Hey!

Sorry for being gone so long! I've been a little busy but I worked on the story bit by bit when I had the chance.

I hope you guys enjoy!

~.~

Last Time:

We buried Zabuza and Haku side by side on a cliff. With the giant sword, I planted it between the two graves.

I played the violin as we gave them our wishes, giving them somewhat of a proper funeral.

After we visited the graves, we prepared to leave.

"Going so soon?" Tazuna asked.

"Yeah," Kakashi said, "We stayed longer than we intended."

"Kyoko-Nee-chan!"

I look to see Inari running towards me.

"I have something for you!" Inari told me, "But you have to close your eyes."

I looked at him suspiciously before closing my eyes. I felt him place something in the side of my face, on my ear. I pulled out a kunai to look at what he did. He place a small blue flower on my ear.

"Aw, that's sweet," I told him, "I got something for you too, close your eyes."

He smiled and did what I said. I placed a light kiss on his forehead. He blushed but smiled.

"Eh, why does Kyoko get something but not me?" Naruto complained.

"Hey, the bridge is named after you, what more do you want?" I told him.

"We better get going if we want to get back before the sun sets,"Kakashi told us.

We nodded. I looked back to say bye but saw Inari's face, he looked like he was gonna cry.

"Don't worry, we'll come back to visit," I told him.

"You know, it's okay to cry," Naruto to the boy, Inari shook his head.

"T-that's okay, I'm not gonna. Why don't you?" He stuttered.

Naruto turned around, back facing the boy.

"That's alright, no reason to," he said as he started walking.

I waved bye and walked with Naruto. Inari had years streaming down his face, Naruto doing the same.

"Geez..." I sighed.

I looked ahead to see Kakashi smirking at me.

"...what?" I asked.

"You've got a soft spot for kids," he told me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told him.

"Says the person who just kissed that child's forehead," Sasuke said.

"Who? What happened?" I said in an oblivious tone.

"Kyoko-nee-chan!" Naruto mocked, imitating Inari, earning him a hit behind the head.

Sakura and Kakashi snickered.

"Say anything when we get back and I'll make sure your corpses are well hidden," I assured.

I was in my room at my desk, Akumu on my lap. I was writing a couple things down, figuring out what I needed to work on.

I didn't get much sleep since we got back. The reoccurring nightmares didn't help.

I was...embarrassed. I felt so useless during the mission. I couldn't protect myself, let alone a comrade. Running into battle without a thought trying to save Kakashi. Being saved by Sasuke, leaving him in a death – like state. The feeling of a comrade dying during a mission.

'I don't ever wanna feel like that again,' I thought, 'This is why I didn't want to grow close to anyone else.'

'Not to mention the spirit in my head turning out to be evil...' I sighed.

I knew that Fuzen could hear me. They just chose not to respond.

"Alright...the time pause thing..." I sighed, "It would've been helpful if I could keep it up longer than 30 seconds."

I wrote that down.

"I couldn't use the water on the ground...I assume it was cause it was Haku's Kekkei Genkai," I thought out loud, "I know I can manipulate water well...enough. But what if I come to that problem again?"

I sighed, "There was a water source underneath us, but it was out of my radius...plus that's a lot of water, it's a little overwhelming..." I thought for a moment, "Maybe I do need to work on my water manipulation."

I wrote that down.

I continued to ponder about my mistakes on that mission, writing down what I needed to work on.

Next thing I knew, it was about 4 am in the morning.

"...god, I'm terrible at being a ninja," I sighed, looking at my notes.

One of the main thing I was disappointed in was when I didn't do anything while Sasuke and Haku were fighting each other.

I closed my notebook in disappointment. I picked up Akumu and crawled into bed.

Regardless of the reoccurring nightmares, I was tired. I needed to try and get some sleep.

"Akumu, you're gonna stay with me," I said with a yawn, "You're due to over a month worth of snuggles."

~.~

Kakashi woke up early and went down to the kitchen. To his surprise, Kyoko wasn't down there making breakfast. He walked back upstairs to her room. He knocked on the door. No answer.

"Kyoko, I'm coming in," He said, slowly opening the door.

He found her in bed, sleeping away with Akumu in her arms.

"What were you up doing?" He sighed.

He noticed the notebook on her desk, with all the sticky notes peeking out of the pages. He picked it up and went through the pages.

"...she might be a little too hard on herself," Kakashi thought, looking at the girl, "...she needs the rest."

He put the notebook back and quietly walked out of the room.

~.~

It was about noon when I woke up. I stretched with a yawn. I noticed that Akumu had left, probably to eat.

"I should eat too," I said to myself, getting up.

I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and changed. I made my way downstairs to see Kakashi making lunch.

"You slept in," Kakashi said, "That's something you don't usually do."

"Yeah, I think I'm just mentally tired," I said.

I walked over to Akumu while he was eating and crouched down to him.

"...why are you staring at the cat while he's eating?" Kakashi asked as he set up the table.

"Waiting for Akumu to finish eating," I said.

"You're gonna make him uncomfortable," Kakashi told me, "Come and eat lunch."

I sat down at the table. In front of me was a bowl of rice, miso soup, some pickled vegetables, and some meat.

"So, what did you think about the mission?" Kakashi asked.

"...it was a learning experience," I said.

"Would you wanna do some training later today?" Kakashi asked me.

"Uh..." I hesitated, "Maybe tomorrow..."

"You're turning down training?" Kakashi asked.

"Well..." I paused.

Akumu mewed and rubbed himself against my leg.

I picked him up.

"I owe Akumu over a month worth of cuddles," I said.

"No cat at the table," Kakashi told me.

I frowned and put him down.

"We can work on your Jikangan," Kakashi told me.

"...so you think so too?" I asked, "I know I wasn't the best during the mission, I know I should've done more but I'm still kinda new with the Jikangan but-"

"I didn't expect you to be the best at it," Kakashi told me, "We don't know anyone who has the same Kekkei Genkei as you. There's no information about it."

I sighed.

"But there's some similarities your Jikangan has with the Sharingan," Kakashi told me, "We can learn about it together."

"I should've been smarter about what I did during the mission," I sighed.

"The only way to get better is train," Kakashi told me.

"That's what I've been doing most of my life, and it went to nothing," I told him.

"You didn't know exactly what to expect," Kakashi said, "You might've been building up your strength and such, but without knowing what to expect, you can't be ready for everything."

I bit my lip, he was right.

"...we can start tomorrow..?" I suggested.

"I've given us a week break, it's been three days already," Kakashi told me.

"So? There's four more days, and we can train after D-Ranked missions," I told him.

He sighed, "I can tell your confidence is low, training with low confidence isn't gonna help, so we'll start tomorrow."

I frowned, "...okay."

~.~

For the rest of the day, I lounged around and cuddled with Akumu. Kakashi didn't want me to be stowed away in my room, so I sat on the couch. I read a book with Akumu in my arms.

"...you're gonna suffocate that cat," Kakashi told me.

"No I'm not," I huffed, "I'm cuddling him."

Kakashi sat beside me, "So, what should we work on tomorrow?"

"Uhh...I don't wanna talk about it," I muttered.

"Well, I guess we can go down the list," Kakashi said, holding out my notebook.

"K-Kakashi! What the hell!?" I exclaimed, "That's personal!"

"Well, we were gonna work on all this anyways, right?" Kakashi asked, "You really think you're this bad?"

"I pointed out every single mistake I made," I told him, "I filled out multiple pages."

"Well," He flipped to a page, "You really thought that you not attacking Gatou was bad? If you did that out of nowhere, things could've turned out worse."

"...I guess," I said.

"And for this," He pointed, "While backing up Sasuke, yes, you should've moved faster when Haku started making hand signs, but while backing him up, it's important to take in the area as well. That way, you could've figured out that the water around you, you couldn't manipulate."

"...you're pointing out more mistakes," I told him.

"Just to get you thinking," Kakashi told me, "Also keep in mind, that mission became a B rank."

We ended up going through everything in my notebook, him telling me some of the things I did was right to do, as well as things I could've done. We mainly tried to pinpoint exactly what I needed to work on the most.

"You're doing the best you can right now, you're learning new things about you Kekkei Genkai. You know a few things about it, time to improve on them."

Early morning, we were gonna start.

~.~

Running down the hallways, entering every room, taking down every person in it's sight. Blood splatters on the wall, body parts shredded on the ground. Screams echoed through the halls.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" One of the adults shouted, throwing kunai at the being.

A dark laugh bellowed from the monster.

"Child's play," A demonic voice came from it.

Picking up a kunai knife, dragging it against the wall as they made their way to the man.

"G-Get away!" He shouted, before using the body replacement technique.

A boy was replaced.

"How evil," The monster said before taking the child's life.

They continued to prowl, room from room. Taking lives of everyone they crossed.

The man hid in a corner of a room, kunai in hand.

"Playing hide and seek, are we?" The demonic voice said.

The man looked around.

'..w-where are they? They sound like they're in the room!'

"Haha...look up."

The man looked up to see the demon on the ceiling, looking down at him.

"Found you!" It smiled before attacking.

~.~

I shot out of bed, drenched in sweat.

I immediately looked up at the ceiling, kunai knife in hand.

Nothing was there.

"...jeez," I sighed.

Something soft rubbed against my arm.

I looked to see Akumu, looking at me.

"I'm okay," I told him, picking him up, nuzzling him.

I looked at the time, it was 3:47AM.

'...I don't really wanna wake up right now,' I thought, 'But I also don't wanna go back to sleep.'

I bit my lip.

With a deep breath, I picked up Akumu and quietly went to Kakashi's room. Kakashi was sleeping on his side. I went to the side where his back was facing. I crawled into his bed with Akumu, calming down and hoping to sleep more soundly for the next few hours.

~.~

Kakashi woke up to the sound of purring. Akumu had made his way on the pillow, and slept on

beside Kakashi's head.

'Why is the cat here?' Kakashi questioned.

He noticed a leg was across his torso.

"What the-"

He sat up and saw Kyoko sleeping soundly, somehow. She was laying diagonally, her head was almost off the bed. One of her arms was off the bed, one of her legs was on him.

"..." Kakashi carefully moved her to the middle of the bed, tucking her in.

"Guess I'm making breakfast again," Kakashi said.

Akumu mewed at Kakashi, waiting by the door.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll get your food."

~.~

I woke up alone, both Kakashi and Akumu weren't in the room.

'Kakashi probably woke up already,' I thought as I stretched.

I looked at his clock, it was around 6:30.

I got up and made Kakashi's bed before going to my room to shower and stuff.

I got changed and walked downstairs.

"Morning," I said as I walked over to the kitchen.

"Ready for today?" Kakashi asked.

I took a deep breath in before looking Kakashi in the eye.

"Ready."

~.~

Kakashi helped me practice using my Jikangan, with Taijutsu at first, helping me get used to seeing the next move of the opponent, and being quick to counter the attack.

He also tried to get me to copy Jutsu. I wasn't as fast as him, but I was able to keep the memory of it.

But just because I memorized the hand signs, doesn't mean I can actually use it.

He noticed whenever I manipulated water, I was quick to use it, I didn't know how much water I was moving. I had to learn to control my chakra and use it to determine how much water I needed for each attack.

He really pushed my limit, trying to push my time for the Time Pause Jutsu. 30 seconds was my max. So we tried to push it to a minute.

Kakashi told me to only use the Time Pause Jutsu as a last resort during missions, until we could figure out how to control it better.

~.~

Kakashi pushed me every single day, til the end of the week. We had to meet up with the team at the end of the week to start on missions again. Me and Akumu ended up sleeping in Kakashi's room as well. I just didn't want any nightmares keeping me awake when I had training the next day.

I was laying on the ground, panting, out of breath.

Kakashi looked down at me, "Should we call it a day?"

"Y-Yeah," I said, out of breath.

"You're improving," Kakashi told me, sitting next to me.

"Am I?" I asked, unsure.

"It's only been a couple days, but the training wasn't for nothing," Kakashi said.

"I guess," I said, struggling to sit up.

"Alright, let's head in," Kakashi told me.

"...my legs are numb," I said.

He chuckled, before carrying me on his back.

"Your legs aren't numb, you're just tired," He told me.

"You figured me out," I laughed a little, resting my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes.

"Thanks, Kashi-nii."
~.~

Once we got home, I immediately took a shower, washing all the sweat, dirt, and debris off of me.

I dried myself off and changed into a t-shirt and shorts. Akumu wasn't on my bed, I found him on Kakashi's bed. Kakashi was in the middle of a shower in his bathroom. I scooped Akumu up and pulled him under the covers with me, snuggling the cat, before falling asleep.

~.~

Kakashi found Kyoko and Akumu in his bed, once again.

'...she has her own bed for a reason,' Kakashi thought, as he pulled the blankets up, 'I know that I asked why she gives the cat more affection than me, but I didn't expect this.'

He sighed before laying next to the girl and the cat.

"I wonder if I'm ready for the train wreck tomorrow."

~.~

I woke up before Kakashi this time. I looked over to see Akumu curled up on Kakashi's stomach.

"...he has a reason to be late now," I said before getting up and stretching.

I left the room and went to do my morning routine in my bathroom. I changed into my regular attire and went to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast.

I made oatmeal with a bunch of fruits and nuts. I poured some food into Akumu's bowl and heard him rush down stairs to eat.

Kakashi soon came downstairs.

"Akumu just launched himself off of me, kicking my face in the process," Kakashi groaned.

I snickered, "What a way to wake up."

"So, you know you have your own bed, right?" Kakashi asked.

"...yeah," I said.

"Is there a reason you're sleeping in my bed now?" He asked, "I thought you slept in my room back in The Wave because it was getting stuffy sharing a room with the others. But it continued back home."

"Well, you complained that you don't get enough affection and that I gave more affection to the cat," I said, "Also Akumu keeps going to your room...and your room seems warmer than mine..."

"..."

"...maybe I've been having nightmares and you give off a protective presence," I muttered.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow,"What's that?"

"Well! Time to get ready to meet up with everyone!" I said, putting my dishes in the sink and rushing up the stairs.

I started getting ready, getting my throwing weapons ready, my weapon pouches and holsters. I tied my forehead protector around my neck. I sighed.

"Not ready for the train wreck today," I said, making my way back downstairs.

"You too?" Kakashi asked, overhearing me.

We both shared a look and sighed.

"I can see the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke," I said.

"Get ready for a headache," Kakashi sighed.

~.~

We met up with the team. Kakashi disappeared as we walked together, he was late by a couple hours.

We started by pulling out weeds from someone's garden, which Naruto somehow failed at, he got rid of the weeds, along with the herbs the lady was planting, causing him to get beat up by the old lady.

Then when we went to collect garbage and litter from the rivers, Naruto lost his footing and slipped, the currents rushed him over the waterfall, luckily Sasuke caught him before he fell to his death.

Next was dog walking, believe it or not, Naruto screwed up that too. Out of all the dogs, he had to pick the largest one that he couldn't handle. The rest of us chose to walk smaller dogs. The large dog dragged Naruto into a mine field. The dog back unharmed while Naruto...um...he's...he's fine.

Now we were babysitting this lady's five children, FIVE. Sakura was able to go to the store with the mother, leaving me, Naruto, and Sasuke to babysit those kids. I was alone, taking care of the two youngest ones, while Sasuke and Naruto were out finding the other three that somehow escaped. The ones I was looking after we're around 3 or 4 years old. I don't know how I ended up staying at the house instead of being out there, chasing after the other monsters. I rather be out there then stuck here.

"Kyo? When did you get back?"

I looked up to see Shikamaru.

"Yeah, we returned about a week ago..." I told Shikamaru.

"I saw the rest of your team, but didn't see you, I got worried," Shikamaru told me.

"Me and Kakashi were training," I said.

I watched the two little boys play in this plastic tub, it was filled with water, refreshing for a hot day like today.

"Well, how was the mission?" he jumped over the fence and sat down beside me.

"It was a mission," I shrugged, "We almost died, but that's to be expected."
He nervously chuckled, "You're joking, right?"

I shook my head, "We finished the mission and made it back alive."

"I see..." He said.

There was a different scent in the air when Shikamaru sat next to me.

"...is...is that cigarette smoke?" I asked.

"Ah, Asuma Sensei smokes. The scent must have made it on my clothes," Shikamaru told me.

"I don't think I could get used to that scent," I said.

"Yeah, the smoke makes us cough and our eyes water," Shikamaru said, "We're sorta getting used to it."

"Damn, that's probably something you shouldn't get used to," I said.

"Yeah," He said, "What missions did you do today?"

I had explained every mission we did, and how Naruto screwed up, making him snicker at first, but in the end he had lost hope for the blonde.

"How is that guy still alive?" Shikamaru asked. I shrugged.

"Beats me."

"Where are Sasuke and Naruto?" He asked.

"Chasing the other three kids our client brought into this world," I said, "You don't have any missions today?"

"We did, we just finished," Shikamaru told me, "Just D-rank missions."

"I see," I said.

"Nee-chan!" One of the kids called.

"Your older sister isn't here, she left," I said carelessly.

The little boy shook his head and pointed at me.

"Nee-chan!" He repeated.

"My name is Kyoko, not Nee-chan," I told him.

"...Ky-o-ko..." He slowly pronounced.

I nodded.

""Kyok-nee-chan!" The other one piped up.

My eye twitched.

"No, I am NOT your sister," I told the kids.

"Nee-chan, play!" The kid said.

"Don't call me that, call me Kyoko, even with the 'chan' but I am not related to you," I told them.

"Kyoko-nee play!" They exclaimed.

"Nee-chan, go play with them," Shikamaru smirked.

"Don't encourage those brats to call me that!"

"Nee-chan!"

"Kyoko-nee-chan!" They kept chanting, calling me over.

"Ugh," I groaned.

"Need something for that headache?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes," I groaned, "The headache is mainly from Sasuke and Naruto though."

"Where are Sasuke and Naruto?" He asked.

"Chasing the other three kids our client brought into this world," I grunted.

"I'm wondering if it was smart of them to leave you with these kids," Shikamaru said.

"As long as none of them die, or disappear, the mission will be a success," I sighed.

"Kyoko-nee-chan!" The two boys said in unison.

"I am not your sister!" I spat at them.

~.~

My team walked together, Kakashi and I at the back, while Sakura and Sasuke helped Naruto walk.

"Look at you, you're hopeless, Naruto!" Sakura told him.

"Hmm, you really are just one big problem," Sasuke added, causing Naruto's blood to boil.

"SASUKE!" Naruto growled, lunging at his teammate.

I usually would be the person to stop Naruto, but at this point I didn't care. This time, it was Sakura who stopped him, but to protect Sasuke.

"If you keep this up, I'll finish you off myself!" Sakura warned.

"Guess we aren't making a lot of progress on the teamwork thing," Kakashi sighed.

"That's right! The team work's all messed up and it's because of you, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled after the black-haired ninja, "You think you're better than everyone else?"

"Not everyone," Sasuke replied calmly without looking back at Naruto, "Just you. Face it, I'm better and stronger than you are," He stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulders, "It's a fact. Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong."

They both began to stare each other down.

I sighed, 'They're getting along worse than before.'

"Alright guys, lets call it a day, you can beat each other up some other time," Kakashi told them, obviously tired of them fighting, "Anyways, I have to file my reports on these missions."

He was also gonna give my journal to the Hokage to keep him up to date with my Jikangan.

He left us, which was probably a bad idea considering that everyone in the team is hating each other.

"Whatever, I'm outta here," Sasuke said, turning away. Sakura's eyes lit up in opportunity.

"Uh, Sasuke, wait! I'll come with you!" Sakura said, running off, leaving me and Naruto. I sighed, knowing what's going to happen between Sakura and Sasuke.
"...you know, Naruto," I started, "Sasuke isn't the only one to blame for the team work. I'm not saying that it's both you and Sasuke. But it's mainly you two."

I walked off, leaving the Uzumaki alone.

I turned the corner, meeting the Nara.

"Took you long enough," Shikamaru said.

"You didn't have to wait," I told him.

"It's been a while since we've hung out," he said, "You've been gone for over a month."

"Yeah," I sighed, "I missed Akumu so much."

Shikamaru laughed, "From what I saw, he missed you too."

"So you did go to visit him?" I asked.

"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded, "He perked up when I came through the door and was disappointed that it wasn't you."

"My poor Akumu," I sighed.

"He did recognize me, so he was okay with me hanging out for a bit," Shikamaru told me.

"I see," I said, "A bit of relief."
"Wanna grab a bite?" Shikamaru asked.

"It wouldn't hurt," I shrugged as we walked to a nearby shop.

~.~

We sat at a sweets shop. I held a cup of tea between my hands to warm them up a little. We talked about what had happened for the last month. Some of the missions Shikamaru has done with his team, some things that happened during my mission to the Wave. Some of the training me and Kakashi have been doing. Catching up. Also mentioning the Kekkei Genkai.

"You never mentioned your Kekkei Genkai before," Shikamaru told me, "Is it suppose to be a secret?"

"Well, no," I shrugged, "It's the one clue of where I could be from, but so far no one knows about it and I can't find anything about it."

"Can I see it?" He asked.

"Uh, sure," I said, "Jikangan."

"Whoa," He said in awe, "It's a clock."

"Haha, yeah," I said, deactivating it, "I can sorta manipulate time."

"Really?" He asked.

"W-Well, I don't really know everything about it and what I can do," I said, "I'm still learning."

"And that's what your training with Kakashi is for, right?" Shikamaru asked.
"Kinda, we're mainly just going over what I know and trying to perfect it," I said, "Er, get better at it."

"From your description, Kakashi's training sounds really hardcore," Shikamaru told me.

"It is," I said, stretching my shoulders, "I'm super sore."

"Why such a hardcore training?" He asked.

"Cause I asked for it," I told him.

"...why?" He asked.

"...cause I made mistakes on the mission," I sighed, "I'm...ashamed. I talk like I know better but my performance on this mission was terrible."

"I don't think you did too bad...from what you told me," Shikamaru said.

"I don't want to be all bark and no bite," I told him, "If Haku decided to kill Sasuke, Sasuke would be dead. I've only learned to protect myself so far. I realized I'm on a team and to protect them as well."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Shikamaru told me.

"Well Kakashi said today would be my break and tomorrow we'll continue training again," I said, "After doing some D-Ranked missions and such."

"At least you're taking breaks," Shikamaru said, "You used to never take any breaks."

"I'm still doing missions," I told him, "So not a full on break."

~.~

Thanks for waiting!

Again, so sorry for the wait .

I'm not gonna promise that I'll be consistent, cause I know how unpredictable my schedule can be.

Signing off,

Bluebirb