Hello! Thank you, all the people who reviewed! For the sake of some of the more inquisitive of you, and also just because the basic summary sucked (it's not my fault; this site doesn't let you make it long enough!) I've decided it would be good idea to write a better summary here. Well, I say summary... more in the form of some notes.

The timeline, for one. As you may have realized, the story's timeline is set right after the attack of the Sand Village and the Sandaime's death. The story will be going on as normal, but what would have happened if there was this extra character, as well.

And the whole mystery shrouded around Kyo. Well, yes, she does have some connection to Konoha, but I'm not telling you how. Yes, the prologue was significant (otherwise why would I have told it?), but... that's for you to figure out later. And then there's her whole history. Well, that's mainly what this chapter is about, so... I'll leave that open as well.

Let's see... I know there was more I wanted to say, but I've forgotten. Besides, I don't want to ruin the story. At any rate, you'll find out the answers to your questions sooner or later! And... bear with me! The beginning may be lots of dialogue and not much action, but I have to get it over with. Ciao!

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah blah blah... I would love to say I own Naruto, but the credit goes to that other guy... can't remember hisname. ...Masashi Kishimoto or something? Anyways, I'm eternally grateful towards him for coming up with the Narutoverse, and I can do nothing more than dabble around in it.

CHAPTER TWO

Kyo got up.

"Wait—" started Naruto, before seeing her reason for departure; a committee advisor had appeared in he doorway.

"Ciao," said Kyo, still smiling cheerily. She fluttered a little wave and walked away.

They watched her go. "That girl is definitely strange," Naruto finally concluded. "A little scary, too. Do you think she's really been known by those names?"

"She was probably just trying to intimidate us," Sakura said, though she sounded uncertain. "What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"

"I think I'd like to know exactly what she tells that committee advisor."

The committee advisor, a short, elderly woman, led Kyo down an empty hallway and opened a door.

"I'm getting questioned in the hospital?" Kyo asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"There's no particular reason," the woman assured her pleasantly. "It was just close, an empty room that ensures privacy. If you'd like to go outside instead, it's perfectly fine."

"No, I'm fine. It doesn't matter," Kyo said, sticking her hands into her pockets. The room was an office of some sort; a wide desk sat a few feet from the farthest wall with a chair on each side. The committee advisor took the seat closest to the wall, so Kyo sat in the one across the desk from her.

There was a brief shuffling of papers as the committee advisor organized the clipboard she had brought in with her and unscrewed an ink bottle. Then she set her fine-tipped brush down and sat back. "Well," she started, cocking her head to one side and blinking at Kyo with a friendly, disarming smile.

Here it comes, thought Kyo. Always the first question, the one that should be easiest and the one I can't answer. Wait for it…

"What is your name?"

Kyo sighed. Not bothering to go into the same explanation she had given her 3 visitors—it would only raise more questions—she said simply, "Kyo. What's yours?" she added flippantly.

The woman smiled a tight-lipped smile. "Utatane Koharu. Is Kyo your family name, then?"

"No. Before you ask, I don't know what my family name is."

"Oh?" Immediate intrigue. The woman leaned forward and laced her stubby fingers together. "How's that?"

"I'm an orphan," Kyo supplied mildly. "Or at least that's what I've been told. I really don't know. At any rate, I've never met my parents."

The committee advisor bowed her head politely. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Kyo shrugged. "Okay."

"So who did raise you? Not a relative, I guess."

"No. An old lady." Kyo lied for the first time. "She said my parents came to her one night in a panic and asked her to look after their baby. They shoved me into her arms and ran off. Later that night, they were both found dead." Kyo had constructed this story a while ago and had gone over it again and again, carefully smoothing over flaws and filling in blanks, building a background for herself. Mostly she didn't have much to hide—after all, she barely knew anything about herself either—but who she was raised by and why… those were things she would take to the grave.

Utatane leaped at the opening. "And this old lady couldn't tell you the surname of your parents?"

"No; she told me they must have been from out of town, because she'd never seen them before."

"They were complete strangers, and yet she took their child?" The lady gave her a dubious look.

"They didn't give me much of a choice, just shoved me at her and ran. Later, she didn't give me to an orphanage when she heard of their death because she was a widow who'd never had children, and was lonely."

"Hm. And what is the name of this woman?" The brush hovered above the paper.

"I don't believe it's my position to give out that information," said Kyo coolly. "Anyways, she died last winter."

The committee advisor straightened and blinked. "Again, you have my sympathies for your loss," she said. "And I apologize for pressing at such personal matters. Perhaps I could ask of some less sensitive issues. Where are you from, Kyo? The journey must have been quite brutal; you were half dead when found."

So I've heard. "The Hidden Sand Village," Kyo told the woman, who shot up in her chair, shocked, as Kyo had suspected she would. After all, Konoha had just finished being attacked by the Sand Ninjas. "I had nothing to do with the attack," Kyo said calmly, before her inquisitor could say anything. "The reason I was trying to get here was to warn everyone, but I got lost in the desert for… I don't even know how long."

Utatane looked more suspicious than ever. "Is that so? You betrayed your village, or attempted to, in favour of a village you'd never been to, had no emotional bonds to?" she scoffed.

Kyo beamed, imagining punching her in the face. "Exactly."

"May I ask why?"

Kyo settled back in her chair and played with her hair. "For one thing, I may have had no emotional bonds to Konoha, but neither did I consider the hidden Sand Village the place where I belonged."

"You grew up there."

Kyo fixed her with a cold gaze. "Around people who hated me? Around nobody of my kin, or who knew my parents? Kids who laughed at me and adult figures who didn't take me seriously? That is no home of mine."

"Why—" the committee advisor started, but Kyo waved her into silence.

"Because the one person I'd loved had just died, when I heard of the village's plan to attack Konoha, I had no bias in favour of my village, which allowed me to listen to all aspects of the debate with an impartial opinion. And I believed that it was my village that was in the wrong; Konoha had done nothing to us. So I tried to thwart them by coming here, but I was too late."

They both were silent for some time while the committee advisor pondered over this new crop of what was mostly untrue. The reason for wanting to warn Konoha that Kyo had given was indeed true, but exactly why she had no emotional bonds with the Hidden Sand village was not because kids laughed at her and people hated her. Rather, they feared her. But that wasn't even the entire reason. If anything, she had a grudge against the village.

"Why did people hate you and the other kids laugh at you?"

Kyo rearranged her face into an affronted expression. "I don't know!" she snapped. "Why is anyone an outcast! Why don't you ask them?"

"I'm sorry, I'm very sorry," Utatane-san said quickly. "Are you a ninja, Kyo?"

The question had been sure to come sooner or later. "Yes," Kyo said. What a question. Was she a ninja? If only they knew.

"Genin?"

Kyo shook her head slightly. "Chuunin."

"You weren't in the exam, though…"

"I became a chuunin five years ago," Kyo stated flatly. Only barely did the interrogator keep the shock off her face."

"And you're how old?"

"Twelve."

"Well, well. An astonishing ninja you are. Incidentally, where is your headband?"

"It should be in the forest somewhere near where I passed out, along with my pack and weapons." A hint of impatience crept into the girl's voice. "I've been hoping I could go fetch them sometime soon…?"

"Soon, of course. But stay a bit longer; you've piqued my interest greatly. There is much to you past what meets the eye, Kyo."

Brilliant statement. You think you know the half of it? Kyo smiled blandly, neutrally, in politeness, her hands clasped loosely in her lap. It was clear that her questioner didn't trust her or her explanations, but the explanations she'd given were the ones she was sticking with, however much it aggravated the woman sitting across from her. Two fake smiles glimmered at each other.

Kyo knew what was going through the lady's mind as she looked at Kyo with a slight expectancy. If you think you're going to make me nervous with those froggy eyes, you've got another thing coming, Kyo told the committee advisor mentally. You'll crack first, and we both know it.

"For someone to become a chuunin at such an early age… well, you must be an exceptional ninja."

Kyo stayed silent, waiting for the committee advisor to become frustrated and just get to the point.

It worked, finally. "And how did you get so good? What was your incentive? Surely this old lady who raised you, who was so lonely, wouldn't have pressed you to become a ninja, where you would just be away from home constantly, and endangering your life?"

How would you like that smug smile shoved down your throat? Kyo suggested inwardly, her face still composed and polite on the outside. The committee advisor settled back with the air of someone who knows they've stumped their adversary and can't wait to bust them for lying.

Kyo smiled vaguely. "no problem; I didn't mind answering your questions," she said softly, inclining her head and letting her hair slip out from behind her ears. It cascaded forward, partially covering her face.

The committee advisor opened her mouth, and closed it again. A small line of puzzlement creased her forehead. What had she been doing…? Oh, right. The girl. But she had dismissed her, hadn't she? This was why she wasn't here anymore, of course. But something still didn't feel quite right.

Kyo sat perfectly still as Utatane squinted straight at her. She knew that the woman would see a flicker of her if she was concentrated enough, but it wouldn't be for long.

It didn't make sense. Utatane could feel a small sense of wrongness niggling at the back of her mind, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her eyes started to water as she strove to keep Kyo in her vision, but she was having trouble focusing. Her brain, her senses, were telling her Kyo wasn't there, but she saw her, albeit vaguely; her sight kept slipping in and out of focus.

Kyo got slowly to her feet. Her hair swung around her, still covering most of her face. "Yes, that's a good idea; I'll go pick up my stuff. Thank you."

"Oh… yes, of course…" the lady stuttered, shaking her head like a wet dog. Of course she'd dismissed the girl; she'd answered all the questions and everything. The committee advisor made one more attempt to concentrate, to look at Kyo, but the air there seemed warped.

Kyo simply stood motionless. She knew the confusing effect she created when she disappeared; everyone in her presence would suddenly start forgetting she was there, and their senses would all tell them she wasn't.

She didn't literally disappear. She didn't know herself how she managed it. All she knew was that of she hid herself behind her hair, and simply didn't want to be seen, anyone around her would abruptly forget she was there. She suspected it was a quirk of the conscience that the mind wouldn't be able to explain itself for suddenly forgetting what it had been doing right in the middle of a conversation with her, and so it covered it up in such a way that people who had been affected, when looking back, would perhaps remember a strange sensation, but would believe against all odds that Kyo's departure had been perfectly normal. So Kyo knew that Utatane-san was, at the moment, thinking she had dismissed her in a perfectly normal way.

Across the room, the woman stared blankly at where Kyo was, but to her senses, wasn't, and then shook herself one last time and looked down at the desk to flick some more notes on her paper. Kyo knew that now she could leave without being seen or thought about, so long a she didn't make a commotion. She quietly opened the door and glided out. Once outside, she flipped her hair back behind her shoulders and started down the hall.

"May I go?" she asked the receptionist in the waiting room. The lady looked up askance from the magazine she was reading.

"Where you questioned?"

"Yes."

Ms. Reception Desk looked around, put down her magazine, and sighed apologetically. "Well, technically I'm supposed to wait for the say-so from your interrogator before letting you go, actually."

Kyo pursed her lips slightly in annoyance. "Well, she's not here right now," she pointed out patiently.

"I can see that," replied the lady, raising an eyebrow. "Where is she?"

"Oh, I chopped her up and put her in the garbage," Kyo snapped irritably. "She was taking notes and dismissed me, okay? She didn't seem in any huge hurry to lock me up and warn everyone that I'm a bloody mad killer; I'm sure she'll give you a report if you go ask. Now may I go?" Without even waiting for an answer, she flipped a sheet of hair in front of her face and let herself zone out of the receptionist's mind, who blinked only once before going straight back to her magazine. Kyo made her quick and silent getaway.

The brightness of the outside world made Kyo's head spin after her long rest in the cool interior of the hospital. Rubbing her temples, she wandered about for a bit, looking for someone who might know where she had been found and could direct her in that general direction. Finally she just stopped the nearest person, or rather, approached him, for he was quite substantially stopped already, slouched against the wall of a building with his hands shoved into his pockets, gazing up at the sky. He didn't appear much older than Kyo, yet he wore the vest of a chuunin. His eyes lazily lowered to take in Kyo as she approached.

"Chotto sumimasen…" she started. (A/N: Translations for Japanese phrases are at the end of the chapter.)

"Yeah?"

"Uh… do you know anything about the girl who was found in the forest recently?"

The boy scratched his head. His dark brown hair was pulled into a spiky ponytail. "Uh, not really. Sasuke found her and they brought her to the hospital. That's about it. Why?"

It still felt strikingly odd to be addressed so casually as an equal. "Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?" Kyo asked, remembering her visitors at the hospital.

The boy blinked and stared at her for a second. "Oh, I get it," he said finally. "You're the girl that was found, aren't you?"

"How do you know?" Kyo frowned.

The boy smirked. "Every other female would know who Sasuke is. As is, I'm actually amazed word of him hasn't spread to girls of other countries, as well."

It took Kyo a moment to realize he was joking. "Oh," she said, cracking a feeble smile. "One of those ladies' men?"

"Something like that," agreed the boy, his smile growing wider. "I'm Nara Shikamaru, by the way," he introduced, extending a hand. Kyo took it lightly and shook it. Introductions, how she loathed these new things.

"I'm… Kyo," she faltered for a second. Whatever, she thought. If she was going to start a new life, she might as well adopt this name for good.

"Just Kyo? Nothing else?" Shikamaru released her hand.

"Nothing else."

"Very mysterious."

"Of course. So, could you tell me where to find Sasuke, maybe?" Kyo asked.

Shikamaru laughed. "I couldn't. But ask any girl aged ten to fifteen that you see, any. I assure you 99 percent of them will be able to help you out."

---------------

"Not even a name?" Kakashi echoed, sounding considerably surprised.

"None. She seemed to be extremely concerned about secrecy of her identity," Sakura told him.

"And about shoes and bare feet," Naruto chipped in. The others ignored him

"It kind of makes you wonder what kinds of things she does, that require such caution," Sasuke said significantly.

"I was just thinking that," Kakashi said. "If they hadn't just finished attacking us, I would be inclined to think her a spy of the Sand, but as is, well…" He shrugged.

"Hey. Sasuke?" someone called. They all turned. Kyo, approaching them, slowed to a halt as she noticed Kakashi. She bowed politely. "Ohayou gozaimasu, sensei," she addressed him.

Kakashi's eye smiled. "Ohayou. I take it you're the nameless girl?"

Kyo's eyes flickered to the rest of them. So they'd been discussing her with this man, who she suspected was their team sensei. "Yes… but I'm going by Kyo," she added.

"Short for Kyouki," Sakura just had to add. Kyo gave her an exasperated and somewhat resentful look as Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

"Kyouki?" he asked. "that's most intriguing."

"My parents were hippies," Kyo said with a smile, trying to make light of the situation. Kakashi laughed.

"Sure," he said in a way that clearly said he didn't believe her. "Well, it's your business."

"Kakashi-sensei, you're rude not to introduce yourself," Sakura scolded. "Kyo, this is our sensei, Hatake Kakashi."

Kyo bowed again. "Yoroshiku." She turned to Sasuke before everyone got carried away with introductions again. "Anou, Sasuke, I heard you were the one who found me?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Could you lead me to where you found me, please? I left my belongings somewhere around there."

Sasuke shrugged and gave a short nod. Sakura folded her arms, looking displeased. "Eh… maybe someone should go with you two…?" she blurted. "I mean… nothing, personal, Kyo, but we can't really trust you yet…" she added quickly.

Kyo, remembering Shikamaru's words, thought she knew the real reason for Sakura's objection, but her cover-up explanation made sense. She shrugged. "I couldn't really care less. By all means, come along and protect your boyfriend."

Sakura went bright red but looked highly pleased. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'll come too, Sakura-chan, if you need any help!" Naruto piped up immediately. Sakura's face darkened right away.

"Whatever," she snapped.

"My, how dangerous I seem to be considered," Kyo remarked with a smirk, raising her eyes upward innocently and trying not to look too condescending at these childish antics.

"Yeah, I go through this all the time," Kakashi said, lowering his voice and leaning forward slightly towards her confidentially.

"Oh whatever, Kakashi-sensei, it's Naruto being ridiculous," Sakura said, tossing her head. "I mean, one extra person is really enough, but he thinks I need protection and is just being a baby." For such a bright person, she was incredibly ignorant of the hypocrisy in this statement. Naruto started to defend himself indignantly, and Sasuke put a hand across his forehead wearily.

"Look, you guys, don't bother," Kakashi told them. "I know where Kyo was found; I'll bring her there. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura will be endangered, okay?"

Sakura and Naruto both looked satisfied right away, but Sasuke looked peeved. As Kakashi and Kyo walked away, he spun to face Sakura with an annoyed expression. "You're not my damn wife, Sakura! You just get jealous and overprotective over absolutely nothing. You know I could easily fend for myself, and a fat lot of help you would be anyways," he snapped.

Sakura flinched as if he'd slapped her. "I only had your safety in mind…" she stuttered in a small, quavering voice.

"Oh, yeah? If Kyo was a guy, would you have suddenly had my safety in mind?"

Sakura looked at the ground and said nothing. Sasuke snorted in disgust.

"Don't talk to Sakura-chan like that! She has feelings, you jerk!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh shut up, dobe," Sasuke snapped.

He, of course, didn't. "Why's it so important, anyways? You just wanted to be alone with her? Ooooh, Sasuke's got the hots for an ugly girl…" Naruto started to taunt.

"You moron; I wanted to learn some stuff about her, that's all. You may be too dense to notice it, Naruto, but it's obvious that she has told us almost nothing about herself, and there's something strange about her. But because you two had to make a big federal case out of everything, now I can't find anything out."

There was a pause while everyone mulled over this.

"I guess I did act kind of immaturely," Sakura finally muttered.

"Hmph," Naruto grouched, not ready to admit defeat so soon.

"But, Kakashi-sensei will tell us anything he learns, as well, right?" Sakura pointed out, trying to lighten up everyone.

"Hn. I guess," Sasuke consented. "Well, I hope he learns a lot…"

---------------

The walk had been in awkward silence the whole time, leaving Kyo to dwell on her thoughts. She continually glanced at her companion as they picked their way through the forest, stopping occasionally for him to think about which way to go next. Hatake Kakashi, eh? She had learned of him, of course, as it was her duty to learn of all high-level ninja that she might someday encounter, but even before she had realized who he was, he had fascinated her. Perhaps it was the mask, or the suave, easy-going manner, perhaps something more, but either way, she couldn't stop stealing looks at him and smiling just a bit.

Stop it, she told herself in disgust, catching herself for the fourth time. Since when do you have stupid schoolgirl crushes?

Since you became Kyo? a traitorous little part of her whispered. She tried to ignore it. Anyways, he was fourteen years older than she; so…

Kyo leapt like an eel as there was a tap on her shoulder. "Spacing out there?" Kakashi commented with a twitch of his mouth under his mask. "Hey.. are you okay?"

Kyo tried furiously to will her face back to its normal colour; she could feel it flaming as she nodded furiously. "Yeah! I was just thinking!" she stuttered, panicking. Did he have to go and touch her right then?

If he noticed her scarlet face, he didn't say anything. "Okay. Well, this is where I saw you carried off from." Kakashi indicated the area with a sweep of his arm. "Should I help you look for your things?"

"No, it's okay." Though she had been quite delirious by the time she had arrived here, she had a vague remembrance of where she had left her bag. In about ten minutes, she located it behind a rock some twenty or twenty-five feet from where she had fallen. Giving an inward sigh of relief at the sight of it, she opened it to take a brief inventory check. There was the bone-dry waterskin, her change of clothes, some personal hygiene items (which she had neglected to use most of the way anyways, not wanting to waste her precious little amount of water to brush her teeth or wash her face), her money-pouch, and of course, her headband and weapons.

Kakashi, waiting patiently, finally heard Kyo say, "okay, I found it," and looked up. She had her pack slung over her shoulder, and finally looked more like a normal ninja with her weapons pouches strapped to her legs and waist. She was also wearing a headband: the Sand Village emblem, with a deep groove scratched across it.

"You're a missing nin?" Kakashi exclaimed, the surprise showing clearly on the small part of his face that was visible.

Kyo smiled grimly. "Not officially. I actually did this just out of spite when I left."

"You left your village and spite it? Why?" His tone had instantly become harder, more judgmental and professional, at the sight of the headband.

"Ask Utatane-san," Kyo replied.

"Alright." They took a few more steps, and then Kakashi stopped and fixed Kyo with a serious gaze. "I don't want to prejudice," he started slowly, "but—"

"—you were just attacked by the Sand and so you can't trust me," Kyo finished. "I know."

Kakashi nodded once. "Exactly." He hesitated for a second before plunging on. "Maybe you shouldn't wear that headband. I don't mean you should hide your identity," he added quickly, "but especially with that scratch through it, it will make people think you're more dangerous than you are. Not to mention that if they think you betrayed your village, you can't be trusted to not betray this one."

Kyo looked at him steadily. "I did betray my village."

Kakashi didn't blink, but narrowed his eye the tiniest bit.

"I betrayed it in favour of this one. I know that sounds really ridiculous, but I already explained it all to Utatane-san; ask her if you want to know."

Kakashi started walking slowly again, scratching the back of his head. "Okay… so you did betray your village, but you aren't a missing nin?"

"Well, technically I didn't manage to betray them, because I didn't get here in time to. But I think the intention suffices as betrayal enough. But since they didn't know my intention, they aren't searching for me or anything. They'll think I'm dead anyways, what with me trying to cross the desert on my own and all."

"So you'll continue wearing that headband, will you?"

"I will."

Kakashi knew it was no use arguing. He was silent for while, but eventually he spoke up again. "I do have a question, though." Actually, he had countless questions, but he didn't think she would answer a lot of them.

Kyo eyed him warily but said nothing.

"Since you left your village and they think you're dead, are you intending to become a permanent citizen of Konoha?"

They stepped through the last sheets of underbrush and found themselves back on the outskirts of the village.

"I suppose so," Kyo said, part of her dreading this happening and part of her anticipating it with nervous excitement.

Kakashi smiled. "Well, you'll like it here. For now, though, I think the committee advisors and village council are going to have to do some discussing and debating about whether or not they'll accept you in right away. Until they've decided, you're still a guest. I would advise you to see the committee advisors to find out details. Well…" He looked around; they were back in the streets of Konoha. "I'm sure I've bored you long enough, so I'll take my leave…"

"You haven't bored me," Kyo said vehemently, before he could stop herself. Crap, she thought a split second later, feeling her face heat up again. "But yes, um, sayonara, sensei." She bowed quickly to hide her flushing face.

"Jyane," Kakashi said, sounding amused. By the time Kyo looked up again, he had turned and walked away.

"Chotto sumimasen" --Excuse me for a minute... (I am asking a question, but...)

"Ohayou", "Ohayou gozaimasu" --Good morning

"Sensei" --teacher (oh come on, we all knew that)

"Yoroshiku" --pleased to meet you

"Anou" --umm, er

"Jyane" --see you later!

There we go... anywhom... hope you enjoyed the chapter! But I just remembered something else I should have mentioned in my little summary thingy up above. Pairings; well...I will almost certainly add a light pairing with Kyo, but... it's a secret! >3 You can just drive yourselves mad thinking of who it will be, kehehe!

And, oh yes. The rating is for safety purposes. I think a T rating would probably have been fine, but I'm just making sure. You never know when I'm gonna get carried away (shifty eyes). So, the rating is for potty mouths and explicit content. No, I do not mean sex scenes, you pervs! I already told you the romance will be very light. I'm just warning you. In battle, or whatever the case is, I don't skimp on detail if I feel it would be more accurate the other way. But yeah, as I said. The rating is probably a bit high anyways.

So, 'til later!