Kat looked out the open window cautiously, left to right. Nobody. She took the opportunity and crept out of it silently, as quiet as a mouse. She was quite high up, and climbed up to the very top of the roof, the moonlight from above her only light. She could see most of the village from the roof of her mentor's house, and looked for the nearest roof.

Without another word, she jumped from her sensei's roof and onto the nearest one, and jumped from roof to roof until she neared the gate to the village. She had managed to get all that way without so much as a creak. She squatted and kneeled, placing her hands on the ice-cold roof. Now was the time to put her skills to good use.

There was a cherry blossom tree to her left, and if she was to escape successfully, she'd have to use her agility to jump onto one of its higher limbs so she could jump from that tree to the village gate's walls and onto another one that was in the forest surrounding the village.

She looked at the cherry blossom determinedly before gracefully leaping - from all fours - onto it, almost falling off the limb as she landed on it. She clawed back onto it and let out a breath of relief. Now came the real challenge. She inhaled and crouched down extremely low onto the branch's limb, before jumping and catapulting herself straight onto the village walls. She'd made it. She spotted a tree to her right, and very quickly soared to it, landing on her hands and feet.

She stealthily made her way from the limb to the trunk of the tree - again, on all fours - just like a cat, and put a hand against the sturdy tree trunk for a moment.

Maybe that's why they call me Kat, she thought jokingly, looking down at the ground from her perch.

To test out her cat like prowess, she gulped and climbed down the tree head first, clutching the bark with a death grip. She looked a little shocked when she made it down without a mistake, and stood up.

She gave the village one last, sad look before she walked into the forest, now feeling truly free. I'm sorry, Kakashi, she thought, delving further into the multitude of trees, At least you won't miss me…

She heard a small cough and turned around, her face suddenly drained of all colour.

Sure enough, Kakashi leant casually against a tree trunk, the usual book in hand and a disappointed look on his face.

The blonde blinked at him blankly. "I should have known," she muttered, unable to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, you should have. Because now I'm going to have to watch you twenty-four seven, now I know that I can't trust you." said Kakashi resentfully, his stony look drilling into Kat. She looked a little ashamed, but she wasn't giving in without speaking her mind. "I don't want to be here, Sensei," she said bitterly, and Kakashi's eyes widened at the use of 'Sensei' instead of his name.

"So it's Sensei now?"

"You were the one who said that no one was supposed to know our relation. I'm only doing as I was told."

"Hmph. I guess I should just call you 'student'. But I won't, because I don't cut as low as you do, and because I respect my 'relations', unlike some girls around here that I know." he countered, glaring at her.

He wasn't upset - no, not at all. He remembered when he was her age, obviously not as rebellious but she had the same feistiness as he did and the same spice in her personality. They may not have looked alike, but Kakashi liked to think of her as a more carefree, happier version of himself.

"Kakashi…"

"I'm very disappointed in you, Kat. This was meant to be a new start for you, but here you go again, running away as usual. I expected more from you."

"I wasn't running away! I was doing what I needed to-"

"No, you were doing what you wanted to do. Again, same old Kat."

Kat bit her lip. "Look, I'm sorry. I just don't think this is the right place for me at the moment."

"Oh, really? And where is the right place, Kat? You haven't even given this village a chance." said Kakashi, putting his hand to his temple and rubbing it. He sighed.

Kat sighed too. "Fine, Kakashi. I'll try. But I won't stay if I don't want to, okay?" she offered, and she looked at him tiredly. "I knew you'd change your mind," said Kakashi, and he smiled at her. Kat couldn't help but smile back, now feeling at least a little more secure.

"But that doesn't mean you escape punishment, miss," said Kakashi in a sing-song voice, still grinning. Katra facepalmed. "You're going to spend a day with my team! And you're actually going to socialize."

"No! No, no, no, no!" she cried, her lip wobbling. "Sorry Kat," smiled Kakashi, "But you've got to learn your lesson! Now let's go home. It's rather late."

Katra looked at the ground, but immediately looked up again when she felt Kakashi take her hand in his, and she looked up at him. "Come on. We gotta have energy for tomorrow!" chirped Kakashi, and before the young girl had anything to say about it, he picked her up and teleported away, a puff of smoke the only evidence of their appearance.

_____________________________________________________________________

"Where is he?" groaned Sakura tiredly, leaning back on the bridge's rails in fatigue. "I don't know, but I know that if he isn't here soon, I'm gonna get him," muttered Naruto, rubbing a little sleep out of his eyes. Sasuke looked up at the sky boredly, and tried not to complain as well. He sighed.

"Morning everyone!" said a cheerful voice, and Sakura and Naruto looked up at the bridge's arc in disgust. Before, that is, they took a double glance.

As usual, Kakashi was squatting on the same red arc…. But there was an unfamiliar, blonde teenager beside him. "You see, I got lost on my way because I saw a puppy -" said Kakashi, revealing today's utterly lame excuse. But instead of the usual cries of "liar!"…

"Who's she?" said Sakura immediately, her green eyes brightening. "Oh, this one?" said Kakashi, looking back at the girl. "This here is Kat. She'll be joining us for today!"

Sakura studied the girl closely, and could instantly tell that she wasn't from this village. The girl had long, blonde hair that was tied back in extremely long, spiky pigtails… Her right sleeve was white and cottony, and had two buckles on it… her left was just one, white, cut sleeve… mini-shorts… and black legwarmers that covered her black ninja shoes. Two belts around her waist, and one slotted through her shorts… and one around her ankle… strange…

The blonde waved and smiled a little, jumping down to the bridge. "Hi, I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you," said Sakura warmly, offering her hand to the new girl. She took it, and smiled. "Awesome," said Kat, shaking her hand, "I'm Kat. Nice to meet you too, Sakura-chan."

Before Sakura could say a word more, a blonde male pushed in front of her and looked at Kat with wide blue eyes. Wow… she's pretty… he thought airily, not realizing that he was staring at her. "Hi," she murmured, now a little creeped out. The sound of her voice brought Naruto back to reality and he gave her a toothy grin. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" he said proudly, beaming at her, "And I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

Kat smiled, and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun." she said pleasantly, smiling back at him.

Sasuke pushed himself off the bridge's rails and stepped forward silently, looking Kat in the eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha," he said calmly, and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said a little coldly, and Sasuke noticed this. What, no "Sasuke-kun'?" he thought to himself, giving her a determined smile. She shot one right back at him, but managed to maintain her polite appearance.

"Now that we all know each other," said Kakashi, a little confused by the way Kat had spoken to Sasuke, "We have a mission to do." He pulled out a scroll and read through it carefully, and shrugged. "Okay, guys, I guess I was wrong. No mission." said Kakashi, a little surprised.

"Yay!" cheered Naruto, and he ran off before he could be stopped. Sasuke shrugged. "Kakashi, can I go train now?" asked Kat, looking at Kakashi innocently. He nodded and watched her as she walked off calmly, he and the remainder of his team looking at her as she left.

"Who is she?" asked Sasuke sharply, looking up at his sensei. "A good friend of mine. You should go find out how "friendly" she is, especially while training… go on, I want to know how she'll stand up against you, Uchiha…" said Kakashi suddenly, and looked at Sasuke expectantly. "But I know nothing about her," said Sasuke coolly, hinting for some more information.

"Then go discover her for yourself," said Kakashi simply, pulling a book from his pocket and walking away wordlessly.

Sasuke shrugged and went off to find the mysterious girl. "I guess it couldn't hurt," he said, Sakura right behind him. He looked around the village for a while before he ventured out into the forest. They walked through it for a while before finding a large clearing. Sasuke smirked. The blonde with the pig-tails was sitting in a tree, her eyes closed and the wind caressing her soft skin.

"Kat!" called Sasuke, walking up to the tree, alerting the resting female. "Uchiha… what can I do for you?" she asked, yawning. She stood up and jumped straight down, landing on all fours before standing up.

Sasuke looked surprised.

"Yes?"

"Kakashi thought it might be a good idea if we had a little brawl," he said calmly, raising an eyebrow at Kat, who didn't even bother to look straight at him as she replied. "Sorry, Uchiha," she answered, "There's a few things I need to do before I brawl with anyone. My apologies."

Sasuke shrugged and walked away, leaving Sakura with the blonde. "Hello, Sakura-chan," said Kat amiably, smiling. Sakura smiled back. "So, Kat…"

There was a small silence.

"So, Sakura… what are your plans for today?" asked Kat, her bright eyes twinkling.

"I actually don't have any plans, I thought we were training," said Sakura, and Kat nodded.

"Does Kakashi-kun make you train hard?" asked Kat, the words "Kakashi-kun" striking curiosity in Sakura. "Yeah, he's strict, but I guess it's for out benefit," said Sakura brightly, and Kat giggled.

"I've never heard anyone speak happily about training with him," she laughed, and Sakura blushed.

"Hey, Sakura! Who's this?" asked a male voice, walking up from behind the pink-haired girl and tapping her on the shoulder.

Sakura froze for a second, and turned around. "Oh, Lee. It's you," she said, letting out a sigh of relief. "This is Kat."

Lee smiled. "Nice to meet you, Kat. I'm Rock Lee," greeted Lee, giving her a small wave. Kat nodded, and smiled. Wow, thought Sakura, That's totally different to my first reaction to Lee…

Lee blinked. "Hey, you don't have a forehead protector! You're not a ninja?" he asked Kat curiously, and Kat facepalmed.

"That's right, I was supposed to get it off him this morning… Stupid 'Kashi, always forgetting things… I'll be back later, okay guys?" she said, before crouching down to the ground and disappearing before their very eyes.

"She's strange," said Lee, "She doesn't have a forehead protector, which usually means you're not a ninja, yet she can just disappear like that? And she called Sensei 'Kashi'…"

Sakura shrugged. "We were introduced to her by Kakashi. If she knows him, then I'm guessing she's no idiot," she said interestedly, before she turned away, leaving the bushy browed ninja wondering what the hell was going on.

****

"Kakashi… thank you for coming. Please, sit," said the Fifth Hokage calmly, her eyes following the ninja's movements as he sat less than gracefully into his seat.

"What is it, ma'am?" asked Kakashi in his usually uninterested voice, blinking lazily at his superior. He had been called to see the Hokage less than a minute ago, and from what Kakashi knew, it probably wasn't really important.

"It's about Kat," said Kakashi's leader bluntly, and Kakashi's eyes widened a little. Maybe this was important after all.

"What about her? Has she done something wrong?" said Kakashi tensely, and memories of a younger, more childish Kat streamed into his mind as he said these words.

"No," said the elder, blinking boredly, "She's been good as far as I know. This is about her placement."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"For her best interests, I am forbidding you to have her accompany your team, and I am also reviewing her placement at your home," said the Hokage, and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Kakashi as she saw the ninja's reaction.

"What?! Why?" cried the Copy Ninja, looking thoroughly bewildered and a little bit angry.

"Firstly, I do not want her in your team because I know what you're like. You will correct her on every mistake, and tell her otherwise when she tries to do something her own way. I don't know her strengths or abilities, but you do. I am placing her with someone else who can monitor her and watch her grow on her own without interference," said the elder simply, and she sighed.

Kakashi nodded. He knew that if she was in his team, he probably would do that, just as his leader had said. But -

"Why can't she live with me?" he said as calmly as he could, and he clenched his fists to keep himself from lashing out in outrage.

"I said I am reviewing that. The others have said that maybe, for the same reasons as her training placement, she should be living with someone else who can also help her grow into her own being. That said, I know you haven't seen her for a long time, which is why I haven't decided yet. I will see how she goes living with you for the next week. If it's all okay, she can stay. If not… she goes."

Kakashi clenched his teeth together, and nodded in the most controlled way he could. "Thank you…miss…" he said in a forced way, taking in a deep breath. "But who's team will she accompany?"

"Team Eight."

"You mean Kiba's team?" said Kakashi in alarm, his eyes brightening. This wasn't going to be good…

"Why not? Is there a problem with being in Kiba's team?"

Kakashi sighed. "No…" he mumbled, looking away from the powerful woman opposite him.

"Good. That said, I think we should find Shino, Hinata and Kiba… I'd say they would like to meet their new 'team mate'…"

"Kiba…"

****

Stupid dog, thought Kiba in frustration, his nose to the ground as he followed the scent of his hound, tracking him. If I ever catch that beast alive, I'll…

"Woof! Woof, woof!"

"Woof woof?"

Kiba shot up in alarm. He'd heard two dogs barking… one was definitely Akamaru…

He focused his Chakra to his ears and listened closely, and almost lost focus as he listened to the now translated barking noises.

Are you the one who rescued me the other night?

Kiba raised an eyebrow. That voice was female, so it definitely wasn't Akamaru.

Yes. I was sent to find you from that silver-haired guy. I didn't know you could speak canine!

It's something I was taught when I was a child. By the way, thank you for saving me. I would have died if you weren't so brave. I brought something for you, to show you my appreciation.

Hidden from behind some bushes, Kiba silently moved aside a few branches to get a view of the conversation between his dog and the mysterious female. He frowned and snarled as he saw the girl - and it wasn't someone he had ever seen before in his life.

He watched carefully as she handed his dog a treat, and had the sudden urge to pounce out and rip this girl to pieces, whoever she was.

Thanks! What did you say your name was?

Call me Kat!

That was all they had time to say, because Kiba succumbed to his urges and pounced out from the bushes and onto the intruder, his fangs bared and his hands pressed on her shoulders, pinning her down.

"What the-?!" she yelped, looking up at the hooded face that loomed over her own.

"Who are you and what are you doing with Akamaru?!" roared Kiba, and he went to slash at the girl - but he stopped. His snapping jaws stopped. He decreased the weight he was pushing down on her. His eyes became curious. He leant down and sniffed her face, and instantly backed off.

She looked at him uncertainly.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I was just thanking him for saving me the other day. If it wasn't for him… I'd be dead."

"You're… pretty…" said Kiba mindlessly, and immediately shook his head after saying those words. "I mean, um… it's okay. I was… you see… I thought… uh…"

The girl blinked innocently at him, her cerulean eyes twinkling at him inquisitively. "Uh… anyway… You can speak Canine?" asked Kiba, standing up and offering a hand to the tackled lady. She took it, and stood up.

She murmured a few inaudible words, and patted Akamaru on the head before walking away.

Kiba looked down at his dog, raising an eyebrow.

I didn't do it! It wasn't me!

_____________________________________________________________

Hinata sighed as she plopped herself down on the ground, blowing a wisp of hair from her face. She was bored - for some reason, her team's missions had been called off, and seeing as she had planned to do her task, she hadn't thought of a backup plan. There was nothing to do - she couldn't find anyone, and she couldn't be bothered looking anymore.

She leant her back against the oak tree and rubbed her face, feeling rather jaded. "Hey, Hinata!"

The shy female looked up - and almost died.

Naruto stood in front of her with one of his trademark smiles, offering a hand to help her up. She took it with a timid look on her face, and looked at the ground. "Hello, Naruto…"

"Why are you here all alone? I thought you had a mission today."

"Our mission was cancelled today..."

"What?! Our mission was cancelled too!"

"That's weird…"

"Hey, Hinata, Naruto!"

The two turned around, surprised.

"Oh, hi, Shino," said Hinata, smiling.

"Hinata, we've gotta go see the Hokage. Apparently it's important."

"Is that why our missions were cancelled today?"

"Perhaps."

Hinata turned to Naruto, and blushed. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she promised, waving as she was dragged off by a rather hurried Shino.

_____________________________________________________________________

"Kiba, Hinata, Shino - meet Kat, your new team-mate."

The three teens stared in shock at the new face, Kiba looking the most stunned out of all of them. She's that girl from before, he realised, his dark brown eyes meeting her pretty cerulean ones.

"Kat will be training with you from now on, and will be going on all missions with you."

"Are you serious?!" cried Kiba, his companions raising an eyebrow at him.

The Hokage gave him the same gesture. "Is there something wrong, Kiba?"

"No, ma'am…"

"Good. By the way, your leader is sick. She'll be replaced by Iruka."

The three nodded, still looking a bit dazed.

"Well, go on, out with you all. I've got too much paperwork to do. Go on, get some fresh air."

Hinata walked up to Kat timidly. "Hello, Kat-san. I'm Hinata."

Kat nodded. "Nice to meet you, Hinata-chan." Hinata smiled and nodded, taking her hand and leading her over to her new team. "This is Shino," explained Hinata, pointing to the sunglass-clad male, "And this is Kiba."

"Kiba, huh?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "Kat, right?"

Kat's eyes gleamed with competitive spirit. "Yeah, that's right."

Shino raised an eyebrow, and gave a slight wave before leaving the room.

Hinata looked at Kiba and Kat, who were both looking at each other peculiarly. She shrugged and walked off, leaving the two to stare.

"You're that girl from before," observed Kiba, raising an eyebrow.

"How very perceptive of you, Ki…"

"Kiba."

"Right. Kiba."

They walked out of the room together, unable to talk to each other.

"So… how come you're in our team?" asked Kiba finally, exiting the building with the blonde.

"No idea. I thought I was in 'Kashi's team, but I guess not. I'm surprised. I thought there was only meant to be one girl in every team."

"That's what I thought. So… what kind of ninja are you? Genin? Jounin?"

"No idea."

"Is that your favourite line or something?"

"Nope. I don't know what kind of ninja I am. I'm just… a ninja."

"Who trained you?"

"Kakashi, mainly."

"You trained with Kakashi? Then why haven't I met you before?"

"I don't come from this village."

Kiba considered this.

"I want to fight you," he said suddenly, stopping.

"What, right now?"

"I don't know."

"I don't think I can right now. You see, there's this move I'm trying to perfect. When I perfect it, you can fight me."

"You don't have any other moves you can fight me with?"

"Heaps of them. But I'm training really hard for this one move."

"I see."

"Hey!"

A blur of orange and white sped past both of them, and Kat snarled.

"That… thing… that thing just stole my belt!"

"Which one?" said Kiba, laughing a little.

He looked at her. He didn't even know her that well, but he could definitely notice something missing.

"I'll kill that… thing!"

Kat crouched down and closed her eyes. There was a brief pause before she opened her eyes, and she sped off on all fours, chasing the thieving blur.

"Beast Mimicry!" muttered the male, mimicking her movements.

Kiba got down on all fours and followed her, and quickly caught up.

"So you know the Mimicry?" he asked her as they ran, Kat's eyes on the surprisingly fast blur.

She didn't answer. She crouched down low and leapt onto a nearby roof, Kiba closely behind her.

He raised an eyebrow - only his family knew the Mimicry move… so how could she move like this without the Mimicry…?

They leapt from rooftop to rooftop, pursuing the blur, who seemed to slowly tire.

"Stop, you thief!" called Kat angrily, and she flung herself off the rooftop and in the direction of the blur, who only just escaped and kept running.

Kiba was instantly at her side, and looked at her.

"There's an intersection in one of the streets up ahead," he told her as they ran, and Kat nodded.

"I'll go this way, you go the other way, and we'll corner it?" she asked, and Kiba nodded back.

Kiba sped off in a flash of his jacket and turned into another street.

Kat turned a corner and she smirked as she saw the blur stop at the end of the street, cornered into a dead end by the approach of Kiba.

She rushed up to the now un-blurred blur and grabbed it by the collar, snarling.

"Give me back my… Naruto?"

Naruto's face was pale white, and he held up the belt in defeat.

"It wasn't my idea!"

She went to scold him, but he disappeared into a puff of smoke, the belt falling to the floor. But it wasn't a belt - it was a piece of ribbon.

"He's used his Shadow Clone," muttered Kiba, and he turned around and took off, still on his hands and feet. Now it was Kat's turn to follow him.

"Where are you going?!" cried Kat, trailing him.

"To the ramen shop, duh," responded Kiba, and they both ran through the village, getting all sorts of weird looks.

Sure enough, Naruto sat at the ramen shop's table, happily eating a bowlful of steaming ramen.

"Hey! Pickpocket!"

Naruto turned around, and almost died. Kat's belt was hanging out of his pocket, and he smiled apologetically.

"So the Clone disappeared… well, this one will too!"

Another puff of smoke, and another ribbon.

Kat facepalmed.

"Don't worry, we'll find your belt…"

"That's what I'm worried about. If that belt gets damaged, I'll never forgive myself."

"It's special?"

"Very."

Kat crouched down low and inspected the ground. She nodded.

"The fakes smell different to the true Naruto."

Kiba sniffed the air.

"That scent smells like paper. Strange."

Kat agreed.

"But what does the real Naruto smell like? He can't smell like paper, surely."

"He smells like… like a fox."

Kat muttered something to herself bitterly.

"I'll go and find him. You wait here to see if he comes back," she said to Kiba, and before he could protest, she'd formed a seal and disappeared into thin air.

_______________________________________________________________________________

"She's alright," commented Sasuke briefly as he studied the searching female below him, Naruto anxiously at his side.

"I don't think it was a good idea to steal her belt, Sasuke," said Naruto quietly, holding the baby blue item in his hand. He'd stolen it on Sasuke's command in exchange for a bowl of ramen - he wasn't so sure that it was worth the effort now. Kat looked positively furious.

"I'll return it to her. I'll tell her I stole it. I want to see how mad she'll get at me."

"Weren't you listening, Sasuke? She knows it's me. Not only does she know what my clones smell like, but she also knows what I smell like. What if she smells me on her belt?"

"I'll tell her I gave it to you as a decoy."

Naruto wasn't so sure.

"What I'm more interested with, though, is exactly how she knows the Beast Mimicry move," continued Sasuke, looking half-interestedly at the roving girl scouring the village. "I thought only Kiba's household knew that move."

"Maybe she's related to him?" offered Naruto, and he frowned. Aggravating the new kid didn't seem like such a good idea…

"Maybe."

Sasuke looked at Naruto and took the belt, leaping down from their perch and landing in the street below. Kat had just happened to walk into that very street, and the doubtful look on her face turned to absolute fury when she saw Sasuke and what he had in his hand.

"Do you want your belt back?" asked Sasuke boredly, dangling her belt from his hand carelessly.

Kat smirked and stood up, dusting her hands.

"So Naruto gave it to you. I should have known something like this would have happened. Kakashi told me all about you, Uchiha."

"You call me Uchiha as if it were just a common nickname - why don't you call me Sasuke?"

"Because I don't recognize you as someone of any real significance."

"Maybe I should cure you of that."

"Try your hardest. I'll come out on top, I guarantee you."

Sasuke hmphed.

"You're cocky for someone who just came into town."

"You're arrogant for someone who doesn't even know me. You had no right to steal my belt. Give it back, or I swear, I'll kill you."

"You'd kill me over a belt…?"

"It was my late brother's. I would kill anyone who tried to take it from me. You'd be wise to give it back right now."

"I think I'll play a little game with you."

"I don't have time for your games. Give me the belt or I'll gouge your eyes out. We'll see how your Sharingan works then."

Sasuke looked a little surprised. How did she know about the Sharingan?

"I'll make you a deal. I'll give back the belt if you promise to fight me tomorrow."

"You stole my belt just so you could fight me?"

"You didn't seem keen to before, so I thought that I'd give you a little 'motivation'…"

"Why do you even want to fight me?"

"Because I don't know anything about you. I want to know your strengths and your weaknesses. And your family's Limit."

Kat laughed, almost cruelly.

"The last of the Uchihas is the same as his family, I see."

Sasuke growled.

"What do you know about my family?"

"More than I'd like to share."

Sasuke thought this over. He threw the belt back at her, and turned away.

"Tomorrow, you fight me. If you win, I'll leave you alone. If you lose, you tell me what you know about my family."