Eh heh heh. So, it's been a long time since I've updated… Yeah, blame various manga that I've been reading along with my general laziness. Oh, and on a side note, isn't it sad that OneManga shut down? *Depressed sigh*. Well, this chapter's here, since I didn't really want to be put in a bulletproof room with Zetsu. That's all I'm saying, lol.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to give one when this is the last chapter? Really? Okay, how about I'm too depressed with my favorite manga-reading site going away, my favorite manga hasn't updated in a while, and other various things to even think about owning Naruto. No, this series belongs to Masashi Kishimoto (I think that's his name…), I just borrowed it for my own sick purposes, mainly this story.

Rating: As far as I know, this is the only K rated chapter of them all. Who knows, I could have over-rated some of the chapters and made them T just because I could, but oh, well.

Notes: I went back and read your reviews to look for any questions/comments/concerns about this story. I think I've covered them in this chapter, if not some of the previous chapters, but if you still have any questions/comments/concerns, just ask me; I'll come up with an excu-plausible explanation- for it.

After the patients were finally showed to a room where they could rest for a while, Kakashi met up with his old training master-who coincidentally was also Naruto's father- Namikaze Minato, current Hokage of Konoha. Kakashi had many things to talk over with Minato about, such as their current plan of action for what would happen to everyone now.

"Sensei, it's good to see you again, even though it happened under these circumstances," Kakashi said politely, bowing in respect, to the Hokage who was seated behind the Hokage's desk, ready to face anything that would happen next in the coming development of what would soon be known as the Asylum Incident.

"I feel the same, Kakashi," Minato said tiredly from behind his desk, though he still managed a smile for Kakashi. "I was surprised when in Naruto's letters home he mentioned having you as his counselor. Did Gai get you the job?"

Kakashi sighed in response, before sitting down in the chair that Minato offered to him. "He insisted that since we went to college together, we should work in the same place as well."

Minato chuckled a bit at that, remembering Kakashi's expression when he found out that his roommate for college would be none other than the Green Beast of Konoha, as Gai had liked to call himself at that time. "Well, the two of you did get along pretty well; it's not surprising that you would eventually have the same profession." Kakashi gave Minato a startled, disbelieving look at the mention of being on 'good terms' with Gai, before moving on the actual topic of conversation that he was meaning to ask.

"Sensei, what are we going to do with the kids now? It's not like we can just let them go off to do anything they want now, and some of them still need some help. Also, I'm sure Orochimaru's not going to just let them out of his clutches, they could be in danger!"

"Yes, I have thought about this, and with some advice from my advisors and the Third Hokage, I have come to a decision," Minato said, face serious to show how important what he had to say was. "They may not like it, but for now it is the only option that I can think of; we should send them to witness protection here in Konoha, the three siblings from Suna as well. We have already thought of the practical needs for this plan, so far, and have also contacted the various parents and guardians involved; this includes the Akatsuki, as well."

"Wait, the Akatsuki are also going to be involved in this?" Kakashi asked, not having really thought much about the older teens.

"Well, they had been involved since the beginning, right? And weren't they also the ones who initially contacted us about this problem?" Minato smiled at Kakashi, knowing that he had forgotten about the Akatsuki.

"I suppose that's true…" Kakashi conceded, deep in thought. "So, what are we going to do for them in Witness Protection? Are they going to be put in a safe house somewhere?"

"Actually, I thought that since they haven't been able to interact with others of their peers in a while, as long as you as their counselors don't mind, they could all attend the local high school. It wouldn't be suspicious if all of them suddenly join, as the school itself is fairly new. All that would be needed is a cover story of their old school closing down, which left them to join up with the new one. Realistically, there should be no problems. Plus," here, Minato started smiling with a huge grin that filled up his face, much like how Kakashi was reminded of Naruto when he smiled, "Naruto should be happy now that he can be with others his own age that won't leave. He was always complaining about that in his letters."

Kakashi left the office soon afterward to let Minato revel in being a parent to his son once again and make the phone call to his wife to tell her about the news of their son. Kakashi needed some time to think, anyways.

Kakashi could already tell that the kids weren't going to like that… True enough; the Akatsuki might like it since it would mean that they would be in control of a larger population of people-most likely to exploit them and spread the Word of Pein-but the other teenagers might not being told what to do. Then again, like Minato had said earlier, it would give them a chance to associate with their peers more; for all Kakashi knew, that was probably what those kids needed the most right now, in regards to their treatment.

When Kakashi returned to the room where the newly freed patients of the Insane Asylum for the Youth (the name had apparently changed since Kakashi had started working there, he had noticed), he returned to see chaos. There were patients standing around talking loudly, though most were eating the food that a kind worker had brought in for everyone. The Akatsuki, like always, was keeping to themselves over in a corner, but Kakashi was glad to see that everyone else was socializing, even if they were doing so with their mouths full.

Ah, lunch time madness. Kakashi had almost forgotten what it was like, even if it had only been a day since he last had lunch duty. So much had happened, it amazed Kakashi that it was only the day after their brave escape. He was even starting to wonder if they would get used to a 'normal' life after all. Before Kakashi could contemplate anymore, however, a certain hyperactive blond called his attention over to where he, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai were hoarding some of the food that was laid out in front of them. Apparently, they wanted to eat with him and were waiting until he came in. Kakashi was touched by this, before he noticed that all Naruto had were cups of ramen, and the others weren't doing much better.

Walking over to where Anko was watching over the Akatsuki, as their new designated guardian. She looked up when she noticed Kakashi walking towards her, and offered her famous cat-like grin, which Kakashi noted that he hadn't seen in a while. After all, there hadn't been much to smile about before.

"Can you believe, that after everything we've been through, even though they can look after themselves, I'm still stuck looking after the Akatsuki?" Anko said when Kakashi was standing next to her. "Not that I mind, really, I think I'll be able to handle them just fine; it's just that everyone else has only three to look after, though in your case, four."

"Think of it this way, there's more of them to love," Kakashi replied, giving her his own smile, though by far his was more rarely given out.

"True enough, though I'm not sure about the 'love' part," Anko commented as she looked at the Akatsuki who were fighting over which portions of lunch they would or wouldn't get. "Can't get any worse, though, can it?"

"Depends on your definition of 'worse'," Kakashi said mysteriously, before moving on to why he originally came over in the first place. "Did you happen to notice the quality of the 'lunch' that they decided to give us?"

"Rather insulting, to me," Anko quipped. "It's like they think that we feed our patients junk food instead of the nutritionally balanced meals that we actually do serve."

"Well, they are kids, though," Kakashi admitted. "For many, Naruto in particular, this is the first chance to eat junk food in years. We could at least let them enjoy it for now, right?"

Anko was silent for a moment, internally battling over her duties as an administrator and her want for the jaded teenagers to actually start acting like regular teenagers. Before she had a chance to answer, though, Anko started laughing. Turning to Kakashi, she said in between chuckles, "I think your group's waiting for you over there; if you don't hurry, they'll start lunch without you."

Kakashi spared a glance to where Naruto and Sakura were watching him from their spot at the long conference table that everyone-save the Akatsuki- were sitting at and where Sasuke and Sai were trying to pretend that they weren't watching him, as well. Kakashi sighed, before giving Anko a little salute goodbye and wandered over to his group.

"So, are you having fun now that you're out of the asylum?" Kakashi asked when he reached them, noticing the array of snack food that the helpful assistant obviously thought that all teenagers should eat. Along with Naruto's ramen (that he kept by himself at all times; apparently, this is what he meant by "Free Ramen"), there were also packaged salads that usually came with burger meals, of which Kiba had taken for himself and Akamaru, several soft drinks, a few orders of fries, and one order of onion rings that Sai, surprisingly, had taken for himself. Sasuke and Sakura, being the more health conscientious out of the four, had taken the salads along with an order of fries and a soda each. This left an order of fries and a soda left for Kakashi to eat, and since he hadn't eaten since lunch the day before, he wouldn't say no to a chance to eat anything, even if the fries were practically dripping grease.

"Oh, heck yeah!" Naruto shouted with a mouth full of ramen, bits of broth flying over the table. Sakura hit him over the head for a 'lack of manners in front of a lady!' while Sasuke, Sai and Kakashi looked disgusted. "I'm finally getting the chance to eat real food again" "How is this real?" Kakashi asked aloud, "and I was starting to think that I would forget what this stuff tasted like."

"Oh, yeah," Sakura said thoughtfully while picking at her salad, "You've been there longer than any of us, I keep forgetting."

"That reminds me," Sai said thoughtfully. Kakashi was just a little bit surprised that Sai seemed to be willingly participating; it was almost as rare as if Sasuke participated willingly. "Why did your parents allow you to be sent to the asylum for so long?"

Kakashi listened closely to what Naruto had to say, since he was also curious; Minato wasn't stupid enough to send his only son to someplace where he might never see him again, let alone what his scary wife would have to say on the issue. The big question, it seemed to Kakashi, was why did Minato send Naruto to Orochimaru's asylum? Why was he even sent to one in the first place, even?

"Well, my dad's a bigwig in the government, or something like that, and when I started having problems, his teacher suggested that I get some help. See, apparently, he (my dad's teacher that is) is friends with Tsunade-baa-chan and the creepy snake-guy, and all three of them built the asylum, before my dad's teacher decided to go and wander off somewhere. I think he's a writer, though whenever I ask, Mom just changes the subject without giving me an answer…" Naruto trailed off. While Naruto and the rest of his group contemplated what his mom could have meant, Kakashi was thinking over a few things.

Now it made sense, Kakashi thought. Minato's teacher, who was friends with Tsunade and Orochimaru, could only be Jiraiya. If had been Jiraiya of all people to suggest that Naruto go over to the asylum that he had built with his two friends that he trusted, of course Minato would have Naruto go there, especially if he thought that Naruto would be coming home soon. Unfortunately, since the asylum was actually not helping, Naruto spent seven years of his life there, years that he would not get back. The only bright side is that despite what Naruto thought sometimes, he wasn't actually alone there. He had the letters that his mother and father sent him every day, since visitation wasn't allowed, and he also had his new friends to be with him, too.

Naruto had been doing very well in his therapy sessions with the others in his group, Sasuke, Sakura and Sai. He was becoming calmer, though that was entirely by his standards. No sane (pardon the pun) person would claim that Naruto was 'calm'. He was also interacting more with others, that didn't include pulling pranks, or only talking with people as if they were going to be there for a short amount of time. What Kakashi thought that Naruto needed the most at this time is a sense of stability around him. And while, what with the new Witness Protection plan, they wouldn't be able to have that stability for a while, Kakashi was sure that these were the first steps towards stability that Naruto and everyone else needed.

Not long after Kakashi had come to this conclusion, the Yondaime himself came in to the room. When this happened, the adults in the room and a few of the more well-informed teenagers bowed respectfully towards him. When the others asked, particularly the three from Suna, who Minato was, they started bowing respectfully (or as respectfully as they would) towards him as well. Then Naruto noticed why it was that everything went quiet all of a sudden, and before Minato had a chance to ask everyone not to bow to him, Naruto jumped towards him.

"Daaaddd!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards his father. This shocked not only his own therapy group, but everyone else who was not aware of his father's status.

"Wait, when he said that his dad was some 'bigwig in the government', I didn't think he meant the Hokage!" Sakura said aloud. However, this wasn't nearly as shocking to everyone as when Naruto finally reached his dad after years of not being able to physically see him, and punched Minato in the stomach.

"G-good one, son," Minato managed to choke out, ruffling Naruto's hair.

"Wha-what did you just do to the Hokage?" a government aid demanded of Naruto. Naruto just looked at him before shrugging, as if it was no big deal that he just physically assaulted the Hokage. Minato, however, just waved it off. He still hadn't stopped ruffling Naruto's hair, Kakashi had noticed, and by the way Naruto was grimacing slightly, he decided that his old teacher was probably getting payback in his own way.

"It's okay, since he and his friends will probably be angrier at me after I make an announcement soon," Minato said diplomatically. When everyone heard that the Hokage had an announcement it became quiet again. The counselors knew that the announcement most likely had to do with what was going to happen next; the Akatsuki knew that whatever it was, they were most likely going to be a part of it whether they liked it or, most likely, not; the rest of the patients didn't really know what was going to come next, except for maybe Shikamaru, and were thus quiet as well. Kakashi tensed, however, since he knew what it was about and was waiting for the others to start complaining.

"You see, after careful consideration and consultation about what to do with everyone here, I've made a decision," Minato started. A few of the more rowdy patients didn't like the thought of being told what to do, but they knew that these were no ordinary circumstances, so they held in their complaints. "I've decided, and with the approval from your parents and guardians, I might add, that for now, until Orochimaru is caught and tried you will be attending the local high school-"

At this, there were several cheers at the thought of finally being able to go to school again, strange as it may seem. After being quieted down by their stressed counselors, Minato continued.

"-while being in the witness protection program."

There was a moment of silence as this bit of information was digested, when there was a general uproar that Kakashi had expected, and judging from Minato's expression as well, he expected it too. It seemed that the general consensus on the witness protection idea was a bit of confusion over what it actually meant, with a dollop of outrage that they didn't seem to have a say in it, mixed with just a pinch of fear over what was to come. Kakashi then decided not to do anymore analogies while he was hungry.

"What do you mean Witness Protection, Dad?" Naruto said as he finally batted his father's hand away from his head to glare at him. "Does this mean that I'm-we're-not going home yet? What does Mom say about this?"

Minato sighed before answering Naruto. A few of the others had noticed that they were getting their questions answered and so became quiet as well, though they also 'helped' some of the others who were still loud to be quiet. "Well, no, you can't stay at home just yet. But for at least a few days, we're going to let you go to your respective homes to catch up with your family while we make arrangements for where you will be staying during your stay in Witness Protection. However, during Witness Protection, you won't be allowed to go home; we're hoping to find a safe house to use, that you will be staying in."

Around here, there were a few, reluctant, noises of agreement. While they didn't like the idea of not being able to stay home, they knew that the situation was one that they couldn't be picky about. Also, so far what the Yondaime had suggested was very reasonable, and they could deal with not being able to go home just yet. In a few cases, some were glad about this, since they didn't think that they were exactly what their parents were expecting. Lee for instance still had his mother who thought that he was possessed to deal with, and Hinata's father was still in jail; she and Neji would most likely have to stay with relatives that they didn't know well, and neither wanted that just yet; Hinata was still not quite sure she was ready to deal with everyone on the outside, whereas Neji wasn't sure if everyone on the outside was ready to deal with him. He knew his fate well, and wasn't sure how others would react to that.

Then there were the ones like Sasuke, Itachi, Sai, and Tenten who didn't have anyone looking forward to them coming back home, or even a home let alone anyone to come back, too. Sasuke and Itachi could probably go back to their old home, but after years of neglect and the memories that were linked with it, they weren't sure if they wanted to go back just yet.

"Okay then, but what about Asuma-sensei and everyone else?" Shikamaru asked, feeling that if he didn't then nobody else would. "What's going to happen to the counselors now that we're going to Witness Protection and their jobs have pretty much been terminated?"

Kakashi realized suddenly with a jolt that the kid was right, and he hadn't even considered that. Taking a look at Gai, Asuma, Kurenai and Anko, he could see that they hadn't thought about that, either. Luckily, it seems as though the Yondaime had thought about that for them.

"Well, I was hoping that they would volunteer to look after everyone," Minato said smiling, suspiciously like he was smiling at Kakashi in particular, though he could have just imagined it. "Since it seems as though you were interrupted in the middle of your treatments; this is entirely voluntary, or course." Minato amended, not wanting to sound like he was using his position as Hokage to order them into doing what he wanted.

"I'll definitely stay," Kurenai said immediately, putting her hands on the shoulders of the members of her counseling group. Kakashi could see the looks of relief on Kiba and Hinata's faces. They had clearly thought that she was going to abandon them now that she had no obligation to look after them. Even Shino looked a bit relieved, though it was well hidden thanks to his sunglasses and hood.

"Same here," Asuma said, following up with a little wave of his hand. "Who knows what this bunch of kids would get into if I weren't there to look after them?" Ino and Chouji looked happy at this too, though Shikamaru muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Since when have you looked after us?" though he seemed to be happy about this as well.

"I should think it would go without saying that I will be staying by my charges sides!" Gai proclaimed enthusiastically. Lee shared in on his happiness while Neji and Tenten sweat dropped at the sight of the two of them.

"Well, I don't think that it would be any worse with him around," Tenten said, though Kakashi noticed the subtly hidden look of relief that Gai would be staying with them. Neji just 'hn'-ed, which Kakashi took to be his agreement.

"Wait a minute, what about Baki-sensei?" Kankuro asked suddenly. Kakashi had almost forgotten to ask about their missing colleague, and was glad that someone asked besides himself. "He's been missing this entire time, and we're not buying the story about him looking after his sick mother; what happened to him?"

"Oh yes, I'm glad you brought that up," Minato said. "It appears that he had had his own skirmish with Orochimaru's assistant, Kabuto, and had injured himself. He's fine; he just had to report to his superiors about what had happened. You'll see him soon, as he has already volunteered to look after the three of you."

"Okay, then," Temari said with some satisfaction that Kakashi noticed was shared with Kankuro and surprisingly Gaara as well. It seemed that they liked the man more than they had let on, most likely because he was also from Suna along with them.

"Well if that's out of the way, then I'll take charge of the Akatsuki," Anko spoke out from where she was leaning against the wall next to said Akatsuki. "If I'm already looking after them here, then I might as well look after them the long haul."

"Don't we get a say in this, seriously?" Hidan asked upset. Deidara seemed to share his concern, but was kept from voicing it thanks to Sasori stepping on his foot. Pein also looked as though he might have a problem with Anko 'taking charge' of his Akatsuki, but reconsidered when he thought over her actual meaning. Apparently, he didn't really care as long as it was known that God didn't let anyone else 'take charge' of himself or God's Angel.

"Of course not!" Anko said sweetly while smiling her trademark grin at him. Hidan settled for grumbling to himself.

As Kakashi was watching all of this unfold, he noticed that everyone was turning to stare at him, to see what he would do. So cute, Kakashi thought. As if he needed any time to consider something like this.

"What? You didn't really think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" Kakashi asked his group. Kakashi chuckled a bit upon seeing the heavily relieved looks on Naruto and Sakura's faces, along with slightly more hidden looks on Sasuke and Sai's faces. Did they really think I was going to say no? Kakashi thought. He was rather insulted.

"Oh, and in regards to what your Mom says about this," Minato said to Naruto, drawing his attention back to him again. "I was going to use you to surprise her, what do you think?"

"So you couldn't tell her flat out?" Naruto asked, teasingly.

Minato chose to look away, muttering something about how she always won the arguments.

Well, this story is over. Sort of. There's still the sequel that needs to be written, but like I've said before, I have another story to finish first. Hopefully, since I've seemed to pick up a second wind, so to say, it will get put up soon-ish. However, definitely count on it being put up next year; you all know how I am about updating. If I'm really, really sneaky, it might *might* get put up before next year. At any rate, I still need to think of a name for the sequel. I was thinking of Ninja Insane High School or something, but that seems a bit lame to me. So, if you have any suggestions, I'm open to them. I'll put up a poll for suggestions, where you can write in your own. I'll look over them, and the one I like the best will be the name. Don't worry, I'll put up another chapter after this one that has the official name for the new story, with maybe a little extra, so be sure to look out for it! ^_^

And now, for the many, many people who have supported me through this whole story, here you are!

For the lovely reviews that make my day every time I read them (I'm not entirely sure if I deserve them, but I'll happily accept them!): SilverxWolf, chi, LuvLuvKakashi, Keith Kaizer, Dark Tank, SwissEagle, Lehxra, Jumpingbeans480, xXxSheIsTroublexXx, Number one Itachi fan-girl, Hexanna, sad little monkey, SiberiaFox, Obito-chan, Anime-rocks-and-you-know-it, Kakashifangirlnumber1000, WhiteTerrier, demon lilith, ichilover3, redfoxrose, greatstars, The Spirit Alchemist, Ce'Nedra Queen of Random, Zaxara, sakurabender, anotamous, Blood of the Dawn, Holly-Batali, ranmafanz, TeenageNeko, angelsxdemons, Naruto the 0 Espada, Port in the Storm, m101, Kariann-chan, b4ndg33k (my lovely little sister), loyal december, TwistedRoses132, andalliwantedwerecookies, Kisame's Shadow, anonymous-ninja13, SilverLunaMoon, and last but certainly not least, who motivated me to finally write this last chapter, blksnowangel.

For the many people who favorited and alerted this story, unfortunately I don't have the attention capacity to name each and every single one of you, but know that you helped motivate me to write this thing.

I hope everyone sticks with me for the sequel, and thank you all for supporting me for this project of mine! *bows down low* Thank you! ^_^