A/N: I am soooo sorry it took so long for me to upload! See, the day after I posted the previous chapter, I had a little biking accident. I'm fine now, though. I just bruised the entire left side of my body, but miraculously I didn't break anything! *cheers* (^.^)v But my left elbow was what kept me from editing chapters - typing with one hand is incredibly annoying!

Anyway, I'm healed now and I can even use my left arm again, SO... I decided to edit and upload 2 chapters today as a compensation.

Thank you for being so patient with me, and enjoy the following 2 chapters! ^^

Naruto was lost in thoughts as he walked through Konoha. So the Fourth Hokage was his father. The one he had always looked up to was actually his own father. He didn't know what to think or what to do now that he knew this.

On one hand, he was proud that the Yellow Flash, who had saved the village from the Kyuubi, was his father. The man he had always strived to surpass.

On the other hand, he was angry. Not only with Kakashi, Iruka and all the other people who might have known this all along, but also with Minato himself.

Who would seal a demon inside their own son?

Sakura saw him coming. "Naruto," she said as they almost passed each other. But Naruto was too lost in thought to notice her, and passed her. Sakura looked at him.

"Naruto?" she asked. She went after him. "Hey!" she said loudly. Naruto woke up from his thoughts and looked at her.

"Sakura-chan?" he asked.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Sakura angrily. "You just walked straight past me!"

"Oh… sorry," said Naruto. He looked back down. Sakura watched him.

"What happened?" she asked. "Is it the training?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's nothing," he mumbled. He didn't want to talk about it.

"Naruto…" whispered Sakura to herself.

Naruto looked up at the faces of all the Hokages in the mountain. He looked at Minato's face. The face he had looked up to for years. The face of the great man he wanted to surpass. But now, in the knowledge of that face being the face of his own father, Naruto just felt strange.

"You'll surpass him," said Sakura. Naruto looked at her. "I believe in you," said Sakura with a smile. "Kakashi-sensei believes in you. Even Sai – even though he doesn't really seem like it – believes in you."

Naruto smiled faintly. "Thank you, Sakura-chan," he said. He looked at his father's face on the mountain again. He was determined to surpass him and become Hokage himself. He raised his fist and yelled "I'm gonna surpass you!" at the mountain. Sakura smiled at him first, but then looked around her. People were staring at Naruto. She forced a smile and apologized, while Naruto kept looking at the mountain as they walked on, though still confused about how he should feel about this.

It was getting dark and Kakashi and Kaede called it a day. They walked back to the village.

"Let's go get something to eat," said Kakashi. "My treat."

Kaede hesitated for a moment, but then agreed. Kakashi could feel the hesitation.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Sure," said Kaede, a hint of insecurity sounding in her voice.

A short silence.

"Are you scared of me?"

The question shook her. Was she afraid of him? Was he her closest childhood friend, or was he just another man? Most likely, he was both. She didn't know. She felt like she had to spend more time with him to be sure what he was to her.

Then again, this was Kakashi. He wasn't just anyone. She had heard about the Copy Ninja. He had saved so many people in his life. He was a good person, she knew he was. But good a person he could be, he was still a man.

She watched him standing in front of her. When did we stop walking?

"N-no," answered Kaede hesitantly, "why… why would I be…"

Kakashi took a few steps towards her. Kaede quickly took a few steps back.

"You won't let me get any closer than this."

Kaede opened her mouth, but it took a moment before she spoke up.

"I… I'm not doing it on purpose," she said finally. "I do it automatically…"

"Why?" asked Kakashi calmly. "There's nothing to be afraid of here."

"I just… don't feel comfortable around men, ok?" said Kaede, looking away.

"I understand, but…" tried Kakashi, but Kaede interrupted him.

"No. You don't understand."

"I see," sighed Kakashi. He saw her trembling. "Let's go," he said. "I'll keep my distance."

Without looking at him, Kaede nodded. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," said Kakashi, his voice reassuring.

After they separated, Kaede went on her way to look for Naruto. She wasn't sure if that was wise to do, but she felt like she had to.

She found him pretty quickly. He was sitting on the roof of a building. She didn't know how to get up there, since she couldn't jump like shinobi could.

"Naruto-kun?" she tried. But he didn't hear her. She decided to wait down here for Naruto to come down.

She waited for about half an hour before Naruto finally came down.

"Naruto-kun?" she asked carefully.

Naruto turned around. "Nee-chan?" he asked in surprise. "What do you want?"

"To talk to you," answered Kaede. "And to apologize. I thought you knew."

Naruto looked down. "It's not your fault," he muttered. "I just don't know what to do with this."

"I guess we're both a little lost, huh?" whispered Kaede with a vague smile. Naruto looked up.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

But Kaede shook her head and smiled more widely. "Nothing," she said.

"You're a little weird, aren't you, nee-chan?" said Naruto with a big smirk.

"Maybe a little," said Kaede, her smile widening even more into a smirk for a brief moment. "Naruto-kun, don't be mad at Kakashi. He's your Sensei, right? He never wanted to keep things from you."

Naruto's smile vanished. "He should've told me," he mumbled. "Or Iruka-sensei, Granny Tsunade, anyone."

"Naruto-kun…" Kaede sighed. "Please forgive them. Sure they've had their reasons not to tell you."

"Why are you asking that from me?" asked Naruto. "Who exactly are you, anyway? Kakashi-sensei's new girlfriend?" An evil smirk marked his face.

"What? Hell no," said Kaede. "I just… used to live here before you were born." It was something she still couldn't get used to.

"Well, we're in the current time now," said Naruto. "We're different people than the ones you've known. So please just stay out of this, ok?"

"But… I just want you to be happy," whispered Kaede, followed by a sigh.

"Why?" asked Naruto. "You don't even know me."

"It's a long story," said Kaede. "But I beg of you, please make up with Kakashi. Fighting doesn't solve anything."

Naruto exhaled deeply. "I guess you're right," he mumbled. "I don't know why I'm even listening to you."

"Thank you," said Kaede.

Naruto stared at her for a while.

"I still wanna know more about my parents," he said suddenly. "I don't know how much you remember…"

A startled chuckle escaped Kaede. "Not much," she said. "I do remember exactly what they were like, though. I'll tell you everything I know… as soon as you make up with Kakashi."

"Eh?"

"I have to be sure you won't blame him for anything."

Naruto shot her a sceptical look. "You are his girlfriend," he said. "Why else would you care so much?"

Kaede shot a foul look back at him, losing her patience. "Just. Do. It."

"Alright, ok," said Naruto. "Geez…"

A content smirk marked Kaede's face. "Good," she said. "Meet me at the training fields tomorrow afternoon and I'll tell you everything I know."

"Got it," Naruto agreed. "See you then, nee-chan." He turned around and walked away.

"Good night, Naruto-kun," said Kaede. Naruto turned around, stared at her in what seemed like slight confusion for a few seconds, then turned back away and walked on.

Kaede couldn't hold back a chuckle when Naruto was out of sight. "He's got Mother's personality," she whispered to herself with a smile. Feeling more at ease now, she returned to her apartment.

… If she could find it.

Oh, crap. Where's the main street again?

The next morning, a weird sound woke Kaede up. Was someone knocking on the door? No… No, that was not it. It was… the window? Was someone tapping on the window?

She opened her eyes and quickly sat straight up. She stepped out of bed, walked towards the window and opened the curtains. The first thing she saw was Kakashi, saying: "Morning!"

She screamed and stumbled backwards, landing on her back in an uncharacteristically ungraceful way.

"Are you ok?" asked Kakashi behind the glass.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" yelled Kaede. "You almost scared me to death!" She felt heat rise in her cheeks when she saw his gaze aimed under her nightwear – which must indeed be in plain sight for him. She quickly sat up, squeezing her legs against each other. She felt anxiety and also a bit of annoyance rise up when she caught a glimpse of a faint blush above the edge of Kakashi's mask.

Pervert… She stood up and opened the window, her face flushed. She avoided eye contact with him.

"So… what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm just here to tell you the training will have to wait," said Kakashi.

Finally, Kaede looked at him. "Why? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Got a mission," answered Kakashi. "Kind of sudden, I know."

"What's wrong then?" asked Kaede.

Kakashi just smiled underneath his mask. "Nothing for you to worry about," he said. "I'm going with Naruto, Hinata and Kiba. I don't know how long it's going to take. So… Will you be ok here?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine," said Kaede shyly before forcing a smile. "You can't babysit me forever, remember? Your words."

Kakashi chuckled. "Alright then," he said. "Well, I'm off."

"Come back safely," said Kaede. Kakashi smiled one last time before he disappeared.

"'Come back safely'," muttered Kaede to herself. "Like we're a married couple." She sighed and dropped herself back on the bed.

A/N: Aaaand on to the next chapter! :D (Also, this is where the actual plot finally begins! xD)