Curses and Dreams

Dreams

The next few months were great. You and Kakashi were officially together, but still kept it a mostly-secret because of ANBU rules. He was home a lot more now, as the now-Hokage Minato had given him an incredibly important mission: to watch over Kushina, who was pregnant with their first child. With her also being the Nine Tails Jinchuriki, this made her an incredibly vulnerable target to leaf village enemies, and Minato wanted to take every precaution. Very few people in the village could know, including, besides you and Kakashi, the village elders, several other members of ANBU, and your parents, whom Minato asked to be Kushina's primary doctors during this time. Everyone involved was stressed, yet excited, taking their roles in this pregnancy very seriously. You helped Kushina around the house and went shopping for her when you weren't on your own missions, since she had to hide it from the village and could no longer leave the house after she started showing. The pregnancy itself went without incident. Yet, tragedy struck the day baby Naruto Uzumaki was born.

That night played out like a nightmare. Madara attacked the village with the Nine Tails, as the seal in Kushina had weakened significantly during childbirth. You and the other Chunin were forbidden from helping in the fight by the Jonin, saying that you all were too young to get involved in the chaos. Many young shinobi lost their parents in that fight, including baby Naruto. Minato and Kushina sacrificed themselves to save Naruto and the village, with Minato ending the terror by sealing the Nine Tails inside his newborn son. Even though you were forbidden from getting involved, Kakashi, an ANBU, was not. He watched as Minato, his sensei, and Kushina, the last thing he had to a mother figure, died at the hands of Madara and the Nine Tails. Kakashi felt his heart break in a deeper way than it ever had before. He felt that he was cursed, and that everyone that he loved would one day be ripped away from him in a moment of violence and tragedy. The only thing left of his sensei was the newborn, now orphaned baby. He felt pity for the child, having grown up an orphan himself. He came to your room that night. You were home alone, as your parents were at the hospital tending to the many injured people after the attack.

"I think we should adopt Naruto." He'd said when you let him in your window.

"I'm sorry, what?" You asked.

"We should ask Lord Third if we could take care of Naruto. Your parents would help, I know they would. It's what Minato and Kushina would want, they wouldn't want him to grow up an orphan."

"Kakashi... you know how the village elders feel about orphans... and he's the jinchuriki..."

"(Y/n) please. We have to try. I can't just let him be alone."

"Okay, okay. We'll go to Lord Third in the morning. Please, just, lay down. I'm here for you, whatever you need. We'll take care of Naruto."

That night, Kakashi fell into a restless, nightmare-filled sleep. For the first time since Rin died, he talked in his sleep. A compilation of "I'm sorry" and "no" and "please," mixed with fitful, violent jerks. You didn't sleep that night, choosing instead to comfort Kakashi through his nightmares, silent tears streaming down your face. Again, you knew things were different now. This time, you hoped you were dreaming.

Kakashi woke with the sunrise, anxious to go see the Hokage. Since Minato, the Fourth Hokage, was now dead, Third Hokage Sarutobi was taking over in the interim. You ran to the Hokage's office together silently, understanding the improbability and urgency of your request, but knowing you had to try anyway.

The Hokage's door was open when you arrived, an unusual sight. You figured that he had been hearing from everyone in the village about the Nine Tails attack. Lord Third was an old, kind man and cared for the people of Konoha, of course he'd offer support after such a tragedy.