You Were My Light

9. Strangers (Part 2)

*** TRIGGER WARNING : MENTIONS OF RAPE, ABUSE, TORTURE, SUICIDE AND DETAILS OF PANIC/ANXIETY ATTACK ***

(3rd Person P.O.V) Now, that doesn't sound like the Minato-sensei that I knew and loved, nor does it sound like something that Kushina would say - especially since she was the former jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and that this is their only child we are talking about." Kakashi watched the old mans eyes widen with the mention of both the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato and his wife Uzumaki Kushina. "How much do you know and who told you? This is a triple S Ranked secret..." Kakashi held up a hand in front of him to stop the Hokage. "It doesn't matter that I know, someone trusted me with this information and I will protect it, and them, with my life. The rest is not your concern. What I want to know, Honourable Sandaime Hokage, is what are you going to do to stop the beatings, the rape, and night-hunting of the only Namikaze-Uzumaki Heir?"

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Sarutobi was speechless at Kakashi's forthright speech. He looked thoughtfully at Naruto on Kakashi's lap, hugging him as if he was a scared child that didn't want to let go of their parent. A thought occurred to the Hokage and before he could change his mind, he asked, "Well why doesn't Naruto live with you from now? I can make you his official guardian." The small blond figure spun around, shot up like a lightning bolt and over to the old man, grabbing the cloth of his sleeves tightly, "Can I, Jiji, can I really go live with 'Kashi?! You would let me? And I don't have to live in my shi.. Stupid lonely apartment anymore? Because the villagers still find me there and I can't hide anywhere, but you would really let me go live with 'Kashi? Can I really? Really really?!" he asked so many questions that Sarutobi didn't doubt the decision he had just made was the right one. The look of amusement that he caught fleeting across Kakashi's face stunned him a little because he hadn't seen the silver-haired ninja express any emotion since his father had committed suicide. 'This will be good for both of them, maybe it will bring Hatake out of his shell and help Minato's boy gain a real friend.' "Yes, Naruto, you will be going to live with Kakashi until your 16th birthday when you will be able to make your own decisions what you want to do." Naruto let out a bright, pealing laugh that shocked both of the older men, who stared at him because neither had ever heard the sunshine blond laugh so genuinely.

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Naruto's P.O.V

As I was laughing with the joy of the suggestion Jiji had made, I discovered the old man and Kakashi were staring at me, I guess they were as surprised as I was that I'd laughed, a genuine laugh, so I tried to calm myself down a little. Realisation that this huge decision has just been made for Kakashi and I didn't know what he thought about it because I couldn't read his expression- he had his headband back over one eye and his mask on so I couldn't see his face properly, I wasn't entirely comfortable with him having so much of his face covered because it reminded me of the sacks the villagers would cover my head with while they were beating me. 'What if he doesn't want to live with me? What if he tells the Third Hokage that he doesn't want to look after this 12 year old version of me because I'm always getting into trouble in the village, or because I am the jinchuuriki, or because..?' I cleared my throat and decided to ask him, to find out for sure, "K-Kakashi... uh... i-is it okay i-if I come to live w-with you? P-please? Look, I w-won't cause y-you a-any trouble I swear! A-and... uh, because, uh, I... um... y-you.... I feel... I f-feel... y-you make me f-feel safe... with y-you... Please... say it's okay.... uh, I w-want... I'd like... t-to stay with you..." I trailed off at the end of my sentence, hating that I was stuttering again and realising that while we had shared time together, we really don't know much about each other. I felt more uncertain the longer the silence went on, which in reality it was probably no more than a few seconds, but my heart started racing and my breathing quickened, I was starting to overheat and my palms were sweaty. I felt myself begin to panic worse, my mind telling me that he wasn't going to want to have 'someone like me stay with him because I was too much trouble' then my breath caught in my throat, making me cough so hard I stumbled.