Disclaimer: Chapters One, Five and Ten! :)

Ryu was walking down the streets of Konoha and she yawned. She didn't get much sleep seeing as her thoughts wouldn't settle down. She wondered what was the relationship between Kakashi and her. Were they lovers or…? She bit her lip and her ears picked up familiar voices. "You're not in a hospital this time. That's unusual...Kakashi-sensei."

"That's how you see me...I'm shocked." Came his reply. "Well, this time, I didn't have to use the Magekyou Sharingan. If you guys hadn't shown up at that time, I would have had to use it and then I'd be in that hospital bed as you were expecting." Kakashi chuckled. Ryu was about to head over to them when she noticed a shadow and quickly caught up to it.

"Yo, Hawk!" She said cheerfully, running along side him. He grunted at her, which made her push him, making him lose his balance and stumble.

"What was that for?!" Sasuke demanded. Ryu smiled at him with a shadow having fallen over her face and she was cracking her knuckles.

"That is not how you greet a senpai, is it? Greet me properly, teme!" She snarled. Sasuke sweat-dropped.

"When did you start calling me teme? Did the dobe tell you to do so?" He growled back.

"I started calling you teme now, since you didn't respect your senpai!"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Sasuke protested.

"Shouldn't you have learned by now? The Uzumaki Twins never make sense! Now run. You've pissed off the Demon Fox and now you'll run because the Demon Fox loves to play prey and predator." Ryu replied.

"The hell?! No way!" Sasuke yelled. Ryu shrugged.

"Fine, I'll just beat you up then. At least if you did run, you had a chance of escaping."

"Bullshit! You're the fastest ninja in the village!" He pointed out. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll give you a thirty second start. Now run!" Ryu said, shooing Sasuke. He cursed and did as she said, running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. She properly counted to thirty and went after him.

~The Kyuubi Twins~

Kakashi's ears picked up the faint noise of maniacal laughter and sweat-dropped. He recognized the laugh. "Run Hawk, Run!" He heard.

"What is she doing?" Naruto asked Kakashi. Naruto had noticed the laughter of Ryu and looked up on the roofs.

"She's doing what she always does for the new recruits of ANBU. It actually has become a sort of competition between the ANBU. Who can outlast Ryu chasing them the longest."

"Who has the longest record?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I do. But that's only because the last time she chased me around was two days after I started teaching her and she hadn't tuned in to my patterns yet. I wouldn't know about now though."

"I wonder if I asked, would she do the same for me." Sai wondered. "I want to give it a go. What are the rules?"

"Anything goes. But no deadly jutsu. There's only a rule against her. She can't use Hiraishin." Kakashi replied. Naruto laughed.

"If she was allowed to use it, everyone would be captured in a couple seconds, right?" Kakashi nodded. Sasuke suddenly landed in front of the group, startling the four of them. He quickly ducked behind them and Ryu landed a couple seconds after.

"Coward!" She called out to him.

"You've been chasing me for two hours! At that constant high speed of yours! I couldn't even stop to find a place to hide because you were always right on me!" Sasuke protested.

"Oh? You lasted two hours, Sasuke? That's pretty good. This is actually really good stamina training." Kakashi said.

"Lies! With a constant murderous intent behind you and knowing that she can overtake you the moment she doesn't want to play around anymore is going to give me a heart attack! Why the heck is this a competition between ANBU anyways?!" Sasuke argued.

"Because I lasted twelve hours of her chasing me. It only stopped because she almost fainted from exhaustion." Kakashi replied, shrugging. "And also because Ryu challenged the other ANBU to beat my record. The closest anyone got was six hours and only because Yamato used wood structures to obstruct her view of him so he was able to hide and rest." Sasuke started cursing under his breath.

Kakashi turned to Ryu. "Well, let's declare this your win and his capture was accomplished in two hours?" She pouted but reluctantly nodded.

"And the demon fox is tamed by the demon wolf." Sakura whispered in Naruto's ear. He nodded in agreement. Ryu shot a glare at Sakura.

"And you! Why the heck were you trailing me and Kakashi? You were doing a really poor job of it too! We could hear you like you were right next to us!" Ryu frowned.

"Kakashi-sensei's face! You were gone but we tried to see his face! You should have seen the look of Teuchi and Ayame's face when they saw his face when he was eating ramen! Naruto, Sasuke and I would have seen if it was not for Ino-pig!" Sakura growled and started ranting on about what they did to try and find out Kakashi's face.

Ryu started giggling which eventually turned into peals of laughter where she was leaning on Kakashi so she wouldn't fall over. It was Sakura's turn to glare at Ryu. "What are you laughing at?!" She snarled. Ryu took a couple deep breaths and stood up straight, took a look at Sakura and erupted into laughter again.

"Did..you guys...really...treat him out to eat..then...pfft!" Ryu couldn't even finish her sentence. It was a couple minutes later when she finally calmed down. Naruto started telling Ryu the story as they walked along. Ryu face-palmed when they got to the end of the story. "Why were you wearing another mask under?" She asked Kakashi.

"We were working on the ranch. Didn't want to smell the stink." He replied, shrugging. Ryu nodded in understanding. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura grumbled in disappointment. "Are you really that curious?" Kakashi asked, sighing. The three of them nodded. "Well, too bad."

Ryu laughed when they all sulked down with disappointment. "Well, if you must know…" She said, instantly catching the attention of all three of them and they crowded in front of her with starry eyes. "He's incredibly handsome. Way more good-looking than Sasuke."

"But you love him, that opinion is biased." Sakura replied. Ryu shook her head.

"Even as Tsunade-baachan. She's seen his face, even if it was a glimpse of it." She shrugged. Sakura's eyes widened and she quickly dashed towards the Hokage Tower. Kakashi frowned and looked at Ryu.

"How did you know that Tsunade had caught a glimpse of my face before?" He asked. She grinned and waved her hand, dismissively.

"It was a couple weeks ago, she had dragged me to a bar because she wanted someone to be there to help her back when she got drunk and started spilling some things. She happened to mention that if she was a couple years younger, she would be trying to catch your affection because your face is 'incredibly pleasing to the eyes'." Ryu said, nonchalantly.

"Did she say anything else…?" Kakashi asked hesitantly. Ryu turned her head and grinned mischievously at him. He felt a jolt of fear go down his spine.

"Nothing worth mentioning." She replied. Kakashi stared at her in disbelief. She just smiled at him.

~The Kyuubi Twins~

Ryu was sitting in the middle of a training field, holding her mask in her hand and staring at it. She heard footsteps and a soft thump on the ground next to her. She instantly leaned onto his shoulder. "I'm surprised you aren't wearing the standard jounin uniform." She murmured.

"Didn't feel like wearing it, plus it's a bit hot today." He replied. He was wearing the black ANBU sleeveless shirt with the pants. She looked up at him and blinked in surprise.

"You're not wearing your mask!" She exclaimed. Kakashi turned his face towards her and smiled.

"I don't need to when I'm with you." He pulled her closer to him, basically pulling her into his lap. "Plus I know for a fact that we're alone." He leaned down and nuzzled her neck, placing a soft kiss there. He hugged her closer and gripped her tightly. "I don't deserve this happiness." Kakashi sighed. "I don't deserve this. I just hope that Obito and Rin are together happily wherever they are." He murmured softly.

They stayed like that in silence, listening to the soft rustling of the leaves. Kakashi was playing with Ryu's hair and she was looking at her mask. He gently took the mask out of her hands and placed it on the grass next to them. Her gaze turned connected with his. "Kakashi...what are we?" Ryu asked, biting her lip and looking away.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Are we...lovers or…?" She blushed. Kakashi chuckled and pulled her close.

"We are whatever you want us to be." He answered. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, surprising him.

"I love you, Kakashi." She whispered in his ear. Kakashi smiled and hugged her tightly in return.

"I love you too, Ryu."

~The Kyuubi Twins~

The next day, Ryu was walking around with a cheerful air around her. Sakura was walking with Ino when they both noticed Ryu. They instantly stopped in front of her, each one of them grabbing one arm and dragged her off.

"Woah! What are you guys doing?!" Ryu said, surprised.

"Girl talk! A deep, secret one with no interrupted and where you can not hide anything!" Ino replied. Ryu groaned and started struggling.

"Keep on struggling, and I'll break your arms and legs and won't heal them until we get to Ino's place." Sakura threatened. Ryu stopped and looked around for anything to help them. She saw no one so she started yelling to cause a commotion. It did eventually catch Kakashi's attention who had been running around doing some minor ANBU duties around the village.

"Oi! Help me, you damn ANBU!" Ryu yelled at Kakashi, who was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He stopped and looked at Ryu and saw Sakura's glare and silent threat to break all the bones in his body if he did help.

"Er…" Kakashi then noticed Ryu's glare on him too. A shiver of cold fear shot down his spine. Ryu couldn't escape using hiraishin because Ino and Sakura were already holding onto Ryu and if she used it, she would transport them too. The three glares on him froze him in place. Two were promising to break every bone in his body and make him heal naturally with no pain medication if he tried to help and the other was threatening to kill him as painfully as possibly while dragging it out if he didn't help.

Kakashi noticed Sasuke down the road from where the Sakura, Ino and Ryu were at and pointed at him. "Ah! Sasuke, yo!" He called out and poofed away. Ino and Sakura instantly turned their heads and dropped Ryu. They ran up to Sasuke and started bothering him and ended up bickering with each other. Ryu took her chance and escaped.

She was running towards Kakashi when she sensed killer intent and turned her head. Sakura was giving chase. Ryu cursed and headed towards the Hokage Tower. She noticed the Toad Chief and frowned, jumping into Tsunade's office with Sakura close behind her. Ryu then took notice of the great toad sage in the room. "What's happening, Tsunade-baachan?" Ryu asked Tsunade.

"Just wait. Kakashi went to get Naruto." Tsunade replied, giving nothing else out. Ryu could tell the old toad sage was watching her carefully. Sakura frowned, looking like she already knew what was going on. The door opened and in came Kakashi with Naruto behind him. The air instantly became somber with Naruto entering. "So this is Jiraiya-chan's apprentice?" The old toad sage said, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Yes. This is Uzumaki Naruto. He's probably the 'Child of Prophecy' you talked about." Tsunade replied.

"A toad geezer? Seriously?" Naruto said, with a sceptic look on his face.

"Watch your language, Naruto!" Tsunade barked. "This is one of the two great sages of Myobokuzan, Fukasaku. He came all this way to talk to you."

"The correct term would be 'Two Great Toad Sages.'" Fukasaku said. "But more importantly, there seems ta be no doubt that yer Jiraiya-chan's student."

"Jiraiya-chan?" Naruto said, frowning. "Chan?! Don't talk about him like if he were a child! What the hell is with this toad geezer?!"

"I told you to watch your language!" Tsunade yelled at him. Shizune interrupted,

"He is the one that taught Jiraiya-sama sage techniques. He's Jiraiya-sama's master." Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. Fukasaku started laughing.

"Ero-sennin, eh? Sounds like a fitting nickname for Jiraiya-chan." He said. Naruto frowned.

"Anyways, what does this old sage want with me, dattebayo?" He asked. Fukasaku closed his eyes and sighed.

"Now..where to begin…?" He paused. "Well, I guess I'll just tell ya…" He paused again, then looked up at Naruto. "Jiraiya-chan has been killed in battle." Silence ensued after. Ryu's eyes widened. Though she hadn't been as close as Jiraiya as Naruto did, she still knew that he had been their godfather.

"Wha...What did you just say…?" Naruto said, refusing to believe what his ears just heard. Everyone looked at Naruto with sadness, waiting for him to react.

"I know it's sudden, and I don't blame ya if ya don't believe me…" Fukasaku sighed. "His throat was crushed in battle with Pain, Jiraiya-chan left me a message as he fell." He turned and took off his coat, showing a code on his back. "No doubt he did it so Pain wouldn't realize. This is all that's left of him."

"Did...you send him?" Naruto said.

"I did." Tsunade replied.

"Why did you let him go?!" Naruto demanded. "You know how he is! How could you send him into danger all alone?!" Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"The only one capable of Jiraiya's level of infiltration is Ryu! She would have been the only one that I could send with him! Would have your sister die along with him?!" She growled. Naruto's eyes widened with shock and he looked at Ryu.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed. He turned and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going, Naruto?" Sakura asked. He paused and replied,

"If Ero-sennin had been made the Fifth Hokage, he wouldn't have let Tsunade-baachan do something to reckless." And opened the door and left.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out.

"It's okay, Sakura. Just leave him alone for a while." Tsunade said.

~The Kyuubi Twins~

A couple days passed and Ryu was wandering the streets munching on some dango. She had been in a daze for the past few days. Even if she wasn't really close to Jiraiya, she felt like she should have made an effort to do so. She was again heading towards the Hokage Tower but she wasn't really doing it consciously.

Kakashi appeared in front of her and frowned, taking instant notice of her daze. "Hey." He called out. She blinked a couple times and looked up at him. He took the empty dango stick from her hand and threw it in a nearby trashbin. "Come on, there's something that applies to you that we're talking about in Tsunade-sama's office."

He took her hand and weaved his fingers with hers and gently pulled her along. She followed obediently. She stared at his back and gripped his hand tighter. Kakashi looked over his shoulder at her and eye-smiled, gripping her hand in return. Before he opened the door to Tsunade's office, he pulled her into a hug. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

Ryu walked in with Kakashi behind her and everyone in the room turned towards the two. "Ah, Ryu! You're finally here. We were discussing that Naruto go with Fukasaku to Myobokuzan to teach Naruto the sage arts. Fukasaku offered that privilege to you too." Tsunade said to her.

'Refuse that offer. The foxes have already agreed to teach you their sage techniques. As my host, you will not learn the techniques of a prey!' Kurama snarled. Ryu smiled and shook her head. "No thank you, Fukasaku-sama. The foxes have already decided to teach me their sage techniques and it is an offer I cannot refuse." She replied.

Everyone's eyes widened and they stared at her. "The foxes?! How did you find them?!" Tsunade asked. Ryu shook her head.

"I didn't find them. They found me." She smiled. Ryu bit her thumb and quickly formed the seals then slammed her hand on the ground. "Summoning Technique!" Once the cloud cleared, a man stood with traditional clothing. He had black hair with black fox ears and a nice fluffy tail.

He turned and bowed to Tsunade then turned to Ryu. "I take it as you summoning me, the answer to our offer is yes?" She nodded. "Well, prepare the things you need and meet at the Konoha gates in an hour."

~The Kyuubi Twins~

An hour later, Ryu, Naruto, Tsunade, Shikamaru, Sakura, Fukasaku, Kakashi and Kuro stood at one of the Konoha gates, saying their goodbyes. Kakashi made sure he had his back faced to the others. He pulled down his mask and pulled Ryu into a passionate kiss, her fingers burrowing themselves into his hair. He broke the kiss and pulled his mask up quickly so Sakura, who had been sneaking around to get a look wouldn't see his face.

Ryu went over to hug Naruto. "Good luck, Naruto-niichan." She said with a smile. Naruto nodded.

"You too, Ryu."