Me: I do not own Naruto

Kasumi: Why would you own Naruto-san?

Me: Um...

Kasumi: Well...

Me: Uh...

Kasumi: Is there something you aren't telling me, Author-san?

Me: Eek! Reviews at bottom, check out my blog, enjoy! *runs away*

Kasumi: o.O?

Reasons

Kasumi didn't know what she was doing.

She didn't why she had reacted that way to Inari, why she had answered Kakashi-sensei like she had, why she was retreating from everyone and everything.

She didn't know why she was breaking down her team.

Kasumi made it a habit to observe other people. She'd done it since she was a child; she didn't even remember why it was a habit even more. It simply was. She had the feeling that when she had been a toddler, it had been drilled into her by her parents, along with many other things. They had adopted the motto 'better safe than sorry' and turmoil had already been brewing underneath the surface, even back then.

The following blood-stained years had only pounded that habit into her subconscious and she had further expanded on it in her Academy years. Kasumi's mind naturally absorbed information like a sponge and she could regurgitate it on cue. Most of her classmates had had no idea she had been observing their strengths, weaknesses, and temperaments, as well as calculating how they would be advantageous for her later on.

Since she had been placed into Team 7, she had watched her teammates. Of course, she had already watched Naruto and Sasuke for years in the Academy, but they had been two in twenty. Now, she saw them daily.

She knew that Naruto was special, that he was that one in a million that might be able to change the world. She knew that his childhood had been hell, knew that he suffered from inferiority and loneliness even now. She knew that he had heart and determination and light that would shine through the centuries.

She knew that Sasuke balanced precariously on the line between darkness and light, that the slightest push could decide where he would drown. She knew that his potential was vast, knew that he chased after his brother with a mixture of love and hate. She knew that he hid protectiveness and care behind his cold demeanor.

She knew that Kakashi-sensei had lost in the past, that he suffered from bruises on his heart. She knew that he was one of the most well-known ninja in the world, knew that he had been the Fourth Hokage's student. She knew that his nonchalant, carefree attitude was his way of dealing with the uncaring world.

Through the frosty barrier she had constructed between herself and the world, she had observed the sadness in Naruto's eyes when he looked at her, the frustration in Sasuke's gaze. She had seen the uncertainty in Kakashi-sensei's one eye.

Her team was slowly falling apart and she was the reason.

She didn't know why she was doing this... but she did, didn't she?

Night

For the second time during the two day period that they had been there, Kasumi woke up in the middle of the night, a scream lodged in her throat, demons dancing in the shadows

She ran her eyes around the room, noting to her relief that Naruto and Sasuke were still asleep. She didn't want questions, not now.

Rising smoothly to her feet, she glided over to the door and slipped through, her lack of noise honed with years of training.

What she didn't see were the obsidian eyes that snapped open and focused sharply on the ajar door, seconds after she was gone. They narrowed.

Mist

Kasumi stood on the small porch, her hair bound in a messy bun at her nape and dressed in a simple black shirt over black leggings. She stared into the mist and despite herself, her mind began to wander.

The nightmares hadn't been that vicious in... years. She knew why they were acting up though. The Demon Brothers, Zabuza, the (fake) Hunter Nin, the river, the mist. Funny, how she wasn't the least bit afraid of facing down an Anbu class shinobi, but was scared to death of a little fog.

But, then again... her fingers clenched on the railing. It had been in this environment where she had lost her parents.

"Go!" Her father shouted at them, pushing her forward. "Go! I'll hold them off!"

"Otou-san!" She screamed, reaching back for her father... but he had already vanished in the Mist.

Her father had never stood a chance. He had been facing four jounin and two hunter-nin. All he had done was buy them a little time... five minutes to be exact. It hadn't been enough. It would never have been enough.

"Okaa-san, they're catching up!" Hiroshi hissed under his breath.

Held against his chest, Kasumi suppressed a whimper and buried her face in her big brother's shoulders. No, no, no. Please no. Not the nightmare.

She could feel them. Feel them under her skin like an itch that wouldn't go away! They had hurt Otou-san - she had felt it like someone had taken hold of her heart and squeezed it ruthlessly - and they were going to hurt Okaa-san!

"I'll take care of it." Her kind, sweet mother said. She was strong, too. But not strong enough.

"Okaa-san! No!" She sobbed, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hush, my little girl." Yuna cooed. "It's okay. Okaa-san promises it'll be okay."

'But, it won't!' She wanted to yell, but it was too late. Her mother was gone.

Never to return.

"Kasumi."

Kasumi didn't start at the low, male voice. She had heard him coming, felt his chakra.

"Sasuke-san. You should be asleep." She said, staring off into the mist. It seemed to swirl under the faint moonlight, churning relentlessly. She wondered if her mind was like that, too.

Soft footsteps sounded behind her. "So should you."

She didn't respond. Kasumi felt tired... exhausted. The earlier training had exhausted her chakra reserves and worn out her body. Her mind was in no state to handle an interrogation. Couldn't he just leave her alone?

Sasuke stepped closer, his body heat touching her back intimately. She did her best not to flinch. She hadn't realized how cold she was until now. She wished she could return to that former state of ignorance, no matter how much it went against her natural instincts.

"You can't keep everything bottled forever." He said after a short pause.

Yes. Did Sasuke think she didn't know that? She did. She had completely cleared out the psychology section in the Konoha Library, and was well aware that suppressing and ignoring problems would only make them bigger.

But... what troubled her was private, and more importantly, it was dangerous. She couldn't pull her team into this. Not bright, sunny Naruto who already had a horrible burden to bear. Not Sasuke who sought vengeance, and had been forced to watch his family die around him. Not Kakashi-sensei whose sadness burned against her senses.

"I'll be fine." She whispered into the haze.

"...You know that's not true." Sasuke responded, his voice gentle, by his personal standards anyways. If she had been in a better mood, she would have been amused at the melting of the Ice Prince, but she could do without it at the moment.

She clenched her teeth. "You do the same, Sasuke-san."

Kasumi felt him tense behind her and she hated that he was close enough that she could tell. Why was he so damn close?

"You two don't have to know about that." He said at last.

For a split second, she felt the serenity she had built up painstakingly crack ever so slightly. That damn hypocrite. What right did he have to say that to her? What did he know?! What gave him the right to intrude on her, but kept her from questioning him?!

Her grip on the wooden railing was what bought her back from the rage. It splintered slightly from the force she was putting on it and the pain sliced through the thoughtless anger. She couldn't afford to lose it here. Not now... not here. She knew that Sasuke had seen no change in her face; she had found herself before that could happen.

Kasumi inhaled deeply, regained control of herself with years of experience. But she couldn't help the small bitter smile that her lips tilted into. "Oh?" She replied.

To his credit, Sasuke did hesitate slightly before saying, "Alright, maybe that was a little..."

"Self-righteous." She finished, a tad smug. Just a tad.

She heard him sigh. "Why have you been having nightmares, Kasumi?"

Kasumi narrowed her eyes, a subtle shift that most people would never notice. Perhaps she had underestimated Sasuke's arrogance. Or was that how he disguised his concern? She didn't even know anymore.

Smiling sweetly with the ease of familiarity, she turned around slowly and met her teammate's onyx eyes calmly. "You shouldn't worry about it, Sasuke-san. We all have our secrets, ne?"

He frowned at her, but before he could say anything, she cut him off mildly. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Kasumi wove around the Uchiha before he could say anything more and headed for her makeshift bed. She wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon, but she could fake sleep just as well as the next ninja. She knew Sasuke wouldn't risk waking Naruto up and causing a scene.

She left Sasuke staring after her moodily, his signature scowl on his face.

Oil

The thing was, Kasumi thought to herself in disgust as she eyed the pitiful results of her jutsu, the whole thing was a lose-lose situation.

If she didn't get the jutsu right, then she might get herself killed in the ensuring conflict. If she got it right...

Well. She stared at the oily, sloppy glop on the ground that was meant to be her technique. She did not want that stuff anywhere near her hair. Or her skin. Or just anywhere on her really.

Kasumi sighed and pressed her lips together. Back to work.

She ran through the seals quickly, having completed them at least a dozen times during the past day. "Water Release: Black Rain Technique." She chanted softly.

Slowly, far too slowly in her opinion, a black mist formed in front of her, condescending into a small black cloud. It stayed in place, refusing to move. She gritted her teeth and focused. She had done harder things than this! Driven by her determination and chakra, the cloud of black oil drifted gradually to her 'target', also known by most others as a wooden log.

Sighing in relief, she dispersed the cloud and watched as the poor log was covered in disgusting oil. Kasumi made a face. She was a kunoichi, yes, but did her sensei not think her a girl?

A teenage one at that?

Advice

This time, as the sun fell down the horizon, Kasumi was the one who went looking for her teammates.

She found Sasuke, first, guided by a voice that was growing ever stronger.

If she was completely honest with herself, Kasumi didn't know what to do about her bloodline. Certainly, it would be an asset in the upcoming fights, but... she had sealed it away for a reason.

Was she truly prepared for what her bloodline could show her? Last time... last time she had nearly gone insane, drowned in pain and soul rending guilt.

Sasuke stood in his clearing, panting, his chakra nearly depleted. She watched him, leaning against a nearby tree silently even though she knew he knew that she was there. Sasuke ran through his seals, his strained chakra flaring. He slammed his hands against the ground and she blinked as a medium-sized current ran across the earth, fading out as it went further and further.

A full two feet away from Sasuke, it faded out completely to its castor's ire, judging from the boy's rigid jaw. Kasumi frowned thoughtfully, mentally reevaluating how he had performed the jutsu. She didn't know the jutsu, apart from the lightning aspect, but she had enough faith in the Uchiha to trust that he was using the correct hand-seals.

Such a mistake was far more likely to have come from Naruto and with their tutelage, that likelihood was, thankfully, shrinking. The outcome of the jutsu seemed good enough, but the strength was lacking. So... most likely the problem was...

"You need a bit more physical energy." She said, pushing off of her tree and walking over to stand beside Sasuke.

Sasuke showed no surprise to her presence, only turning to look at her with quietly frustrated obsidian eyes. "Physical energy?" He asked.

She nodded gracefully. "Nature transformation is, in essence, changing the physical properties of chakra into an element. What that means for us, is that we have to find the correct ratio of physical and spiritual energy, yin and yang respectively, for the jutsu that we plan to use. You may want to try using some more physical energy when you perform your jutsu."

"But, not now." Kasumi added quickly when it looked like Sasuke was going to have a go at his jutsu once more. "You're tired out and we need to find Naruto."

Irritation flashed on the dark-haired boy's face, but he nodded, most likely seeing the logic in her argument. 'For all that Sasuke is a very logical individual,' She found herself musing to herself, 'he is also incredibly driven by emotion.' That of which could be an amazing benefit... or a heartbreaking burden.

"I don't care what it takes!" Her beloved brother shouted recklessly at Hiroshi. "I will avenge our parents."

And he had, hadn't he? All it had taken... were his soul and the remnants of his sister's young, tender heart.

"I can't really call it a dream... but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man." Sasuke stated, the wind blowing his black hair off his face on the rooftop.

What would Sasuke Uchiha take away from her?

"Kasumi?" She snapped back into reality to see her teammate staring at her with perceptive eyes.

Kasumi bit the inside of her cheek, mentally cursing herself out. She had to stop getting lost in the past; her teammates were suspicious enough as it was.

"I'm fine." She claimed, smiling dismissively. "Do you know where Naruto-san is?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, clearly annoyed at her change of subject. But he didn't push her like he did last night, and she wondered through a rush of relief if he had gotten the message to stay the hell away. Knowing him though, he probably didn't.

"The dobe's somewhere over there." He said, jerking his chin to the right.

She raised a pointed eyebrow and said, "Lead the way, Sasuke-san."

He gave her a strange look, but began to pick his way through the thick brushes.

Kasumi followed him, making no mention of the fact that she was well aware of where Naruto was, could find her way to him easily, but simply didn't want the weight of Sasuke's dark gaze on her.

She refused to admit that she was that weak... or that she was that discomforted by the Uchiha. It didn't make any sense. She had faced much worse things than one boy her age with bottomless eyes and midnight hair.

Not that she had noticed that specifically.

Exhaustion

When they came upon Naruto's clearing, he was lying on his back in the very center of it, clothes torn, and gasping rapidly. Leaves littered the ground and the trees around him bore some interesting scratches.

Sasuke strode into the clearing without pausing, hands in his pockets, while Kasumi followed gracefully.

"What are you doing, dobe?" He asked bluntly.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto jumped to his feet, eyes wide. "What are you doing here?!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the Uchiha and realized that Kasumi was there as well a few seconds later.

She raised an eyebrow at him and he flushed, dropping the finger to rub the back of his neck. "Ah. Sorry about that, Kasumi-chan."

The cream-colored girl simply smiled softly and shook her head, rebellious strands of her hair dancing on the wind. "Dinner time, Naruto-san." Was all that she said.

"Eeeh?" Naruto blinked, looked up. "It's dinner time already?"

Sasuke grunted. "It's almost eight, dobe."

"Oh, shut up." Naruto grumbled, then brightening up almost immediately. "Come on, come on! I'm hungry!"

He darted forward, taking to the trees and calling over his shoulder, "First one back doesn't have watch!" He took off, laughing.

Sasuke and Kasumi exchanged a quick look and were up and after him in no time at all.

Spector

As it turned out, the plan backfired on Naruto. Both of his teammates bypassed him easily despite his head start and while Sasuke was becoming faster, Kasumi was still the fastest person on their team.

She arrived at the house a long minute before Sasuke and Naruto did. Naruto ended up taking first watch while Kakashi-sensei would take second and Sasuke would be last. Kasumi would be the one who would be able to sleep through the entire night, something she found horribly ironic.

The blonde sulked for approximately one minute before entering the house and smelling the delicious scents of dinner. He forgot about his annoyance immediately, much to his teammates' amusement. Dinner was a relatively nice affair; the food was wonderful and Naruto and Sasuke bickered and it felt like everything was normal again.

When it came time to sleep though, Kasumi was more than a little hesitant. Sliding into the bathroom after Naruto was done, she stared blankly at her reflection. A calm, collected kunoichi stared back at her, showing nothing of the turmoil and chaos that raged underneath. Just as it should be. Just as she intended it to be.

So, why did she want to punch the mirror until it was pieces at her feet and her hands dripped blood on the floor? Her hands tightened on the cold edge of the sink and she was unwillingly reminded of a time, long ago, when she had gripped cold steel in those hands for the first time and felt warm blood splatter on her cheek.

It had been in a land like this one too, filled with water and fog. The blood had been red... so red. She had watched with wide, innocent eyes as it had spurted out of the man's neck, coating her with the viscous crimson liquid. There had been so much.

A tentative knock on the door bought her back to reality. "Kasumi-chan?" Naruto's concerned voice. "Are you okay? Your chakra..."

Oh. Kasumi focused on herself and found that she had lost almost all control of her chakra; it spun and churned under her skin, threatened to paint the air blue with hints of amber. She closed her eyes and forced herself to let go of the counter, recentering herself. Why wouldn't the past leave her alone?

"I'm fine, Naruto-san." She said and her voice came out steady. "I just tripped a little." It was a bad excuse, but he had no reason to question her.

A pause. "Okay. Be careful, Kasumi-chan." Naruto said and she heard the sounds of his footsteps as he left. She felt a twinge of guilt at lying to her trusting, cheerful teammate, but she crushed it ruthlessly.

Team 7 didn't belong in her past.

Next time:

She shook her head, the smile fading along with her amusement. "Leave it."

It was an order. Uchiha Sasuke did not do orders.

Me: The reviews! Kyaa! Thank you everybody!

starrat: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chappie!

royalpurple153: Oh, thank you! I'm so happy to know that you like my stories! Thanks for the review~

chloejaynehart: Well, I tried my best? Lolz, thanks for the review, hun!

LadyMorph18: Hmm... maybe? Kasumi is being all mysterious right now, at least to her teammates. Thanks for the review!

1XxKiraXx1: Thank you, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Rosy Fire: Lolz, that's true. Naruto is our lovable blonde hero, after all. Thanks for the review, hun!

Guest: Eek! I did my best! Hope you didn't wait too long!

Hinata18809: Heh, heh, one month hasn't passed...? I'm sorry; got a bit caught up with other stuff. Hope you enjoyed this chapter though!

SilverNeira: You got it! Thanks for the review, hun!

Bella-swan11: Greetings~ Lolz, we all know Sasuke is a stubborn blockhead. I'm sure he'll get better in time though. Maybe. Anyhow, thanks for the review!

michi-nin: Oh, I had so much fun writing that scene. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

bipop: XD Hope you liked this chapter, hun!

Me: As always, please review and check out my blog! Oooh, also:

Question: Who's your favorite Naruto character?