I decided to edit the first few chapters I have uploaded after spotting a couple of errors.. Not to mention that ideas were sacttered all over the place. And the paragraphs were bunched together even with four spaces separating them. Hayy.. Anyway, this story took place before the Naruto series. And there are some spoilers about Kakashi's past (which explains the cameo appearance of Rin.. and Obito). And well, I know everyone knows this but I gotta say it anyway: I own Hatake Kakashi… yep.. and pigs fly..

Find the eye that never weeps, and you will find your place..

After long years of dreaming and longing, she had finally located the precious eye during an incident that happened last week. Gazing at the glittering water surface, she was once again reminded that, despite the misfortunes fate has thrown her way, a greater prize was waiting in exchange. And, this time, it was the one precious thing she had longed for all these years.

few weeks ago..

Cold wind blew. Her thin, worn-out kimono which provided little warmth, forced her to embrace herself. Staying outside and eavesdropping by the door isn't new, she had done it a couple times. And she had been caught a couple of times. Sometimes she went unpunished, sometimes she paid the price. This time it didn't matter if they would punish her or not, she must know everything about the Lazarus Eye... especially now that they have possibly located it.
"Genius." chief muttered under his breath. "Who would've thought the folks have hidden it in Konoha."
"Konoha is practically impenetrable. It is actually an obvious choice."
"But they have always maintained their distance away from the issue. They never stuck their nose into it, what more meddle?"
The chief crossed his bulky arms over his strong chest and sat back into his chair. It's obvious that his men are excited to steal the eye from Konoha, however, he could also sense their uncertainty. Konoha is practically impenetrable, he recalled someone say.
"This is our chance. It could be here, we'll never know unless we make it our business to know."
"Are you insane!" a thin man with slit-like eyes stood up, slamming his palms against the table. "How in the world are we gonna do that?" "We haven't planned yet!"
"And how do you execute a plan, huh?"
The heated debate grated at his nerves, and the last thing he ever wanted was to make an important decision with clouded reason. "No arguments please!" he said calmly but with strong authority that two of his men slumped back to their wooden seats in obedience.
"We must first find out if it has indeed reached Konoha." he snapped his fingers and a tall, thin woman with brown hair and alert, brown eyes appeared at his side. "It is risky to send anyone of you.. so I am assining Kaiko to find it out for us. A woman, afterall, is the most unexpected spy."
Murmurs grew louder. "Chief," someone finally said. "Isn't that much too risky?"
"Besides, we'll never know, she might run off and never come back."
Kaiko bent her head low, but despite such composure, she wasn't sure why the chief had thought of giving her such important task. She had grown up as a slave in this camp, like her mother, who had passed away when she was just twelve years old. She wasn't her biological mother, Kaiko came to realize, for she was already old and gray when Kaiko was just old enough to recall faces.
"Five days." the chief said. "That is all we can give her. When the sun sets on the fifth day, she should be here with the information we want."
One of his men was about to speak but the chief countered him right ahead. "She will be back."

DAY ONE

A female scream sliced through the silence of the deep forest, echoing from all directions. Contemplations regarding his mission was suddenly cut short. Finding his way quietly but quickly, the scream led him to a flowing stream and.. to a crime in progress. He was hiding behind an old tree, looking at three men kneeling over their screaming victim. So busy these three lowlifes were that he figured he could attack them easily. In that distance, his kunai could surely do the work for him. Holding three in one hand, he threw them and his three targets were dead on the spot.
"Lowlifes.." he muttered under his breath as he advanced toward the terrified victim.
He bent over one corpse with a kunai stuck to its back and pulled it aside. He did this to the remaining two and piled them up like rice sacks. It was not until then that he saw the young lady, about eighteen or so, lying on the ground with arms and legs spread apart. She was crying. His heart was crushed.
"Hush now," he said softly as he wiped the blood from her broken lip with a gentle hand. "Please don't cry." He then wiped the tears from the sides of her eyes.
Looking around, he spotted a piece of clothing and moved to pick it up. He tore it in two and used one to wipe the blood off her forehead and lower lip. Taking the other half, he wrapped it around her trembling body and carried her in his arms.

She opened her eyes. Somebody was walking alongside of her. Owamaru, one of the chief's trusted henchmen. He was short-tempered, with brown skin and very thick brows that they look like one thick straight line above his eyes, pressed clips and seemingly clenched jaw. Kaiko was personally terrified of this man for he seemed to be in eternal control of a bottled up anger deep inside him. He speaks less, but always straight to the point.
Owamaru grabbed her arm and shoved her to walk faster, and after a quick but strong tug at waist the of her kimono, her clothes came off. Kaiko fought but he threatened to slice her into two if she doesn't follow the path she was ordered to take. Puzzled and disoriented, she ran and ran, and when she looked over her shoulder three men were chasing her. And then somebody grabbed her...
Kaiko screamed.
She opened her eyes once again. Time seemed to have passed. Her body ached less, but it felt so stiff that she feared for a moment that she can never move. She lifted her fingers first, one after another, and then slowly moving upward until she could move her arms. I'm still alive.. Slowly, Kaiko lifted her head and looked around. There was somebody with her, standing by the window. Her vision was slightly blurred, but she could see it was looking at her. She fixed her gaze at it and squinted. It was a he, with white hair and a third of his face hidden beneath locks of hair and garments. The only eye peeking beneath locks of hair seemed sleepy, as if he was eternally bored.
"I'm glad you're awake." the door was open, she barely realized until it was already closing and a woman with very short, nearly boyish, haircut was by her bedisde. "Not that I'm really asking you to stay awake, you know," she continued. "You can rest some more until you've totaly recovered."
The lady made her drink something, medicine perhaps, and left. Light-headed, Kaiko turned her head to the other side to look at the man with white hair but he was gone.
Kaiko closed her eyes and slept.
It was the same dream, haunting and nagging her in her supposed slumber. And she, again, woke up screaming.. not for help, not for anyone. She just screamed as if it would make everything go away.
"Miss. Miss. Wake up." It was the lady who took care of her, grabbing her by the shoulders and asking her to open her eyes. Kaiko sat up and ran her hand over her forehead.
"I'm so sorry. Did I wake you?"
"No." she walked away from the matress and took something from the other end of the room. "I was about to bring your food anyway." She turned and brought Kaiko a tray with something in it. Food. "Its nice to know that this time around, yo'll be enjoying the food I made."
Kaiko looked at the tray and felt her stomach growl.
"I know you'll be hungry, you never ate a thing the entire day!" she took a small bowl of soup, held it in her hand and dove a spoon into its contents.
"No.." Kaiko warned in a surprisingly strong, loud voice. "I.. I can do it."
She settled the bowl back to the floor. "Alright. The long sleep you had yesterday seem to have restored you completely."
"Thank you." Kaiko said gratefully, slowly giving a low, honorific bow. "I wouldn't have made it without your help."
"I didn't really do that much." she said with a chuckle. "You should thank Kakashi, he saved your life."
"Ka-ka-shi?" she sat back and stared blankly at her, picturing white hair and one sleepy eye.
"You can easily identify him when you get a chance to walk around here. Kakashi is the only one here whose face you can never see. He has this cover over half of his face," she raised her right hand and covered the lower half of her face, "and nobody ever saw him without it." she started to giggle. "I suppose he sleeps without removing that damn thing."
Her fondness of this "Kakashi guy" didn't escape Kaiko, but she surely wanted to thank him. After all, he saved his life. "I really want to thank him." she confessed.
"I can introduce you to him, if you like... that is, if we are fortunate enough to meet him by accident. You see, he's always nowhere to be found, simply comes out from who-knows-where."
"I see." Kaiko replied, getting uneasy by her endless chatting.
"Ok so I guess I'll just leave you here. Enjoy your meal!"
Kaiko bent her head slightly and watched the kind lady close the door behind her.

After her meal, Kaiko decided to take a look around. Not only was she curious about the place, she also wanted to search for possible hints connected to the eye. Five days, she barely have any idea how long she had slept to figure out how much time is left. And is isn't clear to her why Owamaru did that, it wasn't part of the plan. The chief said that Owamaru was to accompany her through the forest until she had come close to the village of Konoha.. not for concerns over her safety, but to make sure she's not going to a different route by mistake, and also to find her way back. Kaiko never left the camp of the Shinrin bandits, she definitely knew nothing about the world outside of it.
Residents of Konoha are busy people, Kaiko thought to herself while walking along another hallway which led to several halls. This is the temple where the leader of Konoha, or hokage resides, and also the place where legendary ninjas had trained. Whenever she heard of Konoha, she would always think of a strong wall surrounding the village and ninjas walking around town, carrying nasty weapons that would take the courage out of anyone. That conception of Konoha is very different from this place.
Kaiko found a set of stairs, but before she could take one step toward it, somebody called from behind.
"That is off limits." the voice warned firmly.
Kaiko looked over her shoulder, it was Kakashi himself! Fishing for appropriate words to say, she simply stared at him.
"Walking around already?"
She nodded.
"Hmm.. good for you."
Kaiko turned to face him. "You are Kakashi, right?"
He nodded. "Anko must've told you."
Kaiko nodded. "And she told me that it was you who save my life."
Her savior shrugged. "Did what I had to do. Next time, try not to go there by yourself. You'll never know, robbers are getting more and more deadlier these days." he turned to leave. "You should go back to the hospital and rest some more. It's evening anyway, bedtime is just around the corner."
And he left just like that. The chief was right, Kaiko realized while making her way back to her room just as Kakashi had told her to do so, A woman, afterall, is the most unexpected spy.