A Kind of Magic

Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto. This story is inspired by the tales of a sweet little thief, loosely based on a novel by Megumi Tachikawa.

Author's Note:Enjoy the sweet adventures of a new thief, a phantom named, Tanuki. This is the pilot chapter.

Summary: By day, Midori Niwa is a less-than-average kunoichi who much rather work at the Yamanaka flower shop than take on any missions that aren't D-Rank. But by night, Midori is an elusive thief that plagues the Hidden Leaf, pulling off magical capers. No one knows her true identity and the Konoha police are unable to stop her. She is known only as Saint Tanuki. Kakashi Hatake takes up the assignment to pursue the thief, determined to capture her. However, he soon realizes her intentions as a nocturnal bandit are pure because she only seems to take from the unjustly and returns the items to their original owners. Will he catch her… or will she steal his heart first?

Chapter One: The Magician

She never stole for personal gain and never for wicked purpose. Her thieving was of pure intentions. Despite what others may have thought of her, she wasn't selfish, and she wasn't greedy.

She was good.

Sometimes it was difficult to remind herself of that as she clad herself in black and let herself out the second story window of her apartment. Gazing over her beloved home, Konohagakure, always helped her remember why it was she did what others wouldn't risk.

Her duties, as she often considered and deemed her deeds as, were not to take for herself but to take back from the wayward people and give back to their victims who had been wronged by life's cruelties and misfortunes. Redemption and justice. Those were the words she was looking for. She was redeeming the seeking and bringing justice to the displaced.

No one knew better than she. Our actions and values define who we are in this life, and tonight, she'd continue down the path she deeply believed was right.

A deep breath allowed the built tension within her to flee like a passing note to a beautiful chord. The melody of the night welcomed her as light footsteps padded against the tiles of the roofs in her pathway.

The evening was laced with stars, encouragingly shining the way for her as she made her way through a neighborhood of desirable residence. She crouched low on a roof adjacent to her target. In the distance, she could hear the prominent chime of Konoha's clock tower proudly announcing that the midnight hour had been reached.

Confidence surged through her as she embraced the midpoint of night. It was time to strike.

Her lithe form unflinchingly broke through a grandiose windowpane, granting her the intended dramatic entrance she had hoped to make. Subtlety was a part of her usual methods of operation, but her self-assuredness had promised the luxury of an easy heist tonight.

From the window, she took in her surroundings and mapped out the entire layout of the house before her. To her left and right the corridor extended until it ended in stairs. She counted eight rooms, four on each side of her and she assumed they were locked. Her eyes moved onto the floor below.

The layout was similar with the exception of an extra door near both the front entrance and back exit. Directly across from her was the main entrance of the home. Her pursuers would likely enter through them as was their policy when searching a residence. The owner of the home would enter from the extra door, probably a study of some sort, a room to conduct his experiments in. Closing her eyes briefly and focusing, she could hear him hurriedly scrambling up steps. The echo of his feet suggested just as she had suspected, it was a secret basement.

She needed to act before he reached the top. She lowered herself to the first floor, maneuvered through a maze of antique furniture until she made her way to a desk. She recognized which scroll she was after although several were carelessly spread throughout the room. His lack of caution would be his undoing. He should have hidden them in his basement. It would have given her a more difficult time.

Swiftly, she managed to wrap her fingers snugly around her aimed object of burglary just before the sixth ringing of an alarm sounded noisily, resonating throughout the dwelling. She remained unshaken by this as she tucked the hulking scroll underneath a firm arm and leapt capably to the second story, using the surface of a cabinet to jettison herself. She concealed herself within the black shadows, cautious not to catch any light that was being poured through the window she'd broken through earlier.

She watched as secret audience to a disgruntled man—she guessed to be Toyama, the owner of the home—while he sprawled out hopelessly on the floor after entering through the mysterious side door that was unnoticeable at first glance. He raked the floorboards with his fingertips and let out a wail comparable to the resounding alarm.

As expected, by the eighth ringing, her usual chasers had arrived onto the scene as well. Konoha Chiefs of Police Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki led their force through the intimidating large front doors of Toyama's manor.

"It's stolen! The scroll that I treasured so much!" Toyama's quaking hands lifted, pretending to affectionately hold the irreplaceable scroll he'd never see again.

Kotetsu spared himself an eye roll. Izumo was more compassionate as he placed an empathetic hand on Toyama's shoulder to steady him.

"The lights won't turn on," reported an officer from the force.

The raven-haired shinobi's eyes narrowed, focusing on their surroundings. He could barely make out the faces of his comrades and subordinates through the darkness. He spoke into his headset and said, "Team Eight, move in."

Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga emerged from the throng of scattered police. The sensory squad went to work quickly, but she had been tipped off prior to the caper that the team would make an appearance tonight. She made the necessary preparations before their intrusion.

Timed confetti bombs showered them with countless colorful minute particles, sending the police force into temporary pandemonium as they tried to discover their source.

She wisely used this time to work her intelligent hands around the scroll, strapping it securely to her person so she wouldn't have to worry about losing it as she made her escape. She stood resolutely and bounded for the staircase's railing, gliding up it like a phantom.

"After her!" Kotetsu shouted, giving signal to Team 8 and the rest of the police force to follow his lead.

It would take them some time before they reached her from where she stood at the top of the right side's set of stairs. She formed the necessary hand signs to create three feather clones of herself, judiciously distributing her chakra evenly within each of them as to avoid the Hyuuga progeny's Byakugan.

Her first feather clone dropped down to the first level and went through the trouble of engaging Hinata in battle to distract her. The subsequent clone had set to her divertive work by scrambling Kiba's and Akamaru's olfactory system with sprits of potent perfume she'd concocted herself. The third clone calmly removed a tiny cylinder from the holster on her leg. She unsheathed the cap and dabbed the contents onto several places of her body to distract the insects.

The moment Shino released his beetles, they clustered around the third clone in a haze of pheromone driven insects. He tried to draw them back to him, but to no avail. They were completely out of his control, buzzing madly in swarms as they'd begun to perform their unique mating rituals.

A triumphant smile touched her lips as she gazed upon Kotetsu and Izumo. Their force of inexperienced genin awaited orders before taking any sort of action. She was fortunate in the fact that they had all required a great deal of training and were a light threat if any at all.

The Konoha Police Department was fairly new, finally being restored several years after the Uchiha Massacre under the request of the village's elders. Small crime had risen significantly in Konohagakure over the past few years and it was decided that a small police force of amateurish genin would serve as officers under the tutelage of Kotetsu and Izumo.

She catapulted herself towards her initial entrance through the broken windowpane. Kotetsu used Izumo as a makeshift springboard to grant him greater distance as he leapt into an aerial launch of his own. He was just a hand's breadth short of her.

He was so close.

Three laughing feather clones guarded her, taking the hit for the original as he grasped one of their legs. The clones burst into what seemed like a limitless amount of pure white plumes as they cascaded down.

When Kotetsu had no more space to gain and met the extent of his leap, he fell back to the ground, landing softly in a magical blanket of white feathers. Izumo would have tried to lessen the impact of his partner's fall, but couldn't see well enough to do so. The feathers swirled relentlessly in a whirlwind, successfully blocking every line of vision no matter how the group below struggled.

She reached the ledge of the window, balancing upon it with victory. Her form casted an elegant silhouette against the full moon that intensely beamed from outside, giving her a spectral appearance, and then the apparition was gone.

"My precious scroll I worked so hard to steal," whined Toyama through the fluffy plumage. He hadn't moved from his place since he entered the room.

"What was that?" Izumo asked, plucking pesky feathers from his mouth as his partner, Kotetsu ineffectively swatted down the obnoxious onslaught of quills.

"Nothing!" Toyama clasped a quieting hand to his mouth as he made an attempt to sneak away, but Izumo and Kotetsu had made their way through the heaps of feathers and detained him.

"Kotetsu-san," Hinata called in her small voice. Wisps of feathers toppled down a scroll she held in her hands as she examined it thoroughly with her keen eyes. She recognized the familiarity of the scroll. "This belongs to the Hyuuga's. It was stolen from us months ago."

Shino moved his hand to hold up another scroll. "This one's from the Ichikawa Clan."

Izumo frowned as he continued the investigation and discovered yet another stolen scroll. "This is the missing forbidden scroll from Lady Tsunade's office. We've been searching everywhere for it."

Lord Toyama farced a look of innocence, raising his hands in defense. "This isn't what it looks like," he claimed through clamped teeth. It wasn't hard to detect the false sincerity within his voice.

"I think you've got some serious explaining to do down in the Hokage's office," Kotetsu remarked, restraining him in an unbreakable grip and shoving him forward near the exit. "In fact, let's go see her right now."

-The Next Morning in the Hokage's Office-

Daylight poured in through the windows of Tsunade's cylindrical office. Midori Niwa struggled to hoist a large vase atop the Hokage's desk, waiting for an opportunity to ask the demanding woman where she'd like her to deliver the arrangement. She'd managed to receive approval—at least, that's what she thought Tsunade's flickering glance had meant. Admittedly, she could have easily imagined the softened expression entirely.

Midori didn't have much difficulty in maintaining her patience as Lady Tsunade paced back and forth, perturbed by an article in the wadded Konoha newspaper she clutched in her hand. This morning's issue of The Foliage featured a story on a thief's whose recent fame had skyrocketed the past couple months. After being scolded by the village's elders on more occasions than necessary, Tsunade had her fill of this petty thief and was ready for greater action to be taken.

Shizune could only offer an apologetic expression in an effort to be supportive. Midori returned the gesture with the flash of a small smile and shrug of her slender shoulders. The moment was interrupted by Tsunade as she slammed down the rolled newspaper forcibly against the edge of her desk. Both the young women were racked with a shiver of surprise and fear, but Midori managed to recover quickly in order to secure the flower arrangement at another counter farthest from Tsunade's lethal blows. She made a quick mental note never to rest an arrangement on the Hokage's desk again for future deliveries.

Bracing herself for a tangent, Midori winced and waited. Tsunade, however, had become too distracted to berate Konoha's newest bandit. Her lips pursed as she eyeballed a plate of liver sashimi, her least favorite food. Repulsed, she took a step back and continued to glare, as if under the ferocious glower, the liver sashimi would shrivel up and cease to exist.

Contrite and with a trembling mouth, the shinobi who had brought Lady Tsunade the undesirable snack seemed to wither with each passing second underneath the Sanin's daggering gaze.

Sakura Haruno patiently entered the room with a documents folder in her hand. She took her place next to Midori while she waited for Lady Tsunade's attention.

"Did you hear that Saint Tanuki struck again?" Sakura whispered. It was then that Midori realized just how busy the office was that morning. Many shinobi were present, all waiting for Tsunade to give them just a few seconds of her time in order to receive a mission or ask a question of the utmost significance.

Midori couldn't help but smile at the moniker. Although the village elders considered her a nuisance more than anything, Leaf's kunoichi had adored her, calling her a modern-day Robin Hood type. "People seem to think she's some sort of apparition. She certainly comes and goes as one."

"I'm a huge fan of hers," Sakura admitted, sheepishly sweeping her glance downwards and then lifting it back up. "She's really cool."

Hotaru Hyuuga emerged from the door with a second arrangement and crossed the room to place it next to the one Midori had left at the counter. Ino Yamanaka followed directly after with a third vase brimming with freshly cut flowers. Midori couldn't help but note the significant difference in size. Why did she always get talked into carrying the extra large arrangements?

"The mysterious thief Tanuki, right? With a fluttering ponytail, she appears and steals from the village's criminals. Her dignified ways have made her quite popular in Konoha. Every girl, young and old, here considers her a role model." Hotaru paused to straighten a slightly skewed flower in her vase. Pleased after nestling it in a more flattering position, she continued. "They've affectionately nicknamed her Saint Tanuki. No one knows her true identity for she's a master of genjutsu."

"She's never failed," remarked Ino. The blonde leaned her back against the counter to face her friends. She had kept her voice relatively low as to not disturb Tsunade until the point when her excitement got the best of her. "And the way she moves is so graceful and elegant. I bet she never fails in love either! She's really something else!"

"Something else is correct," interjected Kakashi. As usual, his presence had come as a stealthy surprise. "Sailor Raccoon or whatever it is they call her… A thief is a thief. I'm disappointed you'd consider her a role model, especially you Sakura."

He hadn't bothered to look up from the graphic novel he'd been reading from. Eye contact was a commodity to be earned from him and not bestowed willingly if he was absorbed in his book.

There was something about his demeanor and self-assured attitude which made Midori tense with irritation. "I'll bet you'd like to meet her too," she said with little attempt at friendliness.

"I'm not interested in meeting a D-rank thief. I find it hard to believe that Konoha's recent unsolved mysteries are a result of this Saint Tanuki's moonlighting. Stolen scrolls, jewelry, statues all stolen within the past month by her," Kakashi commented with a turn of a page.

"Kakashi, just the man I wanted to see," said Tsunade, looking unexpectedly thoughtful. The liver sashimi was out of her sight and she was ready to slip back into the Hokage persona before she lost her cool over something else. "A jounin like you probably won't have any problem catching her. Kakashi, I'm assigning you to the case. You can work with the Konoha Police Force chiefs Kotetsu and Izumo. You can also call on a specific team of the rookie nine should you need to and should they be free."

"Sure," Kakashi replied before disappearing, "I'll see what I can do."

Midori couldn't help but to allow herself a roll of her eyes. His nonchalant mannerisms were incessantly irritating to her, and the way he freely came and went. When her lips began to pucker, Hotaru nudged her gently to stir her.

"Shizune told us to just leave the arrangements here," Hotaru murmured as she led Midori from the office. "Ino's already on her way back to the shop. We'll catch up, but there's something I'd like to talk to you about first."

"I understand." Midori nodded. Whenever Hotaru's features moved into a more stoic expression, she knew that there was something troubling her. She waited patiently for them to generate enough distance between the Hokage's office and their position. This discussion was something that neither of the two could afford an eavesdropper with.

"I overheard something today," Hotaru said, "about a young shinobi named Shishio."

"Shishio? The one that just graduated from the Academy a few months ago?"

Hotaru nodded. "Yes, the very one. He'd recently gone on a mission, his first C-Rank mission, in fact. He's made a terrible mistake."

"What kind of mistake?" Midori asked, looking down at her, "is everything alright?"

"If only they were, but there's no easy solution," Hotaru began to explain. "He was supposed to escort two gems, an original and a duplicate, back to the jewelers who hired him. When he delivered the stones, he accidentally switched them. Later, he realized that he'd given them the duplicate and not the original. Thinking they had received the original, they'd given him the supposed duplicate as payment. He's barely realized the mistake after getting the gem appraised. He's so afraid of bringing shame to himself and his family. He doesn't want to be labeled as a thief because the jewelers have sold their gem to a wealthy Konoha clan."

"I see," Midori murmured, allowing for several moments to pass between the two as they strode through Konoha. They passed a small shop which sold stationary, notifying Midori that they were around the corner from their workplace.

"Saint Tanuki is expected to switch them and make things right," Hotaru said once they were a few yards away from the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Of course." A small grin replaced the look of worry that had settled during Hotaru's story. Her hand extended out to the door, pulling it open and holding it politely in place to allow Hotaru to walk in ahead of her. The jingle of bells sounded from the disturbed door. "Tonight," Midori promised.

-Just as Night had Fallen-

Two heists in a row caused her to think that she was perhaps pushing her luck, but what needed to be done needed to be done.

She felt the same confidence the night before when Konoha's clock tower sounded, resonating throughout the village. The chime always brought her comfort no matter what hour it clattered. It was a reminder that she was safe under the protection that night guaranteed.

Although it wasn't midnight and she'd set off earlier this time, she still felt relief. Twilight had already settled over the village, quieting it to a peaceful state.

She absorbed that peace and comfortably made her way to the Saito mansion, slipping in without difficulty or hindrance and navigating her way down a series of long corridors.

However, when she tried the door to grant access to her target, she couldn't help but feel something was amiss when she found it was unlocked. 'That's surprising,' she thought, pressing it open with astute gentleness.

Apparently not gentle enough for an alarm to ignore. A shrill ringing threatened her hearing as she entered through the door.

Her eyes fell to an open window as a silhouette soared through. Shooting her glance to the center of the room, she realized that the gem she'd come to take had already been stolen.

She wasted no time in exiting the same way as the first thief. She tracked him discreetly through Konoha's no longer still evening. Judging by his thicker and taller shape, the shadowy figure was indeed male.

He slid through alleyways and unmarked routes of the village in an erratic manner, but his strong sense of direction told her that he'd mapped this escape route ahead of time and that he certainly had a predetermined destination in mind rather than a spontaneous one.

This disturbed her to an extent, made her believe that because he had an intended course, she could run into several different sorts of complications that she was not exactly equipped to handle. She preferred to be prepared for capers and did not favor surprises.

She steeled herself for the unknown events which lied ahead for they themselves were uncertain but that didn't make them any less imminent or any less daunting.

With her back pressed against the outside wall on the balcony of the room the man had entered, she listened circumspectly to the conversation which took place inside.

"Took you long enough," rebuked the first voice.

"I'm here, aren't I?" She could hear the relaxed way of speaking in the second voice. "Pretty sweet setup we've got here." There was a short chuckle.

"Selling rare gems for a ridiculous amount of money and then stealing them back only to do it all over again? I can't imagine a better get-rich-quick scheme."

"I'm not sure where you come up with these ideas," the other man complimented.

It was unnecessary to listen any further. Instead, she put about a block's distance between her and the home. She needed to collect her thoughts to formulate a proper plan as well as consult Hotaru.

"Hotaru-chan," she called into her headset, "I have a bad feeling about this one."

"What's going on?" asked Hotaru, voice riddled with concern. During missions, Hotaru was always poised and collected, but the thief could understand how her teammate felt helpless when it came to these capers. Hotaru had difficulty keeping calm in these situations where she couldn't be present or visualize the setting properly.

Saint Tanuki promptly explained the situation as an attempt to alleviate her teammate's worries and gain her insight. Silence settled between the friends. She could tell Hotaru was likely fretting. She could just picture her comrade pacing through the flowered aisles of the Hyuuga courtyard nearest her room with a look of anxiety crinkling her delicate features.

"I think you should let this one go and not press the matter any further," Hotaru finally resolved. "It's too dangerous."

"I'm heading back," the thief replied, determinedly. "I'm going to turn the head set off for now. I'll get back to you after I'm done." Hotaru had tried to object, but she switched the head piece's power off. 'Forgive me my friend,' she thought woefully, hoping she wouldn't bring her friend too much worry.

Breaking and entering was one of her specialties, something she could do so inconspicuously and secretly she'd often surprised herself. It had become an art for her. This was no different.

This time, she chose to slip in through a bathroom window on the second floor, which was just big enough to permit her entrance. She exited the room, closing the door softly behind her and taking in her new surroundings. Cautiously, she walked toward the center of the hallway to where the stairs formed and flowed down to the first floor.

She hadn't grown too concerned until she heard the doorbell ring. Halted, she returned to the shade of the poorly lit corridor. The stairs were too illuminated to serve as a good hiding place. She allowed herself to peer ever so slightly from around the corner and observe the scene before her.

Squelching her surprise, she felt her heart push aggressively against her ribcage as Kakashi, Kotetsu, and Izumo entered the residence.

"Hello, Mr. Nakajima. We'd hate to disturb you at this hour, but we've got reason to believe that your home could be the next target for Saint Tanuki," Kakashi informed the men.

Her body drew further into the shadows of the dim corridor as his keen eyes swept over the main entrance directly across from the stairs. Though he hadn't been granted permission to freely roam and examine the home or set up some sort of trap, he still wasn't going to make the foolish mistake of not investigating what he could.

"How do you figure that?" asked Nakajima. His arms folded in front of his chest in an effort to display his skepticism. He was doing his best to portray his disbelief, anything to keep them from investing their analytical endeavors in a search of his home. He couldn't run the risk of them prying.

"Through process of elimination, I've been able to determine and isolate your home as the next target. It's really quite logical," Kakashi explained so matter-of-factly that Nakajima and his partner found trouble in locating a proper excuse.

"If you gentlemen don't mind," Izumo said, "we'd like to stake out your home for the rest of the evening."

Before any objection could be made, Saint Tanuki decided it was time to act. She couldn't let this continue any further. She had cut the power breaker, submitting them all to the darkness that a lack of electricity presented.

"You're kidding," Kakashi grumbled within the shadows.

Kotetsu's hand sought a light switch through the darkness. His pointer finger fruitlessly toggled the switch up and down.

"Please take your seats everyone," the thief called assertively from the looming staircase. Her voice echoed. The reverberation disguised her exact location and gave no hint to it. "The show's about to begin."

"Let's get some light in here," Kakashi instructed, "open up a window."

Izumo and Kotetsu hurried to draw back the curtains of two tall windows located near the front doors, releasing the moonlight they had been imprisoning with their drapery. Light began to filter in as they unlatched the windows and pressed the panes open, exposing them to the outside.

The two men flew back almost immediately as an overwhelming horde of Saint Tanuki clones charged through the windows without shattering the glass, disorienting the befuddled men. Saint Tanuki took advantage of the situation, materializing from her previous hiding place and racing past them toward the room she needed to find. If her calculations had been correct, and they often were, when she counted windows before entering the home, the room should have been the fifth on the right.

Upon entrance, she placed two separate kunai at either sides of the room, connected by a thin but strong wire that threatened to make its unsuspecting victim falter. She set up a secondary trap that depended upon the first being triggered in a chain reaction. A cord was attached to it so that once the first trap activated, another wire that stretched from the floor to the ceiling would act to secure the victim further. She then made her way to the safe.

She placed her expert ear to it and began to work the combination lock at an efficient pace. After the required clicks, it popped open to reveal a small wooden jewelry box. Clamor was heard behind her, suggesting that Mr. Nakajima and his accomplice had finally made their way to the room.

Reacting slightly to the intrusion, she turned to face the fallen men. Stunned, they lied face down on the floor. Their daze wouldn't last more than a minute. Small hands lifted the jewelry box lid open and switched out a dazzling sapphire with its copy. Several other gems glistened from the wooden box.

'I'll leave the rest to Kakashi and the KPD,' she thought to herself after placing it directly on the back of Nakajima.

She recoiled into the secure darkness when she could hear another figure making its way to the door. Kakashi was a much more effective shinobi than Kotetsu and Izumo. With the legendary Copy Ninja now on her trail, she'd have to be additionally cautious and clever.

In order to keep from giving herself away, she suppressed a gasp when she saw Kakashi smoothly stroll inside with his Icha Icha Paradise novel. Nestled to the binding of the page, a book light hovered over the text so that he wasn't forced to try to read in the dark.

Her lips pursed, insulted that he deemed her so mild a threat that he dared to read his adult novel. She vowed to make him regret bringing the soft perverted book he was so fond of.

The silver-haired man paused before the jewelry box, reaching over to lift and examine its contents. One glance and he recognized each and every one of the precious stones. He fastened the latch after closing the lid back down before burying his vision back in his novel.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nakajima demanded, recovering somewhat from his dazed state of being.

"I was admiring your little plan. You've been stealing from the exact same customers you sell to. Clever setup you have," he replied.

"You can't accuse me without proper evidence!"

This caused Kakashi to look up to give Mr. Nakajima and his accomplice a disapproving look. "All the evidence needed is here. All that's needed to do is to go through some of the paperwork I saw the Hokage filing today. Nothing but reports on missing jewels in which you happened to be the seller of. I suppose I should have known better. Saint Tanuki may have a ridiculous moniker, but she's not a dirty crook. She usually has a reason behind her thefts."

The bandit felt the heat rising to her cheeks, flushing them with color and warmth. Kakashi set the box of jewelry atop a nearby table and allowed his gaze to freely travel back to his novel.

"But she's the thief," argued Nakajima, struggling to his knees. The temporary paralysis was wearing off. It would have lasted longer if he hadn't have struggled so determinedly.

"The only thief I see here is you."

It was then that Nakajima executed a charge, but Kakashi was prepared for him. Book in one hand; he defended against his assailant with the other as he dug his shoulder into his chest cavity.

Nakajima's partner, too, wriggled fervently to gain proper control over his body once more. Maneuvering a working hand to the holster at his leg, he drew a kunai. Saint Tanuki, with a flick of her wrist, threw a group of small shuriken, precisely and effectively pinning him in his place.

Satisfied, she moved to make her escape, but soon mistakenly realized that Kakashi hadn't forgotten about her or that she'd given her position away. He'd taken hold of the trap she'd set prior and threw it in her direction like a lariat. The weight of the kunai lassoed and coiled tightly around her legs, ensnaring her. With a swift tug, he reeled her in toward him.

Her heart threatened to explode from her chest and make its own escape without the rest of her as she helplessly continued in her lurch. Hands defensively went up to block her identity as she allowed herself to loom closer to Kakashi, surprising him by purposely giving into the gravitational pull. He hadn't expected her to be so bold and she used that to her advantage as she leered toward him.

She worked zealously to manage a single leg from the tightly wound cord as strategic hands grasped the bottom edge of his novel, shoving the book into his face entirely when she finally made direct impact.

His attempts at craning his neck over the pages of the book to catch a glimpse of her identity where of no use. The book light that had once saved him from reading in the darkness was now blinding him. He resolved to rely on his other senses, shutting his eye to the bright book light.

He was greeted by the distinct scent of perfume. It started out sharp with very peppery bergamot and a light hint of fresh peach nectar until it calmed into a sweet floral mix of freesia, iris, night-blooming jasmine, vanilla, and sandalwood.

Making a quick mental note, he knew he'd be able to distinguish the scent again should he ever come across it. There would be no mistake in the unique woody-musky undertones.

Squirming, she shoved the novel more harshly onto his face, pushing off of it to place herself back into a standing position. Now completely freed from the cord which had entangled her, she made her way across the room and to a large windowsill. Back against the window, she forced it open.

Peeling the book from his face, Kakashi gazed out toward the window. The book light had interfered enough with his vision. As he rolled to his side, he was barely able to make out a womanly silhouette against the moonlight as strange orbs of light floated in every direction he looked. His retina's overexposure of the book light had obscured his sense of sight. He clumsily sat up and faced her, tucking his book back into his waist pouch.

"You'll send me a calling card next time you pull off a heist."

It wasn't a question.

The thief smiled, gazing down at him as he tamely sat in his place. Unsure if he was permitting her to leave to be kind or because it really wasn't worth the chase after already catching two other jewel thieves, she couldn't help but note the possibility of handsomeness beneath his mask.

The corners of her delicate lips pulled the smile wider once she decided that even with the mask on, he was still very handsome. She wasted no more time admiring him. She needed to leave.

She had two more things to take care of that evening. One was to pay a quick visit to Shishio and leave him behind a note to let him know everything had been taken care of by his friendly neighborhood, Saint Tanuki. The second was to assure Hotaru that everything had gone accordingly to plan—well, perhaps not accordingly, but close enough.

Kakashi wasn't sure why it was he conceded defeat this instance, but didn't want to ruminate on the matter too much longer. He convinced himself that the reason was because she had done the right thing. Her intentions had been pure from the start.

Collecting himself, he casually made his way to the door, not bothering with Nakajima and his unconscious partner. Kotetsu and Izumo could handle them he decided as they burst through the door, late as usual.

"Kakashi?" The pair asked in unison, voices concerned and confused.

"You can arrest those men. They're the real thieves," he told them, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

There had been no point in sticking around for Izumo and Kotetsu to get their acts together. He considered whether he'd be better off working alone or not in the future when it came to Saint Tanuki.

She seemed youthful, but she couldn't be much younger than him. He made a note to keep an eye out for someone of that demographic.

Then an intruding thought occurred. He wondered briefly if perhaps she was pretty because when she had deliberately fallen atop him, she felt lovely enough.

He ended the reflection there, surprised at his own thoughts. Shaking off the notions, he blamed the fact that his face had nearly melded with the text of his Icha Icha novel earlier that evening and was the cause for such tainted delusions.

-The Hokage's Office, Early that Morning-

Glad to have gotten a chance to sleep in, Kakashi finished up his debriefing of last night's events. Tsunade wasn't too cross with his failure. She seemed more amused than anything. She had also been contented with the capture of the two troublesome jewel thieves that had been causing uproar amongst the village's more elite class. Representatives from wealthy neighborhoods could stop harassing her with strongly worded letters of complaint.

"I'd really love to do research on such a fine specimen," Jiraiya admitted, not bothering to contain his perverted enthusiasm as he scribbled onto a notepad. He had let himself into the office early that morning to keep Tsunade company likely to listen in on Kakashi's report. The Sannin rarely missed a research opportunity.

Tsunade's good mood was ruined by his sexual innuendos as she shot him a warning glance. Her eyes returned to Kakashi's as she spoke. "I know this mission is much lower than what you're used to now, but she's become quite a problem in this village. No one's been able to catch her. Not even those from the rookie nine. I'm up to here with her, so if you could please take on this mission permanently?"

"I accept," Kakashi replied.

The answer instantly relaxed the Hokage as relief washed over her in a resolute wave. "Thank you, Kakashi. You may go now."

He nodded and took his leave, pretending not to hear Jiraiya's perverted remark about him wanting to be his research assistant.

Though a true enthusiast of the series—perhaps the number one enthusiast—he'd leave the Icha Icha novels to the expert.

Once welcomed by the inviting sun, an urge to read the book persuaded him to take it from his back pouch and begin reading where he'd left off last evening. Absorbed in the literature, the world around him began to slowly evaporate until he was called back from the reveries.

"I heard you got close to catching Saint Tanuki," a voice said from behind an overwhelmingly large flower arrangement of lilies and gardenias. Midori Niwa's sapphire blue eyes peered at him from above the gaudy assortment.

She lowered the flowers to reveal a clearer image of her visage. With the assortment no longer obstructing her face, he could see that she was offering him a friendly smile.

In an effort to be polite, he too removed the object that had been blocking his face from hers. He observed as her smile widened in the slightest at his gesture of lowering his novel to his side. "Yes, I've been assigned to catch her."

Her expression was one of astonishment as she struggled to balance the arrangement in her arms. Nestling the collection in a firm grasp after a quick balancing act she smiled again. "Well, best of luck with that," she said sincerely before continuing on her way.

"Thank you," he replied, watching curiously. Auburn hair spilled down her back until it reached her thighs as she bobbled down in the direction of the Leaf Hospital. Not very many kunoichi grew their hair so long as she. They found it a hindrance during missions, but he found it a refreshing change.

Author's Note:I hope you enjoyed the pilot chapter! I'm so excited to share the adventures of Saint Tanuki and her pursuer, Kakashi. Let me know your thoughts in a review!