Chapter One

Her brother had been wounded and she really thought that fact excused any behavior on her part.

How often did someone manage to knock Naruto out, much less put him in the hospital? Sure he had been fine and yes she had known that he would be, but still she figured that irrational emotional behavior should be a get out of jail free card.

Besides all she'd done was punch him.

"I don't know even where to begin with you!" Tsunade yelled. "Do you know how much trouble you're in?"

"None. I'm not a Leaf Shinobi and therefore not under your authority," Sora said lounging back in her chair.

"You want to see how much that matters?" Tsunade said with a growl. "You didn't send me a report worth shit for three bloody years. I ask you to guard a boy from some of the most dangerous men I have ever seen and not only did you let him fight them, you then send him back unescorted-"

"I got them to within site of the gates!"

"You disappear completely, so that noone can find you and then suddenly you pop back again and randomly decide that you want to punch one of my best ninjas. He was walking down the hall, minding his own business, coming to check up on the incoming team, and you run up call him a bastard and punch him in the face!"

"It was not random; trust me, he deserved it."

Tsunade snorted. "What the hell did he do to you? You've never even met him!"

Sora snorted. "You don't need to know him in order know what a jerk he is. I know enough from Naruto to know he needs to have his brain jostled around a bit."

"Naruto and Kakashi get along fine. They did when Nartuo left and they have since he got back. So you want to tell me what the hell that little show was about?"

"Why don't you ask the bastard himself? I'm getting out of here!" Sora stood up and headed for the door, only to find herself being jerked back by a hand on her wrist, which was then quickly twisted up behind her back.

"Ow! Stop it!" she yelled as Tsunade used her arm to steer her towards the door. Damn, she had forgotten just how strong the old hag was.

"Hatake! Get your ass in here!" the Hokage screamed, startling everyone in the hallway. She then pulled Sora around to a chair and forced her down. "Now you are going to keep your ass in that chair until Hatake gets here and I'm going to introduce you to him and I'm sure that once you've met him-"

"Hokage-sama? You wanted to see me?" Kakashi stuck his head through the door. He smiled when he saw Sora, still pinned to the chair. "Ah! Sora-chan! It is good to see you again! You gave me quite a goose egg when you hit me." He pointed towards where is grey hair was springing out from under his forehead protector.

"Well if any of you idiots wore your forehead protectors ON YOUR FOREHEAD, then there wouldn't be a problem would there? And Sora-chan? What the hell is that?" Sora said bitingly as she tried to stand up again, only to be forcibly returned to her chair.

Tsuande looked back and forth between the two of them. "You two know each other?" she said, her voice and tightly reigned in.

"Ah, yes! Sora-chan and I have quite a long history."

Sora snorted. "A long ago history, your part in which I would rather forget."

"Huh?," Kakashi said, scratching his head. "Are your sure it's not your part you want to forget?" he said sounded completely befuddled.

"MINE?" Sora yelled, managing to wiggle her way out of Tsunade's hold before marching over to stab a finger in the middle of Kakashi's chest. "I wasn't the one who abandoned him! I wasn't the two faced jerk who let him be raised in a village who abhorred him! I trusted you, they trusted you, and you threw it in our faces!"

"Who?" the Hokage yelled.

"Naruto!" Sora yelled back.

"WHAT!" Tsunade screamed, slamming her fist down on her desk. The desk cracked and caved slightly in the middle.

Kakashi and Sora turned to look at her. Sora looked into angry eyes for a second before dropping her gaze and pressing the palm of her hand into her forehead.

"Obaa-chan-"

"How does Naruto fit into this?" Tsuande said in clipped tones.

"Look, it's not my story to tell at this point. Naruto-"

That was all she got out before the Hokage pushed past her and Kakashi into the hall.

Sora glared at Kakashi. "This is all your fault," she hissed. "If you weren't such a- hey! Get your ass back here!"

Everyone stopped and stared as the three of them walked down the hall, Tsunade fuming and striding purposefully down the hall, Kakashi walking nonchalant behind her with his hands shoved in his pockets and Sora scooting sideways down the hall along side him so that she could keep yelling at him while she moved.

"He's in the hospital! He's in the fucking hospital, you idiot and who was going to help him make choices about his heath? Seventeen years, eighteen months on your team and you don't even bother to sign up to be his next of kin in case of an emergency? What if something serious had happened to him? What if he had come back from the jounin exam with more serious injuries, hmm? What if someone was going to have to decide whether to amputate a limb, or save his life but partially cripple him? If he was knocked out, who was going to make those decisions? The villagers who hate him?"

"No," he said, stopping and turning to her just down the hall from Naruto's room. "The Hokage would. Plus you're forgetting something."

"What?" she said through clinched teeth.

Kakashi shrugged. "He's got the kyuubi," he said as he turned to walk down the hall.

Tsunade came through the door like a tide wave, startling the two teens inside. Naruto was sitting up in bed, a large white bandage wrapped around his head. Hinata was sitting on a small plastic chair next to him, holding one of his hands in both of hers.

"Alright! I want to know how those two know each other and I want to know NOW!" she yelled, pointing out the door behind her just as Kakashi and Sora came through.

"You asshole!" Sora was yelling, "That only accounts for the last four years! And you expect me to believe that you, mister 'I have better things to do', found out that he had super healing when he didn't know himself!"

"Yo," said Kakashi raising his hand in a wave.

Naruto and Hinata stared for a minute before Naruto reached to scratch the back of his head. "Heh, well…"

"It's up to you whether you want to tell her; I'll keep my lips shut," Sora said in Western, with a glare at Kakashi.

"I thought keeping my mouth shut was what you were miffed at me for doing," Kakashi replied back in Western, his tone vaguely disinterested.

"Miffed? Why you-" Sora started before Tsunade grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

"You will start talking in a language I know RIGHT NOW!"

Sora humphed and knocked Tsunade's hand away. "It's not exactly a short story, and it's Naruto's to tell, if he wants to."

Tsunade turned to look at the blond boy slowly sinking his way into his bed. This was not exactly how Naruto had envisioned this happening.

"Well?" she said.

"Heh, um well…" he felt Hinata squeeze his hands and looked over to she her offering him a small, reassuring smile.

"Well, I suppose the place to start is with my parents…"

A/N:

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