A/N: Because Kashike is a lesser character in Naruto, I am having to create a world for her to live in that I hope is palatable for yal.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone/thing in this story except my OC's, and I guess I don't even really own them...if I did they'd be capable of doing chores.

Chapter: 2

Shimizu Nariko enjoyed her sleep. After slaving all day in her father's grocery store, she liked nothing better than coming home to her small apartment, eating a quick supper, soaking in the tub and then going to sleep. She did not enjoy being roused from her slumber by someone pounding on the door. Unfortunately, in the past eight months this had happened several times, and she knew exactly who it was.

"Not again..." she sighed, leaving the warmth of her bed, and the pleasant dream featuring a certain shinobi, for what she knew was going to be quite a while.

When she opened the door she wasn't surprised to find Kashike standing there battered and bruised, looking as though she'd just gotten back from a mission.

"Kashike, doushita no?" She stood aside as her best friend entered, already knowing the answer. Arakaki Raiden had been "mistaking" Kashike for a training dummy since he failed to become a jonin for the fifth time. Nariko watched her friend sit down at the kitchen table and took in the black eye and swollen lip. Kashike met Nariko's eyes and grinned.

"He'll never do this again," she said simply.

Nariko rolled her eyes as she walked to the freezer and handed her friend an ice pack.

"What's different this time? Did you break his fingers?" When the only reply was a wider grin on Kashike's face, Nariko's jaw dropped. "Sou na!?"

Kashike laughed. "His fingers and his wrists. That yarou will never touch me again."

"Sugoi!" Nariko shouted, "It's about time..." she paused, noting the look in her friend's good eye. "Shinpai na, of course you can stay here. I never thought you should live with that baka to begin with."

o-o-o

The next morning Kashike stared at her reflection in the mirror. Raiden hadn't gotten in a very good hit, so her eye was only slightly swollen. Her lip...was another story. She ran her hands through her chin length hair trying to inconspicuously cover her right eye. Tying her hitai-ite into place, she took in the overall effect. It wasn't half bad. She'd seen other Jonins dress this way. Male Jonins, she reminded herself with a sigh. She reached into a drawer that had been cleared for her things, pulled out a small jar of ointment and rubbed it carefully onto her lips.

"Yarou..." she muttered applying a dark shade of lipstick over the ointment blending the two.

She was meeting her first ever genin squad today. How would it appear to them if she showed up looking like she'd had her ass handed to her with a side of wasabi? She studied herself one last time before setting off for the Academy, and decided that she could always make up some exciting story of a mission to the wastelands of Fire Country. Too bad she was a horrible liar.

o-o-o

"Ohayou gozaimasu Kashike-sensei." The Jonin was greeted by the Academy's secretary as she walked into the office to retrieve her squad's files. "You're cutting it close you know, the Kazekage has requested a meeting with all the jonin instructors in room ninety-seven." The older woman glanced up at the clock before smiling. "here's the files on each of your students. A fine group I think, though you might want to watch out for that Murakami Yukio. He can be a bit...high-spirited."

Kashike hadn't taken in a single word after "Kazekage". This is just perfect, she thought. They hadn't seen eachother face to face since they were six years old. Would he remember her? Did he get the medicine? Did he understand that she was asking for his forgiveness? That she wanted him to know she believed in him?

The Jonin was so lost in thought that the secretary had to force the files into her hand.

"Daijoubu ka?" The older woman asked as Kashike blinked grasping the files.

"Hai," came the soft reply.

"Anou, you'd better hurry, don't forget now, room ninety-seven." The secretary started ushering her out of the office and into the hall. "The demon may not be inside him anymore, but I imagine he's still got a bit of a monster side to him."

"He's not a monster..." Kashike replied as the door slammed in her face. When she turned to look at the hall clock she gave a start and began running up the corridor and outside to the adjacent building where she would find room ninety-seven. She was three minutes late and counting. Even if she didn't believe for a minute that Sabaku no Gaara was a monster, it still didn't bode well for a Jonin to annoy the Kazekage.

o-o-o

"Since some of you were among the last to attend the Academy under the Yondaime's administration, you might not be fully aware of the new curriculum that has been put into place here..." Gaara paused and turned as the classroom door creaked open and a young woman entered. She bowed to him.

"Shitsure shimasu Kazekage-sama. There were unforseen circumstances that prevented me from arriving earlier."

The pale green eyes considered the newcomer for a moment. He could hear Kankuro's voice in his head dripping with sarcasm, asking how anything could be seen, let alone forseen with her hair hanging in her face like that. Unfortunately, Gaara still wasn't very good with sarcasm. People still tended to take him seriously and faint dead away whenever he tried it. Plus, he could detect a faint bruising on the right side of her nose. She was hiding an injury.

"Naruhodo," he nodded. "Please join the others."

The Kazekage's speech only lasted fifteen minutes. He wanted the newer Jonin Instructors to understand the advances that had been made at the Academy since the implementaion of the newest Konoha curriculum. Kashike noticed other Jonins nodding and smiling while one or two still looked upon the Kazekage with a mix of fear and anger. She was impressed by the quiet strength of the Kazekage's voice, and the way he seemed to exude confidence. There was no trace of the lonely little boy he'd been.

Once he'd finished, the other Jonin began filing out to meet their squads, but Kashike took her time gathering her files until it was just she and the Kazekage in the room. He looked at her curiously and she suddenly became very nervous. What the hell was she doing?

"I um, just wanted to apologize again for arriving late Kazekage-sama," she bowed. "It will never happen again."

"How did you receive your injury?"

Her good eye widenend. Was it that obvious?

"Er, I um, tripped Kazekage-sama."

He cocked a transparent eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of him.

"You tripped and fell onto someone's outstretched fist ne?"

Shimatta! She knew she couldn't lie, EVERYONE knew she couldn't lie, what possessed her to prove it to the Kazekage!

"Hai, Kazekage-sama."

"Lift your hair off your face Jonin-san."

Not wishing to make things worse for herself, Kashike did as she was told. When Gaara saw her eye, he frowned.

"Were you the victor?"

"Hai Kazekage-sama."

"Good, because that's not a very impressive wound, and I can't have Sunagakure's kunoichi being defeated by something so paltry." He stated simply.

Kashike tried to swallow but her mouth was dry as she croaked "Hai Kazekage-sama."

"What's your name Jonin-san?"

"Ito Kashike, Kazekage-sama."

There was a brief flash of recognition in his eyes before Gaara nodded and started walking towards the door. He stopped just outside the room and turned to face her again.

"It's a minor injury, but you would still do well to put some ointment on it. Kashike-san."

Gaara continued down the hall leaving a dumbfounded kunoichi staring after him.