I'm trying to get this out more quickly, considering how long it was before I updated it. ^^; Sorry 'bout that!

Well, I hope you enjoy your reading~ :3

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor will I ever own Naruto.

Chapter 2

A month later, after they had been freed from the clutches of their teachers – at least until they had to return the subsequent day, Naruto bestowed upon Kasumi the great honour of accompanying him whilst he played a practical joke on someone. It was obvious by the way he was speaking that it was a privilege that he had given no other. And she quizzed him about who would be their victim; his only reply was to tap one side of his nose with his index finger, eyes twinkling with mischief.

They were almost to the point of being inseparable: in class they would work together when allowed; he would come and see her when she was working (and manage somehow to convince the Third Hokage to treat the two of them to ramen); she kept him company in his shabby apartment when he felt lonely. She had even persuaded him to join her once school had finished for the day when Iruka gave her extra lessons.

She had found it hard at first to hide her astonishment at his familiar behaviour – she had been certain that, after their spar (or more accurately the particular comment that she had made), he wouldn't have wanted to talk to her again. When she asked why he was still so friendly with her – genuinely puzzled – he merely beamed and gave a rather esoteric answer.

"You didn't hold back. You didn't want to." And that was the end of that, as if all was explained.

He asked her if she could buy some paint – "Orange paint – the brightest you can find!" – from a nearby art shop. When they arrived there though, he made no move towards the door and made sure to keep out of sight of the window. Kasumi turned towards him, nonplussed, and was met by a sheepish grin and a pleading look in his eye that begged her not to ask.

"It's, uh… Better if I'm not seen with you – safer," For you that is, he added mentally. "Ano… You'll be quick, ne?" Kasumi nodded an affirmative, trying to disguise the alarm she felt that set bells reverberating deep inside. Naruto seemed to cheer up then and he settled against the wall of the shop, content to wait for her.

She found two cheap bottles of the most retina-scarring shade of orange available, hurried to purchase it and left, smiling her thanks at the clerk. Naruto was exactly where she had left him but she noticed that he was standing very tense. She surreptitiously peeked around and noticed a small group of adults – mainly men – gathering on the other side of the street; they were muttering amongst themselves and throwing dirty looks at Naruto. It appeared as if he had not noticed them and yet Kasumi knew that wasn't true as she could tell that he was getting prepared to run away if the need arose.

Again she wondered what exactly was going on. Why were grown-ups of a certain age group so antagonistic towards a harmless little boy? A light frown marred her pale features as she tried to figure out the puzzle.

She was facing Naruto when she was brought out of her thoughts by movement in her peripheral vision. Some of the men were moving towards the two of them and, although they didn't seem outwardly aggressive, the air was thick with roiling emotions that put her on edge. Kasumi bit back a curse, grabbed onto Naruto's hand and started to run.

She didn't particularly care where she was running to, her mind solely focused on getting out of there. Her feet led them to her house and she was planning on going straight past, hoping that Naruto would take the route to be a detour despite the likely risk running through the more densely populated areas of Konoha posed. However something made her pause. There was a chance that they would be safe inside, but… Did she really want Naruto to see her home – to potentially catch her father passed out, having drunk himself into a stupor? Would her father react to Naruto in the same way as most other adults did? Would he tell her that she couldn't be friends with the boy any longer?

"Is everything alright Kasumi-chan? Why have we stopped?" Naruto queried, curious.

She couldn't do it, she realised. "N-no reason – I was just wondering if-if any of these houses were abandoned, but… I think we'll be safe if we reach Sandaime-sama." Oh, said with such conviction. He'll most definitely not panic when you speak like that; the acerbic hiss was directed at her from some dark corner of her mind. She had felt herself think the thought – as in, it wasn't from an external source – but still tried to disregard that part of her so steeped with self-loathing.

When she made no move to carry out her plan, he spoke up again, "Eto… Shouldn't we be going then?" Without acknowledging him, she started running again and he was glad to note that this time they were headed to the Hokage tower. Halfway to their destination his eyes gained some of their usual sparkling mischief and if Kasumi had been watching him, she would have known that he was planning one of his infamous antics.

"You know, we could prank Sandaime-ojiisan…"

"Naruto-kun," she warned reproachfully. He just looked at her beseechingly and she stared back. She was silent for a minute or so before she sighed. Naruto just grinned, triumphant over the fact that he – with the help of his big blue eyes – had made her resolve cave.

She huffed, "Okay! If you can manage to plan something with the orange paint by the time we get there, something that doesn't involve just throwing it at his face, then fine. But I'm not going to stop; you need something else, you'll have to tell me. And now, or else I'll head straight to the Hokage."

He asked her to go into several other shops and gave her a list of other items he required. In the last shop she took him in with her, and was immediately aware of the animosity aimed at him by the shopkeeper. She also noted that he wasn't paying any attention to her and vaguely wondered if shoplifters took advantage of the times when Naruto was in a shop. She dispelled the thought, and went searching for the last objects needed.

As she went back to the till carrying everything in a basket, she noticed that the seller still hadn't looked at her once. She frowned before ducking back into the aisle. I am so going to get into trouble for this. "What is the most serious punishment for impersonating a Konoha nin? Execution?" She mumbled rhetorically, before exhaling, trying to not think of either torture or death.

Making sure that she was hidden, she brought her fingers together in three seals - Dog, Boar, and Ram; "Henge!"

She walked out again, much taller with long red hair and golden eyes, a Konoha hitai-ate tied around her forehead. She placed the things on the counter and looked at the man, who still completely ignored her, choosing instead to glare at Naruto. Annoyance flashed through her eyes before it was replaced by an impassive, cold look, and she cleared her throat loudly.

He blinked, surprised, and finally glanced at Kasumi. He paled considerably when he realised that he had just been ignoring a kunoichi, perhaps a chūnin by the looks of her. "Ah, sorry about that," he gulped nervously, the attempted smile looking more like a grimace.

She gave him a pointed look but replied, deepening her voice to mellifluous, mature tones, "Don't worry about it. Can you just tell me how much this will cost?" She was most definitely glad that she had a job or else she would never have been able to afford it all. I just hope Naruto-kun's prank is worth all of this.

Naruto left as she went to buy the basket of goods so that they wouldn't leave at the same time. After all, I don't want that guy to hurt Kasumi if he figures out she's with me, he thought.

As soon as she exited the shop, she dropped the transformation and exhaled. Her limbs were trembling ever so slightly due to the adrenaline pumped around her veins when she thought that she might be found out. Thankfully however, the shopkeeper obviously hadn't had any shinobi training, since he hadn't been able to sense her transformation - a small mercy that Kasumi thanked Kami for.

She signalled to Naruto for him to follow her and they walked quietly towards the red building that sat beneath the Hokage monument. She handed the bag to him and sighed again, "So, what are you planning on doing with all of this stuff anyway?"

"Sandaime-sama!"

The cry followed the slamming of the door against the wall of his office. It had gained enough momentum from the rough shove that it immediately swung back and crashed back into its usual place.

Said man jolted upright, interrupted from the work that he was doing, only to be met by a pair of electric blue eyes, streaks of amber radiating from heavily dilated pupils. He quickly examined Kasumi – who was gripping onto the edge of his desk as if for dear life whilst trying to gain her breath back – concerned by her panicked expression. Was she hurt? Was something wrong in the village?

"Sandaime-sama, please! You just have to help. Please…" Here her eyes scrunched up as if she was trying desperately to hold back tears.

"Kasumi-chan, whatever is the matter? What's wrong? Why do you need my help?" He was beside her in an instant, crouching down. He ignored the protesting creak of his joints in favour of taking her face gently in his hands and forced her to look at him.

The troubled and sympathetic gaze broke the faltering floodgates and she threw her arms around his neck, sobbing. After getting over his momentary shock, he wrapped his arms around her. And so the story came out once she had quietened: she and Naruto had been spending time together when some adults came up to them.

"I-I could smell the alcohol on th-their breaths. N-Naruto-kun told me to run but I didn't want to. Th-then he ran away in the opposite direction t-to distract them. I c-came here for help but I don't even know if he's-he's..." She cried.

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed dangerously. Out of the window, he could see the dying sun shedding a bloody radiance on the streets and buildings of Konoha, its spilled essence revealing its demise by the hands of the coming darkness.

Its state was much like how he feared he would find Naruto when he asked Kasumi to take him to the scene. So the villagers have dared to make a move against him? And it isn't even dark – they could easily have been spotted! And with that came the darker thought – Would Konoha's citizens turn a blind eye if they saw Naruto being beaten in the streets?

Once thing was for sure, they were certainly getting bolder. And that was something that he knew needed to be quashed immediately. There will be a reckoning if I get my hands on them. They'll wish they'd never even looked at Naruto the wrong way, he contemplated sadistically.

Kasumi meanwhile was feeling more than a little terrified – the killing intent leaking out of the normally benevolent Hokage was alarming. When he found out that both she and Naruto were lying to him…

Well, she justified mentally; hopefully once the trick is played out he'll take it in good spirits. And it is not like I'm totally lying – if we hadn't come here, there's no doubt that those men would have chased after us. They might even have hurt Naruto! She didn't want to think about that, an image of the blond lying broken and beaten in a pool of his blood flashing through her mind before she, horrified, shook away her hideous imaginings. Maybe this will make Sandaime-sama realise just how bad it's getting.

In the month since she and Naruto had become friends, it wasn't unusual for glares and gatherings of suspicious-looking individuals to follow them wherever they roamed. More than once they had had to run and hide. She shook herself from her thoughts when she noticed that she was being stared at, and that the oppressive atmosphere in the room had dissipated.

She looked down at her feet; wiping the tear trails from her cheeks and feeling mortified by her outburst. It had been surprisingly easy for the tears to spring to her eyes, her acting not entirely false as she amplified the worry she had been feeling as she tore through Konoha dragging Naruto.

Sarutobi, seeing that she had calmed down and didn't seem about to hyperventilate or panic again, took her hands in his wizened ones and softly inquired, "Are you feeling alright now?"

A nod.

"Then can you take me to where you and Naruto separated? It is imperative that we reach him as quickly as possible – before this situation progresses and anything unpleasant can occur."

In that instant he looked every bit the omnipotent Hokage that he was – who had given a command and expected it to be followed without question – and Kasumi failed at keeping the awe and reverence from her features. Her jaw dropped open slightly and as she gaped, her eyes became glazed.

When it appeared that she wasn't going to change from this state, Sarutobi reached over and was away to give her a little shake. However, she chose that moment to physically shake herself from her stupor – a movement that, he noted with curiosity, seemed to require great effort.

"Right, yes…" She spoke slowly, blinking, as if his 'suggestion' was taking a while to process. The dazed look in her eye suddenly cleared, and she became more alert. "Of course, Hokage-sama. Please follow me." She directed a fleeting smile at him before getting up and striding towards the door. He was glad to notice that her posture had changed; she stood more upright and he could almost feel the hope and determination radiating from her.

Although somewhat bemused by this change, he was also glad to see it, relieved that she was more level-headed now. She proved just how optimistic she was feeling when – upon opening the door – she skipped over the threshold. He shook his head amused, before he mentally berated and then steeled himself. He knew that ANBU would intercept him almost as soon as he left the building and their help would be much appreciated in the search for one Uzumaki Naruto. What he didn't know was the state said boy would be found in.

It wasn't until he had taken the step through the doorway that the pressure of a wire against his shin actually registered. Shinobi instincts immediately blared out a warning, judging it for what it was – a trap! He felt something topple from above him but even as he made the move to throw himself backwards, he knew it was too late.

Splat! Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly hadn't been the copious amounts of orange slime that landed over his hat and robes. He heard peals of bright, mischievous laughter disappearing down the corridor that he just knew were accompanied by a foxy grin on a certain blond-haired boy's face. So Kasumi had been the lure, had she? How typical of Naruto to drag someone else into one of his harebrained schemes.

He tried to suppress the rising irritation, aware of just how easily he had been played. A muscle under his right eye began to spasm and his fists repeatedly clenched and unclenched.

"Naruto!"

The roar reached the boy, outside of the Hokage tower and concentrating on getting away from its vicinity alongside his accomplice, who cringed and shared a petrified glance with the girl. She gave a tiny nod of her head, eyes wide, before they sprinted off through the streets.

Glossary time, once again~

Sandaime-ojiisan: Grandpa Third
Henge: transformation
kunoichi: a female ninja