Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, in any way shape or form! Though would be interesting if I did...

"Normal Speech"

"Demon Speech"

"Thought Speech"

"Demon Though Speech"


Outside the Barrier with the Sandaime Hokage

There it was, the Kyūbi, right before him and he could do nothing to help the barrier before him erected by Kushina keeping everybody out, but the Kyūbi in. Hiruzen Sarutobi could do nothing as he stood by; watching as his successor and wife did what he could not.

"It shouldn't have been like this... It should have been me in there..." Sighed the Sandaime Hokage.

Turning to the nearest ANBU he stiffened his spine for what was to come, and spoke up, his tone reminding all those just who he was as it rang with authority. "Right, let's not stand idle while the Yondaime does all the work. "Dog, Boar, you'll stand by here, the rest of you I want helping get the wounded and dead back to the hospital and their loved ones, let's clean up this mess while we have the chance."

Within the barrier

Kushina was panting, knelt next to him, her hand resting gently upon their recently born daughter, keeping her chakra chains active in her state was effectively ending her already shortened life span.

Frowning he glanced back at the Kyūbi as he formed the last of the hand seals for Shiki Fūjin, before turning back to his daughter with a sad smile. He knew everything was prepared, the large scroll of instructions for the Sandaime, and now with the Shinigami having taken the Yang half of the Kyūbi's soul he could seal the remaining Yin within his daughter. Performing the last few hand quickly he then pressed his palm against his daughter's stomach, murmuring a quiet apology as the last of the Kyūbi was sealed away.

Minato smiled down at Kushina, murmuring quietly as he struggled to keep himself awake, let alone standing. "I'll leave the rest in your hands Aisai, my time is up... Let Sarutobi in, and give him the scroll... And our daughter..." A small smile tugged at his lips as he tilted his head. "Looks like I'll be waiting for you..."

The barrier disappeared, the chakra chains holding it in place evaporating as the user's chakra levels dropped dangerously low, Sarutobi was there in moments, having witnessed the Kyūbi's defeat from outside the barrier and knowing all too well the cost paid for the victory. Looking down at Kushina and Minato he couldn't keep the single tear from rolling down his cheek, as he gazed down at the pair, Minato obviously dead, and Kushina cradling his head in her lap as she leant against the alter that a baby girl was resting upon.

"He did it for them you know? Sacrificed everything... Baka..." Kushina murmured affectionately down at her deceased husband before looking up at Sarutobi a hard look in her emerald eyes. "We're entrusting... Our future... To you... Look after her Sarutobi, the scroll... has everything you, and... Naru-Chan needs to know..."

She slumped forward, panting heavily, her body trembling as she struggled to fight against the closing darkness, she knew she was dead already, the abuse she had put her body through had ended what little hope there may have been to see her daughter grow up. Sarutobi just stood there, watching quietly, nodding at the woman's words with little more acknowledgement then a simple "Hai."

Kushina turned her attention back to her small daughter, leaning over and tenderly kissing the child's forehead as she murmured quietly. "Grow up strong Naru-Chan... And know that... We're both sorry we can't... Be there for you and f-forcing this upon you... And... And that we both love you very, very much..." Her voice slowly quietened, dropping to a whisper, then barely audible before she finally fell silent, her body slumping down against the Alter that her daughter lay upon, her life finally leaving her.

Collecting the Child and scroll he glanced at Dog and Boar as he murmured softly to them. "Not a word of this is to leave this site, understood?" Both ANBU nodded before the Sandaime Hokage Shunshin'd back to his office.

Hokage's Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office, his privacy seals active, keeping those who wanted to enter out for a brief moment of time, allowing him to pour over the scroll given to him and the small child he now had cradled in his arms. The requests had not been that much to ask of him, and he knew he could do as the Yondaime asked, but, he also knew that what he asked wouldn't happen as he hoped. Sighing quietly Hiruzen let his gaze return to the scroll as his thoughts played over what he had read. "As much as you want her to grow up being recognised as a hero for having sealed the Kyūbi within her, that will not happen with what has happened this night, the attack on the village and all those who lost their loved ones... They will hate this child as if she were the demon itself. Not to mention that if her heritage is brought the council's attention they will attempt to either take her away to be trained as a weapon or to be executed as the Kyūbi... It'd just be easier if it were never known she was alive... And that the Kyūbi was in fact dead..." Shaking his head a little he placed a small Genjutsu making the child sleep before he collected the scroll and placed it out of sight. Dropping the privacy seals he called out to the ANBU waiting outside. "Dog, retrieve the others, and be quick, it is of the utmost importance." Dog appeared briefly, before he Shunshin'd away to collect the other members of the Sandaime's most loyal ANBU.

Fifteen Minutes Later...

Seven masked ANBU stood before the Hokage, watching him silently as the aged Hokage paced before them. It'd been a minute since the last had arrived and the Sandaime still had yet to speak, leaving all but Dog and Boar questioning what was so important that they were pulled from the village not long attacked to stand before the Hokage.

Hiruzen glanced at the seven before him, he knew that he could only ask what he needed of two or three of them, no more could assist for fear of jeopardizing the mission he had in mind. Yet again the Hokage sighed before he stopped his pacing and turned to face the gathered ANBU, his most trusted elite. "I have an S-rank mission, though rather than assigning it to one of you, or more, I ask for volunteers. Know now, that you will have to volunteer before given the details of the mission, and only those who hold the Yondaime's dying wish in high regard and are willing to follow through with it regardless of what the mission may be are to remain, the rest are dismissed back to their prior duties." It could almost be said that surprise rippled through the seven, an unknown mission of S-rank, and barely anything in the way of information about it, and not to mention the fact they would all but have to forgive and forget the Kyūbi attack, it was admittedly a little unsettling. Bowing to the Hokage one after the other four of the seven ANBU left in the five minutes Hiruzen waited. Noting the three remaining he smiled to himself, shaking his head a little before he once again reactivated his Privacy seals and moved back to his desk to settle himself behind it.

"Please, be seated." The Hokage motioned to the chairs before his desk as he sat back in his own after collecting the sleeping child from it. "This mission is S-rank, and as such if anything regarding its details is leaked... I'll have to punish you accordingly, regardless of your intentions. You have remained, there for have volunteered for this mission and as such will be held responsible for what happens to this child. The Yondaime's heir and Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi." He paused a moment to let the information sink in before continuing. "As such this child herself is an S-rank secret, and everything pertaining to what I am telling you tonight will not go past these walls. Dog, you will be raising her. You will be retired from ANBU duties but remain on the active duty roster as an Elite Jōnin; you will receive ANBU pay as well as a monthly sum to cover living costs of yourself and the child." Hiruzen eyed Dog a moment, knowing the young man would not like that decision, but seeing as he was the closest link to Minato it would be for the best to have him raise the Yondaime's daughter. Turning to the other two he spoke up once more. "Boar, Cat, you will be the child's silent guards, one of you will be rostered to watch over her at a time, switching between the pair of you so that you will be able to keep up appearances. I will repeat again, no one, and I mean no one, is to know about this. Dog, she is to be your little sister, you will raise her as thus, and seeing as Minato was your sensei that shouldn't be much of an issue for you. You will also be given access to the Namikaze residence for anything you may need of her parents possessions to help in her training, or that she may ask for in regards to her parents. She will grow up knowing who and what she is. As per her parent's request." The ANBU nodded quietly glancing momentarily between themselves before Kakashi pulled his mask off and set it on the table before the Hokage, before having the scroll and child passed to him.

"For now, take her back to your apartment, till I can set aside something bigger for the pair of you to live in, Boar, you will have first watch of the pair, Cat, return to what you were doing previously, and remember. I'm putting not only my faith in you three, but that of Kushina and Minato. To the village, the Kyūbi is dead. They needn't know more than that." Seeing the ANBU nod once more the Hokage raised his hand to dismiss the two ANBU as well as his privacy seals as he turned back to Kakashi. "I know this is asking a lot of you Kakashi, but I believe that Minato and Kushina would have wanted no one else but you to do that. Can you do it, for them?"

Kakashi simply nodded, a slightly bewildered look could be seen in his one visible eye, as he gazed down at the small bundle in his arms. "My little imōto..." Shaking his head a little he turned to leave the Hokage's office as he murmured quietly to himself as the small child in his arms.


Three Years Later...

Kakashi was all but tearing his hair out; it was the third time this week Cat had turned up on his doorstep with Naru in her arms. "You really should keep a better eye on her Kakashi." The cat masked woman murmured with an amused tone. "The little escape artist is going to get you in trouble at this rate if you're not careful." Kakashi's shoulders slumped as he grunted in response, taking his giggling imōto from her ANBU guardian. "Not as easy as it sounds you know... One minute she's sitting there quietly playing with her toys, the next she's already outside and walking down the street..." Despite his resignation that he'd once again failed to keep the little terror out of mischief, he was relieved to find that she'd come back unharmed and no attention was brought to her.

"You know Kakashi, why not take her out if she's so keen to see outside?" The cat masked ANBU asked, tilting her head as she regarded Kakashi. "I mean, what's a little henge or Genjutsu to you? The Great Sharingan no Kakashi." She all but laughed as she Kakashi face palmed with a soft groan. "Why didn't I think of that..." Shaking his head a little to himself Kakashi murmured his thanks as Naru raised a little hand and waved to the Cat ANBU before Kakashi turned away and closed the door.

The Next Day...

Kakashi slowly strolled down the streets of Konoha, a small silver haired infant sitting astride his shoulders gaping at the village about her. Few of the villagers paid the pair any mind, the subtle Genjutsu doing its work, for the most part, making them not worth the time to pay attention to. Letting the pair explore the village for a while undisturbed.

Maito Gai was just finishing his nine hundred and sixty third lap of Konoha on his hands when he spotted his silver haired rival and the small child riding on the young man's shoulders. The distraction was enough to cause him to falter briefly and crash to the ground. Quickly jumping to his feet he dashed over to his youthful rival shouting loudly as he closed in on the silver haired Jōnin. "Kakashi, my eternal rival! Who is this brilliant snow flake riding upon your shoulders?!"

Having noticed Gai and been caught up to in the process of trying to slip off Kakashi sighed dramatically as he murmured a soft apology to his imōto while turning to face the boisterous Gai. "This is my imōto Naru, Naru-chan... This is Maito Gai." Naru smiled brightly down at the green spandex wearing male as she raised a hand from Kakashi's head to wave at the large eye browed man.

Gai tilted his head at that a moment before shaking his head and letting his gaze drift back and forth between the pair. The girl looked distinctly similar to Kakashi, though her long flowing hair was decidedly different from the spiked style that Kakashi sported. Her silver hair bordering on white almost glimmered like fresh snow in the bright sunlight, her large sapphire blue eyes stared back at him with a hint of innocent curiosity. As Gai opened his mouth to question Kakashi he was interrupted but the silver haired Jōnin. "Not to be rude or anything Gai, but we're sort of in a hurry, need to get back and set Naru-chan down for a nap..." Closing his mouth quickly Gai nodded before grinning brightly, the sun reflecting off his blindly white teeth. "Yosh! I shall return to my training so that I will be able to defeat you in our next battle!" He started to go off on how many laps of Konoha he would do on his hands, and should he fail that, press ups with just two fingers, then should he fail that with one finger while standing on his head, at that point Kakashi shunshin'd back to his apartment.

"Ug, let's leave that headache for another day... Sorry Naru-chan, but that will have to be it for our exploration today... Maybe we can go out more often though seeing how well that went." He smiled to himself as he let Naru down from his shoulders and went about preparing lunch for Naru and himself.


Another Three Year's Later...

"No, that's wrong, do it again. And this time, without the pink stripe in your hair." Kakashi scolded that young girl, shaking his head a little as he watched his imōto perform the henge once again. He knew she was goofing off, she'd mastered it early, but if she wanted to go out and play he wanted her to be serious. Despite the fact it was her birthday, she should know better than to draw attention to herself like that. Sighing softly he shook his head at Naru before murmuring lightly. "Alright, fine. If you do it properly, and maintain it till you come home, I'll give you the advanced Fūinjutsu book from your father's collection, deal?" He all but laughed at her change of heart from grudgingly doing as she was requested to eagerly performing the task at hand.

"Hai nii-san! You promise right? Not like last time... When you said you'd stop reading those books..." She raised a brow at Kakashi as she tilted her head slightly to the left. Kakashi had the good graces to blush faintly as he nodded. "Hai, hai, I promise. I'll go collect the book now, okay, just behave yourself." Cheering to herself she darted out the door and off to meet her friends.

Kakashi gave an eye smile as he watched her rush off. The smile didn't last long as he sighed and turned about before calling out. "Alright Jiraiya, you can show yourself, she's gone." Slipping from his hiding spot and landing next to Kakashi Jiraiya chuckled nervously, as he watched his goddaughter run off. "Sorry... But after last time I thought it might be best to stay out of sight till after she'd left..." Kakashi snickered at that, shaking his head a little as he recalled the incident between the Sannin and his little imōto who had caught him peeping...

... Six Months ago

He had come into the apartment to find Kakashi, but sadly the younger man seemed to be out, a note on the counter stating he'd be back as soon as he'd gotten the groceries. Jiraiya had quickly made himself at home, that is until he heard the shower going. The sound quickly peaked his interest, seeing as his Goddaughter usually went with Kakashi these days when they went out to shop, her excuse being that she had to make sure her nii-san got the ramen she liked. Getting up he moved slowly through the house, head tilted as closed on the only bathroom in the apartment. As he reached the door the shower stopped. Grinning to himself the Sannin carefully opened the door to peer into the room only to choke back a gasp of surprise. There in her now mostly covered glory was Yūgao, a small white towel held to her body covering her front as she stepped from the shower. The Sannin grinned gleefully to himself, thanking Kami for such a glorious gift as the one standing before him. Pulling his notebook from his pocket he quickly started jotting down notes, fully intent on using this new 'Research Material' in his new book. So absorbed in his writing he failed to notice his goddaughter step out of her bedroom and stop upon seeing her Godfather crouched down by the bathroom door. The first warning either shinobi had of being watched as a rather dark and insidious aura that flooded the hallway in which the Sannin was sitting, his first reaction was to jump to his feet and spin about as the dark radiating aura emanated out of the little redhead. A feeling he'd felt only twice before washed over him, fear for his life. Memories flashed through his mind as he recalled Tsunade's reaction to his peeping on her, and then Kushina's reaction, the only two women he had truly feared were being out done by the small child standing before him. All he could think as she glared death at him was that he hoped to Kami that Kushina wasn't waiting for him on the other side. Naru screeched loudly as she charged Jiraiya fist raised back ready to strike. "ECCHI!" Sadly for poor Jiraiya his goddaughter's height was lacking a little, leaving very little else in the way to hit in her blind rage bar his favourite possession. The scream of pain could be heard all over the village as the Sannin crumpled to the ground, hands clasping his injury as little Naru continued to lay into Jiraiya till he was rescued by a barely clothed Yūgao, but not before collecting the Sannin's 'Research Note's and disposing of it. Jiraiya would later claim to having been attacked by a phantasm, claiming that Kushina had risen from the grave and beaten him senseless for his attempted peeping...

... Current Day

Kakashi shuddered at the memory, even only having had second hand accounts of what had happened, it was still more than enough to make his blood run cold. Turning his one eyed gaze in the direction Naru had run off in he murmured a quiet thanks to Kami that he had so far remained unscathed by his imōto's hatred of perverts. "So what brings you about this time then Jiraiya?" Kakashi finally broke the silence that had stretched on, more than happy to leave his thoughts behind for hopefully better tidings.

"It's the gaki's birthday... Thought I'd bring her a little something... Though, I think it may be better if I just leave it with you..." The Sannin chuckled nervously glancing at Kakashi whom gave him an eye smile. "She'd like it more if you were to give it to her you know, and it's not like she seriously holds a grudge for too long... You should be alright... I mean... That was six months ago." Slumping slightly in defeat he nodded his ascension. "I suppose you're right, and she is my Goddaughter... I really shouldn't hide from her... Even if she is like the reincarnation of Kushina..." Both men chuckled softly at that as they moved inside to continue their conversation there.

~With Naru~

Poking her tongue out at Kiba she was quick to laugh and jump away as the infuriated young boy leapt after her. "Come on Kiba, surely you can catch a giiirrl, or are you not as good as you say you are hrm?" She continued to taunt the Inuzuka while keeping just out of range of the boys reach.

Kiba was becoming more and more infuriated with the silver haired girl, why did she know how to push every single one of his buttons, and not only that, keep out of his reach so he couldn't even lay a finger on her to prove all her annoying words wrong! Growling in anger he continued to chase the girl around the playground, fully intent on tagging the girl who was provoking him, much to the amusement of the rest of the children in the playground, noting, that once again, Naru had turned their game of tag into a game of cat and mouse with Kiba.

Laughing softly to herself she once again darted just out of reach of Kiba as his hand came close to tagging her shoulder only to find at the last second that he'd changed targets as he'd found her slipping away, and grabbed a fist full of her long silver locks. Yelping softly she stopped abruptly as the young Inuzuka tugged on her silver mane.

Smirking triumphantly Kiba stomped his left foot as he tugged on her hair again. "You're not so proud of yourself now, huh?" Kiba failed to notice that the cheerful mood of the playground rather quickly died away as he tugged on Naru's hair like it was a leash, pulling the silver haired girl back towards him.

"You jerk! Let go of my hair! That hurts!" Naru struggled a little, only to wince as she once again caused him to pull on her hair. She was slowly being backed up, and was in little position to change what was happening, that was until Kiba decided to mouth off one too many times.

"Look where your precious hair's got you now Naru! You're no better than a pet on a leash!" Kiba all but yelled at Naru, a pleased grin spreading across his features, that was until Naru went stock still, shifting a little to peer back over her shoulder before fighting against his grip, tugging her head hard against his hold, only to have her hair give out before his grip did. Strands of hair pulled free in the young Inuzuka boy's hand, much to the shock of many of those present, though that shock was only replaced tenfold as the young Naru turned about and leapt at Kiba, screaming at him.

"How dare you! How dare you damage the only momento my mother left me!" She continued to scream at Kiba as she tackled him and starting clobbering the young boy with her fists, swinging them down at his head. All Kiba could do was lift his arms to protect his head, blocking the enraged Naru's blows, too taken aback to retaliate.

The fight was ended as abruptly as it began, a Cat masked ANBU appearing out nowhere, collecting the screaming Naru and disappearing as fast as she had arrived, leaving Kiba lying in the dust with a handful of red hair, too shaken to even get up as he lay there staring at the hair caught in his fist.

After a moment he got back to his feet, tucking the hair into his jacket pocket before dusting himself off. Letting out a yell he dashed up to the nearest person to him, much to Choji's despair and yelled at the larger boy. "Tag! You're it!" Then ran off as if nothing had happened, deciding to think about what he had found later.

Three Hours Later...

A much calmer Naru sat quietly before Yūgao, as the cat masked woman carefully ran a brush through the younger girls red hair. She murmured softly, making sure that Naru could hear her while she tidied up the damage done by the upset Inuzuka Clan member. "You really shouldn't have lost control like that you know. What would Kakashi say if he heard about it? He'd be utterly disappointed in you, not only for getting into a fight with a boy, but for completely forgetting about all the training he's been putting you through." Naru's shoulders slumped at that, it was true, she had completely lost it when her hair had come into the firing line at the playground, and had given up on doing anything more than simply trying to hurt that boy who had damaged her hair. "I'm sorry Yūgao-neechan, please don't tell Nii-san, I won't do it again! I promise! And... And I'll work harder at my training too! I swear I will!" Naru pleased with Yūgao, the last thing in the world she wanted to do was disappoint her Nii-san, which Yūgao took advantage of. Smiling to herself behind her mask she nodded a little as she murmured in a strict tone. "Make sure you do Naru-chan, I don't want to have to tell Kakashi about today..." Turning about Naru buried her face against the Yūgao's shoulder and hugged the masked woman. "Thank you! Thank you Yūgao-neechan." Returning the hug Yūgao murmured softly once more. "You're welcome Naru-chan."

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, a new couple of jutsu scrolls from her Godfather, which, despite how she hated perverts, she managed to put it aside and hug Jiraiya, who had promised to help her learn them over the next couple of days. Kakashi hadn't bought her anything, but she accepted that, she'd been given the day off from training, in addition to the three she was allowed a year. Yūgao had brought her some clothes, something the cat masked ANBU felt she needed, with Kakashi's ability to shop for woman's, or girl's clothing. Her last two gifts came from the Hokage and Boar. She didn't know his name, but he was the other ANBU who kept watch over her and her Nii-san, so she had accepted him just as well as she had accepted Yūgao. The gift from the Hokage was the deed to her parents land, giving her the best place to practice her jutsu, and to train away from prying eyes. Sadly it was held in a trust, and while it was hers by right now, Kakashi still had the final say until she was eighteen. Baor's gift was a little more simple, a beautifully carved fox with three tails made of wood, likely Boar's very own Mokuton was used to create it. Of all of the gifts the fox carving was the one she liked the most, despite the fact she had a fox demon sealed within her, she didn't hate all foxes because of that.


Two months before entering the Academy...

Kakashi had been given another infiltration mission, though this time instead of opting to get a baby sitter for Naru, he requested she join him on the B-Rank mission. The Hokage wanted to argue that she stay behind, but seeing as he had taken her as his apprentice shortly after her sixth birthday, he really didn't have a say in the matter so agreed with the condition it wasn't a regular occurrence. It took a week for the pair to arrive in Tsume no Kuni, and another two days to finally reach and sneak into the Daimyou's palace.

It hadn't taken long to find what they were looking for, any information that might link the Daimyou to the assassination attempt on the Daimyou in Kiba no Kuni. The documents, had been hidden, in a safe behind a painting of a previous Tsume no Kuni Daimyou, though Kakashi had been able to get it open fairly quickly, at which he handed the documents over to Naru with an eye smile. "You know the drill Naru-chan, you copy what we need down, I'll check to make sure the coasts clear to get out of here fast, it'll be nonstop till we get back to the boarder of Hi no Kuni." Kakashi murmured as he moved back to the only door into the room. He cast his gaze out into the corridor before cursing under his breath. "And make it quick, we have company..."

Naru sighed softly, shaking her head a little as she pulled out her Fūinjutsu supplies and quickly started to scribe down several seals to transfer the information on the scrolls they had collected onto her own scrolls. She murmured quietly, lifting her gaze briefly from her work. "I'm going to need more time, there is too much here... Can you buy me like... Two minutes? A distraction is all I'll need..."

Nodding Kakashi moved out into the hall way. "Okay, meet me out where we came in, you've four minutes, if you're not done by then leave, I don't care if you don't have it all. We will need to get out immediately at that point."

With that he was gone, his presence no longer outside the door. Naru bit her lower lip, brows furrowing slightly. She murmured quietly to herself, one hand raising to tuck a loose strand of red hair back behind her air before she formed a seal with one hand. "Fūin!" Her seal glowed blue briefly before vanishing, and in its place the information on the scrolls she had spread out about her quickly copied itself onto her scroll. Once the jutsu was active Naru moved about the office putting the scrolls back where Kakashi had grabbed them from before tiding up the office, in hopes of leaving it looking like no one had been there. It wasn't until she moved back to her scrolls and collected them that she noticed the presence behind her, she turned about all but dropping her scroll as a gasp escaped her.

The brief blue flash of chakra as Naru had activated her seals hadn't gone unnoticed. "Huh... There shouldn't be anyone in the Daimyou's office at this hour... Maybe this has to do with the intruders..." Slipping into the office he watched the girl move about, tiding the mess she had made and putting away the top secret files she had been looking through. Frowning to himself Yami pulled a kunai from his holster and moved to grab the girl only to have her spin about as he approached her. "Huh... A sensor... Interesting..."

Naru cursed under her breath, she'd gotten too focused on the task at hand she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. "If nii-san finds out I'm in so much trouble..." Tucking the scroll away she barely had time to roll out of the way as a kunai went whistling through where her head had been not moments before. Hoping supprise would be on her side she deactivated her restriction seals with a soft 'Kai' before darting forward, kunai in hand, drawn from the holster on her thigh and struck out at the male between her and the door.

Caught by surprise, he grunted as the kunai bit into his thigh, to slow to jump out of the way in time as the red head hit him, and darted out the door. Cursing to himself he rushed after her, forming a quick few seals and yelling Kanton: Gōkakyū no Jutsu,

before raising a hand to his mouth before belching a huge ball of fire directly after the spry brat trying to escape him.

Muttering curses Naru glanced back as she felt the growing heat only to see a fireball coming directly for her. Forming a one handed seal she summoned a Kage Bushin and used it to throw herself out of the path of the fireball as it consumed her clone. Checking herself briefly she created a Mizu Bunshin, which turned to fight the coming ninja as she continued to rush for the meeting point with Kakashi.

Shaking his head again at himself, having once more underestimated the young girl as he found the hallway lacking a corpse, and then, coming up against a water clone shortly thereafter. He'd dispatched it rather easily, though it had managed to slow him down enough that he'd lost sight of the girl.

~With Kakashi~

Panting softly he glanced around, his Sharingan shining in the low light coming through the window from the moon. "Four down, one left, and by the looks he's about to run... Can't have him getting help, and I still have to find Naru-chan..." Shaking his head a little he formed a quick series of hand seals before murmuring "Katon: Endan." And firing several bullets of flame from his mouth which the final ninja fail to dodge. "They were nothing but Chūnin level... I hope Naru-chan hasn't gotten herself in over her head again..." Sighing softly Kakashi pulled his hitai-ate back down over his Sharingan before heading off to the meeting place in hopes of finding Naru there.

~Back with Naru~

Grumbling quietly to herself as she glanced about she crept slowly down yet another hallway she didn't recognise. She'd managed to lose the ninja who'd been chasing her, though sadly she'd lost herself shortly thereafter, having taken a wrong turn to escape one of the ninja's jutsus. She contemplated activating her tracking seal so Kakashi could come find her, but quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to worry her Nii-san if he was already in a fight somewhere. "I can do this... I... Just have to find somewhere I recognise so I can get out of here... Maybe I should trace my footsteps back to my last recognisable location..." Forming a one handed seal she produced two more Kage Bushin and had them scout ahead of her as she moved back the way she had come.

A minute later she managed to find a corridor she recognised, and started to head back to where she was to meet Kakashi, only to come to a halt as the memories of her clone came flooding back. "Shit... That's not good, he's closer than I thought... And what was that jutsu... I've never seen an-" Wincing, she dropped to one knee, her hands raising to her temples as a sudden pain shot through the backs of her eyes. Whimpering softly she willed the pain down as she pushed back to her feet and cracked open one eye to peer about. "Argh... By Kami... What did he do to my clone..." She staggered as step before shaking her head a little to clear it as the pain receded slowly.

Muttering to himself he continued down the hallway. "Clones, two of them at that... That makes four... For such a small kid she sure has a lot of chakra to throw around, not to mention that speed she displayed earlier in the office..." He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone collapsing nearby, leaping up a wall next to him, he moved closer to whoever had collapsed. A grin spread across his face as he gazed down at the red head slowly rising back to her feet. "Seems she's paying for all that chakra she used. Hmpf, seems I was getting concerned over nothing." Dropping from his place on the wall he landed before the child and chuckled coldly. "Looks like your chakra reserves are getting low kid. Give up now and hand over what you stole and maybe I'll let you live..."

Swallowing her fear she stood strong, quickly shaking her head at the offer and scoffing. "Pfft, as if, I'm an enemy ninja, I know what'll happen to me if I surrender." She quickly dropped into a taijutsu stance, ready to defend herself should she need to. "I need to get past him, just down that corridor and to the left, that's where Nii-san is waiting for me..."

"Hmm... Kids got guts... Well, let's see how she handles herself then..." Forming a few quick seals he raised his left hand to his mouth as he yelled "Yōton: Endan!" Before firing a small flaming ball of lava directly at Naru, smirking to himself as her scream of agony tore from her throat and the girl's body hit the floor.

~With Kakashi~

"Naru..." He'd know her voice anywhere, even if she sounded like she was being tortured, it was a sound he never thought he'd have to listen to. All plans of escape left him as he rushed off in the direction Naru's scream had come from. As he dashed down the corridor he pulled his hitai-ate back up, his Sharingan spinning as he turned the corner to find the enemy ninja closing on Naru. Flashing through several quick hand seals he yelled his jutsus name, drawing the attention of the foreign ninja. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" A massive dragon of water came crashing through the wall of the palace and crashed down where the ninja had been standing. Using the moment the ninja had leapt away he dashed forward, collected Naru in his arms and leapt out the whole his jutsu had punched through the wall.

Yami landed on the wall where he had dodged out of the way of the water jutsu before forming his own seals and firing another Kanton: Gōkakyū no Jutsu after Kakashi as the leaf ninja disappeared out the whole his water dragon had made. Cursing as his technique met nothing but a Kawarimi.

Two days later...

Kakashi all but collapsed as he stopped, he needed to rest and he just couldn't sustain the pace he had set. He'd passed through Kiba no Kuni, and was perhaps two to three days out from Konoha, close enough that a patrol should pick them up in a day or so. He spared one last glance at Naru, who was now sleeping peacefully, her eyes had changed back three hours after they'd made their escape from Tsume no Kuni, the gold bands about her iris' and pupils fading back to her normal sky blue. "I hope she's alright, the Kyūbi usually has her back on her feet shortly after any minor injury, and even larger ones she's up after a day... But she's been out for two now..." Giving a single shoulder shrug he pushed himself back up to his feet and moved about, setting up their camp before tucking Naru up carefully in his tent and laying down next to her. No sooner had his eyes closed he was sound asleep.

The Next Morning...

Kakashi woke to the smell of frying eggs and the sounds of someone moving about his small camp. Tilting his head he glanced at where Naru had been sleeping only to give an eye smile as he noted her lack of presence within the tent. Stretching languidly a moment he slowly rose, slipping from the tent to greet his little sister figure. "Well, sleep well Naru-chan?"

Squeaking faintly she jumped slightly in surprise before shooting Kakashi a scowl. "I almost dropped your eggs Nii-san! How many times have I told you not to do that!" Her cheeks flushed a faint hew of pink, knowing it was her own fault for getting caught up in what she was doing once again.

Raising a hand in a placating gesture Kakashi gave Naru an eye smile as he moved to sit next to the young girl. "Sorry, sorry." Kakashi quickly sobered as he kept his gaze on the fire. "So... How are you feeling? You were out for two days you know..."

Naru blinked, tilting her head a moment, before raising a hand to brush a loose strand of red hair back behind her right ear. "Mm... I feel fine... I... I don't really have much memory of what happened after I got the documents copied... There was another ninja, I recall that... But not much else... I feel fine, but... He helps with that..."

Kakashi frowned at that; memory loss was never good, especially considering the ninja she had been fighting was an unknown factor, not to mention that when he had found her she was already unconscious. "Well we'll get you checked when we get back to Konoha, just to make sure." Kakashi raised a hand to forestall any complaints. "It's procedure, nothing I can do about it. If you're suffering head trauma then it needs to be seen to as soon as possible. Now, finish up breakfast and let's eat. We've still got two days hard travel to get back to Konoha.

"Hai nii-san." Naru murmured quietly as she quickly finished cooking their breakfast, her thoughts once again pulling inward as she tried to figure out what had happened. "I don't think there is anything wrong... I'll give it more thought later, it can wait till we're safely back within the villages walls."


Author's Note: First time attempting something like this, so hope it turned out okay. More to come, obviously, but until then rate, review ect. Oh! And if you have an OC you'd like to pop up in the story feel free to PM me with the character's info before the chunin exams, or if you have an idea when you'd like the character to pop up! Oh, and if anyone is good with the romaji, please let me know. Having a terrible time trying to translate some of this stuff :p

Shiki Fūjin - Dead Demon Consuming Seal

Aisai – Beloved Wife

Gaki – Brat

Fūinjutsu – Sealing Techniques

Tsume no Kuni – Claw Country

Kiba no Kuni – Fang Country

Kanton: Gōkakyū no Jutsu – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

Mizu Bunshin – Water Clone

Katon: Endan – Fire Release: Flame Bullet

Yōton: Endan – Lava Release: Lava Bullet

Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu – Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Techinque

Kawarimi no Jutsu – Body Replacement Technique