A/N: WARNING: This chapter contains a little sexual content. You have been warned. :P

In the evening, Kaede lay in bed, worrying about Kakashi and Naruto. She felt like she should have told Kakashi more about that day. But she couldn't. He would think she was crazy if she told him.

And Naruto… She wished she could have met him today, as promised, and get to know him better.

I guess that's what you get for having a ninja for a brother, she thought. She wondered if they were ok.

Just then, she heard someone open the front door. That was strange; she thought she had locked it. She looked at the bedroom door opening and saw someone come in. She couldn't see him very well, but it was definitely a man. He was tall, had broad shoulders and had messy hair.

She quickly sat straight up, instinctively holding the sheets in front of her chest.

"W-who…?" she asked carefully. When the man closed the door and came closer, she recognized…

"Kakashi?" She sighed in relief. "You scared me… What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer. He just came closer.

"Kakashi?" She grabbed her blanket more tightly, covering herself better. Why was she having this familiar feeling? This familiar, uncomfortable feeling?

Just when Kakashi stood right beside the bed, Kaede could see the look in his one open eye. She knew that look all too well.

Kakashi bent over and put his hands next to each side of her, so that she couldn't get away. The only things between their faces were a thin layer of air and a mask.

Kaede lay back down to create more distance between them. She wished she could go lower.

"What are you doing?" she asked nervously. Her face was getting red.

Kakashi still didn't say anything. He climbed onto the bed and placed his knees next to each side of her, so that he was completely hovering over her.

Kaede's anguish grew with every second. Her breathing was speeding up.

Kakashi raised his hand and caressed her cheek.

"No…" whispered Kaede.

"What's wrong?" asked Kakashi. His voice was very low.

Tears were stinging her eyes. "Please don't," she said, pleading.

"Why not?" asked Kakashi. He had no emotion in his eye, nor in his voice. His hand reached a little lower and removed the blanket. Kaede wanted to scream, but no sound came out. She tried to cover herself with her arms. Tears were flowing from her eyes.

"You're an idiot," said Kakashi, his voice still emotionless. "You've foreseen this, still you're not resisting."

Kaede was just hoping he wouldn't go any further than this.

"Why aren't you resisting?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't want to hurt you," answered Kaede.

"Hurt me?" asked Kakashi. "Like you can. A weak woman like you won't be able to even push me away."

He took his mask and slowly pulled it down.

"What are you…?" asked Kaede, but she couldn't finish the question. Was he really going to show his face?

She couldn't see it well. Kakashi pressed his lips onto hers immediately after removing his mask.

Kaede was completely shocked. She tried to push him away, but she couldn't. Of course not. He was a shinobi.

But when she felt one of his hands starting to caress her breast, she turned her head to the left, breaking the forceful kiss, and yelled: "Stop!"

Kakashi pulled back a little. His hand stopped moving, but didn't leave her skin just yet. Kaede squeezed her eyes closed. She was too afraid to look at him, whimpering in panic.

"Please…" she sobbed. "Please… enough…"

"Why?" whispered Kakashi. "Just relax. I know you actually want this."

"No, I don't," pleaded Kaede. "Of course I don't!"

"Yes, you do," said Kakashi calmly, pecking her on the side of her neck. "You know you do," he breathed in her neck. Kaede couldn't oppress a shiver.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Kakashi kissed her one more time on the lips. Then he whispered in her ear: "Just open your eyes and see for yourself."

She opened her eyes and woke up. It was morning already.

"A dream…?" she whispered to herself, panting, trembling, and sweating.

"No… No, he'd never do that… Not Kakashi. He wouldn't…"

She took a deep, shaky breath, calming herself down. Her feet finding it unusually difficult to find the floor, she got out of bed.

Those days are over, she lectured herself. It was just a nightmare. Forget about it. Focus on what's really important now: to get a job.

Kakashi and his teammates entered the orphanage. The first caretaker to welcome them looked very familiar to Kakashi, except that his face had aged. A lot. It was the very same man who took him to that place when Kakashi was looking for Kaede. The same man who told him she was dead. Even after 15 years, Kakashi could recognize him immediately. And it looked like this caretaker recognized Kakashi as well.

"Hey, haven't I seen you before?" asked the caretaker.

"Yes," answered Kakashi calmly. "I was here 15 years ago. Remember?"

"Oh, right," said the caretaker. "You were looking for one of the kids that were killed back then… umm… What was her name again?"

"Her name was Kaede," said Kakashi.

"Oh yeah," said the old caretaker, "that blonde girl. Poor thing."

"Eh?" said Naruto. "You mean that nee-chan used to live here?"

"Yes," said Kakashi. "It's a long story. But anyway…" – he looked at the caretaker again – "could you show us the place where those kids were murdered again?"

"Umm… s-sure," said the caretaker. He was staring at Naruto.

On their way, the caretaker asked Naruto: "You just called her 'nee-chan' a moment ago, right? Was she your sister?"

"Hell no," said Naruto. "She's Kakashi-sensei's girlfriend."

"What?" asked the caretaker. He stopped briefly. "She's alive?"

"Yes," said Kakashi without looking at him. "And Naruto, don't make things up."

Kiba and Hinata both looked confused. Of course, they had no idea who Naruto and Kakashi were talking about.

"Well, it could've been true," said Naruto. "Even though she's clearly a lot younger than you…"

"That's enough, Naruto," said Kakashi, keeping his calm. "This is the place, right?"

"Yes…" replied the caretaker; still looking shocked over the fact that Kaede was still alive.

Kakashi looked around the place. After 15 years, it was no wonder that it looked like nothing ever happened here. Only the atmosphere was different. Cold. Depressing.

He remembered dropping himself on his knees and angrily punching into the ground, right here on this very spot. He remembered being angry with himself for letting her go, even though she had begged him to let her stay in Konoha.

"After the murder…" he asked, "did anything else happen around here?"

"What do you mean?" asked the caretaker.

"Did this killer strike more than once?"

"Well… there was a murder case like this one… But that was about a year later."

"Where?"

"I… I can't remember."

Kakashi sighed. "Ok," he said, "do you remember anything else?"

The caretaker thought for a while. "Hmm… no," he said. "That's all I know."

"Alright," said Kakashi. "Thank you."

The caretaker made a polite bow and walked back to the orphanage.

"This is a waste of time," mumbled Naruto. "I could've spent this time training."

"Then be glad we're on this mission," said Kakashi strictly.

"I know you don't agree with me training on Rasen Shuriken," said Naruto, "but I can't stop now, after making it this far."

"And I know I can't talk you out of it," sighed Kakashi, "but let's focus on the mission now."

"Well, this mission is still a waste of time," mumbled Naruto stubbornly.

"Naruto," said Kakashi more strictly, "we might be running into a dangerous murderer with an unidentified weapon, or some kind of unknown technique. Make sure you realize that."

"If that's the case, then where is he?" shouted Naruto impatiently. "I mean, no one has ever seen the guy before!"

"That's exactly why we are on this mission," said Kakashi. "To find the guy."

"Then what do we do now?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi looked around for a few minutes. Then he summoned his ninja dogs.

"Kiba," he said. "See if you can find any unusual smells. Blood, bones, anything. Old traces, about 15 years old. Can you do that?"

"Sure can," said Kiba with a self-assured smirk. He, Akamaru and Kakashi's ninja dogs started sniffing through the place.

After almost half an hour, Akamaru barked. Kiba looked up.

"Akamaru found something," he said. He crouched next to Akamaru and sniffed where the large dog was sniffing. A very familiar scent. When he took a closer look to the source of the smell, inside the large hollow of a very old tree, he spotted it: "Blood. Very old. This could be it."

"It's amazing how one little drop of blood can lead you to a whole new path," said Pakkun with a smirk. "Shall we follow the scent of that blood, Kakashi?"

"Yes," said Kakashi. "Let's go."

Kaede had walked around the village for a few hours now, but still couldn't find a place to work.

Back on the main street, she saw a familiar pink-haired teenager walking in the opposite direction. Her green eyes were resting on hers as they approached each other.

"Hey," she said. "Aren't you that girl from before? Umm… Michiko-san, was it?"

Kaede blinked. "Umm… yes…" she said. "Oh, now I remember. You're a friend of Naruto's, right?"

"Yeah," answered Sakura, a little confused about her knowing his name. "I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Nice to meet you," said Kaede. "And umm… truth is, my name is Kaede."

"Eh?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I'm sorry for using my alias on you," explained Kaede. "But I'm a friend of Kakashi's, so…"

"You're a friend of Kakashi-sensei's?" repeated Sakura.

"Yes, we are… childhood friends," answered Kaede. "But anyway, are you and Naruto-kun close friends?"

"Umm… yeah," said Sakura. "We became teammates after graduating from the Ninja Academy. Kakashi-sensei became our teacher."

"Really? Wow… What are the odds?" chuckled Kaede.

"Excuse me?" asked Sakura in slight confusion.

"Ah, nothing," corrected Kaede herself. "Let me guess: Kakashi was really strict about teamwork, right?"

"Yes… he was," said Sakura. "How did you know that?"

"Well… I know Kakashi," said Kaede with a smirk. "I guess he hasn't changed at all since I left Konoha."

"When did you leave Konoha then?" asked Sakura.

Kaede's smile disappeared. "Umm… when the Kyuubi attacked the village. I was very young. All the children were evacuated."

"Oh," said Sakura. "But… That was over 15 years ago. Why didn't you come back after the attack?"

"I couldn't," answered Kaede, forcing a smile. "I was staying at an orphanage, but I…" A brief pause before she finished with a sigh: "… lost my parents. I started travelling a lot and… well, now I'm back."

"I see," said Sakura. "Sorry about your loss."

Tears were suddenly starting to fill up Kaede's eyes. She fought them back. "It's ok," she said. "I mean… it's not something that's easy to deal with, of course, but..." I'm talking too much! "I'm sorry. I'm talking to you so casually when I don't even know you."

"Ah, that's alright," said Sakura. Kaede forced a smirk and scratched the back of her head.

"Anyway," she said, "it was nice to meet you, but I really have to go now."

"Oh, ok," said Sakura.

"See you around, ok?" said Kaede. Sakura smiled.

"Ok. Bye."

As Kaede walked on, she couldn't help but constantly look around her. The village had definitely grown, and changed while she was gone.

She walked into a small park. She remembered the park being there, but it looked completely different from what she remembered. Children were playing here, though. Kaede sat down on a bench and watched them play. This must be a day care class, since three women were also carrying babies while keeping an eye on the other children.

"Tarou-kun, don't go too far!" one of them said to one of the kids. But all the boy did was laugh and run farther away.

"Tarou-kun! Get back here!" said one of the women. All three of them already had their hands full.

Kaede stood up and ran towards the boy, who was coming her way anyway. She stood still, making the boy stop again. He looked at her without saying anything. Kaede just looked at him with friendly eyes and said: "You heard her, right?" The boy didn't answer. He just stared at her.

"Come on," said Kaede. "You don't want to cause these nice people any trouble, do you?"

The boy shook his head.

"Good," said Kaede with a smile. She reached out her hand. "Let's go back, then."

The boy took her hand and Kaede walked him back.

"Oh, thank you very much," said one of the day care women.

"No problem," answered Kaede.

"You're great with kids," the woman said.

"Oh, well," said Kaede. "I love kids."

The woman looked back at the other day care women. Then she looked at Kaede again.

"Say… we're a little short of staff here," she said. "Would you like to work at the day care?"

"Me?" asked Kaede.

"Or… you're not a shinobi, are you?" asked the woman. "Because I've never seen you here before."

"No, I'm not a shinobi," said Kaede. "I just moved in this week. But umm… yes, I'd love to work at the day care."

"Really? That's wonderful!" said the woman. "My name is Asuka."

"I'm Kaede," said Kaede. "Pleased to meet you."

A/N: And so she got a job. xD I know the whole blood scent thing is fairly unrealistic, but hey, this is Naruto. Ninjas have magical powers. So I say, 15 year old blood: why not? :P

Thanks for reading so far! ^^