Okay, a new fanfic for all ya'll! This one I'm going to update more than my other one…that one...it died…sorta…if you want me to update that one really badly, bug me about it. I really haven't even worked on the next chapter of it because I lost what was going to happen….but enough about that story!

This story will (hopefully) be a lot better than that one. It's one of those fics that has Kakashi take care of Naruto…my way, I guess. Of course Naruto has the cute little fox tail and ears! This will become very long. It starts around when he's 5 or 6.

I'll try to make this a 'update every day' fic, but that may not be possible…I just started high school, so of course I have this huge pile of homework and projects to do…-sigh-

I don't have any pairing really…I like SakuNaru 'cause of course the main character always gets his crush…but I may change it. If you have a pairing you want me to put in this fic (it can include Naruto) tell me and your reason for why you like the couple and how they go well together, please. Although, no guy/guy or girl/girl…I don't write that kind of stuff…

Genre: This really has a lot of genres…There may end up being some romance later, but not now…There will be angst, probably some drama…there will be humor at times, you can't have a fanfic with Naruto in it without humor unless it's one of those "I-hate-everything-about-me" fics…and action/adventure…So, mainly those…

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, he would have the tail and ears I put on him, so I don't…curse you, Masashi Kishimoto…I mean...thanks…for even making Naruto...he's under the glare of best writer in the world.

Warning: THIS IS NOT, I repeat, NOT A KAKA/NARU or any other guy/guy fic! If there are any signs that there is anything like that, it's just friend/parent stuff. There may not be a lot of angst at first, but there will be later…It will end as a happy fic, though, one way or another….

Okay, now that I'm done with the long A/N, on with the story!

Prologue

It was a cold and wet night in Konoha as rain drops fell from the gray, cloudy sky and landed on the body of a small child. He shivered in the dirty, wet, and cold clothes he was in. This boy looked so small. He was hugging his knees, covering his face, leaning against an apartment complex.

Now, you might ask: why was such a small boy in the rain? Why was his mother or father not there making sure he would not get a cold? Why wouldn't he move? Why would no one look at him or, if they did look, would glare? The answer: He wasn't just a normal little boy.

If you took a good look at him, or probably even a glance, you would notice two orange, black-tipped, fox ears coming out of his thick, spiky, blonde hair, dripping wet, with the rest of his body. There was also a fluffy, white-tipped tail coming out from the bottom of his too-big, white shirt, and from under his black shorts. The boy flinched as he heard a mother calling her son out of the rain, he looked up. You could now clearly see his face: Slightly tanned skin, wide, deep blues eyes, and three whisker-like markings on each cheek. His cheeks were tear-stained, proof that he had been silently crying. He couldn't take it anymore. He stood up shakily and walked to the entrance of the complex, leaving a wet trail behind him.

He climbed three sets of stairs up and went down the hall. He stopped at a door and turned towards it. He fished in his pocket and pulled out a key. He unlocked the door and walked in.

He walked into a one-room apartment. In the apartment was a kitchen to the left, bedroom area to the right, a bathroom straight ahead.

When you walked into the house, it was like you just walked into the bedroom. A twin size bed was to right of you, a dresser to the right of it, and a window to the left. Next to the dresser was a closet, right next to the closet, the bathroom.

The kitchen was separated from the rest of the room by a counter. In the kitchen was a microwave, a small refrigerator, and a stove, a sink and cabinets were connected with the counters that surrounded the kitchen except for the doorway.

The boy went straight into the bathroom. It was simple. It had a shower, a sink with a cabinet below it, and a mirror above the sink. He stared into the mirror with his emotional eyes. It was cracked, but usable.

He turned the water on in the sink and washed his face, which was already wet. He reached his arm to the right and grabbed a towel that was hanging on a bar. He wiped himself dry except in his clothes. He dried his ears, as they twitched. His tail was a little puffy from trying to get the water off.

He went out of the bathroom and to his dresser. He opened a drawer and pulled out a white shirt with a red spiral in the center and another pair of black shorts. He quickly changed.

He went into the kitchen that, by now, you may have noticed, had a few stools around. He grabbed one of the stools and set it in front of the counter. He reached up to a cabinet and grabbed a cup of instant ramen. He cooked the ramen as needed and grabbed a pair of chopsticks by his sink. He went over to the window that had a ledge big enough for him to sit on, which he did. He watched the rain as in hit the window.

He felt some peace come over him whenever he hears the rain. He opened lifted the lid on the ramen while saying "Itadakimasu," and started eating.

He heard a knock on his door. He jumped at the sudden noise, spilling his ramen, with the cup landing on his head. He did a quick clean with his hands and yelled, "Hold on a minute!" He went into his kitchen and got a washcloth, cleaning the rest of himself. He went to his door and opened it slowly, a little scared it was a drunkard telling him he did something he couldn't have done.

When the door was open, it revealed a tall man. At least, to Naruto, he was tall. He had a typical jounin uniform on, with long sleeves and pants, with the green vest. He had gray hair going to one side. He had an orange book in his hand.

"Yo," the man said, putting his hand up to shoulder height. "Uzumaki Naruto, correct?" he asked.

"Y-yes, sir." Naruto shuddered. This man didn't seem drunk, or didn't seem to want to kill or hurt him…but still! He could be hiding something…maybe…

"Ah, the Hokage has asked me to escort you to his office," the man said with an eye-smile, which happened to be the only kind of smile he could do because he wore a mask that covered his mouth and nose, and his left eye was covered by his Konoha headband. "I'm Hatake Kakashi."

"Okay, Hatake-san," Naruto said politely. "What does the Hokage want me for?"

"Well, if you come, you'll find out," Kakashi said. Naruto stepped out of his apartment, forgetting the mess of ramen. He closed the door and locked it. They walked down the hallway and started to walk down the stair way.

Naruto looked over at Kakashi. 'It's still raining…how could he have come here from the Hokage's office without getting wet?' Naruto pondered to himself.

They got to the bottom and started walking in the rain.

'He's still not wet…' Naruto tried to figure it out. He was getting wet again. 'Noooo! I'm all wet again! I don't like getting wet!' he screamed in his head. He walked so he was close to Kakashi. Kakashi noticed how he tensed when they walked into the market place in the middle of the village.

"Hey, don't worry," Kakashi said lazily. "I'm not only you're escort, I was also told to protect you…hm…a temporary guardian, I guess," Kakashi thought the last part out loud.

Naruto visibly relaxed. Instead of moving away, like Kakashi thought he would, he seemed to move closer. The rain stopped and Naruto was jumping with joy in his head. Kakashi paused and disappeared, and then reappeared behind Naruto, his hand inches away, in a fist. Naruto froze. He slowly turned his head; Kakashi opened his hand to revile a rock. His eyes got wide as he looked up to Kakashi's face, his tail a bit puffier than before. Kakashi's head wasn't facing him though. He followed Kakashi's gaze to a woman with her hand in front of her, like she had just- !

'She threw the rock! So Kakashi!—' "You…saved me…Why?" Naruto was so confused. No one had ever protected him before. Ever.

"I was told to protect you for the time being," Kakashi said, turning his head sideways to show Naruto his eye-smile. He turned his head back with a glare at the woman. "You will be punished if you ever try to hurt him again while he is in my care!" Kakashi said harshly.

The woman flinched and bowed quickly, then ran off.

"Hatake-san…"Naruto said with teary eyes.

"Don't use my last name, please," Kakashi said to Naruto; it seemed out of character for him.

"Okay…Kakashi-san…thank you…" Naruto murmured.

"For what?" Kakashi had started walking again.

"Caring…why?" Naruto asked a bit confused.

"You are important, like everyone else is. You are a comrade if you live in this village. 'Those that break the rules are trash, but those that betray their friends are worse than trash,'" Kakashi quoted.

"Oh…"Naruto looked down, then back up with a grin. He glomped Kakashi, making him fall back. "Thank you!" he exclaimed as tears came down his cheeks. 'He didn't call me a monster, or demon… or anything! He didn't insult me!'

"A...ah…" 'That's right…he probably had never had anyone say anything like that to him…poor kid…' Kakashi thought as he was able to get up in a squatting position, a hand on each of Naruto shoulders as Naruto sniffed back the tears wanting to come out from happiness. Also, he was shaking from being scared of that lady. Kakashi didn't know what to do from here, so he let instinct take over. He wrapped his arms around Naruto in a hug and held him closely. He rubbed his back in a soothing manner. "It's okay, everything will be fine," he comforted.

Naruto flinched at the new kind of contact, but then relaxed. He cried all he was holding in, into Kakashi's shoulder. "Thank you," he murmured again.

"It's okay, you don't have to cry any more," Kakashi said reassuringly.

After a little while Kakashi felt more pressure on him and made the boy lean back some, to see his face. He was asleep. He could see why, this boy was young, it was late, and crying can make anyone tired. Kakashi picked the boy up and carried him the rest of the way to the Hokage's office. Once he got there he knocked on the door. "Hokage-sama?"

"Hm? Come in," a faint voice said from within the office.

Kakashi opened the door. He now had Naruto on his back. He bowed as a greeting.

"Kakashi-san, I see you brought the boy," an old man said, eyeing Naruto. His name was Sarutobi.

"Yes, like you ordered…he really doesn't live well, sir," Kakashi stated.

"That's why I made you get him, Kakashi," Sarutobi said. "Take him to a guest room and I can talk to him then."

"Yes, sir," Kakashi said and started to walk out of the room.

"Oh, you stay in one of the quest rooms, too. The boy seems to trust you."

"But, sir—" Kakashi was cut off.

"No but's. Rest well, you'll need it." Kakashi took Naruto off his back and held him in his arms. Naruto shifted a bit and curled up into Kakashi's chest. 'This is going better than expected,' Sarutobi thought to himself with a grin. Kakashi walked out of the office.

'Why do I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be crazy?' Kakashi thought to himself.

The young fox-like boy slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times.

'Where am I? My ceiling doesn't have clouds on it…'

He jolted up. He looked around the room. It didn't look familiar at all. "How did I—" Naruto thought out loud as he remembered the night before. He sniffed the air. "Er…Kakashi-san must have brought me here." He sniffed again. "The old man was here, too," Naruto said, referring to the Hokage. He got off the bed as he heard foot steps. Naturally, his tail went under him, but his ears were still up and listening intently.

'Tap…tap…tap,' the sound the foot steps made. The taps stopped at Naruto's door. The door opened…

"OLD MAN!" Naruto yelled as he ran over to the Hokage and hugged him.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," the Hokage said, patting him on the back. "How are you?"

"I'm great! But old man, did you want to talk to me?" Naruto asked. Sarutobi was used to his nick name. He was old after all.

"Yes, that's right. Kakashi-san brought you here." At this, Kakashi came from behind the Hokage. "It seems that you fell asleep, though,"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Ahe…hehe…sorry. I was tired."

"I understand. It was late, especially for someone as young as you," Sarutobi said and patted Naruto's head.

"Well, old man, what did you want to tell me?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but first let me ask you. How are your living conditions?" the Hokage inquired.

Naruto didn't know how to answer.

"Um…lonely," he answered with the only word that seemed to tell it all.

"I see…We'll have to change that, then."

"W-what?" Naruto asked confused. "I- I don't want to live with anybody! I- I don't want to-to-to—" Naruto's eyes had the look of remembering sad times. "The villagers, they…I don't want to-to be called a-a demon…" Naruto shuddered.

Sarutobi and Kakashi were shocked at this.

"Now, now, I'm not going to put you with someone like that! I want you to know what it's like to not be alone. It will take a while to search, so you'll have to live on your own for a little while longer," the Hokage said.

"…Hokage-sama…" Naruto actually didn't call him old man. "C-can I stay with…with Kakashi-san?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes.

Sarutobi and Kakashi were shocked again. Sarutobi looked over to Kakashi.

"Naruto…I have no idea how to take care of a kid…" Naruto looked defeated, ears down. "But—" Naruto's ears went back up. "I guess I could take care of you 'til Hokage-sama can find someone better fit for the job," Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "Well…okay, I'll try to take care of you." Kakashi sweat-dropped. Naruto glomped Kakashi again, making him fall over.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Kakashi-san!" Naruto chanted.

"Na-Naruto," Kakashi said as he sat up, somehow.

"Yes?" Naruto asked, with a tilt of his head as he let go of Kakashi.

"We still need the Hokage to confirm it," Kakashi said. Naruto looked at the Hokage.

"Naruto, why do you want to stay with Kakashi?" the Hokage asked.

"'Cause he didn't call me a demon, or monster and he saved me from being hit with a rock." Naruto looked at Kakashi proudly.

"Hm, is that so?" Sarutobi looked at Naruto. This was the first time he'd seen him this happy. "Fine, Kakashi-san, you are now his legal guardian until I find a replacement,"

"Yes, sir," Kakashi said with nod. This was when Naruto first did his foxy grin.

Done with prologue! Hope you liked it! I'll try to update everyday like I said I would. It may be hard though. This is by far the longest first chapter/prologue I've ever written. PLEASE REVIEW OR I WON'T CONTINUE! If you don't review, I won't know you read it, and if no one reads it, what's the point in continuing? So, R&R please! Until tomorrow! JA!