Chapter 3

Nikiya woke up with a massive headache. "Where are you when I need you, Kashi?" she said to herself with a laugh. He had always known how much chakra a jutsu used and how much would be left. "I'm so close to Konoha now. How did I get so close? I intended to only go a couple miles, not 100." She said, exaggerating. A huge lake swept out before her. "Our secret." She whispered.

"Come on, Nikki. I know you'll love it." Kakashi said excitedly.

"But it's so late. They'll get worried." She referred to her adoptive family, the Uchiha's.

"If we wait too long it won't be a full moon any more." He was just playing with her now.

"Oh fine." He could always get what he wanted with her lately. She just couldn't help it. She loved him so much. She sighed contentedly.

"Oh! It's…It's so…" She sighed again. Kakashi chuckled.

"I told you you'd love it." He said. Nikiya grabbed his hand tightly. A large lake was before them. A waterfall flowed from a 10-foot cliff at the opposite end. The full moon was shining brightly and reflected off of the glassy surface of the lake.

Kakashi rested an arm on her shoulder. "No one else knows about it." He said softly.

"Our secret." Nikiya whispered as she went up on tiptoe to tug at his mask and kiss him lightly. "How's your eye?" she asked.

"Doesn't hurt anymore. But I can't see with it at all and a scar is there." He answered.

"I promise I'll find a way to fix it. Somehow."

She had cried because of her guilt. He had told her that everything would be okay and that it wasn't her fault. She had talked to her father and convinced him to replace his ruined eye with a sharingan eye.

*

"You three never did know how to leave well enough alone." Kakashi said with a laugh. "I guess I should tell you how Nikki got to the leaf village in the first place." Sakura nodded. Naruto was still hanging in the tree.

"Uhhhhh… can you get me down first?" Naruto asked. Sasuke laughed and Kakashi pulled the strings that had been attached to the kunai knives. Naruto fell out of the tree and did a face plant on the ground. "OUCH! GENTLY PUT THE NARUTO ON THE GROUND! GENTLY!" Naruto said. "That really hurt, ttebayo." He said under his breath.

"Are you done, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. All three of them were watching him.

"Uh yeah. Do what ever you were going to do. I'm just gonna try to like, oh, I don't know, POP MY SHOULDERS BACK INTO PLACE!" Sasuke and Sakura laughed. Kakashi stood silent. None of them could see his facial expression due to the mask.

"As you now know, Nikiya is Sasuke's adopted sister. What none of you know is where she came from and why." Kakashi said calmly. "She came from a village in the far east. When it was destroyed she somehow made it close to Konoha. She doesn't even know herself. Sasuke's father found her and took her in as his own." Sasuke seemed surprised, Sakura was excited to be learning a little about Sasuke's family, and Naruto was just sitting on a rock, half-asleep.

"She graduated at the academy at the same age as me. 14. We talked for the first time when we were 14 as well. We were part of the same team. She had given me her address and I discovered that she was an Uchiha. We began requesting missions together. We were the best team there was. Any mission they threw at us, we could handle. We took down part of the Akatsuki when my eye was damaged beyond repair. 4 years later, I gave her a gift. She gave me one as well. The Uchiha massacre was the next day. I was one of the people that had gone in to see what was happening. That's when I found her half-dead in one of the rooms of the Uchiha household. She died in my arms 6 years ago. Or so I thought. Earlier today I heard her voice. She said that she was coming home. Her home… is here."

"What?! Nikiya… is coming back?! Do you know when?!" Sasuke said quickly.

"If I knew do you think I'd be standing here?" Kakashi said matter-of-factly. Sasuke shook his head.

"Now I am telling you three to go back to the village and leave me alone until our next lesson." He said calmly.

"When will that be?" Sakura asked.

"In a couple of days. Not tomorrow though." He answered. Naruto jumped away quickly. Sakura soon followed. Sasuke hung back but then jumped after his comrades. Kakashi made a few handsigns and made a gen jutsu so that the three genin would never find their way back to the secret lake. It was small enough to be hidden but big enough to cause awe in Nikki. He had loved that moment. That's when he started looking for the ring, the perfect ring. He had searched for months when he finally found a beautiful lapis lazuli ring. The jewel was in a bright silver band. The jewel was perfectly cut to look like a rose.

"Kakashi, you're early again? At least you're not two hours late." Nikiya said softly.

"I could never let such a beautiful face wait for me for longer than a second." He replied. Nikiya giggled. Kakashi grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the woods.
"We're going to the lake?" she whispered.

"I have a surprise for you now that you're 18." He replied. Nikiya gave Kakashi a confused look. "You'll find out. It's a surprise." Nikiya sighed when Kakashi said this.

They soon made it to the lake. The water was glistening in the morning sun. "Close your eyes." Kakashi said. Nikiya's eyes closed. He grabbed Nikiya's left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. "This is my promise to you. Until we die or you tell me that you no longer love me I will protect you with everything I have. My love and anything else that I can give." He heard Nikiya take in a deep breath. He pulled down his mask and kissed her.

"I make the same promise to you. No matter what, I will give you everything I have and protect you with everything I have. She reached into the water of the lake. A beautiful ring of silver with lapis lazuli in it formed in her hand. She slipped it onto Kakashi's left ring finger.

That ring was the most precious thing to him. He kept it around his neck on a silver chain so that it wouldn't get ruined. He knew that Nikiya did the same. He heard a soft whisper from behind him. He knew the voice well.

"Kakashi." The whisper echoed behind him. He whirled. His eyes widened.