"Hey… What's your name?"

… My name?

"Hey! Captain! There's something wrong with this kid!"

"Hmm?"

What is… my name?

A hand grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look at him. His face was covered by a mask, but he had spikey silver hair that looked surprisingly soft. When he saw her face, his body stiffened, but she couldn't see his facial expression so she didn't know if it was good or bad.

"You… Are you Maki?"

"…Ma…ki?"

"Reporting, Captain! We have secured the perimeter. The enemies have, unfortunately, escaped! All prisoners have been found murdered!"

"Not all. This one is still alive. But I think she has no memory."

The other man, who also wore a mask, seemed to look down at her as the Captain stood up.

"We will take her back with us. We'll try that to bring her memories back. She may have some useful information."
"Yessir!"

It took a few days for them to take her out of that place and move her to their village. They called it Konoha. She was carried most of the way. The medic nin that they had with them was to exhausted healing his partners to heal her very much before he collapsed. The nins all seemed worried about her because she kept bleeding. Once they arrived in Konoha, it took weeks for the medic nins there to heal her. She apparently had severe internal bleeding, and they said it was a miracle that she had lived to make it to Konoha. Now, they were getting ready to use a jutsu on her to try to recover her memories.

"Maki-chan, just sit still in this chair. This may hurt a bit, but we're only trying to help. Okay?"

They had started to call her Maki after the Captain had asked her about her name. Namikaze Maki. She was apparently related to the fourth hokage, Namikaze Minato. She wasn't sure how, but they said that she didn't need to know the details. Just that she was part of the Namikaze clan.

She sat down in the chair. As she did, she noticed that there were symbols all around it. The ninja's at the end of each line of symbols started to perform handsigns. She tried to keep up with it, but her vision started to blur and pain started to shoot through her head.

"ngh!"

b-bump

"un.. geh"

b-bump

"Maki!"

"IIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!"

… so… quiet… am I… sleeping?

"Maki… wake up… please"

…but I don't want to…

"Maki… I'll tell you a secret"

…secret?

Something brushed her cheek as she lay there. His hair brushed her face. And a whisper of wind slid across her ear.

"You have a brother, Maki-chan."

… brother?

She opened her eyes and looked around. She was in the hospital again. Machines were hooked to her and birds were chirping outside. She sat up and started to rip needles out, an alarm started to sound somewhere. Rushing footsteps got closer to her door as she stood up. She turned and looked at it just as the door slammed open. There stood the Captain with at least ten medic nins.

"… Maki?"

"… Good… morning."

They all froze for a minute before the medic nins collapsed and collectively sighed with looks of relief. The captain stared for another second before he started to laugh.

"Ah! I thought you wouldn't wake up. You've been in a coma for two months Maki!"

She just smiled at them in answer. Over the next hour, the medic nins gave her an extensive check-up and finally agreed to let her leave. Until she could get a place of her own, she would be staying with the captain.

"Maki-chan, since my shirts fit you like a dress and I'm sure you don't want to wear hospital clothes all the time, let's get you some clothes of your own. My treat!"

"… I don't mind… wearing Captain's clothes…"

"eh?"

What she could see of his face started to turn red for some reason.

"…or the hospital clothes…"

He suddenly seemed to wilt.

"… Captain?"

"aiya~ Don't do that to me~"

"… Do what?"

*cricket chirp*

"You know what, nevermind. Let's go shopping!"

She was still confused by Captain's behavior, but followed him anyway. She was surprised by how into it he seemed. One of the girls at the hospital had said that guys didn't like shopping.

"Kakashi-san~!"

Maki looked over and saw a guy with brown hair in a ponytail and a scar across his nose running towards them. He finally reached them and stood with his hands braced on his knees while he gasped for air.

"Ka…Kashi…san… you…*huff*… were supposed to *huff* meet with the Hokage… *huff* about a mission an hour ago!"

"Ah, sorry, I got caught on the road of life."

"ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR LAME EXCUSES?"

"ano… Mister-san, Captain was with me. I'm sorry for keeping him so long."

"… huh? Naru-?"

"No, this is Maki. Maki, this is Iruka-sensei. He will be your teacher."

"Oh… Nice to meet you Iruka-sensei."

"ano~… yeah… Kakashi-san, why does she look so much like Naruto?"

"Ah, you know what, I better go meet Hokage-sama. Maki-chan, I'll meet you back at my place. Bye bye!"

He suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke and Iruka-Sensei started to curse.

"…Iruka-sensei… who is… Naruto?"

"… ano~… you know what? How about I just introduce you to him at school. He's… kind of a difficult kid to explain. Ok?"

She couldn't see what was so difficult about explaining who a person was, but she nodded and accepted his idea anyway.

"So, what were you and Kakashi-san doing?"

"Shopping. Captain says that I should wear other clothes then his shirts and the hospital clothes."

"Captai-? Oh! Kakashi-san! Heh, Maki-chan, you don't need to call him Captain. His name is Hatake Kakashi."

"…Captain Hatake Kakashi-sama?"

"No, just Hatake Kakashi."

"… Hatake Kakashi-sama?"

"ah… well… nevermind. Did you two finish shopping?"

"Hai"

"Really? Can I see what Kakashi-san got you?"

"Hai"

She squatted in the middle of the street and dug through the bag before reaching the clothes at the bottom. She pulled the dress out and showed Iruka who immediately started to turn red.

"Who… who chose that?"

"Hatake Kakashi-sama"

"… KAKASHI~~~!"

Maki stood outside the classroom in the brand new clothes that Iruka-sensei had helped Captain pick for her. Apparently the dress that Captain had chosen was extremely inappropriate for someone her age. (Or as Iruka said, someone of any age) Iruka-sensei stood in the classroom, getting ready to announce to the class that they had a new student. She peeked in just in time for him to signal to her. As she walked in he wrote her name up on the chalk board.

"Everyone, this is Namikaze Maki. Please treat her kindly."

The room was silent for a few minutes as the class studied her and she studied them. Her eyes finally landed on a blonde boy who had the same face as her.

"Ano… Sensei, why does Namikaze-san look like Naruto?"

"Ah, well, I'm not sure… But that reminds me! Naruto, come here."

The blonde boy grumbled but got up and walked to the front.

"When I met Maki-chan the other day, I suddenly got an idea for your punishment for skipping class all last week. Maki-chan, please hold Naruto still for me will you? That's a good girl."

She held Naruto as the boy paled and started to sweat. Iruka brought out a bag from under his desk and grinned in a way that Maki could only think of as evil. For a second she wondered if maybe she should let the Naruto boy go, but seeing Iruka-sensei's eyes shine changed her mind.

"Naruto… since you're always doing that stupid jutsu, you must really like being a girl, ne?"

As the class seemed to understand what was going on, most of them started to laugh, though a few seemed disinterested or worried.

A half hour later, Naruto was wearing an orange dress with a blue undershirt and black shorts. It matched Maki's outfit, except hers was a blue dress with a black undershirt. His hair had been pinned down and pulled to connect to hair extensions that gave him pigtails. He looked exactly like a tan-skinned blonde haired Maki, though she kept her hair down. A brown haired boy with red markings on his face came up and started to pinch Naruto's cheek.

"Awe~ I never knew you had such a pretty face Naruto-chan~!"

"Yeah, with how he dresses and acts he always looked like a boy. Now I'm wondering if he's actually a girl in disguise. HAHAHA!"

"YOU ASSHOLES! I'M OBVIOUSLY A GUY!"

Within seconds, Naruto was naked in front of the entire classroom. He was also quickly beaten by most of the girls in the class.

It was lunch time and Maki hadn't brought a bento with her, so she sat on the swing in the school yard.

"Hey!"

She looked up and saw a few boys from her class, none of them with very notable appearances.

"?"

"Are you a crossdresser? I mean, c'mon, you look exactly like Uzumaki."

"…Iie… I'm a girl."

"Prove it!"

Within seconds, the entire group of boys were all yelling at her to prove it. She noticed that they had surrounded her and she didn't see any point not to prove it. Though, she did hope that the girls wouldn't start beating her like they did Naruto. With a mental shrug, she stood up and took off her dress. The boy's all starred as she started to take off her shirt.

"MAKI-CHAN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Maki looked over and saw Iruka-sensei wading through the crowd of boys.

"… They wanted me to prove that I'm a girl."

He starred at her, gaping like a fish, for a few seconds before turning on the boys. All the boys were given detention for a week and extra homework. Maki was given punishment as well, for willingly agreeing to strip. Her punishment was lessons in proper behavior until it was no longer necessary.

Three months later Maki's lessons were finally at an end as she and the rest of the class got ready for the final exam. She hadn't made very many friends, just Hinata and Naruto. The other girls all called her a slut, Uchiha Sasuke was extremely anti-social, Nara Shikamaru thought everything was troublesome, Abarame Shino always had bugs with him (which creeped her out), Akamichi Chouji was more interested in food then in making friends, and all the other boys kept trying to convince her to take her clothes off. Maki put down her homework and looked across the table at Kakashi. He was reading Icha Icha Paradise again. He and Iruka had finally gotten her to stop calling him "Captain" and "sama" over the past month.

"Kakashi-san?"

"hmm?"

"Graduates from the academy are put into teams of three, correct?"

"Hai, that's right."

"Well… I did the math and if it's split into groups of three, there will be one extra student."

"Well that's only if everyone passes. Someone might fail."

"… But shouldn't they have a backup plan in case everyone passes?"

Kakashi finally looked up from his book and seemed to smile at her through his mask.

"I'll talk to Iruka-san and Hokage-sama about it, all right?"

Maki nodded before glancing at the clock.

"ah… I'm late…"

Kakashi sweatdropped as he watched Maki slowly and casually got-up and got ready for school. As she walked out the door he started to wonder if maybe she was learning his habits.

"… Iruka-san might not like that… Oh well!"

He then returned to his book.

Maki watched as more and more students were called into the examination room. They were doing it in alphabetical order by family name, so she was in the middle. Hinata was before her, and Naruto was last.

"Hyuuga, Hinata!"

Maki smiled and waved to the shy girl as Hinata left the room. Hinata smiled and shyly waved back. After a few minutes, the next person was called. Then the next and the next. After a few more people, Maki was finally called.

"Okay Maki-chan. We just need you to make three shadow clones of yourself, alright?"

She thought for a second before remembering how to do simple shadow clones. She easily made three, received her forehead protector, and walked out as she tried to decide where to tie it.

By the end of the day, everyone knew that Uzumaki Naruto had failed the graduation exam. Maki wasn't sure how to comfort him, or even if it was a good idea. She sat at home staring off into space as she tried to think of ways to make him smile. Before she knew it, though, it was morning.

Maki grinned when she saw Naruto come into the classroom wearing his forehead protector. He sat in front of her, next to Uchiha Sasuke, but was eventually beaten out of his place so that Sakura could sit next to Sasuke. Though, Maki had been surprised when Naruto and Sasuke kissed. Maybe it was a new game?

"Alright class, I'm now going to separate you into three man cells. As some of you may have guessed, there will be an extra person due to the number of graduates. That person will be allowed to pick which team they want being as that person doesn't upset any balance in any of the teams."

Maki watched as everyone was separated into their teams, until finally she realized that she was the extra.

So I can pick between Naruto's team or Hinata's team… this would've been better if they were on the same team.

She glanced over at Hinata and her teammates and was about to pick them until Kiba winked at her and blew a kiss.

"I pick Team 7"

Sorry Hinata-chan!

Both Sasuke and Sakura seemed annoyed with her choice, but Naruto was happy. During lunch, all three of her teammates disappeared so instead of eating with any of them, she shared a bento with Hinata. After words, she waited with her team for their sensei to arrive. Hours passed and she started to believe that it was the man she lived with. She was proven right when he walked through the door and an eraser fell on his head, the doing of Naruto.

"My first impression of you all is… I hate you"

"EEEEHHH?"

"Well, except for Maki-chan~ 3 "

Sakura glared at her and mouthed the word slut as they all left the room to convene on the roof.

Maki nearly burst into laughter when Kakashi "introduced" himself. Naruto was the next person to introduce himself, then Sakura, and then Sasuke. Maki wasn't much interested. She already knew about Naruto's obsessions with ramen and becoming Hokage and she didn't much care about what Sakura or Sasuke had to say.

"Ok… Maki-chan, your turn."

"Hello, this guy's name is Hatake Kakashi. He likes porno and dislikes being pranked. His hobbies are reading the Icha Icha series and his dream is to find a lifetime fuck buddy who doesn't mind cosplaying as character's from the Icha Icha series."

They all starred at her with shocked expressions before Naruto started to laugh hysterically and Sakura looked disgusted. Sasuke seemed annoyed and Kakashi looked slightly amused.

"Ok Maki-chan, enough playing. Please introduce yourself to your teammates."

Maki grinned at Kakashi before complying.

"My name is, apparently, Namikaze Maki. I like sweets and dislike anything bitter. My hobbies include training, studying, baking, and trying to get back my memories. My dream is to remember my entire life and to find out who Kakashi-san meant when he told me that I have a brother."

"Ano… Maki-san, if you're looking for a long lost brother, then shouldn't you be looking at Naruto? He looks exactly like you."

"… He has blonde hair."

Sakura face-palmed before walking over and smacking Maki upside the head.

"IDIOT! Male/Female twins are FRATERNAL twins! That means they don't HAVE to look like eachother. YOU TWO DON'T NEED THE SAME HAIR COLOR TO BE BROTHER AND SISTER!"

"So what is it Maki-chan?"

Maki stood in front of the Hokage, an old man who she couldn't see as being the strongest of the village. He watched her as he sipped his tea.

"Is Naruto my brother?"

The Hokage immediately started sputtering and coughing on his tea.

"Wh-cough-at?"

"Naruto and I look alike and Sakura asked if we were siblings."

"w-well, You're part of the Namikaze clan and Naruto's part of the Uzumaki clan…"

"So? Sakura said that since I have no memories, I could've been mistaken as someone else. Or that I could have taken one parent's last name and Naruto could've taken the other."

"Fine, Fine. You and Naruto are twins, though you two have different family names. Actually, you should've been given the name Uzumaki because of your red hair, but I guess your parent's decided to give it to Naruto to tie him to his mother, just as they wanted to tie you to your father."

"… Ok. Can I change my family name to Uzumaki to stop confusing people?"

"Ah, well, no. Firstly, the process to do that would be a long and frustrating legal battle with the village elders, the ones in charge of that. And secondly, Uzumaki Maki sounds strange."

"… Ok. Bye bye, Hokage-sama."

"Oh, Maki-chan! Just so you know, Naruto's your older brother!"

Maki nodded her head in reply as she left. She then checked the time.

"…ah… I'm late…"

"MAKI-CHAN~! YOU'RE LATE!"

"Sorry, I was asking Hokage-sama about Naruto and I."

"…sssooo~?"

"Naruto-onii-chan is my older twin brother. Our parent's decided to give us different family names."

"Hey guys, good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Maki didn't pay much attention as Kakashi explained what they were doing, she did however notice when he brought out three bells.

… shiny~

When Kakashi finally yelled start, Maki sat down were she stood. Sasuke hid in a tree, Sakura in a bush, and Naruto stood in the open demanding Kakashi to fight him.

Not really caring, Maki started to play with the bell in her hand.

*ting*

Both Naruto and Kakashi looked at her in surprise as she played with the bell like a cat with a toy.

"… Maki?... When did you get that?"

"When you said start. I wanted it, so I got it."

"okay~… how did you get it?"

"Like I said, I wanted it, so I got it."

"Maki… that doesn't make sense…"

"Yes it does. I saw it, I wanted it, I got it. Makes perfect sense if you think about it." They all sweatdropped as they watched her play with the bell.

"Well… I guess the question now is, can you keep your bell?"

"Of course."

Maki glared at Kakashi as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

It was finally noon. Maki was still playing with her bell and Naruto was tied to a stump. Maki glanced over as Naruto's stomach growled. Kakashi had left with the strict rule not to feed Naruto… but he was too pitiable. Just as she reached for her lunch to feed him, Sakura offered him her food. Maki froze and starred. Sakura hated Naruto! As Maki zoned out, she didn't notice Kakashi come back or her teammates argue with him about working as a team. She only shook out of her daze when she heard Naruto yelling to be untied.

Naruto was complaining about D-Rank missions again. Sasuke and Sakura didn't say anything, but their expressions clearly showed that they agreed. Maki sighed and inched away from Naruto again. She didn't like the cat that was being held in his arms using him as a scratching post. They finally returned the cat to it's owner and Naruto immediately started to demand for a higher rank mission. After some arguing with Iruka-sensei, they were finally given a C-Rank mission to escort Tazuna the bridge builder home. Though, the old man did call Naruto an idiot. They were given until the next morning to prepare, but Maki didn't have much to do. When she got home, Kakashi had already packed her stuff for her. The next morning, Kakashi and Maki were both still late though. Kakashi had been dumb and watched Maki sleep rather than wake her up.

"So Maki-chan, why are you and Kakashi-sensei always late?"

"Well… today we were late because Kakashi-sensei was watching me sleep and didn't want to wake me up."

"EEHHH?"

Both Naruto and Sakura were staring at her now.

"What?"

"KAKASHI WAS WATCHING YOU SLEEP?"

"hai…"

"HOW DOES HE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE?"

"Ano, guys, I know where you all live. You're my students. Besides that, Maki-chan lives with me."

"EEEEEEHHHHHHHH?"

This time even Tazuna and Sasuke were yelling with shocked expressions. It was… kind of funny. Maki stifled a giggle and watch as the four people berated Kakashi for living with a young girl that he wasn't related to when he was clearly a pervert. As they yelled at him, they passed by a puddle that Maki nearly stepped into.

Hm?... It hasn't rained lately…

Without any more warning than that, they were attacked by two ninjas. First, they wrapped Kakashi up in chains and then tore him to pieces, then they went after Naruto who was frozen in place by fear. Sasuke went after the two ninjas to protect Naruto while Maki ran over by Tazuna and put up a barrier. Sakura, not seeing the barrier, jumped in front of Tazuna and Maki to "protect" them when the nins headed their way. Sasuke jumped in front of her to protect her and then Kakashi returned. He gave both nins a choke hold and held onto them as he apologized to Naruto for not stepping in sooner.

"I didn't think you would freeze like that. Anyway, nice job Sasuke. Sakura too."

"Hey, you alright… scaredy cat?"

Naruto, reasonably, got pissed at the comment and Maki chose to zone out. She didn't like to listen to their bickering. Instead, she looked up and studied the sky.

Ah… that one looks like a humungo sword… those look like senbon needles… that looks like an anbu mask… that looks like a bridge… that looks like a dead person…

"Maki-chan! Can you put down the invisible barrier?"

She looked down and noticed that Kakashi was knocking on the barrier. Both Sasuke and Sakura seemed surprised that she had put it up.

"We're still going to protect Tazuna-san, so to do that and finish this mission we need you to put down the barrier so that we can get going. K?"

Maki nodded and put down the barrier.

"By the way, Maki-chan… you do realize that since you were so zoned out, I could have been a foreign ninja who had taken on the appearance of your teammate and when you put down the barrier without any question you could've gotten yourself and Tazuna killed."

"I wouldn't have let the barrier down if you had been an enemy."

"But you wouldn't have been able to tell is what I'm trying to tell you."

"No. I would've been able to tell."

A sweat drop rolled down Kakashi's head as he seemed to think that Maki didn't "get it". Either way, they finally made it to a boat which they rode into the wave country on.