Chapter Text
Kakashi’s lip was tugged into a frown as he perched on a rooftop near Konoha’s orphanage. He had recently finished a mission report to the Hokage and had finally worked up the courage to drag himself to visit the run-down building. Below him, his late sensei’s child--Naruto, he corrected himself--was huddled in the corner of the yard as the rest of the children played elsewhere. His clothes were ragged, and Kakashi could see that they practically hung on his frail frame. Naruto looked to be drawing in the dirt with a nearby branch. It made Kakashi’s stomach squirm with guilt. He failed the last mission Minato-sensei had assigned him, and now here he was, failing yet again.
“Alright kids! It’s time to wash up!” Shouted one of the adults overseeing the children.
With a chorus of varying degrees of affirmation, the motley group of children began to move towards the entrance leading back into the orphanage. Even Naruto had dropped his stick in response to the summons. He scampered obediently back towards the building, but Kakashi could see the disdain in the caretaker’s gaze as he saw Naruto approach.
That made Kakashi’s frown into a grimace. What kind of adult, shinobi or not, antagonized a child !? Although it was true that Naruto was the container for the Kyubi, it wasn’t the kid’s fault for being so. He was just a little boy, barely age three. Kakashi found himself wanting to shushin down there and give the caretaker a nice “talking to” but he restrained himself. It wouldn’t do any good for a mysterious ANBU to show up in the middle of what was considered a civilian affair.
Just as Naruto was about to enter the building, the caretaker bodily moved in front of the entryway with a scowl. He started saying something, and Kakashi pushed chakra into his ears to hear.
“Hold it right there, brat. I will not have your filthy little feet all over the floor.”
“B-but Nigai-san-”
“Either go wash up or you don’t get to come back inside.”
Kakashi suppressed a growl from escaping his throat. He would not shushin down there. He would not shushin down there. ANBU are supposed to be calm and controlled. The perfect tool is not to be prey to his own emotions and whims. He was to be an observer only .
Naruto trudged over to the side of the building, where there was a garden hose lying coiled up like one of Mitarashi’s snake summons. It took Kakashi’s genius brain a bit too long to figure out what the caretaker’s definition of “washing up” was.
Kakashi felt the killing intent leaking out of him as he teleported off the roof and down into the yard.
“Excuse me, but what is going on here?” Kakashi made sure to keep his voice flat and monotonous. The ANBU get-up usually made civilians uneasy enough, but it wasn’t like a little minor intimidation tactic would hurt either. Naruto froze in his tracks, unsure if he should follow through with “washing up” or watch the scary ANBU that had appeared from nowhere.
“ANBU-san! What a surprise to see you here of all places!” The man’s gaze was noticeably anywhere but Kakashi’s hound mask, and he wrung his hands in front of him.
Kakashi tamped down some of his killing intent so as to not accidentally summon an ANBU squad to the premises and sauntered closer to the man. He slid a kunai out of its sheath and twirled it between his fingers.
“I asked you what was going on here.” He stopped a mere foot in front of the caretaker and cocked his head to one side. “Do I need to make myself clearer ?”
“N-no, ANBU-san. I was just letting Naruto-kun here play with the hose one last time before we went inside for supper. Isn’t that right, Naruto-kun?”
Kakashi turned to face Naruto, who gazed up at him half-afraid and half-awed. Kakashi moved towards the boy and crouched down in front of him, quickly sheathing the kunai he was twirling.
“Hello, Naruto-kun.” Kakashi lightened his tone. “ I’m Hound, and I was just wondering what you were up to outside. Is what he said true? Are you really going to play with the garden hose?”
Naruto held his mouth open in a shocked little “o” as the ANBU waited for his response. Kakashi could practically see the gears grinding in his head.
“Don’t be afraid to tell me the truth.” Kakashi added in a hushed voice. “I may not look it, but I am really good at keeping secrets. I won’t tell old fussy-pants over there.” Kakashi jerked his thumb backwards to gesture towards the caretaker.
Naruto giggled as Kakashi poked fun at Nigai-san, and his eyes sparked with a joy that made a hollow place in Kakashi’s chest ache. With that, Naruto must have decided that Kakashi was trustworthy enough and resolved to minutely shake his head in a denial of what the other man had said. Kakashi didn’t need eyes to tell that the orphanage worker had paled in horror behind his back, and he allowed himself a small smirk of satisfaction underneath his two masks.
“Thank you for telling me Naruto-kun.” Kakashi ruffled his golden hair as he stood. “Now why don’t you go inside for supper while I talk to Nigai-san.”
Nigai merely moved aside under the ANBU’s gaze, allowing Naruto to pass despite his earlier threats to the boy. He looked sick at the prospect of being alone with Kakashi.
“Now, Nigai-san was it?” The man nodded without a word as to how Kakashi knew his name despite him never formally introducing himself.
Kakashi’s voice hardened back into being emotionless. “Can you tell me why Naruto was going towards the garden hose?”
Nigai quickly schooled his features into a scowl.
“ANBU-san, I don’t know what the brat told you, but whatever he said, he’s lying .”
“And I’m inclined to believe that you are telling the truth? What incentive does a three-year-old have for lying, Nigai-san?”
Nigai’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He must have realized that there was no adequate response for Kakashi’s inquiry that wouldn’t dig himself into a deeper hole.
“Well, Nigai-san, be glad I’m in a charitable mood today.” Kakashi said as he turned around, abruptly ending their conversation.
He had seen enough to know his next course of action. With a small surge of chakra, he proceeded to vanish in a swirl of leaves, and he raced to the Hokage tower with a muted anger thrumming beneath his skin.
There was no way Naruto would be subjected to that low-life’s prejudices for a second longer, not while Kakashi was still around. He would make sure of that.