Chapter 1: The Promise

It was a beautiful day in Konohagakure. It was warm, but the breeze was cool enough to be pleasant. The streets were bustling with people rushing back and forth to do their business. Their voices mingled together in a peaceful drone. The third great ninja war had ended recently and even though there was mourning, the people also had a heightened taste for life. Their world was no longer turned upside down.

A small girl walked by a Jounin's side, completely unaffected by war or grief. She peered up at the crowds of people and the buildings all around them with brown eyes that looked proportionately too big for her face. Something about the haphazard way that the buildings were erected on top of each other made her feel more at home. The city was like a jigsaw puzzle that was never put together all the way and the people that occupied Konohagakure reflected it in some way.

She could feel it.

It was like sparks of life burning all around her. When she closed her eyes and focused on it she would get lost in the rhythm of their existence. They were all flames dancing in between the forest's trees, hidden away from the world by the expanse of green. The little girl remembered describing the sensations that haunted her to her parents and their response left her puzzled.

Sensor type.

She was not sure what exactly that meant. Her father had given her reading material on the subject, but everything she read was dry. None of the information scribbled on paper captured what it was like for her, so she wondered if she really was what her parents said she was.

"Arashi-chan, do you want to become a medical ninja like your father?"

The young girl looked up at her father and pouted, "Of course, daddy, why wouldn't I? You help fix people and I wanna fix people, too."

The Jounin laughed. Her pout twisted into a grin. He always sounded like a lion when he laughed like that. The sound never failed to usher away her fears, doubts, and insecurities. The little girl wrapped her fingers around his thumb and marveled at how big his hand was compared to hers. He was a man of average height and build. His hair was black and his eyes were brown. His skin was pale from the amount of time he spent indoors with patients.

"Now, sweetheart, do you remember who we're visiting today?"

"Kushina-san!" She chirped.

"Do you remember what else we went over?"

She looked up at him and tilted her head to one side, "Don't wipe my nose on my sleeve?"

Ookami smothered a laugh behind a hand.

"Well, that, too," he admitted. "You have to be on your best behavior, okay?"

She nodded.

"And what else?"

"It's our secret!" She proclaimed.

"That's right." He winked at her. "It'll be between us and our new friends."

Ookami knocked on the door and waited for a few moments. Arashi planted herself behind her father and played with the hem of her shirt. There was something inside the apartment that made her uncomfortable. It was not imminent, but it was there – almost like a secret tucked away inside something else – and although the little girl loved secrets, this one made her want to hide.

Arashi heard the door open and in spite of her curiosity, she chose to stare at her feet instead of seeing this Kushina person.

"Hey, Ookami-san!" a woman's voice greeted.

"Good morning, Kushina-san. I've brought Arashi-chan with me today."

Her father stepped to the side, effectively blowing the little girl's cover. Her fingers clutched the end of her shirt and she swallowed over a lump in her throat. Red hair caught her attention as the woman knelt in front of her and grinned from one ear to the other.

"Hey, Arashi-chan. I'm Kushina. Your dad's told me all about you, you know!"

She looked down at her shirt and hid behind a curtain of her brown hair.

"Erm," Ookami cleared his throat, "She's not usually shy!"

Kushina waved it off and allowed her two guests inside. Arashi's eyes darted from one place to the other, taking in each detail. The home was quaint, but there was a comfortable feeling about it. On the walls there were several pictures of Kushina and Minato – the Fourth Hokage. A feeling of wonder flooded through her at the idea of being in the Hokage's home and being near his wife. She sat on the couch and looked at some scrolls spread out on a small table in front of her.

Something about the way that the ink strokes met together to form words and symbols resonated with her. She focused on one of the smaller scrolls. It was the easiest one for her to handle because of its size. Her fingers traced every line until they found the Uzumaki Clan symbol in the center.

In the kitchen, the two adults were oblivious to the girl's fascination.

"I'm so thankful that you've been so nice, you know." Kushina laughed. "I couldn't have asked for a better doctor!"

"What are friends for?" He rubbed his chin. "Besides, don't thank me yet. My little Arashi's a good girl, but any child is a handful. With my wife being so busy with her business and the hospital needing me so much, a babysitter is pretty much a requirement." He leaned in and whispered, "I'm afraid that if she's at Naomi's Salon all the time that she'll pick up some bad habits."

"It's no problem at all!" The words rushed out of her in an excited jumble, "I like that, you know! I need more experience with young children. I mean, it's not like she's a newborn, but from what I've heard it'll be no time until my baby is her age, you know!"

In the living room Arashi had just finished pouring over the rest of the scrolls and was now inspecting the window. Underneath it, she could feel someone's signature. It coursed through that person like an electrical current. That was nothing new for her. She had felt many like that, but mostly she ran into the more fire-like ones or those that were as steadfast as the earth or even the ones that flowed like water.

She leaned against the window and bit her lip. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end when she focused on it, but there was an undercurrent that made her feel uneasy. Most signatures were livelier. This one seemed cold and sad.

With a nod, she decided on what she was going to do. A game of hide and seek would be more fun than listening to two adults talk and she could possibly find this person on the way.

She threw a glance toward the kitchen to make sure the adults were not paying attention and opened the window. It would not latch, so after struggling for a moment under the weight she slipped out. The little girl was proud that she remembered to ease it shut once she was on the other side so that it did not slam and alert her father.

The signature moved away, but she was determined. It only took a few moments for her to find the person she was looking for.

It was a member of ANBU. His body was wrapped in a black cloak and a mask that resembled a dog hid his face.

Despite her status as a child, she had enough sense to know that the ANBU were only involved in serious stuff. Her parents had explained to her that she should always be very respectful and give any members of that organization their space. If they needed her to do anything, she was to comply. They had dodged her questions about exactly what ANBU does, but she figured it was on the side of gruesome.

Everything in her told her that she should turn around and pretend she never started this adventure, but it was boring inside. She wanted to talk to this person. Besides, maybe this ninja could help make her game more interesting.

"Hey, can you help me hide? Every time I play with my daddy, he finds me right away. It's not fair."

"Sorry, but I'm busy," a male voice that was just hitting puberty replied.

He was young. That detail made Arashi feel bolder. She walked closer and stopped directly in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"Please?"

"No."

She pouted and used her most pitiful expression – the one that her dad always gave into – and asked, "Pretty please? You're a ninja. Can't you help me w-w-really quick?"

He hesitated for only a second, "No."

She stared at him for a moment. Her child-like reasoning was having a hard time accepting that her trump card had failed. Finally, she sighed in defeat and hugged him.

He froze, "Wh-what are you doing?"

"You felt cold like you're sad. I'm trying to warm you up like my mommy before she went away." She pressed in closer and patted his back with a hand, "Don't tell daddy I'm really not his daughter."

He stiffly pat her back and removed himself from her grasp, "I won't tell."

"Okay!" She beamed at him, "I don't want him to be sad if he finds out."

The boy snorted, "I'm sure he would be fine."

She giggled and played with the hem of her shirt. She could feel his eyes boring into her, even if she could not see his face.

"ANBU-san, are you sure you're okay?"

"Go back inside."

His voice cracked on the last word. Frustration wafted off him like an aura. Despite his order for her to leave him alone, she stood her ground.

"I've met people who are sad like you," the young girl commented, "My mommy told me that it was sometimes because their fwe-fwe-FRiends passed away as heroes and went to heaven to wait for them."

The young ANBU's shoulder's stiffened, but he did not reply.

"If that's what happened, I'm sorry. I still miss my first mommy, sometimes. I don't we-REmember what she looked like." She pursed her lips in concentration. "She had red hair, like Kushina-san. Such," she paused, "PRetty hair."

A tense silence filled the space around them.

She hummed to herself and wrapped her tiny pinky around his, "Oh, hey! I have an idea! I'm going to be a medical ninja like my daddy so I can help people feel better, so! Uh," she waved her free hand around to narrate what she was saying, "I pwo-promise that I'll be your friend and live until I'm old and wrinkly, then maybe we can go to heaven together and meet any of our friends that went there first?"

"You're just a little kid. You can't make promises like that." He scolded her.

"Uh huh! I just did!" She stood and held their joined pinkies into the air. "See! I'm your fw-friend until I'm old and wrinkly!"

From inside they heard Kushina and Ookami calling for Arashi. The little girl pulled her finger away from the boy and looked around. Upon seeing that there were no good places to hide, she began to panic. When she began to panic, she began to bounce in one spot and chew on her lip.

The ANBU sighed and poofed away with a shunshin jutsu.

Arashi blinked and glared up at the roof, a betrayed expression on her face. A person's shadow swept over her and she turned with wide eyes to look up at her father. He leaned down toward her and frowned. She was in trouble.

"Didn't we agree that you'd be a good girl today?" His tone was stern.

"You found me!" Arashi cried out dramatically, "You always find me, daddy!"

His frown deepened, "Arashi."

She was really in trouble this time. Her mind raced for some sort of excuse – some way to get out of this. There was no way she could escape. The alleyway was narrow and she could not hope to run from her father. Besides, that would only mean the punishment later would be worse; much, much worse. She thought about trying to pout her way out of trouble, but that trick had failed against ANBU-san. At a loss, she did the first thing that came to mind.

She broke down in a fit of tears.

Ran Ookami was a hardened, seasoned shinobi. He had outlived the other members of his Genin squad and his life was full of gruesome events. He spent as much time at the hospital caring for wounded ninja as he did at home with his wife and daughter. Ookami had seen more than his share of heartbreak, loss, and pain, but as he watched his daughter wail his weathered mask cracked. The seasoned shinobi went to his knees and gathered the girl in his arms with whispered words of comfort passing his lips like a mantra.

Arashi sniffled and shot a victorious grin up toward the ANBU that was watching her from the rooftop. His shoulders drooped as if in disbelief at what he witnessed.

After Ookami got his daughter to calm down, he left to tend to his duties at the hospital. Kushina, in turn started trying to figure out how she was supposed to entertain her charge. Only when she was alone with the child did she realize how at a loss she was. Children were like another race.

Kushina brought out some crayons and a coloring book that she bought in preparation for this scenario. The woman looked at the table, but decided the floor would offer more room. Arashi joined her and settled on her stomach while she decided on which crayons she wanted to use. Coloring was only fun for the first ten minutes and they lost interest at the same time. It was obvious to the woman in a painful way that the girl was uncomfortable around her.

"So, we could go to the park to play, you know!" Kushina offered.

The girl pursed her lips, "No. There's always a boy there that puts bugs on me and I don't like him."

"Why does he put bugs on you?" Kushina grinned. "Does he like you?"

"No. He says he likes to make me cry." The little girl ground her teeth. "Also, there's another boy that always paints on me and my mommy gets mad 'cause it's hard to get off."

"Oh. Do they bully you? You should never let anyone bully you, you know!"

Arashi's eyebrows knit together and she pinned the woman with an intense look. Kushina blinked and returned the stare. For a second, the Red Hot Habanero was unnerved, but she quickly recovered. She was scared of little and the girl sprawled on her stomach was far from intimidating. Kushina's eye twitched when she realized that the girl was not even looking at her but was instead looking through her at something.

Arashi blinked and focused on Kushina's twitching eye, "I don't let anyone bully me. I want to be a ninja someday and a ninja can't be afraid of two stupid boys."

"Ohh, so you want to be a ninja like your father? He said you are already enrolled in the Academy. Are you liking it?"

"Mhm." She nodded and pointed toward the scrolls on the table. "What do those do?"

"Have you learned any about Fuinjutsu?"

She shook her head, "Only a little."

"Do you want to learn?"

A smile lit up the girl's face.

Kushina was not the best teacher and she was at a loss about how to explain certain things to the girl, but Arashi was fixated on the scrolls in front of her. The woman was happy that she finally found something to keep the girl occupied for more than a few minutes.

"Say, Arashi, I bet we can get those two boys back really good if you want, you know."

Arashi decided that Kushina was the coolest adult she had ever met, despite the scary secret she was hiding.