During the next three days Lucy had been spending all of her free time with Naruto, she even helped him paint a couple of stores that rudely threw him out. Lucy had also asked Kakashi about why the villagers treat Naruto the way they do but he just said that it was classified so Lucy ended up doing some self-investigating.

Flashback

Kakashi had just gone to bed and Lucy quietly snuck out of the window and asked Gemini to take her place, to throw off the ANBU that were still monitoring her before she headed towards the Hokage office from the rooftops. If the information was classified then there had to be documented on it, right? Lucy surprised her chakra enough to make it seem like a mouse was running through the building before she made it to the Hokage tower, this would explain any noises that she may make during her investigation. Landing on top of the roof Lucy put on her cloak and pulled her hood over her head, (cloak looks like the one future Lucy wore) opened up the window and quietly snuck in. Running towards where she knew the filing cabinets were, she quickly got to work. Naruto looked to be younger than 12 but older than her current age so that narrowed it down to between nine and eleven years ago.

Lucy knew that they would have a file on Naruto from birth because he's been a part of this village his whole life. Looking towards the filing cabinets that were marked by year Lucy noticed how many there were just in those three years, she made two other clones and had each one look in files for that year. She needed to get back before Kakashi found out she was missing, or worse if the ANBU found out. Lucy shuddered at the thought and quickly got to work but no matter how hard or long she looked, she could not find anything.

"You won't find what you're searching for in there," Lucy heard from the door she walked through to get in.

"Sandaime," Lucy whispered and widened her eyes, worried about what was going to happen to her but her fear turned into surprise when he threw her a file, while her clones put everything away she read through what the Hokage gave her.

"So he really is a jinjuriki," she whispered, Lucy frowned and looked up at the Hokage, "when he told me about how the village treats him I wasn't sure," Lucy looked back down at the file and spotted Naruto's birthday and decided to remember that for later. "Why are you letting me read this?" Lucy asked the Hokage,

"Because I knew that you wouldn't abandon Naruto for this reason, in fact, you might be able to help him, guide him if you will. You may not have noticed Lucy but you are quite mature for your age and have a sense of hope in your eyes that I've never seen in anyone before. I truly believe that you hold the 'will of fire', something that the first Hokage wanted all shinobi of this village to have," the Hokage looked at Lucy as he said this and Lucy looked confused,

"Will of fire?" Lucy whispered the Hokage chuckled,

"You'll know what it is when the time is right," the Hokage turned around to leave but before he did he called out over his shoulder, "I've called off the ANBU that were sent to watch you, you are now an official citizen of Konoha, I hope that I don't regret that decision,"

Lucy smiled before she followed out after him and attempted to get home before Kakashi woke up but unfortunately luck wasn't on her side, the next morning she spent hours listening to him lecture her about going out after curfew and even more about sneaking into the Hokage office.

Flashback end

Lucy sighed at the memory of what happened not even two days beforehand. Lucy also noticed that Kakashi has been acting weird the last few days, whenever they talked about her training he would want it all in detail, he even went as far to offer to train her in lightning ninjutsu. Lucy agreed of course, why wouldn't she? But that didn't mean she was any less suspicious of his actions, he was usually disinterested and only made conversation to be polite. Lucy shrugged off the thought and decided that she would just ask him later before she looked up to see the Hokages hawk flying over her head, summoning her to his office. Lucy made it to the Hokage office and jumped in through the window,

"You summoned me, Lord Hokage?"

"Yes, I want you to go on a mission with Anko it'll last a few days at the least, she'll give you the details on the way, meet her at the gates in one hour," the Hokage stated firmly not looking at her but at Kakashi who was looking sternly at the Hokage clearly unhappy about something.

"I'll go and pack then," Lucy said and slowly turned to leave out the window but stopped when she heard Kakashi talk,

"I'll go with you," Kakashi walked over to her and pulled her into the room and took a hold of her hand, he walked out of the Hokages office and slammed the door shut behind the both of them. Kakashi still had a hold of Lucy's hand as they continued to walk down the hallway towards the seemingly endless staircase,

"Is there something wrong Kakashi?" Lucy asked and Kakashi looked down at her surprised before going back to looking bored once again,

"No everything's fine," he said and looked back towards the front,

"Are you sure because you seem frustrated?"

"I'm fine Lucy, don't worry," Lucy frowned at this but left it alone, if he wanted to tell her he would but this just added to her curiosity about his behaviour lately, she decided to leave it until she came back from her mission with Anko though.

Climbing up the steps of Kakashi's front porch Lucy opened the door and took off her shoes before running upstairs towards her room, gathering her things and asking Virgo to store then in the Spirit world for her, Lucy also grabbed her fingerless gloves and put one on her right hand to cover her guild mark and a pouch full of kunai and shuriken on her right hip. Lucy then attached her belt and pouch that her celestial keys used to reside into her left hip and filled it with exploding tags and sealing techniques that she's learnt. Lucy grabbed the black cloak that she used to sneak into the Hokage's office before going into the lounge area to grab a book on some ninjutsu to read if she got the chance but all she saw was Kakashi pacing.

"Alright that's it, I was going to leave it until I got back but something is obviously wrong with you so spill it," Lucy stated loudly while putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward. Kakashi spun around at the sound of her voice and Lucy could clearly see the worry in his eyes before he tried to mask it with boredom, "this isn't about me going on a mission is it?" Lucy asked boredly,

"What worries me is that it's an A-rank mission, I don't think you should be doing a high ranking mission for the first one," Kakashi stated,

"I've been in dangerous situations before, besides Anko is going to be there as well, you know," Lucy looked at him frustrated, she knows that he doesn't know exactly how much danger she's actually been in before but it's still frustrating to be treated like a child. At least the Hokage recognises that she's more mature,

"You've never been on a mission before Lucy, I know you've trained and have a lot of skills but it's still dangerous, especially for a little girl," Kakashi's voice was getting louder but he wasn't yelling,

"Why exactly is it more dangerous because I'm a girl?" Lucy asked trying to stay calm but her voice raised to match his, Kakashi sighed,

"I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that this makes you more of a target," Kakashi knelt down to her level, "Lucy you don't know how quickly a mission can change, people lie and may make a job seem easier than what it really is. I just want you to be careful,"

"I know alright, like I said I've been in dangerous situations before, this is nothing new, you honestly don't have to worry so much, besides don't you think if the Hokage had concerns about the mission he would say something. I doubt he would send me out on a mission without all of the information and Anko is going to be the one to give me a full explanation as well," Lucy notice Kakashi stiffen up slightly throughout her reasoning and was going to ask about it before he cut her off,

"Alright come on, Anko is probably already at the gate, she tends to be early," Kakashi started pushing Lucy out the door and towards the gate hoping she didn't notice how nervous he really was. Lucy trusted too easily, even though she was so reluctant in the beginning to tell the Hokage anything she has now put her trust in him to keep her as safe as he can while on missions. Kakashi didn't want to ruin the progress that has been made by her finding out why she's really going on this mission.

Once they arrived at the gate Lucy notice Anko already there, Lucy waved happily and was about to go over to her when Kakashi stopped her, "You haven't forgotten anything have you?"

"No I have everything I need, I asked Virgo to store it away for me," Lucy said the last part in a whisper to him but noticed that he still looked unsettled by something, it couldn't just be the mission, "Kakashi, is there something you're not telling me, about the mission I mean?" Kakashi looked at Lucy slightly shocked before lowering his gaze, not being able to look into her eyes, so my suspicions were right, the Hokage is sending me out specifically but for what reason and why is that reason worrying Kakashi so much? Lucy thought to herself.

Lucy sighed, it didn't look like Kakashi was going to say anything any time soon, probably because it was an order. "I'm sure whatever it is that you're not telling me won't get me killed Kakashi, don't beat yourself up so much okay. I'll see you in a few days," at this Lucy turned around and walked towards one of her teachers, missing the stern look that Kakashi gave to Anko. Anko slightly nodded at Kakashi and motioned for Lucy to follow her, once Lucy and Anko were out of sight Kakashi started walking back towards the Hokage office planning to try and negotiate once again about letting him follow Lucy and Anko.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Anko, it was just that she could get sidetracked very easily. Kakashi wasn't sure why he was so adamant about Lucy's safety but he feels like she can see right through him, she can tell when he's upset or wants to be alone, she can tell when he wants to talk to someone or when he's just being polite. Kakashi didn't know how she did it but she did and he felt he knew her also, he knew that Lucy still had nightmares and can hear her wake up in the night so he stands outside her door waiting for her to either go onto the roof or go back to sleep. If Lucy went out onto the roof he would follow her so, he could bring her back in once she finally did go to sleep and if she went straight to bed he knew that it was okay for him to go to sleep.

These little things are what make them somewhat close, they don't really talk to one another but they notice things about each other that others don't, it made Kakashi protective of Lucy in a way. Kakashi shook himself of his own thoughts as he made it to the Hokage tower, jumping up onto the window he was just about to go in when he heard Gai's voice from inside,

"I'm sorry for saying this Lord Hokage but why didn't you send Kakashi out on the mission with Lucy, surely he is more qualified than Anko to watch over her. He was in the ANBU after all,"

"While that may be true, I think you have noticed just how attached Kakashi has become to Lucy, I don't think that him being there would let us see her true potential," Kakashi heard the Hokage sigh deeply, "and I don't want to be there when Kakashi finds out that the mission involves Orochimaru," Kakashi froze at those words and could hear the Hokage say something else but didn't register what it was. Kakashi quickly jumped down from the window silently and ran towards the village gates and followed the direction that Anko and Lucy went.

Lucy and Anko ran side by side towards their mission location, Anko explaining as they went,

"Our mission is to collect intel on a drug lord near the tea country. Apparently, there has been underground trafficking, the tea country sent us this request to avoid conflict between neighbouring towns," Anko stressed but left out the part where the underground trafficking could be related to Orochimaru, "we are not to attack unless necessary, this is just intel,"

"What about if they have people captive?" Lucy asked but had a bad feeling of what she was going to hear,

"Not this time, we need to figure out the purpose of which they are doing this, we can come back for anyone else later," Anko said firmly leaving no room for argument but when has that ever stopped Lucy?

"I'm not going to sit back and do nothing Anko, people's lives could be at risk here. Does their purpose really matter more than the safety of others?" Lucy growled out,

"These are orders, Lucy, we cannot disobey the Hokage, we are not abandoning the people, we are simply waiting to rescue them," Lucy stopped running and Anko turned around to face her,

"We cannot afford to wait; those people may not have enough time left for us to gather information. Saving those people should take a priority, people shouldn't be left as an afterthought," Lucy yelled out giving their location away to possible enemies.

"This is not up for debate Lucy, you will follow my orders as the leader of this mission or I will have to report you in for treason," Anko growled out while she didn't want Lucy to be put in prison and maybe even TI, Lucy needed to learn to obey orders. Anko hoped that she would follow Anko's lead because it is her first mission but apparently not.

Lucy, on the other hand, grew more opposed to the ninja way, they were just like the magic council. They look out for themselves first, everyone else is an afterthought, FairyTail never turned their back on someone in need and Lucy wasn't about to start now but if she went along with Anko's plan and didn't tell her about it she could put Anko in danger. Lucy took a deep breath and looked Anko straight in the eye angrily,

"I will never turn my back on someone that needs me, I don't care if I'm disobeying orders or if I get thrown in prison for treason because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let someone die or get hurt while there is something I can do about it and if you still want to report me in then I will go with no fuss after this mission," Lucy said firmly and out a hand to her head, she felt dizzy all of a sudden. Anko fell to the ground and Lucy straight after,

"Ahh, you always were stubborn weren't you Lucy?" Anko and Lucy heard from above them, they both looked up and Lucy's eyes widened,

"Axal-Sensei?" Lucy whispered before she fell unconscious.

With Kakashi

Kakashi was running in the direction that Lucy and Anko were but skidded to a stop when he spotted Anko passed out and tied to a tree. Running over to her he started untying her and tried to wake her up,

"Anko, wake up, what happened?" Anko groaned as she opened her eyes only to jolt awake and started looking around, "Anko where's Lucy?" Kakashi continued talking, Anko turned towards Kakashi but looked conflicted,

"Not here," she said firmly not sure what to make of the information that she had learned before she passed out,

"What do you mean not here? Where is she? Who took her?" Kakashi yelled out in panic,

"There was a type of gas in the air that we couldn't see, it put us to sleep but before we passed out we were arguing about the mission and heard someone speak from above us. They knew Lucy, she called him sensei before I passed out," Anko explained as she stood up off of the ground,

"We have to look for her," Kakashi stated and was about to bite his thumb when Anko started speaking,

"Lucy knew him Kakashi, she probably went with him willingly, what if she is working for Orochimaru," Anko tried to reason with him, her doubts about Lucy's intentions with the village coming into light. Kakashi turned to her with a glare,

"Lucy's not like that, she wouldn't do that," he yelled,

"How would you know, you don't even know anything about her, you guys barely talk to one another," Anko growled out,

"I know her more than you do, I know that she has nightmares about what happened while she was with Orochimaru, I know her favourite foods, her weird habits, she even told me about her parents," Kakashi stopped to take a deep breath and saw that Anko was looking at him in shock about how much he actually paid attention to Lucy. "I've seen her at her most vulnerable Anko, I do know Lucy and I know that she would never lie about her intentions towards the village," Kakashi then bit his thumb and swiped it across the ground, "Summoning Jutsu," Kakashi's ninja pack appeared in front of him and instructed them to find a trace of Lucy.

"Anko I want you to go back to the village and send Gai as back up, I don't trust the Hokage with Lucy's safety right now," Kakashi demanded before Pa-Kun came back with Lucy's scent,

"I'll come with you," Anko said firmly,

"I don't trust you with Lucy's safety right now either," Anko looked hurt at that remark but Kakashi either didn't notice or didn't care as he turned to follow Pakkun,

"I'll give you and Gai until tomorrow evening to come back with Lucy, if you don't I'm informing the Hokage," Anko replied before she jumped away.

Kakashi was running after Pakkun trying to clear his mind, he was panicking too much and if he couldn't think straight he could get Lucy and himself killed. Kakashi came to a stop outside of an old mental asylum, it was only a single story and it was all broken down. Kakashi asked Pakkun to scout the perimeter and report back the stealthiest entrance and tell him how many exits there are.

"The stealthiest way in would be through the skylight in the ceiling and there are six exits if you count the open windows that I found, otherwise there are three doors and what looks to be a basement entrance out the back," Pakkun said, "summon me again when you get her to safety," he whispered before poofing back to where he was before.

Kakashi walked around the side of the building careful to stay away from the windows and tried to find the basement entrance, once he found it he made sure that it was unlocked before jumping onto the roof and locating the skylight. He opened the hatch and tried to make as little sound as possible before climbing in and standing on the ceiling, using the ceiling to make his way through the building he tried locating Lucy's chakra but found that there was so little chakra in the building, it was like no living thing was anywhere for miles. Running a hand through his hair frustrated, he will just have to look through every room and hoped he didn't get caught.

With Lucy

Lucy was glaring at the man in front of her, the one she used to call her sensei.

"Where am I and what did you do to Anko?" Lucy yelled out tugging on her chains and held her up to the wall, her feet not touching the ground. Lucy heard Axal chuckle and tried not to scream in frustration,

"Hate to say it but I've missed you Ankle biter," he chuckled out,

"Don't call me that," Lucy yelled out, "do not act so familiar with me, I'd know this aura anywhere, it's all over this place. You're really working for Orochimaru aren't you?" Lucy yelled out still struggling within her chains, desperate to get out of the things that she spent eleven months in.

Lucy heard Axal sigh and knew that that was him confirming her suspicions, "why did you accept me as your apprentice then? Why were you even looking for one in the first place?" Lucy all but whimpered hoping that her suspicion was wrong,

"I accepted you as my apprentice and started training you when I saw that you had potential, that was my job. I gather information for Orochimaru about what's happening in the world, when I saw how you picked up on things and knew how to use a couple of weapons I knew that you would be useful to Orochimaru but the longer time I spent with you I knew that you wouldn't help him willingly so we staged my death and your capture," Axal explained and Lucy felt her eyes water. All that time she was training, learning and growing stronger, only to learn that it was all for his sake. All for Orochimaru.

Lucy looked down at the ground and started to shake, she felt like she couldn't breathe. Orochimaru knew about her the entire time, every time someone ordered weapons that needed to be done in a seemingly impossible timeframe it was him. Everything that she was doing, was being reported back to him, her skills in taijutsu, her chakra natures, everything that she was attempting to learn. Orochimaru knows it all, he knew when she was holding back in the pit, he knew the strength that she was hiding from him. Lucy couldn't hold back the tears as they started spilling over but she didn't make a sound.

Lucy couldn't register that Axal was still talking to her, she didn't even realise that he had left. She just felt lost, still struggling to breathe, she just let the tears fall onto the cold cement floor and just hung by her chains with her head down.

Lucy stared at the ground, her tears long since dried on her face. Lucy's face was blank though, no longer was their anguish upon it; there was only a blank stare that showed how tired she really was and her mental age had started to show. Lucy felt like all of her energy has been sucked out of her, Lucy closed her eyes, her arms numb from the pain of hanging on the wall and fell asleep.

Hours later Lucy woke up from landing on the floor with a bang and looked up to see Axal hovering above her, he grabbed her by the chains that were still attached to her wrists and started dragging her down an old ladder. She must've been in the attic.

With Kakashi

Kakashi continued to look throughout the building but couldn't see or sense any other living thing, it was like the building itself was an illusion but that couldn't be because Kakashi had his Sharingan out to look through the rooms. Kakashi turned his head as he heard something crash from in the attic and decided to look there but before he could he saw a big burly man with grey hairs and stubble on his chin come down the attic ladder pulling on chains from behind him.

Once the man got down the ladder Kakashi looked at what was attached to the chains and froze when he saw that it was Lucy, he clothes were torn and she had bruised all over her. Once he saw her face he almost blew his cover and run over to her, her face was blank, like she had no more fight left in her. Lucy was always so lively, even if it looked like she didn't feel like smiling she did it anyway. It was then that Kakashi heard the man speak,

"Look kiddo, I know you think that I'm this terrible person that betrayed you but you wouldn't have gotten as powerful as you have without being in Orochimaru's care. I did it for you, Lucy, didn't you want power?" Kakashi looked shocked at what he was hearing, Lucy wanted power? That doesn't sound anything like her, is this the person that Anko said that Lucy called sensei? Kakashi shook himself from his thoughts when he heard Lucy reply,

"You say that you took me in and gave me to Orochimaru for my sake?" Lucy asked and raised her head to look at her past teacher, her face was still blank.

"Of course, ya ankle biter, I had taught you all that I could there was nothing left for you with me. When I mentioned your talents to Orochimaru he said that he could make you stronger so we devised that plan to hand you over to him because like I said, I knew you wouldn't go willingly,"

"I see," Lucy replied and looked back down, "tell me what is it exactly that Orochimaru wants to achieve,"

"To learn every ninjutsu possibly known,"

"I suppose that includes kekkei Genkai's as well then?"

"I would assume so,"

Lucy took a deep breath and tried to regain her footing to follow Axal instead of just being dragged behind him. "Why am I so important to him? It can't just be talent or skill; anyone can have that." Lucy stated but Axal just kept quiet and continued to drag her neither of them realising that they were being followed.

"If I didn't join willingly then what makes you think now will be any different?" Lucy questioned as they came upon a metal door,

"You'll soon see," was all he said before he opened the door and she walked I'm to see a type of conference room, there were doors all around them. One behind the head of the table and four on each side wall but it was empty,

"How is this supposed to change my mind?" Lucy asked her face was pale and was still indifferent throughout all of this. Neither noticed Kakashi as he snuck in and hid in the shadows.

"Because I'm going to explain everything to you,"

"Nothing you say will make me change my mind, do you really think that I would join you after you practically served me up to Orochimaru on a silver platter? And what makes you think that I would leave the village that I have joined, I have sworn to protect it and the people in it," Lucy said firmly her eyes gaining back some of their usual flares.

"For starters, you got away only because Orochimaru let you, did you really think that he sent people that you could defeat to bring you back?" Axal stated smugly and was just about to continue before Lucy spoke,

"I always knew that Orochimaru intended for me to get away, I never knew why only that I wouldn't like it and I played along because he dragged others into it. That two ninjas that got me out, I needed to protect them even if I knew that it could have been a trap,"

"Aha, that's so like you, so selfless. You just run straight into things and never think about your own safety, I don't know if it's amazing or stupid," Axal growled out, getting frustrated with Lucy, "besides I know something that may make you change your view on that village," Lucy frowned at that and from the corner Kakashi tensed,

"W-what do you mean?" Lucy stuttered out not sure whether she should believe anything that he said,

"I mean that those leaf ninjas sent you here, they had suspicions that Orochimaru was connected to the underground trafficking and deliberately sent you," Axal emphasised, and Lucy's eyes were wide and full of shock and disappointment. In the corner Kakashi felt like he couldn't breathe, he felt dread in his stomach was shaking trying to stop himself from going out to take Lucy away from this place but he knew that if he did then Lucy could be in even more danger because he doesn't know if there is anyone else here. Lucy looked down and Axal continued, "your precious Hokage and that ninja sent you here directly to Orochimaru, so tell me Lucy do you still want to protect them? Come on I left that other woman tied up in the woods do you want to go and see for yourself?" Lucy looked back up hesitantly before she smirked,

"Even if all of that is true what makes you believe that you are the better option?" Lucy questioned and Kakashi sighed in relief slightly at knowing that Lucy wasn't going to join Orochimaru, he never doubted that Lucy was loyal to the village but because of the circumstances she might have been tempted to join just to spite the Hokage, "besides I know for a fact that they wouldn't have done this to hand me back to that psycho but to see where my loyalties lie. Why go to so much effort to make me a ninja of their village if they were going to throw me away?" Lucy questioned Axal smugly and Kakashi looked on in awe, Lucy really did have too much faith in others. She wouldn't believe that someone has betrayed her unless they had directly told her such as her past sensei has.

Axal looked angry that she still had faith in the village that his master despised so strongly. How could she do this to him, he did all of this for her, "You little brat, I did this for you so that you could have power, isn't that what you wanted?"

"You are confusing strength with power, besides what's the point of having either if you can't use it to protect the people that you care about? I have people that I want to protect, people that I want to get back to and nothing will stop me from achieving that," by the end of Lucy's speech she was yelling and Aquarius's mark had become visible on her chest, a golden glow had surrounded her and Lucy pulled her wrists apart with enough force to break her chains.

Lucy smirked and looked directly into Axal's eyes and was about to launch herself at him when he pressed a button underneath the table and all of the doors opened. In walked several huge tigers each one a different colour. Lucy looked around her trying to assess what to do, there were eight tigers that were as tall as the room and dozens of regular size tigers.

"The smaller ones have poison on their claws and I won't even go into what the larger ones are capable of. Good luck making it out of this room alive kid," Axal said as he left through the door that they came through and Kakashi decided to make himself known and ran towards Lucy.

"Ka-Kakashi what are you doing here?" Lucy yelled out as she dodged an attack from one of the smaller tigers.

"I'll explain later," Kakashi yelled back as he got closer to Lucy dodging tigers as he went but before he could get to Lucy the door behind the head of the table opened and a loud growl sounded through the room. They both froze and turned towards the sound and a paw reached through the opening.

"That couldn't be a tiger's paw, could it?" Lucy asked and all of the Tigers started to cower at the sight of the large paw,

"Seems so," Kakashi replied, they both stared at the paw that was forcing its way through the opening and Lucy clenched her eyes shut trying to figure out what to do.

"Crux isn't there any information that you could give me to help?" Lucy asked out loud and Kakashi didn't even spare a glance at how Lucy was talking to one of her spirits, she did this all of the time around the house after she told him and the Hokage about them.

"Well Miss Lucy, you could try to form a contract with them, Virgo has been holding onto the summoning scroll you have until you found something to do with it. Now might be a good time to use it," he replied through their link,

"What if they reject me though, I might end up being lunch," Lucy shouted out worried, now Kakashi was looking at Lucy confused not knowing what she was talking about it.

"Miss Lucy, if I may be so bold to say that there is no possibility of that happening, they will know how much you are willing to sacrifice to keep them safe once you try to establish the contract," Crux replies and Lucy got a determined look on her face before running towards the huge paw.

Lucy needed to make a contract with their leader and that tiger seemed to be her best bet. Lucy heard Kakashi yell at her to stay back but she continued running and silently asked Virgo to give her the summoning scroll. Once the scroll was in her hand Lucy threw a kunai at the tiger's paw and created a small cut on its toe, the tiger roared at the pain and attempted to break through the door.

Lucy then bit her thumb and winced as she drew blood, letting the tigers blood fall onto the summoning scroll and then signing her name, Lucy then waited to see if the scroll accepted her. When nothing happened she silently asked Crux to explain what could have gone wrong.

"Miss Lucy, try making the leader submit to you, the tiger might not be accepting the summoning scroll at all,"

"Right," Lucy said firmly before jumping over the giant tiger's paw and trying to find a way to get to its head which they still hadn't seen because only the paw could fit through the door. Kakashi had caught onto what Lucy was doing and tried to by her some time by distracting the other tigers, all the while trying to avoid their claws. Lucy frowned seeing that there was no way for the tiger to get in or for her to get out so she equipped into her Taurus star dress, she looked down and sighed in relief to see that her bikini top had been changed into a white crop top that ended above her belly button and a leather jacket that had black sleeves and a cow print body that ended above her crop top.

Thankful for the extra coverage Lucy ran towards the wall and added chakra into her fist for more damage, thrusting her fist out Lucy punched the wall and it created a dent before it tore apart and there was no wall left. Kakashi looked over when he heard the bang and sweatdropped at the damage Lucy had done.

'No wonder she held back, she would've killed Gai'. Kakashi thought, 'I better be able to explain things clearly after this or I might end up like the wall'. He added silently before going back to distracting the tigers.

Lucy ran out of the opening that she just created and saw the most beautiful looking tiger. It turned out to be a saber tooth tiger and it had icy blue eyes, fur that was as black as midnight and greyish, white stripes. The power that was radiating off of it was suffocating.

Lucy ran up the sabers leg equipping into her Cancer form without the swords and used her speed to make it the rest of the way up. Jumping over the tiger's nose Lucy landed in between its eyes and gently placed her head down on its forehead and whispered in a soothing tone,

"It's okay, you don't have to fight anymore, all you have to do is accept the contract and I can protect you and the others from Orochimaru," Lucy pulled away and looked into its eyes, "I know what it's like to be at his mercy and I won't let that happen to you again," the tiger's eyes widened slightly as it saw Lucy smile and began to glow slightly before poofing away. Lucy landed on her feet before running back to where Kakashi was and saw that the other tigers were disappearing one by one and Lucy assumed that they were following the saber.

Kakashi turned to her and started running towards her and grabbed her shoulders, "are you okay, Lucy?" Kakashi was still panicked from when he first saw Lucy and was looking over her to check for any major issues. Lucy, however, shook his hands off,

"What are you doing here?" Lucy asked and looked at him with her guard up, Kakashi realised that she didn't trust him and was hurt but tried not to show it. Lucy wanted to trust Kakashi but her conversation with Axal kept replaying in her mind, if he didn't know anything then why is he here and what happened to Anko? Axal said that he left her tied up in the forest but for what reason, why not bring her or even kill her?

"Lucy it's not what you're thinking," Kakashi tried to explain but stopped when he saw Lucy glare, this side of Lucy he has never dealt with before. Lucy always kept an open mind and even before they officially met Kakashi still never saw this look on her face before, "I didn't know anything about Orochimaru," Kakashi tried again,

"Then why are you here and what happened to Anko?" Lucy yelled out trying to get answers,

"Anko is fine, okay, look let's just get out of here first and I'll explain everything once you're back in the village safe," Kakashi then took Lucy's wrist in his hand gently trying to pull her towards the exit but Lucy snatched her wrist out of his hand.

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you explain what's going on," Lucy demanded and Kakashi turned around and sighed before walking over to the now broken table and taking a seat,

"I guess I should start at three days ago," Kakashi started before turning to look at Lucy and Lucy wasn't sure whether she was going to like what she hears, "I was in the Hokage office with the rest of the Jonins, we were discussing your progress with your training. Gai and Anko expressed concerns because they could tell that you were holding a lot back, the Hokage suggested that you go on a high ranking mission so that we could see how you went when you went all out," Kakashi took a deep breath at this and looked up at the ceiling, Lucy continued to look at him from where she was standing not moving. "When the Hokage decided what rank mission you would be going on and who was going with you I wasn't happy; I was worried about you. I tried to get the Hokage to agree to let me go as back up but he never let me, once you left with Anko I tried one last time to get the Hokage to agree to let me follow you but when I got there he was talking to Gai. Once he mentioned that your mission was connected to Orochimaru I left the Village to follow you," Kakashi turned to look at Lucy than to see that she still hadn't moved from her spot.

"Lucy," Kakashi got up and walked over to Lucy and grabbed her shoulders, "I swear I did know anything about Orochimaru until that moment," Lucy looked up at him at this,

"I believe you, it's just," Lucy took a deep breath, "Anko used me as bait didn't she?" Lucy frowned and looked down, clenching her fists, "I know that she has a past with Orochimaru and she also knows that he still has an interest in me," Lucy's voice broke slightly when she said his name, her arms shook slightly as she was unable to stop feeling the terror that came with remembering her time with him. Kakashi pulled Lucy to him and wrapped his arms around her small form, she feels so small he thought to himself almost forgetting that she is a little girl. Lucy let go of the tears that she didn't know she still had, she had cried so much that it surprised her that she could continue. Lucy clutched onto Kakashi's Jonin vest with her small fists as she cried, she let out everything that she had been holding in for so long.

How homesick she had become since being transported to this world and how desperately she tried to get back. Lucy cried for the loss that she felt when she saw her old sensei again and the betrayal that came with it, she cried for how Anko used her to get closer to Orochimaru and how she got captured once again. She cried for the fear she felt when she realised that she was in chains, she cried for how lonely she felt when she thought Kakashi knew how Orochimaru was connected to the mission. Lucy cried for considering leaving the village when she heard what the Hokage had done and for thinking about abandoning Naruto after she promised to help him. Lucy just cried and ignored Kakashi's soft murmurs to her and just relished in his warmth.

"Well isn't this touching," a voice hissed out from the doorway and Lucy jumped slightly while Kakashi put her behind him. In the doorway stood Axal snarling at the sight of them, "I'm surprised that you're still alive, what happened to the tigers?" He questioned and looked around not seeing a single one of them,

"None of your concern," Kakashi said sternly before Lucy could answer,

"No matter, I see that you've finally made yourself known Copy Ninja of the leaf," Axal said, 'copy ninja?' Lucy silently thought to herself but kept her eyes on Axal, Kakashi tensed beside her and Lucy gripped onto his arm knowing that he was only here with her because they let him, "I'm surprised that it was you that came, who knew that you'd become so attached to Orochimaru's little champion?" Lucy glared at Axal then, hating the name that she had made for herself in the pit. Kakashi looked down at Lucy slightly confused at the name before focusing back on Axal, he could always ask her later, "I expected Orochimaru's student would've come to get her, what was her name again? Anko was it?"

Lucy held back a gasp at this, 'she was his student?' Lucy then put the pieces together, her fighting style was so similar to Orochimaru's, although Lucy had never seen him seriously fight the way he held himself was so alike Anko's and Lucy wondered how she didn't put it together before now.

"I can see that you're surprised Lucy, didn't she tell you? Oh that's right Anko doesn't trust you, she thinks that you're working for Orochimaru," Axal said smugly, Lucy's eyes widened and she looked to Kakashi to see if it was true but he avoided her gaze. Lucy looked back to Axal not knowing what to think about this information, 'was everything with Anko a lie? Did she only train me to get information out of me? Information that I don't even know, is this the reason why the Hokage sent her with me on this mission because she doesn't trust me?' Lucy's thoughts continued to run wild but were snapped out of it when Kakashi spoke to her,

"Lucy, let's just focus on leaving for now. I can take you to confront Anko myself once we get back to the village okay?" His voice was rushed and quiet, not taking his eyes off of Axal,

"Right," Lucy nodded and stepped in front of Kakashi facing Axal,

"L-Lucy what are you doing? get behind me,"

"You trust me right, Kakashi?"

"Of course but," Kakashi started confused but Lucy cut him off,

"Kakashi I will handle this myself, Axal-Sensei and I have some unfinished business," Lucy said sternly before quipping into her Capricorn star dress and asking Virgo to give her, her halberd. A golden glow surrounded her from Aquarius's mark being completely full of chakra and ethernano, the energy started to surround Lucy and flow off if her like an overflowing tank of water. Lucy took a deep breath in and released it slowly before putting pressure on her right foot and pushing herself towards Axal, using the speed that she has learnt from Gai helped to catch Axal off guard.

Using this Lucy was able to use her halberd and make a cut on his left cheek, Axal jumped back and put his finger on his cut and wipe off some of the blood. Looking at his finger then back towards Lucy he started chuckling, "it looks like you've mastered that speed we were working on while we've been apart," Axal said looking somewhat proud and angry all at the same time. By this time Axal had sprung up and attacked Lucy trying to hit her, Lucy had never seen Axal fight before, yes he was her teacher but he never really fought her, it was always dodging her attacks and pushing her back. Lucy kept dodging, trying to figure out if there was a pattern to his movements but every time Lucy caught on he changed his technique. Beginning to grow frustrated Lucy jumped back and started making hand signs,

"Wind style: Eternal vortex jutsu," Lucy said out loud as she took a deep breath in and then let it all out in Axal's direction. Adding enough force so that he got swept up in it and was forced out the door. Lucy ran to follow him and Kakashi was right behind her, letting Lucy take the lead until he was needed. Lucy made hand signs as she ran in the direction of Axal, equipping her halberd into her hands one again her weapon lit up with electricity. Kakashi looked at it in surprise and so did Axal.

"Lucy, how did you learn that?" Kakashi asked her,

"Believe me it wasn't easy, it's probably the hardest thing I've ever attempted. Adding enough chakra so that the effects last but not enough to break my halberd or electrocute myself, took weeks of meditating and chakra control. I finally got the right balance though," Lucy said proudly before equipping into her Taurus star dress and before swinging her halberd down onto the ground and releasing the chakra that was stored in the justu and weapon at the same time as the impact. Kakashi looked on in shock as the ground started to split apart and the electricity travelled on the ground towards Axal who managed to get away from it at the last second but not without ruining his shoes. The bottoms of them were burnt off.

'Adding chakra into a weapon alone requires almost perfect chakra control but making that chakra take a natural form as well and then releasing it in a perfectly timed attack. That almost seems unreal and yet I'm seeing it being done by a tiny eight-year-old girl.' Kakashi thought to himself in astonishment, 'she could even be better than Asuma at adding chakra to weapons, not only that but she seems like a ninjutsu type, to begin with.' Kakashi's thoughts continued.

Lucy smirked as she saw Axal take his shoes off in anger, she knew how expensive those were and she burned right through them. He just did exactly as she wanted, Lucy was about to jump up and attack Axal when Kakashi stopped her,

"Lucy, we need to leave as soon as possible. Anko gave me a time limit to get you back to the village, if we don't get there by tomorrow she's going to tell the Hokage. That means that you'll go into interrogation and they'll force you to tell them everything about you," Kakashi rushed out, Lucy clenched her fists tightly,

"I'll have to make this quick then," Lucy growled out, equipped into her Aquarius star dress and started making hand signs, "Water style: great wave jutsu," Lucy called out and a giant wave appeared in front of her and continued to rise as Lucy added more chakra and magic power together. Once Lucy released the jutsu she held her arms out in front of her like she was pushing the water in that direction, and water swept over the surface of the area. Creeping through the cracks in the ground that she had created and knocked over the wall that was in front of them.

Once the water cleared away you could see outside of the building and Kakashi started leading Lucy into the forest.

'Everyone I need some help,' Lucy started silently talking with her spirits, 'there's a chance that I may be interrogated when we get back to the village, is there anything you can do about only showing my memories with Axal and Orochimaru. Or maybe showing my memories of my mum without letting them get suspicious of me?' Lucy desperately asked,

'We'll look into it Miss Lucy,' replied Capricorn and Lucy sighed in relief, that was one problem out of the way, she had complete faith that her students would succeed in finding a way for her to do it herself. All of a sudden an arrow shot past Lucy and hit Kakashi in the arm, running towards him Lucy looked at the wound only to see it turning blue around the edges of the cut. The cut itself looked harmless but how Kakashi's skin was turning blue worried her.

"That arrow has a deadly poison on it that was created by Orochimaru's lab experts, they have no cure for it at the moment, so the copy ninja only has a few hours until he dies," Lucy heard an echo from around them in the trees, Kakashi was already becoming weak from the poison.

"The poison will first attack his limbs, stopping his movements, then his senses will start to dull, next he will fall unconscious and finally it'll attack his organs and shut them down, it's extremely painful and has no cure," Lucy and Kakashi heard. Lucy started to panic slightly not thinking clearly, she saw the blue colour start to spread and started to breathe heavily; trying to focus on what to do.

Lucy take a deep breath in and do what I tell you, Lucy heard Loke say to her and started to breathe in slowly before letting it out, good, now you need to get back to the village as soon as possible and you need a sample of that poison to take with you, Lucy heard Loke tell her and she nodded slightly before starting to think of a plan.