"Blah" - Dialogue

'Blah' – Thoughts

"Blaaahhhh/blah' - Emphasis

For Those I'll Live For

S-Rank Assassination

One year and four months after the incident where Guy's house was destroyed in an explosion…

Sarutobi sits in his office, wondering if letting Naruto get adopted, especially a full year earlier than originally planned, was the best idea. Danzo was avid in his attempt to recruit the boy, seeing as he might never be happy, even with a parent figure.

He lights his pipe and walks over to the window, looking over the town as if it would be able to ease away these thoughts.

Every day, there was a new request to have the boy killed, or exterminated, as some of the crueler villagers chose to say. Whether it was a secret request such as an assassination, or an open request, which called for a public killing, used as a show for the villagers, the fact that so many people wanted the child dead made the man sick and disgusted.

Sarutobi continues to look over the town that he was becoming less patient with, the more they asked for Naruto's death. 'Will you ever get the respect you deserve, Naruto?' There is a knock at the door. "Come in," he answers the person.

Kakashi strolls in, his book glued in front of his face. "Hokage-sama, I need to ask a favor of you."

Sarutobi is instantly curious, seeing as the jonin before him has never before asked for a favor, or even assistance from another. "What do you need, Kakashi?"

The silver-haired ninja never looks up from his book and answers in a monotone, preoccupied voice. "Well, you see, I really need two things… One, I need a high paying mission to do since Naruto eats more than an entire squadron of ninja. Two, I need a babysitter to watch him while I'm gone on the mission."

Sarutobi cocks an eyebrow at the requests, showing his curiosity. "Kakashi, giving you a mission is easy. Buy why didn't you just file for a D-rank mission?"

Kakashi turns a page in his book, giggles at the turn of events in his story before snapping it shut and putting it away in his pouch. He looks in the Third's eyes, seriousness having taken over. "Because the Kyuubi festival is so soon, that if my mission took over the time needed for me to get back here, he will need more than a genin to protect him."

Sarutobi nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. He picks up a couple of scrolls and searches through them. Eventually finding what he wanted, he tosses one to Kakashi. "There is a high-paying S-rank assassination. It's in Cloud Country. You won't be back in time for the festival, so I will assign a jonin to guard the boy. Is that alright with you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi opens the scroll, reads it, and nods at his aged leader. On his way out of the Hokage's office, Kakashi bumps into Iruka, the ninja academy teacher. "Hey there, Iruka."

Iruka looks at Kakashi for a few seconds, trying to register who the silver-haired shinobi before him was. "Oh! Hey, Kakashi. Haven't seen you in quite some time. What've you been up to?"

"Not much. Just adopted a kid who blew up Guy's house," he says nonchalantly. "You know. The normal stuff." Kakashi was smiling, but the only thing that showed this was his one, uncovered eye.

Iruka falls to the floor in shock and shakily gets back up. "That's not the 'normal' stuff!"

"Eh, if you say so," he shrugs. "See ya." Kakashi waves as he passes Iruka and disappears, leaving the academy teacher grumbling about oddball ninja.

Kakashi arrives at his home, scattering the usual swirl of leaves about. He sneaks into his own house carefully and silently, in search of the newest member of his family. He looks in all rooms of the house and makes his way to the backyard, where he finds his unsuspecting blonde victim throwing kunai at a target. Sneaking up behind the child, getting as close as possible, he whispers in his ear, "Boo."

Naruto jumps up, air born for a good few seconds, and screams like a little girl, scared as heck from his adopted father's joke. He falls in a weird way, twisting around so he's facing Kakashi when he hits the ground. "What the HECK! Why did you do that?"

Kakashi stands up straight, moving his hand to his chin to make it look like he's thinking, before stating, "Because I can."

He helps the small boy up. "Naruto, I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a mission and won't be back until sometime on the 12th."

Naruto looks up at him with saddened blue eyes. "You're going to miss my birthday?"

Kakashi flinches at his statement, remembering last year's event. On his birthday, when he tried to venture outside, he was chased back inside by the neighbor's kids, and even some of the neighbor's themselves. "Don't worry, I talked to the Hokage and he is going to have a jonin come and watch you while I'm gone."

Naruto becomes less tense, visibly relaxing with the knowledge that he would be protected by someone as strong as his adopted father while he was gone. "Do you know who it is, Otou-san?"

Kakashi shook his head with a small smile on his face. He loves the fact that his sensei's son considered him a father. "No, but I'm sure that he will protect you with his all if something happens, plus you can defend yourself with all the training you've been making me give you," he chuckles lightly.

Naruto laughs and smiles, showing his teeth, except for the one that had fallen out recently. The training had been Kakashi's idea. His reasoning was that if he wanted to be a great ninja, then he might as well start now, though Naruto definitely wasn't complaining about it. He actually loves training and complains about Kakashi becoming tired before him. "I know, Otou-san! I've even been practicing my kunai throwing while you are gone!" Naruto's smile beam was set on high.

Kakashi looks at the target that was hung on a tree trunk. They were all perfect bulls-eyes, a total of thirteen kunai packed into the small, red center ring. "Naruto, I don't think you need to practice with kunai for a while, but why are you so bent on being great with those?"

Naruto picked up the three-pronged kunai he wore as a necklace charm every day. "Because the Fourth Hokage gave me this when I was a baby! I want to be able to use it when I get older. It is a kunai, so I thought I should be skilled in using them!"

Kakashi started at the young boy before smiling. "Well, you'll be happy to know that you can go to the ninja academy start next term." The blonde boy's yells of happiness nearly deafen the jonin.

The rest of the night was routine for the two. Naruto eats around four times as much as Kakashi and practices moving chakra to different parts of his body while Kakashi reads, then they go straight to bed.

Kakashi wakes up early, getting ready for his mission. He grabs his ninjato and mask, stopping in the front room to write Naruto a note for when he gets up. He creeps out of the house silently, as to make sure that he doesn't wake the young lad. As soon as he is out of the door, he is heading for Konoha's exit and Cloud Country.

Naruto wakes up earlier than usual and sits up. Wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he uncovers himself and jumps down from his bed, walking into the front room to find his father. Upon entering the room, he sees a piece of paper on the table and picks it up.

'Naruto,

I know you probably forgot that I was leaving for a mission today, so there is food in the fridge for you. And remember to be polite to whoever has the… pleasure… to take care of you while I'm gone.'

Naruto laughs slightly at how his father worded his letter. Ever since he made the last sitter leave screaming because his constant questioning drove them to the edge, Kakashi always joked about how Naruto was so unruly.

Naruto decides that he could try reading more about chakra and its uses again. Even though he doesn't understand most of what the books said, he still makes attempts to copy it.

Around two in the afternoon, a man sporting a Konoha headband showed up at the door, his five and half feet towering over the three foot, four inch tall Naruto. He has scars all over his face and wears a standard vest that chunin and up wore, and shinobi pants. His black, soulless eyes seemed emotionless.

Naruto greets the man and lets him in. The man looks around the house and then asks Naruto what he normally does during the day. After Naruto showed him around the house and told him all about his daily routine, the older man simply followed Naruto around with the empty look he had since Naruto opened the door.

The week until his birthday was just like the others before it. Minus his father and add the ever-silent shinobi that watched his every move. But the day of the Kyuubi attack, on Naruto's birthday, the shinobi starts to act weird. That day, he starts staring daggers at Naruto, whether he was watching or not, though that was only one of the many things he did.

Just past seven in the evening, right before the night festival, Naruto is in the front room when he witnesses whatever it is that holds the man together snap, the killer intent rolling off of him strongly. Naruto starts to feel extremely uncomfortable around the man. Her turns away from him and follows his compulsion to ask, "Why are you acting so weird?"

The man gives no reply.

Before he even notices that the man moves or that he is in harm's way, he already has a kunai sinking deep into Naruto's arm, the excruciating pain causing the boy to cry out. The older man speaks no words as he grabs Naruto by his hair and tosses him into a corner with little effort.

Naruto whimpers from pain. "Stop! Please stop it!" The man starts to walk towards him, and he knows that he has to do something, that he has to keep the man away from him.

Naruto, thinking quickly, grabs the kunai out his arm and hurls it at his assailant as hard as he can, attempting to stop his approach. The black-eyed ninja didn't even move as the kunai sliced into his arm like it did Naruto's.

It took a second for it to set in that the monster before him had harmed him. The man felt the need, after a week of silence, to finally speak. "You damned monster! How dare you even think about attacking me?"

Naruto is scared out of his mind and makes a mad dash towards the front door, hoping to get away, but the older ninja is too fast and blocks his path out, kicking his ribs and ramming him into the opposite wall. "You're not getting away that easily you demon."

Naruto lays there, eyes tearing up from the pain, but fighting them off so at least his attacker doesn't get the satisfaction of his pain.

"I'm going to do to you what you did to this whole village," he threatens. The deranged man pulls out a roll of ninja wire and two kunai. "You're going to feel the pain that you've cause all of us."

"What did I do," Naruto cries out. "I haven't done anything!"

The man moves to Naruto, who is lying on the ground, unable to move. Picking him up by his hair once again, the ninja drops him into a chair and ties him to it, easily overpowering the small, weak child.

"No! Please don't hurt me," Naruto pleads with the man. "I didn't do anything wrong! I've been good!"

The man ignores his cries and laughs at him. "You've done more than you think, boy." He takes a kunai to Naruto's face, slowly making a long, painful cut on his cheek. "You even have whiskers!" Another slice donned the boy's face from cheek to jaw.

"They're birth marks," Naruto yelled at the man with soulless eyes, only to get laughed at again while the man searched for something that Naruto could only guess would hurt like hell when he found it.

"Ah! My favorite thing to do to… prisoners…" Pulling a salt shaker out of the kitchen, he pours a handful of salt into his plan, proceeding to smear it into the cuts on Naruto's face, resulting in a tortured scream from the five year old. "Yes, Demon! Scream! Scream like my family did! Like I did," yelled the man as he took his kunai across the boy's shoulder and chest. Naruto cried out in pain once again, tears flowing freely from his innocent, ocean-blue eyes. "DON'T YOU DARE CRY THOSE FAKE TEARS! YOU MAY PRETEND ALL YOU WANT, BUT YOU AREN'T HUMAN! YOU'RE A DAMN DEMON!"

The man continues to slice wildly at the helpless boy for the next twenty minutes, Naruto screaming in protest at each and every slash. His original wounds that the man had caused were almost completely healed, fueling the mad man's beliefs that he was indeed a demon. After untying the boy, he grabs the back of his neck and drags him into the back to finish him off. Hearing the scraping sound of metal being dragged, the man looks down to see Naruto's necklace broken, but the Fourth's kunai trapped underneath the boy's limp leg.

Refueled even further with rage at the sight of the 'demon' with the Fourth's own weapon, he tosses the ragdoll-like boy to the side, Naruto's head hitting the door trim. Picking up the Fourth's kunai, the man turns to Naruto. "How dare you have this? Since the Fourth couldn't finish it, I guess I will for him." The man drags Naruto by the hair to the target that is tied to the tree that Naruto uses so often. "Guess this is the end of the demon of Konoha." Laughing hysterically, the insane ninja throws the kunai with unbelievable force, aiming for the young boy's heart.

His aim is slightly off, though, and hits his victim in the ribcage, getting stuck there. "Looks like you're lucky, brat. But next time I won't throw it." He walks towards his captive, stumbling a little and laughing maniacally. Naruto starts to panic. He didn't want to die! 'Otou-san! Help me!' The kunai in his ribcage begins glowing slowly and Naruto disappears in a bright yellow flash.

Sarutobi is turning the doorknob to his office to, planning on visiting Naruto, when he sees a bright flash. Turning around, he sees a bleeding and battered Naruto on his floor. The shock of seeing the boy in such a state caused him to freeze for a moment. After he thawed, he yelled for his ANBU guard. "Get this boy to the hospital NOW!" As soon as he made sure that the boy was on his way to be treated, he called for a second ANBU guard. "Get Kaori in here and detained RIGHT NOW," the old man growled fiercely.

The ANBU member is gone in seconds, vanishing in a swirl of leaves, leaving Sarutobi to think to himself. 'Naruto, please be ok… Kaori, if I find out you did this, your head will be posted in the center of the village.' With that thought finally out, the old man takes off, heading for the hospital and wanting to see the young boy the second he was cleared to be seen.

We still ask that you review! Please do! We're starving for your comments, thoughts, and opinions! We hope you continue your faithful reading as well! ^_^