A/N: Hey guys, I'd really love it if y'all could leave me a comment/review. Pretty please? :)

Zen woke up to his Sensei pouring a bucket of ice-cold water on his face. Sputtering, he sat up and stared at a grinning Enta and an equally amused Haru standing in his room.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty," said Enta, looking far too cheery considering it was like, nine in the morning.

"I really wish you'd stop doing that," he muttered, taking of his soaked t-shirt and throwing it across the small room.

"And I really wish you'd wake up on time for training. I guess we're both not getting what we wished for, huh?" said the Jonin, dropping down onto the dry side of the bed. "Go get dressed. We're already late."

"And take that shirt with you," added Haru from where he was leaning against the doorframe. "The Hokage didn't give us housing for you to fuck up the floors by leaving wet clothes on it. "

"That too," said Enta, his ever-present grin covering half his face.

Grumbling under his breath, Zen slid out of bed and ran a hand through his hair, shaking out water droplets. He made his way to the bathroom, but stopped just short of the door.

"Is she back yet?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Enta. It had been four days since Arya had left the clearing, and she still wasn't back. Of course it wasn't exactly new for her to get angry and go off on her own for a couple days, but still. It was different this time. He was out there.

Despite the younger boys' question, Enta's grin did not falter. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "Not yet. Now go get ready, you're holding us up."

Zen looked over at Haru who only shrugged and looked away. He was worried too, Zen knew it for a fact. And though Enta seemed to be very nonchalant about the whole situation, he knew their Sensei was also anxiously waiting on Arya's return.

Sighing, Zen walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

_._._._._

"Fucking hell," muttered Zen as he laid flat on his back, staring up at Enta who stood over him with crossed arms.

"How many times have I told you to watch that blind spot?" he barked, raising an eyebrow. "And you," he continued, turning on Haru who stood across from them, hands braced on his knees as he caught his breath. "What part of 'no genjutsu' did you not understand? I specifically said only taijutsu. The two of you will put me in an early grave, I swear."

"You're reckless enough to put yourself there."

Both Zen and Haru grinned and sat up, looking in the direction of the voice. As they watched, black smoke slowly began to materialize into the familiar features of the third member of their team.

"Look what the wind blew in," teased Zen as he jumped to his feet and appeared at her side, putting an arm around her shoulders. Arya only rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked up in a miniscule smirk.

"That joke is getting old," she said leaning into him for a quick moment before elbowing him in the side and stepping away.

"It's the only joke he knows," said Haru grinning at her and she smiled back before looking at Enta. The older man watched her coolly for a long minute before grinning widely.

"You shouldn't talk about recklessness princess," he commented, running a hand through his hair. "But now that you've decided to rejoin us, get to work. You've missed four days of training and meetings with the Hokage."

"I didn't miss any training," she said, tying up her long black hair in a ponytail. "In fact, I probably spent more time training over the past few days than the three of you."

Enta shook his head, a smirk on his lips as he regarded the only female member of his squad. Of course she'd spend her time away training. It was a reoccurring theme; she's get upset or angry and she'd go off on her own and spend countless hours training, punishing herself almost. The kid was too hard on herself, thought Enta, but telling her that would only result in pissing her off again, so he never brought it up.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked instead. He knew that when she got into one of those anger-induced training moods, she'd often neglect to take care of herself.

Arya couldn't help the sheepish smile that appeared on her face at the question. "Ah, I don't remember exactly," she said, twirling a lock of her own hair. In truth, it had been a while since she'd had an actual meal. Whenever she remembered to eat, she just grabbed a handful of nuts or an apple or something she else she could find in the forest. It wasn't her fault really, she just chose to stay out in the wilderness and away from civilization during her 'trips'. She was less likely to accidentally hurt someone that way, and it also meant that she wouldn't have to deal with people.

"That's code for, 'I haven't eaten since I left'," said Haru, shaking his head. The blonde was the self-appointed 'mother' of the group. Always telling them what to do and how to do it, worrying over them. It was…sweet, though Arya would never tell him that.

She shrugged, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. "So are we going to train or what?" she asked, looking between the three men.

"No. We're going to get food. It's lunchtime anyway. We can continue later."

Arya frowned at Enta even as Zen and Haru high-fived one another. She started to protest, but her Sensei cut her off with a stern look. Enta was rarely serious with them, but when it came to the health of his squad, he was adamant. Especially when it concerned Arya, who would go days without eating or sleeping if she could get away with it.

"Fine, fine," she muttered, following the others as they headed back towards the village.

_._._._._

They walked into a quaint little restaurant a couple moments later, Arya literally dragging her feet as she followed at the back of the group. She'd rather be training, but of course the boys wanted to eat.

Idiots.

When she heard that stupid blonde kid from before yelling something about ramen, she groaned. Perhaps if it were just the annoying kid, she would have ignored it. Hell, even if he was with the rest of his friends she'd have dealt with it. But he was with him. She was back in the village for all of ten minutes and she was already crossing paths with Kakashi Hatake again.

Perfect.

Haru and Zen noticed the other squad moments after she did, and they exchanged a look over her head before trying to subtly direct the group to the opposite end of the restaurant.

"Hey! Hey! Zen, Haru, Arya, Enta-Sensei! Come sit with us!"

Arya nearly growled as he called them, shouting unnecessarily loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. She didn't even bother to acknowledge the boy, Naruto, and she instead continued to walk by them. Haru started to decline the request, polite guy that he was, but Enta interrupted him.

"Of course we'll join you," he said, grinning widely, and Arya froze in her spot, as did Haru and Zen. Enta paid no mind to them however, and he went ahead and slid into the booth, sitting beside Kakashi. The girl on the other side of the silver-haired man looked just as shocked as they did.

The Kunoichi looked between Enta, Arya, and her own sensei, who was staring pointedly at his friend. Clearly the girl picked up on the…tension between Kakashi and her. Enta and Naruto however, were a different story.

"Uh, we don't want to bother them…" started Haru, looking between Arya and Enta.

"Nah, it's no bother!" chuckled Naruto, motioning for them to come over. Her teammates didn't move though, and she knew they wouldn't until she did. Arya sighed, rubbing her forehead. She'd walk out of the restaurant, but Enta would just cause a scene. Besides, if she left, Haru and Zen would too.

Cursing under her breath, she walked over and slid into the booth next to Naruto, since sitting next to Enta would make her want to punch him in the face. After a moment's hesitation, Zen and Haru joined them, the brunette sitting next to her and the blonde sitting next to Enta.

"Hi!" said Naruto to her loudly, turning slightly in his seat, and for a moment she wondered if sitting next to him was such a good idea. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

Arya nodded, crossing her legs under the table. She wanted to glare at Enta for putting her in this position, but looking at him meant that she was basically looking at Kakashi as well. So instead she turned to the boy beside her.

"I know your name," she said, giving him a forced smile. He didn't seem to notice the dryness of her tone however, because he sent her a blinding grin.

"Have you met my teammates?" he questioned enthusiastically. Before she could answer, he continued. "This is Sakura and this is Sasuke. And, well, I guess you already know Kakashi Sensei…how do you know him by the way?"

The boy on the other side of him, Sasuke, rolled his eyes and she noticed that he subtly kicked his teammate under the table. "It's none of your business, idiot," he mumbled under his breath, and in that instant, Arya took a liking to that boy. Finally someone who understood the importance of minding their own business.

"It was just a question," whined Naruto, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Sasuke. "I just wanted to know how-"

"Naruto. That's enough."

Kakashi's voice was quiet, but the steely undertone couldn't be mistaken. Instantly Naruto shut his mouth and sank down in his seat, sulking quietly. Sakura gave the boy a long, disapproving look from across the table before turning to Arya with a big smile.

"So, I hear you guys are from the village hidden in the shadows, huh? It's weird, we didn't learn much about it at the Academy. What's it like?"

"Dark, and gloomy," said Arya dryly and Sakura blinked, her smile wavering as she tried to figure out whether or not she was being serious. And while Sakura was fidgeting, Arya noticed that Kakashi's lips twitched slightly in amusement. He always did appreciate dark humor.

He looked up from the spot on the table he was previously staring at just then to glance at her, and their eyes met for a moment, just like in the clearing. But unlike that time in the clearing, the voice in her head was silent. The fact that she was once again in control of herself made her that much more confident and at ease.

Zen bumped her shoulder slightly, shifting a little closer to her, and since she was still looking intently at Kakashi, she noticed the way his eye shifted to the younger man for a moment. Her teammate was looking at her, so he didn't catch the stony look, but Arya did.

And she didn't know what to think of it.

So instead, she turned to Zen, leaning in as he whispered something in her ear that made her laugh lightly and roll her eyes. When she looked back at Kakashi, he was back to staring at the table.

"She's only kidding," said Haru, leaning forward so he could see Sakura past the two Jonin. "It's not all dark and gloomy."

"Oh…so what's it like?" she asked, the smile once again appearing on her face.

"Well, I guess the most distinguishable thing in our village would be the caves. We've got an entire system of underground caves and tunnels beneath the village. There are also cave systems flanking three sides of the village, meaning that there's only one path in and out. That's why our village is so secure and easy to defend. Not to mention the fact that it's relatively small, in terms of population. Beyond the caves, there are rocky cliffs and mountains. They often block out the sunshine, which is why it's often dark, as Arya mentioned."

"That sounds really cool," said Sakura, looking at Haru earnestly as he described the village in which she was born. "So what brings you to our village? Naruto mentioned that he saw you at the Hokage towers." Both Zen and Haru looked at each other before looking at Enta. Only the three of them knew why they were in the village, Arya missed out on the debriefing while she was away, so she couldn't offer any answers even if she wanted to.

"Well it was a variety of reasons," started Enta, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Since the shadow village is so small, we don't get very many missions. Whatever missions do come our way are usually D-ranks, maybe C-ranks, and I decided that these guys needed something more challenging before they got fat and lazy." Chuckling, he ran a hand through his dark hair. "Besides, our village recently signed a treaty with your village. As a result, the Hokage suggested that we drop by."

"So you guys were, like, invited by the Hokage?" asked Naruto and Enta shrugged one shoulder.

"I guess you could say that."

Arya was watching her Sensei carefully as he spoke. Though all of what he said was true, she couldn't help but feel that he knew something more that he wasn't sharing. When he and Kakashi exchanged a quick, secretive glance, she was even more positive that there was something else going on.

Before she could do anything about it, the waitress arrived to take their orders, and it was total chaos as Zen and Naruto began to bicker over the menu. And though she still suspected something was up, she let it go for the moment.

A short while later, their food arrived and they all began to eat in amicable silence. Well, Naruto seemed to be inhaling his ramen rather than eating it considering how fast it disappeared from his bowl. Reaching across the table to grab one of Sakura's breadsticks, he turned back to her.

"So I was wondering, what's up with that smoke-cloud thing you do?"

Arya paused in the process of picking at her food to look at the younger shinobi. "Smoke release," she said simply, reaching for her water. At Naruto's confused look, she grudgingly elaborated. "The ability to change into smoke. It's my kekkei genkai. Well, one of them."

"You have more than one kekkei genkai?" asked Sasuke suddenly, speaking up for the first time since they got there. She looked over at him, beyond a wide-eyed Naruto, to meet his dark eyes.

Nodding slowly, she shifted in her seat. She'd prefer not to answer, of course, but Enta was giving her these pointed looks. He was always trying to get her to make new friends and open up, but she remained adamantly against it. Even so, with a sigh, she decided to answer, only because it was Sasuke and his reserved nature reminded her of herself.

"I have three," she started. "The smoke release, which allows me to turn any part of my body into smoke, dark release, which gives me the ability to manipulate other people's chakra, and blood release, which should be self explanatory. I rarely use the last two though, smoke release is my specialty." That last bit was a bit of a bluff. It wasn't that she chose not to use her dark release and blood release, it was just that she wasn't capable of using them all the time like she could with her smoke release. The other two required moulding chakra that wasn't her own, and that took a lot of work. Explaining that to the others would have led to questions she'd rather not answer, and so it was better to just let them believe that it was a choice. Besides, she really did prefer her smoke techniques over the others anyway.

"But that's….impossible," said Sasuke, frowning at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"Well clearly it's not impossible," she said, leaning back in her seat.

"Hold on, kekkei genkai are passed down in clans, right?" asked Naruto, looking between Kakashi and her. "So does that mean both your parents had kekkei genkai? I mean, the only way you could have them is because they gave them to you, right?" He was so absorbed in what he was saying that he didn't notice her tense very slightly at the mention of her parents.

She dropped her eyes to her half eaten plate of food, picking at it again.

"They didn't give me anything," she said firmly before chewing on a string bean. Sakura and Sasuke seemed to pick up on the fact that her words held a deeper meaning than simply explaining her kekkei genkai, and so they both went silent. Naruto, unfortunately, didn't possess the same observational skills as his teammates.

"So how can you have kekkei genkai if you didn't get them from your parents? I mean, Sasuke has his Sharingan because he's an Uchiha and it was passed down to him."

Arya was quickly losing patience with the boy, and Enta must have noticed, because he opened his mouth to step in.

But Kakashi beat him to it.

"Sasuke's Sharingan was passed down to him through his clan, yes, and that's the case with most kekkei genkai, but there are exceptions," he said, moving aside his empty plate to rest his elbows on the table. "Take me for example. I'm not an Uchiha, and yet I possess the Sharingan. That's because I was given Obito Uchiha's eye, which then transferred his kekkei genkai to me."

"So you're saying that she was given her kekkei genkai?" asked Naruto and Kakashi shook his head slowly.

"She didn't get them in the same way I did, but they were…given to her in a sense. Two of them were, at the very least."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, confused as ever, but Kakashi held up a hand.

"This isn't an interrogation Naruto, that's enough. Besides, we should get going. We skipped training this morning because you slept in and so we need to make up for it."

Kakashi's eye flicked to her then, just for a moment, flitting over her face. But before she could read anything in his gaze, he looked away.

"What a coincidence," said Enta after a moment, grinning widely. "We're going to go train too. You should join us."

"I don't know Enta, we've got a lot to do," started Kakashi, clearly trying to avoid the situation, but her Sensei was having none of it.

"Oh come on," he chided, smirking at his friend. "Are you afraid that my kids are going to beat yours to a pulp?"

Arya shook her head slowly, already knowing where this was going. She often called Enta an idiot, but he was the smartest idiot she knew. Sure enough, his words had the intended effect because Naruto jumped to his feet, nearly upending the table and everything on it.

"What do you mean?! I'll pulverize these guys! Just you watch, I'm going to kick some butt. Come on Kakashi-Sensei, are you really going to let him say that?"

Kakashi sighed, looking heavenward and Enta's grin grew even wider.

"Fine," he muttered, practically glaring at Naruto who was, as usual, oblivious to it all.

"Wonderful," said Enta, motioning the waitress over so they could pay and leave.

Arya didn't know what Enta was doing, purposely putting Kakashi and Arya in each other's presence knowing full well what happened between them. Clearly he had some sort of an agenda, but she didn't know what.

At least not yet.

Scooting out of the booth behind Zen, they all began walking towards the exit. Naruto was still busy talking about how he was going to beat everyone, but she wasn't paying him much attention.

Zen came up beside her then, casually tossing an arm over her shoulders as they began to walk in the direction of the training fields just outside the village.

Behind them, Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the brown haired chunin with his arm around Arya. The look alone should have been able to bore a hole right through the younger man's head.

"Something bothering you Hatake?" asked Enta as he passed the other Jonin, a knowing smirk plastered on his face. At that, Kakashi glowered at the ground, shoving his hands into his pockets and muttering something under his breath.

Sakura and Sasuke, who brought up the rear of the group, noticed the exchange and shared a curious look.

"I wonder what's going on between Kakashi-Sensei and Arya," whispered Sakura. Sasuke however, was interested in the woman for a different reason entirely.

"I wonder how she is in combat," he said, prompting Sakura to stare at him. "She has three kekkei genkai, and if her other teammates are any indication, she should be proficient in taijutsu too. That would make her a strong opponent."

Looking away from Sasuke, Sakura stared at the ground as they lapsed into silence. She had to admit that his fascination with the new girl had her jealousy flaring up, but she suspected that she and Zen were an item.

Or rather, she hoped they were.

"Maybe that's why they call her the Suicide Killer," commented Sakura eventually. "To be given a title like that…What kind of a monster is she?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, but he chose not to comment. It was pretty obvious that she got the title by killing, there was no doubt about that. And he knew, all too well, what blood thirst felt like. Perhaps he and the newcomer had more in common than he initially thought.