Six Years Too Long

Chapter 2

Idk why but a ton of people keep complaining about how often Minato is mentioning his son 😭 like y'all that's his child??? That has spent several years without him??? That he just saw get physically attacked??? Like omg chill I'm sorry alright ✋ gawdamn

Larger paragraphs chopped up 1/17/23 for easier reading

Third person pov

He's not allowed to interfere. He knows this, but nonetheless, he can't detach himself.

It eats at him slowly the longer he watches. Like a slow fire burning through an already dying forest. Unless a real attempt is made on the blonde jinchuriki's life, he isn't clear to step in and stop the abuse. He's forced to watch instead. Wait, and almost hope they make a wrong move, just so he has an excuse to go for their throats.

He's daydreamed about it. Memorized every face that's dared to glare and every soul who'd dare spit an insult. Thinks of everything he could do to get back at them. It's unhealthy and crude of him, he knows. It's the only thing that helps him cope nonetheless.

Rage simmers in the pit of his stomach, and he reaches up to adjust his Hound mask just so he has something to do with his hands. This is the only way he's allowed to be around Naruto. Outside of that, the Third Hokage has banned all interaction.

It makes Kakashi want to scream. To rip his hair out and destroy everything in his path. That's his sensei's legacy down there. And if Kakashi could just take care of him-- reach out and help him, he could make Naruto's life so much better. Let him be the kid he's supposed to be. Not some... some outcast everything thinks it's okay to attack.

Yet, Hiruzen bans it. There's a small, logical part of Kakashi that can almost see why. If anyone found out the Yondaime had a son hosting a tailed beast, the threats on Naruto's life would be too severe to combat forever.

They would eventually get to him, and Kakashi would certainly lose what little he had left to cling to. Minato-sensei had been such a key player in the war. Though villages were well aware Konoha had the nine tails, they had no idea in who or where it was being held. For all they knew, it could be sealed in a teapot, or sword.

As if Naruto wouldn't have been in enough danger before the whole Kyuubi thing. People would be out for his blood. It was why Kushina had kept her pregnancy so private to begin with.

Naruto is brilliant in many ways. A mixture of his parents in appearance and personality; a perfect blend if you ask him. He's nearly a mirror image of Kakashi's late sensei, with eyes that reflect the sea and the sky, and hair so bright its blinding.

You can still see Kushina there too, in the way the boy grins sometimes, and in his untamed laugh. He's loud and boisterous, with mischief in his eyes and a pranking streak that effects nearly half the village with his severity. Its times like those when Naruto is the brightest, and when Kakashi finally feels like he can breathe.

It's when he sees the six year old hiding his hurt behind guarded eyes, just like Minato used to during the hardest of times, that he drowns.

Naruto is smarter than anyone gives him credit for. He's not the best at his schoolwork, but he's clever and fast. He'd evaded his ANBU guards more than once. Kakashi can still recall the many times he struggled to catch up with the blonde boy. It's even more impressive when you consider his chakra reserves.

Kyuubi aside, Naruto is an Uzumaki. The clan had previously been known for not just their seals, but for their massive chakra reserves that made them adept at performing terrifyingly strong jutsu's in quick succession of one another. Naruto had clearly inherited his mother's chakra capacity. Even at six years old, he had an absolute tank of untapped energy sitting beneath the surface.