The early morning found Albus Dumbledore pacing furiously in his office. He had sent that owl early yesterday evening. It should have arrived back by now, shouldn't it? Darn thing. Making him wait. If he were a lesser man he would have been swearing profusely by now. Cursing everything from Merlin's hat, to his sweaty old socks. Unfortunately, he's not a lesser man.

To his aggravation the owl did not return until lunch had long since passed. His irritation only increased when he walked into his office after another trip to the owlery, to find the feather-brained bird sat preening on his desk. Breathing deeply and repeating the mantra He's just a bird the headmaster snatched the letter from the owl's leg and walked round his desk. Successfully calmed, he stared at the bird in his Dumbledore-ish manner, smirking inwardly as he watched the owl fidget uncomfortably. His small game was interrupted as he glanced down at the affirmation note, plopping back into his chair in relief. Dismissing the thankful bird with a wave of his hand, Dumbledore thought things over. For the first time in a while he had good news. His stress levels had risen to incredible heights since he read the letter from the ministry stating that they would be sending a 'Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.' Who the imbecile was that thought he would not realise the new teacher was a ministry spy, he did not know. But he was happier now that he had someone on the inside able to monitor the actions of the ministry employee. He just wished he knew who the ministry was sending. Though, that would make the game a little too easy. Maybe it was best this way. Well… It would at least be more fun this way.

Mind finally at ease Dumbledore spent the rest of the day in peace. It was still the holidays so there were no students. Or Teachers. Or Filch. Life was good. Even Peeves seemed to be taking a day off from his mischievous ways. Sighing softly Dumbledore leant back, propped his feet on the desk and closed his eyes for a nap.

Waking early the next morning from his unusually restful sleep Dumbledore sighed realising that he hadn't done the paperwork for his 'Transfer student'. Always best to make it official. It was as he was filling in a particularly troublesome sheet that he heard a very faint thump in the middle of his room. He looked up, pushed his glasses further onto his nose and began to examine the stranger fully. In front of him stood a girl, no older than 17, arms to the side, back perfectly straight, wearing a mask resembling the face of a snarling fox. The mask, gleaming, bone-white armour and the rigid, menacing stance created a very fearsome picture indeed.

"Hello" He said with a small smile meant to comfort her, "I presume you are the Shinobi that Tsunade sent to my aid." The only response was a short, curt nod.

"Good" he muttered to himself. "The language spell placed on the school works" Dumbledore's smile widened at his achievement this certainly does save us a lot of trouble. "Now, what is your name?"

"ANBU Captain Fox"

"No no no. That just won't do." He was enjoying this too much. "You're supposed to fit in as much as possible. How do you expect to do that if everyone is referring to you as 'ANBU Captain Fox'?" Dumbledore replied with a raised eyebrow.

The ever-present glare quickly turned into a scowl as Fox listened to the old fools mocking tone. The tension in the room was so tangible you could cut it with a knife, and, the look on fox's face would have sent any sane person running long ago. If only he could see it. This was going to be a long year, made worse by the rapidly increasing hate the Fox was feeling towards the elderly man. She remembered a time when she would have thought him endearing. Oh how she'd changed. Though, she hated herself then just as much as she hates herself now. Maybe slightly more. She had become stronger since then. And the incident had certainly helped in that area. Well… Helped her become a strong, cold-hearted bitch, but you can't win them all. She sneered and berated herself for getting lost in those memories again. The fool's voice freed her from the thoughts. Maybe his only redeeming quality was that all his talking distracted her from herself.

"And you'll have to remove the mask too, you can wear it to train and keep it with you in case of emergencies, but you definitely must not wear it at any other time."

Maybe she was wrong. Talking was not his redeeming quality. He didn't have one, and this time she did not stop at a scowl, Fox let out a snarl that would have been more suited to that of a wolf than the fox that her mask took the shape of. She needed the mask. It was her cover. Without it everyone would see how broken she was. Maybe 'beginning to hate' was the wrong phrase. She just hated him.

"Fine," She said bitingly, sliding the mask off her face "my name is…"

Most of the village began to rise at just 6 in the morning, shop owners preparing to open the newly restored shops, civilians getting ready for work, yet, even in these peaceful times the Shinobi of the village were already up and working. And they had been for an hour now, organising paperwork, and hoping, in several cases begging, for new missions from the Hokage. However, even with this early start, most of the shinobi had finished by midday.

The remaining members of rookie 9 and team gai collapsed next to a lake hidden deep in the forest of death where they had been training all morning. With an unspoken-agreement they decided it was time to rest. The day was sweltering, so they lay on the small beach next to the lake, sighing at the delightful feel of the cold water lapping at their toes. In this time of depression, the small pleasures were all they had. All any Shinobi had. They were all having a difficult time adjusting, living with the losses of family and friends. But it was the younger generations that had been hit the hardest. They had spent more than half of their lives training and honing their skills and now, that time was useless. Yes, during the war they were a great help, possibly the deciding factors, but now, they had no purpose, nothing to live for. The village was safe. Everywhere was safe, the most dangerous thing out there being the lowly bandits trying to steal from travellers. And, worst of all, they had to live with the fact that for most of their lives they had been ignoring their saviour. Naruto Uzumaki. His name would live on forever. And he would forever be the misjudged hero that gave his life to protect those that until recently had hated him. The blonde-knucklehead, that never gave up on his dreams. Or his love of Ramen.

A small wind that gently caressed each of their faces made them close their eyes in pleasure. However, when it reached the trees, the rustling sound that the leaves created was so much like his laughter that it was unnatural. The shinobi shot up, weapons at the ready glancing around for someone, anyone that would dare play with their minds. Or, maybe they were just hoping that someone would dare play with their minds. Ether way they found no-one.

"Hey, you know it's Naruto's birthday soon… We should go to Ichiraku's to celebrate. He would have loved that" Ino's voice had broken the unsettling silence.

"I agree, we should go. It's what the Dobe would have wanted" Even after Naruto's death Sasuke could not give up his precious pet name. Everyone else just nodded, not feeling the need to disrupt their sombre mood with unnecessary words. A chill passed through the group, despite the hot weather, as they all remembered the last time they had been to Ichiraku's. It had been after his funeral. Each having a bowl in his memory.

The solemn silence was broken as Shikamaru finally noticed the change in the group. "Tch. Where's Hinata?"

Personally, I don't think this chapter is anywhere near as good as the last one and if anyone agrees I will completely rewrite it. I may change my mind about using hinata too