Building a Family

At the thought, Kabuto Yakushi crouched until he was eye to eye with Anya, gazing into her large green eyes that seemed to reflect the human heart. His feelings were tangled.

He took a deep breath and asked as calmly as he could, "Anya, what would you think if I adopted you and became your father, but had to take you somewhere far away and unfamiliar to live and go to school?"

Anya barely hesitated. She puffed out her little chest and answered loudly, with the conviction of someone accepting a sacred mission:

"Anya likes the director! Anya promises to complete every mission the director gives her!"

There was not a trace of fear of the unknown in her eyes, only complete trust and an eagerness she could barely contain.

The sight of that little girl, holding nothing back from him and entrusting her entire future to him, struck a chord deep within Kabuto Yakushi.

For an instant, he seemed to cross through time and see himself years ago: another orphan standing before the warmhearted Director Nonō, his eyes filled with the same pure trust and dependence.

The sense of fate coming full circle washed over him like a tide, tightening his throat.

He fell silent for a moment. At last, all his struggle and hesitation dissolved into a nearly inaudible sigh and a gentle gesture.

He reached out and stroked Anya's pink hair. "Good girl."

The paperwork was completed quickly. Before long, Kabuto Yakushi stood once more in the Hokage's Office.

Kakashi, the Sixth Hokage, stood by the window, looking down at the pink-haired little girl waiting quietly in the courtyard and gazing around with curiosity.

"So that's the child you chose?" Kakashi's voice betrayed nothing. "Can she do it?"

Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses, his eyes clear with