"You tend to catch more fish when you use a spear." With a swift motion, a long spear protruded from the palm of her hand, and she cautiously extended it toward the masked boy. His eyes widened a bit, and she flinched internally, fearing she may have frightened him with her ability. Instead, he took the spear out of her hand with a nod.

It had been a little over a month since she had last seen him. Since Jiraiya-pa's departure, she had kept to the small cabin they resided in, until she was forced to make a quick trip to the village for supplies, and a past-due check in with old man Sarutobi. The lack of communication from her father had dampened her mood, but when she stopped at the river for some fish and spotted the boy, the dark cloud had lifted from her mind in favor of a sense of curiosity.

"I noticed that the last time you almost dried out the river." Kasumi felt her eyebrow twitch at his retort, and had it not been for the fact that he hadn't been disgusted by her bone manipulation the way the kids in the village had, she would've been tempted to come up with a witty comeback. She scoffed instead. Jiraiya-pa had said he was kind-hearted, and the only times Jiraiya-pa lied was when it came to spying on the women at the bathhouse or when he called his alcohol 'papa juice'.

"Jiraiya-pa already scolded me, so thanks but no thanks. I'm Kasumi, by the way. Kasumi Kaguya." He rapidly hurled the spear she had gifted him, and when he retrieved it from the water, she was amazed to see the four large fish caught in it. She'd been fishing that way for a little over a year and never had she caught four fish at the same time like that!

"Kakashi Hatake. I noticed Jiraiya-sensei hasn't been around the bathhouse lately." She giggled at his observation and nodded her head, and when she noticed a movement in the water, she launched her spear at it. The moment she retrieved it, she was disappointed to see that in place of the large fish she had thought she had seen, there was nothing but a tangled knot of dark green algae. Kakashi laughed, and a furious blush spread throughout her face. "I caught more than I had wanted to, so you might as well come over and eat."

"O-okay." She handed him the stringer she had planned to use for her catch, and he quietly strung up the four large speckled trout on it. Once he was done, he tried to hand her back the spear she had offered him, and she quickly shook her head.

"Don't you…need your bone back?" It was her turn to laugh this time, and the confused look on his face made her laugh even harder, until she was cradling her aching stomach. She finally shook her head as she wiped the few stray tears that had slipped from her eyes.

"No, I can create new bones within myself instantly, these aren't my actual skeletal bones, I kind of just made them, hence the spear shape." He seemed to understand what she was saying, and they quietly started walking back to his place, which was not that far from the river. He kept the spear in his hand, and a part of her felt relieved that he hadn't chosen to dump it instead.

Once inside his home, she noticed the lonely aura, but made no mention of it. It was a vast improvement from the eerie quiet she had been subjected to since Jiraiya-pa's absence, and she found herself enjoying Kakashi's company. Kasumi made her way to the small kitchen and placed her bags on the counter, bringing out a few potatoes and carrots and a small bag of white rice. She took a spot next to him as he scaled and cleaned the fish and began to peel and cut the vegetables.

"How old are you?" He was older than her for sure, she could tell from his height and the skilled way he caught the fish in the river. Her father had mentioned she was part of the generation born to a war-torn era, and she knew that included Kakashi.

"I'm nine." When he turned the cast iron pan that contained the now salted fish, she placed the diced vegetables around them. He turned to her after placing the pan in the small oven. "What about you?"

"Five. Do go to the academy?" He shook his head.

"I did, but I'm a Chunin now." They both stood in his kitchen for the whole fifteen minutes it took the fish and vegetables to bake, and she found herself intrigued by Kakashi and the quiet yet comfortable way he carried himself. She hadn't been around any kids who didn't find her repulsive, something she blamed on Jiraiya-pa's refusal to let her enroll in the academy, so the boy before her was a welcome sight. She murmured her complaint under her breath.

"I think he did it to keep you as far away from the war as he could." Her head snapped up, and when she saw him, she found him carefully removing the pan from the oven. The delicious scent of baked trout and roasted vegetables filled her nostrils and she suddenly realized just how hungry she was. He quietly set out their plates, and when he sat down, she stared down at her food for a second, pondering his words.

She loved Jiraiya-pa, truly. He had found in a vulnerable position, with her dying mother by her side, and instead of leaving her there and ignoring the plea of the vulnerable woman she had never got to meet, he had listened and taken her in. Something which he didn't have to do, she knew that. Kasumi couldn't count on her fingers just how many times she had passed by the ghastly building Konoha called an orphanage, and she had felt lucky to not have had to live there. But her father's refusal to enroll her in the academy had left her an outcast from the other kids, even the villagers, who had recoiled at the ability she had once found beautiful.

"I don't think the loneliness is worth it." When she looked up at him, she instantly noticed his empty plate. How the hell had she not noticed the moment he removed his mask to eat? "Never mind."

She ate as fast as she could without foregoing her manners, and when she finished, Kasumi picked up their plates before he had the chance to and brought them over to the sink, where she washed them in silence. When she took a glance outside his window, she swore she heard a rustling in the bushes, and while she was tempted to launch a digital bullet at the cause of the noise, she realized how crazy she'd look if she shot a rabbit for strolling by. It was dark out already, and a quick look at his digital watch let her know it was already past nine.

"I'll be taking my leave now." She bowed politely and thanked him for the dinner invitation, and when she went to grab the bags of groceries she had left on his counter, she noticed them no longer there.

"I'll walk you back, it's late out." She blinked once, then twice, and when he slid the shoji door that led to the road outside his house, she followed his lead.

"It's really not necessary, Kakashi." He ignored her, and while she felt slightly annoyed at his lack of faith in her ability to look after herself, she felt a bit giddy at the prospect of him caring enough to walk her back. Is this…what friendship is like? The thought made her feel flustered, and although it was a bit chilly out, she felt a little too warm.

Once outside the small cabin, he handed her the grocery bags he had held hostage in order to walk her home. His head tilted to the side in confusion, and before she could panic at the possibility of her having food around her mouth or even worst, stuck between her teeth, he held the back of his hand to her forehead. Kakashi's hand was warm, and it added to the heat already spread across her face. "You seem to be a bit feverish."

"I'm fine! Thank you for walking me home, I'll see you around Kakashi!" Kasumi quickly turned heel and almost ran inside the cabin, accidentally slamming the door in his face in the process. She quickly let the bags drop to the floor, before letting out the long breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Small shaky fingers traced over the spot where his hand had previously been, and she sighed as she let her back slowly slide down the door she had propped herself against.

…

Sleep evaded her that night. Kasumi was used to having trouble falling asleep, but insomnia had set on the night she found herself completely alone in the cabin she called home. After continuously struggling to find some small amount of drowsiness, she kicked off the covers she had been wrapped in and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she proceeded to pour herself a cup of water. The eerie quiet was disrupted by the sound of shuffling, and without turning on a light, she used the light from the moon that illuminated the room a bit to find the source of the noise. With her index finger, she aimed at the dark corner of the room, and when she heard the thud of the bullet hitting its target, she turned on the light.

In the corner of the kitchen that had been previously pitch black and out of reach of the moonlight was a black snake, the ivory underbelly visible from the way it laid there, completely lifeless. Blood slowly pooled around it and she huffed, annoyed at the fact that she'd waste a good amount of time scrubbing blood out of the wooden floorboards. Before she could turn to grab any cleaning supplies, she felt a crippling sense of fear, as if she wasn't the only person in the room, and when she felt the air shift near her shoulder, her bones instantly protruded, forming a defense against the touch of the stranger in the room.

Kasumi abruptly turned, quickly catching a glimpse of dark red droplets, and she panicked for a second, until she realized it hadn't been her blood. Her attention fell back to the strange man eyeing her as if contemplating what she was doing in her own home, and the smirk on his face heightened the fear that had been forming in the pit of her stomach. She swallowed, trying to remember everything Jiraiya-pa had taught her about finding herself in hazardous situations all at once, but the ominous tone of his voice broke her concentration.

"Why are you so afraid?" Her eyes widened, and she could feel the erratic beating of her heart against her chest. The snake-like man chuckled, and the sound made her freeze in the spot she stood in. She felt the air growing heavy, and the fear inside her grew, making the simple act of breathing even harder to accomplish.

"I'm not scared." She was lying, hoping to convince herself more than him that she was nonchalant to his presence, but the glint in his eyes made it evident that he could see through her words. She forced herself to still the shaking of her limbs as he approached, and when he pointed his bloody hand at her she almost flinched.

"The armor gives you away, child." She looked down at the rib bones that protruded from her chest in alarm, shocked at the fact she hadn't noticed her body acting out of its own accord or even heard the sound of her lavender slip tearing. She tried to retract them, but her bones wouldn't budge, too on edge by the uneasy state she was in. "I mean you no harm."

"Then what are you doing in my home so late." It seemed her body was finally settling down, and the bones began to slowly retract, to her relief. The man took a seat in the chair that her father usually occupied during their shared meals, and she found herself replacing the fear with irritation. How had her day gone south so suddenly? The cold slipped through the uneven rips in her slip where the bones had previously been visible through, and she slowly wrapped her small arms around her frame.

"Did dear Jiraiya never mention his teammates? Shame." His words instantly got the wheels turning in her small head, and she instantly recalled the few stories she had heard from her father about his former team that had once been led by old man Sarutobi. His name passed through her mind and slipped past her lips without her realization.

"Orochimaru."

"I saw you leaving Sarutobi-sensei. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I'm surprised Jiraiya left you on your own, so young. But it seems I had no reason to worry, he's trained you well…" Her eyes followed his down to the still bleeding wound on his hand from when he tried to grab her shoulder, and before she could apologize, his long tongue lapped at the wound, cleaning off the blood in a manner that made it seem as if he enjoyed the taste. "But not well isn't always enough."

"What are you talking about?" He seemed to relish in the fact he had piqued her interest, and it made her want to gag, but something about his words sat wrong in her mind. Did he know her lack of academy training? Was it obvious by the way she had frozen in fear in his aura? Could he sense weakness radiating from her?

"Had I been anyone else…someone unfriendly… you might not be alive right now." He stood before she could retort, before she could tell him where to stick his opinion, because that's all it was, even if the voice nagging her in the back of her head agreed with him. Jiraiya-pa had sheltered her, an invisible crutch to the greatness she knew she could accomplish if given the opportunity. As if he could see the internal monologue in her mind, he gave her a quick look over and spoke. "If you ever feel the need for proper training… just look for a snake."

With that, he was gone, and she was left to clean up the snake carcass and blood from the wooden floorboards of the kitchen floor, her thoughts louder and heavier with the added doubt the snake-like man had implanted in her.

…

Kasumi woke the next day feeling lethargic. Sleep had managed to evade her until the early morning hours, when the sun had begun to rise, and by the time the croaking that sounded suspiciously too close to the second story window of her room had managed to rouse her, the toad clock sitting on the dresser next to her bed let her know she had slept half the day away.

The loud croaking had been coming from the familiar messenger toad perched on her windowsill, a small scroll attached to its back, and she stumbled her way through the clothes on her floor towards it. Once the toad was happily chirping in her hands, she carefully untied the scroll from its back. The messily scribbled words that she had learned to understand brought a small smile to her lips, and she silently read it, imagining her father's voice narrating it in her mind.

'Kasumi,

I apologize for keeping you waiting for so long to hear from me, but I'm sure you understand just how hard it can be to find any free time in my position. By the time you get this letter, I'm sure your birthday will have already passed, and for that, I apologize as well. I want to hear how your endeavor with your birthday gift is going, have you mastered the guitar already? I'm sure you have, you're a fast learner, a prodigy. Hope the grand stories of my amazing life have inspired you into writing a ballad of my great accomplishments, and I look forward to reading the words to it when you reply to my letter.

I can't speak much on what's going on around here, but I know for a fact I won't be back in Konoha for a while. I trust you to look after yourself, like I said, you're a prodigy, and my pupil daughter to boot! I'd appreciate it if you keep checking in with the old man though, and I know I haven't brought you around Amaya since you were still in diapers, but I would also feel better if you started visiting her at the Uchiha manor every now and then, I don't like the idea of you being on your own for so long. Loneliness makes people grow cold. You should take some melonpan when you go visit.

Alas, it is with a heavy heart that I must bring this letter to an end. I look forward to reading a letter from you, with the lyrics to my ballad attached of course. You can even name it, 'Jiraiya: The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku'.

Love,

Jiraiya-pa

P.S. Have you befriended Kakashi?

P.P.S. Tell the old man to stop spoiling you with popping candy.

Kasumi quickly swallowed the remnants of the strawberry flavored popping candy she had poured into her mouth while she read the letter. She missed the eccentric man, so she decided to pick up the instrument propped on a stand she had fashioned out of wood and began quietly strumming a tune she had conjured in her mind the night before, as she had laid in bed begging herself to finally drift of to sleep. One thing she was definitely not going to do, was write a ballad to inflate his ever-growing ego.

…

What kind of a story would this be without creepy Orochimaru trying to slither his way into the mind of a kid for his own power gains? Next chapter seems to be the one where Kasumi will meet Shisui for the first time in a long time, seeing as the interaction with Kakashi went well, I wonder how it'll go. I've been using the help of a Naruto timeline of events I found on Reddit to write this story, so if you have any questions just let me know! I'll be happy to answer. I can already tell this will be my favorite story to update.