She stood at the door as the silver haired man looked at her with his single eye, seemingly calculating something. Mikoto just looked at the man and waited patiently for him to speak.

"So, why do you have Naruto?" He asked.

Mikoto just stood there with her usual smile as she spoke to the man. "So I can take care of him." She said simply. Kakashi didn't seem to like that answer as his eye narrowed.

"Is that it? You took him from his home and the protection of the Hokage to take care of him, how fascinating." Mikoto's hands curled into fists as he brought up where and who had "taken care" of Naruto previously but her face showed no change. "That's exactly it."

"And what else do you plan to do with him?"

"Nothing."

Kakashi was angered by that answer. "Don't lie to me!" His voice became cold. "You stole him from those who would have taken care of him. You're going to use the Kyuubi aren't you? Well I won't allow that. Narutos coming with me before you hurt him."

Mikotos face finally changed as she now looked at the man with a fire in her eyes, one that startled him. "I would never harm him. All I've been doing for the past year is trying to save him from what they did to him."

Kakashi looked shocked at that statement. "Year? What are you talking about? You've only had him for a few weeks."

Mikoto laughed at that. "Is that what they've told you? It's amazing how they would lie to you like that. I'm guessing you haven't seen him for a long time and they've only told you he's been fine, am I correct?"

Kakashi didn't do anything as he stared at the woman. "Seeing your reaction I must be. Well let me tell you what they haven't. One year ago, probably right after you last saw him, I found him in the rain with only a cardboard box to cover him. He was so skinny you could see his bones and he had wounds and scars all over his body. Including a burn that could only be made by a shinobi, one that would never fully heal even with the Kyuubi helping him. He was also deathly sick and so neglected by those who "took care" of him that he barely knew how to even speak right to the point he only knew a few sentences worth of words at most. And the majority of them were about how he was horrible or deserved to die. And don't think the Hokage didn't know about it, he knew full well and even participated in it.

After I nursed him back from a fever that nearly took his life I spent months with him trying to make it so he knew someone cared about him. I loved him and nurtured him every damn day. Do you know how long it took him to get used to anyone that wasn't me? Over a month before

he even let Sasuke go near him. A child his own age and yet he was terrified of him. It was to the point he only became used to Itachi and Fugaku months later. In fact it was so bad that not until a few weeks ago did I start bringing him out to see the village and he is still terrified of anyone that gets too close. The first day I brought him out of the compound he began to cry when someone came up to say hello to him.

It was so bad that he didn't even know his own birthday as anything else but a day that he received more beatings on. And I just want to remind you that he is four. No one should have that be what they think of when it's their birthday and yet here he is thinking exactly that. We even asked him when we should celebrate it and he said he didn't want to. So we just stayed with him in our bed while the fireworks for that damn festival scared him like he was a dog instead of a boy.

He's gotten better only because we haven't given up on him and one of us is always by his side. And you know what the worst thing about all of it is? They have disrespected your own master not only by hurting him physically but also mentally. They told him his parents died because of him and that they would hate him if they were alive. They abused him and the only reason he hasn't been given back to them is because the clans have all agreed to keep him safe. All of them agreed he needed to be protected, some out of hatred for what this village could do to him, some out of respect for his father, and some because they were afraid of what a broken Jinchuriki would do if let loose."

Kakashi was shocked to hear this. But it was when he looked into her eyes he noticed she was being completely serious. She wasn't lying. He looked down to think, closing his eyes. "I see."

Mikoto just watched him as he thought to himself. Suddenly she looked to the door behind her. "Naruto?"

Kakashi looked up as he saw a small amount of blond hair in the cracked doorway. The boy's blue eyes showed much fear towards the man he didn't recognize as he looked to Mikoto and back to him. Mikoto went to the door and bent down to be at eye level with him. "It's alright. Come here, it's ok." Mikoto put out her arms and after a moment of hesitation, Naruto went to her as she picked him up. Naruto hid his face in Mikoto's shoulder in an attempt to hide from Kakashi. Mikoto just rubbed his back as the little boy would look up to see Kakashi before immediately hiding again.

Kakashi stood there as he noticed just how much bigger the boy was. He had last seen the boy when he was just two and now he was a four year old that looked almost too small for his age. The muscles and fat of any usual child his age were nowhere to be found, instead he had small amounts of muscle that indicated he was starved prior and was now gaining weight back slowly. Kakashi also saw a small scar on the boy's shoulder that looked like he was cut by some sort of knife or something of a similar sharpness. And yet what surprised the man most was the boy's attitude towards the two people close to him. Naruto didn't seem to trust Kakashi at all and even looked scared of him but was still curious as any child would be as he glanced at the man. Yet

when it came to Mikoto the boy seemed to have full trust in her as he looked at the woman for comfort.

Mikoto was soft with the boy, holding him very securely yet not outright smothering him, almost like she was holding a baby rather than a child. And she seemed very mindful of certain spots on his body that must have been sensitive as he winced when she accidentally touched any of the areas. Mikoto just looked at Naruto with a solemn look before finally looking back at Kakashi.

"We are going to be at the party later tonight. So if you want to see him he'll be there. Until next time, Kakashi." Mikoto went back inside as Kakashi decided to leave, having to look over some things now.

Once they entered the house Mikoto looked down at Naruto who had a small tear roll down his face. "Sweety, what's wrong?"

Naruto looked up to the woman as he began to tear up even more. "Was he gonna take me away?"

Mikoto immediately sat on the couch in the living room and hugged the child gently. "No, no baby. He wasn't going to take you away. We just needed to talk, is all. We'd never let anyone take you from us."

Naruto cried into her shoulder as he spoke through his sobs. "B-but you w-were t-talking abou-out m-me. I d-don't want to g-go."

"Shh, Shh. I won't let anyone take you from me. You're not going anywhere so don't worry." Mikoto reassured him as he looked up to her with red puffy eyes.

"Pwomise."

"Promise. Now let's go find Sasuke so you two can play for a bit. We're all going to a party once Fugaku gets home. You'll like that won't you?"

The boy wiped away a few tears as he nodded. "OK. Can I be with you at the party?"

"Of course." Smiling, she placed a kiss on his nose which made him giggle as they both went to find Sasuke.