**Authors note**

Hello everyone! My character is Mizuki Kyoto. In relation to the war, this story takes place right before the fourth shinobi war. In relation to Dme1994's story, Undying love, this story starts at her chapter 19.

Enjoy!

I do not own naruto!

Chapter 1

"I am so close." I say to myself as I pack my bag. "Almost two miles till I reach the Hidden Leaf."

I finish putting all my medical supplies into my bag and walk to the bathroom. I wash my face, ruffle up my short brown hair, change into my black pants and light brown shirt.

"I hope the Hokage allows me to join." I think to myself as I put on my sandals and my jacket. "Whelp, only one way to find out." I grab my bag and head out the front door.

I walk down the stairs to the main desk of the inn and the lady looks up from her book.

"Leaving already?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much for giving me the last room."

"No worries." She takes the key from me. "We've been so busy because of the war and ninja coming in and out of the town. I am thrilled we had a room for you."

"Thank you again and please stay safe." I bow and turn to leave

I walk out the inn. Everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather – the elderly are taking strolls, children running around laughing and playing. I hear the clanking of metal in the distance. It is a wonderful, peaceful day that it makes you forget what is about to come. I look down and see a ball rolling towards me.

"Hey lady!" a little boy yells out. "Can you please pass the ball!"

I nod and kick the ball over. He quickly runs and catches the ball.

"Thank you!" He smiles.

"No problem little one!" I wave.

I turn and start walking to leave the village and I pass this cute little tea parlor. Suddenly there is a huge explosion coming from behind me. I look back and see one of the buildings is completely gone. I hear screaming and crying coming from all directions. I begin to run toward the explosion, seeing if I can help anyone. There is smoke and dust everywhere.

Then I see them. Six men holding various weapons. One of them throws a kunai with a paper bomb attached to a nearby building. The building blows up causing debris to fly everywhere.

"Get out of the way, you stupid kid," one of them says as he kicks the small child I saw earlier.

"He said move!" another one says "Or we'll give you a reason to run."

The kid looks up in shock, unable to move, paralized in his spot. The bandit pulls out a paper bomb kunai and throws it in the direction of the kid. I run as fast as I can and grab the kid and roll out of the way of the bomb. I am holding him tightly in my arms and hear him whimpering slightly as the bomb blows up a couple of yards behind me.

"Why are you doing this?! You've hurt so many people!" I yell at them "Look at this child's condition! Have you no heart?"

"You've got a big mouth lady," the leader says to me. "It's going to cost you your life!"

He raises his sword, ready to strike me and this kid.

"It's going to be okay," I whisper to the little boy, holding onto him tightly and feeling him hold me, terrified. "I got you."

I know I won't be able to escape from his strike, but I still have to give this little boy hope. I brace myself for the attack.

No attack comes. I look up and to my surprise, there is a lady blocking his attack with her katana. There is something familiar about her. I look at the bandit and I can see the man is pissed.

"What the hell are you doing, Lady?!" He asks in frustration. "Mind your business before you have your head cut off."

The woman quickly maneuvers her sword, knocking his to the ground and kicks him straight in his stomach, sending him flying back to the rest of his men. They catch him and look back at her in anger.

"Get to safety." she says to me, still in a defensive stance. "Attend to the wounded; I'll take it from here."

I just sit there staring at her in disbelief at what is happening.

"Don't worry about a thing, Mizuki; I'll take care of these guys. Please attend to the child and the others who are wounded."

"De-... Denizu?" I whisper in disbelief.

I quickly snap out of it, pick up the small boy and run off to safety. Once I get a good distance away, I carefully place the boy down on the ground. He winces in pain.

"Hey bud. Its okay," I comfort him. "What's your name?"

"Daichi." He says quietly, still very scared and breathing heavily.

"I got you Daichi. I'm Mizuki. I'm going to make sure you'll be alright."

I look back toward where Denizu is fighting the bandits and see she is in some type of pain. I check the boy over.

'Good. He only has bruising. It could have been a lot worse,' I think as I use my mystical palm technique for some of his injuries.

While I'm doing this, he falls unconscious due to the shock. I take off my bag, pull out a bandage, and begin to bandage one of his arms. I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Mizuki, are you all right?" The woman who fought off the bandits asks.

"Denizu…" I say with a relief as she kneels next to me.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Yes, he will be. Thankfully he has just a bruised arm and leg."

I let some medical figures take him away when I finish wrapping him up.

"How are you?" I ask Denizu. "I saw that you were facing some pain."

"No. No, I'm perfectly fine," she quickly says. "What are you doing in this village?"

"I was on my way to the Leaf. I heard of the war and wanted to aid you in anyway possible."

"I'm on a mission and am going back now. You can come along."

"That sounds like a good idea," I smile.

Before we set off to leave the village, Denizu checks in with the authorities to make sure they can handle the bandits. Once it was clear that they could, we set off to the Leaf. She also introduced me to Pakkun who is a miniature pug and a ninken.

"So you're saying you left your home in order to assist the people of the Leaf?" Denizu asks me as she fixes her katana.

"Yes, as soon as I heard that your village was in danger, I had decided to travel there to assist in anyway."

"How exactly do you plan on helping the Leaf?" Pakkun asks

"I specialize in the medical field." I say to him. "I'm a medical- nin with over ten years of experience, but not a part of any one village."

"Mizuki is the one who found me injured and took me years ago." Denizu says to Pakkun. "I owe her quite a lot for doing that."

"It seems that we're on the same terms since you saved me from those bandits earlier," I say with a joking smile.

"Now I know that Kakashi doesn't have to worry about you," Pakkun jokes.

"Kakashi? Who's Kakashi?" I ask with a questioning look. "That name sounds familiar…"

"You'll see soon enough," Denizu says with a sweat drop while rubbing the back of her neck.

We finally reached the village gates. They are open with people loading wagons full of supplies that are ready to head out.

"So this is all for the war?" I ask while observing the scene.

"Yes, and there's a lot more to prepare than just this," Denizu replies.

We continue to head inside the village, heading towards the Hokage office. I'm in awe as I look at all the buildings that are recovering. All the ninja moving out and about. There is not much laughter here. Everyone is working. The old and the young and all inbetween. As we get to the Hokage's office I look up towards the great wall with all the previous Hokages faces. We walk into the building and into the office.

"Lady Tsunade, I have arrived from my mission with the intel," Denizu says.

"Ah, Denizu, I was hoping you would arrive soon," Lady Tsunade walks over to Denizu from her desk.

"Here's a map that illustrates a route our enemy has been taking for some time now," Denizu opens the scroll and shows it to her. "I've confirmed from the contact that it's the Akatsuki who have passed through here."

"This is very good news…" Lady Tsunade examines the map. "Thank you for retrieving this intel, Denizu. It was essential for us to have."

Lady Tsunade then looks at me with a surprised look.

"And you are?" She asks.

"My name is Mizuki Kyoto," I say nervously. "I'm here to aid the Leaf village in any way possible for the war."

"Mizuki is a close friend of mine," Denizu says "I ran into her in the village where I retrieved the intel. She was on her way here so I figured I'd bring her back with me."

"Well, how do you wish to help us?" Tsunade asks me.

"I'm a medical-nin with over ten years of experience," I say with confidence.

"I'm a former patient of hers from years ago," Denizu says. "I assure you that Mizuki is very skilled in her area, and will be an excellent addition on our medical team."

Lady Tsunade looks at Denizu and is thinking about her reasoning. She then smiles at us.

"Welcome to the Leaf village," Tsunade says. "We appreciate your want to help us here at a time of crisis."

"Thank you so much, Lady Tsunade!" I say with a big smile and bow. "I'm more than happy to assist you and the village."

"I'll leave you to help her feel at home, Denizu," Tsunade says with a smile.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Denizu bows.

With that, we head out of the office and into the village.

"I'm so happy that I'm a part of your village, Denizu," I say with a big smile.

"I am too! It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"You're back," some one says from behind us.

We turn around and I see a tall man with spiky silver hair. He has headband covering one eye and a mask covering his face.

"Kakashi…" Denizu smiles.

"How was the mission?" Kakashi says while standing in front of Denizu.

"I ran into some trouble, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"Do you mind explaining to me?" Kakashi aks with a worried tone. "Pakkun?"

"I'll leave that for Denizu to explain." Pukkun says before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi then turns towards Denizu with a questioning look as she scratches her neck nervously.

'Kakashi..Kakashi…I know this name but who is he?' I think to myself. "Are you Denzu's longtime lover?" I ask abruptly.

Kakashi looks at me with a surprised expression.

"Kakashi Hatake. I remember Denizu talking an awful lot about you."

"I'm sorry, But who are you to Denizu?" He asks me

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry!" I'm embarrassed as I hold my hand out to him. "I'm Mizuki Kyoto, a close friend of Denizu."

"Nice to meet you," he shakes my hand.

"Do you guys mind if we discuss this over coffee at my place with Kurenai?" Denizu suggests.

It's late in the evening and we are sitting in Kurenai's kitchen. Denizu just finished explaining how her and I met up in a small village while on one of her missions. Kakashi seemed weary while hearing about Denizu having to fight the six bandits.

"So you took care of Denizu after she had lost control of her curse seal?" Kurenai asks me before she sips on her coffee.

"Yes, she had explained to me who Orochimaru was and how she came to be in that seriously injured state that night," I answer her. "It's been quite a number of months since Denizu left from where I lived to be here in the Leaf. As soon as she heard of the future attack by the Akatsuki on the Leaf, she wanted to leave as soon as possible to warn the Hokage."

"She gave us a lot of trouble that day, by the way," Kakashi glances at me, causing Denizu to smile.

"Unfortunately, the village wasn't able to prepare for the invasion in time," Kurenai says. "It was completely destroyed by an Akatsuki member, causing many lives to be lost. That is until our Naruto was able to speak with the Akatsuki member and managed to bring everyone back to life with a powerful jutsu."

"Wow, this Naruto you speak of must be a very skillful ninja," I say with surprise

"Naruto Uzumaki is one of my students," Kakashi says. "I've been his sensei since he was about twelve; I've watched him grow into a very strong ninja of sixteen."

"A sixteen year old stopped the enemy who destroyed this village?" I'm amazed.

"He's also Denizu's student," Kakashi adds. "She was recently assigned to my original team as their new sensei alongside me."

"Really, Denizu?"

"Yeah. I see Naruto not only as my student, but like a son," she says with a smile. "All three of my students are close to me, but Naruto is the one who I closely share a connection with."

"Well, I'm glad you had taken care of this knuckle head of mine for so long," Kurenai hits the top of Denizu's head causing her to tear up and pout. "She hadn't shown up for ten years and now she still continues to worry me!"

"No need to be so harsh…" Denizu mutters.

"Say, Mizuki, do you have a place where you can stay?" Kurenai asks

I'm surprised by this and rub the back of my neck.

"Ummm… I seem to have forgotten that little detail," I smile with a sweat drop.

"You're more than welcome to stay at one of my closest friend's house," Kakashi says. "He's currently on a long mission and isn't going to return for a long while."

"You're talking about Gai's place, aren't you?" Denizu asks him.

"I'm sure he won't mind."

"How are you going to get in?"
"I'm like a personal housekeeper who stops by every now and then to keep his house tidy and his pet turtles well fed."

"By every now and then do you mean rarely ever?"

"You know me very well, don't you?" he smiles at Denizu.

Kurenai burst out with a chuckle at their behavior and I giggle.

"All right, you love birds. It's late and Mizuki needs to get a place to stay," Kurenai says. "I would let you stay here, but I don't have much room in this apartment."

"Don't worry, please, it's quite alright," I say with a smile. "It's completely understandable considering your state."

Kurenai smiles at me as she puts her hand on her enlarged belly.

"You can be Gai's temporary housekeeper as an exchange of living in his extra bedroom," Kakashi tells me. "He really needs to find someone else who will be there daily to feed his turtles."

"I'd be more than happy to take that deal," I say.

"Well, it's settled then," Denizu stands up. "Mizuki will be staying at Gai's!"

"You and Kakashi had better escort her now; it's awfully late and after what she's been through today with those bandits, I'm sure she wants to rest."

"Oh, thank you, Kurenai," I say with a big smile.

"Let's head out then," Kakashi says

"I'll be back, Kurenai!" Denizu follows me and Kakashi out of the apartment.

"Don't kidnap her, Kakashi! Tell me when you want to so I know not to expect her back!" Kurenai jokes.

Kakashi chuckles as he waves goodbye to her.

"So how does it feel to be back together?" I ask breaking the silence as we exit the apartment building.

"Absolutely wonderful," Kakashi answers by taking a hold of Denizu's hand.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Denizu smiles.

"You both really are perfect for each other," I say to them. "I can see right away that just being together you both are extremely happy and nothing else matters."

"Well, I have you to thank for taking care of her when I wasn't there," Kakashi says to me. "Who knows where she could have ended up?"

After a couple minutes of walking we finally end up at Gai's place.

"Well here's Gai's apartment," Kakashi unlocks and opens the door and holds it open for us. "I hope you'll be fine here," he says as he turns on the living room light.

"Oh, of course, it's perfectly fine!" I settle my bag down on the floor. "It's nice! You can tell no one has really been here for a while, but I'll be able to change that with a few sweeps."

"I'm sure Gai will appreciate that," Denizu smiles.

"Well, everything seems to be fine and you can find your way around easily," Kakashi looks around the apartment and then opens the door of a room. "This is where you'll be sleeping."

"Thank you, Kakashi," I say with a slight bow. "I'm looking forward to meeting your friend Gai so I can personally thank him as well."

"I'm sure he'll be surprised to find you here, but trust me, he won't mind at all," Kakashi says with a friendly smile.

With that, I yawn and stretch out my arms.

"We'll leave and let you rest now, Mizuki," Denizu says. "You've had a long day."

"The apartment key is on the kitchen counter," Kakashi tells me.

"Thank you once again!" I say.

"We'll see you!" Denizu says as they leave the apartment.

I locked the door behind them and grab my bag. I open it and grab a pair of pajamas. I find the bathroom, hop in, and take a quick shower. As I walk back to the kitchen to grab some water, I see movement out of the corner of my eye.

"What the…" I walk over and see these little eyes staring at me. "Oh you poor little things!"

I see four little eyes. Two small box turtles staring up at me in a huge wooden enclosure. Their food bowl is empty and the water dish is half full. One of them is trying to climb up towards me, failing as he falls backwards into the dirt.

"You must be hungry!" I say as I reach in and flip him back over.

I quickly run back to the kitchen and search the fridge for some type of greens. I find some lettuce, rinse it off and bring it back to them.

"Here you are, little ones," I place the lettuce in a bowl in their enclosure.

The turtles get all wide eyed and run over to the food and start munching away.

"All right, that should hold you up for tonight. I will clean out your water and get you more food in the morning," I gaze down at the turtles happily.

I then turn off all the lights, walk over to the room, and pass out on the bed.