Author Notes: SORRY. It has been so long. I just . . . I don't know. Really I just wanted to continue this. And I decided to work on this while the poll was going on. Speaking of the poll. As of 7/31/18 at 12:43pm, 213 people have voted. I messaged 564 people about the poll. That's about 37.77%. You guys failed. Just kidding. Okay so Altered Fates WON. I'm not surprised. Really. That one is by far my most popular story. So after I post this, I will be working on Altered Fates. Also I will post another poll minus Altered Fates. . . that way AF won't be picked again and again. So if you read this, please go vote in the new poll. Want to know something funny. This story came in second place. So anyways, I have had some issues and this got forgotten for a while until I watched the Naruto series again and that made me want to pick this back up. Also I realized that to make the things I want to happen, I have to change some ages around. I'm not going to exactly state ages for everyone. Don't worry about it. I just wanted to say it before someone pointed it out. Also if you see a character do a jutsu or move that you don't think they should know, don't complain. I'm making the ninja a little more rounded. Like lets take Hinata. She uses just the gentle fist style and the Byakugan basically right. So I think a shinobi would try to be prepared, like if a enemy made those things useless, she would have something in backup like a fire or lightning jutsu. Also, I decided to add a fight scene just for making you guess wait so long. Hope you like it. On an interesting note. I actually started on a few future chapters of this before I posted this. I had enough for two chapters typed when I started the next two chapters. I have NEVER planned any story THIS far in advanced. I am surprised with myself. Also I had to go back and reorganize the chapters. No more of this chapter 1 part 1. That is stupid. If it is a chapter, I should call it that. It is nice to see that this is actually chapter 7 instead of 4. Also I am making this chapters 7 and 8. It is long enough to be two chapters and it will get us back on track. So lucky you, two chapters for the price of one. After this, I'm going to go work on the winner of the poll on my account page.

Falcon800: With Tsunade and Shizune

Fan chapter 7 . Aug 26, 2013 : Thanks. Sorry for the long wait. It has been years.

Please Read my stuff: Sorry I was so long of a wait.

Sandaime Rikudo Sennin: Are you sure it wasn't really you. (wink) . . . .They actually cried? That is so awesome. I did try to make it that sad, but didn't think it would come off that strong.

Killjoy3000: Thanks again.

schnookums: Thanks. I might just fastforward a bit. Just have to read to find out.

ultima-owner: Thanks

LordXeenTheGreat: Thanks

ladygoddess8: That might just happen

Mangastream7: Thanks and sorry for the wait.

Silvermane1: Not yet . . . . maybe.

Gruffard: Thanks . . . I think.

-Forever: Thanks. I liked them both. I had just read the chapters again and I cried a little bit. Forgot how I ended it.

fan chapter 7 . Sep 4, 2013: Thanks and sorry for the wait.

Guest chapter 7 . May 4, 2014: Not abandoned.

Crown Moon Child: Thanks, but it is going to get sadder.

TheKingOfGames24: Thanks

Guest chapter 7 . Jun 11, 2016: Working on it.

Lolie-love chapter 7 . Jul 7, 2016: No problem about the english. It's not that bad. Here is an update

Tatipi2262: Here it is.

NerdyHeart: Not abandoned. Just working on other things. I came back because I was watching the series.

VxXThunderXxv: Thanks. I missed this more than I thought I did.

Guest chapter 7 . Apr 17, 2017: I haven't abandoned this. I have actually been re-watching the Naruto series and want to work on this. Thanks your wards wean a lot.

NerdyHeart: It will happen soon.

Bosma17:Here you go.

Thoughts = "I hate going to work . . . If I push myself down the stairs, can I call in?"

Other voices in head = "Check out that girl's ass." "Hey don't even look at her. You have a girlfriend at home, who is twice as hot."

Other languages = "You can't understand a word I'm saying."

Medical Strings Chapter 07 and 08: New Foxy Friends

=============================Time Skip 3½ Years=============================

Naruto (3½ years old) was wondering the dark allies of the village. It was late at night and way past a reasonable bedtime for a child. But this child had no one to enforce a bedtime or to set any limits. More importantly he had no one to simply be there for him.

The child was all alone in the world.

At the moment, Naruto was scouring the back allies for food and shelter. This had been going on for a week, since he was kicked out of the orphanage. Their reasoning was along the lines of "A demon like YOU doesn't deserve ANY kindness. . . You are a danger to the other children. . . .I don't know why you were allowed to live." When these things had been yelled at him, Naruto cried his eyes as he fell on his behind. He knew that the ladies running the orphanage didn't like him, but the pure hatred in their voice was crushing. The devastated child hadn't left fast enough for their tastes so the two women that ran the place, picked him up (even as he was still crying) and threw him out. He had landed hard on his face, scrapping it and causing more of his tears to fall along with his blood.

The small child didn't know if "leaving" the orphanage was good or bad.

Good because the people there were always so mean to him. The food was horrible tasting. The other orphans bullied him. He had no bed to sleep in. A ratty hole filled blanket was all he was given. Naruto had to decide either to cover himself with the "blanket" in order to stay warm or to sleep on it so that the floor was a tiny bit more softer.

Bad because he couldn't really take care of himself, Naruto was still a child after all. And a horrible place to stay was STILL a roof over his head. Plus the place was the only home he knew. It had grown on him even though the place was only full of anger and hate directed at him.

Since being kicked out, the only food Naruto was able to find was from dumpsters and it made him really sick. He didn't know it but some civilians had seen him dumpster diving for food. They had told all the others this and they had formed a plan with the help of some similar minded shinobi. Any food they threw away would have different chemicals added to it so that anyone eating it (Naruto) would get sick and maybe eventually die. The only problem was that they hadn't counted on the fact that the Kyubi would keep Naruto alive. Though the child still got sick because he was slowly starving to death. And it didn't help that the civilians would attack at night, hurting Naruto and making it so he couldn't get a full night of rest. The Kyubi could only help so much with the current situation and was barely able to keep Naruto alive.

Normally Sarutobi would have stepped in long before it had gotten anywhere near this point but he was extremely busy with things that had taken up all of his attention.

First was Kumogakure. Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village had set up an uneasy peace treaty. In reality, it was a set up for Kumogakure to try to steal the Byakugan. They were kind of REALLY obsessed with eye kekkei genkai. Officially and to the public's knowledge, they had sent over one of their senior ninja to sign the treaty. Unofficially, his mission was to kidnap a main member of the Hyuga clan. So he had snuck into their compound and into the room of little Hinata and her newly born sister Hanabi. The two sisters were sound asleep at the time. Looking over the sleeping children, the foreign shinobi decided to grab Hanabi since it would be easier to kidnap a baby and raise her to be loyal to only Kumogakure. They could then use her as a breeding factory to create their own clan of Byakugan users. But as he grabbed the baby, the shinobi wasn't quiet enough and awoke Hinata. She was terrified, like any little girl normally would be. But the moment she saw Hanabi in a stranger's hands, something inside her snapped and her fear disappeared. She loved Hanabi and there was no way she could let someone steal her baby sister. It was her job as big sister to protect her. Acting quickly, Hinata rushed at the intruder with her fists raised as she yelled at the top of her lungs "YOU AREN'T TAKEING HANABI!" The little girl was as effective as you would expect against a trained shinobi and she was swatted away like a bug. Hinata flew across the room, slamming into a wall before falling to the floor unconscious.

But Hinata's actions had stalled the intruder just enough and alerted the clan that help was needed.

Her father, Hiashi, and mother, Hitomi, were quick to arrive. Hitomi got her children to safety as Hiashi stopped the intruder with a Gentle Fist strike to the heart before he could even leave the room. The Kumogakure ninja was death before his body hit the floor. In retaliation for killing their messenger of "peace", Kumogakure said they would declare war against Konoha if they didn't get Hiashi's head. . . literally. Sarutobi and the Hyuga clan tried to think of what to do. The Hyuga couldn't just hand over the head of their clan. But luck was on their side. Hiashi had an identical twin, Hizashi. His brother sacrificed his life, much to Hiashi's protest (Hizashi had to punch Hiashi in the stomach), to save him. Hizashi's one request was that Hiashi look after his son.

So they gave Kumo Hizashi's body to save the peace. But Kumo didn't get the Byakugan. No, when they got their Hyuga back to Kumo, they found out that the kekkei genkai they were so obsessed with was sealed away. They couldn't even use his semen to impregnate their own kunoichis since . . . Let us just say Hizashi was missing certain parts by the time they looked. They were FURIOUS when they found this out, . . . but there was nothing they could do. Konoha had filled their end of the bargain . . . kind of . . . and if they did anything, Kumo would look bad.

The second thing was the Uchiha clan. They were planning to take over Konoha. The only reason Sarutobi knew about it was because of Itachi. He was acting as a double agent for Konoha. So far the information Itachi was able to get was vague and didn't really help Sarutobi to find a peaceful solution. The Hokage feared that if things continued the way they were, something dramatic would have to be done and no one would be happy with the outcome.

The third thing was Root. Sarutobi had been able to disband the group, (at least he thought he did), but couldn't pin the creation on anyone. Apparently their leader had place cursed seals on their tongues so that they couldn't speak about the organization or their leader. That didn't mean that Sarutobi didn't know who was in charge. He knew it was Danzo, but he just was unable to prove it. So even though he couldn't get Danzo, the Root members still had to be dealt with. Sarutobi saw them as victims, brainwashed and enslaved by Danzo. They weren't evil and with rehabilitation they could rejoin the Konoha shinobi forces.

What Sarutobi didn't know was that that even thought Root was "disbanded", Danzo still had the program running. Things were just more secret and completely kept under-wraps now. Danzo was glad that Sarutobi had only found a group of new trainees, so not much lost in his option. Even so, Danzo knew he could still use these recruit as undercover against Sarutobi.

So these three things allowed Naruto's situation to escape Sarutobi's sight. It didn't excuse the old Hokage in any shape or form, just explained it a little.

Now you might ask what happened to Itachi and Kakashi. Surely they wouldn't let this happen to their senseis' son. But it seems the civilian council had ensured that they would be too busy to do anything of help. They would pay for missions and require one or both of them to be the shinobi to do the job. They even payed double or triple the normal amount for jobs to ensure Kakashi and/or Itachi got the mission. They focused a bit more on Kakashi because Itachi was already so busy being a double agent.

Sadly and horribly, all of these things added up to Naruto falling through their fingers. . . . and right into a position that the civilians could finally get to and possibly end the Kyubi brat.

Said brat was currently making his way to a part of the forest that was surrounded by a fence. There was a small hole in the fence that he could just barely sneak through and get in. The area was a place he had "found" a couple of days ago by accident after receiving an extremely harsh beating. Naruto was so close to passing out and so desperate to escape that he had run without looking or thinking where he was going. His attackers followed him where ever he went. . . . until he had frantically squeezed through the fence. It was the only place the villagers wouldn't follow him. The child didn't know why, but he really didn't care because it was the only place he could find peace. There was also the fact that Naruto had the best dreams of his life here.

=======================Flashback Dream Sequence no Jutsu=======================

After getting through the fence, Naruto had dragged his battered little body as far as he could before passing out at the foot of a large tree. Once he regained consciousness, or at least thought he did, the young child found himself in a dark place and laying on a hard moist surface. At first Naruto thought he was in a cave, but after rubbing his eyes and getting a clear look around, he realized that wasn't the case. The walls were just too flat and straight to be naturally occurring. There were reddish orange lights hanging from the ceiling. They would flicker every once in a while, giving the pace a frightening atmosphere. There were pipes crawling along the ceilings and the top halves of the walls. In different places moisture dripped from the pipes and along the walls, giving the air a wet feeling.

Naruto was terrified that something was going to crawl out of the shadows and eat him.

Shaking in fear, Naruto didn't know what to do. Tears came to his eyes. "M-maybe the v-villagers found m-me and threw me down here. . . . w-why do they hate me so much." After a few moments and with tears still in his eyes, Naruto stood up. Even though he was still terrified, he knew he had to keep moving and find somewhere safe. He couldn't just stay here and die.

Not knowing where to go, Naruto just headed down the corridor. As the child went, he passed many alternating hallways. This made the dank place seem like a maze of some sort. He had thought about changing direction and taking one of the off shooting passages, but a strong feeling told him to stay on his current path. It was like something was whispering to Naruto that he would be safe as long as he kept on going straight.

After a period of time, that was way too long for the young child to track, the corridor started to change. The lighting started to get brighter and no longer flickered as the condensation decreased. Eventually the corridor opened into a square room. To Naruto, or even to a large adult, the room was impossible large. The area was well lit and actually had a very pleasant feeling to it. There were bowls of fire on pedestals in each corner of the room. The edges of the bowls were shaped like sharp flames. The real flames themselves had a mystical feeling to them. They seemed to dance in a way that drew Naruto's eyes. The main feature of the room was opposite of the only entrance. Most of that wall was replaced with the large bars of a cell and past them was complete darkness. It was a darkness that Naruto thought no light could pass through.

Naruto found himself drawn to the middle of the room. Looking at bars, he noticed that they were actually two cell doors with an elegant vine pattern on the frame. The doors were held shut by a simple piece of paper. The paper had the word "seal" written on it . . . not that Naruto could read it. He hadn't even started to learn how to since no one wanted to teach him.

Looking past the bars, Naruto starred into the darkness. Usually he was very scared of the dark, but this time it felt . . . . .comforting. He just stood there in the middle of the room, peering past the bars.

"N-now w-what?," Naruto asked himself. "M-maybe I s-should g-go b-back," he turned around and looked down the tunnel, "and find s-some other w-way out of here." The small child then started walking out of the room.

Just before Naruto could step one foot out of the room, a voice spoke out.

"Little one." The sound was just above a whisper and was clearly female. The beautiful voice swept across the room like a summer breeze and caressed the child's ear like she was whispering in his ear. Even though the voice was soft, Naruto could tell it held a great power. But what shocked Naruto the most was the affection the voice had as it spoke to him. Not once could the poor child remember someone speaking with such . . . . love towards him. It brought tears to the corners of his eyes.

"Y-y-y-yes," Naruto replied as he looked around, desperately trying to find whoever had spoken. The tears were wiped from his eyes so he could see whoever spoke, but more came and replaced them. "W-where are y-you?"

"Over here small one," the voice said in a gentle and caring tone. "I'm behind these bars."

Naruto walked further back into the room and over to the bars. Stopping in front of the cell, he looked inside expecting to see someone, but all he saw was darkness. After a few moments, a gorgeous full figured woman walked forward and into sight just behind the bars. It was almost like she had magically faded into existence. Her face was currently soft, but looked like it could turn hard in a moment's notice. Her red-orange hair was done up in a bun, held in place by two golden hair-sticks, with a ponytail trailing down to the middle of her back. Hanging from the ends of each hair-stink was a red ribbon. She was wearing a kimono that left her shoulders bare and showed off the tops of her impressive bust. The kimono was a very dark red, practically a black at the top and transitioned to a blood-red at the bottom. The lining of the kimono and the fabric around her waist were a light red color with a white flame pattern.

But the thing about this woman that had Naruto memorized were the marks on her face. "T-t-they are j-just l-l-like mine." That wasn't EXACTLY true. They were more pronounced and almost gave her a feral air. But Naruto didn't see these things. He only saw that they looked like his. Seeing them made Naruto incredibly happy. He had never seen anyone else with whisker markings like his before.

That wasn't her only unusual feature. She had fox ears and nine fox tails. Their fur was the same color as her hair. She had golden hoop earrings in her fox ears. On the right ear was an additional earring that had six golden beads hanging from it. The other side had another two very small golden rings. Her blood red eyes were slitted and surrounded by a thin ring of black. Her full lips were black.

The beautiful fox woman knelt down so that she was closer to the young child's height. Blood red slitted eyes met innocent sky blue ones. "Hello my little kit. My name is Kurama, what is yours?"

"N-narut-to," the nervous boy said. He had learned that people turned mean when they heard his name, but something compelled him to answer her truthfully.

With a smile that showed off her lengthened canines, Kurama said "I'm so very happy to have finally met you, Naru-chan."

"R-r-eally?," Naruto nervously asked, his poor abused and broken heart hoping her words were true.

Nodding her head, Kurama said "Yes." Her tone was genuinely full of caring warmth.

Tears flowed freely from the small child. Naruto was starved for affection and this woman, even though they had just met, had shown more to him than anyone else he knew. Something inside of his little heart broke, causing the tears to have no end.

Kurama watched Naruto's tears flow, thinking about the innocent child in front of her. The one that would be so easy to manipulate if someone was just a little bit nice to him. "If I pay this just right, I will be free." She then started to reach out to him. "It's alright Nar. . . ." Her sentence was cut off by her own scream of pain. The moment her hand had passed the boarder of her cell, it was shocked. She quickly pulled back her hand, protectively cradling the smoking limb to her chest.

Naruto immediately looked up with a concerned look on his face. "A-are you alright K-kurama-san?" He couldn't stand to see the one person nice to him be hurt.

After a few calming breaths, the fox woman said "I'm fine little one. . . It is just . . . ." She looked at the bars with a sad look in her eyes. "I can not leave this cage." She released a sigh. Looking down, she said "I have been imprisoned here for such a long time." "For your whole life in fact."

Naruto's tears slowed as he cast a searching look at Kurama. "Y-you're so n-nice . . w-why would y-you be l-locked up." It just didn't make sense to him. This woman, though she had some strange features, was so nice to him and Naruto knew that only bad people were lock up.

A small smile that bordered on a shirk came to Kurama's face at Naruto's words. "I was tricked by a horrible man into doing something bad." She looked Naruto in the eye. "And I was imprisoned here to spend the rest of my days in this dark dank place."

"Is t-there anyw-way for y-you to es-scape?," Naruto desperately asked. He didn't like the idea of Kurama being forced to suffer for being tricked.

"There is no way for me to escape. . . . . " A sad look came to Naruto's face at her words. It fall like his heart had been shattered into a million pieces. ". . . . alone." Naruto mood immediately picked up and Kurama smiled at him. "The only thing keeping my cage shut is that. . . ," she pointed towards the white tag on the cell's doors and Naruto's eyes looked at it, " . . . small piece of paper. If it is removed, I will be freed . . . . . but I can not reach or touch it."

Innocent blue eyes were locked on that paper. He continued to look at it until an idea came to him. "M-maybe I can r-remove it." Kurama smiled as Naruto reached towards the paper. His small hand slowly got closer and closer to the key to Kurama's freedom.

But Naruto couldn't reach it. Not even standing on his tippy toes helped. The paper was still several feet above him. Even jumping, Naruto didn't get close to reaching the tag. After trying several times and failing, Naruto stopped and looked at the ground with tears in his eyes. "I'm so s-sorry."

Mental snarling, Kurama thought "It seems you aren't tall enough to reach it yet." She had to calm herself down so she wouldn't take her anger out on the child. "This situation isn't the child's fault . . . . .," a glare came to her face, ". . . it's his father's." Kurama truly didn't blame any of this on Naruto. It was funny but the demon was one of the few that followed Minato's wishes and saw Naruto as a child. She hated all the cruelty that had been dealt to him. The fox demon knew ALL about it since she saw and felt everything that happened to Naruto. So she promised herself that when she got free, she would advantage Naruto by destroying and leaving NOTHING of the village that trapped her and tormented him.

Demons may be vicious and cruel, but even they wouldn't do or let what Konoha did to Naruto happen. If they were going to kill a child, they would make it quick and painless. They wouldn't torture them like this village did. If a demon was caught doing that, they would be killed. What happened to the child would depend on their condition. If they couldn't be saved, the child would be put out of their misery. If they were savable, they would most likely be adopted by a demon.

Smiling at Naruto, she said "It is okay Naru-chan. You can just come back when you are taller. I don't mind waiting." She couldn't completely keep the sadness and defeat out of her tone. "I have already been here a long time."

But her words didn't make Naruto feel better. In fact, he felt a bit worse since he couldn't help the woman so nice to him. It just made him feel useless and helpless.

"Naruto. Look at me." When he didn't, Kurama spoke again in a stronger and fierce tone. It was a tone used by a mother when their child wasn't paying attention. "Naruto. Look at me right now." This motherly tone was something that the child had never experienced and it immediately caught his attention, causing him to look up. He shook a little, thinking that he had upset her and would most likely be hit, but the look on Kurama's face said otherwise. She was just smiling sincerely at him. "Come to me." At Naruto's confused look, she said "I may not be able to leave my cell, but that doesn't mean you can't enter it." Naruto looked worried. Some deep instinct told him that something was wrong. "Don't worry. You won't get stuck in here. This prison is meant for me alone so you can enter and leave at will." She looked at Naruto and held open her arms so he could walk right into a hug.

Re-ensured by her words and desperate for the hug (it would be the first positive touch Naruto had received in a LONG time) the small child slowly walked through the bars. When Naruto didn't feel any pain, he quickly launched himself into Kurama's awaiting arms. Easily catching the child, she wrapped her arms around him and picked Naruto up. Turning around, Kurama proceeded to carry Naruto into the darkness of her cage. As she went, small flames lit around them. It was just enough to light their way and show that they were heading to a large round bed. It stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by darkness. There were many pillows and blankets arranged into a nest of sorts. They were all colored different shades of red.

Kurama got up onto the bed and crawled into the center of her silken nest. Laying down on her back, she kept her arms around Naruto. Looking down at the child, the kitsune said "It is late my little Naru-chan . . . You should close your eyes and sleep."

Suddenly feeling sleepy, Naruto shut his eyes. He was unconscious very shortly after his eyes were closed.

Kurama smiled down at Naruto as he slept. Raising a hand, she gently cupped his cheek and rubbed his whisker marks with her thumb. This caused the sleeping child to purr slightly. Kurama couldn't help a small giggle. "You are so much like a kit . . . . but it makes sense since you are mine . . . . ." Her look turned serious. "And that is why I have plans for you." She gained an evil smirk. "You are going to be so great."

======================Flashback Dream Sequence End no Jutsu======================

Naruto always awoke feeling good and happy after visiting Kurama. He didn't remember most of what happened, only small pieces when he first woke up, and after being fully awake he would completely forget them. But the feeling of being held and loved stayed with him throughout the whole day.

What the child didn't know was that these weren't dreams. It was him entering his mind-scape and meeting the Kyubi. The reason she was able to contact him was because of this forest and that his mind was so fragile. The forest had been witness to extreme conflict and violence. This had left a imprint on the area that Kurama could sense. It had made her force a meeting with her container.

There was a reason this forest had seen so much violence.

This area was in fact training ground forty-four or more affectionately called . . . . The Forest of Death. It was the deadliest training ground in Konoha for many reasons. This place had several poison plants growing allover and was inhabited by all kinds of huge deadly creatures. If that wasn't bad enough, there were all kinds of deadly traps set up around the place. They were from when the village would host the chunin exams in the past and genin teams would set up traps.

Honestly a child who ventured into this place should have been eaten, poisoned, or killed within moments of entering forest. It just didn't make sense.

Unless you took into fact that Naruto wasn't a normal child.

Since Kurama had made contact with him, she could allow her presence be known to the outside world. This told the dangerous wild life to avoid Naruto. They basically saw him as a predator that they NEED to stay away from. She was also able to make Naruto avoid the traps and other natural dangers. The fox did this not by talking to him, since it was to soon for him to know about the Kyubi and hearing voices in his head might make Naruto think he was insane. And if he told anyone about hearing voices, they might think he was crazy or that the fox demon was taking control of him. She couldn't let that happen since she knew the village would probably kill the child than risk him being controlled by the demon. Instead, Kurama guided him as a feeling. When the child headed towards danger, she would made Naruto feel like something bad was going to happen or he was doing something wrong. The feeling would grow stronger if he continued to head towards it. Only when he started to head in a safe direction would the feeling end.

This also helped Naruto to avoid running into civilians some of the time.

When Naruto got to the forest today, the child kept going until the forest was so thick that he couldn't see any sign of civilization anymore. Only then did he decide to rest. Picking a random tree, Naruto placed himself at the base with his back towards the trunk. Pulling his knees to his chest, Naruto wrapped his arms around his legs and laid his head on top of them. He had curled himself into as small of a ball as he could. That is when the tears came. He didn't know why so many people hated him. The looks they gave him, so full of anger and hate, hurt. He knew not everyone was bad. There was Lord Hokage, his ojiisan (grandfather), who visited him once in a while. Then there was the two Anbus, Dog and Weasel. They didn't interact with him much, but Naruto could sense one of them watching him from time to time when he wondered around the village. More importantly, they were the ones who usually rescued him when the villagers beat him.

There were some more, though Naruto could barely remember them. His mind and heart were desperate to remember though. It was like a fog was covering the memories. He could see part of the picture, but not the whole thing. There was a young woman with black hair. For some reason, he felt like she would be holding a pig. There was another woman. She was tell, full figured and blond. This one really brought the tears to Naruto's eyes and a stabbing to his heart. When he thought of her, one word came to his mind . . . Okasan (mother).

But it had been so long since Naruto had seen any of these people. He felt like they had abandoned him. . . . That is if they were even real in the first place and not just something his mind made up to try to cope with the loneliness.

"N-no one w-wants m-me. I wish. . . " Naruto released a heavy sob. ". . . I h-had s-someone who l-loved me and would stay by my side."

That is when Naruto heard a small whine. The whimper was barely above a whisper and was full of pain. Naruto knew what it was like to be in pain and couldn't ignore the sound from someone else. Slowly getting up, he wiped his eyes and looked around. He heard the sound of pain again and carefully headed in that direction.

After a couple of moments of walking, Naruto come upon the source of the painful whimpering. A small fox kit had its paw caught in a trap located in a small clearing. Naruto slowly approached the trapped animal. The trap hadn't broken anything, even the skin, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful. Thought the animal WOULD hurt itself if it continued to struggle against the trap's hold. When Naruto had gotten close enough to touch the fox, the kit growled at him. Backing off, Naruto looked at the animal. Something deep in the back of his mind told Naruto that the fox was female. She had soft looking orange fur. The tips of her ears and her paws were covered in black fur. Her belly and the sides of her mussel were white. To sum it up, the fox was absolutely adorable looking.

"H-hey little k-kit," Naruto said in a soft and calm tone. "P-please let me h-help you."

The kit looked at Naruto and tilted her head in confusion. For some reason when she looked at him, she knew she was looking at a human, but she felt like she was in the presence of a fellow fox. Sensing no hostility and really having no option (unless she wanted to sit there and wait for death by starvation or at the teeth of another animal) the kit yipped at Naruto for help.

Feeling like the kit wouldn't bite him, Naruto reached forward and gently removed her paw from the trap. Once free, the kit took a few experimental steps around to make sure her paw wasn't broken. Realizing it wasn't, she leaned into her hero and stared to purr. She was extremely thankful for being saved. Naruto sat down and pulled the her onto his lap, where he started to pat the fox.

They stayed like that for a while. Eventually Naruto stood up with the fox clutched to his chest. She replied by just nuzzling further into him. He walked over to a large tree and sat at the base. Looking at the fox, he said "My name's N-naruto . . . . w-what's your n-name?" He didn't get a reply, but he wasn't expecting one. "H-how about Kikumi." The fox stopped nuzzling and then licked Naruto on the noise, causing the child to giggle. "I'll t-take that as a y-yes." The newly named Kikumi curled up into a ball on Naruto's lap. She then released an adorably cute yawn before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

It was late so Naruto decided to join Kikumi in sleep. So he slowly squirmed his bottom away from the tree and started to lay down. Finally laying flat on the ground, he moved the kit to his chest. He had tried to do this without waking her, but she did. Kikumi lazily looked at Naruto, licked his noise, then put her head over his heart and went back to sleep. Exhaustion soon caused Naruto to follow Kikumi into unconscious. As the two slept, a true smile graced Naruto's face for once.

What Naruto didn't know was that for once Kami, God, Destiny, Lady Luck, Karma or whatever higher force had finally decided to let up on the suffering and give the child a break. . . . . . Though it would later come at a price that no one would want to pay and would change several peoples lives.

But for now, the child could rest in peace and safety with his new and first true friend.

==============================The Next Morning==============================

Three teenage kunoichi entered their normal training ground. They were wearing flak jackets that signified they were chunins. The green jackets had three pouches on each side of their chest. They had a neck guard, shoulder pads, and a zipper down the front. On the back was a red circle with a black swirl.

The first kunoichi wore a modified flak jacket. The only real difference was that it didn't have the pouches on the front and was form fitting. The zipper was left slightly down so that her cleavage was being shown off. She was wearing black formfitting shorts that ended in the middle of her thigh. They were so tight that they looked painted on. On her feet were the standard black shinobi footwear with the toes exposed. Her hitai-ate (forehead protector) was worn on her forehead. All of her brown hair was pulled back into a long ponytail except for two locks of hair that framed her face. She has red fang like markings on her cheeks, signifying that she was a member of the Inuzuka clan. But unlike her clan, she had a softer look. She also lacked the extend canines and slit-like eyes. She was wearing a light pink lipstick. Around her were her ninken partners, three identical wolfish dogs. Their fur was gray with white undersides. She was Hana Inuzuka, the best medical-nin of her clan and the three dogs were the Haimaru Brothers.

The second kunoichi was wearing the standard flak jacked. Underneath this was a simple sleeveless dark red outfit. The pant legs ended at the middle of her shins. She was wearing blue shinobi sandals. There was a pouch on her right thigh. She also wore her hitai-ate on her forehead. Her long black hair was untamed. Her eyes were red with an additional ring in them. She was fair skinned with a slender build. Her name was Kurenai Yuhi, mistress of genjutsu.

The last kunoichi was wearing the standard chunin jacket unzipped. She was wearing a sleeveless fishnet mesh shirt that completely showed off her figure. She had on fishnet armbands that covered her arms from wrist to elbow. Her dark shorts were skin tight and extremely short. She was wearing knee-length boots. Her light brown eyes were pupil-less. Her violet hair was styled short and shaggy with a fanned ponytail on the back. Her bangs cover her hitai-ate, almost completely keeping it from view. This was Anko Mitarashi, the snake mistress of Konoha.

Anko turned to her friends and said "You girls ready for some intense spar-training" as she raised her fist in the air. There was an glint in her eye that told them that she didn't care what they said and that she would attack them with everything she had. They knew it wasn't anything personal. It was just how she was, extreme with everything she did and a bit crazy.

Kurenai and Hana shared a look before silently nodding. Hana sent the Haimaru Brothers off to the side of the clearing, where they laid down, before the two kunoichi took up their battle stances. The plan was that the three of them would have a three way match using only ninjutsu and shinobi tools. That meant no dogs for Hana, no snakes for Anko, and no genjutsu for Kurenai. This was to challenge the three kunoichis' abilities. You never knew if an enemy would be able to make your main weapon useless. So these three were going to spar not using their most powerful abilities and by doing so, strengthen their other talents and make themselves more well rounded shinobi.

Before Kurenai and Hana could say that they were ready, Anko threw a kunai at each of them. Kurenai blocked with her own kunai. Hana dodged out of the way. Landing in a crouch, Hana replied with throwing six senbon, three from each hand, at Anko. They all landed, ripping through her clothes and digging into her flesh. Two to the face. Three to the left arm. One to the chest. As blood flowed from the wounds, Anko started to fall, but before she hit the ground, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. In her place was a log with the six senbon embedded in its surface.

Hana looked around for any sign of the snake mistress, but didn't see her. Suddenly several whirling sounds could be heard. Eight shuriken were heading in her direction. She immediately jumped up in a large arch, spun in the air, and landed on a large tree branch.

Across the clearing and up in a tree, Kurenai had been the one to throw the shuriken. Pulling her arms up, she crossed her arms over her chest and clenched her hands into fists. This pulled on the almost invisible wires in her hands that were connected to the shuriken and caused them to curve around in the air, heading back towards Hana. Not expecting them, Hana didn't have enough time to react. The shuriken spun around her and the trunk of the tree. This caused the wire to coil around the kunoichi, pushing Hana against the wood. As the wires tightened, they cut through her clothes and into her flesh. Finally the shuriken embedded themselves in the trunk, trapping Hana to the tree.

Higher up in the trees and hidden from view, Anko was watching them. She hoped that one of her opponents would take the other out. That way she would only have to fight one of them.

Before the wires could cause too much damage to Hana, she pulled off a kawarimi (substitution). In her place was a log with a hissing tag on it. After a few moments, the tag exploded, taking out the trunk of the tree it was next to.

Hana's explosion missed Kurenai since she was too far away, but it did effect Anko much to her misfortune. She was further up the tree and when it started to fall, she went with it. Jumping, Anko landed several feet away on the ground.

"Water Release: Water Torrent," was heard to Anko's left. Kurenai was there, bending slightly forward before releasing a torrent of water from her mouth. The water headed straight for Anko.

Before the water could hit their target, Anko quickly flashed through a series of hand signs. "Fire Release: Flaming Serpent." She released the jutsu, but instead of making it shoot at Kurenai, the fire snake coiled itself in position a few feet in front of her. This way the fire would act like a shield.

Water met fire, covering the clearing in a fine mist. With the mist in place, the three kunoichi couldn't see each other.

Up in the trees above, Hana decided to activate her clan's jutsu. Under her breath, she whispered "Beast Mimicry. All-Fours Jutsu." Her senses increased as she got down into a crouch with her feet and hands touching the ground. She looked like a dog sitting as her nails, teeth and eyes became more feral looking. When the jutsu ended, she finally looked like she belonged in the Inuzuka Clan.

With her enhanced sense of smell, Hana could tell who was in the clearing. There was Anko who smelled of dango and snakes. The strongest concentration of the snake mistress's smell was coming from the mist. Kurenai, who smelled of tea and takowasa (octopus and wasabi), was up in the trees based on the concentration of her smell up there. Hana could smell her dogs and from where it was concentrated, figured they had moved to a safer location.

But then Hana smelt something she didn't recognize. "Who ever it is they smell like garbage and . . . . fox?" A confused look came to her face.

Hana didn't have long to think about it as she had to dodge out of the way of a kunai aimed at her face.

================================With Naruto================================

Naruto slowly awoke from another pleasant dream. Feeling something on his chest, he momentarily freaked out until he remembered about finding Kikumi. Relaxing, the child hugged the kit and smiled. The kit gave a happy purr while nuzzling the child in return. They continued to cuddle for quite some time.

Eventually they stopped and Naruto smiled at the kit. "G-good m-gorning Kik-kumi." She gave a happy yip in reply. "W-want to go f-find s-something to eat?" The kit licked Naruto's cheek. Taking that as a yes, Naruto stood up with Kikumi in his arms.

Before they could move, child and kit heard a loud clashing sound coming from the other side of tree. The two looked at each other. "W-what do you t-think it is?" Kikumi closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side in a curious manner. She then jumped down from his arms and peeked around the corner of the tree. After a moment, she turned around and started to quietly yip at Naruto. Confused, Naruto shrugged his shoulders before following her lead and looked around the tree.

Beyond the tree was a clearing. That isn't what Naruto and Kikumi found so interesting. In the clearing was a shinobi battle taking place. The two watched the battle intensely while staying completely still. Kikumi because she was afraid the battling humans would turn on them if they were noticed. Naruto because he just found himself completely drawn to what they were doing. The battle was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

As the battle wagged on, the two continued to watch. It was around the time that a large explosion went off that Naruto thought it was time to go. As he picked up the kit and started to turn away, Naruto noticed fog covering the area.

Within the mist, Anko heard movement off to her right and immediately throw a kunai with an explosive tag tied to its end. She wasn't worried about hurting Kurenai or Hana. She knew they had enough skill to avoid it. "And it's not like anyone else is around to hurt. . . . Worst I could kill is a large bug or something. . . . I hope it's not a snake."

Anko didn't know how wrong she was.

Up above, it was Hana that figured out what was about to go horribly wrong. "NO," she yelled, watching the kunai heading towards the small child.

The mist clear just enough for Kurenai and Anko to see why their friend was yelling. When they did, they could understand her panic.

"No," Anko though. "I . . I just threw a kunai with an explosive tag at a child!"

The three kunoichi move quickly to intercept the kunai, but they knew none of them would make it in time to save the child. A tear escaped Anko's eye at the fact that she was going to be the cause of a child's death. Praying to Kami, she just hoped that by some miracle the child somehow survived this. "If you let this kid make it out of this, I . . . I'll give up dango for a week." The situation would have to be seriously desperate if Anko was willing to put her dango on the line . . . even if just for a week.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the kunai coming at him and Kikumi. He was scared, but he acted quickly to save his friend. Turning around so his back was towards the projectile, Naruto wrapped his arms around the kit. Bowing his head forward and closing his eyes, the only though in Naruto's head was "P-please let K-kikumi be safe."

Before the horrible could happen, a gray blur sped by, grabbed Naruto, and continued on with him. The kunai flew right through the spot the child and kit had just occupied, continuing on until it was out of sight. While the kunai was still in motion, the explosive tag went off.

When the pain that Naruto expected to experience didn't happen, he opened his eyes and looked around. He saw that a large dog had the collar of his shirt in its mouth, holding him up so his feet didn't touch the ground. Fear came to him and he hugged Kikumi closer to his chest. He didn't know if the dog would attack him and Kikumi, but he wouldn't let it get to his friend without a fight.

The large dog could sense the child's fear and gently put him down on his feet. Naruto was so afraid for his and Kikumi's safety that tears came to his eyes. The dog walked around the child and sat infront of him. With the big dog right infront of him, Naruto pulled the kit further into his chest, using his arms to shield Kikumi. The child closed his eyes and bowed his head, expecting the worst. The ninken just sat there looking at him for a moment. He then sniffed the child's face before giving his cheek a big sloppy lick. It tickled and Naruto couldn't help laughing. Seeing that the dog wasn't a threat, he opened his eyes and looked at him. The dog smiled at him in the way only a canine could. After a few moments, Naruto hesitantly returned the smile.

Kikumi popped her head out of his arms and the two canines locked eyes. For a moment it seemed like they would start a fight, but they didn't. The kit craned her head forward and licked the dog on the noise. This caused the dog to sneeze. Naruto couldn't help the small giggle that escaped him at the cute display. He then felt something furry sit on each of his sides. Turns out that there were two more identical dogs and they had placed themselves on each side of Naruto. This made Naruto uneasy, but before he could get too nervous, the first dog started to nuzzle him, instantly calming him down.

The three kunoichi landed near them and Anko immediately headed towards the child. She violently shoved the dogs out of the way, earning yelps from them and an angry "Hey" from Hana, and picked up Naruto, startling him. "Are you okay?! I am so sorry. I didn't know you were there." She kept rambling on about how sorry she was and if he was okay as she held him squished to her breasts.

As that was going on, Hana had gone over to where her dogs had fallen. She got on her knees and checked on them. "I'm so going to rip out a piece of Anko's hide." But that was for later and right now she hugged the one that had saved Naruto. "Good boy Yori." She rubbed behind his ears, making him happy. She then gave the same attention to Hiro and Nao, her other two dogs.

"Excuse me Hana," Kurenai said. "I'm sorry to break up your cuddle session." Hana blushed as she was indeed snuggling with her dogs at this point. "But I think you should check on the child to make sure he is okay." Kurenai quickly passed a glance in Anko's direction from the corner of her eye. "And to put an end to her basically molesting the child. I'm glad we are alone here . . . otherwise someone might get the wrong idea and think she is a pedophile . . . and Anko really doesn't need that added to the list of insults people throw at her."

"Right," Hana said as she got up. The two kunoichi then turned towards Anko.

Right now, Naruto was currently in a position most man would have loved. He was face first in a pair of firm yet soft voluptuous breasts. But Naruto wasn't a man, he was a young child who wasn't interested in those kinds of things yet. A child that also was not used to being held in a gentle way, and especially not the way Anko was excitedly holding him. Most of the time when he was in someone's hold, it turned painful for him. So Naruto was scared she was going to hurt him. It also didn't help that he was having trouble breathing. He was struggling to get away, but Anko didn't notice at all. She was just so overjoyed that he was okay and that she wasn't a child murderer.

There was someone else in the hold that also didn't like the current situation. Kikumi was currently still in Naruto's arms and squished between his and Anko's bodies. She knew it wasn't Naruto's fault. If his struggles to escape weren't' enough to tell her that, she could sense his fear and desire for freedom.

A desire that Kikumi also STRONGLY shared.

So the kit did the only she could to help herself and Naruto. . .. Kikumi bit Anko. But it just so happened that Kikumi's head was positioned near Naruto's . . . . .This meant that the small kit ended up biting Anko on one of her breasts.

Anko's reaction was immediate. Naruto and Kikumi was thrown away from her, though they land safely. She jumped back as her hand went to the underside of her breast and rubbed the wound. "Owie. . . I might like it rough, but those are sensitive." As if an afterthought she added, " Plus you're too young for me." She was surprised when she felt a bit of wetness on her hand. Checking, Anko saw that her hand had a small amount of blood on it. A smirk came to her face. "But when you're older . . . ." She released a small giggle.

The look on her face was quickly wiped off by Kurenai smacking her upside the head. "What was that for?" Anko asked as she held her head. When she faced Kurenai, all she got was an annoyed look that said she should know better. Anko held up hands in defense. "Okay. Okay. I was just joking." Kurenai just continued to her look at Anko. "Fine. Fine." The genjutsu mistress's look intensified, causing Anko to take a step back and to cower slightly. "I get it and won't do it again. . . Just stop looking at me like that Nai-chan." After a moment, Kurenai felt her friend had learned her lesson and stopped looking at Anko, letting the snake mistress release a large sigh of relief.

As the two kunoichi were messing around, Hana walked over to where Naruto had fallen to the ground. Before she could reach him, a growling caused her to stop. That is when she spotted the fox kit for the first time.

"Don't step any closer," growled Kikumi. She was standing protectively in front of the child, keeping herself between Naruto (who was still slumped over from when Anko threw them) and Hana.

"I won't hurt him," growled Hana. "I just want to make sure he is okay."

"NO." Kikumi release a deep growl. Her teeth were bared as her fur stood on end. "Your pack-member attacked mine."

Hana felt surprised to hear that. For the kit to consider the child a pack-member, their bond must have been very strong . . . just as strong as Hana was bonded to her ninken. Though she did noticed that from the confused look on the kid's face, it looked like the child couldn't understand their growls. "Who exactly is this child?"

"I will not let your pack hurt us," Kikumi roared. She was surprisingly fierce for her size. It honestly looked like the small kit was prepared to rip out Hana's throat.

Before anything could happen, Yori jumped between them. "Calm down pup. We are not going to hurt you or him." The dog took up a defensive stance in front of Hana. He might not want to fight the kit, but he would not just let the kit hurt his mistress.

Kikumi and Yori locked eyes. The kit could tell the dog was speaking the truth, but that didn't mean she was going to let her guard down. "They could be trying to trick me." She continued to growl at them.

At the moment, all Hana did was watch. She didn't know what to do, but knew something had to be done to calm the fox down. The kunoichi wasn't too worried about the kit hurting them. She was a chunin, her dogs were ninken, and they both had plenty of experience fighting. In fact, Hana was more worried about the kit getting herself hurt. Looking at the kit, Hana thought "I wish I knew what would calm her down."

As if reading Hana's mind, Naruto decided to act. Watching the situation, something deep inside of him told Naruto that a fight was about to start. He reached forward, place his hands on the kit's sides, and picked her up. At first, Kikumi thought it was an enemy and turned her head to bite the hands. Upon seeing that it was Naruto, she halted her attack and looked at him. Her head was tilted in confusing and Naruto practically heard her asking "Why?"

Sitting down and placing the kit on his lap, Naruto started to gently pet the fox. "Y-you have to stop K-kikumi." He then raised a hand and pointed at Yori. "D-don't you remember? That's the n-nice doggy that s-saved us." His words got Kikumi to calm down dramatically. It helped that he was rubbing her ears with both hands, bring her pleasure indicated by her loud purring.

Naruto stood up, holding Kikumi in his arms. He then walked over to Yori. Bowing to the ninken, Naruto quietly and respectfully said "T-thank you for s-saving us."

Yori gave a small head bow in reply as Hana watched on with a smile. Though Hana was smiling, she was anything but happy. With the child distracted, Hana had been observing the child's condition. She did not like what she was seeing. "There are symptoms of severe malnutrition, extreme abuse and insomnia . . . and I don't want to think about his mental condition . . . .This kid needs to go to the hospital."

Kikumi looked up at Naruto before turning to ninken who saved them. Jumping from Naruto's arms, the kit proceeded over towards Yori. She stopped before him and looked up to the larger canine. Shyly looking away, she whimpered "I'm so. . ."

"Do not apologize pup," Yori growled. "You were protecting yourself and a pack-mate." He glanced back at Hana and a knowing smile came to his muzzle. "I would have done the same thing."

Kikumi released a happy yip before returning to Naruto. The child immediately picked her up and hugged the kit to his chest. Hana couldn't help thinking that the child was using the fox as a security blanket to keep himself calm.

Walking a little closer, Hana saw the child's grip on the kit tighten, confirming her belief. "I should treat him like a scared animal." Lowering herself to knees and then sitting with her legs crossed so that she was at Naruto's height, the kunoichi spoke in a calm and smoothing voice. "I'm Hana Inuzuka." When she raised her hand to gesture at herself, the child flinched back as if expecting to be hit. The sight saddened her, but she didn't show it. "These are my ninken," Hana said as she gestured at the dogs sitting around her. She then rubbed the dog on her right behind the ear and he pushed his head into her hand. "This is Nao." She pulled the one on her left to her side until they were pressed together, wrapped her arm around his back, and rubbed his belly. This caused him to kicking his leg in pleasure. "This is Hiro." Hana then grabbed the last dog and pull him into her lap like he was just a puppy. The dog whined in embarrassment and Hana giggled. "And this guy here is the hero of the day, Yori." She released Yori and he quickly moved out of her lap. He sat down next Nao so that his brother was between Hana and himself, that way the kunoichi couldn't reach over and embarrass him again. Hana couldn't help giggling at him.

Looking over her shoulder at the other two kunoichis, Hana called "Hey! Come over here." She patted the ground. "Take a seat and introduce yourselves."

Kurenai took a seat next to Hiro while Anko chose to take a seat right next to Naruto so that their legs were touching. The way he flinched away and moved over a little wasn't missed by any of the kunoichi or ninken. Anko looked at him and thought "This doesn't seem like the usual not liking me thing. . . . I think he would have flinched away no matter who it was."

Since Hana started the introductions and was doing so well with the child, she continued. "These are my friends."

When Hana gestured at genjutsu user, Kurenai introduced herself. "I'm Kurenai Yuhi and it is a pleasure to meet you." The usually cold kunoichi had gained a soft tone as she spoke.

The moment Kurenai had finish speaking, Anko pulled Naruto's attention to herself by physically turning his head towards her. "And I'm the super sexy," she thrust her chest forward, empathizing their size, "and sensationally awesome . . . ." She put one hand on her side as she looked upward and raised a fist in the air. She then slowly looked at the blonde child and dramatically said "Anko Mitarashi."

Kurenai and Hana couldn't believe that Anko had just done her overly dramatic introduction. Especially since the child seemed so skittish. They were afraid that the child would try to run away and they couldn't let that happen since the child so clearly needed their help.

"What are you thinking Anko?," thought Kurenai. She was sending a glare at Anko that was filled with killing intent. Kurenai felt like strangling her friend at the moment.

Hana sagged a little. "I had just gotten him to be calm . . .well . . calmer."

Before the two kunoichi could worry too much, they heard a small surprising sound. Turning towards the child, they watched as he giggled. His hands were covering his mouth, trying to suppress the sound, but they were escaping. After a moment of failing, he completely gave up and just let his laughter flow freely.

"Y-you're (laugh) f-funny Ank-ko-san (giggle)," Naruto said in between laughter. The smile on his face was so bright and cheerful that the three kunoichi couldn't help smiles coming to their faces.

Still smiling, Hana asked "What are your names?" Her tone was friendly and open.

Hesitantly, Naruto returned her smile. "T-this is K-kik-kumi." His voice was very quiet as he held the kit out so they could see her clearly. He then hugged the kit to his chest and Kikumi replied by nuzzling him."S-she is my only f-friend." His tone was full of pain and spoke of a long time suffering, wanting for the simple thing that most children take for granted . . . . a friend.

Tears almost came to the three kunoichi's eyes, but their training allowed them to keep the happy looks on their faces.

Silence fell over them after that, causing the women to look at the small child. They were waiting for him to tell them his name, but he looked incredibly hesitant. Naruto was biting his lip until, to their shock, a bit of blood ran from the corner of his mouth and dripped off his chin. His hold on Kikumi had increase to the point that it looked like he might start hurting her. A few tears came to the corners of his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

Naruto did not want to tell them his name. In the past, some people would be nice to him up until the point they learned his name. Once they heard he was Naruto Uzumaki, their kindness did a 180 and they became hostile. So to put it simply, bad experiences had taught Naruto not to tell people his name.

Knowing something was wrong, Anko placed her arm around him and pulled him to her side, inadvertently squishing him to her breast. "Kid, you can tell us." She looked down and their eyes locked. Her voice turned serious. "I promise you that you are safe and I personally will not let anything happen to you." She didn't know why, but she liked this child and felt kinship with him. "I don't understand. I just met him. . . . . and already he feels like a . . . ."

The other kunoichi could only stare at their friend. Anko being so genuinely nice to some one she just met was so out of place for her. Especially after what happened with her ex-sensei.

Looking into Anko's eyes, Naruto couldn't help believing her. He saw kindness and understanding in her eyes. Underneath that Naruto could see a deep hidden pain. The only reason he saw it was because he saw the same hidden pain whenever he looked at his own reflection. It was like she experienced the great pains he had.

Still with their eyes locked, Naruto said "We're the same."

The three kunoichi could only look at him in confusion. What he said didn't make sense to them and it seemed the child wasn't going to explain.

After a moment of silence, Naruto hesitantly smiled at Anko before saying "My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

And with those words, a lot of things made sense to the three chunin. The reason he was so skittish and fearful. How he got so malnourished and why no one did anything about it. Why he was in this fearful forest and wasn't being looked for. Hell it somewhat explained why he had a little fox with him.

With his name, the three knew that this child was the jinchuriki of the Nine-tailed demon fox.

Remembering all that she had been through because of her ex-sensei, Anko thought "We both have been through a lot because of something out of our control and the stupidity of the villagers." Subconsciously she placed a hand on her left should, over a certain unwanted present.

Returning Naruto's smile, Anko said "You're right." She gently pulled him into a small one armed hug, which surprisingly Naruto didn't flinched away from. He even snuggled a bit into her side. "We are the same."

Releasing the hug, the snake mistress turned to the jinchuriki. "Hey kid, I don't know about you," she poked Naruto in the side of his stomach, inadvertently feeling his worringly noticeable ribs and purposely causing him to laugh, "but all of this . . . excitement . . . has made me hungry. How about you?"

Shyly, Naruto nodded his head as Kikumi gave a yip.

"Well we," Anko gestured at herself and her friends, "brought food so we could have a nice picnic here after training. Would you like to join us? I know I wouldn't mind sharing some with you and I bet my friends wouldn't either."

Hana was quick to back up her friend. "Yeah. I have no problem sharing." She patted one of dogs on the head. "I even brought something your little friend can have."

Quick to jump on the wagon, Kurenai said "It will be fun to share with," she look Naruto right in the eyes, "a new friend."

At her words, Naruto stared at Kurenai with a penetrating gaze that was a little disturbing, especially coming from a child. A sad and desperate look had come to his face. "D-do you r-really mean it? That y-you're my fr-riend?"

"Of course," Kurenai said with a reassuring tone. The reply came quickly because she didn't want there to be any doubts in the child's mind.

"We all are." Anko affectionately rubbed the top of Naruto's head a little. "Feels like someone needs a bath," she couldn't help thinking when she felt how greasy his hair was. It also had clumps of stuff in it. "And smells like it too." She was able to hide her disgust at the condition of his hair and at the idiots that allowed things to get this bad.

All Naruto could do was stare at these women as tears escaped his eyes. He was so overwhelmed that the pleasure from Anko's petting of his head didn't even register. All he felt was shock. He simply couldn't believe what was happening. Not too long ago, there was no one he could call a friend and now. . . . . . . Now he had seven. It didn't matter to him that four of them were animals. It was like some higher power had finally answered his cries. "R-really?"

Pulling the abused child into her lap so that he was facing her, Anko hugged him, being gentle so as to not hurt the kit he was still holding. She didn't want another bite to her sensitive parts. Anko stared into his eyes as she said "I promise." That was all Naruto needed before he started sobbing. It wasn't clear if they were tears of happiness or at the huge amount of pain in his life. Anko just pulled his head into the crook of her neck and rubbed his back. She even went as far as to whisper soothing words to him.

While those two abused souls bonded and found a bit of comfort in each other, Kurenai and Hana decided to set out a blanket and lay out the food they all brought.

After a small bit of time, Naruto calmed down and Anko released her hug, but didn't remove him from her lap. "You okay?" Before Naruto could reply, Kikumi popped her head out of his arms. She looked up at the child and saw his tears. Bringing her muzzle to his face, her tongue quickly found and wiped his tears away. This inadvertently caused Naruto to giggle. Anko couldn't help laughing at their cute display.

"If you three are done being adorable," Kurenai said, causing a dusting of red to appear on Naruto's face as a huge blush came to Anko's. The usually tough as nails kunoichi wasn't used to be called adorable. "We have set out the food and would like to eat."

In front of Kurenai and Hana, who were sitting on a blanket, was all the food they had brought.

"Look." Anko pointed at food. "Let's get some food before these big butts eat it all and leave nothing for us." The big butt comment got a glare from Kurenai as Hana sent a subtle look towards her behind, wondering if it had actually gotten bigger.

The large smile on Anko's face told Naruto she was messing with her friends. Anko, Naruto and Kikumi joined them and looked over all the food. There was tsukune (chicken meatballs), takowasa (octopus and wasabi), sweet bean soup, dango, rice and green tea. Next to Hana were her dogs, each with their own bowls filled with a special Inuzuka recipe that help their partners become ninken. There was a fourth unoccupied bowl of canine food and Kikumi headed straight towards it. She dived head first into the bowl and dug in, literally. Her whole head and half her body was buried underneath the food. Her pleasure was clear from her purring and wagging tail as she wolfed down the food.

"That little kit is adorable. . . . . I wonder, when she is older, if she could be bred with the clan's ninken," Hana thought while eating some tsukune on a stick. The image of ninken pups with fox features ran through her mind.

There was more food currently spread out in front of Naruto than he had ever seen at one time in his life. He didn't know what any of these foods were, seeing as he only eaten scraps while at the orphanage and garbage from his time on the street. He simply had no idea where to start.

Seeing the child's problem, Anko grabbed a stick of dango and held it out to him. "Here. Try this." Naruto took the food and looked at it in confusion. "It's dango, my favorite." She looked a bit sadly at the dango. "I won't get to taste your dango goodness for a week." She looked at Naruto. "But a promise is a promise. Naruto is alright and that is all that matters."

Naruto looked at the four balls on a stick for just a moment before shoving two in his mouth. The food was quickly chewed and swallowed. He didn't remember the last time he ate anything this good. It was literally the best thing he remember eating. Considering that most of the food he had before this was in fact garbage, his taste buds weren't used to something this good. He actually started to purr.

Giggling, Anko asked "Like that?" even though she already knew the answer.

Simply nodded his head in reply, Naruto stuck the rest of his dango in his mouth.

"Of course you like it." Anko puffed out her chest in pride. "Dango is the food of the GODS!"

Kurenai and Hana sighed at Anko's actions. They were just glad he agreed with her since if Naruto didn't, Anko might go into a rant about dango being the best.

Once his mouth was empty of food, Naruto said "Yes, it is." That got a smile from Anko. "It is so much better than the food from the garbage bins."

Anko's smile dropped instantly as her friends laughed. While she was glad that Naruto enjoyed the dango, saying it was better than garbage wasn't that much of a compliment.

After that, Kurenai and Hana had Naruto try some of the food they brought. Though the child said he enjoyed the takowasa and tsukune, they had a feeling that he would enjoy anything gave to him since he was so used to eating garbage. Actual food beat garbage every time.

This was proven with what happened next.

Walking up to Kikumi with a small bit of dango, takowasa, and tsukune, Naruto tapped her on the back before placing the food on the ground. The kit pulled her head out of her food bowl and looked at the boy.

"Here try some," Naruto said, pointing at what he brought over.

Kikumi walked over and happily ate it. When she was done, the kit walked back to her bowl and, using her head, pushed it over to him. She continued pushing until the bowl was sitting in front of Naruto. The kit then sat on her haunches and stared at Naruto. It took him a moment, but he understood that she wanted to share with him too. So Naruto reached over and took a scoop of the food in his hand.

The three kunoichi just watched on silently as Naruto looked at a dog food in his head. They didn't know what the child was going to do, but they didn't have long to find out. They grimaced when Naruto shoved the dog food into his mouth and proceed to eat it.

"Not bad," Naruto said after swallowing his mouthful. Kikumi yipped and wagged her tail happily before she continued to eat her food. Naruto then went back to eating his own food again.

Hana couldn't help awing over what just happened. She was now sure that the two had formed a bond like any Inuzuka and their dog partner had. Hana thought it was funny, but she had done something similar when she was little too. Only she hadn't reacted positively at the taste and had actually thrown up, much to the amusement of her parents.

After that they continued to eat. While they had brought enough to share, the three kunoichis made sure to keep subtlety placing food in font of Naruto so he never ran out. In the end, he ate quite the bit of the food there. Not that the three minded. In fact, they were happy about him eating. It was clear that he didn't eat enough and needed more meat on his bones to be healthy.

When the food was all gone, the three kunoichi decided that they would take Naruto and Kikumi to the Hokage. They thought that the leader of the village should know about Naruto's condition. The child WAS the village's jinchuriki after all so it made sense that Sarutobi would want to know what was happening to Naruto . . . . . or the weapon that others would think of him as. Though they hoped that Sarutobi had NO idea what was going on since that wouldn't go with the kind and caring leader they thought he was. But there was a problem with that. Sarutobi is the Hokage and should know what is going on in his village. So if he didn't know about this, something was wrong . . . . or they hoped so.

Kurenai, Hana, and Anko would hate to think that the kind Hokage they knew would allow or even encourage any of this abuse to happen to Naruto.

The group of humans and canines made their way out of the Forest of Death. They encountered no problems along the way . . . . that is until they got closer to civilization.

The closer they got to the village, the more Naruto slowed his steps. Eventually the child completely stopped moving altogether. The others were a few feet ahead of Naruto by the time they noticed that he was no longer with them. When the group did, they turned and looked at him.

The child was looking downward with his shaggy hair covering his eyes. Kikumi was hugged tightly to his chest. Looking up, the kit could tell something was wrong with her friend. Trying to cheer him up, Kikumi licked his cheek. Her tongue was met with a salty sad taste that she did not like.

Walking up to him, Anko placed a hand on his head and rubbed. "What's wrong little guy?" Her tone was kind and caring. Though she had asked him a question, she already had a good idea what was wrong since she herself experienced something similar from time to time. "I remember how bad the villager's hate can be when they focus it at you."

They stayed like that for a few moments before Naruto looked up at Anko. Silent tears were running down his cheeks. He just looked up at her for a long while. His eyes locked to her's. Anko kept a hold of his look, refusing to glance away, even though it was emotionally painful. Naruto's eyes held such a deep sadness and pain that it was heart breaking. Not only that, his eyes reminder so much of her own back around the time her sensei abandoned her. They were so full of lost and pain.

"I promise that whoever caused this kind of look to take place on Naruto's face will have a thick snake shoved up their ass when I find them," thought Anko. She would have smirked evilly, but didn't want to upset the child. With that in mind, the snake mistress kept a smile on her face even though it was really hard, almost painful, to do so.

Eventually Naruto must have found what he was looking for in Anko's eyes since he chose to speak. "T-the villagers are so m-mean to me." He gave a small choking sob. "I d-don't want to g-go. . . They w-will hurt me like t-they always d-do."

"From my guess, MEAN is putting it nicely." Anko wanted to scream and shout all the horrible things she would do to the people who had been "mean" to Naruto. But she didn't. The kunoichi swallowed the bitter feeling and put on a reassuring face. "You have nothing to worry about," Anko said looking into Naruto's eyes. "I promise to make sure NOTHING happens to you."

"And that goes for me too," Kurenai said from Naruto's left, drawing his attention. Her eyes flashed brightly red for a moment, though they didn't scare the child. They subconsciously reminded him of the nice fox woman from his dreams.

Anko wasn't the only one to walk up to Naruto. The others had surround him while he was distracted by Anko. They wanted to offer their support too.

"And us," Hana said for herself and her dogs from Naruto's right, gaining the child's focus. "We won't let anything happen to our friends without a fight." She and her dogs had aggressive look on their face. But Naruto wasn't scared. He could tell that it wasn't aim at him. No. Something deep inside Naruto's gut told him that that look meant that anyone messing with him would be met with a savagely fierce response.

"Yeah," said Anko, regaining Naruto's attention. "The three of us kunoichi. . . ." Three growls interrupted her. " . . . the six of us, kunoichis and ninkens, will be there to protect you." She smiled at him. "I promise that nothing will hurt you while we are around."

"Do you mean it?" There was a desperation to Naruto's tone that was heart-aching and infuriating to hear. Once the kunoichis and ninkens heard it, they could never say no to him.

And they didn't.

"If anyone tries something they will face their worst nightmares."

"How could I every let something happen to a cute pup like you."

"I promised you so NOTHING is going to stop this sexy tough-ass kunoichi."

"Ruff." "Bark." "Woof." Yori, Nao, and Hiro had tried to voice their support, but they knew Naruto couldn't understand them. So they decided to show him he had their support. They walked up to Naruto and started to nuzzle him.

Giggling, Naruto laughed as the ninkens' fur tickled his flesh. He opened his arms, releasing the fox, and wrapped them around one of the dogs. It just so happened to be Nao. After a few moments, Nao was released and the kit was picked back up. Naruto looked at all of the smiling faces around him. "Thank you." There were still some tears in his eyes, but the smile on his face was so heartwarming that the girls couldn't help going "Aww."

Anko took it so far as to shout "kawaii" as she bent down and wrapped the child in another hug. The snake mistress then picked Naruto up, getting an amusing yelp from him, and placed the child on her shoulders. Kikumi ended up sitting on Anko's head, not that the kunoichi minded.

"Now that you are situated." Anko wiggled her shoulders, getting giggles from Naruto as he was bounced around. She raised her fist into the air as she said "Let's get on our way."

With those words, the group began walking again.

As the group walked through the crowded and busy streets of Konohagakure, the three girls and dogs couldn't help noticing the glares sent their party's way. They knew it wasn't THEM getting the glares. The actual recipient of the hostile looks was Naruto. The kunoichis and ninkens were quick to return their own violent looks. Hana and her dogs would growl. Anko would give a grin that would have made Orochimaru proud. Kurenai would use her genjutsu to make her eyes flash evilly.

All these looks caused the civilians to back down.

Kurenai, Anko and Hana were glad that even with all the nasty looks sent his way, Naruto was blissfully unaware of them. He was too focused enjoying his first ride on someone's shoulders. From their new elevated height, Kikumi and Naruto looked around. This was the kit's first time ever seeing anything like the village, having spent all her short life in the forest. Naruto thought everything looked so different from this new higher up position. It made things that were so familiar before look completely new and different now. Plus he just found it fun to be on someone's shoulders.

Out of nowhere, a rock was throw at Naruto.

The stone would have hit him in the side of his head if it wasn't for Anko's quick reflexes. She quickly raised her hand and caught the stone just in time. Her fist curled around the rock as she lowered her hand. Everything was done so fast that the child and kit didn't even realize she had moved her arm or that someone tried to hurt Naruto.

Looking towards where the rock came from, Anko saw an adult male standing with his arm extended. He quickly retracted his limb, hoping to have gone unseen, but he hadn't been fast enough to miss the kunoichi's sight. The guy was wearing a blue shirt without sleeves and black pants. The shirt looked like it was painted on, showing all the details of his muscles. And muscles this man had. It looked like he spent a lot of time in the gym. The guy was large, muscular, and had a rugged face. Simply put, he looked like a male that would have little trouble wooing a woman . . . if they were only interested in good looks since his personality must have been quite crappy to attack a child.

"Hey Naruto." Anko's voice was calm, but had an underlining seriousness. When the kunoichi had his attention, she continued speaking. "I need to do something for a moment." Raising her hands, she plucked Naruto off her shoulders and gently placed him on the ground by Kurenai, Hana, and her dogs. At seeing the concerned look on the child's face, Anko waved him off. "I'll just be a moment. . . ." She smirked before bending down to his level. "In the mean time, Kurenai is going to show you something cool."

"What?!," Kurenai stated in confusion. She had no idea what she could show the child that would be entertaining.

Standing up straight and looking at her friend with a smile, Anko said "Come on Nai-chan." She started to walk backwards away from the group with her hands behind her head and her eyes closed. "Just show him a genjutsu of something cool." Turning around, she gained a determined look before quickly marching towards the man who threw the rock.

Groaning, Kurenai thought "Damn it Anko." She looked at Naruto, who was giving her a wide eye look, waiting to see something cool. "Genjutsus aren't toys to entertain children." Sighing, the kunoichi figured she had no choice. She didn't want to disappoint Naruto now that he was so happy looking. Plus the look the child was sending at her, so full of wonder and curiosity, was just too cute to be denied. As Hana would elegantly put it, Naruto had mastered The Puppy Dog Eyes Ninjutsu. So Kurenai figured she would cast a simple genjutsu on Naruto that would make it look like a beautiful flower was growing out of her hands.

Kneeling infront of Naruto, Kurenai cupped her hands and said "Now watch my hands." She cast the genjutsu and looked at her palms. She could see the flower growing since she was the caster. Waiting a moment, she was actually kind of excited to see his response. It wasn't that often she got to use her genjutsu for non-violent means.

The response Kurenai got wasn't what she had expected.

"Was something supposed to happen?," asked Naruto in a confused tone.

The question got a confused look from the kunoichi. "What happened? He should have seen . . ." Kurenai looked at Naruto's face, getting a shock and the answer to her question.

Naruto's eyes were red and slitted. The whisker marks on his face were more pronounced. His smile showed that his canine teeth were longer and sharper looking. The same thing happened to his nails. Even his hair looked a bit more wild.

"He looks like a member of my clan," thought Hana in shock.

"They do say that kitsunes are able to make illusions so elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from reality," Kurenai thought, "So it would make sense that they could see through genjutsus . . . But to think that Naruto would be able to . . . This is something the Hokage should know about. . . . I wonder if he is consciously doing this and how strong this ability is?" She decided to test how strong his ability was by slowly increasing the strength of her genjutsu. Closing her eyes, she wanted to focus on how strong the genjutsu had to be to over come Naruto's fox eyes.

"W-wow," said Naruto in excitement. "How did y-you grow such a pretty f-flower out of your hands?"

Kurenai opened her eyes with a smile on her face. "That didn't take much." Looking at the child, she was disappointed. Sometime while her eyes were closed, Naruto's features had returned to normal, defeating what she had been trying to do.

While Naruto gushed over what happened, Kurenai thought "I wonder if Naruto did that intentionally or not . . .Probably not. . . Just another thing to bring up with the Hokage." "Want to see more?"

"Yes," the child replied enthusiastically.

"Okay," said the kunoichi. "Now this one . . ."

==================================Break==================================

As this was going on, Anko was standing next to the man who threw the rock. The snake mistress had a calm look on her face, but on the inside . . . . she was completely boiling over with rage. The only thing that gave this away was her fist clenched around the rock. She was holding the stone so hard that it started to crumble to pieces. After a few moments, when she unclenched her fist, all that was left of the rock was dust. When Anko saw the dust blow away in the wind, she thought "This guy is SOOO going to get it."

Taking a few deep calming breaths, Anko put on a seductive look. She gently laid her hands on the man's chest and said "What's your name sexy?" Her voice was dripping with sexiness even though on the inside she just wanted to kick this guy between his legs.

"Komon Reipu," the man said in a confident tone, sure that he was about to get lucky with this fine looking woman. "Another notch is about to be added to my belt."

Hiding a smirk from the man, Anko thought "He is completely buying it." "Well Komon." Anko shot strong bedroom eyes at him as she tip toed her fingers across his chest. "Do you know of somewhere where we can . . " She licked her lips appealingly, drawing Komon's wanting eyes. " . . get intimate?"

"Of course," Komon said. There was no way he was turning down what this woman's tone was implying. He wasn't even going to question why this woman was so into him all of a sudden and out of the blue. "Sex is sex and it is even better when there are not strings attached." "Right this way." He lead Anko to his shop that was just behind them.

Once they were inside the store, Komon continued inside, leaving his back towards Anko. "Just inside the back here is a bed that. . . ." He was cut off by the sound of the front door being locked. It would have sounded ominous in the silent room if Komon wasn't so focused on getting straight to the sex. Turning around, he saw that Anko was just standing infront of the doorway, hands behind her back and staring at him with an intense look on her face.

Mistaking her look as one of lust, Komon said "If you want me that badly," he walked over to the counter and slapped his hand on top of it, "we can do it here." Smiling, he remembered all the woman he had on this very surface. "And this girl will be one," his eyes raked over her body, "VERY fine to add to that list of scores."

"You're right," Anko said. The look on her face turned demonic. "We can do this right here." Quickly before Komon knew what was happening, Anko bent down and slammed her hand on the ground as she shouted "Summoning Ninjutsu." A cloud of smoke appeared. From the cloud, four shadows quickly slithered out of view before they could be noticed by Komon.

When Anko stood up, she had two things on her person that made Komon step back and shout "What are those things?!"

"Just a couple of my friends. . . " Wrapped around Anko's left hand and forearm was a red snake with small black stripes along it's body. It also had a hood. The cobra was standing up from her palm in a threatening position. Its mouth was open, baring its teeth as it hissed. But Komon didn't find this snake as threatening as the huge white ball python with red eyes hanging on Anko's shoulders and wrapped around her body. Its body was as thick as Anko's thigh . . . and she had some sensual thighs. " . . . that I want to introduce you to." Anko started walking towards the man and he stumbled back in fright. "They want to play with us."

"There is NO WAY IN . . ." Komon was cut off as something wrapped around his neck, bound his arms together behind his back, and coiled around each of his legs. The man was stuck were he stood before he truly knew what was happening. Four different hissing sound caused him to look down, seeing that his bindings were actually black snakes.

Komon was so concerned about the snakes binding him that he didn't even notice that Anko had walked right up and was practically on top of him. "Now," she whispered in his ear. Her tone was still sexual, but there was a darkness to her voice that scared Komon to his core. "It's time to meet this little guy." She raised her left arm and the snake. The serpent lunged forward, sunk his teeth into Komon's shoulder and retreated back to Anko. It was over before the man could even scream. When he tried to shout, he became even more scared since he found he couldn't make a sound or move.

"This guy," Anko petted the red snake, "is extremely poisonous." Seeing Komon's eyes (which was the only thing he found he could actually still move) widen in fear, Anko said "Don't worry, it's not deadly." The man wasn't reassured since there was a crazy look on her face. "You'll just be paralyzed for the next 24 hours. . . ." Anko smiled as she gave the snake a kiss on the head. The cobra nuzzled her back, almost as if it was a harmless kitten, before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Anko with just the huge white python. The kunoichi turned her attention back towards Komon. ". . . Plenty of time for you and her," she petted the python's side, "to get VERY intimate." Anko's hands then reached towards Komon's pants, unbuckled his belt, and pulled them open. The python slithered down from Anko's shoulder and towards the opening in Komon's pants.

"Now it's time for you and my big girl here to . . . GET IT ON."

=============================Back with the Others=============================

Hana was having her ninken show off some tricks they knew, when a loud shrieking scream rang through the air. It caused Naruto and Kikumi to jump in fright. The sound almost got Hana and Kurenai too, but their training stopped them from physically reacting. The closest thing the sound could be compared to was an animal being painfully and cruelly tortured.

As Naruto hugged the kit to comfort both of them, he fearfully asked "W-what was t-that?" With his body shaking in fear, Naruto looked around to make sure he wasn't attacked next. Kikumi's ears were perked up and twitching, trying to detect if something was lurking around them.

"Anko being stupid," Kurenai muttered to herself.

Though with his advanced hearing, Naruto heard what she said and wondered what she meant by that. "How could Anko-san be involved with that terrible sound?," he innocently thought. "She is way too nice." Naruto, who had only experienced kindness from the woman, had no idea of the horrors Anko could be responsible for.

Before Naruto could asked anything though, Hana spoke.

"It's nothing to worry about Naru-chan." Hana's tone was reassuring as she gave him a hug and petted Kikumi to calm them down. It seemed to work since Naruto smiled at her and the kit gave a happy yip.

A few moments after Hana released the child from her hug, his calmness was promptly ruined when Anko suddenly popped out of seemingly nowhere right behind Naruto as she shouted "I'M BACK." Naruto released a small shriek and tightened his hold on Kikumi, causing the kit to yip. The child would have fallen to the ground if Anko didn't wrap her arms around him, crushing his back to her chest. "Aww." She looked down at him. "Someone missed me."

"Not really," thought Kurenai and Hana.

Naruto calmed down once he realized it was just Anko. He then realized how hard he was holding the kit and instantly lessened his hold. "I'm sorry Kikumi." He was afraid that he might have hurt her enough that she didn't want to be friends anymore.

But Naruto hadn't. It would take more then a slightly painful squeeze to break the newly formed bond they had. The kit replied by licking Naruto's cheek, reassuring him that they were still friends.

"Now then," Anko said, drawing the others' attentions. "I'm tired of stupid people."

"You're one to talk," Kurenai though as she rolled her eyes.

"So why don't we travel like the ninjas we are." Anko turned her eyes towards towards Naruto, who was looking up at her with his head tilted to the side in confusion. It was made even more adorable because Kikumi was doing the same thing just under his head.

"This kid is going to be a heart breaker when he grows up," thought Anko.

"What do you say?," the kunoichi asked Naruto.

Thinking about it, Naruto slowly nodded his head even though he didn't know exactly what she was talking about.

Quickly taking the answer and before the child could change his mind, Anko said "Here we go." She then quickly bent her knees and jumped into the air. Naruto released a small squeak in surprise, but he wasn't scared. Naruto was actually loving the sudden rush, almost like his body was built to enjoy it.

When she landed on the top of a building, the mistress of snakes paused for a moment to see if Naruto and Kikumi were okay. But from the child's smiling face and the kit's wagging tail, Anko had nothing to worry about. "They are clearly loving this." With that in mind, she quickly continued on.

With them traveling this way, the group didn't run into anymore civilians and quickly made it to the Hokage Tower in almost no time. Landing about ten feet away from the building, Anko placed Naruto down (but still held his hand) and they started to walk the rest of the distance there.

As they got into view of the doorway to the building, Anko felt Naruto flinch and stopped walking, causing his hand to slip from the kunoichi's hand and for her to turn towards the child in consern. This caught the others' attentions too. Looking at him, the three kunoichis saw that the child's head was tilted downward so that his hair covered his eyes. The small hands holding the kit were tense and shaking, clearing showing his fear. Looking around for a possible source, the three kunoichis and ninkens eventually saw that the two guards by the entrance way were sending glares at the child. For a moment, the two men looked like they were not going to allow Naruto to enter with them. Their bodies were tense, showing that they were ready to attack Naruto.

That royally PISSED them all off.

Sending their own glares and snarls at them, the guards backed down. There was no way they wanted to face the three kunoichis' anger. A female's anger was very dangerous to one's manhood and a kunoichi raised that level of jeopardy by a HUGE amount.

Anko even went so far as to pick Naruto up again. This showed that if the guards wanted to mess with him, they would half to go through her first. And if they didn't want to mess with a kunoichi, they definitely didn't want a fight the pupil of Orochimaru. She was bound to do something horrible to them and it would most likely involve snakes.

Seeing them properly cowered and the glares ripped off their faces, Anko smirked as she gave Naruto a reassuring hug. Once they were inside and out of view of the guards, Anko put Naruto down.

The group continued on for a few moments before they were surprised by Naruto.

"I know w-where we're going. Jiji-sama's office," Naruto said with a shy smile. "It's t-this way." The kunoichis let him lead the way since they figured that this "jiji-sama" had to be the Hokage since the old man was the only person in this building that fit the description of a kind grandfather.

"Jiji-sama?," thought Kurenai. "It's cutie how he combined formal with informal."

The group quickly made their way to the Hokage's office. Once standing outside his office, they were pleasantly greeted by his secretary, Sheska, even though she didn't even look up from her work as she spoke to them. She apologized, saying that she just had to finish writing up something very important and would be with them in a moment. She was short mousy woman with brown hair set in a short style that looked good but showed that she didn't fuss over it too much. The woman had on glasses that had metal on the top of the actual glass, but not the bottom part. She was wearing a blue resume dress. The overall impression of the woman was that she was dull and unimpressive.

When Sheska (who was sitting at her desk) finished writing, she released a pleased sigh. Looking up, she saw the group and wondered what was going on. "Hokage-sama doesn't have any appoints right now." "Sorry about keeping you waiting," Sheska said as she stood up. "The Hokage needed these . . ." Since she had stood up, her eyes were about to see Naruto who had previously been hidden from view because of her tall desk and his short height. When her eyes landed on the child, she immediately shouted "Naruto-kun!" Sheska's tone was full of happiness. But there was a sadness in her eyes. She immediately got up, knocking some paper-work over (not that she cared at the moment), and rushed over to the child. Picking him up, she gave him a tight hug. "It has been so long since I last saw you." Looking him over, she thought "What has happened to you? You look terrible." The secretary knew enough not to say this out loud since it might negatively effect Naruto's self-image. She was so concerned about the child, she didn't even notice the kit in his arms. Without even casting another look at the others, she walked over to the office's door and knocked. Getting permission to enter, Sheska quickly walked in.

Kurenai, Anko, Kurenai and the dogs gave each other looks before shrugging and following. They weren't concerned that this woman just took Naruto without a word since he himself didn't look upset about it.

Sheska walked up and placed Naruto infront of Sarutobi's desk. Casting one more worried look at the child, the secretary left the room. "I wish there was more I could do . . . I know, I'll get him a small surprise for when he leaves . . . It won't be much, but it's the thought that counts." With this in mind, Sheska quickly left after saying "I'm going to take my break." It seemed like she was talking to empty air, but she knew that there was always an Anbu outside the office on guard duty. Said unseen Anbu would take care of everything while she was gone, even though Sheska knew they wouldn't like it.

=========================Back Inside The Hokage's Office=========================

Naruto was standing infront of Sarutobi's desk, hugging the kit close to his chest. Hana, Kurenai, and Anko where standing behind the child. The dogs went off to a corner of the office and laid down since they figured they wouldn't be of much use.

Sarutobi just looked at Naruto, taking in every detail about him. "What has happened to him?" He thought about the last time he saw Naruto. A picture of past Naruto formed in his mind and Sarutobi compared it to the one infront of him. There was some MAJOR differences. Naruto's clothes were filthy and full of holes, a complete opposite to the new clean ones he had on last time they met. That upset him, since he had made sure that the child had new clothes by personally buying and delivering them, but not as much as the change in health and attitude. Before Naruto was at the top of his health. The child also had a happy personality beaming with energy. Naruto would have rushed forward and hugged Sarutobi the moment he saw him. "But now. . . . . . Naruto seems like a completely different child." Naruto looked like he would collapse if he used too much energy. The child, though happy looking, was so nervous that he was shacking. He had never done this before in the presence of the old Hokage.

Naruto wouldn't even meet his eyes and that put a small tear in Sarutobi's heart.

Moving from behind his desk, Sarutobi walked towards Naruto. When he was next to the child, he reached down towards him. When his hands were raised over the child, Naruto flinched as if expecting to be hit.

That tore the old man's heart in half.

Moving even slower, Sarutobi picked up Naruto (trying to ignore the way the child flinched at his every move) and carried him back to his chair. He sat down and placed Naruto on his knee. Looking at the child, he didn't know were to began. He had so many questions to ask, but there was one thing he wanted to know first. "Who were the Anbu that were in charge of watching Naruto?" A furious glare came to Sarutobi's face. The look was kept out of the child's sight so that he didn't think it was aimed at him. "When this is over, I'm finding out who has been on Naruto watch duty and if they don't have a good excuse for this," he looked at Naruto, fidgeting nervously, and the old man had a feeling that no excuse would be good enough, "I'm going to KILL them myself."

"How have you been Naruto?" Though Sarutobi was ready to kill, he kept his voice calm. "No reason to upset him even more than he already is." He wanted to hear what the child had to say before he asked the three kunoichis what happened and why Naruto was with them instead of that the orphanage, being looked after.

"N-not s-so g-good," the child said. Naruto then started to explain what happened since he last saw the Hokage. The whole time he stuttered and spoke quietly. This was a complete turnaround in personality for the child. Naruto was totally honest, leaving nothing out as he explained everything.

How he was kicked out of the orphanage.

Sarutobi was going to have a long and serious talk with the two women that ran the place. They would be lucky to just receive jail time from what he heard.

How all the food he found was from the "metal buckets" (aka garbage) and made him really sick.

The Hokage was going to make sure Naruto NEVER had to eat garbage again.

How the only time the "mean people" didn't hurt was in the dark place with really big trees.

Sarutobi planned to make sure the child always had a trustworthy protector from now on.

At the mention of the forest, Naruto became less nervous and very happy. Holding up Kikumi, the child excitedly said "That is where I found Kikumi." He hugged her and said in a quiet voice "She is my first friend."

Sarutobi was a little sad the child's first friend had to be an animal, but he was happy that the child finally had one. "She is very nice Naruto." He reached over to pet the kit. She backed away cautiously, not knowing this old man. Sarutobi waited patiently and when Kikumi saw he wasn't going to hurt her, she let him pet her. Kikumi purred at the way he was gently caressing her ears. The old Hokage did this for a few moments before stopping, much to the kit's disappointment.

"Then I met Kurenai-san, Hana-san, Anko-san, Yori-san, Nao-san, and Hiro-san." Naruto sounded so happy and there was a tear of joy in his eye. "They are m-my f-friends too." One could tell just from his voice how happy Naruto was. The love starved child was finally gaining the friendships he so desperately needed. "They w-were so nice to me." He explained how they gave him delicious food that didn't make him vomit.

"Is that so?," Sarutobi asked, but he wasn't directing his question at the child. He was looking at the three kunoichis and demanding an answer. The look on his face said that the way Naruto explained it had better be true and that they weren't trying to use him. The three quickly nodded their heads, wanting to reassure the Hokage that they did everything out of the kindness of their hearts.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "They even brought me here and . . ." He grew silent for a moment and only continued after Sarutobi reassured him it was okay. "The m-mean guards didn't s-stop us or t-throw us out." He explained how, when he was first kicked out of the orphanage, he tried to go to the Hokage Tower and find Sarutobi. He eventually found the place, after several days of being on the scary streets by himself, but the guards wouldn't let him in. They would throw him out very violently. One of them even hit him so hard his eye swelled shut.

"WHAT?!," Sarutobi screamed in his mind. "I TOLD them that if Naruto was to EVER show up here, no matter what time it was or whatever I was doing, to bring him straight to me." After this meeting, Sarutobi knew that he was going to be sending several people to Ibiki Morino, the head of torture and interrogation. "And when I find out who hit Naruto . . . I'm going to punch them so hard in the face that both of their eyes close . . PERMANENTLY!"

Keeping his thoughts to himself, the Hokage sincerely said "I am so sorry about that Naruto." "And everything else that has happened to you." "I will see what I can do to fix the situation." He hated these words since he felt like he was always saying them to the child when something happened. He couldn't promise anything since everything was an uphill battle when concerning Naruto. "Simply getting him an Anbu guard took a week of arguing and compromises with the council." "Don't worry. Things will work themselves out." Sarutobi didn't know exactly who he was saying this for, himself or Naruto

Looking bashfully downward, Naruto said "It's okay jiji-sama, I know it isn't your fault." He hugged Kikumi and hoped that things would work out like the old man said they would.

Naruto's reassuring that he didn't blame him did the opposite of comforting Sarutobi. He was the Hokage and it was disrespectful that his shinobi would do whatever they could to disrespect his wishes. "I shouldn't be having this problem. I'm the god damn Hokage after all. . . ." His shoulders slumped as he slumped slightly. " . . . but hate is a powerful thing." And if this feeling wasn't bad enough, he felt like he was letting Minato and Kushina down. That was a worst feeling than his shinobi not respecting him. Sarutobi was sure that the two were cursing him from the grave and that when he died, Kushina would beat the living hell out of him.

They stayed silently there for a few moments in a slightly sad and depressing atmosphere. It was broken by a yawn from Naruto. He blushed as he tiredly stuttered out an apology.

Laughing, Sarutobi waved his apology off. "It's quite alright. You have had an exhausting experience." He wasn't just talking about today, but about everything that happened to the poor little guy. "Why don't you and Kikumi go take a nap while I talk," he sent a serious look at the three kunoichi, "with your new friends." He stood up and carried Naruto and the kit towards one of the walls. After a quick hand-sign, (done so fast that the three kunoichis couldn't even begin to see which ones it was) he pressed his palm against the wall. When he removed his hand, a hidden doorway opened.

Inside was a simple room with a bed. There were a few cabinets filled with important scrolls. This was the Hokage's private room. If anything happened, like an invasion of the village, the Hokage could hide in here and no one would be able to find him. It wasn't that anyone thought that he was unable to fight . . . in fact it was quite the opposite . . . but it was like the old saying "Take out the head and body will fall." If an enemy took out the Hokage, the village would most likely fall in the following confusion.

But Sarutobi didn't think of the room like this. He usually just used it as a way to hide the fact he took a nap in the middle of the day or after a stressful meeting. . . . Sarutobi was an old man and got tired easier after all. At his age, a shinobi was usually retired from active duty . .. . if they lived to be that old. They tended to die way before they reached his age.

Walking inside the room, Sarutobi tucked Naruto into the bed. Kikumi was quick to cuddle up to the child's side and curled up into a ball. Naruto wrapped his arms around the kit and the two quickly fell asleep. Sarutobi stood there for a moment, just watching them sleep before walking out of the room. He closed the door so that Naruto would be safe and so he wouldn't hear anything unpleasant if it came up. "That boy has already experienced enough for the time being."

Retaking his seat, Sarutobi pulled out his pipe and slowly lit it. He took a few puffs off of it. Breathing deeply, he held the smoke in his lungs, let the chemicals calm his nerves. He then release a large cloud of smoke. To the three kunoichis, he seemed like an ancient dragon puffing out smoke while looking down on insignificant mortals before him, trying to decide what to do with them.

Sarutobi waited a few moments, increasing the kunoichis' nervousness, before speaking. "Tell me exactly what happened." His tone and the look on his face were deadly serious, telling them that he wanted the absolute true. Sarutobi had enough of his shinobi lying or disobeying him for today. "If they lie to me, I might just do something dramatic."

Hana, Kurenai, and Anko could tell that they couldn't take any chances right now. One wrong move and they might end up dead. Looking at each other, they tried to decide who should speak for them. Hana and Anko shot knowing looks at each other before they both started staring at Kurenai, who was standing between them. A sweet drop appeared on her forehead before the genjutsu user sighed. Kurenai knew that between the three of them, she was the one who was the most formal and informative. . . . . and at this moment, she sent a look at the Hokage, that was exactly what they needed.

Stepping forward, Kurenai said "Lord Hokage" as she gave a polite bow. Her tone and body language were the utmost formal they could be. She then went on to explain exactly what happened, leaving no details out. Her story matched up with Naruto's, pleasing Sarutobi very much.

When Kurenai got to the part about Anko and how she had unintentionally threwn a kunai with an explosive tag on it at Naruto (putting extra stress on the unintentional part), the snake mistress interrupted the genjutsu user's explanation.

Quickly dropping to her knees, Anko bowed forward until her forehead was touching the ground. "I am so sorry Hokage-sama." She looked up at Sarutobi, showing that there where tears running down her face. Anko would never let just ANYONE see her like this. But the Hokage had seen her like this before, around the time her old bastard of a sensei had left her all alone. "I . . I . didn't KNOW it was a child . . . I thought . . . I just reacted."

Anko continued to babble on about how sorry she was and how she didn't know it was a child. She only stopped when the Hokage raised his hand to silence her. Anko was sure he was about to order her execution. She had, unintentionally as it may have been, attacked Naruto and the law was clear about what the consequences of that was. The thing was, Anko was ready for that. But she wanted it clear that she hadn't attacked because Naruto held the fox and that it was an honest to God accident.

But Anko was surprised when Sarutobi smiled at her. He was happy. Not that Anko had attacked Naruto. Never. But what he was happy about was that she was referring to Naruto as just a child. He could tell that she was sorry about almost hurting a child, not that he was Naruto or the village's jinchuriki. She was so upset about attacking a child, not about the consequences about WHO that child was. Yes she was more upset since the child was hated like her and she couldn't stand to add to that torment.

"I know it was an accident Anko," Sarutobi said in a reassuring tone. "So please calm down and understand that you are not in trouble." Once Anko was standing and had calmed down, he turned to Kurenai and said "Please continue."

When Kurenai had said that Yori had been the one to save Naruto and Kikumi, Sarutobi interrupted her this time. "Yori-san. Please come here."

The others in the room were SHOCKED that the Hokage would speak so respectfully to a dog. Yes the dog was technically one of his shinobi and he always respected his soldiers, but it was still a bit unusual. When Yori was standing infront of his desk, Sarutobi got up and moved to stand next to the dog. He then got down on one knee and hugged Yori.

Again everyone was shocked.

The hug only lasted a moment before Sarutobi released it and slowly stood back up. As he was going back to his chair, he whipped a tear from his eye. Once seated again, the Hokage said "Sorry." Another tear was whipped away. "I am just so happy that Naruto is okay." His face gained a tired, sad, and dark look. "Not many would have done what Yori did for the child."

Sadly, they nodded in agreement. Many would have let the child die, especially if they knew who or what he was.

"How about as a thank you, I treat you, your brothers, and Hana to a meal where ever you want?" Sarutobi sent a smile at the ninken that showed he didn't care where or how expensive it was. Where ever the ninken wanted to go, Sarutobi would make sure it happened even if he had to strong arm the restaurant owner.

Yori growled out a respectful thank you, but since Sarutobi couldn't understand him, Hana replayed the message.

After that, Sarutobi had Kurenai continue explaining.

When the report was finished, the Hokage just sat back and thought about everything. What was he going to do now? Where was he going to put Naruto since the orphanage was clearly not a solution? Would the council use this as another chance to do something to the child? Would any of the shinobi clans try to get their hands on Naruto again? Would someone try to make him into a weapon?

All of these questions and more bounced around in Sarutobi's head, until the old man felt a migraine. Once again, for the thousandth time, he cursed Minato for not letting him seal the nine-tailed fox. "I'm too old to be dealing with all of this or running the village. . . It would have been EASIER to spend the rest of eternity fighting in the Shinigami's stomach."

While Sarutobi was doing this, the old man couldn't help noticing that Anko was being very fidgety. It was clear she was trying to suppress herself and stay still, but couldn't help wiggling around since she desperately wanted to say something. He let her continue for a moment since Anko's wiggling was causing certain . . . "things" to jiggle on her person.

"If only I was a younger man," Sarutobi wistfully thought before asking "Is there anything you would like to say Anko?"

Given the go ahead, Anko rushed forward until her hands grasped the edge of the desk. She leaned forward, showing a lot of cleavage. "What is going to happen to Naruto now?" The words burst out of her mouth. Her tone made it clear that she was very concerned about what happened to the child. When the Hokage didn't immediately answer, Anko said "I want to adopt him."

This shocked everyone. Especially Kurenai since Anko lived with her, part time. The woman had her own place, but she didn't like living by herself so she would trash a Kurenai's home ALOT. Because of this and knowing the woman's personality, she knew that at times Anko seemed to barely be able to take care of herself. Also Anko made impulsive decisions, but not ones that would effect Kurenai's home or life unless discussing it with her. And Kurenai KNEW this would effect her since Anko came to her with all of her problems.

"I'm sorry." Sarutobi shook his head sadly. "But you can't."

Sarutobi's sad look wasn't notice by Anko. She was just too focused on his words. Glaring at the floor in front of the desk so she wasn't doing it to the Hokage . . . since that would be disrespectful . . . . , Anko's fists shook at her sides. "Is it because of my age?" She quickly dismissed that with a head shake. "Can't be because if I'm old enough to KILL, I'm old enough to adapt a child." And it was true according to the law. "It's because I was Orochimaru's apprentice," she looked up at the Hokage, "isn't it." There was a deeply hurt tone to her voice and a pained look in her eyes. "You think I will do something bad to him . .. . . don't you." She had been turned down for so many things in life just because of WHO her sensei was. "It's not my fault he went all evil mad scientist and did horrible things." But just because of that, people assumed she would turn out like him. "I HATE OROCHIMARU."

Before Anko could get to far into thinking he was denying her because of who she was or her past teacher, Sarutobi said "It has nothing to do with Orochimaru. . . . If anything I would love for you to adopt Naruto." That got Anko to be quiet and gained her full focus. An amazed look came to her eyes. "You would be able to sympathize with the child better than anyone I know." It was obvious he was talking about being hated by the villagers for something out of their control.

Slamming her fists onto his desk, Anko shouted "THEN WHY CAN'T I ADOPT HIM?!" The old man had just said she was perfect for the job, but he was denying her and it royally pissed her off. It made no sense. She wanted to do this more than anything since she could tell how alone the child was. "Just like I was when HE left me. . . If it wasn't for Kurenai," she sent a quick glace at her friend, "being there and taking care of me. . . I would have killed myself . . . And from what Naruto has said, he has NOONE." She feared that if something wasn't done, Naruto could fall into the same dark place she had gone to and she shuttered to think what he would do. Her mind was too scared to even let her think it, but Anko feared that he would try to kill himself.

Anko didn't need to say this to Sarutobi, since it was in her files. Information that only the Hokage could read and read them he had. That is why he didn't get even a little angry at her for jumping down his throat and yelling at him. He could tell she probably saw herself in the child and wanted to be here for him, like Kurenai was there for her.

So it hurt Sarutobi to deny Anko and Naruto this. He was sure it would be beneficial to both of them. Naruto would get the family he desperately needed and Anko might be able to heal the scar that her old sensei had left in her heart.

"Anko," Sarutobi said calmly. Normally she would have yelled and demanded an answer to her question, but the hint of defeat in his voice stopped her. The look in his eyes was of a tired old man that was continuously fighting an uphill battle and suffered many more defeats than victories. It was such a different look on his face that Anko backed down.

"I have tried countless times to get someone appointed as Naruto's guardian." Sarutobi's pause told them that what he was about to say wasn't good. "But every time the council has opposed everyone I have suggested and any one they suggested. . ." A dark frown came to his face. ". . . Let us just say, Naruto living on the streets is a better outcome than what living with them would have lead to."

It was true. The council made this such a big deal. Anytime it was brought up, Tsume and Hiashi would always say they could adapt him, (Hiashi would state it calmly as Tsume would practically begging on her knees for the child) but the council would always turn them down. Tsume wanted him since by now the demonic aura around the child had settled down and he could now be in the clan without putting anyone on edge. Hiashi could now take Naruto since he had convinced or bribed or blackmailed the elders into it without having the child branding first. Both of them wanted to give Naruto the family and life he deserved. Neither won custody because the civilian half of the council, Fugaku, and Danzo voted against them. The civilians didn't want Naruto to have a guardian since without one it was so much easier to hurt him in anyway they could. Fugaku and Danzo wanted Naruto for a weapon, so they couldn't let the child ever fall into someone else's hands. They had a better chance of abducting the child and making it look like he just "disappeared" if he didn't have a guardian.

Sarutobi released a bitter laugh. "And do you know who was on the list of guardians I suggested." No one answered, but Sarutobi wasn't expecting one. "You." He pointed right at Anko, causing her to flinch. "I suggested you, but they turned it down. All five times I suggested it since you turned chunin." It was true that Anko was young, that is the "reason" the people who voted against her being Naruto's guardian gave, but she was a chunin and almost 17 years old. In Sarutobi's eyes, if Anko could handle the responsibilities of being a chunin, she could handle being in charge of a child.

For a few moments, Anko's mouth hung open in shock. She couldn't even reply. "I could have had the gaki if the council had approved it?"

"Really?," asked Hana. She jerked her thumb in Anko's direction. "Her?" Her tone was of disbelief. "She can barely take care of herself."

Kurenai nodded her head in agreement with Hana.

"Come on," Anko whined as she looked at her friends, feeling betrayed. "Don't say that. I can totally take care of myself."

"Yes," Sarutobi said in sure tone, ignoring Anko. "I am positive that she would be an amazing guardian." Anko smiled at the compliment. "Especially since she would got to Kurenai for help." Those words made her blush in embarrassment since it was the truth.

The Hokage looked Kurenai in the eye. "You are on that list too." Before she could reply, Sarutobi looked at Hana.

The Inuzuka held up her hands. "No way." She shook her head. "I couldn't have done it." She smiled nervously. "Mom would have killed me if I came home with a child, even if it wasn't mine genetically."

Sarutobi laughed. "You would be surprised. Tsume would probably cry in joy and jealousy." At Hana's questioning look, he said "She begs to be the one to adopt Naruto every time it comes up."

"What?!" It was Hana's turn to hang her mouth open in shock.

"Yes." Sarutobi smiled smugly at Hana. "If it was up to your mother, Naruto would have grown up as your and Kiba's little brother." He smiled at the confused, happy, and sad look on Hana's face.

Hana was confused about what she just heard. Her mother had never said anything about this to her before. She felt happiness since she had always enjoyed being a big sister, both the up and the down parts, so she would have loved having another little brother. Plus, Hana was sure Kiba would have also enjoyed being a big sibling. She felt sadness since now it felt like she had been cheated out of a brother and that now she knew that there was a way for Naruto's suffering to have never existed.

Though the Hokage was enjoying the new atmosphere that had fallen over them, Sarutobi knew he had to ruin it. In his mind, he had been going over what to do to make the situation better and had come up with an idea. One that he was sure would be passed by the council.

As long as Sarutobi didn't tell them EVERYTHING about his plan.

Getting the three stumped chunins' attentions with a subtle cough, Sarutobi said in a serious tone "Now I would like to ask you three something." His tone turned soft, almost vulnerable if one would dare to say. "I want to make a request of you three, not as your Hokage, but as a grandfather concerned about his grandson." He wanted them to know that what he was about to ask them wasn't an order and they could turn him down if they wanted. For his plan to work, Sarutobi needed them to do this because they wanted to, not because he told them to. "I am going to get Naruto an apartment that he will live at . . . by himself." He knew that the civilian part of the council would go for this since it would allow a window for "something" to happen to the child.

Before they could say anything about that, Sarutobi held up his hand. "I know that it looks bad to have him live by himself, but I have my reasons for that." He had a dark look and the three kunoichis didn't question him even when he didn't explain what those reasons were. They trusted him and knew he had the best intentions for Naruto. "What I want from you three is to accept my request of . . . babysitting a certain child." He didn't need to explain that the child would be Naruto. "If you do accept, I will treat it as a mission. The three of you will take turns checking in with him everyday and spend some time with him." A small feeling of hesitation came to him, but he didn't let that stop him. "Sadly this will go on your records as D rank missions . . . meaning you will only get paid the same amount as a normal D rank mission." He had to do this so that the council wouldn't ask too much about it. Truly, Sarutobi felt like this should be an A-rank if not a S-rank mission. But if the mission was a higher rank, the council would want to know more about it. If they found out the mission was about Naruto, they would interfere either by trying to get other shinobi to do it (one who would probably allow the child to be hurt) or by giving the three kunoichis so many other "important" assignments that they couldn't do the "less important" Naruto related mission.

Sarutobi had already seen the last thing happen to Kakashi. He was still working to get the shinobi free of all the stupid missions the civilian council gave him. The Hokage wasn't stupid and wouldn't allow it to happen again. Hence all the secrecy.

The three didn't even need to think about it. Turning down this request meant they would be turning their backs on a child they just said was their friend. Not going to happen.

"I would be honored Lord Hokage," Kurenai receptively said with a bow.

"I'm in." Hana smirked. "He would have been a pack-mate anyways if Mom had her way. . ." Her smirk disappeared and she spoke quietly. ". . Plus Mom would KILL me if she learned I turned this down." It was hard to tell if she was joking or not.

"You bet your old ass I'm in." Anko's words caused her friends to look at her since that is NOT something you said to the Hokage. "An army of missing-nins could not keep me from doing this."

Sarutobi was ecstatic at their responses. . . Even though Anko's was a bit rude in his option. "I'm not that old . . ." He mentally sighed. "Who am I kidding. I am old . . . I just wish she wasn't pointing it out." He truly wasn't bothered by her words since it just showed how much she cared about the child.

Knowing how late it was, Sarutobi decided to call it a night. "It is pretty late and I want to get an early start finding Naruto an apartment." He knew it would take a bit to find one with an owner that would rent it out to the "demon-child" and not have an alternative motive about it. "I want you three to report back here at 11 am."

With the three kunoichis agreeing, they left the room, leaving the Hokage in silence. The old man sat back, smoked his pipe, and enjoyed the quiet, feeling good about things concerning Naruto for once. "It has been so long since I last felt content like this. . . . .Like everything will be okay. " Usually it felt like he always had to make compromises and almost always not getting what he truly wanted for the child.

But this time, Sarutobi had the feeling that things were going to in Naruto's favor. "And if I have anything to do with it, it will stay that way." He looked towards the hidden room with the child and kit hidden inside. "I promise."

What the old Hokage didn't know was that promise would only be kept until Naruto's 4th birthday. If he knew what would happen on that day, Sarutobi would have taken dramatic and immediate action. He would have placed Kakashi and Itachi on permanent watch detail for Naruto, never leaving the child alone or out of their sights. He would have moved Naruto into his living area in the Hokage tower and kept him withing sight at all times. He would have killed several people for the wrongs done.

There were several things Sarutobi would have done differently concerning Naruto.

But he didn't know what would be happening in a short 6 months time.

How could Sarutobi know that on Naruto's 4th birthday, his life would be shattered worst than on the day he was born and the pieces could NEVER be put back to how they were originally.