Naruto 1. Prologue

Prologue

Hatake Kakashi walked along the beach, waves lapping at the sand, snow falling softly as he made the first footprints through the fresh sheet. He enjoyed the serenity of the ocean during winter, but most of all, he enjoyed the solitude. Kakashi always wanted to be alone after visiting Obito's grave. He needed to mull over the past by himself.

He scanned the horizon, looking at the bluffs, taking in the jagged edges and sheer size of the rocky cliffs. Then he noticed something strange, a lump in the snow, some color that didn't belong in the subdued winter landscape. Jogging over to the anomaly, he stopped. Hatake Kakashi wasn't one to show emotion, even if there was no one to see it, but shock was evident on his masked face.

There, lying in the snow, slowly being dusted over, was a young girl, no older than eleven. She was unconscious, sprawled out on the beach. Kakashi thought she looked so familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on who it was she resembled.

He quickly flipped on his communicator and radioed ANBU, notifying them that he had an unconscious girl on the way to their medical unit. He arrived moments later in the ANBU hospital, a black op healer waiting for him. The ninja took the girl from Kakashi's arms, and went through a set of swinging doors.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Kakashi visited the girl about a week after he had turned her over to the healers. The Hokage thought it would be best for him to question her. He was, after all, the one who found her. Kakashi had the vague notion that she was someone he knew.

The second he walked into her room, he felt the sorrow emanating from her. She was bent over a book in her lap, drawing. Looking up as Kakashi entered, he saw her eyes for the first time. It struck him like a brick, they were bright green, almost unnatural, large and almond shaped. _She looks so much like Sky. Is this her daughter? _

He took in the rest of her appearance on this note. Long, shiny hair, the color of midnight, cut into long, side-swept bangs. Pale, porcelain skin, and full lips. _This __**has**__ to be her daughter. _

"What's your name?"

"Tell me yours first." The distrust in her voice was barely there, and without ears trained by years of interrogating people, Kakashi wouldn't have recognized it.

"Hatake Kakashi," he answered.

"I'm Maya. Nice to meet you Hatake-san." The name clicked in the back of Kakashi's mind, but he didn't immediately recognize it.

"Nice to meet you too, but surely you have a family name?"

"...I don't remember." Her voice was so small it he barely heard her response. But her response made him ache. This was almost a carbon copy of what had happened when ANBU found Anko. He hoped to god it wasn't as close to Anko's story as it looked.

"Where is your family?" Kakashi asked hesitantly. At this the flood gates opened and the girl burst into fresh tears. He carefully put an arm around Maya's shoulders, but she kept on crying.

She cried for about half an hour, sometimes wailing, sometimes crying almost silently, but her grief was getting to Kakashi. He removed his arm from her shoulder, and she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry Maya-san, but I have to leave now."

"Okay," she choked out.

"I'll be back though, don't worry." At this she simply nodded, and he walked through the doorway feeling heavy with sadness. _If that girl really is Sky's daughter, then she has reason to be crying. How long has it been, a year? Maybe there was a survivor._

Kakashi came back to visit Maya every day for months. Winter came to an end, she started walking. Sakura started blooming, she was talking more freely, albeit not much. The days got warmer, she was out of the hospital and into an apartment paid for by the Hokage. The summer came to an end, she began at the academy.

Kakashi had learned much about Maya, her past, tortured and saddening. Her family, ripped from her. Her dreams, she wanted to become a shinobi, she had already undergone training from the ninja academy in her hometown. Maya was ambitious and extremely intelligent, Kakashi could see it in her shining emerald eyes, but she still didn't talk much. She was making progress however, she cried less easily, she began remembering more details about her previous life.

It also became clear that she had suffered more in her twelve years than most shinobi had their entire lives. The seal on her shoulder was proof of this. Kakashi had been right, her situation was more like Anko's than he originally thought.

During her stay at the hospital, Kakashi heard nurses discussing how they would find her sitting in bed at ungodly hours in the night, crying quietly. She apparently suffered terrifying nightmares of her past. He would see her sometimes with dark circles under her eyes, and it occurred to him that Maya was probably afraid to sleep.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Maya began at the academy in the fall. She was cautious and had trouble trusting people, and this made it hard for her to make friends. The few that she did make were kind and good natured. Sakura, a pink haired girl who was rivals with Ino, a blond girl whose family ran a flower shop, were both good friends of Maya, even if they did try to make her chose sides in their numerous spats. They were both competing for the affection of some boy she had never really seen, but was rumored to be good looking and smart.

She befriended Naruto, a hyper blond boy who was not particularly well liked by the rest of the class. He often played pranks and was constantly in trouble. She felt she had something in common with Naruto, they were both picked on at times. He was teased for a reason she did not know, but she gathered it had something to do with a monster. Maya was picked on by mostly girls, who were jealous. Over the time she had been recovering, her beauty had begun to show through, and she began getting attention she did not want, mostly from the male gender.

Another of her friends was a boy she met on her first day at the academy. Maya had arrived slightly late, so all the seats were taken. She felt herself being scrutinized by her classmates as she walked to the last empty seat, next to a boy with snowy white hair and eyes the color of the morning sky. She had seen no one like him, he was beautiful.

He watched Maya as she walked over and stood up so she could get to the inside seat. He was about a head taller than her, and as he sat back down she whispered a quiet thanks to him.

"No problem," he replied quietly. "Are you new here?" he asked, question in his pale blue eyes. Before Maya could answer, a young looking man with tan skin, dark hair, and kind brown eyes entered the room. His most distinguishing feature was a scar across his nose.

"Hello everybody, my name is Umino Iruka, but you can call me Iruka-sensei. I believe we have a new student, so please stand and introduce yourself."

Maya inwardly cringed and stood. "I'm Toraobi Maya. Nice to meet you all," she said quietly, she hated being the center of attention. She sat down and opened her notebook to the first blank page. Maya began drawing, when a whisper reached her ears. "Hey Toraobi-san, where are you from?" Was the very good looking boy next to her asking her something?

She screamed inwardly as she tried with all her might to remember where she was from, but the fact still eluded her, so she said simply, "The north." It wasn't a lie, she _was_ from the north, and the name of the city was always on the tip of her tounge, but she couldn't remember.

"What's your name?" She whispered, ignoring Iruka-sensei's 'First day back at the academy' speech.

"I'm Toyohoshi Ryuushiro, but you can call me Shiro."

"Then just call me Maya, no need to be formal." He nodded, and then turned his attention back to his notebook, where he had been drawing.

Something about Shiro made Maya so comfortable, and she wanted to spend time around him, she wanted to trust him, but she was wary. Not just of him, but everyone, it had taken her a full six months to tell Kakashi her fragmented memories.

The rest of the day went well, she learned that in a month, graduation testing would begin, and then, if she passed, she would officially be a Genin and she would be assigned to a three-man team.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: OOOOH! Who's gonna be on her team?!? Read to find out! I'll try to update fast. PLEASE REVIEW! Even if it's just criticism, I'd like to hear(read) it. Please tell me if I make any mistakes. Hope everyone's enjoying the story so far. Sorry if the names are kinda stupid, I'm bad at coming up with them.**

**Ryuushiro means 'White dragon' (I hope)**

**Toyohoshi means 'Many stars' (Once again, I hope)**

**Toraobi means 'Fire tiger' (I'm not sure if these make any sense, but Torao is a Japanse name, and 'bi' means fire)**


	4. Chapter Three

**A/N: I'm changing the format a little, now **'these are thoughts' **and** _anything in italics is a either dream sequence or flashback._** Enjoy chapter three!**

Chapter Three

'_Where am I? Am I home?' Maya sat on a couch in what appeared to be a living room. She looked at the pictures on the table beside her. A happy family smiled back at her. There was an older boy, about eleven, two younger children, a boy and a girl, twins at about four, a baby cradled in a mothers arms, and a smiling father. Suddenly Maya felt as if she was being pulled towards the stairs. She obeyed her premonition, climbing the stairs as quietly as she could. It was the dead of night as she entered a bedroom. Moonlight poured through slitted shades, casting eerie shadows across the furniture. A figure moved through Maya, entering the room. The figure walked towards the bed, and pulled the covers away from a soundly sleeping child. The child did not wake as the figure effortlessly picked it up, and opened the window. Just as suddenly as the figure had been there, it exited through the window. She was again being pulled, this time out of the bedroom and towards another one. She snuck through the halls, opening the door to the second room. The sight before her was a startling one. Sitting in the bed, was a young girl, maybe five years of age. She sat facing a large snake, thick as a man's leg. Simply being in this room made Maya uncomfortable. There was a faint whispering, "Come with me...Come to me." The snake began to slither off the bed, and out the door. The little girl followed it, and Maya caught a glimpse of her eyes. She was under a genjustu, a strange, empty look in her eyes. She exited the room through Maya, and followed the snake down the stairs. Maya heard a door opening, and ran down the stairs in time to see the girl exiting. Then suddenly, pain. Searing pain, burning pain, more pain than she could fathom._

Maya awoke with a scream. Gripping at her neck, she felt her curse seal. It had long since been dormant, but would come back to life when she dreamed of home. She cried out in pain as the mark became hot. Then, as suddenly as the pain had begun, it ceased.

She did not want to go back to sleep, she hated her dreams, and the prospect of falling back into the one she had just had frightened her. Maya stood and went to the bathroom. She had gotten out late from shuriken training, eaten some tempura from a street vendor and went straight home, to pass out on her couch.

Stumbling to the bathroom, she cursed loudly as she stubbed her toe on a chair. Maya looked in the mirror now, taking her disheveled appearance in. Her hair was still in the high pony-tail she had worn for that day of practice, and as she took it out, her hair tumbled down her back, ending just above her but. She was glad she had left it in a pony tail, her hair was layered, the shortest layer starting at her chin (after her bangs). If it had been down, she would have to spend the rest of her night combing out the knots, and taming the spiky layers.

She changed out of the clothes she had been wearing. Jeans and a tee-shirt or thermal consisted of her daily attire. 'In four days, hopefully a hitai-ate will be part of my outfit. How will i wear it? I guess I'll go with either around my neck or my arm. I need some new clothes.' She sighed as she unwrapped the bandages around her arms. 'No one will see me anyway, its Saturday, I'll just re-tie them tomorrow.' The bandages on her left arm began just above her elbow, to about two inches above her wrist. The bandages on her right, were shorter, beginning below the elbow to about three inches above her wrist. She was glad she had worn long pants that day, it meant she didn't have to deal with the bandages around her knees.

Maya tended not to wear makeup, and she was thankful for that as she flopped onto the couch and began to draw, wearing pajamas. She had already planned the next day, and it involved sitting around in said pajamas, sleeping, and homework.

She woke up the next day surrounded by pencils, one was poking out of the cushions, waiting to be sat on. Lazily cleaning up the various supplies, she considered her apartment. It was small, one bedroom, joint kitchen living room, and a small bathroom. The kitchen was small, but fully stocked, she cooked for herself, and hated having to spend money on food when she didn't need to. Naruto was almost always broke because he ate at the ramen stand so often, and Maya was determined not to end up like that.

She sat down to her homework, finished it quickly, and ate a quick lunch. Feeling restless, she decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. She pulled on a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved grey thermal, and a black and blue striped hoodie.

FOUR DAYS LATER

Maya sat next to Shiro nervously. Today was the day of exams, and she felt like her stomach was doing jumping jacks. Shiro seemed to pick up on this and said, "You worry too much, I'm sure you'll do fine." 'How can he be so calm? I don't know what I'll do if i fail!' She thought apprehensively.

He and Maya had become closer friends over the month between the first day at the academy and genin exams. They had many things in common, he loved to draw, he was good at math and science. They both hated writing, but liked to read, and were both intelligent by any standards. One thing that Maya had noticed was that he was very perceptive. He picked up on emotions of others, and was good at dealing with people. He had even notices the signs of when she was annoyed or sad, even though she masked most of her negative emotions with her glittering smile. Most remained completely oblivious to the real emotions that she felt.

Apparently Shiro had been right though, Maya had had no reason to be nervous and passed the test with flying colors, as did he. They were both told to come back the next day for team assignments.

THE NEXT DAY

Once again, Maya's stomach was doing flips. She desperately wanted to be on the team of one of her friends. Iruka-sensei entered the room holding a clip board. "I will be assigning you all to a three man team, but because the number isn't quite even, there will be one two man team. Each team will be assigned to a Jounin leader, with one leader taking a three man team and the two man team. So now I will begin reading the names, listen carefully."

The names were read off, Sakura, Naruto, and the mysterious Sasuke, were all on the same team. "And now finally, Team Nine, under Hatake Kakashi, Toraobi Maya and Toyohishi Ryuushiro. Thank you all for your effort, and I hope you all do well, its been a pleasure teaching you guys." The new shinobi cheered for Iruka as he left the room, and Maya cheered inwardly that she had ended up on a: a team with her best friend, who happened to be very good looking, along with her other two closest friends, and b: her sensei was someone she already knew and trusted.

**A/N: YAY! Another chapter down! REVIEW!! PLEASE! Umm yea, sorry if this one was a tad bit boring, but I had fun writing it. Arigatou!**


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Naruto