Naruto 1. Abandoned

**A/N: OMG I had this story in my head forever and I have the time to actually give it a try, Plz R&R if I should continue or not. Also, a fanfic called "Move to the First Side" by sinemoras09 inspired me to write this fic. The story is only 4 chapters but its awesome ...oh and its a Iruka and Gaara Family fic, so its awesome everybody should read it and you'll see how I got inspired =].**

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**_Forever Love…_**

_Chapter 1: Abandoned_

He had lost his parents recently, at the age of 14 thanks to the Kyuubi Kitsune attack at his village in Konoha. Iruka was devastated and sad that the two people that raised him have died without saying good-bye. Now, it has only been a month since he had lost them and is currently going on a mission with a couple of ninjas to Suna. The mission was simple, go check if anything suspicious is happening in the village hidden in the sand. Iruka has become a Chunin a week ago and already has a mission outside Konoha alongside some Jounins and other Chunins. There were rumors spreading about that the Kazekage had created a human weapon for war attacks. Of course, the Third Hokage was curious and wanted to investigate, thus sending a group of seven ninjas to Suna. The mission would only take a couple of days, depending if the Kazekage and the Suna ninjas would cooperate and tell the truth, but in Iruka's mind was what were the chances of them actually doing that? The group ninjas stopped and decided to rest for the night. They had agreed that Iruka would be first watch. He stayed up and stared at the fire in front of him while the rest of his comrades were sleeping except for one shinobi in particular.

"Hey, Iruka you can sleep if you want, and I'll take first watch. I'm not tired or sleepy, plus I want to continue reading this book." said a 15-year old jounin by the name of Kakashi Hatake.

"Hmm….figures you'd stayed up late, not letting go of those perverted books." commented Iruka.

"There not perverted, there educational, so do you want to switch positions or not?" asked Kakashi.

"Fine, I'm a little sleepy anyways." Iruka replied as he started to lie down but then he remembered what he was going to ask Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi, how long will it take to arrive at Suna?"

"Hmmm…I say were about a day away from there, we'll arrive there by tomorrow afternoon." answered the jounin without taking his eye out of the book. Sometimes Iruka wondered how a kid like Kakashi would be able to become a Jounin despite the fact that Kakashi read those rated X novels. After that, Iruka closed his eyes and let himself to sleep.

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"We're here, everybody." announced Kurenai, another Chunin. The groups of ninjas arrived at the Suna gates were headed inside before they were interrupted by two gate guards.

"Halt! Who are you people and why have you come to Suna?" asked one of the guards, in a fighting stance position.

"Whoa, there buddy, we're only ninjas from Konoha, here on a mission concerning your village." replied Kakashi, "Surely, you guys were advised that a couple of ninjas were coming today?"

"Hmm…if you say so, then enter, but be warned to not attack one single civilian or else." warned the guard before disappearing.

"Wow, they surely were welcoming." commented Iruka

"Can't blame them Iruka, there town has been in ruins for a while and are extra cautious for any unexpected invasions." explained Shikaku Nara, who was oldest and wisest in the group as well as a special jounin and the one who will be questioning the Kazekage about the rumors they were hearing.

"Ok, guys just follow me and we'll by the Kage tower in no time." he said.

The rest of the shinobis nodded and followed the Nara, without no complains. Iruka was looking around and saw how different Suna was from Konoha. He really did wish he would take the other mission instead of this one because Shikaku would mostly do all the talking and the rest would be just witnesses. He was in thought, before Kakashi interrupted,

"Hey, Iruka, if you continue to wonder off you'll get lost and won't have any idea where we are."

Iruka snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Kakashi before interpreting what his jounin friend had told him. Then he realized he was being left-behind so he ran in order to catch up with the rest of his companions.

_"Something interesting better happen while were at Suna."_ thought the teen Chunin as he was jogging to catch up as he saw the Kazekage tower ahead of him.

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"So, what your saying lord Kazekage, is that there is in no way that you and your village have created a weapon for the use of war?" asked the shadow user, Shikaku. The Kazekage was wearing a white and red robe and had brown spiked up hair and he looked serious. Everybody except for Shikaku thought he was telling the truth. It had already been thirty minutes since arriving Suna and Iruka, Kakashi, Kurenai, Shikaku, Asuma, Hayate, and Anko were already trying to force the truth out any Suna ninja and Kazekage to spill the truth without resorting to violence. To say the truth, Iruka was not being patient and was getting tired of standing and hearing the adults talk.

"Hey, try not to cause any chaos, bob." whispered Anko from Iruka's shoulder. Iruka turned his head to the side and saw that Anko was next to him,

"I'm not going to cause chaos, not in front of these people anyways, so I would stay quiet Anko. You should be more worried on what your going to do than what I'm going to do." Anko got a little mad at Iruka but she let it slide…for now anyways.

"I assure you all, that the rumors that Konoha has heard are false and that we do not posses any type of weapon of mass destruction." claimed the Kage.

"So, you claim that the rumors of you using a newborn child, almost a year ago, was not forcefully used to contain one of the tailed-beasts?" questioned the Nara. The Kazekage just nodded as well as two of his children.

"Hmmm…..well just to be sure, us, seven will be staying here in Suna for a couple of days, that's if it's some disturbance." inquired Shikaku. When Iruka turned to see the face of the Kazekage, he swore he saw his twitch for a second but apparently, no one else has seen the look on the Kazekage.

"Very well then, stay as long as you please. Anything to convince you guys that we, the people of Suna, have nothing to hide." said the Kage, "Please show, our Konoha guests on where they will be staying for the remainder of their stay." Three Suna ninjas came forth and escorted the team of seven out the door. After they left, the Kazekage ordered his two kids to go to their room. Once that was done, he gave a long sigh, and then out of nowhere a Suna ninja approached the Kazekage,

"You do know that there going to figure it all out, sooner or later."

"That's what I was thinking, Baki, but I have a plan and this plan will not fail." assured the Kage.

"What's your plan Lord Kazekage?" asked Baki

"This is top secret Baki, only you and I would know what were going to do to _him_." he said as he faced Baki face to face, "The plan is to get rid of _him_, its been a mistake to actually bring _him_ to this world, _he_ has killed my wife and I' am getting second thoughts that _he_ may be a threat later in life." All Baki do was just stand there as he was processing the Kazekage's idea in his head.

"So, what you're saying is that we'll give _Gaara_ away."

"More like abandon _him_…." the Kage said before he was interrupted,

"Abandon, your son? Where and who will be willing to actually take him as their own, knowing full well that he might kill anyone in the near future." said Baki.

" I was thinking abandon him near the place where the Konoha ninjas are staying, they are known for being good-hearted people, besides I believe that they are capable of two demon-containers, seeing that they have another demon-container in their own village, plus they don't know anything about Gaara, being a demon host." he added. Baki was thinking and he agrees with the Kazekage's logical explanations on abandoning Gaara near the Konoha ninja's room.

"I see, so when will be abandoning the child?" he asked.

"I was thinking tonight, that way either of them would have the time to adopt them."

"But Kazekage, some of those ninjas are too young to adopt a child? And wouldn't they able to see that Gaara, looks like you?" asked Baki

"Gaara doesn't resemble me as much other than the hair and face but that won't be noticeable until a few years have gone by and plus I think that those ninjas are mature enough to take care a baby." the Kazekage replied as he started to leave his office, then he turned to the side and looked at Baki,

"Make sure, you don't get caught and swear on your life that you won't reveal this to no one until the time is right, understood?"

"Yes, Lord Kazekage." agreed the Suna shinobi then there little meeting ended and were gone getting ready to do the plan.

* * *

"C'mon, Anko, you cheated!" scolded Kurenai as they finished playing a card game.

"How the hell would I cheat? If you ask me, this game is too hard to cheat on." hissed Anko.

"Hey, girls, be quiet me and the rest of the guys are trying to get some shut eye here!" shouted Asuma from his room. It was already ten o'clock at night and the guys were tired and sleepy after traveling around Suna but not the girls, they wanted to stay up a little longer.

"Boo hoo… tough luck Asuma, but me and Kurenai…"

"Kurenai and I." shouted a sleepy Kakashi.

"Shut it mask boy!" warned Anko, "As I was saying, to bad but me and Kurenai can be loud as we want." Then a now not sleepy Iruka got out of his room and sat on the couch where Anko and Kurenai were playing.

"Can't sleep there Iruka?" asked Kurenai.

"Yeah, you guys are loud so what's the point of trying to fall asleep." commented Iruka.

"True, so want to play with us then?" asked Anko, politely, which surprised Kurenai a little but she shove the thought off.

"Why not?" said Iruka.

* * *

It was now midnight and everybody was asleep except for Iruka. He was thinking on all that happen in one month, losing his parent, then becoming a Chunin and then now here in Suna in a mission with possibly the best Chunins and Jounins in Konoha. He walked by the window and saw the sky,

_"Hope, you guys are happy up there and looking down on me, proud of me becoming a Chunin.''_ thought Iruka as he said those words to his deceased parents. He wasn't the only ninja that lost somebody important; his new friend Kakashi had lost his sensei, which was the fourth Hokage, who sacrificed his own life to stop the Kyuubi. He knew that he wasn't alone and that he wished that in some way, shape or form, he would do in order to change the way Konoha or any ninja village lived, even if it meant becoming a ninja academy teacher. Then his thoughts went to the newborn baby that was used to seal the Kyuubi, Naruto, he learned his name from Kakashi, he said that the Fourth wanted the villagers to see Naruto as a hero, for keeping the Kyuubi locked away. Iruka was beginning to think to maybe visit the boy sometimes, knowing full well that the Naruto kid won't be treated nicely by the villagers because of the nine-tailed demon within him.

_"I'll probably befriend the boy."_ then when he's about to leave, he heard a noise of rustled leaves outside the window. Curious, he went and looked out the window to see if there was someone out there, no one.

_"Probably my imagination."_ Iruka thought but then he heard a small cry of….a baby. Before the baby cried any louder to wake up his teammates, he jumped out of the window and tried his best to find the location of the baby. Then when he was about to leave he heard it again but this time loud enough to be called bloody murder. He quickly went to the direction of the noise and then he found the baby hidden in a bush. The baby looked like he was around a couple of months old to a year; he had red-hair and was tucked nicely in a basket. Iruka then picked up the baby and cradled it until he stopped crying.

_"What in the world is a baby doing out here at this late of night? Unless someone left him here to die? But why?"_ Iruka was thinking then when the baby had stopped crying, he opened his eyes to reveal that his eyes were aquamarine, then he smiled at Iruka and giggled happily as he tried to grab Iruka's face.

"Well, I think your calm now, little fellow, but who dropped you here?" asked Iruka. All the baby did was smile, and then Iruka noticed a piece of paper that was placed on the basket. With one hand, he carried the baby while the other hand grabbed the sheet of paper. The note said,

_'He is now left to your care. Please take him and adopt him as your own. For he would have a much better life living with you than us. His name is Gaara."_

Iruka was now officially confused, he was only 14 and now someone had given up their child for him to take care? He didn't even know how to raise a child, but then somewhere inside him, knew that he should at least care of the child until everybody in his team is awake, then they would help taking care of the situation. He sighed and looked back at the boy, whose name was now Gaara. He was falling asleep in Iruka's arm as if he felt safe and comfortable in the Chunins arms.

"Well, I don't know what's going but there's no way I'm leaving you here in the streets so late at night, your coming with me." proclaimed Iruka as he grabbed the basket and went up to the room his team and him were staying in**_._**

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**_Hope you like it. I have a lot of ideas for this story and would love to hear your guy's opinion on this. I'll try to update but I can't guarantee a fast update on chapter 2 soon, for I blame on AP BIO and my busy senior year of High School =\ _**


	2. Mystery Unsolved? Solved?

**A/N: Hey guys, here's chapter 2! I think its more of a filler chapter there's not a lot of action but it must be read. I will try to update at LEAST once a month. I still need to update my other stories (which weren't updated in over 3 months XP) Reasons I don't update as often is because:**

**1. AP Biology!!! So much homework and lab reports all due in less than a WEEK!!!!!! and I'm nearly failing =[**

**2. preparing for a HUGE birthday party for my 18th birthday, which I really don't want but my parents are going to throw it anyways _**

**3. Its my SENIOR year in high school, so I might get a ton of homework and need to apply for scholarships**

**4. I HATE TYPING in the computer =[ it gets uncomfortable after 10 minutes of sitting**

**Other than those reasons, I get kind of lazy =]. Anyways expect chapter 3 to come out before my birthday (Nov.16). Oh and THANKS! for the reviews (3) and Alerts. My friend and I agree that ppl adding this to their favorite story or alert list is more important than a review...but still I really need your opinions on this story so plz review if you can.**

**Another note: I think I need a BETA reader for my stories. So, please anyone who's willing to do it plz messeage me or leave a review telling me. I admit my english and grammar sucks =[. So please I'm looking for a Beta, well I think that's it, hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'll clear some things off in upcoming chapters if confused. See Ya!**

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Chapter 2: Mystery Unsolved? Solved?

"Your up early, Shikaku, what's the emergency?" asked a sleepy Hayate as he was yawning. It was around eight in the morning and almost all of the Konoha ninjas were awaking except for Kakashi and Iruka.

"Well, take a look on who's on Iruka's side, Hayate." told the Nara, pointing his head towards the Chunin's sleeping form.

"Whoa! Is that a baby sleeping next to him?" whispered Hayate.

"Hmm…looks like it but where did he get it from though?" questioned Asuma. Then as if on cue Anko showed and said,

"Well, then all that's left to do is to wake him up," she approached Iruka slowly,

"Umm… Anko that won't be a great idea, you'll wake the baby up too." warned Kurenai.

"Ahh hush, Kurenai, we need answers not sympathy…HEY!!! Wake UP!!!" shouted Anko next to Iruka's ear.

Then Iruka jumped out of the bed and fell to the ground, seconds later a wakened up baby started to cry, followed by a yawning Kakashi.

"What in the world is wrong with you, Anko?" demanded Iruka, "You almost made me deaf from my right ear, darn it!"

"Serves you right for not waking up earlier." commented the kunoichi back at Iruka.

"Technically, Anko were not supposed to wake until 8:30." clarified by Hayate as he started to cough. Anko pouted and then stared at Iruka, who was quieting down the baby in his arms.

"Shhhshhh…there Gaara, everything is going to be alright, the scary women is gone."

"WHY YOU—" Anko started before Shikaku interrupted her,

"Anko, that's enough, don't cause any more trouble." he said and then was walking towards Iruka, "Care to explain?"

"Well, I was the only one awake and was headed to bed before I heard noises outside the window and then I heard the baby crying and found him in a basket that was placed in the bushes." explained Iruka, "Then I found this note that came with it, and decided to bring the little guy in, better than to leave him out there in the streets of Suna." He finished as he found the note and handed it to Shikaku, who read it out loud,

"He is now left to your care. Please take him and adopt him as your own. For he would have a much better life living with you than us. His name is Gaara."

"Hey, what I miss?" asked Kakashi

"Nothing, other than that your little friend here," Anko pointed at Iruka," decided to adopt a baby from Suna."

"Really?" Iruka aren't you a little young to have a child?" asked the copy ninja.

"Well, were old enough to kill so I don't see how this is any different?" answered Iruka.

"I thought that saying was only implied for—" Asuma started but stopped as soon as he saw Kurenai giving him a dirty look, "Never mind."

The Nara cleared his throat,

"Ahem! Obviously, we still have a couple of days before we leave and head back to Konoha, so that will give us time to investigate."

"Investigate?" all six ninjas said in a unison,

"Yes, that's what I said." he restated.

"But why?" asked Iruka as he was looking at the baby, who fell back to sleep.

"Think about it, Iruka, its only been yesterday that we all went to question the Kazekage about them creating a weapon of mass destruction…."

"What does the baby have to do with this Shikaku?" asked Asuma,

"Don't you guys remember about the rumor that we heard? That the people of Suna put one of the demon's inside the womb of a woman and gave birth to a child who is the container of the demon, which can lead the Suna have an advantage when it comes to war using the child's "demon" as the weapon." explained the shadow user.

"Why would the people even think of doing that to a poor innocent kid and mother?" said Kurenai.

"it's a troublesome world out there, kid. No doubt people will go to drastic measures to survive." Shikaku replied.

"Like they say 'survival of the fittest'." commented Kakashi, who was reading his little books.

"Says the pervert." joked Hayate as he and Asuma were laughing.

"Your lucky I know you cough boy." stated Kakashi.

"In any event, what are we going to do with the baby?" asked Anko.

"Aww….he's so cute!" cooed Kurenai, "Can I hold him Iruka?"

"Sure, why not?"

As he was giving little Gaara to Kurenai, the baby started to startle and opened his eyes, seeing the sight of the future genjutsu specialist, and gave a small smile to her.

"Wow, the kid has no pupil in his eyes, just like the Hyuugas and there aquamarine, too." complimented Anko, as staring at the baby from Kurenai's shoulder.

"Soo….when do you want to question the Kazekage, Shikaku?" inquired Hayate,

"Today, as soon as he's free from his paperwork." he replied, "I'm also curious at the fact that we only saw two of his kids yesterday."

"What's that got to do with it?" asked Kakashi, stretching in the couch (lol weird =])

"Well, if you've been current on what is going on in the villages around us, you would know that not to long ago the Kazekage had a newborn child and the fact that he lost his wife on the same day too." the Nara answered as he started to examine the boy from Kurenai's shoulder.

"So, that just adds another suspicion to the rumor that we've been hearing, huh?" interpret Kurenai, she handed the baby back to Iruka whom laid him down in the bed.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying, he could be the Kazekage's son." said Shikaku

"So, he may be the container of some demon of mass destruction, that's just horrible that a father would do that to his own son." commented Iruka,

'_Why would a parent make a child's life miserable, its wrong!' _he thought.

"So, for now, we'll travel around the sand village until we have a chance to meet up with the Kazekage for another interview before we head out to Konoha, as of right now, since you found him Iruka, you'll be taking care of him, understood everyone?" ordered the Nara.

"Yes!" all six Konoha ninjas answered at the same time.

"Good, well then let just head on out." concluded Shikaku after that he disappeared to go out to Suna and look around.

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"Are you really willing to take care of this kid, Iruka?" asked Kurenai, she and Iruka decided to talk a stroll in a local park in Suna, Iruka had the baby strapped on his back.

"Yeah, why not? Besides, if you haven't noticed already, we've been getting awkward stares lately." he added.

"Hmmm….your right, maybe its because were from Konoha and they don't see a lot of outsiders in their town often." explained the female ninja.

'_I don't think that's the main reason, Kurenai."_ thought Iruka. He saw a couple of evil glares from the villagers, some were staring at the baby that he had in his back,_ 'I have a feeling there staring at Gaara.' _then both ninjas heard someone shout,

"Hey wait up!" Kurenai and Iruka turned around and saw Hayate running towards them.

"You….guys….need….to…slow…down" he said after each gasp for air, he was a good Chunin but his illness stop him from becoming _the_ best.

"What is it, Hayate?" asked Kurenai.

"Shikaku….wants (cough) us to meet him by the Kazekage tower stat." he commanded.

"He already got the Kazekage's attention? That fast? Wow, we've only been walking around for three hours." said Iruka.

"He also told me to bring lil' Gaara too since this somehow concerns him too." added Hayate. Iruka looked above his shoulders and saw that the baby had fallen asleep,

"Looks like I have to wake him up….." then the baby opened his eyes and stared at Iruka and gave him a smile._ 'That's strange, he hasn't taken a nap all day or slept. Wonder what's wrong with the little guy.'_

"What do you know, Iruka? The baby wasn't sleeping after all." commented Kurenai, "Let's go before Shikaku looses his patience."

"He will anyway, Kakashi is here remember?" Iruka mentioned, " I think we should take our time."

"For once I agree with Iruka, Kurenai." agreed Hayate.

"Whatever."

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3 Hours Later:

"Damn it, Kakashi, stop being late!" yelled the Nara jounin.

"Sorry, life was in my way so I took a detour." explained the copy-cat ninja.

"My ass.' whispered Anko.

"I heard that!" said Kakashi as he turned around and saw Anko.

"Anyways, I had made an arrangement to interview the Kazekage after supper today, regarding to the abandoned child, Iruka found last night." Shikaku started before being disturbed,

"That's an hour away, Shikaku, do you think your ready to question the Kazekage?" remarked Iruka.

"Yes, Iruka, you should worry about that baby than me asking the Kazekage, it appears o be hungry. I'm almost done with the conversation so you can go get him milk or whatever babies eat an drink." ordered Shikaku.

"Yes, I'll be back before the hour ends." claimed Iruka. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Anko saw him depart and turned to face the shadow user,

"Hope that child doesn't turn out to be a demon container, or else he's going to have a hard time with him in the future." Shikaku frowned at hearing his teammate's comment and replied back,

"That's if he's allowed to have him as his own, Anko. We might have to give the boy back due to paper work and the sand villagers won't give up a child from their own village go out and become a citizen of another village."

"I agree but Iruka seems willing to raise him as his own though." inquired Kurenai.

"Hm? What makes you say that Kurenai?" questioned Asuma.

"We all know that Iruka lost his parents on the same night when the nine-tailed demon-fox attacked our village a month ago, so he feels sad that a little baby was abandoned by his own parents and he feels like the boy needs to know love and caring for others. Besides, today, I saw in Iruka's eyes that he truly wants to raise the baby and give the love and care that the boy's biological parents never wanted to give him." answered Kurenai,

"I still think he's young though." Kakashi commented, "He just became a Chunin and won't be home often as he used too, he won't have time to take care of some kid."

"If anybody knows Iruka, it's me," Anko declared, "once he has his eyes into something or accomplishing something, he'll do it and will try his hard to achieve it."

"Ok, guys we'll talk more about this after we confronted the Kazekage and after we know that there willing to give up Gaara to us." mentioned Shikaku, "Now, let's go get something to eat."

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"Someone was hungry, huh." said Iruka as he was feeding Gaara, a bottle of warm milk, "it's a good thing I brought some money with so I can buy you this bottle and our room already supplied us with the milk." He looked at the baby as he was happily drinking his bottle.

"I wonder why they abandoned you? Must be in financial issues or something—worse." he asked mostly to himself. A couple of minutes passed and the next thing Iruka knew is that little Gaara was done with his bottle.

"Right on time, well hope that warm milk will put you to sleep, you need the sleep, lil' man." Iruka looked at the clock in the kitchen, "It's almost 8 o'clock, I better go and meet them before they start without me." Iruka wrapped the baby and held him tight to him and jumped of the window and was heading to meet his companions to confront with the Kazekage once again.

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"Hey, Iruka, right on time. Unlike some people earlier." said Asuma as he stared at Kakashi.

"What did I do?" sighed Kakashi as he was again reading his little books.

"Forget it, let's go everyone before they question us again." said Shikaku. They all went to the entrance of the building and were on their way to confront with the Kazekage.


	3. Adoption

_A/N: Ok, I have received some reviews saying that why would the people from Suna give away Gaara and give Konoha a greater weapon? Also, on to why Konoha and not kill him? Thank you Hiya120 for revising my story and being my BETA reader!!!!!_

_**I'll answer these questions as well as tell you guys the background of the story:**_

**1. **Little is known as to how Gaara was when he was born; we only know the history of Gaara when he was around six years old. I like to believe that Gaara still had his sand protect him from people who try to kill him.

Criticize me all you want, but even if Suna did try to kill baby Gaara, they wouldn't be able to because of either the sand barrier or the fact that the Kazekage is not willing to order a ninja to simply kill his newborn baby boy, without knowing what would happen in the future. So, abandoning him is the next best thing.

**2**. Now, as to why abandoning it and give Konoha the chance to have a greater weapon? Let's say that Konoha and Suna were still having a rivalry going on and Suna knows that Gaara was born to use as a weapon.

Does Konoha know that? No they don't, they (6 ninjas) believe that it's just a normal, abandoned child.

What Suna does predict that Gaara may be a threat to anyone near him, thus they think that giving Gaara to Iruka and Konoha would probably cause mass destruction, just like the nine-tailed fox, _thus why Suna wants to give away a jinchuuriki_.

I hope that answers a few loop holes or questions that you had and also as to why give away Gaara to Konoha.

(I don't any sane dad would be willing to order his soldiers or anyone to kill their newborn baby, anyways, that's just wrong no matter what the baby has done.)

_**Well, the following are some details and Background of the story.**_

**1. **Takes place a month after the Kyuubi attacked, so that makes Naruto only a month old and Gaara a couple months old ( I'm guessing 8 months or older)

**2.** Iruka is 14 years old ( I know that's a young age to have a child but really in the real world we have people who are younger than 14 become a parent =[ ).

In this fanfiction there would be pairings, I think it's kind of obvious who Iruka is paired with, if not then wait and find out =P.

I made him, Kurenai and Hayate to be in a team with Shikaku as their sensei but that won't be mentioned much.

**3. **Kakashi and Anko are 15 years old, I think that's clear enough.

**4. **I predict that this story would go all the way to the Chunin exams or further, I don't know yet.

**5. **Lastly, I've have 2 different versions for this story (Happy and sad) I don't know if I should post both versions….vote on my poll in my profile if you do or not or simply tell me in a review.

**Well, that's a long note; well enough is enough on to capitulo tres (chapter 3) of…..**

…**.. **_Forever Love…_

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"Hello there Konoha ninjas, what do I owe the pleasure for all of you to come visit me so soon?" questioned the Kazekage as he looked up from his paper work.

He then saw Iruka holding a baby which made him smile on the inside,_ 'the plan is going well so far,'_ he thought.

"Hello, Kazekage, we've came here today for a number of reasons," started Shikaku, "but most importantly…as you can see is about this baby that one of our ninjas found last night."

Iruka approached with Gaara in his arms as Shikaku was explaining the Kazekage the situation, which they had at hand.

"What do you think will happen?" Kurenai whispered to Hayate.

"I don't know, but pray that it's not going to go badly." he whispered back, while trying his hardest not to cough.

"A baby was left behind?" asked a "_surprised_" Kazekage, "Now, who in their right mind would just abandon him in the night in the city?"

"Lord Kazekage, I have the highest suspicion that you may be behind this, but I do have to ask you something." said Shikaku.

The Suna Kage looked a little worried; however this was not caught by the Konoha ninjas.

"Please, go right ahead, ask me the question and I will do my best to answer it."

"Where is your third child, the youngest one? Our village had heard that you recently had a baby." the Nara asked.

'_Darn it! What do I say? They found out that they only met Kankuro and Temari and not Gaara. Damn.' _he thought.

"Lord Kazekage, we would like to hear your answer anytime soon." Iruka politely said, as he looked down and saw that, the baby hasn't slept yet and he looked like he was about to cry, really soon which Shikaku caught onto.

"Iruka, go and calm Gaara down before he starts crying, Anko you go with him." ordered Shikaku, "No buts."

"Yes, Shikaku-sensei" said Iruka as obeyed and walked off, "C'mon Anko I don't have all day."

'_Why me?'_ Anko thought, as she made a face before following the Chunin.

"Back to the topic. Lord Kazekage you answer?" questioned Shikaku.

"Well…you see…" the Suna Kage started thinking fast to get the ninja's off his back and then he suddenly came up with an explanation, "he was chronically ill a few weeks ago and passed away not too long ago, I really don't want to talk about it."

A part, a very large part, which was almost every part of them screaming _liar_, of Shikaku and Kakashi, didn't believe in what his response was and Shikaku Nara could already predict that this wasn't going to anywhere, he so decided to ask the Kage the following things about him.

"Well, sorry for your loss but the other issue is what will you do with him?"

"Well….the family did leave him near your compounds and maybe they want one of you to take him." he answered.

"We're from a different ninja village and taking a child from another ninja village is forbidden…." Shikaku stated.

"Unless the Kage is fully acknowledged that the child was taken and agreed to the adoption." the Kazekage interrupted.

"What you're trying to say is that you'll let one of us to adopt this baby?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"Hmm….I don't know about this Nara." added Asuma putting in his opinion in the air.

'_What is he planning to do to us and Konoha? He wouldn't let us just adopt a baby from his village, taking to the consideration that the baby may be a great ninja some day and they might regret it. There has to be a catch or more to this.'_ wondered Shikaku, "Why us, Lord Kazekage wouldn't he be better off here?"

"No, our village is in ruins right now and no family would take another child in, besides I'll make a preposition." offered the Suna Kage.

"What's the preposition?"

"We'll take him in when he is older; say around 6 'til 12 years from now."

"Why not keep him now?" asked Hayate

"That's the legal age that a child from Suna can attend the ninja academy here, he'll be taken care of by some high ranked ninjas from our village while attending the academy." he explained, "So are you willing to adopt this poor boy?" placing on the nice guy act, for the others.

"Well, Nara, what do we do?" asked the masked ninja, "We still net to tell our Hokage when we bring him in to our village."

"I know, that is easy to do considering that our Hokage is a kind and respectful man but the problem who is going to take care of him? I can't I already have a baby boy at home and the rest of you guys are too young." Shikaku replied.

"Well this is difficult and I don't want to take care of a baby now, I'm to young." spoke Kurenai.

"So, Leaf ninjas what is your answer?" asked the Kazekage.

'_Darn it! Who's going to take care of him!' _he looked like as if the time was clicking away as he was pressured to make a choice of Gaara's fate.

* * *

"Ahhhh….hahaha..ooohh…ughhh." (Sorry can't type baby noises, it's hard to spell them) were the sound that baby Gaara was making as he was playing with Iruka.

"So, Iruka are you serious on taking this kid in as your own?" asked Anko, she was sitting next to Iruka as she was seeing Gaara reach for Iruka's headband.

"Why not? He has no home or family almost like me and that newborn baby."

"You mean Naruto, the Kyuubi jailer?"

"Yeah, besides I already decided that I'll be a Chunin for a long, long time, meaning I won't have as many missions out of Konoha like a jounin does."

"Hey! Remember I'm a jounin." Anko stated.

"I know, I know, I'm joking. C'mon Gaara, you can do it a little more higher." he said as he was holding Gaara in one hand to prevent from him falling and holding his headband in the other hand.

"Still, though you're too young to take care of a kid, let alone two of them."

"I'm not raising two kids, just this one, I'll be just keeping my eyes on Naruto and make Gaara and him friends." commented Iruka.

"Okay, but what if the Suna people or Shikaku won't let you have him?" asked Anko.

"Well, I may have to leave him behind then but I'll do my best to come visit him when I come here." Iruka answered as he had a sad look in his face.

He really did feel bond with the boy and wanted to give the little guy s father to look up to. Also a mother if he ever starts dating and to have a wife in the future.

Anko who was staring at Iruka's face and felt that he did wanted to be the kid's father and felt bad for mentioning the idea. Iruka looked at Gaara, who had grab and now playing with the headband and was cooing.

"Hmm…I take a guess that he's six months old." a voice was heard from behind them.

The two shinobis turned around and saw Kakashi heading towards them. "Hey, guys I was looking for you two and the baby."

"Kakashi, what do you want?" Anko asked with a little attitude.

"Whoa, there Miss. Drama Queen Calm down, I only came here to tell you guys to come to the Kage office, we need to come to terms involving the red-head." Kakashi smiled under his mask as he was messing Gaara's hair.

"Ok, but why were you guessing how old the kid was?" questioned Iruka.

"I don't know, I was just wondering." he replied. Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"Okay…lets go then." he said. Then the three ninjas and a baby were headed to the Kazekage.

* * *

"Good, looks like everybody is here." said the Kazekage, "Well; myslef and Shikaku were talking regarding the little boy's future." Iruka and Anko nodded after Shikaku and the Kazekage had explained on what they missed.

"What's the solution then?" asked Iruka.

"Well according to our village policy, we cannot take in another child that belongs to another ninja village…" Shikaku started and saw that Iruka looked a little upset, "but we can take a child in from another village as long as the Kage knows and agrees for the person to adopt them."

"Really? Wow, there's something I didn't know, right Iruka?" said Anko. He just nodded.

"Well to put it this way, the Kazekage had agreed that we are allowed to adopt the boy and take him to Konoha with us when we head back, but the problem is who is going to adopt him and raise him." Shikaku explained, "So, who wants to be a parent?"

All the five ninjas sweat dropped at the sudden question and then Iruka stepped forward and said,

"I'll adopt him Shikaku-sensei."

"Are you sure Iruka? Being a parent is not easy let alone a single parent." Kurenai asked.

"Yeah, I already made up my mind besides I'm the one that found him." Iruka replied, "So can I adopt him?"

"Yes, you can and you are such a young and responsible ninja and I have no problems with you adopting…." the Kazekage said and was pretending that he didn't know the baby's name.

"Gaara, his name is Gaara." Iruka answered, "What do I need to do in order to adopt him?"

"Just sign some papers and then we evaluate you if you're going to be a good father for him. The process takes only for a couple of hours. We'll start tomorrow with the papers, since it's kind of late right now." claimed the Suna Kage as he stared at the clock saying it was almost nine o'clock in the evening,

"Come here; early at around 8 am to get a head start into the adoption process in this office, bring your team if you want. I will be here as well as the adoption agent who will certify your adoption papers, understood?"

"Yes, Lord Kazekage, I will come early at around 8." agreed Iruka.

"Wow, who would have thought that a former prankster is going to be a father to child." commented Asuma.

"Well, expect the uexpected Asuma. Besides Iruka is already forming a bond with Gaara." stated Kurenai, "Don't you agree Hayate? He nodded.

"Alright, Kazekage, we will leave and Iruka will come here tomorrow morning. Thanks for taking your time off your busy schedule." bowed Shikaku.

"No problem at all, well all of you have a good night sleep and I will see some of you tomorrow." said the Kazekage, "You're dismissed."

With that the Konoha ninjas disappeared.

"So, when does the little guy going to bed?" asked Kakashi, it had already past an hour since leaving the Kazekage's office.

"He hasn't slept all day, last time he slept was in the morning when me and Kurenai were walking throughout the town and he woke up after we heard Hayate calling to meet Shikaku-sensei, after that he hasn't closed his eyes for a nap." replied Iruka. He was rocking the baby in his warm slowly in order to get Gaara to sleep.

"Did you feed…him…warm milk?" asked Hayate, who was coughing between words.

"Yeah, but that didn't work." Iruka sighed, "What do I do? Is this normal?"

"No, it's not, there has to be a reason why he can't sleep." said Kurenai.

"Put him on his basket or bed, Iruka it's getting late and you have to go tomorrow morning to the Kazekage tower to adopt the kid." demanded Shikaku. Iruka nodded and put Gaara in the basket where he found him.

"Alright, hopefully he'll get some sleep." commented Iruka.

"He will cry in the middle of the night, right?" asked Kakashi.

"Well, babies cry at random times, it's their way of saying that they need something, so yeah, maybe he will." answered Asuma.

"Who knew Asuma would actually know how babies act." teased Kurenai.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed." he replied.

After that everybody went to their beds, however Iruka stayed by Gaara's side in case he cried and stop him so that Gaara wouldn't wake up his team. Also, he wanted to see if Gaara would actually go to bed.

* * *

'_C'mon, Gaara you have to be tired or sleepy. Its 10:30 pm.'_ thought Iruka.

"I thought you'd had fallen asleep Iruka." a voice came from behind Iruka, Iruka turned around and saw his sensei and he sat next to Iruka on the couch,

"Shikaku-sensei, you're not sleeping?"

"Nope, I was awake to see if you would go to sleep any minute."

"Sorry, but the baby hasn't even closed his eyes and I'm a little worried."

"I understand I would too if Shikamaru wasn't sleeping as well."

"Yeah, how does it feel to be a dad anyways?" asked a curious Iruka.

"Troublesome, but it's all good though." the Jounin answered, then he looked at the basket and then asked his student a question.

"Iruka, are you sure you want to take care of him let alone raise him?"

"Yes, Shikaku-sensei, why would you ask that?"

"Well, I've been thinking. That maybe the Kazekage is lying to us and there might be a high chance that this baby right here could be the demon-container and the rumor we've been hearing lately down the Leaf Village." explained Shikaku. That got Iruka thinking on what might happen in the future.

"So there might be a slight chance that he could lose control to the demon he has inside?"

"Maybe, I predict that his seal, if he is a container, might be weak as the Fourth's seal he performed on the Naruto kid when he defeated the Kyuubi. What do you plan to do if he is Iruka?"

"I don't know, I will still love the boy as my own son, but only times will tell." whispered Iruka.

"Well you do need to raise him for six to twelve years before bringing him back here to Suna, but that may be a problem as well."

"I know he may not want to leave and come back."

"Look, all I'm saying is that we're going to be on the lookout for him when we arrive at Konoha, and see if he isn't a threat to our village and see if the Kazekage plotted this and lied to us today." Shikaku got up from the couch and headed back to his bed but before he was gone he warned Iruka,

"Just be careful when you're raising the kid, ok. Be cautious he may hold a demon in him and the slightest threat put on him, he could lose his human side and attack regardless on who he is attacking."

"Yes, Shikaku-sensei, I will be cautious." Iruka looked down at Gaara and saw that Gaara was staring at him and then he lifted him up from the basket and cradled him in his arms.

"I do hope that you are not a demon host Gaara, and if you are I will do anything to prevent you from losing control." Iruka just looked at the boy as he was smiling at his new adopted father.

"Well, then Iruka sir, please come right in the Kazekage is expecting you." said a Suna ninja that was guarding the door.

"Thank you." Iruka replied, he walked in and saw the Kazekage and another male holding a briefcase.

"Hello there Iruka, good thing you brought the boy in here too." said the Kazekage.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that I needed to bring him." explained the young Chunin.

"Well, here is Kyou Niwa, he will make the official adoption papers and he will make it go by quick, so let's get started." pointed the Kage. Iruka nodded and then proceeded with the papers.

"Hey there Iruka, that was fast." commented Kakashi," What you do over there?"

"Well they just asked me questions regarding on how I will I raise Gaara and then I filled an application and signed the document making me Gaara's father."

"It sounds like they wanted to get rid of the boy to Me." said Anko.

Kurenai smacked on her head, "WHAT THE—…" Anko yelled

"Don't you say that, maybe it's because they had no trouble with Iruka." said the genjutsu specialist.

Anko just gave her friend a weird look.

"Ok…geez sorry, you didn't have to hit me."

"Well whatever the reason is, I'm just glad that its official." claimed Iruka.

"Who to thought this could actually, happen right Shikaku?" Asuma asked the Nara.

"Sure, hey guys since everybody is here, I got word from the third that he wants us to report back to Konoha since three days have passed, he has missions for some of you guys." he told his tem and looked at Iruka, "I already explained everything to him and he wants to see you when your settled at your house with the boy and wants to see the adoption papers."

"Yes, I'll remember that." replied Iruka.

"Well in that case everybody report at the gate in an HOUR!" Shikaku said in a loud tone to get Kakashi the message.

"Fine, I won't be late…maybe." Kakashi whispered the last part. Shikaku sighed,

"Alright everybody get ready to leave in an hour, I will send my farewells to the Kazekage." Everybody nodded and went off.

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A hour and half later

"Kakashi!" hissed Shikaku, "Your late.''

"At least I'm not that late." he replied.

"Sure, everybody ready?" Nara asked, everybody nodded, "Iruka is Gaara tied well?"

"Yeah, he is." Iruka answered, he had Gaara strapped on his back and the baby was laying on his back but not asleep.

"So, were all good now can we leave?" asked Anko.

"Yeah, okay everybody let's all head back home to Konoha." Shikaku said and went on their way to the leaf village.

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A/N: Okay those last scenes or paragraphs I got very lazy as you can tell. Either way I updated before my birthday, which is awesome. So keep on the lookout for Chapter 4: Welcome to Konoha! And Plz R&R if you can. Thanks for reading!!


	4. Welcome to Konoha, Gaara! Well, sort of

**A/N: Hey guys sorry for the slow update but I had 2 family relatives come from Mexico and that meant family reunions nonstop and me driving my mom to them =\. **

**Though it was all good and fun. Plus my 18th**** birthday party on Saturday the 14 of November was so much FUN!. Plus I turned 18 officially on the 16****th**** which was on a Monday =[. **

**Though I had a week off from school I still need to write an AP biology lab report which stinks but could have been worse right? **

**I had chapter four handwritten so I could update a lot quicker. So here it is capitulo cuatro: Bienvenidos a Konoha, Gaara! ( chapter four: Welcome to Konoha, Gaara!).**

**PS: Please vote on Version 1 or 2 or both on this story in my poll in my profile or leave a review. =]**

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Chapter 4: Welcome to Konoha, Gaara! Well, sort of…

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"Well, we're finally here, thank you Kami's." an exhausted Anko said, "To think that I was at the breaking point to hurt the boy." Anko pointed at Gaara on Iruka's arms. Kurenai just gave her jounin friend a disapproving shake of her head.

"It's not his fault, Anko, he's just a baby and in order to communicate he needs to cry."

"Yeah, our poor buddy, Iruka, here," pointed Kakashi, "has tried his best to make Gaara stop crying."

"Either way, it still didn't work, just look at the child looks like he's going to pass out any minute. Hey Iruka when's the last time the boy slept?" asked Asuma as he was observing the baby from his point of view.

He saw that Gaara was struggling to go to sleep on top of Iruka's Chunin's vest as a pillow but seemed to not prevail.

"Well…the last time he slept was actually the day before I adopted him, in the morning before walking with Kurenai around Suna." answered Iruka, "I'm starting to worry."

"You…should…be, Iruka." coughed Hayate, "Is there...something…you plan…to do?"

"Yeah, Iruka it's been what four days? Since the baby slept, that is sure not healthy." added Kurenai.

"I honestly have no idea," Iruka replied and then looked at his sensei, "Shikaku-sensei, what do you think I should do for Gaara?"

"Well, take him to the hospital ASAP since were already here in Konoha, they should at least find the reason for the child to not sleep. Well, enough of that everybody is dismissed; I will take care of the mission report to the Hokage." Shikaku said and then got nods from his crew and they walked away and moved on with their live …all except

Iruka and Kurenai, "Look, Iruka, don't kill yourself over this little dilemma just go see if the doctors or medic-nin can see what is wrong with him, ok."

"Yes, sensei, I will go to the hospital right now," commented the young Chunin, "Kurenai want to come with?"

Kurenai nodded

"Sure, that's what teammates are for right?"

"Alright then off you guys go I will be in the Hokage's office for a while so if you guys need anything find me there." with that said Nara disappeared in a smoke of swirled leaves.

"Bwahhh…wahhh." Gaara started to cry as Iruka and Kurenai started to head towards the hospital.

"Shhh…Gaara I'm right here don't cry." consoled Iruka as he was rocking the baby gently in order to comfort him.

"Hey, feed him some warm milk maybe that would make him cry less." suggested his teammate.

"Ok can you grab the bottle from my bag, I would but you know…" explained Iruka as he nudging his head towards the crying baby.

"I know, Iruka, I can clearly see that. I'm surprised that there's left over formula."

"Yeah, I bought a descent amount to last about two weeks for the little guy." said Umino, "There should be a bottle with left-over water at least."

"I got everything; here feed the baby while we head to the hospital." Kurenai commented.

"Wahhh….ughh…aghh (slurp…)" Gaara was silence once he started to drink his formula.

"Man, Gaara looks like he's going to die of sleep deprive, I see baggage's forming in his eyes, almost looking like he's wearing eyeliner." Gaara's adopted father acknowledged and stopped walking in order to get a look in Gaara's eyes as well as his teammate stopped walking.

"Your right, wonder what's wrong him?" questioned Kurenai. She and Iruka continued walking until they saw the sight of the Konoha Hospital.

"Well, there's the hospital Iruka, I have to go home and clean up, I'll talk to you later." Began Kurenai, "Make sure you tell me on his condition as soon as you leave the hospital, ok."

"Yeah, you bet; thanks for walking with me to the hospital Kurenai." Thanked the Umino.

"No problem, I'll do anything to help a fellow teammate and his fellow adopted son, heheh" laughed Kurenai as she padded Gaara's head and waved bye as she was heading home. "Bye."

"Bye" Iruka waved back, and then stared at his son and smiled, "Looks like I'm not going to be the only one who's going to worry about you, little Gaara." and with that he went inside the Konoha hospital.

* * *

"Hello, welcome to Konoha Hospital, my name is Tohru Kamasaki, how I may help you today?" greeted the nurse.

That had medium, straight black hair all tied up in a high ponytail and wore a white nurse cap along with a white nursing outfit and she had hazel eyes.

"Hey, the name is Iruka Umino and I need to see a doctor immediately its n emergency. I brought the baby and he hasn't slept in days regardless of what I do." explained the chunnin.

"Okay, before we start, where is the boy's parents?" asked the nurse.

"I'm legally his adopted father…" began Iruka before he stopped and looked at the nurse, who was giving him this unbelievable look.

"Did you just say that you're his…adopted father?" asked the nurse.

"Yeah, I have the paperwork with me as proof if you don't believe Me." answered Iruka, "Is that a problem Miss?"

"Not really, but aren't you…you know a little bit young to take care of a baby?"

"Well, he was abandoned in his village and decided to take him in, you know to start maturing." was Iruka's reply, "can I see a doctor, now?" he demanded.

"Umm…ohh…yeah, follow Me." instructed the nurse as she was leading Iruka and Gaara to a doctor in a white hallway filled with workers and visitors.

The nurse then stopped in front of a door that said the doctor's name.

"Here's the office of Doctor Kureno, he isn't busy so he could help you with the baby just go right ahead." she inquired as she was beginning to depart.

"Thank you very much." responded Iruka and then looked down at Gaara who was just staring at the Chunin with a hassled-tiring look in his eyes, which made Iruka frown, "Well, Gaara it looks like we're going to find out why you can't sleep, but I promise that you will sleep in no time."

'_I have to because no human can survive without sleeping in some point.' _he thought and then Iruka opened the door to lure him inside the doctor's office.

* * *

"Hello there Shikaku, glad that you came back in one piece along with your team from your mission in Suna." said the Sandaime Hokage.

He was wearing his usual white robe that let people know that he was the Hokage along with red on his robes as well. He was smoking his pipe before Shikaku came in to report on their mission.

"Yes, Lord Hokage, luckily we did not resort to any violence while in Suna." reported Shikaku.

He then handed the old man a folder in which contained the report of their little trip to Suna. The Hokage opened it and started to read on what the shadow specialist wrote.

"Hm…it would appear that the Kazekage was denying the rumors that we heard about….figures as much." stated the Third.

"Even if he did deny them, my team and I had sense that he was lying and that he wasn't being honest with us." interrupted Shikaku.

"Hmph…I would have sense the same thing as well if I were in your position." the Third said, " was there something else suspicious going on while your team were in Suna, other than what you have reported here about the abandoned child?"

"Well, he did seem like the Kazekage was hesitating or having second thoughts on when asked about the child. I had asked him to let us be introduced to his third child in which was born a couple months ago but he came up with a story saying that he had died a few weeks ago." answered the Nara.

"That just raises more suspicion on the Kazekage, there had been no reports or news on the passing of the Kage's baby." informed Sarutobi, "It's always breaking news on hearing the death of a family related to the Kage's in all the ninja villages."

"Your right Lord Hokage, but what do we do now? There is nothing we could do to make the Kazekage accept the rumors and stating them that there are true. Though there is clear evidence that they were planning on creating a human weapon in order to destroy fellow villages." said Shikaku.

"Yes, and there's the fact that they wanted our fellow shinobi's to adopt the abandoned child." commented the Third.

"Certainly, Hokage, as it turns out Iruka, a student of mine, had decided to adopt him, despite how young he is." explained the Jounin, "Just recently, the baby has not been sleeping well…I mean he hasn't slept at all for a couple of days ever since the morning when we confronted the Kazekage about the baby."

"I would have never believed that Iruka Umino, the prankster of Konoha, would ever consider on having kids at this age. And he's already having an issue with the baby boy…something's not right here." said Sandaime.

"Lord Hokage, do you think that the baby might be a demon container?" asked Shikaku, "I had heard of weak seals being used on humans in order to jail a demon but one of the side effects is that the demon host cannot fall asleep for one second."

The Hokage was deep in thought considering on what the Jounin had said and took a long smoke from his pipe and blowing out the smoke from his mouth which indicated that he was really thinking.

'_What exactly is Suna planning? What if this baby is a demon container, our village can not have two demon hosts, and we are not sure on the strength of the seal that the child from Suna is. He might lose it and destroy our village.' _was the thoughts of the old man before Shikaku broke out of his thoughts,

"Sir, what do you plan to do with the child?"

"Hmmm….Iruka can have the child and raise him, but no one must not know of the boy's possibility of jailing a demon, just like Naruto. Since Iruka is the boy's adopted father, you must tell him to report to my office after he has settled in with the baby for more questioning. Understood?" demanded the Hokage and Shikaku nodded, "I will put some ANBU ninjas to keep close eye on the boy in secret after the meeting with Iruka, we need to see if the infant is any future threat to our village."

"Yes, Lord Hokage, but if we did somehow find out that the village hidden in the Sand is planning to attack us with the boy as their weapon, wouldn't that just further break the peace treaty we had for each other and cause another war?" questioned the Nara.

"Let's just hope that none of this is true and that another war will never happen so soon." answered the Third, taking another smoke from his pipe.

'_Pray that the boy is no demon container.' _he thought before dismissing the Jounin.

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A/N: Hey sorry for this chapter for not having a lot of baby Gaara and Iruka but this chapter just explains on the Third Hokage's thoughts on bringing the infant from Suna here.

**Don't worry I have Chapter 5 written in my notebook…just a little bit is written but I have an idea where it's going. I didn't mention this before but this will be a SLOW processed story so it may take a while before Iruka and his friends find out who Gaara really is which I can guess it's 2 to 4 chapters from now (Ch.7?) so I'll try to update soon so thanks for reading and here's what you can expect from Chapter 5: Iruka's Influence!:**

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Everyone in Iruka's apartment suddenly stared at Kakashi with a shocked expression in their faces, their jaws seemed to drop to the floor from the news that the copy ninja announced. Kakashi for the first time in a long time started to get worried.

"What?" he asked. All was quiet until Anko spoke up,

"You can't be serious right?"

"Yeah, I'm serious why do you ask that?" Hatake asked.

"Oh I don't know maybe it's because….YOU DON'T HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR ABOUT TO DO! IS IDIOTIC!" yelled Anko, by then everybody in the room w ere covering their ears from the sudden outburst from the snake ninja.

"Calm down, Anko, will ya?" said Asuma.

"Yeah, its Gaara's first day of actually going to sleep and your yelling is going to wake him up." argued Iruka.

"Geez…sorry but really Kakashi, your really going to do it?" Anko asked.

"Yeah, the process has already started." answered the copy ninja.

"I don't know if your actually doing this out of kindness or the fact that Iruka, a Chunin, has influenced an elite jounin like you to do is." commented Kurenai, and that's when everybody really want to question the Hatake.

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There's the small preview, take a guess on what was Kakashi's announcement. Well, I'll update soon and please vote on version 1 or 2 or both ok. Thank you for reading!


	5. Iruka's Influence

**A/N: I have decided to write a version of this story that has a mixture of Angst and Happiness, but all that's left is the pairings. I have some in mind knowing that I'm opened minded on the pairings, like Gaara x Hinata and NaruHina! But not yaoi, idk why so any suggestions on pairings? Yes, this includes the adult ninjas (Kakashi, Kurenai, Iruka, etc.). The younger character from NARUTO won't be determined until later….which makes this story a SLOW processed story. I can't believe I have so many ideas for this story and I'm already thinking the plot past Shippuden =]**

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Chapter 5: Iruka's Influence

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"Well, Mr. Umino we've looked through everything we can through the little boy and we have found nothing wrong him." explained Dr. Kureno. Which really puzzled the young Chunin.

"Are you sure doctor? He won't sleep for one minute and he hasn't slept for days." claimed Iruka, the doctor was in deep thought trying to find out what was the baby's problem and the proceeded,

"I apologize Mr. Umino but I had run tests on this boy and found nothing in his system other than his chakra networks…which do look rather particular."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's only a couple of months old am I correct?" asked Dr. Kureno, Iruka nodded, "Most babies have small chakra networks and thus develop the chakra networks as they grow older before becoming a genin but Gaara here…" the doctor patted the red head as he continued, " He has large amounts of chakra and a bigger network than most babies."

"So there is something wrong with him, huh?" Iruka assumed, "Do you think that it might be the reason why he's not sleeping?"

"I highly doubt it because even if it looks abnormal, that shouldn't explain the reason he isn't sleeping. Try other things to put him to sleep for the next couple of days and if he's still not sleeping then come back and we'll see what we can do, alright?" the doctor directed the Chunin.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot then. Thanks for your help doc." Iruka responded, " see ya later." dismissed Umino. And the doctor just waved bye back to the shinobi.

* * *

"Kakashi, are you sure you know what your doing right now?" asked the Third Hokage. He had Kakashi come to his office not to long for the jounin to discuss an important matter. Let's just say that what the future copy ninja asked had surprised—shocked the Third.

"Yes, I had some time to think it through while my team was returning from Suna and I made up my mind, all I need is your approval." concluded Kakashi.

"Well, this news or should I say proclamation of yours wasn't really what I expected to hear from you in my lifetime…well, if your that sure and determined to do this then all I can do is just warn you from any future trouble that comes along with this choice of yours." stated Sarutobi, he took out stack of papers and opened a file that he needed to fulfill the Hatake's request.

"I know Sir Hokage, I' am aware of what's to be expected." Hatake said, "If I didn't then I wouldn't have asked for this in the first place."

"That is true, well Kakashi, other than that, I'm kind of glad you decided to pay me a visit for I have some news to tell you." added the Third, "Its about your status as a ninja."

"What about my status, Hokage?" questioned Kakashi. Kakashi was thinking if he had made some mistake in his missions ever since the Kyuubi attacked Konoha over a month ago, there had been missions flying in and out of the Third's desk. Meaning that Kakashi had a lot of missions to completed, which he started a week later after the attack in order to cope of the loss of his sensei, which was the Fourth Hokage that had sealed the fox inside his own son. As of now Kakashi's thinking if he made a flaw in his missions.

"Before you ask Kakashi, no you did not commit an error in any of your missions. Though I've been impressed on your mission reports and have been thinking…how would you like to be in ANBU ninja?" Sarutobi offered, "You can decline the offer and I will understand because for one your too young but the elders and I have decided that your mission history and you having the Fourth as your sensei, it gives you the requirements to qualify to be an ANBU."

"Well, Hokage sir, I would love to be in ANBU but not now for I feel that I've been promoted to jounin and I still need more experience before moving myself up." the masked ninja said, "So, I decline your offer."

"It's alright and the offer will still be up whenever your ready to become an ANBU." the Third said, "So, moving on let's get you started on that request you had ask me and then you can tell all your fellow comrades on what your gotten yourself into. Kakashi nodded and listened to the Hokage's instructions.

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"Wow, Iruka its only been a day and you already cleaned your apartment and made room for the baby." joked Kurenai, "Amazing, you really are serious on taking care of the little one, which reminds me where is he?"

"He's…right here Kurenai…laying down in a crib." coughed Hayate and pointing at the baby laying in his crib. It looked like he was sleeping but truth be told he was wondering into space.

"He hasn't slept yet? What did the doctor tell you?" asked Kurenai, she went up to the crib and picked up Gaara and started to cradle him, that's hen Iruka came in with three glasses of water.

"He told me that Gaara has excessive amount of chakra in his system compared to a regular developing baby and that itself has no effect on his sleep so basically nothing and told me to try to put him to sleep for a week and if nothing go visit the doctor to test him." Iruka repeated on what the doctor told him earlier.

"Well, it looks like…this is not going to be…easy, Iruka." Hayate commented, "If he can't…sleep, he's going to cry for all eternity out of frustration."

"Don't you think I know that? Besides I might have Shikaku-sensei help me out a little bit…" Iruka started before Kurenai interrupted him,

"Why ask our sensei, we all know he's lazy and probably doesn't do much to take care of his baby, Shikamaru."

"Let me finish, I meant to say his wife, since she's nice to us, maybe she can give me some sort of advice to help Gaara sleep." the chunnin finished, "Anyways, what time is it?"

"Its almost 5 o'clock pm, why?" Hayate asked.

"Well, if you guys didn't check your mail, we received a letter from our friend Kakashi, telling us to stay and have dinner here at my place along with Anko and Asuma." he said and looked at Kurenai direction and swore that he saw a small blush spread her cheeks and tried to hide it by playing with the child.

"Really? Why though?" questioned Hayate.

"I have no idea, he wrote that he has an announcement to make." added Iruka.

"Ok, a lot is going on in one day don't you think? We just got back from our mission in Suna, you took your son, woah that sounded odd, to the hospital and now Kakashi wants us to stay here for he has an announcement to make? Really?" Kurenai complained, "here, your baby is going to cry and he might want the comfort of his daddy." She handed Gaara to Iruka, in which Gaara started to welled up some tears and began to give a small cry. Iruka sighed,

"He wants all of us here around 9 which gives you guys four hours to come back, you don't need to stay here." cleared Iruka, " Besides, I'm going to be busy with the little guy so…"

"We get it we'll leave but next time try to say it directly instead of coming up with an excuse to kick us out." directed Kurenai.

"You know that I'm not that mean…at times besides why would I want to kick out my teammates?" the Chunin said.

"Psshh…well see you later." Kurenai wave bye before jumping out the window and was gone.

"When will she use the door?" whined Iruka. Hayate came behind him and patted his back,

"Soon, my friend soon, well bye Iruka." and with that he was gone as well. Iruka closed the door and started to rock Gaara back and forth gently and sang a lullaby…well at least tried to.

"Ugh! I can't sing for nothing, Gaara you have a father that sings as if he's on crack." joked Umino, he stared down and saw that Gaara's eyes were completely focused on him like he was observing him for something. The look in his eyes made Iruka smile at him knowing that the kid had already somehow accepted him as a father.

"Ohhh….ahh.." is all the red head can say for he is just a baby.

'_I still don't know why the parents abandoned him and I will never will unless one day they would come and see him. Whoever left him might know why he can't sleep.' _Iruka thought and looked down and was shocked that Gaara had finally fallen asleep in his arms, _'Don't worry Gaara, I vow o always be a great father to you and protect you with my life.'_

After making the promise to Gaara, Iruka got up and laid him down the crib that he had found in his family old abandoned house after coming out of the hospital. Then he went in the bathroom to get ready for Kakashi's announcement tonight.

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"Ok, Kakashi were all here and we've been waiting for you for almost an hour!" hissed Anko.

"Well I apologize for my tardiness." pleaded the masked ninja.

"Seriously, Kakashi, even though were ninjas, were still teenagers that need there 8 hours of sleep." commented Asuma as he was taking a drink of orange juice.

"Despite that your still late even to a meeting that you had called?" added Iruka.

"Guys, guys, lets stop the whining and actually pay attention to what Kakashi has to say that was so important that he called for a meeting here tonight." consoled Kurenai, then everybody stopped arguing and had all their eyes set on Kakashi, "We're all ears now Kakashi."

"Well…umm…wow Kurenai you sure know how to silence a crowd." complimented the Jounin.

"Oh c'mon get on with what you have to say." demanded the snake ninja, Anko.

"Anko, shush there's a baby in the room sleeping." noted Iruka.

"Hmm…" sulked Anko.

"Continue." Hayate said to Kakashi. He nodded and coughed to get his comrades attention.

"As you all know our little prankster, Iruka, has recently adopted a baby boy by the name of Gaara Umino…" mentioning his last name Iruka twitched his left eye a little,

'_That's weird for him to call him Gaara Umino…awkward.'_ Iruka thought.

"Thus making him a father at the age of 14." continued Hatake, "And recently, which is today, the Hokage has offered me to join in the ANBU forces."

Everybody just looked at the jounin and was silent for a second before Iruka spoke,

"Well, congrats Kakashi, though don't you think is a little bit too soon?"

"Yeah it is that's why I declined…" Kakashi explained, he then started to scratch the back of his head as he was nervous about something, " but there's another reason why I turned down the promotion."

"Really? Then why did?" asked Asuma while the rest of the gang nodded their heads agreeing with Asuma.

"Hold on I need to check on Gaara." announced Iruka and everybody groaned well except Kakashi,

"C'mon Iruka he's right here and he's asleep and breathing normally there's nothing wrong with him." said Anko

"Yeah, she's right Umino stay calm its not like your first day here with the kid is some sort of test of fatherhood, we all know that you'll be a fine father to the boy." stated Asuma, "As well as a fine husband to but lets not go there yet, haha." that just left Iruka with a small tint of blush in his cheek.

"Fine ok, I believe that Gaara is fine so Kakashi you can start now." admitted the Chunin.

"Well another reason why I decided not to be in ANBU is because well…on honor of my late sensei and Fourth Hokage…" Kakashi paused and gulped.

"What about the Fourth Kakashi, c'mon you can finish its not like were going to judge you in any way." claimed the female Chunin Kurenai.

"Ok, I decided that I'm too going to become a father and by doing so I have come to the conclusion of adopting Naruto Uzamaki as my son." he paused and waited for any kind of reaction.

Everyone in Iruka's apartment suddenly stared at Kakashi with a shocked expression in their faces, their jaws seemed to drop to the floor from the news that the copy ninja announced. Kakashi for the first time in a long time started to get worried.

"What?" he asked. All was quiet until Anko spoke up,

"You can't be serious right?"

"Yeah, I'm serious why do you ask that?" Hatake asked.

"Oh I don't know maybe its because….YOU DON'T HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR ABOUT TO DO IS IDIOTIC!" yelled Anko, by then everybody in the room were covering their ears from the sudden outburst from the snake ninja.

"Calm down, Anko, will ya?" said Asuma.

"Yeah, its Gaara's first day of actually going to sleep and your yelling is going to wake him up." argued Iruka.

"Geez…sorry but really Kakashi, your really going to do it?" Anko asked.

"Yeah, the process has already started." answered the copy ninja.

"I don't know if your actually doing this out of kindness or the fact that Iruka, a Chunin, has influenced an elite jounin like you to do this." commented Kurenai, and that's when everybody really want to question Hatake.

"To answer your question Kurenai, I was influenced a little by Iruka but then I had time to think, I had the idea in my mind all this time ever since Iruka made it official to be Gaara's adopted father. But finally made up my mind today after predicting what the future might be for the kid." Kakashi answered.

"Well, he is jailing the nine-tailed fox and I'm sure there is going to be villagers that want him dead." said Hayate and then coughed, "Despite of breaking the Third's law."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking and then the Fourth then stated that he wants the boy to be as a hero not a monster and I bet the boy will need some sort of father figure in his life." Kakashi assumed, "That's where I come in, I'm going to be his adopted father and be there if possible whenever he feels lonely and try to honor the fourth's wish." All he got was a raised eyebrow from Kurenai and she said,

"Does that mean you won't be reading those dirty books?" argued Kurenai, "I hate for that boy to be raised by seeing his father reading porn when he needs help with his ninja training."

"Trust me I will still continue to read those works of great literature but not in front of him, ok." confirmed the masked ninja. He then heard Kurenai whisper 'sure' to Anko but he shrugged it off.

"So, is that the reason why you went to see the Hokage?" questioned Asuma, "and he approved of you adopting the kid?"

"Yeah, he saw no problem other than that I might be to young to have a kid." answered Kakashi.

"Well, if that's all you have to say I think I'm going home its almost 11 o'clock so see you guys." said Kurenai followed by everybody else except for Kakashi and Iruka.

* * *

"I still can't believe your actually going to do this." breathed Iruka as he was putting the cover on Gaara. Kakashi stood next to Iruka and watched him make Gaara comfortable.

"Yeah, I know even I can't believe it myself either but Iruka that boy is going to need a father to look up to and have some support not only from the father but a family." whispered Kakashi.

"Your right about that. Which I should tell you this if you do decide to be in ANBU, I will be more than welcome to take care of Naruto for you while your on missions." offered Iruka, "Something tells me that I won't be any higher than a Chunin and will have a lot of time in my hands and plus I would like Gaara to have a friend by his side and I will love to be the kid's godfather, if you don't mind, of course."

"I'm glad I have met a friend like you, Iruka, we barely know each other for a month and your already that nice to me, huh?" inquired Kakashi.

"Well, you did have a lot of missions with my team and Shikaku-sensei so yeah let's just we bonded real quick." Iruka gave a small smile to his Jounin friend.

"Thanks for being a friend and your going to be a great father to Gaara and a great godfather for Naruto. Which reminds me, your kid is finally asleep, huh?" asked the copy nin.

"Yeah, I just rocked him and then looked at him in the eye and then he just feel asleep. It's sort of weird, it looked as if he was figuring if he should trust me and if I'm going to protect him from any form of danger for the past couple of days." replied Iruka.

"Like a test, basically, humph, interesting, but he's thinking of that already and he's barely one." Kakashi said in a disappointing tone.

"Yeah, but I'm still worried that he won't sleep again." Iruka emphasized, "Meaning that he needs to be tested at the hospital."

"I heard from Asuma that the doctor told you that the kid has excessive amount of chakra for his age." claimed the jounin.

"Yeah, its true but the doc said that it isn't the reason for his lack of sleep." confirmed Umino, "I already got word from Shikaku-sensei that I need to talk to the Hokage and perhaps maybe the Third can tell me what's wrong with Gaara." Kakashi nodded.

"Well, for a kid in that age, it could mean he's going to be one hell of a ninja in the future or worse…" Kakashi said, Iruka turned and give the Jounin a questionable look, "he could use that power for evil and destroy us all."

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A/N: Ok that has to be my longest chapter for this story so far, well hope you enjoyed it. Any criticism is welcomed but please let it appropriate and not just immature criticism. If you any questions ask me in a review or PM. And yes the idea of Kakashi adopting Naruto came from Agent G's fanfic "Naruto Hatake", which is an awesome fic to read! Well, here's a small glimpse on Chapter 6: Hokage's Orders and Meeting a New Friend:

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"Say 'Ahh..'" instructed the Chunin as he led the spoon to Gaara's mouth. The child just smiled but his smile left his mouth to be open thus giving Iruka the chance to put the spoonful of price pudding in his mouth, "Good-boy, Gaara." Iruka ruffled his hair and continued feeding him until he heard a noice,_'Knock, Knock.'_

_'Wonder who it is?' _Iruka wondered and once he opened the door, he was surprised to see his Jounin friend, Kakashi, standing there with a bundle in his arms,

"Yo, thought I came by and visit my fellow comrade and his son as well as to introduce to you guys my newly adopted son, Naruto." greeted the smiling masked ninja as he lifted the blanket and revealed a two moth old Naruto Uzamaki. He was sleeping peacefully but Iruka can tell that he was going to wake up soon. He couldn't help but smile for finally be able to meet Naruto.

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There's the small preview hoped you enjoyed. Please Review I need to know how I'm doing.


	6. Hokage's Orders & Meeting a New Friend

**A/N: I'm wondering why I am not getting reviews? I really want your guy's opinion on the story any feedback would be nice = [. Well, I might change my penname to something else like maybe _koolgurl630_, which is also my YouTube account but I will let you guys know.**

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Chapter 6: Hokage's Orders and Meeting New Friends!

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"Ok, there Kakashi, you don't have to say that in front me and I front of the child. I really don't think he's going to be evil or sadistic." Iruka commented as he was heading to the kitchen in his apartment.

"Hmph, it's just a thought and I just didn't say just that I also said that he might be a great ninja as well." Kakashi cleared.

"Well, I do hope he's going to be a great shinobi in his lifetime." Iruka said, "So, is there anything else you wanted to ask me about or are you just going to chill a little longer in my apartment?"

"Umm…not really I just don't feel like going home and sleep, knowing the Hokage; he might assign me to another mission out of the village." Kakashi answered. Then he yawned and tried to keep his eyes open. Iruka just waved is head side to side and sighed,

"Why bother? Your going to be late as always to meet the Hokage." stated the Chunin, "You're a jounin, everybody expected for you to show up a little sooner, but no your still late for everything but your doing it for a reason, right?"

"Yeah, people don't know why I'm always late, well, I do it on purpose and don't feel like telling the whole village why I'm late all the time." Kakashi answered, he had a glint of sadness in his eyes that went unnoticed by Iruka, "Well, I was going to ask you, what makes you think you're stuck on being a Chunin?"

"Simple, I decided to train to be a Ninja Academy Instructor." Iruka replied with pride. Kakashi laughed at his friends answer, and Iruka twitched his left eye and asked, "What's wrong with that?"

"Hahaha…well (cough)…nothing it's the fact that a lot of people won't take you seriously." Hatake confessed at the former prankster.

"Why?"

"Well, after the nine-tails attacked Konoha, you've been pulling pranks, before and after becoming Chunin." Kakashi added. Iruka was a little bothered by Kakashi's and everybody's reason on why he might not be a instructor and said,

"Well, I have a son to raise now so that means I won't be pulling pranks on anything…or anyone." pledged the teenage ninja.

"Really? Okay, good luck with that, well I do hope what we got ourselves into adopting these kids, wonder how its going to turn out, anyways I got to go see ya, Iruka." the Jounin waved and disappeared through the door.

"Bye!" yelled Iruka before his friend was gone. He looked at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight, he checked on Gaara to see if he was sleeping peacefully and after that he headed in his room and went to sleep getting ready to met the Hokage regarding on little Gaara.

* * *

"Ah, glad you came on such short notice, Iruka." complimented the Hokage.

"Not a problem, Lord Hokage, I know how busy you schedule is and I thought that you might just want this meeting over with quickly." said Iruka, he held Gaara and the baby was looking around his new surrounding and then looked at the Third and then hid his face in Iruka's shoulder. The Hokage chuckled at Gaara's reaction,

"I see that your son is a little shy." commented the Hokage, he sat up from his chair and walked towards the Chunin and the boy.

"Sure looks like it Lord Hokage, also he just woke up before coming here so he might be a little drowsy or out of it." Iruka explained.

"I see, may I hold him for a bit, Iruka?" Sarutobi requested.

"Sure, Lord Hokage, you may." Iruka handed Gaara to the Hokage but before Gaara was even held by the Third he started to struggle as if he didn't want the Hokage to hold him and then when the Hokage was holding him Gaara started to get scared as his eyes started to open wide and trembling.

"Ehh…ahh…wahh…" Gaara started to make crying noises and looked his surroundings until he spotted Iruka and put his hands out telling Umino that Gaara wanted to be with Iruka and not with the third. The Hokage struggled to handle the child but gave up and returned Gaara in Iruka's arms. As if nothing had happened, Gaara was calm and stopped his cries.

"Well, well it would seem that he doesn't want anyone but you to hold him Iruka." commented the Third, "In a way it's good that he can trust someone but bad if its only one individual."

"I know Lord Hokage but that will change soon…I hope anyways, so, is there something you needed to speak with me?" Iruka reminded the Hokage and then the Third sat back on his chair and started to think meaning there was an eerie silence for a minute and the Third sighed,

"Iruka, I just wanted to let you know that this child, you rightfully adopted would be under careful watch by the ANBU. Reason being is that we need to see what this child is capable of or etc. While I and some other people will try to se why the Kazekage was so willing to let you adopt him without having a second thought."

"You think that Gaara is some sort of threat to Konoha?" asked Iruka as he slowly rocked Gaara and the baby just giggled.

"No, Iruka, but it may be a possibility that he might be a future threat to Konoha but then again he might not be a threat." the Hokage cleared his explanation to Iruka. The young ninja nodded.

"Oh, which reminds me Lord Hokage. I have some questions and a concern I have to tell you about. Is it true that you have given permission Kakashi permission to adopt Naruto Uzamaki?" Iruka asked the Hokage.

"Yes, I see nothing wrong in adopting him. And as you may already know or heard, is that it's a good idea to adopt him knowing that he will not have a pleasant childhood."

"But couldn't you adopt him as your own Lord Hokage?"

"I can't it against the village elder's orders and it would look bad to your fellow villagers if the Hokage had adopted the Kyuubi container." answered the Third. Iruka then thought of the Hokage's answer,

'_He has a point there, man what will the fourth think if he knew what the villagers will act toward the child he chose to seal away the fox.'_

"So, Iruka, you said that you had another concern that you wanted to talk to me about?" asked the Hokage. Iruka was rubbing his bottom chin to think or remember what he was going to tell the Hokage and then he remembered and asked the Hokage,

"Lord Hokage, when I went to the hospital to have the doctor check on Gaara because he couldn't sleep, well the doctor said that he had an excessive amount of chakra in his system." Then Iruka looked down on Gaara and saw that Gaara was falling asleep and he looked up to the Hokage, "But the thing that worries me is the reason why he has a lot of chakra?"

"Hmm…it does seem a bit odd. Don't worry Iruka, I'll try to do anything I can to figure why he has an excessive amount of chakra, I'll tell you in advance when I find out how to figure out why he has that problem." answered the Third.

"Ok, Lord Hokage thank you, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Iruka answered.

"Yes, due to the fact that you are now a father, I would like for you to take a break from any shinobi missions for a couple months." said the Hokage, which left Iruka a little shocked from hearing it from the Hokage.

"Are you sure, Lord Hokage? Don't we need many ninjas on missions right now?" a stunned Iruka asked.

"I'm sure, Iruka, besides there's not a lot missions at this moment since plenty of them were taken care of in the past couple of weeks after the nine-tailed attacked. Besides I need for you to properly raise this child right for his first months of being with a loving father."

"How long will I be on this break?" questioned Iruka.

"At least three months and then you can be an active ninja. I also gave Kakashi a break since he's going to adopt Naruto." the Third Hokage explained, "Well, that's it for now until then I will see how we can figure out as to why your son has a lot of chakra in his system; probably I will need the assistance of a Hyuuga, but I'll let you know in advance."

"Thank you so much Lord Hokage. Bye." with that Iruka walked out the door with a sleeping baby in his arms. The Hokage just smiled,

'_Pray that the boy is nothing of a threat to his adopted father and this village.'_ he thought and after that, he went to work on some paperwork.

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1 Month Later: Training Grounds 10:30 a.m.

"Awww…he's so cute trying to crawl towards you, Iruka.' complimented Kurenai. They were in the training grounds and Iruka had nothing else to do since he has no missions with his comrades so he came with Gaara to the fields and saw his teammates and Shikaku-sensei train.

"I know, he's been trying to crawl these past following weeks and I say he's getting a lot better." Iruka responded to his teammate. Of course, they were at a safe distance from the training area because Hayate was currently sparring with their sensei.

"Man, it sucks that you can't be on missions for a while, it's been a little quiet not having you join us, and Asuma is a little boring even though he's your substitute in our team." Kurenai said to Iruka. The young Chunin looked around and spotted Asuma nowhere in sight, he gave Kurenai a questionable look, "Asuma went on a minor mission on his own along with Anko and won't be back in a couple of hours, so he's not here with us."

"Oh, okay, have you seen Kakashi or heard from him?" asked Umino, Kurenai nodded no. That's when Shikaku and Hayate finish their sparring and headed towards them.

"You still need to work on your taijutsu a bit, Hayate but other than that great fight today." the Nara commented.

"Yes, Shikaku-sensei." responded Hayate, he sat down on the grass and rested.

"Well, no I haven't seen or heard from him, last time I saw him is when he officially had Naruto in his arms and making the adoption official." answered Kurenai, "Why you ask?"

"No reason, other than that he might us at least introduce the little guy to us don't you think?" asked Iruka. Gaara had made to Iruka and started to stand up by grabbing a hold on his father **(Gaara is about 10 months old) **and tugged on Iruka's pants in order to get his attention.

"Dada…dada...up…up." he said and Iruka just smiled and picked up the child.

"Well, look it here Kurenai, it appears that Gaara is starting to form little sentences but as requests. Hahaha…hey Gaara, having fun here seeing aunt Kurenai, uncle Hayate and grandpa Shikaku?" Iruka teased playfully as he was tickling at his adopted son and Gaara was laughing.

"Hey, I'm not that old, you know." commented Shikaku, he stood next to his Chunin student.

"Sorry, Shikaku-sensei but I think you should be the grandpa for lil' Gaara." said Iruka. He placed Gaara down on the grass. Gaara looked up and started to hide behind Iruka, it appeared that he was little scared of having 'strangers' looking at him.

"You think? The boy is a little shy and scared to think so." commented Kurenai, she kneeled down to and looked at Gaara and tried to talk to him but he hid his face in Iruka's pants, giving up she stood up.

"Well, I'm trying to make Gaara like other people but it seems like its not working at all." Iruka explained.

"Its only been a month so don't worry that much, he should be able to socialize by the time he's one, which in my mind he's only 10 months old right now." the shadow user guessed, "babies, start to talk their first words at that age and start to crawl and attempt to stand up on their own."

"Wow, Shikaku-sensei, you know your stuff, huh?" Hayate said.

"Not really, it's the result of having my wife and my former teammates wives talk about their babies and what to expect." The Chunins sweat dropped at their sensei's explanation.

'Which reminds me, sensei, how's Shikamaru?" asked Iruka.

"He's fine and healthy for a three month old, he hasn't been crying a lot which is good for me since I need my afternoon naps." answered Nara **(Shikamaru was born on Sept. 22, its now December; Gaara: Jan. 19; Naruto: Oct.10)**

"That's good to know." said Kurenai, "I bet your son is going to be just as lazy as you, sensei."

"I hope not, my wife doesn't like the idea of that actually happening." complained Shikaku, "Ok, guys training is over, you can leave and meet me here tomorrow at 7 in the morning for another training session. Iruka I liked to talk to you for a bit so stay." Iruka nodded.

"Well, see you later then Iruka." said Kurenai, "Bye Shikaku-sensei."

"Bye." said Hayate and they both walked off together. Iruka turn around and looked at his sensei.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing is wrong Iruka, I just wanted to tell you that I had a talk with the Hokage a couple of hours ago and asked me to tell you that he has the process ready to see the cause of why your son has an excessive amount of chakra. He said he had the head of the Hyuuga clan to use his buyakugan to see the boy's chakra systems, he said he wants you there tomorrow around 3 p.m. to examine the boy." advised the sensei.

"Ok, thanks sensei, is there anything else?" asked Iruka, he picked up Gaara and prepared him in his stroller.

"Not really, other than look forward to coming back in our team in February all ready and well-trained." Shikaku finished "You can go now."

"Ok, bye sensei." waved Iruka as he was pushing the stroller toward his apartment.

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**4 ****p.m. at Iruka's apartment:**

Ok, Gaara just stay still, I have your meal ready, try not to move a lot." directed the Chunin father, he had some rice pudding in his hands and was feeding Gaara who was sitting in his high chair. Iruka learned from experience to not let Gaara feed himself porridge or any food that requires a spoon or fork or else Gaara is going to have food make-up in his face and leave a mess.

"Say 'Ahh..'" instructed the Chunin as he led the spoon to Gaara's mouth. The child just smiled but his smile left his mouth to be open thus giving Iruka the chance to put the spoonful of price pudding in his mouth, "Good-boy, Gaara." Iruka ruffled his hair and continued feeding him until he heard a noise,

'_Knock, Knock.'_on his front door. Iruka stood up from his chair and made sure Gaara was seated well and left the kitchen and headed to the front door.

'_Wonder who it is?' _Iruka wondered and once he opened the door, he was surprised to see his Jounin friend, Kakashi, standing there with a bundle in his arms,

"Yo, thought I came by and visit my fellow comrade and his son as well as to introduce to you guys my newly adopted son, Naruto." greeted the smiling masked ninja as he lifted the blanket and revealed a two moth old Naruto Uzamaki. He was sleeping peacefully but Iruka can tell that he was going to wake up soon. He couldn't help but smile for finally be able to meet Naruto.

"Hey, well come in and have a seat in the couch I'll be there in a minute. I need to get Gaara cleaned and out of his high chair." Iruka explained as he led Kakashi and Naruto into the living room and Kakashi took a seat with Naruto in his arms.

Iruka then went to the kitchen and saw that Gaara was giving him an odd look as if he's saying 'who's here?'. He went to the child and picked him up from his seat and carried him to the living room.

"Gaara, Uncle Kakashi is here to visit you and he brought along a friend." started Iruka as he took a seat next to Kakashi with Gaara on his lap.

"Hey there buddy its been a while." Kakashi said, he patted the red heads hair but Gaara flinched and started to get closer to Iruka…scared.

"Don't be scared Gaara, he just wants to talk to you." comforted Iruka, but it did not work as well,

"No…me…da…da." Gaara stuttered. Iruka was starting to get worried about Gaara's fear of interacting with others. However, his worries were gone once he heard Naruto starting to cry.

"Wahh..ahh." Kakashi just rocked him a little and he started to calm down but Kakashi put him on his shoulder and started to burp him by patting his back gently.

"When was it official?" asked Iruka, Kakashi looked up and replied,

"I say two weeks ago, that's why I wasn't able to hang with you guys because one: the process of adopting and two: well, you know trying to settle down with a newborn in your home and it was quite frustrating but worth it." Naruto opened his eyes and saw Iruka next to him and started to smile at him.

"Well, looks like he likes you, Iruka, hahaha." commented Kakashi.

"Hey, Gaara, this is Naruto, he's your new friend and cousin. Aren't you happy?" said Iruka, at hearing his name Gaara took his face out of Iruka's shirt and stared at Naruto, but what the shinobi's didn't notice is that Gaara gave a sinister glare at the baby for a second and went back to hide his face in his father's shirt. Baby Naruto saw Gaara and after seeing him giving him that scary look, he started to cry…loudly.

"WAHHHHAHAHAH.." tears were flowing from his blue eyes. Kakashi stood up and started anything he can do to cal him.

"Shhh….shhh.. Naruto its ok." Kakashi kept saying but Naruto was still crying.

"What happened he was fine a minute ago." questioned Iruka.

"I don't know, all he did was stare at Gaara and then bam! He's crying" Kakashi assured. "Look, Iruka, I left his baby supplies at the house, so I got to go but I'll come back soon, so see ya." dismissed Kakashi and exited the door with a crying Naruto on his shoulders.

"Bye." Iruka said and shut the door, he had Gaara in his arms, "I wonder what happened to your cousin Naruto, Gaara?" It appeared that Gaara understood the question because he shrugged his shoulder up as if he was saying 'I don't know'

"Dada... Me sleepy." Gaara said and it made the Chunin smile a bit.

"Ok, Gaara, lets lay you down for your nap." he said and headed to Gaara's crib.

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A/N: Ok, to set things straight, YES, Gaara and Naruto will be friends is just well, I say that baby Gaara is a little jealous at Naruto because he kind of saw how Iruka looked at Naruto and Naruto smiled at Iruka. Therefore, I think it would be jealousy and/or warning. Anyways, no preview for the next chapter but it will be about the Hokage and the Hyuuga examining Gaara's chakra systems.

**Well, please REVIEW, I don't ask for much but I need to know how I'm doing. In addition, I would gladly answer any questions you have and would love to hear any ideas or suggestions for the story. Bye!**

**P.S.: THIS IS A SLOW-PACED STORY! =]**


	7. The Examination

**A/N: Decided to change my penname to _Gladiis_ so on with the chapter! Oh and**

_**Happy New Year!!!!**_

_**(Not Beta'ed)**_

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Chapter 7: The Examination

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1 p.m.: Iruka's Apartment:

"So, you have two hours to meet with the Hokage and the clan head of the Hyuuga?" asked Kurenai, she and Hayate came to visit Iruka after they were done training with Shikaku-sensei.

"Yeah, the Hokage needs the Byakugan to see Gaara's chakra networks or that's what I think." Iruka said, he was playing with Gaara with a car toy.

"You think? Of course that's what they'll need Hiashi Hyuuga, because the Byakugan's main purpose is to see chakra points and systems, so there probably going to see Gaara's chakra flows." coughed Hayate

" I guess, so how was training with sensei?" questioned Iruka as he lifted Gaara up and placed him in his high chair, he was going to feed Gaara and…his teammates lunch.

"Ehh…it was okay, though I have the feeling that Shikaku-sensei was being lazy again." answered Kurenai. She took a seat in her teammates kitchen table.

"When is he _not_ lazy?" asked Hayate, he sat in a chair across from the female ninja.

"C'mon guys, you know that Shikaku-sensei can be serious and not lazy when involved with important missions and in combat." assured Umino.

"Yeah, but still it can get irritating." Kurenai added.

"Well, maybe one day he can change his lazy attitude…" started Iruka,

"And have his son, Shikamaru, replace our sensei's attitude. Hahaha, I see that happening." laughed Hayate.

"I see his son being like his father like the saying goes, 'Like Father, like son.'." joked the kunoichi . By then Iruka had placed lunch plates in front of them, lunch consisted of rice balls with a little grilled fish on the side. For Gaara, it was just carrot sticks, for he was already teething.

"Well, speaking of sons and Hyuugas, did you guys hear that Hiashi Hyuuga's wife gave birth to the heiress of the clan, recently?" asked Kurenai.

"Yeah, we've heard, it was two day ago, the heiress was born the 27th and now were on the 29th of December. Wow, has time passed by so fast." commented Iruka, "Especially these past months since adopting Gaara. Wonder when his birthday is?"

"It must be difficult not knowing when it is, but lets guess its around January and February." said Hayate. "Looks like he's going to turn one any time soon."

"Aaahhh….oohhhh…psshhh." Gaara was making funny noises, anything to not eat his carrots.

"C'mon Gaara, eat the carrots for me please." demanded Iruka as he tried to feed the child his lunch but Gaara shut his mouth and turning his head sideways, avoiding the carrots.

"Just leave them there in his plate, he'll eat them eventually." advised Kurenai, "Oh I was thinking what if Iruka wrote a letter to the Sand village, asking if Gaara's biological parents can tell him when his birthday is."

Iruka was thinking and when he thinks he rubs his chin with his finger and looking up the ceiling. Which to his teammates find it weird but okay.

"That's a good idea, but how?" he asked.

"You (Cough) ask the Hokage of he could send the message to the Kazekage asking the question." suggested Hayate.

"Sounds good, I'll ask the Third when I go see him for Gaara's chakra examination." Iruka decided, "Though, I wonder why I never bother to remember to ask the Kazekage when his birthday is, let alone where and who are his biological parents are."

"It's because you have the habit to think the important facts in a late notice, dim wit." giggled Kurenai.

"hahaha…very funny." Iruka said sarcastically, he then notice that Gaara was biting or at least trying to take a bite of his carrot stick.

"Arghh…Dada…me can't" the little red-head boy whined.

"Ahh… he's so cute, Iruka. I can't wait until he can form sentences." complimented the Kunoichi.

"Right…well for now he's stuck saying simple word. Ok, Gaara almost there, c'mon you an eat that carrot." the young father encouraged his son.

"Has Kakashi came by for a visit?" asked Hayate as he was putting his plate away in Iruka's sink.

"Yeah, he came yesterday afternoon with Naruto." answered the Chunin. "Though he left immediately, because Naruto was crying and he left his supplies at his apartment."

"Pshh…he wants to be a dad and he forgets to bring the little boy's materials to calm him down and left your apartment." said Kurenai, "Well, why did Naruto cried?"

"I don't know, he was fine when he arrived with Kakashi but as soon as I introduced Gaara to him, that's when Naruto started to cry." explained Iruka, he picked up Gaara from his highchair and started to clean him while still speaking with his comrades.

"Really? Did Gaara scare him or something?" asked Hayate, "maybe is the fact that your son has no eyebrows?"

"I doubt it, Naruto barely has eyebrows himself, but I would bet that Gaara gave him a scary stare at the blonde boy." Iruka inquired and looked down on Gaara, "Did you scare little Naruto, Gaara?"

"No…no…me…no" Gaara turned his head side to side indicated that he didn't.

"Well, he might of is just he doesn't know it." Kurenai said. "Well, I guess I should go now, I need to get ready for a little training and leave you to get ready see the Hokage, Hayate you coming?"

"Yeah, thanks for the meal Iruka, you cook real nice, maybe better than any kunoichi I know." joked Hayate but then stopped laughing when Kurenai elbowed him in the stomach.

"Care to say that again, buddy?"

"Nope, sorry, bye Iruka."

"Bye."

"Heh, bye guys see you in a while." Iruka said as he led his partners out the door. Once they left Iruka came back and saw that Gaara was already standing up on his own but then two seconds later he felt on his bottom but not to badly or else he would have started crying.

"That as a job well done, Gaara, standing up on your own for two seconds." congratulated the Chunin. Gaara smiled at his father as if he understood that Iruka just complimented him. Then out of nowhere, the red-headed baby, stood up and looked at Iruka and started to take his first couple of steps toward Iruka. Of course the Umino was a little shocked by this but then got of his state when he noticed Gaara was starting struggle and was going to fall. Using his instincts Iruka ran towards the baby and grabbed him on Gaara's shoulders before Gaara's face landed face first into the floor. Iruka sighed,

"Phew…that was close...but still wow, Gaara, your developing quite fast for a baby your age. Amazing, you did great but don't do that again for a while your not ready to walk yet." Iruka had Gaara face him and Gaara just smiled as he closed his and snuggled closer to his adopted father. Iruka just gave a warm smile, "What I'm I doing talking to a 10-month old?" He rocked Gaara for a while until he realized that he had fallen asleep, so Iruka took him to hi crib and placed Gaara in it and left the room. It was only 20 minutes after until Iruka heard a knock on the door. He opened the door and saw Anko, Kakashi, and Naruto in his doorstep.

"Hey, there pops, mind if we come in?" joked Anko. Iruka was twitching but answered the Jounins question,

"Come in, guys, though be a little silent, Gaara is sleeping."

"Ok, I'm only going to be here for a little bit, I've been assign a mission with Asuma." stated Anko.

"What brings you guys here? Not to be rude or anything but I'm leaving to meet with Hokage in about 45 minutes." asked Iruka.

"Well, I was going to come alone but then Kakashi saw me heading towards your house and decided to come with me along with the Uzamaki kid." Anko explained.

"Yeah, I wanted to come see you and have a chat unlike yesterday." added Kakashi. He was holding Naruto on arms.

"Oh, yeah did you bring Naruto's necessities this time?" asked Iruka in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, I learned my lesson." answered Kakashi.

"Darn, I was hoping to see Gaara today but the rascal is sleeping." complained Anko. Iruka nodded at her realization.

"Hmm… really I thought that you wanted to come here to be alone with Iruka." Kakashi said, and Anko started to blush and gave the masked jounin a dirty look.

"Umm…no...I.." she stuttered, "Well…I got to go now, I don't want to be late for the mission. BYE!." and without a second to spare Anko was gone.

"Why did you tease her like that?" Iruka asked, "You know she's going to hunt you down and beat the hell out, father or not."

"Yeah, I know but its nice to be able to make a tough girl blush, you know. Especially when they have a crush on a boy." commented Kakashi, "You do know that she has a thing for you, right?"

"Yeah, but it'll pass eventually." Iruka answered.

"Party pooper."

"How am I a party pooper?"

"You don't want to a date a chick."

"Says the guy who reads porn."

"There not porn, there great works of literature." argued Kakashi,

"Sure, whatever. Can I hold Naruto for a bit?" asked Iruka.

"Yeah, I see no harm." allowed Kakashi, Iruka gave the jounin a weird look, "What?".

"Nothing." Iruka said as he stretched his arms to grab Naruto but before he could carry the baby, he heard Gaara crying in his room.

"Hmph, looks like your boy is up." commented Kakashi. "Go get him."

"Fine, sit down somewhere, I'll be back." said Iruka, when he got inside his room he was surprised to see Gaara trying to get out of crib, which he almost succeeded. Iruka quickly got there and lifted Gaara up before he could fall.

"Hey, little man, what do you think your doing? You could get hurt by doing that you know?" scolded Iruka, sighing, "You know uncle Kakashi and Naruto are here revisiting us today but only for a bit because were going to see the Hokage soon." When he finished announcing, he thought he saw Gaara make an evil look in his eyes but rubbed it off thinking its just his imagination.

"Hey, Iruka, what time are you leaving to see the Third?" asked Kakashi as he saw his Chunin friend came back from his room.

"At three o' clock, why?" answered Iruka.

"well, its 2:30, how about I come with you to the Hokage's tower and see what's wrong with your boy?" offered Kakashi.

"That would be great, beats then walking by myself with Gaara. Let's start heading there." Iruka said. Kakashi nodded. And of they went to see what's the reason for Gaara's excessive amount of chakra.

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3 p.m.: Hokage's office

"Ah, Iruka, glad your here and I can see that you brought Kakashi and Naruto." greeted the Third.

"Yeah, Kakashi insisted to come with me to check on Gaara." answered Iruka, he and Kakashi settled down with their child at hand in the Hokage's office. When they arrived they saw Hiashi Hyuuga already there waiting for them to arrive."

"Hello, Lord Hyuuga, thank you for coming to see what's wrong with Gaara and congratulations on having your first child." bowed Iruka at the head Hyuuga.

"Hello, and thank you and there is no problem or a bother for me to check on your adopted son, in which I should congratulate the both of you for making a big decision on raising a child at such a young age." said Hiashi.

"Thank you." both Kakashi and Iruka said at the same time.

"Well, since were done with the greetings and such, we can start examining the boy. Iruka bring Gaara here." instructed Sandaime Hokage. Iruka nodded and walked closer towards the Hokage and Hiashi with Gaara in his arms. When he got closer to the adult, Gaara started to tremble a little and Iruka started to calm him.

"Hey…buddy…its okay, there are friends and they won't harm you one bit." assured the Chunin.

"I see that the child is extremely shy around strangers." commented Hiashi.

"Yeah, and he always clinging on to me every time someone gets near him."

"Well, don't worry too much it's just a phase." said the Hokage.

"Hope Naruto won't be that shy or scared." whispered Kakashi to himself as he looked down at a smiling baby Naruto.

"I heard that!" shouted Iruka.

"Ok, let us be silent, Iruka lay the boy down here." said the Third as he was pointing on what seemed to be a flat bed-table thing. Iruka put Gaara down but as soon as he id, Gaara started to scream and cry to Iruka.

"Ne…no...no…dada…don't go…with…baby." he cried.

"What is he saying?" asked the Hyuuga.

"It appears that Gaara thinks that Iruka ill leave him for Naruto, knowing that Naruto is the only baby here and it looks as if Iruka is going to leave him behind." guessed the Hokage.

"Ohh…Gaara, don't cry I won't leave, I promise, I'm going to be right here ok, shhh." assured Iruka, he stepped away from Gaara and stayed at least a good three feet away from the boy. In, which made Gaara more worried and was about to cry before he actually saw that Iruka was keeping his promise and stopped crying.

"That's my boy." said Iruka,

"No wonder he started crying as soon as we arrived at your place Iruka, he knew that you were gong to carry Naruto." stated Kakashi as he was standing next to Iruka with the baby.

"How would he know that? If he was sleeping in another room?" asked Iruka.

"I don't know…instinct?" wondered Kakashi, "Which can also be explained why Naruto cried out of nowhere yesterday when you introduced him to Gaara and Gaara gave him a mean-scary look."

"hmmm…I wonder how he would know, well on with the process. Hiashi…" said the Hokage.

"Yes Lord Hokage, I'm on it." the Hyuuga said as he made some hand signs, "Byakugan!" veins pop out of his face surrounding his eyes and his pupiless eyes now had visible pupils in each eye.

"So, anything strange in the boy's chakra system?" asked the Hokage.

"Yes, it appears that the boy has two different colored chakra flows." answered the Hyuuga.

"Really? Two different colors, lord Hyuuga?" asked Iruka, Hiashi nodded.

"What are there colors?" questioned the Third.

"well, its hard to tell but I'm guessing that its blue, which a normal chakra color while the other is light brown or yellow." **(Color of the Sand, not red like the Kyuubi)** Hiashi responded. "They seemed to be swirling but it appears that his normal chakra flow is in control of the boy but the other chakra flow seems to be fighting the blue chakra as if there at a war with each other."

"Doesn't Naruto have two different chakra flows in him?" asked Kakashi.

"I suppose one being his own and the other, which is sealed in him, would be the foxes chakra." answered the Hokage, "But there is no battle going on in his chakra systems so he's safe."

"Dada…da…daddy. Me scared." started to yell Gaara. The Hokage looked at Hiashi and nodded his head,

"You can stop the examination, thank you for using you Byakugan for us."

"Like I said before, no problem, Lord Hokage." said Hiashi, he turned around and saw that Iruka was already carrying Gaara.

"So, what does this tell us about Gaara?" asked Iruka.

"It would seem that your adopted son doesn't have normal chakra and what Hiashi just explained to us on what was going on within Gaara, there had only been a few rare cases with the same description." said the Hokage.

"What do you mean that Gaara's case is a rare one?" asked Iruka. The Hokage just sighed as he took a puff of is pipe.

"Iruka, this child of yours has a ton of chakra in his system that's for sure and some of it doesn't appear to be normal chakra..." explained Sarutobi. That's when Iruka had some clue on what Gaara might be…

" Sir Hokage, you don't suppose that this innocent baby could be…" Iruka started to say but the Third finished his prediction,

"He might be a demon container." answered Sarutobi, when he answered Iruka's question, Iruka got worried looks from the Third, Kakashi, and Hiashi. Never in a million years would Iruka thought that the baby he willingly adopted would be a host of a demon.

'_Could this be real? Just like Shikaku-sensei stated? And the real reason why the Kazekage was willing to let me adopt the child?'_ thought Iruka as he looked down to see Gaara give him a sad look in his eyes, making Iruka feel a little pain in his chest, _'No it can't be…'_

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A/N: Ok, there's an update…wow three chapters in less than a month. All thanks to winter break. I'll be back in school this Monday so don't expect any updates for a while =[. But don't worry, I'm going to brainstorm each chapter during classes and type them faster that way instead of coming with the plot on the top of my head. Yes, I made Hiashi a good guy and not a bastard. So, any question you can ask. Please review. Sorry if spotting mistakes. I'll fix them eventually. Well, Happy New Year's!!!!


	8. Descisions

**A/N: Here's an update, it's been so busy especially having school finals = [all this week. Also, I have a new PUPPY!!! His name is TOBI lol my brother liked the name but he hates Naruto, how odd =]**

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Chapter 8: Decisions

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The Hokage's office was all silent for a couple of minutes before the masked Jounin made a theory,

"Sir Hokage, you did say that the child might be a demon container but there should be other reasons that could explain why Gaara has two different types of chakra." Kakashi looked to his friend hoping that the Hokage could be mistaken and make Iruka less worried or preventing Iruka from having second thoughts.

"True, but Kakashi, there is no other explanation other than the boy being a demon container." replied the third with a disappointed look in his face.

"If I could have a word, I would say that for now the child is safe from any type of disruption of the unknown chakra, so there is no need to be worried." announced Hiashi Hyuuga. Iruka stilled stayed silent just looking Gaara directly in his eyes.

"Even so, Hiashi, we still need to be cautious if the day will come when the unknown chakra flow in Gaara's body is in control." warned Sarutobi.

"Ummm…Lord…Hokage, if Gaara would be a demon container, then does that mean that the Sand Village tried to destroy us with the possibility of Gaara losing control of his demon?" asked Iruka after being a mute for a whole five minutes. Gaara was cuddling closer to Iruka in which the Chunin was patting his son's hair.

"If that's the case then we just can't declare war with Suna just yet." replied the Hokage.

"Why is that Lord Hokage?" questioned Kakashi as he was gently rocking Naruto to sleep.

"Because….there's still no proof that Gaara actually has a demon spirit in him, plus we are trying to avoid any type of battle or war for the moment. The third Great Shinobi war just ended and we don't want more innocent people to die." exclaimed the Third. "To conclude this situation, Iruka, you, along with Kakashi, some ANBU, and your team, will keep an eye on Gaara throughout his life. Try to see if he would change personality or is suspected to have a demon in him."

"Yes, Lord Hokage, but about the theory of Gaara having the possibility of being a jinchuuriki? Will we be the one's to know, the people keeping watch of him." asked Iruka. The Hokage nodded and then head his direction to the head Hyuuga,

"Can you keep this a secret, which is classified as an S-ranked secret?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage, I will not reveal anything about the child." claimed Hiashi as he lowly bowed to the Third.

"So, basically Gaara is similar to Naruto, somehow anyways." stated Kakashi. "No one can tell anyone about their secret of being a jinchuuriki."

"It would appear so, Kakashi, but I feel bad that the possibility of him being a jinchuuriki like Naruto is making me feel as if he won't be treated equally and knowing that he was abandoned for something he had no control on.' stated Iruka. Then before he forgot, he remembered on what he was going to ask the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, I have a request I would like to make of you."

"What is it Iruka?" asked the Sandaime.

"I was wondering if you can send a message to the Kazekage of Suna, asking when Gaara's birthday is, maybe he still has contact with his biological parents." asked Iruka. The Hokage looked at Iruka and gave an approving nod.

"I will send a message to the Kazekage regarding the boy's birthday, though there might be a problem with that."

"What's going to be the problem?" asked Kakashi.

"He might either not know the biological parents or he might be the boy's biological father. He might come up with an excuse saying that he can't obtain the information, knowing that he is the father." answered the Third.

"You're referring to the rumor that we've been hearing regarding the Sand village?" the masked nin guessed. His reply was a nod from the Hokage.

"This could very well be his biological son, Lord Hokage for I too heard that the Kazekage recently had a new born baby though his wife died after birth." clarified Hiashi Hyuuga.

"Yes, but if we accuse the Sand Village now then there is a chance of another war shinobi war occurring and no one wants to have that so soon and lose their loved ones." The Hokage sighed and tried to imagine the aftermath of another war and he didn't like the vision he had in his head.

"If I may say a word Hokage sir, the Kazekage did mention that if I ever decide to take him back to Sand then I can do so when he is between the ages of six to twelve." added Iruka. He was lifting Gaara to his eye level and gave his son a sad smile.

"No, Iruka, you can't just going to give him away after he's six years old, that's not what a father does." inquired Kakashi.

"He's right, Iruka, an let's give the little boy a chance and we'll try to control his emotions and hopefully he won't go insane." the old man stated, "Plus, we'll try to come up with a plan to have the Kazekage admit on giving us a jinchuuriki with a purpose of destroying our village."

The ninjas present in the Hokage office all nodded and agreed to the Third's idea.

"So, as soon as you guys leave, none of you will reveal the true identity of Gaara, only to your teammates and some assigned ANBU but none of the villagers since word spread like wildfire once someone said that Naruto is the nine-tailed jailer. Thanks to that, now most of thee villager are coming up with ways to already torture the child when he is a toddler."

"That's just awful, wanting to torture a child. Good thing he has the fourth's pupil, Kakashi, as an adopted father." said Hiashi.

"Thanks Lord Hiashi that's one of the main reasons on why I adopted Naruto." the masked ninja admitted as he took a look down and saw his son drifting to sleep.

"Well, since its all clear now, I guess there is no other reason to keep you here any loner, your all dismissed. Oh, Iruka and Kakashi, you guys will have to find dome way to take care of those kids for both of you will be active ninjas in less than two months." stated the Hokage.

"Yes, sir." both father's said at the same time and took their sons and disappeared. Hiashi just looked at the vacant spot where the teen ninjas were and spoke to the Third,

"I do hope your doing the right thing Sarutobi."

"Same here but it's too early to tell. I don't want to make a mistake if the boy isn't a jinchuuriki and just was a normal kid. Is there something you want to tell me before I dismiss you." asked the Hokage.

"Yes, there is one thing…I have a request." stated the Hyuuga

"Do tell Hiashi." With that they started to start their conversation without ever knowing that there was show figure outside on top of the roof that had just listened to every detail on Gaara and left as soon as Hiashi asked the Hokage.

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5:30 p.m.: Konoha Park

"Hmmm….interesting theory that the Hokage had told us, eh Iruka?" asked Kakashi. The teenage dad's decided to go to their local park and get a little fresh air and relax with their adopted children.

"Yeah…interesting." murmured Iruka. Deep inside his heart Iruka hoped that Gaara was no demon host, he didn't want even start on thinking how his fellow villagers would act in front of Gaara. Kakashi sensed Iruka's saddened expression and tried cheered him up,

"Look at it this way Ruka at least there are only a few of us that know this information and no one else. Lord Hiashi is that type of man to keep his word…especially on the whole demon host thing since his closest friend and my sensei the Fourth has a son…" he pointed at Naruto who was still sleeping, "who is also a demon host."

"Yeah, but…I don't know what to do…this examination on Gaara's chakra network changes everything."

"Do you still care for him Iruka?" asked the masked ninja. The Umino sat there thinking and he looked down on the red-haired baby who was sitting on the grass trying to crawl his way to the playground with the "big" kids.

"Of course I'll still for him no matter what. I feel like this is my chance to do something great. I lost my parents recently and knowing the painful fact that they won't be by side anymore…its too great." Kakashi nodded in agreement, "Plus, every child should have at least one parent by their side in order to have guidance and safety in their young lives, especially when you're just a baby who can't defend or care for themselves."

"Alleluia to that Iruka. I just realized, thanks to Obito, how important my dad was to me and now he's gone as well as my mother too." added Kakashi.

"Yeah, a ninja's life is hard and I think a child of a ninja is even harder because you know full well that your parents have a higher risk of dying on each mission and besides…" Iruka stood up and walked to where Gaara was crawling and picked him up high in the air and give him a kiss on the cheek and looked at his ninja friend, "I don't want this little guy to end up as a prankster."

Kakashi gave out a small laugh and stood up and walked with his Chunin friend and headed to their homes and call it a day.

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A/N: Sorry, can't type any longer because the following scenes have a long plot to them so yeah….but I still updated though =]. I think I should keep these chapters short than longer because I could update a little faster. What do you guys think? Should I write short (1,500 words), medium (2,500), or longer (3,500), tell me in a review or something.

**Please Review its nothing much but it motivates me to write faster so please and thanks for reading and here's a preview of Chapter 9 of Forever Love: Glares.**

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"Is he ok, Iruka?" asked Kurenai, as she saw a frightened Gaara hiding in the corner of his playpen.

"I don't know he was fine a minute ago but next thing I know he's crying and appeared frightened by something." Iruka answered and lifted Gaara up but Gaara was crying and was wiggling out of his father's arms and pushing him away.

"Where did you take him today Iruka?" asked Hayate as he was coughing.

"I just took him to a store and…." Iruka stopped as he remembered on what had actually happen when he visited the store.

"Well, Iruka what happened?" asked Shikaku.

"The other shoppers were giving him mean glares and their faces look liked they were going to kill him anytime soon when he's alone." he whispered. He sat on his knees and was upset and trying to calm Gaara but to no avail.

"Dada…no…now…no...now." the child hiccupped each word.

"Why would they do that?" asked a sad but mad Kurenai.

"Unless they know the truth about Gaara…" started Hayate and later he coughed.

. "How? It was supposed to remain a secret between a couple of individuals." shouted Iruka.

"Iruka, keep it down. There could be other ways that villagers would know this secret." said Shikaku.

"How?" all of his students said at once.

"I don't know but we must call a meeting with the Hokage." answered Shikaku.

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There's the preview…wow, wonder how the villagers found out? Well find out soon on

_Forever Love_**!**


	9. Glares!

**Not Beta'ed so there will be errors.**

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Chapter 9: Glares!

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1 ½ Months later

"Mission accomplished, Lord Hokage." announced Shikaku Nara. His team had just completed their C-rank mission, which was an escorting mission. The team consists of Hayate, Kurenai, and Iruka's temporary replacement, Mizuki.

"Good to hear that your mission went well Team Shikaku." complimented the Third, "Hope that there was no one injured?"

"Everyone is in good health Lord Hokage." admitted Nara, "Then, again it was rather an easy mission, just escort and protect some merchant men back to their village."

The Third nodded in agreement, "Still never underestimate a mission Shikaku."

"Yeah, sensei, not at all of us are used to near-death experiences in missions." commented Kurenai. Hayate just coughed in agreement with his teammate, then the young Chunin, Mizuki spoke up to the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage if you don't mind asking you this but what will happen to me after Iruka Umino is back with his team after his break?"

"I will try my best to find you a stable team that way you are able to fully accept missions but do not worry about that now for you have half a month before Iruka is back on Team Shikaku." replied the wise man and Mizuki just sighed and nodded.

"Is it alright for me and Hayate to go visit Iruka now Lord Hokage and Shikaku-sensei?" asked Kurenai.

"You guys can go ahead, now that I have obtained the mission report but I don't know about your sensei here, Shikaku?" gestured Sarutobi.

"Well….I was going to take them out for a little training since its still early out but I suppose I can excuse them for today since we just arrived." answered Shikaku, "I also need to go see my pain in the butt wife, who I love, and my son. So, you guys can go ahead." Kurenai and Hayate smiled and then the male Chunin turned and was facing Mizuki,

"Do you want to come with us, Mizuki? (cough)"

"Might as well, I will be glad to meet your rested teammate and see for myself that he is by far the youngest ninja to adopt a son." replied the silver-haired ninja. Then off the three went without looking back to their elders….or sensei.

"Ahh, kids these days right Shikaku." joked the Hokage.

The Nara Jounin just sighed and bowed the Hokage before walking away and heading to his home.

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"Ok, then Gaara, your going to need some healthy foods and some that you are able to chew and not choke on….its hard to tell back then how old you are but according to some child development books you could be turning one year old any day now." Iruka said as he looked at Gaara while shopping at a local supermarket.

"Daddy…me want that me want." begged the red-head. Iruka looked at the direction that his son was pointing and saw a box of chocolate chip cookies.

"I…don't know if that food is good for you just yet Gaara, how about next time?…I could…" he was interrupted by the startling cries that Gaara was making and he intend to go louder but Iruka said, " Alright, fine I'll buy you the box but you won't get any unless you be a good boy ok."

Gaara smiled and tried to reach for Iruka for a hug but was restrained by the shopping cart. So, Iruka just bend down a little and hugged the baby. They were in line at the check-out counter and waiting patiently until a couple of customers started to glare at Iruka and Gaara. Iruka felt like he was the center of attention but then he saw people whispering quietly to each other and pointing in his direction.

'_What in the world are they saying? They should all know by now that I legally adopted the boy despite my age so they shouldn't be shocked.'_ the Chunin thought,_ 'Wonder if they found out…but how? That can't be it…can it?'_

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Gaara's POV

"_See those people giving you a mean stare at you…they all hate you little one. Your to young to understand but you'll know eventually and your daddy will hate you too. Hahaha." _an ominous voice said inside little Gaara's mind and stopped talking, he might be a baby but the way the voice in his head sounded and looking around and seeing people giving him scary and mean looks…he was frightened. He wanted to be loved and comforted so he did what he normally does to get his dad's attention…he cried.

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Normal POV

Iruka was so distracted at staring and wondering what the people were thinking that he failed to notice the evil, hateful glares that the other customer's were giving to his adopted son. Until he felt a tug in his shirt and looked down and saw a tearful, crying little Gaara. He looked as if he has seen a ghost or monster. Iruka quickly picked up Gaara and tried to comfort him. When he was being calmed, Iruka looked around saw that the people were trying to hide their laughs or snickering and trying their best to avoid him and Gaara. That's when he noticed that the people were giving little Gaara evil glares when he wasn't looking.

'_What is going on? There looking or thinking that Gaara is some sort of monster…a one year old boy. I have to report this to the Hokage. Gaara might be in danger in the future, knowing that he might be a jinchuuriki of a demon, just like Naruto.'_ with that in mind Iruka paid for his groceries and was out the door before anyone else gives Gaara a fright.

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"Do you see him anywhere, Hayate?" asked an exhausted Kurenai.

"Nope (cough), he wasn't in the library or Ichiraku's Ramen Shop." answered her partner.

"Are you guys sure that he left somewhere important?" questioned Mizuki, "We were pretty gone for a couple of days, so he might have said something to you two."

"Where would he go? He has a son to take care of…its not like he's going out to part with Kakashi or Anko." exaggerated Yuuhi.

"True that, but where would a parent go?" asked Hayate.

"How about a supermarket and right behind you." answered an angered Iruka.

"Ugh!" gasped the three ninjas as they were surprised to see Iruka behind them without noticing him.

"Oh my god! Iruka when?…how?…How did you get right behind us? We didn't even sense you." declared the kunoichi.

"Simple…I didn't make any noise and Gaara here is asleep." Umino explained and he arched an eyebrow at his partners and Mizuki, "Honestly, you guys think that I would go to a club and party my butt off and leaving Gaara all alone? C'mon I am not that dumb."

"It was a thought, Iruka. We were looking for you over the past two hours but its almost 5'o clock in the afternoon so if we think your going to be busy now so we'll see each other tomorrow." said Kurenai.

"No, I'm not busy tonight or right now so, you guys can come over if you like, I'm having Asuma, Anko, and Kakashi along with Naruto over my apartment tonight." cleared the young father. He got a stare from the three ninjas, "What?"

"Why (cough) are they coming over?" Hayate blurted out.

"I don't know...Kakashi invited them over, he said something about a small family reunion."

"Pshhh…family reunion, you two just think were all family since you guys adopted a child of your own." said Kurenai, she put her arms across each other at her chest.

"Tell that to the masked jounin." said Hayate, then Kurenai remembered,

"Oh, before me or Hayate forget, Iruka this Mizuki, he's also a Chunin and is currently you replacement in our team. Mizuki this is Iruka Umino the infamous Chunin that adopted a kid while still going through puberty." Kurenai and Hayate started laughing but Mizuki kept his cool and took out his hand for Iruka to shake it,

"It's nice meeting you Iruka." Iruka, looking kind off offended or embarrassed hesitated for a minute but he shook Mizuki's hand,

"Nice to meet you, too Mizuki and this is my son here Gaara." he mentioned as he pointed at the child in the stroller, "Gaara say hi."

Gaara looked up and was immediately nervous but he gave a wave hi to the new person.

"Sorry, he's still a little shy around people." apologized the scarred face ninja

"Its quite alright, I understand." replied the silvered haired man. "Well, I must be going I have to do some things before I sleep, See you all some other time." and then he was gone. Iruka just gave him a curious glare.

"You alright, Umino?" asked Hayate.

"I don't like the looks of this guy. Why is he the substitute for my position?"

"He lost his entire team when the Kyuubi attacked here months ago and the Hokage still hasn't found an appropriate team for him yet. Why don't you like the looks of this guy?" asked the genjutsu kunoichi.

"I have no idea I just feel a mysterious, bad vibe with him but it must be my imagination. He looks like a great ninja to work with." added Umino.

"He's (cough) cooperate and doesn't give us a whole lot of trouble." commented Hayate, "Shikaku-sensei even approves of him which in my mind is pretty rare."

"Yeah, Asuma is off on a mission the day Mizuki was assigned to our group so he's with us until you come back." described Kurenai.

"Well, let's go already, these bags are getting heavy and Gaara hasn't eaten since this morning." complained Iruka. His teammates nodded and walked alongside their partner and his son.

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"Looks like everybody is here, awesome." said a happy Kakashi, "Iruka, we can tell them about our meeting with the Hokage."

"Yeah, but…" Iruka was interrupted,

"What was the meeting for? Is it about Gaara?" Anko disturbed.

"Yeah, well the Third had the head of the Hyuuga clan, Lord Hiashi, to check on Gaara's chakra networks because Iruka had a feeling that there was something wrong with Gaara not sleeping normally." exclaimed the half-masked jounin.

"Oh yeah now I remembered, it took you guys this long to tell us what the meeting was about?" asked Kurenai.

"Well, yeah it was tough subject for me to mention and I didn't know how you guys would react after I told you this." doubted Iruka.

"Iruka, you can trust me and your teammates on what you always tell us, we will never judge you or Gaara. We're all human, no one is perfect in this world." consoled Shikaku.

"Thanks, Shikaku-sensei, I knew you were a jounin instructor for something." joked Iruka and he got a disappointed look from his sensei but then Iruka got serious, "Just joking sensei, well when we took Gaara to be examined, well we found out that Gaara…" he paused and looked at Kakashi for some encouragement in which he got a nod of approval from his close friend. "he…might a be a jinchuuriki, there's a high chance that he has a demon spirit in him." he finished and looked down. There was silence in his living room but not until Shikaku broke it,

"Is that why he can't sleep properly?"

Iruka nodded, "Lord Hokage thinks that the seal is so weak that if he does fall asleep there is a chance that the demon can take over. The seal isn't the same as Naruto's.

"Poor child, having his faith determined before he can talk." Anko said as she looked at Gaara with upsetting eyes, she just couldn't imagine. It was worse than being betrayed by your own sensei.

"Still, this doesn't change anything between all of us Umino." whispered Asuma, "We're still going to be friends and teammates and well try to have Gaara and Naruto happy and normal childhoods despite the demon's within them." Everybody agreed.

"Its not like there the demon themselves, there just keeping them locked from doing any harm." added Hayate.

"Yeah, but remember this fact is to remain a secret. No other person must know that Gaara might be a jinchuuriki. It might cause trouble in Konoha and Suna." warned Iruka. He then sat on the couch close to the playpen where his son was playing with Naruto.

"Enough of this conversation, let us change the subject. Today is January 15th right, so Iruka when do you think Gaara's birthday, it looks like he's closer to becoming a year old." asked Kakashi.

"Oh yeah, I remember I got a scroll from the Hokage a couple of weeks ago but I was to busy to open it." realized Iruka.

"Well go get it and read what it says." demanded Anko.

"Fine hold your horse, woman." replied Iruka.

"Why you—" Anko was about to punch Iruka but was sopped by her friend, Kurenai,

"Not now, Anko, not in front of the children."

"Fine."

Iruka came back reading the Hokage's scroll,

"Well it says that the 4th Kazekage tried his best to find the birth date for Gaara but he states that the only date he could find was the 19th of January. So, the Third Hokage says that this is supposedly his birthday."

"Close enough I say." said Kakashi, "which is a couple of days away."

"Yeah everybody is going to bring a present for the little guy…oh and cake." said Kurenai excitedly.

"Some of his peers too, like Naruto and I'll bring Shikamaru to meet Gaara." claimed Shikaku.

"Thank you, guys." said Iruka then he looked at Kurenai, "Hey I heard that you have a special mission starting soon, care to explain." Kurenai widened her eyes but spoke,

"Yeah, for some reason the Hokage and Lord Hiashi had appointed me to guard the new heiress, Hinata Hyuuga, for a while along with Lady Hidomiko Hyuuga."

"That's awesome it will look good in your records Kurenai." congratulated the scarred Chunin, "When do you start?"

"When the girl is at least a 8 months old which won't be for a while." answered the kunoichi. Then from her corner of her eye she spotted Gaara trembling with fear.

"Guys look at Gaara." she pointed at the child. Kakashi and Iruka hurried next to Gaara's side. Kakashi picked up Naruto in case he started to cry and Iruka was trying his best to calm down the red-head.

"Is he ok, Iruka?" asked Kurenai, as she saw a frightened Gaara hiding in the corner of his playpen.

"I don't know he was fine a minute ago but next thing I know he's crying and appeared frightened by something." Iruka answered and lifted Gaara up but Gaara was crying and was wiggling out of his father's arms and pushing him away.

"Where did you take him today Iruka?" asked Hayate as he was coughing.

"I just took him to a store and…." Iruka stopped as he remembered on what had actually happen when he visited the store.

"Well, Iruka what happened?" asked Shikaku.

"The other shoppers were giving him mean glares and their faces look liked they were going to kill him anytime soon when he's alone." he whispered. He sat on his knees and was upset and trying to calm Gaara but to no avail.

"Dada…no…now…no...now." the child hiccupped each word.

"Why would they do that?" asked a sad but mad Kurenai.

"Unless they know the truth about Gaara…" started Hayate and later he coughed.

"How? It was supposed to remain a secret between a couple of individuals." shouted Iruka.

"Iruka, keep it down. There could be other ways that villagers would know this secret." said Shikaku.

"How?" all of his students said at once.

"I don't know but we must call a meeting with the Hokage." answered Shikaku.

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"It would seem that there is two jinchuuriki 's in Konoha, Lady Ayumi." said an unknown shadow in the depths of a forest just miles away from the Leaf village. "What do we do now?"

"Hmm…was it that ninja that we allied with that told you this?" asked a women that appear to look in her mid-20's with long tied-u purple hair and violet eyes and light-skinned by the name of Ayumi Soto.

"Yes, it was the young Chunin ninja that had informed me this information." answered the shadow.

"Good, this could take some years to take the jinchuuriki for we must earn their trust and befriend them. Grab Hatsuharu and tell him that we are leaving to Konoha very soon, Aska." instructed Ayumi

"Yes, Lady Ayumi." and with that the shadow or Aska was gone.

"Hmm…very soon I will get what I need in order to get my revenge against _him_!." claimed Ayumi which she was holding a pink jeweled necklace in her hands and disappeared to prepare herself for the upcoming journey.

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A/N: Hey Guys!! Sorry for the very late update. I just had so much to do and Badminton season started recently so that alone takes more of my extra time. Also, I'm failing AP Biology and have a bunch of crap to study for the upcoming exam. Oh, and need to study for 2 AP exams that are coming in May which is of course AP Biology and AP Psychology =[ … and need to do a lot of stuff before registering for CNA classes. Busy, busy but I'm on spring break so I have some extra time to update so yay! We finally get a villain in the story but if your wondering why there OC'S well, I only added three so its not to confusing. Oh and no Shukaku isn't fully awaken yet its just a little thought that he had in Gaara's mind.

**Please review they motivate me into typing more and ask any questions that you might be confused or wondering about so don't be afraid to ask. Well, until next time Adios!**


	10. Suspicion

**Chapter 10: Suspicion**

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"Happy Birthday, Gaara! Yay!" everyone in Iruka's apartment yelled in celebration. In his apartment were: Kakashi, Naruto, Kurenai, Hayate, Anko, Asuma, Shikaku, Shikamaru, and Ino, the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka. It was January 19, indicating that it was Gaara's first birthday and everyone wanted to celebrate the boy's special day with a chocolate chip cookie cake. There was a smile in the red-heads face, he made a note to himself to always remember this day.

"Well, Iruka how do you think little Gaara is doing so far since he turned one?" asked Kurenai.

"Well, he could say some words completely and he could walk for a couple of seconds before falling down on his butt." He laughed when he was saying that and continued, "So, I think he's developing quite nicely so far." Iruka answered with a small smile in his face.

"No, really its been only been two months since Iruka adopted him so right now he's doing a good job but wait and see." Kakashi joked as he was nudging at the Umino's shoulder.

"Speak for yourself Kakashi, Naruto is about to roll of the couch." stated Asuma and with that the copy ninja turned around and saw that Naruto was going to fall so in a split second he went and caught Naruto in a split second before the blonde baby was a split inch from hitting the floor.

"Ahh…heheh..thanks." Kakashi said. The adults just rolled their eyes at the so called Jounin Ninja.

Well, anyways, thank you all for coming and thank you Shikaku-sensei for bringing your son along with Ino but why didn't Chouji come?" asked Iruka.

"Chouji has the minor flu so he couldn't come, that's why." replied Shikaku. "and your welcome, sure there both a little young to socialize but its not too bad to start."

"True, which is not a bad idea, this gives not only Gaara but also Naruto a chance on living a normal life despite them being jinchuuriki's." claimed the Red-eyed kuniochi .

"Which reminds, Shikaku-sensei did you ask the Third Hokage about someone telling the villagers about Gaara?" asked Iruka, he was holding Gaara in his arms as the baby looked ready to sleep. The Nara nodded,

"I did just two days ago, he said that he will have some ANBU ninjas investigate and see who has been spreading the news around. Though he stated that who ever it was they were good at hiding their chakra and presence so this may be a high level ninja were dealing here."

"Well, don't we have to keep a look out on someone who's acting a little bit out of place?" asked Kakashi, he had his one eye on his Icha Icha Paradise book, reading it.

"Not in front of the children (cough) Kakashi." Hayate whined.

"Why? Its not like they know how to talk, besides they show little interest on what I do so its ok." answered the masked ninja, "Well, I have to go, have a meeting with the Third, so Iruka you sure you can take care of Naruto for a while?"

"Sure, no problem you can pick him up when your done with that meeting and by that I mean don't be late. Lets see its 6:30 pm so I guess that the meeting won't last long?" questioned the young chunin, Iruka.

"I guess it won't last long but who know so see ya." said Kakashi before he was gone in a poof of smoke.

"Well, Anko and I will take our leave as well, it was nice little party Iruka. I can tell that little Gaara liked. Did you Gaara?" asked Kurenai and little Gaara nodded his head up and down with a smile. "How cute. Well, see you in a couple of days since we have a mission starting tomorrow with Hayate and Shikaku-sensei here and Mizuki. I can't wait for you to come back from your three-month break. Its not the same without you, you know."

"Yeah, I know, you have no idea how badly I want to go on a mission right now." declared Iruka, "But you know Gaara needs someone there to help him adjust to the sudden changes in his life." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So, it was in November that you adopted him, hmm…lets see…you'll be an active ninja in March?" calculated Anko, "Wow that's far away from now."

"I know but something tells me that its going to fly by." claimed Umino.

"Well, nice party but we must go and get ready, let's go Anko, Hayate you coming with us?" asked Kurenai and Hayate replied with a yes and the three ninjas said their bye's and left.

"They all left huh sensei." claimed Iruka, he then spotted the three little babies falling asleep, "well, I think its time to take Shikamaru and Ino back home don't you think?"

"Ehh…yeah I guess so, its going to be troublesome to take them home. What if they start crying?" complained Shikaku.

"Sensei you think everything is troublesome even in our missions, and besides you can take them real quick before they even notice that they were picked up." cleared the chunin. He looked down on his 'son' and saw that he was getting tired but refuse to sleep.

"Little boy hasn't slept yet huh?" asked Shikaku.

"No, I don't know what happen, he slept well these couple of days but so far he hasn't slept for his nap and looks like he won't sleep tonight." Iruka answered, he was growing concern with Gaara, one day he's all better but in a blink of an eye he's feeling bad. Just last night he kept crying and crying for no apparent reason and it took Iruka at least three hours to calm before he fell asleep.

'_Could it be the demon that we think its inside him that's causing?'_ thought Iruka.

"Iruka, its going to be fine, don't worry about it too much. If I were you I would train in your spare time when your son is asleep, I will be giving you a test and sparring match when your back as active ninja again. So, get yourself ready, alright." said Shikaku as he picked up Ino and put her in his back-baby carrier and picked up his son in his arms. 'Well, I guess this is bye. Wave bye Shikamaru." Iruka sweat dropped at seeing his sensei grab Shikamaru's hand and wave it.

"Uhh….yeah bye sensei." he said and with that the Nara was gone. He decided to put Gaara down on his playpen and went to pick up Naruto so he could put him somewhere comfortable to sleep in but as soon as he picked up Naruto, he heard Gaara nearly pound on the playpen and crying,

"Dadda…no...him...no…me…" he kept on weeping, Iruka decided to ignore it and headed to the bedroom and once he got there he placed little Naruto in the middle of his bed and saw that the blonde baby smiled weakly at him before drifting to sleep.

"Well, that takes care of one baby, now to go figure out what's wrong with Gaa—" he was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass and instantly ran toward the living room and saw the glasses that were used for milk were on the ground all broken and the pieces were everywhere. He scanned the area and saw nothing that would have cause the crash, he then saw Gaara in his playpen all safe and sound but he didn't look happy he looked mad. Iruka headed toward the redhead baby,

"Gaara, are you ok? What happened? C'mon lets put you to bed." he said and picked up Gaara and was headed towards his room but suddenly something caught his eye. On the floor near the debris of glass were little grains of sand. Iruka kneeled down with Gaara still in his arms and saw the sand more carefully, using his free arm, he picked the grain up with his fingers to get a better look at it.

"That's odd how in the world did sand get in this house? Could this be the cause and its impossible there's no sand in this apartment let alone Konoha ." Out of nowhere Iruka got up and went back to Gaara's playpen and bent over and saw once again grains of sand in the playpen.

'_How? Gaara couldn't be the one to bring the sand here unless…'_ he thought as he saw Gaara over his shoulder already sleeping and looked peaceful and happy._ ' I have to tell Shikaku-sensei and Lord Hokage about this.'_ With that in mind he saw the clock and said it was 7:10 PM,_ 'Kakashi won't be back for another hour or so…'_ he headed to his room to lay Gaara in his crib and after that he went to the kitchen and started to clean the debris of glass that were left on the floor.

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"So, let me get this straight, you two excluding the child over there wish to be leaf shinobi?" asked the Third hokage as he was talking to a woman with shoulder length-brown hair tied in a high ponytail and she had pink-colored eyes which the Third thought it was odd. She was wearing black caprices and a white shirt but in her forearms there was some sort of blade or knife which the Hokage thought was not bad idea to have as a ninja, her name was Aska Soto, she was about 14 or 15 years of age. The other woman was in her early 20's and had long purple-hair tied in two ponytails and was wearing a purple kimono that resembled an outfit of a feudal priestess (**Kikyo's outfit from **_Inuyasha_) and her eyes were hazel and her name was Ayumi Soto.

"Yes, that is correct Lord hokage, we have been traveling across the ninja villages and wanted to become ninjas here and don't worry we have proper training so we know how to perform jutsu's and more." said Ayumi, "The boy here, is too young his name is Hatsuharu Soto." she brought the boy up front the Third, he had short hair that was black on the bottom and white on the top and had gray-colored eyes (Fruits Basket) and wore black pants and a black shirt.

"So, are you three related or something?" asked the Hokage, as he looked carefully at the young kid and teenager.

"No, I adopted them as my own, mi lord." replied easily the woman.

"Well, as much as I would approve of you as well as the young lady here to be leaf ninja's it won't be easy. You all have to prove that your not some spy from another village and stay loyal to the leaf for as long as you live." stated the old-man. The three people nodded in understanding, "Also, you would have to pass a ninja skill test to see if your capable ninja's and what rank you belong to so I asked one of my best ninjas to come meet you three and put you, two young ladies to the test." as of on cue, Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves in between the Hokage and the three newcomer's.

"You've asked for my presence Lord Hokage?" asked Kakashi, as he turned to see the new people that were in the room.

"Yes, Kakashi. I would like to introduce to you Ayumi, Aska, and Hastsuharu Soto. They have come here to live and work for Konoha. Ladies and gentlemen.." he looked at Hatsuharu, "This is Kakashi Hatake, don't let his looks fool you for he already is a jounin level ninja."

"Pleasure to meet you, Kakashi. My he's young to have such a rank so he earned the rank I presume." Ayumi said.

"Yes, I have earned Lady Ayumi." replied the masked ninja.

"Well, now that you all know each other, Ayumi you can take the kids out the building and Kakashi will be with you all in a moment I have to tell him some important manners if you don't mind." Sarutobi explained.

"No problem Lord Hokage we'll be out there and meet with Kakashi." answered the women and took the two kids outside and were gone.

"Lord Hokage, are sure this is he right thing to do?" asked Kakashi as soon as he knew that the newcomer's were gone.

"I have my doubts but this is where you come in, even if you haven't decided to whether or not you'll be in ANBU or for how long, consider this as an ANBU level mission, you will investigate if they are trustworthy and show no sign of treachery." cleared Hiruzen.

"Understood, is there anything else lord Hokage?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes, give the two young ladies a ninja test and see if there capable of becoming kunoichi." ordered the Third and Kakashi nodded and was gone.

'_This is going to be quite interesting…' _thought the Hokage and took a smoke from his pipe.

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	11. Tour and Confusion

**A/N:**

I would like the time to thank my reviewers:

**TeenageNeko, **

**sandy dragon, **

**Talentless Freak, and **

**the anonymous reviewer by the name of alli,**

And those that read but couldn't review. Well. The reviews mention that it was a surprise to find this story is updated and as it turns out the reason is I can finally type wherever and whenever I want because I got a new Sony Vaio pink netbook (laptop) and have a lot of spare time since I wont start college until January. BUT I have a job and I do come home rather tired so don't expect ultra fast updates.

***The 50th**** reviewer will have a one-shot (3,000 words+) written for them choosing any pairing from NARUTO***

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Not BETA'ed (Want a Beta Reader. Anyone?)

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**Chapter 11: Tour and Confusion**

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"So, your interested in living and working here? Why Konoha?" asked Kakashi, he was now officially starting his A-rank mission that was assigned to him by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi.

"Yes, we are and reason we chose this village is because it appeared to be the most stable ninja village out of all the other hidden villages, wouldn't you agree?" answered the eldest newcomer, Ayumi. Kakashi narrowed his uncovered eye at her response and sighed lightly to respond to the lady.

"I suppose but we are also one of the most hated villages because we have a great economy as well as phenomenal ninjas and valuable bloodlines so, we are often envied by numerous villages. So, what I'm trying to say is that you and your 'children' might be put to risk when on missions."

"That is why they are to be shinobi's and expect to know on how to deal on those type of situation Kakashi-san." stated the soon-to-be female ninja. "is there anything else you would like to ask us?" The masked ninja nodded and looked at the other female, Aska, to him she appeared to be troubled by something. Kakashi noted this fact and decided to label as a caution if they are truly here to be Leaf ninjas or they are planning something else.

"You, umm. Aska, do you what's your chakra affinity?" questioned the jounin ninja. Aska jumped slightly at the realization that the ninja has just asked her a question, she looked towards the other female as if looking for her approval. Ayumi nodded and allowed her to continue, then Aska finally replied,

"My affinity is wind and my second is water, Kakashi-sama"

"Ok, please don't call me Kakashi-sama, were almost the same age, call me Kakashi-san. Also, you have two chakra affinities? That would be considered a bloodline limit, amazing. Looking forward to seeing you use them in combat." Kakashi said and he looked at Ayumi, "How about yours, Lady Ayumi?"

"Well, mine is actually not considered a chakra affinity…my Justus are based on what I call spiritual energy." stated Ayumi. This response got Kakashi a puzzled thought though he hid his face reaction quite well.

"Spiritual energy? I never heard of this, please do tell me what that is and how it works." said the teen jounin as he crosses his shoulders on his chest.

"Well, its sort of like chakra but instead of your typical blue color chakra, mine is light purple stating that its spiritual energy and not chakra. Other than that it can be used in genjutsu and ninjutsu just like chakra." detailed the 'priestess'. The two individual that accompanied her were nodding their heads in agreement.

"Hmm…that's an interesting type of chakra, I would love to see that one day and you will test that ability in a test, which I presume you two are aware of." Kakashi announced.

"Yes, Kakashi-sam…san, we were informed by the Third Hokage of a ninja test to prove him and the rest of Konoha that we are fitting to be ninjas and serve your village." answered Aska, which Kakashi did not expect the fifteen year old to reply and by the looks of it neither did Ayumi expect her to answer.

"Aska…" she started, Aska realized what she's done turned her head towards Ayumi and bowed to her,

"I'm sorry, mi lady." she apologized

"Mi lady? I thought you adopted them as your own children? Unless there was a misunderstanding?" asked Hatake.

"I did but its more of saving them and raising them as well as treating them like my students." the purple-haired female replied, "That explains there good behavior so far."

'_So far? Definitely keep my eye out on this trio.' _thought Kakashi, "Well, if you don't mind me asking, but by any chance do you know the boy's chakra affinity he looks like he's only four years old."

"As of now I don't know for he hasn't shown any type of jutsu or chakra signal." replied Ayumi.

"That's understandable, he seems to be the same age as the Uchiha prodigy, Itachi." admitted the masked shinobi as he was rubbing his chin in thought.

"Uchiha prodigy? Well, I assure you that Hatsuharu here will catch up to…Itachi." claimed Ayumi, Kakashi narrowed his eyes in suspicion on what the lady had just said,

"Well, we'll about that. Come follow me and I will give three a tour around our village and after that I will explain the details of this ninja exam you'll be taking to determine if you are capable ninja's and what rank. Follow me." Kakashi concluded as he lead the way and began his tour for the new civilians.

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"Hmmm….its 8:30 pm and the sun is about to set and that Hatake isn't back yet." said Iruka to no one in particular but himself. "Wonder if its something major that the Hokage wanted only Kakashi to find out. Ah! I'm bored and the boy's are asleep, well I hope Gaara is anyways." with that he stood up from his couch and headed towards his room and spotted Naruto still snoozing and looked to his left and saw little Gaara not even laying down on his crib. He was looking at the blonde with great intensity and he was really focused on what he was seeing.

"Umm…Gaara…Gaara...its me Daddy. Look at me." whispered the Umino and after that he got the red headed one year-old's attention. What amazed Iruka is that the intensive look Gaara had on just disappeared in an instant as he heard his name and saw Iruka.

'_What in the world is wrong with him? I may not know anything about parenting but I know that a child isn't supposed to give that type of look of jealousy to another child.'_ wondered Iruka in his mind. He sighed and walked towards Gaara, which he opened his arms indicating that he wanted to be carried,

"Dada…up…me" he cooed and Iruka had no choice but to carry him and once he did he headed out the room and towards the back door to exit his apartment, though keep in mind he brought the baby walkie talkie with in case baby Naruto was awake or the verge of tears. He headed to the backyard where the size was equivalent to a ninja training field. He put Gaara down under a tree and walked away, he felt Gaara about to cry so he stopped walking as soon as he knew he was a good distance away from him. That's when he knew Gaara wasn't going to cry. Then for the rest of the evening he practiced his taijutsu in a stuff dummy pole he set up when he first move to his apartment after the nine-tails attacked his village.

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A/N:

Short chapter in my opinion but had to type this before it escaped my head, well the new people are getting a tour given by Kakashi at 7:00 pm, which is odd. Also, Iruka is starting to notice Gaara's abnormal behavior especially towards Naruto….hmm…well Please review and tell me how I'm doing also if not review at least fave or alert my story =). I'm open for suggestion or ideas so let me know. Well until then. Adios!

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	12. Jealousy

**Not Beta'ed**

**Chapter 12: Jealousy?**

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He was looking around and saw the one person to ever show him love and care was giving his attention to another baby that appeared younger than him. Every time he see's his 'dad' do that he hears a little voice in his head, telling me him to watch out and your 'dad' is going to leave you. Gaara might have been a one-year old child and might not know any vocabulary, but he can tell when the little "voice" in his head sounded sinister and wanting him to be upset thus causing him to not want to leave his 'father's' side, fearing that he was going to be left alone.

'_Look at him, he's picking that child up and is planning to leave this place, what are you going to do?'_ said the demonic voice, at hearing the sounds in his head, his pupils dilated in terror to what the voice told me looked to be accurate. Gaara did the only thing that a baby would do in order to get attention, he started to cry.

Iruka heard sniffles and crying from his adopted son and turned around and saw that Gaara was once again trying to get his attention. The Umino sighed and said,

"Gaara, I can't pick you up right now, I have to get Naruto ready, because Kakashi is going to pick him up and take him home, so please wait for a bit. Ok?" He saw that Gaara stopped crying and then he saw that the child's eyes were hidden in his bangs and made no noise. The young chunin of course was starting to get worried but he had to put little Naruto in bed, so with that in mind he took off to his room to lay the boy down. After making sure that he was ok, he went back to the living room and froze at the spot…

"Gaara….you didn't…"

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"Ughh...what a long night, I really need to thank Iruka for taking care of Naruto these past two days (Jan.21) but how?" said Kakashi out loud. It was another evening spending time with the newcomer's and so far Kakashi hasn't suspected anything out of the ordinary from them since the first day.

'_So, far Ayumi knows a little about the Uchiha clan, for the fact that she knew who Itachi is, even though he's five years old? I don't know but tomorrow is the day where I put their skills to the test but I think I should tell everyone about them and help me out on this…'_ the young jounin stopped at his tracks when he was outside Iruka's house and didn't believe what he saw. The apartment window was shattered from the inside and the glass pieces were scattered all around the outside. Following his ninja instincts he jumped to the window to Iruka's apartment,

"Iruka! Naruto! Gaara! Is everything ok? What happened?"

"Kakashi? We're ok nothing terrible happened." started to explain Iruka.

"Then how do you explain the shards of glass that are outside and the broken window?" questioned Hatake. Iruka was currently holding a one-year old Gaara in his arm and trying to soothe him. It took a couple of minutes before Iruka put Gaara away in his playpen to rest.

"Shh…lets go outside, I'll explain everything." he motioned his friend as he was opening the door.

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"Explain." demanded the jounin.

"Well, I don't know how to tell you this but I think Gaara is the one responsible for the window breaking." stated Iruka.

"An infant broke your window? Iruka, I find that hard to believe." said Kakashi, "Is Naruto okay?"

"Yeah, I put him to bed before the window shattered. This isn't the first time that this happened." answered Umino. Kakashi raised and eyebrow, and sighed.

"What are you taking about?"

"Well, last time the same incident occurred but it was the glasses that I used to serve the milk at Gaara's party that day that were broken. Also, it happened while I was holding Naruto."

"Hmm…do you think that it may be coincidental?"

"That's the problem and the fact that I found grains of sand at the spot as well for the two incidents." added Iruka.

"Grains of sand? Last time I checked there was no ninja in our village that can use sand as their chakra affinity, let alone any village." informed the Jounin as he was in deep thought in the situation.

"Kakashi, I think that it has to with the demon inside Gaara, you know the different type of Chakra that Lord Hiashi detected at the examination a while back." said Iruka.

"If that's the explanation, then I'm afraid that Gaara may be a jinchuuriki." worried Kakashi, "But in my opinion its to soon to determine that and blame on the Kazekage in Suna. We need proof that he planned this child to be a threat to Konoha all along."

"I don't think that Gaara would destroy our village when he's older will he?" whispered Iruka, his eyes were filling up with sorrow at the possibility of another attack to his village.

Kakashi nodded.

"I don't think so too but if we all raise him right then he might not attack, so far I've been observing from what you told me and it appears that those two events of glass shattering and etc. is being initiated by you."

"Me? What did I do?" said Iruka as he gave a puzzled look to his friend.

"Jealousy." is all that the copy ninja said.

"Jealousy? How…?"

"Simple every time you pick up Naruto and care for him, it would seem that Gaara feels alone and left out…you get where I'm going?" detailed Hatake.

"Your right but I love Gaara just as much as Naruto there kids, they shouldn't have that feeling of being alone and abandoned…" Iruka trailed off as he remembered finding a crying Gaara all alone in the middle of the streets of Suna in November. "Oh, he was abandoned and he doesn't want to feel it again but how? I thought that a child starts to remember events when there four or five years old not a couple of months?"

"Gaara is no ordinary child, Iruka." answered the copy ninja, "Look just be careful when your around both of these kids ok. Be Cautious, I don't know about jinchuuriki that much but I know that there are times where the demons that they contain can have some sort of interaction with each other, it may be the reason why Gaara has been breaking glasses because the demon in him is confusing him and telling him something else."

Iruka nodded in agreement,

"Lets get inside before Gaara or Naruto find out that there alone." he said and headed inside his apartment with Kakashi behind his trail.

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Iruka Umino may not be the perfect father…hell he's lucky that his late mother had taught him how to change a diaper when he had to baby-sit his neighbors kid when they were on missions at 11 years old. But one thing for sure that he knew is that a child can get jealous if there parents are showing affections towards another child especially if the other child is younger than the jealous kid. Though what made the Umino teen father worried is the fact that his adopted son, Gaara, may be expressing his jealousy emotions a little to extreme. The incident with the glasses breaking, grains of sand at the scene, and his talk with Kakashi last night seemed to provide evidence that Gaara was a jinchuuriki and was containing a bijuu in him.

It was late morning and Iruka was playing with Gaara in the backyard until they were interrupted,

"Kurenai, you should know better on how to hide yourself, I easily detected you. So, come out." On cue, Kurenai Yuuhi came out of the shadows that she was hiding from deep within the bushes,

"Your good Iruka, you may pass the Jounin exams so easily with your advance detecting skills." complimented his teammate.

"Thanks, but I already explained everyone that I'm going to stick being a chunin and be an academy teacher." he explained, he got up and held Gaara's hand in his own and helped the little walk closer to the red-eyed teen. "so, what brings you out here?"

"Well, I got word from Kakashi earlier and told me to tell you to come meet everyone at the training grounds later on like around 1 p.m., he needs to tell us something urgent." Kurenai replied, she kneeled down to Gaara's level and started to play peek-a-boo and it made the red-head smile.

"A meeting but about what?" said Iruka. Kurenai looked up at her teammate and stood up,

"Well, he did mention something about helping him on a mission that involves the new residents that arrived in Konoha three days ago."

"Humph, I haven't heard of new people coming to Konoha as of lately so this must be urgent." stated Iruka, he looked at his watch and widened his eyes, "Its 12:30 pm, we might as well go."

"Really? Already? Must have hanged with Anko a little to long. Well, lets go since were both here might as well go together." Kurenai mentioned. Iruka agreed and lifted Gaara,

"Well, buddy we have a meeting to go to so hold on tight."

"Dada…yeah!." Gaara squealed.

"He's still adorable." commented Yuuhi.

"He's only one year old so yeah." answered Iruka as they dashed away from his yard and headed to the meeting with the Hatake jounin.

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	13. On Hold!

**Authors Note:**

**Ok, not exactly an update but please read this, it has important information. This message applies to all my stories here on this website.**

**I will be out of the country from December 15 to January 8****th****, 2011, I will be going to Mexico to visit family and friends that I haven't seen in years. Also, my parents won't allow me to take my laptop to Mexico, which I understand why. **

**Also, where my family lives there is little to no access to computers let alone Internet access.**

**Don't worry, I' am taking a notebook and a good pen or pencil to jot down some chapters or outline them. That way when I come back from Mexico and settled done with my job and start of college, I could get to typing it and uploading them online.**

**So, please bear with the long wait, I know how it feels when good stories are put on hold =[. Thank you!**

**So, this is the last chance to give some ideas or suggestions in some of my stories, so please don't hesitate to give me ideas and etc.**

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Naruto, Family, Hurt-Comfort