General disclaimer (since everyone seems to be doing this): I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, except for those I have created.

I'm still not sure I'm happy with the title of this story, but we'll see if it changes.

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The forest was still. There were no birds flitting from tree to tree; no mice skittering along the ground; no deer rubbing the velvet from their new antlers. Even the leaves on the trees lay motionless, waiting in the mid-morning sunlight. At first glance, it would seem that the forest was completely uninhabited. But hidden, high in a large oak tree, a hunter lay in waiting.

This hunter was not a creature of the forest, but a human, a female ninja. The leaf engraved on her forehead protector marked her as a ninja of Konoha. She was actually quite beautiful. Her skin was a light bronze, the result of countless hours spent training outdoors. She had taut muscles and only a few scars, though the worst she kept hidden under two black sleeves that covered from her wrists to her elbows. Her long, flaming red hair, regardless of how often she brushed it, always had a slightly wild look to it.

But by far the most striking feature of this leaf kunoichi was her eyes. They were a bright, golden color that matched perfectly the eyes of the red hawk that was almost always seen perched on her shoulders.

The hawk, Anam as the kunoichi called her, was currently in a different tree, her fierce gaze scanning the area. The kunoichi's eyes were moving as well, watching for the slightest movement of her prey.

And there it was: the flash and whisper of moving leaves. This was what she had been waiting for. With a slight tug of her fingers, the air whizzed with the sound of her steel wire trap. A surprised shout told her that her trap had found its mark.

She jumped down from her tree and landed, light as a cat, in a clearing where her prey lay, struggling against the wires that bound him. He was a Tokubetsu jounin from the hidden stone village, whose abilities had never quite matched up to his ambitions. She didn't say a word to him, but when he looked up and saw her golden hawk's eyes, he slumped and ceased struggling. He was a mouse in the sharp grip of the hawk's talons now, and he knew it.

Anam called from the tree above, and soared down to rest on the hunter's shoulder. The hunter reached down to the leather pouch the stone nin had tied to his waist, and pulled out a scroll that he had stolen from a feudal lord of the fire nation. "You have two choices," she said, speaking for the first time. "Come quietly, or I bring back a corpse." Her voice was as cold as her fierce eyes.

Suddenly she sensed the chakra of two approaching shinobi. She drew her kunai and stood at the ready, feeling Anam's grip tighten on her shoulder. But when they dropped into the clearing, she saw that they wore leaf forehead protectors and lowered her weapons.

"Amamiya Naomi-san?" one of the shinobi asked.

"Yes," the hunter replied. She recognized the two as chuunin of the hidden leaf, though she couldn't remember their names. "Are you two backup? You're a little late."

"Yes, well, we were just sent this morning," the shinobi answered, sounding a little embarrassed.

"Anyway," said the other, stepping forward, "we can take the prisoner back to the village."

The hunter nodded. "Take him to Ibiki. He'll want to interrogate this man." She looked down at the stone nin and blinked. She saw for the first time a strange marking on his right shoulder. She bent down to examine it closer and saw it to be a black tattoo that was in the shape of three pinwheel-like circles that formed a triangle. She placed her hand over the tattoo and immediately pulled it back, surprised. She felt a great deal of power emanating from the tattoo; far more than she had seen the ninja display in the two weeks she had been tailing him.

"Naomi-san?" asked the first chuunin. She looked up to see them watching her anxiously.

Wondering what her face had shown them, she said quietly to them "make sure this man's tattoo is examined. I don't like it."

"Yes ma'am," they said in chorus, then stepped forward to pick up the prisoner. "You can go on ahead of us," said the second ninja. "You look like you're ready to go home."

Naomi didn't say anything, but allowed Anam to take wing before she leapt from the clearing out of sight.

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The minute she saw the walls of Konoha in the distance, her heart began to feel lighter. Returning home after a long mission, especially a solitary one, always made her feel like an excited child. Naomi loved her village like the rest of her fellow shinobi did: with all of her heart. She would have done anything if it meant the village would grow and prosper.

Even Anam became excited; flying high above the trees, gliding in big circles, crying to the heavens. Soon enough, the two arrived at the village gates. "Welcome home, Naomi-san!" called Tazo, a new guard at the village gate. "Shall I inform Hokage-sama of your arrival?" he asked, eager as a puppy.

She smiled warmly at him. "That's alright, Tazo. Has anything interesting happened since I left?"

"No it's been pretty quiet," he answered. "But the Chuunin exams are coming up," he said, his face lighting up with excitement. "I can't wait! I'm not on duty for the final test, so I'm going to go watch!"

"I forgot about the Chuunin exams," she said, and it was true. "Hopefully I'll be able to come watch this time."

"I hope so too! Have a nice day, Naomi-san!" he said when she waved goodbye.

She began walking through the streets, waving to a few people she knew, heading towards the Hokage's office. Anam was now perched on her shoulder again, preening her wings. Naomi watched her wistfully: she wanted nothing more than a hot shower and clean clothes. But before she could return to her house, she had to give her report to Sandaime.

As she was formulating her report in her head, she heard someone shout her name behind her. She turned and felt a thrill in her chest. Umino Iruka was waving and walking towards her. She smiled, ignoring her quickening pulse, and waved back.

"You finished your mission?" he asked once he had reached her.

"Yep! I was just about to report to Hokage-sama. You want to come?"

"Sure, classes are over for today. So, your mission went well?" he asked as they began walking.

"Flawlessly," she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. Iruka laughed.

"You never change, Naomi."

She laughed too. "Tazo-kun just reminded me of the Chuunin exams. Are any of your former students taking part?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure yet. I can think of a few who are ready, but not many," he said thoughtfully. Then he signed. "Though their senseis will probably have them participate anyway."

Naomi nodded. "Sometimes a student will never grow unless they're pushed to their limits."

"That's true." He hesitated. "But the Chuunin exams are dangerous. It's not unheard of for Genin to be killed."

"Yes, but that's a risk shinobi face every day. They'll have to learn that sooner or later." What she didn't say was how endearing his concern for all his students was. She felt it would probably be best to let that one go.

Iruka laughed again, though she could tell that the idea still troubled him. "You're right. I keep forgetting they're not my students anymore. It's just strange, watching them go from students to soldiers overnight. Well, at least in the eyes of the village."

"I bet." She was about to say more, but was interrupted by a loud, raucous shout.

They both turned to see a young, yellow haired boy of about 12 or 13 barreling down the street. "Hey! Hey! Iruka-sensei!" he shouted, waving his arms.

"Oy! Naruto! What are you yelling about?" Iruka said.

"Student of yours?" Naomi asked, unable to hide her grin.

Iruka nodded. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Uzumaki? she thought. The nine-tails kid? She looked at Iruka for any signs of anger or hatred. But he only seemed to be a little annoyed.

"What is it, Naruto? Did you need to yell like that?" he asked the boy.

"Ah! Did you forget?!" Naruto asked. "You promised to go with me to Ichiraku for dinner!"

"Dinner?! Isn't it a little early? It's not even 5 yet!"

"I haven't got any time to waste!" he answered, exasperated. "I'm training tonight."

"Alright, alright!" said Iruka. "Naomi," he said, turning to her, "want to join us after you see Hokage-sama? My treat."

"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to take a rain check. I need a shower and a bed, bad."

"Ok, another time then," said Iruka, waving goodbye.

"Sure!" said Naomi, mentally kicking herself as she smiled and waved goodbye.

"Who's that?" she heard Naruto ask as they walked away.

"She's a good friend," Iruka answered. "I'm sure you'll get a chance to meet her later." Naomi stood for a moment longer, watching the two leave, then headed on to Sandaime.

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Naomi unlocked to door to her small apartment, feeling extremely grateful to be home. Anam flew in ahead of her and settled on her favorite perch: the back of Naomi's chair at the small table in the kitchen. Naomi opened a window so Anam could go hunting and went straight to the bathroom for a shower.

Standing under the flow of warm water, Naomi sighed, but it wasn't one of contentment. Each time she saw Iruka, it became harder and harder for her to hide her true feelings from him.

She couldn't pinpoint exactly when she had gone from thinking of him as a best friend to something much more. It hadn't happened all at once; it had been much more gradual. She had hoped that during her mission she would be able to ignore her feelings, but it had had quite the opposite effect; her thoughts had often turned to him, which had made her work sloppier than usual.

Even Sandaime had noticed. During their meeting earlier that afternoon, he had asked her what was bothering her.

"Your mission was to seek and capture, something that you are best at," he had said. "But it took you almost two weeks to complete it. That's not like you, Naomi."

She had apologized, and lied, saying that she had simply underestimated her target, and it had cost her. Now, thinking back on her excuse, she thought that Hokage-sama hadn't really believed it. Ever since her childhood, he had been like a father to her. He could always tell if something was troubling her, even if she wouldn't admit what it was.

She sighed again and turned off the water. Hers was a problem even the Sandaime couldn't fix. She was in love with Umino Iruka, and what was worse, she was certain he had the same feelings for her.

As she toweled dry, her eyes fell on the pearly white scars on her wrists. She ran her fingers over them; two thin, long lines that ran the path of her veins from wrists to the middle of her forearms. She remembered the way it had felt when she had made those cuts and shuddered, letting her hands drop.

I'm damaged, she thought to herself, inside and out. What kind of relationship could I offer him? She swallowed hard against the lump forming in her throat and pulled on her fluffy white bathrobe.

As she walked into the kitchen, she looked up at the clock on the wall, which read 7:04. Too early to go to sleep, but she wasn't hungry enough to eat dinner. She looked around the room and saw Anam still on her perch, looking back at her. "You're not hunting tonight?" Naomi asked, holding out her arm. Anam answered by fluttering over to rest on her friend's arm.

Naomi began stroking Anam's chest absently, her thoughts still troubled. Anam made a small chirp and gently nipped her fingers. Her meaning was clear: don't dwell on it.

Naomi smiled. "Thanks Anam. I'll try." Anam gave another, more affectionate nip, and flew out the window to find her dinner. Naomi watched her go, the turned to the stove and put the kettle on a burner. If she couldn't eat, she would at least make a cup of tea before going to sleep.

Something else had been bothering her since she went to make her report to Sandaime. When she had mentioned the strange seal that was on the stone nin's shoulder, his face had changed suddenly.

"What did it look like?" he had asked, his voice sounding strained. Naomi had drawn a picture of it on a scrap piece of paper and showed it to him. After looking at the drawing for a brief moment, he had simply nodded and said that he would make a note of it. But Naomi could tell that the news distressed him somehow.

The whistling of the teakettle broke her reverie, and she quickly turned off the burner. She poured herself a cup of tea and took it with her to her kitchen table. As she alternately blew on the tea and took a sip, she wondered what it could have been that worried the Hokage about that mark. She wondered if maybe there was something more to the seal than she knew.

As she finished her tea, she made up her mind to talk to Ibiki about it the next day. If anyone knew what the mark meant besides Sandaime, he would. She stood to put the teacup in the sink, and after glancing at the fridge and deciding that she still was not hungry, turned and walked to her bedroom. Since eating was not the most appealing proposition at the moment, she figured sleep would be the next best thing.