Summary: Kakashi watched as his life began to fall apart. First was his father, then Obito, Rin, his sensei and Kushina. He felt himself getting colder and colder until his soul would shatter into ice. His sensei was the last straw and he'd be damned if he was going to mess up again. Brotherly!Kakashi Smart!Naru

His heart panicked in the same way he'd seen Rin jump in front of his Chidori. He almost cried out in fear and anger.

"No, Kurenai. The Will of Fire dictates that we protect the future generation. There is no way we're allowing you to go to the front lines," Kurenai's father stated. Kakashi wanted to second her plea, but the words died in his throat as he saw the Kyuubi shrink to half its size. He gritted his teeth and turned around. He ran towards it using all his chakra and heard Kurenai's father's angry voice behind him, slowly catching up. He pumped more chakra and went as fast as he could.

There, he saw his sensei impaled. Kakashi stood in shock.

"Kakashi…" Minato whispered. Kakashi tried desperately to take down the seal but it was no use.

"Minato-sensei!" Kakashi cried out, tears streaming down his face. He made no attempt to wipe them away. He quieted down as he heard Kushina give her last words to her child. Kushina looked up to Kakashi.

"Take care of Naruto," Kushina said, trying not to get more choked up.

Minato gave his final words and sealed the Kyuubi in his son. The seal went down and Kakashi ran to his sensei's side.

Kakashi stopped breathing as he checked for a pulse and found none. He turned to Kushina in fear and saw her taking shallow breaths, close to death.

Hiruzen ran up and Kushina coughed up more blood.

"His name is Naruto…from Jiraiya's book," Kushina sighed and died in Kakashi's arms.

Kakashi screamed until his throat felt like it was on fire. He shakily walked to Naruto and picked up the wailing baby.

"It's okay, Naruto," Kakashi soothed and held the baby close.

"In order to protect Minato's child—" Hiruzen started. Kakashi wanted to kill himself now, knowing that what his next words would probably be worse than death. He tried to zone out but it didn't work.

"You must stay away from the child. We will be naming this child Uzumaki to further protect him. You know that Minato made enough enemies of Kumo and Kiri and Iwa during the Second and Third Ninja World Wars," Hiruzen looked at Kakashi carefully.

"But Sandaime-sama, please. At least let me…do something," Kakashi pleaded. His eyes were stormy but his voice sounded weak. Hiruzen sighed.

"I'll let you stay in ANBU as his secret guard. You are to watch over him but never be seen by him," Hiruzen acquiesced.

"Thank you, Sandaime-sama," Kakashi bowed and gave a last longing look at the baby in a hospital crib. Just among many other orphans who were in this ward of the Konoha Hospital. Gritting his teeth, Kakashi walked away, each step another knife in his heart.

His steps echoed in the quiet hallway and he felt that his life had just imploded. I'm sorry sensei. I'm going to make this right and I'll protect Naruto. No matter what.

Kakashi was immediately pulled in a search and rescue team the moment he was seen by another ninja.

"Use your Sharingan," the ninja pleaded. Kakashi went from pile of rubble A to pile of rubble B and so on. After a while, he stumbled upon Minato's house. He could tell from the kunai that had chakra on them. He stood there for a moment and created a clone to help out the village as he mourned. He dug through the rubble until his fingers bled. Finally, he found two things: a necklace of Kushina's and one of Minato's kunai. He gripped them tightly and went on to find any civilians.

Kakashi watched as the nurses deliberately ignored Naruto until the last moment. However, there was one good nurse there. Kakashi walked over and made small talk.

"Hello," Kakashi greeted. She blushed slightly.

"Hello. Do you know this baby?" she asked quietly.

"No, I'm just passing through. I couldn't help but notice, however, that the other nurses ignore him," Kakashi said, pushing down his anger.

"Yeah. I feel bad for this little guy. He's so cute. I'm so sad that Hokage-sama denied my request to adopt him. The parents must've been quite the couple," she laughed. Kakashi felt his heart drop a little at the mention of his sensei and Kushina.

"I hope he won't have to spend too long at the orphanage. I grew up there; I know how hard it is," she sighed.

Kakashi nodded.

"Bye," Kakashi walked away and she gave a small wave.

He walked down the corridor with his hands in his pockets.

As he walked back to his apartment, he passed by the dango shop.

"Oi! Kakashi!" Gai yelled.

Kakashi stopped and thought about it. Looking up into the sky, he decided against it. He kept walking, much to his fellow shinobi's dismay.

"Kakashi!" he cried. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head slightly.

"Please," Gai muttered. Kakashi shook his hand off and walked to his apartment.

Crashing on his bed, Kakashi sighed. He opened his eyes to see the framed photo of his team. Minato leaned on a tree, Rin gave a smile, Obito was glaring at Kakashi and Kakashi looked bored.

Kakashi felt another stab of pain and rolled over.