Betrayal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden.

Chapter 4

The halls of the ninja academy were teeming with shinobi, teachers, and parents who were all preparing for the brand new term. Teachers were conversing with one another while children walked around exploring the new establishment they'd be in for the years to come. The start of every new year always made the place seem more lively than ever. The returning students were standing in groups talking to their friends about the classes they were excited for and the new skills they would be learning.

Anko looked around the halls curiously, never having entered the building before. She had never been around so many people before but didn't let her nervousness show. By her side was a masked, silver-haired boy named Kakashi who was paying close attention to the layout of the building, looking for vantage points and passages to make a quick exit, just as his father had taught him. The thought of his father always left an unsettling feeling in Kakashi's stomach.

Kakashi's father was the famed Hatake "White Fang" Sakumo, a shinobi that was said to rival the Sannin, and was feared by every nation for his prowess. To those that knew him, it was no secret that after his wife died, Sakumo had never been the same. He was a shinobi of the highest caliber: one who always followed the rules and cared deeply for the village and his comrades. The Will of Fire burned brightly in him. But he truly loved his wife.

On the dreadful night of the Kyuubi attack, he was returning from a reconnaissance mission in Iwagakure due to rumors of a rampaging Jinchuriki. The mission had gone smoothly enough but as he returned to the village he saw nothing but carnage. Quicker than his team could follow, Sakumo rushed to his clan's compound forgoing the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) in a moment of panic. When he arrived, he saw that everything was in ruins. The buildings he and his ancestors grew up in were all destroyed. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Sakumo pressed forward, screaming the name of his son and wife but received no response. When he arrived at his property, he only found piles of rubble. In his anger, he threw aside piles of cement and wood and saw that an arm was protruding out. Quick as he could, Sakumo uncovered the body and let out a sound of anguish when he saw his wife covered in blood and dirt. The sharp debris had punctured her back and crushed her from the pressure.

Later on, he found out from Kakashi that she had pushed him out of the way when the building was collapsing causing her to take the brunt of the weight. Since that day, Sakumo was relentless in training Kakashi. He may have never outright shown it but Kakashi sometimes felt like his father blamed him for her death. And he had started to adopt this belief as well. If only he had the capability to do something, even though he was only three years old, she might have lived.

Sakumo's harsh teachings did not take away from the fact that he loved his son. His personality had become cold and detached, something that he could not shake himself out of. Or perhaps, he didn't want to.

"This is our classroom, Anko." said Kakashi, seemingly jovial. She glanced at him and then turned to the room and smiled brightly. It was finally happening. The first day of her road to becoming the greatest kunoichi ever.

"Come on, then." She said, teeming with excitement.

Walking inside, Anko noticed there were already quite a few children settled in and chatting amongst themselves. Kakashi, knowledgeable as ever, spotted a few clan children. Namely, a Nara, four Hyuga, three Uchiha, and an Akimichi. Once the pair neared the center of the room, Kakashi received two glances from two certain brunettes. One was a boy with a pair of goggles on his forehead; he glanced at Kakashi and quickly looked away not wanting to get caught staring. Another was a girl with shoulder length brown hair and purple markings on her cheeks. Her markings were unlike the Inuzuka clan markings with their rectangular shape but still added a uniqueness to her. Seemingly satisfied with his observation, Kakashi walked over to a seat with Anko following closely behind.

They sat down next to each other and just a moment later, a large, burly man walked in. He was quite literally the definition of gigantic. The man was well over seven feet tall and looked more like a brawler than anyone belonging in an education institute. His hands were akin to that of a bear and his belly was quite large but his upper body was packed with muscle. He had tan skin and sported a billowing brown beard with some touches of gray. Moving on up, he lacked any sort of hair on top of his head and his eyes were dark yet they held mischief. The skin on the corner and around his eyes were wrinkled signifying aging and the possibility he smiled a lot. He was wearing a brown coat that looked to be made of animal fur with a black long sleeve shirt underneath and standard black shinobi pants. However, instead of sandals, he opted to wear boots that seemed to be steel toed by the looks of the slightly visible scrapes of silver on the tips.

"Good mornin' class!" he bellowed. His voice was loud and cheerful and got the attention of everyone in the room if they hadn't already been distracted by the monstrous size of this man.

There were a few murmurs of the greeting being voiced back. At the lackluster return of his greeting, the man's entire demeanor changed. His normally large, exuberant eyes narrowed and there was a dangerous gleam shining in those dark orbs. In the blink of an eye, the entire atmosphere of the room changed. The temperature seemed to drop twenty degrees and there were chills going through the spines of everyone in the room; the hairs of their necks and arms sticking up from the shift in pressure. They all struggled to breathe as the man in the front of the room gazed back at them with a cold, calculating look. It was the look of a predator.

Anko looked on wide-eyed as to what was happening. She could hardly move. The sensation was unbearable. There were beads of sweat forming on her forehead and traveling down the sides of her face as she felt her heart palpitating faster than it ever had before. Struggling to turn her head to the side, she looked at Kakashi and saw he was experiencing a similar sensation, but to a lesser degree. His hands were shaking and his eyes were flitting across the room trying to focus on anything but the man in front of them. It was like he had experienced something like this before. The feeling of fear and dread was common amongst the new students. Anko could hear the paint on the walls audibly crack as the pressure being emitted continued to fill the room. The tension in the classroom was almost visible as everyone, save for the one emitting such a potent feeling, was shaking or crying.

"I said...GOOD MORNIN'!" the hulk of a man exclaimed. His eyes became less narrowed and the pressure began to dissipate.

"Good morning!" the entire class shouted in unison, wanting desperately to be relieved of this horrible feeling.

"Much better," the man said with a giant smile showcasing a set of perfectly pearly white teeth. His grin was so wide it took up practically his entire face and then pressure that was there before all disappeared in an instant. "The name's Butsuma and I'll be yer main academy instructor for the years to come. I'm here ta make sure you guys get strong enough so you don't die right away when you get outta here." He said, before throwing his head back and laughing boisterously, like what he said was the funniest thing in the world.

Every student in the class was taking deep, heavy breaths trying to comprehend what had just occurred. Anko was rubbing her arms trying to get rid of the goosebumps she had while greedily taking deep gulps of air in an attempt to calm her beating heart. She turned her head to look at how her new friend was faring. Kakashi looked to be gritting his teeth from the way his facial muscles were twitching, noticeable even through his mask. Anko made a mental note to ask him later about why he was so angry before turning back her behemoth of a teacher.

"What the hell was that?!" one civilian girl yelled after slowly regaining some sort of composure.

The man, now known as Butsuma, grinned the only way he knew how, widely. "That, little lady, is the beginnin' of killin' intent. Better get used to it 'cause that's all you'll feel when yer out in the field."

This was some orientation. That was quite possibly the scariest thing the entire populace of the class had experienced. For Anko, it was the second.

The events that had transpired in the last few hours were difficult to stomach even for those with such tenure as the Sannin and the Hokage. No matter how long one has been in service or how much experience they have, the death of a child never gets any easier to handle.

That's why when Naruto uttered those few words before falling into a well deserved slumber, it had done wonders to the people surrounding his bed. The normally boisterous and carefree Jiraiya had silent tears rolling down his eyes as he watched his godson's chest rising and falling with steady, even breaths. His hands were clenched tight and his shoulders were slightly shaking as he looked down upon the sleeping boy.

Even Tsunade, who was known for her impassiveness since the Dainiji Ninkai Taisen (Second Great Ninja War) due to the loss of her brother, Nawaki, and brief love interest, Dan, was relieved. Truth be told, she was rather apathetic when she worked on a patient. Unless she knew them personally, she couldn't say that she cared all too much whether they lived or died. But one thing was certain, she would try her hardest to save the person's life. In this particular scenario, the buxom medic was genuinely relieved at the blonde boy's life being out of the shinigami's grasp. Naruto looked so much like Nawaki and the way he looked at her sensei made Tsunade feel a sense of purpose. She didn't even know it but in the back of her mind, she had made a subconscious decision to help take care of the boy from here on.

Hiruzen, on the other hand, was contemplating about a few different things. He was thinking of how Minato and Kushina would be rolling in their graves right now at the callous behavior of the villagers under his rule. This boy was their only son. He was the legacy of two of the village's strongest shinobi and at such a young age he held a burden too heavy for the most seasoned warriors. Hiruzen couldn't imagine what would be going on in Naruto's mind when he regained consciousness.

The aged Hokage walked over to the hospital window and stared up at the stone faces atop the mountain. He gazed at the faces of his predecessors and teachers and closed his eyes as he thought of what Hashirama-sama would say about his actions as Hokage. The old man opened his eyes and turned his gaze to the right of his own face up on the mountain and his remorse grew even worse. 'Minato…I am so sorry, my dear boy. If you were were alive, something like this would never have happened,' he thought.

As the Sandaime closed and opened eyes once more, something in the man's demeanor changed. There was a hard look in his dark brown eyes as he stared into the eyes of Minato's stone face. Hiruzen had decided then and there that things would change. They would change for the better. He would do his best to redeem himself by rectifying all the wrongs he has caused in Naruto's short life. He would do everything in his power to make sure something like this never happened again.

The somber atmosphere in the room was broken when the door had abruptly swung open and made a loud snap when it collided with the wall. The three conscious members of the room looked to turn away whoever had come in but faltered when they saw who it was. The woman at the entrance of the room was clearly in distress. She had long gray hair with some wisps of brown still visible cascading down her back and two bangs framing her face. She had on a simple white kimono with a black sash around her waist. The woman had very visible wrinkles next to her eyes and a face was one that anyone would call beautiful. She would normally exude kindness and greet everyone with a smile but right now, her lips were pursed and she was shaking frantically. There were stress lines clearly visible on her forehead from worrying about the state of the boy she was supposed to look after.

"How is he?!" the elderly woman all but screamed at Hiruzen as she rushed to Naruto's bedside. "Your poor child…" she said as she looked down at Naruto's peaceful sleeping face. The caretaker reached down and ran her fingers through Naruto's silky hair and down his soft, whiskered cheek. Naruto had unconsciously leaned closer into her hand when she grazed his whiskers surfacing a look of pure adoration on her face for the boy. That tender look took a complete 180 turn as she slowly turned to face the Sandaime.

"How could you let this happen?!" the retired kunoichi exclaimed, looking menacingly at Hiruzen. She was completely livid. Her grandson in all but blood was brutally beat by the very same village that the Hokage's wore sworn to protect. But how could they protect the village if its very inhabitants were causing such damage, to a defenseless child no less. They were all so blinded by their fear and hate that they could not see a child for who he is.

"Tamashī-san," Hiruzen spoke, with a heavy heart, "I truly apologize for my negligence. Some of the villagers, they—"

"Save it."

Had it been under any other circumstance, Jiraya would've burst out laughing at the complete and utter disrespect and how quickly one of his sensei's subordinates was silencing him. Tsunade looked on as well with a smile tugging at her lips. This woman in front of her was one of Tsunade's role models.

Jōnetsu Tamashī was a legendary shinobi in her own right. Not many were aware of her accomplishments save the few veteran shinobi from the Daiichiji Ninkai Taisen (First Great Ninja War) who were still alive today. Most of her family were the generational caretakers of the shinobi orphanage that Naruto lived in. However, Tamashī-san had single-handedly taken out a squad of Iwagakure Anbu and retrieved captured Konoha shinobi from an Iwa encampment. The majority of them were brutally tortured and near the brink of death but Tamashī-san saved every last one of them with her knowledge of medical jutsu. She was the main reason that Tsunade had suggested a medical nin be placed in every squadron to lower the rate of casualties.

"Hiruzen, such sheer idiocy cannot go unpunished. What were your elite Anbu doing at the time?" Jōnetsu sneered, thoroughly surprising Hiruzen along with Jiraiya and Tsunade. The normally tranquil, elderly woman they were accustomed to had just insulted someone—the Hokage, no less. But she did bring up a crucial point.

"Jiraiya has already thoroughly harmed the aggressors. Honestly, Jiraiya, using the Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere) on civilians." Hiruzen said exasperatedly looking towards the white haired shinobi who looked not the least bit remorseful.

"Heh. They deserve more than that." Scoffed the sage, some of the anger behind the situation returning. But his hardened features immediately softened when he looked towards his heavily bandaged godson laying in the hospital bed. Naruto's lips were slightly parted and a trail of drool made its way down the side of his face. His chest was now rising and falling with every breath and for that, Jiraiya was thankful. He wasn't a very religious person, but he thanked Kami-sama with all his being for her blessing. The sight of Naruto's motionless body was not one he was able to handle. Even though the boy had no clue who Jiraiya was, he was still family. The only family that Jiraiya had. Minato and Kushina's death had pushed him over the edge. He had stopped sleeping, eating, writing, everything for days on end. The toad sage blamed himself for their deaths. Jiraiya often thought to himself that he should've been there with Minato to make sure Kushina's seal held firm. If only he had, they would be alive. Naruto would have a family. He would know a parent's love. He wouldn't be in this hospital bed today.

Jiraiya snapped out his stupor when he felt a touch just above his elbow. He slowly raised his head and turned to look at the offender and saw that it was Tsunade. She grasped his arm and squeezed softly before giving him a reassuring smile. He looked into her warm, hazel-brown eyes before taking in her entire face. The elegant curve of her full light pink lips immediately brightened his mood. He fell in love with that smile the day he met her on that training ground so many years ago. She was the reason he was still here, alive and breathing. After Minato and Kushina's death, she took it upon herself to track him down and bear all his misery, hurt, and guilt. Tsunade had comforted him for as long as he needed. She had seen him at his all time low and helped him recover. And for that, he would be eternally grateful.

"Nonetheless, you are correct, Tamashī-san. The Anbu I have trailing Naruto did not step in before he was…" Hiruzen trailed off. No one could blame him. A child being beaten so brutally is no easy subject to discuss. "I'm afraid they also have strong negative opinions about Naruto."

"Not Naruto, the Kyuubi. They're all just too stupid to see any reason." Tsunade said. "Speaking of which, we still need to discuss—" The slug sannin was cut off with a sharp look from Jiraiya. She could see the warning in his dark eyes as he turned his gaze towards Tamashī-san who had a slight look of confusion, wondering what they were referring to. Tsunade followed his gaze and understood his train of thought. There was no need to worry Tamashī-san anymore than she already was. If she knew that Naruto was exposed to the Kyuubi this early on, she would probably never let him out of her sight.

"Nevermind. I tended to Naruto's physical wounds but some of the lacerations were very deep. Even with his regenerative ability, they will leave visible scars on his chest and one just under his right temple."

Jōnetsu nodded sadly and continued to run her hands through Naruto's golden hair, her efforts futile in attempting to tame his unruly locks. He was only three years old for Kami's sake. How could anyone treat a child like this? Her train of thought was cut off when she noticed something peculiar about Tsunade's choice of words. Jōnetsu also noticed how antsy the three Kage level shinobi were when Tsunade was about to bring something up. The veteran kunoichi's eyes flitted to each of their faces and she knew they were hiding something but she decided that it was a discussion for another time. It was a long day and she didn't want to think about anything else besides Naruto's recovery.

Then a thought ran through her mind. How would she tell Anko?

Turns out the road to becoming a kickass kunoichi had a lot more books involved than Anko imagined. After Butsuma-sensei had scared her and the rest of the class absolutely shitless, he just turned and walked out. Just like that. His wide, toothy smile still perfectly cemented on his face and his arms swinging back and forth like the happy giant he was. The audacity of that man, honestly. Moments after his departure, a scrawny, rather pathetic looking man walked in. He was balding and had thin strands of brown hair and with his tidily zipped up Chunin flak jacket and standard shinobi outerwear, he was the picture perfect personification of ordinary. The man introduced himself as Yuuto Renzu.

Renzu-sensei started off with a short dictation of the three admission requirements for joining the academy: love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity, have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work, and be healthy in mind and body. His speech would be quite inspirational had it not been for the fact that he put as much enthusiasm into it as a dead fish. Then he proceeded to lecture the class about the riveting history of Konoha.

Anko thought they would be learning how to control chakra or learn how to throw a million shuriken like she'd seen Sandaime-ojisan demonstrate as a treat for the kids at the orphanage. Not some facts that she was likely to forget by tomorrow. Oh no, Anko thought, they would be tested on this! She was sure that she was going to flunk out of the academy if all the classes were like this. And where was Butsuma? He had clearly shown off that he was a formidable shinobi with his earlier display? If he was their main academy instructor, why did she have to listen to this bore drone on about the intricacies of their village's earliest politics.

She sighed, placing her head against her propped up arm and looked out of the window. The branches of the enormous sakura tree near the main entrance of the building swayed as a gentle breeze showered the ground in a blanket of pink. She continued to stare outside while her thoughts drifted to her favorite bundle of energy, Naruto. Anko recalled Naruto showing her how to do the tree-walking exercise a few weeks ago and smiled. She was still amazed by how Naruto had mastered an essential shinobi skill while he was only three. There was no doubt in her mind that Naruto would become an extremely powerful shinobi in the future.

Suddenly, she jolted in her seat, attracting some weird glances from the students sitting near her. Naruto! She had completely ignored and went off with Kakashi and didn't even say goodbye. Hopefully, he'd understand that she was just excited about finally starting her path as a kunoichi. He was rather sensitive so she would probably have to bribe him with ramen.

The rest of her day went by similarly and Kakashi never left her side except for when she had a gruesome, kunoichi-only class known as flower arranging. There were multiple strings of profanities going through her mind as soon as she learned the name of the class and if she were to voice them, she was sure Tamashī-baachan would wash her mouth with soap for a week.

Anko was packing up her belongings after the last class of the day when she noticed Kakashi walking back into the room from his bathroom break. She smiled at him from her seat and stood up, shouldering her bag.

"Say, Anko, do you want to go grab some food?" Kakashi asked while he was neatly putting away his things. Anko was curious about Kakashi's face but didn't question why he wore a mask. Maybe he had really big teeth or something. It was a tempting offer; she might get to see his face after all, but she had to decline.

"Not today, Kakashi. I told my caretaker I'd be home by three."

"Okay, I'll walk you home." He said, giving her an eye-smile. That was what she called it. She couldn't see his mouth but whenever he tilted his head back slightly and closed his eyes so they formed a stretched upside down U, she assumed he was smiling. She liked it; it was unique. Anko smiled back and the pair made their way to the shinobi orphanage. But there was a feeling of insecurity and nervousness tugging at her heart. Would Kakashi think any differently of her if he knew she lived at an orphanage?

Pushing those thoughts aside, the newly instated academy students walked through the busy streets of Konoha and towards the shinobi orphanage which was in fact the opposite direction of the Hatake compound but Kakashi didn't mind. He didn't have many friends especially with a majority of his time being spent training with his father. The silver haired boy may have spoken a little abruptly when he first met Anko. But he could not contain his words and was heavily relieved when Anko did not push him away because of it. She really was very pretty. He was having a great time with his new friend and found himself chuckling as she ranted about how boring their history teacher is.

Before they knew it, the two had made their way to the orphanage. They had walked for a while it seemed like because they were at the very edge of the village and no other building was around.

"This is where you live?" Kakashi asked her after they stopped in front of the small dirt paved road in front of the building. The area was surrounded by trees and there was a small field around the perimeter of the wooden building. The establishment was unlike the others in the village. The compound was two stories tall and was significantly longer than it was wide. From the front where they stood, Kakashi could see a clock positioned just under the triangle shaped roof of the building was made of steel and had a dark blue tint to it. Windows lined the sides of the building, probably indicating the rooms for each of its inhabitants.

Anko hesitantly nodded and looked down at her feet, nervously awaiting his response.

"I think it's nice." He said reassuringly and instantly an invisible weight was lifted off her shoulders. She smiled at him gratefully. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we'll actually do something useful tomorrow."

Anko laughed and it was very pleasant for Kakashi's ears. They bid each other goodbye before Anko turned and walked up the small set of concrete stairs leading to the main entrance of the building. She was almost at the entrance of her room ready to talk to Naruto about her day when someone interrupted her train of thought.

"Hey Anko, who's your boyfriend?" a voice questioned her teasingly. She turned around and the smile fell off her face as she looked at the offender. It was a boy a head taller than her with short, cropped black hair and an infuriating smirk on his face. He was the reason for her torment in all the years she had been here in the orphanage. He had come out from the kitchen, unpeeling a banana before he decided to annoy his victim.

"Shut up, Daichi." She said and turned to open her door before he spoiled her good mood even more.

"If you're looking for Naruto, don't bother. He's not here." He said and smirked at her before turning to walk away and eat his banana elsewhere.

"Hold it. Where is he?"

"Now that would be telling." That infuriating, cocky smirk appeared again on his face like it never left.

Growing frustrated and worried for her best friend, she stomped up to him with vigor. There was intent glowing in her chocolate brown eyes as she gripped the front of his shirt aggressively and pushed him back against the white wall of the narrow hallway. The banana in his hand dropped to the floor.

"Where is he?" She enunciated again but slower this time and with a hard edge to her voice.

Daichi slapped her hand away from him and his smirk turned into a scowl. He smoothened out his shirt and glared at her. But the intensity of her gaze had not dimmed.

"Alright, alright. He's at the hospital—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before Anko had dropped her bag and rushed as quickly as she could to the Konoha Hospital. If she was worried before, then she was in complete distress now. Her thoughts immediately jumped to the worst possible scenarios of what could've happened to her best friend. Shaking her head to clear those morbid thoughts, she maneuvered her way around the pedestrians in the ever busy streets of Konoha with only Naruto on her mind.

AN: It has been some time, huh? See y'all in three years! Just kidding (I hope)

Review?