CHAPTER ONE

FOUND

The moon shone brightly like a beacon in the starless night sky. All around the village, everything was remarkably silent. Animals and civilians alike were tucked away, warm and cozy in their beds. The village was, for once, completely at peace since the Third Shinobi World War started to meet its end.

Skeptics couldn't help but wonder if what they were experiencing was, as the saying goes, the calm before the storm. They had the feeling that something possibly life changing was about to happen; though they didn't know if it was for the better or worse. All they really knew was that something big was headed their way. The others, who were enjoying the peace and not questioning it, silently hoped that nothing would come along and disrupt the calm that had begun to settle over the Hidden Leaf.

Shinobi patrolled the outer walls of the village waiting for something – anything – to happen. They'd been getting bored as of late, ever since the village fell into a state of peace. Maybe they were selfish, or maybe they were just restless as they felt their skills weren't being used to their fullest potential. Though they couldn't deny it, they were grateful that there was no immediate danger to their beloved village, they just couldn't help but long for the rush of battle.

A lone shinobi made his way around the village, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble. He had short black hair that just about reached his shoulders and obsidian eyes. He wore the standard green flak jacket, a navy blue long-sleeved shirt that had the Konoha Military Police Force symbol on the shoulders, shin-guards and a black open-front apron with white diamonds on the bottom. There was a stern look on his face, which made the creases underneath his eyes become more pronounced, as he let his gaze roam over the quiet village.

When the man realized that he would find nothing amiss on such a calm and peaceful night, he began to make his way home knowing that his beloved wife would be waiting up for him, even though it was barely midnight and nowhere near the late hour he usually went home. With the thought of surprising his wife with his early arrival, he rounded the corner.

On a whim, he had taken the long way home. Walking passed the stretch of forest on the outskirts of the village, he heard ruffling in the foliage. With the grace of a seasoned ninja, the dark haired man stealthily made his way into the trees. Hoping onto the nearest branch, he made his way towards the source of all the noise.

He was ready to reprimand the group of genin he was sure was messing around, only to be infuriated that he had made assumptions. He was the captain of the military police force; he couldn't be so careless as to make assumptions. The words of a certain redheaded woman sprung to the forefront of his mind chiding him about those who assume.

Down below were three ninja and if their forehead protectors were anything to go by, they were shinobi from Kumogakure – the Village Hidden in the Clouds. From his vantage point, he could see that they were after something, though he didn't know what. He knew that the Hidden Leaf had not allied with the Hidden Cloud and he hadn't been informed that there would be any Kumo-nin wandering around the village.

"Where did it go," the sole female of the group whispered aggressively to her teammates. A scowl of frustration etched onto her lovely face. She had shoulder length white hair paired with radiant warm brown skin. "Raikage-sama will not be pleased if anyone were to find out about this."

Interest piqued, the dark eyed man slunk back into the shadows waiting to hear more. He took out a kunai from the holster on his right leg, and gripped it in his left hand. As he listened, he discovered that something had gone wrong with a jutsu that the Raikage was working on and the outcome of it had somehow made its way into the outskirts of Konoha.

A sneeze echoed out into the forest – oddly reminding the silent man of a kitten – causing the Kumo-nin to fall silent and take up defensive positions. The three foreign ninja scanned the surrounding forest from where they stood. Soon the three had decided to separate and find the source of the sneeze.

The Konoha-nin was at a loss. What kind of idiot allowed their position to be given away by a mere sneeze?

He figured it would be best to deal with the Kumo-nin first before going after the source of the sneeze. Silently he moved from tree to tree going after the bigger of the two men first. Once the larger man was in perfect view, he let a barrage of kunai rain down on the unsuspecting man. Though the man was large, that did not hinder his speed. The dark eyed man wanted to finish the fight quickly, and did just that. Flash-stepping behind the ninja he quickly slit his throat, and then turned and ran towards the other male.

From what little he had observed of the team, the sole female appeared to the be the leader, while the other two were merely brutes – cannon fodder. If he wanted information it would be in his best interest to take out the muscle before he went for the brains.

He found the second brute heading in the direction of the Hyuga Compound. With a well-aimed shuriken, the second man fell over dead before his body was enveloped in flames leaving nothing behind. Pivoting on his foot mid stride, the dark haired man ran in the direction where he sensed the female of the group.

Breaking into the clearing where the Kumo-nin were once gathered he paused when he heard what sounded like crying. Letting his gaze flicker around the area, he searched for the source of the cries but heard nothing. When he was about to run out of the clearing he heard the cries again. Paying rapt attention to detail, he scanned the area once again. That time was a success fore he saw movement at the base of one of the lager trees. Looking closer he realized that there was a child hidden within the roots.

The man felt fear take the form of a lump in this throat. Although the fear was not for himself, but for the small child. There was a Kumo-nin still within the forest, and she could easily harm the child. Not to mention if there was a battle then the child could possibly be killed. He needed to find a way to remove the child from the area without drawing attention to them.

Walking closer he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a look of fear wash over the child's features as he approached her. He was shocked that she had raised a kunai in defense. From what he could tell, the child was female, and judging from her size, was no older than a year. She wore a pale yellow sundress that was ripped and torn in various places. He could also see a few cuts and bruises scattered around her small body. The look of fear in her eyes almost overwhelmed him.

Crouching down, so as not to scare her with his larger stature, he spread out his arms and allowed his eyes to soften. A friendly smile made its way onto his face. "Come on out of there, and I'll take you back to your parents," he spoke to her softly.

She took a small step forward before changing her mind and ran away instead.

The man's eyes widened. Jumping back up to his feet he ran after the little girl. He caught up to her in less than a second. Scooping her up into his arms, he had to bite back a yelp of pain as her little arm swung and slashed at his cheek with the kunai she held. After a bit of struggling, he finally managed to pry the kunai from her, surprisingly, strong grip without hurting her. The little girl stiffened when she realized what she had done to the strange man.

"Sowwy," she sobbed softly, large eyes shining with unshed tears as she stared at the injury she had caused the man. The Konoha-nin watched as the child's eyes traced over the thin scratch across his cheek.

"It's alright little one," the man spoke soothingly as he repositioned the girl on his waist so that he only needed on arm to carry her. When the tears fell from her eyes, he gently wiped them away with his thumb. "I'm not going to hurt you." When she finally calmed down, he continued, "I need to get you out of here. It's not safe for you." She nodded again staring straight into his eyes. Reaching up a tiny hand, she rested it over his right eye.

"Piitty," she mumbled. The man blinked his eyes and reopened them. "It gon'," the child cried out astonished. Again, he closed his eyes and opened them again. "Magic," she lisped out when his eyes returned to their glowing red color. The man chuckled at her innocence.

"What's you name little one," he asked her.

"Kimi," she replied quietly still observing his eyes.

"Well hello Kimi, I'm Fugaku," he introduced himself to the child. "Now let's get you back to where you belong."

oOo

From above the white haired Kumo-nin watched the scene play out. Of all the people to stumble upon the child, Fugaku Uchiha was the last person she expected. He had taken down her partners with ease. A slow grin spread across her face as she brought her hand up in a seal. The jutsu was released, and the henge faded away. Short white hair grew into long black hair, chocolate colored skin turned pale, brown eyes turned snake-like, and the feminine features turned masculine.

"This was not exactly what I had planned, although Fugaku finding her will make things all the more interesting," he whispered to himself. He then let out a laugh before disappearing back into the shadows.

oOo

As Fugaku was walking towards the Hokage tower to see if anyone had gone to report a missing child, he studied the little girl in his arms; large obsidian eyes framed with thick lashes, unruly soft black hair, lightly tanned skin, gapped teeth, and a little unnoticeable skin-colored mole underneath her right eye. If anything she could pass as a member of his clan, his own child even.

Looking into her eyes, he could tell that some of the fear they once carried was gone, but they continued to watch him. He did not want to think about the things that made her the way she was right then. Was she what the Kumo-nin were after? If so, then why? Had Kumo turned the small child into a Jinchuriki?

Wanting to get to the Hokage's tower as soon as possible, Fugaku bent his knees while tightening his grip around the dark haired little girl and sprung up onto the roof of the nearest building. Hearing a squeal, he looked down only to see the little girl's eyes wide in amazement. Then she started to giggle uncontrollably. He allowed a small smile to grace his face at the sight.

Soon the Hokage's tower came into view. The entire building was shrouded in darkness. It was at that moment that he was reminded of the Sandaime's departure that morning for a meeting with one of the Fire Country's many feudal lords. Changing his course of direction, Fugaku headed towards the Police HQ.

While on his way, he spotted a house he was quite familiar with. Light poured out of the large windows from the dining room area, and from what he could see, the Yellow Flash was pacing back and forth in front of the dining table, a mission scroll held in his hands. When he got closer, he could just make out the exhaustion that seemed to wholly consume the blond, along with the dark circles under his eyes.

The blond man's musings were interrupted by a tapping at the window. When he turned to face the window, he was surprised to see none other than Fugaku Uchiha perched on his windowsill. After placing the scroll down on the table, Minato made his way over towards the balcony door to allow the other man entry into the house.

"Fugaku-san, what brings you by so late," Minato asked, as the dark haired man made his way into the room after removing his shoes. When he caught sight of the small head of dark hair, he looked down to see the child that was in the other man's arms. Addressing the little girl directly he said, "I'm Minato, and who might you be?"

"I'm Kimi," the child spoke shyly, as she looked over the blond male before her.

"Kimi, doesn't that mean 'secret'? It's a really pretty name you have Kimi," he told her with a bright smile, which in turn caused the little girl to return the gesture. "Fugaku-san, why is this child with you," Minato questioned. A teasing smirk stretched across his face. "Or did you and Mikoto have another one when no one was looking," the blond joked, which earned him a glare from the Uchiha.

Kimi took notice of the look on Fugaku's face and mimicked him, narrowing her large eyes until she sported a hard glare and thinning her lips into a tight line, then directing it towards the blond man. The look she gave Minato caused his eyes to widen in surprise. "Well, she certainly does look like you."

"I found her while on my way back home from nightly patrols. She was in the woods where I encountered three Kumo-nin," the Uchiha spoke in a monotone, once again shifting the child in his arms in an attempt to restore blood flow to his fingers.

"Kumo-nin," the Namikaze asked dropping his playful demeanor and taking on a serious one. "You don't think they'd try something so soon after the war? Did you happen to gather any information on them? Did you inform the Hokage of this?"

"It didn't seem like that way," Fugaku reassured his soon-to-be-Hokage. "They were trying to locate something, and kept stating that something had escaped. After I took two of the three out, I went in search of the third member, but that was when I came across the child. Since the Hokage is away at a meeting, I radioed HQ and sent out a few of my men to investigate and inform Danzo of the situation."

Both men's expressions darkened at the mention of the Sandaime's advisor. It was easy to determine that the two men were not particularly fond of the war hawk.

"I see," Minato mauled over the new information. "Why did you bring the child here?"

"I also fear that this child may be what the Kumo-nin were after," the Uchiha Clan leader spoke.

"Why would that be," Minato inquired, head tilting to the side.

"From what we know, Kumo is always trying to find ways to strengthen their ranks. This child could possibly be another Jinchuriki or a potential candidate." He looked down at the little girl that was resting in his arms, and sincerely hoped that he was in fact wrong. He was a father and even though he wanted his son to be the strongest, he did not want him to go through all the pain of becoming a Jinchuriki if he could prevent it.

"I'll examine her for any seals," Minato said as he held out his arms for the little girl. Fugaku attempted to hand her over to the blond, but the child clung to his vest not wanting to be handed over. After a bit of struggle, Minato finally got the little girl away from the dark eyed man. Fugaku had to stifle a laugh as the little girl pulled on the blond's hair. So much for being a feared and respected war hero. "She has quite the grip."

"Don't let her get a hold of any weapons," the Uchiha warned, gesturing to the scabbed over cut on his face.

"Wait, she did that to you," blue eyed man asked, looking from the small girl to his clan head of a friend. "I thought one of those Kumo-nin managed to knick you." He let out a snicker, which earned him another glare. He turned around and laid the little girl on the table. He lifted her shirt up, and placed his right hand over her bellybutton. "Okay, Kimi, this might feel a little bit weird, but I need you to stay still for me. Can you do that?"

When Kimi nodded, Minato sent pulses of chakra into her small body. The sensation of having chakra pumped into her body was strange, and it had more of a tickling sensation rather than a painful one. No longer able to hold it in, she let her giggles escape.

"Well she doesn't seem to be a Jinchuriki or have any markings, though she does seem to be ticklish," Minato said with a laugh as he tickled the girl's sides.

Static from Fugaku's scanner interrupted them. After a brief conversation, he turned back to the blond. "There haven't been any reports of missing children."

"It's too late to take her to the orphanage, or ask anyone to take care of her in the meantime. Unless you would be willing to take her in for the night. I know you have Itachi, but that is the only option I can think of. I would take her in myself, but I wouldn't know the first thing on how to care for her and Kushina is out on a mission."

"Daddy," Kimi called out as she stood up on the dining table with her arms stretched out towards the Uchiha. Fugaku choked on his spit, causing Minato to laugh yet again – so much for dignity.

Once she was back in the Uchiha's arms, the little girl rubbed at her eyes tiredly, and let out a tired yawn as she rested her head against the man's chest.

"Good luck, Daddy," Minato called out to Fugaku, as the man was preparing to leap out of the window with the child wrapped securely in his arms. The blond had to jump out of the way of a kunai. He let out a chuckle at his friend's antics, and decided to call it a night. He knew that if he had taken the little girl in, the two of them would both be crying by the end of the night. Fugaku was better suited to watch after Kimi, than he was.