First published fic so please don't be to harsh with me~
But criticism is welcomed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chance
Chapter 1

Hazel eyes swept through green landscape, a sigh escaping her lips. Warm wind teased untamed dark hair, wispy ends dancing in the air. Another sigh escaped the girl's lips and her figure, slightly hunched with exhaustion, swaying side to side, her feet slightly dancing to an unknown beat as she walked.

"Urgh, I really do wonder where the hell I'm going . . ." she spoke to herself. "Hmm, well at least its a change from all the wetness . . ."

Saira Kei came from an eccentric family. Her family was overly large just to continue one tradition, to travel and find one self. Saira personally believed it was a stupid and unnecessary tradition filled with immaturity and recklessness. A child from her family would only live with their parents until age 10, then they would be released into the world and would travel. Saira was the 13th child and had only known 5 of her siblings, all younger than her. Any older siblings were a mystery to her as they have been kicked out of the household just as she had been.

Saira had to admit, albeit somewhat short, she was blessed with a loving mother and father for a time. Every decade there was a family reunion in which all Kei who had taken up the tradition or were still traveling would meet, location changing every year. The last reunion had been in the Land of Snow when she was 8 and even then, not every Kei was there, except for a few 120 people, not including children younger than 9. This was when she was faced with the hard fact that she was going to leave at the tender age of 10. Although her family was trained to perhaps the level of a high Genin – medium Chuunin in order to survive, it could be traumatizing.

Saira had been on the road for 6 years, becoming an outgoing, sarcastic, content young woman with hidden passion. She still remembers the day she was sent on her supposed journey, her mother waking her up at exactly 8am only to leave the house at noon. Her mother had packed some of her belongings and giving her 40,000 yen to survive a few months if used sparingly. She had been trained as a young child ways to survive and explained the purpose of said tradition.

"We Kei travel in order to find oneself, little one. When we are ten, our loving parents send us out to the world for one reason only, to be ourselves. Many people might find it extreme and may look at you with pity or disgust but we Kei are strong. We travel, learning about the world and discover how we can be part of this large world." Saira's mother chuckled. "Some of us have become Shinobi, Medics, Priest, and more, but somehow we affect the people around us with a purpose. That's why we are Kei are Destiny, we are the future of our most cherished ones. You may resent me and despise me when I let you loose, but you will find new cherished ones."

At this point, Saira remembers her father coming home and her mother's whole faced lit up with joy. Saira never understood how her family were people futures' but she still kept on going slowly going across the Nations. She had started in the Land of Wind and had gone north then east. The first few months were hard for her, crying at night from the desperation of being alone and without guide. Now it was a habit to just keep moving even when lost. She guessed this is what made a Kei strong, going on blind, even when things didn't go right.

Now, she was in The Land of Fire. Personally, this was becoming Saira's favorite country. It wasn't dry like the Land of Wind, bare as the Land of Earth or as wet as the recent country she had been where Amegakure was located. The Land of Fire was warm and sunny, something she would get in extremity or something she would rarely get, depending on the country. It had been a week since she entered the country and would probably run into the hidden village located in this country in a day or two. She vaguely remembered is was called Konohagakure no Sato.

Saira looked around and saw a nice shady spot to rest. She leisurely sat down and brought out rice balls she had bought in the morning at a small road tea shop. She nibbled on them lightly before she heard a slight rustle to her left. She quirked an eyebrow and look at the rustling bush.

"Hello? Anybody in the bush currently to my left?" she asked, smiling lightly.

A small fox tumbled out and she laughed. The fox was a light russet color and was currently shaking out its fur. It was already an adult but to Saira it looked adorable yet had obvious powerful small sleek muscles. The fox looked at her and growled, its tail twitching with aggression. Saira sighed, having already dealt with her fair share of wild animals, and got up slowly. The fox snapped at her in warning and Saira dropped her barely eaten rice ball before walking away without care. She could hear the fox eating her rice ball, making adorable noises and she smiled, shaking her head.

Back on the path she was before, she took out another rice ball and took a small bite. She hummed in satisfaction and again, she started her unusual walk of dancing lightly to an unknown beat. She saw blurs out of the corner of her eye rushing through the dense forest.

"Must be near that ninja village then," she thought aloud. "Probably will be there by tomorrow at the pace I'm going. Wonder if the rumor of eccentric people being in Konoha is true?"

She shrugged and kept eating her rice ball, not noticing a fox sliding through bushes behind her.

-Magical Line-

"Damn, those are some large ass doors!" Saira whistled in appreciation.

She ambled up the road, through said large doors along with other travelers and merchants. She chuckled as she read the hiranga on the door meaning "Retreat". She quickly showed her traveling papers to some ninja at the entrance and was amazed by the amount of bustling energy that was in the village. Ninja were leaping from building while civilians laughed and worked. Yet underneath all happy pretense, there was some tension. She had been to a ninja village before, and Konoha had the feeling of high alert.

She wasn't a traveling hermit. She was aware of current events and she knew the cause of the tension in Konoha. Its been 2 weeks since what has been called the HyūgaAffair. She had been in one of the small islands located in The Land of Water, in an inn, when she overheard some Mist ninja talk about the failure of Kumo making a treaty with Konoha. It seemed there had been a kidnapping attempt of the Hyūga heir, Hinata Hyūga on her birthday and shit went downhill. When she overheard about, she felt disgusted that one would involve children in the plans of adults. She was really happy when she also discovered the toddler was fine, although at the cost of another Hyūga member.

This affair had caused Kumo its reputation while Konoha has been high alert and cautious with its' diplomats. Either way, Saira knew these were the ways of ninja politics like any other politics. She could see ninja hidden at different stations, observing in coming travelers and merchants and she sighed again. She felt sorry for the Hyūga clan, losing one of their own in a despicable way just to avoid war with Kumo.
Saira pushed away negative thoughts and concentrated on looking for a place to settle. Many different smells and noises filtered through her senses as she made way through the market. She looked around, seeing if she could spot a decent inn or at least someone who would look knowledgeable of such things. She stopped at a stand that was selling fruits and vegetables. She eyed some of the apples and grabbed a few.

"Excuse me, how much for these apples?" she called out to the merchant.

The merchant turned around and smiled at her, calling out "For you little lady, 200 yen."

Saira smiled sweetly and paid the merchant as she placed the apples in a shoulder bag she carried with her with all her meager possessions. She then looked back at the merchant and called at him again.

"Sir, do you know where there is a fairly cheap inn that I can stay for a few days in? I just arrived and I haven't the slightest clue where to go."

The merchant chuckled and replied, "Well if you keep walking down this road, past the hospital, you will see an angled road that goes northeast. You will find a Ryokan on that road. The cost there is 5,000 yen a night, so it's pretty cheap but the service is great. Just tell them Yemon sent you and I can guarantee you a room."

"Ah! Thank-you Ojisan! You've been a great help," exclaimed Saira and she gave him a tooth-filled grin.

"Good luck!" called out out the merchant as she danced lightly away. "Strange child," he whispered as he saw her dance away.

Saira hummed to herself as she went to her destination. If she had calculated correctly, she thought to herself, she should have enough for 6 nights and some left over food and other expenses. Damn, she cursed silently, that meant she had to get a money and soon. Saira hated to do manual labor so she usually performances at villages she stayed at. Maybe she should dance and sing, she pondered. This a ninja village, so any illusions she could do might not garner much attention though.

It were moments like these that Saira thanked the training Saira's mother put her through. Her mother had heavily emphasized training in ninja skills and creativity. Although ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu can be used for offensive and defensive attacks, Saira's mother also demonstrated that these skills can have completely different uses. Saira usually used her ninja skills to entertained. She would majorly use genjutsus but her control wasn't perfect, but due to constant usage, she used them on a large radius in order to control it.

As Saira was contemplating which type of genjutsu to use to perform, her thoughts were interrupted by an angry yell of "Fox!"

"Fox?" she questioned as she looked behind her towards the yell.

A woman was waving a broom wildly at a small darting figure while screaming in anger. Saira squinted a bit and gasped in surprise. It was the fox she encountered earlier in the road.

"Holy shit! Crazy much?" Saira muttered as she jogged to where the woman and fox where garnering attention.

"Foxes aren't welcomed in this village!" screamed the lady with the broom.

Other villagers where cheering her on, even making a circle to trap the fox. Saira started shoving her way through the small circle and suddenly gripped the broom as it swung down towards the fox.

"Whoa! Ma'am, calm down please. It's just a harmless little fox," Saira exclaimed to the woman struggling to release her broom.

Saira calmly snatched the broom and turned to face the cornered fox. She cooed at it softly and the fox tensed up, looking up at her.

"Hello Mr. Fox. I apologize for these silly humans. Why don't you come here and I shall make sure no harm befalls you, no?" Saira kept cooing softly, beckoning the fox to come.

The fox merely growled at her and fluffed up it's fur to look bigger. Saira chuckled and took out her last rice ball from her hand. The villagers were muttering angrily around her and she glared at them.

"Hush! This fox meant no harm and was probably following me," snapped Saira before looking back at the fox. The fox was looking hungrily at the rice ball but growled when it noticed her stare. "Aww, come Mr. Fox. I will give you this yummy rice ball and a warm place to stay with me. I will also feed you more than just rice. Foxes like meat, right?"

The fox seemed to be judging her before it slowly made its way towards her.

"That's right Mr. Fox," encouraged Saira. "I'm Saira and I will make sure you are well fed and sheltered."

Once the fox was sniffing the rice ball in her hand, she swiftly scooped him up in her arms. The fox struggled for a bit, snapping at her, before realizing she meant no harm as she petted him softly to calm him down.

"Here you go Mr. Fox," said Saira as she fed the fox her rice ball and then turned to the villagers. "See? No harm."

"The fox is probably a demon! A demon coming for it's master!" yelled the lady who had initially been swinging a broom.

"Yeah! The we can't have demon foxes trying to help it's master!" chimed another villager angrily. This started up another commotion about the fox being a demon and needing to be killed.

"Demon? Master?" asked Saira confused before she remembered.

That's right, Saira thought, it's only been 3 yrs since the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha. That explains the whole 'lets kill the fox' thing. Still, she pondered, what did they mean about it's master? Isn't the Kyuubi dead? Saira just mentally shrugged before she started walking away.

"This is just a normal fox, so I will just take Mr. Fox away and he wont bother you again," she called out as the circle parted before you. "Huh, so this is what fear does to people, isn't that right Mr. Fox?"

The fox just glanced at her before settling back in her arms. She chuckled and kept a look out for a hospital. As she walked by, villagers kept their distance and were giving her wary looks. She sighed and looked down at the fox.

"Gosh Mr. Fox, you will make my job much harder if people won't approach me . . ." she muttered lowly, glancing to her left as she saw the hospital.

From her slight glance, Saira saw a boy younger than her with white hair walk out of the hospital. What caught her attention was the leaf head band on his forehead, covering one eye. Holy shit, she thought, he looks like my age. What does one do to get that much white hair from stress! She also saw a white mask peeking from his belt and she almost dropped Mr. Fox. She knew about Shinobi ranks and realized if the mask is white it most likely was an ANBU mask.
"Fuck, they start them young here if he's in the ANBU," she speculated softly.

"It's to be expected from a prodigy," chimed in a voice coolly from behind her.

Saira spun around slowly. The voice came from what seemed an 8 year old. He had long black hair that was tied back and black eyes, while wearing a slate grey high collard shirt and beige shorts. His more noticeable feature were his kind eyes pronounced by deep under-eyes. They looked almost like two deep but small wrinkles.

"A prodigy?" questioned Saira.

"His name is Hatake Kakashi, son of Hatake Sokumo or Konoha's White Fang. He graduated from the Academy in his first year and has risen the ranks since then," answered the 8 year old boy.

Saira whistled and recognizing the title of Konoha's White Fang.

"Well damn, I guess genetics do somehow influence the way of a ninja. Still though, he's like my age."

"Itachi!" a female voice suddenly called out.

Saira and the boy, now named to be Itachi, turned towards the voice and saw a woman who resembled the boy, holding the hand of a 3 year old child. Must be this kid's mother, Saira observed mentally.

"God damn, that lady is attractive. Those kids must have some good genetics," laughed Saira quietly.

"'tachi!" called out the 3 year old cutely and Saira smiled when she saw Itachi's expression softened and smile back to the boy.

Itachi walked towards them but turned slightly to wave goodbye to Saira. Such a serious expression and attitude for someone so young, thought Saira. She watched as the family walked away before heading forward again. Saira walked a bit past the hospital before she saw to the left an angled road. She sighed in relief, glad she hadn't gotten lost. She quickly turned left and saw the Ryokan. Saira quickly looked in her arms.

"Mr. Fox, you are gonna have to hide if we wanna get a room. I feel the host of this Ryokan won't take kindly to a fox seeing as how the villagers reacted," Saira said apologetically. "I believe you are small enough to fit in my bag . . ."

The fox growled lowly and Saira smiled sheepishly. She transferred the fox in one arm before opening her bag. She apologized and gently positioned the fox in her bag.

"You are going to have to be quiet Mr. Fox," whispered Saira as she walked towards the Ryokan. "Just wait a bit until we get out room."

Saira slowly walked through the entrance. She saw she was in a genkan and took off her shoes and put on one of the pair of slippers that were provided.

"Hello . . . Is someone here?" Saira called out slowly, approaching the front desk.
A woman popped out suddenly from behind the counter.

"Holy fuck!" yelled out Saira, startled.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry!" exclaimed the woman.

"Excuse my language, erm . . . I'm good . . . I think. Seems like my hear wants to explode out of my chest," gasped out Saira. "Um . . . I was sent by Yemon. Said to come here if I wanted a place to stay."

"Oh! Of course, my name is Nao and I am the owener of this in," exclaimed the woman as she scrambled about to lift out a book. "How many nights will you be staying?"

Before Saira could answer, the fox in her bag growled loudly. Saira winced and then blushed at the wide eyed look Nao gave her.

"Ahahaha . . . um, I have been traveling for a while and haven't eaten since last night? . . ." trailed off Saira. "As for night's staying, can I pay for a week in advance? I'm not too sure how long I will stay."

Nao smiled at her gently.

"Of course. Please give me your name and I shall give you the full total," said the woman.

"My name? Oh, it's Kei Saira . . ." Saira said softly, before receiving the reaction she was expecting.

"Wow! You are a Kei? The Kei's who travel at a young age? It's been a while since Konoha has had a Kei," questioned the woman.

"Er . . . yeah. So my total cost?" winced Saira.

"I'm sorry, your total is 43000 yen," blushed Nao.

"Hmm, not bad," said Saira as she took out money from the side pocket of her bag. The fox growled again from the jostling and Saira laughed nervously. "Damn, I must be hungry!"

Saira handed over the money and laughed again nervously, rubbing her stomach.

"Well dinner is to be served soon, so don't worry," said Nao smiling. "Come, I shall show you your room."

Saira nodded enthusiastically and followed Nao. She could see now that she was wearing a green traditional kimono. They went into a hall and after three doors, they stopped.

"Here you go dear. This is your room. If you want a bath, just keep heading down this hall in to the garden. You shall see the bath house. Other than that, dinner shall be served in an hour and breakfast is served at 8am. House cleaning is always done at 11am. Would you like your dinner here or at the communal eating area?" rambled Nao as she open the sliding door.

"Uh, I would like dinner and breakfast in my room, please," said Saira politely as she walked into her room.

"Of course. I shall leave you to unpack. If you need anything just head to the lobby and I shall be there." Nao smiled and left the room, sliding her room door shut.
Saira stood for a bit, listening to the woman's retreating steps before releasing the fox from her bag. The fox leapt out and ran around the room. She sighed and looked around. There seemed to be a closet, a table and what seemed to be a small bathroom. She sat near the table and placed her bag on it.

"So Mr. Fox," Saira called out once the fox stopped running. "Are you to stay with me permanently or leave after dinner?"

The fox cocked his head at her and then leaped on her lap. The fox made himself comfortable before looking up. Saira laughed and started to pet the fox.

"Alrighty then, I guess you are staying. But let me give you an actual name instead of just Mr. Fox."

Saira hummed a bit and started calling out names.
"Ikari?"

The foxed growled.

"No? Okay . . . um, Genkuro?"

Growl.

"Um, Koan?"

Another deep growl from the fox.

"Sheesh, Akari?"

The fox yipped and purred.

"Vain ass fox. Really? Light of god? Fine, Akari you are," grumbled Saira.

While Saira and Akari waited for dinner, Saira started unpacking her bag. She took out her apples, in which Akari stole 2 and ate with Saira chasing him for a while, placed her clothes in the closet provided and started washing her face in the bathroom sink. There was then a knock and the sound of a door sliding. Saira gasped and ran out of the bathroom while shutting Akira in there.

"Sorry Akira," she whispered while greeting Nao who had her dinner. "Hello ma'am."

"Hello dear. Here is your dinner. Once you are done just leave the tray outside and we will come and pick it up."

Saira nodded and took the tray of food. The woman left and Saira let out Akira from the bathroom.

"Come Akira, let's see what we shall eat," mumbled Saira after Akira nipped at her heels.

The tray consisted of a bowl of miso, white rice, grilled fish, tempura, vinegared vegetables and what seem to a sorbet with fruit. Saira whistled in appreciation and Akira spun in a circle, yipping lightly.

"Okay, here you go," said Saira as she gave Akira half of the grilled fish, rice and some tempura. "Probably not the best diet for a fox, but it will do. I shall eat the rest."
After dinner, Saira started preparing for bed.

"Gotta get ready to perform tomorrow," she told Akira as she took out a tatami mat.

She looked out the window and was startled by some yells. Saira quickly got up and made he way to the window, opening it. She saw a crowd of people on the street, circling what seemed to be a young child.

"What the fuck?" Saira muttered slowly, squinting to get a better look.

The group of people seemed to be yelling at what seemed a boy and she was able to see a mop of blond hair. She also then a man from the crowd approaching the boy, the man raising his hand.

"Oh hell no," she whispered and grabbed what was nearest to her before throwing it at the man.

An apple flew from her hand and hit the man on the head. The crowd looked up trying to located where the apple come from as the man clutched his head.

"Hey!" yelled Saira from the window. "What is with you Konoha villagers trying to hurt defenseless creatures? Leave the kid alone. He looks like he's damn two!"

The man clutching his head then yelled out, "Stay out of it. It's none of your business. You don't know what this demon is capable of!"

Saira felt anger rush through her body as she sensed something and screamed, "Demon?! That looks like a child. And why hasn't the damn Shinobi hiding in those trees come out and helped the damn kid?!"

Suddenly two ANBU leaped out of a tree next to the crowd and landed in front of the boy. Saira was too far to see what animal mask they had but saw that they were slowly ushering the crowd away. One of the ANBU looked up at her and she snarled at them. She watched until they took the blond boy away and she shook her head, as she retreated back into her room.

"What the hell is wrong with this village?" Saira muttered as she crawled on to the tatami mat and under her sheets.

Akira whimpered softly and burrowed into her side. She sighed and brushed her finger's through his fur.

"Man, I hope I don't have to deal with that bullshit tomorrow," she muttered before closing her eyes to sleep.