A/N: Still alive and struggling! Even if the amount of time I took to update might suggest otherwise. With uni, internship and going abroad for one semester I've been terribly busy and severely lacking the time to actually concentrate on writing.

You're a bunch of patient saints – and special thanks to your review, lizyeh2000!

Without further ado, I present to you the next chapter!

Music: "Long Way Down" by Tom Odell — which, in my opinion, fits the chapter's mood and flow quite nicely

— Chapter 21—

Secret Friends

A few days after the hearing

Morino Ibiki happened to be one of few people who didn't actually mind working late — something he'd always attributed to the strangely amiable atmosphere of his department during the darker hours.

There were fewer hiccups with the inmates' schedules, none of those tiresome meetings he was otherwise forced to attend, and people were more likely to wait until morning to bother him — well, save when the odd enemy shinobi that some ANBU dragged through his doors.

All of this allowed Ibiki actually sit down and do some of his paperwork. Especially now that his work load had multiplied with the most recent merge.

For some reason the other department heads had decided that he happened to be the one best equipped to shoulder both T&I and the judicial work from Konoha's former Military Police Force. And knowing that the treasurers had the elder's council in their bag, Ibiki hadn't even waisted his breath on fighting them over it.

After all, it was supposed to be some sort of interim arrangement.

Needless to say, two months into the term and Ibiki was still stuck with it. A possibility he'd accepted the moment the sealed boxes full of thrown together papers, scrolls and trinkets had arrived in his office. And while he had by now gotten a pretty good idea of what he'd gotten himself into, Ibiki still blamed his former sensei for the deeply ingrained stubbornness that wouldn't allow him to pass the buck to the next unsuspecting person.

After all, the only reason he'd been accorded the honor of sifting through these documentations in the first place was because he happened to know a bit about the executive branch. Or at least enough to reprocess the police's paperwork. It still had proven to be a ridiculous amount —especially with his own department's load— but Ibiki knew he'd manage. And if those geeks from Decoding would finally cough up some solution for the Uchiha's encryption code, well, then he might be ready to prep a team.

Adding a note to the cataloging list, Ibiki blindly grabbed another scroll from the mountain before him — easily opening it with a lick of chakra dancing around his fingers. Instead of checking the contents, however, Ibiki's dark eyes rose to sent a contemplative frown towards the door.

Speaking of responsibilities others had pushed on him against his will…

"Come on in" Ibiki ordered, trying to not sound as exasperated as he felt about this strange little ritual that had been imposed on him a few days prior. After all it was mostly his own fault for not immediately putting an end to it. And while Ibiki had no qualms about doing just that, there was a Yamanaka who'd have his head for not playing along.

The crack of the door widened with a low creak; revealing a small figure. Her wild curls had been artfully tamed with straightened paper clips while her hands carefully held onto a steaming mug. Once she dared to look up from her task of carrying it without spilling any of the contents, her concentrated frown melted into a tentative smile.

"Good evening, Morino-san" T&I's infamous child witness chirped and without further prompt Ibiki stood to meet her at the door. While he would've like to see how the girl would handle the traps of his office, he had an inkling that quite a number of people would heartily disagree.

'Although she does make some great coffee for such an annoying little brat' the T&I head conceded, accepting the beverage from her which he then proceeded to test for basic types of poison. Fuu just watched in fascinated confusion through the familiar yet strange procedure.

"Thank you for your hard work, Morino-san" Fuu finally told him and like the last couple of times she'd given him notice of her impending transformation, the interrogator had a feeling the girl actually meant it. "Is there anything you want me to tell to Futaba?"

"No, she already knows about her appointment with Immigration. Someone will walk her through the naturalization based on her legal entitlements" Ibiki mentioned, pausing to take a sip. When Fuu just frowned at him, the T&I department head decided that he might as well explain his words. "That means you both will eventually become citizens of Konoha."

Strangely enough, this new piece of information only seemed to further trouble the girl. Watching her ponder over his words for a moment, Ibiki had enough time to regret ever having opened his mouth as he was forced to patiently wait. Well, maybe not so patiently.

"Just spill, peck."

"What does a citizen do?" the chit of a girl immediately asked him, green eyes trustingly expectant.

"That's easy" Ibiki informed her with relative indifference to her questions. "Follow the rules, stay out of trouble and pull your own weight."

Before she could do more than mouth his last words in confusion, he explained, now with a sigh, "As long as you do try to fit in and help Futaba with anything she asks you to do, everything should be fine. Happy? Good. Now run along — I've got work to do."

Fuu easily complied with his request; muttering a cheerful "Good night, Morino-san" before disappearing in the direction of the room she shared with Futaba.

Not that the woman was any less… odd. While he still wasn't sure how to handle the child, he'd overestimated his familiarity with the guardian spirit who no longer was a cornered fugitive desperate to evade death. Now, rendering Ibiki speechless wasn't an easy feat — especially since he was a taciturn person to begin with. But even he had just stopped and stared when returning late from a department meeting only to catch the wiry figure of the guardian spirit cleaning windows.

When Ibiki had finally been able to demand she'd better explain what she was doing, Futaba had point out that this way, her ANBU guard would have a better view. And that once she'd found something to do, she'd lost track of time. The frail woman had then proceeded to ignore his glare, humming to herself as she wiped down the table of the department's break room.

While Ibiki still wasn't sure whether he felt completely comfortable with this strange, new development, he'd started giving Futaba small tasks after that initial encounter; like copying and preparing new report forms. He'd conceded that it would be fine as long as he could keep her boredom at bay with such harmless tasks. Especially considering that they needed to be done anyway. And if it helped her with her restlessness, then so be it.

Sipping some more of his coffee, Ibiki passed the inconspicuous plant sitting on one of his office drawers. He hated plants. And if it hadn't been for Inoichi and Futaba teaming up against him, he doubted he'd ever allowed it — the quietly spoken female actually daring to agree that it would allow for some fresh air in Ibiki's otherwise windowless office.

Ibiki had just glared at the offending green thing, raising one dark brow as he'd decided with grim satisfaction, 'I'm going to kill you — and I'll be enjoying it.'

While Ibiki couldn't remember any other suspect who'd shown such unconventional behavior, he couldn't find any fault in it. Well, maybe aside from that embarrassing commendation he'd earned from the manager of the genin corps' cleaning personnel — for his sparkling clean department. The report forms were all well organized and would last for several more month. The coffee both Fuu and Futaba kept available for his staff had greatly improved the efficiency and for some reason the guardian spirit had managed to charm the genin corps members into distributing baskets full of fresh fruit around the office.

Massaging the still tender skin around the scars on his head, Ibiki sighed deeply before refocusing on his paper works.

'Even if I don't particularly like being involved in this whole affair, I at least got to pay back my sensei for all the shit he pulled' Ibiki decided before picking up the next scroll; a grim smirk forming on his features.

Hiruzen wasn't sure whether to be impressed or officially offended.

Between fending off Danzo's reignited interest in the whole guardian spirit affair and carefully selecting those parts of the Kubasaki clan's history —which were now to be revealed to a larger circle of people— he felt very reluctant to add yet another problem to his ever-growing list.

So he just narrowed his eyes at the unopened scroll, deciding to delay the inevitable and instead reaching for the note stuck to it.

From the Department of Research & Development

— urgent request for approval of 32S-7-70B

"Surely he wouldn't dare… not after…" Hiruzen muttered; his scowl strangely similar to the pained expression of a Nara as he withdrew the chakra from his fingertips. Only then did he open the scroll; his gaze sharpening as he quickly scanned the notes before him.

It was the design for a new seal. A prototype, so to speak.

And Hiruzen could tell with just one quick look that —if this design did indeed fit for its specified purpose— his approval would forward this seal straightaway into mass production.

'And that crafty bastard knows it too…' the Third acknowledged with little humor and a befittingly sour expression.

In the end he didn't even bother reading the test report from the Research and Development department. It would, without a doubt, certify full operability for this piece of fuinjutsu.

Instead Hiruzen decided to save himself some time and trouble by simply requesting the person responsible for this.

And, unsurprisingly, he wasn't left waiting for too long.

The courtesy to arrive fifteen minutes later —as though he hadn't already been lurking about the building in anticipation of the Hokage's summon— was Sato Jirou's way of letting the village leader know that he wasn't actively trying to annoy him.

"Lord Third" Sato greeted as soon as he had stepped inside; hiding whatever annoying expression graced his face as he bowed to his Kage.

Having moved to the window for a much-needed smoke, Hiruzen now turned around and regarded the retired shinobi before him.

It was strange. How finally seeing this man without any disguise —no longer the aged iryo, no longer the shinobi from the psych department or the old bellyacher wearing too colorful shirts— suddenly forced Hiruzen to remember exactly why he had been forced to pull this formidable ninja from active duty years before his time.

Pushing his pipe to one corner of his mouth, the Sandaime finally spoke, "When I asked you to honestly answer me what you knew about this whole affair… Just how much did you downplay your own personal interest in this?"

He didn't feel like insulting them both by dancing around the topic. After all, this conversation had been a long time coming and even the man opposite of him should know that the time for excuses was over.

Slipping his bandaged hands into the sleeves of his dark kimono, Sato inclined his head as though he went through the many possible outcomes of this meeting. Eventually his eyes slowly drifted towards the Third's unimpressed face, "I've seen her fuinjutsu design and now I want it?"

"So you thought you might exchange it for this?" Hiruzen guessed, nodding towards the unopened scroll on his desk.

Shrugging, Sato hummed, "You called me selfish… I thought I might as well make an effort."

It was testament to the other's perfected ability of getting under everyone's skin that even a man like Hiruzen was forced to harshly bite down on his pipe to stop the words from coming. Even when he approached the paperwork to unwind the scroll further, "How long did it take you to come up with this?"

Sato shrugged, "Since the… big showdown I had little else to keep me occupied. So I finished a design I'd been meaning to hand in before you so kindly suggested my retirement a few years ago."

"Ah, yes" Hiruzen leant back with a thoughtful sigh. His strangely vacant eyes suggested that he was recalling the specific day — although he was actually contemplating whether or not to send an ANBU squad to retrieve all documentation of Sato's little side projects from his home. The only thing stopping him was the fact that the information would be useless without the cooperation of the man before him.

'If he's insisting on playing this game, I might as well make him show me his cards' the Third decided with grim determination — unfurling the whole scroll to be ready for counterchecking everything the other man would say, "So, why don't you tell me —in your own words— how this particular design works? And please… do not spare me the details."

While Sato appeared amused by how things had turned out, he seemed to consider the motives behind this demand before he decided to humor the Sandaime.

"Basically, it's an invisible gyve… a mark that allows the one who applied it to keep track of a person even if they don't want to be found" he shifted with a wince and the Third's eyes flickered to the hands hidden in the sleeves.

'Danzo's retribution' Hiruzen realized, even as he closely followed Sato's words. 'He bandaged them himself. They aren't completely healed…'

Meanwhile Sato continued, "The person who will be submitted to its control won't even notice that somebody is monitoring them. In fact, the design is inconspicuous enough to ensure the person itself will not notice it; let alone others" he explained easily, almost passively. "It feeds on the natural chakra emission every living being has and even a first-rate sensor would have to know where to look to know something was off."

Hiruzen nodded slowly, his eyes still on the effortlessly elegant swirls and minimalistic code, "Do you think Futaba will be happy to carry it?"

To Sato's credit it only took him a split second to come up with a response.

"Well, it's not so much a fashion statement as it is a necessity, wouldn't you agree — Lord Hokage? After all, it was you who ordered me to drag her back inside Konoha's borders that night… screaming and struggling, I might say. She has quite a mouth on her when she's not too busy playing the well-mannered and loyal servant."

"The seal— it can be placed as an odd or even numbered seal depending on the specifics of each case, right?" the Sandaime blithely ignored the insinuations — instead reaching for his red ink stamp. "Have you thought of all the features that would be necessary?"

"I will give you specific instructions on where to place it" Sato offered now that it was his turn to not pay any mind to the village leader's unwarranted doubts. "Once it's in place it will allow you to track her at any time, with any level of security and despite whatever attempts might be made to erase it. When you can't find her it will be safe to assume that she'd dead. Well, they."

"Good" Hiruzen told himself as he pressed the stamp at the correct place, his name soon validating his approval. "Just to be clear, Sato, I won't care for any of your ulterior motives in doing this."

Snorting, the man revealed a strangely twisted smile, "You know, Sandaime-sama… You wouldn't believe me even if I were to tell you the true reason anyway."

Despite the immediate need to assure the other person that this wasn't the case, Hiruzen actually considered his words.

"You might be right about that" he confessed when he couldn't even convince himself that he trusted Sato as of right now. "But I wouldn't mind you proving me wrong. You could for example start by staying away from both Futaba and Fuu."

There was nothing cheerful about the smirks that were exchanged after those words — one person accepting the necessary evil and the other wondering about what he might get away with in the future. The twitching corners of their mouths like the glint of kunai ready to be drawn.

Sato's look told the Hokage that he would pursue his goal regardless of any collateral damage; with little scruples and basically no empathy for those who weren't manipulable in his eyes.

Wondering if he would be able to keep Sato from interfering with the two Kubasaki girls, Hiruzen hesitated for only a brief second before passing the approved fuinjutsu design to Sato, "Why don't you hand this over to my assistant on your way out?"

"You know, dear Lord Third. If you're so curious, you could just ask. But if you order me too, I will try to pick up the scroll and make a fool of myself. It would only be a hassle to reset all of my bones again."

"… So, he broke your fingers."

"Well, Danzo was always a fan of symbolic gestures. Should have known that he only allows little kids to put their hands in his… cookie jar. However, I do appreciate that he refrained from cutting off my nose."

"Why haven't you gotten your hands fixed? Surely even you can't be so presumptuous as to assume you could heal them by yourself…"

"While I do appreciate the concern of my great village leader, the choice whether I go or decide to wallow in my pain is still up to me. If they end up crippled, wouldn't you be the first one to rejoice since you'd be able to cross one worry off your long list of necessary evils?"

"Sato, you will go to the hospital and get that treated properly."

"… That could prove to be difficult. I'd have probably more luck if I'd try with the Inuzuka. Even though Tsume would seize the opportunity to finally get me neutered."

"Am I to assume you managed to get banned from the hospital?"

"Well, it was Ibiki-chan who prevented me from going there… He used to be more fun back when he had no authority."

"I am probably going to regret asking this, but why?"

"Something about a recent entry in his medical file about him needing to have an item removed from his rectum..."

Considering what little he actually remembered of the mission, the sheer amount of blood should have probably unnerved Kakashi a lot more than it actually did. He couldn't even tell how much was his own and what amount his weapons had pulled from others… Even the number of others was alltogether rather blurry.

Landing on a roof in Konoha, Kakashi noticed that one of the fingers of his left hand stuck out in a weird angle.

'Broken' his mind helpfully provided and yet the thought didn't even fully register in his mind.

Maybe, if he'd actually be able to feel anything besides this bone-deep exhaustion, he might have been able to gauge the severity of his own injuries by the amount of pain.

The only thing important right now was this small flickering presence amongst the chakra signatures; the one thing that actually felt like life in this maelstrom of grey and tasteless emptiness.

He collapsed the moment he finally found it.

So, of course he didn't hear the small voice calling his name. He was too busy with bleeding unconsciously on the desk covered in papers of cheerfully bright paintings; unmoving to the whole process of concerned hands feeling his temperature before they moved on to carefully wipe the grime and blood off his face.

When Kakashi finally awoke about two hours later —feeling like he'd merely closed his eyes for a few seconds— he was welcomed by the sight of his ward dozing next to him. Her head was awkwardly cushioned on the arm she'd used to keep herself propped up. It looked downright uncomfortable and Kakashi was already reaching halfway across the table before he noticed his actions.

'… it no longer concerns me.'

He tried to shift his upper body off the table. Of course, I didn't work.

Neither could he pull his arm back to the rest of his battered body. The limb however wouldn't move away from the small head full of soft curls. She was so close… His useless hand almost came into contact with the cloth she had apparently used to wipe the blood off his face.

'Shit' the copy ninja cursed inwardly. Beneath him Fuu's drawings rustled as his muscles shivered miserably. Closing both his uncovered eyes in defeat, Kakashi felt the dried blood around his sharingan crumble. 'Shitshitshit.'

This was the absolute worst place to be stuck with chakra depletion.

Another, second rustle; then a sleepy mumble. "Hatake-sama?"

'SHI-sheesh…'

"Are you a-awake?" the girl hiccuped hopefully.

'Great, she really cried herself to sleep after I barged into her room. Way to go.'

Was it fair that he had to face this after already having been mauled by enemy shinobi? Well, he had ended up here without really knowing what was happening around him. Surely he'd be allowed to make a quick exit—

That was when Fuu gave the most pitiful sniffle and Kakashi's eyes flew open despite his reservations.

She was looking at his hand. Crying and staring at his hand as if it was her who was in pain. When she applied the wet cloth to his cuts with a featherlight touch, Kakashi was sure he'd drop dead from the sheer amount of guilt any second.

Parting his lips with tremendous effort, he rasped, "It's mostly not mine. The blood, I mean."

Which, in retrospect, really should have been the last thing to come out of his mouth. Because how should the thought of him covered mostly in other people's blood calm a four-year-old who'd luckily never been a part of that world? He might as well have told her about how he'd ripped the arm off from one of them. Which he wasn't even sure he did, but that always was so ridiculously messy…

Fuu just nodded and if her lips pressed together tightly, Kakashi sure wouldn't call her on it. He blinked tiredly, deciding that despite her distress the child seemed fine. A little pale, although that might have been because the only source of light in this small room happened to be the fluorescent tube above them.

"I'll get help" Fuu finally decided and only after a moment of confusion Kakashi realized that she had probably been too afraid to leave him alone in this state.

She would make such an awful shinobi.

One finger curling around her slim wrist, he tucked her back with a firm, "No."

If he could make it out of here without anyone finding out about his moment of weakness, then he was ready to take the chance. The pain was manageable and he didn't feel like he was about to bleed out. The only problem was that he also couldn't deny the soothing effect Fuu's presence had on him.

"Are you—… Should? Should I leave?"

It should be punishable by death to be able to reduce someone's voice to something so faint and… small.

'She needs you, Hatake-san. That's the only thing that hasn't changed…'

'She doesn't need me. Not like this… Nobody needs someone like that' Kakashi thought bitterly, rubbing blood on Fuu's unblemished skin as he smoothed one of his fingers over her pulse, "No— no, I'd actually like if you stayed, Fuu. That is, if you wouldn't mind keeping me company."

Without further prompting Fuu shuffled closer. Her movements slow at first, as if not to startle him, but quickly turning into a frantic mess of uncoordinated limbs. Then her face was close enough to him that she could reach out to touch him if she wanted to.

'Was she always quite this intense when staring?' Kakashi mused while he allowed her to muster him.

"I was really looking forward to see you again" she whispered sadly; the words 'but not like this' left hanging in the air. Then suddenly, as if shoving her current mood just aside, she brightened and scooted a little bit closer. "Futaba and I are now wit-nes-ses-ses."

"Is that so?" Kakashi humored her, involuntarily mimicking her secretive whispers.

Fuu eagerly nodded her head. "They asked me a looot of questions, but Futaba said it's a good thing and that we won't have to leave now."

Before he knew it, Kakashi felt himself agreeing with the guardian spirit, "That is a good thing. You'll be safe here."

Fuu smiled somewhat shyly and then started to absentmindedly rub at the blood on her wrist. How could it suddenly look all kinds of wrong on her? He'd been taught how to kill when he was her age…

"You weren't around much" she suddenly frowned and Kakashi felt like the words cut right through him. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Fuu ventured, "I couldn't… feel you as often. You know, the light'ning in your heart. It makes it easier to tell you apart from others."

Kakashi tried hard not to flinch. 'So she knows about each and every time that I didn't visit her when I was close.'

Suddenly meeting her bright green eyes wasn't so easy any more. Testing his muscles once again, the copy ninja clung to the barest hope that he might make it out of here. Away from this conversation.

The small hand on his own startled him out of his skin. It was unnervingly warm and he felt a tremble taking control of his arm. He told himself that if he had been strong enough, he would have pulled his hand away from her.

'Because who knows if it's really her?' an amused voice suggested inside his head. 'It might as well be that woman who attacked you when you couldn't fight back… suddenly makes this seem quite familiar, doesn't it?'

"I got you some water earlier" Fuu mentioned, raising her head to locate the cup. His eyes slowly followed the wonky movements as the plastic thing was pushed in his line of sight.

Kakashi wondered if she would pour it over him if he'd ask her too. She looked so eager to help; to do anything to make him feel better although she didn't even know what was truly wrong.

Forcing his face to form some semblance of a smile, Kakashi told her, "Thank you, Fuu. I really appreciate that but I am not thirsty right now."

'Or more like I can't even sit up.'

"Are you— Are you alright, Hatake-sama?"

Kakashi started nodding his head but then felt another wave of exhaustion wash over him.

"I haven't been alright in a very… very long time. But the pain isn't so bad right now, so I got that going for me. If I were able to move I'd probably go wash up, rest and then take another mission. That's what we shinobi do" he heard himself whispering — although it was a mystery to him where those words had come from. It was almost painful to make himself believe that this was just to make her understand.

When Fuu just stared at him with wide eyes, Kakashi chuckled mirthlessly. "That's why you shouldn't worry so much, Fuu-chan. We do it to protect everyone here. And now that you and that guardian spirit of yours stay here… well, now that includes you too. I am sorry by the way for just dropping in like that. I didn't want to scare you, 'tis nothing but a scratch" he was actually amused to notice that the little girl didn't approve of such shinobi humor. "So why don't we leave that topic and— eh? Fuu, no that's— Nonono, don't— That's really not— … Well, fine."

Having abandoned her efforts to make sense of his ramblings, Fuu managed to duck beneath his useless arm as expertly as any enemy shinobi. Now squashed in the narrow space between himself and the table, she gave a contented sigh.

Even his weak groan didn't discourage the opportunistic little chit — if the way she carefully pulled his arm closer was any indicator.

Feeling himself succumb to warmth of her presence, Kakashi's jumbled thoughts prompted him to mumble, "Would you forgive me?"

If the four-year old was surprised by his sudden question, she was quick to get over it. Maybe because she didn't know that this wasn't so much about her but rather the ANBU captain's inability to keep his lifelong guilt from suddenly bubbling over.

"Are you my friend, Hatake-sama?"

He gave as much of a shrug as he could under the given circumstances, ignoring the pain shooting up his arm in favor of humming noncommittally. When Fuu remained quiet, however, Kakashi cursed himself, coming here and his inability to lie to this girl whenever it actually mattered.

Swallowing against her head pressed against his throat, the jonin hoarsely whispered, "I am a horrible friend, Fuu."

"That's not true!"

"How would you know?" he returned, albeit amused by her indignation. "Cause you see, all my friends are now dead and I am the one who's responsible for it. Surely you wouldn't want that kind of friend."

Kakashi wasn't sure whether he should be relieved when his little ward lapsed into silence. But then again surely even she wouldn't come up with anything to contradict this. Not even with her strange way of always finding a way to look at things differently.

"What about Asuma, Kurenai and Maito-sama?"

Thinking that he should have expected her to remain stubborn, Kakashi easily disagreed with her, "They're comrades. I'd take a kunai for them without thinking but that doesn't make them friends. I don't do promises anymore."

"… You promised me you'd be okay" came a quiet, barely audible whisper. "When you were in the ho-hospital you promised me that everything would be okay. And I be-helieved you."

'Yeah, well that was a lapse of judgement' Kakashi scolded himself belatedly before deciding to point out between gritted teeth, "You still had to ask your guardian spirit to come and fix me, didn't you?"

"Because you didn't know any better!" she argued with sudden heat behind her words and for some reason that was when the ridiculousness of the situation caught up to Kakashi; making him chuckle bitterly.

Of course the first time she told him he was being an idiot had to be when he'd just dragged his sorry ass to bleed out on her drawing table.

"Still doesn't mean I should have friends."

Giving a huff that easily translated as frustration, the for-year old fidgeted; eventually clutching his good hand in her small ones.

By now she was probably covered in nearly as much blood and grime as he himself due to the close proximity.

Just when he thought Fuu might have given up, the girl carefully whispered, "I could be your secret friend."

There were so many reasons to just be quick about it and say no. Especially because her request was absolutely ridiculous and he wasn't a four-year old girl. And it really shouldn't have sounded so tempting. Why wasn't he annoyed at her insistence? After all, others had been this stubborn before.

'Because Fuu never asked me for anything — she just wanted to stay with me and now be my friend.'

"Alright."

The warm bundle in his arms stilled and suddenly, she forgot about all of her reservations. Her curly head —a face tainted with blood stains all over its bright features— wriggled through to rest on the desk directly in front of his.

"Really?"

He was going to end up in hell for this.

"Yeah, really" Kakashi assured her, strangely resigned to the fact that he was actually feeling better now that she was happy. Maybe because he really was an idiot. "So does that mean you forgive me for not coming to visit you earlier?"

"That's what secret friends do" Fuu declared solemnly and Kakashi openly snorted in her smug little face. She would never rub it in his face, but they both knew she had won this round. "In exchange you should try to smile more."

"That's an oddly specific request" he hedged before grumpily pointing out, "It's not like you can even tell with the mask."

Narrowing his eyes at his ward, Kakashi scrutinized the child for a moment and she stared right back.

"Alright, but this goes both ways."

"Of course!" Fuu immediately rewarded him with a blinding smile and even if he'd tried, Kakashi couldn't pull his hand away as her small finger securely curled around his own pinkie.

/... / I hope the fluff at the end made up for the long wait!

In the next chapter Jiraiya should make his first appearance and Fuu will meet our favorite number one hyperactive, knucklehead ninja again. Cheers and until then!