[10 years later]

"Sir. The shipments have arrived. Will you be taking a look at them?" A man nervously addressed Kakashi who hadn't looked up from his orange book yet. In fact, the man hadn't even acknowledged his presence. His one visible eye lazily flickered up from his page and he suddenly drew out his gun and shot him. "I thought I specifically told you to never do dealings from Fire Country?" Resuming his reading, he acted like nothing was wrong.

The men around him nervously shifted around, knowing how unpredictable Kakashi was. One moment he was in a good mood, the next you were dead. Even Zabuza was less temperamental than the infamous Hatake Kakashi, and that was saying a lot.

"Dad!" A yellow bundle of sunlight bounced his way over, nearly tackling the tall man over. "Guess what? Guess what?" His light blue eyes were full of excitement until he noticed the dead body. Crinkling his nose at the sight of blood, the boy momentarily became subdued until he remembered why he was so thrilled in the first place.

"Naruto." Kakashi put his book aside and patted the blonde's soft yellow hair. Upon taking Minato's request for his son be to named after one of the characters from Jiraiya's novel, Kakashi named the boy after the main character. It must be a giant cosmic joke to be named after a ramen topping but it seemed fitting for Minato's son who inhaled the stuff like air.

"I beat Haku at shooting today!" Naruto beamed upwards at Kakashi, his small chest puffed with pride. "Even No-Brows complimented me!"

For Zabuza to praise Naruto, the little boy must've been good today. "Show me." He looked down at Naruto with his good eye. That incident ten years ago robbed him of his closest people and also his left eye. He wore an eye patch as well as a face mask to acquiesce his paranoia.

They made their way to the training grounds where people were practicing but already the Shooting range had been cleared out just for the arrival of Kakashi and Naruto. Handing the small boy a 0.22 handgun, Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

Naruto's small hands wrapped around the metal of the gun and he scrunched his face into an intense look of concentration. His finger pulled on the trigger but his arms remained steady as the recoil from the gun would've made most men loose their form. He carefully aimed again and pulled the trigger again and again until the entire clip was emptied. Naruto had hit the target every time although only three were bull's eyes while the rest scattered across the board.

"Again." Kakashi ordered. "Feet more apart, shoulders more stiff. Don't relax your arms before the recoil."

"Kakashi, give the kid a break. All the other brats are lucky enough to hit the damn thing." Zabuza stepped up in Naruto's defense when he saw the crestfallen look on the blonde's face.

Giving Zabuza a hard look, Kakashi whipped out a gun from his holster and shot the target as fast as he could. He emptied the clip within seconds and put his gun away. A hushed whisper fell among the crowd gathered to watch. Every single shot was within the bull's eye, not one outside the line. "Again." Kakashi said sternly.

Naruto wordlessly accepted another clip and tried again. This time his accuracy improved by four more shots.

"Again."

This repeated five more times until Kakashi was satisfied with Naruto's progress. The boy managed to hit the bull's eye ten times. It wasn't perfect but it was getting there. They still had time. The boy looked up at Kakashi with less eagerness than before, but there still was a hopeful glimmer within his light blue eyes that even Kakashi couldn't refuse.

"That was acceptable." He sighed, running a hand through his silvery hair. It seemed he said the magic words because immediately Naruto perked up and resumed his natural sunny self once more.

"Really? That was awesome right? The last one I got ten in the bull's eye. Even Haku hasn't done that before! Right? Right? Hey Haku! You saw me, right?" Naruto bubbled with enthusiasm as he bounced over to his best friend who amicably agreed. "Hey, Dad! You gotta admit, I was pretty amazing!"

"You've got a long ways to go before you're 'amazing.' Go run three laps before your hand-to-hand lesson." Kakashi couldn't help but keep the pride out of his tone. It only seemed like yesterday when he smuggled himself and an infant Naruto out of Fire Country and into Wave via a small fishing boat. The little boy grew up so fast and looked remarkably like Minato with each passing day.

"Aww Dad!" Naruto complained loudly but did as he was told, breaking into a steady jog. Somehow the boy managed to convince Haku into joining him and the two started having a race to see who would finish first.

"You're too hard on him." Zabuza was the only one in their village who dared to speak to Kakashi like that. "He's just a brat."

Idly looking up at Zabuza, Kakashi commented, "Did you say something?" before ambling along, his face buried behind an orange book.


"Yo, Haku! You awake?" Naruto crept into his friend's room with all the stealth he learned over the years. For a hyperactive blonde bouncy ball, he could be quiet like a ghost.

"I am now." Haku got up and looked at Naruto wearily. "What do you want Naruto-kun?"

"Let's go to town!" Naruto whispered conspiringly, a foxy grin fixed upon his features.

"If Hatake-san finds out, we'll be in so much trouble." Haku reasoned, shuddering as he recalled the last time they were in trouble. He'd never seen the older man look so livid before; he half expected to be shot that day.

Scoffing, Naruto already found Haku's shoes and tossed them over at him. "That's why we're not gonna get caught. Come on, it's Wave's Moonlight festival. We have to go." He begged the older boy, giving him a look that no one could refuse. "It's gonna be Tsunami's birthday soon. I wanna get her something nice." Naruto mumbled, face lightly blushing. She was the closest Naruto had to a mother figure and he loved her like she was his real blood mother.

Giving Naruto a calculating gaze, Haku gave in. Naruto's stubborn streak was worse than a donkey's and the blonde would be here all night pestering him until he gave in anyways. He pulled on a black sweatshirt he said, "Zabuza-san is not here tonight. He's on patrol duty. We can use the front door." He said with a bemused smile. Naruto had gotten into the habit of using windows and scaling buildings to enter homes to avoid getting caught.

"Ugh." Naruto groaned in response. That meant that they had to be extra vigilant tonight if they wanted to sneak outside their village. Zabuza was just at good as his dad and just as paranoid. If there was so much as a rustle of grass on his watch, it was his habit to shoot first and ask questions later. "Just our luck."

"You're the one who wanted to go to the festival." Haku smiled at Naruto. "If you don't want to…"

"Of course I'm going!" He hotly retorted, one leg already out the window. "Come on!" Naruto jumped down, landing noiselessly on the grass below.

"Maa, I said we could use the front door." Haku sighed. Pocketing some senbon needles, he grabbed his wallet at the last second. It didn't hurt to be prepared. The thirteen year old boy sometimes felt years older than he really was when it came to the welfare of the ten year old blonde.

As quietly as they could, they snuck around the village guards. They both had their hoodies pulled up around their hair and Naruto even had a scarf tied around his face, a mockery of Kakashi's face mask. The two were mindful of the scattered land mines placed all around the area and opted to take the longer route in lieu of being blown to pieces. Haku was glad for his insight to wear a long sleeved sweatshirt instead of just his normal wear because the scraggly branches and thorns hurt even with the extra cloth covering his arms.

"Ow!" Naruto hissed when he smacked his head on a low branch. "That hurt!"

"Shh!" Haku hurriedly covered Naruto's mouth and the two boys stood absolutely still as they heard footsteps. He prayed that it wasn't Zabuza-san or Hatake-san or else they were as good as dead. With bated breaths, they waited in the darkness for whoever it was to go away but the footsteps got closer and closer. At this rate, they were going to get caught!

Naruto slowly reached down for a small rock and carefully picked it up without making a rustle. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the pebble in the opposite direction and they waited with bated breath. Immediately it had the desired effect because the footsteps rushed towards that direction. "Make a run for it!" Naruto whispered before taking off into the woods.

Haku followed the blonde, ducking under branches and bushes expertly. How many times he'd done this, he lost track but every time he dashed through the woods it would send his heart beating and adrenaline racing. It was exhilarating. When they were far away enough from the village, the two boys looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.

"We did it!" Naruto cheered, raising a triumphant fist. He was breathing harshly and his hood had fallen back to reveal his shocking yellow hair, but his face was absolutely glowing. "C'mon! Let's go!"

"Now we have to worry about sneaking back in." Haku worried quietly, knowing that it was always harder getting in than sneaking out. That's how Hatake-san caught them last time.

"We'll worry about that later! Look at the snacks! I've never had those before! Let's get some!" Naruto tugged on Haku's sleeve, dragging the older boy along. It was hard to refuse Naruto when he was in such a good mood and Haku found himself reminding the other boy to save enough money to buy Tsunami-san's present.

While trying to enjoy himself, Haku kept one vigilant eye out for any of their village men just in case they also had the same idea of having a fun night out. They wouldn't hesitate twice about turning them in to Hatake-san for some reward. "Naruto-kun, don't get lost." He had to catch Naruto's sweatshirt three times before the blonde could slip away into the crowd.

"But look at that!" Naruto pointed at either a street game or snack stand and quickly dragged Haku along. "This is so cool!" He squealed, jumping up and down in place. "I've never played that game before!" It was a simple throw the ball into the hoop type of game except instead of a hoop, you had to get the shot into an electronically moving hippo mouth. It required precise aim and timing.

Haku looked at the amount of money per game and shook his head. While it would be a rip-off for most people, this would be child's play for someone of Naruto's caliber. They had knife throwing lessons every day where the prize would be dinner or a bed to sleep in for the night, not some cheap toy animal.

"Hey old man! I want to play!" Naruto slammed down the appropriate amount of money on the counter and eagerly held his hands out.

"Eh? Sure. You get three shots kid."

"I only need one." Naruto confidentially stated, picking up a ball and tossing it up and down a few times in his hand. Looking at the target, Naruto easily threw the ball into the mouth and cheered loudly. "I won! I won!"

The blonde wanted to take home the giant teddy bear but Haku had to remind him gently that there was no way that they could haul that thing back home without getting caught so he suggested the nice necklace for Tsunami-san instead. It was a pretty little silver necklace with a spiral shaped pendant studded with (Haku was sure it was fake) diamonds.

"I'm sure she'll like it." Haku said with a soft smile.

"It's really pretty!" Naruto exclaimed, holding it up to the light. "Of course she'll like it! I got it for her!"

They walked down the busy street, enjoying the night. It was a rare treat for the two to have fun like this and they made sure to make the most of it. The younger boy chatted about anything and everything, obviously in a good mood. Even Haku relaxed enough to momentarily forget about keeping an eye out for the village's men.

"You little brat! You think you can get away with this?" A man roared, the sound of someone backhanding someone broke Naruto and Haku's conversation about what was under Kakashi's mask.

"No… Naruto, mind your own…" Haku trailed off with a sigh. "Business…" Of course Naruto had to go and play the knight in shining armor. He had a sinking feeling that they were going to be in so much trouble by the end of the night. Maybe if they were lucky enough, Hatake-san could just string them upside down a tree?

Naruto grabbed the nearest object that he could throw with- conveniently an apple off a cart and hurled it as hard as he could across the canal. It hit its mark and the man roared in surprise and pain.

"What the hell?" He frantically looked around to see who was responsible. Finally looking through the broken window, he saw a little boy sticking his tongue out at him before throwing the other apple in his hand. It hit his head again with enough force to knock him backwards. "What are you waiting for? Get him!"

Five men ran out of the building, armed with clubs and bats. Luckily for Naruto, they didn't have any guns on them. Crossing the canal was easy enough for the thugs because of the passing long boats but Naruto was swifter than them and easy jumped from boat to boat nimbly without loosing his balance.

"Nyyyaa! Is that all you got? What a bunch of losers!" Naruto teased them, pulling down an eye while sticking out his tongue again. "My grandma can beat you guys all up with her hands tied behind her back!" He didn't know his grandmother, but he assumed that if he did, she'd be pretty kick-ass.

"Naruto-kun! Don't antagonize them!" Haku sounded a bit exasperated while following the younger boy. Naruto ran into the building, leaving Haku to deal with the four thugs. "Please, I'd rather not have to fight." Haku tried to reason with them, holding his hands up peacefully. The first henchman rushed forwards, holding no qualms about hitting a kid half his size.

Ducking past the first blow, Haku easily sidestepped him and disposed of the first man with a powerful spin kick to the head. Raising his arms to block the next attack, the feminine boy slid forward while using the momentum to knock the next man off balance and twisted his upper body just in time to avoid being hit by the next man. Unfortunately for his friend, he ended up punching him just before Haku knocked him out. Landing lightly on his feet, Haku faced the final thug and smiled sweetly at him in a defensive stance.

For a full second the last thug stood there, terrified before running away, screaming like a little girl.

I hope Naruto-kun is doing all right… Haku thought, looking up at the building. He heard a loud crash and a string of cursing followed by Naruto's yelling. Maybe I should go get help… He deadpanned.


"You hit like a girl! Nah, you hit worse than a girl!" Naruto taunted the boss, giving him the finger while he was at it. He stood protectively between him and a red-haired boy around to be his age. He got hit once and he wasn't keen on getting a second taste. His face was throbbing from the punch and Naruto hoped that it wasn't going to bruise later. His dad was going to kill him if it did.

"Why you!" The man lunged for him and Naruto pulled the boy off the ground at the last second.

"Run!" He yelled, still holding onto the other boy's hand. Jumping down the stairs three at a time. "Here!" Taking a sharp left turn, Naruto and the redhead disappeared into the bustling crowd, taking care to make it as difficult as possible for the gangsters to follow them. He knew this town like the back of his hand and it was ridiculously easy how two small children can easily hide in the nooks and crannies.

Panting for breath, he turned to the other boy and beamed at him. "Hiya. I'm Naruto. What's your name? Why were those bad guys hitting you? Where you from? Coz you don't look like you're from the Wave Country. I think your from maybe Wind? I heard that's where all the redheads are. What's it like living in a desert? I betcha you've never seen this much water before!"

The other boy just stared at him with a look of disbelief on his face. "I am… Gaara." He said softly, green eyes fearfully darting around their surroundings as if expecting to be captured by those men again.

"Cool! Nice to meet you!" Naruto's uncanny ability to make friends had the poor boy at ease in no time. "Where's your parents? Do they know that those bad guys were picking on you?"

Hesitating when Naruto unknowingly poised the very question that hit too close to home, Gaara remained quiet and looked down at the ground instead. He didn't want to tell him, he didn't want to remember…

"I guess if you don't wanna tell me, it's all right." Naruto shrugged Gaara's unwillingness to talk with remarkable ease for someone his age whose curiosity had no limits. More often than not, Kakashi quipped that one of these days, his curiosity was going to kill him. "But wanna tell me why those guys were beating you up?" His brilliant blue eyes this time were solemn and didn't have its usual sparkle of mischief.

"I was sold to them… from Wind Country." Gaara slowly said, his small hand clenching together so tightly that they almost drew blood. "The deal went bad." He didn't need to explain any more and Naruto's scowl was dark enough to rival Kakashi's.

"Why those bastards! I ought to…"

"There they are!"

"Crap!" Naruto leapt up from his hiding spot, looking panicked. "They found us!" They tried to escape but the thugs blocked off both sides of the alleyway. "Uh oh…"

"Now we got you." The boss savagely leered at them, looming over their small frames. "Ain't so tough now, are you?"

In reality, Naruto wasn't so worried about the thugs. He was talking to his father and his men surrounding the thugs who surrounded them. "Um… Hi Dad…" Naruto said in a small voice, visibly shrinking back. "I can explain…"

The boss whirled around and paled instantly. Everyone in Wave Country knew of Hatake Kakashi and his band of mercenaries. Either you stayed out of his way or prayed to God that he wasn't in a foul temper. From the pissed off look, the boss figured it was the later. "Oh shit…"

"I should thank you really." Kakashi drawled, his entire stance relaxed but somehow he still gave off the air of a dangerous predator. "If it weren't for you and your group, I'd never found my son tonight." His gaze flickered over to Naruto who gave him a shaky smile.

Behind Zabuza's tall and imposing frame, Haku peeked out and gave Naruto a reassuring smile. So the older boy managed to run back to the village in time to call for reinforcements. Too bad that he was probably going to be severely punished for this.

"Please don't shoot them Dad!" Naruto pleaded on their behalf, not wanting to be directly responsible for their deaths. "Well, maybe the fat one." He pointed at the boss. "But not everyone has to die."

"Hey!"

Kakashi carefully contemplated his options and decided that dealing with dead bodies would be too much of a hassle to clean up. Pulling out his gun, he unlocked the safety and pointed at the boss. "If I ever see you around here again, I won't hesitate to kill you and your men."

"Y-yes sir!" The boss spluttered and took off as if hell was right behind him.

"Naruto." Kakashi grabbed the back of the boy's hoodie before he could take off and glared at him. "We're going home and then we can talk."

The blonde visibly gulped.


Haku held back a wince when Naruto got whacked on the head with the Shinai when he blonde let his guard down. Hatake-san was absolutely ruthless tonight. "It's been four hours…" He checked the clock again, subconsciously rubbing his arms when Hatake-san hit Naruto there. The moment they were marched back into the village, Hatake-san had Naruto train like he was going to die.

At this rate, Naruto might really die.

"Too many openings! You're getting sloppy!" Kakashi easily tore through Naruto's defense and hit him several times lightning fast. "Block here! Parry there! Strike at the opportune moment!" He finished by swinging his arm down, breaking Naruto's Shinai in half. "You're going to get killed if you continue to be like this!"

Breathing harshly, Naruto dropped the pieces of his bamboo sword and raised his hands up and fell into a defensive stance. He hadn't said a word the moment his training began. He didn't have a chance to.

Kakashi feinted a left jab, quickly closing the distance between them and knocked Naruto down to the ground. "Again! Always be light on your feet." This time he used his leg to sweep the blonde over, catching Naruto off guard again. "Your enemies won't wait for you to be ready."

"Arrg!" Naruto yelled, charging recklessly at his dad with raised fists. Quickly hitting Kakashi with everything he had, Naruto's speed became sluggish and the boy finally was reduced to tears although it was hard to tell with all that mud and grime on him. But Naruto didn't give up.

Finally, Kakashi took pity on the boy and said quietly, "That's enough." However Naruto didn't stop. "That's enough Naruto!" He grasped the boy's small wrists together on one movement and held them above the boy's head. The blonde began to scream and twist around, trying to use his legs to kick Kakashi instead.

"I hate you!" Naruto shouted. "Why do I have to do this when no one else does? Why? All the other kids do normal stuff! Why can't I?"

At this, Haku felt that it became too personal to watch and quietly excused himself. He politely ushered the other men out of the general vicinity with a soft (but threatening) smile. Looking down at the boy Naruto rescued, Haku gently placed a hand on his head. He pretended not to notice the way Gaara flinched at his contact. "Come on. I bet you're hungry. We have food in the kitchens."

"You are not like the other kids." Kakashi said in a deadly tone, his voice never rising but it was threatening all the same. "You have a destiny to fulfill."

"I don't want it! I don't want it!" Naruto screamed, sobbing loudly.

Kakashi patiently waited until Naruto cried himself out. Tentatively giving the boy an awkward hug, he pulled out a tissue from his back pocket and gave it to Naruto to blow his nose on. "It happened ten years ago." Kakashi closed his eye, recalling the painful memories from the back of his mind. He could almost smell the saltiness of the ocean and the hushed crashing of the waves against the beach.

Sniffing, Naruto asked, "What happened?"

"Ten years ago, Earth Country initiated an attack on Fire Country. I was part of an elite team sent out on the most covert of operations." He could almost imagine himself on that boat with his teammates. Minato-Sensei's confident and assuring grin, Obito's annoying antics, Rin's sweet smile… "I was sent as a part of a team to eliminate the targets that were considered a threat to Fire Country. We succeeded but then we were betrayed by our own country."

Naruto's wide blue eyes stared up at him. "Did… did anyone else survive?" He whispered, his small hand reaching out to trace Kakashi's eye patch.

"No." Kakashi's throat constricted uncomfortably as he drew away. "I was the only one." It was all that Naruto was going to learn today. "Wash up and go to bed Naruto." Kakashi almost made it inside when Naruto's little voice broke through years of self-control.

"What happened to my mom?"

"You don't have one. She died." Kakashi lied, trying to get the echoes of Kushina's cries that night out of his head. "Go to bed Naruto."

Within the privacy of his room, Kakashi pulled down his mask and wearily pulled out a faded photo from his pocket. It was worn and crinkled, and the crease down the middle almost tore the paper in half. There was a picture of him, Kushina, and Minato; it was a candid shot that maybe Rin or Obito manage to capture while they had a rare day off together.

"I'm so sorry, Sensei… Kushina-san." He whispered brokenly, leaning his head against the wall.


"Naruto-kun… are you all right?" Haku stuck a Band-Aid on the boy's whiskered face- those six marks were caused by a training accident six years ago when they were too rambunctious and stupid enough to mess around with pipe bombs.

"Yeah, I am." Naruto mumbled, trying to cover up his emotions. "I told, I'm okay."

"Hold still." Admonished Haku gently as he dabbed another of Naruto's wounds with a cotton swab and opened another packet of plasters. "Hatake-san went easy on you tonight." If he hadn't, it would be more than Band-Aids that Naruto needed.

"Ow! That stings!" Naruto winced but Haku's firm grip on him prevented the boy from worming away. "By the way, where's Gaara?"

"Sleeping." Haku answered him. "By which, you should too as well."

With a whimper, Naruto buried his face into his hands. "It's survival training tomorrow, isn't it?"

"More like in a few hours." The older boy mildly corrected him. "Zabuza-san has agreed to watch out for Gaara-kun for the time being until Hatake-san decides what to do with him."

"Well Dad's not gonna shoot him… right?" Alarm colored Naruto's expression and he automatically looked over where his father's room was. "I mean, Gaara's just a kid. He's not a threat to no one!"

"You know the rules. No outsiders." Haku shook his head. "But I highly doubt that Hatake-san will hurt a child."

"Good." Naruto sagged with relief. "I'm sore already." He complained, his arms protesting with agony already. "You know Haku… Sometimes I get the feeling that Dad's not telling me the whole truth."

"Adults forget that we can handle the entire truth better than they can most the time." Haku replied carefully, choosing his words cautiously. "I'm sure when the day comes, Hatake-san will tell you everything."

"My mom's alive. I know she is." Naruto closed his exhausted eyes. "Dad wouldn't go through all this trouble of keeping even a single photo from me if she wasn't dead."

Haku didn't say anything in response.