"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

Maria Robinson

さあ変えよう

War has always been a lurid concept. It all begins with disagreement, people disagree on a specific matter and thus conflict is created, when prolonged and not being able to work it out in a civil way they come to this conclusion, fight fiercely until the opponent surrenders or die. The outcome, of course, is ineludible sorrow and grieve, praying for the upcoming years to bring even a little recovery. That's a normal war.

Ninja wars are something else entirely. Landscapes can vanish in seconds, hundreds will die with a flick of two fingers and in the meantime, no one would bat a single eye, not like they can anyway or they might be slaughtered the second they do. Unlike a normal war, the repercussions of a ninja war are felt even decades after it happened, monetarily and physically affecting the countries. Yet somehow, compared to others the land of fire was so untarnished, regardless of the fact that it always had a great role to play in every war. Could it mean they were superior? Did they had something other countries lacked? She seriously was starting to wonder what were the odds.

Since before she remembered she'd been told just how amazing and lucky she was to be born in such a blessed country, continuously stating just how they had the privilege of peace and stability. She didn't really care, perhaps she took it for granted but it just didn't seem like a big deal. Amidst the land, you could find all sort of people, starting from those considered royalty, for instance, the Daimyō and his relatives who owned every quarter of the land, unquestionably making them the most important individuals in the fire country. Followed only by the former Kages and the noble clans that originated in Konoha. By word, it seemed almost utopian, unmarred, a place where anyone could find happiness.

A small scoff left her lips as she thought how ironic that was

Thud!

A sigh escaped her lips as once again she ignored the nagging sound of the consistent rain and thunders.

The land of fire had a bounteous amount of positive aspects, not only was it one of the largest, wealthiest and most influential countries, but it also has Konoha, which arguably could be considered one of the strongest villages in all of the elemental nations. All of these great achievements and the extense proficiency that can't be overlooked wouldn't be possible if it wasn't because of none other than the Land of Fire Prestigious Damiyō.

Or at least that's what they made sure to tell her...

Her thoughts were once again interrupted by the heavy rain. Her eyes were quick to found another distraction as she started looking around what was her new apartment, it was small, and honestly, everything on it was rather plain, the living room had little to nothing and her bedroom wasn't much better. Sadly, her new home wouldn't be sustaining any additions anytime soon, for starters, she barely could afford to eat. No, instead what she really needed was an income, and fast.

Suddenly the silence was meddled by a sudden knock on her door, she frowned

Her mouth suddenly became very dry, she wasn't expecting any visitors and it was not that she had anyone to visit her anyway. The familiar sense of insecurity started lingering in her system making her freeze in place. She was in Konoha, she'd was safe. Even though she kept repeating the same sentence over and over, her traitorous legs didn't make a single movement to alert her presence. It seemed like whoever had knocked had time to spare, minutes kept going by until the person decided to try again. She couldn't keep ignoring it and tried to logically address the matter. It would be fine, after all, if someone had ill intentions they surely wouldn't be just knocking the door… right?

She took a small breath before taking a step towards the door. It was okay. Slowly she started to open the door to meet the intruder. The first thing that came to her attention was that the person was a man, one that she surely didn't know.

He just stared, silently, waiting for any assertion from her side.

When he showed no intention to enunciate his motives, she decided to used the time to inspect him. First, he was tall, at least much taller than her. He had an unusual hairstyle and the hair color even more so, the latter being silver, But what really nudged her curiosity was his forehead protector, which undeniably stated the man was a ninja. That little fact made her tense slightly.

In short, all she could really see was his dark grey eye, the rest was covered by the forehead protector and a mask that covered most of his face.

She couldn't read his expression but he must've to be waiting for some response to which decided to conceded by raising a single eyebrow.

Pleased by the response on her behalf he stood a little straighter than before. she suddenly felt uneasy, he seemed to finally get serious. He looked straight into her eyes seconds before giving her a cheerful eye-closed smile.

Wait what

She blinked once, then twice.

Her eyes showed the unmingled turmoil that was her mind, and she couldn't hide her baffled expression, she was taken aback. She was expecting anything but that.

She heard a small laugh making her snap her head towards.

"I apologize for the sudden intrusion," He said with a sheepish voice "I heard about a new neighbor moving in the same floor and I wanted to give my greetings as soon as possible," He explained meekly. Well, that made sense considering that there were only two apartments per floor. She visibly relaxed, it was only natural for her to at least be acquaintanced with her neighbor,

She forced smile to her face before nodding towards him "I'm very pleased to meet you, I hope we get along well." she answered politely.

He responded with another eye smile.

The room ventured back to the unnerving silence

"Well, I'd hate to disturb any further," he said after some time, "If you need anything, you know where I live." He said with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

"That's kind of you, but I'd hate to disturb," she said, her expression hopefully not betraying her.

The sound of the muffled rain went through their corridor, at that moment she wholehearted wondered how long he planned to stand on her door. But he seemed to disregard her completely, instead, he took his time to look at her.

She wasn't exactly what he would call a beauty, but she certainly wasn't ugly. She had a rather plain face with long brownish hair that went with her pale skin. But what seemed to attract him the most were her eyes. She had amber eyes, easily be mistaken for gold. Both orbs held such an intensity that blurred out the rest of her face. He memorized her face in a couple seconds before he's attention came back to her.

"Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you today" she pressured sightly.

"The pleasure has been mine." he said, glancing at her before adding one more thing "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Kakashi Hatake, " he stated.

She seemed to consider something before shaking her head and smiling towards him "It was nice meeting you Hatake-san" with that she bowed politely before closing the door.

つまらない

It was strange

He was bored, in fact, he was very bored.

It was even weirder considering who we were talking about.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he grew more attached than he would personally have liked to those little brats. And as a result, he had many mixed emotions some that he hadn't felt in quite some time. First of all, he felt that familiar sorrow. Sasuke was gone. He left to train under the tutelage of none other than that traitorous snake Orochimaru, and all because he wasn't good enough. He couldn't be a good support to him, he failed him as a teacher. As a result of this, his other students had felt like it was their duty to bring him back when in all reality it was his fault.

Something changed the day he found Naruto in the valley of the end. A new spark could be seen in those eyes, he was completely immersed and convinced that he would bring Sasuke back. Honestly, it terrified Kakashi. He saw what their fight led to, Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto. Sasuke would do anything if it meant obtaining his revenge, even if it meant harming those close to him.

Kakashi wasn't blind, if you got past all their differences and rivalry you could see that they had an amount of respect for each other. Even if they didn't show it they acknowledge the other to a considerate amount. He thought they would get better. They didn't.

Everything was once again crumbling in his world, with the new threat the Akatsuki posed Naruto life was in danger, and even if he hated to admit it, as a result, the leaf was also in danger. That's why he wasn't surprised it was agreed that Naruto would leave to train with Jiraiya for at least more than two years. A couple months since then and it already felt like years. But he remembered the conviction in his eyes and he could only smile and see him go. At this point, all he could do for their students was get even stronger. He couldn't let them down anymore.

Sakura had somehow managed to convince Tsunade to train her and since team seven had two members 'unavailable' she wouldn't carry missions under Kakashi anymore. That's when It really hit him. He had just lost three of his students and there was nothing he could do. That's when the other feelings come in. He felt that familiar loneliness that he had almost forgotten, he felt motivated, he needed to get stronger. He would bring his team back together but he had to get better.

Before he knew it, it had quickly become somewhat of a routine to wake up with a summoning scroll in his room, he would go to the Hokage office a couple hours later, just to get whatever mission they wanted in return. Most of them were pretty… lame

Konoha had been on the verge of war, it was a huge relief that the political situation posts the chūnin exams was solved after some compensation and investigation were made. Still the dread and the pain that came along with the many losses among them the third Hokage. Everyone was rebuilding and recovering slowly but getting better all the same. Konoha needed every single shinobi to be active, any other nation could possibly take it as an opening and strike when least expected. Kakashi, of course, didn't get a break.

But everything was still… boring.

Something was missing within him, he felt numb.

These days all he did was blame himself for everything. It was his fault their students were having to go through this, and then almost subconsciously he would think that it was simply in his nature, he failed Obito and Rin. He failed to his sensei and now he failed to his kid. It was depressing

Two months had already gone and went by since Naruto left making it five almost five months since Sasuke left.

He was getting used to the silence once again, the unmistakable loneliness he had always had since he was a kid was coming back and maybe for good this time.

Snapping out of his thoughts he noticed that he was starting to look like a stalker in front of her long closed door.

Sighing he made his way to his apartment only to look back at the door.

"Come to think of it, I didn't get her name…" he muttered to himself only to dismiss it almost as soon as it came.

ストを尽くします

The rain was completely gone by the next morning. It was early and the sun had barely shown itself but she simply felt like there was no time to waste, there was a lot that needed to be done.

Fist of all she had to come up with a plan, she needed to go to the Hokage office and discuss some serious matters. Most of the things she could or had to do come after that, but for now she really needed a new attire. The only clothes she could afford to bring with her was a light pastel pink kimono, and the other was a comfortable blue kimono, that sadly she had already used the past three days.

The rest of her belongings were either training clothes or sealing materials. she had little to no choice but to wear the kimono at the moment so she took some money from her scroll and sighed in annoyance. If she was lucky it would last for a week, she seriously needed a monthly income or she'll be doomed.

She took her keys and her little bag and walked off her apartment only to be greeted by the warm and soothing breeze. as she kept walking further she made the mental schedule for the day. First and most importantly she needed to eat something and quickly, her stomach was starting to make strange noises.

She started to get annoyed, when she remembered she didn't know her way around yet, so the moment she spotted two chūnin patrolling with a big sigh she set her pride aside and asked to be escorted to the marketplace.

"Thank you so much" she gave them a small smile as a thank

"No problem!" One of the guys said cheerfully, they both bowed before leaving

The market was full of options, regardless of the time they were all open and ready to serve. She finally decided on a place and ordered some onigiri and tea.

"That makes a total of 540 ryō," said the cheerful owner.

She smiled and reached for her purse except she was met with… nothing?

She didn't just lose her purse… did she...

The owner looked at her expectantly and she wanted to scream.

"540 ryō?" The owner repeated with a small smile while holding her order in front of her. "is there a problem?"

She laughed nervously "U-Um no! just give a second I just need to see where I left my purse-" before she could even finish, a long-haired guy gave the man the exact amount she needed.

He looked down at her and gave her a playful wink.

she gasped.

What. the. hell?

"Can't have such a pretty lady such as yourself hungry, can't we?" she blinked, trying to comprehend had taken place. The owner thanked them for the purchase, making her get out of her dumbfounded state.

And just then she noticed the guy had started leaving.

Yeah, just like that.

"H-Hey! Stop right there," she called still a little out of it, the man complied not a second later. She took a breath and walked to him

"Look much as I appreciate your help, and I do" he smiled charmingly "I'm paying back for that, " she said with a convinced nod.

When he was about to retort that it was not necessary, one of the guys that had helped her find her way interrupted their conversation.

"Uh..." he was basically out of breath while extending a little purse "I believe this is yours?" He said with a somewhat disapproving tone, making her grin sheepishly

"Yes, it is." she answered, "Thank you." She told him with a bow, he nodded and left right away

Honestly, she was worried of how easily she almost lost her damn purse.

She looked back to the long-haired man, and she quickly took the same amount he had paid and extended the money to the now grinning man.

He left out a small chuckle before offering a kind smile and finally accepting the money, making her relax a little. "Thank you for your help though, the intention is still there," she told him with a sincere smile, with that being said she bowed and wasted no time before making her way to a bench beside them to eat her food.

She was interrupted before she could even taste it though.

"Oh, um well you know… I was actually supposed to leave the scene as the handsome and mysterious hero, but I guess it didn't work this time around" he sighed dramatically "What a shame I guess, so shall we start again?" She was more interested in devouring her food but she still nodded slightly.

He smiled yet sat in silence, letting her carry on with her eating for the moment. Something that she silently appreciated.

She kept devouring her food and in the blink of an eye she was done, she finally had regained some energy. Looking back at the man beside her she noted that he was wearing a shinobi vest. She immediately got down to business and decided that he was nice enough to answer a few questions for her.

"If it's okay with you, can I ask for a favor?" she asked making him smile and sigh playfully

"Depends on what." he winked at her

she rolled her eyes

"You see, I have somewhat of an issue at the moment," she said with a serious tone, he narrowed eyes on her and nodded "I just moved to Konoha and I have a rent to pay soon, but no income to pay it with" she tried explaining "However the solution on my problems is talking to the Hokage as soon as possible" she said

He looked at her carefully, she wanted to talk to the Hokage about her inability to pay her rent, he almost chuckled at the thought, he really hoped that wasn't it. But still, if she didn't have any financial income how the hell did she even managed to have an apartment supposing that that's what she has to pay the rent for. But if she was accepted in Konoha, she must have gone through some sort of procedure. It was confusing but maybe she simply was from the outskirts or something.

"And how could the possibly Hokage help you?" he asked

"Well she is the only one who can give me the job I want" she answered carefully.

"Oh? And what job could it be, if you don't mind telling" He asked lightly. She looked at him, smiled and gave a long sigh.

"A Kunoichi of course," she answered and then grinned when she saw his reaction.

She saw as his gaze changed, he suddenly looked at her more subjectively while tensing a little, she left a small chuckle escape her lips.

"It's okay I'm not a threat to Konoha" she assured, making him raise his eyebrows and almost let a suppressed chuckle escape. "Anyway the favor I was talking about is to show me the way to her office since I don't know my way around," she said with a little blush in her cheeks.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked

"Why would I?" she asked with a bored tone

He snorted

She scowled

And just then he decided that he liked her.

"Okay, if what you want is an escort, you shall have it," he teased making her roll her eyes "In no more than a few seconds we'll be there" he concluded proudly

He found it highly amusing that she was going to go to the Hokage office with no prior appointment, just her going and casually chatting with the leader of the village only to ask to be a kunoichi. He then smiled a little at the thought.

What a weird girl.

"Oh and by the way I'm Shiranui Genma," he told her expecting her to give her name as a response.

And of course, she did not comply she only nodded with a faint smile, he sighed and grabbed her hand. She stared at him in surprise and then in less than ten seconds they were in front of the huge tower.

She looked a little disconcerted for a second before looking at him in surprise "Uhm… I just didn't expect that" she muttered, making him laugh.

"Anyway, seriously you have been helping me all this time, thank you," She said "I hope we see each other again sometime," She told him with a big grin, for some reason she found the guy highly amusing, after bowing started making her way to the tower.

"Hey!" he called her making her turn almost by reflex "Do I get to know your name?"

She simply offered another smiled before saying nothing. He almost gave up until she finally talked

"Katsumi Madoka" she answered lightly, and before he could even notice she was already inside the building.

Oh wait a minute

wasn't that...?

He looked in awe were she had been before letting out a little ghost smile.

"Well Katsumi I surely hope you make it," He said to himself.

What an interesting person had he stumbled around.

the irony.

28/11/18