She wiped a wet towel on his forehead to calm the fever. He only laid in the bed half conscious, unable to do much. Suddenly he began an almost unrelentless fit of coughing as she just leaned over him with much worry on her face. After almost a full minute of coughing he stopped as he began to drift back to sleep. She only rubbed his hair softly as she watched him in this state, a single tear falling off her face.

XXX

Mikoto awoke as she felt the shifting of a small body in her arms. Looking down she saw Naruto sleeping peacefully in between her and Sasuke. Looking at the two boys sleeping so peacefully was all that was needed for Mikoto to gain a small smile as she saw both of her babies safe and secure. And then that thought came to her. Looking down at Naruto, Mikoto felt a ping of grief fall over her as she kissed the young boy's head. If only she hadn't listened to them. If only she had taken him in instead of letting the words of that old man get into her head. She knew that if she had taken the boy in when he was still a baby and not now he would have had a happy life.

Mikoto heard the sound of her youngest son ster from his sleep as she looked to Sasuke who was sitting up and rubbing his eyes of their drowsiness. Yawning he looked to his mother as she stayed still so as to not wake the small boy in her arms.

"Morning mommy." Sasuke said as he stretched.

"Good morning sweetie. Did you sleep well?" Mikoto asked in a whisper.

"Mhm, is Naruto awake yet?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the younger boys still body.

"No not yet. Can you wake up your brother for me?" Mikoto asked. Sasuke nodded as he got off the bed as quietly as he could so as to not wake up Naruto, having figured out that waking the boy instead of letting him do so on his own would only lead to many problems. Watching Sasuke leave the room Mikoto looked down to the small boy and a small frown started to appear on her face. She remembered the first time someone had tried to wake up Naruto after he had come to live with them. Closing her eyes she replayed that memory and the anger she had for all those that hurt him returned.

XXX

Sasuke had woken up and was excited for the day as he ran out of his room in a flash. Running to his brother's room he opened it with much enthusiasm as he jumped on the large bed.

"Itachi! Itachi, wake up! It's my birthday! Come on, wake up!" Itachi groaned as he tried his best to sleep once more but Sasuke wouldn't let him as he sat up with the now four year old on his lap. "Alright I'm up, I'm up. You're excited aren't you?" He asked his younger brother. Sasuke nodded as his face lit up. "Yep, I'm four now. I'm four!" Sasuke yelled as he jumped off Itachi's bed and left his room. Soon he slammed open the door to Naruto's room as he went up to the little boy's bed and started to try to shake him awake. "Naruto wake up, it's my birthday, come on, wake up!"

Naruto suddenly jumped as he screamed and began flailing around. Sasuke backed away as he didn't know what was going on as Naruto began to cry heavily. Soon the footsteps of Mikoto were heard as she entered the room and ran to Naruto who reached out for her. Mikoto held Naruto as he continued to cry as Mikoto looked to Sasuke.

"What happened?" She asked as she rubbed the three year olds back and tried her best to calm him down. Sauske explained what happened as Naruto finally calmed down and rested his head on Mikoto's chest, sniffling as he did so. Mikoto sighed as she looked to Sasuke. "Sasuke I know you're excited but you have to remember that Naruto doesn't like things like that. It scares him." She explained to Sasuke as the three year olds sniffling finally stopped. 'And we just got him to sleep in his own bed too.' Mikoto thought to herself as she looked at Sasuke who looked very guilty for what he did.

"I'm sorry." He said as he looked to the ground. Naruto stared at him for a moment with red puffy eyes, tears still running down his face, before he reached out for Sasuke who came closer to the little boy. Soon Naruto had the larger boy in a hug as Sasuke returned the favor. Mikoto smiled at the act as she picked up Naruto.

"Well since you two have made up I think we should celebrate someone's birthday." The two children cheered as she walked into the kitchen with Naruto in her arms and Sasuke following right behind her, smile back and wider than ever.

XXX

Mikoto heard Naruto begin to wake up as she opened her eyes. "You waking up?" Naruto shook his head as he stood up and rubbed at his eyes. "I don't wanna." He whined as Mikoto got off the bed and picked up the boy who placed his head on her shoulder.

"I know baby but it's morning time. Little boys need to wake up so they can play all day."

"Imma big boy." Naruto groaned out as Mikoto walked into the living room.

"Oh are you now." Mikoto smiled at how he was acting since this was how he should be acting at this age. She also made a note at how small he was for his age being only a little over half

the size of Sasuke who was only a few months older than him, more than likely thanks to him being starved for most of his life. "Well big boys wake up early and eat a lot of food so they can get big and strong. So can you do that?"

Naruto nodded at that. "Yeah I can. Mrs Mikoto." He looked at her as they both came into the kitchen. "What is it sweetie?" She asked.

Naruto seemed like he wasn't sure if he should ask his question as he looked away from her. Mikoto however knew what he was doing as she brought her free hand to his chin and gently had him look back at her. "It's ok you can tell me." She smiled so he would feel comfortable.

Naruto seemed to gain a little bit of confidence as he finally spoke. "Can I help you cook?"

Mikoto smiled at him as she rubbed his right side near his bottom ribs. "Are you sure you can do it?" She asked him. He hesitated for a second before nodding back to her. Mikoto smiled as she set him down. "OK then. If you think you can. I need some eggs from the fridge. Do you think you can get them?" She asked while kneeling down to be eye level with him. Naruto nodded as he went to the fridge, grabbing a step stool so he could reach the higher shelves. Soon he grabbed the egg carton and gave it to Mikoto.

"Thank you." She said as she got out a bowl and started to crack the eggs, Naruto using the step stool to watch her do so. Once she had finished cracking the eggs she looked down to Naruto. "Do you want to help me ster them?" He nodded as she brought a chair so he could reach over the counter.

Soon she showed him how to do the motion as he tried his best to stir the eggs. After a while she took over as she started up the burner having told Naruto to go find Sasuke and Itachi beforehand so he wouldn't see the fire.

After a few minutes she heard a knock at the front door as Itachi called out from somewhere in the house. "I'll get it!"

Hearing the door open Mikoto heard a familiar sounding voice talk to Itachi as he suddenly came into the kitchen. "Mother, Kakashi is at the front door and would like to talk to you. I think it's about Naruto." Mikoto sighed as she stopped cooking. "Can you finish these eggs for me and help the boys eat?" Itachi nodded as he went to the burner and finished the food for his mother. Mikoto walked to the door as she met the eye of Kakashi Hatake.

"Hello Mikoto. Can we talk?"