(The pic in the media is a pic I found on Tumblr that immediately had me think of Kaiya since it looks very similar to Kaiya. More info and credits given in the A/N at the end of the chapter).

1| Homecoming

It was a warm summer day as Team Guy returned from a mission. A pair of 16 to 17 year-olds Tenten, Neji and Lee entered the gates of Konoha, accompanied by a 30-ish-year-old Guy.

'I still can't believe you became a Jounin, Neji!' Tenten said.

Recently enough, Neji was promoted to the rank of jounin and, while he seemed mostly unfazed by it, everyone wouldn't stop talking about it.

'Good morning, Guy!' Koutetsu, one of the guards, called out as usual. 'How was this mission?'

'It was great! We finished it in record time.' Guy answered with a huge smile. 'How's guarding? Did anything interesting happen?'

'Pretty much the usual, you know it.' Koutetsu said, with a flick of his hand. 'Boring as always.'

Just as he said that, someone entered the village as well, bumping a little onto Lee. She opened her mouth to give a quick apology, but she had been recognised.

'Kaiya!' Lee exclaimed loudly.

'Lee.' The girl answered in a quieter voice that carried the same tone of surprise.

The two stared at each other in shock, neither of them understanding very well what was happening.

Kaiya took a deep breath as she analysed the boy. Yep, it was the Lee she knew- he had the same scent and the appearance were nearly the same. What were the chances of this happening?

As she did that, Lee couldn't help but analyse the girl. She grew and developed alot since he remembered her. She got taller by about half a head, a slightly sharper face, her brown hair now grew up right under her ears, and the simple clothes she had remained in about the same style he remembered her to have, along with a familiar tachi on her back. For a reason unknown to him, his heart missed a beat at her sight. Maybe the reasoning behind it wasn't so unknown or hard to guess- he didn't need more than one glance at her appearance to realise that he found her attractive.

'Kaiya?' Tenten asked, her eyes widening. 'Is that you?'

Kaiya did the same check with Tenten, Neji and Guy as she did with Lee- they were all the same people from three years ago.

'Yeah, that's me.' Kaiya said softly, with a sheepish smile. 'I'm back.'

'Oh my god!' Tenten exclaimed, before catching Kaiya into a hug. 'I missed you so much!'

In response, Kaiya smiled now more broadly as she hugged Tenten back. 'I missed you, too.'

As Tenten hugged Kaiya, the rest of the team couldn't help but watch in awe. The girl was the same Kaiya they knew, but something in her was different. Her aura felt a little... warmer.

'Kaiya?' Koutetsu exclaimed. 'Kaiya Hatake?'

Kaiya got out of Tenten's grip and forced a smile at the man.

'Yes, sir. That's me. But I don't go by Hatake.' She said. 'I never did, and presumably never will.'

The guard's eyes widened in surprise for a second, before returning to normal as he remembered more of what he heard- the girl didn't know of her father until three years ago at Orochimaru's attack during the Chūunin exams. He sighed lightly. It was understandable, he supposed.

'You guys just returned from a mission, right?' Kaiya asked her team.

The group nodded.

'Then we can go to the Hokage's office together!' Kaiya said with a smile. 'I need to make it official that I returned and all that, you know- all the official stuff.'

The small group seemed to be quite happy with it- even Neji, whose face now carried a content look.

'That kid sure is interesting.' Koutetsu told Izumo, the other guard.

'Mhm.' Izumo agreed a little absently, as he scribbled something in a notebook. 'Wonder about her potential, though. Kakashi-san and Sakumo-san are both strong shinobi. Saying that the other side is strong too, things might get hectic.'

'The other side?' Koutetsu asked confused.

'You know- her mother and all that.'

'Oh. Well, how weak can that family be?' Kotetsu shrugged. 'Kakashi could've not been attracted to that woman for nothing.'

'Like you know anything about women.' Izumo said, jokingly.

'Shut up!'

'So you'll remain in Konoha now?' Neji asked as they walked to the Hokage's office. 'For good?'

'Hopefully, yes.' Kaiya said.

'How's with the clan?' Guy asked, careful in choosing his words. 'Are they ok with you in Konoha, or...'

'They don't mind much.' Kaiya shrugged. 'Most of them don't, anyway. I got most things settled, so I'll probably be able to remain here as long I please.'

'That's good.' Tenten said, with a little doubt in her voice. 'Right?'

'Mhm.' Kaiya agreed, relaxing the girl.

'Well, here we are- The main building.' Guy announced.

Kaiya looked at the building. It was the same as she remembered. In fact, on her way to the main building, she noticed how in the past three years, the village hardly changed.

The village healed well after Orochimaru's attack and were a few new decorations and shops that Kaiya didn't remember, but as a whole, the village was the same as she remembered. Kaiya smiled. It felt nice returning to Konoha.

The group entered the building and, soon enough, they found themselves on the Fifth Hokage's office. The Hokage, also known as Tsunade, looked at Kaiya in surprise, with a tint of interest and pleasure in her eyes.

'I'm glad to see you again, Kaiya.' Tsunade said with a smile. 'You really meant it when you said you'd return in Konoha, didn't you?'

'Yes, ma'am.' Kaiya answered, shortly.

'I suppose you'd like to return back to the shinobi life?' Tsunade asked.

Kaiya nodded.

'Alright. Good. I'd like to test you and see how much you've improved and, perhaps, if you're ready for a higher rank. I'll find a shinobi and I'll let you know more when I find something. For now, welcome back to Konoha.' Tsunade said, before looking in one of her drawers and pulling out a key. 'This should be your apartment's key.'

'Thank you, Hokage-sama.' Kaiya said with a bow, before looking at her team for a moment. 'See y'all later.'

The girl left and the Hokage was left with the rest of Guy's team.

'It's nice to have her back, don't you think?' Tsunade asked. 'I've been thinking quite a lot about her case in the past three years.'

'Well, it's interesting to hear.' Tenten agreed.

'I wonder about what her abilities now are.' Lee said, with a tint of excitement. 'She looks much more youthful than I thought!'

'What's that supposed to mean...?' Tenten asked, her face dropping a little.

Tsunade shook her head.

'Nevermind that.' She said. 'Tell me about your mission.'

The walk to her apartment was rather short and, being honest to herself, a little nostalgic.

She walked around town holding her apartment keys tight, until, eventually, she reached her apartment door. She fiddled with her keys for a moment, before deciding to open the door.

'Hello, Kaiya.' A familiar voice said from down the hallway as a warm vibe surrounded Kaiya. 'It's nice to see you back.'

Kaiya looked to where the voice was coming from and saw a familiar old man, who smiled at her. Kaiya relaxed- it could've not been anyone but her old neighbour that passed away a long time ago, but who decided to haunt the apartment building.

'Takahata-san!' Kaiya exclaimed as she stopped from what she was doing, pleased to see the man. 'It's good to see you, too. How are you?'

'I'm doing good, thank you for asking. You know, your father passed by very often to check on your apartment while you were gone.'

'My father?' Kaiya furrowed her eyebrows as the image of her step-father came to her mind, before realising what the man meant. 'You mean Kakashi-san?'

The man nodded. 'That's the one.'

Kaiya smiled.

'Well, that's very nice of him.' She said, unsure what else to say. 'It really is.'

'You came a long way, didn't you? You should rest.'

Kaiya nodded. 'Thank you.'

The man nodded understandingly and, as he took his leave, before turning around as something came to mind.

'One last thing, Kaiya-san.' He said. 'I really wanted to ask you something.'

Kaiya frowned as she tensed a little. She hated the phrase I need to ask you something with a nearly burning passion.

'What is it?' She asked, her voice turning cold.

'I died over twenty years ago, in the last great war.' He said. 'How comes you're able to see and talk to me, while nobody else can't?'

Kaiya sighed lightly in relief.

'There's a sort of side effect to my family's Kekkei Genkai that one or two people get every other generation. The side effect allows those people to see the spirits of the dead.' Kaiya explained, on short. 'It's not always pleasant, but what's always pleasant, after all?'

The old man smiled.

'I see.' He said. 'Well, power always comes with responsibility- that's what my father would always say. In my perspective, he's right. But anyhow, it's nice talking to someone living, from time to time.'

They chatted for a little longer, before the old man eventually decided that it was time for Kaiya to settle in, at last. Luckily for her, she didn't have anything with her except for her tachi and a now much nicer weapon bag made out of animal skin, which meant very little work now. Unluckily for her, this meant a lot of shopping and savings later on.

She entered the apartment and took a deep breath. Her scent was hardly present now, covered by another scent, which wasn't the one of dust or old air- rather the contrary.

The apartment- which remained unchanged since she left- was fairly clean and it had fresh air. Only difference? It was obvious that someone else went in the apartment. The scent was quite relaxing as it reminded her a bit of home, but it still made her nose wrinkle a little. The scent was one that had a mix of autumn forests and... wet dogs. Her nose wrinkled a bit, as she decided to open some windows.

After she opened them, a presence suddenly made itself present. It felt very familiar, and it wasn't mister Takahata. The presence was there when she first moved in- it was the same presence that would sometimes break her plates. She wondered why she never really took a curious eye in it.

Kaiya looked around but, unlike other un-living presences she came across, she couldn't spot anyone. She could only feel their presence, which appeared to be somewhere in front of her.

'Hello.' She said, calming herself down. 'I'm Kaiya. Do you remember me?'

The presence shifted a little to the left.

'I hope that was an yes.' Kaiya laughed dryly. 'I'm moving back in. Hope you don't mind sharing the apartment again.'

This time, the presence didn't move anymore.

'If you don't want me to move in, or you need me, throw something at me. Preferably, a pillow.' Kaiya said. 'Ok? Great.'

She then began looking around the small one-bedroom apartment, familiarising herself once again with the place. Although the place was clean and generally fine, it still needed a few things in order to fully gain the name home.

First of all, she needed food and clothes. Second of all, she needed to somehow get rid of the smell. She might want to do something about the fact there were no more blankets and rugs on the ground, like at home.

Just as she thought of those things back in the living room, the doorknob moved, letting the door open. Allowing her instincts to take control for a moment, she reached for a somewhat used, silver kunai that was thrown in an instant next to the door, nearly hitting the intruder in the head.

'Who's there?' She demanded, her hand gripping her tachi on her back, ready to pull it out at any second.

'Re... Relax, it's just me.' A silver-haired man said with a nervous laugh, raising his hands up a bit, in defeat.

'Kakashi-san.' Kaiya said, surprised. 'I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to come.'

Around that moment, Kaiya felt the presence shift around the room like crazy, but she had other worries at the moment. Great, She thought, now she had a hole in the wall to fix for nothing.

Kakashi smiled a little, understandingly. He didn't know the girl so well, but from what he remembered from her fight with Kiba three years ago, she did manage to improve on her reflexes and aim.

'It's alright.' He said. 'Lady Hokage didn't announce to me about you returning, so I came by to check on your apartment.'

Kaiya tilted her head to a side, a little confused. Her neighbour already told her about him coming by to look for the apartment, but now that she finally got to think of it, it sounded a little weird. Being honest with herself, she couldn't really see the masked jonin as a maid who cleaned and took care of rooms.

'Thank you.' She said, regaining her posture. 'But I have a question. May I ask it, Kakashi-san?'

Kakashi hesitated a little, before shrugging. He was used with questions due to his team of genin-, especially Naruto. How bad could this be?

'Ask.' He said.

'Why did you take care of my apartment? Some genin or chuunin would've been just as capable of checking my apartment. Why you, out of all people?'

Kakashi's face wrinkled a little at the girl's questions. How was he supposed to answer the questions?

In a way, Kaiya understood the mixed feelings the man had but was it really necessary to get this involved? Much to her surprise, the man let out a smile.

'It's complicated.' He said, in a light manner. 'You'll understand when you're older.'

After he said that, he turned around and left nonchalantly, without even saying goodbye.

'I'm seventeen.' She muttered under her breath, with a shake of the head.

She contemplated for a little longer about what just happened, before brushing it off and continued with what she was doing, relaxing a little as the spirit stopped shifting in its madness.

Meanwhile, the Hokage's office was hectic as Tsunade was nearly buried under all the paperwork.

'Why did I have to be Hokage, Shizune?' She asked as she massaged her temples.

'Because you were the best candidate, Tsunade-sama.' The woman, Shizune, answered.

'I didn't even want to be a candidate!' Tsunade roared, before calming down. 'All this because that stupid Jiraiya... and now the Hatake kid's here too.'

'Kaiya didn't really do anything, though...' Shizune pointed out, hesitantly.

'No, but everything seems upside down, especially since the word got out like that.' She sighed. 'Let's just hope she's good shinobi material. We really need some, with the Akatsuki and all that being out there.'

'Did you find anybody to test her? Maybe Ibiki-san could do...' Shizune said.

'Maybe.' Tsunade shrugged. 'But he's pretty busy at the Interrogation office. I was actually thinking of Anko.'

'Mitarashi Anko?' Shizune asked, surprised. 'That might actually be a good choice. She's an exam proctor, so she might know just how to make things difficult without making it too dangerous. Should I send a word to her?'

Tsunade nodded. 'Mhm. Contact Kaiya about as well after you get things settled with Anko.'

'Yes, miss!' Shizune said with a bow, before leaving the room.

Tsunade looked at the door absently for a few moments, before returning to the papers on her desk with a sigh. She couldn't wait to retire.

A/N
Hey y'all!

How's it going? I'm really happy to present you guys the first chapter from 'The Wolf Within'! What do you guys think?

I've been working quite a bit on this chapter to get it right, so it took longer than expected to get it right. Anyhow, here it is!

The drawing in the media is something I found on Tumblr, by the artist akatsukiarts. Here's the original drawing:

Now, for the record, I'm still not done with Naruto Shippuden, but I'm mid war arc at like episode 380, so, if this fanfic gets to the war arc faster than planned and I'm still not done with it, then the chapter writing will slow down considerably.

But I'll most likely be done with it by then, so don't worry much!

So, I didn't ask. What do you guys think of this chapter?

*rubs hands* I'm really happy to say that I have a ship planned for Kaiya, but I won't spoil it just yet. So enjoy.

-Avery