Name

Scars are souvenirs you never lose
The past is never far
Did you lose yourself somewhere out there
Did you get to be a star
And don't it make you sad to know that life
Is more than who we are

Goo Goo Dolls

He's kind of cute, Kasumi found herself thinking as the white-haired ninja led her away out of the Hokage's office. Although the mask hides it.

Don't you go starting with that, young lady.

Well, he is, she thought rebelliously. She fought to keep the blush out of her cheeks. If she blushed, her cheeks tended to burn bright, bright red, and everyone noticed. Just another drawback of pale skin.

Don't start whining about that again.

"Why do…"

Whatever the man - Kakashi, Hokage-sama had called him - had been about to ask was cut off by the arrival of her initial two guides, still in their strange green suits. "Hatake Kakashi, where are you going with our visitor?"

"Eh?" Was it just that his whole face excepting his right eye was covered, or did Kakashi really have very little expression, Kasumi found herself wondering. He was looking at the man in green with what seemed to be mild puzzlement.

"Showing this fair lady around the village is a job for Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey!"

"The Springtime of Youth will triumph!" the smaller one, presumably his student, added. The Springtime of Youth? Kasumi wondered. What in the world?

Well, don't ask me.

I wasn't.

Kakashi was looking at her as though expecting her to sort it all out. Being pretty could be so troublesome. "That's very nice to hear. Another time, perhaps. I'm supposed to be meeting someone." She took her coat and hat from where Shizune-san had hung them up.

"Ah, my rival has won again!" The man seemed quite anguished by this. Kakashi shrugged. "How can you be so cool?" the man was demanding, to which his rival shrugged again. They're all insane.

"Are they always like that?" she asked as she followed Kakashi out into the rain, adjusting her hat as she did.

"Mostly. Why do you want to meet Naruto?"

That must be what he wanted to ask before. "Gaara-kun mentioned him."

"You said."

He was obviously waiting for a more complete answer. I wish my teachers had cared as much about me.

Maybe if you'd had any talent.

Maybe if I'd been normal.

"I talked to Temari. She said that Gaara-kun has changed immeasurably, and it's because of Uzumaki Naruto. I wanted to meet him."

"Nothing to do with Akatsuki, then?"

"Akatsuki? No. Why?" She looked at him. The man seemed to have even less emotion than before. "Oh dear. I'd rather not get mixed up with them again."

"Again?"

Well, that worked well. Now he's going to start questions, you stupid girl.

It wouldn't be an issue if I was normal.

"I've met a few of them." She said it in a way that she hoped would stop any more questions, at least until she had decided how much she could trust this man. The trouble was, she found herself wanting to confide in him, and that could be a very dangerous thing.

The building Kakashi took her to had 'Ninja Academy' written over the door. Kasumi heard young children talking in the rooms off the hallway. She caught sight of a few children, mostly slumped over desks, as Kakashi led her past a series of classrooms to a small practice room. Three children were seated in a circle, apparently meditating.

Children? You aren't even ten years older than this lot.

There was a girl with pink hair, who Kasumi dismissed immediately. There was something about the way she dressed which reminded her of the old kunoichi of the Hidden Mist.

It's the dress, she realized. It's like a shorter version of mine.

Don't start complaining about the dress again. I like it.

Next to her was a blond boy. With strange whisker marks on his face, Kasumi had little doubt that this was the Uzumaki Naruto she had been looking for. It seemed, sometimes, that no matter how a jinchuriki tried to hide what lived inside them, the beast still found a way to mark them so that the world could see the monster within. It looks like only his face has been marked, at least. Not his soul, like poor Gaara-kun..

Don't finish that thought.

"Yo," Kakashi said. Naruto and the girl opened their eyes. The second boy turned around, and for a moment Kasumi couldn't even put together a coherent thought.

"Itachi-kun?"