Kakashi Hatake lands silently in the tree outside Naruto's bedroom window in the early hours of the morning. It is Kakashi's habit to check on Naruto as often as he can, even if he is pressed for time he will stop by to make sure Naruto is alright. He isn't sure how to approach the kid or even talk to him like Lord Third is always telling him to.

Kakashi contents himself with watching from the shadows.

But today, something is wrong. Naruto is not in his bed. Naruto is not downstairs. Or in the bathroom. Or in the garden.

Seriously, where is Naruto?

And where is his backpack and his Gamabunta toy?

S###! S###! S###!

Kakashi doesn't know where to start looking so he goes straight to the Hokage. It is five in the morning, what kind of kid disappears overnight?

"Lord Hokage!" Kakashi bursts through the Hokage's bedroom window where the Third Hokage is sleeping soundly with his mouth hanging wide open and deafening snores filling the room. "Um, Lord Hokage?" Kakashi pokes the Third in the face.

Lord Third wakes up and grumbles, "What is it Kakashi?"

"Naruto is not at his house!"

"Maybe he is out playing?" suggests Lord Third.

"It's five in the morning!"

"I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation," says the Third, rising and going over to his crystal ball. He activates it and peers in.

Kakashi leans over Lord Third's shoulder and stares at the sight that greets his eyes.

Naruto is spreadeagled across the better part of two futons, with an older boy similarly spreadeagled under him. The other boy seems oblivious to the fact his tummy is being used as a pillow. Both have their mouths wide open and are snoring undignifiedly.

"Who is that boy?" asks Kakashi.

"That is Iruka Umino," says Lord Third.

"You mean he's…"

"Yes." The Third deactivates his crystal ball and goes back to bed. Soon he is snoring as loudly as Naruto.

Kakashi, not quite sure what to do, decides to abuse his status as an ANBU captain to look up Iruka's file.

Kakashi doesn't learn much about Iruka. Iruka is 15 years old; rank genin; Jounin sensei Shikaku Nara; teammates Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki; village of origin…

Well, s###.

He's from the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool.

Iruka wakes up the next morning to find something heavy and warm lying on his tummy. Trying to remember what happened the night before, he looks down to see a messy mop of golden hair. Oh, that's right. He adopted himself a stray orphan.

Iruka rolls out from under Naruto, waking him up in the process.

"Is it morning?" grumbles Naruto, rubbing his eyes. "I'm still tired, dattebayo!"

"Yeah, it's morning," Iruka tells him. "I have to go to training today, what do you want to do while I'm gone?"

"Can I go to the park?" asks Naruto, eyes shining.

"Okay," says Iruka. "But you have to stay at the park so I can find you once I'm finished training, okay."

"Okay," Naruto nods a few times, his eyes screwed into slits. "How long will you be training for?"

"Probably all day," says Iruka. "Have you started the Academy yet?"

"No." Naruto shakes his head. "Grandpa Hokage said I can start next year."

Iruka makes sure Naruto eats plenty of breakfast and then escorts him to the park. Once there, he hands Naruto a box of sushi and rice balls for lunch and runs to meet his team for training.

When he arrives, Shikaku sensei frowns at him and demands, "Why are you late?"

Wondering how he is going to explain this one away, Iruka says, "I adopted a kid."

"What kid?" asks Shikaku sensei, sounding unamused.

"A kid who I found unattended and decided to keep?" Iruka is feeling less sure of his decision by the second.

"What. Kid."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Shikaku takes a step forward and peers straight into Iruka's eyes, his gaze as hard as steel. "You better take proper care of him."

"Yes Sensei!"

Naruto sits on a swing, watching other kids arrive and settle in for their fun and games. Naruto longs to go over to the other kids and ask to join them. But he knows that the other kids get told off by their parents if they play with him, so he stays back.

To Naruto's surprise, not ten minutes after he arrives at the park, a little girl with short black hair walks right up to him and asks, "Do you wanna play with me?"

Naruto grins. "Okay!"

"My name is Hinata," says the girl. "What's yours?"

"Naruto."

Hinata slaps Naruto on the arm and says, "TAG, you're it!" then she runs away laughing.

Naruto laughs and runs after her, tripping and falling in the first two seconds. He gets straight back up and carries on as if nothing happened.

Hiashi watches from the shadows as his elder daughter runs around like a crazy thing while the Fourth's boy tries desperately to even catch up with her. Ironic really, that the son of a man famed for his speed would be slow and clumsy. It is nice the boy finally found a friend.

Oh, he is going to be the envy of every power-hungry clan-head for miles. His daughter friends with the Jinchuuriki! Hiashi tries not to giggle. Fugaku would never let him hear the end of it.

However, teasing Hiashi is the last thing on Fugaku's mind. He is busy plotting a coup de tat. Now, what to have for lunch? Can't plot on an empty stomach. You end up coming up with the worst ideas, like prune soup or something. Blegh. Fugaku shudders at the thought.

Anyway, back to the coup. Is it really necessary? It is what the clan wants, they seem to believe it is the appropriate response to the way the village has been treating the Uchiha clan. But is it really? The council has been pushing the Uchiha aside, but will rebelling really do any good, or will it just bring more bloodshed?

Fugaku swings around in his swivel-chair, a frown on his face.

What to do about this conundrum?

Fugaku turns when he hears a small knock on his home office door. "Daddy?"

Ah, it's Sasuke.

"Come in," says Fugaku, swiveling his chair around to face the door.

The door slides open and the younger of Fugkau's two daughters peeks in shyly. "Mummy says that lunch is ready!" then she ducks out of sight and runs away.

Looks like contemplating the morals of the coup will have to wait. He'll have to discuss it with Mikoto later.

Naruto sits on a swing waiting for Iruka to come and collect him. All the other kids have been collected except the chubby boy and his pineapple-headed friend. Finally he sees Iruka arrive, followed by a tall man with hair like the chubby kid's friend. Naruto jumps off the swing and runs to Iruka. He had been starting to wonder if Iruka would really come back for him.

"Iruka!" he shouts, bouncing around Iruka excitedly. "I made a friend! Her name is Hinata and her dad looks REALLY grumpy. But he didn't tell her to stay away from me, so he must be nice."

The man with Iruka makes a noise that sounds like he is choking.

"Hey mister, are you alright?" asks Naruto. "You don't sound too good."

"I'm fine, kid," says the man.

"Naruto, this is my jounin sensei, Shikaku," says Iruka.

"Woah," Naruto says, staring up at the man. "You're a ninja?"

"Yes," says Iruka's sensei. "Shikamaru! Choji!" the man calls to the other two boys, who are still hanging out on the other side of the park.

The two run over. "Hey Dad," says pineapple-head. The boy looks over at Naruto sleepily. "Who are you?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, 'ttatebayo!" Naruto tells him proudly.

"Hi, I'm Shikamaru and this here is CHoji," pineapple head jerks his thumb at the chubby boy.

"Come on, you two," says Shikaku, taking each of the boy by the hand and leading them away, despite Shikamaru's protest that he is too old for hand-holding.

Naruto gazes up at Iruka. Then he swallows nervously and asks, "Can I hold your hand?"

"Huh?" Iruka seems confused for a second. Then he smiles and takes Naruto's hand. "Sure, you can, little brother."