Hey everyone welcome back! I was so happy with how well the first chapter went over. I know it's been like less than a week since the first chapter. So I feel I should explain a few things and give you some reasons as to why I updated so quickly and what that means for the story.

1. I really hate when I'm really into a story and I have to wait several months for a new chapter. I know some people have other things going on but it still irks me.

2. I have a pretty basic outline for how this story is going to play out up until the Time Skip, so updates should occur fairly frequently.

3. I won't be updating in a consistent time frame. I have an outline of major events. However most of the finer details are yet to be determined. So don't expect me to update new chapters like clockwork.

4. I'm currently working on others stories. I have several stories in development and once I start with them, my time will be split between them. Check my profile to see what they are.

So there are my reasons for my fast update for those of you who might be worried about me half-assing the story after that awesome set up. As well as giving you an idea of what's to come.

With that said, let's get crackin'!

"Talking"

'thinking'

"writing"

"Bijuu Talking"

'Bijuu Thinking'

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, you wouldn't be reading this here.

Naruto: The Jinchuuriki Mercenary

Chapter 2: Kakashi's Difficult Decision

Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto sat on the Yondaime's head atop the Hokage monument. The brothers in all but blood tried to take in what had happened. Naruto wore the ANBU mask that the silver-haired man had taken off atop his head. He held tightly in his hands the messages from his parents. He was both excited and saddened by what he learned in the Hokage's office.

He was excited by the fact that not only were his parents two of the most powerful ninja in history. But he also got confirmation of every orphan's fantasy, that he had parents who loved him and truly wanted him. However, he was upset about all the secrets kept from him. Why didn't the Hokage tell him who his parents were, why they weren't around for him, and why everyone hated him so much? He looked at his big brother. He too was staring out into the village.

Kakashi was having similar thoughts of his own.

'How could I be so stupid!? How could I have not noticed how much he looks like sensei. I knew something was fishy when Hokage-sama told me he had died with his parents!'

Kakashi turned to his little brother and eye smiled. It was nice to be with the young boy. Not as Inu, the ANBU who protected him out of duty, but as Hatake Kakashi, his father's ex-student and his older brother. Naruto smiled back before getting a curious look on his face.

"Nii-san, you knew my parents well didn't you."

"Yes I did, Naruto. I knew them very well."

"Can… Can you tell me a bit about them?"

Naruto paid close attention as Kakashi rubbed his chin as he thought about what he should tell the boy.

"Well, in the field, your father was every bit the shinobi you'd read about in the history books. He was smart, calculating, and one of the greatest men to ever walk the battlefield. He was very serious about protecting his village and those around him. But when he was here in Konoha, he was almost an entirely different person. He would smile a lot, crack jokes, work on seals for various uses, and occasionally ask a random question that popped into his head."

"So when he was working he was serious, but when he wasn't he was kind of an idiot." Kakashi chuckled a bit at his brother's bluntness.

"Kind of. He was always very smart. He just was very relaxed when off duty and he sometimes just let out a random thought. He had a tendency to think out loud."

~Flashback no Justu~

A young Kakashi was sparring with his teammate, Uchiha Obito, in Training Ground 7 while their other teammate, Rin, was reading her scrolls on Iryojustu. Their sensei was sitting on a log, watching the match with intense concentration. Kakashi landed a particularly hard hit to Obito's stomach, knocking the breath out of him and forcing him to the ground.

"You're weak Obito. Your form is nearly non-existent, you can barely hit me, and when you do it feels like a light slap rather than a punch. Sometimes I wonder if you're even an Uchiha. I'm serious. Rin fights better than you and she's a medic!"

Rin got up and slapped Kakashi hard across the face.

"Stop it! Obito is trying very hard. You're a skilled ninja Kakashi, but you're a terrible teammate. Instead of berating him all the time, why don't you try helping him for a change?"

"Yeah. You obviously know so much better than I do. Why not enlighten me?" Obito angrily wheezed as he got to his feet, still catching his breath.

"That's not my job. It's Minato-sensei's. Right sensei? ...sensei?" Kakashi turned to their sensei, who seemed to be still watching them. That is until he spoke.

"Blueberries are weird."

"Huh?" The gennin squad collectively exclaimed as they saw what their sensei had been examining so intently the past few minutes was not in fact the match between his students. But a blueberry that he held between his fingers.

"I mean think about it. They're blue. But when you smash them they turn purple. And when you skin them they're green! I mean what the fuck?"

The gennin face-faulted. Instead of training them, their sensei just spent the past five minutes intently pondering the intricacies of a damn berry. The blonde kage popped the berry in his mouth, stood up and walked over to his students.

"You're right though. It is my job to train you. However Rin is also correct. You're only as strong as the person fighting beside you. It's your job as a teammate to make sure that you are all working together. Do you understand?"

Kakashi bowed his head. "Hai sensei."

Minato smiled brightly. "Good. Now I think it's time we called it a day. I have to meet someone for ramen."

~Kai~

Naruto laughed at the story.

"Tou-san really was funny wasn't he nii-san?"

"Yeah, but he always was aware of what was going on around him. He may have been focused on a task or some random thing, but he was always mindful of his surroundings. There was only one thing that could capture Minato-sensei's full and complete attention."

Naruto looked quizzical. "What was that?"

Kakashi eye-smiled brightly. "Your mother, Naruto. Kushina-san was the only one in the entire world that would hold sensei's attention indefinitely. She was one of the most beautiful women in the world. She was also a great fighter. I can see quite a bit of her in you, Otouto. She was always so straight forward with everyone. Sometimes that wasn't always a good thing, but she always fought for what she believed in. She also had one hell of a temper. If you made her angry and you weren't Minato-sensei, you had one option. Run. Run and hope she didn't catch up. She also shared your love of ramen. I think that's one of the reasons why she named you Naruto."

The silver-haired man let out a sad sigh. "They would be so proud of you Naruto."

Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a sad smile. He could see how much his brother missed them. He looked Kakashi in the eye and asked him the other question that was on his mind.

"Aniki, can you help me fulfill my Kaa-san's request? Can you help me get strong enough to leave like she asked?"

Kakashi's eye widened. Did Naruto really want to leave that badly?

"Naruto, I… I don't think I can answer that question right now. It's a serious request and I need some time to think about it. Okay?"

Naruto smiled sadly as he nodded in understanding. Kakashi looked at the sky as the sun was very nearly set.

"Come on Naruto. You should get home. You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah! Let's go!" Naruto hopped onto Kakashi's back as they made their way to Naruto's apartment.

The Next Day

Kakashi was sitting in his apartment waiting for Naruto to arrive. He gave Naruto the address last night and told him to come by right after dinner. The silver haired ANBU captain had spent the entire day cleaning his messy apartment as well as hiding his collection of certain orange books not meant for five year old eyes. He even managed to buy and wrap a present for Naruto. He bought his little brother a set of training kunai and a bokken made for him.

As he anticipated his younger brother's arrival, the question he asked him the night before rang in his mind as he racked his brain to find an answer.

'Can I really do it? Can actually help him abandon the village? I mean, I was planning on becoming his jounin sensei when he graduated. But this is crazy. If I let him leave once he becomes a ninja, then he'll be labeled as a missing-nin and marked a traitor. He'll have squads of ANBU sent to find him and kill him. If I don't train him he may just leave without training and get killed anyway. AHHH! What should I do?'

Kakashi was interrupted from his thoughts by a frantic knocking on his door. He rushed over with a large eye smile, expecting to see his little brother. His smile quickly faded as he saw on the other side of the door wasn't Naruto but two ANBU, a woman wearing a cat mask and a man with a bear mask. The man spoke in a respectful tone.

"Senpai, there's been an incident in the village tonight. It's really serious. Naruto's been attac-"

Tenzou didn't even finish his sentence as she was interrupted by Kakashi barging out the door at breakneck speeds. As they watch him go, Neko noticed tears in his eye as she looked at her partner.

"Kami help the poor bastard who was supposed to be on watch tonight."

Konoha Hospital

Kakashi burst into the hospital room as he saw Naruto on a bed. He was covered in multiple bloody bandages all across his tiny body as he was hooked up to several machines. Kakashi fell to his knees beside the bed and began to weep uncontrollably. This was the scene Neko and Tenzou walked into. Neko walked over to her captain and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He was headed in the direction of your apartment. He was spotted and chased by a drunken mob of villagers. They were all civilians. They cornered him in an alleyway. It had been nearly five minutes when we came across the scene."

"What happened to Taka? He was on duty tonight. He was supposed to be watching him." Kakashi choked out.

"He never reported in, sir." Tenzou said.

Suddenly the entire room was flooded with KI (Killing Intent for those who don't know) as Kakashi stood up.

"Find. Him. And bring him to me… NOW!"

"Hai!" Both Neko and Tenzou saluted as the raced out to find the ANBU known as Taka. They returned several minutes later with a man in regular jounin garb. He stumbled a bit as he had clearly been drinking that night.

"Taka! Where were you tonight? You were supposed to be on duty." Kakashi asked angrily.

"I was celebrating. Everyone was. So I took some well-deserved time off. So what?" The man slurred, clearly not realizing who he was talking to. That is until he felt a gargantuan wave of KI hit him. Not only sobering him up but also making him piss his pants in fear as Kakashi grabbed him by the neck and held him against the wall, lifting him up by one arm.

"YOU ABANDONED YOUR POST TO GET DRUNK AND NOT ONLY THAT! YOU LEFT A FIVE YEAR OLD BOY UNPROTECTED TO GET MERCILESSLY BEATEN TO NEAR DEATH! NOW HE MAY DIE BECAUSE OF YOUR INCOMPETENCE AND NEGLECTFUL BEHAVIOUR!" Kakashi smirked beneath his mask.

"You've abandoned your duty and willfully defied orders given by your superiors. That's treasonous behavior, Taka." All of the color drained from the man's face as he squirmed and begged for his life. Kakashi tossed him to Tenzou and Neko who held him in place.

"Take him to have a long, slow talk with Ibiki while he waits for his trial." The pair nodded as they took the screaming man away.

Kakashi pulled up a chair and sat down beside his younger brother. His blood was boiling. How could they have done this? How could the village he loved stoop to such monstrous behavior. That didn't matter now. All that mattered was his little brother's safety. Kakashi squeezed Naruto's hand as he thought to himself.

'You have to live, Otouto. Heal fast and wake up soon. I hope you're ready when you do. Because when you wake up, your training will start.'

There you have it folks. Chapter Two.

I always saw Minato as a very odd and inquisitive type of person. I mean, what other kind of person would think of a justu like the Rasengan? Who goes, "you know what would be cool? A spinning ball of death that I can hold in my hand!" So I wrote him as the guy who thinks up weird stuff like that.

Thought I have to admit, that last scene was really a emotional scene to write and I had to listen to a lot of awesome yet depressing music to write it. If you want to, you can add mood music and reread it to what I wrote it to, which was "Remember Everything" by Five Finger Death Punch. Really emotional song that helped me get into the mood to write a scene about attempted child murder.

...Yay?

Anyway, let me know what you thought about the chapter by leaving a review. Don't forget to check out my profile to see what other stories I have in store for you. And if you haven't already, Follow and/or Favorite this story.

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Anyway! See you all next chapter!