He heard her humming as he tried his best to stay awake. He was failing. She held him with a gentle yet firm hold as she began to rub his back gently, staying clear of one spot. His eyes became heavier with each moment as his small hands grasped at her nightgown.

She walked slowly with care. The blanket that covered him was warm and comforting, not like his last home. Those thoughts began to fill his mind once again as he became restless and squirmed in her arms. She began to shush him as she patted his back gently.

He felt safe with her even as the images of those men washed over him. He whimpered lightly as he dug his face into her neck. Her hand came to his head and rubbed it. "It's ok baby. Mama's here now. Shh, shh. Mama won't let them hurt you."

Her soothing voice calmed him as he became far more tired than before. His sleepiness beginning to finally overtake him once again this night. His final thought before sleep being a new one to him. 'Mama.'

XXX

He awoke as the woman in his dream left his mind. He could never remember her face and he'd always forget her quickly after awakening. Just once he wished he'd known who she was, just once. He felt something wet roll down his cheek as he whipped away a tear. Why was he crying? He didn't remember thinking of anything sad. How strange.

That's when he remembered. He jumped up and cheered. "Yeeeees." he got ready for the day as he continued to cheer to himself. Today was his first mission. A real one this time. He took a shower, ate some breakfast, and put on his favorite track suit as he grabbed his backpack he packed the night prior.

Going to his door and slamming it open, he took a huge breath in before cheering once again. "LET'S GOOOOOO!"

The people around him glared daggers at the boy for multiple reasons, though they didn't do anything to him. They knew better than to attack him now.

XXX

He ran through the village until he made his way to his team's meeting spot where he spotted Sakura and Sasuke standing together, Kakashi and the client seemingly nowhere in sight. He yelled to them as he approached.

They both turned as Sakura began to glare at him in anger. "Naruto, what took you so long? We've been waiting for you!" He scratched at the back of his head while letting out a small laugh. "Sorry, I had to take the long way. Some electrical posts were all torn up and people were fixing them."

The others looked at him curiously at that. "That happened near you too?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, wait did that happen near both of you guys?" His teammates nodded which surprised him greatly.

"Yeah. A few blocks from my house actually. It was weird. I saw some of the damage and it looked almost like claw marks. One of my neighbors talked about how their dad saw something roaming around a few nights ago before he died. It's kinda creepy."

Naruto was amazed by her story as he looked to his other teammates. "That happen to you too, Sasuke?" He asked.

The raven nodded to him, quite a rare thing to see. "Yeah, something like that. Probably just an animal though. Not like there's actually monsters." The other two nodded to that.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But it's just…"

"Whatcha talkin about."

They all jumped as they turned to see their sensei giving them an eye smile, their client behind him. "Sensei don't do that!" Sakura yelled as Kakashi kept his smile plastered on.

"What, I can't spook my students every once and a while. Then why am I even a sensei?" He gave a fake pout as the client spoke up.

"Can we hurry this up. I'd like to get back home already." Naruto glared at the man. He didn't much like the man since he met him the previous night, and it seemed the feelings were mutual.

"Of course. Alright, you all know what to do." Kakashi spoke up to the rest of his team as they all got into formation, ready to defend Tazuna at a given moment.

XXX

The group moved down the path in relative silence, mostly just taking in the world around them for the first time. The adults weren't nearly as interested as the kids, though that was a given seeing they never left their home.

Kakashi looked to his left as he noticed a puddle on the road, how interesting. His students didn't seem to notice as they just walked past it without a second thought, Kakashi knew better.

A few feet past the puddle was all the time needed as the two men burst out to attack. Kakashi was enveloped in a chain as the two on the ends of the chain pulled. In an instant, Kakashi was in two. The children were in shock as the men ran after Naruto.

Kakashi watched the fight while hidden up in the trees. 'The Demon Brothers. How interesting. Guess Gato thought they were all he needed. Granted I bet there's someone even worse he's hired. Hmm, how should I play this? Oh I got it, I'll scare the hell out of Tazuna before letting the kids decide. Yeah, that seems like a good idea.'

SLAM

Kakashi knocked out the Demon Brothers in a single hit. Far too easy for someone like him. He looked to Sasuke and congratulated him for handling his own against Chunin before berating Naruto on freezing. Though he didn't blame Naruto at all, most would have done the same, and most would also be dead.

Tying up the Brothers in their chain Kakashi gave Tazuna a death glare. "So, would you like to explain why Chunin are after you Tazuna." The usually drunk man clearly sobered up as he explained his village's plight while Kakashi treated Naruto's wound, the boy having stabbed it to release the poison from the demon brothers claws.

As the group listened to the horrors that had been done to the Land of Waves, Kakashi just watched his students' reactions. He had known of the things Gato was doing to the small country and of the dangers that stayed hidden within, his superiors having judged it as the best place for their future weapons to be tested and to expel those they deemed unworthy of becoming shinobi. Those same people had told him if either of the boys were to be injured he must get them both home at any cost, being urged heavily to leave his final student to experience whatever fate would befall her.

That probably disgusted him more than anything else. They knew what kind of things those kinds of people would do to her. If only their hubris wasn't so great.

He waited for the man to end his tail as he continued to look at him, clearly unconvinced. "I would like to remind you, Tazuna, that you never informed Konoha about this and as team leader for this mission I could end it right now. And seeing as I have inexperienced genin with me as my charges I believe I should do just that." The man immediately got to his knees and begged Kakashi not to leave him, stating his village needed them.

Kakashi wasn't convinced by any of this as he turned. Though in that moment Naruto spoke up. "Wait sensei. We should keep going." He turned to his youngest student with interest. "And why's that Naruto?"

The boy gave a mighty smile, determination evident on his face. "I've already promised I'd never run away ever again, and I never go back on my word! I want to help these people and make things right. And honestly how bad could it be, I mean we already dealt with those two guys already. As if anyone else could possibly be any better than that."

'If only you knew, Naruto.' He noticed the determined looks of his other students as he knew whatever happened next wouldn't end well for him. Though he'd already expected that, and at this point this was his best, and likely only, chance. He sighed before turning to their client. "Seems I'm out voted then. Tazuna, until we bring you back safely we will guard you with our lives."

"Believe It!"