AN: Thank you for the lovely review abbynicks126! I've had so many moments that I feel like dropping this story from the lack of feedback, even though I can see the stats and know it gets traffic, but I absolutely adore it, and your review was more than enough to encourage me to continue!

...

The old man had been right, the war didn't last for much longer after Rin's death, and while it made her feel relieved, a bitter taste was left behind. She'd lost important people, and the fact they hadn't made it to see a time of peace clung heavily on her mind, leaving an ugly feeling of resentment behind. How could peace be brought on after so many lives had been lost? She'd kept the question to herself, although it had been all she could think of as she was handed her forehead protector. "Congratulations Kasumi."

She'd always thought old man Sarutobi would be the one to officiate her becoming a genin, after all, it had only been a week since the meeting with the elders, but not many people had been happy with the peace treaty he'd signed with Iwagakure, and although she saw why he did it, she was one of them. Obito had been lost because of them, and the thought of being on friendly terms left her feeling resentful, but she brushed the feeling aside and offered a slight bow to the young Yondaime before her. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

Kakashi's teacher Minato Namikaze had been named Fourth Hokage, and Kakashi himself had felt pretty optimistic about it, which in turn, led her to feel the same way. She trusted Kakashi, and if he had faith in the young blonde, she would too. As Jiraiya and his former student-now Hokage spoke, she let her mind wander to the silver haired boy. He'd been acting strange lately, a bit distant, even for him, and she'd tried to coax him into telling her what was bothering him to no avail. "Kasumi?"

"Huh?" Both men were looking her way, and it didn't take her long to notice they'd been trying to get her attention for a while. Her cheeks burned from the embarrassing blunder, and she quickly apologized. "I apologize, it's just… I've been a bit worried about Kakashi."

She wasn't one to usually confide in anyone other than the aforementioned boy or Shisui, but it was obvious Shisui didn't care much for Kakashi, and she knew Minato did. His blue eyes softened at the mention of his student, and Jiraiya kept quiet, something she knew he did when he wanted to see how things would play out. "I have too, honestly. I'm sending him on a mission, but I have a feeling he might not be completely ready for it."

Kasumi's heart began to beat erratically, and she could hear it pounding loudly in her ears. She knew Kakashi was definitely not ready for a mission, and the thought of anything happening to him made her want to throw up, but before it could get to that point Minato spoke again. "Which is why I have your first mission lined up already. Enter!"

A pair of ANBU along with an odd-looking boy who seemed to be around Kakashi's age stepped in. "All four of you will covertly tail Kakashi. Do not step in on his mission unless you deem it absolutely necessary. He heads out tomorrow at the break of dawn."

It was odd for a genin to be placed in the same squad as ANBU, but as she had no team of her own, it made sense. All members of her team voiced their understanding, and when Minato cleared the ANBU from being present, only she, the odd boy, and Jiraiya remained. "Guy, this is Kasumi Kaguya. Kasumi, this is Might Guy."

Might Guy was for sure the strangest person she'd seen. His green unitard was a sight to be seen, and his blunt bowl-cut paired with his extremely brushy brows just added the perfect touch to his bizarre look, but as strange as he seemed, he radiated the most positive vibes she'd experienced. He took notice of the way she'd been taking him in, flashing her the brightest smile ever and giving her a thumb up, and once again, she felt her cheeks warm at being caught staring. "It's a pleasure to meet you Might Guy, please look after me."

She offered a polite bow, and he extended out a warm hand towards her, which she timidly shook. "I heard you're a friend of Kakashi's, and any friend of his is a friend of mine, you can call me Guy!"

Guy was eccentric in a way that reminded her of a more extravagant version of the man who'd raised her, and she beamed at the similarity. She'd been worried about Kakashi, but had she known the boy before her was a friend of his, she would've felt a bit more at ease. "I chose the two of you not only for your skillset, but also for your devotion to Kakashi. Please, do your best."

...

She had wanted to celebrate her newly acquired genin rank with Kakashi, but she knew she'd act strange around him knowing that in only a couple of hours she'd be secretly tailing him, so she decided to head home with Jiraiya instead. Shisui was out on a mission with no known return date, and although Might Guy had asked her to come with him to meet some more of Kakashi's friends, she'd politely declined. The concept of meeting so many people at the same time frightened her a bit, and she also didn't want to run the risk of Kakashi spotting her and figuring out something was going on.

"Minato has faith in you." Jiraiya's words brought her back to the present world, and she wondered what he meant by that. She cared for Kakashi, truly, which would explain why Minato had chosen her and Guy to be the ones to tail him, but something about the sincere way he said it made Kasumi realize that wasn't what he meant. "You're only a genin, yet he sent you along with Guy because he has faith in your skills."

In reality, Kasumi should've seen that coming. They'd spent a whole week training, and although Jiraiya had praised the way she'd finally learned to be one with her Shikotsumyaku, she'd felt inept. Her kekkei genkai had been useless at keeping Rin alive, and it stung. How had it been possible that she was able to hold her own in a spar with one of the Legendary Sannin, but not keep her friend from committing suicide? If she'd been fast enough, Rin would still be alive and Kakashi wouldn't feel so burdened by the heavy sense of guilt wrapped tightly around his chest. It was easy to feel unworthy of her forehead protector when she remembered how badly she'd slipped in that mission. "I won't let him down."

"That's not what I meant kid." She had hoped her answer would've put a stop to him approaching the subject, but it had only opened a door, and she mentally smacked herself for not thinking of something else to say. They were passing Kakashi's home, she could she the lights on inside, and she longed to be there, watching him pack his gear for his upcoming mission instead of having a talk with Jiraiya about something she knew he wouldn't understand. When he poked her shoulder for an answer, she decided to humor him. "What is it then?"

"You need to stop blaming yourself for Rin's death. Kakashi blames himself for having an uncomplete jutsu, Minato blames himself for being out on another mission at the time of the events, and you, you blame yourself for not being fast enough—that's too much blame going around, and none of you deserve it." She avoided meeting his gaze. It was easy to hear what he was saying, to truly understand it, but to make herself feel that way was a whole other thing. She wasn't ready to let go of what she'd seen, the helpless look on Kakashi's face as Rin jumped into something he couldn't redirect. Her guilt wasn't something she could easily forget, the only thing that mattered was what Rin had asked her to do before throwing herself in the way of Kakashi's Chidori. Taking care of him. "The more you let the guilt consume you, the more it'll begin to affect your daily life, until it starts getting in the way of missions, causing you to lose even more people."

Kasumi let his words sink in quietly, and when they reached the home they shared, she silently thanked him and made her way upstairs to the privacy of her room. She paused when she caught a glimpse of herself in the body length mirror attached to her door, the sight of what stared back at her captivating her for a minute. Her long, snow white locks of wavy curls sat perfectly untouched and flowing around her, the blue of the forehead protectors' band a stark contrast against it. Her usually vivid green eyes looked a bit jaded, and she trailed a finger around the two maroon dots in the center of her forehead down to the similarly colored marks underlining her lower lids.

As a child, she'd never thought of herself as conventionally beautiful, not that it had ever bothered her, but looking at her reflection in the mirror was enough to convince her that although she still didn't feel beautiful, she was growing into her looks. After the longest of days, Jiraiya would often tell the story of how he'd found her and her mother, and he'd go into great detail of how painstakingly beautiful the latter had been, something that warmed her heart seeing as she had no memories of the woman. She'd grown to resent the way her looks were the opposite of what her mothers had been, her hair, a snowy white instead of chocolate brown. Her eyes, bright green instead of warm hazel. Kasumi had hated not being able to see a reflection of her mother in the mirror, but she was finally starting to appreciate looking like herself.

The melancholic mood roused a sense of inspiration in her, and she stepped away from the mirror and towards the untouched guitar leaning on its stand beside her bed. It had been a while since she'd played it, too overwhelmed by the events that happened since Obito's death, and when she finally picked it up, she was surprised to find that it had been less awkward than she'd expected it to feel. She took a seat on the sprawled-out pillows on her floor before setting the guitar down for a second to remove her forehead protector, which she gingerly placed on the bed behind her before picking the guitar back up.

She softly hummed a melody to herself, repeating it a few times before executing the idea on the strings of her guitar, and when she found a sound that she enjoyed, she quickly pulled out a pencil and a notebook from underneath her bed. Words were the easy part, and within five minutes she had the first two lines of a new song written down. "I envy the birds, high up in the trees. They live out their lives, so purposefully."

"I never knew you could play. Or sing." The sudden interruption caused her to instantly drop the instrument, and it landed awkwardly, hitting her knee on the way down. She let out a tiny yelp, a furious blush spreading on her cheeks as she noticed Shisui smiling brightly at her, a small red gift bag dangling from his hand. "Sorry, your window was open, and I heard you singing so I just followed the sound."

"It—it's okay!" It hadn't been the first time someone had walked in on her as she sang, but it was the first time Shisui had, and in a way, it seemed odd for it to make her feel so skittish. She liked to think she was as close to Shisui as she was to Kakashi, so what about the raven-haired boy made her feel so nervous? "What are you doing here, when did you get back?"

She set her guitar down, and he took a seat on the floor across from her, sliding the small bag he had brought towards her. "Just now. Congrats on passing your genin exam."

She waited a second, unsure of how to react before slowly reaching towards it. She'd never been gifted anything besides her guitar (and Orochimaru's necklace vial which didn't count at all), and her stomach felt as if a million unruly butterflies were going crazy inside of it. "I wasn't sure what to get you, had I known you were into music I would've chosen something more fitting…"

Kasumi reached into the bag, and her fingers instantly wrapped around something cool and hard. When she brought out the item, her eyes widened at the beautiful item in her hand. It was a golden hair comb with three delicate and painstakingly gorgeous white flowers surrounded by emerald crystals and beads. She was speechless, never had she seen something as stunning as the small item in her hand. She let her eyes wonder back to the boy sitting across her. His eyes were averted to the floor, a light rosy hue accentuating his cheeks, and had she known any better, she would've thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. "Shisui, this is beautiful, you really shouldn't have."

"You're finally a shinobi, and I owed you for the way I acted towards you before…" Kasumi interrupted him by throwing her arms around his neck and forcing him into a tight hug. She'd been completely over what had happened between them the minute she'd seen him after being brought back to Konoha, and she tried to make him feel it through the tight embrace she had him in. She had expected him to not know how to react, but he wrapped his arms around her waist instantly, and she could feel the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood up from his reciprocal.

"Thank you, Shisui." When they finally ended the embrace, it took her a while to calm her heartbeat down to its normal pace, and from the somewhat disheveled look on his face, she could tell he'd been trying to do the same. Had he felt the spark she'd felt when they'd touched?

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad you like it. Have you been assigned a team yet?" Her mind wondered back to her mission and her temporary teammates, and she shook her head. Jiraiya had explained how she most likely wouldn't have a team, something she hadn't really minded. "What about a mission?"

"Yep. We leave tomorrow morning." He didn't pry any more than that, he knew better than to ask details of someone else's mission, and she appreciated the fact that things were so secretive as a shinobi, as she would've felt guilty lying to him. She was going to add that she'd most likely be back the same day, but before she could, her stomach rumbled in the loudest manner possible, and her cheeks blazed red from the involuntary sound. "Have you had any dinner?"

"No, let's go grab a bite before you pass out." He was stifling his laughter, but the carefree grin on his face made her annoyed features soften. She grabbed the beautiful comb and quickly ran towards the mirror on her door, carefully brushing the soft curls on the right side of her head back before pushing the comb forward to secure it in place. When she turned to Shisui, his expression froze, eyes fixated on her in an almost mesmerized manner, and when she waved a hand back on forth near his face, he finally snapped out of his trance. "Okonomiyaki?"

...

It was dark when they finally reached the small shop he'd gone on and on about the whole way to the part of Konoha famous for its nightlife. It wasn't a place she ever frequented, but she had heard much about it from the boy accompanying her and his late cousin, and she'd long associated it with three main factors: great food, bars, and shinobi. "You've never been here before have you?"

She felt pretty embarrassed and left out, but she shook her head in affirmation. She'd always felt uncomfortable straying anywhere far from the market and the Hokage tower, which had made her miss out on the rest of the village she lived in, and part of her felt like a hermit for having allowed herself to live that way. Now that she was a shinobi though, she mentally promised herself to get out more and learn about the village she'd called home her whole life.

"It gets pretty rowdy, but it's a pretty cool place. Most shinobi like to come here after successful missions to celebrate." Just as he said that, a clearly inebriated man tumbled out of a small bar to the left of them, his loud wails and exaggerated features a clear indication he had nothing to celebrate. "Some like to come forget their failures too."

They walked in and under the red banners covering the front of the small shop, and she could smell the delicious scent of cabbage and pork, her mouth practically salivating as she placed her order. So far, she was enjoying the night life of the newly discovered (at least to her) part of town, and while she knew she should've been getting her supplies for tomorrow ready, she placated her conscience by reminding herself she was only getting dinner.

The sight of her plate being placed before her brought her out of her thoughts, and as soon as Shisui's own plate was set down as well, she happily muttered a quick 'thank you for the food' before digging into the savory pancake. "Mhm, this is soooooo goooooooood!"

Shisui let out a melodic laugh, and she found herself smiling brightly at him, content with his presence and the food they we're currently eating. She hadn't felt that content in quite a while, and for a second, she was able to forget all of her worries, finishing up her meal before Shisui was even halfway done with his. "Would you like some more?"

"Oh no, I'm stuffed!" It was true, she practically felt like she might have overeaten, but the dish was too good to leave any leftovers behind. She contently sipped at her melon soda as Shisui finished his own meal, and after thanking the cook, they stepped back out into the still lively street. Just as she'd been about to thank Shisui for treating her to dinner, a sneery voice managed to catch her attention.

Kasumi had never been the type to listen in on other people's conversations, but when she heard Kakashi's name being uttered from within a group of four shinobi dressed in customary green flak jackets, she couldn't help but instantly freeze. "…yeah man, friend killer Kakashi got assigned."

Her feet moved before her brain could even react, and she could faintly hear Shisui calling out her name, but his voice was drowned out by the pounding of her heated blood in her ears. The four men, who all looked no older than sixteen, were sitting down on the outside patio of a medium sized bar, and when she reached them, they looked at her with almost identical mocking looks on their faces. "What did you say about Kakashi?"

"The friend killer?" She recognized his voice as the first one she'd heard. The boy, because that's what he was, had white shoulder length hair with a slight hint of blue to it and dark green eyes. His features were twisted into a mocking grin that only served to anger her further, and when he turned to his friends and made another remark about Kakashi, she felt her bones buzz painfully under her skin. "Getting under your skin, huh little freak?"

One glance down at her arms let her see that something was definitely moving under her skin, but it was completely different from the way her bones normally did. Before she could react though, Shisui pulled her back and when she looked back up, the only thing she could see from behind him was the horrified expression on the white-haired boys face. "Apologize. NOW."

"Mizuki, hurry up! It's that Uchiha kid!" The aforementioned boy instantly began stuttering, tripping over his words, until the phrase he was looking for finally managed to make its way out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry!" When Shisui finally relented, he quickly turned, meeting her emerald eyes with his red ones, which instantly bled back to their usual charcoal tone. He gingerly interlaced his fingers with hers, pulling her back out to the street and on their way to her home.

"What was that, back there?" She could feel the shame of her actions instantly spreading through her chest, but it was quickly replaced by the anger she'd felt when she'd heard what the other boy had said, and she met the gaze of the boy walking beside her with a serious expression.

"He called Kakashi a friend killer. That's not true, I couldn't just—"

"Not that, your arms." She could see the concern set deep in his obsidian eyes, but she didn't know how to respond. She herself wasn't entirely sure what that had been, all she knew was that it had hurt, and even though the pain had subsided, she could still feel the ache its presence left behind.

"I'm not sure." It wasn't a lie, but Shisui seemed to have a bit of doubt as he looked her over before turning his gaze back to the road ahead of them. They'd made it out of the lively area and were now in the middle of the empty market, the quiet sounds of the rambunctious place they'd just left was now nothing but a faraway buzz. Shisui kept quiet, and part of her worried that he was upset at her for confronting the older boys without a second thought to it, but the soft squeeze of his fingers around hers alleviated the worry in her mind. "I'm sorry for what I did back there."

"Don't be." His remark took her by surprise, and he shot her a small smile that made her instantly avert her eyes to her feet, only to try and hide the rosy hue she knew was dusting her cheeks. "I think it was quite valiant of you to defend Kakashi's honor like that."

"I think… I think that's what a friend should do. I'd like to be a good friend." It was true, Kakashi was the first friend she'd ever made, and he was genuinely an important part of her life. He was always there for her, and always knew what to say, even his silence was comforting. Shisui nodded his head, as if letting her words sink in, and the relieved look on his face confused her for a second until she remembered the last conversation she'd had with Obito about Kakashi.

'Shisui is the one who noticed, it annoys him.'

He had been telling the truth, she could see it now. While Shisui had done a good job of letting his feelings simmer inside him, something had undoubtedly changed, that much she'd been able to make out from the time she'd visited him at the Uchiha compound the day she'd woken from her two week unconscious stint at the hospital. It was almost as if he'd let the fear of losing her pave a way for his affection towards her to slip out of the safe he had it in, and as she glanced down at their interlocked fingers, she instantly noted that she enjoyed it.

"I know I'm not supposed to ask you about your mission tomorrow, so I won't. But can you promise me something?" She'd been so deep in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed they'd already made it back to her home, and as they stood beneath the balcony above her room, she noticed all the lights were off except for the one she'd left on in her room. Jiraiya wasn't home. She nodded her head. "Promise you'll come back."

"I promise." Shisui nodded his head, and when their eyes met once more, the soft touch of his skin on hers as he cupped her cheek surprised her. His hand was warm, something she'd already gotten used to and even enjoyed, and when she realized how close his face had gotten to hers, she felt as her eyes flutter shut involuntarily.

His lips were soft, softer than she would've ever guessed, and she could feel herself getting lightheaded at the overload of what was happening, but just as quickly as it had happened, it ended. She stood there for half a second before finally opening her eyes and was met by Shisui's bright smile. For once, Kasumi wasn't sure what to say, and when he flicked a finger against her forehead, her train of thought instantly paused. "See you when you get back, ghost girl."

He was gone before she could even mutter a quick reply, leaving her in a stupefied state, standing underneath her balcony with her fingers lightly trailing her lips. Shisui Uchiha had kissed her, and she could already feel how exhausted she'd be tomorrow morning when she met her team for her first mission. There was no way she was getting any sleep after that.

...

Kasumi was surprisingly not as tired as she thought she'd be after her eventful night. She'd woken up in time to shower and half braid her hair away from her face, securing it behind her head with the comb Shisui had gifted her. She'd even had time to prepare a quick breakfast, which consisted of a cup of miso soup and a small piece of salted salmon. By the time she'd reached the gates, she'd found she'd made it at the exact time as Might Guy, and after exchanging pleasantries, they headed out while the two ANBU operatives informed them of exactly how far Kakashi currently was, and how they'd made sure they'd waited just the right amount of time before deciding it was fine to begin tailing him.

"Have you heard what they're calling him?" The question had caught her off guard, mostly from how serious Guy had come off as he'd asked it, and her mind instantly went back to the altercation from the night before.

"Yeah." There wasn't much she wanted to say. The situation had made her extremely upset, and finding out that it hadn't been a one-time occurrence made her blood boil. Why would they call him that when they hadn't been there to see what she'd seen? Kakashi hadn't killed Rin, and the thought of that even being a rumor made her remember the way Danzo had said it so matter-of-factly.

Another question that plagued her mind was the one she should've thought when she'd first heard the nickname: did he know what he was being called? Her heart dropped at the thought of him having to hear people referring to him as friend killer, and her teeth caught the inside of her cheek, biting hard until she could taste blood. She needed to get back on track, letting her feelings get in the way of her first mission wouldn't be a good idea, but even as the pain of the open wound in her mouth stung, she could still feel the dread of Kakashi being hurt blurring the edges.

After what seemed like about eight hours of nonstop traveling, they heard the faint sounds of a skirmish right in the direction of where Kakashi was, and although they'd kept a good distance, it would take them little time to reach it. She could see the concern on Guy's face, and she could feel the way her heart thudded as the sound of Kakashi's Chidori infiltrate the air around her. The sound of it made every hair on her body stand on its ends, an instant reminder of the night Rin died, but she called upon every ounce of her own self-control to shove the memory to the back of her head.

Just as they got close enough to view what was going on, the sound of a thousand birds went quiet, and she could see the distressed look on Kakashi's face as he awkwardly managed to land on his feet, a large group of masked assailants charging at him at a high speed. Something was wrong with Kakashi, and she ran as fast as her legs could take her, quickly shielding his body with her own and bracing for impact.

Guy reached her before the masked men could, sending the strongest kick she'd ever witnessed towards the men rushing to her. "Severe Leaf Hurricane!"

The backlash of the force behind the kick was strong, and she had to focus her chakra to her feet to avoid being blown away like it's intended targets. They instantly dispersed, leaving behind small clouds of smoke, and the thought of Kakashi almost being taken out by a group of shadow clones made her want to chew him out, but Guy spoke before she could manage to even begin forming a sentence.

"This isn't like you! Why are you spaced out?" His tone was rough, but she could sense the concern behind it. Kakashi muttered a shaky apology, and she instantly noticed the beads of sweat rolling down his face and the way he seemed to be struggling to breathe. He was suffering a panic attack. "Kakashi?"

Kasumi caught him before he hit the floor, the sound of Guy still talking instantly becoming background noise to the beating of her own heart. She could feel the stinging in her eyes threatening to flood her vision with tears, but she quickly blinked it away, focusing on soothing the boy in her grasp. "You're okay Kakashi, I'm here. You're going to be okay."

She felt as he relaxed in her arms before losing consciousness, and she forced herself to keep her features as neutral as possible, but witnessing Kakashi fall apart like that broke her. When Guy went to take him out of her arms to carry him back home, her grip on him tightened out of instinct, but she forced herself to relax, finally allowing the older boy to take the silver haired boy from her. "I didn't think it would be this bad."

She shrugged her shoulders, the painful knot in her throat daring her to speak, and when Guy called out her name in a questioning manner, she finally relented. "I should have known."

It was true, she'd sensed it the last time they'd spoke, when he denied anything being wrong with him, but she'd let the feeling crawl into the back of her mind. Even when she'd noticed she couldn't get a hold of him, she'd simply blamed it on the fact that he was probably back out on missions, and she cursed herself for not ambushing him in the middle of the night like she had often done before. "It's not your fault."

She was tired of that line, but she hid her irritation, instead, focusing her energy into pushing her pace and gaining some distance between her and Guy. He'd meant well by his comment, the last thing she needed was to leave a bad impression by taking out her frustrations on him. "You two are pretty alike now that I think of it."

Even with the added weight of Kakashi on his back, he'd managed to catch up to her undetected, and she had to admit, she was impressed. She didn't have time to linger on that though, because as soon as she processed the comment he'd made, she was instantly distracted. He thought she was like Kakashi? "How so?"

Kasumi hadn't planned on making conversation on the way back to Konoha, she'd been too worried about Kakashi to even think of it, but the comparison had intrigued her for a reason she couldn't explain. Had she adopted his mannerisms from the couple of years they'd been friends? Or was it something simpler, like the fact that they both donned unusual shades of hair? "Something is broken inside the two of you."

"You don't even know me." She hadn't meant to snap at him, but he'd assumed far beyond what he should've been comfortable doing, and she was right. He didn't know her. They'd just barely met, and the current mission was the longest they'd been in contact, so how had he felt it right to make such an assumption? She wanted to lash out at him some more, but another feeling simmered deep in her chest, one she'd been too embarrassed to acknowledge. Guy was right, and more than that, he'd been able to see through her.

"I don't… but it's something that's easy to see. I can see the same look he carries in your eyes." She could feel that ever present knot in her throat practically taunting her, waiting to expose her vulnerability to the world, but she cleared it out of her throat as if it was nothing more than an itch. The sight of the village gates ahead comforted her, and she chose to let the conversation with Guy come to an end. "Let's get Kakashi checked into the hospital. After that we can go home. It's too late to report to Lord Yondaime, we can meet at the Hokage's tower tomorrow morning for that."

Kasumi nodded her head, grateful for the fact he'd changed the subject, and even more for the fact she'd be able to have some time to calm down before meeting Lord Yondaime for the mission report. Guy had managed to ruffle her feathers, and although she knew he hadn't meant for his comment to upset her, it still had. When they finally made it past the gates and to the hospital, she let out a sigh of relief the moment she was left alone with the unconscious boy.

As she sat beside him, she let her mind wander back to the helpless way he'd looked as he stood frozen to the ground. The way his chest rose and fell rapidly, the way his face paled instantly. She'd been in his shoes, knew the feeling of drowning with no water to actually drown in, and to know that he'd experienced the same thing pained her. After masking her emotions for the sake of appearances, she finally allowed herself to fall apart at the seams, taking hold of Kakashi's hand as she broke down. "I should've done better. I'm so sorry."

...

"Kasumi, stay behind please." Just her luck. Guy stepped out of the Yondaime's office, sparing her a look that let her know he had no clue why that had just occurred, and she believed him, he didn't seem like a narc. The door clicked close, and she let her gaze wonder back to the blonde sitting before her, his own gaze set deep with a serious expression behind it. "The Chūnin Exams are coming up. You've been recommended to participate."

"I don't have a team." It was true. And not only that, but was she'd just barely been granted the genin title.

"Team Orochimaru is a member short. You'd be paired up with Anko Mitarashi and Noburo Asato." Orochimaru. She was willing to bet he'd made sure there would be a person of his squad missing, and the thought of him eliminating his own student by cruel means didn't seem too far-fetched of an assumption to make. She said nothing of the sort though, and carefully made sure to keep her face as unreadable as possible to avoid raising questions. "I know you've never worked with them before, but I assigned you on that mission with Guy to see how well you'd be able to adapt to working in a team. You did good."

"Jiraiya?"

"I agree, kid." Kasumi was slightly surprised to see him come in from the window behind Minato's desk, something she really should've seen coming. They'd obviously had planned to make her sign up for the Chūnin Exams since before she'd become a genin, and a small part of her felt a bit blindsided. "If you're up for it, we'll have a whole month to prepare you for it. There's still a few things I'd like to teach you."

"Okay, I'll do it." Blindsided or not, the chance to be taught by Jiraiya for a month was something she couldn't pass up in her road to becoming strong enough to do what Rin had asked of her, and although it was Orochimaru's team she'd be joining, it was only temporary, and the chances of running into him were low. He hadn't sought her out since Jiraiya's return.

"Alright. Lessons start tomorrow kid."

...

The lessons are something I'm actually gonna go over, since it's gonna be different from the basic training I skipped over for the genin exam. Kasumi get's her own summon next chapter, and she may or may not find out if she has a nature release… not sure yet. Shisui and Kasumi crossed a line in their relationship, something that I'm keeping innocent until a time skip (which we're getting close to, I just need to find the perfect spot). What do you think Kasumi's summon will be? What about her nature release, will she have more than one? What do you think was going on with her arms when she confronted Mizuki? By the way, Mizuki, is that Mizuki, the one that ends up becoming a teacher at the academy. I made him older in this story than he would've been in the actual plot, but not by much. Hope you guys like this chapter!