Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The next few weeks flew by: a blur of practice, little missions and late nights with Haku and Kakashi. True to his word, I was still not allowed to partake in missions, and someone was always at my side to keep me safe if there was even the slimmest chance of danger. Honestly, it was annoying, but it made sense. There was never any chance for me to prove I was worthy of joining them and therefore I was stuck on the outside, which kept Kakashi comfortable.

Kakashi didn't like the idea of me talking to Haku as much as I did, but I could tell that there was a chance for change in him. Haku, that is. He had been moved out of the cage by then and into a small room with much longer chains, meant only to prevent escape. He had, at least, stopped trying to kill himself. Kakashi was having a hard time adjusting to having one of his students blatantly ignore his wishes. In fact, my hardest times in that month, apart from training, were the nights with Kakashi, while I had to listen to him lecture. I listened, sure, but not very closely.

One time, I actually argued back and told him that it wasn't his place to judge Haku. I knew Haku better than he ever could, and I knew that Haku was changing. He was trying, which was more than I could say for Kakashi. All that really got me, though, was a really hard time in practice the next day as punishment, and silence for a few days to follow. I consequently began to spend most of my nights with Haku. This did not make matters any better. Not surprisingly, it made things worse as far as my relationship with Kakashi.

Not that there was much of a relationship to speak of. He was so furious with me all the time, and I thought practice would kill me a few times, just like my physical education classes back in high school. This, however, was much more difficult. And I would be hard-pressed to explain why if you didn't already know.

The chakra control was the worst at first, until I remembered that Naruto went to Sakura for help, and so I decided to do the same. She gave me some really good tips, and I used them to improve. Slowly at first, but I did improve to the point that I could mimic Kakashi's casual stroll up the trunk of the tree by the time of Chuunin exams. Of course, that took time, and in that time I learned many other things as well.

The other difference this practice had with all of the other courses I took to stay healthy was that, in this case, it was truly life or death and not just for points or fun. In my Kendo class all I had to do was hit the other person with a wooden sword, here getting that close meant death in most cases. In karate, the goal was to be seen to fight up front with the opponent. In ninjutsu, the art of it all was to stay hidden. To kill, to attack, to accomplish the goal, generally from the shadows, or to make sure not to get so close as to be in trouble for it. A ninja's most effective weapons from the shadows, the shuriken and the kunai, were my two least favorite tools to use. Mostly, this is because I had horrible aim. With all of the extra training I had been getting as punishment, though, I was improving quickly.

The Chuunin exams were coming soon, and I had to be prepared. Kakashi was making sure of this to the best of his ability, though I was sure he would try to keep me out of it anyway.

One night, while I was talking to Haku, I brought up how hard practices had been and he reminded me of what his life had been like. All of a sudden, I felt bad for complaining, so I changed the subject and asked how things had been going for him recently. He told me that the Hokage and some of the other jounin had been spending time with him as well, and that he was beginning to see them as people, and not necessarily just as the enemy. He told me I was the only one that he saw as even close to a friend, however, and that was touching. This was an improvement over how things had been and I was glad to hear it. When I told him so, he slightly smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad you think so, because I am trying to move on."

This made me so glad I hugged him without thinking, but he didn't even try to push me off. He even hugged me back ever so slightly. I smiled and sat back, and we continued to talk late into the night about what he meant exactly by that phrase.

By the time I got back to the apartment I could have sworn Kakashi was asleep, but as I settled into my bed he must have woken up. As I was getting comfortable, he spoke, "So, where have you been?"

"Where do you think?" I asked, shutting my eyes, hoping he'd leave me alone. A false hope.

"Stop talking to him," were the next words to come out of his mouth.

"A bit cold hearted, are we?" I asked sarcastically, irritated.

"I'm worried about you, Caruh."

"Well, find something else to worry about. There is nothing wrong with me talking to him. Therefore, there is nothing that will be able to stop me." The last thing I wanted was to lay there and argue with Kakashi, so I turned around to face the wall. In all honesty, the man can be as dense as any other man. Being a ninja didn't help him at all in that matter.

"Caruh, he'll hurt you. He's already tried to, and you won't get away unscathed next time."

"I didn't get away unscathed last time," I shot back, indicating the scar on my hand.

Shaking his head, he answered, "I mean deeper than that, worse."

"Oh? So getting an acupuncture needle shoved all the way through my hand to keep him from killing himself wasn't bad enough?" I growled, agitated.

"It was bad, Caruh, that's not what I meant," he paused. Then he went on, with a sigh, "I meant an emotional scar. That it would traumatize you like nothing else would."

"How weak do you think I am?" I shouted, infuriated. Sitting up, I looked at him angrily, and he was looking back at me. My emotions got the better of me, so I stood up and, instead of staying to talk it over I walked out, indignant. His visible eye was on me until I shot the front door behind myself.

Walking the streets of Konoha, I thought about what was said. In his defense, without knowing Haku now his points would have some validity. What made me mad was that he refused to even give him a chance. I sat at a bench in the park and just thought while the night passed.

A memory flashed into my mind then, something I hadn't thought about in a couple of months. Something that had happened to me in my life before coming to Konoha, the time I had dubbed my "past life". I had not thought about that in some time, but a few moment specific memories came back to me right then: my first crush, my first date, my first time getting dumped and the one time I was traumatized by a guy. All the same person, in fact.

His name was Parker. He was the most popular guy in school and every girl's dream. He ended up being my worst nightmare by the time we were through. I met him at an arcade, a year before the accident that brought me to Konoha, and we hit it off right away. That seems to be how it always goes, right? Things start out so perfectly, but then… well, I'm getting ahead of myself. He asked me out the next day. What could I say but yes? I had a crush before I had any idea what was going on, and the next thing I knew, we were "in love". At least, I thought I was in love.

I thought life was perfect, until one night a few months later when I was at home alone, and he came over. He had said it was just to talk, so we snuggled up on the couch and words started flowing. When he told me how much he was in love with me, I felt so thrilled, and thought I would do anything for him. That was, of course, his plan. The next words out of his mouth were, "Let me prove it to you."

Slowly, sensually, his hand moved from my shoulders down my back and around my sides to my stomach. Down they went, caressing all the way to my thighs. A rush of danger raced through me, and I quickly pulled back from him, not liking it. All I got in response to my reaction was a smirk before I hit the floor with him on top of me. As much as I tried to get out of his grip, it was to no avail as he was too strong. He also knew about my ninja obsession, so he had learned how to keep me immobile even as I used every trick I could think of. Then again, my mind was shutting down with fear, so I wasn't thinking too well anyway.

Before I could come up with anything to help me, my pants were down and he was there, trying to ignite some passion in me. While passion sparked, so did fear and disgust, and those won out. I screamed as loudly as I could, tears forming in my eyes, but he only laughed. That was when I thought of the one thing that had kept me pure. Twisting my body, I quickly forced him off balance, and then shoved when he wasn't stable. He fell off of me, and I stood as quickly as I could, pulling my pants back up as I ran.

The only words out of his mouth as I ran up to my room and locked the door were, "You damn prude! Don't expect anyone to love you!" That was the worst, but he added to it by telling all of his friend's. Generally, I didn't care what people thought, but now I was the perfect prude, which meant that every guy wanted to break that little bubble I'd supposedly built around myself. It was hell trying to avoid all of them, but somehow I managed it. After a while, they left me alone for the most part, but he never spoke to me again after that night.

A second weight on my bench snapped me out of my memories, and with watery eyes I looked over to see who it was. A man I had never seen before sat next to me, seeming to judge me from his seat beside me. I was too tired to stand after the stressful thoughts that had been going through my mind, but I was confused and a bit worried, so I scooted to the end of the bench at least. Looking back at him I noticed his outfit, the cloak hiding his face and most of the rest of him cast shadows on what was visible, making him seem extremely creepy.

"Who are you?" I asked, scooting even further away, so I was practically falling off the bench.

He chuckled lightly, before responding, "Viden Jatchi, at your service." His voice was rough and deep, but quiet. After that, he went silent again, and all I could do was guess at what he was thinking.

Instead of just staring, which seemed tempting but would be rude, I asked another question, "Why are you here?"

"You looked like you could use some comfort, a shoulder to cry on," he shrugged.

Looking up at the sky now, I answered, "You don't seem like the comforting kind."

Another laugh caused me to turn to him again. "I can be, you'll see."

"I'll see what?" I demanded, but he stood and shook his head.

"I'm here if you need anything, you can find me at this bench, or wait here and I'll find you. In the meantime, go back home, I'm sure someone's worried about you."

So, with school starting again in a week or so, I'm here trying to update as much as I can and make the most of this weekend. It is fantastic and I'm excited, but it will be a lot of work and time dedicated away from this story and any others, so I want to keep you all entertained for when the updates slow down. My goal then will be to just make the most of my weekends.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Love you all! Ja ne, minna-san!