A/N: I think I'll actually start naming my chapters. That and (try to) make them longer.

The sunlight was blinding. And annoying. Groaning, Kitsu sat up. What was so soft? Suddenly, the events of the past days came back to her. Now wide awake, she sensed a presence somewhere off in the distance.. Her mother had once told her stories about the, what was it, missy nin? that roamed the wilderness, she recalled.

She set off at a brisk pace in the direction of the rising sun. Looking up at huge trees, she was suddenly struck with an idea. It was a crazy, childish, just-for-fun idea, but she liked it nonetheless.

Kitsu was almost tempted to scream "THIS IS FUN!" and laugh like a crazy person, like crazyily dangerous tree-jumping was the most fun you could ever have. Instead, she just held a big grin on her face and gave the occasional giggle while leaping from tree to tree. She checked every now and then to make sure she was going in the right direction and that no one was near, but otherwise just let loose and had some fun.

Suddenly, she dodged on instinct. She felt especially on alert, as if something changed inside her as some kunai knives flew by. She turned to see, to her horror, two of what she wildly guessed were some of those "missy nin". They were both taller, bigger, stronger, and more experienced than her. It would be a hopeless fight.

— - • - —

It was supposed to be a simple capture-the-missing-nin-and-bring-them-back mission. However, there would be complications...

"How long till we encounter the missing nin? This is kinda boring.."

"There's no way they'll hang out so close to the village, dobe."

"Hey-

Just then, Kakashi shushed them, asking did they sense something?

"Haha, you're wrong for once, teme!"

"Then that just proves that they're just as dumb as you."

Kakashi shushed them again. The missing nin were approaching unusually fast. Why would they be running in the direction of the village?

— - • - —

Kitsu knew that she would not win this fight. So she fled. Faking an attack, she slid between the legs of one of her enemies. She was urged on by adrenaline and... something else? She didn't have time to think now. Somebody was near. She could only hope that they weren't more enemies. Oh, how she hated being so vulnerable and having to rely on someone else..

She saw a group of four, one silver haired adult male and three kids, all older than her. One seemed to dress around the theme of orange and was obnoxious, one had pink hair and looked like a fan girl, and the other one seemed more sensible than the other two combined.

When she was littler, her mother had drawn the Leaf Village symbol in the dirt for her to see. Now, the same symbol was carved into their headbands. The missy nin, still a good distance behind her, threw a kunai. With a new sense of power surging through her, she stepped aside and barely dodging it, caught the hilt, mindful not to cut herself on the sharp part where the blade met the hilt. They all gaped at her. She twirled and swung it a bit, trying to get a feel of the weapon. They still gaped at her.

'What? Is there something weird on my head?' she thought sarcastically. Then she realized that, oh great Kami-sama, there was. And that wasn't the only thing...

Yet another kunai was thrown at her, and the team seemed to snap out of it. With the help of Kitsu, they managed to defeat the missing min (who turned out to be pretty dumb) in a few minutes. At the end of the fight, the mixed feeling of adrenaline and power left her. The team looked surprised.

No one said anything. Not for a long,

Long,

long,

long,

time. Everyone was getting pretty uncomfortable. Suddenly, the blonde kid burst out, "Has anyone told ya that those fox-ear thingies look kinda weird?" he asked, and Kitsu knew it wasn't really supposed to be an insult. He was just being outright honest. But she really wasn't in the mood for converation. She wasn't very social.

The pink haired girl looked like she was going to say something, but Kitsu beat her to it. "Has anyone ever told you that your, ahem, interesting choice of clothing looks even weirder? she muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Hey! I heard that," He whined.

"Well, maybe you were MEANT to."

"What's that supposed to me-.. Hey!"

"Stupid," she growled under her breath. "Can't even recognise an insult when it's shoved in your idiotic face."

While all of this was going on, Kakashi was staring at Kitsu. She reminded him so much of a certain someone..

"I've got to leave. I'm sorry." The beautiful dark-haired woman was on the verge of tears. "I don't want you to be hated because of me, and I don't want her to, either," she explained softly,a gesturing at her stomach. Kakashi nodded silently. And just like that, she was gone, leaving a single purple rose in her place.

Could it be?