A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about my fanfic.
Summary: Three young children. Three traumatized pasts. What will happen when they meet? Who will save them? Are they Konoha's enemies…or allies?
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Who Are We?
Chapter 3 – Fear
Recap:
After they left the village, they traveled for a while, occasionally stopping at different villages and refilling their products.
Time slowly passed and they became the best of friends.
Present time
He watched as the masked figure stepped into the clearing.
End Recap
Three pairs of eyes watched him warily as he walked out, into the clearing.
"Yo." He spoke, trying to lighten the mood.
"What do you want?" The dark haired boy spoke. This one, he assumed, is probably Uchiha Sasuke.
"I've come to take you somewhere safe." He replied.
"Don't lie! They would capture us! They would separate us!" Screamed the blonde boy as he jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at him.
As he looked into their eyes, he saw one thing.
Fear.
Fear of being separated.
Fear of the place they once called home.
He saw…himself.
Him, when he was young.
Him, when his father had committed suicide.
Him, when his mother had died.
Those eyes, where just like his.
And, right then and there, he decided that he would not take these children back to the place they had called home. He will go with them on their journey.
'What is he doing?' Sakura thought as she studied the man.
He had silver hair which stuck up and was wearing a Konoha forehead protector which slanted down to cover his left eye. The bottom half of his face was also covered by a navy blue mask.
His eye was currently glazed and he looked as if he was lost in his thoughts.
"Hey! What are you doing? Why don't you just leave?" Naruto asked loudly.
His loud voice seemed to break the man from his thoughts as he turned to them.
"I have decided. I will join you three."
"What?!" Naruto's and Sakura's faces showed exactly what they were feeling. Confusion.
Sasuke hid his emotions better but when he spoke you could tell that he too, was confused.
"What do you mean? Weren't you going to capture us?" He asked.
"I was, but you three remind me of…myself. And anyway, if I brought you three back then the elders will definitely punish you. I understand that the Sandaime will be on your side, but not the elders."
Kakashi watched as the three of them stayed in their places, slightly stunned, then they huddled together.
"What do we do?" Naruto was the first to ask.
"I trust him."
Both boys turned to stare at Sakura.
"I just get the feeling that he wasn't lying. Call it a women's intuition."
"But Sakura! You're not a woman yet, you're just a girl. And also, what does intuition mean?"
"Idiot. She means that her instincts tell her that he isn't lying."
"Oh. Well, I trust Sakura's judgement!"
Sakura smiled, and turned to see Sasuke's thoughts. The slight nod told her he trusted her judgement too.
He watched as they finished their discussion and turned to face him.
The girl stepped towards him.
"We believe you."
He felt relief course through his body.
"My name's Haruno Sakura," continued the girl, "what's your name?"
"Hatake Kakashi."
This caught the attention of the dark haired boy.
"Hatake Kakashi? As in the famous Copy-nin?"
He nodded.
"Well I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Shouted the blonde haired boy, "And that's the bastard, Uchiha Sasuke."
The boy merely glared at the blonde.
"Well," started Kakashi, "how about we all sit down and tell each other things about ourselves?"
The three did as he said and sat down. Naruto was the first to speak.
"So what do we tell each other?"
"Ummm…how about what you want to be?" Suggested Kakashi.
"OK. Well, when I grow up I am going to be the best ninja ever!" Not surprisingly, that was Naruto.
"I want to be able to protect those close to me." Sasuke's was short and to the point.
"I want to become a great medic-nin."
"Well…to fulfil your wishes you need to train. How about I become your sensei?"
"Really?" Three pairs of hopeful and excited eyes stared at him.
"Of course."
"What are we waiting for? Lets start!" All of them, except for Kakashi, jumped eagerly to their feet.
"Not yet. First, I want to know why you ran away from Konoha and what happened."
The look in their eyes pained him, but he had to know.
Sasuke sat down.
"When I got home everyone was dead…"
Back in Konoha…
He was growing worried. The elders had asked him a number of times whether Kakashi had met the children.
He had sent a number of messages to Kakashi, but none of them seemed to reach him.
If this went on…Kakashi would have to be announced as MIA…Missing in Action. This would only serve to make the reputations of the three children even worse. Knowing the citizens, they would probably spread rumours about how the children killed Kakashi. He highly doubted this, but the current situation suggested this.
He looked out the window.
'Wherever you guys are… be safe.'
He shook his head disbelievingly. To think that these three had to go through so much at such a young age…He was glad he chose to not bring them back.
"Kakashi-sensei, can you tell us why we are called demons?" Sakura's question startled him. What was he supposed to say? However, he decided that they deserved to know the truth.
"Do you three know about the story of the nine tailed demon fox, Kyuubi?"
Three nods.
"Do you know what happened? Or how the kyuubi was defeated?"
"Didn't the Yondaime defeat it?" Asked Sakura.
"No. The Yondaime was unable to kill it so he sealed it. It needed to be sealed in a newborn baby."
"A newborn baby…"
He watched as they realized what he meant.
"So the Kyuubi was sealed in me?" Naruto asked, shock etched on his face.
"Yes…"
Naruto turned to face Sakura and Sasuke, worried that they would treat him like the citizens.
"Naruto you idiot. You're still Naruto. Don't forget, me and Sasuke might have some kind of demon too."
A true smile appeared on Naruto's face.
Kakashi turned to Sakura.
"I don't have all the exact detail because this is a matter between your family, but this is what I know. Your ancestor fell in love with a beautiful lady however, unknown to him, she was a celestial maiden. Her name was Kaguryuu. When they decided to marry, your clan disapproved and numerous attempts were made to kill her. However, none succeeded until the then clan leader sealed her in a young girl. Because the seal was still incomplete, every time the host dies, the maiden is able to go into another body as long as that person is a Haruno. She will keep doing so until she finds a host whom she likes."
"So I am her new host?"
"Yes."
"That's so cool Sakura! At least you have a celestial maiden living in you, all I have is a stupid fox!"
Sakura giggled at Naruto's comment, while Sasuke smirked.
Kakashi then turned to Sasuke.
"I have a suspicion about what happened to you but I have to see the seal first. Show it to me."
Sasuke turned around and showed the seal to Kakashi.
'As I thought. This is the legendary wolf curse seal.' (A/N: It looks like Orochimaru's curse seal with a wolf in the middle.)
"You have the legendary wolf demon called Karyuu sealed in you. This demon was said to have been equal to the Kyuubi in power. That is all I know of it."
"So I have a wolf in me…"
"That's so cool Sasuke!" He smiled slightly at Sakura.
"Well, lets go."
All three of them turned to face Kakashi.
"Where are we going?" Asked Sakura.
"We're going to the Hidden Village of Mist. They have a huge library there so we can do some research on your inner demons and I can start training you along the way."
"Alright! We're finally going to start training!" Naruto jumped for joy and Kakshi took off his forehead protector so that others will not know that they were from Konoha.
3 Hours Later…
They had been traveling for a while and finally arrived in a small village. Kakashi led them to a small inn and asked for one room.
The room had one bed which was big enough for all of them. Kakashi gave Sakura some money and told her to go with the boys to buy some dinner. After they left, he sat down and started writing a letter.
By the time they came back, he had already finished and sent his letter and was waiting for them.
2 days later…In Konoha…
When he received a letter he was rather surprised, especially when he saw who it was from.
Sandaime,
I apologise but I have decided to abandon the mission and go with these children. They remind me of who I used to be and, in the short time that I have known them, they remind me of my family.
I will not be returning to Konoha unless they wish to. I will not do anything to harm Konoha. However, if anyone is sent from Konoha to harm them then I will not hesitate to attack them as long as I can protect the three of them.
Also, Uchiha Sasuke was not the one who destroyed the Uchiha clan. It was Uchiha Itachi.
Hatake Kakashi.
He sighed. What he feared has just happened.
He had no choice. Hatake Kakashi was to be labeled as a missing-nin.
A/N: This chapter took me ages to write, even though it wasn't that long, but I hope you all enjoy this! Please Read and Review!