"Hey! Helloooo? Can you hear me Hara?"
"Grape chan!"
"Harata, are you okay?"
"Huh? Who's- Soohyeung? Miyake?! Setsuna? Where'd all of you come from?!" Harata replied hazily.
"Eh heh heh, we've been waiting for you to wake up this whole time! Do you know how long you were out?" Soohyeung questioned her sweetly.
"Grape chan! I got you somethin!" Setsuna squealed with delight.
"Suna, wait what is that? Is that another frog? Where'd you even find that?" an exasperated Miyake interrogated.
"Somewhere..." the petite brunette replied happily, proud of what she discovered.
"Setsuna, I don't know why...or even how you managed to get ahold of that, but no...put it back." Harata mumbled.
"Okay merrily..." the odd, little swordswoman complied, as she teetered off.
"Setsuna no! Don't go in the water with your shoes on! They'll get all wet!" Miyake could be heard calling out, as she ran off after her younger cousin.
"What is going on? Where are we?" Harata asked, unable to move her body for some reason.
"Sister, what's the matter?" came a deep, gruff voice from Harata's right side; however everything was dark, so she couldn't see any of the faces the familiar voices belonged to.
"Junkai? Is that you? How'd you- wait...this doesn't make any sense. Are we on Celeste?" she asked, slowly becoming alarmed.
"Celeste? No. We're not. But it's time for you to wake up sister. Everyone's waiting on you." the voice now recognized as her older brother advised.
"Wake up? I am awake! I'm literally talking to all of you right now!" she tried frantically.
"No Hara, you're still sleeping. I'm sorry. As much as I'd like you to stay here...they're all waiting on you okay?" Soohyeung pleaded softly, confusing her best friend even further.
"They're all waiting? Who's they? All of you are right here." the baffled young commander argued.
"Not us Hara, them..." Soohyeung corrected, pointing to four silhouetted figures standing behind her.
"Who are they? I can't see anyone." Harata explained, but to her surprise, Kakashi's face suddenly showed up clear as day.
"Hatake San?! Why are you here?! Wait- where is here anyway?" she questioned, as Kakashi smiled warmly and held his hand out to her.
"You're just gonna ignore me? Ah forget it...I should be used to that by now. Hold on...how do you all know each other? None of you ever met before." Harata tried, but Soohyeung merely gave her the same answer.
"They're waiting for you sleepyhead. Time to get up..." Soohyeung warned one last time, before the image of her, Miyake, Setsuna, and Junkai faded, and Harata jolted upright trying to reach out for her loved ones.
"Wait you guys! I don't get i- " Harata shouted, waking herself up finally; but stopped immediately upon opening her eyes to the small forested area she had snuck off to previously.
Not realizing that Kakashi, a snickering Naruto, worried Sakura, and confused Sasuke were standing on either side of her; Harata continued talking like nobody was there.
"Huh? Was that...just a dream? Damn it all...I seriously need to figure out how to get back home...that was way too re- " she cut off again, finally noticing everyone standing around her.
Praying that this was just another dream, or that they didn't pay attention to what she said, Harata just remained silent until Kakashi spoke up.
"Everything okay there?" he inquired smugly.
Pretending as if she didn't hear Kakashi ask her anything, she stretched and stood up casually.
"Ahhh what a nice nap! Oh, hey guys! Finished with your lesson already?" Harata tried, making Naruto bust out in laughter.
"you talk a lot in your sleep like I do!" he cheerfully admitted, knowing full well Harata wasn't going to ignore him.
"Hah! Talk in my sleep? That's a good one!" she countered, Naruto giving a sheepish grin.
"ohhhh really? Wanna know what ya said then?" Naruto teased, Harata going stiff for a second, but relaxing again.
"Well if you're sure lil man. What'd I say?" Harata played along.
"don't get mad at me for hearing it later on!" Naruto warned, as Harata shook her head in agreement.
"I promise, don't worry." she reassured.
"ooookay, but don't say I didn't warn ya!" Naruto said again before blurting it out.
"you were callin out Kakashi sensei's name!" the mischievous genin chuckled with a grin.
"You really had me for a second lil man!" Harata joked in complete denial, confident that she was right.
"I ain't lyin, I swear! Kakashi sensei heard it too!" Naruto said defensively, Kakashi clearing his throat nervously.
Harata glanced toward Kakashi and frowned up with confusion.
"Why would I mention his name? I was dreaming of being home. Weird. Maybe he's just screwin with me." the doubtful young woman thought.
"I dunno why. Must've had a dream where he scared the soul outta me like he always does." Harata replied nonchalantly, successfully defusing the bomb Naruto unwittingly just set off.
"he likes scarin ya? Kakashi sensei you're not supposed ta scare girls! They'll cry if ya do that!" Naruto lectured to the best of his ability, though Kakashi's head was now stuck in his book.
"hey! Kakashi sensei! I'm talkin to ya!!" Naruto tried once more, Kakashi not budging.
"oh, okay then. How about this?" Naruto mumbled quietly, before a cloud of smoke engulfed him, and suddenly a naked woman stood before all of them.
"Na...ru...toooo!!! Cut it out! That's so juvenile!" Sakura scolded, attempting to sound like the sexy jutsu wasn't bothering her, but to her dismay, Sasuke was blushing slightly.
"N-Naruto you loser! Stop it!" the stoic boy shouted, getting a bit flustered.
"Sa-Sasuke no! Don't look! It's just a stupid trick by an immature boy- is...is Sasuke actually embarrassed too?!!!! NOOOOOO!!!" Sakura raged in her head, slowly dying on the inside, and ready to hit Naruto.
"Oh Kakashi sensei~ will you pay attention to me now? Teehee~" Naruto mischievously teased in his sexy jutsu form.
Kakashi, finally tuning back in to reality merely looked up at Naruto with a blank expression, then put his head back down in his book.
"I've seen better." he countered, shocking Naruto enough that he broke concentration, and reverted back to his normal appearance.
"what?! But this is a Uzumaki special!! Nobody can do it better than me!!" Naruto grumbled, completely unaware that his teacher meant something entirely different.
"Everyone ready to go? It's already past noon. I'd imagine you're hungry by now." Kakashi said calmly, closing his book.
"...Y-yeah...I'm ready..." Sakura answered in defeat, sluggishly starting to walk off first.
"Good. Then let's go." the silver haired shinobi ordered, Naruto following behind still upset, and Sasuke trailing behind with Harata.
"Guess whatever happened went over my head. Ahhh that's what I get for zoning out so much." Harata thought as she walked along in silence.
"...Hey." she suddenly heard, taking Harata away from her wandering mind.
She looked up only to see Sasuke had stopped walking, and was now facing her.
"Oh, uh- what's up youngin?" Harata inquired, amazed that he actually was talking to her.
She had always pegged him as an anti-social type who only spoke with people he knew and trusted.
"That stuff you mentioned in your sleep...what did you mean by it? Those names, and some place called Celeste. Then you yelled Kakashi sensei's name..." Sasuke interrogated, making Harata's eye twitch.
"Curious little one aren't ya? Fuckin hell- I was hoping nobody heard all that..." Harata vented mentally, as the usually quiet young shinobi waited patiently.
"I uh- we should really catch up with everybody else." she tried evading his question altogether.
"Are they friends of yours? I know you're not from any of the other villages." Sasuke continued, making Harata stop in her tracks.
"Damn he's like a mini version of Hatake San..." she mumbled to herself, before sighing and addressing his inquiry.
"As much as I'd like to tell you all everything youngin...I was ordered not to disclose any information by your village's leader." Harata explained carefully.
"So what, like a gag order?" the skeptical boy asked.
"More or less." Harata confirmed eagerly.
"Oh. I get it." was all he said, before he walked off.
"That was...interesting..." the baffled young warrior wondered aloud, as she too eventually resumed walking.
Once they all reached town, they stopped in to Ichiraku ramen, after much cajoling on Naruto's part.
As they all sat down to eat, everyone seemed to go back to return to how they normally acted. The only difference being Harata opting to stand outside the ramen shop this time.
"So long as they're enjoying themselves, that's all I care about." she said quietly, just taking in the sight of the villagers moving about their day as always.
"Running errands again?" came a familiar voice to the left of where Harata stood, making her jump, and turn her head abruptly.
Much to her surprise, she saw Kurenai standing beside her, only she was accompanied by three kids, who appeared to be around the same age as team seven.
"Oh, it's a pleasure Miss." Harata replied, before bowing deeply.
"Formalities aren't necessary, but it's a pleasure as well." Kurenai chuckled, one of the kids standing in front of her bearing a rather confused expression.
"You know this chick Kurenai sensei?" the curious looking boy finally spoke up.
"We bumped into each other at the market earlier today." Kurenai replied with a smile.
"That's right. This morning if I'm not mistaken. And apologies, but I'm actually waiting for Hatake San and his kids to finish eating lunch." Harata relayed calmly, Kurenai picking up on this small detail.
"Oh Kakashi and his students are inside? Maybe we'll drop in and say hello then." the beautiful kunoichi considered, the young girl standing in front of her flushing a bright red, and getting extremely flustered.
"I'm sure they'd appreciate the company." Harata agreed, then noticed the girl's flustered expression at the same time the boy who initially spoke did.
"Hey Hinata, you okay?" the girl's friend asked, as she shook her head yes, and stammered badly in an effort to respond.
"Y-yes I-I'm alright. Th-thank you for a-asking Kiba." the young girl squeaked out in a soft voice, which tugged at Harata's heartstrings for some reason, as she walked over and patted the girl referred to as Hinata'shead gently.
"Just breathe deeply hon okay? You'll end up hyperventilating at this rate if you don't slow your breathing." Harata said tenderly, as Hinata complied, and did her best to calm down.
"There ya go." the young commander praised, as Hinata peeked up at her shyly.
"Oh. My. Goodness... SHE'S THE MOST PRECIOUS THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!" Harata squealed in her head, as she stood back up, from the bent over position she had assumed.
"Th-thank you miss..." Hinata trailed off nervously.
"Awww of course!" Harata replied kindly with a warm smile, making Hinata give a shy smile in return.
"My, you're good with kids. Usually it takes a lot longer for her to calm down when she gets that nervous." Kurenai observed carefully.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, like she overstepped a boundary, Harata got a bit flustered, and bowed respectfully.
"A-apologies! I thought the little one might pass out, so I wanted to help..." she quickly replied, completely misunderstanding the raven haired beauty's statement.
"What? Why are you apologizing? I as well as her teammates appreciate it. She's just a very shy kid." Kurenai explained.
"Oh...I see. Apologies for my inability to understand your compliment properly." Harata said formally.
"Goodness, relax. You're not in trouble or anything." Kurenai assured with a small laugh.
"Right! Yes ma'am!" Harata answered instinctively, strongly resisting the urge to stand at attention.
"At ease soldier." Kurenai joked, not expecting Harata to actually comply with her.
"What'd, you grow up in a military or something?" she continued, Harata giving Kurenai an innocent look of surprise.
"Actually, yes. My mom and dad still actively serve. So does my older sister, and older cousins. Our entire clan serves in the military." Harata replied, shocked that Kurenai unintentionally guessed so much.
"Well...that explains a lot." Kurenai retorted half joking.
"Dang you're whole clan?! That's nuts." the boy Hinata called Kiba blurted out suddenly.
"Oh yeah, heh!" Harata replied nervously.
"Hey, what's your rank? Don't you guys have that kinda thing too?" Kiba asked excitedly.
"Yeah we do. And I'm just a Commander." the nervous young warrior replied kindly.
"You're a commander? How old are you?" Kurenai questioned.
"Twenty. I was promoted to Commander at eighteen though." Harata said meekly.
"I have to say...that's fairly impressive. So you lead your own squad also I take it?" the intrigued kunoichi continued pressing.
The young woman Kurenai and her students now carried on a conversation with, had certainly never made mention of this the last they encountered one another.
"Thank you kindly, and yeah, my friends are in it. But two of them are older than me. The youngest is sixteen. She's one of the two older members' younger cousin." Harata confessed.
"Wow! That's pretty cool! So you're like as strong as Kurenai sensei and the other instructors huh?" Kiba inquired eagerly, as Harata waved her hands in surrender.
"No, I doubt that. They're most likely way stronger than me." the young woman corrected.
"Huh? Really? That sucks, but sounds like you'll get there soon!" Kiba encouraged, making the flustered young woman smile warmly at him.
"Think so? Well thanks youngin. Much obliged." Harata said with a carefree grin, Kiba returning a cheerful grin himself.
"Well guys, let's stop inside for a bit then. You enjoy the rest of your day military girl." Kurenai ordered with a kind smile to Harata, as her students followed their teacher's lead, waving goodbye to the young woman.
"Awww so those were her pupils huh? They're too adorable. Especially the little shy one." Harata thought aloud, taking her place off to the side of the food stall once more.
Upon entering Ichiraku, Kurenai easily spotted Kakashi and his squad, due to the large number of empty ramen bowls sitting in front of Naruto.
Kakashi busy reading his Icha paradise, Naruto still hammering away at the rest of his lunch, and Sakura fidgeting as she sat across from the ever brooding Sasuke, as he drank some tea.
"Good grief, how much have you had Naruto?" Kurenai said, looking terrified at the six empty bowls sitting beside the blonde shinobi.
"Mmmph...hmmm?" Naruto managed through a mouthful of noodles.
"Krurenai shensei? Whatcha doin here?" he continued, finally swallowing the last of his food.
Hinata instantly turning as red as a tomato, once Naruto noticed her standing there nervously.
"Oh hey Hinata! Kiba, Shino! What's up guys!" he shouted, giving an enthusiastic greeting to all of Kurenai's students.
"N-N-Naruto kun, h-hello!" the shy young girl replied with a small bow, getting flustered all over again.
"Hey. Kakashi...are you just going to sit there?" Kurenai scolded, Kakashi realizing she was standing there with her squad, and looking up from his book.
"Kurenai? Hello. It's been awhile." he finally acknowledged, irritating the level headed kunoichi.
"I swear you'd take that book to your grave if you could." she said sarcastically, as Kakashi's eye lit up.
"You all would be that considerate when I pass? Thank you!" Kakashi replied with an excited, yet calm eagerness.
"Geez Kakashi! It was a joke!" Kurenai retorted, her silver haired friend appearing a bit saddened from her reply.
"Oh...I see then. After everything we've all been through...that would be my only request..." he countered dramatically, a tear forming in his eye.
"This guy...is something else..." Kurenai muttered to herself, as Kakashi put his hand up to his mouth mischievously.
"By the way, got a minute? I wanted to talk to you about something." she questioned, Kakashi giving her a curious look, but complied, when she motioned for him to follow her out of earshot of both their students.
After stepping off to the side, Kakashi politely inquired as to what Kurenai wanted to speak to him about.
"I had the pleasure of running into your friend, or should I say acquaintance twice today already." she said smugly.
"Acquaintance?" Kakashi repeated, as Kurenai continued.
"Yes. That woman you were tasked with watching over." she replied, with a serious tone.
"Ah, what about her?" Kakashi questioned, unsure of why there was a sudden interest in Harata.
"I thought she was still staying at that hotel. But now I hear you took her to your place? Does Lady Tsunade know?" Kurenai interrogated.
"Not yet. I- kind of forgot...ah haha..." he said absent-mindedly.
"You...forgot? ...Kakashi..." Kurenai mirrored, almost at a loss for words.
"Sort of...we've been fairly busy as of late, with the Chunin exams coming up and all." Kakashi explained apologetically.
Sighing a bit, Kurenai rubbed her temple gently before responding.
"Fair enough. So has my squad. But you trust her enough to let her stay with you?"
"Hmm...hard to say." he evaded, making Kurenai give him a dirty look.
"I'll let that one slide Hatake..." she sneered slightly, as Kakashi put his hands up defensively in a peaceful manner.
"Anyway, she's really indebted to you for helping her. So I'm guessing she really trusts you. She cried when she talked about repaying you. I don't know her story, so I'm not judging though." Kurenai finished.
Hearing this, Kakashi furrowed his brow a bit out of sympathy.
He didn't want her to feel obligatedto return the favor to him. He was only following orders.
"Oh, did she?" was all he said, pretending what she just confessed didn't bother him at all.
"Yeah, just try not to tease her too much. She's very naive, and doesn't understand a lot things for someone her age." Kurenai warned.
"That appears to be a pattern with her. Though I think I may know what caused it." Kakashi replied nonchalantly, as if this news wasn't particularly useful.
"Sorry? What do you mean?" the perplexed kunoichi interrogated.
"It's a long story." he retorted, leaning against the wall of the shop.
Her interest piqued, Kurenai put her back to the wall as well, and sighed.
"I've got time. We're done for the day." she assured, as Kakashi glanced off across the makeshift restaurant.
"Alright." he said, before going on.
"She told me a little about her past. The reason she's like this now...apparently it had to do with some guy she serves with. She was fond of him, and he took advantage of that and mistreated her..." Kakashi started.
Kurenai could already feel her blood start to boil, but remained calm and listened patiently.
Seeing her reaction, he paused, but eventually continued.
"She tried to end her life...she was that traumatized from years of dealing with his mental abuse." Kakashi paused, finding he needed to calm himself also.
"...What?!" Kurenai blurted out, drawing some stares, though she didn't care.
"How was something like that just looked over?" she sneered, getting upset again.
"It wasn't. Her entire clan and friends were ready to kill him. They were ordered not to, because it would be considered treason." Kakashi explained, slowly feeling bad for Harata even more.
It was one thing when he saw everything she'd been through upon looking into her eyes...but putting it into words; the reality of how she was treated set in.
"This all started when she was the same age as our students are now. Even when she got over being infatuated with that scum, and befriended another boy who she became close to, the torture didn't let up. It got worse." Kakashi stopped.
"My god, she was just a kid..." Kurenai subconsciously mumbled somberly.
"I guess the one she cared for previously was jealous he wasn't receiving her attention anymore. He even taunted her after her confidante died in an accident, leading her to try taking her life again." he revealed, making Kurenai curse under her breath.
"Eventually her memories of ever knowing that guy had to be sealed by the one she serves, just so she could function as a person. She began extensive training shortly afterward in order to increase her mental strength." Kakashi paused, finding he needed to calm himself also.
"Fortunately, she met very good people later on, that she became inseparable with. I saw a picture of her and her best friend when they were younger. I was...happy for her..." he finally finished with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Oh? I'm glad. Sounds like she went through hell. I can see why she's afraid of getting close to anyone." Kurenai observed.
"Agreed." Kakashi replied, as the sharp witted kunoichi pushed off the wall with her foot, and started walking over toward her's and Kakashi's squads.
"Hey Kakashi! Let her know she can talk to me if she ever needs some advice. I'd be more than willing to help in any way I can." Kurenai called back, as she rounded her students up, and headed out.
Breathing deeply, Kakashi walked back over to his own squad, and sat down as if nothing had happened.