Well, here's chapter 2. Thanks to anyone who reviewed!!

This is a filler chapter- there are technically 2 and a half filler chapters. I figured people relate better to characters they know, or who are affiliated in some way to those they know. Kakashi has lightning based chakra, which made sense for him to be distantly related to someone from Kumogakure, which is generally based on lightning jutsus. Note- I know Kakashi said that all of his 'precious people' all of those close to him, are gone- most likely dead. He's only distantly related to Mai and Yugito, through their mother's side of the family.. and so although Mai's father uses him for a nice yearly vacation and all, and he does show some affection for Mai's family- they're only distant relatives. They aren't precious to him, even though he still cares a little. Just wanted to clear that up. I'm not destroying anything that happened in canon here, or going against what Kakashi said. :)

Disclaimer- I don't own the Naruto series, or any ideas or characters expressed therein. I only own the general concepts of Mai Hoshikori and her family, and the basic ideas of her jutsus- though I don't own the idea of jutsus themselves.

Dusk and Daybreak

Chapter 2: Lucky Star

When the Hoshikori family arrived at 'cousin' Kakashi's apartment, he was nowhere to be seen. Mai's father Akio must've knocked on the door 100 times before giving up and returning defeatedly to his family, who were standing next to the carriage with their luggage. "I don't know what to say Midori. He said he'd be here, but no note or anything. Of course, he is your relative, not mine, so I suppose I shouldn't have expected any better…" Midori just ignored her husband, and bent over to help one of the boys tie his shoe.

About an hour and a half later, after the family had already gone to the local ramen shop for lunch and come back to wait, Kakashi strolled down the street to his apartment building, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. "Yo! How've you all been? Oh, and uh, sorry I'm late, but-" "Let me guess", Mai broke in sardonically, "you got lost on the road of life or something again?..." Kakashi looked at Mai and her parents, a bit embarrassed, but didn't say anything as he went to open his door.

"Mai!.." Yugito whispered angrily, trying to kick her sister. Mai easily dodged, but Yugito didn't give up berating her, "What's wrong with you!!... You'll make cousin Kakashi angry, and then he won't spend any time with us at all!!..." Yugito hissed at her sister. "Well, if he were on time, I wouldn't have to say those kinds of things Yugito! He's a ninja, and ninja shouldn't be late for everything all the time!.. Besides, I wish you'd get these crazy ideas out of your head!! He's not going to fall in love with us- and even if he did, he's our relative! Besides, father already knows who he wants us to marry, so you don't have a chance…" "Hmph!" Yugito brushed angrily past Mai and into the apartment, pulling out a compact mirror and checking her reapplied make-up as she went.

After the family was settled, and had set up their things in Kakashi's extra bedroom, and his living room, they sat down for dinner. Kakashi had ordered Chinese take-out for them while they were busy unpacking. "So, Kakashi, why were you so late in getting here, really? No note, no call, nothing. I mean, you're usually late, and we've all come to expect it, but this was outrageous…"

Kakashi laughed a little nervously. "Well, I was on an unexpected mission, and just got back. Then Tsunade-sama wanted to see me- no offense, but she wasn't too happy about you coming here this year. We're having lots of problems with Otogakure, and she doesn't really want any foreign ninja at all in Konoha unless they were sent by our allies in Suna. But I was able to convince her to let you stay the week." Kakashi smiled at Mai's father, though you couldn't really tell with his mask covering his face.

"Wow, we took a long time unpacking, huh Okaasama?.. It's already 7:30!" Akeno spoke up, surprised. The boy must have had ADHD, because no normal 12 year old fidgeted in his seat so much, or asked so many stupid questions.

Kakashi glanced at the clock at Akeno's sudden outburst, and a slightly shocked and worried look came over his face(what could be seen of it) for a second, before he regained composure. "Um, sorry to just cut out on you guys and all, but I have an appointment. You all know where everything is I think, so if you need anything, just take it." Smiling, Kakashi got up, grabbing his kunai pouch and heading towards the front door. Then, turning back to the family, he said, "Oh, and Mai, Yugito. You can join me if you'd like."

Yugito immediately jumped up from the table, and just about ran after Kakashi to the door, but Mai looked at her father, and waited for his approval. "Um, maybe another day Kakashi-san. We've been traveling all day, and the girls need to eat and then get some rest."

Otousama looked at Mai and then Yugito sternly, making it final. "Oh, but please Otousama!! We're only here for a week, and-" "I told you no, Yugito, and that's final. Now come and eat the rest of your dinner."

Kakashi, knowing he shouldn't get involved or go against what the girls' father said, just waved and walked out the door, leaving Yugito standing there, looking like she would burst into tears any second.

Kakashi shunshined to the training grounds on the outskirts of the village, then pulled out his book Icha Icha Paradise and coolly walked over to where three figures were standing. "Um, sorry I'm late but-"

"I don't even want to hear it Kakashi-sensei!! Naruto, Sai, and I have been waiting here for you for 4 hours!" "Yeah… where were you?.. We were supposed to start training hours ago… Dattebayo!"

Sai didn't even glance up from his artpad, but just emotionlessly said, "He's obviously an idiot with the IQ of a 4 year old, and just can't tell time. Though I suppose you wouldn't comprehend that, being the Dickless Wonder and a Hag." Naruto turned and started yelling at Sai; meanwhile Sakura didn't even bother with words, but just pulled on her gloves and punched him, sending him flying at least 20 feet.

Kakashi stood there, sweat-dropping. 'Maybe I'm not cut out for this whole teaching business. That plus these kids are completely nuts…' "Um, okay everyone; stop beating the hell out of each other. It isn't dark yet, so we'll have about half an hour to train." Kakashi sighed, walking over to help Sai pull himself out of the hole created from his impact with a tree.

"And I actually did have a legitimate excuse for being late today you know. My relatives from Kumogakure came to visit, and I lost track of time while helping them unpack." He didn't even know why he bothered explaining himself- he never did other times. Maybe it had something to do with this annoying Sai kid's comments…. He could tell that his being on the team was going to cause more headaches than anything else.

"Oi, are those those people who were here last year?.. Those two pretty girls, and that funny little kid?.." Naruto squinted his eyes, confused, and trying to figure out who Kakashi-sensei was talking about. "Um, yes Naruto, they are." "Oh, those girls were so nice! And when we went shopping, oh my gosh, we bought so many clothes!! They have the best fashion sense-!" "Yes, I'm sure they do Sakura, but we should really get to training before it gets dark." But Kakashi could see that no training was going to happen today. Naruto and Sakura hadn't even heard what he said, and were having their own deep conversation about Kakashi's family; that and there were only about 15 minutes left of light now.

Kakashi shunshined home about 40 minutes later. There had indeed been no training, and once Naruto and Sakura had finished their excited conversation about the visitors, they got angry at Kakashi-sensei again for having wasted their day. But he had appeased Naruto by taking his three students for ramen(Sakura was secretly happy too). He said that they would train instead the next morning, and promised that to make it up to them for waiting for hours that day, that he wouldn't even be a minute late the next morning. Of course, Sakura and Naruto knew that Kakashi-sensei would be anyway- and Sai- well, he'd just have to figure it out for himself. They were still ticked at him for his attitude earlier.

When he entered his apartment, all of the lights were off and the entire Hoshikori family seemed to be in bed. Kakashi took off his kunai pouch and headed for his bedroom, but when he got near the door, he sensed an abnormal amount of chakra. Moving closer, he realized that it was a genjutsu. Pulling a kunai out of its holder, and activating his sharingan, he threw open the bedroom door. A blindly bright light met his eyes, and he quickly shielded them with his hand, though he realized a second later that he could still use the sharingan.

Inside the room, Mai was helping a tired and drunk looking Yugito in through the window, while a book lie open and forgotten on the floor. At the sound of the door opening, Mai turned around startled, terrified that her father might be standing there, and almost dropping her sister; meanwhile Yugito just waved enthusiastically, losing her balance and almost falling back out the window. Mai immediately dispelled the genjutsu, the room plunging into darkness, only illuminated by the full moon and a few lamps outside.

"Um, hi. Is there any reason why my room looks like a cheap tanning salon?.." Kakashi asked, relieved and a bit amused, as he put his kunai away and threw the pouch onto a nearby chair. Mai immediately pulled Yugito the rest of the way into the room, and dispelled the ninjutsu she had been using to read.

She left her sister laughing in a heap on the floor, and ran over to Kakashi. "I'm so sorry Kakashi-san! Your eyes weren't hurt, were they?! I was going to dispel the jutsus once I heard you come in the apartment, but then Yugito came back drunk, and well, I had to help her in before Otousan, or Okaasan, could see!..."

"Don't worry Mai. I closed my eyes pretty fast, and although the right one hurts a bit, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll get it checked tomorrow just in case…", Kakashi sighed and sat down on the bed. "But Mai, I thought we talked about this last year. You said you would talk to your father, so that he'd give you a more reasonable bedtime, and let you read what and when you want."

"I tried… I started out the conversation exactly like you told me and everything, but he wouldn't hear it. Bedtime is still 8:30 for us all.. Said that no matter if I'm 19 or 90, as long as I live under his roof, I'll do as he says, no questions asked. And then I got grounded for a month." Mai plastered a smile on her face, trying not to make Kakashi feel bad. "But anyway, it doesn't matter. He's right, we all need rules, and I need to be a good example to the other 4." She glanced at Yugito. "Obviously I'm not doing the best of jobs though… But anyway, at home, reading like this, after they're all asleep is working fine, so don't worry. I've heard Otousan get up plenty of times at night, but with my genjutsu in place, he never suspects a thing.. Anyways, we'd better do something about Yugito before she wakes him up…"

Mai moved over to her sister, and helped Yugito off the floor, stumbling under the girl's weight as she tried to stand. "Hmmm… I'll be right back. I think I might have a few pills left in the kitchen that could help her… And then I suppose we should get her out of the house for the night, so your father can't see her like this." "So what do you-?" "There's a few people I know who I'm sure I could convince to keep her for the night, and I'll pick her up first thing in the morning. The pills will have taken effect by then, and your father won't know the difference." Kakashi got up and left the room.

"Yes Iruka, I was just wondering if you could keep her here for a few hours." Kakashi explained, holding a sleeping Yugito in his arms like a baby. "Yes, uh, sure Kakashi-san. Right this way.."

Kakashi followed Iruka into his living room, and laid Yugito on the couch, where she started waking up, still drunk and completely disoriented though. Mai stood in the doorway, since she hadn't technically been invited in, and didn't feel right barging in on this kind shinobi's house. Kakashi explained the situation briefly to Iruka, telling him that he would be back in about 6 hours for the girl, then turned to go. As he closed the door behind him and Mai, Mai could hear her sister throwing up.

Kakashi had assured Mai over and over again that Yugito would be fine, but she still sat up the entire night worrying about her. When dawn came, she heard Kakashi stirring in his room, and when he passed by to go out the door, Mai laid down on the couch(which as where she was supposed to sleep- parents on the guest bed in the guest bedroom along with her youngest brother and sister, Akeno on a cot next to them, Yugito on the living room loveseat, and Mai on the couch..) and pretended to be sleeping. Kakashi glanced briefly at her, then went out the door to fetch Mai's sister. Once he was gone, Mai jumped up from the couch, created a Kage Bunshin to stay in case her parents woke up, and went after him, too worried to just wait behind.

So yeah, review!! I have no idea if this sucks or not if you don't!!! Just two or three sentences if you're feeling lazy and don't wanna submit a review.. But please give me some feedback!