"Kaya, wake up dear."

I opened my eyes and looked at my mother, she was smiling and I sat up. "Yes mother?"

"I need you to do a job for me," my mother said.

"Okay, what job is it?" I asked.

"I want you to go into the village and get some groceries for me."

"Sure," I got out of bed and followed my mother downstairs and into the kitchen. She took something off the fridge and gave it to me.

"Here is the list of things I would like you to get," she also gave me some money. "And then you can go play."

I smiled but looked down at my clothes. "I should get dressed first," I put the list and money on the table before running up the stairs and into my room.

I came back down a little bit later with brown pants that ended passed my ankles, reaching the floor, my black shirt with a hood and my blue shoes that didn't cover my toes. I went to the bathroom and brushed my black hair that ended an inch or two passed my shoulders, then I went back downstairs.

"Okay, all set," I announced and picked up the list and money.

"Good morning, Kaya."

I turned around and smiled. "Good morning, father."

My father's name is Yukio, head of the Anbu Black Ops, one of the best ninja in the village, also head of our Clan, the Haruta Clan.

"What are you getting her to do today, Shiori?" Yukio asked my mother.

"Kaya is going to do the grocery shopping today," my mother replied.

"I should go," I said. "I'll be back later with everything."

My mother and father nodded and I ran out of the house and into the village. The village is called Konohagakure, or Konoha for short. It is also called the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the only ninja village in the Land of Fire.

My name is Kaya Haruta, I'm five years old and next year I'm going to become a student at the Ninja Academy to train to be a ninja, just like my father. My dream is to become one of the greatest ninja's in the Leaf Village, like my father, so then I can go on dangerous missions and be able to protect my village as best I can.

The Haruta Clan isn't the only clan in Konoha. There is also the Uchiha Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, the Aburame Clan, the Akimichi Clan and the Hyuga Clan, I have friends from each of those clans.

I stopped as I reached the Fruit and Vegetable shop and I walked in.

"Good morning, Kaya," greeted the shop keeper, her name was Akira.

"Hello," I smiled. "Um, I need all the fruit and vegetables on this list," I gave the list to her over the counter, even though I had to reach up because it was so tall.

Akira looked it over and nodded, giving the list back to me. "I'll get those for you right away."

I watched her leave the counter and get all the things I needed. She came back and I gave her the money.

"Have a nice day, Kaya," Akira smiled.

"Thanks, you too," I said before I walked out into the village again.

I slowly made my way to the meat store, the bags I had to carry were heavy.

"Hey, Kaya, let me take those for you."

I looked to my left and saw one of my friends, Naruto Uzumaki, a yellow-haired kid that liked the color orange. He had orange pants with an orange jacket with white at the top, but it was tied around his waist, showing his black shirt. He was my age. I smiled and gave him two of the bags. "Thanks."

"I'll take the other two."

I looked to my right and saw another one of my friends, Sasuke Uchiha, from the Uchiha Clan. He had black hair, a blue shirt and white pants. Also my age. He took the last two bags from me before I could object.

"Thanks, guys," I smiled.

"So why are you doing the grocery shopping again?" Naruto asked. "You do it a lot."

"My mother has other things she needs to do," I replied. "And my father has to do something today, he mentioned a tiger thing near the village, but he didn't tell me everything."

"Oh well," Sasuke said. "We'll help you with your daily shopping."

I smiled and nodded my thanks.

After we finished the shopping, we were each carrying four heavy bags and making our way back to my house.

"How much stuff does your mother need to get?" Naruto complained.

"A weeks worth of stuff," I replied, out of breath. I'm grateful they had offered to help me, otherwise I'd have a lot of trouble getting it all home.

We finally reached my house and we walked inside, putting the groceries on the kitchen table.

"Hello, Kaya, Sasuke, Naruto," my mother greeted us with a smile. "Thanks for doing that for me."

"It was nothing, Mrs. Haruta," Sasuke replied.

"You three should go and play, have a nice day for all the hard work you've done," my mother said.

"Okay, thanks mother," I said and the three of us ran out of the house and back into the village. "Let's go find the others," I suggested. "We can go hang out by the lake."

I love spending time by the lake, it helps me think and it calms me down sometimes. And usually, I like practicing some of my Jutsu's there, because it's out of the way of what everybody else is doing.

"Alright, let's go," Naruto said and we were running around the village looking for all of our friends.

"I'm tired, we should be getting home anyway."

I sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

Our whole group of friends stood up, Sasuke, Naruto, Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka and his puppy, Akamaru.

We all walked through the village as the sky was darkening and one by one, we went home. Soon it was just me and Sasuke.

"Today was fun," I smiled.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed. "We'll hang out tomorrow if you want."

"Sure," I replied as we stopped at his house.

"Hello, Kaya."

I looked up and saw Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. "Hi, Itachi," I said.

"So what did you two get up to today?" he asked.

"We hung out by the lake," Sasuke replied. "Me, Kaya, Choji, Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba."

Itachi smiled. "Sounds fun. So when do you guys start at the Academy?"

"Next year," I sighed. "But I can't wait! I want to start now!"

Itachi laughed and put a hand on my head. "The time will come, you just have to be patient."

"I know," I murmured. We talked for a little while and the sky was black and the stars were shining brightly. "I should be getting home, my mother and father will be getting worried. I'm not supposed to be home late, and it's pretty dark already."

"I'll walk you home," Itachi offered. "I'll explain to your parents that it's my fault you're home late."

I nodded. "Thank you."

"See ya tomorrow, Kaya," Sasuke said and walked to the front door.

"Bye," I replied and Sasuke smiled before going inside.

Itachi walked with me through the village towards my house. "Itachi?" I said.

"Hm?" he replied.

"How are you so strong?" I asked. "I heard that you were a Chunin before you reached the age of ten and when you turned ten you joined the Anbu Black Ops."

"That's true," he smiled. "I guess it was just a lot of hard work, practice and patience."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, to be strong, you need to train really hard, putting in all your efforts, giving it all you've got. By practicing each day you will get a little stronger all the time, and you need a lot of patience to do it."

"Why do you need patience?" okay, I admit, I talk a lot and ask a lot of questions.

"You need patience because, if the training is really hard, you won't get through it if you're losing you temper and quiting. So keep this in mind when you're training to be a great ninja: Never give up, don't run from your fears, and let no one scare you off."

I nodded and smiled. "That's good advice, thanks Itachi."

"Anytime," he smiled in return and put a hand on my head, ruffling my hair.

We eventually came to my house and my mother rushed out of the door before I could knock, she hugged me and I heard her sniffling as if she'd been crying, my father appeared at the door. "Sorry I'm late," I said.

"Where were you?" my father asked.

"I apologize," Itachi said and my mother and father looked at him. "Kaya and Sasuke were walking home and then the three of us started talking. It's my fault Kaya is late home. Forgive me, Yukio." He dipped his head.

My father nodded. "Thank you for bringing her home, Itachi. It happens to everyone, it's not a problem. You should be getting home too."

Itachi nodded. "Bye, Kaya, Yukio, Shiori."

I smiled. "Bye, Itachi."

I watched as Itachi turned and jumped up onto the rooftops, jumping away from rooftop to rooftop. He was a really nice guy, no wonder Sasuke wanted to be like his older brother.

I went inside with my parents. "Kaya, did you have fun?" my mother asked.

"Yeah, me and my friends hung out at the lake all day. Naruto fell into the water because Akamaru got under his feet," I laughed.

My father smiled. "You should get some sleep."

I finally noticed the uniform my father was wearing. "Father, are you going on a mission tonight?" I asked.

He sighed and nodded. "You know the tiger I told you about that was near the village?" I nodded. "Well, it's getting closer, and its footprints are getting bigger and bigger. We need to find it and see if it posts a threat against the village."

"Are you going to kill it if it is?" I liked tigers, they were pretty.

"Go get some sleep," my father repeated. "You look tired."

"Okay," I mumbled and walked upstairs to my room. I got changed into my pajamas and got into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

"Kaya, you lazy ninja, get up!"

I turned over from the hand that was jabbing me and mumbled a protest.

"Get up, damn it!" the voice sounded playful and before I knew it, I was pulled out of bed and I fell to the floor, my blanket falling on top of me.

I shrugged and curled up on the floor, I was warm thanks to the blanket, I was really tired.

"How can I wake her up?"

I realized there was two people in the room when the question was asked.

"Try taking her blanket and putting cold water on her face," the other voice replied with amusement.

"Okay," the more childish voice cheered and was about to leave the room but my hand reached out and grabbed their ankle.

"Don't you dare," I mumbled. I threw the blanket off of me and let go of the person's ankle, stretching. "I'm awake now. Thanks a lot, Sasuke."

"You're welcome," Sasuke smiled.

I heard the laugh from the other person and I saw my father. I got up and yawned. "How was last night's mission?" I asked.

"Not good," my father sighed. "The footprints are getting really big, but we couldn't find it."

"How big?" Sasuke asked.

"About as big as this room."

I looked around my room, it was fairly big. "That's huge for a footprint," I murmured. "I wonder how big the tiger is."

"Me too," Sasuke said.

"We'll find out one day," I heard my father say, very quietly.

"Anyway," Sasuke looked at me with a smile. "Itachi is taking me to the Training Field to see how good I am with kunai and stuff. He asked me to see if you wanted to come with us."

I smiled and looked at my father for permission. When he nodded, I nodded. "Sure, okay. I'll come."

Sasuke nodded in return. "I'll meet you downstairs," he looked at my clothes and he and my father left my room, shutting my door.

I rolled my eyes and got changed into my normal clothes, brown pants and black shirt. I pulled m shoes on, which I had kicked off during the night and I went to the bathroom, brushed my hair, and ran downstairs, faster than I normally would.

"Wow, that was quick," Sasuke said. "It only took you three minutes. Usually it takes you longer."

My father smiled and for some reason, he had a glimmer in his eyes, I wondered why. Then I understood what Sasuke meant. "Hey!"

Sasuke cracked up laughing and I sighed. When he settled down, he coughed out. "Come on, let's get going."

"Have fun, you two," my father smiled.

"We will," I replied. "Bye dad."

Sasuke and I walked out of the house and through the village.

"Where are we meeting your brother?" I asked.

"At the North Gates," Sasuke replied. "Have you ever been to the Training Field?"

"My father said he'd take me one day, but he hasn't," I sighed, looking at the ground. "I guess he's got a lot to get done, especially with that tiger and all."

"Well, you'll like it," Sasuke smiled. "It's huge and there's lots of places to practice."

"Cool," I replied. "Sounds great."

"It is."

We walked through the rest of the village in silence until we saw Itachi at the North Gates. "What took you so long?" he asked.

"Sorry, big brother," Sasuke said. "But Kaya was so lazy, she didn't wanna get up."

"Hey, I got up didn't I?" I lightly punched his shoulder.

"Yeah, after Yukio suggested to use cold water," Sasuke laughed.

Itachi was amused. "Come on. Let's go."

Me and Sasuke ran to catch up with Itachi as he started walking out towards the forest.

After a fair bit of walking, we reached a huge area and I was stunned, it was bigger than I'd imagined!

"This is the Training Field," Sasuke announced.

"Wow," I murmured. "It's so cool."

Itachi and Sasuke smiled. "Alright," Itachi said. "I'll show you what I'll be teaching you today, and I'll only show it once, so watch closely."

We walked over to a small clearing where there were six targets, Itachi stood in the middle with his eyes closed, six kunai in his hands. "Okay, Sasuke, Kaya, move the targets around."

I was confused, but I did as I was told. I moved one target further up a tree trunk, another in a different spot altogether, and another one behind Itachi, just because I felt like being sneaky. Sasuke moved the other three.

"Done," Sasuke announced.

"Alright, stand back," Itachi instructed. "But watch carefully."

Sasuke grabbed my hand and pulled me to a place where we would be out of Itachi's way, then he let go of my hand.

Itachi's eyes snapped open and he took a quick glance around before turning and jumping into the air, almost hovering upside down in mid-air, closing his eyes again. He threw three kunai and I saw them fly out, nowhere near the targets. Then Itachi's eyes opened again and he threw the other three, they hit the first three and they were directed to the targets, hitting each one in the center.

"That was amazing!" I was wide-eyed as Itachi touched the ground and looked at his shot.

"Did you see all of that?" he asked.

Me and Sasuke nodded. Itachi smiled. "Good. This exercise is to test you on how well you can hit any target."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In a life and death situation, you don't get time to judge where your opponents are, so you have to be able to know their location with a glance, and then be able to strike with perfect aim. Kaya, you go first, me and Sasuke will move the targets."

I nodded and waited.

My eyes were closed and I gripped the kunai's tightly, taking a deep breath. I opened my eyes, quickly glancing at the targets before I jumped up, nearly hovering in mid-air upside down, and my eyes closed again as I threw three kunai out. They snapped open again and I threw the other three. They collided and went flying towards the targets, hitting them in the center. I landed gracefully in a crouch position and looked at the targets.

Itachi and Sasuke clapped. "Very good, Kaya" Itachi smiled. "One day's training and you're excellent. So are you, Sasuke. You've both done extremely well."

I smiled. "This is fun."

"Yeah, well we should be getting back to the village now," Itachi said. "It's getting late."

I sighed. "Alright. I can't wait to tell my father what happened today!"

Sasuke smiled. "He'll be pleased."

"He will," Itachi nodded his approval. "You'll be a great ninja just like him, one day."

"Thanks," I said. "Let's go."

We were about to walk off. "You're not going anywhere."

Suddenly, there were three ninjas surrounding us, one of them looked pale with long black hair and his eyes were black slits, like snake eyes.

"Damn!" Itachi growled. "This isn't good."

"Who are you?" I asked the pale-looking guy.

"My name is Orochimaru, my dear," he smiled. "How brave of someone as young as you to speak to someone like me."

I tilted my head. "Huh?"

"Kaya, these are bad ninja," Itachi said. "You have to get out of here and warn everyone at the village."

I was nervous now, bad ninja, bad news. I was about to run off but one of the other ninja's stood in my way. "You're not going anywhere girly."

The guy was about to grab me but Itachi got in between us, stabbing a kunai into his shoulder. "Kaya, you and Sasuke get out of here!"

"But what about you?" I asked.

"Don't worry. Just go!"

I hesitated, but the other ninja were advancing.

"Hurry! GO!"

I finally made up my mind. I picked up two kunai and threw them out, the two ninja had to jump out of the way to avoid them. I grabbed Sasuke's hand and we were racing away, but not fast enough to reach the village and stop Itachi from getting seriously hurt.

"Kaya, it'll be too late, we have to go back and help him!" Sasuke said.

I stopped and thought for a moment. "You go back, I'll get help."
Sasuke was uncertain, but now wasn't the time to argue. "Trust me, Sasuke, I'll be back soon. I promise."

Sasuke finally nodded and let go of my hand, running back towards where Itachi was fighting. I turned and started running back to the village, picking up speed as I ran. I have to get help quickly! I thought.

"Go after her!" I heard that Orochimaru guys voice and I looked over my shoulder to see more ninja running after me, catching up fast.

Damn it! I thought. Come on, I gotta hurry up, or I'll be history and so will Sasuke and Itachi!

My mind was suddenly clear and my eyes flashed with strength. I picked up more and more speed as I thought of getting back to the village to get help for Sasuke and Itachi. More, more, more, more, I was gaining an incredible amount of speed, the other ninja were far behind.

I smiled and gained the last bit of speed, that was enough. Before I knew it, I was tearing through the forest, kicking up dirt as I ran, everything rushing passed me as a blur.

I barely saw the village gates as I zoomed passed and I skidded to a stop in front of my father near the Hokage's building with the rest of the Anbu Black Op team.

"Kaya?" my father was astonished that I appeared so suddenly.

"Itachi and Sasuke are in trouble!" I pretty much yelled. "People here to attack. One guy said his name was Orochimaru."

"What!?" another ninja exclaimed.

"Where?!" my father demanded, he was worried.

"The Training Field!" I said. "We have to hurry!"

"You stay here!" my father said. "The rest of you, let's go!"

I watched as father and the other Anbu Black Ops got up and ran through the village. No way! I thought. I'm coming so I can get Sasuke out of there!

Once again, I was tearing through the village with the incredible speed I had just gained and I slowed down, running beside my father. "I'm coming!" I said.

"No!" he growled at me, he'd never done that. "Go home and warn your mother."

"I have to get Sasuke out of there," I said. "I'll take him back here."

"No, we'll get him out of there-"

"You will need to fight!" I growled. "I'm helping Sasuke, you help Itachi!"

"She'll be able to do it quickly," one ninja said. "It seems like she's inherited the Lightning Speed from your Clan."

My father looked at me as we ran side by side. "Alright, but be careful."

I nodded. "I'll help them until you get there."

"Kaya, no- Kaya!"

I wasn't listening anymore. I used the so called 'Lightning Speed inheritance thing' and sped through the village and out into the forest, straight passed the ninja who were after me. In not even a minute, I was close to the Training Field.

I saw Itachi and Sasuke and I stopped beside them.

"Kaya!?" Itachi exclaimed. "I thought I told you to get help!"

"I did, they'll be here soon," I said. "I rushed back to help you."

"Brave child," Orochimaru smiled. "You'll be a fine specimen."

"A fine what?" I echoed. "What are you on about, ugly?"

Orochimaru growled and started making hand-signs.

"Let's get out of here!" Itachi said.

Me and Sasuke ran after him as we ran from Orochimaru and the other ninja.

We made it pretty far, but we ran into the other ninja that had been after me not even five minutes ago.

"Get em!" one of them said.

We got ready to fight, and I tell you, two five year olds and 16 year old aren't a very good match for 20 other bad ninja.

"Stop right there!"

I looked passed the ninja and saw my father with the other Anbu Black Ops. I smiled.

"Kaya, you and Sasuke get back to the village now," Itachi said. "Alert the other ninja and make sure you stay safe."

I nodded. "Alright, Sasuke, they can handle this. We have a job to do."

Sasuke nodded. "Let's go."

I took his hand. "We'll get there quicker this way."

Sasuke, and Itachi, looked confused. I turned and my feet were beating the ground 100 times a second as I tore through the forest, fast as lightning, and we were back in the village.

I stopped and looked around.

"Kaya, what was that!?" Sasuke exclaimed. "That was so fast! How did you do that!?"

"I don't know, I think it's something I got from my Clan's bloodline," I replied quickly. "We have to find all the ninja of the village-"

"Hey guys, what's happening?"

I looked at Naruto, Choji, Shikamaru and Kiba and breathed, I had an idea. "Guys, I need you to do something..."

I stopped in front of a group of ninja, taking them by surprise by the speed I used. I was getting tired from all the racing around, but I couldn't stop. "Ninja are attacking the village. Orochimaru among them. Yukio called for all the ninja to help fight."

I looked up at one of the Jonin ninja, he had a black mask over his neck, mouth and nose and his village bandanna on his forehead, tilted down to cover his left eye, he also had gray/silver hair. He nodded and turned to the other ninja. "Let's go."

As they ran off I called over my shoulder. "It's near the Training Field!"

"Kaya!"

I turned and saw Kiba. "What's wrong?"

"We've told all the ninja," he said, his puppy in his jacket. "What now?"

"I don't know," I replied.

CRASH!

We turned and looked at a huge shadow that went over us. I heard the growl and I slowly looked up at the orange cat like creature with jet black stripes. It was huge, twice as big as the Hokage's building.

"It's the tiger!" I exclaimed.