Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto or Naruto Shippuden

Chapter Eighteen

A pair of amethyst eyes fluttered open, and the moment that they did they immediately shut, the sun seeping in through the window nearly blinding them. A tired sigh resonated through the still of the morning before a set of nimble feet planted themselves on to the floor.

With a loud yawn, Karibi stretched before relaxing, her muscles breathing for the first time that day. The young girl made her way to her door before she hesitated, her hand hovering over the door knob. She raised a brow as she tilted her head a fraction to the side before swiftly pulling open her door. Her eyes widened when confetti burst in her face and laughter rang out.

"Happy birthday!" Karibi blinked as she found Hayase and Hana as well as Riku standing in the middle of her living room.

"...What?" With an exasperated sigh, Hana shook her head as she tugged her friend by her hand into the kitchen.

"Don't tell me you forgot it was your own birthday!" Looking over to the calendar hanging on the wall, Karibi smiled weakly; she hadn't been keeping up with the days lately.

The 11 year old was doing well. She had returned to doing missions with her team and she had continued training, spending time sparring with everyone when she could. Although she was still trying her best to deal with the emotions that went haywire in her mind, Karibi was proud to say that she was doing much better than she had been several months before. She may not be the grinning, giddy child she was years back, but she was doing her best to find a balance. And with all that had happened over the last year, Karibi was just happy to be where she was, and she was happy that she had her friends by her side.

"We had a late night yesterday, so sorry if I'm a little forgetful," the young girl said with a chuckle as Hayase grinned, pulling the girl in with one arm—his other hand forming a fist as he lightly rubbed his knuckles into her scalp.

"Don't act like you're the only one who got home late from that mission."

"Hayase! That hurts!" Laughing, the young man grinned before he let the birthday girl go. She huffed through her nose before shooting her teammate an irked look.

"Seeing as we're mission free for the day, we thought we could celebrate with you!" Riku stated as she pulled out a small box from behind her back. An excited gleam shined in her eyes as Karibi smiled softly.

"Sensei, you really didn't have—"

"Hush and just open it!" Riku had been waiting for two weeks to give the gift to the young girl.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Karibi unwrapped the small box before tossing aside the wrapping paper. She pulled off the top of the box and her eyes widened before she smiled widely. "Riku-sensei! This is..."

"I escorted the Fire Lord's son and as a thank you he gave me that!" In the box, was a ruby on a silver chain. "I thought of you when I saw it." Karibi smiled widely before she hung the necklace around her neck.

"Thank you, sensei!"

"Hey, open up ours now!" Hayase said eagerly as Karibi chuckled, nodding her head. "It's a joint gift between me and Hana."

"As in, Hayase had no idea what to get you, so I helped him out," Hana added as the young man beside her pouted. Karibi smirked before taking the bag from her teammates and pulling out the tissue paper. She pulled out a black case and raised a brow, her two friends urging her to continue. Pulling open the flap, Karibi's eyes widened when she pulled out a silver shuriken; the center had the mold of her clan's crest with pointed edges forming in the direction in which her crest swirled.

"These are..."

"We had them specially made!"

"That must've costed a fortune," Karibi said with wide eyes. "I can't take—"

"We already bought them!" Hana stated as she crossed her arms. "So if you don't take them then it will really have been a waste of money!"

"Yeah, so don't waste our money," Hayase added playfully before Karibi's eyes softened. She stared down at the shuriken before she nodded her head.

"Thank you, for everything." And she meant everything. The others smiled and nodded before the 29 year old clapped her hands together.

"Lets say we get breakfast, what do you three think?"

"You have anywhere in mind, Karibi?"

"Nope. But I'm actually really hungry so lets eat fast." The others laughed at that.

§

She had been receiving gifts left and right. First she had gotten a present from Kurenai—who had bought the 11 year old her favorite dessert from her favorite shop. Then there had been Asuma, who loved keeping things simple; he had promised her three free meals to anywhere she wanted to go, anytime. And then, of course, Guy had been rather flamboyant about the presentation of his gift, getting her a large bouquet of flowers and a stuffed cat; it had been truly sweet. Even Hiruzen had given the young girl a small gift; her favorite book she used to read frequently.

Having spent the day running around with her team, Karibi had finally been dropped off at home. As she stepped through the threshold, she let out an exhausted breath, setting all of her things down on the table before she stared down at them. She tried to smile, but found her capacity for smiles of the day filled. So, instead, she cleaned everything up—putting the bouquet in a vase full of water, the dessert in her fridge, and the stuffed cat on her bed beside Kushito. And when she had finished with that, the 11 year old stood in the middle of her living room and stared around her home.

She was definitely doing better, but there was still this feeling inside of her she couldn't seem to get rid of. It was always there, never disappearing—much like an itch you can't scratch. Still, she was thankful to have gotten as far as she had. For the time being, she would deal with her emotions one step at a time.

Slowly, Karibi looked to her right, glancing at the corner of her living room. Her gaze softened as she stared at a shut door for a few moments. Apprehensively, the redhead cautiously made her way over to the door before she stopped, standing right in front of it. She stared intently at the knob as she contemplated opening it or not. And as she mustered the courage to reach out, she crushed it all with the overwhelming anxiety she felt just being near the room. With four long steps, Karibi walked away and quickly sat down on the couch before leaning her head back. She let out a held breath before shutting her eyes, trying to relax.

Within second, there was a knock at her window, breaking the young girl out of her stupor. She sat up and blinked before turning to the window. Her pupils shrunk before she smiled widely; it seemed she had overcome her full capacity of smiles.

Opening the window, her guest hopped inside with ease with his hands in his pockets. "I heard it was someone's birthday today?"

"So did I," Karibi replied back with a small smirk. "Happy birthday to them."

"Yeah. I guess so." Holding a rectangular box out, the young man waited patiently before the birthday girl before him finally took the gift.

"I thought you were going to be gone for two weeks."

"I thought I told you that I'm not allowed to discuss my missions." Karibi let out a quiet laugh.

"Stay for a bit then, Kakashi." Motioning for the young man to follow her to the couch, Karibi sat down as she began to tear open her gift. Kakashi didn't sit but he did stood beside the 11 year old with his hands in his pockets. He watched her carefully as she set aside the wrapping paper—which had been surprisingly neat around the box—and began to pull the box open. He relaxed at the way the redhead froze, her eyes wide and her hands hovering over his gift.

Inside the box, was a dream-catcher.

"...How did you know?" asked the birthday girl as the gift-giver shrugged before he finally sat down beside his companion.

"You have bags under your eyes, your skin tone is looking a bit paler than it normally is, and you've been rubbing your head—which I assumed was because of the headaches you've been getting from lack of sleep." Karibi rolled her eyes.

"Know-it-all." Kakashi chuckled at that before a silence fell over them.

"...I still have them too." Karibi's eyes widened as her head snapped in Kakashi's direction. He stared at the floor for a moment with his one eye before he turned to look back at his companion. "That's how I know." The 11 year old stared for a moment before she nodded, pulling out the dream-catcher and smiling softly at it.

"...I really do love it."

It was simple, just as Karibi would have imagined anything Kakashi gave her. The dream-catcher was just one circle with a red frame and white thread that formed a nine-petaled flower in the center. Three, large, gray feathers hung from the bottom with white beads that hung just above the feathers. And then there was a thick piece of thread that was used to hang the catcher.

It was beautiful.

"...Come with me!" the young girl stood to her feet before she walked around the couch, making her way into her bedroom. Kakashi moved at his own, slower pace, following Karibi into her room. He stopped and stood in the doorway as the chunin stood on top of her bed, rustling Kushito from his nap. The cat yawned before hopping of the bed and making his way to the exit. He stopped and looked up at Kakashi, the ANBU gazing back down at the animal; he was sure that it could smell his ninken on him.

Wincing, Kakashi pulled his foot away as Kushito bit at his toes; he always did love doing that. "Kushito, stop that." Said cat did as his master said, moving between Kakashi's legs and making his way into the kitchen. The silver haired ninja sighed before looking back to Karibi, the young girl hopping off her bed before she dusted her hands off.

"What do you think?" She had hung the dream-catcher right above her bed where her head would rest, and Kakashi nodded.

"Looks good."

Turning to walk out, Kakashi began to make his way back to the window. "I'm off then."

"Thank you for the gift," Karibi said sincerely as she stood before her guest as he opened the window. "...I really do love it." Kakashi stopped before he looked back at Karibi.

These days, he was no help. He was usually gone on a mission, and even if he were around, Kakashi knew that he and Karibi were both still struggling with their own demons. But still, he wanted to make himself present to her. He wanted to make sure she didn't forget that he was there—that he knew her well. And it was little things like the dream-catcher that would keep her remembering.

"...It gets better," he said softly as Karibi blinked. "And truth-be-told, it gets harder. It gets much harder before it gets better," he said as he tucked one leg outside. "But it will get better." Karibi stared at the 14 year old before he nodded to her and disappeared, leaving her with nothing but the opened window.

And her dream-catcher.

Shutting the window, Karibi smiled before she turned to Kushito, who was making his way back to her bedroom. She followed suit, shutting her lights off and letting the natural light of the moon keep her room lit. She fell back on her mattress, letting a few feathers from her comforter fly everywhere before she gazed up at her present. She continued to stare for a few moments before her eyes fluttered shut for the night.

She had the best sleep that night.

*Three Months Later*

She'd been standing outside of the door for several hours now, but she didn't dare walk inside.

A whole year had passed—a whole year since the Kyuubi attack. In that year, the village had rebuilt and had recovered, business had flourished, and most importantly? Lives had gone on. People went about their days as they normally did and continued to live on for those they had lost, those they had nearly lost, and those who were still with them. That morning, the Hokage had recited a speech to the villagers. He had thanked the Fourth Hokage and his wife for their sacrifice, he had thanked the shinobi who had lost their lives, and he thanked all the remaining for dealing with the tragedy to the best of their ability. And although his words had warmed many hearts, there were also those who could not hear him over the sound of their heart-break.

A young man stood alone at the KIA stone. He softly cried to himself as his hands balled up into fists. He shook his head as he cried for his lost parents, wishing to have them back in his arms; wishing that he hadn't been left alone. And as he wept, he cursed the creature that had taken their innocent lives; in that moment, he had never hated anything so much in his entire life.

And then there was a young girl, who had awoken that morning from a vivid nightmare. In a cold sweat, she opened her eyes and although she was awake, there was a part of her that was still lost in that dream; she was still lost in the night she had lost her family. And as she lied in her bed, a heaping mess, she couldn't help but tremble with the rage that continued to feast away at her soul, for she had been fighting this fury for months and months—and some days, she won the battle. Some days, she would smile through and take a step forward. But other times, she would succumb to the fire of her anger. She would fall to her knees in its presence and curse herself and that Nine-tailed fox for what it had done and what she could not stop; it was just two more steps back for her.

There were so many lives, so many hearts, so many families torn and shredded apart by what the demon fox had done to the village. So many people lost, so many homes destroyed; no one could forgive, and no one could forget.

Karibi had forced herself out of bed that morning in order to attend the Hokage's assembly. She had been told by Riku-sensei to be on time if she was up for coming. And so, Karibi did as asked, because she wanted to prove to everyone she had moved on. She wanted to prove that she was better now and she no longer held any regret. But it was all just wrong. Because she was angry, and she wasn't ready to let go; she wasn't sure if she ever would be. But still, she attended the Hokage's speech and soon after left by herself, taking a walk.

And that was when she stumbled upon the young man.

He'd been crying at the KIA stone, and although she had only arrived and had seen him for a mere few seconds, she knew he must have been there for hours. His feet were planted into the grass and she could tell by the way the grass settled around him that he hadn't moved much from when he had first arrived.

Karibi watched him for only a few seconds before she slowly began to approach him. Just by the sound of his broken sobs, she could tell he was grieving hard. She could feel it in her body. She understood that sort of pain well, for she was still living through it as well. She was still trying to cope with all of these different emotions. They came in waves, and sometimes she could handle it, and other times she couldn't; she didn't blame the young man for feeling the way he did.

"Who was it?" The young man quieted his cries as he slowly looked up. He carefully looked over his shoulder, readying himself to chase away the person who was bothering, but as he met the familiar set of purple-hued eyes, he felt shock overcome the sorrow he was feeling for just a moment.

"You..." Karibi felt the same shock as he did.

"You're...Iruka?" She couldn't have forgotten him. She had saved him. And in a way, he had saved her. For if she hadn't run into him on her search for Minato and Kushina, she would have most certainly found herself into trouble—trouble she wouldn't have been able to run from. And although his face had fallen on the back-burner of her memory, the moment she saw him, she knew who he was.

"You—You're the one that helped me."

"You remember..." Karibi trailed off as the brown haired young man nodded before he fully turned to face her.

"Yeah...yeah, I do." They stared at each other for a long moment, letting the silence fester between them. Neither were quite sure what to say or what to do. There was a part of them that wanted to turn the other direction and forget that they had crossed paths, but then there was the other part that wanted to stay and watch it all play out until the end.

"...Your name." Karibi raised a brow as Iruka cleared his throat, his tears drying and staining his cheeks. "You never told me your name." And as the 11 year old thought about it, she had realized that he was right.

Hesitantly, the redhead took a few steps forward, stopping just arms-length away from Iruka. She held her hand out to him as he stared down a it for a second before looking up at the girl. She forced a smile across her lips as she took a deep breath. "My name is Karibi Uzumaki."

In that moment, as their hands touched, the world seemed brighter. For two broken hearts and found one another, and together, they formed one, single, whole heart. And although it was tattered and scarred, it was a whole heart, nonetheless; it was more than what either of them had had in that entire year.

§

She'd only stayed at the KIA stone for an hour. She spoke briefly with Iruka, and when she had finally given him her name, they smiled genuinely at each other. Nothing else was said—then again, there was nothing else that needed to be said in that moment. And after paying her respects to the names of the people she still loved dearly, she silently turned and began to walk away. Iruka said nothing and Karibi said nothing either; it was a mutual silence.

Deciding to continue aimlessly walking, Karibi strolled slowly around almost the entire village. Even when her feet ached and her legs grew sore, she continued. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped in front of the hospital until she looked up and found herself in the lobby.

Since the attack, Karibi had only gone to see him once; Naruto. In that one time, she had found herself at her lowest of all points. And although she was in a different place in her life, she had to wonder; was she? Because, with every step she took towards the baby's room, a heat inside of her chest continued to rise. It spread within her and singed her from the inside-out. And when she finally arrived at the door of the room in which Naruto was in, she found her eyes glaring at the shut door.

The Third had been keeping Naruto at the hospital due to many reasons. At the moment, he was too young to be left alone and without care. The doctors and nurses were able to give Naruto all the nutrition and care and support he needed, and Hiruzen was also able to come and see him whenever he had the time. Not only that, but it was easier to keep an eye on the jinchuriki this way. If he was going to be honest, there was no one who would willingly take care of the blond baby, for he was the demon-child. He was the baby responsible for the Kyuubi attack. If Hiruzen were to leave Naruto in the care of the foster system, he feared what sort of danger he would be putting the child in; he had promised Kushina he would take care of her child.

He had ANBU stationed inside the room that he trusted; no one was going to bring harm to the baby. The only people authorized to enter the room were people Hiruzen approved of, and the list was short; the doctor, nurse, his ANBU, and lastly, Karibi.

And that was where she stood. Outside of the door for hours, just staring.

She was battling herself; to open the door or not open the door. She wanted to say that she was calm and composed enough to enter into the room without reacting, but she knew she would be lying. Even as she lingered outside, her fingers twitched for her kunai pack; she kept imagining herself running the defenseless baby through.

Baby. That was what Naruto was. He was nothing but a baby. And yet, Karibi still felt nothing but resentment and hatred for the child. She knew it was wrong, truly, and she knew she was being unfair, for it wasn't his fault that the Nine-tailed fox had attacked. But it was inside of him—that monster. And she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to stand in its presence, even if it was locked away inside of Naruto and safely kept from endangering others.

Closing her eyes, Karibi stepped away from the door. She turned and quickly walked down the hallway; she didn't look back.

*Seven Months Later*

"I can't believe it! Our last mission together as a team is over!"

Hana, Hayase and Karibi walked beside one another as they ventured back into the village. Riku followed close behind her students, smiling to the guards at the booth to her left. They greeted Team 2, and the four smiled before continuing down the road.

Time had flown by quick. Team 2 had worked diligently and well together, but now their chapter was ending, and everyone's separate one was beginning.

Hana was going on to continue her studies to become a medic nin. It had been a decision she had thought long and hard about, but she was confident with her choice, and most of all her family and friends supported her through-and-through. As for Hayase and Karibi, both had been offered positions as jonin. The 13 year old had been ecstatic to hear about the rise in rank and had immediately accepted the offer, but then there was Karibi.

There was something she wanted to discuss with the Hokage first.

"Don't say this to anyone, but..." Riku glanced around before she leaned in close to her students. "You three were my favorite." Hayase laughed as Hana smiled widely, Karibi chuckling as she rolled her eyes.

"I bet you've said that to all of your previous teams, sensei," the youngest of the team stated lighthearted as Riku winked.

"How could I? I've never had such promising students like you three." The four stopped in front of the Hokage Residence, Karibi glancing up at the room on the highest floor.

"You three...although I was your teacher...all along, it was you who taught me so much," Riku said earnestly as her students smiled up at her. "And this isn't the end of us. It's just the end of our team name."

"Don't worry, sensei!" Hayase said as he smirked. "You can't get rid of us that easily."

"I wouldn't dream of it, kid," she replied back before she sighed. "One last hoo-rah. Barbeque for dinner?"

"How can I turn such a delicious offer down?" Hana said with a grin as Hayase nodded.

"As long as sensei is paying."

"Hayase."

"It was a joke, Hana!"

"Karibi?" Said girl had been quiet, but she had been focused on the conversation the entire time. She smiled softly at her sensei before she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the woman; it wasn't a tight and warm hug like they used to be, but Karibi was trying.

"Thank you, Riku-sensei." The woman relaxed before she smiled and wrapped her arms around the 11 year old's form.

"Of course, Karibi." After a moment, the two pulled away before Riku nodded.

"Let me report this last mission statement and then we can meet for dinner in an hour, yes?"

"Yeah!" The three watched as their sensei walked into the building, leaving them outside. Karibi stared after the woman for a second longer before she looked to Hayase and Hana.

"You guys interested in tea before we meet sensei?"

"Tea sounds relaxing to me."

"You guys go ahead." Hayase and Hana blinked as they turned to Karibi, who began to make her way inside the building. "I have something to do first." The two hesitated before nodding their heads.

"Just come find us when you're done. You know where we'll be," Hana said as Karibi looked over her shoulder and nodded before disappearing inside. They stared after their friend for a moment before Hayase sighed and shook his head, Hana frowning.

"What the hell is she up to?"

§

"Ah, Karibi! Come in." Hiruzen smiled fondly as said girl walked into his office, carefully shutting the door before she bowed before her Hokage. The graying man motioned for her to stand and relax, setting his pen down. "What is it that you wished to speak with me about?"

"First, I would like to thank you again for assigning me to be a jonin," she began as the Hokage nodded. "...But there's...there's something I wanted to speak with you about."

"What is it, dear?"

With a deep breath, Karibi spoke. "...I would like to join the Anbu Black Ops."

Yes! I'm here and I've updated. I know it's been taking me longer lately to update than previously, but I've been rather busy, unfortunately, so having time to write and update is limited. Still, I've really come to enjoy writing so I've been doing my best to make sure that I'm still writing in my spare time! So, I'm sorry, and I can only hope that whoever is here reading this can forgive me :)

Please, let me know if there is an error or something. I'm asking particularly in this chapter because the time where I am is late and I'm a bit exhausted from the last couple of days. I was thorough with my editing, but even on a good day there are still things that can slip past me, so now when I'm EXTREMELY tired, I'm sure there are bound to be a few errors here and there. So please! Feel free to let me know if there is so I can go back and fix whatever I need to.

Now, here is a question I have for whoever is reading this story! I have pretty much mapped out what I'm doing with Karibi and Naruto and Kakashi and where this story is going. I'm basically going to be following the original plot of the manga/anime series with a few twists...sort of like how things would be a bit different since Karibi exists, which is what I have been doing all along. But then I was just wondering how you readers felt. Would some of you prefer if I followed the plot of would you be more interested in seeing something completely original and of my own creation and ultimately separate from the Naruto timeline and plot? I'm on the fence, and I would genuinely appreciate if readers let me know what they prefer, if someone even has a preference. If you have an opinion, let me know so I can plan what I can write! Otherwise, please continue to enjoy this story :D

Thank you for reading and following and favoriting and reviewing! All the support is genuinely appreciated by me, and I hope that you all know that!

Reviews:

nsoul345: Hi there! First, I would like to say thank you very, very much for reading this story and giving it a chance! Second, I hope you enjoy this chapter and what I've written here. Now, I'm really flattered by your kind words! I'm so happy to hear that you have liked this story up until this point, and I'm truly flattered to hear the good things you have to say about this story! I can only hope that my hard work continues to show and that you will like where this story goes from here! I'm also relieved that you like Karibi. I've put a lot of work into her character and the way she develops, and I'm always worried she will be Mary Sue, but I'm happy that she's been perceived well by you. And thank goodness you like the way Kakashi is written! I'm always worried about keeping characters the way they are and giving justice to their character, so hopefully I've been doing that! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you will continue to read and enjoy :)

KF: I'm really happy to know that you like this story enough to check for updates as often as you do! I know I'm not consistent with updating, but I am still updating, so that has to mean something XD I'm sorry the updates haven't been faster, but I hope you know I'm doing my best and will be working hard on each upcoming chapter! The Karibi and Naruto arc is coming in just a few chapters, I swear! So don't you worry :D Thank you for being patient and thank you for reading! I hope you will enjoy future chapters!