Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

Chapter Three

*One Months Later*

It was dawn. The sun was beginning to rise as the colors of orange and pink and blue began to meld together in the sky. A few white clouds floated through the air as birds began to chirp, starting the day off with a song.

A quick figure leaped through the trees before it landed gracefully on the ground. The stranger approached the bridge over a small creek and knelt down. A sigh resounded in the still of the morning before a nimble hand extended out to the water, dropping bread crumbs into the water. Suddenly a small flock of baby ducks began to gather, eating away at the food. Although she had been warned not to do that—for it was a bad habit to teach to the animals—she enjoyed keeping the babies company as they ate the food she provided.

Every morning was always the same for her. He had no idea who she was or what she was doing, but every early morning he found her sitting on that bridge feeding the same baby ducks. She would sit there for at least five minutes before standing up and leaping away. And the habit never changed. He'd been observing her for two weeks now. At first, it had been by coincidence. But then he kept running into her. And after that, he awoke every morning just to make sure he didn't miss her.

Kakashi had been visiting Rin's grave as he always did. He made sure to stop by at least once a day—if not twice. There were a lot of things he needed to get off his chest, and although it would never feel as if he was talking to her, the closest he would get was visiting her grave and telling her everything there. The fateful morning he had seen her, Kakashi had been running a bit late. His nightmare had eaten away at him longer than it usually did, and when he awoke, the sun was already rising in the sky. Quickly washing up, he changed out of his night clothes and into his normal attire before he was out the door. He kept his usual paced walk although he was late, not minding; as long as he got there it would be fine.

As he approached the bridge he normally used to cross the creek and enter the cemetery, he stopped as a foreign figure sat at the edge of the bridge. He blinked as he raised a brow; he was not in the mood for strangers. As he took a few more steps closer, he stopped and evaluated the stranger.

She had olive toned skin with longer burgundy colored hair that cascaded down her back. She left it untamed as it hung over the side of her face, blocking her profile from Kakashi's view. Even still, he could tell from just the size of her body that she was young. Her hands were small and fragile looking, yet they were calloused and stiff; as she dropped bread crumbs into the water, Kakashi couldn't help but notice that about her hands. He raised a curious brow at that before the girl stood to her feet and dusted her dark brown shorts off, straightening out her zip-up white shirt. Without a second to waste, the girl was gone, leaping through the air from branch-to-branch.

And although Kakashi hadn't wasted anymore time after that to get to Rin's resting place, he had been sure to glance in the direction the stranger had gone off to before he crossed the bridge.

For the next week, he'd see her. He didn't dare speak to her, and he didn't dare make himself known. He merely watched out of curiosity as she fed the ducks. He was puzzled; what was so charming about feeding them every morning? It was truly confusing to him. But, it was something a bit refreshing to see out of his life. Although he couldn't see her face properly, he didn't mind. It was just nice knowing that there was still a sense of innocence and naivety in people still.

That was something he had lost long ago.

Kakashi stood from a distance as he did every morning, watching as this strange girl fed the ducks like she always did. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the tree, and as he waited for her to leap away as she always did, she surprised him. Standing to her feet, she stood up and glanced up at the sky. Her hair fell from her face before she slowly looked over in Kakashi's direction, meeting his visible eye. He tensed as his eye widened, the young girl staring at him with a curious glimmer in her purple hued eyes before she turned and jumped away.

He was stunned. How had she known he was there? And how long had she known for? Although he wasn't doing anything wrong nor inappropriate, it was a bit embarrassing; and Kakashi Hatake hated being embarrassed. And yet she had done it so easily to him. And unmeaning to as well.

Scoffing, Kakashi quickly crossed the bridge as he rolled his eye, shaking his head. He stopped at the end of the bridge as he looked back in the girl's direction as he blinked.

It was at that moment he realized just how empty her eyes had been.

§

Silently landing on the veranda, the little burgundy haired girl opened the sliding door before she slipped into the apartment, carefully slipping her shoes off and placing them at the front door. She sighed before she released a yelp, a suddenly hand on her shoulder.

"Neko-chan?"

In the time that the young girl had spent with Kushina and Minato, she hadn't said a word. Although she had released the seal on herself, she still didn't speak. She merely made sounds and yips, but never once had she ever said anything. They still hadn't even figured out her real name. There were only several things that they knew about her.

One: her favorite color was turquoise. Two: she hated carrots. And three: she loved animals.

Although it had taken time to figure all of these things out without words, Minato and Kushina had been savvy enough to get at least that much out of her in the end.

"Neko-chan?" And out of all the animals, cats were the little girl's favorite; hence, the substitute name.

Minato raised a brow as he stared down at the young Uzumaki as she blinked innocently up at him. He frowned as the young girl merely smiled before she walked past him, opening the fridge and setting a wrapped plate of food on the table for him.

He had just returned from a rather long and important meeting with the Fire Lord, and he had been up all night signing papers. Now that he was the Fourth Hokage, he had to use his time wisely and all of his time. And although he had been given the option of living in the Hokage Residence, he had decided to turn the offer down. After all, the Third was still living there himself and he had no use for it; he had a perfectly usable apartment already.

Smiling, Minato sat at the table as he began to eat, the little girl watching him with a small smile. He glanced up as he raised a brow. "What are you doing up so early?" he inquired curiously as the little girl stared at him before she hopped off her seat, walking over to the kitchen sink and grabbing him a glass of water. He laughed weakly as she handed him the cup, ignoring his question completely. Then again, it wasn't hard for her to do that since she never spoke to begin with.

Nodding a thanks for the water, Minato continued to eat, realizing just how famished he was. After a few minutes, the door to his bedroom opened, Kushina walking out as she yawned. She blinked before a wide smile appeared across her lips. "Minato! You're back."

"Mmhmm," he replied back with a mouthful of food, Kushina chuckling at him. She took a seat beside the young Uzumaki as she smiled.

"I see you're up early again, Neko-chan." Said child nodded as she hopped off of her seat once again before she slipped her sandals on and turned to the couple. They blinked as they watched her before she bowed and walked out the door.

"…Where is she going?" Kushina asked as Minato sighed and shook his head.

"If only I knew."

§

It had been a few days since Kakashi's last mission, so he had been somewhat relieved when Minato-sensei had called for him; it was a good distraction from all the demons in his mind. As he walked into his former sensei's office, Kakashi noticed the man flipping through a file. He raised a brow as he shut the door, gaining the Fourth's attention.

"Ah, Kakashi! Good to see you."

"Yondaime." He may have been his teacher, but now he was the Hokage.

Minato chuckled as he motioned for Kakashi to approach his desk as he held out a file to him. "I have a special mission for you today," he began as the jonin took the file and flipped it open.

His eye widened when it fell upon the picture.

"There's something I need to inform you of, Kakashi," Minato started as he locked his hands together. "Towards the end of the Third Shinobi War, Iwagakure had grown desperate. After Kannabi Bridge—" Kakashi tried not to flinch at the memory. "—the war had turned in our favor and we had gained the upper hand. As a last ditch effort, the ninja of Iwagakure had come across a secret weapon."

"…Do you mean this girl?" Kakashi asked incredulously as he glanced down at the photo of the familiar face. "Who is she?"

"She comes from a country that had once been known as the Land of Eddies. That was where Kushina was originally from," Minato began to explain as Kakashi listened carefully. "The Uzumaki clan had been well known for their skills with fuinjutsu as well as great control over chakra." Kakashi nodded as he glanced through what little information had been gathered about the young girl.

"Somehow, the rock ninja were able to apprehend her and were going to try and use her abilities against us. Although they failed, I can only assume they were going to try and take control of the kyuubi." Thankfully, Minato had stopped everything from escalating; the war could have ended terribly for everyone.

"So then, what does this have to do with me?" Kakashi asked, Minato frowning as he looked out the window behind him.

"After we found her, we discovered that she had placed a seal on herself, preventing her from talking. Even though the seal has been released, she still hasn't said a word. We haven't even figured out her real name yet." The younger jonin's eyes widened at that. "Seeing as she doesn't say much, it's a bit difficult to know what she's thinking," Minato stated with a laugh as he looked back at Kakashi.

"That's why I need your help."

"My help?"

"You see, since she's been living here in the village, she's been staying with Kushina and I. We've made sure to treat her well and there were condition with the Third we made sure to keep, but since she's grown more comfortable being here, we've given her a bit more freedom—which Sandaime has approved of," the blond explained as he looked up at his former student. "Since I've been rather busy these days, I've been home later, and I've started to notice that she's been getting up early in the morning and venturing off somewhere."

And then, Kakashi realized it.

"For her own safety and the safety of the village—"

"It's nothing dangerous." Minato blinked as Kakashi interrupted him. He watched as the young boy acted…well, as exactly that; a young boy. He cleared his throat as he scratched the bridge of his nose in an almost innocent manner; Minato had never seen Kakashi like that before. "She goes to feed the ducks every morning."

The ducks?

Minato laughed at that as he shook his head; and he had been worried for nothing, it seemed. "How do you know?"

Trying to ignore the sly grin across his sensei's face, Kakashi glared at him as he answered. "I see her every morning when I go—" Kakashi stopped as he stared down to the ground, all playfulness gone. Minato's expression shifted as he gave the boy a solemn stare.

"…Well! Your mission still stands." Kakashi blinked as he looked up at Yondaime with a wide-eyed stare.

"But—"

"I need you to do this job and do it well," Minato said as Kakashi tried not to frown; the last thing he wanted to do was baby-sit some kid.

Minato watched as his student begrudgingly accepted his mission, holding on to the file as he marched out with a grumble. It had been a long time since the Yellow Flash had seen Kakashi like that. But that was good. He wanted to help Kakashi in some way, because he knew that the young boy was carrying the burden of Obito and Rin alone—and that just wouldn't do. After all, Minato had been their sensei as well. It had been his job to protect them and teach them and mold them into strong shinobi.

Frowning, Minato closed his eyes.

This break would be good for Kakashi.

Here's to the next chapter! Happy belated Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! Hope it was fun and yummy safe for all :) Now that that's over, I have a bit more free time so I'm here with an update! This chapter was full of Kakashi, so for those who have been waiting for more on him, there you go! I hope he has been written well. My biggest peeve is when characters are not in character, so if anyone at all finds a problem with how I portray any characters, please don't hesitate to tell me! I'll fix it right away! I did my best with what I know about young Kakashi. I have a great grasp on Kakashi in the present, but I'm hoping that I know what I'm doing with younger Kakashi! These early years play an important role in this story and will show a lot of character development, so it's important that I get it right! If I don't, feel free to tell me off ^_^

Thank you to everyone who has given this story a shot. I know there hasn't been much yet, but this story is going to take time to grow. If you don't like that, I'm very sorry! And I understand! I hope you can just bear with me long enough to see what happens next X) I'm not positive as to when my next update will be. I used to update my other story every day, but I've come to find that these days my schedule is all kinds of hectic. I'll update when I can though! Anyways, thank you again for reading, and I do truly hope you find this story enjoyable.

Reviews:

BROTH3R MENACE: I'm genuinely glad you think it's going well so far! Please, please, if there is anything you don't like or you think I should change, tell me and I am more than ready to listen :) I take what readers have to say seriously, so anything at all you like or dislike, let me know so I can make this story better! Thank you so much for reading and thank you very much for reviewing! I truly appreciate you doing that.

love4music55: I'm glad you like the thought of this story not being entirely based on romance. Yes, there will be romance in the story, but I wanted to be able to write something that was just that, but a good and interesting story, I suppose. We'll see how it goes in the future thought LOL only time will tell! Thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing!

Guest: Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that you enjoy the way I write and this story thus far. I know we haven't gotten far into anything yet, but we will! Just you wait :D There will be more revealed about my OC soon so hopefully you will tune in when that happens! Thank you so, so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy this and future chapters to come!