Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 7: Life In Konoha

(Six Months Later)

"Kiiiiiiiiira-chaaan!" came a loud voice through the early morning streets belonging to the figure hurdling toward Kira at a breakneck pace. She easily sidestepped the oncoming onslaught and the figure fell face first into the dirt.

"Good morning Naruto-sama," she said politely.

"Ne ne Kira-chan, what'd you do that for?" asked the rambunctious blonde, rubbing the red mark on his forehead caused by the sudden face-plant.

"I would rather not be tackled, Naruto-sama, sorry."

Naruto scrunched up his face and stood, brushing the dirt off his clothes, "How many times do I have to ask you to stop adding '–sama' after my name? It makes me feel weird."

"Anyway, Naruto-sama," she continued, ignoring his request, "What are you doing up so early? It's only five o'clock."

Naruto's face lit up in a goofy grin, "I have a mission, believe it!"

Kira nodded, "Good luck then." She turned and started to walk away.

"Ne Kira-chan, where're you going?"

Kira inclined her head slightly towards him, "To find my team. We're increasing my training this morning."

"Oh, right! Cause you just got promoted! Congrats, by the way. It took me years to become a chunin!" Naruto turned his head slightly and mumbled, "Course, I could have become one sooner if I hadn't been off training with Ero-sennin."

Kira's lips twitched upward slightly, her form of a smile. "Thank you. But I must be going now. I don't wish to be late."

"Oh no! I got to go too! Sakura-chan's going to kill me if I'm late again!" he turned and dashed off toward the village gates calling back, "I'll see you later Kira-chan!"

Kira shook her head slightly and continued walking to the training field where she would meet the team she had been assigned to for the last six months. Over that time period, Kira had been able to start talking with some of the shinobi of the village. No one, as of yet, had tried hurting her. On the contrary, everyone, including the males, showed a kindness that Kira had long since forgotten existed. She was still considerably polite to any male that she crossed paths with, but she no longer felt the need to cower when one was nearby. She had her team, Naruto-sama, and Inoichi-sama to thank for that.

After learning about her full past, Inoichi had taken it upon himself to make her feel welcome in the village. He often invited her over for dinner with him and his family. Kira had found out that his daughter, Ino, had been one of the two medics that helped to save Hinata and Shino. Ino was alright. A little too outgoing and forward for Kira to really connect with, but not bad. Inoichi on the other hand, had been treating Kira like he would his own daughter. It took a while for Kira to accept that kindness without being suspicious of his intentions.

And Naruto was just being Naruto, according to Shizune. He always welcomed people with open arms and believed that everyone had some good in them. He never turned his back on someone once he declared them his friend and he somehow managed to bring out the best in people. He had been the first to make her 'smile' with his antics. And it was thanks to him that she had become widely accepted in the village despite her quiet, aloof nature and nearly expressionless disposition.

She came out of her own thoughts as she walked onto the field. She was greeted with silence, which wasn't very unusual. One of her more… outgoing… teammates had taken it upon himself to try and find a way to sneak up on her without detection. So far, he had yet to make any progress.

She found all of them easily. Two were in the trees, out of the way and simply observing another soon-to-be failed attempt. Really, when would that boy learn? Speaking of which, he was in the pond. What in the world had possessed him to go straight into her element, she probably would never fully comprehend.

She waved her hand in his direction and had a wave of water dump him onto dry land.

"Oomph!" he said as he hit the ground, "Dang it! That didn't work either!" he growled in defeat.

"Of course it didn't. Why? Because you were in the water that she can control," stated her other teammate, jumping down from in the trees, followed soon by the third.

"Shut it, Bug-boy! I thought if I was surrounded by the stuff, maybe she wouldn't see the water in me," he said, petting the large dog that came to console his partner.

"Maybe next time Kiba-sama," Kira said.

He 'hmph-ed' and got up. He then turned to her with a grin on his face, "It's really no wonder that you passed the exams," he said, quickly getting over his loss, "At this rate, you'll be an ANBU right along with us!"

Hinata smiled shyly and nodded her agreement.

"You mastered the use of chakra quite quickly, too," the Hyuuga commented, "Even though you rarely use it."

"It helps when I need to run faster or climb trees. Now, shall we get started?" Kira asked, getting straight to business.

Each member turned to Kira and got ready. Today's training: multiple attackers.

The two girls were walking home after getting supper with the guys when Hinata looked to the silent, impassive girl beside her.

"Kira-san?" she asked carefully, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"Do you, um, well," she sighed, "Do you like it in Konoha? Don't you ever miss home?"

Kira flinched, "I don't have a home to go back to."

The Hyuuga's eyes widened, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up unwanted memories. I was just…curious."

"I understand. Don't worry about it."

Hinata pressed her fingertips together as they continued walking in silence for a few moments.

"Yes," Kira said, seemingly out of the blue.

Hinata's hands fell to her side as she turned to look at her, "Huh?"

"The answer to your first question. Yes, I like Konoha. It's like a start to a new life for me. One that I never would have dreamed of." Hinata smiled and silence claimed the night, only more comfortably then before.

"How do you like living where you are?" Hinata asked, again breaking the silence. Kira thought a moment, "It's not bad. Shizune-san is kind."

Six months ago, when the Hokage was looking for a place for Kira to stay, she thought that having her stay with someone who fully knew her past would be the best option. Being the Hokage, she couldn't personally take in the girl. What if she really was a spy? Precautions had been necessary. As for Inoichi, although Kira felt more comfortable around him than she would around most other males, he was still male, so he was out. This left Shizune. So far, things seemed to be going alright. Shizune had started calling Kira her 'little sister.' Kira wasn't so sure she agreed with the sentiment, considering she had never really felt that kind of connection before, but she didn't dispute it. It was kind of nice having her around.

She and Hinata had reached her and Shizune's apartment. After a quick goodnight, Kira turned to go inside.

Shizune wasn't home yet. No surprise there. Since the Akatsuki had suddenly reappeared in the area, the Hokage (and by association, Shizune) had been swamped with paperwork and requests from different towns in the Land of Fire to send shinobi for protection.

Kira sighed. She still wasn't sure why everyone was so scared of a group of a few shinobi. All well, she thought, it has nothing to really do with me. She went into her room and got ready for bed. She needed to rest up. She would be undergoing a massive amount of training to get ready for the Jounin Exams in four months. Yes, she had just been promoted to chunin not too long ago, but she wanted to catch up to her teammates as soon as possible. Who knew what could happen in a short period of time?

There we go…kind of a necessary filler type of chapter. A big thank you to HalfwayParanoid for the review! I'm glad you like it so far. I hope I don't disappoint! :D I'll try to get the next chapter out soon! Please read and review people!