Chapter 2

Yuuko was lying on her bed, awake that night.

Thank God, it worked.

After Sasuke had shown her to her room, he had ordered takeout. To her surprise he had ordered for her as well, without her having to ask first. They had eaten in silence, but just before she made to leave he had asked her, when she would start teaching him.

"I have some people to meet, and I will be busy all day tomorrow, but I promise I'll teach you after tomorrow."

He hadn't seemed quite satisfied with that answer, but didn't argue. She had also asked some money so she could buy some new clothes. He had seemed uncomfortable and dubious, but had given her quite a lot, making her wonder just how rich he was.

She rubbed her stomach thoughtfully. A sudden pain had taken her breath away just before Sasuke had arrived at the gate. It had stung and went a lot deeper than a normal stomachache. If she hadn't known better she would have guessed it was her chakra that was causing the pain. But that was as absurd as it sounded. There had been no problem before, why would there be any now? She thought it would be best to just let it go.

Thinking about all the people she hadn't seen in four years, made her tremble with excitement yet also with fear. How will they react, when they realize she had snuck in? Will they trust her, or even listen to her?

She could only hope.

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Waking up the next day was confusing, as her fuzzy mind didn't grasp, where exactly she was. At first she panicked, thinking that the escape had been a dream and that she was still at her cell, but looking around the comfortable yet eerie room made her remember.

Oh, right… Sasuke-kun.

Sighing, she rose from her bed and put on her outfit. Deciding she should spend as little money as she could (who knows, maybe Sasuke-kun won't be so generous next time) she settled on finding two new shirts, a skirt, pants, underwear and a pair of boots. She could live without pajamas, for she is used to sleeping either naked or in her underwear anyway. In case Sasuke-kun chose to barge in at some night, for whatever reason, it would be better if she had at least her underwear on.

Having made up her mind about shopping, she tied her long hair up in a ponytail so it reached her mid-back, and went downstairs to the kitchen. Her yellow eyes met Sasuke's, and as usual she was reminded of another pair of deep black orbs. Swallowing hard she lost her appetite and fled from the house, without saying a word, somehow still feeling Sasuke's eyes on her until she was out of the residence.

Walking silently along the street, she caught even more stares, as now everyone could see the yellow snake on her back. Some kids were even frightened of it. It made her snicker humorlessly for at that age she had already been taught how to handle a snake. So a picture of it was no big deal.

Shopping for new clothes, she got herself a black leather mini-skirt with chains, black cargo pants with a simple black belt, a black turtleneck and a sleeveless black tube top. Happy with her choice of clothing she went to search for some underwear, finding some sexy black bras and panties that didn't cover much. Counting her money, she decided to buy a bikini as well. And it was of course, black. And it of course didn't cover much.

Satisfied for now, she headed for the Hokage tower, dreading the meeting with the old man.

The shinobi that guarded the Hokage's office's door blocked her path.

"Hokage-sama is busy at the moment." One of them told her with a dismissive glance.

"Tell him, that Yuuko wants to see him." She responded, glaring. She hated being dismissed.

The guard looked doubtful for a moment, but then disappeared, reappearing in a few seconds frowning and nodded to the other man.

"You may enter." Smiling wickedly she went in and was greeted by a wave of memories.

"Yuuko… so it is you."

Smiling at the old man and his somewhat warm welcome she went closer and bowed.

"Good to see you again, Sarutobi-sensei." Straightening again, she sat down when Sarutobi gestured towards the chair opposite of him. Sitting down she fidgeted slightly under the thoughtful gaze of the Hokage.

"You shouldn't call me that, Yuuko. I'm not your sensei anymore."

"You'll always be my sensei in my mind, Sarutobi-sensei." That got a smile out of him and she relaxed a little. Why had she been afraid of him at all? She should have known he would understand. Her sensei had always made her feel safe.

"If I may ask, why are you here in Konoha?"

"…I ran away."

He raised an eyebrow, "Again? You think you will be able to hide yourself better this time?"

She nodded, "I hope so. I have a friend who will arrive in a few weeks. She'll help me."

"You're not hiding here, I hope. As much as I care for you, I cannot let you endanger Konoha, Yuuko."

There was that stern voice, which always made her look down in shame when she was younger. Now Yuuko resisted the urge to do so again and said, "No, this time I'll try something I haven't tried before."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"I'm going to hide right under his nose. In Sound."

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"You sent for me, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi's weary face had traces of happiness in it, yet anyone could see he was troubled. Kakashi hadn't been surprised when he had been called to the Hokage's office, for it happened often. But usually Hokage would give him his mission papers, explain things shortly and wish him good luck. He hadn't expected the silence, the nonexistent papers and the thoughtful expression on the Hokage's face as he stood near the window, looking down over the village.

"I have some news, that might interest you, Kakashi."

That made Kakashi put away his orange book, which he had pretended to read nonchalantly. The Hokage turned away from the window, and seeing that he now had the copy ninja's full attention he sat down behind his desk. Kakashi noted that he seemed like he was choosing the right words.

"I met someone today."

Kakashi didn't say anything although he raised one of his brows in a silent question. This didn't go unnoticed by the Hokage, who sighed.

"I guess I should just say it. Yuuko is here-"

Kakashi's eyes widened,

"-In Konoha."

"Y-Yuuko?" He cursed himself for stuttering. The Hokage nodded and he dropped his eyes to the floor, thinking this over. Yuuko… The girl he had found in the woods six years ago. The girl he had taken care of, who had lived with him and who had been sort of like a daughter to him. In two years she had gain the trust and love of the Hokage, the Council and Kakashi. Others weren't told of her existence. That girl, Yuuko, was now here again. How should he react? Should he even react at all? This was all too confusing, and just too much.

"May I leave now, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, his eyes still glued to the floor.

"…That's not all, I'm afraid."

That made him look up again.

"She has escaped from her father's clutches again and has thought of a plan. A plan that I do not approve of."

Again, he stayed silent, knowing that the Hokage will enlighten him of this plan.

"She intends to hide under his very nose."

"Not in Sound?!" He tried to keep the shock from his voice, but as usual dealings with Yuuko made him lose his nerve.

"I'm afraid so. I tried to talk her out of it, but she had refused my help to find her a place outside of the village. Also…She said something about a friend, who would help her hide. It is very possible that she has told this friend everything, and…"

"You are worried that her friend is a spy?"

Actually, Kakashi feared that too, and when the Hokage nodded he knew that their doubts had the same reason behind them.

After all, someone who doesn't know Yuuko as much as Kakashi and the Hokage do, someone who probably knows the truth… why would that someone want to help Orochimaru's daughter?

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"-And although I do like miso ramen the best, I would eat all kinds of ramen, if I just had the money, ramen is my favorite food in the world, and I can't understand how some people don't like ramen at all, I mean it's the best, don't ya think?"

"Uh, sure."

"Yeah, it sure is, most of the time Iruka-sensei, who teaches me at the academy is the one who buys me ramen, so I was so surprised when you offered to pay for me, I'm very grateful you know, you know I hate how much I have to wait to get the instant ramen ready, it's instant so why isn't it-"

Yuuko was seriously regretting ever meeting the blonde! She had bumped into him, when she made her way out of the Hokage Tower and he had seemed friendly. She wanted to chat with someone a little bit, maybe get some information about Sasuke, and she had been hungry so she offered to buy him lunch. And boy, did the kid have a bottomless stomach or what? The kid, or Naruto, as Yuuko found out earlier, was eating his seventh bowl of ramen, talking only about ramen, while his mouth was full of ramen, and it seemed like he had no intentions of stopping.

"Listen, Naruto-kun…" she interrupted his speech of ramen, "I don't really have that much money, so if you could… please… stop eating?"

"Oh, sorry!" He grinned sheepishly and finished the bowl with a slurp yelling to the Ichiraku's owner (who wasn't that far away) that they were done.

Yuuko paid for the ramen, all the while crying inside in despair, for her money was almost gone. Which meant she had to ask more from Sasuke that night.

"Thanks for the meal, Yuuko-chan, I gotta go training. Bye!"

She sighed as she watched the hyper kid clad in orange run away, in a hyper way. Frowning at the way the villagers looked at him in disgust and whispered to themselves, she turned away and headed for the Uchiha residence. Yuuko had of course noticed the looks before, and that was one of the main reasons she wanted to spend time with the kid, thinking that maybe he was a bit lonely. She knew what it felt like to be feared.

But Naruto had surprised her by seeming the happiest kid she had ever met.

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The hot shower was exactly what his aching body needed.

He had just finished practicing taijutsu and he had worked himself out quite a bit. He was tired, very tired but refused to admit it, for Uchihas aren't supposed to be tired. They don't show their weaknesses. Not wanting to look weary when that strange girl came back, he had decided to take a shower. The shower indeed relaxed him, but it made him a bit sleepy.

Coming out of the shower stall he grabbed a fluffy white towel and wrapped it around his waist. Exiting the bathroom he made his way into his room, but stopped at the doorway. For there, in his room, on his bed, looking through his scrolls was the girl.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Yuuko looked up at him with wide eyes. At first he thought that, maybe the girl was shocked or shamed at being discovered, but that thought quickly faded when a strange glint appeared in her eyes. A smile he had never seen before appeared on her lips - a wicked smile.

"You know, for a twelve year old, you sure have a nice body."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he remembered that he was wearing only a towel. When she looked him up and down, with that amused smile still on her face, he looked away and to his horror he blushed. Her laughter ringed in his ears and he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Get out." He grunted.

"What, no fun time?"

That made him blush even more, and he walked over to her, grabbed her arm and ignoring her shocked yet amused look he dragged her to the door, snatched the scrolls out of her hands, threw her out of his room, and slammed the door closed.

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R&R and you shall be my favorite person in the world. XD