I don't own any of the Naruto characters or their story but little Raiko is all mine.
Hey all, once again sorry for the delay, but due to that delay three chapters will be coming out today and tomorrow. Hope you all enjoy and now on with the story.
Chapter 4 "Missing and a game"
Dawn starts to break over the village just as a small silver haired girl is waking.
Waking up Raiko lifts her head from her pillow to look at the clean face of Kankuro next to her snoring away, deciding she was hungry she grabbed her teddy bear and headed over to the kitchen to look for something to eat. Looking in the fridge finding only a few leftovers from the night before, and they didn't look to appetizing. Looking over towards the bedroom door she noticed it was still closed.
'Hmm I better not bother Kashi he's probably still sleeping.' Raiko thought to herself as she rocked back and forth on her feet clutching her teddy bear. 'Well I guess I'm on my own, cause Kanky needs some sleep too. I'll just go get ramen!' As she thought this a large grin spread across her face before walking quietly over to her bag, grabbing some clothing she slipped them on quickly before grabbing the little bit of money that Kanky had given her the day before.
With money clutched in her small hand Raiko slipped out the door silently.
Once outside of the apartment she started heading down the stairs and in the direction of the Ramen shop. Running along down the street she couldn't stop before she ran into a tall man in front of her. The man started to turn towards her.
'Maybe it wasn't a very good idea for me to come on my own.' Raiko thought starting to feel a little fear. However her fear washed away when the man smiled down at her. Even with the long scar crossing his nose, she could tell from his smile that he wasn't going to hurt her.
"I'm so…sorry." Raiko stuttered out blushing a little as the man in front of her smiled down at her.
Crouching down Iruka continued to smile at the small blushing girl before him. She had silver hair that was hanging loosely down her back; she couldn't be more than four or five years old. 'I wonder why she is out here all by herself, I don't remember seeing her around before and silver hair is kind of hard to miss on younger people.'
"It's all right; I'm just on my way to get something to eat with a friend of mine, where are you headed? Are you all by yourself?" Iruka asked softly so not to scare her.
Looking down at her feet Raiko answered. "Well, umm… I wanted to get some breakfast but no one was awake yet and I didn't want to wake them, so I figured I would be alright on my own…but I'm kinda lonely now…"
Before she could continue she was cut off by a very boisterous voice. "IRUKA SENSEI!!" Looking over Raiko recognized the yellow haired ninja that came to a stop next to Iruka.
"Hello Naruto, we can head over for some ramen in just a minute I was trying to help this little girl." Iruka said looking up at the loud blond.
Looking down at the girl standing in front of Iruka his eyes widened a fraction. "Hey Raiko, what are you doing here by yourself where is Kankuro and Kakashi-sensei?" He asked looking around as if expecting them to just appear out of thin air.
"Hi Naruto, well they were both sleeping and I wanted ramen so I decided to just come by myself." She said looking down again before a thought crossed her mind, quickly looking up her face had brightened considerably. "Hey can I go eat with you guys??" she asked the two men standing by her giving them her best pout, pleading with her eyes.
Neither ninja stood a chance. "Sure Raiko, let's go eat!" Naruto said scooping the little girl off the ground and letting her sit on his shoulder as he raced towards the ramen shop, standing back up Iruka slowly followed behind the other two.
'I wonder who she is. Well I guess I'll find out soon enough.' Iruka thought to himself just as he was entering the shop only to her the little girls giggles.
Back at Kakashi's around the same time
Waking up Kakashi just laid and looked at his ceiling for several minutes, it was only a little after dawn, but he figured instead of laying in bed for a good deal of the morning he need to get up now that he was responsible for someone other than himself. Getting out of bed he walked over; put some clothes on before heading out into the other room. Walking to the fridge he decided after looking inside that he need to go shopping soon. Looking back towards the futon on the floor he noticed something missing.
'Where's Raiko!' He thought in a panic as he realized the only body laying there was the puppet master. Walking over to him he nudged Kankuro with his foot. Kankuro growled a little before looking up at the silver haired man.
"What is it? I'm trying to sleep." Kankuro grumbled out.
"Where's Raiko?!" Kakashi demanded gruffly
"Huh? What do you mean where's Raiko she's right ther…" He trailed off as he looked over his shoulder behind him to notice the place previously filled by the small girl was now empty. Moving into action quickly he jumped up grabbing his clothes and throwing them on quickly, he was out the door with Kakashi close on his tail.
"Kakashi can you use your dogs to track her, she can't be far yet." He asked hurriedly.
"yeah." He said stopping with the puppet master next to him before summoning up Pakkun.
"Yo" the small pug said looking up at his master. "What do you need me for so early in the morning Kakashi?"
"I need you to track someone and quickly."
"Ok, who do you need me to find?" he asked noticing the tense look on Kakashi's face and hearing the worry in his voice.
"My daughter, she disappeared from the apartment, here this is hers" he said grabbing the small hair band that Kankuro was holding.
"Ok. She isn't far." The pug said before taking off down the street.
After traveling only several minutes the pug stopped in front of a very recognizable shop. "She's here. I'll see you later Kakashi, you'll have to introduce us all soon." And with that the dog disappeared in a small poof of smoke.
Some of the worry drained from both men as they neared the shop, but all of it drained away when they hear Raiko's laugh come from inside. Striding though Kakashi saw his little girl sitting between Naruto and Iruka, she was giggling at Naruto who was trying to entertain her by showing how much he could eat.
Kakashi and Kankuro walked up behind her. Kakashi turned her seat around ready to lecture her along with the puppet master, until he saw her face. She was smiling ear to ear, and looked so happy.
"Hi Kanky, Hi Kashi are you going to eat with us too?"
Smiling slightly under his mask he pulled the little girl into his arms hugging her tightly. "Sweetie, if you wanted to come eat ramen you should have just told us, I was so worried when you were gone." He said quietly.
A quick look of remorse crossed her tiny face. "I'm sorry Kashi, I didn't mean to, but you were both sleepy and I was hungry, so I figured I was a big girl and could go by myself, I'm sorry I promise I won't do it again." She said hugging back.
After that they all sat down and ate breakfast with Iruka and Naruto. When they were done eating they decided that they need to get started with their plans for the day and all went their separate ways.
"I'll meet up with you guys a little later at Temari's but I have a few things I need to get done this morning." Kakashi said
"That's fine; we'll see you sometime around lunch, right Squirt?" Kankuro said ruffling the little girl's hair.
"Yup, see you later Kashi." Rai said grabbing Kankuro's hand ready to head to Temari's. 'I can't wait to see Mari!'
At Temari's
Knocking on the door Kankuro waited for several minutes and had started thinking either they were too early or no one was at home. But just then he hears Raiko's squeal behind him as she lets go of his hand. Turning around he sees the little girl being swung around in his sisters arm before being slung onto Temari's hip.
"Morning Temari, we were just starting to think we were too early." Kankuro said walking up to his sister.
"Nope, I just had to go drop something off for the Hokage; I'm surprised Shika didn't let you guys in." She said as she was unlocking the door and walking into the house with Kankuro following behind her and the small girl.
"So RaiRai have you had any breakfast yet?" Temari asked the little girl.
"Yup we ate ramen with Naruto." She said smiling up at the woman holding her.
"Ok, not the healthiest thing to eat but I guess it works once and a while." Temari was saying as they walked into the living room only to notice a snoozing Shikamaru in the chair. Walking over to him she kicked the chair hard enough to wake him. "I thought I told you to wake up you lazy ass!" She yelled as Shikamaru's eyes landed on her.
Looking over at Kankuro, Raiko's eyes were big and her mouth looked like a large "O" before saying "Kanky, Mari said a naughty word!"
Glancing at his sister his eyes filled with mirth "Now Mari you're not supposed to say naughty words" he said in an annoying voice shaking his finger at her like he was reprimanding a small child.
"Oh shut up "Kanky" you're just as bad as me and I'm still older than you." Temari said sticking her tongue out before setting Raiko down on the floor.
"As much fun as it is to hear you two argue, I think I'll go to the Kitchen." Shikamaru said before heading out of the room, noticing that he had gained himself a shadow as he left.
Once reaching the Kitchen he grabbed some juice out of the fridge and poured himself a glass. "You must be Raiko, want some?" He asked looking down at the small girl standing next to him.
Nodding her head he poured a second glass before handing it to her. Sitting down at the small table, the little girl just watched him for several minutes before saying anything.
"Your hair looks like a pineapple." She said cocking her head slightly to the side before taking a drink.
Looking at the little girl he chuckled slightly drinking deeply from his glass, 'cute kid' he thought. Looking out the window he noticed it was a nice clear day with plenty of nice white clouds. 'Hmm, maybe if I can sneak away I'll head outside to take a nap later.' Hearing movement he looked back and noticed the little girl was now standing next to his chair.
"Umm, since they're busy, could you put my hair up?" Raiko asked handing him a hair band
Sighing to himself he mumbles "Troublesome" under his breath before taking the hair band from her. "Well turn around and I'll put it in a ponytail for you."
Once her hair was up she looked at the man again. "What's your name? Are you Mari's boyfriend? Do you live here too? Wanna play a game?" She rattled of f quickly.
Smiling a little before answering Shika shook his head, "Well my name is Shikamaru Nara, Yes I'm Temari's boyfriend, Yes I live here, And what game to you want to play?" He asked in his usually lazy drawl.
Smiling brightly up at him she said "I don't know what game's do you like Shika?"
"Well how about we play Shogi? Do you know how to play? I'll be sure to go easy on ya." He said
"Umm… I've never played that before, but you could teach me." She said hopefully.
"Sure kiddo, come with me." He said leading her to the small deck outside where there were a couple pillows and a small raised table that his Shogi board was sitting on. "Have a seat and I'll teach you."
With Temari and Kankuro
After they finished arguing with each other they noticed that both Shikamaru and Raiko were gone, but figured they were probably in the kitchen they sat down on the couch.
"So your only gonna be here for a few more days huh?" Temari asked quietly
"Yeah, I'll be heading back to Suna soon; I just hope she'll take it ok." He said just as quietly hoping the small girl wouldn't hear.
"She'll be fine, she's a strong kid."
"You and Shika will watch out for her right?" he asked looking at Temari sadly.
"Yeah, you know something I think you're going to take this harder than she does." She laughed "You so attached to her that you'll not know what to do with yourself when you get back to Suna."
"Oh shut it Temari!"
"You know, I was thinking that I would travel back with you to Suna to visit for a little while." Kankuro looked up sharply at her. "I know I know, it wouldn't be the best time to do that for Rai, but I've been thinking I need to get talking to Gaara about Shika out of the way soon." She said leaning back looking up at the ceiling.
"I guess that'll be ok Temari, but how long do you think you'll be staying in Suna?" He asked looking over at his sibling.
"I'm not sure maybe at least a couple weeks, even though I like it here I still miss Suna sometimes." She said somewhat sadly.
They continued to talk for quite some time just trying to catch up on all of the happenings in both villages. After a while they decide to go look for Shika and Rai, they were surprised to find them playing Shogi on the porch, and even more surprised to see Shika playing so seriously against a four year old.
"How's the game Shika?" Temari asked coming to sit by her boyfriend.
"This is our third game, I just taught her a little while ago, and I won the first game but…."
"But what Shika?" She asked
Kankuro just stood back smirking, having a pretty good Idea what was happening. 'I think the Nara is getting his butt kicked by a newbie.'
"She won the second game, I mean I went easy on her, but she still won it really quickly, and this time I'm playing seriously and it still seems she might beat me." He said still slightly shocked. 'She's only four how can she learn this game so quickly, let alone beat me.' He thought looking over the board.
"Your move Shika." She said grinning at him
Looking over the board again he noticed the kid almost had him beat. 'Crap I'm getting beat by a little girl; I'll never live it down, Troublesome.'
After several more minutes the game was over Shikamaru just sitting there staring at the board, even after Raiko had gotten up to follow Temari in to help with lunch.
"You ok Shika?" Kankuro asked "She's a really smart kid; it is a little surprising that she beat you, but it was still expected eventually. I'm sure she'll be up for a rematch." He laughed out patting him on the back before also moving into the house.
Snapping out of it Shika picked up the pieces and began to put them away when he heard a small poof in front of him, looking up he was greeted with the sight of Kakashi, pervy book and all.
"Yo" He said walking over and taking a seat in front of the young genius.
"Hey Kakashi, Rai's inside with Temari and Kankuro. That kid is smart, you know that." He said shaking his head continuing to put away the game.
"Yup she is, but why do you say?" The copy-nin asked placing his book back in his hip pouch.
"She just beat me at shogi." He laughed.
"Really? Well now you have a new shogi partner, I know that Sakura sometimes plays you." He said looking over at the house.
"Well Kakashi, I think it's about time for lunch, let's go eat." Shika said getting up and walking inside with Kakashi trailing behind him.
With Sakura (The night before after leaving Kakashi's)
After leaving Kakashi's apartment, Sakura turned towards her own home to get ready for her shift at the hospital. Once she reached her home she gathered her clothes and supplies together before hopping in the shower. After finishing her bath she dressed and headed towards the hospital. On her way there she began to think about the nights events.
'Raiko is a very sweet child, but I get the feeling she's gonna give Kakashi a run for his money, he doesn't seem quite ready for being in charge of a child yet.' She thought to herself.
"I guess I'll just have to help out when I can." Sakura said out loud to herself, with a big grin on her face. 'Also this gives me a reason to be around Kakashi more.' She thought before sighing to herself 'he'll never see me that way.'
After arriving at the hospital Sakura decided to check up on Sai first, it had been over a day but he still hadn't woken up yet. Walking into his room she was somewhat shocked to see the painter sitting up in his bed staring at her.
"Sai! You're awake!" she said before hurrying over to him. "How are you feeling, do you need anything?"
"I'm still tired and my head is thrumming a little" He said looking up at his pink-haired teammate. "How long have I been out, has anything happened Sakura, you look tired." Sai asked with a small frown of concern covering his pale face.
Smiling at the ink user thinking it's so much nicer having him call her by name instead of 'ugly' like he used too, but then all people do grow up. In these past years he has slowly began to get some of his emotions back, he is still a rather quiet and stoic person, but he is much friendly to those on his team.
"You've only been sleeping for a little over a day. But several things have happened; right now I'm tired for one of those reasons." She said with a smile. "The same day that I worked on you, Kakashi-sempai got a message from Suna explaining he was to become a guardian for a four year old little girl." She watched her friends dark eyes widen at this.
"Who would leave a child to Kakashi?" Sai asked
"Well if you ask me, after meeting her again tonight I would say that she has to be Kakashi's daughter, they have the same hair and eyes. So it would make sense for her to live with him." She said thoughtfully
"But why are you tired Sakura?" He asked tilting his head slightly.
Sakura giggled a little at the picture he made looking like an inquisitive puppy before answering. "Well tonight I figured I would help out just a little, I went over to Kakashi's and made dinner for them, Oh Kankuro is also staying for a few days. But anyway, normally I would be sleeping before my shift but I decided that I should try to help Kakashi as much as possible so he can get adjusted quicker."
"Ahh…" Sai replied nodding his head thoughtfully as if remembering one of the lessons he read in some book.
"Well Sai I need to go ahead and start my normal rounds, I'll visit you again tomorrow, try and get some more rest. You're going to need it to help clear out any remnants of that poison. Goodnight Sai." She said walking back to his door and turning off the light again.
"Goodnight Sakura."
After finishing her rounds, she headed home, It was already well into the morning as she was walking home. As she grew closer to her house she noticed one of her friends walking down the street. Over the last few years she had grown closer to the Sand kunoichi, if Sakura had to guess, she would bet that Temari would be a permanent resident of Leaf before long. Temari and Shika had been living together for at least a year now; they would probably be married before this year was up.
"Hey Temari!!" Sakura yelled waving her hand above her head.
Looking back over her shoulder Temari noticed her pink haired friend coming up on her quickly. When Sakura reached her side, Temari replied. "Hey Sakura. Just getting off work?"
"Yup, I'm heading home for a little sleep before the Hokage decides she needs me to cover another shift." She laughed more to herself than her friend.
"So what are you up to so early in the morning Temari, Nara keeping you up all night?" Sakura asked wiggling her eyebrows a little 'Man I'm getting as bad as Ino.' Sakura thought mentally smacking herself.
"Ha, I wish, no I had some things to do before Kankuro brings Raiko over to visit today." Temari said looking down the street.
"OH well I won't hold you up any longer. I'll see you soon, talk to you later Temari." Sakura said before turning to leave.
"Alright, I'll see you later Sakura." Temari said before heading down the street.
After Temari had left, Sakura started heading to her house again. Her thoughts only on her pillows, bed, the few hours of sleep she could get before someone woke her, and a certain silver haired ninja who had been on her mind over the past few days.
A.N.
Well that's it for this chapter; two more will be out either tomorrow or Monday. Hopefully people are still enjoying this, Also the story should start moving a little more soon.
Oh and I was going to ask is there anyone you want to see Raiko interact with? I already have plans for several people but if anyone wants to throw a name out feel free, but I can't promise it will make it in the story.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed or favorite the story. It always makes you want to write more when you know someone is enjoying it.