Chapter Text
Trying to steal a little boy isn't the first thing that came to mind when Kakashi Hatake woke up in the morning on October 10th. It wasn't even the second thing he thought about. It was his sensei's death day which meant he was supposed to be miserable all day and glare at everyone who dared to talk to him. Of course, thinking about it, it was a stupid thing to do - it was Naruto's fourth birthday and he should've been there for the little imp instead of wallowing in self pity, but - oh well - his sensei's son was unreachable, right?
Stumbling across the boy lying in a dirty alley was definitely not what he had planned to do. Crying his eyes out while picking the boy up and gently wrapping him in his arms wasn't planned either but who was he to deny his feelings? The boy seemed to be malnourished and had very light skin that seemed to be too pale to be natural. Kakashi ran his hand over the dirty, blond curls that Naruto had gotten from the Yondaime who has had the same untamed hair which always threatened to curl itself even more.
Kakashi stood in that alley for quite some time, just listening to the weak heartbeat of the boy he loved the most in this world and wept. When he calmed himself down, he brought the boy to the hospital where he was treated and breathed down the neck of the doctor who tended to his patients with trembling hands. After all, Kakashi had forgotten to take of his ANBU mask that made him seem way more threatening than he really was.
After he made sure that the doctor wouldn't do anything to his little patient, he left and went home, taking the day off from his ANBU duty. He was deep in thought when he finally reached his apartment and sat down at the table, just staring into space. He reached for his ANBU mask and put it on the table, tilting his head while looking at it. The dog mask, which he had begged for when he first considered joining ANBU at mere thirteen years old. He was now eighteen years old and had spent five years in ANBU, a lot of time when thinking about the fact that most ANBU either went insane after their first assassination mission or went on with their life as emotionless killers that didn’t even tremble when killing someone.
Kakashi had been assigned to ANBU by Minato-sensei who made sure that Kakashi knew he was trusted and loved. Then Minato had died and Kakashi had stayed. He had protected a village that treated the only human being he cared about like trash. It took a lot for Kakashi to get angry but he was furious.
He had begged the Sandaime to give Naruto to him after his Sensei had died but the newly instated Hokage hadn't budged and assured him of Naruto's well-being. He had also refused to let Kakashi join Naruto's ANBU guards and told the silver-haired man that he would meet Naruto when the timing was right. Numb with pain and sorrow, Kakashi had given in and left Naruto with the Hokage, not knowing he had damned Naruto to a loveless life full of people who hated and hurted him.
The plan that slowly took shape in his head was riddled with holes but the main idea stood: He would take Naruto away. He would be the big brother that he was always supposed to be.
*
Iruka Umino, the youngest teacher at the Academy, found himself to be in quite the emotional dilemma. He had seen civilians beating up his blond, loud student. His emotional conflict disturbed him a lot - he always thought he could hate the boy and be done with it but apparently his own conscience was working against him. He pitied Naruto and even went as far as to feel anger towards the civilians for hurting an innocent child.
His train of thoughts came to an halt immediately. Innocent? Naruto? The vessel of the Kyuubi? He scoffed. He is a but a vessel, added his conscience and Iruka dropped his head on the table he sat at. How was he supposed to hate the little kid when his own mind worked against him?
Sighing, Iruka stood up and reached for his hitai-ate. He tied it up on his forehead and smiled tightly. It was time to do something.
*
It had been way too easy to find out where Naruto lived. Kakashi knew that if HE could find it out, anybody else could too so he simply destroyed the information. As he made his way along the streets and got into the unpleasant part of the village, he got quite a few weird looks but ignored them. He had donned his black mask but left his ANBU mask at home. It wouldn't do for this to be associated with his ANBU status.
The orphanage he was looking for seemed to be at the back of a little alley, quite much like the one he had found Naruto in. He smiled, grabbing his hitai-ate and made his way towards the children playing in front of the orphanage. The blond boy who was sitting on a swing caught his eye immediately. It was Naruto.
The boy's eyes wandered over the kids playing with each other and Kakashi noticed that he was all alone and nobody even went as much as near him. The ANBU sighed and made his way through the sheer endless crowd of children who stared at him with big, curious eyes. But the young man only had eyes for the lonely blond boy who didn't even look up when Kakashi crouched down next to the swing.
"Naruto?", he asked cautiously and waited for the kid to answer. The little boy lifted his head and stared at the stranger who knew his name. Everybody seemed to know his name but they never called him 'Naruto'. It was always 'boy' or 'demon'. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, shinobi-san.", Naruto murmured after quite a while and stayed silent, waiting for the response of the weird-looking man who only had one, visible eye.
"I'm no stranger.", declared the shinobi and sheepishly scratched his neck. "You see, I knew your parents quite well." Naruto only stared at him. "Oh, really?", he asked but his voice didn't sound excited. "Did they think that I'm a demon, too? Is that why they left me?" Kakashi couldn't help himself - he grabbed the kid by the narrow shoulders and looked him in the frightened, too blue eyes. "No! Of course they didn’t! They loved you very much, they just couldn't stay with you. But I'm here now and I will take care of you like they wanted me too, alright?" He tried to smile through his mask but knew it wouldn't work very well so he tried his well-known 'eye smile'. Naruto nodded slowly and stood up. "I will have to get my things, shinobi-san. You have to ask Yomiku-sama before we go though. She will be very angry when she notices I'm gone so you have to tell her." He pointed at the big door that seemed to be the entrance to the orphanage and Kakashi rubbed his aching forehead. "Alright, will you wait for me outside when you're done packing your things?" Naruto nodded and Kakashi made his way through the crowd of children again.
He pondered over the thought of Naruto simply accepting a stranger's explanation without questioning it. It was worrisome, but it helped his plans immensely at the moment so he decided to file away that information for later.
He opened the doors of the orphanage and blinked. It was dark and reeked of things he couldn't identify. "Shinobi-san? Is there an issue?" A harsh voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned around. This must be Yomiku, he thought and nodded at the old woman that looked at him with a questioning smile. "Right, Yomiku-san. I'm here for Naruto Uzumaki-", before he could go on, Yomiku started smiling and asked:"Are you here to take him away then?" Kakashi's eyebrows twitched. "I am indeed. I trust you're not going to tell the Hokage then?" Yomiku scoffed and made his way towards him. "Of course not. We're lucky to get rid of the troublesome boy." Kakashi nodded coldly and reached out with his hand which the woman took, while grinning. "We have a deal then, I presume."
*
Iruka didn't feel comfortable as he walked down the alley and shuddered when he saw a little rat running away. He nearly missed the people who made their way towards the end of the alley as he watched the rat go. He turned around as his heart pounded wildly. He would recognise that blond hair everywhere. "Stop!", he yelled and the two figures stopped walking. The taller figure, a silver-haired jonin, turned around and stared at him. "Iruka-sensei!", Naruto shouted and grinned wildly. "Naruto, come here, slowly.", Iruka said with a trembling voice and reached for his kunai. The other man grinned sheepishly and reached for the boy's hand. "Look, I'm not hurting him. I'm Kakashi Hatake, his father's protégé, you may remember me? I worked with your father when he was still in ANBU." Iruka didn't let go of his kunai and aimed it at the man's head who quickly dodged it. "I don't care!", Iruka growled. "Let Naruto go!" Kakashi sighed and looked down at the blond head. "I'm here to uhm- kidnap him, I guess? The people treat him like trash, you know. I wanted to take him with me and raise him myself."
Iruka seized his attempts at killing the man and simply stared at him, jaw slack. Naruto grinned and pointed at Kakashi with a trusting look in his blue eyes. "Kakashi-nii wants me, Iruka-sensei! I told everyone that someone would come for be, believe it!" Iruka just stared at the little boy when Kakashi cleared his voice. "Look, I know you care for him a lot-", "I'll help you!", Iruka interrupted him and earned himself a disbelieving look. "You can't just take him away either!", He said before the other man could protest. "You can't just take him to live with you, someone is bound to notice!" Kakashi tilted his head and murmured something that Iruka couldn't understand. "What did you say?", He asked and the ANBU raised his head and said:"Then I'll leave Konoha."
Iruka's jaw seemed to reach the floor by the time the other shinobi had said this sentence. "You would become a missing-nin!", he spluttered and Kakashi shrugged seemingly uncaring. "I don't care. Nothing's holding me back. I have no family except Naruto." The little boy looked up at the man who took him away from the orphanage and smiled. Iruka's head seemed to be exploding and he sighed. Kakashi raised his hand in a good-bye gesture and made his way towards the end of the alley. "I hope you won't tell anyone."
Iruka nodded numbly but then immediately snapped out of the daze he was in and stumbled after the man. "Wait! I'm coming with you!", he yelled, causing both to stand still. Kakashi turned around and gave him his signature 'eye-smile'. "Alright, pack your things, Iruka-kun."