Author's Note:

Just thought I'd address something quickly before the chapter starts! It's not super important, but I'll address it in case any one is wondering about it! It has to do with Kumiko's clothing (feel free to ignore if you don't care). In the first chapter, I described an outfit for her. Normally, she wears that outfit, but not always (as seen in the previous chapter). I just wanted to mention that yes, I know I gave her a dress and then said she had a shirt, and this is why. This is really only significant for the people who are trying to visualize the story, and of course you're all free to imagine whatever you want for her clothes because it's not really significant to the plot, but I just wanted to mention this for anyone wondering about the change! (Yes, it was for plot purposes :) )

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

It was almost a week later when Tsunade finally decided what she wanted to do about the situation. It was difficult to come to this conclusion, because she was very unsure about it, but it was the best she could think of.

"Sorry to call you so late." She apologized to Kakashi as he entered her office.

"It's fine. Kumiko-chan is already asleep, and she probably won't wake up until morning." He responded. Tsunade nodded.

"Good. There is something I feel I should discuss with you as the leader of Team Seven, as well as as Kumiko's temporary guardian before I discuss it with anyone else."

Kakashi was a bit confused and curious as to why both of those things were relevant at the same time. "What is it?"

"I want to send Kumiko, as well as your team, to investigate the area around where you originally found her." Kakashi was a bit surprised to hear the idea.

"You want to send Kumiko outside of the village?" He asked. He was pretty sure the reason she was in the village was to make sure nothing bad happened to her while she tried regaining her memory, so to decide to send the young child outside now…

Tsunade nodded then continued. "At first, I thought it would be best to keep her within the safety of the village until she can regain her memory, or until we find someone looking for her. But the situation has changed now that I know she has a seal. It is more urgent now that we find out what is happening. Likely the quickest way to help her regain her memory, or to find where she came from, is by sending her outside the village."

"We don't know what her seal could be holding, and her situation just doesn't add up right now. I'm not sure if we can afford to waste time. At the very least, if we can get an idea of what the situation is so we can be properly prepared for it if things go wrong…" She explained further.

Kakashi understood what she was saying. The sooner the better. But even still… "Bringing her to the place where she was attacked would likely only bring back traumatic memories. If it causes her chakra to spike, it could affect her seal. And there's still a chance that who or whatever attacked her is still around. It would be dangerous."

"And that is why your team will be going with her. If there's something dangerous there, I'm confident your team is strong enough to face it. As for her mental state, you will be there as her emotional support. She seems to feel safe around you, so I'm sure you can manage." She countered, then sighed. "I am well aware of the risks of this mission, but there are no other solutions I can come up with."

Kakashi understood. He couldn't think of anything better either. He was silent for a moment before he sighed. "I think this is a good plan to uncover the situation." He finally responded. Tsunade accepted the confirmation that he agreed to the mission, then dismissed him.

The next morning, Kakashi's team, as well as Kumiko and Kakashi himself were called to the Hokage's office. Kakashi already knew why, but he decided to let Tsunade explain the mission to the others. He himself didn't completely agree with it yet, though he had accepted it, so he didn't feel he could explain it properly, nor could he answer any questions about it.

He would be happy if this mission can help Kumiko regain some of her memories and find out who she is, but he can only see this mission leading to her remembering her potentially traumatic memories. He doesn't want that for the girl. Having seen her sad the one time she had a nightmare was bad enough. He doesn't want to imagine seeing the girl in emotional pain over things that really happened.

As he was considering this, Kumiko noticed him looking in her direction while he was thinking, and she smiled at him. Her smile made the worries go away for a moment, before it made him worry even more. He doesn't want anything to happen to that bright, heart-warming smile.

Kakashi and Kumiko arrived at the Hokage's office only a moment after the rest of the team did. Tsunade greeted the team then started explaining the mission.

"I want your team and Kumiko to go back to where you originally found her to look for any clues about where she came from or what happened. It would be nice if she can regain her memories on this trip, but anything will do for now. I want you to look around the area as well, to see if there are any clues as to where she came from, or clues for what happened. Expect to be gone a few days to properly investigate." She explained.

"We're bringing Kumiko-chan with us?" Sakura asked, shocked that they would be sending the child on the mission with them.

"There's a chance she might remember something if she goes. There's also the chance someone will recognize her and be able to tell us about where she came from. For those reasons, it would be best to send her. I trust you all to make sure nothing happens to her." Tsunade answered. "Leave as soon as you're all ready."

With that, everyone left to go pack for the mission. They arranged to meet at the village gates in a couple of hours.

Kumiko was honestly a bit confused. She hadn't left the village yet since she'd gone there, so to suddenly be asked to go outside with Kakashi and his team was certainly a bit of a surprise. She wasn't sure how to think about it, so she didn't. As long as she wasn't separated from Kakashi, she was alright.

As arranged, the team met in front of the Konoha gates. The team was almost starting to get used to Kakashi arriving on time by this point, so they weren't really surprised when he actually arrived at the arranged time.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked while they were standing there, before they left.

"What is it Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"Are you really okay bringing Kumiko-chan on this mission? Couldn't it be dangerous for her?"

Kakashi pretended to think for a moment. "I can't say I'm entirely okay with it, but it should be fine. I already spoke to Godaime-sama last night about it." He answered somewhat honestly.

Sakura nodded in response, deciding to accept the answer for now. They then decided to leave.

It didn't take them too long to get back to the spot where they'd originally found Kumiko. Kakashi had carried her on his back so they could travel faster. When they were around the area where they remember first seeing her, they walked around until they found the exact spot.

It was Kakashi who found it, since he could faintly smell the somehow remaining traces of her blood that had been left. It hadn't rained in this area since they'd found her, so he supposes it not too unbelievable that there are still some faint traces of blood left. It's not much, though.

"We should split up to search the area. Don't go too far. We'll meet back here in no more than an hour. If anything happens, find a way to signal the rest of us." Kakashi instructed his team, before he felt a presence. Before his team left, he stopped them. "Wait. There are people here."

The two figures were following their orders until they spotted a group in the forest. "There it is. Didn't expect we'd actually find it around here." The first figure commented.

"Me neither. And I didn't expect it to be surrounded by Konoha shinobi." The second agreed.

"Wait. There are people here." They heard the silver haired shinobi say. Knowing they had been found out, they decided to exit their hiding place.

After Kakashi had warned his team about the people he sensed, the strangers came out from their hiding place in the trees. "Who are you?" Kakashi asked as he and his teammates prepared themselves for a fight. Sakura grabbed Kumiko and brought her a bit further back, away from the unknown people.

"Calm down, shinobi. There's no need to fight. We just want the kid over there." The first guy said.

"What do you want with Kumiko?" Kakashi asked in a warning tone. He could tell that these people were trouble.

"Kumiko?" The second asked before letting out a laugh, as if he thought it was funny. "You gave it a name?"

Kakashi felt both his anger and confusion grow from the statement. "What do you mean? What do you know about her?" He asked, once again with his tone carrying a warning. But the two figures didn't seem at all scared of him.

"More than you, it seems. Otherwise, you wouldn't care so much, Konoha shinobi." The first answered.

At the questioning looks on the shinobi's faces, the first figure decided to explain. "That thing was chosen as the sacrifice to the demon. There used to be a village around here that kept a demon sealed inside a chosen container. There's no need to give the containers a name. The only life they can live is a life of solitude. After all, no one wants to associate with a demon. We're doing it a favour by taking it away. You should be thankful."

This angered the whole team. "Naruto, I know you're angry, but be sure not to kill them. They seem to have valuable information." Kakashi warned his blond teammate as said teammate took a step forward, ready to fight.

"I should be the one reminding you of that, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto responded. He wasn't wrong. The killing intent coming from Kakashi would be suffocating enough to kill an ordinary person if it had been aimed at them. But Kakashi knew how to maintain control of his actions, even when he was this angry.

"Sakura, watch over Kumiko-chan." Kakashi instructed. "Naruto, Sai." He didn't have to say anything else since both understood and prepared themselves to fight. Kakashi decided he wasn't going to go easy on these people, partly because he realised they would likely be the type of opponents that required effort, and admittedly partly because he was furious over how they were talking about Kumiko. And so, he didn't waste much time lifting his hitai-ate to uncover his Sharingan.

"Wow. The Copy-ninja, 'Kakashi of the Sharingan', unveiling his Sharingan so early. What an honour." The first figure commented in a taunting way. Kakashi didn't care though. He had more important things to be upset about.

In the next moment, the fight started. Kakashi and Naruto each fought one of the figures while Sai supported both of them from the back. The fight lasted a bit while the two figures managed to dodge most of the attacks, and seemed to be unharmed by the ones that actually did hit. The first attack that managed to do any damage was Kakashi's Raikiri that was aimed at the first figure.

The first figure almost seemed surprised as Kakashi's hand stabbed through his right shoulder, slightly missing its mark due to the figure being able to dodge, but still able to do significant damage. "Tch." The first was clearly annoyed as he jumped back, creating a distance between him and Kakashi. "Our job was just to locate it. There's no reason to stay here." He then commented to the second figure.

The second figure was about to jump back as well, so he could stand with the first, but he failed to notice Naruto sneak up behind him with a Rasengan. The jutsu collided with his back, tearing through the back of the figure's shirt to reveal the damage it caused to him.

The second figure managed to run around Naruto in order to stand closer to the first figure. He then took out a scroll and opened it quickly. And then, they disappeared along with the scroll. Kakashi decided it was likely some kind of teleportation jutsu, but he wasn't sure of the details.

"Damn it! Where did they go!? Once I find them-!" Naruto asked, clearly frustrated that they got away, before he was interrupted by Kakashi.

"Calm down Naruto." Kakashi went to stand next to the blond slightly ahead as he continued speaking. He put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and tell him to calm down. "We don't know how far they could have gone, or in which direction, so searching could prove a waste of time. Based on what they said, there are probably others as well. Finding them could mean being ambushed by several more enemies."

"And!? We can take 'em!"

Kakashi sighed. "The enemies we just fought didn't even fight back. With them just dodging, we were having a hard time. We don't know how bad it would have been if they were actually fighting. And we don't know the strength of their allies. With just the three of us, it would be too risky, and we'd be leaving Kumiko-chan and Sakura alone if more enemies show up."

The last part seemed to click with Naruto and he seemed to calm down his urge to fight, though he was still angered. The two walked back to where the rest of the group was standing nearby.

When Kakashi was close enough, Kumiko ran over to grab his sleeve again. She didn't like being separated from him, especially when she was outside the village, and especially after there had just been a fight.

Kumiko didn't really understand the situation. All the talk about demons and containers was a bit confusing, and she couldn't help but imagine people trying to stuff tiny little red demons into food containers for whatever reason.

The others, however, were able to understand a bit of what the people were talking about, though not as much as they would have liked. Kakashi found himself wondering about the 'sacrifice' part, as well as wondering what exactly the 'demon' in question is. What he did understand, though, was that Kumiko had likely had a rough life even before she'd been attacked, and before she lost her memory. How bad, he wasn't sure. But a life of solitude where you aren't even allowed a name…

And some things started to make sense. He'd thought it was a bit odd how happy the girl was when he chose a name for her, and he'd noticed how she seemed to be experiencing the world for the first time, sometimes. He had assumed it was just because she forgot everything, but if she'd never had anything to begin with…

But this wasn't the time to think about it. "It would be best if we don't stay here long. They might have gone to get reinforcements." He told his team, then stopped to think about the best option of where to go. After considering it for a moment, he found the best current option. "We should move further into the forest." He finally said.

"Shouldn't we go back to Konoha? It's not safe here. At the very least, we should bring Kumiko-chan back." Sakura asked.

"There's a high chance they'll ambush us if we go in that direction. They seemed to realise we were from Konoha, and with Kumiko-chan with us, they'll decide we'll be most likely to go back." Sai explained, having understood Kakashi's decision.

Sakura frowned, not knowing if she should be agreeing with the logic, or arguing it in order to bring Kumiko to safety sooner. But in the end, she knew they were right, so she decided to say nothing and silently agree with the plan.

"We'll find somewhere to hide further away from the village then send a request for backup." Kakashi told his team, and they all nodded, then they all started travelling in the direction opposite the village as planned. Kakashi carried Kumiko on his back again so they could move quickly enough to try to get away from danger.

After a few hours, the sky turned dark, and Kakashi decided that it might be a good time to stop for now. "We'll rest here for the night." Kakashi told his team.

"Is it safe to stop right now?" Sakura asked as they all slowed to a stop.

"Of course, it's risky to stop moving right now, but it would also be dangerous trying to fight potentially strong enemies while we're all exhausted. It's important to rest when we have a chance, even in situations like this." Kakashi answered.

"Though, we won't be able to set up a fire or anything, and we'll have to have someone on watch at all times." He added after a moment of consideration. "The least obvious we are, the better."

"I'll take the first shift. Sai, you'll be second. Naruto, you'll be third. Sakura, you'll be last." Kakashi arranged as he lowered the sleepy Kumiko so she could stand on the ground. "Sakura, can you take care of Kumiko-chan for now?" Sakura nodded in response.

Everyone found a place to either lay down or sit against a tree so they could sleep for the night, or at least until it was their turn to keep watch. Kakashi found himself a place to sit by one of the trees. Sakura offered a hand to Kumiko so they could go find a spot, but instead of going with Sakura, Kumiko went to sit with Kakashi.

He wasn't able to protest since the girl had already fallen asleep leaning against his arm, her hands grabbing the fabric of his shirt's sleeve as she was somewhat curled up in a ball. Sakura smiled. "I guess it's still your job to look after her, Kakashi-sensei." She commented. Kakashi sighed, but said nothing against it.

While the others fell asleep, he prepared the message to send to Tsunade briefly describing the situation and requesting another team as backup. He would give the details about what they'd been told when he returns to Konoha.

He also considered what the best course of action would be for the next day. They could continue running in the other direction, but then their reinforcements might not catch up, and they'd be left with no way to know if the situation was resolved or not. But he also didn't think it would be a good idea to turn around yet and go back in the direction of Konoha. In the end, he decided the best plan would be to do both.

They would continue in the opposite direction for part of the day to give their back up a chance to cover the area between the original confrontation of the enemies and Konoha to make sure there are no enemies along that path, and then his team would also be able to use that path to get back to the village.

And so, that's what they did. They travelled away from Konoha for the first few hours, then proceeded to turn around and start going in the direction of their village after.

Things were going well, and they were progressing toward their village at a decent pace, until a few hours after the switch.

The group had been stopped suddenly by a wall of fire emerging in front of them, just far enough away that they could stop before reaching it. It went away almost as quickly as it had appeared, though, and it was clear that it was caused by a jutsu.

Everyone raised their guard, and Kakashi once again left Kumiko to Sakura. After all, as a medic ninja, Sakura had gained some defense and evasion skills that could be helpful to protect Kumiko, meanwhile the other three on the team excelled at combat.

Kakashi wasn't sure if he expected the same people as before to come out from the trees, or if he expected a whole group of enemies this time, but it was neither. It was, once again, just two people, but they were different people than before. It didn't take more than a glance at them to know that they are much stronger than the first two.

Kakashi silently cursed at himself. He had tried to plan their route properly to avoid this kind of situation, but here they are, facing enemies more powerful than the ones they were trying to avoid.

"Guess those two idiots were right. It's surrounded by Konoha shinobi." One of the two, the one dressed in dark red, commented.

"Even they can be useful sometimes." The one dressed in dark purple commented in return. Kakashi got himself ready to fight, until he heard a scream from behind him.

When Sakura had grabbed Kumiko to protect her, she also tried to block Kumiko's view of the situation since she didn't want the girl to have to watch people fighting. Kumiko was far too innocent to be introduced to the violent world of shinobi, and Sakura didn't want her to be forced to see it.

But she wasn't focused on keeping Kumiko from looking, so it wasn't very effective. Kumiko was curious about what was happening, so she briefly looked at the situation. She saw Kakashi and the other two members of the team prepare themselves for battle, and then she looked in the direction of the people they were all looking at.

When she saw them, images flashed through her head. Blood and fire and screams and terror. As the memories flooded her mind, the faces of those same two people kept appearing. Seeing their faces now brought back all the feelings of terror from her memories, and she let out a scream before completely shutting herself in her mind in panic. She couldn't stop the gruesome pictures that kept appearing in her head.

When Kakashi heard Kumiko scream, he was instantly filled with worry. He briefly glanced behind him to see that there were no enemies around, but Kumiko was clearly not alright. He looked to his teammates and they nodded to him, telling him that they can hold back the enemies so he can go take care of Kumiko.

In the next moment, he was at Kumiko's side, but she barely even seemed to acknowledge that he was there. He knelt to be closer to her height and put a calming hand on her back. "What happened, Kumiko-chan?" He asked her, trying to keep his voice as gentle and calm as he could.

"Th-they….-" Kumiko was trembling and struggling to find her words. It was clear to Kakashi just how terrified the girl was, and it broke his heart to see her like this.

"Do you remember them?" Kakashi asked. Kumiko nodded her head slightly, though even that motion was shaky from her fear.

"They…Everyone was…-" Kumiko tried again, but she just couldn't. Finding the words and bringing herself to say them was just too much for her.

But Kakashi somewhat understood that whatever she was remembering about these two was not good. They had done something horrible, and Kumiko had either seen it or been a victim. Kakashi could assume that they might have been the ones who had attacked her, and her fear became understandable.

Though slightly, Kakashi noticed as the girl's chakra started to rise. "We have to get her out of here." He told Sakura, who was shocked by the whole situation but eventually nodded.

But how would they manage that? With the enemies right there, they can't just turn around and run. Sure, maybe there's a chance they'd get away, but there's also a good chance that the enemy would catch up. It's never a good idea to show your back to your enemy, so running away could be more dangerous than staying to fight.

They could leave some of the team to fight the enemy while the others escape with Kumiko, but Kakashi can't leave his teammates behind, and by the way that Kumiko latched onto his shirt's sleeve in fear, it seems he can't leave her either.

He looked over to Naruto and Sai who were now locked in combat against the two enemies. The enemies didn't even look like they were trying, but they were still managing to avoid sustaining any damage, and every once in a while they would choose to send the shinobi flying back with a small attack. They didn't even find the two shinobi worth their time or effort.

It only made it clearer to Kakashi how confident the two enemies were in their abilities to choose not to put in much effort in a fight against Konohagakure shinobi. Two-on-two against these enemies isn't a good option for his team right now. Kakashi is confident they would be able to hold their own for a bit if they tried, but he can understand that they would not walk away unscathed. The risk is too great.

As Kakashi struggled to try to come up with a quick solution, he was thankful when the solution came to him in the form of his green-clad rival's much younger twin, a reformed Hyuga, and Konoha's local weapons enthusiast.

Lee and Neji jumped in to join the fights directly while Tenten made her entrance from afar with a barrage of kunai and shuriken aimed to control the direction of the enemies' movements.

"Leave them to us. Your team should focus on getting her back to the village." Guy said as he walked up to where Kakashi was.

And so, Kakashi's team focused on returning to Konoha with Kumiko. Kakashi was confident in the abilities of Guy's team, so he was sure they'd be able to hold the enemies back. If Kumiko is their target, it's not likely the enemies will stay to continue the fight once Kumiko is out of the picture. Kakashi is grateful for the well-timed arrival of their allies.

Author's Note:

What!? Two author's notes in one chapter!?

...I'm sorry lol.

Not really though.

ANYWAY! This chapter was once again a victim of "I don't have enough words so I have to add ideas that I was going to save for next chapter into this one" but I think it turned out okay. In some ways, I think it worked a bit better trying to write it all in the same chapter! This was a random story idea I made on the spot because of writer's block for another story I was writing, so if I'm going to be honest, I'm starting to become unsure of what to do next. Of course, I have some ideas for the future, but it's too early for some of them. As such, I'm sorry if updates slow down a bit, but I will try my best to create a good story!

I hope you all enjoyed this part, and I hope you enjoy the next one!