This is the real deal people, not an april fools.

This might be confusing but from now on I will be referring to Kakashi and Iruka by those names even when they are on Akutenshi duty. The names Ryouken and Kuroneko will mainly be used when they are communicating on Akutenshi missions or when people who don't know who they really are are talking or thinking about them.

Also just to clarify.. at this point in the story Naruto is 5, Kakashi is 20 and Iruka is 19. according to my info that should be about right but since I'm going pretty loosely with facts in this story it shouldn't really matter if it's accurate or not.

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The Akutenshi moved swiftly through the night. Running over rooftops and using back alleys to avoid the people who were making their way home from the festival. They were running late but hopefully their targets hadn't moved past their designated area.

"This wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't been late." Iruka grumbled in annoyance.

Kakashi, who is widely known for always being at least 2 or 3 hours late for everything, had a remarkably good punctuality when on Akutenshi duty, he only showed up 10 to 20 minutes late in order to annoy Iruka.

"I'm not the one who had to go to the medic nin and held us back for 25 minutes."

"Well who's fault was that." Iruka snapped.

"Yours, you asked for it."

Iruka decided to drop the subject. Although he did see Naruto as the demon who took his parents lives he knew Kakashi only saw him as his old Sensei's son and although he certainly wasn't happy about recent events Iruka respected his partner enough to not push the subject.

Kakashi could feel Iruka's annoyance rolling off of him in waves but didn't worry much about it, despite being as different as night and day they had been very good friends for a long time now and working together as closely as they did, where you had to be able to rely on your partner and trust him with your life without question, meant that what ever differences they might have would either be forgiven or put behind them straight away. They could do a lot more than stab each other with kunais without making a big deal out of it.

Soon they were outside the village walls were they swiftly jumped up into the trees and made their way to the clearing they'd prepared the night before. They had been tracking a group of 20 missing nins for 3 days now. According to the information they had gathered during their observation the criminals were planing to disguise themselves as merchants, get into Konoha and plant explosives in the more populated places of the village. According to Kakashi's tracking and Iruka's calculations they should be passing through that specific clearing very soon if they hadn't already.

The Akutenshi looked at each other and both nodded their heads. A silent agreement that they'd better pick up their pace if they didn't want to be forced to change their plans.

Iruka had put up a complex seal trap in the clearing and all they had to do was wait for the ninjas to show up before Iruka would detonate the seals and hopefully kill the majority of the group in one go, after that Kakashi would take out the rest with close range combat and Iruka backing him up from a distance. If the enemy had moved past that point the mission would become considerably harder.

They would have to engage the enemy in a close range fight and despite being better at it than most Iruka wasn't a close range fighter and even though his wound had been healed his side still hurt making it even worse for him to fight close range which meant Kakashi would pretty much have to hold up the fight on his own. Iruka didn't doubt his partners abilities one bit, he was a very powerful fighter who could give the sannins themselves a run for their money, but the odds were against them with 20 S-rank criminals against 2, one and a half if you took in Iruka's weaknesses and Iruka always took everything in to his calculations and plans.

In the Akutenshi you could say that Iruka was the head and Kakashi was the body. Iruka provided most of their plans and strategies and Kakashi provided the power. They were the perfect pair because despite both of them being very strong individually they matched each others strengths and weaknesses perfectly.

On assassin missions Kakashi would track or locate the target and spy on it for information, Iruka would come up with a plan on how to execute things and if possible set up an ambush and Kakashi would then either eliminate the target in close combat, with Iruka as back up with long range attacks, or pick up any left overs that might have gotten through Iruka's traps. It was only slightly different on infiltration and information gathering missions. Kakashi would locate and scout the area and Iruka would come up with a plan. Since these missions rarely contained any fighting and mainly consisted of stealth or disguise it would then be up to the circumstances of the mission which one of them would take the front and which one would provide back up. Kakashi, the master of stealth, or Iruka, the master of disguise.

When the Akutenshi finally made it to the clearing they were in luck, no signs could be found that the enemy had been through there yet. They sat silently side by side in a tree overlooking the clearing and the route the enemy was most likely to make. The area was faintly illuminated by the moon making the world around them silver and black. Iruka thought it looked uncannily like his friend sitting beside him, and not just because of the colors.

Kakashi always reminded Iruka of a dark silent night. Beautiful but sad at the same time. Those who didn't know him well, and that was a great number of people considering the Copy-nin hardly let anyone close, saw him as the laid back, lazy, carefree and porno reading pervert that he unmistakably was but Iruka knew that underneath all that his partner was hiding a very sad and lonely soul, one who was wrecked with guilt and regret over lost friends and could have beens. He spent a great deal of time at the memorial stone every week and Iruka sometimes found him sitting quietly, eyes closed and head tilted towards the stars. Lost somewhere in the past that was as present in his mind as the here and now.

Iruka was pulled out of his thoughts when his partner turned to him with an outstretched fist. He smiled behind his mask before he did the same, accepting the challenge. Now if anyone were to see them they would certainly think all was not right with the world. Two deadly assassins sitting hunched in a tree playing rock, paper, scissors would have just about anyone questioning their sanity or wondering what on earth had been slipped into their drink. It was an old habit of theirs from when they were just starting out as the Akutenshi. Iruka, 15 at the time and not fully over his prankster stage, had initiated it when they were on a long and boring stake out. Kakashi, then 16 and the more serious one of the two at the time, hadn't been very fond of the idea but it made the time go faster and soon it had become a regular thing for the two.

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In his office Sarutobi sat comfortably resting on his couch. He had his pipe in one hand and was slowly watching the smoke dance towards the ceiling. His other hand was softly stroking the blond hair on the little head that was resting in his lap. Looking down at the sleeping form of the little boy made him wonder how people could ever want to hurt something so innocent. So beautiful.

As much as it hurt him to do it the Hokage had made a decision that could, and probably would, crush his innocence far too early. He'd had to make the same decision not so many years ago and had hoped at the time that he would never have to make it again.

"What I wouldn't give in order for you to have a normal life." Sarutobi sighed. "The only consolation this old fool here has now is that at least all of you will have each other to lean on."

The Third turned his eyes away from the little child cuddling against him and looked out into the night, his thoughts now occupied by two other boys who's lives had been affected by his decisions, they had both been forced to grow up quicker than most and although Sarutobi knew he had little to do with that he certainly hadn't helped.

"I wish it could have been different for you too. Iruka... Kakashi..."

They had both lost everyone important to them in the Kyuubi attack and the Sandaime had seen both boys slowly slipping away into darkness. In a desperate attempt to keep them both from breaking he had pretty much forced them to live together, told them it was either that or the orphanage. He'd thought that Iruka's friendliness and cheery behavior would be exactly what Kakashi needed and in return Kakashi would be the strength and steadiness that Iruka needed.

He certainly did not expect them to hit it off so famously and never in his wildest dreams had he expected to find out that Iruka's parents had been hiding his immense talents in order to protect their son from the life of prodigies. The Sandaime had at first been thinking about honoring their decisions and not put Iruka into any special training but realized soon that he had to find something interesting to keep both boys very, very busy. Iruka had somehow managed to recruit Kakashi as his partner in crime and a series of very well planned and executed pranks had had the village in an uproar.

So Sarutobi started training the boys in the hopes that the extra training would provide them with a more acceptable outlet for their skills, although he decided to keep it a secret in order for both boys to still be able to have a small chance at a somewhat normal life. But when both of them flew into Anbu, hardly a year later, without much difficulty and still continued to improve the Sandaime saw an opportunity he forced himself to take. And so Akutenshi had been formed.

To the outside world Kakashi was still the same genius who graduated at 5, became chuunin at 6, jounin at 13 and had earned the nick name Copy-ninja not so long after that. And although rumors had started circulating recently that he was in Anbu no one could ever imagine how much farther he had gotten.

Iruka had a more low profile cover thanks to Sarutobi, Kakashi had grown up a prodigy and a killer but Iruka hadn't so the Third had made the decision to try to keep his day to day life as normal as possible. Therefore Iruka hadn't made any spectacular accomplishments, he'd made it to chuunin in his second chuunin exam when he was 16 and started helping out and later teaching at the academy only a year ago.

The Third Hokage of the leaf looked over at the four pictures hanging on the wall opposite his resting place. Two pictures of the once who came before him, one picture of himself and one picture of someone who came both after and before him in the Hokage seat.

"What would you have done in my shoes? I know it's for the greater good but why must the lives of few be waisted for the lives of many?"

The question that the four men, past and present, had in common was left unspoken.

'Why must I decide which one belongs to the few and which one belongs to the many?'

The Sandaime's eyes lingered longest on the last picture in the line. The Yondaime looked uncharacteristically serious on the portrait. Like he knew what were to happen in the future, how the village he fought for and loved would come to hate his only son.

"Why must fate be decided by fools?" Sarutobi whispered to the little child by his side.

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Kakashi sensed their enemies when he and Iruka were on their 8th game. They were coming from the direction they had predicted and would be passing through the clearing in little over 2 minutes. He quickly turned to his partner and formed some hand signs.

"Incoming, southwest, 2 minutes. Get into position."

He was about to dash of when Iruka stopped him and signed back.

"At my signal take cover and wait for everything to die down before even thinking about coming out."

When the enemy arrived Kakashi and Iruka were sitting at opposite ends of the clearing, Iruka perched over the way they came in and Kakashi watching the way they would exit. When the majority of the group was inside the clearing Kakashi saw his partner spring into action. Iruka performed a series of complicated hand seals before slamming his hand onto a seal note fastened to the tree he was sitting on. The note then sent out a faint chakra echo activating the other notes that were hidden all over the clearing and soon all hell broke loose. It never failed to surprise Kakashi how his usually mild mannered and friendly partner could come up with such deadly and destructive traps. But then again the guy did have an endless source of creativity.

Kakashi now knew why his friend had decided to name his latest creation chaos because the scene before him could only be described by that word. First a strong whirlwind formed, littered with dozens of kunais, reaching from one end of the clearing to the next completely blocking off all escape routes. The whirlwind got smaller and smaller really fast until the kunais had cut or stabbed the men in the clearing. Before the wind had even fully died down exploding tags that were attached to the kunais went off one by one blasting and shooting more knifes in every direction and to finish it all off the ground momentarily collapsed under them successfully burying everyone, dead or alive.

When the screams and the noise finally died down and the dust had settled Kakashi saw that no one had made it out of the clearing alive. The silence and the atmosphere that remained could only be described with one word and one word alone. Death.

Kakashi now only had one goal. He made his way to his friend as fast as he could.

There was a reason why Iruka had never mastered close range combat, a reason only Kakashi and Iruka himself knew about, although the Hokage had a pretty good idea about it as well. Iruka just didn't have the heart to take someones life up close and personal. As great, deadly and sometimes even down right evil as Iruka could be their missions could take their toll on him. Kakashi had often found him still and unresponsive after particularly bad missions. It didn't make him any less of a shinobi. All shinobis, as much as they try to suppress it, are essentially human, and humans have feelings. Kakashi himself was known to break down from time to time. It was expected. It was normal. A ninja who was not affected by the violence that came with the job was probably not sane enough to be in it in the first place. But it was alright, they had each other when it happened.

To Kakashi's relief Iruka was organizing and packing the remainder of his weapons and things away when Kakashi reached him. His hands were shaking as he checked the weapons for cracks and flaws but otherwise he was ok.

"That was incredible, although I wouldn't have minded having something to do tonight." Kakashi drawled out in a bored tone.

"Well I was only thinking of you my lazy friend" Iruka countered in a teasing tone, although if you knew where to look you could hear the underlying tremor in his voice. "Thought you might want to relax a bit for the evening considering you'll be taking on a little... brat at the end of the night." The words monster or demon had been hanging in Iruka's mind but he decided not to use them from now on. He didn't really fancy another kunai in the stomach and he still had a punishment to look forward to from the Hokage.. and the Hokage had a very twisted mind when it came to punishments. Somehow he had an unnatural talent for finding something horrible yet completely fair and reasonable to punish you with.

"How on earth did you even think up something like that anyway?"

"Do you remember when you found it necessary to embarrass me in front of my new class?"

"Yeah"

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you, I might just be tempted to use what my mind comes up with on the guy who actually inspired it instead of on a mission."

Kakashi couldn't see it but he was sure Iruka was giving him his mischievous grin underneath his mask. A grin that his students were learning fast to fear more than anything else.

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The third Hokage of the leaf was once again sitting at his desk looking at his two assassins. Students. Sons. He was glad he'd decided to move Naruto to his chambers because one of the young men in front of him was about to blow the roof off for what he had to say.

"First of I'd like to congratulate you on the success of the mission, once again you have saved the village from a disaster." Sarutobi always found it necessary to acknowledge their work. They pretty much saved the village single handedly on a regular basis and no one even knew.

"Now I want you to hear me out until I finish, that especially goes for you Iruka."

Iruka straightened his back. 'Fuck, here it comes'

"I've made a decision, I will not take it back so there will be no arguments on it... from either of you. I have decided that as of this night you will both be responsible for not only Naruto's upbringing but his training as well. Considering his natural talent and progress I think he is an excellent candidate for Akutenshi."

"WHAT!" Two stunned men turned their heads to the source of the outburst who surprisingly was coming from the dog masked Anbu who had just ripped off his mask and was by the looks of it about ready to rip the Hokage a new one as well, if his partner hadn't reached out his hand and stopped him.

"Hokage-sama I know Naruto has potential but Akutenshi? He's only 5 can't the training wait for a few years? He's not ready."

"Kakashi.. as unbelievable as it might seem I do know how you feel. This was not an easy decision to make but it's for the best, for all of you. I am asking you to train him but above all else I want you to care for him. He will be living with you in your safe house, next year he will enter the academy as a normal student, in your class Iruka, as part of his cover and finally, to ease your mind, he will not be initiated into Akutenshi until both of you deem him fit to. All other aspects and decisions of his training and upbringing I will leave to you two. Are my orders clear?"

"Yes Hokage sama." Kakashi bit out.

"Iruka, you've been awfully quiet." Sarutobi looked at the younger of the two Akutenshi members.

Iruka was in fact having a nasty struggle inside his head. The logical part of his brain kept telling him that it was a good idea, the child needed to be trained to the best of his abilities for the good of the village. The emotional part of his brain how ever was screaming bloody murder and there was no way in hell he would let that monster into his safe house. Both parts were in agreement thought that the small part of his brain that was saying they shouldn't do that to a child should be stomped on and told to shut the hell up. Yet again, a completely horrible punishment but one that could not be argued against in any way because the Hokage was right.

"Hokage sama. I would like to make it clear that I do not like this arrangement at all, but seeing as you've already made the decision and I have to admit that it's the right thing to do I will do as you ask. If that is all I will bid you farewell. Kakashi, I'll meet you at home." And with that Iruka promptly teleported out of the office.

The Sandaime turned to the sole remaining occupant of his office.

"It's been a long night Kakashi. Naruto is asleep in my chambers, go take him home. You can come to my office tomorrow to do the paper work."

And so Sarutobi was left alone in his office with no company other than his regrets from the past and three pictures of heroes who had spent or given up their lives to make Konoha a better place.

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In a house on the boarder of Konoha village a figure appeared seemingly out of thin air carrying a small child. Naruto had finally arrived at the place he would forever think of as home from then on. It was the Akutenshi safe house.

Both Kakashi and Iruka had apartments in town to go with their every day lives and the safe house had originally only been intended as sort of a base for the Akutenshi but almost as soon as the base was set up 2 futons appeared there as well and the house had become their home as well as their operation headquarters. To keep up appearances Kakashi and Iruka would basically use their apartments like an entrance to their house. The would walk in and then teleport there or teleport to their apartments and walk out.

Kakashi soon realized there would have to be some changes made in the base soon, most importantly a new futon would have to be purchased. But for now they would have to make due with what they had and so Kakashi laid his sleeping bundle down next to him on his mattress, falling asleep gently cradling the boy in his arms.

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Reviews are not needed but always appreciated. Thank you for reading