A/N: Sowwie this took so long, hehe ^_^

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Of course the Fifth and Kakashi would have known she was there already, they were highly skilled ninja after all. Letting the door shut behind her, Arya looked between the two other occupants of the room. Kakashi was staring straight forward, eyes locked on something beyond the large windows, arms crossed. Most people would have seen him and thought that he was just bored, but Arya knew him better than that. It seemed to her that he'd been arguing with the Hokage. Turning to the woman in question, she realized that the blonde was giving her a critical look.

"So you're Arya, huh," she said, leaning back in her chair. Arya didn't bother to say anything, opting to nod once instead. Standing next to Kakashi, she returned Tsunade's long look in a silent challenge. Eventually the woman gave a short, barking laugh and Arya was instantly confused.

"You've chosen well," she said to Kakashi who actually scowled. Arya would have laughed at the look on his face, but she was also currently scowling at the older woman. What the heck was that supposed to mean?

"Well, now that you're both here, I can debrief you. Kakashi, you will be taking the lead on this one, a B-rank. You are to escort a painter from here to Suna."

"You need the both of us to escort a painter?" interrupted Arya, a disbelieving look on her face. If she had to be stuck with Kakashi, she at least wanted it to be a good mission. "What bullshit."

It was Tsunade's turn to scowl now as she regarded the young woman.

"Your job is to do what you are told, not to ask stupid questions, understand?"

Arya was getting ready to snap right back, and Kakashi must have anticipated this because he interjected smoothly.

"Who's coming after this guy?" he asked, and Tsunade turned to him.

"Debt collectors," she said simply, steepling her fingers. "Seems that Komodo has quite a few debts he hasn't paid. And so they hired ninja to retrieve him and make him pay. Your job is to safely get him to Suna so he can do some sort of painting for some wealthy family. I asked for the two of you specifically for this mission. Kakashi you are one of our best, and you've fought with the ninja who will be coming after you before."

The man nodded and Arya crossed her arms over her chest.

"If he's so capable, then why do you need me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well for one, half the reason you're here is for you to be going on higher ranked missions. I'm sure there is a lot you can learn from him," she said, an unholy smirk on her face. Arya felt the urge to punch that smirk off her face, but then Enta would throw a fit.

"And secondly, to put it bluntly, you and Kakashi need to get over whatever shit you have between you. I can't have two of the strongest ninja in this village dancing around one another. And yes, you are a powerful ninja Arya, even though you are as sour as a grape sometimes."

Arya scowled, and Kakashi was grateful that his mask hid his smirk.

"I hope that the two of you will hash out whatever misgivings you have between you during this trip. You'll be gone for a couple days, I trust that this will be enough time. You two are adults now, and I expect you to handle this situation as such, understood?"

"Understood," said Kakashi and the two of them turned to her simultaneously. Giving a begrudging sigh, Arya looked heavenward. "Yes, alright, whatever."

"Great," said Tsunade, clapping her hands. "Here's a scroll with all the details you'll need. You will leave at the break of dawn. Dismissed."

Bowing in sync, the Kakashi held the door open for her as they both exited into the hallway. They fell into step easily, though they walked with about a foot of space between the two of them. Once they'd finally stepped out of the building, Kakashi turned to her, hands deep in his pockets, eyes off in the distance.

"We'll meet at the gates at six," he said and Arya smirked.

"Six in 'Kakashi-time' is more like seven," she said before she could stop herself, and his eyes flashed over to her. Their gazes met and locked, and Arya could actually feel the light blush that bloomed on her cheeks.

She watched his eyes as they went from mild surprise to something more…soft. He took a step forward then, a hand moving out of his pocket. "Arya…" he began, but she dropped her gaze to the ground, taking a step backwards.

"I'll be there at six. Be on time."

And with that, she used that kekkei genkai of hers and dispersed into a cloud of black smoke. Kakashi dropped the hand that had been reaching for her and looked off in the direction she'd disappeared.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and began walking back to the training grounds. He didn't even know what he would have said, had she stayed. It wasn't like he had planned something out or anything. He'd just felt this…pressing need to feel close to her again. He didn't know if he meant to do that with physical contact or by talking to her, but it didn't seem like she wanted either.

She didn't seem to want anything to do with him.

And he deserved it, but it hurt nonetheless.

Kicking at a pebble, he stuck his hands back into his pockets as he thought hard about his ex-girlfriend. He hated feeling uncertain. Hated feeling as though the situation wasn't in his control. Hated feeling so torn up inside. And it was funny, because Arya always had a way of bringing those feelings out in him.

Hell, the first time he had ever met her, she had managed to have him feeling all conflicted inside. He thought back to that day all those years ago.

It was the middle of winter, and he had been coming back from a solo mission. He was just about to enter the gates of Konoha when he had heard something. Thinking back on it now, he realized how easy it would have been for him to just keep going and not investigate the noise.

He would have never met her.

His eleven year old self had decided to investigate, however, and he soon came across a peculiar lump in the snow. He'd poked at the lump, only to realize that it was a person. A little girl. Curled up into a tight little ball, fast asleep with her thumb tucked into her mouth.

He remembered thinking that she was so tiny. A frail little thing with more hair on her head than that skinny little neck should have been able to hold. That was the first time that she made him uncertain. He wondered if he should leave her there or take her into the village.

He ended up deciding on the latter of course, and so he had reached down and pulled the sleeping child into his arms and started walking towards the hospital. Despite the freezing weather out, he was surprised to find that she was warm, her cheeks even had a rosy glow to them.

Kakashi remembered vividly how he had looked down upon her, coal black hair whipping in the wind as she subconsciously snuggled into him. In that moment, even he had to begrudgingly admit that she was adorable.

But then he noticed the bruises.

The clouds of purple and blue that marred her otherwise flawless skin. He remembered counting them and feeling a surge of anger as the number climbed above ten. There were old ones and new ones, most of them on her arms and legs. And then he noticed that her clothes were tattered, almost as though she ripped at them.

Or someone else had.

His frown deepened as he noticed the blood on her pants. He didn't even realize he had broken into a run until he was at the doors to the hospital sooner than he'd expected. He ran in and handed her off to a nurse. As he watched her being wheeled away, he knew in the pit of his stomach what had happened to the child.

And it angered him.

Even thinking about it now, years and years later, it still managed to make his blood boil. How anyone could do such a thing to a child was beyond him.

As the doctors worked on the mysterious little girl, Kakashi had paced in the hallway. He could have left, he had training to do, and he told himself that his job was done. And yet he stayed.

He could hear the doctors through the door. Not clearly, but well enough to hear the word rape. He was right. And pissed him off. But then he heard the doctor addressing the girl, asking for her name. It didn't seem like she was saying much, because the doctor repeated himself a bunch of times before finally opening the door.

Slightly startled to see Kakashi waiting there, the doctor asked if he knew the girl. Kakashi explained how he found her, and the doctor frowned, glancing back into the room. He asked Kakashi to talk to her, to see if he could get any information from her. He didn't respond to that, instead he stood there silently until the doctor excused himself, saying something about talking to the Hokage.

Kakashi stood outside her room for fifteen minutes before finally deciding to go in.

From the second he walked into the room, two big grey eyes were glued to him. She seemed to recognize him somehow, and it made him uneasy. He went to stand in the corner of the room, far away from the bed, and they watched each other silently for what seemed like an eternity.

'What is your name,' he had said finally, and she blinked up at him before answering in the quietest of whispers.

"Arya."

He had approached her then, coming to stand tentatively at her bedside. He stared at her, or more particularly at her bruises, and frowned again.

"How old are you?" he asked, and his question was again answered in that same soft whisper.

"Five."

His stomach twisted.

"Who did this to you?"

She didn't answer him that time, instead opting to stare down at her lap. He felt himself getting frustrated, but it wasn't like he was going to take it out on a battered and broken little girl. So instead he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Where are your parents?"

She still remained silent, but her bottom lip trembled, and that knot of anger brewing in the pit of his stomach flared. His fists clenched and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that she flinched and cowered back into the pillow she was propped up against.

Instantly he forced himself to unclench his hands and watched as the girl raised her eyes to his. They were swimming with tears, and Kakashi fidgeted in his spot on the bed. He wasn't good with emotions. He wasn't the nurturing type. All he really knew how to do was fight and train. He wished Rin were there to deal with the little girl. Or even Obito. Anyone but him.

But no one else was there, and she was staring up at him with those big eyes and he was at a loss.

"It's okay," he found himself saying. "You'll be safe here."

Saying that was already so out of character for him. So when he uttered the next few words, he was completely astonished at himself.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

He was berating himself for saying what he did, but then he saw something that completely made him forget his frustration with himself.

She was smiling.

Big and bright, her pearly little teeth shining. 'She has dimples' he remembered thinking to himself. And before he knew it, he was smiling too. It was nowhere near as big as hers, and it was hidden behind his mask, but it was there. And Kakashi wasn't usually one for smiling.

And that was when he knew, with this odd sort of certainty, that this little girl would change his life.

He never could have imagined how much.

Sighing, Kakashi returned his thoughts to the present just as he approached the clearing. He could hear Naruto shouting about something and then Sakura yelling at him to shut up. Stepping into view, he tried to clear his mind, but it was to no avail. And Arya was nowhere in sight.

Enta came to stand beside him silently. His friend took one look at his face and sent him a sympathetic look and a pat on the back.

What was he going to do?

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