Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Kudozaki Lucine. The rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

Hatake Kakashi

As I walked down the forest, I could feel Lucine's body shaking, with her arms so tightly clinging to my neck as if holding on for dear life. She had buried her face in my neck in her fear, breathing heavily, but surprisingly I felt no fear. Poor girl, I thought as I sighed tiredly. I wonder if this is the first time it has happened, or if Sasuke has already taken her innocence. Momentarily, I looked up at the sky, wondering why me of all people ended up with such a messed up team. I am the least suited person of dealing with things like this. Maybe Kurenai will be okay with adding Lucine to her team if I explain the situation.

I looked back down at the girl. She was quite small, not very tall and didn't weigh much. Yet her arms looked toned and had the common muscle that a kunoichi of her age should possess. But she had small features, like small hands and small feet, and she looked very delicate, not truly resembling a shinobi. Despite the fact that her face was contorted with fear, when looking closely, she had attractive features and was a pretty little thing. Perhaps not the most beautiful girl, and it was too soon to judge since she was so young, but she exuded some kind mystery and allure to her, something that would surely make her popular to the boys. If she wanted, when she grew older she could excel in honeypot missions, she already had the looks for that.

Realizing it was not the time to think about what kind of kunoichi she would grow to be, he focused on the more important issue at the moment. "Are you alright?" I asked her. The second the words left my mouth, she froze, and pulled her face away from me to look up at me in surprise. I stopped walking and tilted my head to the side in confusion, she looked like she didn't even know I've been carrying her the entire time,

"Why are you holding me?" At first her voice came out weakly, but she changed it to the usual blank, uninterested tone of voice.

"I rescued you from Sasuke. Do you want me to take you home?" I asked her with a friendly smile, trying to seem polite. I wasn't too sure on how to approach this subject, as I didn't have much experience, especially not with kids.

"No. Let go of me." She demanded. I obliged and carefully let her down on the ground again. I noticed just now how part of her clothes were burnt, and she had red bite marks on her neck, thighs, and it seemed to go down her upper chest. Her lips were also very swollen. It was a twisted sight, as it looked like she had simply been with a lover, yet I knew that it was her molester who had done this.

"Does he usually molest you like this?" I asked carefully, now contemplating reporting this to the Hokage. There was little he could do in a situation such as this, as Sasuke was the only remaining Uchiha in the village and was far too indispensable.

She remained quiet for some seconds as she looked at me. I wasn't sure if she looked confused, scared or both. It was difficult to read her almost blank expression. "That's none of your concern, Kakashi-sensei." She opened her mouth to say something else, but then closed it again as if changing her mind. I watched on patiently as she opened her eyes again, determination in her eyes. "But..." she hesitated, a light blush developing on her cheeks.

"What?"

"Thank you." She mumbled, her cheeks and the tops of her ear now a dark shade of red. It seems that she's not used to thanking someone.

With a smile, I ruffled her hair gently, "Don't worry about it."

She seemed confused as to why I was ruffling her hair, but then she suddenly looked down and smirked smugly, "Kakashi-sensei."

Confused at the sudden change of expression, I stared curiously down at her. "Yes?"

Lucine looked up at me with a smirk, "You let your guard down."

It only took me a split second to realize what she meant with that, and in surprise I quickly jumped back a few meters away from her, but it was already too late. She held up her hand, the three bells dangling from her hand mockingly. Thinking that she was in too much shock after her incident with Sasuke, I had assumed that the bells would be the last thing on her mind, but it seems I underestimated her in that regard.

I sighed in defeat, disappointed in myself that I let myself be tricked like that, I should have seen it coming. "Good job, Lucine. You got the bells." But she still hasn't passed the test.

She smirked again in triumph, and then turned away from me to walk away while she held up the bells up in the air as if she was teasing me. I sighed in embarrassment as I rubbed the back of my head.