Disclaimer: I don't know if you know this, but I don't own Naruto

"My silence is not weakness, but the beginning of revenge" – Unknown

A Hitai-ate.

A metal plate on a band of cloth.

Yet it holds much more meaning than that.

They are a symbol of pride and loyalty towards one's village. Not wearing one is a sign of disrespect and heavily frowned upon.

Also, to have it removed is degrading and you are ultimately seen as unworthy of possessing it.

'At least, that's what they said' I thought to myself as I stared down at mine. It rested on my lap as I was getting ready for the day. Getting ready to meet my team and sensei.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it, I stood up and walked in front of my mirror. Where should I put it?

Even though it's supposed to be a forehead protector, many shinobi wear them in various places; Guy wears his as a belt, Ibiki as a bandana, Hinata will wear hers around her neck, Sakura as a headband, Shikamaru on his shoulder, Kakashi as an eyepatch.

Even colors. Navy blue is the most common, but characters have also changed them; Naruto's changed from Navy Blue to black in Shippuden, Guy and Rock lee's are red and Sakura and Chōji also changed theirs to red, Ino had purple, etc.

Letting out an annoyed scoff, I finally decided to just wear it on my forehead and be done with it. Maybe I'll change it later.

Securing it around my forehead, I met the eyes of my reflection.

Let's get this over with.

With my kind of 'luck', I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

No team and my sensei is missing.

After I had my ninja registration photo taken, I had been told that I needed to head down to training ground 4 and wait for my sensei there.

But for the last hour, it's been just me, myself and I.

Which could only mean one thing…

Groaning lightly, I ran a hand through my hair and stood up from the tree stump I had been sitting on, and started some of Guy's katas. Might as well be productive with my time.

Since the sun was annoyingly glaring down into my eyes, I decided to close them. Putting my legs in their proper position, I moved.

Right step, left arm – under punch, left step, right arm – over punch, kick, left step, both arms – push, throw thre- No! four shuriken, front flip, right step, pun-!

My eyes widened in shock as I gasped lightly in surprise when I felt an arm wrapping around my fist, deflecting my punch.

I quickly jumped backwards before realizing that the hand belonged to none other than the Copy-Nin himself, Sharingan no Kakashi.

Unfazed by my reaction, he raised one of his hands in greeting.

"Yo."

I assessed him warily. What if he's in his Cold-Blooded Kakashi stage in life? I gave him a once-over. Slouched, hands in his pockets, half-asleep eyes. Doesn't seem all that different from when I've met him before, but still, I narrowed my eyes at him harshly, don't be fooled, keep your guard up, don't forget what Ibiki-sensei taught you, lead him into a false sense of security.

Straightening my back, I forced myself to relax, "Hajimemashite, sensei." I nodded at him.

He hummed in acknowledgement and looked me up and down lazily.

I expected him to say something, like instructions to a test or something, but he kept silent for a moment, just staring into my eyes. It was extremely uncomfortable, but I willed myself to keep eye contact.

"You're not normal, are you?"

I blinked at his musing.

Expect the unexpected, I guess.

"We're ninja," I pointed out, "Nothing about our lives has ever been normal."

"Hmm…True." He walked over to a huge rock, where he perched himself on top of it. Gesturing for me to come forward, I hesitantly did and took a seat in the grass, crossing my legs.

"Maa, so why don't we introduce ourselves?" I expected that at least.

"My name's Kira." Don't mention anything he can use against you, "I like...tinkering with stuff, I dislike…when things don't work out for me. My hobbies are reading and cooking, and my dream is…achievable."

He gave a low hum, before he smiled, "My name's Kakashi Hatake. My hobbies also include reading. I like salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant. I dislike anything fried and sweet." Is he hinting at something? He looked up at the sky, "My dream…hmm…haven't really thought about it."

He looked down at me, "Now, the reason you don't have a team is because you graduated far earlier than is required and a team is supposed to start out as a four-man squad…And because I can't tolerate anybody else. Therefore you are my apprentice. You have the potential to be a great shinobi, so teaching you shouldn't be much trouble. I won't be able to go on missions or train with you all the time, but as far as training goes, I'll trust you can take care of yourself when I'm not here to assist you. As for missions, you will start off as any other genin and take D-rank missions. I'll request harder ones when I say you are able to. Any questions? No? Good. I'll see you here again tomorrow morning at 0800 hours. Ja ne." He poofed away.

Should've known it was a shadow clone.

Tomorrow saw me waiting for my sensei at least an hour and a half longer than what was agreed on, again.

It's like he's testing my patience, I grumbled to myself, then paused.

He probably is.

But that didn't mean that I was just lying around doing nothing. Oh, no. I had plenty of training that was left unfinished, even after I had graduated.

Today I was practicing some of Shisui's shurikenjutsu when Kakashi finally decided to show up, on top of the tree branch I was throwing kunai in the shape of a little star, "Ohayo, sorry I was late, you wouldn't believe the traffic."

Although I was mildly annoyed on the inside, I placed a mask of calmness on and turned to my sensei, "Ohayo, sensei."

Raising an eyebrow at his student's politeness, Kakashi flashed in front of her and help up his fingers in a universal shinobi beginning of a spar sign.

"Let's fight."

Only slightly taken off guard, I nodded hesitantly in agreement and held up my fingers as well.

We both waited patiently as a redish-yellow leaf softly fell to the ground. And then it began.

'What incredible Taijutsu. Especially for her age.' Kakashi thought, dodging an elbow to the ribs.

Her reflexes are not bad either, but there's always room for improvement. 'She also doesn't lack analytical skills,' Kakashi noticed. Before the spar even began, she was sizing him up. Trying to subtly look at his stance, body language and measure distances, but it didn't leave Kakashi's notice.

He knew what she was doing.

And he was impressed.

Kira had been first to attack, but she didn't leave herself open for a counter attack, which is smart. Kakashi could pick out moves that were definitely Guy's.

Furthermore, she doesn't seem bothered by the height difference. Keeping a low stance to make it harder to hit her or take her off her feet.

Her defensive guard is nothing to sniff at either – shoulders loose and elbows protecting the ribs.

However, Kira seems to always close her eyes when Kakashi went for a punch near the face, almost instinctively.

'Hm, we'll have to fix that,' Kakashi grabbed her leg, stopping her from completing a roundhouse kick to his head, and threw her across the field. Kira grunted in pain as rolled on the ground before stopping herself. Panting, she wiped some dirt from the corner of her mouth as she kept her eyes on him.

Suddenly, she turned and ran into the forest. Kakashi smirked, but followed, curious as to what plan she formed in her head. He took to the trees, watching the ground for any sign of redish-black head of hair.

That turned out to be a grave mistake.

Ten kunai were thrown from above. Kakashi's eye widened as he hastily dodged, just missing the kunai that ripped his shirt from the shoulder. He landed on a nearby tree and looked around.

'There!' His mind screamed as he spotted her a few feet away. He saw her doing some hand-signs. He noticed the way she did them was awkward and slow for a genin. That'll need some fixing as well. But what completely threw him off were the hand-signs of Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu.

That's when he noticed shinobi wire going straight towards him, held by a kunai with an explosive tag.

Seeing the fire rushing to him along the wire, Kakashi shunshin'ed away just in time.

However what perplexed him was that he didn't hear an explosion. In fact, he didn't hear the wind wither, nor did he feel the breeze that usually accompanies autumn weather.

'Genjutsu?' Kakashi wondered. He put his fingers together in a seal, 'Kai!'

All of a sudden his surroundings changed and he found himself on top of a rock in the middle of the river that runs through the training ground. He looked around, debating whether or not use Obito's sharingan. The girl's got skills. Then, a barrage of kunai flew towards him, which he successfully evaded. He looked towards where they came from and out of the corner of his eye, noticed shuffling amongst the top parts of the tree branches.

'So that's where she's been hiding.' Kakashi decided to end their little spar.

He flickered towards her direction, and when he reached her, he threw some kunai down at her. She wasn't fast enough to dodge them, and for a second Kakashi's heart stopped beating. But then he saw her poof away, revealing that it had been a clone.

Relief washed through him. He smirked 'That little…' he shook his head and looked up, "Alright, enough is enough, my little apprentice."

Kakashi shunshin'ed behind the real her, who froze, and held a kunai to her neck.

Kira's eyes widened, she looked up at her sensei, "But…"

Kakashi chuckled, "Don't forget that I'm still years ahead in experience. Some of your moves were easily predictable, that includes your hiding place."

Kira frowned but accepted her defeat.

Kakashi smirked and patted her head, "Chin up, Kira. You are obviously very talented in the shinobi arts. And I see lots and lots of work ahead of us," He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down, "But I also see lots of promise." He smiled with his lone eye closed.

Kira kept her face blank, but Kakashi saw a hint of a smile forming on her lips.

'Now that won't do.' Kakashi smiled at her, "Now, ready for round two?"

She jumped, her hand going to her back, drawing a nodachi from its sheath.

The first few weeks involved nothing but training and building up our teamwork. That means that I had to work my moves around Kakashi and vice versa. Since our styles differ from each other, it took some time, but we got it done.

Training also involved push-ups, sometimes with Kakashi on my back and me on Kakashi's back (you can already guess who had it easier), crunches with buckets of water on each arm, If so much as a drop of water escaped the bucket Kakashi threw a shuriken, which brings me to the next step; evading, jogging around Konoha (even if it rains), weapon use, sparring, occasionally going cliff-climbing like I did with Guy, only Kakashi always feels the need to show off and use only one hand. Not that I wasn't impressed. Talk about taking 'I can do this with one hand behind my back' to the next level.

He also taught me some genjutsu. Nothing big and fancy; The Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, which is a D-rank jutsu. Logically, everyone has something they fear the most, and that's what this jutsu is all about. It's a genjutsu that takes on the form of the viewer's worst fear. It draws form the heart, making it all the more believable for the victim.

When Kakashi first mentioned this genjutsu to me, I immediately thought what my worst fear would be. Scientifically, fear doesn't exist. Fear in itself is an illusion. Danger exists, but fearing it is a choice of our mind. The only thing I would be scared of is the future.

Next were D-rank missions. The lowest class of missions.

Now, Kakashi says that teamwork is a means to get things done more productively, but I seem to always find myself doing D-rank missions alone. Not completely alone because he is around, yet one would always find me doing the labor work while he's more often than not reading. Be it on top of a tree branch or a boulder.

True I could just ask him for help. However I find that if I can't paint fences or weed a garden by myself without any help, then what am I doing? They're boring and quite menial, because they take up a lot of time doing them by myself, but they're not something I'm struggling with exactly.

Besides, some days I find myself completely alone. As in Kakashi-is-on-a top-secret-ANBU-mission, type of alone. He of course didn't say that. He just said that he had a mission that required his assistance, but I'm not simpleminded, I knew.

On one hand it's annoying because usually Kakashi is the one to interact with the clients while I just stand behind him, ready for orders. Although, on the other hand I feel much less pressured when he's not here. I don't know why, but I always feel like I should do my best when Kakashi's around. I always feel him watching me, even though when I look at him when I feel that way he's actually only reading and minding his own business.

Today however, we were on a mission where I had to clean windows, when a though came to me, making me stop what I was doing. Kakashi noticed and turned his eyes to me from his book, "Kira-chan?"

Oh and he adopted the suffix the Hokage has been calling me. I think he's doing it to annoy me though.

But right now that's not the point, "Kakashi, why do we have to do such simple mission?" I looked up, "I mean, they're just chores. They're not teaching me anything."

Kakashi hummed ad looked towards the sky for a moment, thinking through his words, "Maa…how to explain this…you see, each chore has a special movement," He walks over to her and takes the dirty rag from her hands, "Right now you're doing clockwise or sometimes counter-clockwise hand motions," He shows me, "This creates muscle memory, which can be used to learn defensive blocks."

I raised an eyebrow skeptically, "How?"

"Like this," Kakashi suddenly drew back his hand for a punch, but was too fast for me and I closed my eyes waiting for the impending sound of flesh hitting flesh. However, it didn't come.

"You see?" I heard him say and slowly opened my eyes only to find that my hand had deflected the punch.

I looked surprised at him, "I didn't even realize…it just came automatically…I didn't even think."

Kakashi chuckled and patted my head, "And that's what muscle memory is." He put his hands in his pockets, "Training sometimes comes in disguise of chores. That's how we learn. New genin like you often dismiss D-rank missions as a waste of time and unnecessary, but they are actually quite useful for the future. Remember that." He went back to his reading.

Thinking or a second, I asked him, "So this whole time, you actually have been teaching me?" Kakashi mhmm'd in response.

I watched him for a moment longer before going back to my task.

I should stop being so doubtful of him. He knows what he's doing.

(Kakashi glanced at his student. Seeing that she went back to work with a little more determination, he lifted his headband to uncover Obito's eye. Do you see that…Obito?)

I cleaned for a bit longer before I heard a book snapping closed, "Well, time to go."

I nodded and began to pick up the cleaning supplies I was given by our client and gave them back to her. Our client was an elderly lady whose husband recently died, so it is harder for her to manage around the house nowadays. She smiled at me, "Why thank you dearie for your hard work." She turned her head to Kakashi and nodded in gratitude as well. We both bowed back to her and left.

We were walking on the street when Kakashi turned to me, "By the way. Tomorrow we have a photographer named Genzō take a photo of us."

This intrigued me, "Really? Why? We're not exactly a team."

Kakashi shrugged, "Well no, but it's mandatory, even if your my apprentice. So we'll meet up tomorrow at the Hokage Mountain, 0900 sharp. Genzō is not fond of tardiness," he said, remembering the time Obito was late for their team photo.

I snorted, and mumbled, "Say that to yourself."

Kakashi chuckled and patted my head again when a messenger bird flew over our heads and cawed, they're small birds that are used in order to mobilize the village's jōnin or to summon them directly to the Hokage. "Well, seems like I'm being summoned. Ja ne," He lazily waved.

"Ja ne," I waved back and watched him disappear.

And that's how we pretty much fell into an everyday routine, I guess.

Some days we train, some days we take mission, and if Kakashi's feeling especially malicious, sometimes we even do both in one day.

On the days that he wasn't there, I either; did D-rank mission, trained with Shisui-baka on my nodachi, played shōgi with Shikaku/Ebisu, I sometimes trained with Guy as well, but that happens only when we bump into each other while running or something like that.

Today however, I was invited to dinner by Iruka. I was feeling too tired to cook my own dinner, so naturally I accepted.

We sat at the restaurant and I had our 'team' photo with us, per Iruka's request.

"Aw, Kira, you look so cute!" Iruka gushed.

"Hmph!" I glared at the photo. "It's not even good. I mean, look at the lighting! That man clearly doesn't know what he's doing. I haven't seen a photo this awful in a while. What an idiot."

"Here you go!" Teuchi grinned at me and Iruka as he placed our orders in front of us, "Enjoy!"

We nodded in thanks, "Itadakimasu!" We chorused and broke our chopsticks apart. I took some noodles on my chopstick and winced a little as the noodles were hot and burnt my tongue.

Iruka laughed beside me, "Too hot?"

I rolled my eyes, "A little."

His laugh turned into a chuckle at my response, "It's good to see you haven't changed a bit."

"What do you mean?" I asked a bit offended. I mean I'm not one to praise myself, but I think I've improved a lot.

Iruka smiled and elaborated, "I mean personality wise. You'd be surprised how much people can change when they get stronger. And not even in a good way. They get arrogant and prideful, too full of themselves."

Teuchi, who had been listening in, turned his head towards me from where he was stirring the noodles, "That's right Kira-chan. Integrity is everything."

Integrirty - to have strong moral principles, I nodded my head slowly, "Don't worry," I said to the both of them, "I've got lots of integrity."

We ate our ramen in silence for a while. Neither of us wanted to ruin the peaceful atmosphere we created. But the silence was still broken by Iruka.

"Hey, Kira?"

"Yeah?"

"How familiar are you with…Naruto Uzumaki?"

Ah, so that's what's been bugging him. I noticed something was off with him. His eyes are darker than they were before.

Outwardly I didn't react beyond raising an eyebrow, "Why?"

Iruka didn't look at me as he spoke, "He's in my class and…I find it difficult to deal with him."

I nodded for him to continue. Well, seeing the one person containing the beast that killed your parents every day could be pretty stressful.

"So you hate him?" I curiously asked to see his reaction. I also looked towards Teuchi, who would no doubt defend Naruto, but he was tending to a customer at the moment.

Iruka flinched a little, "Hate is…a strong word." He looked up, "I was actually thinking of asking Hokage-Sama if there was a way for me to not teach Naruto."

I opened my mouth to respond, but a new voice interrupted me, "You cannot open the mind of another unless you yourself have an open mind."

Iruka and I looked behind us to find Kakashi there, pushing a flap of hanging cloth aside.

His arrival surprised me. I blinked, "Sensei?"

Kakashi smiled his closed-eye smile, "Evening, Kira-chan. Mind if I join you?" Not that my response would've mattered as he took a seat next to me anyway.

"Kakashi," Iruka spoke up, "That's your name right?"

"You two know each other?" I asked as I was now seated in between them. Iruka to my right and Kakashi to my left.

"Yeah," Kakashi answered, "He was on my team once in a mission," He turned his attention to Iruka, "So why do you sound so depressed?"

Iruka flushed, embarrassed, so I spoke up for him, "Iruka doesn't think he can tolerate an eight-year-old."

"Kira!"

"What? It's true."

Iruka sighed,"That's not it," He turn to Kakashi, "The thing is…I'm Naruto Uzumaki's homeroom teacher.

Kakashi nodded, "I see."

"I don't have any idea how to deal with him." Iruka put his hands on his head, "Don't get me wrong. I know he's not at fault here, but…it's hard. Even though the Hokage thought I was qualified for the job, I can't..."

Kakashi hmmed,"Well, I think you're the perfect man for the job." Iruka looked startled, "What?"

"Without Kira there, only you can reach Naruto's heart. This is your own personal ordeal."

"My ordeal?"

"Yes, so just hang in there a while longer," He finished with a smile. "Who knows, he might surprise you."

I had been silent the whole conversation, so after I finished with my ramen, I decided to voice my own opinion, "Iruka." He looked towards me, "He really isn't a bad kid. Just has a dumb way of seeking attention. Be more…attentive. When I've helped Naruto understand something, I came to the conclusion that if he can't learn the way you teach him, then why don't you try teaching the way he learns? Everyone has their own way and speed in which they develop. Some like Naruto are just a little slower."

Iruka was stunned into silence, but I continued anyway, "Besides, Naruto's not as stupid as everyone seems to think he is. He's not brilliant, but he's up there. And Naruto knows his faults; he just likes to put up a strong front to hide his embarrassment."

Iruka closed his mouth that had been hanging open slightly, "That's…very perspective of you, Kira."

I shrugged.

Iruka was silent for a while, before he nodded, "Okay, if you think so Kira, then I promise I'll try harder."

"Good," Kakashi spoke up, "That settles it. Now, Kira, I actually had something important to tell you. Come with me." He stood up from his seat.

I sighed and turned to Iruka, "Sorry, Iruka. Looks like I'm gonna have to cut this short."

Iruka nodded in understanding and looked at Kakashi, "You keep her safe. You hear me, Kakashi?" It didn't sound like a question.

"Loud and clear," Kakashi saluted mockingly, but had a meaningful look in his eyes. I'll protect her with my life.

I groaned, "You two are so annoying."

I waved goodbye to Iruka and followed Kakashi out.

I ran to catch up with him, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Kakashi didn't answer; instead he looked down the street with his eyebrows crinkled in confusion and interest.

I also looked towards his line of sight and saw a crowd semi-circled around two men, who were forced into submission by what I guess is the Konoha Military Police Force, going by the emblem on their shoulders; a four-point star with the Uchiha clan crest in the center.

"Hey!" One of the drunks yelled as he was held back by one of them, "What's the meaning of this?!"

The other one also struggled to be let go, "Why don't you just go and hide like you did with the Kyuubi?! He yelled, which was a big mistake as he was forced onto the ground by the Uchiha police, to restrain them, which is probably protocol, but I noticed that they were a little too violent in their actions, for police officers.

"Ow!Ow!Ow! That hurts!"

"We're taking you both into custody!"

"Let me go!"

"Shut up and walk."

The officers tied the two of them up and led them to the police station. As they went people began to whisper amongst themselves;

"How cruel."

"What's becoming of them?"

"It was just a drunken fight…"

"Couldn't they have just stopped the fight?"

I stared after them as they passed me and Kakashi.

So, it's starting, huh…

I was startled when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I realized that it was Kakashi, "Let's go."

He put a hand on my shoulder and led me away from the scene.

I looked up to him, "So…?"

Kakashi looked down at me, "I've decided that you're ready for a little C-rank mission."

"A C-rank? Why?"

"Well, I've seen how well you've done on your D-rank's so I thought that maybe we should slowly start on the C-rank's. They are usually assigned to chūnin, but in some cases genin can also take them. I've already requested one for us. There generally isn't any encounter with another ninja in these missions, so it shouldn't be too dangerous."

We stopped and I realized that he had led me to the playground, "So go to sleep earlier tonight. I expect you at the office 0600 hours."

I nodded and started walking away, "Alright then, Ja ne, sensei." I turned my back as I heard a distinctive poof in the background.

I approached the park. The sun was just about to set, so there were a lot of parents there to pick up their children. I recognized Shikamaru and Chōji and some kid with a dog…oh wait that's Kiba.

Naruto was also there, running with the kids, a big smile on his face, until their parents pulled them away.

"Mom!"

"Aiko-chan, what did I tell you about playing with that boy?"

Naruto's smile dropped as the parents left, scolding their children.

Shikaku also approached the park but didn't see me 'cause I was around the corner. He was searching for his son and his best friend, "Come on you two. Let's go."

"Okay!" The two chorused as they ran to him. Chōji turned around though to wave at Naruto, "Bye, Naruto!" Shikamaru also turned around and half-waved, "Bye!"

Naruto forced a small smile and nod, "Goodbye, 'ttebayo!" And waved until they turned their backs.

I could see Naruto lower his head as he was left alone in the park.

Naruto was looking long fully at them. Must be pretty hard for him. He doesn't even know what his parents look like, let alone their names.

I don't either, but I don't particularly care.

I stood there watching him for a while, pondering and then I went to the front entrance of the park, "Hey, Naruto."

Naruto looked up with wide eyes when he saw me standing there with my hands in my pockets, "I finished my mission." I nodded toward our apartment complex, "Let's go home," and started walking.

Naruto's mouth turned into a full-blown grin as he ran to me, "Yeah! Dattebayo!"

He caught up with me, "Hey, Kira?"

"Hm?"

"Can I have your Hitai-ate?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

Normally, I would've given it to him without complaint, but I was feeling tease-ish.

"No."

"Aww, come on!"

"No."

"Pleaassee!"

I flicked his forehead.

"Ow!"

"No."

He rubbed his head, giggling.

The client began with a quiet and solemn voice, "My son, Haru, was murdered."

We were at a room we dubbed as our 'base' in the Hokage tower where Kakashi and I, along with other Chūnin who were required on this mission listened to our client's case.

"And that murderer is his trainer, Kurosawa Rokuro-san." She said with spite in her voice.

A Chūnin, Kotetsu, raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that the famous civilian trainer whose students have gotten great results at those competitions they hold between the civilians at Shukuba Town?"

Every year at Shukuba town, which is only a short distance away from Konoha, they hold competitions similar to 'Before's' national Olympic games, but only civilians are allowed.

The woman, Aiko, had a nasty look on her face at the mention of him, "Yes," she said, "That's him. I want him to rot in hell for what he did."

"Has he been arrested?"

"No," she said, "I went to our town's police station, but they wouldn't help me because they said that my son died a natural death."

"And you believe otherwise?" I inquired on my spot next to Kakashi.

"Yes," She sounded sure of herself, "It was definitely his trainer. And my son…I shouldn't have agreed to it. He had big dreams of becoming some professional athlete…and now…" she sniffed, tears at the corners of her eyes. It was clear that this woman loved her son, and now she had a thirst for revenge.

"Our condolences," Izumo patted her back gently.

"We'll get you something relaxing to drink and then can tell us more." Kakashi signaled for me to bring her some tea. I grumbled a little, (I was not his assistant) but did as told and prepared some jasmine tea for her.

"Thank you," she smiled at me as I handed the tea over to her. She wiped her eyes with her hand and continued, "Haru was very good in the beginning. One day he came home with a black eye and a split lip, I asked him if he got into a fight but he refused to talk about it. From then on he fell more and more into depression. I understood that the trainer was demanding and pressuring him and others. Haru's strength just vanished moment during training, he was running with others when he suddenly stopped, then collapsed and died." She was crying full on now, "A heart attack! At his age?!"

"How are you so sure that the trainer killed him? Pressuring someone to train harder isn't enough to kill them."

"I'm sure of it! I've eavesdropped on a few conversations they had, he was cursing and threatening him. Haru didn't want to talk about it with me, kept it to himself. They're relationship was very tense the last few days of his life."

"Didn't the autopsy reveal anything?" Shikaku questioned. The mission was a C-rank, seeing as we were dealing with civilians, but a little complicated, so Kakashi gathered a team of Chūnin. Shikaku wasn't his subordinate, however he was there for the sake of information gathering for the T&I department who couldn't send a shinobi for us today, so they asked Shikaku for a favor.

She shook her head, "Only that my son had a heart attack."

"Did he have any illnesses as a child?" Kakashi asked from his hunched over form by the window.

"Well…his lungs were weak, he frequently visited the hospital. But he's been fine for the past seven years." She looked up at us, "Will you take my son's case?"

Kakashi hmm'ed then looked towards me for a second. I shrugged, take the case don't take the case I don't really care. Kakashi and I had taken to consult with each other before taking missions. If both of us were okay with it then we usually took the mission.

He turned towards the woman, "I can't promise that we'll find anything suspicious, but we'll try."

Aiko nodded her head, "I'm certain that you will and I'm very thankful to all of you."

"Now, first of all with your permission Izumo and Kotetsu will look through your son's room for clues."

"Yes of course," She stood up, "Follow me."

When they left, Kakashi turned towards me, "Kira-chan, go to the village's archives and look for any info we might have on Kurosawa Rokuro. Be quick, I'm gonna analyze our info and plan with Shikaku."

I nodded, "Got it," and flashed to a nearby roof, taking off in the direction of Konoha's Archive.

Konoha's Archive had information on every person, be it shinobi or civilian, Konoha's or another village's.

I opened the door, giving a quick nod to a Chūnin who was guarding the place. The library was divided into two groups; civilian and shinobi. Civilian files were typically on the second floor, so I went into the direction of the stairs. They were also in an alphabetical order, so it wasn't very hard to find Kurosawa Rokuro's file. Opening the cabinet under the letter 'K', I found Kurosawa's file, flipped it open and studied it, before heading back to Kakashi to report my findings. I was very tempted to take a glance at my own file –it was just a few shelves away- but Kakashi said to be quick and I don't want him to be disappointed at me on my first C-rank. With that thought I left the building, taking to the roof's again.

Maybe another time, I thought as I entered our 'base' at the same time as Kotetsu and Izumo came back. Huh, quick fellas. Izumo cleared his throat, signaling Kakashi that we were back.

"We checked Aiko-san's son's room like you asked and we found something inside one of his books." Kotetsu held out a piece of paper, "It's a map of the world, along with 注ベ41* written on top of it."

Shikaku took it, "Maybe it's a code? 41?" He gave it to Kakashi.

"Maybe." Kakashi said and then noticed me, "Oh, Kira-chan. Found anything?"

"Yup," I popped the p, and opened the file, showing it to him, "Kurosawa Rokuro is one of the most acknowledged civilian trainers in Shukuba Town. His students have accomplished some amazing results in the competitions, for civilians that is."

"Private life?"

"Divorced, lives in a fancy apartment downtown, alone." I closed the file, "Nothing suspicious. Though other Towns have claimed that his trainees aren't clean, but they haven't found anything in the drug tests to confirm the claim. However," I said with a serious tone, "The most important thing I found was that a previous student of Rokuro's also died. A month ago they discovered one if his students, Watanabe Mariko, on the Tanzaku road. Dead."

"Two deaths in a year," Kakashi's and Shikaku's eyes narrowed, "Now that is suspicious. Alright everyone, Kira and I will go to Shukuba Town to speak to their police. In the meantime you'll be on standby."

"Yes, sir!"

The next day Kakashi and I met up at Aun Gate and travelled to Shukuba Town. We spoke to their police, and they said, "The autopsy showed that the blood samples were normal, the cause of death was a heart attack, hemoglobin levels were extraordinarily high…hm."

"What?" I asked.

"Haru had strong inner organs, enormous lung capacity and heart. Everything points to over exercising."

"What did the trainer say about that?"

"He showed us his training program and we found nothing that showed that his training methods were unreasonable."

I looked to Kakashi, "Maybe he was doing extra training without the trainer's knowledge?"

The officer shrugged, "Possibly."

Kakashi asked him, "What about the girl, Mariko? What did the autopsy say about her?"

The officer pulled out a photograph that had the picture of the girl lying on her back in the woods, lifeless, "She also had high hemoglobin levels, but everything else was normal. She lived in Konoha actually."

"Then what was she doing all the way on the Tanzaku road?"

"Nobody knows."

Kakashi and I looked at each other. Somethings not right.

We headed back to our 'base'.

As we entered, I saw that everyone had gathered up like Kakashi asked through the radio that everybody was provided with.

"We need someone to infiltrate Rokuro's training group." Kakashi started.

"What about Kira. Her chakra levels are the least developed amongst us, making her less suspicious." Izumo suggested.

Kakashi shook his head, "No, not only is she inexperienced in this field, but she's also a female. Rokuro doesn't take female students on after Watanabe Mariko's parents gave him hell for their daughter's death."

"But who then?"

"I've thought about it and I've decided to hire a civilian associate of ours named Skippy."

"Him?! He's as fit as a worm!"

Kakashi shrugged, "So we'll have to shape him up and when he's trained enough we'll demonstrate him to Rokuro."

I was confused, "How are we supposed to do that? Training a civilian, especially an adult civilian takes a lot of time that we don't have."

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, I've also thought about that and asked the hospital to prepare a special drug for him to fasten his development."

"Who's going to go find him?"

I felt Kakashi pat my back.

Of course…

I found him on the main shopping strict, passing fliers to shoppers, "New restaurant in town! Coupon for two!" He yelled, waving his hand full of fliers furiously, "Coupon for t- Hello ladies!" He grinned at two young girls that were clearly too young for him. He was scrawny, tall, thin, but not athletically built with a bald head and a short French mustache, maybe in his 30's.

I wasn't sure about this guy, he seemed a bit too…weird. But nonetheless, I kawarimi'd behind him from a top a house roof that I had hidden behind earlier, "Hello, Skippy."

He turned around, "Coupon for- oh!"

"I'm here on behalf of Kakashi Hatake and to offer you a better job." I nodded my chin toward a shaded area, "Come on."

He narrowed his eyes at me but followed, "Alright, talk. What's my job?"

At my confused look he said, "Kakashi always send people to me for job offers so it's nothing new, I trust the guy."

I nodded in understanding, "Infiltration. You are to become a professional athlete."

"A professional athlete?"

"Yes. Have you done sports before?"

"Well, I was a pretty good shogi player back in school."

"Great. You'll be a runner."

He looked startled, "Eeeeer, that's a little bit too intellectual for me."

"They said that you were the best." I tried to appeal to his good side. I had to get him to agree after all.

Skippy thought about it, "Fine, but I'm gonna need some money in advance. I've been a little low on the cash lately." He held out his hand.

I expected it, because Kakashi had handed me some money just in case he'll ask, "Here," I gave him 30 000 ryo, "Tomorrow, at the hospital 0010 hours sharp."

He grinned, "Done." And greedily took the money, throwing the fliers in the air in his glee.

What an eccentric man. I was unsure how he'll be of use to us.

The following day saw us at the hospital with Skippy on the bed with an IV full of drugs attached to his arm. Skippy was gasping in slight pain as he turned to Kakashi, "Poisoning me is gonna cost you a lot, Kakashi."

"Relax, you'll get quite a hefty pay, trust me."

"That's why I'm here!" He gasped again.

The medic that we trusted to put the drug in him turned to us, "I gave Skippy a very large amount of hormones, but for the drugs to kick in, he'll have to train for his athletic results to improve. And eat healthy too."

"And when will we see some results?"

"About a week from now."

"Good." He and the medic bowed to each other, as the medic left Kakashi turned to Skippy, "You'll have to stay here for some time."

Skippy grunted, "What do I have against it? My fridge is as empty as Water Country's cash register."

Kakashi turned to me, "Oh and Kira, you'll be in charge of his meals."

Sigh.

The next few days were filled with training him. Usually Kotetsu and Izumo overlooked that while Kakashi, Shikaku and I analyzed our information.

I also was forced to make him healthy meals. The drugs kicked in pretty fast because he ate faster than I could make the food. He didn't even care what I gave him just that I did. He trained every day for about 12 hours. The medic gave him new dose of hormones every week and day by day he became faster and stronger.

I hope we weren't killing him.

When he ran as fast as a horse, we put our plan into motion.

"Now let's just hope he'll take the bait," I said from my spot on the couch arm as my teammates gathered at our 'base'.

Kakashi agreed, "The plan is that you, Kira, will steal Rokuro's wallet and Skippy will give it back to him, when he's riding his horse. That way he'll see Skippy potential and become interested in him."

Skippy was practically vibrating on the spot from the energy, "Right let's go. Whoo!" He ran to me and threw me on his shoulder, "Hey!" I angrily shouted at him and thumped him in the back hard enough for him to drop me, "Don't think you're stronger than me now." I glared as he sheepishly laughed.

We were at Shubaku Town's main food district when I saw him going to his horse. Rokuro was short for his age, with a little stubble and thick black glasses. I walked towards him and 'bumped' into him, quickly taking his wallet, from his back pocket, "Sorry."

Rokuro didn't say anything to me and continued on as if nothing happened.

I went to Skippy who was doing jumping jacks, a little ways away from Rokuro, "Here," I handed him the wallet. He took it and we both waited until Rokuro was on his horse to start our plan.

"Wait," I told him putting a hand on his chest to stop him, waiting for the horse to pick up speed, I finally said, "Go."

Rokuro was riding his horse home when he felt someone tap his leg. He looked down to find some guy running beside his horse. What the…?

The man turned to him, "You dropped this," And gave him his wallet and ran even further ahead?!

Rokuro frantically yelled, "Hey, you!"

The man turned his head but didn't stop running, "Stop for a second!" He pulled on his horse's reign to also stop.

"Are you an athlete?" Rokuro asked him once he got his horse to stop beside the man.

The man shook his head, "It's just a hobbie."

Rokuro was intrigued, "Well you're pretty fast. My name's Rokuro. I train a group of athlete's. Want to join?"

Skippy fake-hesitated, "I don't know…"

"You don't have to decide anything right now," Rokuro quickly assured to not scare him away, "But if you make up your mind, here," He handed Skippy a piece of paper, "The address is on that. I'll see you then, yeah?"

Skippy agreed, "Sure."

Rokuro smiled at him widely and rode off.

"How'd it go?" Kotesu asked as we entered the room.

Skippy grinned, showing Kakashi the piece of paper, "I was invited to Rokuro's training group."

Kakashi smiled at us, "Bravo. Now you'll just have to let him talk you into joining the group."

Skippy looked unsure, "But what if the sends me to the competitions?"

Kakashi waved his concern off, "Don't worry, that won't happen. I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this before then."

I walked to sit next to Kakashi, crossed my arms and whispered to him, "You should've seen him. Ran like young moose."

He chuckled and ruffled my hair before addressing the room once more, "Someone should go to the Tanzaku road where that girl died and question the locals. Maybe someone noticed something."

It seemed like an easy job so I raised my hand, "Will I get a raise?"

I was hopping from tree branch to tree branch with the photograph of the dead girl in my hand. I looked everywhere to spot the place she died. I narrowed my eyes a little further, There!

I finally found it.

Looking around I didn't see any houses close by, so I pulled out a map the T&I provided me with and saw that a house was actually a few feet away from here. I decided it was best to not be seen as a shinobi, so I took my headband off, along with my pouch and hid them behind a tree for now.

Taking a compass out, I started navigating through the trees, stepping over fallen trees and ducking underneath the branches.

Walking deeper into the woods, I finally found a wooden house. I walked over, intending on interrogating the people living here when I saw something peculiar.

Wait, is that?! I quickly hid behind the corner and sneaked a peek. It was Rokuro. He was getting on horse and leaving. I raised an eyebrow, Suspicious…Looks like I'm in the right place.

Seeing that coast was clear, I walked up to the front of the house. It couldn't be Rokuro's place since he lived in an apartment. I looked through the window of the house, thinking I was alone I didn't even bother to check for a chakra signal. What a mistake.

I was about to pick the lock, when I heard a loud dog's bark behind me. Startled, I let out a little scream and turned around to see a man with a big dog that looked ready to tear me apart. I reached for my nodachi when the strange man said, "Don't even think about it. I will release him and you should know he once killed a bear." The dog bared his fangs at me and barked some more when my hand went for my nodachi.

Slowly raising both of my hands I quickly tried to form a plan. If I just kawarim-! Something sharp landed on my neck, making me fall to the ground and lose consciousness.

Everyone was at the base when Skippy ran in with a vial he stole from Rokuro's office earlier in the day. Rokuro had been testing him as well as composing a training schedule for him. When Rokuro's back was turned however, Skippy had gone into his office to investigate.

"I found something." He handed it off to the doctor. "I also heard something about a new dose arriving next week." His voice cracked.

Kakashi took the vial, "Good job, Skippy."

The medic put a hand on his chin, "He must be using some new kind of drug that doesn't leave a trace in the body's system."

Skippy cleared his throat, "Actually, now that we are on the subject, I have a problem that needs to be taken care of." His voice cracked again.

Izumo scrunched his brows in confusion, "Why is your voice cracking like a young boy whose about to begin puberty?"

Skippy glared at him, "Maybe because of the amount of hormones you people have been putting in my body! And not only that," He opened his jacket and everybody gasped with wide eyes, "I have boobs!"

Kotetsu put a hand on his mouth to stifle his laughter, "Oh my Kami!"

Skippy glared at everyone, "Ha ha, very funny! This was not in my contract Kakashi! I demand an extra pay for this!"

Kakashi didn't even bother to hide his snickers and sheepishly waved his hand at him, "Maa, maa. Of course, of course. But you know it doesn't look that bad." He tried to smooth over the situation.

"You think so?" Skippy asked looking down at his breasts.

"Yeah, yeah…" Everyone agreed, trying to make him feel better.

Skippy nodded along, "Yeah, when I looked at the mirror in the morning I also thought that it's actually pretty sexy." He said, still looking down at his chest area.

Everyone laughed a bit at that, but it didn't last long when Kakashi spoke up, "Wait. Where's Kira?" He asked looking around.

"She went to the Tanzaku road to investigate." Izumo answered.

"She should've been back hours ago," Kakashi growled, fear starting to creep up from his stomach.

"Did she get lost?" Kotetus suggested, but was shot down by Kakashi.

"No, she would never be so careless," Kakashi made his way to the window, "I'm gonna go find her."

"Wait Kakashi," Shikaku interrupted him, "I need you here to go over the information from the vital."

"She's my student. My responsibility." Kakashi glared at him.

Shikaku sighed, "Yes, I know that, but you're also their team leader. Look, I'm sure she's just making a thorough examination and lost track of time. Send Kotetsu and Izumo, I'm sure she's fine."

Izumo spoke up with a smile, "Yeah captain, Kotetsu and I will find the newbie in no time." Kotetsu nodded in agreement beside him.

Kakashi thought about it and reluctantly sighed, "Fine, go. But go fast, I have a bad feeling."

"Sir!" They saluted and flickered out.

I woke up to find myself on a chair, my weapons stripped and hands and legs bound together with chakra wire.

"So you're finally awake." Came a voice to my left, it was Rokuro. "Who are you?" He leaned over to peer into my eyes.

A man stepped forward when I didn't say anything, "I found these in her pocket," The unknown man said, showing him the photograph and my nodachi. "Looks like we've got a shinobi."

Rokuro turned to me, "Who hired you? Wait, I know! It was Haru's mother wasn't it."

"Possibly," I replied with an attitude.

He didn't look very happy and glared at me, "How much do you know?"

"I came here by accident." I played the innocent card, but it was the truth, sort of. I didn't even imagine I would find him here.

"If she can come here, then so can others," The unknown man said to Rokuro.

"Then we'll just have to move the lab somewhere else."

"But then we'll have to start all over again!"

Rokuro shrugged at the man, "Yes but there's nothing we can do. Start packing things." And as he said that they started grabbing some stuff I couldn't see and took them outside to a wagon.

Kotetsu and Izumo were jumping from tree to tree when Izumo said, "Where do you think she might be?"

Kotetsu shrugged, "Don't know. But we should start with the surrounding houses I guess. Wait! Look, down there!" Kotetsu pointed at the ground. It was Kira's pouch.

Izumo also saw it, "Let's check it out."

They jumped down and picked up the pouch that laid on the forest ground, "It's definitely Kira's, it has her headband in it."

Kotetsu pointed to the woods, "Let's start from there then."

Izumo nodded and they ran into the woods yelling her name.

"Got everything?" Rokuro asked.

"Yes." The man beside him replied, "What now?"

"Now we just need to get rid of that girl."

"How?"

Rokuro grinned, manically, "I think you know." He patted him in the back as he left to get some gas, "And when she's gone. We'll burn the place down."

I was struggling with the wires when I heard them both come inside. Rokuro spoke first, holding up a syringe, "You know what this is?" He grinned at me, trying to be intimidating.

I gave him a blank stare, "It's the new drug that doesn't leave a trace in the victim's body system."

He laughed, "So you've done your homework! Which means you know what happens in the case of overdose, yes?"

I snarled, "No, nor do I want to know."

Rokuro licked his lips and smiled haughtily, "We'll administer five doses. That has two effects; First of all you'll have an uncontrollable urge to run and second, your hemoglobin levels will rise as high as the sky which will cause blood clots that will move up to your heart."

The unknown man took over, "Which will inevitably end in a heart attack for you. And if you try to stop running…then the heart attack will only come faster!"

I gritted my teeth at them, "That girl, Mariko, you did the same to her too, didn't you." It wasn't a question; I could tell by their grins that the answer was yes. I suddenly felt something painful in my chest. Was it fear?

"Possibly," Rokuro said mockingly and grabbed my hair to expose my neck.

"Ah!" I hissed when they injected the syringe.

"Kira!" Kotetsu yelled.

"We've been yelling for hours, Kotetsu. Maybe she's not here?"

"Fine. We'll look for 2 more kilometers, then head in the other direction."

The unknown man was leading me outside when I felt the drugs kick in. I started twitching as the urge to start running was overwhelming.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I started running on the spot as the man started to release me from my binds.

I ran away the second the ropes fell to the ground.

I could still hear their voices when I ran in the direction of Konoha.

"Burn it!"

"Hey Izumo, do you smell that?"

"Smells like smoke…"

"Yeah, and where there's smoke…"

"…There's fire." Exchanging worried glances, they started towards the direction of the smell.

I was running through the woods, dodging tree branches and jumping over rocks and fallen trees.

My breathing was ragged and I felt my throat tighten. Something weird was happening with my body and I knew what it was.

Shock.

When people go into shock their bodies go into crisis mode. All the blood in the body rushes to the core – protecting the vital organs at all costs. The body is focused on one single mission.

Survival.

But even though I've analyzed my condition, it's still very hard to get myself to overcome it.

"Hey, is that her?" A voice that belonged to Kotetsu –I think- asked.

"It is! Hey, Kira! Where have you been?!"

I opened my mouth when I neared them, "I can't stop!" And ran passed them.

They looked confused –no doubt- but I couldn't stop. I had to keep running.

"What? Why?!"

"Let's go Kotetsu! Follow her!"

I heard them running to catch up with me, Izumo turned his head at me, "Kira, what's wrong?"

I stared straight ahead as I tried to explain the situation, "They…huff…they injected some substance into me that…huff…that turns the blood thicker."

"Why can't you stop running?" Kotetsu asked, feeling a little sick for allowing this to happen to her.

"I…huff…I was given a drug…huff…if I stop…huff…I'll have a heart attack."

"By who?"

"Rokuro and some guy."

They both gasped, before cursing underneath their breaths.

"Hold on! We'll think of something!" Izumo pressed a button on his radio to contact the base.

"I know."

"Don't stop running!" Kotetsu encouraged.

"I know!"

I ran and ran and ran as I heard them contacting the team through the radio, "Kakashi, get the doctor! We're 8.4 kilometers away from Konoha! We don't have time to explain. Kira was given a drug that makes her blood thicken. Hurry!"

My head felt light. It's as if the drug is also taking all the energy from me. I can't stop though. Konoha's still so far away. Why is it affecting me like this?

My wireless radio –that was still around my neck- was suddenly activated as I heard a familiar voice, "Kira?"

…"Kakashi?"

"Listen to me. I won't let anything happen to you." He sounded professionally calm.

Relief washed trough me, as if my body was convinced that everything was going to be okay, even though that's uncertain yet.

"Kakashi…I…I…I'm scared."

"…Me too. But listen, we're gonna make it through this. You are going to make it through this. Just hang in there. Help is almost there, trust me."

I was speechless for a moment, "…I trust you."

I heard us disconnect as I tried to stay calm.

Okay, there is a strange substance spreading inside you. If you stop providing energy in the form of running, you are most certainly going to die. You need to focus. Come on focus. Focus!

I took a big gulp of air.

Okay, okay Kira. Your breathing is off. You are in shock. You need to calm down.

I closed my eyes. Calm down, dammit! There must be something that can calm you down!

Memories started flashing in my mind.

"Is that the best you can do?" A curly-haired, dark-eyed boy questioned with a smirk on his face, arms crossed.

"The springtime of youth has yet to fade away!" A loud voice boomed, sticking a good-guy pose.

"You could be the most brilliant kunoichi of your time." A lazy voice drawled as he put his hands in his pockets.

"No emotion! Those are for the weak!" A rough voice demanded, bringing a fist down to a table.

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." His lone eye narrowed in determination.

Is this what they call 'life flashing before your eyes?'

"Kira!" He called, wide blue eyes full of admiration as he grinned, "I need you, Kira!"

I….I….I can't!"

I dropped to my knees. I couldn't do it anymore.

"Kira!" Kotetsu and Izumo yelled in unison. They came up behind me, lifting me to my feet, "Come on! Get up! Get up! Get up!"

"Yeah, we can do this!"

They started dragging me, forcing me to run, "I…Can't." I panted.

"Come on! Good, good! Just a little further!"

Suddenly my air ducts closed and I couldn't breathe anymore. I dropped to the ground, falling unconscious.

Kotetsu and Izumo rushed to her side. Izumo grabbing her hand to find her pulse.

"Oh no!"

"Shimatta! Where are they?! Kotetsu grabbed his hair, looking around.

"Hey!"

Kotetsu snapped his head at the sound. There they were, Kakashi with the doctor not too far behind him.

Izumo then started waving his hand furiously, "We're over here!" Kotetsu joined him, "Hurry doc!"

The doctor ran to them, spotting her on the ground, limp, he immediately started toward her. He quickly pulled out a syringe, and took her arm in his, "This should help," and injected her with it.

Kakashi went to Kira's side, cradling her body and lifting arm, looking for her pulse, "There's no pulse." He said to the doctor coldly.

"We're losing her."

Everyone around looked grim while the doctor started pumping her chest with his hands to start her heart. However, he removed his hands. He and everyone gasped in shock. Kakashi looked horror-stricken.

Kira's body was surrounded by dense bubbling-red chakra.

A/N Hey everybody! It's been a horrendously long time since I've updated.

I'm sorry.

There are a lot of reasons why and I'm not gonna list them because quite frankly nobody would care. I know I wouldn't.

The reason this chapter might seem hurried is because, well, it is hurried. I'm going away for the holidays but I wanted to, at the very least, update because I've been very sloppy at it. Which is also why I will answer all of your question in the next chapter (Which will not take another 4 months, I promise). I also want to thank all of you for supporting me and loving Kira as much as I do, it really means a lot.

And I want to announce that my poll will end soon. Right now the result are:

Hagoromo – 148

Indra - 144

Kaguya – 142

Nobody – 135

Hamura – 121

It's pretty neck and neck between Hagoromo, Indra and Kaguya so even I'm not sure who it'll be.

There's also been a lot of inquiries about the pairing. (Naruto/Kira, Sasuke/Kira, Shikamaru/Kira, Shisui/Kira)

And well I don't even know that myself 'cause I didn't think of a pairing when I started this. This was just supposed to be a fun hobby of mine. I didn't start this thinking that so many people would actually like this. So concerning this; I say anything goes.

But if you're keen on having a pairing I guess I could just ask you readers:

1 Who should Kira be paired with and why?

Xoxo - Kamigami