Chapter 6: New Family

Kakashi's POV

I walked over to the Hokage's office, thinking about what happened. I can't let her live by herself. She will just spiral into her old habits again. I will discuss that with the hokage, but first I need to report on my mission. I entered the building and knocked on the Hokage's door, "Come in." I walked in with a serious look on my face. "Lord hokage, I'm here to report to you on my mission." He nodded, "Well, was the mission a success?". "I believe so. I have all the information you asked for and I can guarantee that Elle is not a threat to the village." He seemed pleased with my answer. "Can you tell me what makes you so sure?". I shook my head in response. "Sorry lord hokage but I cannot tell you what I learned. It is personal information that I was trusted with and I cannot betray that trust. I ask you to please trust my judgement." He smiled, "Looks like the girl grew on you Kakashi." I chuckled a bit and nodded. "She certainly has. That's partly why I'm here." he raised an eyebrow at my statement and urged me to go on. "I would like to be the official guardian of Elle Candel." He seemed shocked at my statement but smiled non the less. "That makes me even more curious about this information that you have. Never thought I'd see the day when Kakashi Hatake adopted a child." He laughed at the end. I smiled at his joke and scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "You have my consent Kakashi. Just let me go prepare the adoption papers." I bowed and thanked him as he left the room.

-Time skip-

Elle's POV

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. I was in a significantly better mood than yesterday. I smiled to myself as I put my sandals on and headed for the flower shop. I had an early morning shift today. I walked in and smiled at the lady. She smiled at me and showed me how to work the cashier. It was pretty simple, so I didn't need a verbal explanation to understand it. I nodded to her once she was done and waved goodbye as she left the store. People came in and out, bought all sorts of flowers. Till now, I had no issues with this job. Besides, the place smelled great. A couple of hours passed, and Ino walked into the store. I waved at her and handed her the apron. She asked me something, but I didn't understand so I just singed to her that I don't talk. She shrugged and gave me my pay for the hours I worked. I smiled at her and ran out of the store with my money in my pocket. I walked around the village bored. What should I do now? I can try to train a bit, but I would have no idea what I'm doing. Maybe I can head to the library. I'm sure they have some kid's books that can help me learn Japanese. I nodded to myself and walked in the direction where I thought I saw the library. I was walking for a couple of minutes now when I saw Kakashi. I smiled and waved at him and he did the same back. I walked over to him "Hi Kakashi, what are you doing here?" He pointed to the bookstore next to him and I nodded. "I talked to the hokage yesterday and everything is almost ready. I just need you to sign some papers." I gave him a confused look and he just laughed at me. "You'll understand once you see the papers." I smiled at his response and shrugged. "How about we go sign them after lunch?" I looked at him hesitantly, but he gave me a reassuring smile and I nodded. We walked over to a place nearby, talking about nonsense. When we entered the restaurant, a lady came up to us and led us to a nearby table. I looked through the menu and landed on a small plate that doesn't have much food, granted it was on the appetizer's menu. I could also afford to pay for it myself so that's great too. Me and Kakashi ordered our food and sat there waiting. "Kakashi, when are we going to start my training? I wanted to train this morning, but I didn't know where to start. I want to be able to graduate with this year's graduates." He thought for a second before answering. "How about we start tomorrow morning? I can pick you up after your shift." I nodded excitedly, "That would be awesome!" the waitress came with our food. She placed my dumplings in front of me and whatever Kakashi ordered in front of him. I took a deep breath and started eating. The food was good, but I was only able to eat one before my stomach started hurting. Not in the mood to throw up, I pushed my plate away. Kakashi gave me a questioning look. "I tried." I said shrugging. He smiled and went back to eating his food. I made sure to look away from him while he was eating so that he doesn't have to rush to get his mask back on. I wonder what papers he was talking about. I'm really curious! Wait…I can't even understand what's written on the papers. *sigh* I'll just have to trust Kakashi to tell me what's written. I waited for a couple of minutes before I saw Kakashi waving for the waitress to get our bill. The waitress came and I handed her the price for my plate and got up. Kakashi did the same and we walked to the Hokage's office together in comfortable silence.

-Time skip-

I was sitting there in the Hokage's office, staring at what I was told were adoption papers. Kakashi wanted to adopt me? After I told him about everything, he still wants to adopt me? did the hokage force him to do this? I glared at the hokage, "Did he force you to do this?" Kakashi seemed shocked but laughed at my question. "No, I am doing this of my own free will. I want to become your guardian." I looked at him, remembering his promise to me. so that's what he meant. I slowly took a pen and signed my name on the paper and without a word, left to go back to my apartment. I walked in, sat on my bed and balled my eyes out. Why am I crying? This seems to be my reaction to everything lately. I just got a new guardian. Kakashi just adopted me. I'm sorry mom and dad. I swear I love you, but I can't go back to how I was living. I'm not sad here. I have someone who cares. But I swear I love you. I heard a knock on my door, but I ignored it. I was mourning the loss of my parents and I didn't want anyone to interrupt that. "Elle, open up, it's me." I heard Kakashi's voice through the door. "if you don't open up, I'm coming in through the window." I shook my head and cried harder into my knees. I don't deserve someone as good as him. I don't deserve this chance. I don't deserve to be here. I heard my window open and close, but I didn't bother to look up. I knew it was Kakashi. He sat next to me on the bed and wrapped his arms around me protectively. "Did you not want me to?" he asked, and I shook my head. "It's all too good." I said between sniffles. He just shook his head at my answer and pulled me closer. "you better get used to life being this good." I looked up at him and saw his smile. "Thank you, Kakashi. Thank you." I smiled at him through my tears and buried my head in his chest. It felt nice to have someone there when I was crying, someone that cares. I regained my composure and wiped my tears. "So, do I have to call you dad now or what?" I said with a goofy grin on my face. "No, Kakashi is fine." He laughed. "How about we move you out of this place?" "I'd love that." We both set into action and started gathering my stuff. Which I noticed were practically nothing. We headed over to his place, joking around and laughing. He somehow ended up giving me a piggyback ride all the way to his place. "This is has got to be the easiest move in history!" He laughed and nodded while we went into his apartment. It was average sized and had no decorations on the wall except for a bookshelf in the center. He showed me around the place, and led me to the kitchen, where he gave me a glass of water. I smiled in thanks and drank the water happily. We lounged around the place until he got tired and shoved me to bed. I'm happy with my new life. that was my last thought as I drifted off into dream land.

I looked around; I was in my old room with my parents standing in front of me. I ran to them and tried to hug them, but I went right through them. "mom, dad?" They didn't seem to hear me either. I stepped back and looked at their faces. Dad was holding mom, tears streaming down their faces. "Don't worry sweetie. I know she's in a better place. She was an angel that no one deserved." My mom sobbed silently into my dad's chest. "She wouldn't want to see us like this." my dad was trying to calm my mom down, while he was also crying. "she's probably watching over us right now." My dad smiled at the thought. "if she would be anywhere, she would be here. she never left this damn room." He chuckled a bit. My mom was smiling too now, crying, but smiling. "I love you, Elle. I hope you'll be able to move on. Don't stay down, use those angel wings of yours and fly into the heavens." At this point I had tears streaming down my face too. "I love you too guys." That's the only thing I had time to say as I felt myself being shaken awake.

Kakashi's POV

I woke up early next morning to wake Elle up for her shift. I walked into her room to see her crying in her sleep again. I quickly checked the air for chakra, but I didn't sense any. A breath of relief escaped my lips as I walked over to her to wake her up. I shook her shoulders a bit and she looked at me confused. When she recognized her surroundings, she smiled a bright smile and hugged me. "They let me go. I am free to stay here." she said happily. "who let you go?" I asked hugging her back. "My parents, they told me to move on." Her smile got wider, and she pulled away. "I can stay here without them holding on to me." I chuckled at her childish smile. 'Happy to hear kiddo." She seemed to have a dream about her parents. Oh well, I'm happy as long as she's happy. "You better start getting ready, your shift starts in about an hour." she nodded at me and jumped out of bed.

Sooner than I expected, she came back out wearing the same clothes. She walked into the living room, her smile not leaving her face. "Breakfast will be ready in a couple of minutes." I said as she was heading for the door. She stopped in her tracks, giving me a pleading look. "I'm still full from lunch. How about we eat dinner together?" She asked hoping not to make me mad. I just sighed and waved at her smiling, "I'll pick you up for training today." She shouted a 'see you' and ran out the door.

Elle's POV

I walked through the streets towards the flower shop. I have been observing the way everyone was talking and I memorized the basic words I heard. I knew the basics of the language and could understand people when they talk most of the time, but I wasn't fluent just yet. Something caught my attention and stopped me in my tracks. There was a villager screaming at a kid in an orange jumpsuit. That's Naruto! How can someone be this mean to a kid? Even if the kid is a jinchuriki, he doesn't deserve this treatment! I walked over to the man, making sure to greet a couple of random villagers, and cleared my throat. I plastered a smile on my face and gave him an innocent look, "Good morning sir! Is boy making you mad?" He fell for my innocent act and nodded. "Scum like him shouldn't be allowed in this village." He answered glaring at Naruto. "Scum?" I asked acting confused. Naruto was just staring at me. I gave him a quick wink and looked back in front of me. That seemed to make him even more confused. I smiled to myself internally and payed attention to the man. "Scum are people who don't deserve to be alive! They are useless and an annoyance for everyone." I nodded and gave an even more curious look with a sweet smile plastered on my face. "you're scum?" He seemed shocked at what I said. His shock quickly turned into anger. "You little brat! How dare you?" I just smiled at him, "good day, scum." I turned away and started walking. I grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him down the street, leaving the man screaming at us. The people around him noticed him screaming at me and got mad at him for 'screaming at such a nice girl'. That's what you get you old fart. Just as we rounded the corner out of sight, I burst out laughing. Naruto soon joined me, laughing hysterically, while we were making fun of the man. "Thanks for that by the way!" Naruto said while scratching the back of his head. "Anytime!" I smiled brightly at him. "Are you new here? I've never seen you around before." He asked curiously. "Yes, I'm Elle." He gave me a goofy grin. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Believe it! Nice to meet you Elle." Oh shit, I'm going to be late to my shift. "Nice meet you Naruto. Good day." I waved at him as I left to where I was actually supposed to be. I should definitely work on my Japanese more.

-Time skip-

I had about 10 minutes left in my shift when two women entered the shop. they started talking to each other. Ok, let's see. What are they talking about? I had been analyzing people's speech patterns all day and was able to understand most of them till now. these ladies are talking so fast I can't understand anything. I just have to understand one word. That's all I need. I was focusing on their conversation; I can guess the context if I just understand one word. Come on, come on, just one. Hospital? Flower? Got it! They're taking flowers to visit someone in the hospital. I smiled to myself as they approached the cashier. They paid for their flowers and left. I took off my apron and waited for Mrs. Yamanaka to get here. she was a couple of minutes late, but she showed up eventually. She gave me my pay for the day, I waved at her goodbye and left the shop. I saw Kakashi standing outside, his nose buried in his book. I walked up to him and smiled. He put his book away and smiled at me. "Ready to get some training done kiddo?" I nodded at him and we started walking. After a couple of minutes of walking, we reached the training ground which I recognized instantly. We walked to the center and Kakashi looked at me seriously. "From this moment on I am your sensei. Clear?" I nodded and he kept going. "We'll start by assessing your physical strength. First, do as many pushups as you can." He ordered as he sat on the floor and started reading. I just stood there, looking at him. After a couple of seconds of me not doing anything, he looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Here's the thing…" I smiled sheepishly, "I can't do a single pushup." He looked at me surprised. "Not a single one?" I shook my head ashamed. He must think I'm so weak. Way to crush all his hopes of this training going well. He cleared his throat and started again. "What about sit ups?" I chuckled awkwardly. "Those are not way better either. I can only do 15." He shook his head, "running?" I shook my head again. I can't run for more than 5 minutes straight." He sighed and got up. Great, he's leaving. I blew it. I looked at the floor ashamed. "We'll start by building your stamina then." I looked up at him surprised. "You're still going to train me? Even after knowing I'm this weak." He just chuckled, "Just because it's bad now, doesn't mean it's not going to get better." My shocked face turned into a smile. He believes in me; I'm not going to let him down! "First let me introduce you to someone." He started doing hand signs. No please don't tell me he's going to summon a dog. No no no. My heart started beating like crazy and my anxiety started building up. I started backing away as I was getting flash backs of that night. He seemed to notice my fear and stopped mid summoning. "you're releasing chakra again." he said as he started walking towards me, a worried look on his face. I can't tell him that I knew he was going to summon a dog. That would blow my cover. maybe I can just say that I'm scared of animals. He sat me down on the floor and sat next to me. "Please don't summon anything. I have an extreme fear of most animals." He nodded at me, "Are you afraid of dogs?" I nodded furiously. "they're the ones I'm most scared of. Let me guess, you summon dogs." "I was going to send one with you while you're running but I guess it can't be helped." He said as he got up and helped me up. "We're running around the village until you drop." He said and smiled a close eyed smile. I sighed and nodded, dreading what's coming next.

-time skip-

It has been about 30 minutes of me running as fast as I can. I only finished one lap and my legs feel like jelly. I won't stop. I won't let him down. I won't stop. I kept repeating that in my brain. I can't be the weak one. I have to keep going. I was breathing heavily, and my legs were barely holding me up. How can people do this? I looked at Kakashi who was next to me reading his book. HE WASN'T EVEN SWEATING. I looked back in front of me and ran even faster, ignoring my screaming legs. I wasn't going to lose. I kept running for what felt like 15 minutes before I started stumbling. My legs began giving out, but I still urged them to keep going. I knew I wasn't going to last for much longer, but I just refused to stop. I will at least finish this lap around the village. The gates are coming into view. Just till there. I was so out of breath and drenched in sweat. I could see the gates approaching quickly. Suddenly, both of my legs gave out and I fell to the floor panting. I tried to get back up, but my muscles wouldn't respond. Kakashi stopped next to me and put me on his back. "I think you did enough running for today." I was too tired to answer. I was panting furiously trying to regain my breath. He carried me back to the training ground and sat me down under a tree. "stay here for a second" he said as he disappeared. I sighed and leaned back on the tree. That was disappointing. I didn't finish the lap. Tomorrow morning I'm going to do it. Kakashi appeared back in front of me and handed me a box. I opened it and saw dango inside. He also handed me a water bottle and told me to regain my energy. I started eating my food but was full after one stick, so I put the rest away and just downed the whole water bottle. Once I was done, I stood back up. My legs weren't as wobbly anymore since I got time to rest. "Lets continue training." He looked at me with a raised eyebrow but just got up and walked to the center again. I followed him as he stood facing me. "Now, how about you try an easy jutsu? Let's start with the transformation jutsu." I nodded. He did a hand sign then transformed into me. it was definitely weird standing in front of a replica of myself. "visualize the person you want to transform to and do the hand sign. It's that easy." He said releasing the jutsu. I closed my eyes and tried feeling my chakra. After a couple of seconds, I could feel a warm buzzing, which I assumed was my chakra, moving through my body. I focused on my mental image of Kakashi. I did the hand sign and felt my chakra reacting inside of me. I opened my eyes to see that I was taller. I did it! I transformed into Kakashi! I looked at him smiling, hoping for his approval. "Great job. You got it on your first try. Looks like your ninjutsu is better that your taijustu." He had a close eyed smile on his face that melted my heart and made me want to squish his cute face. Sadly, I couldn't do that, so I just released the jutsu and smiled back. For the next 2 hours, he taught me some more basic jutsus like the substitution jutsu and the clone jutsu. Turns out jutsus are really easy for me. I did all of them on my first try. He also taught me how to hold a kunai properly and we began working on my aim with shuriken which was not bad for my first try. All in all, I went home exhausted from all the training we did and passed out the moment my body touched my bed.