Phew, crazy, crazy, crazy! I'm not even going to bother giving you excuses and stuff, cause I know that's all annoying. I am sorry for the late update though.

My fantabulous reviewers are . . . SongoftheDarquePhoenix, mkt, Shawny Wong, Uzumaki Naruko14, Lupanari, Namikaze14, Namikaze naru14, Shadowblayze, cardcaptor eternity, catgirl9696, avatard, ninbunny alchemist, HughesHanajimaHilariaHypocrite, Rika24, Bluishorbs, Dragon Mistress of the Heavens, Gabwr, graypheonix, Chia89, Foltosa, CandyGirl999, BattousaiGrl, Lunan, Amanda, Haru Inuzuka, Ashfire28, and Latina4ever!

For those of you who don't know, I am doing a doujinshi of The Truth! Yay! You can access it from my deviantart account on my bio page. Right now only the cover is up, but my dad promises that he will install the scanner to my computer sometime tomorrow so I can start scanning without having to bother him. I've already got the first page done, I just need to wait for him to install it. I'd do it already if I knew how, but sadly I'm not computer savvy.

Enjoy!

"Welcome to our new home, Naruto!" Kakashi announced excitedly, bursting through the door and adjusted the squirming (almost) two-month old baby in his arms so he could see. Baby Naruto stopped fidgeting and gazed at the new surroundings, momentarily awestruck at the change in scenery, but was easily bored and started whimpering. Kakashi sighed and quickly shut the door to what would be his apartment until Naruto was old enough to live on his own.

The new apartment wasn't that different from his own but still, the prospect of changing locations still had a certain thrill in it. He and his clones had spent all morning bringing the furniture and other essential items back and forth with the transportation jutsu (best to have as little people know of the switch as possible) while little Naruto was taking his morning nap. Considering the way he was struggling, Kakashi surmised that the little kid was hungry—again.

"You know, I don't know what I'm going to do with you," Kakashi chastised as he prepared a bottle for Naruto skillfully. He was now a pro at everything and generally had to do it one handed because until he was a year old, Kakashi was afraid that leaving Naruto alone for more than a few minutes at such a vulnerable age would be bad for him.

The jounin had taken his promise to the deceased Hokage—and his sensei—to heart. He was fully prepared to protect Naruto with his life. The resolute decision had stirred something inside of him that had been dead for years, and while it slightly unnerved him, Kakashi relished in the ability to feel that emotion again. He simply couldn't wait until Naruto was a little stronger so he could start training him, since the youth could tell Naruto wasn't going to have an easy upbringing, even with him there protecting him, so Naruto needed to be strong enough to protect himself.

An ever looming threat of being sent back out on missions too early frightened Kakashi. He knew the Sandaime would never do anything of the sort, but he wasn't too sure of the council. Kakashi knew for a fact that the Hokage was using all his power to stop the elders from simply ending Naruto's life then and there. Sarutobi confided in him a few days ago that he had to resort to the promise of the possibility of using Naruto for the village's own purpose, should the need arise, just to leave him alone. It was obvious the old man regretted it, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

But no need to dwell on unpleasantries. Now all Kakashi wanted to do was enjoy the brand new day. However, little did he know that today Naruto wouldn't be the only one receiving a surprise.

It was right after Naruto had finished his bottle that there was a loud rap on his door. Thinking it was Gai, Kakashi sighed, carefully laid Naruto in a little baby hamper, and opened the door.

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL! I BRING FRIENDS!" Sure enough, there was Gai in all his green spandex glory, but there was also—

"Asuma? Genma? Anko? Ibiki? Kurenai?" Kakashi was momentarily stunned at the flurry of people standing in front of his—Naruto's—apartment. It was obvious Gai had forced them here, but he couldn't tell why. It's not that they weren't friends, it's just that they weren't all together close. They were civil when they had to interact, but Kakashi preferred to be alone, and the others respected his request—that is, all except Gai of course.

The older Naruto was aghast at the scene before him. It was obvious who was who, but it was still enjoyable to see the jounin at the age he and the rest of his friends were at.

Asuma's hair was a little longer and he was wearing a large jacket like Kiba used to except it was unzipped. He also didn't appear to be smoking yet. Genma was sporting a smaller senbon needle in his mouth, had a regular Hitai-ate so that some of his brown hair flopped over it messily, and wore the standard shinobi pants with a long-sleeved green shirt and brown vest.

Anko still had her necklace that Naruto had seen her wear, but she did not have the trench coat. At this point in time she had long fishnet on her arms with a sleeveless purple shirt and wore high black boots with a small gray skirt. Ibiki only had one scar running diagonally across his face, and he still had hair! Granted, he still had his Hitai-ate that covered most of his head, but the older Naruto could still see some brown hair peeking out underneath. He was the more standard of the group, wearing his chuunin jacket underneath his black trench coat.

Kurenai's hair was shorter, and she wore a simple white shirt and red skirt, but her left leg had bandages down to her knee and her right arm was bandaged from the elbow to her hand.

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked.

"Thought we'd see the kid," Genma sighed, moving the senbon needle to the other side of his mouth.

"Yeah, and Kurenai's a sucker for little babies," Asuma teased, but his smirk soon disappeared as the female elbowed him hard in the chest.

"Can we come in?" Ibiki questioned, raising an eyebrow. Despite the absence of most of the scars he had, the older Naruto still felt slightly intimidated by the large man.

It appeared Kakashi was too.

"Of course, of course," he said nervously as he opened the door wider for them to enter, trying to suppress a shudder from the look Ibiki had given him. The teen was moving up in the ranks of interrogators, his ultimate goal to become a Tokubetsu Jounin specializing in—what else—interrogation. Oddly enough, Kakashi had been witness to the event that inspired Ibiki's dream.

"How you holding up?" Kakashi asked dryly.

"Fine," Ibiki said as he turned to Kakashi, but winced at the effort. "You?"

"I've had worse." It wasn't a lie.

The two jounin had been captured by unknown enemy nin while they were trying to capture a simple scroll that the Hidden Mist Village said had been captured by a rogue shinobi. Just like Konoha, they were suffering from the onslaught of the Iwagakure, so they had to resort to asking for help. Desperately needing paying missions, Konoha was all too eager to oblige.

The details of the mission identified it as a relatively easy assignment, so Sarutobi had sent Kakashi, Ibiki, and an experienced chuunin named Kisho to carry out the task. They easily apprehended the man, but it quickly turned into chaos. Kishohad been holding the prisoner as Kakashi and Ibiki examined the document briefly enough to confirm that it was what they were looking for, when the missing nin self-destructed, most likely from hidden exploding tags littering his body.

Kisho, being the closest to the explosion, died instantly, while Kakashi and Ibiki were gravely injured. They were soon captured by what appeared to be Mist nins and taken to an underground facility where they were tortured for information. Neither had talked yet, and it was obvious the enemy was frustrated.

The two jounin analyzed the situation and knew that they were being held captive by Rock nins who were simply wearing Hitai-ates they stole from dead Mist shinobi. It was most likely a ruse to spark distrust between the two villages because that would aid them in taking both of the villages down, but they didn't count on the two shinobi they had captured to be smart enough to see through their ploy.

Kakashi was rather impressed at how well Ibiki was holding up, considering that it was obviously his first experience being captured and tortured for information. In fact, he was doing better than Kakashi did on his first time, but then again, Kakashi had only been seven at the time.

"How do you put up with it?" Ibiki whispered after a particularly brutal beating session. Their captors had carved target signs into their skin (the kind that students at the academy aimed at from a distance to practice their aim) using kunai, and then punched and kicked the jounin in those very areas, as if they were practice dummies. One even had brass knuckles.

"Find your happy place?" Kakashi answered sarcastically.

Ibiki chuckled halfheartedly, but not too much because it hurt. "No really, how?"

"Well," (Kakashi shifted his position on the floor so they were facing each other) "Minato-sensei always taught me to focus on something that makes you happy, something to occupy your mind. He would always entertain me with stories about ramen and becoming Hokage while we waited, to give me something to think about when they came back later."

"Smart man," Ibiki gruffed, tugging on the shackles that held their arms above them. "Hope he fulfills that dream someday." In truth, the jounin was amazed at how well Minato seemed to cope with everything and still be able to smile the way he did, despite all the hardships and grief he had to deal with, even with being the renowned "Yellow Flash" as he was starting to be known as.

"So, do we use these same types of tactics on those that we capture?" he continued after a few minutes of silence, curious in spite of himself, yet afraid of the answer.

It took a little while for the boy to answer him, but he sighed and stared at the door. "Hai. We do, but not to this extent," he said quietly, as though he were ashamed of it.

Ibiki snarled. True, it sure came in handy when it was benefiting their side, but now that he was on the receiving end of it, the process did seem a little inhumane.

"Can't say I really approve," he said angrily while Kakashi silently agreed.

"How else can we get what we need then?"

There was a slight pause as Ibiki tried to think, but then a cruel smile crept its way onto his face.

"Remember that time when Anko and I played that trick on my sensei?" he asked gleefully.

Kakashi's eye widened at the memory.

"You don't mean . . . "

Ibiki chuckled dangerously. "Oh yes, I think that would be a perfect method to use."

"But . . . messing with their minds that way?"

The jounin gave him a look that clearly said, And you like this better?

Kakashi sighed in defeat but couldn't help the sinister smirk that emerged underneath his mask. "You know, you're sadistic."

"Why, thank you."

"Awww, he's so adorable!" Kakashi's attention was brought back to the present by Kurenai's cries as she gently picked Naruto up.

"Told ya," Asuma smirked to the boys, and was thankfully spared from injury from Kurenai because she was holding the infant. Didn't stop Anko though.

"ITAI!" the jounin wined, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"Serves you right," she smirked as she joined her female companion to gaze at the baby. While she didn't care to ogle him like Kurenai was doing, the kunoichi had to admit the little bundle of a baby was cute. She could tell he would grow up to be popular with the ladies.

"Little tyke doesn't look half bad," she admitted, rubbing his cheek gently while baby Naruto smiled up at her. "Sure can't wait to have some of my own some day," the kunoichi sighed dramatically while gazing at the boys and fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.

The four shinobi paled instantly, taking a small step away from the crazy woman, including Ibiki. It was a unanimous decision that woman was just too scary for words. Only Gai stayed where he was, oblivious to what Anko had referenced and took it as an admission of her acceptance to follow his way of life. He wasted no time.

"Anko! It truly makes me cry with the tears of a thousand passions to know that you have admitted to taken part in dreaming for children! I always knew that your heart burned with the POWER OF YOUTH!" As he had said this, he knelt down in front of Anko with tears running down his face.

"PUT A SOCK IN IT, TEME!" she yelled in return, kicking the teen square in the face, causing him to be thrown towards the other four boys, who simply stepped aside and let him pass through the still open doorway into the hall. It was his own fault, provoking her like that.

Naruto began crying, not that thrilled about all the yelling and screaming that was taking place so close to him. Kurenai tried to calm him down.

"Shh, shh, shh," she said soothingly. "It's okay Naruto, it's okay." When it didn't work she glared at Anko. "Now look what you've done!"

"Pfft, wasn't my fault—It was his!" Anko declared, gesturing at Gai who was still dazed from the impact.

When it became clear that Naruto was not going to be calmed down, Kakashi sighed and stepped forward.

"Here, let me take him," he offered. Wondering how a male (and Kakashi of all people) could do a better job than her, Kurenai placed the infant in his arms and folded her arms in a challenging stance.

"Don't worry, wittle Nawuto, it's okay," Kakashi cooed, bouncing the baby slightly in his arms as he began to walk around aimlessly. "It's all wight, Kakashi's here. There's nothing to be afwaid of."

And like magic, Naruto ceased crying and smiled at Kakashi before babbling incoherently. With a satisfied smirk, the jounin turned his attention back to his friends.

To say they were dumbfounded was an understatement. They were looking at Kakashi like he was another species of animal.

"W-what?" he stuttered.

As if that was the secret word, they all collapsed into hysterics, clinging onto each other for support as they were racked with uncontrollable laughter. Here was HatakeKakashi, the revered Copy Ninja, cooing to a tiny infant like a over dramatic mother! It was just too much for them to handle at the moment. Genma was laughing so hard the senbon fell out of his mouth! Even Ibiki was having a hard time keeping a straight face!

Kakashi turned beet red as he realized what he had just done. He silently cursed Pakkun with all his might.

It happened when Naruto was only two weeks old. Kakashi had decided that he was healthy enough to meet his ninkin, and wanted to show them all how accomplished he was at taking care of a baby, because they would never have believed him if he simply told them.

"Kyuchiyose no Jutsu!"

"Yo," Pakkun greeted his master as the smoke disappeared, but then his eyes widened as he realized who he was holding in his hands.

"That Minato's brat?" he asked incredulously.

Kakashi nodded proudly and knelt on the floor for all of them to see. Being well-trained and behaved dogs, they crowded around their master and kept their distance while sniffing and inspecting the young baby. Naruto was incredibly pleased and stared at all of them with rapt interest.

"Sure looks like him," Pakkun said fondly, leaning in for a closer look.

Naruto was startled by the fact that a dog was talking just like Kakashi was, and started to wail. Kakashi sighed and grabbed a bottle, but strangely enough it didn't appease the child. Slightly panicked, Kakashi ran a mental check-list of anything that could be bothering him. Let's see . . . he just ate . . . just woke up from a long nap . . . I finished changing his diaper . . . what in Kami's name is it?!

He gave up and turned to Pakkun for help. "Any ideas?" he pleaded.

The pug was thoughtful for a moment, then grinned. "You've got to do it this way—" (he paused dramatically) "It's alwight Nawuto! Don't be afwaid," he cooed in a high pitched voice. Naruto calmed down slightly, but it didn't work for long.

Kakashi almost dropped the baby. "No!" he said adamantly. "NO! There is no way I'm going to do that! No way in he—" At this point Naruto wailed even harder, and Kakashi did not want to upset the neighbors. All his ninkin smirked at him expectantly.

"Fine," he mumbled. The jounin gulped and bit his lip before saying, "It's . . . al—wight . . . Nawu—to. Don't . . . don't be af—afwaid."

Naruto calmed down at the attempt, but was still crying.

"Kakashi," Pakkun warned, trying to not laugh.

"All right!" Mentally cursing everything he could think of, Kakashi tried again, making sure to sound somewhat like Pakkun.

"It's alwight Nawuto. Don't be afwaid. Kakashi's here," he added for good measure while rocking him gently. To his surprise Naruto began to calm down more until he looked like he hadn't been crying at all, and he made a grab for Kakashi's face. Not that it mattered, for Kakashi had learned to not wear his mask around the infant after the first week, so it didn't bother him as much as it would have.

Pakkun smirked up at him. "And that is how you take care of a screaming baby."

Kakashi glared at all his ninken. "Not—A—Word."

If Kakashi could see the older Naruto beside him, he would be even more embarrassed and frustrated, because his soon to be student was currently on the floor, doubled over in pain as he clutched his stomach, overcome by laughter. He would have never thought in a million years that he would have seen something this good! Sakura-chan and Sasuke would get a kick out of this! he concluded.

Right now the jounin was currently glaring at his friends, anger growing by the minute. After what seemed like hours did they finally stop, some even wiping tears out of their eyes.

"So, did you come to pick fun at me or what?" the silver-haired jounin asked in annoyance.

"Aww, you're such a baby," Anko chided.

"Apparently he talks like one now," Genma chuckled.

"Anyway, back to business," Ibiki said, taking charge. "We're here because Hokage-sama has informed us that once Naruto is older and you are sent out on missions by order of the council, we are the only potential candidates to watch him while you'll be away."

"He figures it's best if we come and interact with the kid every so often, just to make sure he knows our face and is able to trust us when you leave," Asuma finished.

"Really?" Kakashi had never even considered the thought of who would watch Naruto when he was gone, but surmised that this was the smartest move. "Do you guys agree?"

There was a brief silence for a moment as everyone seemed to be distracted by something momentarily, and Kakashi understood their hesitation.

"He's not the Kyuubi you know," the jounin hissed under his breath, not willing to handle the prejudice from his own . . . friends.

"We know that!" Anko said harshly.

"It's just that . . . well . . . it's so soon," Kurenai answered truthfully.

"We still want to try though," Asuma said.

"We understand the way the villagers will treat him, and we don't want to be blinded by that same prejudice, so we accepted the job," Genma informed him.

"We've already seen what that can do from this past war," Ibiki threw in.

"WE WANT TO HELP!" Gai intervened, giving Kakashi a thumbs-up sign. Baby Naruto clapped his hands excitedly, trying to fit in with everyone.

Kakashi smiled warmly, grateful for the help. It's going to take a little bit of work, Naruto, but you'll see.

They'll all see.

Ah, tormenting Kakashi. Isn't it fun? I hope I did a good job with the others, because although I'd like them to be like Gai and Kakashi, they're human, so they have some faults. But I do know that they are good enough people to want to try! Just think about the future when toddler Naruto goes over to stay at Anko's house. Or Ibiki's. -evil smirk-