So just to clear some stuff up; I've skewed the ages a bit, just for the sake of the story. Kakashi and the other Jonin are about 25-26, Arya, Zen and Haru are about 20, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and the others are 17-19. I also realize that I called them genin before, but at that age they'd more likely be at least chunin. And soooo I went back and fixed that :)

"You know, the grass never did anything to you."

At Zen's words, Arya looked up from her furious grass picking to glare at her teammate. She was sitting with him and Haru under a tree, away from the other chunin. The others were all huddled together a couple feet away, close enough that she could eavesdrop on them if she chose to do so. She purposely tuned them out however, or rather she tried to, but that blonde kid, Naruto, was being ridiculously loud. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were talking about. Besides, there were other things on her mind. Well, one thing really.

And his name was Kakashi Hatake.

Said individual was standing at the far end of the clearing with Enta and the other Jonin, hands casually tucked in his pockets as he said something. They were all taking care to keep their voices down, but, again, she could have probably listened in on them if she wanted to.

At that moment Enta and Asuma started to laugh, and Enta clapped a hand on Kakashi's back. The silver haired man, however, didn't seem to share their amusement, because he simply glowered at the ground, crossing his arms. She tried, but she couldn't help the twitch of her lips at the sight of Kakashi looking like a petulant child.

"So are you going to talk to him?" asked Haru, drawing her attention away from them. She glanced in the blonde's direction, taking in his long, lanky form sprawled out in the grass in front of her.

"We have nothing to talk about," she said curtly, resuming her violent grass picking. Both Haru and Zen couldn't help but laugh at that, and she looked up to glare at them both.

"What?" she snapped and Zen shook his head, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"Don't hurt us, princess," he teased, using that dreadful nickname her team picked out for her when they first got together. "It was a pretty good question. And I personally think you guys should talk. Even if that means he's going to leave the conversation bloody and bruised."

Arya rolled her eyes even as the boys snickered again. She may act very hostile and defensive, but there were a few people with whom she let down her guard. The two shinobi sitting with her were two of them, Enta was the other.

At one time there was another with whom she shared everything, but that person was no longer in her life. Her shoulders sank very slightly at the thought. The memories. It had been years, and she was over it, or so she convinced herself, but there were days she didn't quite feel so…over it. Days where the pain seemed just as strong as it did then.

She hated those days. They made her feel weak, and that was something she promised herself she'd never, ever be again.

Frowning down at the pieces of ripped grass in her hands, she fought the urge to rub the spot on her chest where a dull ache began. Sighing quietly, she closed her eyes, but the images flashed in her head anyway. Memories. Thoughts. Feelings. God she hated feelings.

Gnawing on her bottom lip, she looked over at Kakashi, her eyes landing on him instantly. It was at that exact moment that he decided to look over at her, and from across the clearing, their eyes met.

How was it that he still held the power to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand, just by looking at her? She resented him for that. Resented herself for giving him that kind of power over her, even after all that time.

Though both their faces remained passive, almost bored even, their eyes were anything but. The tension in the air was almost palpable. She wasn't paying much attention, but everyone had gone silent, even that annoying blonde leaf ninja.

'Kill him…' snarled the treacherous voice in her head, louder than before. 'Kill him, kill him. He must die. Kill him, I'll even do it for you…' the voice chanted, getting even louder. Her hands started to get clammy and began to tremble ever so slightly. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Zen and Haru sit up slowly, moving closer to her. Her heart was thudding in her chest, and the air around her seemed to get heavier. And through it all, her gaze remained locked with Kakashi's.

He was staring at her more intently now, and she watched as something flickered in his eye, brow furrowing every so slightly. She was trying, very hard, to calm herself down, to quiet the voice in her head, but she found that the techniques Enta had taught her weren't doing much. She was too frazzled, she wasn't focusing.

The voice was getting louder, more insistent. Her head was pounding almost unbearably and it was only getting worse. This wasn't good. Not at all.

"Arya," said Zen softly, trying to snap her out of it. After being with her day in and day out for the past few years, the two of them knew her inside and out. They'd seen her at every point, every high and every low. Though they hadn't seen it happen very often, they knew that she was losing control of the beast inside her.

And it was because of him. Kakashi.

"It's alright," murmured Haru from the other side of her. He reached out, presumably to touch her, but she growled low in her throat without intending to do so, making him retract his hand. It proved exactly how little control she had. All that hard work over the years, and it had all gone to shit in the span of ten minutes.

A particularly painful throbbing started in her head, and she could no longer hold her composition. She squeezed her eyes shut, closing Kakashi out of her line of vision. Her hand came up to press against her forehead, and she heard Zen curse under his breath.

All of a sudden she felt the air shift, and then she felt large, cool hands press on either side of her head. The gentle, chakra infused pressure seemed to counteract the throbbing, and she dropped her hand back into her lap, her face relaxing again.

"I've got ya princess," said Enta, sounding casual and relaxed, as though nothing was wrong. She opened her eyes to look into his deep brown ones. He held her gaze, and she slowly felt herself relaxing further. Her thundering heart slowed down, and she stopped trembling. The voice in her head huffed in annoyance and then disappeared.

Closing her eyes again, she exhaled deeply, pushing her sensei's hands off her. She looked up at the group of chunin across from her to see that they were all staring at her. Even the Jonin were staring at her.

He was staring at her.

'…monster…'

The word whispered through her mind, and she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep it from trembling.

"Arya-" Enta started, looking at her with those stupid, understanding eyes. Shooting him, and everyone else, a fierce glare, she vanished, the only trace left of her being a cloud of black smoke left in her place. The smoke gathered and spun furiously, and then it too was gone.

Sighing, Enta rubbed his forehead before looking over his shoulder at Kakashi. His old friend held his gaze for a long moment. And though the other man was known for having one of the best poker faces in the village, Enta caught a glimpse of… something in his eye. It could have been surprise, but the Shadow village Jonin thought it was more than that. It looked more like…sadness.

Before Enta could read into anything, Kakashi also vanished in a blur.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head as a wry smile crossed his lips.

From across the clearing, Naruto had just managed to find his voice again.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Sighing, he laid back in the grass, squinting up at the clouds. If only the kid knew.