By: Selim
Summary: When the newlywed Iruka wants to adopt a child, he meets a discriminated boy named Naruto with a dark past. Can Iruka and Kakashi obtain a small family with the boy, or lose him back to the boys original parents..
Pairings: Kakashi x Iruka, Sasuke + Naruto
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Information of this fiction: This is a slight AU. Though it has to do with Ninjas, has Kyuubi, and both Kakashi and Iruka are at designated jobs in the manga, some things are different. Instead of 25, Iruka is only 22, and Naruto is 9 along with all the other kids he grew up with in the manga. I am using a beta (THANK YOU MAYHEM!).
Note; you guys will know when the fic is over, so don't think now is the end. I have many chapters.
Thanks for reviewing: (FF) Fullmoonhowler, Ryou-la-lune, Alaskantiger, Coldplayer, Icenight009, Blackmoon13, Chewy-chan, Narasha-Leona, AnonGirl88, nesssachiel, FXL, Daisuke Shadow Kitsune, Illuminatedshadow (AFF) Devilsheart, Calmtiger, Briryan, Inoku, and Sanosukelover
Iruka couldn't hold back the smug look on his face as Takanashi stood up at his desk, wearing a very confused expression that quickly changed to embarrassment when it was explained that the Hokage had decided differently about the kind of parents the two ninjas would be. He bowed down polite, apologizing for the dismissal of adoption, covering his story up by saying that he wasn't the one that decided in the end, that he merely sent notes up to a higher desk the would approve or disapprove. Iruka didn't believe it, nor did Kakashi.
"Follow me, Hatake-san. We'll get Naruto ready to go if you don't mind waiting in the lunchroom with all the other children. He's eating breakfast right now." His face was masked with a smile, his voice edged with criticism. If either ninja noticed, they made no move to make it known as they followed the man down the long corridors that they had walked so often recently.
A month before, after celebrating their approval for adoption (of which Iruka still blushed many shades in remembrance), Iruka had used the money he'd saved over the course of years to buy Naruto a bed for the guest room, some toys, several plush toys of the fox genre, and other furniture the boy would need. Unsure of what the boy's size was, the happy teacher had abandoned every thought of clothes until they had Naruto within arms reach.
Squeezed in Iruka's arms was a fox plush toy that Kakashi had "found" during his most recent mission, and, being the kind man that he was, he found it in his heart to save the toy from ravenous enemies. Knowing that it was just Kakashi's way of saying he was looking forward to bringing the child into his family (having been more than willing now, knowing that it was his old teacher's son), without actually saying it. Kakashi's arms wrapped around his waist, reassuringly, making Iruka nod. "I can assume he's not packed to leave, Takanashi-san?" Iruka inquired; his voice full of curiosity.
"The Hokage…failed to make us aware that he'd be leaving…" Takanashi explained.
"I wonder why…" Kakashi muttered, to himself, off handedly. If he meant for the councilor to hear it, the man did. His ears turned red, his face losing color. "We'll get this all finished here and today, and in a few hours he'll be nothing more than a child on file to be observed."
"Not true, Hatake-san." Takanashi-san muttered. "We must also contact his biological parents, let them understand of the adoption and question if they want to fight it along side the adoption hearing. Just so you know that it will be a tense adoption since Naruto isn't exactly an… orphan." His hands pressed on the door shutting the corridor off, sliding the escape open and letting noise flow out. Children's laughter and chatter, a yell here and there, came loudly to both ninja's sensitive ears, but instead of Kakashi who winced at the sound of simultaneous noise, Iruka was used to this kind of behavior in children. "Naruto eats over on the east side of the room by himself; I think he prefers it that way." That said; Takanashi-san walked away, leaving the two parents-to-be alone. Nodding, Iruka stepped towards the direction they were instructed, where the crowd was less dense and the small blonde dressed in orange was slurping at his meal noisily.
As if sensing their approach over his small bowl, the boy glanced towards them, his eyes changing from fear to happiness. "Hi!" He put his bowl down. "Whatcha doing here today?"
Iruka smiled, sitting down across from Naruto, pulling the jounin down to sit next to him. "Kakashi and I are going to take you with us today. Home."
If possible, the boy's eyes grew wide with astonishment. Probably having never heard such words in his young life. "Home? Like, one of those buildings with grass and a fence? Dogs and … other cool things that people have?"
Iruka smiled, his eyes closing with happiness and embarrassment, but it was Kakashi that spoke. "More of an apartment near the academy and several small shops, a neighbor above us who has too many cats – I keep finding them lying about. The neighbor across from us has many plants and always stands outside to greet people that come by as if he knew we were coming." Naruto smiled at that.
"That sounds like Aki-san. He shares the same dorm as I do, and always acts like he knew we were coming. Doesn't want to admit he's skipping a course." He stood up, clutching his empty bowl in his hands, a smile lighting up his face and clearing up all traces of fear that had been there before. "If I'm leaving today, I gotta get packed up! Can I bring my drawings? Oh! Can I bring my crayons and all my foxes?"
"Foxes?" The teacher inquired.
"Yep. Foxes. They protect me." Naruto gave his bowl to one of the cleaning monitors, who glanced at him with hatred before pretending to ignore he was there once more. "Takanashi-san always told us a story about a demon fox that attacked Konoha several years ago. He says that it was a bad fox, and that if we miss behave, we'll have to suffer with its own hatred. But foxes aren't hating animals."
Interested, Kakashi spoke up with a deep voice, "why is that, Naruto?"
"'Cause…I don't know." Naruto looked at his feet. "I don't think they do wrong." Kakashi and Iruka glanced at him, but didn't press their questions any further. "Come on, let's go and get my stuff. I wanna show you to my friends!" He pulled on Iruka's arm, laughing. "Come on!" With a turn, he dragged the high-strung man down the hall. Kakashi couldn't hold back the snicker at the child's extensive chatter, continuously asking questions that Iruka tried to answer before the next question popped up. Questions about the whole family seemed to drop the boy's enthusiasm a bit, but he brightened back up when Iruka explained that their many friends were very close to the family, so the boy would always have someone to talk to.
"This is my room!" Naruto suddenly shouted, throwing the door open. A few boys, who had been sitting on the beds, glanced up before looking down to what they were doing before the intrusion. Naruto ran past everyone of them to his clean bed, seeming shocked about the change that had come to it. "Whoa! New sheets!" He pulled the blanket down, looking over the bedding. Iruka looked over, worriedly, at Kakashi, who nodded with a grimace. The adoption agency was hiding the truth.
"Iruka-san! Down here!" Naruto waved his hand from near his trunk, opening the large lid. "I gotta show you my art work!" Nodding, the Chuunin sat down next to their new son, watching Naruto pull items from the case, telling many stories about each drawing. Conflicting stories of how the fox in each one saved the day. One or two of the drawings didn't contain a fox in any way; they were a disarray of colors flooding from greens and blues of the fields to orange and reds of an inferno of fire.
Iruka glanced over at the two landscapes, messy but perfect for a child at the age of nine. "Why did you draw these?" He asked, looking them over closely.
"I see them in dreams!" Naruto shouted cheerfully. "I had this dream around my birthday," he pointed towards the fiery inferno, "last year. I liked the colors, but it was very scary! The green one had lots of bunnies in it during my dreams. Bunnies and deer, and other animals just playing together. They were big though! Humongous compared to what Maiko-sensei has in her books!"
Kakashi's black eye seemed wide compared to the lazy look it had before, but his expression relaxed as he sat on the bed. "Pack up, Naruto?" He suggested, but his voice suggested that he really wanted to leave the building.
"Yes." Iruka nodded. "We should hurry, Naruto. We're going to take you out to eat, and then do some clothes shopping. Take you home so you can get all situated in that new bedroom."
"I get my own room?" Naruto yelled, enthusiastic once again. Iruka nodded, causing a cheer to erupt out of the boy's lips. With a turn, the boy did a small victory dance before glancing over that the two new parents. "Can we leave now?" He emptied everything he owned into a plastic bag, and Iruka helped him tie the bag close.
"Sure, but first we have to go confirm you leaving with Takanashi-san." With a nod of his head, Iruka stood up and grasped Naruto's hand, helping him to his feet. "Come, let's go." He smiled, Naruto began pulling him again towards the door.
"Bye everyone!" He yelled to the occupants in the room. One or two replied, others gave a raise of the hand in acknowledgement; the last two didn't say anything, just continued reading their comic books. "Gifts," Naruto explained as he led the way to Takanashi's office, "for our birthdays. They save money, sometimes taking it out of their own pocket to buy a gift for one of us every birthday."
"What do you get on your birthdays, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, remembering that the boy had only placed drawings and crayons in his bag, no real material goods.
"…They throw a party. I don't like going though. I don't think the party's for me, more like for an attack that happened years ago. I don't feel welcomed." Naruto's eyes strayed to the floor. Both parents dropped the topic quickly as they entered the Takanashi's office.
The man was hunched over his desk, filling out paperwork. He glanced up at the open door, a smile smug on his face. "Ready to go, Naruto-kun?" He asked. The child nodded eagerly. "Very well then. Hatake-san, just fill in this release forms. Here. Here. And here," he pointed out every space. Iruka read through the contract instead of just signing. "Observation periods, as I explained to you before, will be random. He or she might come during your work schedule to ask questions, or just show up at your apartment. Once in awhile, they'll call ahead, but some of them will try to surprise you to build cases. The offer still stands that if you need to know about your social worker, contact me and I'll tell you." He bent down to Naruto's level, his hands on the boy's shoulders, causing the child to wince at the squeeze (though the man made it look playful). "'Sides, we want to keep Naruto in his good home now, don't we?"
With a nod, Naruto hugged the counselor before latching onto Iruka's leg, staring up. "Can we go now?"
Signing his name, Iruka handed the pen over to Kakashi, who started scribbling his name down in the designated areas without reading. "In a second." Putting the pen down, Kakashi looked up. "Is that all?"
"Yes it is, Hatake-san. Naruto," he addressed the child, "be a good boy for them." Giving a thumb up, the boy let Iruka lead him out of the building, smiling along the way.
As they stepped out into the light, the small, tan skinned boy winced at the light, but a smile took over his features once more. "Where're we going now?" He jumped from heel to heel.
"Ah. Kakashi?" Iruka asked, unsure himself where to start their adventure as a family, Kakashi glanced around at the streets leading into town.
"He just ate; no point in going now. We can wait for that. Let's stop and get him clothes, then we can go show him the apartment. Later take him out to eat. How's that sound? Iruka?" Kakashi smiled at his husband, who nodded with a blush. "Well, let's go!" He waved his hand innocently. "Maybe we can get Iruka to try on some of the clothes I want him to wear." This deepened the blush on Iruka's face; Naruto just stared up at the two with confusion.
Leading the way, Kakashi lifted Naruto onto his shoulders to make them move faster. The boy squealed with his raise of height, grabbing hold of the jounin's hitai-ate in fear of falling. Quickly, the man grasped the metal, leaving it in place. "Leave that be, Naruto." He instructed, stopping the boy from running his hand over the metal frame then back to where the cloth tied under Kakashi's gravity defying hair.
"You and Iruka-san both have one, what are they for?" The child asked, grasping onto one of Kakashi's longer silver hair strands, holding himself up.
"It's a badge of adulthood for those that graduate to become shinobi." Seeing the look of confusion on the boy's face, Iruka decided to clear himself up some more. "Shinobi graduate from the ninja academy over there," he pointed in the direction. "First you're a genin where you begin hands-on training to become a Chuunin."
"Iruka's a Chuunin." Kakashi placed into Iruka's lecture. "Just so you know, Naruto, he doesn't get enough lecturing done at school, usually just brings it home to us and lectures. 'Kakashi, feet off the furniture, you track in dust from other countries, put your feet on my furniture, and expect me to clean it up! What am I, a maid?' Blah, blah, so on. You'll get use to it."
"I don't always lecture!" Iruka yelled.
"Right." Kakashi rolled his eyes with sarcasm; Iruka slammed his foot into the ground with a growl. "Let's see, children's clothes children's clothes." He glanced around, Naruto following his head directions. Finally, deciding on a building, he entered just to leave his raging husband outside to cool off.
Seeing them go inside, Iruka followed, planning Kakashi's demise inside his head. With a brush of the door, a chime of the bell, both Naruto and Kakashi, who were being checked over by a young sales lady, glanced at him. "There he is, he'll tell you what we're looking for. As far as I know, clothes that he'll probably rip some time or another."
Naruto wiggled on Kakashi's shoulders, trying to pull himself free. Kakashi did what the boy wanted, bringing him to the floor lightly before releasing all hold on the child. Naruto fled over to Iruka, grabbing the teacher's leg with wide eyes. "What's wrong Naruto?" Iruka whispered.
The boy just held on tighter, never looking up. With a sigh, Iruka moved forward, dragging Naruto with him. "Yes, but I'm sure we can handle finding the clothes ourselves." He led Naruto towards the children's area, busying himself by looking through shirts. "Kakashi, can you take Naruto over and try sizing his pants?" with small nod, Kakashi led the boy off. Still nervous, the boy glanced back at Iruka before at Kakashi. "What color do you like?"
"Orange!" He laughed.
Giving the boy an off look, Kakashi shrugged. "Orange it is then!" He led the boy in the direction of the trousers. Iruka frowned. What had caused the sudden mood change in Naruto? He seemed so cheerful when he first entered the shop with Kakashi. Glancing at the sales clerks, his eyes fell upon an older woman, the manager, sending glares in the blonde's direction.
"Ah." He whispered, turning away from the sneers. He had other things to do than worry about this. Picking up a few shirts, he followed after his husband and newly made son, watching them push through clothes arguing with one another about what was wrong with the outfit chosen. Parental choice and child's lack of fashion shoved in one (or Kakashi's lack of fashion, both were bad, Iruka mused). "What's going on here?" He sternly asked, looking at Kakashi.
Kakashi glared at the boy. "He wants a pair of orange pants that will match nothing at all."
"They're really cool!" Naruto yelled, holding up the pants in defense.
"Uh." Iruka blushed. "We'll get one pair, Naruto. Blue jeans would be better though."
"Fine…" Naruto kicked his feet out, pushing imaginary dirt around with the toe of his sandal. His eyes glanced around before widening. Like lightening he took off, leaving the two parents behind to stare at the clothes in their hands. The two began to match clothes together on the floor to make sure they had at least two weeks worth of wear since they were dealing with a nine-year-old boy.
"Boys like playing in mud, scratching their knees, and other things that ruin clothes." Iruka reasoned, remembering when he was younger. Kakashi nodded glancing at what they'd collected.
"Iruka-san!" A voice echoed through the store. All the clerks glanced up. Kakashi glanced up. Iruka glanced up just as he was pounced by a ball of blonde fluff. "Look what I found! Can we get it also?" He held up an orange fox, his bead like eyes glaring at them. "He says he's lonely here at the store. When he came to Konoha when he was a puppy, his mommy and daddy abandoned him and he moved in with these ladies waiting for a new home. He likes chicken soup and a salad on the side and," he brought the toy up to his ear to pretend he was listening to it, "he says he also likes Naru-chan!"
Taking the doll in his hand, Iruka checked the toy's price tag, frowning at how cheap the toy had been marked down to. He glanced at the old lady. Why would a woman who seemed to remember Kyuubi get a fox toy for her store? "Okay, only if he has a name. I don't take people or animals in my house until I know their names!"
"You brought me in the house without knowing my name. Of course, by the end of the night you sure as hell knew it." Kakashi chucked.
"Idiot!" Iruka flushed, hiding behind the toy, Naruto leaned into Iruka. "Don't talk about those kinds of things in public!" He stood up, clutching Naruto to his chest in a hold, slowly; he let the boy slide to the ground near the pile of clothes. "Go try those outfits on, Naruto."
"Okay!" Naruto smirked. "Hold Saiai, Kakashi-san?" He held out the toy. Taking it, Kakashi sat down relaxing on the wall. As the boy disappeared in a dressing room with all the clothes, he pulled out his orange book and began read. If Iruka's face could turn redder, it did. His mouth fell open as he lunged forward to remove the perverted orange book from his equally perverted husband, only to find his lips pressed against firm ones.
Strong arms grasped hold of the academy teacher's chin, bringing their mouths closer together and caused Iruka's mouth to fall slightly open. With entrance, Kakashi dove in, deepening the kiss he initiated. The orange book lay forgotten on the ground as the two kissed deeply, losing themselves on the ground of the clothes store. "Iruka-san! These pants don't fit!" Naruto's voice cried out from the changing room. "They're too tight! It's the black one!"
"I'll go find one size up then, Naruto. Set it aside!" Iruka pulled away from Kakashi. With a shake of his head, Kakashi opened his orange book again and began reading once more as Iruka tended to Naruto.
An hour later they left the store with three bags filled with neatly folded clothing and a happy Naruto cuddling his newly acquired fox toys, one bought from the store, the other Kakashi remembered he'd stuffed in his shirt when visiting the boy back at the academy. Originally, Iruka tried talking the boy out of buying the fox toy from the store, but Naruto gave a sob story on how the ladies at the door were very mean and hurt poor Saiai-chan. To stop the flow of tears, Iruka bought the stuff animal and led the boy towards their apartment.
Naruto was between the two. With captivated attention on their surroundings, he'd often run off from them to greet people walking around. "What happen back there?" Iruka had asked Kakashi as Naruto ran off to greet a fur trader from out of town.
"Just entered the shop and the old lady spotted Naruto and remembered a boy with whiskers on his face. Started saying they didn't serve demons." Kakashi watched Naruto run ahead of them to greet yet another old man.
"Oh." Iruka whispered, unable to find other words. A hand grasped his own, causing him to tense and turn in time to see Kakashi kiss his knuckles.
"Don't worry, Dolphin. What doesn't kill him will make him stronger."
Iruka glanced at the ground as Naruto's laughter filled the streets. "But…What if the weight of Kyuubi-san does kill him? The glares from the village, the hatred of the Shinobi. They're going to make his life miserable."
Kakashi's serious eye bore no shame as his voice echoed out. "If he can't defend himself against the villager's hateful glares and words, then Kyuubi will kill." Both parents faced Naruto as the boy laughed joyously at a side merchant's joke. For a brief second at the name Kyuubi, his head turned to face them. Instead of blue eyes full of love and joy were red eyes of hate and disgust. His whiskers sharper in the light, but they vanished as the merchant caught the boy's attention by holding his hands out wide. Once more the child laughed, and those red eyes were no more.
"Should we worry?" Iruka whispered, catching the moment of change.
"Only if he ever does harm, but not right now. The boy's still too weak for even a demon to care. We'll worry later." His face faulted. "Naruto! Let's go home and drop this stuff off!" The boy turned and ran towards the couple, clasping his hands with both of theirs and began pulling in the direction of the residential area. "Ha! We're coming Naruto, slow down!" The small family started down the road.