Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden

Chapter Nine

"I warned you. You should have just given me the scroll when you had the chance." Karibi's hands were covered in a thick layer of blood as she stood over an older man. He glared up at her silently, his four other comrades lying motionlessly on the forest ground.

They had been ambushed by a single woman, and effortlessly, she had been able to tear them apart like they were nothing but mere sheets of paper. She had started with a warning, but no one had bothered listening; she had been out-numbered. But by the time it had all ended, the lone man found himself wishing he could go back in time so he could have taken her offer; she had offered them their lives for the scroll they had stolen.

"Now, I'll be taking this." Pulling out a black scroll from the man's rucksack, the jonin stood to her feet as she looked over at the fallen shinobi. She smirked before she stuck the scroll into her back pouch, staring down at the defenseless man.

"...I'm sparing your life. Not everyone has to die today," she stated evenly as she turned and began to walk away. The man glared as he watched her go, and before he could even stop himself, he was acting.

Who the hell was she to speak so arrogantly?

"DIE!" Karibi looked over her shoulder, and her eyes widened when she felt several points tear through her chest, upper thigh and arm; the pain had come a few seconds after she had realized the man had thrown senbon at her. Sharp throbs began to pulse from her fresh wounds as she narrowed her eyes at her attacker.

"...You could have lived," she stated, a dark tone covering her voice. The man sat with his back against a tree while he glared back at her—his mind was made; he was going to die. He watched as the Reaper began to make her way back towards him before she began to form hand signs. He raised a brow, not recognizing the jutsu she was performing.

"Ice Style: Arrowhead!" The man's eyes widened as he shivered, his enemy's menacing glower making him want to shrivel up within himself. From the jonin's outstretched hand formed a long sliver of ice, a tipped end glistening in the moonlight.

"Your senbon are useless. You had no clue where you were aiming," Karibi pointed out as she hovered over the man before she narrowed her eyes.

"I want you to remember this face. I want this to be the last thing you see before you die and burn in hell." And then, without hesitation, the woman stuck the long ice shard through the man's skull. She listened to the crack and squish of his head and the gasp that slipped from the deceased man's lips. She squeezed tightly to the piece of ice she had conjured as red stained the end and slowly began to drip on to her fingers.

"...You should have just left—" Karibi's eyes widened when her body suddenly went rigid, all feeling now gone. She began to tumble to the ground and she winced, the wind knocked out from her lungs. "Sh—Shit," she managed to grind out as her body began to burn; the tips of his senbon must have been poisoned.

Doing her best to keep control, the 22-year-old pulled out the needles from her body. She let out a cry, the senbon in her chest lodged deep inside. Tossing them aside, the jonin glared up at the sky. That must be some sort of karma, she said to herself before she forced herself to her feet. She stumbled but quickly caught her balance, leaning against a tree and panting. She hadn't even taken two steps, and she was already this tired. And seeing as she wasn't entirely sure of what other sort of effects the poison could have, she needed to get back to the village as soon as possible.

She had made it about a half of a mile when she had fallen to her knees, all the strength in her body ripped from her grasp. She laid face-first on the dirt, the moon beaming brightly above her in the night sky. She narrowed her eyes before she slowly rolled on to her back, wincing. Tracing her thumb lightly over her wound, the young woman began to form hand seals and then planted her palm on to the ground.

"Su—Summoning Jutsu." A cloud of smoke nearly consumed Karibi as she looked through it. After several seconds, a relieved smiled stretched across her paling face as a gray lynx sat before her with a red collar and the Leaf insignia stitched on to it.

"Karibi-san?"

"Konoha. That's where you need to go," the kunoichi barely got out as she wheezed. "And take the black scroll in my pouch."

"What about your condition?" the feline inquired urgently with a frown as her mistress rolled her eyes.

"Scroll first, and then worry about me."

"...Hai." Using her head, the lynx rolled Karibi on to her side and reached into her pack. The scroll rested securely in the animal's mouth before the jonin smiled.

"Nice."

"I'll bring help."

"Good." Karibi didn't bother waiting for her nin-cat to go. Her eyes shut on their own, too heavy for her to keep them open. And as she felt herself spin, she knew that she was beginning to lose consciousness.

But at least she could finally get some rest, now.

§

The voices had been faint, and the hands holding her had been gentle. She wasn't sure where she was or how she had gotten there, but all she knew was that she was no longer freezing. Someone kept calling her name, but she didn't pay much attention to whoever it was. She was too exhausted to acknowledge the person speaking. And every so often, she would hear others. They weren't talking directly to her, but they were speaking of her. She couldn't quite make out what it was that was being said, but she could tell by the hushed tones and the cautious wording that whoever was speaking about her was speaking of her condition.

"Karibi?" The woman groaned as she shook her head, not quite ready to wake up. "...Karibi?" the gentle voice tried once more.

"Go away."

"There she is." Finally, the jonin forced her eyes open. She winced as the sun blared into her room, hurting her sensitive eyes. With a moan, the young woman shut them, though she was now fully conscious.

"Time to get up, Karibi."

"...Hana?" Said woman chuckled as she nodded her head. Karibi finally opened her eyes after recognizing the voice. She blinked, staring slightly shocked at her former teammate.

She was older now, and had finally grown into her face and body, but her red markings on her cheeks had remained the same; that was comforting for Karibi. "Where am I?"

"The hospital," the 24 year old stated. "It's been three days since we found you."

"Three days?" Karibi croaked. "Shit. How did that many days pass?"

"That was a strong poison. Not a compound I usually see," Hana explained as she smiled. "If I hadn't found you when I did, who knows what your condition would be now." Karibi raised a brow.

"I thought you stopped taking missions when you became a medic."

"I did. But I made an exception for you," the brunette said lightheartedly. "Can't have my former teammate dying on me." Karibi tried not to frown.

She and Hana hadn't spoken much. They met up once in awhile, but after Hayase's death, the two seemed to drift apart; it was as if the young man of the team had been the glue holding them together. But, still, it meant a lot for the 22 year old that her old teammate had come to save her; it showed she still cared—even after all this time and after everything that had happened.

"Oh, now that I think about it, you have guests."

"Ribi-chan?!" The door to Karibi's hospital room flung open, a frantic blond rushing in. The guardian to said blond smiled lazily as she watched the child look at her with wide eyes and run up to her bedside. "You're ok!" he cheered as the kunoichi nodded.

"Looks like it."

"I was really worried," Naruto said as he relaxed, letting out a relieved sigh; it was rare for Karibi to return from a mission injured, so having her sent to the hospital had been a nasty feeling for the genin.

"He's visited every day since you've been here," Hana explained as Karibi chortled and shook her head.

"I hope you haven't been wasting away here." An irked face appeared on his face at that.

"No. Not when I've got stupid Kakashi-sensei breathing down my back!" And just like clockwork, said man appeared in the doorway.

"Sleeping Beauty has finally graced us with her presence." Karibi scoffed.

"I'm happy Naruto was the first face I saw instead of your mug," she replied back with a smirk as the silver haired jonin merely shrugged.

Although Karibi had told Naruto that she and Kakashi were good friends, the young boy had never seen them together before. Not to mention she had never brought the man up, either. Then again, she rarely brought up anything like that to him; her past was something he knew very little of. He had just brushed off what she had said about his sensei and forgot about it. It wasn't as if his jonin-teacher had ever said anything about it to him—so he figured, let bygones be bygones. But when the Hokage had discovered what had happened to Karibi, Naruto and Kakashi had been the first to be informed.

And that was when Naruto started seeing it.

Sure, the blond was only twelve. And sure, he didn't know much about anything, but what he did know, was that Kakashi had been rather distracted during missions. And when missions were finished, his sensei spent his free time at the hospital, sitting with him and waiting patiently for Karibi to wake up. And when he would start to nod off, Kakashi would wake him up and send him home, assuring him that he would wait for his guardian; that was when he saw how close they seemed to be. Because, why else would his teacher wait so patiently? And why else would his sensei care so much about someone if it wasn't someone important to him?

And as Kakashi stood beside Naruto, the young boy watched quietly, keeping a close eye on the pair.

"Pretty reckless of you—letting someone get the upper-hand like that."

"I wasn't expecting him to lash out at me like that," Karibi defended to her friend as he nodded his head.

"He may not have had any idea where your vitals were, but with the poisoned tips, he didn't have to," Kakashi stated as the young woman sighed and nodded with an annoyed look on her face.

"Well, I took care of that bastard," she said before she blinked, looking over at Naruto. He glanced from her to his sensei before he gazed back at Karibi—who smiled sheepishly. "And now he's locked up where he belongs." Karibi the Reaper wasn't someone Naruto needed to know about.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then." Hana smiled as she began to make her way out of the door. "You should be back up on your feet in a few days. We're still flushing that poison out of your body." Karibi nodded as she gave her friend one last smile before she walked out, shutting the door.

"I'm just glad you're back in one piece," the 12-year-old stated as he let out a sigh. "I was worried there, for a second." Karibi's gaze softened as she smiled and placed her hand on top of his head.

"I'm not going anywhere, short-stuff." Naruto smiled widely back at her, Kakashi watching them silently.

He'd never seen them together. But as he stood and watched, it was like he was gazing upon a completely changed Karibi. It seemed like living with Naruto and taking care of him had not only made Naruto better, but it had made Karibi better, as well. And the masked ninja was relieved to see that, because watching his friend suffer for as long as she did was one of the most difficult things he had the misfortune of experiencing.

"Kakashi-sensei said he was going to buy us riceballs once you get out!"

"Wha—I never said—"

"That's so generous of him!" Karibi smirked as Naruto grinned mischievously, the jonin letting his shoulders sag while he sighed with a defeated huff.

It seemed that the Uzumaki's were going to be the end of his wallet.

*Two Days Later*

"I'm not dying, and I'm not a child. You don't have to babysit me like that."

"Says the woman who nearly died from poison."

Karibi rolled her eyes as Kakashi sat beside her bed, his usual reading material in-hand. She glanced over at him with her arms crossed before she relaxed. Turning her attention to her feet, the woman stared at her toes, trying to get them to move. Since she had awoken, the lower half of her body had been paralyzed. According to Hana, the effect was only temporary, but she was unsure of when the paralysis would wear off; it was just a waiting game.

"How is it?" Kakashi looked up from his page as he met Karibi's curious eyes.

"My book?"

"No. I mean the genin."

"They're as ready as ever. Although, I think they're starting to get restless with their missions." Karibi chuckled at that.

"I can't blame them." The 22-year-old remembered her genin days well.

Smiling, Karibi gazed at Kakashi with a warmness in her eyes. He raised a brow and watched her carefully as she leaned back against her pillows. "...I'm glad you have them," she said honestly. "You seem to be doing better, nowadays." The masked jonin stared quietly at Karibi before he smiled, his eye shutting to match his expression.

"I wouldn't give them all the credit," he said before he stood to his feet, pocketing his book. "But, most of the credit may go to them." Karibi chuckled before her companion stepped closer to her bedside. He leaned forward and placed his covered lips against her bare forehead, her hitai-ae sitting on the table by the window. He cupped the woman's face with one hand as he felt her tense, a burst of heat wafting from her body.

"...You should give yourself some credit, too." Stepping away, the jonin continued to smile as the injured one of the two sat with astonishment on her face. There was a gleam in her eyes, much like the gleam she once had when she was younger, and for a second, Kakashi could almost feel himself floating on air.

Turning, the 26-year-old made his way to the door. "Where're you going?" She hadn't meant to sound scared or desperate, but she didn't want to be left behind; not by Kakashi.

"I was going to use the bathroom, if that's alright with you?" Cheeks reddening, the redhead mentally slapped herself in the forehead. Kakashi let out a low laugh as the woman in the hospital bed pushed herself further into her pillows.

"Right. Don't let me stop you then!"

*Three Days Later*

"How does your body feel?"

"I can finally flex the muscles in my legs. And I think I'm starting to get feeling back in my toes," Karibi explained as the nurse assisting her smiled.

"Great! You'll be back on your feet in no time."

"That's good to—"

"Ribi-chan!" Said patient broke away from her conversation with the nurse as she looked over to the door. Her eyes widened as she listened to the heavy footsteps slap against the floor before the door slid open. In came Naruto, a bag packed and his forehead protector right around his forehead. Two more individuals followed after him, and then a last person after that.

"N—Naruto, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you before I left!" the genin exclaimed excitedly as Karibi felt a confused expression coming over her face.

"Left for what?"

"We're going on our first C-ranked mission!" Naruto laughed confidently as his guardian blinked. She glanced up at Kakashi, the two sharing a conversation without words, and once she felt comforted by his nod, she smiled and relaxed.

"C-ranked mission, huh? How did you manage that?"

"Because that old man finally realized how strong I—ow!"

"After a bit of prying, Hokage-sama generously offered us the mission." Kakashi smiled innocently under his mask, Naruto rubbing his head from his teacher's hit. Karibi nodded before her eyes fell on Naruto's two other teammates. She smiled at the pink haired girl before her gaze fell on Sasuke, who stared hard at her.

"Naruto. What happened to those manners I taught you?"

"Oh, yeah! Right! Guys, this is Karibi. She's pretty cool, and she's a jonin like Kakashi-sensei—except without the boring teaching part." The 26-year-old wore a deflated expression at that. "Ribi-chan, this is Sakura and that's Sasuke—you don't have to say much to him, though." Karibi slapped Naruto in the back of head at that.

"Nice meeting you," Karibi stated with a friendly smile as Sakura smiled back, bowing.

"Are you Naruto's sister?" Sakura asked curiously as she glanced from the blond to the woman in the hospital bed.

"Ah, well, no. I'm his guardian," the 22-year-old explained, realization coming over the female of the team.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as Sasuke, the stoic boy's cold behavior irking him. He was about ready to snap at his teammate, but thankfully, Kakashi had been quick to intervene. "Say your goodbye and let's get going, hmm?"

"Be careful, alright, short-stuff?" Karibi smiled as she placed her hand on top of the blond's head. "You're on a C-ranked mission. There shouldn't be any trouble, but that doesn't mean you get to goof off." Naruto grinned as he nodded his head.

"Right! Don't worry! We'll be back in no time, believe it! And when we get back, I'll tell you all about how I saved—"

"Alright, alright." Kakashi chuckled as he motioned for the kids to exit the room. Sakura gave one more bow to the older woman, Sasuke merely nodding before he led the way. The jonin teacher lingered behind as he turned to his friend.

"It's going to be fine."

"I never said I was worried."

"You didn't have to."

"...Just make sure to keep an eye on them."

"Right." Kakashi nodded as he began to make his way out the door. Karibi watched quietly before she felt her stomach drop.

"And, Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"...You be careful too, alright?" The jonin stared back at the redhead as she gazed at him solemnly. He smiled, bringing comfort to his friend, and nodded.

"We'll be back before you know it."

*Two Days Later*

"One day of physical therapy should do it—just to make sure that all is well."

"I feel fine. But I guess it wouldn't hurt. My legs do feel a little strange."

"I wouldn't worry too much. The feeling should wear off once you continue to walk!"

Karibi stepped carefully down the hallway with a nurse at her side as she glanced out the window. She frowned at the gray clouds forming in the usually clear sky. She stopped for a moment as she placed her hand on the glass, gazing hesitantly out. An ominous feeling loomed over her head like a storm cloud, preparing itself to pour down on her.

"Karibi?"

"Oh! Sorry!" The redhead continued down the corridor as the woman helping her waited patiently at the end of the hall. "I was just looking outside."

"Oh, yes. It seems like a storm is coming," the older woman said as Karibi cleared her throat.

"I suppose it is."

§

"Well, you're all set to head out, Karibi."

"Thank you for all of your help!"

"Of course! If there's anything else you need, please feel free to come back. Although, I'm sure you won't be having any trouble after this." With a nod, the 22-year-old headed out of the hospital, not looking back. She frowned when she looked up, the heavy rainfall having not stopped since the night before.

"Damn."

"Need an umbrella?" Looking behind her, Karibi stood in slight shock as a familiar face approached her.

"Riku-sensei!"

"Karibi, it's been years since I've been your sensei. I think you can drop that now." With a chuckle the brown haired woman held her umbrella over their heads as Karibi chuckled.

"It's been awhile, sensei."

"Yes. Yes it has." The woman glanced up at the dark sky before she looked back at her former student.

"Why don't we go out for tea and rice balls. For old time's sake." Karibi smiled.

"You had me at rice balls."

Hooray for an update that didn't take more than a week! Just as I said, another update for the week. Although I don't have a specific day that I will be regularly updating chapters on, I just know that I will be able to post at least one chapter per week. So, thank you to everyone who has been so patient and waiting diligently for chapters to come! If there is ever a reason I won't be able to update this story, I will try and let whoever is reading know ahead of time! Otherwise, please continue to expect one chapter per week!

We're getting into to it! We're getting further into the plot of Naruto with Karibi included! I've been taking in everyone's suggestions and although you may not see it all yet, I have been listening and I will be taking people up on their suggestions! So please just hang in there with me while we get through these chapters! A lot will be going on from here on out, so I do hope that whoever is here reading will enjoy how things don't and how things do change. I won't say what specifically, but not everything is going to happen the way that it all happened in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. With someone completely new like Karibi being thrown into this story and the plot, I just don't think that it would make sense if everything was exactly the same! However, there are also going to be some major plot-points that just can't be changed. I'm a firm believer in the idea that some things are just meant to happen, no matter what, and I'm putting that into this case! You all will just have to wait and see how things adapt and change with Karibi's presence XD

Thank you all for reading this! I sincerely appreciate the fact that whoever is here has taken the time out of their day to give this story a chance. And I know I reiterate this every chapter I post, but it's just because that's how much I appreciate those of you who have been reading/following/favoriting/reviewing! ^_^

Reviews:

WindyCitySlayer1: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Like I stated above, I will be updating once a week, so you won't have to wait long for the next update to come! Thank you for being patient with me up until this point, though. :)

korohoshi: I would never bail on you readers and this story! I've come to find that writing is a great way to release stress and a great way for me to express even a small amount of creativity, so I won't be abandoning this story any time soon (hopefully!). I think that's one of my favorite things about Naruto's character—the way he's able to be so playful and yet so obnoxious and yet lovable too! I hope that I've been getting his character right, and if not, please let me know so I can fix that quickly! I always thought it was so sad an unfair of Naruto to go through this and be such a great character and stick to the right path even when he had nobody, so adding Karibi into this is sort of my way of dealing with my feels too XD As this story develops Karibi and Naruto are going to have a plethora of moments! Not everything is going to be perfect, but that doesn't mean there won't be fluff between them! Thank you for reading!

bored411: It's sad because we never get to see Kakashi in a situation where he has a significant other or where he has romantic feelings for someone, so it's also hard to say how exactly he would act in a situation like this, but I—personally—always imagined Kakashi to be the type of person to do loving and good deeds for his S/O and not care about whether or not he got credit for it. He just doesn't seem like the type to be too fussy over trivial things like that! So I'm glad you enjoyed that little snippet of him doing that! We're right at the moment of the beginning of the Land of Waves, so I suppose you'll just have to wait and see for what's to happen and how Karibi is going to feel about it! Can't say too much or else I'll spoil everything, but you'll soon find out, so hooray for that! Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you will continue to enjoy and read!

ajwehri: I think, deep down, Kakashi is a genuinely sweet kind of guy. Even though we never got to see him in such a situation, I imagine that he would actually enjoy doing sweet and kind things like that for someone he truly cared about. But who knows, that's just my interpretation, and what the heck could I possibly know LOL I know that Karibi's meeting with Sasuke and Sakura was brief, but to be honest, I think it's an appropriate way for them to meet. Seeing as Karibi is still trying to get the hang of being this responsible and involved figure in Naruto's life, she's not going to be jumping at the chance to meet everyone that he knows. But, I do promise that there WILL be moments between the genins and Karibi—especially with Karibi and Sasuke, so you'll have that to look forward to :) Thank you for reading! I appreciate all the support! Hope you enjoy!

Lilyzinha: Yes! Karibi has now officially met Sakura and Sasuke. I know it was short and sort of had lack-luster to it, but there will be more to come for Karibi and the genin. This is only just the beginning for all of them! As for Naruto and Kakashi...well, I suppose I can just say that Naruto does suffer from a bit of "sister complex" if you will. So that will always be something to look forward to ;D I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for reading!

kirika o7: Hello! I'm very happy to hear that you like this story so far! Or you at least think it's entertaining enough to read :D I won't say too much about Naruto and how he's going to feel about Karibi and Kakashi, but all I will say is this: sister complex. I feel as though that should be quite enough there LOL I've actually gone back and forth with the idea of adding in chapters that are rated M for that type of content! I may or may not throw some in this story, but it's still up in the air. Perhaps I will leave it up to you and whoever else is reading X) We will have to wait and see. For now, I don't believe Kakashi and Karibi are really at that stage in their friendship/relationship. But, only time will tell, I suppose! A reunion with Orochimaru? That may or may not happen. Can't say anything to give anything away. And I'm excited to add Jiraiya in with Karibi. I'm mostly excited because I feel as though their relationship is going to be so much fun to write out! Anyways, thank you for reading! Sorry for rambling! And I hope you enjoy and continue to read :)

LilyVampire: I definitely agree with you when you say things will get interesting. After the Land of Waves, so much happens in such a short amount of time, and adding Karibi to the mix will be exciting! I won't say what will and won't change, but hopefully as you read along, you will see and like what happens and it will all make sense with how Karibi is. Now that my personal stuff is a bit more in order, I can actually update once a week, so thank you for the happy wishes! Hopefully it'll stay this way, now LOL Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope you will continue reading and continue enjoying! And if there is anything I need to fix, please feel free to let me know! Thank you!