Well, no reviews yet but I'll update anyway. Thanks again to my wonderful beta-reader, Amarxlen. She's the best!

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02 / Hayato Or Sarutobi?

Tsunade heaved a tired sigh as she took a sip of her sake. Mountains of paper were piled on her desk and the table looked as if it would give way any moment. She slowly reached for the scroll before her. Reading it again for the third time in the past hour, she heaved another sigh before placing it back on to the table. "Damn you, Sarutobi Asuma. If you were still here, you'd know how to deal with her." She quietly muttered under her breath.

Before she could hold in her anger, she picked up a random scroll and threw it at the windows, smashing the glass in the process. She heard the sound of the scroll hitting a roof beneath her office. She growled as she reached for her cup but her chakra-induced strength smashed the cup into pieces in her hold.

She slowly made her way to the now broken windows and watched people below going through their everyday lives, as the warm air brushed past her into her office. Only if her life was as simple as theirs was. But no, she had to be chosen to be the Fifth, and she was the one dealing with the situation right now.

Tsunade took a moment to think carefully about her current situation and think of another way to solve it but came up with none whatsoever. She quickly called for Shizune. Once the young woman was in the office, she quickly handed her the scroll from which she had been reading earlier.

"I need some suggestions," she spoke as she watched the sun setting.

After a few moments, Shizune looked up. "She might not be able to handle ANBU yet, considering her past and her being unpredictable. Maybe placing her in Team Kakashi is the only solution."

Tsunade sighed. "I was hoping to avoid that. Their team is big enough as it is. Soon enough, they'll be chosen as the biggest ninja team."

"But it's the only way. Besides, Yamato and Sai have to go on ANBU missions every now and then. They might be away sometimes. Kakashi-san can keep an eye on her while Naruto maybe able to befriend her. Also, she and Sasuke might get along, considering the fact that they're pretty similar in some ways," Shizune reasoned.

Tsunade waved her hand. "That seems to be our only option right now. Well, I think she'll arrive in two more days. Start preparing for her arrival. Find her a decent, spacious apartment and other necessities you think she might need. Make sure to find her apartment where the ANBU can keep an eye on."

Shizune bowed and left the room, leaving Tsunade deep in thought. "Why did you have to come back now?" The Fifth spoke as she took another sip of her sake.

Kakashi flipped a page of his Icha Icha book absentmindedly as his eye grazed over his team. This was the first time in three weeks that all six members were present, since Yamato and Sai had gone on those ANBU missions again. As of now, Naruto and Sasuke were sparring, just for fun, while Yamato and Sakura watched as Sai drew another amazing picture.

All the members of the former Team 7 were now chunnins. Naruto was the same as ever though, competing with Sasuke despite their close bond. Sometimes, it pissed off Sakura very much while Sai only got confused. Over the past years, Sai may have gotten close to the team and learn about certain emotions, but he still had no idea about others.

Kakashi smiled; even though the whole team annoyed him to no end when they were together, he still had to admit that he would never trade them for anything else. They had become like a second family to him.

Of course, Sasuke's return 5 years ago had surprised everyone. Everyone was cautious around him after his abrupt arrival since he acted the same way he had while being with Orochimaru. But Naruto, being himself, had accepted him easily and soon the whole team followed suit, afterwards everyone in Konoha welcomed him again.

Currently, the team looked as if Sasuke hadn't even left at all. As Naruto had put it, they were one big, happy family again. Even though Sasuke was back, no one still knew his reason for coming back, he never told anyone, not even Naruto. And everyone was interested, including Kakashi.

"Kakashi-san!" A loud cry broke him from his train of thoughts. He looked down to find a teenage Konohamaru waving at him from beneath the tree, where he was sitting.

"Yo!" He replied with a lazy wave of his hand.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you. She said it was extremely important and you are to report to her immediately."

Kakashi sighed. Seriously, was there anything that wasn't important when it came to Tsunade? It would still be a serious matter if Shizune had forgotten her sake. Anything that revolved around her was considered important.

He nodded towards Konohamaru and then to Yamato, telling him to watch the team before disappearing in a small cloud of smoke.

Shizune cringed as another crash was heard from Tsunade's office, probably Tsunade throwing something against the wall. This had been going on the whole morning and even she hadn't dared to go in to interrupt the meeting.

She looked away from the door as she heard footsteps approaching. She rolled her eyes as the silver-haired jounin standing before her gave her an eye crease, which meant he was smiling, and waved at her casually. It wasn't like she could see his smile anyway.

She sighed before making her way towards Tsunade's office door hesitantly. "I'll inform her and make sure you don't say anything wrong because as you may have noticed, she's already in a bad mood."

Kakashi nodded as he waited for her to enter the room. Once Shizune had closed the door behind her, he was about to reach for his Icha Icha book in his back pouch when a certain folder on Shizune's desk caught his attention.

Normally he wasn't curious but this folder looked like one of those personal information files. He quickly reached for the folder and noticed the ANBU seal on the front black cover, which confirmed his suspicions; it was an ANBU file. He knew it wasn't his business and that it was illegal but he flipped the cover open before scanning his eyes on the information. He noticed a photo of a woman stuck on the left-hand corner of the paper. It was definitely a personal information file.

He looked at the picture carefully. The woman seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She had dark blue hair that framed a pretty but pale face. She had on an emotionless expression, which didn't go well at all with her features. She had sapphire–blue eyes, a cute little nose and pink full lips, which would look even better if they had been in a pout. He slowly shook himself. Icha Icha was really getting to him these days. He let his eyes scan over the rest of her information.

Name: Hayato Yukari

Rank: Jounin

Birthdate: October 28

Age: 27

Height: 170cm

Weight: 59kg

Gender: Female

Blood Type: AB

Hair Color: Dark Blue

Eye Color: Blue

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Previous Occupation(s): ANBU

Family: Sarutobi Hiruzen (Grandfather, Deceased)

Sarutobi Hikari (Mother, Deceased)

Sarutobi Asuma (Uncle, Deceased)

Sarutobi Konohamaru (Cousin)

Nature Type: Water (Main)

Lightning (Secondary)

Wind (Secondary)

Weapons: Zai

Summoning Jutsu: Dark blue tiger, Hoshi (abilities still unconfirmed)

Kakashi's eyebrows rose as he reread the first page. Was she really the Third's granddaughter? But that was unheard of! Then again, her mother did come from the same clan as the Third, Asuma and Konohamaru. If that were the case, then it meant that she was Asuma's sister! No one ever spoke of her, not even Asuma, his fellow jounin. Why hadn't anyone said anything about her mother too?

And if this Hayato Yukari really was the Third's granddaughter, why was she only making an appearance now? Why did she and her mother leave the village in the first place and how had they been able to stay hidden all these years? It didn't make sense to him at all.

All these questions only made him more curious about her. He wanted to know more and was about to turn the page to continue reading, when another hand snatched the file from his grasp. He was about to take it back from whoever had taken it when he noticed Shizune glaring at him.

He'd been so engrossed in that file that he hadn't even heard her approaching. His left hand quickly went up to rub the back of his neck and he gave her another eye crease.

Shizune sighed softly before speaking. "That's confidential. Now go on in. Tsunade-sama is waiting for you."

He nodded before starting his way towards the Hokage's room, not knowing that he would have found the answers to his questions, if he had read the information on the next page of that file.

He entered the room and Tsunade motioned for him to close the door to which he complied. His eyes studied the room, which, at the moment, resembled a war zone with scrolls covering every corner of the floor. Tsunade was probably having one of her rages again.

His eyes slowly landed on another person standing before Tsunade's desk. She was wearing a white, long-sleeved coat that reached her ankles. It obviously hid her clothes underneath and concealed any weapons she had on her body. For a moment, she reminded him of Anko in that coat.

The only parts of her that he could see were her long, dark blue hair, which was in a neat French braid and her wrists that were covered in bindings before disappearing into fingerless gloves, similar to his. There were bindings around her ankles before they too disappeared into the standard ankle-high sandals.

Tsunade cleared her throat, attracting his attention. "Hatake," she spoke towards him before motioning a hand towards the woman standing beside him. "This is Hayato Yukari. She will be in your team from now on."

Kakashi nodded without any questions and turned to study the woman. She too turned to look at him for the first time since his entry. He finally noticed the fact that she was the same woman, whose file he had snooped around earlier.

Well, I'd really appreciate it if people started leaving comments. Comments always encourage us, writers.

Disclaimer: This work is pure fiction. Any featured celebrities, people, books, or entertainment media sources are borrowed for fictitious fan writing only. There is no malicious, offensive, or libel intent to any person, those associated with the person.

©Midnight Blue Raven, 2008. Distribution of any kind is prohibited without the written consent of Midnight Blue Raven.

10/10/2008.