Naruto 1. Chapter 1edit

Chapter 1- The Re-do. It's better. Promise.

By Crash

June 29, 2005- Revised with help from my luving cousin, Jojo.

Here it is. It's pretty much chs 1-3 smushed together, with edits, pov fixes, and input from my sister and my cousin.

I pretty much wasn't happy with the story before, and so I left it to stagnate for a while. I read it today and was like "Wow! This might actually be good!" and now I'm determined to finish it.

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto…

Claimer- I do own my original character Yukiko Hanatsurugi. She came from my brain…

: o

"This is my last chance..." I whispered, moving back behind the tree I had chosen to hide behind, and adjusting my grip on my sword.

"Last chance for what?" a husky male voice breathed into my ear.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. A tiny gasp managed to escape my throat. I whirled around to face him, sword between us. I was silent. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. I was thankful for the white mask that covered the lower half of my face.

"Who are you?" he had asked me as he stepped back. I realized how much taller than me he was. I still didn't answer.

Like I would tell him what my name was! He had just caught me spying on him. What would I say? 'Hi, my name is Hanatsurugi Yukiko, what's your name? Oh I already know what your name is. You don't have to tell me. You're Kakashi Hatake, Copy Ninja.' Yeah right. So I just put my sword into a ready position. He wasn't my target; he had been my only obstacle. I knew I had no chance; he was a much better shinobi. We were on completely different levels.

"I've seen you before." That alarmed me. Where? When? Had he noticed me when I had been observing my target? The blonde kid...

"I'm pretty sure you haven't." I squeaked. Oh why did I have to squeak then? Ninja don't squeak...I could feel him looking cautiously at the forehead protector that I wear around my neck; the metal plate had no symbol for a village.

"A blank headband...I've definitely seen you before" I only stared at him. I saw his eyes narrow at me.

"What are you here for?" he asked. I was still silent.

"Are you stalking me or something?" he said suddenly, I snapped my neck up so I could look at him.

"What are you talking about?" I gasped. He laughed at me. In any other situation I'd be happy just to be in his presence.

"So I guess you're not some stalker?" his expression became serious as he pulled out a kunai.

"Who are you after?" Might as well tell him. I really don't have anywhere to go.

"The Kyuubi."

He was ready to fight. So was I. But that didn't mean I wanted to. I had spent the last few weeks watching the demon-fox and the rest of his team. I had attempted to get him twice before, but I had failed. Miserably. If I didn't succeed this time, I'd get killed. Well more like executed. I could see the fox sitting with his two teammates waiting for their sensei to come back.

"Who do you work for?" the Jounin demanded.

"I'd hardly call it working. I'm going to fail this mission anyway." I muttered. Sheathing my sword on my back, I sat down against the tree. He only stared at me.

"You've gotta be kidding me." He said looking down at me.

"I give up," I muttered poking at the ground. "There's no way I can complete this mission..." I looked up at him dully. "I have been watching you for a while and..." I looked back down. What should I say? "Please don't hurt me." What the hell did I just say? That was lame! I sighed. I'm so stupid. I'll be killed for sure, and it was entirely this stupid jounin's fault. I felt like crying. I was very glad I wore a mask.

"I'll tell you now, I don't like you...you say you're out after one of my students..." That's what he told me, as he scratched the back of his head. "...But, I can't say that I hate you either. You haven't _done_ anything yet." I looked up at him, his visible eye was closed, and he was leaning against the tree opposite me. I scowled, standing up. His silver spiked hair reminded me of an albino sea urchin.

"Well," I remember saying, adjusting one of my pigtails. "...I do hate you." I didn't mean it.

He laughed. He always laughed...I wish I could. I just tried to busy myself with my forehead protector. He wasn't laughing anymore. I turned, only to find that he had left.

I failed again. How could I go back empty-handed? That was when I decided not to go back.

So there I sat, alone, next to a cold monument...it had just started to rain. I was cold, but at least I was alive.

The people I worked for were very strict with everything. But they tended

to give me a bit of elbowroom for things like this. Instead of the no tolerance policy, I got a three strikes you're out plan. It was probably because I'm _his_ favorite. I'd just used up my fourth strike and favorite or not, even _he_ wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It was disappointing, because it was possible that I wouldn't be able to see _him_ again. Ever.

All I could hear was the sound of each raindrop as it made its fatal impact with the hard unforgiving ground. I was tired.

: 3

Tap.

I don't wanna wake up…I'm having a good dream…

Tap.

"Hey, wake up already will ya?" '

Whose voice is that?

My head hurts. I reached up to make sure it was intact. Finding it, I let my cold hand drop into a frigid puddle of rainwater. My head felt warm.

"How long have you been sitting here?" he mused. I figured it was a guy, with a deep voice like that, there was no way he could be a girl.

"Hm?'' was my response. Brilliant.

This person placed the back of his hand on my forehead, pulling it away with a hiss.

"You're burning up!" I opened my eyes and caught some blonde hair and blue eyes, staring into my own dark brown ones concernedly, a senbon needle sticking out of the corner of his mouth. I closed my eyes quickly because the sun was so bright. I didn't get to see very much of him.

"You need to go to the hospital." He said, more to himself than to me.

"...This snow is so nice..." I muttered.

"Great, now you're hallucinating." He picked me up, bridal style and barley conscious, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

(3rd Person POV)

When Genma Shiranui saw a pair of legs sticking out from behind the monument he assumed it would be one of the gennin taking a nap after morning training. It surprised him to see a young woman around his age passed out and soaking wet. She was very plain looking, short brown hair tied in pigtails, and pale skin. Sitting down, she seemed very short and didn't look like a ninja at all. He noticed that she was wearing a standard issue metal forehead protector around her neck. Unlike his though the metal plate on the front was blank. Kneeling next to her, he untied it and put it into his pocket to show to the Hokage later.

'Geez! If she bursts into flames right now, I wouldn't be surprised!' Genma thought, as he placed a hand on her forehead. So he picked her and staggered a little under her weight.

"You're heavier than you look…" he mused, sweat dropping.

Carrying her through the village was an interesting adventure. He was getting a lot of strange looks from the other villagers. He could also hear them muttering not-so-nice things about him. It wasn't every day that you saw a Jounin running through the streets carrying people. Genma found himself amused with Kunoichi fashion. The girl he was carrying was wearing a white short skirt with tight dark green shorts underneath, and a dark green sleeveless turtleneck, with a white mask on the lower half of her face. On her arms there were white cut-off sleeves tied above her elbow with light green ribbons.

As he walked into the lobby of the ER, the girl in his arms woke up.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily, the words stumbling from her lips.

"We're in the ER. Would you sit down for a second?" He asked gently lowering her into one of the chairs. As he walked away to the reception desk, Yukiko reached out and pulled on Genma's hand. He turned to look at her with a quizzical look.

"Tell them that I'm allergic to latex."

Nodding, he went to the nurse who had been watching the two curiously as they entered.

"Hello!" she chirped, way to happily for the dull job she was employed in. "How can I help you?" Genma turned, glancing at the brunette he had carried there, who seemed to be talking to some an invisible person about snow.

"A friend of mine was outside in the storm all night, and she has a very high fever."

"Oh, well bring her right in…what's her name?" the nurse peeked behind him to see the brunette smiling and continuing on with her conversation.

"Um, actually I don't know." Genma said, while the nurse gave him a sour look. He _did_ have a reputation with women after all.

"Well, just bring her back here and we'll take a look at her." The nurse flashed a sugary-sweet smile at him as the automatic doors to the lobby slid open with a soft squeal.

"Ahh! Sakura-chan, I'm gonna die!" a young boy howled.

"We'll just have the doctor look at it before gangrene sets in."

"I don't even know what that is baka-sensei!"

Four people had walked in arguing. The shortest, a loud blonde boy was sporting nasty cuts and bruises. A pink haired girl had her arms crossed, and looked very annoyed. The other boy in the group looked bored and aloof. Their sensei was following them, immersed in reading a book with an orange cover. Genma turned around and waved.

"Hey Kakashi, what happened to Naruto?" he asked casually.

"Oh, nothing. Why are you here? Flirting with the nurses again?"

"Well, no actually…" he trailed off as he noticed that the girl's eyes droop closed and she suddenly leaned to the side, almost sliding out of the seat.

"Whoa!" he yelped, springing over to her and catching her before she fell to the ground.

The nurse came rushing out, yelling for a gurney.

"What happened to her?" Sakura asked, as Naruto shrugged.

"I think my arrival caused her to panic." Was his simple reply as he continued reading his book. Everyone else in the room stared at him confused, as a few med-nin placed the girl onto a gurney and wheeled her to the ER. Genma was about to follow when a hand latched onto the back of his collar.

"What the hell Hatake?" he growled, exasperatedly. Seriously Kakashi replied,

"Genma…do you even know who she is?"

"Well…No. But I found her unconscious and-" Kakashi suddenly cut him off.

"She's an assassin-"

"What!" Naruto yelled, "My injuries are completely healed already! Awesome!"

"Shut up!" Sakura hissed, hitting her teammate on the head.

"-her target was Naruto." Everyone stared at the copy-ninja.

"…If she was after Naruto, how come she didn't kill him?" Sasuke asked, nodding in the direction the doctors had taken the girl.

"She gave up." Kakashi replied simply. The room's occupants followed Sasuke's gaze towards the double doors. Why would someone just quit on a mission? That would be worse than failing one.

"So why is she still here?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms, "Shouldn't she have gone back to her own village after failing her mission like that?"

Kakashi only shrugged.

"Did you report this to Tsunade-sama?" Genma inquired, turning to Kakashi as the Jounin went back to Come Come Paradise.

"Nope. You can if you want to. I meant to this morning, but I had to help an old woman with her groceries."

Everyone looked at him disbelievingly

"I have her sword and her headband." Genma mentioned, choosing to ignore the ridiculous excuse. He pulled the headband out of his pocket, handing it to Kakashi. Who looked away from his book for a moment, examining the blank metal plate before turning it over. On the cloth, tiny characters were scrawled onto the cloth with what looked like permanent marker. He read it aloud:

"This belongs to: Hanatsurugi Yukiko." He laughed and handed the headband back to Genma. "How cute! She writes her name on her stuff!"

"A-ha! Now we know the name of my attacker!" Naruto shouted waving his arms in the air.

"She never actually attacked you, dobe." Sasuke muttered.

"Genma, take that to Tsunade-sama and bring her back here to talk to Hanatsurugi-san."

Genma nodded, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

On his way to the building, Genma noticed that she also had carved her name into the sheath of her sword and that 'Yuki' was spelled out on a beaded key chain hanging off her sword.

Genma walked into the fifth Hokage's office to find her taking a nap on top of a pile of papers. Clearing his throat loudly, she shot up in her chair, a sheet of paper sticking to the side of her face. It fluttered off her cheek, a graceful leaf, back and forth, landing face down on the floor in front of her desk.

"Shiranui-san, I wasn't expecting you!" she said, stifling a yawn.

"Obviously," he joked.

"So, what do you need?" she asked, her face becoming serious.

Genma set Yukiko's headband down on top of the papers.

"An assassin tried to kill Uzumaki Naruto last night,"

She looked up at him.

"She's actually in the hospital now." He continued.

"A girl, hmm? Did Kakashi or the others fight her?"

"No, she decided not to kill him, and fell asleep at the training ground after they left. She has a very high fever."

"Let's go pay her a visit then." Tsunade stood up and led the way out of the room.

Back at the hospital, the doctors managed to bring Yukiko's temperature down to a safer temperature. Kakashi was leaning nonchalantly against the wall opposite the door to Yukiko's room. He flipped through his book, finally snapping it shut as Tsunade and Genma came near him. He read the back cover and then slipped it back into his pocket.

"Good morning Hatake-san," Tsunade said, jerking her head in the direction of Yukiko's room. "Is she inside?" The silver haired man gave her an affirmative nod. He pushed off the wall with his foot, and walked lazily across the hallway, placing his hand on the door handle, pulling it toward himself.

: o

I started awake when I couldn't feel the presence of other people in the room. A wet towel fell into my lap as I sat up, making a squishy-squelching noise. Someone was outside in the hallway. Carefully, slowly, I slid out from under the stiff, sterile blankets, finding myself clad only a hospital gown. I could feel a cool breeze coming through.

Perched on the edge of the hospital bed, I yanked the IV needle from my arm, wincing as my arm started bleeding. It hurt. Tch. Duh. It's a needle, in my vein. Of course it's gonna bleed… Still bleeding I pulled the sticky weird things off of my chest and back.

My clothes were neatly folded on a chair next to a window. The heart rate monitor put out a unchanging beep. I heard voices outside, so I found myself stumbling to my neatly folded clothing. My legs seemed a bit weak. I threw on my mask, and my panties, not bothering with the rest, draping them over my arm. I pushed the window open, feeling warm air rush into the room.

"Going somewhere Hanatsurugi-san?" a familiar voice inquired from behind me. I swung around to look at him. He was leaning against the doorframe, a man and a woman standing behind him.

How had he figured out my name? I didn't tell him. I realized that my headband and sword were missing. I wished I hadn't' written my name on them. I had figured that just in case I lost them, I should have a way for someone to contact me in them. It wasn't a very smart idea.

"You shouldn't be up and running around in your condition." Kakashi said, looking me up and down. I didn't get the double meaning until later. The gown was open in the back.

"I'll be fine," I muttered, sitting on the windowsill, swinging my leg out over it. Three stories up. It's not that far. I'd be able to make it.

"I don't think so," Kakashi pulled me off the sill and sat me back down on the bed. The other two people came in and sat across from her on the windowsill.

"Hanatsurugi-san," the blonde woman started, extending a soft had towards me, "I am Tsunade, the fifth Kage of Konohakagure."

I blinked at her, accepting the offered hand and shaking it. I couldn't help but stare at her. She was beautiful, she was strong and looked very young. She made me feel very small. I let go of her hand and smiled at her, but she gave me a very serious look.

"I heard from Shiranui-san here that you had attempted to kill Uzumaki Naruto."

I nodded, pulling on my socks.

"Is there a reason why you didn't?" The Hokage asked me.

"I was caught by that person," I sighed, giving the silver-haired jounin a pointed look.

"Then why did you stay here if he let you go unharmed?"

I stood up, using the bed as a support. I wrapped and tied my skirt around my waist. That woman was starting to annoy me.

"Better to stay here. I don't want to go back anyway."

"Why don't you want to go to your village?" Tsunade asked.

"They'll kill me." I looked up at her with a false smile. "You wouldn't want to go back either."

"So you failed your mission, and you're too much of a coward to face the consequences?" Kakashi said.

I glared at Kakashi. He had some nerve to say that, he didn't even know where I was from, he didn't even know anything about me except for my name. I wanted to stick my tongue out, cross my arms and pout. It worked with _him_ all the time. Especially the pout.

So I did.

: D

Well there it is. Edited. I think it's funnier. I like it better. Whee.

Review please!

I'll love you forever if you do.

-Crash


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

By Crash

May 30, 2006 – Eeh, one update a year sounds like fun...

Hah, so here we are, chapter 2. How many years ago did I start this fic? Like…3 almost… Okay, so I fail. But I had an epiphany last night at around 2 AM and woke up and started writing this. So here it is. After less than/almost a year of waiting. Sorry guys. I guess I work slowly sometimes. I promise that you won't have to wait another year for chapter 3. I've already got it worked out through at least chapter 4. Hurrah. I win.

This is A LOT shorter than chapter one. Live with it. There's going to be a lot of tense errors. Yea. It's supposed to be from Yuki's POV, like her train of thought trough this… (mostly) and it flies back and forth between past and present tense.

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, if I did…well, let's not get into that.

Claimer- I do own my original character Yukiko Hanatsurugi. Please don't steal her, I wouldn't very much appreciate that, now would I.

: d

I was satisfied by the disbelieving looks the three shinobi gave me. I had stuck out my tongue, crossed my arms, and pouted. I knew it was cute, I knew it was irresistible, I knew it was stupid-and-a-half.

"What the…" Genma mused staring at me.

"So, I am a coward, sue me. But if you knew who I worked for, if you had a chance of getting out of there…"I turned away from them, hoping this would work. I let my voice crack, even sniffled a little for more of an effect. "That terrifying place…"

I suddenly felt Genma's strong arms around me.

"That sounds terrible…" I looked up into his honey colored eyes, placed one of my hands on his chest, my other hand was in a loose fist over my mouth. My eyes were large and full of tears. "Can we keep her?" he asked Tsunade.

Hook, line, and sinker.

"Don't make me go back there!" I sobbed and buried my face into the man's vest, my shoulders shaking. "I beg you-" I opened one eye to look at the Hokage and Kakashi's reactions. He was completely uncaring, but Tsunade looked concerned.

"Who did you work for, Hanatsurugi-san?" she asked softly.

Should I tell them? Would telling her help me at all? Would they toss me in prison? Kill me? I figured I could take my chances; I would be killed if I went back anyways. I kept up my frightened act.

"A-akatsuki" I whispered.

Silence. Genma let go of me. Crap. Bad move maybe? Kakashi looked stern, Tsunade cautious and Genma shocked.

"How long?" Tsunade demanded.

Bad move, bad move!

"Three, maybe four years-"

"Do you know Uchiha Itachi?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course!" I smiled. "He talked them into letting me join." Talking about him always brought a smile to my face. I couldn't help it. Except, now everyone in the room was really wary of me.

"You know…Itachi…" Kakashi said slowly, still mulling it over.

Crap. This is the village he betrayed, isn't it? I'm really just digging this hole deeper and deeper. Well, now that I can't seem to get out of the hole, I suppose I could dig a bit more…

"Yes…Is that a bad thing?" I glanced at Genma hoping for an answer from the person who seemed to be the most friendly in the room.

There was a loud bang as the door flew open.

"Of course it's a bad thing, damn it!" growled a voice behind me.

I whirled around to see team 7: Uchiha Sasuke was glaring at me, Haruno Sakura was trying vainly to stop him from attacking me, and Uzumaki Naruto was scrutinizing me with squinted eyes. I was amazed at how much Sasuke looked like his brother, well they are related and all, but it's still shocking.

"She's the one who tried to kill me? No way. She looks totally weak!" Naruto shouted pointing at me. I scowled at him. What a brat! I'm not weak. I just, got nervous or something.

"Well I wasn't trying to kill you anyway!" I shouted back, irritated.

"You're friends with that bastard!" Sasuke seethed. I stared at him in shock, and then my eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Itachi-sama is not a bastard! He saved me! He nursed me back to health! He trained me to be a better shinobi! He even trusted me to succeed in my mission here! But now that I've failed I-" For the first time it actually dawned on me that I had failed my mission. Failed miserably as a matter of fact. But worst of all, I let _him_ down. I had failed _him_. I sat down on the bed. Genma was looking at me as if I was some pathetic creature, which I was. Tsunade looked stern. Kakashi shook his head at me.

"You really are weak." He scoffed.

I looked down at my feet. Maybe I really am weak, you know?

Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Yuki-san, I am going to allow you to stay here, in Konoha." I snapped my head up and gaped at her. Really? No prison or death? "Under one condition." Okay I can deal with conditions. There's always conditions. "You have to tell us what you know about Akatsuki."

"Of course. I will co-operate by whatever means necessary if it means I get to stay here!" It's not like everyone there was particularly nice to me. I only cared about Itachi.

"Also you are going to be staying with Kakashi-san."

"Whaaat!" Naruto and I shouted at the same time. Sasuke looked angrier; Sakura was only getting more and more annoyed with the situation. If Kakashi cared at all, he didn't show it, but Genma seemed disappointed.

"You said you would co-operate." The woman reminded me.

I don't want to stay with him… Well, under any other circumstances I'd scream 'Hell yes!' but now? After I had developed a crush on him? Okay, so I kind of had been stalking him for the last two weeks…who cares?-

Wait now, let's think logically. I'm from Akatsuki, I'm friends with Itachi, I was sent on a mission to kidnap the Kyuubi container…She needs to keep tabs on me, and Kakashi is the best of the best.

"Couldn't she stay at my place instead?" Genma asked. "I'm not very busy, and I've got a much larger apartment than Hatake." He smiled at me. Wow, he _is_ really hot. "Besides, we'd have all sorts of fun." He winked at me. _That_ kind of fun? What a pervert!

"Shiranui, with your reputation, I think it would be much wiser for Hanatsurugi-san to stay with Hatake." Tsunade had a tone of finality in her voice. No one argued, but I was still curious.

"Reputation?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yea," Naruto chimed. "he's a ladies' man!"

Sakura hit him over the head, scowling.

"And you're an idiot."

Tsunade walked past the genin, to the door and opened it. "Since you seem to be feeling better, we should go to my office to get the more official things sorted out. Shiranui you are dismissed."

Genma left, with a wave. "Nice meeting you Yuki-chan, I'll see you around."

"You guys can go now," Kakashi said, shooing his team away with a wave of his hand. "I'll meet you tomorrow at the bridge for training."

I followed Tsunade and Kakashi out of the room, through the hospital, and outside. It was about noon, maybe later; we were walking down the street a little ways to the city's ninja headquarters. We followed her upstairs to a set of double doors guarded by two masked ANBU shinobi. They opened the doors and we went inside, the doors closed behind us. A dark haired girl came over and handed Tsunade a small stack of papers. The Hokage gave the papers a distasteful look and placed them on top of an already massive pile of paper on the large wooden desk. It was a spacious and tastefully decorated office, I decided. I stood in front of the desk, next to Kakashi.

"Yukiko, this is Shizune, my aide," Tsunade introduced the girl to me. That's when I saw a pig on the floor next to her.

"What is that doing inside?" I asked surprised.

"That's our pet pig, Ton-ton." Tsunade said with a laugh. (a/n: well I hope that's the things name.)

The older woman walked around behind her desk and sat down in the large chair. She looked like the cliché executive of some company, sitting ominously in a large chair. Well, she's the Hokage, I don't think there's much of a difference

"Hanatsurugi-san," Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "Do you think Akatsuki will come looking for you?"

I hadn't thought of that yet. I hadn't thought of a lot of things yet. Would they? Probably not. There was a chance Itachi _might_ if I was lucky…or unlucky.

"Possibly," nice nebulous answer.

"Well then, we will put out news that you were caught trying to kidnap Naruto, and that you were killed in the battle that ensued."

I nodded. Nice story, simple, believable. "Alright."

Kakashi had been silent the whole time, reading a book with an ominous orange color and a red 'do not enter' symbol on the front cover. I couldn't see the title from the angle he was holding it. Tsunade called Shizune over.

"Could you get me the forms for temporary citizenship?" Shizune nodded and went to the back of the room to find the papers.

Temporary citizenship? I looked at the Hokage. She smiled at me.

"I've decided to let you earn your permanent citizenship in Konohakagure. So for now you'll have a work visa of sorts to stay here."

Nifty.

"You'll have to stay with Kakashi-san the whole time, so you are now a member of team seven." Kakashi glanced up from his book. "You will train with them, and accompany them on missions."

Shizune came back and handed Tsunade a packet about 20 pages long. Tsunade ripped the first page and the last page off the packet, putting the rest to the side. She pulled a pen out of her desk drawer and placed it on top of the pages. Then she slid it across the desk to me. I took it and began to fill it out. Name, age, birth date, height, weight, eye color, hair color, blood type, rank, etc. I signed where it indicated, answered questions pertaining to my medical history, and my education. I left a lot of them blank because I don't know the answers, like the ones about my parents, whether I had any siblings, my country/village of origin.

While I filled out the papers Tsunade turned her attention to Kakashi. I listened intently to her instructions for him.

"Hatake, Hanatsurugi-san must be with you at all times. You must always know her location and what she is doing." Even if I'm going to the bathroom? "You cannot have anyone else watch her for you." I feel like a 2 year old here… "Any information she tells you about Akatsuki must be reported to me." Naturally.

Kakashi nodded lazily.

"Baby-sit her and tell you what she does. Easy enough." Kakashi drawled. Jerk.

I finished writing and handed the papers back to the Hokage. She went over them and handed them to Shizune.

"Alright, it's all set then. Yukiko-san, you and I will meet in a few days so you can tell me what you know. Kakashi will report to me on the same day…" She leaned foreword onto the desk. "Any questions?" I shrugged. She had pretty much covered everything.

Tsunade reached under the desk and pulled out my sword and headband, placing them on the desk.

"I have some questions about this." She held up the headband.

"Yes?" My sword! I want it back…

"Why is it blank?"

Yay, easy question!

"Because I don't know what village I'm from, but I wanted a headband." It's the truth too, they look pretty cool, and all ninja have them, if I had one before Itachi met me, then I had lost it somewhere along the way.

Everyone seemed to be a bit disappointed with my answer, even Tonton. I guess it is kind of boring. Tsunade handed it back to me. I tied it around my neck, and she handed me my sword.

"I'll have the paper run your story tomorrow, See you later." Tsunade leaned back in the large chair.

Kakashi and I bowed. I followed him out the door holding my sword. I had missed it so much!

End Yuki POV

Tsunade watched the young woman scamper out the door after the Copy Ninja. Her pigtails were bouncing and she looked more like a academy student, than a Kunoichi. The door closed and Tsunade shook her head slowly.

"That girl seems too innocent to be in Akatsuki, or to be a shinobi at all." Shizune said, picking up Tonton.

Tsunade nodded in agreement.

Chapter 2- End

Eh, sorry that that last bit sucks so hard. But yeah. Thanks for reading! I really hope you like it! Please review!

I'm looking for beta-readers…email me!


	3. Chapter 3

Yukiko

Chapter 3

By Crash

:o

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto, or anything like that, but I do own my character Yukiko Hanatsurugi. Don't steal her. Kthxbai.

October 9, 2006 – Wow this is a record for how soon I'm posting the next chapter. I haven't had this beta read yet, or anything, so I hope it's semi-decent. There's lots of tense errors, but I'm working on that. I'm liking this 1st person PoV coz it's fun.

Well I hope everyone enjoys this!

X3

We walked down the street. I was struggling to keep up with Kakashi's long strides. It was getting to be late afternoon, and he was still reading the orange book he had in Tsunade's office.

"Hey!" I was starting to get annoyed. He was ignoring me. He wasn't even trying to engage me in conversation of any sort.

"What?" He asked, still reading his book.

"Stop reading that book!"

"Why?" He didn't even look at me. What a jerk.

"It's disrespectful!"

"How's so?" Argh…he's so annoying…

"You're ignoring me completely! Shouldn't you be asking me questions or something!?"

"You want me to ask you questions?" Didn't I just tell you that?

"Well, yea, just don't walk all quiet like that!"

"…"

"Fine then. I'll ask you questions!"

"And what if I don't answer?"

I scowled.

"Anyways. What is your book about?"

"Nothing you'd be interested in."

"How exactly do you know I'm not interested?" I _am_ interested you stupid scarecrow-head!

"…Ah, here we are." He gestured to a building just ahead of us. It was a typical apartment building. I followed him up the stairs to his door. He turned to me with his hand behind his head, and what could only assume was a sheepish expression.

"It's not much, and it might be a mess, but here we are," he unlocked the door and opened it, holding it for me as I shuffled inside.

It was neat and simple, not messy at all, there was a living room, a kitchen with a little 'fridge, and two closed doors which I figured belonged to the bathroom and his bedroom. Kakashi took off his sandals and walked into the kitchen. I kicked mine off and followed him, still looking around the rather plain apartment.

"So dinner…" he muttered, making me feel very hungry.

I hadn't eating anything in the last three days. I hoped he might cook some meat and rice… He looked through a cabinet and pulled out a teakettle, which he filled with water and set on the stove. Tea? He's making tea! I wonder what kind it'll be…

"Beef or Chicken flavor?" he asked over his shoulder, rifling through another cupboard, pulling out two cups of instant ramen and setting them on the table in front of me.

I stared at them.

"Where did I but those extra chopsticks…"

I pouted-no I frowned. I wanted…I was expecting…_real food_. Not crappy instant ramen!

"That's all I've got. Those are the last two cups…" I guess he saw my reaction…

I reached for the beef flavor.

"I guess we could go to the store tomorrow…"

"I guess." I said still frowning. Is this how single guys lived? Eating instant food? How does he stay healthy?

The kettle whistled and he brought it over to the table. I opened the lids on the cups and he poured water into them. I closed the lids and set the chopsticks across the tops.

"So," he sat down across from me, studying my face. I arched a quizzical eyebrow in response.

"So what?"

"I was just thinking, since you're going to be 'dead' to the world, you might want to change your appearance a little."

I nodded in agreement playing with my hair. I hadn't really thought that deeply about that. He was right, someone might recognize me and that could mean trouble.

"Good idea."

Waiting for this "food" to cook is somewhat awkward.

I opened the lid of my ramen, only to get a rush of hot steam straight in the face.

"Hot!" I yelled, almost knocking the soup over. Kakashi chucked, opening his.

"Don't tell me you've never had instant ramen before."

"And what if I haven't?"

"You're a sad, deprived child."

I pouted. I pout a lot. I really hadn't had instant ramen before. I picked at it carefully with my chopsticks. I pulled my mask down and gingerly placed some of the noodles in my mouth. It was surprisingly tasty, I'd never had anything quite the same. Maybe I was just really hungry. I ate it in a flash though. When I looked up, Kakashi's mask was on and the cup was empty. I stared at him.

"When did you eat?"

"Just now." Huh, really…I pulled my mask up.

He picked up the cups and tossed them in the trash, and placed the chopsticks in the sink with an assortment of dirty dishes. I figured it was prime time to pester him with more questions. If I'm going to be living with this guy, I better break the ice first.

"How old are you Kakashi-kun?"

"Older than you." I smirked.

"But not _too_ old for me, ne?" he started walking towards his room.

"Why're you being so familiar with me?"

"Well, I'm going to be living here for a while, so we might as well get cozy." Oh that might have come out wrong…

He went into his room and came out with some blankets and a pillow which he set on the couch.

"You'll be sleeping here Yuki-_chan._" Excuse me?

"Is that how you treat a lady?"

"You're not really a guest, you know." Well at least a couch is soft, no more sleeping on the ground for me!

Kakashi sat down on the couch and pulled out his book. I was still sitting at the kitchen table. I could only see the back of his head. I leaned forward on the table.

"Making me sleep on the couch…Maybe I should have taken my chances with Shiranui-san. He seemed nice enough."

"Oh. He'd let you sleep in his bed alright." Kakashi muttered.

I stood up and went to sit on the other end of the couch.

"You got a family?"

"No."

"Friends?"

"I guess you could call them that."

"Is Sakura-chan's natural hair color pink?"

"Pretty sure."

What else can I ask him…

"Can Sasuke-kun use the Sharingan?"

No answer. I guess he can use it then. Lets push this a little further.

"I wonder if he's like his brother at all." I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes. He was looking straight at me. He even set the book down.

"What are you trying to get at." He sounds a little mad, maybe this was a bad idea…

"Nothing. I'm just curious, since they look so much alike." If Sasuke grew out his hair and grew a bit taller, I might think they were twins. I wonder what it'll be like being on the same team as Itachi-sama's little brother.

What should I ask him now…Kakashi is reading the book again, I can't see it at all from here. Tomorrow I'm going to need new clothes. Maybe a haircut too. I'll ask Sakura. I don't think Kakashi is going to know anything about that stuff. He's just sitting there. He's tall, and lean, and I bet he's totally cut under that jounin outfit. Maybe he has a tan. I bet he does. His hair looks so soft, but it's such an odd color. When I first saw him from behind, I thought he was some old guy. I wonder…was it always that color? Did he go grey at an early age? Do people make fun of him? I think I would make fun of him.

"Do you have another question or something?" He's looking at me weird…was I staring at him too much? I was.

"Yea," I might as well just ask, its inevitable, right? "Did your hair go grey from stress? It makes you look…well, ridiculously old."

It seemed to strike a nerve. He responded with through gritted teeth.

"I was born with this color hair."

"Sure." I smirked. Let's push this subject a little further. "Do people think it looks cool?"

I guess he scowled, its hard to tell with the mask and all.

"Do you ask everyone these questions, or just me?"

"Just you…Well not really. I pretty much ask everyone those kind of questions. I'm just a curious person. I asked Itachi-sama the same questions when I met him, and I asked everyone in Akatsuki too, but they didn't seem to have very much patience for it. I don't think they like me at all. But Itachi-sama has always been nice to me. He puts up with me." I laughed, and looked over at Kakashi, he seemed to be keeping up. "I really think Kisame dislikes me most, out of everyone. He's kinda weird. And he smells."

"Kisame?"

"Yea, he's this one guy, but anyways, there's this other guy, Orochimaru, and he is creepy! He's kinda like a snake, and I don't mean like he's sneaky and stuff, like he's really like a snake, he's got a freaky weird tongue!"

"Didn't he leave Akatsuki?"

"Oh yea, that was a big deal, crazy-everyone was annoyed-but I was glad he left, since he was always saying weird things to me, like about how I 'fascinated' him."

"Like how?" Is that genuine interest I hear in his voice?

"He said something about me having some sort of "gift". I don't think I have any special gifts at all."

"What do you mean by gifts?" Presents, that's what I mean.

"I'm not really sure what they are. Sometimes I blank out on missions and by the time I wake up I'm in a different place, It's really confusing actually. Itachi-sama never told me anything about what happens when I'm unconscious. If I asked he would just change the subject." I yawned. Talking makes me tired.

Kakashi was watching me, probably hoping I would say more, but I'm tired, and I want to sleep.

"Why would he change the subject?"

"I dunno." He shook his head at me. He didn't want me to know.

"Yuki, you said you don't remember what village you're from, right?"

"Actually, I have an idea of where I might be from, but I want to ask the hokage first."

I yawned again.

"I wanna go to sleep soon, so move." He was still looking at me, it was a bit unnerving.

He stood up and walked over to his room. He turned around.

"Do you want to borrow something to wear?"

"Sure."

How considerate of him! I didn't want to wear my clothes as pajamas again. Maybe staying here won't be so bad after all.

He disappeared into his room, and I could see his shuriken-print bedspread. How cool, I want a bedspread just like that.

He brought me a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. I already knew they were going to be way too big for me, but I was gracious anyways, proper sleepwear, and it was clean! I took the clothes and walked to the bathroom.

"Do you have an extra toothbrush?"

He looked up thinking about it I suppose.

"Nope."

"Are you serious? So I'm going to have smelly breath?" No way.

"You can live with it for a day." No I can't!

I huffed and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind me a bit harder than I meant to. It was a small simple bathroom, just like the rest of his apartment.

I changed into the clothes. The shirt went down to my knees, and the sleeves went to my elbows. The sweatpants were way too long, and folding the waistband didn't do much to help. I folded my clothes and, holding the sweats up with one hand, and carrying my clothes in the other I walked back into the living room. I placed my clothes on the coffee table and arranged my sleeping area. These pants are too big. I tried pulling them up again. This is not going to work. He's too tall. Maybe I'm just too short.

I sat on the couch and pulled the blanket over myself. I stared up at the ceiling for a while.

"This is going to be interesting." I muttered, looking at the closed door which led to Kakashi's room as I fell asleep.

Chapter 3 – End

:3

Yay, this is exciting. See that "Go" button there? Please click it! I love getting feedback on my stories! (Who dosen't?)

I'm still looking for moar beta readers. E-mail me!

Thank you for reading, see you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Yukiko

Chapter 4

By Crash

:o

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto, or anything like that, but I do own my character Yukiko Hanatsurugi. Don't steal her. Kthx.

: D

Kakashi woke up. Maybe it was 7ish in the morning. Maybe. He sat up, ran his hand through his messy hair, and shook his head. He was shirtless, wearing black pants. It was a routine morning, except he had his mask on. He rarely slept with it on while he was at home. Still groggy from just having woken up, he vaguely wondered why he was wearing it. He got off his bed and shuffled to the bathroom. He stopped when he saw his sweatpants draped over the back of the sofa and a blanket spilling off the armrest and onto the floor.

'Oh…that's right' he though to himself, again running his hand through his hair.

And he went about his usual morning business. Every morning he did the same thing, as most people do. He relieved himself, washed his hands, brushed his teeth, gargled with mouthwash, showered, wrapped a towel around his waist and dried his hair with another towel on his way back to his room. He was now wide awake and ready to face the day and he pulled on his usual clothes. Tying his headband in its usual place. He zipped up his vest as he walked out of his room once more, and pulled on his gloves. He went around the couch, and picked up the pillow which had found its way to the floor.

"Yukiko-san"

She snored lightly.

Kakashi walked closer to her and quickly averted his gaze. It seemed that at some point in the night she had discarded the sweatpants he had lent her, explaining why they were draped over the back of the couch. This left her in only her pink panties and the black t-shirt, which had been sufficiently twisted and pushed up so that a great deal of her skin was showing. Kakashi coughed uncomfortably, somewhat grateful that she was sleeping face down on the sofa, because he was quite sure that if she hadn't been, he would have seen a great deal more than she would have wanted.

"Who sleeps like this?" he mumbled. But he suddenly remembered a scene from the first volume of Icha Icha Paradise where the heroine is sleeping in nothing but her under things, and- he thought it best to push that out of his mind. Besides in the book the scene takes place outside and in much different circumstances than the present and had nothing to do with his apartment, his sofa, or the girl currently snoring on it.

"Yukiko-san" he said again, louder than the last time. "Wake up."

Once again she did not react. He lifted the pillow in his hand and swung it down onto the back of her head. At the unexpected impact, she rolled over, a bit too quickly and fell off the couch rather disgracefully.

D X

Ouch…why am I on the floor? I kept my eyes closed. Maybe I'll fall asleep again…I was in the middle of a rather interesting dream. Come on, fall asleep again…

"Get up and get dressed or something…"

"I am dressed"

I opened one of my eyes, adjusting to the brightness. I saw Kakashi's feet facing away from me. It was oddly cold…

"Yukiko-san"

Wait a minute! What the hell!? I'm not wearing any-

"Where did the pants go?! Don't look you pervert!"

"I'm not looking-besides you took them off yourself."

I was blushing. No way… I don't remember that at all! I sat up on the floor.

"I did?" Did he use his Sharingan on me? I stared up at him. I can't believe it-

"Yeah." I stared up at him. I can't believe it- how could he? When he's supposed to be taking care of me? I didn't think he was that kind of- He spun around, from what I could see he looked a bit alarmed

"No! No- Yukiko-san- I know what you're thinking- Don't think like that!"

Tears welled up in my eyes- that verifies it! I can't believe this! I looked away from him- how could I look at him after-

"How- how could you!"

"Hey! Stop accusing me of stuff that didn't happen! I didn't do anything to you-I'm not Genma."

"Nothing happened?" Haha…It must be my active imagination, of course he wouldn't do anything to me, he's a professional.

"No. Nothing." That's a bit of a relief.

"Don't be so misleading then." I scoffed. I stood up and crossed my arms, scowling at him. "Don't beat around the bush. People make assumptions you know."

"Most people don't assume that sort of thing so quickly." What? Is he saying I'm stupid or something?

"I'm going to change." I picked up my pile of clothes from the coffee table and marched into the bathroom, closing the door a bit harder than I mean to.

I closed the toilet lid and set my clothes down on top of it. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I need to fix my hair. It really is a mess. I took the hair ties out. Hmm it's getting a bit long. I looked at the ends- oh great, I've got split ends…I guess I should take a shower. Oh- mouthwash! Well, if I haven't got a toothbrush I guess this'll do.

D :

It's always nice, that feeling after taking a nice hot shower, mmm it's good to be clean! After I put all my clothes on, I looked in the slightly foggy mirror and fiddled with my damp hair. I think I'll leave it down…hmm…I untied my headband from it's normal place around my neck and put it around my head in the same way Sakura's had been. It's not that great of a look for me…never mind- I put it back where it usually went. I opened the door and walked into the kitchen. Kakashi was leaning against the couch, reading of course.

"Hey, I'm hungry." He looked up at me. "Are we gonna eat now?" Please?

"Yeah, let's go." He went over to the doorway and started putting his sandals on. I grabbed my sword from the coffee table and attached it to my waist. I kicked my feet into my sandals and followed him out the door. We walked down the stairs and out to the street.

I was trying to keep up with him again. Really. He ought to walk slower or something!

"Where are we going?" Hungry…

"To get food." I know that!

We turned down a street lined with shops and small restaurants. I followed him into a little grocery, there was a sign on the door announcing that there was a sale on daikon. We were greeted by a small old woman at the register.

"Welcome- Oh! Good morning Hatake-san!" I tried to busy myself with looking at some bread. "Who's this? I haven't seen her before, is she a new friend?" That emphasis on friend is too weird. Oh no-she's coming over here…Stop looking at me you weird grandma! I looked around for Kakashi. He was getting sandwiches from a refrigerated shelf.

"Sort of, Sachiko-san," he waved a plastic-wrapped sandwich at me. "Is an egg salad sandwich alright?"

"Sure"

"Orange juice?"

"Ye-"

"No! Not orange juice! A pretty girl should have milk! Yuki-chan, you're still growing, and you want to keep your bones strong!" Yuki-chan? Didn't I stop growing yet? I've been this tall for a while… "Milk keeps you healthy! Look at me! I drink milk every day! When the two of you get old, you'll be the one taking care of him!" What?

Kakashi laughed "Sachiko-san, it's not like that."

He picked up a bottle of milk and a bottle of orange juice, and carried all of his items to the counter. Sachiko, smiling, went behind the counter again and put some numbers into the cash register.

"Hatake-san, this old lady can tell!" and she chuckled, bagging our items. Oh great, this grandma thinks I'm his girlfriend or something!

"Alright then Sachiko-san." Kakashi handed her some bills in exchange for the small plastic bag. "See you later," Kakashi said with his eye closed in his little smile. I stood there. He turned around and I followed him outside. Why didn't he say something? That old lady is the sort that will tell all the other old ladies about that conversation! And then people will think me and Kakashi are together! What will-

"Here you go," A sandwich appeared in my line of vision. I grabbed it and unwrapped it. I had forgotten how hungry I was! I ate it quickly as we walked. Then he handed me the bottle of milk and I finished that off. Wait. When did he eat? He just threw away the orange juice bottle and the plastic bag. I didn't even notice.

"Where next?"

I wasn't really sure what time it was. I knew that we were supposed to meet the three kids at a bridge. It was their normal meeting place. I knew that from the last few weeks I had spent watching them. But Kakashi was always late. Sakura usually showed up first, a few minutes later either Naruto or Sasuke would show. They usually stood around arguing, complaining, or not saying much of anything until Kakashi showed up. His timing was never exact. Sometimes he would show up after ten minutes, one time he was a whole hour late. Every time Naruto and Sakura would tell him he was late, and he'd make some sort of excuse while scratching the back of his head. Then Naruto and Sakura would shout at him and call him a liar.

Sakura usually came around eight 'o clock. It must be past then already…But why was Kakashi always late? He's got bad posture… Am I going to see where he goes before he meets up with his team? I felt excited. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realize that he had stopped walking.

"Omph-" I walked straight into him! Embarrassing! I had bounced off of him. "Where…" That's the monument I fell asleep next to… Why are we here? I opened my mouth to ask him when I noticed that he was staring at the monument. As I stood next to him, something told me that now was a bad time to say anything. The monument had names carved into it. I didn't have to ask why they were there. I knew that monuments like the one in front of me were usually dedicated to those who had died in battle. We stood in silence and I read the names to myself, sometimes wondering who they were. I could feel Kakashi getting ready to turn around and leave when one name caught my attention. He had put his hands into his pockets.

"Uchiha Obito?"

Kakashi stiffened. I glanced at him his expression didn't give anything away, but his body was tense.

"You knew him? He's related to Itachi-sama, right?" I smiled at his back, hoping for an answer. He didn't say anything. Instead he walked away. I followed him, having to jog a little to catch up. "Well?"

He didn't face me, he kept walking. Answer my question!

"You shouldn't say that person's name with so much admiration in this village Hanatsurugi-san." The way he said that, he seemed to also be telling me not to say anything. So I didn't.

: O

July 23, 2007- Please read!

So here's an update in less than a year sorry about how long it takes me to write this… I really want to keep working on it, because I really feel like people are enjoying it…It's been so long since my last update that you might want to re-read the other chapters, just to remember sweatdrops

Thanks everyone for being so patient with me! I'd love for you to e-mail me suggestions and stuff!

This one was a little shorter than the last few chapters, but I think this was a good ending point, since I want to start the next chapter with Kakashi and Yukiko meeting up with Team 7 for training.

Just to clear it up, the story takes place after Tsunade has become Hokage. Sasuke hasn't left…I'm still thinking of how to include that in the story…and I've got a few ideas…though I'm not sure that I'll actually have him leave.

This is definitely a KakashixOC story! But Genma and Itachi will make it more interesting! Believe it! (lol)

Thanks everyone for reading!


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Naruto, Romance