Rui's back, my lovely peeps~

Dark Rose Charm - Weeeell, I have a lot of plans regarding Nao's power. I think some will probs hate me for it but exploring is such a fun thing! Hihi~ Also, about Sakumo and Obito, Nao OFFICIALLY likes those two, even though it isn't shown that much yet. But I'll definitely get onto writing a chapter about her and them. ;)

Vixen of Mischief - Aww, thank you! I'm glad you liked it. *whispers* I actually ship myself with Kakashi as well, but shush. Let's keep that a secret from Nao. Hohoho~

fluffpenguin - Yeah, the ages and timeline is all over the place. But I'll be deciding on that soon. Their ages are fcking me up, so I can't really decide on what to write first. Lol. Thank you so much for the information though! Really appreciate it.

lovinurbuks - Thank you so much! Please stay tuned for more. Eyyy~ (^u^)/

Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews, everyone! Here's another chapter. Enjoy!

Two whole weeks had passed after she met Rin, and Naokohad been enjoying the new routine she had adapted to. In the mornings, Rin and her would go to the academy together, then spend the whole day applying the lessons they learned together with Obito. The three of them then became known for being joined at the hip, because where one of them goes is where the other two would go too.

In the afternoons and weekends, the red-haired girl will spend it training with Minato or Inori. She was able to improve drastically in her studies and skills during that time, which delighted a lot of people—friends and teachers alike. Although, it wasn't still on par with her a certain silver-haired, fellow student.

Then, she will either spend the rest of the day left with Rin and Obito or visit Taji in Konoha's General Hospital. The older woman, after all, took care of her really good during the time she was first confined in the said hospital and during her regular checkups.

The little Higanbana girl was contented, to say the least, despite not broadcasting her feelings regarding the matter. The only times she did was when pretending in front of other people she did not know. It raised a few quizzical eyebrows at first from the people who actually knew her. And when asked why she did that, she only answered with:

"Because I learned the hard way that putting up a front will make other people easier to deal with," was Naoko's response. Her expression shifting into a hard one, and her pale, red orbs seeming as if it was blazing.

Now, the said girl was walking towards the direction of the training grounds as if she were programmed to do so. When she arrived, her eyes scanned the surroundings. There were deep gashes and holes on the trees indicating that a battle had occurred.

She had settled under the shade of a tree with a gaping hole at the center. A corner of Naoko's lips tilted upwards at the memory of the sparring she had with Kakashi the other week, a few days after his father had came back from a mission.

The weekend rolled in, meaning Naoko had the off-day from the academy. Rin had invited her out yesterday afternoon, saying that they should go out on Saturday because they had nothing better to do in the orphanage.

Naoko turned her down gently, "Sorry Rin, but I have to go somewhere. Maybe on tomorrow?"

Rin nodded, albeit a little bit disappointed. She brightened up soon though, with her lips forming into a wide smile at her red-haired friend's attempt to make it up to her.

And so Saturday came, and Naoko had woken up earlier than usual. She had felt so refreshed that day, and then backtracked a little. It was a little weird that she did not have any sort of strange dreams that woke her up in the middle of the night this time. When last time, it seemed to occur very often—almost everyday, even.

Somehow, she suddenly had this urge to check out the backpack she had left with when escaping from her burning village. A frown settled on her rosy lips, as she grabbed it from the foot of her bed.

As she rummaged through it, she felt a leathery cover and pulled it out of the said bag. The binding was a little frail, and the young heiress minded the way she handled it as she remembered her mother's words.

'That's a family heirloom, from me to you, Naoko.'

She smiled at the memory of her kind mother. The child touched it gingerly, before opening it carefully. The pages made a crinkling sound as she turned it one by one. Her eyes scanned the words handwritten in it. But she barely understood it.

There were names of animals written which caught her attention mostly, wondering about her mother's purpose for doing so. She paid no heed to it, however. Her eyes scanned a few more pages, and saw a weird drawing. At first, she was confused. But when Naoko had analyzed it, she finally realized that it was actually a family tree!

There were scraggly lines drawn at the paper and names written below it. She didn't recognize the names written on her mother's side. But she definitely recognized the ones on her father's side. Naoko took a few more minutes to admire it before she turned to the last page.

And there at the last page, she saw her father's neat handwriting. Her eyes widened once again, as she read the words out loud which were scrawled across the very last page.

"Remember your roots."

Her eyes immediately heated and teared up. But before it could drip down on the notebook which contained the memories of her parents and basically her whole clan, she had already wiped it away as she closed the notebook for good measure.

Remembering that she still had training with Minato and Kakashi, Naoko quickly scrambled to organize her things and prepare for another hellish day.

For the past week, Kakashi had acted like an ass towards her, even more so than during their past few meetings. And surely, he'd definitely throw in a sarcastic comment or two towards her if ever she arrives late. Naoko did not want to deal with that. Again.

The last time she had arrived late, Kakashi had told her that she should just go back to whichever hole she had came from if she was just going to slack off.

'As if I have a home to return to. If I did, I would get out of her immediately,' she bitterly thought at that time.

She remembered glaring at him with teary eyes, as she marched towards him. Her chakra spiking up at her sudden agitation. It was not until Minato had came in between them and took her away to talk some reason to her.

She knew the reason why Kakashi was acting that way though. She knew, honestly. It was because she had said all those things to get him in trouble with his father last time. And ever since then, the two's relationship had not been good, if not the worst.

She was going to apologize for that. Really. But he just had to open his mouth. In the end, Naoko couldn't say that the reason why she was late was because she had searched for and explained to Kakashi's father—Sakumo—that he had gotten it all wrong and that she had tweaked the truth a little that day he came back to Konoha.

Naoko figured that Kakashi might have been given by his father a stern talking to after what she had done. And that was the reason why she decided to find him the very next day, which made her end up late on her training.

Sakumo had forgiven her though, and he assured her that it was alright. He had told her as well that he had known that she was just pulling a prank on Kakashi, so she should not dwell on it too much.

"It's a kid's privilege to be mischievous during their childhood," he said as he playfully winked at her. Other than that, it was all fine and dandy afterwards.

Luckily, Naoko had been able to arrive at the meeting place earlier this time, and would be spared from Kakashi's biting remarks. He and Minato were already there, and were talking to each other about something.

"I'm not late, am I?" Naoko asked, mainly at Minato than the both of them. She wasn't exactly too keen with the idea of talking to her peer at the moment.

"You're just right on time, Nao-chan." Minato smiled and patted her head fondly, which she swatted away playfully.

"What are we doing today?" The red-head asked. This time, she watched Kakashi through the corners of her eyes and she saw him rolling his eyes at her 'unbelievably stupid' question.

"I was thinking that it's time for you two to spar. You've gotten used to the academy's taijutsu already, haven't you?" She heard their teacher say cheerfully, as if it was good news.

Naoko nodded hesitantly, her eyes flashing in fear for a moment. But she shrugged it off, and smirked a little instead, trying to put up a front. But deep inside, she was technically shaking in her boots. She knew where and why this came up all of a sudden.

"So, are the two of us going to spar for this guy's benefit?" She pointed her thumb at Kakashi who had narrowed his dark gray eyes at her.

"Weeell," Minato drawled, as he looked between the two and he swore that he could almost see the tension between the two. And before a small-scale war break out between his students, he spoke.

"Anyway, it's just so you two could relieve some tension. You know, test each other's skills." He smiled, sweatdropping a little.

His two students just looked at him as if he grew additional heads. Kakashi was the first one to react. "Fine," he said, as he trudged unwillingly to one side of the training grounds.

This made Minato smile wider. He knew that Kakashi would want some sort of outlet for his frustration at the red-haired girl. And this was the only way that Minato could think of at the moment. It was not a bad idea, in his opinion, for two of his cute students to spar with each other—or so he thinks.

Naoko, on the other hand, was not pleased for becoming the bait that her teacher had made her to be. This was her first, real fight and it was against the silver-haired boy. Kakashi was going to wipe the floor using her, for sure! What was her teacher even thinking? Is he trying to get her killed?

Before she could complain to Minato regarding the set up, her father's words echoed in her head.

'Remember your roots.'

It weirded her out at first. But memories of when she was around two or three years of age, already being made to train to death by her clan's elders flashed in her mind. The young Higanbana proceeded to take a deep breath, before she stepped forward. Her eyes steeling and burning with determination. She had to give her this spar her best shot. If she could not beat Kakashi, then at least she'll try to get a hit in.

"Your fight will be strictly taijutsu only. No weapons nor chakra imbued attacks allowed. If any of you uses weapons, ninjutsu or genjutsu, then I will immediately declare the other the winner." Minato said, as he took a step back. His eyes going back and forth to look at the tensed forms of his students.

"Ready?"

Naoko licked her lips nervously as she watched Kakashi across her. He was standing still, hands inside his pockets in a laid-back manner. She had no time to think that he was slacking off, because she knew that he was more serious than anyone she had met when it comes to training and this whole ninja stuff.

Her body shifted into a fighting stance—left foot at the back, her hands clenched into fist just in front of her chest and her body slightly facing the left side. A stance that was ingrained in her body, whether she liked it or not.

"Fight!"

Kakashi charged at her at an incredible speed, and for a moment she wondered how she was able to see him at all—although barely. A fist shot out to her face's direction, but she was able to avoid it in the nick of time. Luckily.

She grabbed it and Kakashi twisted out of her hold, but she immediately raised her left leg to knee him in the guts. But he avoided that as well. Another punch was aimed at her face again, and this time she knew that Kakashi definitely wanted to make a knuckle sandwich out of her.

She slapped his hand away using the heel of her palm, as she slid back a little before aiming a roundhouse kick at his face. The silver-haired boy's eyes widened a tad bit at the little distance between him and her kick. It seemed as if her legs elongated for a moment there.

The two jumped back, away from each other. And this time, Naoko was the first one to engage. She threw a barrage of punches, about half of it aimed at his face and the rest were aimed at his abdomen.

He side stepped and grabbed one of her hands, before she could neck chop him. Naoko, on the other hand, slid her right foot between Kakashi's and tried to take him by surprise by kicking his right shin. His knees buckled a little at the sudden force and sharp pain, which made him wobble a little.

Then, Naoko turned around, twisting her body and Kakashi's arm behind his back before aiming a low kick behind his knee to try to make him kneel further. But he avoided it in time, and he faced her as he aimed the heel of his palm deep in her solar plexus.

Naoko stumbled back and almost fell on her butt, while holding on to her stomach with one hand. She coughed, trying to calm herself down. Her breathing was starting to get a little ragged due to her peer's last attack.

Kakashi stood up. This time, he seemed to radiate a more intense aura than before they started. Naoko made a face, before she took on her fighting stance again. She slowly circled around Kakashi, who was now more alert than ever. He had underestimated Naoko earlier, thinking that she won't be able to keep up with him at all, and that he'd finish the sparring after a few minutes.

The girl was more adept and skillful than he had expected. She was witty, and had a few moves at her disposal that took him by surprise. Kakashi knew that it wasn't the extent of her abilities. He knew that she was still hiding something under her sleeves. Figuratively. Her last attack had caught him off-guard because she had used a weird move that he had not been taught in the academy.

'Are they teaching a new style to the other kids at the academy?' He thought, making sure to keep his eyes trained on the girl raring to go before him.

Kakashi's right foot shifted forward a little, and a heel of a sandal suddenly loomed over his face.

'Crap!' He thought, as he blocked it with both of his forearms.

The weight behind the attack was heavier than he expected for a girl the same age as him. He saw the smug smile on Naoko's face under his crossed arms.

He quickly grab a hold of her foot, before she could retreat and tugged at it hard. Naoko tried pulling back her foot a little before using it to kick his chest. Although, it wasn't that hard, it was still enough to make him let go of her.

Their fight is going over the ten-minute mark already, more or less. Kakashi still had not gotten a clean hit at Naoko. His first attack on her solar plexus was not hard enough to make her give up. On the other hand, he had already taken a hit from her. No matter how shallow the hit may be, it was still a hit in the end, although it doesn't apply to him.

The silver-haired boy rushed forward, quicker than before, as he ducked his head before a fist could directly connect at his face. Then, his palm connected on her chin. Her head tilted back, as she stumbled backwards.

'Finally!' He thought, as a satisfied smirk took over his lips.

Naoko had taken a direct hit on her face downside up and it made her a little disoriented. She thought that she had felt all her baby teeth actually vibrating because of the impact. Then, Kakashi sent a barrage of punches her way which she barely avoided or blocked just in time. He didn't give her time to breathe as he continued to rain her with attacks.

"Oof!" The young heiress groaned, as another fist landed on her solar plexus. She needed to get her head in the game now or else, Kakashi will seriously make a mochi made out of her using his fists soon enough.

Just before Kakashi could roundhouse kick her, Naoko countered it with a kick on the torso which had actually landed... Thankfully!

Her execution was a little off though, because she was rushing but it was still enough to catch the silver-haired Hatake by surprise.

'Remember your roots.'

Again, her father's words rang in her ears. Naoko's pale red orbs flashed with pride for a moment, as she quickly shifted her right foot back before launching into a jumping axe-kick at the boy before her. Kakashi had avoided that too.

Before he could launch an attack himself, Naoko had jumped again while twisting her body mid-air. Her upper body, almost parallel to the ground, as a leg suddenly appeared beside him, which he completely failed to see. It landed squarely on the side of his face, and the force made him fly to a nearby tree, making it shake because of the sudden impact.

"Ugh," he groaned as he tried to get his bearings back.

Naoko stood before him, when he opened his eyes. She was breathing hard and sweating heavily now. It was already over the ten minutes since they had started. She held out a hand at him.

He stared at her incredulously, looking at the hand then at her face, then back at her hand again. Kakashi heard her sigh before he saw her reach out to him, and taking his left hand in hers. She pulled him up and dusted the dirt off of his shirt.

"Wanna continue?" Naoko asked, her head tilting to the side and face morphing into a slightly concerned expression.

Silence ensued between them for a few moments, gauging one another. A hundred and one thoughts running in Kakashi's mind per second. Until he spoke, before his mind could even register what he was doing.

"What was that move? I don't think the academy taught that kind of style of taijutsu."

Upon hearing what his self had said, Kakashi felt his face heating up because of embarrassment. He hoped that it didn't not spread throughout the rest of his face, including his ears.

'It's just the heat, and the fatigue,' he reasoned with himself as he waited for his peer's response.

"It's a style I learned back in my village," Naoko answered, her expression darkening a little and Kakashi wondered why.

"What was it called?" He asked once more, not noticing the way the young Higanbana's face becoming gloomier.

"It's called the Rising Tiger style," was her short response before she turned her back to him. Kakashi caught a flash of irritation on her expression though, before she did.

"Do you still want to continue or not?" Naoko asked this time, as she marched back to her position before they started, waiting for him although her patience was already thinning due to his earlier questions regarding her past.

"You'll lose after this, you know," the silver-haired boy declared, feeling his lips quirk into a small smirk despite the face mask hiding the rest of his visage.

"You wish!" Was Naoko's response as she took on her fighting stance.

The two had engaged in a battle of fists and legs for a few more minutes, punching holes into the trees as the other tried to avoid taking the hit. It wasn't until it was almost sunset that the winner had been declared.

"Kakashi wins today," Minato announced as he looked at his two students. His expression was brimming with pride. They had done a job well done, especially for Naoko's first sparring.

The both of them were sprawled out on the ground breathing heavily at the intense exercise that they were put through. Naoko rubbed her chest, feeling her heart pounding inside rapidly. She groaned, as she realized that she'll definitely be having a body ache during the rest of the weekend. Hopefully, she won't be bedridden or else Rin will be pouting again.

The Higanbana's only heiress had learned in the short duration of time she had spent living and and playing with Rin, that the latter was not one to be messed with especially when it comes to promises. The brunette can hold a grudge for a lifetime! Well—no, not really, but Rin certainly didn't let her live down the memory of her failing to make it on the day that the three of them had agreed to go to village's market because Naoko had to do an errand for Inori, that she had forgotten that day. It took her exactly three days to get Rin to stop ignoring her.

She did not want to have a repeat of that time. Oh, the horror. It makes her shudder, just by thinking of that memory.

"Next time, I'll win. But someone carry me home this time," Naoko let out another groan. Minato chuckled at her silliness while Kakashi smiled a little underneath his mask.

'All is well that ends well, I guess.' Minato thought, smiling widely more to himself than at his students.

It seems that the two were able to somehow get over their initial impressions of each other now. Hopefully, it will continue that way.

"Oi,Naoko!" Someone called out to her, as a hand landed on her head.

"What the—" She rubbed the sore spot on her head, and looked at her attacker just to find her fellow student frowning down at her, an open hand raised above her head.

His eyebrows were furrowed, and his eyes flashed with irritation. Naoko knew that underneath his mask, his lips were upturned.

"Seriously, I was calling out to you since earlier, you know?" Naoko rolled her eyes. Her face regaining its cool expression.

"What a way to wake up someone who's napping," she mumbled as stood up and dusted off the leaves that fell on her, while she was resting.

"Inori-san is here to see you," Kakashi pointed to the entrance of the training grounds and surely, there was the said Yamanaka standing with his arms crossed over his chest. A stern expression making its way on his face.

"Eh, where's Minato-sensei?" The Higanbana heiress asked as she proceeded to make her way to her psychiatrist slash chakra sensing instructor.

"He is currently in a meeting with Hokage-sama, so he asked me to tell you that training's off today. I happened to bump into Inori-san on the way here," Kakashi explained in a low voice.

"Oh well, thanks Kakashi! I'll see you sometime soon then," Naoko said as she waved at him without glancing back. Her arms latched onto one of Inori's and tugged at it, disabling him from crossing it over his chest.

There was a wide smile that bloomed on her rosy lips afterwards as she excitedly chatted to her other instructor about what she will be learning today about chakra sensing or chakra controlling. And the list just goes on from there.

But that wasn't what caught the younger Hatake's attention. It was the rare sight of seeing Naoko smiling, to say the least. He had never seen her genuinely smiling so widely.

The only time he did was when Minato had talked to her about something he did not know, while they were in the middle of training. Or that one time, where he had seen her talking to some elder while he was on his way to the market to buy some fish. Even then, he knew that she was only putting up a facade.

Otherwise, it was still not as wide nor as bright as her smile right now.

His frown finally dissipated at the unusual sight. And he found himself staring in awe, as he watched Naoko and Inori walk away and disappear from his line of sight.

[A/N]: *whispers* My exams are almost over! And now, updates will be regular again, if not every week. Hihi~ (/◕ヮ◕)/

Anyways, here's a showdown between Kakashi and Nao. I hope y'all liked it! This is my first time to have written a fighting scene. Hopefully, I did some justice to it. (^O^)／

Some might wonder why Kakashi was being pushed back, and it's because Naoko did not use the orthodox taijutsu taught in the academy, but had used their clan's style instead. *wink wink*

Anyway, thank you very much for your patience and support! *kisses*

'Til the next update~ ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ