"Time's up! Good job everyone. You're free to leave." Lazily, Kakashi got out "Icha Icha Paradise" while dismissing his 3 students. All of them besides a 21 year old chunin had already left.She sat down on the cool earth, panting, with sweat dripping from her forehead. Her pale skin had become flushed and her shoulders were trembling. I feel like I'm gonna throw up... she thought.

She suddenly felt someone's hand on her shoulder and heard a familiar voice behind her. "Calm down. You're going to get yourself sick like that." She turned to see Kakashi's reassuring face. "You did well. Just be easy on yourself." The blonde-haired, blue-eyed chunin nodded while trying to get up, but stumbled in the attempt. "Here." Kakashi held out his hand and she firmly grasped it. Once she was back on her feet, she thanked her sensei.

"..." He had already gotten back to his book. The chunin wasn't happy about this, but didn't say a thing. She had begun to collect her things when Kakashi said, "Shiatsu, don't forget about the exam tomorrow." "I won't," she replied.

The jounin exam...If I pass, I'll become a jounin... Shiatsu thought. Once she entered her house, she yelled, "I'm home!" No answer.

Of course there's no answer, she thought. My parents will never come home. Nor my brother...

Shiatsu opened the door to her room and closed it with a sigh.

"Hello."

Like lightning, she grabbed her shuriken and threw them behind her. She quickly spun around and before she could grab more shuriken, she spotted Kakashi by her door, shuriken outlining his head.

"With a move like that, you just might be able to pass the exam."

"Kakashi-sensei! What're you doing here!"

"I'm going to help you."

"With what?"

"I want to help you train for the exam. Remember how you almost got sick at practice?"

"Yeah..."

"I'm going to prevent that from happening."

He plucked one of her shuriken off the wall and twirled it between his fingers nonchalantly.

"So...when can we start?" He stopped twirling the shuriken and flung it at her. She was too shocked to move. Ka-thunk! The shuriken had just flown past her face and settled into her poster of a wolf.

"Right now," he replied. "But first, let's go to a more appropriate area."

Shiatsu and Kakashi ended up at a field surrounded by woods at all angles.

"Wha...What is this place?" Shiatsu asked as her eyes searched the area. "This is my favorite place to read. The calming aromas should prevent any sickness." "Hm..."

As the hours passed, Kakashi had already taught the chunin how to relieve stress and how to stay calm while fighting.

"Okay. Now for last. If you've tried all these but still end up like earlier, you can always use the last of your chakra to transport yourself to a safer area. And, well...that's all I can think of." Kakashi started to walk off.

"Kakashi-sensei! Wait up!" The chunin girl ran after him and even walked beside him, but he didn't seem to notice. She started to get really ticked off so she did something she would regret later on. She put her mouth close to Kakashi's ear and yelled his name. Kakashi quickly covered his ear and turned to Shiatsu saying, "What the he--!" He couldn't finish the sentence for his lips had met hers. Both shinobi were shocked at what had just happened.

Oh m' God! Kakashi's kissing me!

Oh...crap...This is not what I intended!

Even though Kakashi's mask was blocking their lips, it still counted as a kiss.

Ugh...that nauseating feeling is coming again! thought Shiatsu. She did a few hand signs and disappeared from the field.

Kakashi was left there, still in shock. His hand slowly touched his lips. That feeling...It was real..."Icha Icha Paradise" could never make me feel this way...

Later that night, Shiatsu had already fallen asleep, but Kakashi could not. He kept rolling over in bed and even read some "Icha Icha Paradise", but that did not satisfy him. He still had "it" on his mind.

That feeling...It was unlike any other...it wasn't pain...Is this...?

He threw the covers off the bed and placed his hand on his forehead. I...that feeling...Shiatsu... He picked up his alarm clock. 3:00 am. It's 3 in the morning...I need to see Shiatsu...Impossible...She can't possibly be up right now...Maybe a short walk will get my mind off of things...

He quickly put his clothes on and headed out the door.

His walk took him to the same field where he taught Shiatsu earlier. The cool smell of a nighttime forest infiltrated his senses and a nice summer breeze ruffled his hair slightly. The cool atmosphere eased his mind.

As Kakashi walked on, he thought he heard someone whispering through the trees. He followed the sound, shoving forest and brush aside as he went.

Once he got through the brush, he appeared in a clearing with a big, engraved stone in the center. His eye slowly covered the whole area but stopped when he saw a hooded figure. As he looked closer, he saw that it was using a hand sign and was mouthing silent words at the foot of the stone.

Nobody's up this early...Well, besides me of course...Has it already spotted me?

Silently, he snuck up behind the person and pulled out a kunai blade from his pouch, placing it lightly against the figure's neck.

"Don't move."

The figure started to shake. Is this thing laughing at me?

Kakashi grabbed its shoulder and spun it around so that it faced him. He was shocked at what he found. "Shiatsu?"

He looked down and saw a crying Shiatsu, tears streaming down her face. "Ka-Kakashi?"

"What's wrong?" he asked. As he brushed the hair from her face, she said nothing.

"Shiatsu, what are you doing here?"

Again, she didn't reply but stood in front of the stone. Kakashi stood next to her, but she kept staring at it. Kakashi followed her gaze to three names: Yura Hirogata, Shiro Hirogata, and Kitosai Hirogata.

"Are these your...parents?" he asked.

Shiatsu nodded and added, "Also my brother."

Kakashi started to feel guilty for asking her questions about this depressing subject, but he needed to know more about her.

"So...do you live alone?"

She nodded again and broke down. She started trembling and sobbing uncontrollably. Now Kakashi felt really bad and tried comforting her.

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers.

"That's it. Get all those feelings out."

A few minutes passed with Shiatsu resting in his arms. Once she fell asleep, Kakashi sat down by the stone and placed her head on his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair a couple times and started to get sleepy.

He carried Shiatsu in his arms and quickly escaped the nighttime forest. He wandered the empty village streets until he came across her small deserted apartment. A sad look appeared on his face and he thought, Alone...I can't leave her like that tonight after what she went through...How can she live in the same place that contains such depressing memories?

Instead of using the front door, he went around back and leapt into her bedroom window. He gently placed Shiatsu on her bed and looked around her room. The shuriken were still lodged in her walls so he took the liberty of removing them.

With these weapons...she's a very skilled girl...

He wandered back to Shiatsu and kneeled beside her bed. He stared at her sleeping image, and then at her lips. That feeling...

Kakashi leaned closer to her face until he could feel her breath on his face. His hand ran through her hair. Shiatsu quietly muttered "forest" and rolled over. Kakashi slowly reeled back thinking, I should let her sleep...

He leaned against her bed, bowed his head, and fell asleep.

"Mmm..." Shiatsu stretched her arms towards the sun and opened her eyes. She rolled over and stretched again, but one of her hands hit an unfamiliar, fluffy object.

With her vision still blurry she thought it was a silver bush. What the heck?

She ruffled it, but it didn't make a sound. Shortly her eyes returned to normal and she realized that she was toying with hair. Whose is this?

She pulled the covers off the bed and grabbed a large kunai off her desk. She flung the covers over the person, leapt on it, and placed the kunai roughly against where its neck would be.

Still unbeknownst that it was Kakashi she had trapped, she asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"

She pressed the knife harder on his neck so that it started to draw blood.

The shocked Kakashi under the blankets thought, She still doesn't know who I am...Let's see what she can do...But I can't let her know it's me...

He grabbed the hand that was holding the kunai and in a blink of an eye, Shiatsu was lying on her stomach with Kakashi sitting on her holding the blade to the back of her neck.

"Urgh!" Shiatsu struggled under Kakashi's weight until she felt the cold steel of the shuriken prick the back of her neck. She stopped moving when she heard someone say, "Don't move."

The stress she was under caused her to get the fever again. Then she remembered what Kakashi had said yesterday.

With a poof, she had disappeared on the outside side of her door. She pulled kunai from her pouch tracing her fingers along the edge. Perfect...

She backed up and jump kicked the door, flinging her knives. They landed immediately in Kakashi's vital areas. He sank to his knees and fell into a pool of blood.

Shiatsu walked over to him and rolled him over on his back. Kakashi's blank eye stared back.

"K-k-Ka...Kashi?" Her only reply was the staring eye. Shiatsu was petrified. Kakashi...I...KILLED him... She fell to her knees and stared at her trembling hands.

I ended Kakashi's life...I can't live with more grief...

Outside, under Shiatsu's window was the real Kakashi reading "Icha Icha Paradise".

Hm...She's taking a while...I should check on her...

Kakashi peeked his head through the window, seeing his doppelganger covered with blades.

Hm...They all have hit a vital area that kills on the spot...She certainly has good aim--OH MY GOD!

Beside the fake Kakashi was Shiatsu, holding a kunai blade to her heart.

"I don't deserve to live...Too many people have already died because of me...I might as well die!" Her trembling hands edged the kunai closer to her flesh. "Mother, Father...Kitosai...and now Kakashi..." With her last ounce of strength, she jammed the blade into her ribs.

"Stop that!"

Kakashi leapt through her window and slapped the kunai from her hands. Shiatsu could only stare at him before collapsing.

"Shiatsu!"

Kakashi rushed the chunin to her bed, thinking, How could this happen? She should've been able to see through it!

Once he set her down, he saw that she was bleeding terribly through her shirt and vest. He knew what he had to do. He had to bandage her wound, but to do that, he's got to...undress her.

Oh boy...breathes deeply...I can do this...

Kakashi started tearing off her vest and shirt until he saw flesh. He started to blush but shook the thought out of his mind. I've got to do this. He pulled out a cloth and wiped away the blood so that he could locate the wound. She had just missed her heart. Thank God... he thought. He did a quick healing jutsu and bandaged her up.

"Mmm..." Shiatsu was starting to wake.

Oh good, she's waking up...Oh crap! She's waking up!

Before Kakashi could escape, she spotted him.

"Kakashi, what happened?"

He knew he was trapped, so he decided to explain. He told her that she was taking the exam and that she had almost killed herself.

"So...How did I do?"

"Well, let's just say that you're a jounin!"

Shiatsu was overwhelmed by the good news and hugged Kakashi. "I can't believe I passed!" Kakashi patted her on the back, even though she cringed and said, "Yep! You're now and official jounin."

"What about the others? Mitsume and Kazemaru?"

"Uh...they didn't quite make it...I tested them earlier with shadow clones."

"Hmmm..."

"What is it now?"

"Well, could you remove that dead Kakashi over there? It's starting to creep me out."

"Oh...right."

Kakashi turned toward his dead image with his hands together. In an instant, it vanished, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.

Shiatsu's face lit up in a wide grin, so Kakashi couldn't help but smile also. Even though his face was covered by his mask, his eye had that little friendly squint. He ruffled her hair, just as he did when she was younger and bided her farewell.

Before he could jump out the window, Shiatsu asked, "Where are you going?"

Kakashi looked at her as if she was nuts, but instantly forgave her stupidity due to her current state. With that same smiling squint in his eye, he replied, "Why, I'm gong home of course! After what happened today, you can't get healed without lots of rest! Besides, I have business to attend to."

He did a quick goodbye salute and was in jumping position until Shiatsu yelled, "Wait!"

Again, he paused and waited for her question. "What?"

"How come you gave us the test instead of Tsunade?"

Kakashi started to get impatient with all of her stupid questions, but he calmly replied, "Because she is very busy and asked me to test you in her place."

Before she could ask another question, he had already jumped out the window. Shiatsu cocked her head, where Kakashi escaped and covered her head with her blanket. In a few minutes, she was fast asleep.

Kakashi unlocked the front door to his apartment and set his belongings down. He went into his room and saw a small letter upon his bed. He picked it up and unfolded it.

"Kakashi Hatake,

You are required to attend a rank A mission in the Village hidden in Mist tonight. We are sorry for the short notice. Be safe.
Tsunade, the 5th Hokage"

Kakashi threw the notice away and headed back outside. Great, now I won't be able to read "Icha Icha Paradise"...

He grabbed his things, adjusted his headband, and leapt into the darkness.

☼

"Mmm...hunh? AFTERNOON?"

Shiatsu had once again slept in and is screaming bloody murder at her alarm clock for not waking her up, but in the village plaza, something else was going on.

Kakashi had just gotten back from the mission, but was in horrible state. He was covered with cuts and blood, and a huge gash ran from his mid thigh down to his calf, which caused him to limp. His clothes were shredded and he hadn't pulled his headband back down.

As he wandered the village, he was followed by stares and gasps. He had thought they were staring at his sharingan eye, so he covered it with his bloody hand.

He passed by the Ichirakun Noodle stand to only be spotted by Iruka. He knew sooner or later he'd be caught, so he greeted him with a "yo".

"Kakashi, what happened?"

Kakashi continued on walking as if Iruka hadn't asked him anything, but Iruka stopped him with a tug on his shoulder.

Kakashi swatted him away with his left hand, revealing his sharingan eye. Iruka was paralyzed with fear as the eye dug into his, glaring. He was left like that as Kakashi continued on his way home.

He slammed open the door to his room and plopped down onto his bed. "Dang it!" Kakashi grasped his wounded leg and tried to stop it from bleeding.

Back at Shiatsu's house, she had just removed her bandages. As she inspected herself, she saw that no trace of the wound was left. She smiled and dressed herself in her favorite shirt and vest. She hopped in her shoes and ran out the door.

The bright sun shined on the ground and...blood? Shiatsu shook some horrible memories out of her mind and kept on walking. The farther she walked, the more blood she came across. She started to get worried that something happened in the village.

Shiatsu followed the trail of blood to a small apartment. She tried the door, but it was locked. She had only one option left. Break into the room, Kakashi style.

She ran around to the back of the apartment and sprang through the window. Once she landed, she saw Kakashi's shocked face. She wondered why he was so shocked to see her until she looked below.

He was stripped of all his clothes except for boxers and his face mask. Shiatsu's face started to blush. "Kakashi, I--" Just before she could explain what she was doing in his house, she was paralyzed by a killing stare from Kakashi's sharingan eye.

She slumped onto the floor, her eyes never leaving his. He started walking towards her, but he suddenly fell onto one knee, clutching his injured leg in pain.

"Agh!"

Shiatsu was frozen no longer. She scrambled to her feet and ran to Kakashi's side.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

She kneeled beside him and took his hands off his leg. She watched in horror as blood came pouring out.

She placed her hands on the wound and did a healing jutsu. A flash of white light emanated from her hands.

After a few minutes, the light and the wound disappeared. Shiatsu removed her hands from his leg. "All finished, Kakashi-sensei."

"Please, Kakashi is just fine. I'm no longer your teacher."

"Oh, right..."

She stared down at the floor and tried not to blush. ...He's...in his boxers...that's just...Ugh! Why am I thinking that!

Shiatsu got back on her feet and helped Kakashi up. "Thanks," he said.

"Well, I guess I should be going..."

She started to head back to the window where she had entered. Before she could even touch the windowsill, she had become paralyzed again. Who keeps doing this to me?

Once her legs gave way, she fell to the floor. She could almost taste it. With her ear against the ground she heard echoes of footsteps, and in a matter of seconds, Kakashi was on the opposite side of her face. His breath tickled her open ear.

"You're not going anywhere. Not yet."

Fear overcame Shiatsu, and she started to panic. What did he want? What was he going to do to her?

"Uh...you remember the 'exam' I gave you, right? Well...It was actually like a pop-quiz--"

Shiatsu sat up, almost knocking Kakashi over, and asked, "So I'm not a jounin?"

When Kakashi nodded, she became furious. Just before the thought of punching his face into oblivion came into her thoughts, he quickly added, "But don't worry! The real jounin exam is actually in three days. All your information should be in this slip of paper," he handed her a small envelope. "Also, Kazemaru-chan and Mitsume-chan will be there too."

Shiatsu's anger quickly turned into a little grin. She grabbed the windowsill and brought herself up. Kakashi followed in suit. As she stood, her eyes were drawn to his red, glowing eye. He seemed to notice so he quickly explained.

"Ah yes! I don' t think you've met my "sharingan" mirror-wheel eye, right?" He indicated with his finger.

Shiatsu shook her head. "What's a "sharingan" eye?"

"A sharingan eye is an ocular form of Ninjutsu, allowing me to penetrate and see beyond any illusion or spell and reflects the power of the magics they penetrate back on those who cast them. The sharingan can also discern and duplicate its opponent's greatest skill. Now if you don't mind, I'll be getting dressed..."

His hint of reminding Shiatsu that he was still in boxers got her up and out the window in a matter of seconds. She gave him a quick wave and leapt out the window.

He sighed and began to get dressed. I just...didn't have the heart...to tell her what lies ahead...

Back at Shiatsu's Home('Tis nighttime now)

Shiatsu was lying on her bed, still in her normal clothes, and was working her way into the envelope. Her hands trembled in excitement as she unfolded every piece of parchment. When she finished, she dropped the envelope carelessly on the floor and read the note.

"Dear Cell Number 4,

As you know, you have a jounin exam coming up in exactly 3 days. I will be unable to assist you, so I'm letting Kakashi-san assist you. You are to meet him on the outskirts of Konohagakure Village at dawn (4:00 am). From there you will follow his orders and you'll attempt your first A-ranked mission. If you survive and accomplish the mission, you will become an official jounin. Be safe.

Tsunade, 5th Hokage"

Shiatsu stared at the words "A-ranked mission". But even attempting the B-rank missions was tough enough. People actually die in the A-ranks! Even Kakashi didn't show up for practice once because he was in the hospital.

Her thoughts turned from excitement to fear as she thought about what might happen to her, her team, and worse, Kakashi and she started to cry. I don't think I can do this! I'm not ready yet! I'm only 21 and-- You CAN do this. You're strong, brave, and you're not a coward! Together, we can kick some serious butt!

As she and her inner-self were arguing, she set the note by the table and got into some pajamas. Once she got under the covers, her inner-self seemed to have won the war. Now filled with good thoughts, Shiatsu slowly began to fall asleep as she awaited the upcoming exam

On the day of the test

The sun had started to rise and reflected off of Shiatsu's "hitai-ate" leaf headband. As she came into view of the front gate, she clenched her hands tight into a fist. She inhaled deeply and trudged forward.

"Hey, look what the cat dragged in!"

Shiatsu almost landed face-first on the earth as she was suddenly hugged by Mitsume from behind.

"Mitsume! Do you always have to do that!"

Mitsume scratched his head and plastered a sheepish smile on his face and replied, "Well...yeah! I do!"

"Mitsume, don't pummel her into non-existence."

Shiatsu and "clingy" looked behind them to see Kazemaru impatiently watching them.

"Aren't we supposed to be on a mission?" he reminded.

Mitsume nodded and Shiatsu hesitated before nodding.

"Good, then let's go." "All right! Come on, Shiatsu, g'ddyup!" "Mitsume! Will you please get off me!"

After Shiatsu had pried Mitsume off her back, they set out towards the gate. They stopped as the gates slowly creaked open.

"Hello!"

Everyone jumped as Kakashi had snuck up behind them. Kazemaru was heaving and looked as if he was about to keel over. Shiatsu was trembling and yelled, "Give me a heart attack, why don'cha!"

"Wait a minute..."

Shiatsu and Kazemaru looked at Mitsume and even Kakashi had cocked his head in confusion. Mitsume glanced at the sun, then at Kakashi, and then back at the sun.

"This...This mean..."

"What? What does this mean?" asked Shiatsu.

Mitsume stared at Kakashi in shock and finished with, "This means that...Kakashi-sensei's EARLY!"

"WHAT!"

All eyes were on Kakashi and no one said a word. But, Mitsume was right. This was the first-time that Kakashi had ever been early, and everyone was shocked.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Kakashi spoke up, "Well...I think we should get going. You can't become a jounin by just gawking at me!"

He started off and gestured his team to follow. Dumbfounded, his pupils followed him into the depths of unfamiliar land and a future of blood...