AN: So, I did not get a single review on the last chapter. Is this really that bad? I'd be tempted to discontinue the story if I didn't enjoy writing it so much and didn't find myself so fascinated by the plot. I toy around with story lines and how to make this and that happen a lot with this story so I don't always know exactly where this is going myself. Please, if it's not holding your interest or something in particular is turning you off tell me in a review. If it is that bad I'll just write it for my own pleasure and leave it where it belongs, in a file on my computer where only I can see.

"Suki-san, I'm so glad you're feeling better." Sakura said as she sat, toying with her ramen with chopsticks. As usual, Naruto had dragged them to the romen stand. Sakura was never bothered much by this, as it had simply become a routine part of spending time with her blonde haired friend. To be honest she found it rather relaxing after a day of training, with either Tsunade or her team, or a day at the hospital healing.

"Thanks to your excellent care giving." Suki complemented. "You are an amazing healer already; I can't wait to see how much that ability will grow." Sakura's skills were worthy of the praise. Tsunade had certainly trained her well. Adjusting her position on her stool, Suki was reminded of her still wrapped ribs. They were healing quickly but would still need a bit more time to fully fix themselves.

"It's true Sakura-chan; you're amazing." Naruto managed to comment in between inhaling his romen.

"Thank you. I did what I could to help." Sakura blushed at the compliments she received. She often felt weak and worthless when she thought about her early ninja days and Sauske. To hear those whom she respected telling her that they thought her skills incredible made her feel like she had made progress. She was not the same little girl who started out on team 7.

Suki noticed a certain look come to the younger konochi's eyes at the thoughts that crossed her mind with the compliments. Sakura did not know it but Suki could relate to her on a deeper level than she could imagine. Unfortunately, when one tangles themselves with a family of fire they often get burnt. This was part of why Suki was always sure to give the pink-haired young woman the compliments, which she earned. Even if she had not been around long, Suki cared for her younger friends, almost as an older sister might. The girl needs to stop blaming herself and thinking of herself as a weak girl. Suki could see the strong woman that was quickly blooming in front of them all.

"So, will you be back on missions soon Suki-san?" Naruto asked, having finished his meal. He was eager to have her back to normal so that they could spar again. Suki was a lot of fun and she always managed to put things in a way he understood.

"Another week and I'll be able to take missions and come back to training with you. That is, if you still want me to." The longhaired konochi teased. Naruto gave her a joking grin that said, 'of course I want you to. It wouldn't be nearly as much without you.'

"I swear you two could be related." Sakura remarked with a smirk.

Both Naruto and Suki gave her looks that held a mix of alarm and disbelief.

Looking out at a rising full moon they realized that it was getting late. Saying their goodnights the three of them headed out. Suki waved goodbye to Sakura and Naruto as they headed off together. Naruto had offered to walk Sakura home.

With a smile still on her face Suki walked the other direction. The night was still young and the temperature perfect so she decided to go for a walk. It was a beautiful night. With such clear skies, the konochi could see many stars once she got away from the lights. Finding herself in a field she decided to lay down and star gaze. 'Hum, I wonder how many constellations I can find?' she thought as she examined the sky. Spotting a particularly bright star toward the south, she tried to figure out what it was. It must be a planet but she didn't know which one it might be. Judging by the coloring, it might be Jupiter or possibly Venus. Chuckling to herself, she realized it had been a while since she had studied Astronomy. Adding to her difficulty, she had done her studies in Suna and was completely off base here in Konoha.

The night became quiet as she lay pondering. Many things about being back in Konoha threw her off; the stars were small compared to the other difficulties she was facing. To be around Naruto made her happy, and she had great pride in her blonde friend. Yet, in a way, it was painful. Sakura had become very close to her heart too. Those were the easy relationships to build compared to some others. It was becoming increasing difficult to build one with Kakashi. So far, they had a decent working relationship but Suki wished she could expand it. He was more closed off now than he had been before and what had made them friends once didn't play the same role it used too. Suki had begun to wonder if he had become suspicious of her. Everything had changed around her. "Guess that's what I get for running away. I need to stay now, I've already started this." She muttered to the cool night air.

Suddenly there was a rustling in the grass she was laying in. Suki began to sit up in so she could see who it was but found herself being pushed roughly to the ground. Biting her lip to stop herself from crying out at the pain that shot up her side the woman tried to figure out what was happening. Her arms were now being held above her head, making her side continue to ache, and someone had straddled themselves over her waist. Sure, she could probably get herself out of the situation rather quickly but that didn't really change her comfort level.

Looking at the man's face she could make out a mask and one grey eye. There was only one man she knew of that fit that description. "Kakashi?" she questioned.

Kakashi just looked down and the woman below him for a moment. He had been expecting her to struggle. In the time since his team had returned from the mission he had been following Suki and doing some research. Everywhere he looked, he became more confused and more suspicious of the pretty jonin. Not only were there no records on her but her mother was nowhere to be found in the archives either. If she had lived here when she was younger and was the daughter of a village ninja there should have been records. Add this to her uncanny ability to know more than she should and the way she was working her way into the group and he had become certain she had ulterior motives that probably meant nothing good for the village. When he heard her whisper something about running away and already starting this he had decided it was time to question her.

"You're not who you say you are." He said, keeping alert despite her apparent complacentness.

Suki's heart just about stopped when she heard him speak. In the back of her mind she realized how ironic it was that she had picked him out as the one most likely to catch her. "Kakashi, what are you talking about?" she inquired, giving no hint that she had been caught. She allowed her voice to waver slightly, adding to the effect of being confused.

"There's no record of you or your family. You know more about everyone than you should and you keep trying to get closer to my team." Kakashi replied in a harsher voice. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt them and no one will be taking Naruto from this village on my watch." He continued, his protectiveness was coming out. These were his former students, his friends and his family. He might not admit it openly but he had developed a defensive streak when it came to his team.

"Why would I want to hurt them?" Suki questioned. "I'd rather be hurt myself than let anyone bring harm to Sakura and Naruto but they are plenty capable of taking care of themselves." The only options she really had were to run or talk this out. The later would produce less trouble for her in the end.

Kakashi was confused by this. As far as he could tell, she was being honest with him. "What's your real name?" he tried

"Suki Sano." She answered with a twitch of a smile on her lips. "Why would I lie?"

"Why is there no record of you?" Kakashi asked, tightening his grip on her wrist.

Glaring up at him she said, "That hurts you know." Getting no response out of him, she sighed. "Maybe because that's not the last name I had when I lived here."

"What was the surname you used then?" Kakashi asked.

"You don't need me to tell you that Kakashi. You already know it." Suki replied with a smirk.

"I'm not here to play games." Kakashi said in a deadly tone.

"Awa…that's too bad. I always loved playing mind games with you." Suki remarked.

Before Kakashi knew what was happening she was suddenly the one on top of him. Unlike himself however she hadn't tried to keep any of her body weight off of him. With her sitting on his stomach, he found it difficult to breath. "Honestly, how long did you think I was just going to lie there?" Suki inquired of him.

Kakashi tried to move but found that Suki was quite strong. She laughed as she felt his movements. "You got yourself into this." She said, "Now it's my turn to speak so just lay there and listen. I'm sure you're a lot more comfortable than I was. Did you forget about my ribs?" she put more pressure on his wrist to emphasize the comfort part. Kakashi just looked up at her with an angry glare.

"Just as stubborn as ever." She commented, "I figured you might catch on to me. It's not exactly easy to outsmart you."

Kakashi's eyes widened at what Suki did next. It looked like her features were melting away, being replaced by others. Slowly her long, straight, brown hair morphed into curls and became a yellow with which Kakashi was quite familiar. Cerulean eyes stared down at him in place of dark brown and her skin, as far as he could tell in the dark, had become more tan. With this came the feeling of her real chakra. It was an old and familiar one to him.

The silver-haired jonin was speechless, he felt like he was looking at a ghost.

"Well, does this answer your questions Kakashi?" Suki asked

"Suki?" was all he could manage at first. She gave him a smile and a nod. She could not be sure how he was going to take this. "But you're…"

"Dead?" she whispered, causing both of them to shiver. "I know it's difficult to believe but I think this kinda disproves that theory." She said looking down at her body.

He chuckled, "I guess it does."

"So, you believe that it's me?" she asked

"Yes, I couldn't possibly forget your chakra." He said.

"I'm sorry that I had to hide this from you." Suki replied in a sad tone. "There are certain things I and this town aren't ready for."

"I can imagine." Kakashi responded "I see your disguising skills have only improved."

This got a laugh out of the younger konochi. "When you disappear for 18 years that tends to happen."

"And what about you." She continued, " You've certainly changed." She reached down and her fingers brushed the headband that covered Kakashi's sharingon."

"It's been a long time, we've both grown up." He said

"You were already starting to grow up when I left." She commented

"That's what happens when you spend all your time with people who are older than you." Kakashi replied.

Realizing that she was still straddled over her friend Suki blushed. "I suppose I should let you go now." She said pushing herself up and sliding to the side so she was now sitting next to Kakashi.

Kakashi sat up and scratched the back of his head, as was habit. "I certainly wasn't expecting this when I came out here tonight."

"I wasn't expecting to reveal myself for a while yet." Suki said, looking up at the stars.

"No one else knows?" Kakashi asked

"No, you're the first one." She said

Looking up at the stars Kakashi thought about what he had just discovered. Suddenly began to chuckle. "You think he's laughing at us right now?"

Snorting Suki now understood what was so funny. "I'm certain that he is laughing at his silly niece and his old student somewhere."

Turning serious, she looked over at Kakashi, "You understand why I didn't tell anyone, right?"

Nodding the silver-haired man let out a sigh, "I know why you can't just reveal yourself now, that would be dangerous but…why did…"

"I leave?" She cut him off. "I don't really want to go into detail. Let's just say I was running from my own demons. There is only so much a ten year old can handle."

"Naruto…why are you trying to get so close to him." He inquired.

"Why not? He's a loveable kid with great potential. He's lucky he's got you looking out for him." Suki said, feeling guilty for not being completely honest. Everyone would know soon enough.

"He can be difficult sometimes but you can't help but care. I swear he reminds me a bit of Obito and he acts a bit like your…" Kakashi paused, wondering how Suki would react.

"My what?" Suki questioned, "My aunt? He does act like Kushina doesn't he?"

Sighing the two of them became quiet as they gazed up at the stars thinking about those they had both missed over the years. After about five minutes, Suki let out a yawn. Looking up at the moons placement in the sky, she realized it must be midnight by now.

Slowly she stood and stretched. It was time to go home now and get some rest. There was always more time to discuss these topics further with her old friend later. Smiling down at him she offered her hand which he gladly accepted and soon they were both on their feet. "I promise I will tell you more later. It's late now." She commented. Nodding Kakashi gave her a smile but it was lost in the material of his mask. Reaching up she ran her fingers along the fabric. "I always hated that stupid thing." Laughing she turned to leave. As she walked away, he watched her go, noting that the little girl he had once known had grown into quite a beautiful and strong woman.

When she was gone, there was no one but a rather overwhelmed Kakashi left in the field. It was going to take a while to process everything he had learned that night.

Now you have learned a bit more about Suki. I hope I dropped enough hints in their conversation in order for you to figure out who she is in terms of her family. I had a lot of fun writing this as I've had this scene in my head forever. It was just amusing to me the idea of Kakashi pinning her down only to have her flip it on him and then totally shock him when she gives him his answers.

Anyway, please remember to review. Good or bad, I don't care. I just need to know. Oh, I'll give a cookie to anyone who can tell me how long after the mission this chapter takes place or anyone can tell me what last name Suki would have used in Konoha.