Hello everyone! Four down, FOUR more to go!

My latest reviewers: Lupanari. Gabwr, Uzumaki Naruko14, cardcaptor eternity, catgirl9696, ninbunny alchemist, Dead from beyond the grave, Dragon Mistress of the Heavens, CandyGirl999, Haruka-Hime, avatard, Hailey619, yo tadaiima, and Rika24.

Oh, and cardcaptor eternity made a picture of Kakashi and his family, and as promised, here is the link!

s199(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/aa241/cardcaptoreternity/?actionview(dot)kakashifamily(dot)jpg

Kakashi slowly made his way over to the memorial stone, the familiar sight welcoming him back. He had been taking care of Naruto for a month now, and hardly had any time for anything else. By now he had become quite an expert on Naruto's habits; he knew when he would get hungry (which he was pretty sure was at far greater intervals than an average baby; he appeared to have his father's appetite), when he would get tired, and . . . other things. The youth still wasn't used to the whole "diaper" routine, and decided it was the most revolting task in the world. He swore Naruto would be the youngest potty-trained toddler, Kami help him.

Right now Naruto was sleeping at the new apartment Kakashi had purchased a few weeks ago. He had a bunshin keeping watch with 50 percent of his chakra. The jounin usually had use for only dust bunshins, but seeing as how Naruto was the most vulnerable person in the village he needed it. Normally, he didn't want to leave Naruto's side, but seeing as how he hadn't visited the memorial stone in a month, he felt he deserved a break.

"Hey there, Obito, Rin, sensei," he choked, sinking to his knees and glancing at the different names shining in the sunlight. "I brought you flowers, as way of saying I'm sorry for being gone for so long. Obito, a sunflower." (He placed it on the ground) "I don't know anything about your special flower, but I feel this describes you best."

"Minato, a marigold in remembrance of our teams first mission." He smiled briefly at the memory. They had just gotten to know each other and sensei had declared their first mission was to prune the weeds around one of the villagers precious and "Prize-Winning Marigolds." To make a long story short, Obito had accidently dug up some of them, and when Kakashi yelled at him for it, Obito threw them all in his face and a short scuffle broke out afterwards. Later on, whenever their sensei would tire of their bickering, Minato would present his two male students with a marigold, instructing them to use it as their weapon instead.

"Rin, a red rose to compliment your beauty and strong will," he whispered. He couldn't believe she was gone. They had said good-bye when the Kyuubi attacked, and he just recently learned of her passing.

Kakashi carried an energetic Naruto in his arms. He was going to the hospital to check on Rin. She hadn't contacted him since the Kyuubi attack, which he attributed to the fact that maybe she was badly injured and needed rest. Kakashi hoped she already knew about their sensei's death, because he didn't think he was up to telling her himself.

As he walked up to the counter, he spotted the 3rd Hokage discussing something with the secretary.

"Can you tell me where Rin's room is?" Kakashi asked. At that moment Naruto started fussing, distracting Kakashi from the look the nurse exchanged with the Sandaime. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear, to which she nodded and quickly got up.

"Kakashi, I have something to tell you first," Sarutobi interrupted.

Kakashi nodded, thinking it was another matter related to Naruto's upbringing. The jounin followed the Hokage into an empty room for privacy and adjusted Naruto in his arms.

"May I?" Sarutobi asked, holding his hands out for Naruto. Kakashi nodded and placed the child delicately in his arms. The Hokage played with Naruto for a few moments, dangling his finger in front of his face, and tickled him slightly.

A few minutes later, he sighed and closed his eyes for a second, as if he were about to disclose very distressing information. Kakashi's palms turned clammy, nervous about the Hokage's behavior.

"Kakashi . . . there really isn't any other way for me to say this." He stared Kakashi straight in the eyes.

"Rin is dead."

Kakashi just stared at the Hokage.

"W-what?"

"Rin is dead, Kakashi."

Kakashi shook his head. "No . . . no—she can't be . . . she can't be!"

"Kakashi—" the Hokage began.

"No! You're lying!" His voice grew louder. "There's no way she could be dead!" He began pacing the room and ran a finger through his hair in frustration, feeling cornered.

"It's not a lie, Kakashi," Sarutobi said forcefully, trying to calm Naruto down. "Rin is dead. She was tending to some fallen shinobi and one of the Kyuubi's tails came out of nowhere and threw her into a wall, killing her instantly. She didn't suffer," he added.

Kakashi would hear none of it. "I promised Obito that I would protect her! I PROMISED! How can I face him now?" he wailed. "I'M THE ONLY ONE LEFT!"

Naruto kept crying, sensing the pain in his guardian's voice. The Hokage tried to calm him down once more then slowly opened the door to reveal a very subdued Gai waiting outside.

"Would you mind taking care of Naruto for a while? Here's a spare key to his apartment, which I think you should have in your pssession anyway."

Gai nodded solemnly and took the crying baby, rocking him back and forth gently. As he turned to leave, he glanced back to his sobbing friend.

"Will he . . . be all right?" he asked.

Sarutobi sighed. "I don't know. He's lost too many people in too short a time. You are probably the only friend he has left. Be forewarned though, he will either reject you or become very close, but no matter how he acts, I'm sure he will consider you his greatest friend. Just hang in there, and I know one day he'll thank you for it."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi locked the door behind him and walked over to the sobbing child who had drawn his knees together and was cradling his head on top of them.

" . . . only one left . . . why did you leave me?" he muttered in between sobs.

The third Hokage hesitated, knowing Kakashi of all people did not like to be touched. However, as he watched the poor child before him, he was filled with a fatherly need to comfort the boy.

At first Kakashi tensed at the initial contact, then relented, allowing the Hokage to hold him in his arms and slowly pat his back. As they sat there, Sarutobi began to rethink the way they ran things. Here was a child who was taught to be an assassin at age five, and went into a war at thirteen years of age! Then he went on to serve as a member of ANBU for the past two years, seeing and doing things that almost stripped him of his humanity.

At least the fact that he was crying at the moment was proof that he still had traces of a young child inside of him. But with the death of Rin, however, as well as the still recent death of his sensei who had become his second father, Sarutobi wondered how this would affect his already crippled sanity.

Perhaps taking care of Naruto was the best medicine for him.

It had been two weeks since he learned of her death, but he was better now. Gai had helped him out a lot for the first couple days, but now Kakashi had taken over and made sure to thank Gai. His friend smiled and told him not to mention it, making sure to tack on a comment about "The Power of Youth!"

Kakashi smiled faintly before focusing his attention back to the memorial stone.

"You all right, kid?" Kakashi hastily glanced up from the memorial stone and noticed Jiraiya standing there, looking solemn. The jounin shrugged, turning his attention back to the newly engraved names.

"I heard from Sarutobi that you're taking care of little Naruto," Jiraiya continued, only to get a nod from the boy. "I'm very proud of you for doing that," he said quietly, causing the jounin to look at him in surprise.

"I will do my best to visit as best I can, because I'm practically his grandfather!" Jiraiya chuckled. "Anyway, here's a present from me to you, something that your sensei always loved to read." With that the Sannin pulled forth a small book from under his tunic and handed it to Kakashi.

The fifteen-year-old examined it curiously. Icha Icha Paradise. "These are your pervy books," he realized aloud. Jiraiya appeared indignant.

"I'll have you know that these books are renowned all over the world! They are only worthy to be called a man's book, and seeing as how you have been endowed with fatherly duties, I figure that it's about time that you read them as well. Besides," Jiraiya added solemnly, "Minato enjoyed them."

Kakashi's eye widened as he realized what Jiraiya was trying to do. Of course, it was to introduce him to the "wonders" of the books he wrote, but at the same time, Jiraiya was providing him with a way to connect with the deceased Hokage.

"Thank you," he said quietly, turning to the first page. Jiraiya burst into a wide grin.

"'Atta boy!" he said proudly. "Now, how about you take me to see this little Naruto?"

"Is he a spitting image of his father?" Jiraiya asked boisterously, trying to lighten the mood as they made their way through the village.

Kakashi nodded. "He's got his father's appetite as well."

Jiraiya roared with laughter. Kakashi liked his laugh, fascinated by the ease at which he did it, and thought back on to when he first heard it. Minato had introduced them all to the Legendary Sannin after their first week of training, and Obito had made a funny comment. Kakashi had immediately lashed out at him (which he found himself regretting at every turn) but Jiraiya had burst out laughing, then teased Minato by telling them all about how he would always fight with his Hyuuga teammate, Yokuzu.

"When he gets a little older we should take him out to ramen!" Kakashi smirked and nodded his agreement.

"Here's the apartment," he announced as he opened the door. "We're home," he informed the bunshin. Suddenly there was a kunai to his throat and a hand to his back.

"Password?" a voice hissed.

"Minato." Kakashi had instructed his bunshin to do this to anyone who entered, even if they looked like him. The kunai left his throat and his bunshin came into view.

"Naruto should be waking up any moment now," he informed the original. The jounin nodded and released the bunshin, relieved with the return of all his chakra.

"He's in here," Kakashi said as he opened the door off to their left to reveal a medium-sized crib, which Jiraiya instantly recognized as the one he had seen Kushina and Minato purchase.

The Sannin watched as the ANBU captain picked up the tiny infant with as much care as one would an active bomb. Naruto whimpered softly but calmed down as Kakashi gently shushed him.

"Here he is," he said as he placed the child in Jiraiya's arms.

He's sure got his father's hair, the Sannin noted immediately. "Are those from—"

"Yeah."

Strange. Looks like merging with Kyuubi had outward side effects.

Baby Naruto let out a wide yawn and stretched, his back arching like a feline and arms extending towards the heavens. When he was done he slowly opened his eyes and gazed up at Jiraiya. The Sannin was shocked at how bright and blue his eyes were.

"You'll grow up to be quite the ladies man, just like your father," he chuckled, provoking a large grin from the infant. "Dear Kami! He even smiles like his old man!" Naruto only gurgled with delight, clapping his hands together.

"I'm your grandfather you know," Jiraiya choked. "Well—appointed grandfather, anyway." Naruto cocked his head and gazed at him in confusion, noticing the tears in his eyes, then, as if he understood, tried to make him feel better by tugging on his shirt.

"Fiesty little fella, aren't you?"

"I've caught him trying to turn over on his stomach and crawl before," Kakashi said.

"Trying to learn your father's jutsu already, are we?" Jiraiya chastised.

Kakashi watched patiently as Jiraiya played with Naruto, as lovingly and energetic as any father.

"Who else knows of his lineage?" Jiraiya asked the youth as they sat down for tea. He was also feeding Naruto his bottle.

"Only the Hokage and me. I think Gai might have figured it out, only because he's willing to look past the fact that he has the Kyuubi inside him. Other than that, everyone hates him," Kakashi said with disdain.

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "I can understand why they'd feel that way initially, but they should realize he's just a child by now."

"I doubt it. This village is full of heartless bakas," Kakashi retorted vehemently. "A couple people were bold enough to paint the word 'Demon' on the door a few days ago. Took me an hour to get it all off."

Jiraiya shook his head sadly. "To think people from our village would do such things."

They sat in silence for a while watching Naruto gradually drift to sleep, snoring contentedly in his grandfather's arms.

After Jiraiya had put Naruto to sleep, he turned to say good-bye at the door.

"I'll should be back in a few weeks," he said solemnly. "If I weren't so busy I'd be more than willing to take him off your hands but . . . "

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm fine. I'm sure he'd enjoy every one of your future visits."

Jiraiya placed a firm hand on Kakashi's shoulders and crouched down so he could be eye level with the jounin.

"I know this has been a lot to ask from you, but I have a feeling you're the only one meant for this. Take care of him, protect him, teach him, and see what you can learn from him in return. Out of the mouths of children . . . "

"I understand. I swear my life on it." That was such a common phrase in ANBU. It was so engrained in their minds because every mission put their life on the line.

"Here's the second book, in case I don't come back by the time you finish the first!" Jiraiya grinned pervertedly as he left the complex.

Hentai, Kakashi thought as he shook his head before shutting the door.

Naruto was aghast. So Jiraiya did come see me! He was wondering when he'd make an appearance and was eager to see what would happen when he came to visit him other times. He decided to tell Jiraiya what he discovered the next time he came to the village.

Despite the joy he felt towards seeing Jiraiya, he was shocked at what happened to Kakashi. From the way he acted, it seemed like he was in love with Rin. Naruto couldn't imagine what he would do if Sakura ever died; he couldn't blame Kakashi for acting that way. Naruto just couldn't get over the shock of learning all these new facts about his sensei's past that he had no idea about! What else did he not know about?

The genin now found himself just as curious to find out more about his sensei's past alongside his own.