Chapter 1 – Closer Than Enemies - (Von's P.O.V.)

Eyes were following me. I was being ambushed by some Konoha ninjas, and they were protecting the person I was after, Orochimaru. I was aware of all his plans, to destroy Konoha, to use Uchiha, Itachi as a new body until he could be immortal. Why would Konoha let a vermin like him live is beyond me, yet this wasn't the first time I have tried to get him. Their best people were now after me, the ANBU Black Op team and the Legendary Sannin. To my surprise, my stomach began to curdle and I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck – my vertebrae. The next thing I knew, my vision went black and I felt my body give into the cold ground.

"She's starting to stir, I think she's awake!"

My eyes shot open, allowing all my senses to come intact. My joints were stiff, and I was in a white room on a hospital bed with an IV hooked up to my arm and a small tube running up to a bag of water. Suddenly, a man with silver hair, a mask over his mouth, and a head protector covering his left eye shot up and stood over me.

"It's about time, you've been out for 42 hours. Not that it's a surprise, after all, the kunai did hit you in the vertebrae. Can you get up and move?" He asked.

I stared up at him in confusion. As I lifted myself up, I swung my legs over the hospital bed and stood up. My legs were wobbly, but I could walk. "I'm okay." I replied.

"Good. We're going to have to take you into interrogation."

"WHAT?" I yelled, losing my balance and falling on my butt. "What did I-" and then I realized I was in Konoha and I had tried to capture that hideous snake man.

"I'm sorry?"

"Never mind. I'll go with you."

"Great," he pulled my arm over his neck and helped me walk," it's just a few buildings down."

"Joy." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

My scalp itched, but as I went up to scratch it, I felt my loose hair in the open. Just then, I realized my hijaab was gone, my kunai was gone, and I was in a hospital gown!

In the middle of the hospital, my scream echoed down the halls. "Where the heck is my hijaab and clothing, you jackass?" I yelled while punching the silver-haired man in the face.

"Calm down, you'll get it after interrogation."

A growl escaped my mouth. I rubbed my temples and asked," So what's your name?"

"Hataki, Kakashi. What's yours?"

"Sinclaire, Von."

"Well, first part of interrogation's done." He laughed. This caused me to smile as well.

He looked around the age of 14 and I was 10 as of now. My parents had passed away when I was 7, and since then I have been training to become an assassin and sent on several successful missions. Unfortunately, the mission I was currently on had been unsuccessful for the past 2 attempts, but now that I was in Konoha and living, I had a shot at luck.

3 years had passed since the day I met Kakashi. He helped me to survive in this wretched vermin protecting village. We were now good friends, seeing as our daily routine was training, business, and then hanging out. Kakashi had got me into the ninja academy to learn. After the course of 3 years, I surpassed all the Genin and became a Jonin and was on my road to being a Sannin. The ANBU department had offered me a job there as a Black Op, but the fact I was secretly an assassin defies me from being another assassin in a different village. I was still on my mission. The difference between an assassin and a ninja had recently became clear to me; assassin's are more taijutsu, and ninjas prefer genjutsu and ninjutsu. I still hadn't gotten my old clothes or my spellbound kunai back, which irritated me to no end. That kunai was special, I couldn't make a new spellbound kunai, seeing as it was something only certain blood lines could do. My kunai was the only thing that bothered me not having now. Even though my clothing is different, it was a change for the better. I now wore a long sleeved black dress with purple lines where the seams were, and around the waist. It was a v-neck, and had slits down the side, where underneath were black leggings, so I could quickly move around. I also began to keep my hair down.

This whole time, only one person my age had surpassed me and advanced forth in the ninja academy. Apparently Orochimaru had left without his prized possession, Itachi Uchiha. Itachi was now chief of the ANBU Black Ops. He was a legacy in this village. At first I thought his talent probably ran in the family since his dad was an ANBU captain as well, but it proved wrong when I met his little brother, 6 year old Sasuke. Sasuke had tried very hard to be as good as Itachi, but was still far from even close. Itachi had mastered sharingan at Sasuke's age, but Sasuke hadn't even activated it yet. I would have never expected someone so dedicated to his village, to turn his back and wreck everything he stood for, but tonight was quiet... too quiet.

"Von? Can you walk me home? It's dark out and I don't wanna go alone." Sasuke pleaded.

"Alright, but if your Okaasan asks, I am not responsible for you being late!"

He nodded to my comment and grabbed my hand, dragging me along with him. As we approached the Uchiha Clan gates, it had come to me that it was darker than it should be, and too quiet. Sasuke clenched onto my hand and flinched when he saw the Clan streets were empty. Somethings obviously not right, there should be people out and about at this time, I thought. My train of thought was broken by a sudden gasp from Sasuke as he looked around him. Both of our eyes shot wide in unison. There were dead people everywhere, but they weren't here a second ago. I caught a glimpse someone on the big telephone post, but when I looked up, no one was there. I looked over to Sasuke who began to run past me to his home. Trailing behind, he got in the house before I could, but I heard a scream. As I was about to walk through the open sliding door, it slid shut quickly in front of my eyes. My anger now grew strong and I jumped in the air and punched the door so hard it shattered into pieces. A gasp escaped my lips as I saw 2 blood red eyes glance at me from the shadows. The eyes were quickly fixated back on Sasuke. I saw him lying on the floor with a cut on his shoulder and water glistening on his cheeks. He looked in a paranormal state, and I could tell he was caught in the genjutsu of a kekki genkai user. Out of the shadows came Itachi Uchiha, holding a bloody sword.

Time had passed since the incident and the only person I could bring myself to trust was Kakashi. After all, Kakashi was the one who convinced the village to let me live and be a citizen. Even though Sasuke was a painfully attention seeking kid, I felt bad for him and took him under my wing. But even if he trusted only me, I knew he would get into trouble in the future, and I could not bring myself to trust him. He viciously craved power and hatred all to kill his brother. Never the less, Kakashi and I were the 2 most trusted and respected ninjas in the village; people undoubtedly put their life in our hands with trust and integrity.

"Konichiwa Von!" Kakashi yelled from behind me, closing 'Makeout Paradise' and running to my side.

"Morning Kakashi!" I giggled cheerfully. He was the only one I put my defense down around.

Even when you couldn't see a smile under his mask, you could see it in his only visible eye. "Where are you going? Don't you have the day off?"

"Don't you not?"

"Well...," he scratched the back of his head," actually I just retired from the Black Ops to be a sensei."

"Fun! Soon you might be teaching Sasuke-kun! God save him if he gets Guy."

Kakashi laughed at this. "Yeah, Guy sure is a cocky one, eh?"

"You said it."

Kakashi and I talked about our new schedules and drama that's been going on as we walked to the training grounds. I asked him about Orochimaru, but he seemed to know nothing so far. Our discussion was interrupted by an agitated Asuma and Kurenai. Asuma whispered something into Kakashi's ear while Kurenai whispered something into mine. Speak of the devil.