YOUR HOME IS WERE YOUR HEART IS

0. Prologue

Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake had been living together since they were both chunin, Obito being ten and Kakashi barely nine but both so, so young that even if they wouldn't have admitted it in the beginning they both realized how the Uchiha spent less and less time at his lonely apartment in the clan compound and always more at Kakashi's warm one.

When they left for the Kannabi Bridge Mission, both of them two years older but still too young for a battlefield, even with the help of their teammates all became Hell.

Kakashi was back to a village that still held the grudge on his father's decision, with an eye that wasn't his and that brought him even more hate that he could get and the knowledge he was the one at fault that lead him to talk with his ghost.

Obito was broken more that just in his body, he was being morphed in a soldier so different from who he was that he could not gather the energy to run away, even as his right eye glowed red in the darkness of his cell while the memories of endless tortures were forever sowed in his mind.

When Obito got back, at the age of fifteen, with a Mangekyo Sharingan clawing his mind with memories he didn't want and a body so scarred that children were suddenly afraid, he could only seek refuge in Kakashi's embrace even as the Kyuubi destroyed everything and Minato-sensei died along with his wife to protect their son- he had arrived too late to warn them.

When Kakashi got Obito back he understood. He was well accustomed with the aftermath of torture, even if his raven haired friend refused to speak about it they both knew what happened.

Kakashi was just happy to be at his side now.

I. Naruto

Since the day he was born he'd had ANBU guarding him.

This was probably the only thing that Naruto, at the tender age of five, knew for sure.

His favourite were Dog and Cat: the first one had silver hair, that despite its spikeness and gravity-defying look, Naruto knew was soft and silky; Dog had a tall- not imposing though- and lean frame, toned with well developed muscles but still soft to the touch. Naruto liked him because he taught him how to read- together with Cat, he taught him everything- and he gave him food and clothes when he needed it the most. Cat was a bit different but Naruto liked him nonetheless. He was usually the one who found him when people wanted to hurt him bad and Cat always arrived on time to stop them from even trying; Cat also gave him a lot of hugs. The fox in his head told him that Cat was always sad when he looked at him but that he probably loved him too and that probably that was the reason Cat stayed mostly in the shadows leaving an equally sad Dog to do the job.

But he stayed.

As the years passed and Naruto grew up and started the Academy, his ANBU guards were always less and less. Not that he minded but he wanted to see the two nice Ninja that protected him more.

Then there was the disaster that was the genin exam, Mitsuki and his betrayal and Iruka-sensei nearly died and he was panicking and crying and he couldn't breath-

"You're okay Naruto. We've got you now"

Cat and Dog were there, they were with him and he was safe- he fell into their hug as they cradled him to try and calm him down, his tears obscuring his vision and exhaustion getting to him and they still held him as he lost consciousness but knowing that he was safe.

When the next day arrived Naruto found himself with the other genin graduated waiting to be sorted into their teams, a few of the civilian-born kids openly glaring at him and Kiba argued- even if in a friendly way- with him but Naruto could see that the Inuzuka and the other Clan Heirs were actually happy, either to see he graduated and thus making team formations even or actually happy for him.

He didn't know and honestly he didn't care.

"Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke"

"Team Eight: Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino"

"Team Ten: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choushi."

"Your Jonin sensei will be here in a while. Wait for them in the classroom."

Naruto was actually happy. With his teammates maybe he could make bonds, like family, and Sakura and Sasuke didn't even dislike him that much.

But still, three hours later and they were the only genin still in the room and honestly Naruto was starting to become paranoid. He was in luck because the door opened and not one but two- two!- people entered in the room, told them to meet on the rooftop and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Their introductions weren't bad.

Sakura obviously had a crush on Sasuke and wasn't exactly fond of Naruto but she also admitted that she wanted to be able to push away those feelings and try to create more meaningful relationships with her team members and that she aspired to surpass even Tsunade-sama in terms of medical abilities and sheer destructive power.

Sasuke was, obviously, bitter about his clan's fate and his brother but unlike what they had expected he wasn't obsessed by revenge and the dark haired jonin actually asked and got an answer in the form of a glare at his armband that clearly showed an Uchiha fan- indicating that he was a member of said clan- and went on with expressing his desire to become on par with the Sannin's strength.

Naruto clearly expressed his love for ramen and showed his eagerness of wanting to become friends with all of them, which was actually appreciated, and actually stated that he wanted to learn the more things possible from all of them- jonin and genin alike- as he then proceeded to tell them of his aspiration to be able to protect, to be a front-line ninja and Hokage.

Obito and Kakashi were actually very proud.

The next day Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto actually aced the bell test, they understood the meaning behind it and the importance of teamwork and for their jonin sensei that was enough.

Naruto wanted answers.

"Are you them?"

"Them who? I think you should be a little more specific brat."

"ANBU Dog and ANBU Cat. You feel like them and I want to know if it's actually you two...please?"

"...what would you gain even if we were to tell you it's us?"

"...is it wrong for me to want to know who basically raised me?"

Kakashi and Obito exchanged a glance and then looked at Naruto, who was looking at them with eyes full of hope and sincerity that they simply couldn't deny it anymore.

Hokage orders be damned.

Obito extended his hand as did Kakashi, the shadow of a smile plastered one their faces and held on Naruto's hands.

"Let's go home Naruto."

The blinding smile they got in return spoke more that a thousands words.

II. Sasuke

He lost everything when he was seven and came home to a feeling of cold and darkness, the smell of death lingering everywhere and Itachi- his brother- with glowing spinning eyes the same colour as the blood that now coated everything.

During the academy days, watching the other students, he knew that only one among all of them could understand what it felt like to be alone and he could tell by the look in Naruto's eyes- sadness and loneliness and desire for a family to call his own.

Then it started changing after the bell test, the next day Naruto's eyes were less sad, less lonely and the desire was still there but it looked almost satisfied.

Naruto started getting better, in taijutsu and at chakra control and he finally got rid of the orange eyesore a week later- this time limiting the orange only to a sleeveless hoodie with a lot of pockets and stripes on the sides of his now dark blue pants, a t-shirt with Uzumaki swirls on the sleeves completing the look- and Naruto had never looked more happy than this.

He wondered what could have happened during that day for things to change that much, Naruto barely bothered him about getting ramen together and he spoke to Sakura only if absolutely necessary and instead he looked at their new sensei- Hatake Kakashi, silver hair and dark grey eyes, former ANBU, a pervert but he was serious with their training; Uchiha Obito, black hair (it looked a dark blue under the light) and dark blue eyes, a bad scar on his right side, former ANBU as well, he looked at their team with so much hurt that even Sasuke wanted to hug him and send away the pain- like they hung the moon and the stars, with so much admiration that Sasuke wanted to ask because he remembered that that was how he used to look at Itachi and he actually liked Naruto and he wanted to know why he now looked to have found a family.

He was also angry at Obito, whom he refused to call sensei until the man provided him with an explaination as to why he left him alone after Itachi, why he wasn't there for who should be family, why he avoided him unless necessary- why, WHY, WHY?!

He snapped.

"Why did you leave me alone?!"

Kakashi-sensei looked startled, Sakura was looking with a mixture of confusion and worry and Naruto seemed to actually understand what was going on.

Obito simply stared at him, a careful blank face and emotionless eyes- well, eye. His left one was covered by an eyepatch like Kakashi's was covered by his forehead protector. He always found it too weird for it to be a coincidence.

He kept going.

"Why you never came after Itachi? Why did I never see you around? Why were you never there? Why, if you are an Uchiha, did you leave me, family, alone?! WHY?!"

He didn't even care about the tears that were falling from his eyes, but he did care about Naruto's tact to take Sakura, sensei and himself away from the two Uchiha.

Obito still had a blank face but he looked like he wanted to say something so Sasuke let him.

"Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear or the truth?"

What kind of question was this?!

"Truth."

"The council forbade me to come into any kind of contact with you- and Naruto, if you want the whole truth- unless you approached first."

He- he did not expect this.

"...Why? And why Naruto as well?"

"There is a law that stop everyone who knows to tell Naruto about his parents and another thing...- I can't tell you more than this though. As for why I wasn't allowed to come near you, it has everything to do with Danzo and the civilian council. They want 'the best' for Konoha but they are doing all the wrong things and they know what I think about their ideologies. They never liked it so when Itachi did what he did they thought that that could have been a good opportunity to try to control you in their favour and if I was allowed to actually raise you they wouldn't have been able to do that so they forbade me to come in contact with you."

"...I just wanted a family… this is not right, for me or for you. Family should stick together."

Obito kneeled down and pulled Sasuke into a rather weird hug, but it didn't matter anymore. Sasuke could feel the sincerity behind Obito's words and that alone was enough for him to forgive.

Not forget though. He would never forget.

"I officially hate the civilian council."

Obito laughed before scooping him up in his arms and starting walking.

"We all do!"

Sasuke decided to ignore the fact that he was being held like a princess in favour of asking more questions, mostly about Obito himself and storing the answers he got for future reference.

"Where are we going? This is not the way to my apartment.."

Obito raised an eyebrow.

"You ranted about wanting a family and now you're wondering where we are going?"

"Well….yes?"

"Home. We are going home."

For the first time in five years Sasuke was welcomed home, Naruto's warm laugh resonating into the house as they both helped Kakashi-sensei and Obito-sensei making dinner- and Kami, he had his suspicions but he didn't know those two were actually together!- and he fell asleep in a bed that for a while he was going to share with Naruto.

But as Naruto's arms started to wrap around his torso, Sasuke found out he didn't care.

He didn't have nightmares that night; instead he dreamt about his family.

III. Sakura

When she was little, kids her age made fun of her and her forehead- 'it's big', 'it's ugly' they said- to the point that even her parents started to use the mean nickname someone gave her of 'Forehead Girl'.

She always knew that her parents had wanted a baby boy instead of a girl, that was why her closet was full of boyish shorts and t-shirts with Tv heroes on them instead of the swirly dresses that she liked so much or why her hair was no longer than her shoulders.

Before meeting Ino she always listened to what her parents had to say.

Ino gave her a pretty red ribbon- and no, red wasn't her favourite colour for this reason!- and everyday she wore it with a proud smile and her hair styled cutely like Ino showed her.

Then they both got a childish crush on Sasuke Uchiha, their friendship slowly getting colder to the point that they no longer could have a normal chat without yelling at each other.

Her parents had been angry for the ribbon, they disapproved of it but never really commented.

Then she started the Ninja Academy.

She saw a pretty red battle dress and choose to wear it as much as possible.

She was a smart civilian-girl student that tried to be on par with the Clan heirs but it wasn't enough.

Suddenly, she didn't feel welcomed in her own home anymore.

Team Seven had the possibility of being what she had always wanted, and looked, for. It was obvious that Obito-sensei- related to Sasuke-kun? Why had she never seen him around?- and Kakashi-sensei were completely inept with social interaction and seriously, who puts former ANBU in charge of three emotionally stunted and attention deprived twelve year old kids?! But they were trying their best to know them and train them at the best of their abilities.

Sasuke-kun was cold, probably from the lack of basic human interaction since the day his whole family was slaughtered, but he didn't seem hateful. He kept eyeing Obito-sensei in a mixture of betrayal and wonder until one day he snapped and started yelling at him and she would have liked to stay and see more but Naruto grabbed her wrist and started pulling her away, Kakash-sensei following after them.

The day after that Sasuke-kun and Naruto came to the training ground together. And the day after that as well, and they became inseparable.

Naruto was….weird. He was loud and acted as an idiot but he was also hard-working, he never held back in training and she could appreciate that and he was always willing to listen to her ramblings on theoretical things she wasn't even sure he fully understood. He also greeted her with a warm smile and seemed to pay no mind to her punches or to the fact that she wore male's clothing half of the time- when she wasn't wearing her red battle dress.

Both boys were actually presences she enjoyed to be around of, her crush on Sasuke-kun pushed aside in favour of a slowly, but surely, developing friendship and her original disdain for Naruto had completely disappeared and she loved his joyfulness and his pranks- especially when he actually gave them proofs that only Iruka-sensei had been able to catch him.

Her enthusiastic attitude changed as soon as she got back to her house, late as always and her parents shot her disapproving glares.

They wanted her to leave the Academy from the very start and even if she refused every time they asked, they had made it difficult for her to keep going like everything was normal.

She had always known that the relationship she had with her parents was wrong, they tried to manipulate her into someone that she wasn't, into some kind of perfect boy that they could control and keep controlled for life. But she didn't want that. They didn't even call her by her- female- name! In the cold house she wasn't Sakura, she was Sasaki. She used to respond to it when she was younger but then she stared to think that Sasaki was her actual name. Not Sakura, Sasaki.

She didn't respond to that name anymore.

It was after the Wave Mission that something changed, as she was too tired to go home on her own and Kakashi-sensei had scooped her up in his arms- she felt safe, don't let go- and he took her to her house, being greeted by her mother.

Mother that didn't even hid just how wrong her life in the Haruno household was.

"Sasaki-kun, you are late! And who the hell are you and what did you do to my son?!"

Kakashi-sensei's face was completely blank, the new informations being processed in his brain and for a moment Sakura swore she saw a flash of anger in the silver haired man's eye.

"Maa, Haruno-san calm down. To answer your questions, I'm Hatake Kakashi, one of Team Seven's jonin sensei, I don't know who this Sasaki-kun is and I wasn't aware that you had a son. On the other hand, Sakura here needs to sleep and have a nice hot bath."

The woman scowled "It's Sasaki, not Sakura. I always had a son. Son that refuses to behave like the boy he is!"

"...Haruno-san, are you saying that you don't recognise your own daughter?"

Ok, Kakashi usually could stand stupid civilians but this- THIS. MEANT. WAR.

"I don't have a daughter. I have a son. Now unhandle my son so that I can have a talk with him about how he should not lie about his gender."

"Well, if you want a son so badly then I think you should tell your husband to get into the bedroom."

Sakura officially loved Kakashi-sensei, but she couldn't stop the tears from falling. She was still her mother.

"Y-YOU BASTARD! I already have a son! Give him back to me this instant!"

Kakashi eye-smiled "Well, the person I have in my arms is a nice girl and a promising kunoichi member of Team Seven and her name is Sakura. Now if you excuse me, I would like to take her home."

"Kakashi-sensei…?"

Kakashi strolled away from the screaming woman, glancing at the girl when she called him.

"I think that Obito was making fried chicken for dinner. If we can get home in time, you'll probably have the time for a bath and a change of clothes. You'll have to share the bed with Naruto and Sasuke tough, at least until we buy you new ones."

"What?"

Kakashi simply smiled, and when they arrived at the house no one made questions.

"Looks like Sakura-chan is now family as well, right Sas'ke?"

"Hn, at least there's someone responsible now."

Three insulted cries of outrages made Sakura smile and she couldn't stop herself from enveloping all of them in a group hug, finally feeling accepted.

"I'm home!"

IV. Epilogue

Three genins woke up and looked at the calendar, saw the date and smiled: March 19.

Their Papa and their Tou-san were going to be surprised!

It was a few weeks before the chunin exams and the genin of Team Seven were eager to let people- read: the other Teams- know that Obito and Kakashi weren't just their sensei, they were their Papa and Tou-san as well.

The first thing they did was to run to the Yamanaka's flower shop, hoping that Ino wasn't at the counter and sighing in relief when she wasn't.

They bought two bouquettes of flowers, completely identical apart from the ribbons they were tied up with: a few pink Carnations- I will never forget you- Chrysanthemums- Honesty- Daffodils- New beginning- one red rose- Love- and one white rose- Respect. Togheter symbolize unity- the ribbons being silver with a black, thunder-like design for Tou-san and an ocean-blue ribbon with painted white waves for Papa.

Then they went to a cake shop and bought a cream cake with chocolate scales and strawberries along with the tea brands they all liked so much.

Lastly, they went to retire two presents they'd ordered a few days earlier.

Before going to meet their Papa and Tou-san, and consequently Team Eight, Team Nine and Team Ten along with respective sensei and Iruka-sensei, they went back to their house to have a little change of clothing: Naruto had blue pants and shirt, with bandages going up to his calf and a short jacket with orange collar and lining with the red Uzumaki swirl on its back and a pair of googles resting over his forehead protector tied around his head; Sakura had a form fitting black t-shirt with elbow-long sleeves the same colour as leggings that arrived to her mid-tight and a pink apron-skirt over them and a pair of red stockings and her forehead protector tied the same way as her ribbon was; Sasuke wore a t-shirt with white stripes in the middle, arm warmers with metal arm protectors, leather straps that went around his back and chest forming an X that held hidden pockets and scroll\weapons holders and dark pants, his forehead protector tied around his head.

They left in a hurry, Naruto with the cake and Sakura and Sasuke with a boquet and a present each, and they arrived at the meeting point in fifteen minutes.

When they entered the room all the people turned to look at them, the three of them paying no mind to them even as their fellow genin asked question about what they were carrying and they stopped right in front of a stunned Obito and a shocked Kakashi.

They smiled, and presented to the two jonin the flowers and the small presents with Naruto in between showcasing the cake, a chocolate plate with written-

"Happy Father's Day! Papa! Tou-san!"

Then it was chaos.

People fainted, glasses shattered, shouts of surprise filled the room accompanied by the weeping of other fathers (like Inoichi, Shikaku and even Hiashi) that saw what three unrelated genin from what should have been the most dysfunctional team ever existed happily handing over presents for Father's Day to the two most broken people in the whole village.

How did those two do it?!

When the hell did Kakashi and Obito became fathers?!