Author's Note: Hello lovely readers, here is chapter 5 I hope you all enjoy it as much as chapter 4 which got a lot of love! This one is a tad more sombre than the rest of the story, but I feel it needs one or two low points to act as a break and add a little depth to the storyline. I originally wanted to have Toshiko meet Team 7 in this chapter, but by the end it just didn't feel right so I'm saving that for later.

Remember to check my profile for progress updates, and please don't hesitate to review/pm me your thoughts, questions or constructive criticisms, I really love reading them and they will hopefully help me become a better writer!

Thanks to: The wonderful IloveTeamSeth who gave me some brilliant grammatical advice on chapter 4, hopefully I've taken it all in for this one!

Books. , Superboy99, Lacrestcia, iridescent08, 0Abbey0, Yurina101, Akg36, ChildhoodFun, scranton-strangler, Avistone, Dinoluvr, Giotto21, LittleMissPirateQueen, CamillaLangdon, jocie161

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any characters, story, ideas that are associated with it. What I do own is my OC Toshiko Akatora and any other OC's that may turn up.

=^.^=

Large wooden doors towered over the two shinobi. She glanced apprehensively towards Kakashi "You know, maybe we should..."

Her voice trailed off as their eyes met, and the stern look she was receiving made her reconsider, "-Err knock first; barging in is just terribly rude."

Kakashi merely nodded in agreement. Her teeth gently bit down on her bottom lip as a hesitant fist made its way towards the door. With the patience he usually utilized as a sensei, Kakashi cocked his head to one side and said "You know it might help if you actually hit the door, Tora."

A scowl briefly flashed across the kunoichi's face as she complied, and with all the composure and maturity of a five year old stuck her tongue out at him. Laughing quietly, he rested one hand on her head and opened the door to the office.

The Third was sat at his desk immersed in paperwork as Toshiko entered the room. Looking up from the numerous mission requests, the Hokage focused his attention on his visitor, "Good afternoon Toshiko, I'm glad to see you have almost fully recovered, have you come to fill out you're mission report?"

"Thank you Lord Hokage, and yes that is why I'm here."

The elder nodded in response, opened a draw, and handed her a form which she preceded to fill out. When she had finished recounting the events of her last mission she passed it back, ringing her hands as she waited for the Hokage to read through it.

The sound of the clock mocked her from its perch high on the wall. She hated waiting with a passion, especially when it was regarding something important. This was by no means the first stupidly clumsy act that had put her in the hospital, it had gotten to the point where the Hokage had had words with her about it and sternly told her it wasn't acceptable for a Jounin. So to say she was a little nervous was an understatement and a half.

"Toshiko..."

*Oh dear, this is not going to go down well.* She thought with a sigh. "Yes Sir?"

His elbows rested on the desk with his fingertips meeting in front of his down turned face. "We have spoken about this recently, I am sure you remember. I thought I had made myself perfectly clear that you need to train harder in order to move forward, and overcome this weakness."

"I know, you did, it's just... easier said than done... sorry Sir, I promise to try harder from now on."

*This isn't as bad as I'd anticipated, maybe I'll get away with just a slap on the wrist...?* She thought, a set of fingers crossing behind her back.

Raising his head, his unwavering eyes bore into hers, "It is not your will of fire that concerns me, your love for the village has always been strong, and you are steadfast in your determination... when you put your mind to it. What worries me is that, at present, you are not delivering what is required of a Jounin level ninja."

Her heart dropped, and the subtle tingling of nerves crept upon her. This wasn't going exactly how she'd hoped.

"I'm worried that your recklessness will endanger not only missions or your own life, but those of your team mates, none of which is acceptable. I will grant you one last mission, if you complete it without incident, then I will allow you to stay on active duty."

As arguing at this point would have been futile, she merely nodded. Feelings of disappointment and shame mingled unpleasantly inside her, she really had no one else to blame for her laziness. She hadn't exactly taken it seriously at all; she had merely laughed it off and carried on as usual. The Hokage sat for a moment longer before changing the subject, "Is Kakashi outside?"

"He is. Would you like me to call him in?"

The other nodded in response, before adding, "He's supposed to see me later, but if he's here now I can trick him into being early."

She looked up before turning to leave; the old man was smiling at her. Damn, it sure made it harder to moan about him when he was just so nice. Smiling meekly in return she gave a short bow and left the room.

Kakashi had found a quiet wall to lean against and was seemingly immersed in his book when she called over to him, "Yo, Kakashi, it's your turn."

He raised his head slightly, meeting her gaze "But aren't I supposed to see him this afternoon...?"

She waved a hand absently, "Yeah, but he knows you'll only be late, so seeing as you're actually here right now he doesn't need to wait around." A cheeky grin spread across her features as she poked her tongue out.

Kakashi's eye scoured the ceiling as a groan left his lips, and in one fluid motion Icha Icha was closed and back in his pocket. "Hmm… we should probably get lunch first, you must be hungry by now…"

At that Toshiko arched a well-defined eyebrow at him, one hand rising to sit on her curvaceous hip, "Oh no you don't Hatake, get that hypocritical butt of yours in there before I kick it in!"

She received a look of mild surprise mixed with a dash of amusement, as the silver haired Jounin put his hands up with a laugh, "Ok, ok I'm going, I wasn't being serious."

"And somehow you still manage to be tardy, you're hopeless." She muttered as the door closed behind him, leaving her to ponder over the unfortunately wise words of the head of the village.

One more chance, that's all she had before a suspension from missions and months of intensive training. She would have to take it seriously from now on, no more messing around. Where would she even start, and what would be the most effective methods?

Only one option currently came to mind, and it wasn't exactly a reliable one considering the whereabouts of that woman were currently unknown.

After a short time the door opened once more and Kakashi strolled out, a hand lazily perched in his pocket. "Now that's sorted shall we go?" He asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, turning towards the door "Sure, ramen ok with you?"

"Considering Naruto is one of my students it'd be a problem if it wasn't."

She chuckled, "Good point."

=^.^=

The walk to Ichiraku's seemed to take longer than usual; for once Toshiko was silent, lost in thought. Kakashi swiftly sensed she had something on her mind, and it didn't take a genius to work out the subject matter. "Feel like talking about it?"

The velvety voice enticed her back to reality, "Huh? Oh, well, there's not much to talk about, it's really not that interesting."

"Try me. Interesting is overrated."

He sure was persistent at times. She sighed, "Ah, where to start. You know how the Hokage wants me to work on my clumsiness and skills?"

A curt nod encouraged her to continue, and with that she recounted everything the Third had discussed with her. He quietly, and intently, listened to all she said and only when she had finished did he speak, "I see, do you have a plan? Just in case your next mission doesn't quite go as well as you would hope."

Toshiko considered the question for a minute, "It's not exactly a reliable option... but it's the best I've come up with so far. There's just one problem."

"Which is...?"

Her gaze fell to the floor, unsure of how her friend would react, "I would have to leave the village, for a few months."

Although Kakashi made no outward sign that this statement had affected him, she could sense him tense up at her words. "Oh."

"I'm going to find that woman and ask her to train me." Her eyes continued to stare downwards.

It was rather rare for something to truly shock the ninja who had copied over a thousand jutsu; he had seen so much over the course of his life that being mildly surprised was the closest thing to a reaction that others would usually get. This, however, threw him. Not a lot was known about this woman, she was shrouded in a cloak of mystery, and Toshiko had rarely mentioned her. All that was known was that she had been a great ninja of the leaf several years ago.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks and reached for Toshiko's hand, turning her to face him. "Do you have an idea of her whereabouts?"

A half-smile played across her lips, "You remember the details of my most recent mission? I didn't tell you why I was alone. My team and I completed it without any problems, and on the way back I split up from them and took a detour via, oh what's it called? There's a small village a couple of miles away, it has that amazing tea shop we used to go to, remember?"

"The place you got banned from for six months after accidentally knocking over their china cabina-"

She hurriedly interrupted him before he could finish that glowing little anecdote, "Yes, yes! That's the one; you know they completely overreacted about the whole thing. Anyway, I have a contact in the village, he's always full of useful information and he happened to have the names of a few places she's been spotted in recently, it's a start at least."

"I see, and how do you feel about it, are you sure this is the only solution?"

"Maybe not the only solution, but it's definitely the quickest and most beneficial. I can learn so much from her. As for how I feel...? I'm not so sure, a little hesitant, and of course I'll miss the village, but I've got to do it."

They fell silent as they started walking again. Kakashi mulled over the conversation they had just had, logically it made sense she did need to improve and this would be a great opportunity to do so. They also spent plenty of time apart whilst off on separate missions, so why did a wave of sadness wash over him at the thought? He pushed his feelings to one side for the moment; there was no need to put a downer on the rest of their day.

They finally reached the restaurant, completely oblivious of the fact that their hands were still entwined together.