"Suki…Suki…wake up," Kakashi whispered as he nudged his seven-year-old daughter. "Today's the day."
The raven-haired girl's eyes instantly shot open at her father's words. She threw off the covers and darted passed him into the bathroom. The silver-haired man laughed at the speed with which Suki woke up.
After a few moments, the girl emerged from the bathroom, teeth sparkling and bushy hair fully braided. She ran over to her dresser and started pulling out all her clothes. She would look at each article of clothing and then toss it aside, shaking her head.
Kakashi was watching with his eyebrow raised. When she had nearly emptied all her drawers, he decided to intervene. "Suki, can you just pick something?"
"Daddy! It's the first day of school. I have to look extra nice!" the seven-year-old said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Kakashi chuckled at her. "Well, if you don't pick something soon, you're going to run out of options," he said as he left the room to go get breakfast started.
Suki frowned. "Okay…" she said in defeat. She ran back over to the discarded clothes on her bed and started picking through them. She decided to go for a pair of black pants and a white long-sleeved shirt with a picture of a bird flying on it.
Once she was fully dressed, she walked out of her room, ran down the stairs, and skipped into the kitchen. Her dad was standing by the counter, making bacon and eggs. He figured since it was Suki's first day at the Ninja Academy, he should make her favorite breakfast to put her in a good mood. Of course, judging by the way she was bouncing around, he figured she was already pretty excited.
"I take it you're excited?" Kakashi asked as he placed a plate of food on the island in the middle of the room.
Suki scrambled up onto a stool to sit at the counter. "Uh-huh!" she replied excitedly as she grabbed a fork and dug into her food.
"Do you want something to drink?" the man asked.
"Yeah," she replied as she took a bite of her omelet. When the jounin made a move toward the refrigerator, the girl quickly got up instead. "It's okay, I got it."
She bounced over to the fridge and grabbed the milk carton. Then she ran over to the dish rack by the sink and grabbed a dry glass. She poured herself some milk and then put the carton back in the refrigerator. She took a sip of her milk and sat back down to finish her breakfast.
Kakashi had watched the entire thing, and he smiled at her. Suki was pretty independent for her age. She showed her independence in little things, such as putting her clothes away, keeping her room clean, setting the dinner table, and doing her chores. And she did all these things without Kakashi asking her to. He knew it was because she had lived for the first six years of her life pretty much alone. Except for the people in charge of her old orphanage in Kagayaku, no one had been around to help her. And Kakashi didn't doubt the fact that her former foster parents might have ignored Suki as well.
"Are you gonna pick me up from school today, Daddy?" Suki asked, interrupting Kakashi's inner thoughts.
"Of course," the masked man said. "Today's your first day of school. I want to hear everything about it."
"Okay!" Suki replied elatedly.
She quickly finished her breakfast and placed the empty plate in the sink. She was about to grab a stool to bring over to wash the dishes, but her father stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll take care of the dishes. You go get your stuff ready for school," he said. His daughter nodded her head and ran back upstairs to grab her things.
Kakashi started washing the dishes. As he did so, his eyes started wandering around the house. This wasn't where he used to live; he used to live in an apartment. But when he had adopted Suki, he had thought it would be more suitable for her to grow up in a real house. It was a two-story home with a basement. It was a relatively small place, but it had a warm and welcoming feel to it. The family room led to the stone patio at the back of the house, which then led into the green yard. The backyard was spacious with a single large tree in the center.
The silver-haired man smiled to himself. He had never thought his life would lead him here. He was the father of a beautiful little girl, and he had a comfortable home to live in. He was even discovering those emotions that had been long killed when he had joined ANBU. Of course, he kept them away when it came to missions; but when it came to Suki, he was always filled with true happiness.
He finished washing the dishes and headed towards the front door. "Suki, are you almost ready?"
"Yeah, I'm coming," her small voice replied from upstairs. In five seconds, she was bounding down the stairs with a backpack strapped to her shoulders. "Ready!"
"Okay, then let's hit the road," Kakashi smiled.
The two exited the house and walked out into the road. The citizens of Konoha were bustling about hurriedly. People were running about, trying to quickly complete their errands for the day. The father and daughter became mixed in with the crowd, but the little girl made sure to stick close to her dad. The streets were packed, but after turning a few corners, less and less people were around. The most crowded areas were by the restaurants and shops, and now that Kakashi and Suki were closer to the school, only other children with their parents were occupying the streets.
The giant building that was the Ninja Academy came into view, and students of all ages were running about. There were a few teachers standing around, trying to keep order amongst the mob of students and parents. The silver-haired man led his adopted daughter into the courtyard.
"It looks like that man over there is going to be your teacher," Kakashi said to Suki, pointing over to a chuunin. He was very tan, and his spiky brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. There was a scar across his nose. "Will you be alright if I leave?"
"Uh-huh," Suki nodded. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around her father's waist. "I'll see you later, Daddy."
Kakashi smiled as he bent down so he could hug his daughter back. "I'll see you after school. Have fun, okay?"
"Okay!" Suki grinned. "Bye!"
"Goodbye," Kakashi waved as he left the area to go to the ANBU headquarters.
The raven-haired girl turned around and walked over to where the children were being separated into their grade levels. Just as her father had said, she was placed in the class where the tan chuunin was the teacher. She stood off to the side with the rest of her class, waiting for instructions to head inside. But there were some tardy arrivals, so the students had to wait while the other children were assigned into classes.
Suki stood along with the other students in her class. She looked around at the other children. Some were already chatting about how excited they were for school to start. She smiled at those comments. Just like the other children, she was excited about learning to be a ninja.
A year ago, she would have never thought about being a ninja. Heck, a year ago, she wouldn't have thought that she would be living in the Leaf Village. Back then, she was still living in that orphanage in Kagayaku Village. Now she had a father, and she lived in a beautiful home in a wonderful village. Not long after Kakashi had adopted her, she had told him that she wanted to attend the Ninja Academy when she was old enough. Since her father was a ninja, she thought it was only right that she become one as well.
Suddenly, Suki was snapped out of her thoughts as she felt someone shove her. Surprised, she turned around to look at who had pushed her.
There was no one there except for the other students who were talking about random things.
Suki furrowed her eyebrows. She silently shrugged to herself and turned back around to face the school.
"Psst, hey!" a voice whispered.
Suki jumped five feet in the air. She turned around to look in the direction of the voice. There were only bushes.
"Great… a bush is talking to me…" Suki thought to herself. "Or I'm just hearing things…"
"Is the guy gone?" the voice spoke again.
"Well, might as well play along with it…" Suki thought sarcastically to herself. "Um…what guy?"
"There was a big fat man with a beard that looked like a crazy bush! Is he around?" the voice said.
Suki looked around, and there was no adult that fit that description. Shaking her head, she turned back to the talking bush. "No, I don't see him."
"Great!" the voice exclaimed happily. "I thought I would never lose him."
The bush started to move, and the girl took a step back, just in case some kind of weird creature popped out. Surprisingly, it was just a boy.
"Thanks for keeping lookout. I was afraid that that guy would pummel me if he found me," the boy said. He was wearing a grin that stretched from ear to ear as he spoke.
"No problem…" Suki said cautiously as she looked at the strange boy. He had spiky blonde hair that fell in front of his cerulean eyes. He had black marks on his cheeks, resembling whiskers. He was wearing orange pants and a white T-shirt with an orange swirl on the front. "Why would he pummel you if he found you?"
"He's the baker at that bakery down the street. And…" The boy suddenly stopped smiling, and he almost looked afraid to finish his sentence.
"What?" Suki asked worriedly.
"If…If I tell you, will you promise not to tell an adult?" he asked. His voice was filled with worry and fear.
Suki was surprised at his sudden change in personality. One minute, he was smiling so much that she had been afraid that his face was stuck that way. Obviously not, considering he was now looking at her like she was going to decide his future in life.
"Sure, I promise I won't tell," Suki said as she made an X formation over her heart.
"Cool," the boy sighed in relief. "Well, I kind of… stole a donut when he wasn't looking."
Suki's eyebrows shot up. She had never known another child to steal food. She used to do it once in a while when she was starving in the orphanage. But that was because her foster parents made it a point to specifically not feed her a lot of the time. She tried to keep her stealing to a minimum, since she knew it was morally wrong in the first place.
"You stole food?" she exclaimed at the blonde.
"Shh!" he hissed as he quickly threw his hands over her mouth. After glancing around to make sure no one had heard her, he slowly brought his hands down. "Keep it down, would you? I'd rather not have the whole village knowing."
"Sorry," Suki apologized. "It's just… why would you have to steal food? And a donut for that matter?"
"Breakfast," the boy replied, as if the answer was completely obvious. "And donuts are good."
The girl stared at him as if he had just grown a second head. "So you steal food all the time, then?"
"Hey, hey, whoa, whoa," the boy said, waving his hands in front of him. "Don't think that I'm a thief, okay? I had to steal. I… I ran out of money. The Third Hokage gives me an allowance every few weeks, but… I sorta spent it all."
"Oh…" Suki said, relaxing a tiny bit. At least the boy wasn't a serial thief or anything. "Why does the Third give you money? Why not just ask your parents?"
The boy physically flinched at her words. He looked down at the ground and stared at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. The girl stared at him for a moment, and she realized that the solemn look he was wearing was definitely a look she had seen somewhere else before. She had seen it much too often.
That was the look she would wear when she was in the orphanage. That look… she had worn that look whenever she had been passed over for adoption in Kagayaku.
"I don't… my parents… they're not around…" the boy said, still looking at the ground. "I live by myself…"
"I'm… I'm really sorry…" Suki said softly, instantly feeling ashamed for making him talk about a really tough subject.
"But I don't care!" the blonde suddenly yelled, making Suki jump. "I'm doing fine on my own! I don't need anyone to look out for me!"
Suki gawked at the boy standing in front of her. She had known him for all of five minutes, and she could already see similarities between herself and him. He grew up alone, and so did she. A difference… she had Kakashi, and he still had no one. Another difference… he was brave. He put up a brave front, but she was never able to show her courage, or even fake it for that matter.
"Alright kids!" a voice said, getting all the children's attention. All the first-year students turned to see the tan chuunin standing before them. "My name is Iruka Umino, but you can call me Iruka-sensei. I'll be your teacher here at the Ninja Academy. Now let's head on inside."
Iruka-sensei turned and led the students into the building. The blonde boy was about to march into the building and join the mass of students when Suki tapped his shoulder.
"What?" the boy asked, turning to look at the girl.
Suki started nervously fidgeting with the ends of her braided hair. "Um… do you… wanna sit next to me in class?"
The boy's eyebrows rose in surprise. He was used to people running away from him. And now that he thought about it, he had never had a conversation with anyone this long. No one ever gave him the time of day. The fact that this girl was asking him to sit with her during class was something that he had never experienced before. There was a feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. It felt… nice. Maybe it was happiness? Acceptance? Friendship?
"Sure!" the boy exclaimed happily as the two walked inside to follow the rest of their class. He saw a small smile appear on the girl's face as she stopped playing with her hair in that anxious manner. "Hey, I never got your name."
"Suki… Suki Kurohoshi," the girl replied. "And you?"
"Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" the blonde yelled enthusiastically.
Half of the day had gone by, and Suki and Naruto were already friends. By lunchtime, they had connected in a way that other children could not. Both had childhoods that no one would be able to understand. They told each other stories of how their childhoods had been.
Naruto told Suki about how when he had turned five, he had been shoved out of the orphanage. He didn't know why; he just knew that people hated him. His foster parents couldn't stand being around him. The Third Hokage had decided to give Naruto his own apartment, and he would check up on him every now and then to give him money for food and clothes. But other than that, the blonde was forced to learn how to take care of himself. No one was around to teach him anything, so he had to do everything on his own.
And since the people of the village hated him, he was often ignored when he went out into the streets. If he wanted to buy something, the shopkeepers yelled at him to leave the store. If he wanted to play with other kids, their parents shooed him away. And sometimes, for no reason at all, he would notice people glaring at him. The looks on their faces always showed hatred, and he didn't understand why.
Suki told Naruto about how she had run away from her old village just a year ago. She had decided to leave because everyone hated her there. Her foster parents deliberately ignored her, so she was starving a lot of the time. She told him that she used to steal food as well, but she felt bad about it whenever she did. To make matters worse, she was always beaten when she did something wrong. So that's why she left.
When she ran away, a mob of villagers had chased her down, trying to bring her back. But a Leaf ninja had saved her from them. He took care of her and defended her when the time arose to decide her future. That man was now her father.
However, when Suki told Naruto all of these things, she purposefully left out the part about her being the Guardian. She didn't like to dwell on it herself and Kakashi hardly ever discussed it with her anyway. But to tell Naruto… she felt it would ruin their new friendship. She didn't want that, and she was afraid he wouldn't understand. Maybe he would become like everyone else and hate her for being the reincarnation of the man who nearly destroyed the world, unleashing the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon onto the Leaf Village.
"Wow, you ran away?" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. He had lived in the Leaf Village his whole life, and even though the people hated him, he had never thought about running away. "Where were you planning to go?"
Suki shrugged as she took a bite of her sandwich. "I don't know. I just… wanted to get away from those people."
"Whoa… that's brave," Naruto commented.
Suki immediately blushed. She never would have thought of herself as brave. If anyone was brave, it was Naruto. "I think you're pretty brave yourself. You're still growing up by all alone."
"Yeah, but it's nothing I can't handle," the blonde said dismissively with a wave of his hand.
As Naruto said the words, Suki saw something in his azure eyes. There was something that she had seen many times. She had seen it in her own eyes when she looked in the mirror and asked herself why the universe seemed to hate her. That thing in Naruto's eyes… was pain and loneliness.
"Naruto… have you ever thought of running away?" Suki asked quietly.
The blonde boy turned to look at his new friend. And while he was trying to keep his face nonchalant, he looked into Suki's eyes. Her silver orbs showed only understanding of the pain that he had gone through his entire life. Looking into those eyes made Naruto realize that he was lying.
He was lying to Suki. He tried to act tough and say that these bad things that happened in his life didn't really matter. But they did, and he knew it. He tried to act fine about it, tried to brush it off, and tried to ignore everyone. But he was really only blocking out the pain he had often experienced during his earlier days of suffering. And when talking to Suki, his walls broke down. He realized that Suki was the only one who understood how he felt, and he didn't want to lie about his feelings on this subject.
"Yeah… I have thought about running away," Naruto replied as he looked down at the ground. "Many times, actually. But… I don't know. I guess it's just that a part of me can't separate from this place." He turned to look Suki in the eyes. "I don't know if it's because I'm too afraid to run away. That's why I said you were brave for running away from your village."
"Well, I'm glad that you didn't run away," Suki said softly. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at her in question. "If you did, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to your right now."
Naruto grinned foxily at her comment. "Does that mean we're friends?"
Suki smiled. "I thought we already were friends."
"Okay… so does that mean we're best friends?" Naruto asked, still grinning widely.
"Sure," Suki replied. If possible, Naruto's grin grew even wider. Suki giggled a bit.
"Alright kids, time to go back inside for class," Iruka's voice yelled out to the students.
Naruto and Suki stood up from their bench and followed the rest of the students inside the building. As they walked, the two glanced at each other. Both shared smiles as they went into the school, and Naruto reached out and grabbed her hand. Suki looked down and smiled at their joined hands. She looked back up to smile at Naruto, and as their eyes met, a connection defined by loneliness strengthened into a bond that would always keep the two together.
"I'll always be there for you, Suki," Naruto said, his voice in the most genuine tone he'd ever used.
She nodded her head. "I'll always stay by your side, Naruto. I'll always be your friend."
School was finished for the day, and the classes were dismissed. Suki and Naruto exited the building along with the other students, carrying their bags with them. Through the thick crowd of parents and children, Suki could see her father standing by a tree, leaning against it, waiting for her. Naruto, feeling uncomfortable around adults, just took a step back to signal that he was leaving.
"I'm gonna go," he said softly.
"No, wait…" Suki said, not knowing what to say next.
"It's alright, Suki. I'm just going to head home," Naruto replied.
"But…" she started again. "Do… do you wanna meet my dad?"
The blonde stiffened a bit as his sapphire eyes looked down to the ground. All adults hated him for a reason he didn't even know of. And Suki might be his best friend, but that didn't mean her dad would like him. Actually, he might tell his daughter that she wasn't able to be friends with him anymore. It had happened quite a few times in the past.
"I don't know…" Naruto replied uncertainly.
As if reading his thoughts, Suki started to assure him. She knew he needed this, to meet an adult who didn't despise him. And if her father could adopt her after knowing her for a couple days, he was bound to like Naruto. "It'll be fine. My dad is really nice."
After looking into Suki's puppy-dog eyes, Naruto couldn't say no. So he nodded his head with a small smile on his face. The raven-haired girl grinned and took his hand, leading him over to the silver-haired man.
When Kakashi's eye spotted his daughter, his eyebrow quirked at the sight of her holding hands with a boy. The boy looked awfully familiar, but he knew he had never met him before, so his mind was a little confused.
Suki and Naruto reached Kakashi, and the man placed a greeting hand on his adopted daughter's head. "How was school?"
"Good," the girl replied with a smile. She released Naruto's hand to playfully swipe her father's hand off of her head. The whiskered boy immediately felt lost once she let go of his hand, feeling uncomfortable around her and her father.
"Who is your friend, Suki?" Kakashi asked, his eye now resting on Naruto's nervous face.
"This is my best friend, Naruto Uzumaki," Suki replied.
Kakashi's eye widened a fraction, but he kept his cool when he stared at the boy. "So it's him… the boy with the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of him. He looks just like you, Minato-sensei…" Kakashi thought, thinking about his former teacher. He turned to greet the seven-year-old. "Hello, Naruto. I am Suki's father, Kakashi Hatake. It is nice to meet you."
"It's… nice to meet you, Mr. Hatake…" Naruto replied nervously.
Kakashi smiled. "You can call me Kakashi. Mr. Hatake makes me sound really old."
"Okay," Naruto smiled a little.
"Would you like to come over and stay over for a while?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto stammered as he looked at the silver-haired jounin. No adult had ever been this nice to him. He was so surprised that he almost forgot to speak. If it hadn't been for Suki nudging him in the side, he would still be gawking at the man. "Um… okay. Thanks!"
"No problem. A friend of Suki's is always welcome," Kakashi said.
Kakashi glanced over at his daughter. She seemed really glad that he had accepted the blonde as a friend of hers. But Kakashi was just happy that Suki had been able to make a friend. And even though Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, Kakashi was more than willing to let their friendship continue. Suki was the Guardian, and he wouldn't be surprised if other parents found and made their child stay away from her.
As the trio walked away from the school, Kakashi couldn't help but think of the sad irony that was fate's hand playing with them. "The Guardian and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki… I suppose it is only natural that they have found a bond that brings them together."
He looked over at the two children. They were talking and laughing the entire way to the house. He smiled softly at them. Quite a bond indeed… a connection that would forever keep the two together.