Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own Aria and any other characters that I add.
Note: Hey, well I happened to see that many people read this story, but don't review...Please people, just click the little button at the bottom of the page and tell me what you think. Okayyyyyyyyyyyyyy now that I'm done with that, on to the next chapter...
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Kakashi was bored, REALLY bored;he would have been reading his book, but a certain assassin had successfully killed it. It had been an hour and a half of climbing trees and he hadn't seen any indication of Aria. Naruto and Sauske seemed to be in a dead competition to see who could fall the most times. So far, Naruto was at seventy-six and Sauske was at seventy-five—they only three-fourths the way up their respectful trees. Sakura had only fallen twice before successfully getting to the top of the tree and was now taking a nap in the shade of a large oak tree.
"Hey, Sakura!" A familiar voice called from behind him. Kakashi turned and was rewarded with the sight of Aria running toward them. He watched curiously as Aria reached Sakura and gently woke her up. Aria whispered something to Sakura and he watched Sakura's eyes open wide. "You found them all?" Hopping down from his perch on a nearby limb, Kakashi landed next to Sakura and Aria.
"What did you find?" He inquired.
Aria ignored him and addressed Sakura again. "Well, almost, I only ninety-nine; the last one is on your left shoe." Sakura raised an eyebrow before turning her foot over and looking the bottom of her sandal. There, stuck in the seams was a single grain of rice. Stooping down, Aria plucked the grain from thetreads and dropped it lightlyinto the pouch and returned it to her vest.
"Ah, thank you so much, Sakura. The twenty-two that you threw into the river were a particularly hard challenge."
"How did you know that?" Sakura asked her face portraying a new form of respect. Aria plopped down on the ground next to Sakura in the soft grassand began to wring out her soaking gloves.
"My eyes take in the information and I process it." She answered nonchalantly. "Next time, please don't shove one down an ant's nest; they weren't particularly happy about me digging up their home."
"Excuse me, what are you two blabbering about?" Kakashi asked again, clearlynot used to being ignored. Sakura seemed to just realize that he was there and looked up.
"Oh, sorry Kakashi-sensei. This morning, I hid one hundred grains of rice around the forest and Aria just found them all. That's amazing!"
Kakashi looked at Aria, "It certainly is…" He mused. "How's your back, Aria?" The assassin looked up at him andscowled faintly.
"Its fine, Kakashi." she answered, then turning her attention back to Sakura "What have you been doing this morning Sakura?"
Sakura's face clouded"I've been climbing the trees and sparring with Kakashi-sensei—he beat me in only a few moves. Since then, I've been taking a nap."
Kakashi winced at her words. Great, now I look like a bully and a slacker. Thanks a lot Sakura...
Aria looked upat the cloudsfor a moment, thoughtful and then back at Sakura. "I take it your hand-to-hand combat needs some work?" She asked mildly. Sakura looked at the ground,blushing slightlyin response and nodded. "You, know, Sakura, I grew up around males for the better part of my life and they just fight differently from us. If Kakashiallows us, I can teach you a few moves that will give you a better chance against your adversaries."
Sakura looked up at Kakashi with sparkling greeneyes. Kakashiglanced from Aria to Sakura and then back again, the idea of letting an assassin train his student in combat made him shiver, but how was he supposed to say 'no' to those eyes? After all, Aria had proven herself hadn't she? Besides, he would be within range if anything went amiss. Reluctantly, Kakashi nodded.
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Sakuraexclaimed as she jumped up and gave her teacher aquick hug before turning to Aria. "Come on Aria!"
Aria broke into a smile at the girl's excitement. The assassin turned to Kakashi, "Don't worry, Kakashi, I won't let anything happen to her. We'll be back around dusk." With that, Aria grabbed Sakura's hand they sped off into the trees without looking back.
Kakashi ran a sweaty palm through his sliverhair and turned back to the tree where his male students were training, just in time to see Sauske fall through the foliage before turning to grab onto a large branch before falling to his death.
At least they're learning something. He thought to himself.
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Hours passed and the two young women sat on the forest floor, breathing heavily. Well, it was really Sakura who was breathing heavily, Aria was simply leaning against the tree, smiling. Suddenly Sakura laughed and turned to Aria.
"That was amazing! I've never had so much fun in my life, where did you learn all of those fighting techniques?" The pink-haired teenager rambled, pumped up on adrenaline.
Aria opened hergolden eyes and smiled, "When you live with guys, it gets tough when you can't beat them with pure brute strength. Women can be just as strong as men with a lot of training, but women should fight with their minds also. I figured that little lesson out the hard way." The assassin studied the girl in front of her, Sakura was sporting many bruises, but she had a smile on her face, obviously pleased with the new fighting technique.
Sakura leaned forward for a moment and a light blush rushed forward, "What do you think of Kakashi-sensei?" This question caught Aria off guard and she blinked.
"Um, well, he certainly is protective of you and the others. From what I've heard, he's an amazing fighter and-" Aria stopped talking as she saw Sakura shaking her head vigorously.
"No, I mean, do you think he looks hot or, would you consider him as a boyfriend?"
"Well, I guess he is pretty good looking, considering the mask,and I'm sure he's a great guy and everything, but the whole pervert thing has to go." The sparkles in Aria's eyes faded suddenly and she glanced away. "What you don't understand, Sakura is that assassins can't had those kinds of feelings.I have to admit that I like you guys and you are certainly different than what I'm used to, but my job is to protect you with my life."
Sakura's eyes bore into Aria for a moment and then she looked up at the clouds. "I think he likes you. When you aren't looking, he always looks at you strangely. I've never seen that lookfrom himbefore."
A dry chuckle erupted from Aria's throat and she looked at Sakura. "That look you are talking about isn't one of adoration or affection, it's one of suspicion. You must never forget, Sakura that while I swear to you that I will never harm any of you, I am an assassin and will always be one."
The assassin looked at thecrystal-clearsky; it would be another two hours before sunset and Aria wanted Kakashi to see Sakura's progress. Standing up, Aria brushed the dirt and leaves from her pants and shirt. "Come on, I want to see the look on Sauske's face that he has a new rival for hand-to-hand combat."
Sakura looked at her for a moment and then nodded, forcing a smile and leapt after Aria into the trees.
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Meanwhile,Kakashi forced himself to sit down and relax. Sakura was perfectly safe with Aria; the assassin would guard the teenager with her life. Just then, an image of Aria teaching Sakura how to kill someone in a single blowflashedacross his mind, complete with gore and lots of blood; he let out a groan. That particular decisionhas to be one of his worst.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called from above.
Kakashi opened his eye and looked up at Naruto. The boy was perched on the limb that Aria had occupied earlier and was holding up the assassin's pack. Kakashi's eye opened wide and he transported himself up next to Naruto. He reached out and snatched the pack from the astonished boy.
"Are you insane?" He demanded. Kakashi glanced around the campsite, fearing that Aria would come walking through the leaves any second.
Naruto grabbed the pack backfrom Kakashi and looked at him strangely. "Aria told us that they would get back around sunset, we have like, two hours. Come on, I did this to you when you became our teacher and you never suspected it, did you?" Ignoring the angry glare from his teacher, Naruto began to systematically pull out the contents of the pack. "Kakashi-sensei, aren't you the least bit curious about what Aria has in this?"
Kakashi was curious about what Aria carried around with her, but he hesitated, knowing that they would face Aria's wrath if she caught them. Sauske suddenly called from the ground. "I'm going to the river; just for the record, I was never part of this." With that, Sauske stalked off into the brush.
Naruto shrugged and then pulled out some bottles that were wrapped carefully in cloth. "What do you think these are?" He asked Kakashi who reluctantly took them and began to study the bottles.
"I have no idea," he answered, wrapping the bottle back up and setting it aside, "come on, Naruto, let's go." Kakashi turned to leave, but was interrupted by Naruto's surprised yelp. Instantly he spun around and looked at the thing in Naruto's hand.
"What is this thing?" Naruto asked as he held up Aria's bra. Kakashi snatched the bra and was about to tell Naruto off when he heard a voice below him.
"Kakashi-sensei? What are you and Naruto doing…oh my gosh! Kakashi-sensei, you pervert!" Sakura screamed when she caught sight of the object in Kakashi's hand.
"Well, um, you see I have an excuse, I mean, an explanation…" Kakashi began, if Sakura was back, that meant that that Aria wasn't far behind…
"Hm, that should be an interesting tale." A cold voice came from above them. Kakashi and Naruto both turned blue as Aria dropped from a higher branch and landed in middle of them. "It looks like two perverted men have decided to invade my privacy and go through my lingerie." Kakashi quickly threw the bra into the pack and stepped back next to Naruto. Without taking her eyes off Kakashi, Aria addressed Sakura. "Sakura, if you would be so kind as to take Naruto and find Sauske and showhim what you learned today, I have to talk to Kakashi alone for a minute."
Nodding, Sakura joined the three of them on the branch and picked up Naruto by the collar and glanced at Kakashi. "You are so dead." She informed him before stepping into the foliage, dragging a pale Naruto behind him.
When they were gone, Aria stooped down and pulled the bottle that Kakashi had been fingering and held it up to the light. "This is a highly poisonous liquid that gives off a deadly vapor. One sniff of it and your heart would have stopped before you knew what had happened." Ariaexplained andrewrapped the bottle and took out another red vial. "This is another nasty concoction. It makes your eyes bleed, eventually you die of blood loss—not a pretty sight." Lastly, Aria pulled out a small, green vial. "This is one of the milder poisons that I carry with me; if it spills on your skin, it'll eat through the tissue and poison the blood stream."
When she had returned the bottles to her pack, Aria turned around and looked at the tree. Tears that she had thought to have been lost, threatened to spill once again. The fear that she had experienced was far greater than the anger at having her privacy invaded. Any one of those bottles could have killed Naruto or Kakashi. Taking deep breaths, Aria beat down the fear—anger was an acceptable emotion, but fear was strictly forbidden. For once in her life, Aria couldn't stop the fear that suddenly took root in her gut and refused to be killed.
Suddenly, warm, muscled arms encircled her and carefully turned her toward him. Looking her in the eye, Kakashi offered her a comforting smile that shone from beneath his mask and brought her to his chest. Resting his head on top of hers, Kakashi held her for what seemed like an eternity.
FLASHBACK:
Aria had always been alone, ever since the Guild master Assassin killed her parents when she was only a toddler so as to integrate her into the assassin society. Every two years, the Master Assassin would send his best tracker assassins into the poorer villages on the outskirts of the borders where bloodlines mixed and mutts were created. These assassins would find the young children who possessed special gifts and would take them from their families. One assassin would hold the child, forcing the youngster to watch as the other members of the team would kill its parents and siblings before its eyes and burn the home. This brutal practice introduced death to the children and cut off all ties to the world they would leave.
Aria was a special case; she was the only girl child to be accepted into the assassin society in fifty years. Even though she was taken when she was only two, the image of her parents faces as they were cut down before her burned in her mind forever, plaguing her with nightmares every time she closed her eyes.
One night, after a particularly gruesome and graphic dream, Aria had run to her attendant, the one assigned to teach her to use her special skill effectively. He was a smiling figure that had the unusual gift of seeing through walls and other solid objects. That night, when she was only eight, she ran into his arms, crying and seeking comfort from the man who had been like a father to her.
"Ah, Seer, I had the dream again. Help me!" she had pleaded to him.
The man had looked down at her, his face wiped clean of his normally smiling expression and replaced with one of rage. Grabbing her roughly by the shoulders, he picked her up and slammed her into the wall. "Listen to me, little one. You must let go of them; an assassin cannot feel anything, no longer are you part of anything. From now on, you are an assassin and nothing else; you belong to the Master Assassin, at his disposal and ready to die and murder. No more tears will fall from your eyes, do you understand? Feelings are for those with a life to hold onto, yours was ripped from you the moment we found you. Did you think that I cared for you? You are a weapon and will always be looked upon as one, no matter what people express to you, they want to use you. No one will love you again and comfort will not come." Pulling her to his chest, he whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry." Before taking out his dagger and thrusting it into the back of her shoulder.
That was the last time Aria had cried or had looked for comfort from anyone in the world. She was a weapon, nothing more…
END FLASHBACK
The memory of that night came flooding into Aria's mind as Kakashi held her to her chest. Instantly, she cleared her thoughts of everything and slipped from his grasp, feeling him staring at her back. Quickly, she grabbed her pack and pulled out her cloak and her extra veils, wrapping them around her face once again hiding fromharsh reality.
Kakashi saw the look on Aria's face as she pulled away from him and his stomach dropped as he watched her put on her veils. He mentally berated himself mercilessly for his stupid and selfish action. Of course she would have found out that they had gone through her stuff, why had he thought differently? Awkwardly, he placed his hand on the woman's cloaked shoulder.
"Look, Aria. I'm sincerely sorry, please don't leave." Kakashi said, a note of desperation creeping into his voice.
Aria turned toward him and he noticed the corners of her eyes crinkle as she smiled. "Sorry, to disappoint you, Kakashi, but you can't get rid of me that easily. I know that you wouldn't do it again and I appreciate your apology. I'm just going for a run."
"Oh, well why do you have your veils on? I was really enjoying the view." Kakashi joked, trying to lightening the mood. Apparently, it worked because Aria laughed beneath her veils.
"In case you haven't noticed it's going to rain soon and even through it is the end of winter, someone could catch hypothermia if she got wet."
"Oh, well, in that case, allow me to join the fair lady." Kakashi said with a deep bow, still a little bewildered at the sudden change of heart, but willing to exploit it at all costs.
Aria considered the proposal for a minute before finally giving Kakashi a shrug. "Sure, you can join me, but if you don't cut out the pervert act, I think I'll leave you in the forest."
Kakashi laughed and jumped down to the ground, followed by Aria. "Please, ladies first," he said, "I think I'll enjoy the view better back here." He was rewarded with an appalled look from Aria and she spun around, glaring at him before bounding away.
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Damn, she's fast. Kakashi thought, keeping his eye trained on the black figure darting swiftly and confidently over the ground, moving further away with every stride. They had been running for about an hour, the sun was beginning its final decent toward the horizon. At last, he broke through the edge of the forest and burst into a clearing that overlooked the mountains in the distance.
Aria was gazing up contently, watching the clouds move toward them ominously. A few raindrops began to fall from the grey sky, making soft, delicate sounds as they hit the dirt. Cautiously, Kakashi moved to where Aria was and stood behind her, marveling at the assassin in quiet reverence.
Both figures lost track of time as they stood in companionable silence. As the sun sunk below the horizon, Kakashi watched in wonderment as the golden glow of Aria's eyes was engulfed by a violet wave. Suddenly, Aria turned around and gazed at Kakashi, who suddenly became aware of how hard it was raining.
"Sorry, I guess I forgot you were there." Aria said sheepishly.
Kakashi looked at the woman in front him for a moment, regarding those amazing eyes for a moment before shrugging. "That was a great run; I don't think that I've exercised like that in a long time. Usually I'm being followed by an insane group of teenagers. No matter how fast I run, they always seem to catch up." Kakashi shuddered to prove his point before looking at Aria. "By the way, you didn't teach Sakura anything…deadly, did you?"
Aria looked at him slyly before answering, "Well, that depends on what you considered deadly…" When she saw the horrified look in Kakashi's eye, she let out a laugh. "Nah, I only taught her to overcome the physical disadvantages between males and females. If she wants she could apply those ideas to kill, but normally they were only meant to disarm."
"Oh." Kakashi merely stated. "What is it exactly that your eyes can do?" he inquired, wanting to change the subject that was laced with distrust.
"Hmm, I believe Hiyu pretty much summed my powers fairly well. Basically, whenever I look at something, my brain processes it to the minute degree. For example, when I look at you, I can mentally count each hair on your head; memorize each curve of your face, and each muscle in a time-span of a mere second. I analyze things with my eyes and can see farther and sharper than others, especially at night. Hiyu couldn't see into my mind because they act as mirrors to his power, which is to infiltrate and take control of the mind. In addition, I can see poison in food and water and can tell if a person is lying."
"I see, that must be a little overwhelming." Kakashi murmured.
Aria laughed dryly, "Yeah, especially when I'm in a new place, but Hiyu said that my mind was conformed to accept it. When he entered my mind years ago, he wasn't right for days afterward."
"Hmm, and what is he to you? Are you two lovers?" Kakashi asked casually even though his throat constricted at the thought.
Aria grimaced, "Eww, you're a pervert, just because I knew him doesn't mean that I am his lover. For one, he was the closest thing to a friend that an assassin can have. We were often on the same squad,and worked together really well. Secondly, assassins can't afford to feel those types of emotions. And third, it really isn't any of your business." Aria watched the raindrops grow and fall faster to the ground; each time one fell, her mind made an adjustment to fit her perception of the forest, resulting in a light, throbbing headache. "Let's go, at this rate everything will have changed into mud and we may be stuck out here in the rain all night."
Without another word, Aria bounded away toward camp. Kakashi smiled secretly beneath his mask before following her. Ah, we'll see about those emotions.
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Aria landed at campsite and glanced back to check to make sure that Kakashi hadn't gotten lost and sighed with relief as she caught sight of him a while back. Silently, she looked into two tents that were set up around the smoking campfire. Inside one, Sauske and Naruto were sprawled, dead to the world in their sleeping bags, sporting a few large bruises; inside the other, smaller tent, Sakura was asleep, a smile playing at her lips. It looked like the assassin's training had resulted with success.
Ducking out of the tent, Aria turned around to see Kakashi emerge through the foliage, his silver hair plastered against his face. "Well, I guess I should say 'Goodnight.'" Aria said awkwardly before preparing to jump to her usual perch. In a flash, Kakashi was inches in front of her, making her run into his hard chest.
"What was that for?" Aria grumbled irritably.
Ignoring her question, Kakashi leaned over to look the woman in the face. "It's pouring rain; the question should be where do you think you're going? No, wait I'll answer that for you, you're sleeping in my tent tonight."
Aria opened her mouth to tell him off with a few choice words, but Kakashi clapped his large hand over her veil and pulled her into his nearby tent. A moment later, Aria found herself bending down inside Kakashi's tent with him shaking his head, water droplets spraying everywhere. Quickly, Kakashi shed his shirt and pulled on a dry one. Surprisingly and thankfully his pants weren'ttoo wet.
Aria found that she was trapped in a corner; Kakashi was standing directly in front of the doorway. It wasn't exactly the fact that she was sharing a tent with a man, no; she'd done that many times when she was assigned a joint mission, but those assassins were, well emotionless and left her alone. She could trust them to carry out the mission and not touch her. Those men were familiar, almost like brothers. Now she was in this tent with a stranger that was obviously intending on keeping her here.
Suddenly, Kakashi lit a small lantern and placed it on the ground. "You're dripping." He said simply.
Aria looked at him dumbly, still trying to process how exactly she had ended up in this situation. "Huh?"
Sighing, Kakashi pointed to Aria's cloak and repeated himself, "You're coat is dripping all over my sleeping bag. If you want, you can wear some of my clothes."
"My cloak is water-proof, my clothes are dry, but you won't be if you don't let me out of this tent right now." In a flash of movement, Aria barreled toward the tent entrance, but was stopped as she ran head-on into Kakashi's chest. The force of the impact caused Aria to fall backward, suddenly; two arms wrapped themselves around Aria's waist, keeping her from falling.
"You were saying?" Kakashi laughed quietly.
Aria growled and pushed away from the silver-haired man. "Let me out of here." She demanded. "Or I'll—" Aria's threat was cut off when Kakashi suddenly leaned forward, looking her in the eye.
"Hmm, normally I would gladly move aside for an assassin of your stature, but as I recall, you promised that you wouldn't attack any of us, therefore, you have no way of getting out. I suggest that you take off your cloak and sit down."
Aria briefly considered spitting his face before discarding the idea; he was right, he was stronger physically and she was bound by her word. Muttering a few curses that she picked up around her fellow assassins, Aria took off her cloak and veils and wrung the water out of them over Kakashi's sleeping bag before tossing it into the corner. Scowling, she sat down, keeping an eye onthe exitfor an opportunity for escape.
Kakashi looked at Aria for a moment, then at his now soaking sleeping bag. "Well, that was unnecessary." He grumbled before pulling the sleeping bag out of the way and sitting across from Aria, still guarding her exit. A few silent moments passed before he decided to break the silence. "So, while we're both up, I guess we can learn more about each other." Kakashi heard Aria snort and look away.
"You've got to be joking." She mumbled.
"Okay, well then, I'll start." Kakashi put his finger to his face and pondered for a moment. "Hmm, my name is Hatake Kakashi, Jounin ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. My favorite color is probably black and I spend most of my time training Team Seven." Kakashi looked at Aria expectantly. A few awkward minutes passed before she finally turned around to look at him with her stunning purple eyes.
"You can call me Aria, otherwise known throughout the world as the 'Golden Assassin'. I've been training as an assassin since I was two and have since then become an elite tracker assassin or Seer. My claim to fame is being the first female assassin in fifty years and counting. I really don't have any time to spare to do anything besides run from those who want to find me. Right now my life is owned by a lazy, perverted ninja and a bunch of teenagers. Most of my time is spent breathing and my favorite colors are obviously gold and violet."
Kakashi looked at Aria for a moment, "See, and was that so hard? Did you say you've been training as an assassin since you were two? Were your parents assassins?"
Aria turned to meet his gaze and stared at his exposed eye for a long moment. Without looking away she answered him in a quiet voice. "The place where I was trained is an elite...school for assassins. Each year it sent its best assassins to the outskirts of the villages. Those areas are poorly guarded and often overlooked by the governments. The assassins seek out the young children who have special or unique gifts; they call this process 'recruiting.' When a child is found, one assassin holds it and forces it watch as another slaughters its parents and family before its eyes, then the house is burned to the ground. This process eliminates the child's ties to the real world and forces it to become bothemotionless and deadly. When the new assassin is brought back to the headquarters, it is placed in the care of a senior assassin who trains it to use its power."
Aria trailed off and then glanced at the tent flap, there was an opening. Before she could move, a firm hand clamped down on her arm. She turned to find Kakashi inches from her, his warm breath on her face. "You never got a chance to experience life, did you?" he said, more as a fact than a question.
Aria met his gaze and finally realized that she was never going out of the tent and leaned against one side. "The moment I was born, my fate was sealed. Life was never an opinion for me; it has always belonged to someone else. When you saved me, it was ripped from its previous owner and given it to you. I don't want or need your pity. It's who I am…nobody."
Kakashi released her arm and leaned back next to her. "You may have been nobody, but now, you are Aria. As long as you are here, you are someone and mean something. Against what was my better judgment, I took you in and now the team has become attached to you; the ironic thing is that I don't regret saving this assassin." Kakashi looked at Aria's astonished face and smiled before blowing out the lantern. "Goodnight, Aria." He said before falling into his own kind ofslumber.
Tears threatened to fall from Aria's eyes, but she quickly blinked them back. She hadn't cried in thirteen years and wasn't about to start now. "You're wrong." Aria whispered to the sleeping man next to her before falling into her own troubled sleep.
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Alright, I'll update in a few days, but PLEASE review! Till next time, Sandsifter