You're already forgetting what I've just said."

"What did you tell me already?"

"To take care of yourself, little puppy! You're still a teenager, you should listen to the adults."

"As if you've ever been listening to anyone yourself."

"I'm different. I'm Kushina Uzumaki, seal master. I can do whatever I want."

"And I'm Kakashi Hatake, jounin at twelve, now seventeen. I'm an adult according to ninja law, and I've been for most of my life. Don't boss me around, you're my big brother's girlfriend, not my mother."

Naruto woke up and cried at the same time, his cries even louder than Kakashi had imagined, and he had been around girls who used to scream like banshees. It took him by surprise.

"You're right, my nephew of heart is hella loud…"

"Told you! I never lie!"

"Except when you do."

"Of course, I have to watch my back! We're ninjas, we can't shout the truth for everyone to listen!"

"When do you two plan to announce that Naruto is Minato's son?"

"When he'll be strong enough to defend himself against Kumo scum. But daddy will come visit often, right Naruto?"

She put the baby bottle in his mouth and he shut up instantly, sucking the teat greedily as if he had never eaten in his life.

"See? Voracious boy, I'm telling you!"

"Indeed, little Naruto's a real belly with limbs…"

"Isn't he? I've put miso soup into the milk. He's gonna be as crazy about ramen as I am, you'll see!"

"Oh god no, please, not another ramen obsessed family member…"

"Ha! You slipped! You've just admitted that you consider me family! Got you, noodle hater!"

"This woman and her noodles…I don't know you, you're a shame of a ninja."

"That's mean!"

"You're loud and you eat so much ramen that you could be poisoned by anyone who would put a tiny amount of poison in half of your bowls. I don't know how you even managed to survive as a ninja."

"Ha! I made poison immunity seals! Everything that can kill me or paralyze me is negated!"

"I see…I'd like some seal like that, it would be very practical."

"Sure, there's one in my bag that I don't use, you can take it if you want."

"Thanks. When can I offer my gift to the little one?"

"When I'm out of the hospital. You can pass by discreetly as usual."

"Alright. See you soon. I'm gonna be the best uncle you could imagine, I promise."

"I wouldn't want it any other way!"

Kakashi left her room and sneaked back to his own.

X

"Hey munchkin, how are you today?" asked Kakashi to a three years old Naruto.

"Fine and you? Did you come to show me another magic trick?"

"Yeah, I'll show you one if you don't tell it out loud. Keep my teachings for yourself."

"Okay, it's our little secret, right?"

"You're a bright one, munchkin. I'll show you the substitution technique. It allows you to switch places with an object."

"Cool! I'll be able to switch with something hard when someone wants to punish me for pranking them!"

"Let's say that. But only use it if you really need it. Don't show anyone you know it unless you're in danger, okay?"

"Of course, you know me, uncle Kakashi!"

"That's exactly why I tell you not to show anyone unless you're in real danger…"

"I promise!"

"As if you could hold your promises…"

"I can!"

"Then don't use it to play pranks and get away with it."

"And if a boy starts a fight with me at the square, can I substitute myself with a boulder?"

"Only if you want me to hang you by the skin of your butt."

"Okay, only if he hits me then!"

"I won't show you anything."

"Alright! I won't use it unless my life's in danger!"

"So, this is how you do it…"

X

Kushina and Minato were home. Kakashi was babysitting Naruto in his bedroom while the couple was doing their thing in Minato's room. Suddenly, a loud noise could be heard near Minato's room. Following the emergency procedure they had decided on, Kakashi took Naruto and ran away.

He could hear a fight behind him. He turned around and saw the house blow up. When the smoke had disappeared, Kushina was lying on the ground, nude and bloody, covered in dust. Minato was fighting two black men engulfed in lightning.

'The Raikage and his son! Why are they here? How did they get in?' he thought.

Soon, he noticed that it was a small invasion by Kumo's military. Ninjas started fighting everywhere. Konoha was winning.

Too bad he thought Minato could beat the Raikage and his son. He knew he had faced the young one and his partner one versus two, won and survived. He was wrong in thinking that he could survive against the father and son.

He killed a few Kumo ninjas while looking for a shelter for Naruto. When he came back to the ruins of Minato's house, his home, he understood how wrong he had been. The Hokage's corpse was lying at Kushina's side, burnt by lightning.

Kakashi remembered Obito, crushed by a boulder. He remembered Rin, pulling his wrist and impaling herself on his tanto. And now it was his mentor, his brother in heart, his teacher, his Hokage, all at once, in one person. He had failed him. He had lost his honor again. He had let another tragedy happen. And he couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening.

Kakashi's gaze went back to an empty one. He reverted back to his state previous to Minato's success at healing his mind. The boy became a cold assassin once more, his gaze not even seeing his surroundings. All he could see were targets. Everyone wearing Kumo outfits or fighting against Konoha ninjas was a target.

Kakashi reminded Kumo why he was called Thunderstrike. Just as lightning, he never struck the same spot twice. Because once he shot his deadly thunder at someone, there was no need to strike them once more.

His hands waved around, electricity gathering in them and moving in arcs around them. Suddenly, he jumped forward. He released the power in his hands. One shot, one enemy, and he had two hands charged.

As the pictures of his teammates and Minato came to his mind, his hands charged once more. Two more Kumo ninjas died on the spot.

When Kushina's image came back to his mind, her belly growing, then in the hospital with Naruto, then by Minato's side, then raising Naruto, and finally lying dead on the ground, naked, not even allowed to cover her body before dying…he felt a great void inside.

Clouds amassed in the sky. Cumulonimbus clouds. A storm was coming. The loud noises of thunder echoed. Then, one thunderbolt descended to the ground. Kakashi found himself in the middle of the retreating Kumo ninjas. The thunderbolt struck him. He canalized it for one second. But one second was enough. He extended his arms and the power escaped through his fingertips. As he moved his arms from his sides to the front, a gigantic lightning bolt struck all the Kumo ninjas in its' path, turning them into ashes.

The Raikage put himself in front of his son and absorbed the remains of the thunderbolt. It appeared to be too much. His fight against the Hokage had drained him and he couldn't withstand the power of thunder, even if there was only one third of it left. He expelled it forward in a strong movement, but he had kept it inside for too long. His body was burnt just like the Hokage's. He fell to the ground.

Kakashi blacked out.

X

It took him two months to heal. Two lonely months. He had been unconscious for two weeks. It had been the best part of it. At least he didn't replay his failure while he was in the dark. For the rest of the two months, his losses played again and again in his mind. He was going crazy until something happened.

An old man and a kid appeared at the entrance of his bedroom. The old man was wearing a hat and robes. The kid was red haired with Minato's face. The man closed the door behind them.

"Hello, Kakashi," he began. "Naruto told me everything. As the Third Hokage, I will give you a flat where you can live together. I hope Naruto's presence can bring you back from the darkness and emptiness you have been feeling since you have come back to life, if I can say. Of course, Naruto's lineage most be kept a secret after what happened to his parents.

"I have prepared the adoption paperwork for you. You will only have to sign them and you can live together as Kakashi and Naruto Hatake. The boy doesn't have anyone else to turn to. Mikoto is an Uchiha, and I don't want to entrust her clan with the son of the Hokage, it would make their clan too powerful and give them leverage on the person taking over the hat. It has to be you."

Kakashi remained silent, his eyes empty. Naruto ran towards him and jumped on him, squeezing him in his arms. The man suddenly came back to his senses. He looked around him, processing the information, replaying the Hokage's words and then looked at the boy in his lap. He hugged the boy lightly, then more and more tightly as his emotions finally broke the bars of their cage. Tears fell over his cheeks. The boy was also crying. They cried together, for the people they had lost. They cried because they had survived. They cried together, because they could only trust each other. They were all by themselves, but they were together.

"It's gonna be alright, Naruto… It's gonna be alright…"

The Third Hokage disappeared in a puddle of mud on the floor. The mud clone had fulfilled its' mission.

'If I ever cross paths again with the Raikage's son, I'll make sure to send him into the depths of Hell…' thought Kakashi. 'But for now, Naruto needs me, and he needs me sane. Revenge is best served cold.'