~Sasuke~

Kakashi-Sensei wasn't even finished giving the word when Alai took off. We looked and caught her form just as it became lost in the trees. Naruto blinked before shouting. "HOW DID SHE-?"

I ignored him and took lead, seeing as how they were too dumbstruck.

"Naruto go left, Sakura right. I'll go straight ahead."

I activated my Sharingan to search for her. It was hard, because she wasn't a ninja but I knew she was in the area. If she tried anything, no matter how fast, I'd see it. After a few minutes went by I heard movement further in the forest.

'What's that?'

When I checked the source I confirmed that it was her, she was setting up some trap.

'A stronghold? She's trying to save her energy..Too bad I saw it.'

"THERE YOU ARE! YOUR COMING WITH ME!" Naruto shouted as he charged into an area where he was now visible to her.

'Maybe I could use the dope to catch her off guard.'

As he ran toward her, she turned around and ran in a direction, with Naruto chasing close behind. At the last second she jumped. Naruto must have thought she jumped over a root, because when he went by he tripped the wire and ended up hanging from the branch. While she was distracted I took the chance to surprise her. I landed behind her trying to restrain her arms but she fell to the ground, shook off my grip and ran past a yelling Naruto.

I chased her, taking note of the fact that she was leading me back to her 'stronghold'. I made sure to watch where I was running, but my head snapped up when I heard her taking her bow off of her shoulder.

Instincts kicked in and I quickly threw a well aimed kunai at her. She ducked her head before shooting her arrow off into the woods. I'm not sure what she hit, but she grabbed it and let it carry her into the tree tops.

I didn't waste anytime jumping up after her. I almost lost her, but she made the mistake of throwing her knife at me. I raced in that direction searching until I realized what happened. Alai's presence was in the other direction...

'You've got to be kidding me. The knife was a decoy.'

~Alai~

It may have taken Sasuke only a few moments to realize that I tricked him, but it was enough time to lose him. I climbed up to the top of a tree to rest while they ran in circles. Sakura had no idea where she was and I didn't even know where Naruto was.

"GOTCHA!" I heard from above me, just as Naruto's voice reached my ears I was tackled to the ground, there was no time to react. Sasuke and Naruto were struggling to keep me still but after a while I knew I'd lost, unfortunately I wasn't strong enough to fight them both off for so long. They tied my hands behind my back.

"HEY! UNTIE ME!"

In all reality I was more mad at myself then I was at them, I could hide from dangerous people yet a couple of rookie genin managed to tie me up. -.- Naruto laughed as Sasuke picked me up to get me out of the tree.

"H-Hey! Put me down, your gonna get me killed!"

Sasuke smirked as Naruto landed on the ground and started dancing around.

"WE GOT YOU! That wasn't too hard!"

"Hmph, it's not over yet!" I frowned as I was set down on the forest floor. Sasuke then looked up to Naruto before standing.

"You stay here and watch her, I'm gonna go find Sakura so we can bring her to Kakashi..."

Naruto nodded and glared at me in the goofiest way possible.

"Good job by the way Naruto. I'm proud!" I smiled at him, gaining a confused look from the blond.

"Huh? Why are you saying good job? I caught you!"

"I was suppose to make you guys react quickly. Not ACTUALLY get away."

"I guess your right haha! Sasuke came up with the plan though."

"And you pulled it off, you're strong. I couldn't fight you off with your constant energy."

"Really? I am pretty strong huh?"

"Of course, you'll be a great Shinobi when your older."

"I'm not just gonna be any Shinobi, I'm gonna be the next Hokage, the greatest one there ever was!"

As he went on a rant about how people would respect him I felt bad for distracting him. I needed to give them more of a challenge though. Well...Sasuke at least. Naruto and Sakura were kind of easy to hide from.

'That Sharingan is a bit of a problem.'

I moved until I was able to slide my hands past my feet, so that they were in front of me instead of behind my back. Naruto turned out with a fist raised, he was complaining about Sasuke at the moment and I used it to stand up and hop over to him and used my elbow to hit the side of his neck, knocking him out.

Once I made sure he wasn't getting up for a bit I searched his weapon pouch and took out a kunai to free myself from the ropes. I turned back to look at Naruto saying, "Sorry Naruto" before I jumped up into the trees again.

'I need to use this time to find a way around Sasuke's sharingan.'

~Naruto~

"Naruto! Wake up!"

I heard a voice waking me up, wait...'Waking me up?!'

"What happened!?" I shouted, I glanced back to where Alai was to notice ropes in her place.

"Alai got away, nice going dope." Sasuke groaned, making me snap up to face him, he had a smirk on his face as usual.

'That guy really ticks me off! Always acting so cool, and Sakura...she's so obsessed with him! and why is Sasuke smirking! She got away!'

"She knocked me out! Wait til I get my hands on her! and why are you smirking Sasuke!" I screamed in his face, Sakura came from behind him and hit me on the head. "NARUTO! Don't yell at Sasuke like that, how could YOU let her get away!"

"OW I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"

Sakura didn't pay any attention to me as she drooled over Sasuke some more, who in turn just ignored her existence.

'What does she even see in that guy anyway!'

"We'd better start searching again. Sakura, make sure Naruto doesn't lose her again." Sasuke suggested.

"Naruto can handle himself, I'll go with you!"

"You'll only slow me down, go with Naruto. If you find her, get me."

We then ran off into the forest looking for Alai...Sakura was NOT happy.

~Sasuke~

She knocked Naruto out without him even noticing, which means either he's more idiotic than I thought or she wasn't being serious.

I had no idea how long ago she took off so in reality, she could be anywhere by now. Or she could be watching me right now.

'She could be following Naruto and Sakura.'

If she followed them, then she would never run into me. Which would probably be what she wants.

I backtracked to find Naruto and Sakura

~FF a few hours~

I searched every inch of the training ground AND followed Naruto and Sakura. She was no where to be found.

'She was playing with us before...'

It wasn't until the alarm rang that I gave up looking.

"Damn, I failed again..."

~Kakashi~

Naruto and Sakura were first to come back, Naruto looking mad and Sakura annoyed.

'No doubt because of Naruto.'

Sasuke came sulking up eventually and I told them to take a seat.

"Good job guys."

I broke the silence and smiled, Naruto looked surprised, Sasuke made no expression and Sakura started asking questions.

"But how? We didn't capture Alai."

"You don't think I actually expected you to catch her did you? Haha! I was testing you on your teamwork and your ability to think quickly, you've improved alot."

Sasuke didn't look happy still so I turned to him with my hands shoved in my pockets.

"Sasuke, whistle."

"What?"

"Just do it, as loud as you can."

He waited a moment before putting his pointed finger and thumb on his bottom lip and whistled, loud enough for it to slightly echo. A moment later I heard movement close by, and apparently so did Sasuke.

Alai was hiding in the trunk of a tree close to the field this whole time. I watched Sasuke glare at her as she made her way over.

"So that's where you were hiding."

She smiled and sat down in between where Sasuke and I were standing.

"Yeah, I was comfy in there too." She continued to smile even though Sasuke was giving her a dirty look, I turned back to my team.

"You all underestimated Alai, let this also be a lesson in deception, never assume your opponent isn't dangerous. Alai may not be a ninja, but there's a reason why we haven't been able to find her until now."

Alai looked up to me as I praised her.

"You mean you didn't even know where Alai was?" Questioned Naruto, Alai smiled before I commented.

"If I did then she would have joined Team Seven when you did. Maybe even before."

"Is there anything else you had planned for us today? Aside from our hide and seek Kashi?" Alai asked, wanting us to move on.

"Yes, I wanted to have a couple sparring sessions."

Sasuke quickly stood up and threw a kunai at Alai who jumped out of the way.

"SASUKE WHAT THE HELL!?" Naruto shouted at his sudden movement.

"It seems as if Sasuke has picked his sparring partner."

Sakura, Naruto and I watched for a few moments as they fought, I soon sent the other two to train as I watched Alai and Sasuke. She dodged everything he threw at her with ease, which meant one thing.

She was toying with him.

Sasuke seemed to notice this as he sparred with her. He got more aggressive, angry even. Which meant he was sloppy.

"Tired yet?" Alai mocked Sasuke, he in turn scowled and upped his game, It was faint but I saw a smile. I felt my eyes widen as I realized.

'She's testing him, but why? does she want to see him at his full potential?'

Sasuke threw a kick, which she blocked and threw him back with her right arm. He stood straight and closed his eyes. He was activating the Sharingan, Alai seemed unfazed by it, she knew enough about the Sharingan to be able to avoid it's power.

"The Sharingan won't work on me, I know what it can do."

Sasuke flinched at Alai's suddenly cold voice. He opened his eyes to reveal the Uchiha's famous technique.

"Don't think you'll catch me looking you in the eye, Sasuke."

Instead of returning a comment, he charged toward her with everything he had. She managed to use a kunai to block the attacks she couldn't dodge. I thought about where she would have gotten the kunai as one last kick was sent her way. Instead of being kicked herself, she managed to kick him in the gut, he recovered easily but she caught him off guard.

"You need to fight me with a clear head, but also with all your power!"

He didn't say anything at first, instead he turned and walked away.

"I don't need to beat you in order to prove anything! Your not even a ninja!"

"You have to if you want to kill Itachi!"

'Why would she mention him!?'

Sasuke didn't waste a moment in retaliating, I took action and stood in between them. Sasuke was just about to attack when Alai activated her shield.

"That's enough you two. Alai let's go, training is over for today guys. Meet back here tomorrow at the same time.

Before I could drag her away she looked over to Sasuke.

"Don't wait til 'he' is mentioned before you use your full power, and even then think clearly."

Sasuke scoffed as I pulled her away from the training ground.

"Can I ask what you were trying to accomplish?" I asked with a hint of anger, she needed to know that what she did just wasn't a good idea AT ALL.

"I wanted to see how strong he's become, I mean he IS Itachi's brother."

"So you pick a fight with him?"

"Yup!"

"That's not like you.."

"If you think what I just did doesn't fit my personality then maybe you don't know me as much as you thought you did Kashi.." She said cheerfully as she skipped a few feet ahead of me. I watched her for a few moments before she got a little bit too far.

"Alai!"

When she heard her name she came skipping back with a big smile on her face as usual.

"Kashi if I wanted to escape then I would have taken the opportunity earlier and taken off hours ago."

She winked at me before skipping around the streets, making sure to stay closer this time. I couldn't help but think about what she said.

'She really hasn't changed...So then why would she purposely pick a fight with Sasuke?'

~Alai~

Kashi took me home and retreated in his room for a little bit, leaving me to sit on the roof again. He said that as long as I kept my presence known I could wander around the block, though I preferred to stay on the roof. I thought alot about my brother and Nema, how they were doing, if the Akatsuki had found them or if they got away.

"Please be alright guys..." I muttered to myself as I gripped my necklace.

"Do you think their alright?" I asked, not really wanting any answer unless it was 'yes'.

'If I can be honest, the chances of them being safe are high, now that you're not with them.' The voice filled my head, relieving me at the same time.

"Would you find it weird if I said that I was oddly happy with that?" I questioned back, before hearing the faint low laugh of his voice.

'I would be worried if you weren't doing something weird.' I laughed at the truth behind his comment before saying. "Thank you."

~FF a few hours (She was just staring out at the sky)~

It was late afternoon by the time Kashi came back out of his room. He poked his head out of the window to face me.

"We have to head to the Hokage's..."

"WE have to or YOU have to?" He smiled before replying.

"WE have to, come on."

I stood up as he climbed out onto the roof with me and picked me up. I didn't argue as we jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He was much faster and I knew it, a non-ninja was no match in speed for the great 'Copy-Cat Ninja'.

"So what are WE going to the Hokage's for?"

I kind of expected the 'It's a surprise' response, but it was worth a shot right?! He never told me much unless it was necessary.

When we arrived at the tower he put me down on the ledge outside of the window. I decided that I wanted to make an entrance so I threw open the windows.

"Hi!"

I saw the familiar form of Iruka jump a few feet in the air when he saw me come through the window so suddenly. I was surprised, since it was so long since the last time I'd seen him.

"IRUKA! It's so good to see you! How's teaching!?"

"Alai is that you!? It's going well, How are you back here?"

Iruka knew me well enough to know that if I was back in Konoha...It wasn't because I was willing.

"Kalen thought it'd be a good idea for me to stay here for a while..."

Hiro spoke up at this time.

"Which brings me to why your here."

Kashi walked by me to stand next to Iruka who's eyes widened for a moment, as if realizing something.

"You mean it's her?"

"Yes Iruka. Now Alai, since your here for an unknown amount of time, you need to have some form of income. You are staying with Kakashi but I'm assuming the extra mouth to feel may be a strain. Since you are already training with Kakashi and his team, I'm proposing that you become an honorary kunoichi until Kalen returns."

"Sounds fun! ...but I'm not actually a ninja, so technically I can't..."

As much fun as being a ninja sounds, I think it's a bit silly for a person to be on a ninja cell if they aren't a ninja, right?

"We know your capabilities and are confident with you being able to keep up with them in their missions."

I smiled and decided to take my place next to Iruka and Kashi before answering.

"Okay then! Works for me, Only means I get to train more. OH! DO I GET A COOL HEADBAND!?"

"That's why I've asked Iruka to come. Had you stayed in Konoha, you would have received one from him."

Hiro looked over to Iruka who took out a headband from his pouch, meaning he knew why he was called, he just didn't know who he'd be promoting.

"It would be an honor Lord Hokage. Alai I'd like to be the one to congratulate you on becoming an honorary Leaf Shinobi!"

Iruka's smile was gigantic as he handed me the black fabric with the Leaf village insignia imprinted on it. I accepted it eagerly and tied it around my neck.

"Thank you Iruka, Kashi, and Hiro. I know how much of an honor this is for me. Even though I don't live here anymore, my allegiance will always be to Konoha."

"I have no worries about you Alai, you've always been a part of Konoha. Even while you were running from us." Hiro smirked as he brought up the relationship Kalen and I have had with the leaf in the past 5 years.

"You know, we weren't running from you, we just feel it's better for everyone if I'm not in one place for too long."

The room became quiet for a little bit, they knew what I was. Yet my announcement seemed to surprise Hiro and Iruka.

"As I thought, come on let's go home."

Kashi broke the silence of the room and when I looked at him I saw understanding in his eyes. He probably guessed a long time ago why we left that night. Hiro dismissed us and we spent the rest of the night in peaceful silence.

~FF to morning~

In the morning we got up and did our routine, which included me fighting to get him out of the door and to the training grounds on time. He wasn't happy when I tried to leave on my own though so we both ended up late. When we arrived Naruto and Sakura screamed.

"YOUR LATE!"

Kashi threw his hands up in a defensive manner, as if signaling defeat.

"Sorry, but I had to get Team 7's newest member all settled in."

~!~ Comment and add! cus you guys love me so much. 3! -DawnxAingeal~!~