AN: I don't have much to say, other than - the more follows I get, the more I'm motivated to work on this. College life is busy, and you guys are partially the motivation behind this. I'd love to see more follows and reviews! I'm open to the criticism.

Side note: At this point, Kakashi's main experiences are going through the Third Great Shinobi War, and after that was over, he joined the ANBU. After only three years (six months after the Kyuubi attack in my story), he became an ANBU Captain (they had a lot of slots open). After four years of serving in this position, the Sandaime had him step down from the Captain position, concerned for his mental health (extended stays in the ANBU are not recommended, and being an ANBU Captain is much more stressful). So it's been 4.5 years since the Kyuubi attack when he is made to step down.

A year after Hinata Hyuuga was nearly kidnapped by Kumo and Hizashi was killed, several things of note to various people occurred.

A rapper with the stage name "Killer Bee" began to gain an international presence with his first international tour, though the tour did not include Konoha. The Sandaime had felt that the Raikage's brother would not be taken with much joy, despite the fact that B was simply a civilian.

Itachi Uchiha first activated his Sharingan at age 9, assuring Fugaku that even if he died trying to make sure the Uchiha ruled Konoha, he would have a strong successor.

Kakashi Hatake was made to step down from ANBU Captain due to concerns about his mental health, though after Kakashi begged him, the Sandaime allowed him to remain in the ANBU on a probationary notice while mental evaluations took place.

Another event that occurred was of particular note, the Sandaime noted to himself as he stared at Danzo. The old war hawk remained stoic in the face of this impending confrontation, deciding to remain silent and see what stance Hiruzen would take. After what seemed like centuries, the Sarutobi sighed and pulled out a folder. Hiruzen flipped it open, letting Danzo see the pictures of children being mercilessly trained, the report detailing some procedures of the training that involved killing off emotions. There was also a copied drawing of the seal found on the tongues of one of the children.

"When Jiraiya brought this news to me, I wasn't surprised at the methods; I wasn't surprised at the seals on their tongues, or the fact you were seeking to make emotionless machines." The Sandaime looked his age in this moment. He didn't want to have to be firm in front of his allies, only his enemies - but now, he wasn't sure which Danzo was. "What I was surprised at was the fact that you hadn't informed me, Danzo." The old Hokage looked at Danzo with empathetic eyes, trying his best to understand what the man had felt so strongly that he went around Hiruzen's approval. He knew Danzo's main goal was the health and strength of the village. "We are on the same side," he emphasized, feeling every bit as old as he was. He was rusted, but he still cared.

"You would have never approved what I did to train those children," the war hawk stated simply.

"You're right; but I can tell your logic behind it. You took in orphans, which was a great number after the Kyuubi attack, and sought to train them in the ninja arts under your own special program. I will admit, the Academy is not what it could be. Konoha needed its forces restored." Danzo relaxed, as the Sandaime acknowledged his reasoning. Perhaps the results wouldn't be so bad… "But your methods are not acceptable. Kidnapping orphans is not the way to do this. Konoha is a village where we fight for our village's survival because we want to, not because we are told to. Using emotionless tools is the easy way. I never took you to be the one to take the easy way out, Danzo."

Danzo narrowed his one eye. He was about to speak, but Hiruzen held up his hand and focused a hard look at Danzo. "I am your Hokage. I was chosen to lead this village, and you decided that my efforts were not good enough, and instead began your own schemes. I am not perfect; but I need you to work with me, Danzo, not against. If you accept my terms, however, you will not be put to death for acting against the good of the village." He let that hang in the air for a moment.

Danzo could feel the burn inside him at the implication that he was not acting for the good of the village, but Hiruzen had gotten all the proof he needed to put Danzo to death - and then some. Jiraiya is more skilled than I thought, Danzo thought, pinning the found information on him. His stealth and his spy network was wider than ever, after a renewed effort from him after the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga heiress. "Well?" Hiruzen pressed, already knowing the answer.

Danzo knew he could still contribute to the village, no matter what the Sandaime did. He bowed his head in submittance. "I will accept whatever terms you have for me."

"I-I din't do it! I din't!" Naruto shouted at the orphanage director's claims. The Hokage stood by, staring stone-faced at Mrs. Kaira Vesputin. Naruto looked between the Hokage and Kaira, knowing what had been said were lies. The only time he had punched other kids was when they hurt him, and yet they never got punished. Only he did; they always got icecream , and full meals, but he was punished with being locked in his room, and no food, and too many other things. "I pwomise!" And… He didn't want the old man to hate him too.

"Naruto never did those things!" A boy with bushy eyebrows beside him affirmed. Kaira sighed, turning to her Lord Hokage.

"Over half of the caretakers here have said they've seen Naruto bully the other kids. You don't need to take Lee, too - he's a sweet boy, and only gets involved to try and break up fighting. But Naruto's been reported as a menace, terrorizing the other children, taking their food, picking on them, and more."

"That's not true!" "Nuh uh!" Lee and Naruto chorused, but as Kaira kept telling Hiruzen these lies, Naruto began sniffling. Soon, tears came full-on to the boy, and Lee could only look on, powerless. He couldn't change how the older kids picked on Naruto, he wasn't strong enough. And he couldn't change how these adults seemed to pick on him, because Lee wasn't old enough to change that, wasn't trusted to be doing anything more than defending Naruto…

The Hokage eventually stopped speaking with Kaira, and turned towards the boys. His heart melted at the sight, and he could feel that Naruto was not to blame. Kaira herself wasn't; he had hand-picked her to direct the orphanage after the Kyuubi attack, and being a former medic-nin, he was sure she could take care of the children without bias. But her workers were a different story; she had to believe what they said, and in the end, that was the only proof they had. Naruto almost never seemed to have any injuries, while the other children often had bruises, often blaming it on the boy.

With a heavy heart, he knelt down to the boys. "I have to believe her, boys," he told them, even though he indeed did believe otherwise. "When so many people agree, and I wasn't there… There's not much I can do," he said, and Naruto looked utterly heartbroken that his idol didn't believe him. He was innocent; why couldn't that just be all the reason needed to be believed?

Hiruzen forced a smile; he was too good at it after his many years of being Hokage. "I don't blame you, though, " he said, and rubbed their heads. "Lee, you protecting Naruto is heroic. I wish I had someone as diligent as you," he told the boy, before focusing his gaze on Naruto. "And Naruto, I'll make sure you have a place to stay. You can't stay here anymore." At that statement... Naruto's face broke his heart, "But you can still visit Lee," he said, not letting his unease show in his smile or his face. The blond's expression recovered somewhat; at least he'd be able to see his best friend in the whole wide world.

While the Sandaime was leading Naruto down the street, the young boy a bit cheered by ice cream that Hiruzen had bought for them both, Naruto turned toward him. While still rubbing ice cream off of his lips (and getting it on his hands as a result), the boy asked something that made the old man rethink his opinion on the boy.

"Why is your smile so sad sm'times?"

Hiruzen tightened his hold on Naruto's non-sticky hand, and could only answer with complete honesty to this wonderful, wonderful child: "It's sad… because I can't always make things better," he said to the child, not expecting him to understand.

Naruto stopped walking and turned to the old man, looking at him with big, innocent eyes. "It shouldn't be sad then," he began, confusing the Sarutobi. Naruto gave him a smile. "You made it better fer'me," the boy said, and a little hole in Hiruzen's heart was filled. This boy had been through so much, yet… Here he was, comforting an old man and convincing him he still had something to fight for.

As they kept walking, the old man discovered he still had a true smile in him.

Naruto sat on an old armchair too big for him and kept looking at the man with the Wolf mask. It had been a month since his exile from the orphanage, and while the Sandaime was figuring out his living situation, Naruto had been temporarily headquartered at an ANBU training facility inside the village. Yet he had not seen a single trace of a Wolf mask; not until now.

Now, he was in a relatively nice apartment in an apartment complex that was home to mainly older Genin and Chuunin, and sometimes their families. The Hokage had brought him there just an hour before, and now there was this Wolf mask guy here. It would have been more confusing to him if he had been older, the fact that he had not seen this man with the Wolf mask at the ANBU facility at all, but he was still young. "Wait," Naruto mumbled to himself, "Old man said 'dere'd be someone here..." He looked up at the silent ANBU, who still hadn't done anything, except... Naruto widened his eyes at the man's clenching fists, and scrambled back. "Don' hurt me!" He yelled, fear welling up in him; he had never had a good experience with clenched fists.

It took Wolf all his effort to unclench his fists, even though Naruto's reaction made him want to punch somebody. Multiple somebodies, in fact. He wasn't sure he could take this assignment that the Sandaime had given him; helping Naruto live on his own and teaching him how to do it all himself, all at that young age. Some deep part of him realized that confronting the emotions and memories he had when Naruto was involved would be a good thing, but... he just couldn't. He had lost everything, and he couldn't stare at his sensei's son in the eyes and tell him that everything would be okay, that he was sorry Naruto was treated that way, making that connection with the boy was too painful right now.

So instead, he used his ANBU training, and gave an emotionless answer, removing himself from the situation; Wolf would take care of Naruto, not Kakashi. "I won't hurt you," he tonelessly said and turned around. He investigated the kitchen's contents, unwilling to see how Naruto relaxed, how the fear in his eyes, for the most part, disappeared. Seeing a plentiful variety of food stocked up in the cabinets and refrigerator (thanks to the Hokage), he said, "What do you want to eat?" He still didn't turn around.

But he didn't have to in order to feel the pain from Naruto's response. "A-anythin' I can have," he said, "Anythin', please," he repeated. Instead of yelling for a favorite food or for ice cream, the boy wanted anything, anything. The only times he had had a response like that was in prisoners who had been starved.

He almost couldn't keep from pounding the wall, his insides screamed. For some reason being Wolf just wasn't removed enough. Shaking slightly, he began preparing a meal for Naruto. Why did the Sandaime have to pick me?

A short while later, after Naruto had had his meal, he gave a glance to Wolf. "Ano," he began, hoping it would be okay, "C-can I see Lee?" Wolf nodded, getting up. Although it would be quicker to Shunshin there, that would involve touching the boy, and he wasn't sure he could do that without clenching his fists or doing something else to scare the boy.

As they walked, Wolf could see the curious glances toward him, being an ANBU out in public, turn into stares at Naruto. Often, the civilians' eyes would then get a hard glint in them and they'd scowl, but dared not do anything with an ANBU right next to the boy. Naruto shrank at the gazes; he had not been out in public much before, but it was a lot like the orphanage so far.

Not knowing where the orphanage was relative to his new apartment, Wolf was leading. So when the two finally came upon the orphanage, the first person who saw them only saw Wolf. This was one of the caretakers, who was affectionately rubbing the heads of the children who were about to go play in the yard. Seeing Wolf walking toward her, she dismissed them and offered the ANBU a smile that disappeared as soon as she saw the boy trailing behind him. Naruto's gaze was stuck to the floor, his initial excitement for seeing Lee now almost entirely gone. But he had to see Lee. Summoning whatever bravery he had, he stepped forward. "I wanna see Lee," he said in his most courageous voice, looking up at the caretaker unflinchingly.

But a wrinkle of a nose later, and his little heart was almost regretting it. She felt her distaste and anger rising at the boy. About to give him a verbal lashing, she reconsidered as she remembered there was an ANBU by his side. She had planned for this, she recalled. Resisting the urge to smirk, she instead offered a somewhat piteous look, the most she could pull off considering this was the demon boy in front of her. "Lee doesn't want to see you, honey," she barely spat out the name, thinking it would make the ANBU believe she cared. Wolf, unsurprisingly, was able to detect her distaste for Naruto. "He asked to never see you again."

Naruto widened his eyes. "S'NOT TRUE!" He shouted, his heart protesting against the thought. Lee was his best friend in the world; he had to want to see him! His emotions taking over, he began running to the door, trying to get through.

"Stop!" She shouted as he ran up the steps. She was angry, not fearful, as she probably should have been considering she thought he was the Kyuubi. "Stop, you de-"

Before she could work out the rest of the words and potentially be executed for treason, Wolf appeared behind Naruto and grabbed him by the waist, pulling him back. He ignored the squirming, the thought that this was his sensei's son he was restraining, how his sensei would be so disappointed in him, and all he thought was that he was Wolf, and had to be a proper ANBU member of Konoha. He was Wolf, his other thoughts receding. He was Wolf, and he had a duty to Konoha.

"LEMME GO!" Naruto screamed, tears beginning to crawl down his face. Wolf didn't, and instead shunshin'd back to Naruto's apartment. The sudden change in scenery, as well as the nausea accompanied in the jutsu for those who weren't used to it, made Naruto suddenly stop, coughing as he tried to keep the vomit from coming up. Wolf set him down, and Naruto swallowed heavily. As soon as he got his breath back, Naruto opened his mouth.

"Why'd-ju stop me?!" he yelled.

Wolf's voice was flat, emotionless. "You are now considered an adult in Konoha, needed in order to have your own apartment. Had you forced your way into the orphanage, it would be considered trespassing without consent, cause for many different punishments. As an ANBU, I am responsible to prevent crimes when not on a mission outside Konoha's walls when I can."

Naruto didn't understand most of Wolf's response. For the most part, the only part he understood was that Wolf's voice was not angry. He sniffled. "Why... why can't I see Lee?"

Wolf's dispassionate voice rose again. "Lee doesn't want to see you."

"That's not true! S'just what she said, she's a liar!" Naruto claimed, not wanting to believe otherwise. Otherwise.. he had no friends, no one to play with, no one who was also picked on, no one who would call him his little brother... No one. He hiccuped, feeling the tears coming on.

"It's what she said. As an ANBU of Konoha, I must evaluate conflicts of interest without bias. She is a caretaker in a highly rated orphanage, whereas your file states you were kicked out due to unruly behavior and bullying towards other children. The most logical conclusion is that Lee doesn't want to see you, realizing how unruly you were. Even if that is not true," Naruto glanced up, hopeful, "She is entrusted with the care of the children in the orphanage. She has higher authority than you on deciding if a child can be visited."

"I-I wanna see Lee," Naruto mumbled, as he began to bawl, not understanding most of Wolf's points. As he cried, Wolf reviewed the situation again, and agreed with his previous actions; as an emotionless, faceless ANBU of Konoha, he had done his duty.

But as Naruto sat there, crying, Wolf decided it would be more useful to investigate the apartment and make sure nothing had changed since they had left.

But really, it was that Wolf couldn't hold up against this child's tears for long. As a proper ANBU of Konoha, Wolf had to make sure his mask, both physical and emotional, did not break.

I feel like I could have done better with this chapter, but I'm not quite sure how. Anyone got any comments/tips? Otherwise, thank you for reading. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but I hope to see you then.