Chapter Text
There’s a rising pall of smoke catching the moonlight, a silver shroud hanging over a scene of utter devastation. From the open windows of the Hokage’s Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen watches Konoha burn.
Just this morning, the village had been overflowing with hope and optimism. But somewhere in the span of twelve hours, it had all come undone.
The apocalypse had come to Konoha, and he didn’t know if it would ever go back to normal.
There’s other people in the office; the Council members, the senior jounin, and the clan leaders of the village. They want him to become Hokage again.
They want him to become Hokage again, because the previous holder of that title has given his life to stop the nine-tails attack on the village. The desk in front of him is still cluttered with Minato’s things. There’s a framed photograph of Minato and Kushina, his pregnant wife, sitting right there. He picks it up.
Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, is the greatest hope for the Leaf Village to have a peaceful and safe future.
Well. Minato was the greatest hope. Now that hope is dead.
The door to the office opens, and an ANBU black ops ninja edges into a corner of the room, holding a bundle of blankets. Hiruzen snaps out of his musings, speaking loudly over all the conversations in the room.
“Everyone, please leave us,” he says. “I need time to consider what you’ve asked of me.”
They all file out, but Hiruzen gestures for the ANBU to stay. He waits until the door closes firmly, then casts a jutsu to prevent any eavesdropping.
“Is that him?” he asks the ANBU.
***
Kakashi can’t stop the tears, nor can he stop the shaking. The ANBU mask hides his face well enough, but it can’t conceal the way his arms are trembling as he holds Minato’s son in his arms.
“His name is Naruto,” he finally gasps out, his voice breaking and choking.
He’s not used to this. Kakashi can count on one hand the number of times he’s cried. He has lost and endured more than any fourteen-year-old should ever have to lose and endure.
But his eyes keep falling to trace the curves of baby Naruto’s face, to notice the little fox-like whiskers on his cheeks, and to follow the lines of the black seal on the infant’s stomach. In another life, Kakashi would have been Naruto’s big brother. They would have been family.
Now, the child is an orphan before he can even walk.
Hiruzen reaches out, taking the child from his arms, and looks down fondly at Naruto.
“He’s beautiful,” he says to Kakashi. Kakashi stiffly nods and digs his fingernails into his palms. He can still see Minato’s still body, feel Kushina pressing her child into his arms, and hear her tell him the child’s name.
He’s still covered in their blood, too.
Now the shaking is getting worse, and Kakashi is wrapping his arms around himself. He counts them in his mind. First his father, then Obito, then Rin.
Now Minato and Kushina.
Everyone leaves.
Everyone leaves him.
Everyone leaves him and Kakashi can’t take it, he can’t take it anymore, he can’t hold the sob in anymore. He’s ripping off the stupid ANBU mask and flinging it across the room, his silver hair falling into teary eyes.
And Kakashi howls. It’s an inhuman noise, filled with rage and sorrow and grief, so much grief, because people won’t stop fucking leaving him.
“Kakashi,” Hiruzen says softly, rocking Naruto in his arms. “You’ll scare Naruto.”
“I can take care of him, Lord Hiruzen,” Kakashi wipes his eyes and looks up. “We would have been brothers. Please, let me raise him.”
“You’re fourteen. You can’t raise a child,” Hiruzen says, and Kakashi’s heart breaks again.
“No! I’ll learn. Please. I--No one will love him more than I do. Please!” he says, and a handful of tears roll down the mask he’s wearing.
“I… I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re a child, Kakashi.”
“He’s the only family I have left, Lord Hiruzen. Don’t take that from me too.”
Hiruzen glances at Naruto, something flickering over his face. Then he looks at Kakashi, studying him intently. Kakashi takes a calming breath.
“I--I’ll do everything I can to make sure he’s safe and happy. I swear it. It’s all I want,” he says to Hiruzen, and the older man sighs.
“People think that the child was killed in the attack. No one can know who Naruto is, Kakashi. They’ll hate him for what he is. The nine-tailed fox is sealed within him.”
“That’s fine. Just please--let me take care of him.”
“Very well. You will take the boy and raise him, and I will become Hokage again. Go out the window when you leave, and don’t let anyone see you holding the child with your mask off.”
Before Hiruzen can change his mind, Kakashi retrieves his mask and picks up Naruto. Then they’re flying over the smoking rooftops, and while Kakashi still grieves, there’s a little spark of joy in him too as he hugs the bundle close to his heart.