Well, here we go with the next chapter, chapter fourteen! I know, I know, it's been awhile, but with my school being close to ending, I haven't had the time to write as much, so don't kill me. With that in mind, I don't have all the much to say, and I honestly didn't get a review last chapter... Can you guys Review this time? Pretty please?

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for non-cannon events, and characters.

Kasumi let out a groan as she sat up in her bed, a bleary eyed look being shown as she looked around the room to see three certain children sleeping the bed with her. Silently yawning, Kasumi moved out of bed and started to get breakfast ready. She had already put some money aside for the children so they could get something to eat while she was gone, but just in case, she had it so that Shikaku would check on them every once in awhile to make sure they actually ate.

Speaking of the Nara, while the two hadn't seen each other on a while, they hadn't gotten distant. Instead, they both understood why they hadn't seen each other for so long, and accepted it even. Sure, Shikaku wasn't exactly happy with this, but he understood none the less. He understood that with the war, they wouldn't be able to actually talk, and meet with each other until both of their teams were Chunin rank so they didn't have to be stuck as a team any longer, not that they disliked their teammates. The simple fact of their teams being genin still, well Kasumi was Chunin but never mind, they wouldn't really have the time due to their Sensei trying to get them stronger.

The war was still in fool bloom, and even with this fact, Kiri had dropped out due to what was rumored as a civil threatening to break out. It didn't look like it would anytime soon, but it was enough to have Kiri drop out of the war for now. Most of the heads of the village were still suspicious of Kiri, but they wouldn't start anything so long as Kiri didn't start anything. The only thing Kasumi had to say about the whole situation was, annoying old coots had nothing better to do then scheme, and be suspicious of others.

Shaking her head, she began to cook breakfast for six people, beside herself of course. Mikoto, despite her protests, ended up staying the night along with Tsunade, who had her own house in the compound might she add, so there really was no reason for her not to cook breakfast for them. Well besides the fact that she liked to mess with people. Honestly, that wasn't a reason for her not to cook breakfast for the others, no matter how much she didn't want to.

Finishing up with the eggs, bacon, and toast, she set them on the table, not even bothering to comment on the people that were sitting at the table. Honestly, with the smell of the food spreading through the house, she shouldn't be all the surprised that they woke up. Bacon isn't exactly a subtle smell, and the house was made in a way that the smell spread everywhere around the house.

Giving a smile at the sleepy expressions everyone had, she sat down with her own plate, and began to eat at a slow pace compared to normal. Normally she ate at a Uzumaki-ish pace, but then again, even Kushina, who shoveled her food down, was eating slower. It seemed that the simple fact of this being a C-rank mission while Konoha was at war made them nervous. Even Kosuke, Akira, and Yoshiko were nervous, and they weren't going on the mission.

While Akira wouldn't admit it, Kasumi ended up being the big sister gift re he never had. It was the same for the other two, but the boy was just to stubborn to admit anything nice about Kasumi. If anyone where to ask him what he thought of her, his immediate response would be to say that she's an annoying red headed idiot, but he honestly would be happy about meeting her. The stubborn kid would just never admit it, which was something a lot of the people around him found annoying.

Kosuke, while being quieter then the other two, still enjoyed her company a lot as well. Kasumi was actually willing to take care of them, unlike the orphanage which had them fend for themselves mostly. That was part of the reason that they left in e first place, though the larger boy tended to be more on the quiet side due to having a more gentle and caring nature. It didn't matter either way, but Kosuke still really liked being around Kasumi.

Then here was Yoshiko. The hyper active ball of energy was extremely happy, and willing to admit it, that they had met Kasumi. Most people would ignore her, or outright tell her to shut up, but Kasumi didn't, and that right away, gave her props from the little girl. Kasumi was extremely nice all around, and she didn't yell at them, as far as she knew, when they woke her up so they could get something to eat. The mean adults in the orphanage were complete opposites to that, and it made Yoshiko even happier in terms of staying with the the logical red head.

"Well, we should be leaving soon. While I'm gone Akira is in charge, got it?" Kasumi asked, as she raised an eyebrow at the three children.

Akira was actually surprised that she would leave him in charge, but none the less he nodded. Kosuke had nothing to say in the matter either, that much was obvious, but Yoshiko whined loudly. With a thump, her head hit the table "Why does he have to be in charge? Couldn't have made it Kosuke instead?"

Kasumi sighed, as she ruffled the Auburn strands on the girls head "Like it or not, Akira is the most responsible out of you three. Responsibility is the reason why he's in charge. I didn't make it to Chunin because I was over powering despite just graduating. No, I became one due to thinking things out, and planning ahead to try and help as many people as possible in the situation."

Maybe it was the wrong situation, or the wrong scenario from what actually happened, but it got the point across. The three kids looked at Kasumi with slightly wide eyes, but Yoshiko gave a begrudging nod. She would listen to him, but she wouldn't like it. That actually put a smile to her face as well, though she stayed silent for a few minutes.

"I was planning on enrolling you three into the civilian academy. I have enough money to cover it and get you your supplies for classes if your willing." Kasumi stated, but she help up a hand quickly afterwards "I don't want you to decide right now. You have about a year before you can even enter school, so I don't want you to decide now."

Akira stared at Kasumi for a second, as he sent her a suspicious look. She seemed more willing to let them in the Civilian academy then the Ninja academy. For whatever reason, he actually felt upset about this, but she did say they had awhile to decide on if they wanted to go to the Civilian academy. She didn't say anything about them not going to the Ninja academy if they wanted to.

Say what you will, but Akira was definitely smart for his age.

He nodded in acceptance, but didn't say much more. Kasumi sighed a little at his lack of response, but she understood. He wasn't the type to give words without meaning, though she did wish he would talk more often. Here she was, going off onto a mission that she could end up dead from, and not even a word from Akira. Kosuke gave a brief wave, and Yoshiko jumped onto her for a hug, but Akira just stayed silent.

With one more Sigh, Kasumi turned towards the door, as her team had already left to get things ready as well, as she went on her way towards the village gates. It was where they were going to be meeting pretty soon, and Kasumi knew that this was going to be her first time out of the village since the attack on Uzushio. No matter what anyone would say, Uzumaki Kasumi longed for the smell of the salt water, and the sound of the waves. The heat of the sun bearing down on you while you sat on the beach...

Kasumi sighed in a melancholy like state at those thoughts, right as her team looked at her. Mikoto and Tsunade might have not understood why, but Kushina did as well. Neither of them told anyone else, but their rooms had a hint of salt air as a way to calm them down enough to sleep comfortably. The salt air reminded them enough of home that they could fall asleep, but not enough that they would get something akin to nightmares from it.

Kushina ended up joining in on the melancholy cloud that Kasumi had created, causing both Tsunade and Mikoto to sweat drop. Tsunade, who didn't know the two all that well, was the first to speak up as she asked "What's with you two?"

Kasumi snapped out of her melancholy state long enough to say "We wanna go to the beach..."

The answer was cryptic enough that both their Sensei, and teammate understood. They missed Uzushio. No matter what you did, there would always be a piece of your original home in you, and the Uzumaki always longed for the sea. If they encountered it even once, they always longed to go back. It was just in their blood to long for the sea. Almost like pirates when you think about it.

"Come on you two. We were heading to the land of waves anyway." Tsunade stated, and that right away made them perk up "We're going to meet a contact that says they could give us information on what Kirigakure is doing at the moment. The old coots are suspicious due to them dropping out of the war so early."

Kasumi and Kushina both were excited about going to an island, but they both knew that it would have to wait. They were going on a mission, and they had to be careful about everything. The mission could have been leaked, and some Kiri Shinobi, or even Shinobi from other villages they were at odds with, could try and kill them as a way to prevent the war from being won. That didn't even include the fact that there were three clan kids in the same squad with a Sannin.

In hindsight, butting this team together probably wasn't a good idea on Sandaime's part.

The three Kunoichi nodded towards Tsunade before they headed out. To say that they were in a heavily forested area, was like saying Uzushio was surrounded by whirlpools, but honestly, the forest was absolutely beautiful. It didn't hold the same beauty that Uzushio had, at least not to the Uzumaki's. But it still held a beauty that many wouldn't be able to see. They could see why the Shodai Hokage was such a loved person, not to mention that Mito had been his wife, so that actually gave even more props to him for being on the good side of the Uzumaki.

Kasumi and Kushina didn't know how long they ran, but by the time they stopped, the sun was a little in the west, which meant they ran from 9 in the morning, to almost 2. They hands stopped or eaten in that time, and no one complained. Uzumaki had extreme stamina reserves, while the Uchiha trained a lot to be able to have the stamina, and chakra reserves, to use their Katon jutsu before they graduate. Then there was Tsunade, who had Kage level reserves on both, to which she would have been able to continue longer,mid not for the Genin, and Chunin, she had with her.

"We'll stop here for now. You three, no matter what you say, are tired, and we all need to eat something." Tsunade stated, as the buxom woman sat down next to a tree.

Kushina and Mikoto were about to take out a ration bad, but before they could, Kasumi had pulled things out of a storage seal and handed them to her teammates and Sensei. What she handed them was a bento. It wouldn't have the best food she had made, but they would have the nutrients that they needed. Even Kasumk had one.

Seeing the stares from her teammates, Kasumi gave a weak smile, as she said "You need the nutrients. It won't taste as good as how I normally cook, but it has the nutrients needed to keep you full of energy."

Tsunade gave a laugh, along with saying "So your taking my lessons seriously. I thought that you wouldn't care all that much at first to be honest."

"I told you I wanted to be a Medic-nin, didn't I?" Kasumi asked, before broke into a grin and she decided to take a page out of Kushina's book "Besides, an Uzumaki never goes back on their word!"

The group of four broke into laughter at that, before they continued to eat their food. Kasumi was right that it wouldn't taste as good, but even so, Tsunade commented that it tasted a lot better then the ration bars that were normally given out by the Akamichi. They were a fairly new thing, so of course they hadn't perfected it yet, but, Kasumi had no illusion that she would be better then an Akamichi in terms of food taste and quality.

It just wasn't possible.

The second they finished with their food, Kasumi took the boxes and sealed them away once again, but not before going through hand seals and saying "Suuton: Kiri o Kuria(1)"

A fine mist spread out from Kasumi's lips, as it spread around the clearing. The smell of food that had lingered around, completely disappeared, leaving the sent of nature behind, but nothing else. With some stretching in terms of her fingers, as if had been awhile since she used Hand seals, she turned towards Tsunade who had a curious look on her face.

"Where did you learn that from?" The buxom woman asked, and she was really curious.

Kasumi flexed her fingers a few more times to get rid of some stiffness, before she said "Mito-Obachan had the Nidaime's stash of Suuton jutsu. There was also a lot of Fuuton from the Uzumaki part of the library, so me and Kushina know a lot of them, even if we don't use them all, or know how to effectively use them."

The buxom woman gave a small nod, and she was actually pretty happy as well. Kasumi, it seemed, had a major affinity for water, and a minor for Wind, as all Uzumaki had those two elements, while it was the other way for Kushina. Add that with the extreme offense of a fire user, and she had an effective team. The wind could put out the enemy's fire, while the same could boost the friendly fire attacks. At the same time, the fire user could overpower any wind user, while the water user hid them from attacks, or protected as well. She seemed to have lucked out with this team, and she wasn't complaining one bit.

The blonde gave a quick nod, before she snapped her head to the trees and threw a Kunai, just as another one appeared, sailing straight for Mikoto. The three genin reacted quickly, as they went into a triangle formation, their backs to their Sensei. Just in time as well, as three Iwa Shinobi jumped down into the small clearing they were resting is. From the looks of it, however, the group of four was the same in terms of ranks, mostly anyway.

The three Iwa genin sent glares of complete hatred towards the Uzumaki, which ment that someone in their family died during the Uzumaki raid, while the Jõnin held a calm look on his face, though there was a look of hatred in his eyes as well. Iwa seemed to hold a large grudge against Konoha, and the Uzumaki even more so.

Tsunade gave a calm look towards the Iwa Jõnin, before she said "Kasumi, Kushina, Mikoto. Be careful."

That was all she said, before she sent the Iwa jõnin flying backwards with a punch, and she chased after. Mikoto and Kushina went to the left and right respectively along with a Iwa genin each. That left Kasumi standing in front of a blonde boy. He had a blue eye, and his hair was put into a ponytail, but his eyes seemed to show how reckless he was as he didn't even seem concerned about the fact that she had a Chunin vest on.

"We don't have to fight you know." Kasumi stated, even though she unsealed her plain steel katana, not willing to use the one Mito gave her just yet.

"Just like a tree hugger. Always trying to talk your way out of a fight you can't win." The Iwa Shinobi stated, a condescending smirk on his face.

Kasumi didn't say anything, as she put her Katana's sheath into a loop on her side. Turning to the left just slightly as an explosion went off in Tsunade's direction, she continued "I do not wish to stain this blade with blood if not necessary. I am anything but weak."

The blonde growled at the reaction. He was hopping to get a rise out of the Konoha bitch. It didn't matter though, he was gonna guy her anyway.

In a blur, the blond disappeared, and reappeared aiming a Kunai at her jugular, only for it to be stopped due to the steel katana appearing in the Kunai's path. In a flash of red, the katana was sent at the blonde, only to be stopped as one of the blondes allies stopped it. In turn Mikoto appeared blocking the Kunai that was aimed at Kasumi's stomach.

The two Shinobi and two Kunoichi stayed still for a second, before they disengaged from each other Kushina appearing beside them as wall, though she was sporting a new cut on her right arm.

"Mikoto. Kushina." Kasumi simply stated as she looked towards them. The two girls in response just nodded, though Kushina had a grin. In a burst of movement the two teams charged at each other and started to attack each other in tandem. Kushina threw a couple of Kunai at one of the Iwa nin, just as Kasumi blocked an attack from behind. Mikoto helped protect them as well, by blocking the Kunai at the right of them, before they disappeared in a blur of black and red once again, to appear somewhere else in a similar position.

As Kasumi blocked a couple of Kunai once again, a burning pain went through her leg, as a Kunai hit it, but she grit her teeth to block a spine shot from another nin. To trade off, the blonde on the other team received a Kunai to the shoulder, thus making his right arm useless. Mikoto fixed a stab in the leg as well, while the other two Iwa nin were forced to pull senbon, somthing that Kushina had mixed In with her Kunai, from various places.

Jumping back, Kasumi went through handseals quickly as she yelled "Kushina, Mikoto! Suuton: Mizurappa!"

The three Iwa nin jumped back right as one of them finished with handseals, and yelled "Doton: Doryuheki!"

Kushina and Mikoto went through handseals quickly as they could, while Kasumi held out the water trumpet towards their mud wall. When they finished, the two yelled "Katon/Fuuton: Gokakyu/Daitoppa!"

The blast of wind and fire combined to completely over power Kasumi's water trumpet, to which she shut off the chakra powering it. The powerful fire that was sent forward completely surrounded the single earth wall, which, in turn caused screams to come from behind it. The three cringed at the smell of burning flesh, and they also cringed at the fact that they pretty much killed them, though it would be harder on Kushina and Mikoto. They were the ones to cause the fire, so they killed the Genin.

The three Kunoichi moved away from the burning bodies, and the second they were out of range, Kasumi fell to her knee's shiver just as the other two threw up in the bushes. The younger red head was trying her best to keep herself together while the other two were getting rid of their lunch in the bushes, but they just couldn't get rid of that image from their minds.

They didn't know how long they stayed there, but eventually Tsunade found them, and she had a grim look. She simply asked "Who did it?"

The two that launched the fire attack raised their hands, while Kasumi just stayed where she was. The Sannin sighed slightly at this, but she understood. With a softer look Tsuande said "I don't know if you want to talk about it now, or later, but we need to move. I understand that it was your first kill, but we can discuss this once we get to safety. That's all I can say for now."

Mikoto and Kushina gave a simple nod, before they unsteadily got to their feet. Kasumi stood as best she could as well, but her mind was racing the whole time she was following the others. She had two lives worth of experience at the moment. She shouldn't be affected by this by her thoughts, but she was. In a group effort they just killed three people, and she just froze up. She could have been killed at any point with that, but yet, she didn't do anything about it. She needed to get out of this thought process or she would end up dead for sure.

With a shiver, and a shake of her head she pressed onward until they reached the village. It wasn't al, that big, and the market place didn't have that many people, showing it honestly wasn't that big a place, but it was homely. The instant they smelled the sea though, Kushina and Kasumi gained wistful expressions. The smell of the salt in the air. The sound of the waves hitting the shore. It reminded them of home, and it didn't hurt to think of home for the first time in a long time.

The peaceful looks went away to determined ounces as both Kushina and Kasumi resolved to not let today's events affect either of them in the end. They both turned towards Tsunade and they were both about to say something, but in an instant Kasumi jumped on top of a passerby, and held a Kunai to said persons throat, just as Kushina got ready to attack as well.

Kasumi held the Kunai a bit tighter due to the amount of chakra that the person was giving, as she said "Move and I'll kill you."

The person, a girl to be exact, shifted a little, but didn't move otherwise "Sheesh. The annoying brat grew into a big Kunoichi. And here I was thinking you were gonna be my Kohai still."

Kasumi recoiled in shock at the voice, before she let the girl up, and stared in an extreme amount of surprise.

"Yoruichi-senpai?!"

Cliffhanger!

Ok, I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but as you read this, I'm working on the next chapter, so don't kill me ok? But, yeah, I hope you liked this chapter, and here are some questions.

What do you think Kirigakure is up to?

What do you think of the kids opinions of Kasumi?

Who do you think the 'Contact' will be, or what they will be like?

Did the fight seem realistic? Remember they are clan kids so they have an arsenal.

What do you think Kasumi will do to Yoruichi next chapter?

That's that, so till next time!