A/N: So without further delay, here's the second chapter — Please enjoy!

Music: I was listening to the OST of Samurai Champloo while writing — finished this chapter with "How you feel".

- Chapter 2 -

A Lost Girl Named Fuu

Kakashi's first instinct was to grab the kunai, which he had just safely tucked away, to slash at her and render her immobile.

'Sweep away the feet and pin her to the ground' his mind all but screamed at him, ready to fuel his drive if only he were to give up on his reluctance. It had become so easy to let his body take over. Only focused on how to get behind the defenses of the enemy. Muscles tightening, Kakashi pushed himself forward.

Now face to face with the figure, who had just succeeded to provoke his darkest side, it took Kakashi some time before he finally managed to calm his trembling hand just when the realization kicked in.

This was a girl.

Just a little girl — probably not older than five years and hardly the opponent he was looking for.

Carefully Kakashi set his dark eye on her delicate frame. It was curious how little of an aura surrounded her — almost as if she possessed no chakra at all, which itself was impossible. Without chakra she would hardly walk around, not to mention approach random strangers.

It occurred to him that this too, was peculiar about this girl.

Wasn't talking to strangers something little kids weren't supposed to do?

Unable to find the right words to express his many thoughts and emotions, Kakashi decided to remain silent for a little while longer. Instead straightening up — only to come to a halt when the little girl tried to keep him covered from the rain. With her tiny hands she balanced the umbrella, standing on the tips of her geta sandals. The desperate look on her face almost stirred his amusement, so he humored her by squatting back down.

Once again below the umbrella Kakashi examined her face.

He was quite certain that he had never seen her around Konoha before — not like he was keeping a mental collection of each and every face, but he would have remembered such striking features. Her hair was dark, framing the small heart shaped face of hers with unruly curls. The eyes, however, were the first thing to be fixed on his mind; those mindful orbs that hardly seemed to waver.

He knew better than to let his guard down; even if her lack of chakra led him to believe that this girl was indeed a harmless civilian. Kakashi himself had witnessed just how fast innocence could be sharpened into different skills — skills required to take other peoples lives.

Yet he would hardly be able to solve this puzzle just by staring at her; no matter how patiently she waited for him to speak up. Probably he was just as curious to her.

"I'll keep that in mind" was Kakashi's rather late response to her concerns about his health — recalling that she had caught him almost falling asleep in the rain.

Swallowing around the lump in his throat he inwardly cursed since there was absolutely no way he would know how to deal with children. Those small creatures were far too sensitive for someone like him.

As if to disprove his thoughts, the girl graced him with a warm smile in return. Apparently she appreciated that he would take advice from her.

Encouraged by her reaction, Kakashi allowed some of his own curiosity to slip in, "And whom am I to thank… ?"

"My name is Fuu" she introduced herself with a small yet polite nod of her head. "But there's no need to thank me, Mister. It's my duty to welcome any guest of my master. Though I have to disappoint you, he seems to have left."

While musing about her last words, Fuu lowered the umbrella until it bumped against Kakashi's head. Shuddering from the cold wave of water that suddenly hit him, the silver haired jonin carefully lifted it at the side with his fingertips; preventing the rain from freely running down his back.

He had to admit that it was less of an easy task to mask the confusedness that her words aroused.

Since these were the gardens of the Uchiha Clan, it was rather obvious that she was the child of a servant. But how had she been able to survive the events from three weeks ago? Also, how could she possibly have gone unnoticed during the search for survivors?

"Who… is your master?" Kakashi asked, his words slurred with uncertainty as to whether this was the right way to approach the unavoidable truth.

"Uchiha Yashiro-sama." The name slipped so naturally from her lips that Kakashi believed her without a second thought.

Fuu's never fading smile showed the admiration she held for her master, as well as the pride for being his servant. Judging by her apparent age the little girl should have been an apprentice. Even though Kakashi was unfamiliar with the concept of servants, he knew that the attendant's children would be introduced to their duties at an early age.

His silence however caused her eyes to grow wary again. So, after a short moment, Fuu raised her soft voice, "Did something happen?"

"Well… " he broke off, realizing that he had no idea how to soothe the child.

Scratching the back of his head in a loss for words, he avoided her gaze. Only when the umbrella bumped against his head once again, he realized that there was no need to say anything else.

"Yashiro-sama won't return as promised" she observed with an expression so unlike that of a child her age. Tightening her grip on the handle of the old umbrella, Fuu squeezed her eyes tightly shut. When she once again found her voice, her words were scarcely audible, "I already thought that something was strange when he told me to go and hide. He never had done that before… Thank you for going out of your way to tell me, Mister."

With a soft shake of his head, Kakashi couldn't help but acknowledge that this girl was an enigma to him. Not only was she able to creep up on him — his bad condition taken into consideration — now she even thanked him for telling her that her master was dead.

Due to his own limited experience, Kakashi was only able to guess that this was her version of putting up a brave front while being friendly to the bearer of bad news.

He on the other hand could only brush people off with his cold demeanor. Accepting pain with a smile plastered on one's face was a foreign concept to him. Because if he wanted to conceal his emotions, he would rather opt for ignorance; it usually worked like a charm to ward off all those fussy people.

Detecting a slight tremble around her lips, it became obvious to the jonin that the child in front of him was trying very hard to hide her emotions so she would not bother him. In view of how they just met and that he was a complete stranger to her, it was yet again curious. She did not even question his words.

"Hm… Where do you live, Fuu?"

This time Kakashi was wise enough to avoid the direct hit. Pushing her too much would probably result in a crying little girl at some point — and that was definitely the last thing Kakashi needed right now. Maybe he could find his answers step by step before finally handing her over to the authorities.

"I can show you" Fuu offered after a moment of hesitation in which she chewed on her bottom lip.

Casting a glance downwards she stumbled off with the huge umbrella in her arms. After a few steps she stopped and turned back to him. From below the red paper she peeked at him with her curious eyes. "Oh sorry, you are getting wet, Mister."

"I am already drenched" Kakashi pointed out rather dryly, refusing to comply with her wish to get under the umbrella.

Once again Fuu raised herself to her full height and pushed the damned thing as high as she could. The determination on her face betrayed every common sense that Kakashi had tried to apply to this peculiar situation. It made him almost feel guilty that he couldn't help toying with the kunai — his attentive gaze piercing still.

In the end it was the voice in his head accusing him of unnecessary paranoia that won.

"Fine" Kakashi sighed and walked up to the girl to carefully gather her up in one arm while raising the umbrella above both their heads with his free hand.

Light as a feather Fuu settled into a comfortable position while she payed great attention to not dirty him with her muddy sandals. If she had any objections to being carried, she only showed it with the faint pink dusting her cheeks. Up this close he could see that her pupils were dilated and the small hands grasping his shoulder trembled a little.

"You're ice cold, Mister" was all she observed, after timidly glancing up to meet his one eye.

"As you kindly reminded me just a moment ago, I almost fell asleep in the rain... You're a strange one" Kakashi returned, watching how the girl crinkled her snub nose in mild objection.

Every other civilian kid would have been scared of him since he hid his face behind a mask. Fuu however only nodded upon examining the black fabric as if taking a mental note. Her eyes then moved on to his forehead protecter that Kakashi wore above his right eye — replacing the ANBU mask.

'You don't know my name. You don't know, why I am here. I just picked you up and you did neither scream nor struggle... What a troublesome kid' Kakashi thought to himself and shifted her a little in his arm, waiting for her to lead the way.

"Now where?"

She studied him yet again before loosening her grip on his shoulder and pointing in the direction of one of the entrances to the servant accommodations.

The room was small yet cozy; especially since the rain was drumming on the roof and the little fireplace provided enough warmth to ease Kakashi's tensed muscles.

He shook his head to get rid of the fogginess weighing down on him. His eye lids grew heavier with each passing second, yet he struggled to force them open.

With Fuu busying herself by rummaging through the shelves, Kakashi took the chance to inspect the room.

There was a little stove and a couple of pots. Apparently, the girl was supplying herself with the vegetables they grew in the gardens. At least, if he were to assume that she had really been here all along. Sending a careful glance to the small figure in the other corner, he could tell that a few more hot meals would actually do her good.

'Hardly my concern' Kakashi decided, shifting his attention to the two sets of yukata which were hanging on the wall to dry.

They displayed the same plain design she was wearing right now. Apart from the clothes and food, there was one rolled up futon that looked like it was made of clouts hinting that it had already been patched up a number of times.

Still, there was something about the setting of this room that greatly disturbed him.

All signs indicated that this child actually lived inside this cramped little cubby. A space he could cross with only three to four steps. Shouldn't a girl her age have someone to look after her?

There were parts of the roof that might leak soon…

The firewood consisted of small branches that could hardly heat the room all night…

The stove was old and probably hard to handle…

It was the little sigh escaping his lips that finally caught Fuu's attention.

She looked up from the backpack in her hands and answered Kakashi's questioning gaze. He noticed that under the ceiling light her eyes had warmed up to a serene green.

"Now that Yashiro-sama is gone, I will have to leave" she explained while moving over to the fireplace, extinguishing the embers. It wasn't before she moved over to the vegetables that Kakashi became aware of the question behind her words. "I have been wondering, but… there is no one except me, right?"

"Only two of the Uchiha Clan survived… and one of them …" he muttered, his words muffled by the mask.

Just how was he supposed to explain something, that even he was not able to fully comprehend?

The cheeks of the child suddenly flooded with color, "I don't think that they need me. They wouldn't..." She trailed off, allowing for the giant elephant to squash itself in the narrow room.

Kakashi's hand involuntarily moved up to the back of his head, only to be dropped when he decided to get this over and done with. Uncomfortably he cleared his throat, "I actually need you to do something for me, I guess you could call it a favor."

"Of course, Mishter" Fuu muttered in a hurried manner, mumbling the last word in her haste.

"You know, it would be a great help if you could accompany me to the office of the Hokage. It won't take long, I promise, and after that we'll find a place for you to stay."

'We? We will find a place for you to stay?' The copy ninja was surprised by both his words as well as the surge of warmth passing through him. In front of him Fuu bowed deeply to him, the curls bouncing around her head, "Thank you, Mister. Thank you so much!"

Not only Fuu's face but also her voice showed, just how much of a relief these words granted her. Now finally her eyes were shining with tears though she was quick to rub them away. It must have been terribly lonely and scary for the child to be on her own for so long; not knowing whether someone would come to find her.

If not before, Kakashi forgot about the ongoing chase and his desire to hunt as soon as Fuu shyly came to stand in front of him; trusting him to take her someplace safe.

"Shall I go and have a look?" Pakkun suggested after casting a side glance at Gai whose dark brows appeared to fuse any second to mono.

Both had decided to take shelter beneath the entrance of the house closest to the Moon Gate of the Uchiha district.

After information spread that the intruders had already left Konoha, everyone, except one or two clearing squads, had been called back to the Hokage's office.

Gai was keen to attend the meeting and finally get a clue about what was actually going on. If Kakashi planned on taking much longer, they would definitely miss the best part. For Gai, who was always eager to appear at least half an hour early to every gathering, it was almost torture to be as fashionably late as his hiprival.

"What's taking him so long?" Gai complained to which the ninken grunted, for once agreeing with the strange spandex-wearing man. Looking up at the sky, he wished to finally be dismissed and escape this awful weather. A faint scent prickled in his sensible nose. "He's on his way… so I guess he's headin' straight for the office."

"He's challenging me again! Damn that's so cool! Though I expect nothing less of my rival" Gai exclaimed loudly, raising his fist to the heavy rain clouds. "Come doggy — let's catch up and show him our youthful and manly spirit!"

Pakkun growled involuntarily at the reference of 'doggy' but eventually followed. He too was rather curious why his master's scent was mixed with that of sunflowers.

Thank you Be_Mindful for your review! I am very glad you like the story :) Also this was my very first review so I am very exited! Weee!

/... / Now you've been introduced to Fuu, I hope you like her since she's going to stick around! =) I hope you enjoyed the second chapter!