A/N: Gomen, gomen, gomen, long, loooooong hiatus I know. I whammed this out after two days and many angry computer crashes and lots of expletives. Kyoto-san, I finally updated, this is for you and your endless beautiful patience :') I don't like this, but its a VAST improvement over the unedited version *cringes*. Now if you excuse me, I have to go analyse twenty or so childrens books for primary research for a linguistics project (I really don't have a life, I know.) I'll try and get another update done for you soon m'kay? Review if you want to speed it up. Lots of love.

Eien no Shasai

(Edited Version)

Chapter 4;

In a Puddle's Shadows

Mizutamarini Kage

Curiosity killed the cat, but the wisdom it learnt saved it's last life.

Because after all, what is a child but curious?

-x-

A week passed and Kari learned much during that period. Her schedule was exhausting, with Sasuke irritably waking her from her nest of the floor every morning before the sun had risen and grumbling at her for being lazy and slow (though he did show a tiny shred of hospitality by making her breakfast), they then trekked to the training grounds where they met with Naruto (who always greeted her with enthusiasm and more often than not a bone crushing hug) and Sakura (who spent much more time greeting Sasuke). Kari then left for training with Neji where he proceeded to drill knowledge into her sleepy skull while attempting to pulverize her body into mush. Hours later she returned to her teem before Kakashi arrived where Sakura tended to comment on her 'dragged through a minefield' appearance. Kakashi appeared, they received a D-ranked mission or two (where Naruto would usually create mayhem), she would then be dragged to Ichiraku's for lunch with Naruto, afterwards Neji would somehow track her down and force her to training where Lee and TenTen also proceed to drill knowledge into her skull while attempting to pulverize her body into mush. At the end of the day, Sasuke would appear and show her the way back to where he lived grumbling under his breath at her stupidity.

"Maa, Kari-chan you're looking remarkably purple today," Kakashi said as they headed towards the Hokage's mansion for their mission.

"Training," she mumbled and he gave her a sympathetic pat on the head. Sometimes she could help but feel as though he thought of her as a pet dog.

-x-

"What's your difference from the target?"

"Five metres."

"I'm ready any-time."

"Me too"

"Same here."

"So am I."

"Ok, go!"

"UWAAAH!" came Naruto's battle cry five feet from Kari's left as he propelled out of the bushes, the rest of the team rushing in behind. "Gotcha!" Naruto cried in victory as his hands closed around the furry stomach of the large brown cat. With a shrieking 'Nyaaaaah!' the cat spat, hissed and attempted to claw Naruto's face off.

"Waa! Naruto-kun, move the cat away from you!" Kari said frantically as cat attacked boy.

"Ribbon on the left ear are you sure this is the target 'Tora'?" Kakashi questioned.

"Yeah we're sure," Sasuke said simply, ignoring Naruto's idiocy and Kari's attempts to help. Sakura giggled and couldn't help but observe how handsome Sasuke looked with the shadows of the leaves falling on him and...

"Naruto-kun, just... just give the cat to me before it takes your face off," Kari said plucking the cat out of his grasp. No longer being squeezed, the cat remained reasonably docile, glowing yellow eyes narrowed on Naruto as it long furry tail swung back and forth.

-x-

Unfortunately, Tora never succeeded in getting revenge as the cat was returned to its owner Shijimi-sama, the daimyo's wife.

"Ohhh, my kawaii Tora-chaaaan! I was so worried!" she cooed rubbing her face against the cat she was slowly strangling to death in her embrace.

"Ha! In your face you stupid cat!" Naruto said smugly while Kari sympathized with the poor abused creature, not blaming it for running away from that suffocating hold. Shijimi-sama dropped a pouch of money on the Hokage's desk and whisked Tora away, the cat's complaining wails echoing all the way into the street.

"Now for squad sevens next mission we have several available tasks" the Hokage stated as he skim-read the top paper on a bundle in front of him. "Ah, among them: babysitting the chief councillor's three year old, shopping in the next village, digging up potatoes and-"

"IIE!" Naruto interrupted loudly, arms forming a defiant cross in front of his chest. "Iie, iie, iie! No thank you!" Kakashi sighed next to Kari and started bracing himself for the scolding he was bound to receive later on the behaviour of his student. "I want to go on a real mission! Something cool and exciting! C'mon Ojiichan!"

"Baka! You're just a new genin! Everyone starts with the simple duties and work their way up!" Iruka bellowed slamming his hands on the desk. Kari had met him earlier on where Naruto pointed him out.

"Demo! Demo! We keep getting the crappest possible duties datteba-!"

"Urusai," Kakashi said simply, thwacking his rebellious student on the top of the head and sending him face first into the floor.

"Naruto!" the Hokage said sternly. "It seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given. Listen, many different tasks are given to our village every day. From babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded, analysed, and then ranked A, B, C or D depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by abilities Hokage at the top, Jounin, Chunnin and Genin at the bottom. At the highest level we select missions and apply them to ninja who have the appropriate skill and experience and if the mission is successful you receive a fee towards our village and our work. Since you are untried Genin just starting down the Shinobi path you are give D level assignments of course- Hm?"

"...Last night I had pork ramen, so miso ramen sounds good for-" Naruto chatted away to his team members and sensei, blissfully ignoring everything the elder ninja had just said.

"Oi! Listen!" the Hokage cried irritated.

"S-sumimasen..." Kakashi apologised, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Geez! All you do is give lectures like that," Naruto huffed. "But you know what? I'm not the troublemaking brat you still think I am!" Proving his point, Naruto turned his back on the Hokage, folded his arms and puffed out his cheeks in the style of a toddler having a tantrum. Kari bit her bottom lip as she tried to suppress her uncontrollable giggles. Sasuke and Sakura both shot her a disapproving glance while Kakashi ignored the odd urge to giggle as well.

"Okay."

"Huh?" Naruto spun around and glanced the Hokage suspiciously.

"If you want it that much, I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual," the Hokage said with a small smirk.

"Yatta!" Naruto cheered excitedly. "Dare? Dare? Daimyo-sama ka? Ohimesama ka?"

"Calm down, I'll introduce him now," the Hokage said. "Oi, will you come in here?"

"Nani? They're all a bunch of super-brats," an old man declared as he sauntered drunkenly into sight. He leaned against the door frame with a large bottle in his hand, peering over his glasses at his so called protectors. "Especially the shortest one with the super stupid-looking face. Are you really a ninja?"

"Haha! Who's the shortest one with the stupid..." it took Naruto a moment to realise even little Kari was at least an inch taller than he was. "I'll kill you!" Naruto shrieked attempting to pounce as Kari struggled to hold the flailing boy back.

"What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect? Baka!" Kakashi scolded lazily, grabbing hold of Naruto's collar and taking over Kari's restraining job.

"I am super expert bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge," the old man slurred sternly. Kari found herself tempted to try his magic drink, it seemed to make everything 'super'.

-x-

"Kari-chan, you have a hospital check up before the mission," Kakashi said quietly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Come, it shouldn't take too long."

"Okay," Kari said after a moment. "Ne, Sasuke-san, do you know where the hospital is?" she added, glancing up at the quiet boy.

"This way," he said seeming irritable, heading off to the right with Kari close behind.

"Maa, I was going to show you the way," Kakashi said as he lazily trailed behind, flicking open his book to the desired chapter.

-x-

Soon after being shown into a room, Kari decided that she didn't like her assigned nurse. She kept huffing angrily and glancing at the clock, as though checking the remaining time until her break. She pulled out a tray with a variety of medical tools and pulled on some latex gloves.

"Be good and this wont take long," she grumbled. All thoughts of obeying that command vanished out the window when the nurse pulled out a long needle filled with an unknown substance.

-x-

"Oh?" Kakashi said looking up in surprise to see Kari hurtling towards him, or more specifically, the exit a couple of metres behind him. He caught her around the middle with his arm and lifted her slightly so she couldn't reach the ground. "What's up?"

"They're going to poison me," Kari growled, legs still furiously racing through the air as she tried to plough through his arm. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and then noticed why she was so anxious. Clearly, Kari hadn't been too keen on a load of sharp objects coming in her direction, so instead of attempting to calm her, the nurse tied her hands behind her back. The poor kid had been restrained and hadn't even been in there ten minutes.

"Oi!" the nurse stormed towards them her face flushed. "Please escort the patient back into the treating room. My break is in ten minutes and I don't want to miss it."

"I remember you," Kakashi remarked airily. This particular nurse had been horrid and grumpy throughout one of his treatments back when he was a Chuunin and he hadn't forgotten those sharp fingers stabbing into his swollen bruised muscle and asking irritably "Is this where it hurts?". He couldn't blame Kari for running away when she was already nervous. "I think, Kari-chan should have another nurse. You have somewhat of a personality clash and I wouldn't want to keep you from your break, ne?"

If her hands weren't tied, he suspected she would have embraced him until he suffocated through the overflowing gratitude.

"Ne, Kari-chan, want some pocky?"

"Pocky?" Kari repeated curiously. She watched as he pulled out the candy stick.

"Here, chocolate pocky."

Judging by the delight on her face and the intense gaze on his pocket, pocky became Kari's new favourite food.

After an hour's tests with a far more pleasant nurse, Kakashi kindly escorted her back to Sasuke's home where the Uchiha kindly slammed the door in his face the second Kari stepped inside.

Ah, the wonders of teenage attitudes.

-x-

"Let's go!" Naruto cheered excitedly as he rushed out the gate.

"What are you so excited about?" Sakura asked irritably. They'd only just started the mission and already Naruto was being annoying.

"I've never been out the village before, dattebayou!" Naruto cried looking around excitedly. Kari glanced around too seeing the seemingly endless trees on either side of the dirt path and looking up at the huge village gate.

"Oi, am I really going to be safe with this brat?" Tazuna demanded to Kakashi, pointing an accusing finger in Naruto's direction.

"Well, I'm a Jounin so don't worry," Kakashi chuckled.

"Oi! Ojiichan don't mess with ninjas! I'm incredible!" Naruto shouted. "One day I will stake on the super elite ninja title of Hokage! My name is Uzumaki Naruto dattebayou, remember it!"

"Naruto-kun, show some modesty," Kari sighed.

"Hokage is the village's number one ninja, ne? I doubt someone like you could become it," Tazuna stated before taking a big gulp from his bottle.

"Urusai! I'm prepared to do anything to become Hokage! Once I become Hokage you will acknowledge me, dattebayou!"

"No I won't brat. Even if you did become Hokage."

"I'll kill you!" Naruto shrieked pouncing at the old man while Kakashi held him back by the collar.

"I said stop it baka," the Jounin reminded tiredly. Kari blushed at Naruto's easily bruised pride but respected his self-confidence, with a soft sigh she glanced around the area, her eyes flicking back to a certain tree when she thought she saw a shadow move. Passing it off as her imagination she shrugged and followed after her team.

"Anou, Tazuna-san? You're from Nami country right?" Sakura asked.

"What about it?" Tazuna replied gruffly.

"Anou, Kakashi-sensei, do they have ninja in that country too?" Sakura asked, turning to Kakashi.

"Iie, not in the wave country, but in most other countries the culture customs may be different, but hidden villages do exist and so do shinobi. To many countries of the continent the existence of a shinobi village means millitary power and this is how they hold and maintain advantages over one another. But, it's not that the villages rule the countries, they merely stand equally with the country's government. A small island country like the Wave country doesn't receive much interference from the larger countries and may not need a Shinobi village. Within many of the Shinobi villages, Konoha, Kiri, Suna, Kumo and Iwa are large and powerful and so are referred to as The Five Great Shinobi Countries. These are the only countries where the leader receives the title 'Kage'."

But, isn't he just a little old man?

"You just doubted Hokage-sama didn't you?" Kakashi said eyeing each of them sternly. "Aa, but don't worry, there won't be any ninja combat on a C-rank mission," Kakashi reassured while Kari frowned remembering a part of Neji's lectures. 'Always be on guard, to be unprepared is to be unprotected.'

"Then we won't come into combat with any foreign ninja's?" Sakura asked.

"Of course not," Kakashi chuckled. Kari couldn't help but notice Tazuna looked exceptionally grave at Kakashi's statement. She felt uneasy at his sudden tension and glanced around nervously, dodging around a puddle. Hmm? But the weather had been nice and sunny as of late. Did it rain outside the village?

"Kakashi-sensei," Kari began but he brought his finger to his masked lips in an instruction to be quiet. There was a splashing sound as the water stirred and two ninja leapt out of the puddle with a sharp chain between them. In the next instant, Kakashi was tied up in the chains.

"Nani?" came various cries, but they seemed sluggish to Kari's ears as her hear pounded in her ears, her mind sharply screaming of imminent danger.

"One down," one of the enemy shinobi growled with a smirk in his voice as with a tug, Kakashi was ripped to shreds. Shreiks and cries for their fallen sensei erupted from Naruto and Sakura and Kari's mind went almost blank. Neji's lessons were a faint echo as her body moved on its own, knowing exactly what to do, how to move, how to react. She didn't think, she moved on sheer instinct.

"Two down," the other ninja said appearing behind Naruto, but before they could wrap their chains around him Sasuke had pinned them to the tree with it, a kunai securing the shuriken through the hole in the centre, holding them fast to the tree.

"I'm stuck!" the ninja cried furiously and then faltered when they noticed a foot coming towards each of their jaws. Kari had landed on the metal claws tied to their arms and supporting her weight on her hands she had slammed her legs out at a 180 degree angle straight into the sides of their faces. They grunted in pain and a soft metallic twang sounded as the chain snapped, setting both ninja free. One shot for Sakura and Tazuna while the other headed for Naruto. Out the corner of her eye Kari saw Sasuke rushing to Sakura's aid so took the initiative to help Naruto and ran for him, eyes stuck on the enemy.

"UWAA!" Naruto cried in alarm as the razor sharp claws thrust towards him while Sakura shakily clutched a kunai shouting for Tazuna to stay behind her. Kari's pushed faster knowing the other ninja had a significant head start and prepared to strike for the neck which had no armour and therefore was the clearest vulnerable point. Her heart hammered as they were the same distance away from Naruto and prepared to strike...

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted, appearing in an instant with both ninja caught in a tight headlock.

Sakura squealed with delight over her sensei's obvious survival while Sasuke grumbled something along the lines of 'show off'.

"Kakashi-sensei... used Kawarimi?" Naruto murmured in shock, glancing at the sliced logs where Kakashi's 'mutilated body' had previously been.

Kari felt she had run into a stone wall and gasped coming to a stop and her grip relaxing. She'd barely been aware she attacked and was more than a little shaken that she'd rushed in with such ease.

"Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't save you immediately, I got you injured. I didn't think you would freeze like that," Kakashi apologised and Kari's stiffness relaxed as she focused on Naruto's bleeding hand instead of her sudden attack. "Anyway, nice job Sasuke, Kari, you too Sakura," Kakashi praised, staring fixedly on Kari with a sense of suspicion.

"Oi," Sasuke said glancing at Naruto. "You alright? Scaredy cat." Before Naruto had a chance to retort Kari jumped to his defence, fist slamming into Sasuke's jaw without a second thought.

"Kari-chan!" Sakura cried in outrage.

"Kari, Naruto, save it for later," Kakashi ordered and shooting a disgusted look at her team-mate, Kari turned her back on Sasuke and went to Naruto's aid.

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" Sakura fussed immediately rushing to him as he wiped the drop of blood from the corner of his lip. "Really! I don't know what came over her all of a sudden."

"Their claws are soaked in poison, we have to remove it quickly," Kakashi instructed. "We must open the wound and release the poisoned blood from your body, don't move too much or the poison will spread. Tazuna-san."

"What is it?" the old man asked.

"I need to talk to you," Kakashi stated, looking over his shoulder gravely. "These look like Hidden Mist Chuunins, they're known to continue fighting no matter what."

"How did you read our movements?" One of the Mist Chuunin demanded.

"On a sunny day like this where it hasn't rained in days, there's not going to be a puddle, ne Kari-chan?" Kakashi asked glancing her way. Surprised he mentioned her she nodded.

"If you knew that, why did you let the brats fight?" Tazuna asked.

"I could have killed these two instantly, but I needed to see what they were after. This has now become at least a B-rank mission. This was supposed to be simple protection until you completed the bridge," Kakashi said with an undertone of accusation. "If it were known that there were ninjas after you it would have been set as a more expensive B-rank mission. I'm sure you had a reason but it causes problems when you lie about a mission. We are now operating outside of our duties."

"We aren't ready for this mission, let's quit!" Sakura agreed. "Besides we need medicine for Naruto's wounds, we should take him back to the village so he can see a doctor."

"Mm, this might be too much," Kakashi sighed. "I guess we should return to the village to treat Naruto."

Time slowed as Kari saw Naruto's kunai move out the corner of her eye and the sickly squelch as it penetrated his wound and spurted the infected blood out.

"Why is there so much of a difference? Why am I always... k'so!"

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Sakura cried in alarm.

"I should be becoming stronger... I've completed many missions, I practice my jutsu everyday by myself... I'm not going to need saving again. I'm not going to be afraid and try to run. I'm not going to lose to Sasuke. I swear on this pain in my left hand. With this kunai, I'll protect ojiisan! We're continuing this mission!" Naruto declared.

"Naruto-kun," Kari said taking his hand in hers and removing the kunai in a swift movement.

"Naruto, it's good that you're releasing the poison and all but... any-more and you'll die from lack of blood... seriously," Kakashi said chirpily as Naruto's face went blue from horror.

"NO! That's bad! I can't die from something like this dattebayou!" Naruto screeched as Kari patiently held his hand still as he danced frantically where he stood.

"Let me see your hand," Kakashi said bending down in front of Naruto and taking the wounded paw from Kari.

"Naruto seriously! What are you, a masochist?" Sakura scolded.

The cut... it's already healing.

"Kakashi-sensei, am I going to be okay?" Naruto said in a high pitched voice as he tried to read his sensei's expression.

"You should be fine," Kakashi said simply as he wrapped Naruto's hand. Must be the power of the Kyuubi. "Hokage-sama was right Kari, you're a natural kunoichi," Kakashi said when he finished treating Naruto and placed a hand on her head. "Aa, why do you look so troubled?"

"I acted on impulse, it was a bit scary," Kari admitted glancing up at him. "Is it normal for a ninjas body to act without thought?"

"Sometimes," Kakashi reassured, seeing she was anxious about it. She had a startling natural skill in battle, she was calm, stealthy and her attacks were sharp, attributes that came from many long years of hard training. How peculiar. "You did well, though. So don't worry about it, ne? You should be proud."

"Hai," she agreed, still not fully convinced.

"Pocky?" Kakashi offered and as expected her eyes lit up and a shaky smile found its way onto her face.