Disclaimer: *sigh* Kakashi would be sooooo shirtless if I owned Naruto. All the time. Hm, pantless too. Maybe maskless. And headband-less. . . Boxerless. . . Ahem, on with the story! ^-^

Blind Lies

"The truth, as the light, makes blind."

~ Albert Camus

The sun was setting by the time the four had finished their mission report. Of course, the mention of Takara's near-death experience was skillfully avoided by their blond sensei. The Hokage simply stared in suspicion as Minato gave him a near blinding 'I'm-So-Perfect-That-I-Can't-Possibly-Be-Hiding-Anything' smile that would make even a thirteen-year-old Gai cry in shame. The Namikaze was relieved when the Hokage relented; he honestly didn't feel like being lectured this early in his righteous endeavors of giving the girl a second chance. He calmly told the Sandaime that Takara had been pushed into a puddle by Obito. It wasn't entirely unbelievable, seeing as it had been very rainy in Konoha for the past month. That is, it would have been believable if Takara and Obito hadn't shot Minato a withering glare. Nonetheless, the Sarutobi accepted the lie.

The kitten was deemed stable by the Inuzuka veterinary clinic, and the land lord's fiancé would pick up the kitten tomorrow. All in all, a happy ending.

Minato sighed when they finally exited the building.

"Well. . . that could have been a little smoother, but in the end I guess the results were okay. I hadn't expected you to finish the mission together, at any rate," Minato glanced from Takara to Kakashi, "I'd actually expected two of you to go off and do it on your own," Rin and Obito glanced at their stoic team mates as Minato continued, "But, it seems that we were lacking in something before that Takara has provided today as far as teamwork goes. . . The icing on the cake, if you will."

Takara tilted her head, not understanding the idiom, but she assumed that it was a compliment.

"You mean the person who covers our asses." Obito mumbled, but grudgingly admitted that their new team mate was useful.

"You mean the person to cover your ass, Obito." Kakashi corrected.

Takara felt herself twitch when the two boys suddenly got into another argument. Really, did they need to fight every time they opened their mouths?

She wondered if burning their mouths shut would constitute to untrustworthiness. Surely, Konoha would thank her for such well-deserved silence. For a genius and an Uchiha, the two sure knew how to make themselves seem as incompetent as newborns.

"Ma, ma, just consider this a well-done mission. We all did our part." Rin, obviously the peace-maker, said in her most soothing voice.

"Even if one of us almost died," Kakashi said almost scathingly, glancing pointedly at his newest team mate.

Takara stared ahead impassively. However, he could tell she was watching him out of her peripheral, and somehow that was just unnerving.

"Would you have acted differently?" she asked calmly.

"I would have, at the very least, been able to rescue myself," he retorted.

He could have sworn a felt a zap of chakra aimed directly towards him, but it was gone so quickly that he was certain he'd imagined it. However, Minato's reproachful look he gave Takara made him wonder if it really was just his imagination.

"Well, if you are so certain that you're abilities outmatch mine, we will have to prove it at a later date," she said almost nonchalantly, though there was a poisonous edge to her voice.

Kakashi snorted, not afraid of the girl in the least.

"Don't be too bothered by Kakashi. He's always got a stick somewhere up his ass," Obito said with a pointed glare at the silver-haired chuunin.

Just before another verbal assault ensued, Rin interrupted.

"You guys! How about we make Takara feel welcome, ne?"

"Exactly! Now, how about we all go out for some ramen? Just to welcome Takara into the village. My treat!" Minato said cheerily.

His three students instantly brightened, obviously hungry from their long day of cat-chasing and near-drowning. However, Takara tilted her head, her eyebrows pulled together in a frown. At her expression he three team mates looked at her, wondering what could make their new team mate look so serious and brooding.

"What is ramen?"

Silence.

She assumed that it was a type of food, but wasn't quite positive of what sort. Her previous diet usually consisted of watery porridge, bread, and sometimes rice.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT RAMEN IS?" Obito exclaimed, voicing the questions etched onto everyone else's face.

"Ano. . . I don't."

"Surely, Takara-san, you've at least heard of ramen!" Rin said incredulously, a delicate brown eyebrow arched in uestion.

Takara's frown deepened and she tried to recall any time she may have heard the word. When nothing came to mind, she shrugged and shook her head.

Their stares made her feel like an ignorant child, and that made her uncomfortable. Much to her mortification, she began to feel her cheeks heat up, though she didn't know if they could see it in the dimming light. Apparently, they could, because Obito suddenly grinned reassuringly. Takara flinched when his hand clapped onto one of her thin shoulders.

"Don't worry, Takara-chan! I'm sure you'll like it! I know I do!" Takara froze at his words.

While Kakashi proceeded to insult him about his choice of unhealthy food, Takara stared, dumfounded.

Takara-chan. He called me –chan. I. . . I have not been called –chan by anyone else besides. . .them. . . .Does that mean I should use a suffix with his name as well?

Minato raised an eyebrow at her dumbfounded expression.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at him.

". . . Is it normal for team mates to use familiar suffixes?"

Ah, he thought in amusement, it's so funny how she's concerned by such simple things.

"Well, Takara, I don't know if it's considered normal to use them right away, but if you want to be friends with someone, I don't see the harm in it."

Minato watched as the girls silver eyes swam with conflict. He was actually almost getting concerned. Was that smoke beginning to come out of her ears? He wouldn't be too surprised. After all, she was obviously overwhelmed with all that had happened to her over the last week. She'd only just discovered this morning that she would be living in Konoha, after all. He was convinced that the girl wouldn't use any familiar suffixes any time soon.

"Minato-sensei! Are you ready to go?" Rin called.

Minato glanced at his newest student, who still looked like a wet dog.

"Well . . . I don't know if Takara should go anywhere without drying first," he said.

Takara blinked, almost having forgotten that she was drenched. An involuntary shudder ran through her body, realizing just how cold it was. After all, it was still winter.

Without a word, the kunoichi pressed her hands together into a hand sign, and closed her eyes.

A gust of chakra suddenly whirled around her, and suddenly all of the water in her hair and clothing was in the air around her. Once she was dry, she dropped the jutsu, and the water splashed to the ground.

Minato raised his eyebrows.

"So you have a water affinity?"

Takara shrugged, but shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

"My main affinity is actually for wind," she said quietly, "But wind element is difficult to control without a teacher so. ."

Minato nodded slowly, a glimmer of interest in his azure eyes.

"Interesting. . ."

A resounding call was heard down the road, and the two turned to see the now more distant forms of Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. The Uchiha was waving Minato and Takara towards them, obviously impatient. The two shared a glance; one amused, and the other wary, before following the three pre-teens.

"Takara. The food isn't going to bite you," Minato said, his lips twitching as he fought an amused grin.

Takara's only response was a twitch of the shoulder, her silver eyes transfixed at the steaming bowl of broth and noodles in front of her, along with slabs of beef. The smell of the food was one that she actually remembered—she'd never actually smelled it up close before, but she knew that she had smelled in the mixture of scents that always filled any village.

It smelled a lot different than the sustenance that she'd been fed in the hideout. Of course, she had little to compare it to other than unseasoned animal meat and wild-grown vegetation, and she didn't know whether it smelled 'good-different' or 'bad-different'.

She had apprehensively allowed Obito to order for her, since she had no idea what the taste was supposed to be anyway. The result was the strong-smelling beef ramen sitting before her. And she hadn't shifted her gaze from it since.

On her right, was Rin closest to her, and then Obito. Farthest to her right was Minato-sensei. Kakashi was the only person to her left, and he had also not touched his ramen. It seemed as if all eyes had shifted to her.

Takara's curious expression switched to a frown, silver eyes glancing down at the paper-covered chopsticks. Carefully, she split the wooden pieces, shuddering from the sheer, absurd normalcy as the sticks made a pleasant 'pop'. How often had she heard that sound while on missions, held in the hands of cheerful, happy people?

She held the two pieces of wood awkwardly in her hands. She rapidly tried to figure out how to hold them, and eventually found a semi-comfortable position in her right hand. She dipped the sticks into the noodles, only to have the chopsticks slide from her fingers and fall into the bowl. She frowned.

How do you hold chopsticks?

She heard a discrete clearing of the throat, and she glanced to her right to meet the sapphire eyes of Minato, which were glowing with mirth. Her keen eyes immediately zoomed in on his hand, which was blatantly showing her the correct way to hold chopsticks. The mental picture now burned into her brain, Takara felt new confidence in her grip as she regrasped the chopsticks.

Though her hands wobbled slightly, she managed to escape impending embarrassment. Gathering a sufficient amount of noodles in the eating utensils, she discretely, if not hastily, shoved the noodles in her mouth. She made slurping sounds as she gathered the long strands. She chewed.

A yelp form her caught everyone's attention, and everyone turned to look at her. Takara sat rigid and straight, her silvery eyes side as could be and a hand clapped over her mouth. Obito and Rin stared at her with anxious eyes.

"What is it, Takara-san. Is it hot?" Rin asked, concerned, mentally remembering the proper way to heal burns.

However, that idea was abandoned as a slight flush of color painted Takara's pasty skin. A simple blush of pleasant surprise as she swallowed the mouthful of food. She opened her mouth to look with childishly round eyes at her team mates.

"It. . . It tastes. . . good. . . I think." She said, her voice a little higher pitched than usual in her amazement.

Obito cracked a huge grin, while Minato and Rin laughed in amusement.

"Of course it is! Ichiraku's ramen is the best!" Obito exclaimed before proving his point by shoveling more into his mouth.

Takara didn't waste any time, and also took another bite of the noodles, although she found that the art was more difficult than everyone else made it look. She had to try very hard to not have the broth drip all over her t-shirt as she slurped. The warmth filling her stomach was more enjoyable than anything she'd ever eaten before. But it wasn't as if she'd never had a warm meal before. She wondered why this meal was making her so happy.

When he bowl was half-way gone, she couldn't eat anymore. She wasn't used to eating more than one meal a day. Fighting back nausea, she glanced at her happily eating team mates. Well, most of them were eating anyway. Takara tilted her head, frowning at the boy beside her.

"How are you going to eat with your mask on?"

Kakashi looked at her, startling eyes immediately locking his. He shrugged.

"I have my ways."

Takara blinked slowly, not quite understanding his behavior.

"Would it not be easier to remove it?" she persisted, leaning closer to him simply out of curiosity.

The silver haired boy gave her a disdainful look . Although she didn't like to be touched, she also was oblivious as to what boundaries meant. Moreover, her eyes were creeping him out. He decided to chase her away the way he knew best.

By being a jerk.

"My, my, already so eager to see my face. Spare me the flirting, will you?"

Takara didn't know what the word 'flirting' meant, but she could hear the condescending tone he was using, and she was not pleased. He would not speak to her as if he were her superior.

Kakashi felt himself tense as her silver eyes narrowed, flashing dangerously. Her lips curled upward slightly as if to snarl.

"I have no interest in seeing your face, Hatake-san. But I must say that your arrogance will do nothing to flatter whatever facial deformity you have," she said to him coldly, turning away and taking a sip of her water.

Minato clapped a hand over his mouth and not-so-discretely turned away from the scene, his shoulders trembling slightly as he fought the laughs that would be oh-so-not-sensei-like to emit. Obito was almost falling off of his chair, noodles half-spilling out of his mouth while he tried not to choke on them through his laughter. Rin was staring at the other girl in shock. Kakashi's dark eyes were wide, mouth agape beneath his mask.

It seems as though Takara has a bit of a temper, Minato thought as he fought to keep his composure, Oh well. Kakashi needed a reality check anyway.

"T-Takara-san I assure you that Kakashi has no deformities," Rin stated nervously, glancing at the still dumbstruck Kakashi.

"I like you already, Takara-chan!" Obito cackled, holding his sides.

Takara shifted uncomfortably when he used to suffix again.

"Arigotou, Obi-Uchiha-s-san," she tried to remain calm, but her eyes widened when she realized that she had stuttered quite pathetically.

Minato almost (again, but for a different reason) choked on his food when he heard the girl try to use the boy's first name. Takara's head was down, mahogany hair falling into her face to try and hide her embarrassment, but Obito didn't seem to notice and sent her a wide, pearly white grin.

"You know, Takara-chan, you can call me by my first name if you want," he said.

Takara opened her mouth hastily, and then closed it again when her mouth felt dry. Swallowing, she tried again.

"O-O-Obi—Uchiha-san," she said, her voice taking on an uncertain tone as her silver eyes began swimming with conflict again. Her brain was not wired for such familiarity.

She could call Rin by her first name without any conflict.. . but that was different. Rin was a female. Also, Rin had never told Takara her last name, so she had no choice in the matter..

"No, no. Obito! O-bi-to!" Obito pressed.

She tried again, but ended up choking halfway through his name and spluttered out his last name again. The impertinent Uchiha shook his head disapprovingly, though his lips were turned upward as if he were fighting a grin.

"Oh-Bee-Toe!"

Takara kind of wanted to go and hide in some dark, remote area of the forest.

Obito laughed at her border-line exasperated expression on her face.

"Um. . . Takara-san, so you're from the Hot Springs Village, right?" Rin said, deciding to rescue the girl from potential mortification, not knowing that she'd just made the situation worse.

Takara stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed, trying to keep up the lie.

". . . Yes."

"I see. I heard it's a pretty nice place. Did you come with the rest of your family?" Rin chirped happily, smiling at the other brunette.

Takara shifted uncomfortable at this, and opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. That word. . . Family. That word she had no clear-cut definition for.

Kakashi was quietly licking his wounded pride, but noticed the girls silence when Rin asked the girl that question. He saw the way Takara's silver yes looked downcast, but they didn't notice. She looked like she was trying to find the right words.

He suppressed a wince as Rin and Obito continued to look at her expectantly. Of course those two wouldn't understand what it was like to not have a family. They were safe and warm in the sheltering embraces of their families. They didn't understand what it meant to be alone.

Takara wasn't annoyed at Rin's inquiry. She thought that it was understandable that they were curious of her background and thought that she had nothing to hide. It didn't bother her so much that she didn't have a family. But it sometimes bothered her a great deal not knowing what it was like to have one. Because she didn't know, she had trouble with the subject and anything related to it. What was a Mother? A Father? A Sibling?

Takara swallowed hard, and spoke in her usual, matter-of-fact tone. After all, she had gone over this story multiple times with Minato.

"No. I have dual citizenship with Konoha and the Hot-Springs country by birth. My mother sent me here to escape the war, but she couldn't come with me because she never married my father, and she wanted to stay with her relatives," Takara replied a little too quickly, but remained impassive.

A sharp gasp emitted from Rin, and Obito shifted uncomfortably. To Takara's left, Kakashi's eyes narrowed in a scrutinizing expression. Takara pointedly ignored him.

"O-Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't need to pry. . ." Rin said softly.

Takara frowned at the pity in Rin's voice. Why was her story so bad?

Takara was torn from her thoughts when she became painfully aware of how silent it was at the ramen stand. She glanced at the young Hatake, and noticed that he was also glancing at her. Steel and silver made sparks as they clashed.

"Is there something you wish to ask me?" Takara asked bluntly, not daunted at all by his critical stare.

"Not in particular," he replied tersely.

When she furrowed her brow, he realized that her facial expressions were awfully limited. Impassiveness, confusion, and cold anger were the only things he's really seen from her so far. He couldn't quite tell what she was thinking, and that bothered him. He didn't trust her, not at all.

"You are a horrible liar, Hatake-san," she said after a long silence, turning away from him.

Kakashi blinked in surprise, not expecting such a response. A horrible liar?

What a hypocrite. She was the one who was lying! Did she actually expect him to believe that bull-shit she had just told Rin and Obito?

Takara could feel his critical eyes on her, and her skin prickled with discomfort. She preoccupied herself with looking around at the various faces, trying to remember them all. The noisy bustle of the village was still new to her, and her ears were beginning to ring, not used to being subjected to so much noise at one time. She became so enthralled with the subtle rhythm and meaningless chatter of the citizens, that she jumped when suddenly loud crackling sounds burst from behind her.

She whirled around in her stool, her heart pounding in her ears while her eyes darted around for any sign of danger. However, she restrained herself like her master had advised before.

She saw a few children running through the street, mischievous grins on their faces as yells sounded from behind them. In their hands, were large rolls of something that smelled to Takara like paper bombs.

She didn't get to voice her concern before one of the boys dropped a few rolls very close to the ramen stand, cackling as he made a hand sign to set them off. There were dozens of loud pops that filled the air, and bright flashes of white light.

Apparently, some academy students had gotten creative with some firecrackers, adding chakra to the explosion to make them larger and brighter. Fun for them, but some people were inconvenienced.

Some people more than others.

"Takara-chan?"

The startled voice of Obito brought all eyes to the gangly kunoichi.

"Takara?" Minato asked in shock when the girl suddenly clutched her eyes, doubling over like she'd been punched in the stomach.

Kakashi watched in surprise as tears began pouring from the girls eyes, the lower half of her face twisted in pain. In alarm, he tensed, leaning forward when the girl looked like she was about to fall out of her stool.

"Takara? What is it?" Rin asked, worry lacing his tone now as Minato grasped the Takara's arm.

"Bright," she gasped out, almost digging her nails into her eyelids.

Minato pried her hands away from her eyes before she did them damage, his blue eyes narrowed. Takara's face was scrunched up, her eyes so clenched shut that the muscles were twitching. A few tears slipped from between her eyelids. Whether it was from the pain or from the eye-damage, Minato didn't know.

Rin nudged her way beside him, and slowly reached for the pained kunoichi's eyes. Immediately, Takara recoiled, an almost animalistic hiss sliding in between her teeth. Everyone flinched at the sound.

"Let Rin see, Takara. You need to open them, okay?" he said quietly.

Takara took deep breaths, trying to ease the stabbing explosions of pain throughout her head, as if her brain was playing with explosives as well. Slowly, she cracked her eyes opened, not surprised by what she was greeted with. But even so, she stiffened.

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath of air.

Now a smoky white, appearing as if they didn't have an iris or a pupil, Takara's eyes stared sightlessly in front of her, rimmed with red because of the popped blood vessels. They burned and stung, and she had a god-awful headache, but she was coherent and for that she was thankful. The damage was minimal.

"Takara, I think you should go to the hospital," Rin said slowly, but Takara shook her head, gently shrugging out of Minato's grip.

"Takara. . ." Minato said warningly.

"It's okay, master. It is only temporary. My sight should return by morning at the latest," she said calmly, pinning her eyes on where she assumed Minato was.

Kakashi, eyes still wide, was caught between the confusion of what just happened, and the fact that Takara had called his sensei 'master'. However he shoved that to the back of his mind and addressed the situation at hand.

"So this has happened before?"

Takara's now white eyes looked in his direction, but didn't focus on him. If anything, he thought that they were even freakier than they were before.

"Yes," was all she said, much to his annoyance, but he hadn't expected her to say much more.

"At any rate," Minato interrupted, "I think I should take Takara to her home. I don't want her blindly running around through unfamiliar streets," he said as he rose from his stool, throwing a number of bills onto the counter. "Sorry I have to leave you all," the blond said with an apologetic grin.

Kakashi shook his head while the rest of the team muttered acceptance. The situation certainly did call for that action.

But that didn't mean Kakashi wasn't any less wary of the newest addition to his team, especially when she was hiding so much. Was he the only one who was noticing it?

Obviously, by the blissfully worried expressions on his team mates' faces.

"I will see you tomorrow, Rin-san, O-O-Uchiha-san . . . . . Hatake-san," she said, her sightless eyes flashing with slight annoyance.

At what, the Hatake didn't know, but he couldn't help but feel annoyed that the girl had even thought about trying to use his first name. And she had thought it. He could tell by the long pause.

He didn't trust her at all, and judging by the look in her eyes, she knew it too.

Good, he thought, then she knows to keep her distance.

A/N: For anyone doesn't know, calling a person by their first name in Japan is considered impolite if you are not well acquainted, or if you haven't been given permission to do so. Also, certain suffixes such as -chan indicate familiarity as well.

Reviews are appreciated :) Thank you to those who have done so already!