Act I: Ch. 7 Making Friends

Karai had sat among the other children when the guys challenged each other to some safe spars Chouza offered to play mediator happily with Inoichi. The girls were sitting amongst each other when Ino and Tenten struck up a conversation about how attractive the guys were. Hanabi mooned over one of the guys who left to spar and Hinata blushing made a comment about Naruto. Karai huffed in annoyance and looked spotting Hana, Itachi, and Shisui hanging out with each other and went over to avoid 'boy crazies'.

"Hi Itachi-san, Hana-san, and Shisui-san, I'm Karai Nara! Can I hang out with you?" Karai pulled a hopeful face causing Hana to laugh. "Oh why don't you want to hang around the other girls?" Karai made a pouty face, "All they talk about are boys…I don't wanna talk about boys! I wanna learn cool tricks and here all the stories you guys have about your travels!"

Shisui was charmed by the little girl and smiled, "Ya know most of our travels are about our missions right?" Karai crossed her arms, "I'm not asking about your missions I'm asking about the places you've seen. The kind of people you've met! I wanna learn your nindo!" Itachi chuckled and invited the girl to sit with them happy not to have her going all dazed around them.

Hana grinned, "Well I've been to the Land of Water have you ever heard anything about it before?" Karai looked at her hopeful, "No, you have to tell me everything!" The Inuzuka heiress happily regaled her with all the interesting things she experienced, "Well for one thing it's difficult to see in front of you beyond a few feet so make sure you either stay on the path with a map or have a good tracker with you. This is because the Mist is so thick in the air it's easy to get lost in and you don't want to stumble into a trap." Karai asked, "Did you run into any cool people out there?" Hana gave a shrug, "I didn't when I went there but, have you ever heard of the Legendary Swordsmen of the Mist?"

Karai shook her head no and waited eagerly when Shisui stepped in to tell her about them, "They were powerful shinobi who trained with kenjustu their entire lives. When they were old enough they were put to the test against one of the previous swordsmen and if they passed they inherited the sword best suited to their fighting styles." Karai looked intrigued, "Did the Swordsmen have a separate code from the other shinobi? They had to of had a code for their organization right? It only makes sense…"

Itachi sat there thoughtful of her observation, "I've never met one of the Swordsmen so I suppose it is only speculation but, it is likely. The Swordsmen took on different missions compared to the other shinobi in the Bloody Mist Village." Karai hopped to Itachi, "What kind of places have you seen Itachi-san?" The young man grinned and said honestly, "I haven't as of yet been further than Suna. I may go towards Rain soon though."

Karai gave him puppy eyes, 'I can't believe a grown 30 yr old woman is resorting to puppy eyes…this is ridiculous but so much fun!' Karai watched as Itachi caved and chuckled before telling her about the smooth limestone buildings and the different kinds of things he saw in the desert. He told her of the talented puppeteers and all the unique foods he tasted while he was there. The young girl asked, "How do you do that tree walking and those teleporting tricks I saw you practicing? If you can share that is," The young girl knew to be careful about asking about techniques at five years old.

Hana grinned and held her hands out, "Do you know how to make a leaf stick to your finger?" Karai grinned and poked a leaf lightly with her chakra while lifting it. The leaf stayed on her finger for several minutes before she canceled the trick. Her blue eyes looked up at Hana to wait for the next step. The female Inuzuka and the older boys were surprised at the length of time the leaf stayed and looked at Shikaku for permission who nodded with a smile.

Hana stood up, "I can show you tree walking then I'll stay close to catch you just in case. The same way you kept the leaf on you finger you now have to keep your feet on the tree." Karai nodded thoughtfully and placed her foot against the tree allowing herself to use her chakra until her foot felt like her hand during the other exercise but, it took a little more effort. She then did the same with her other foot before walking up slowly. She didn't fall but she did have to pause as her chakra wavered with her concentration for a moment. She then climbed to the first branch and stayed there for a moment before climbing to the next branch.

Shisui winked at her and teleported a few branches higher causing her to giggle as she walked after him. Itachi remained on the ground as Hana walked behind Karai ready to catch the smaller girl if needed. Karai happily bopped Shisui on the nose as he crouched in front of her and said, "I got you Shisui-san!" The oldest of the Uchiha kids laughed and nodded in agreement, "Yes, you did…I'm going to show you how to use the body flicker technique. It's how I teleport quickly you ready?"

Karai nodded while Hana grinned, "Show me please!" Shisui grinned and explained, "I want you to imagine your Dad's lap, remember how it feels sitting there with him. I want you to gather your chakra like a spring and close your eyes…tighten the spring and imagine yourself being in his lap when the spring releases." Karai focused on the visualization as Hana heard her Mom warn Shikaku who placed his tea down away from his lap quickly. Hana nodded to Shisui who asked Karai, "Now remembering what I told you…give it a try."

Karai focused her chakra like a tightened spring and imagined sitting with her dad, "I got it!" Suddenly the spring shot loose and Karai landed on someone's legs she leaned back and looked up with a smile, "I did it! Woohoo!" Shikaku just chuckled as the 3 older kids came and joined them Shisui was laughing, "So how was your first trip?" Karai looked up with sparkling eyes and flickered to his arms as he quickly caught her, "It was so much fun!"

Yoshino playfully glared at the boy before joking to Mikoto, "I think your nephew created a monster." Mikoto laughed fully and smiled at the young girl clinging to Shisui happily. What none of them realized was that they were being watched by a man in an orange mask who looked down almost softly on the young kids.

'Shisui…you've gotten big since I've been gone. The little one is strong too already grasping chakra control and body flicker techniques at only 5 years old.' Tobi sat above hidden and watched as the other kids came back from elsewhere and everyone continued to enjoy the day making new friends. Sasuke and the other boys dirty while Inoichi and Chouza laughed at them all the girls all coming back from their girly time while Karai was content to sit with the older kids and learn about all the cool places they've been and things they've done.

"I declare Itachi-chan, Shisui-chan, Hana-chan, Naruto-chan, and Juro-sama as my best friends forever!" Karai shouted out happily as the day came to a close. Shisui just ruffled her hair lightly and Itachi and Hana with Naruto gave her smiles. Shikaku and Yoshino sharing grins as their predications became reality before their eyes.

Tobi meanwhile chuckled quietly, 'Karai-chan is a cute little nuisance…even I'm addicted to her sunny disposition.' He chose to remain around for a small bit longer and became intrigued when the young girl dressed a little more warmly moved out to the woods towards the spot he met her the first time. She happily skipped with her water bottle to go to her favorite riverside clearing and there was a large stag. He chose to watch her curious.

"Hello Juro-sama, I'm back like I promised!" The larger than norm stag's chakra reacted to the child's presence and easily intertwined with her own almost like a summons' would. He watched intrigued as the young girl seemed to chat peacefully with the stag until she was tired and curled up next to him to sleep. He snickered and quickly teleported away with a soft, "Kamui."