A/n: Heya,

I kind of like posting Author Notes…yeah so…this is where at least one character from the manga is introduced although s/he won't be around forever. I'm going to take parts of the manga and adapt them for this story. Change some things up but if you look you can see some similarities besides obvious ones. .

Enjoy

-shyshi

"WHERE IS HE!"

"Naruto shut up!"

"Dobe."

"SHUT UP!"

"Naruto don't talk that way to Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto resigned to fuming angrily in his seat, arms folded across his chest as he glared at the wall before him. It had been a week since Ino and Sakura had broken their friendship and the group was slowly falling to sides despite the best attempts.

It was Friday and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were the only ones left in the classroom. The day before they had been assigned groups and Sakura had taken the initiative of arranging a meeting the next day with an undercover police officer.

Sasuke had been silent the entire time, refusing to utter more than a word to the pair and Naruto had refused to shut up. Since it wouldn't be possible to research Sakura's dream future and Sasuke wouldn't speak of his they had been forced to choose Naruto's.

So there they were, 3 hours after the designated meeting time and still waiting for the cop to show up.

"Sakrua are you sure he said he would meet you at one?" Naruto broke his silence of anger and looked to his classmate who nodded fervently.

"Yes!" She insisted heartily before she sat in her seat, her lips pressed into a pout. Naruto watched as her green eyes flipped to the person in the room who had stayed silent for the last hour. 'I wish we could have gotten someone else.' Naruto thought to himself and he found his thoughts listing over the people he would prefer to replace the Uchiha.

'Emi-chan would've been fun.' He thought before he remembered the group Emiko had been placed with. Toya and Megumi. At the memory of the jerk Naruto made a disgusted voice, his nose scrunched to express his dislike. Emiko's reaction had been practically the same thing. Coupled with a loud yell of protest, of course. It was then they're new teacher had explained the reasoning behind the groups. To equal everyone's abilities. Yay.

A clear and audible groan came from Naruto before he allowed his head to crash onto his desk. 'I should think of a prank,' he sniggered at the thought and began to contemplate ideas of how to get back at the late cop. Before any could be put into action he heard the door slide open and eagerly glanced up to see an adult walk into the classroom.

He was tall and lanky; he wore a simple long sleeve shirt with a vest over top and a pair of baggy pants. Had it not been for his badge clasped onto his pant's waist he wouldn't have figured him for a cop. He wore a headband that was hanging crooked to cover one eye and a small mask covered his nose and mouth. Silver hair leaned sideways and Naruto thought he looked rather lazy.

'Or high…' Naruto thought to himself before he looked to Sakura who seemed to be thinking along the same line.

"Are you the kids I've been told to talk to?" He asked and Sakura nodded quietly.

"Hai." Naruto added eagerly.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi." He sighed and scratched the side of his head in a lazy manner. "What am I talking to you about?"

Sakura began to speak up and the attention turned to her for answers. "I spoke with your boss, uh she said we were able to interview you about your job." Taking the chance to speak Naruto took his turn to speak up, loudly.

"Can we ride in your cop car!" Kakashi's single eye turned to Naruto before he spoke.

"My first impression…you're annoying."

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Down the street another group descended from a city bus and watched as it drove away in a cloud of smoke. Megumi stepped up to stand beside Emiko, her buckle high heel shoes softly tapping at the cement sidewalk. Toya turned to the pair of them and with a malevolent glare he walked to his BMW parked a block away.

"We still have to work on the actual project!" Emiko yelled after him but he refused to turn and she heard the sound of his car engine grumbling to life before he drove away. Emiko let out an annoyed growl before she turned on her feet and began to walk in the opposite direction. Megumi turned to see her wince and grabbed the opportunity. For about a week Emiko had been quiet and Megumi wasn't the only one who had noticed the girl's new way of walking where she walked on the front of one foot.

"Emiko, what did you do to your foot?" Megumi hurried to the brunette's side and easily fell into step beside her.

"Hurt it." She replied with a strained laugh. It seemed she wasn't eager to tell the story and it only intrigued Megumi further.

"How?" She asked patiently and Emiko paused, her hand grasping a light post for support and Megumi only watched in confusion as she leaned against the pole, her forehead grazing against the metal. Her knuckles paled and Megumi could hear, faintly, the sounds of nails scrapping against the metal.

"Stepped on some glass." Emiko's eyes closed and her face became serene, something that Megumi hadn't seen often. She often was laughing and Megumi had rarely glimpsed past her happy nature to see her simply content. The edges of her lips turned up but before Megumi could admire the new insight Emiko was grinning goofily.

"It's okay though, I cleaned it. It just twinges a bit so I try to not walk on it." Emiko released her grasp on the light post and still grinning happily she began to walk down the sidewalk.

Megumi watched her form strive on and felt a sense of…well she wasn't sure what. As she stared at Emiko's back she wondered how much Emiko showed of herself. Granted she was a sincere and open person but, there were times, when she was pained that brought into sharp relief the sense of doubt her friends felt. Like, she was floating beneath a surface and they only caught glimpses of the being beneath the water. They felt cut off. Naruto had mentioned it once but it had been brushed from the conversation. Steps were taken to follow Emiko and Megumi stayed paces behind the girl, her quizzical thoughts of her friend still swirling about her head.

It was only when a blur of orange crashed into them did Megumi blink away her reservations to greet the newcomer.

"Oi, Naruto." Emiko smiled and ruffled the blonde's hair causing a look of mock annoyance to flash over his face. Emiko merely laughed and continued the conversation. "How's your project going?" At the mention baby blue eyes brightened and Naruto grabbed both of their wrists to pull them towards a car.

"It's awesome!" Inside the car two silhouettes could be discerned and as they neared Emiko noticed that it was the rest of Naruto's group.

"Konnichiwa Sakura, Uchiha." The pink haired girl jumped from surprise but quickly blushed and managed a small wave and smile. "Where's the cop you're supposed to be talking to?" Emiko rested against a pole and felt the welcomed chill of the pole against her heated head. It was only temporary but Emiko was grateful for the feeling. Her mind had been scattered and clouded lately, paired with a cold she seemed to be catching that was causing her to have a fever and it seemed as though it was far from being a good week.

"Yeah he got a sudden call and so we're waiting." At this Emiko couldn't help but laugh. She regretted it as it turned to a short cough but she strangled it in her throat. Under the suspicious gazes she grinned and waved her hand lazily.

"Cold." She declared carelessly and switched her gaze to Naruto. "So you're actually waiting?" She joked, moving her head to a different position to hopefully find a new cold spot.

At the comment Naruto stuck out his tongue before Sakura spoke up. "It's too dangerous, even Naruto knows that." It seemed as though she was making sure he knew it and Emiko noticed the pointed emerald glare.

Just as Emiko would have predicted Naruto turned his nose up and his arms crossed over his chest to express his disapproval at the statement. "I could handle it!" When the words dropped to the ground the sound of breaking glass shattered through the air and Emiko instinctively covered her head as the shards of glass rained upon the teenagers.

"That's where Kakashi-san is!" Sakura shrieked as she pointed at the apartment that was now windowless. Emiko picked glass from Megumi's thick hair and turned to Sakura who seemed shaken by the incident.

"I'm gonna go help!" Naruto yelled and Emiko felt his jacket slip through her fingers as he raced into the apartment building. Her mind spun, the thoughts crashing and melding together while her vision's edges singed into black. 'Damn.' Her will pressed forward and she blinked it away before turning to Megumi and the others.

"What was whatever his name going in there for?" She commanded and Sasuke spoke up in his usual monotone voice.

"A drug dealer. He's been an assassin a few times by creating drugs that are lethal and disappear after the person's dead. They though this was where him and his partner were working and creating the drug for selling." Megumi's eyes widened at the explanation but felt a sudden sweep of wind pass her. She turned and watched in horror as Emiko followed Naruto into the apartment building.