Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto characters, or anything related to it. Kumiko is mine. Nyahaha.

Okay, note from me: hello and welcome to my first Naruto fic. I've written mostly Inuyasha fics (check 'em out if you're interested) and they've generally been more or less successful. If you think this fic starts out a little depressing, kinda dumb, along those lines, please give it a chance and read a little farther. It lightens up, and I assure you, I'm into happy endings, and I don't enjoy killing off my characters or anything like that. I've never actually finished a fic before, usually because I get too busy, don't have enough ideas, or completely lose interest in what I'm writing so please feel free to give me ideas, tips, and anything you may find useful, because I'm trying to improve as a writer. My goal is to finish something I've started. Maybe it'll be this one.

I've created Kumiko, my own character, and I'll be pairing her up with Kakashi. There will be no sasu/naru pairings in this fic. Period. End of discussion. When I started looking at Naruto fics, I must admit I was kinda freaked out by all of the sasu/naru pairings, and I'm really curious to why there are so many. If anybody reading this has an answer for me, please tell me in your review. I'm dying to know. It's unlikely I'm going to pair up Sakura with anyone, but we'll see how it goes.

I may end up rating this fic as R for language and violence, but not sex. I'm a 16 year old virgin, so I won't be putting in anything I haven't experienced -

Lastly, when I write I listen to music. This chapter was written mostly to 'Dream On' by Aerosmith, so if you wanna download it and listen to it in the background while you read, go for it. Read my short note at the end of this chapter when you're done and please drop me a review.

Thanks,

-Kirara

Live, Laugh, and Love

Chapter One

Desperation

The rain poured in relentless waves on to the leafy tops of the thick forest. A lone traveler stumbled along in the downpour, misery and despair dragging her down. Tripping on an unforeseen root, she allowed herself to fall to the muddy path and broke into sobs. Lies. Everywhere Kumiko went, friendship was the only thing she had ever tried to offer, and lies were the only token she ever eventually received. The weak feared what they did not understand, and the strong tried to conquer and harness it.

'I am more that something to be feared. More than something to be used,' she thought desperately, in weak attempt to comfort herself and give herself the courage to push forward and seek a new life. Again.

'…and again…and again…There must be more to life than this.'

Struggling to her feet, she looked down the front of her outfit in dismay. Mud had seeped into the cloth and began chilling her to the bone. Shivering, she pressed onwards. This time would be different. This time, she would give up on honing her skills as a ninja, and live a normal life. This time she would meet normal people. Normal people who wouldn't know what chakra was if it danced naked in front of them. Normal people who wouldn't be able to save themselves when her past came back to face her.

She bitterly kicked a rock and sent it whizzing down the path, only for it to collide with a tree and bounce off. Sighing, she unbound her hair from its messy knot and wrung it out. She needed to find a place to stay and think about what she wanted to do with her life; a nice little place where she wouldn't be found, and thus wouldn't constantly have people trying to assassinate or kidnap her.

'Buggers,' she thought. 'To think that my only goal in life right now is to not be murdered or recaptured…'

Rewrapping her hair up into its bun, she acknowledged her stomach that was constantly reminding her how she wasn't taking care of it. She jumped up into the tree and took off, calculating that if she made good time in the rain, she'd be harder to track in the trees and would possibly get a warm meal before nightfall.

'Fat chance.'

Nine o'clock found Kumiko dragging herself into an inn and ordering herself a warm bowl of soup. She sat with her back to the wall and watched all three entrances to the room, and when she was finished, she bought a room for the night. Upon arriving to her room, the first instinct she had was to stand absolutely still and work all of her senses to make sure the room was clear. Her chakra stretched out from her like little tendrils of smoke, and touched every thing in the room with it. When she was done that, she reasoned with herself that no one could have possibly staked out in her room, as she herself had had no idea she was even going to stay in this particular inn until moments ago.

Her second instinct was to flop down on to the still-made bed and sleep like the dead until dawn woke her, but as soon as she allowed her self to flop, she leapt back up and marched to the bathroom to strip and rinse her clothes of the mud.

Once her shirt was more or less back to the shade of forest green that it had started out as and her black pants were spotless and clean, she proceeded to wash her hair in the sink while her clothes drip-dried on any suspended rack she could find.

Then she propped a chair up underneath the door handle and locked the window. It wasn't much, but it would hopefully wake her and give her enough time to reach for one of the kunai knives under her pillow before she was attacked.

By eleven, she was naked under the sheets, hair blow-dried, and dead to the world.

Whirling around, she whipped a kunai knife at the attacking ninja and pierced him right between the ribs. Blood spurted out, staining his clothes. Not giving him another glance, she blocked her next attacker with another kunai knife she had already pulled out. Delivering him a punch to the nose, he reeled back, momentarily stunned, giving her enough time to slash his throat. The blood sprayed out, but she ignored it, continuing the spin to cut the man behind her, with her knife, on the cheek. Allowing him to knock her shoulder, she balled chakra into her fist and punched him right into the gut. Blood coughed out of his mouth. She already had another knife in her hand as she readied herself for her next foe. Blood, everywhere there was blood; flooding the floor, soaking into her clothes, caking in her hair.

Sucking back a whimper, she tossed a shuriken at the man flying towards her. He blocked it with a knife of his own. She slashed her knife across his face, but instead of blood, his skin sloughed away to reveal a fresh, new face. That face.

A scream bubbled up inside of her and poured out her mouth in one relentless cry. She slashed and slashed at his face, but it would only peel away to reveal a fresh, new one.

And then he laughed. He threw back his head and laughed, chilling her to the bone.

Kumiko's eyes flew open and she sat up with a muffled scream. Glancing down at her hand, she realized she had a kunai knife gripped in it, ready to defend and attack. She released it and covered her face with her hands. Wiping away the cold sweat from her forehead that thinly covered her entire body, she stumbled out of bed into the bathroom.

These nightmares wouldn't go away, and staring at herself in the mirror, she knew they were taking toll on her. Her cerulean eyes were red-rimmed, lines deepening, and dark puffy bags sagged underneath them. They were still scrunched shut, wanting to close completely, her coal-black hair was tousled and knotted and she was leaning on the edge of the sink for support.

Groaning, she turned on the tap and splashed frigid, cold water on her face. Gasping with shock, even though it was anticipated, she glanced back up to the mirror.

'Great,' she thought wearily, 'now I look wide-awake-drunk.'

Sighing, she searched around the bathroom cabinets until she found the hotel-complimentary brush. Attacking her hair furiously, she began working it out until finally, the brush ran smoothly through it. After braiding it, she twisted it up into it's bun at the base of her neck.

Grabbing her cloths from their drying racks, she returned to her room and sat on the bed. She glanced at the clock next to her bed and froze. Checking its time with her watch, to make sure it wasn't incorrect she swore. She had managed to sleep way passed dawn until 10:30.

Cursing, she pulled on her clothes, counted her weapons, and grabbed the room key. She could have been continuing her escape journey, but nooo, she had to waste time sleeping!

Composing herself, she marched up to the innkeeper's desk and paid for her room, sighing inwardly as she handed over another part of her meager wallet. Her money was dwindling and she had to watch how much she was spending.

"Ma'am, would you like some breakfast before you leave?" the kind man behind the desk asked her.

Sighing sadly, she declined. She would possibly need her money later for more important things. "But may I have a map of the surrounding area, please?"

Happy he could be of service, the man pulled out a map and gave it to her.

She thanked him and sat down at one of the tables to study it, but after a few minutes of nodding off and then shaking herself awake again, she ruefully got up and approached the front desk.

"I think I'd like a cup of coffee, please," she said, placing a few coins on the desk. "As black and rich as you can make it."

Smiling, the innkeeper counted the coins and then disappeared into a back room.

Kumiko sat herself back down at her table, back to the wall, and hovered over the map. According to where she was, she was currently in the country of Konoha, the leaf country and that was as far as her brain managed to find out before her coffee was set in front of her. Leaning over it, she inhaled the rich smell, the mere scent of caffeine igniting something in her head. Taking a sip, she sighed.

'Heaven…coffee was made in heaven…'

Back to the map, Kumiko began to figure that her best move would be to check out the hidden village of Konoha. Mapping the most direct route, she downed her coffee (giving her brain the shock of its life), left the innkeeper a tip for making her coffee as black as it came, and then left.

Outside, the clouds covered the sun, and the ground was still damp from the previous night's downpour. Continuing her quest east, she set her pace at a jog. She carried nothing on her save for her weapons and money.

'I'm going to need to buy a new pair of clothes soon,' she thought irritably. 'And I'm going to need a job so I can continue eating properly…and I can sleep outdoors when it isn't raining…my life sucks…'

It started to rain again.

"How about I say that a little louder," she muttered. "My-life-sucks!"

Squishing chakra into her feet, she leapt up into a tree and pushed her pace into a run.

'Maybe I'll make it before dark…' she thought.

The day had eventually cleared up and now, at eleven, Kumiko was running by the light of a very bright, near-full moon. Her eyelids were drooping, her stomach was growling, and her limbs were beginning to protest every step.

Using her rare gift, she flung her chakra out about two miles in ever direction. The nearest trace of a village was approximately almost two miles in front of her. Konoha village, she hoped. Two miles. She could make that in fifteen minutes if she ran fast enough.

Eventually, she was stopped by a pair of guards at the village's enormous wall.

"Miss, what is your purpose here?" one of the guards demanded.

She frowned. What was her purpose? "Um…well, I guess I'm thinking of moving in here," she shrugged.

The second guard frowned and looked her up and down. "You are a ninja, aren't you? But I do not see a headband bearing your country's symbol on it. Where are you from, and what is your name?"

Wiping emotion off of her face, she gave the guard a very serious look. "My name is Kumiko. I do not know my birthplace, nor my last name, and I do not really belong to any country. I am hoping to find acceptance in this village and perhaps stay here."

'Gee, that didn't sound suspicious. They must think I'm nuts…I really need to get myself a last name," she thought sarcastically.

Furrowing his brows, the first guard asked, "So then you do not know how long you will be staying here?"

"That would be correct."

"Will you be staying with anyone?"

"Nope. I'll likely be staying at an inn." she sighed inwardly, realizing how deep she was likely digging herself.

The second guard stepped forward. "If you have no objections, I shall escort you to an inn where you will be staying."

Kumiko relaxed, "That would be wonderful because I have no idea where a decent inn is located."

"Follow me."

He took her through the empty streets of Konoha village. She recorded everything she saw, but there wasn't much to see at night. Eventually, they stopped at a small inn.

"If you choose to change inns, please report to gate entrance E 03 with the information of why you are moving and where you are moving to."

Kumiko nodded in agreement, the two of them exchanged polite bows, and then Kumiko ducked into the inn. She was relieved to find it wasn't too expensive for her current bank account size.

'But,' she reflected as she climbed into bed after a hot shower, 'I'm going to need to find a job so I can support myself. I mean, I can't not eat.'

Her stomach gave a growl of protest, reminding her she hadn't eaten anything since the previous night's dinner. Ignoring it firmly, she grabbed the pad of paper next to the phone and then small pencil next to it. Numbering her list, she wrote down the things she'd need to try and support herself.

'I get to actually try and live by myself…on my own…I haven't done that since…' she tried to think back that far, 'almost eight years…'

The question was, how long would it last? How long until her past caught up to her and forced her to see reality; that she could never live a normal life?

'There must be something I can do,' she mused bitterly. 'Something I can undo…'she snorted after a minute, '…someone I can kill…'

Sighing she glanced her list. It included things like getting a good job, finding an apartment, exploring the village…not getting shot at…

Frowning, she crossed off the last thing on the list. Being pessimistic was not going to help her at all. Especially if it was currently out of her control.

After a moment of thought, she scratched on something that she could control. It was a lesson she had learned a number of years ago, and she had stuck to it.

Do not trust anyone.

Deciding that would do it, she set the alarm clock beside her for seven in the morning, she rolled over and dropped off, falling into a series of gruesome nightmares.

She woke with a start, again, with a knife gripped tightly, flashes of bloody figures dancing around her head. Sighing almost exasperatedly, she dropped the blade and glanced at the little alarm clock that was due to go off within the next ten minutes. Deciding it would be futile to try to sleep for that short amount of time, she rolled off the bed and began her morning routine.

Once her hair was gleaming, her skin cleansed, and her teeth cleaned, she put on her life (clothes, weapons, and money) and left the room. Step one was to find a job. Once she accomplished that, she could prioritize what the money would be put towards. A real place to live would be first, but then all of the necessary house appliances and 'luxury' items would need to be numbered.

Wandering the slowly filling streets, Kumiko began to wonder where exactly she would want to work. Stopping next to a jewelry shop, she wondered what it would be like to work there. Stepping inside, she walked up to the counter.

"How may I help you?" the teenager at the desk asked brightly.

"Um, I'm looking for a job. I was wondering if you could use help."

Almost automatically, the boy's happy mask was whipped off. "Sorry, this shop's run by my family and we've got all the help we can get," he snorted.

Kumiko's face fell, "Very well. Thank you."

Stepping back into the street, Kumiko looked around at the village. The rising sun was casting an illuminating glow on every thing and the different coloured buildings gave off a cheerful air to everything.

'Illusion is all,' Kumiko thought absently and she continued down the street.

Pausing in front of a flower shop, she made up her mind and entered.

A teenaged girl sat behind the counter, reading a book. When the bell on the door jingles, she snapped the book shut and sat up.

"Welcome, Miss!" she said pleasantly. "All of our lilies are on sale today for half off!"

Glancing around at the pretty shop, Kumiko wandered up to the desk.

"I'm actually looking for a job."

"A job?"

"Yes. I'm new to Konoha. I'm wondering if I could work here, perhaps?"

The girl looked pensive for a moment. "Well, what's your name and how old are you?"

"I'm Kumiko, and I'm 21. Eh, I don't have a last name."

Raising her eyebrow, the girl said nothing to that comment and continued her interrogation. "What experience do you have in the floral industry?"

'Ah…now what?' Kumiko thought with disdain.

"Eh, I've never really worked with flowers before…" she said uncertainly.

"Hmm, well what kinds of skills do you have?" the girl asked patiently.

"Well, I'm somewhat of a ninja…"

The girls eyes widened. "A ninja? What is it about flowers that peak your interest?"

Her Patience with herself were close to snapping, driving Kumiko to blab out her issues to the girl, "I'm in desperate need of a job. I'm staying in an inn with very little money, and I don't know anybody here!"

"Oh," the girl blinked. "Wait one minute, please."

Swishing her rather extensive ponytail, she disappeared into the back room. Kumiko reflected on her decision of talking like that to the girl. She really shouldn't have told her all that, as she was a complete stranger and the information could possibly be used against her. Moments later, the girl reappeared with an older woman.

"Greetings, I'm the owner of this shop."

"Mother has some information that may be of use to you," the girl smiled.

"Ino, please go finish organizing those crates in the back," her mother gently told her.

Nodding, the girl left again, leaving Kumiko alone with her mother. "Ino tells me you are new here and are in need of a job. She also mentioned that you are a ninja and staying, currently, in an inn. To be truthful, you would be of little help to us here if you have no skills related to flowers, but if you go and see Lord Hokage, he may enlist you to a team. If you work as a ninja for this country, you will be given a free room, shared with other women of either your skill level or age, and you will earn money for your own meals through the missions you complete."

Kumiko's eyes widened. None of the other countries she had stayed in had had an opportunity like this for her. "Thank you so much. If I can repay you in any way, please let me know."

The woman shooed the comment off saying there was no need. She stepped outside the shop with Kumiko and pointed at the large, red building that could be seen for blocks around. "That should be where you'll find our Hokage."

"Thank you," Kumiko bowed.

The woman smiled and then returned into the shop.

She walked down the streets towards the building, past a woman with a laughing baby, past a group of guys joking about whatever was currently on their mind, past a trio of kids fighting in the street.

Out of the rabble of the fight, an apple flew towards her unguarded back. Spinning around, knife in her right hand, her left hand caught the apple. Frowning, she blinked at the apple, and then looked up at the kids.

Her stomach couldn't take it any longer. She bit into the apple, sucking in the sweet juice, and savoring every bit of it.

"Hey! HEY! That's mine!"

"Hm?" She looked at one of the kids. He had straw coloured hair and was wearing an orange jacket and a pair of pants that matched.

"That's. My. Apple!" he said as if she was stupid.

She cocked an eyebrow up. "You threw it at me, then?"

Growling, he replied, "I was throwing it at him!" He pointed to another boy, with dark hair.

"You missed," she told him very bluntly.

"Your aim sucks," the dark haired boy told him.

"Shut up, Sasuke! I knew it would miss!"

Sasuke gave the boy a very dry look.

Kumiko listened to her stomach and took another delicious bite.

You could see the vein pop on the boy's head.

"Give. It. Back!" he shouted at her, his own kunai knife ready.

Giving him a childish pout, Kumiko said, "I'd rather not. I haven't eaten for over 24 hours, you know."

"I spent my own money on that!"

"Oh, shut up, Naruto!" The girl finally spoke up, and whacked him on the head, "Didn't you hear her say she hasn't eaten any thing??"

"It's not hers, you know! She stole it from me!" Naruto protested.

"You threw it at me."

"Let it go, Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Wait! She's a ninja!" He eyed the kunai knife resting in her right hand. "That means I can fight her for it!"

Kumiko narrowed her eyes. "I would advise you against that. It's only an apple and it'll mean so much more to me if I can eat it. It's not worth you getting hurt."

What ever she said, it wasn't what Naruto wanted to hear. "I will not get hurt! I'm gonna be the next Hokage of this village, and I'll never get there if I don't get stronger!"

"You'll never get there if you're dead, either. You know that, right?" Kumiko reminded him.

He charged at her, and before he could blink, he was pinned on the ground with her on top of him, a knife at his throat.

He seemed shocked. She couldn't blame him.

"Now, let it go," she told him around the apple she had stuffed into her mouth.

"What's your name?" he asked her through gritted teeth.

"Kumiko."

"Just Kumiko? You pinned me, the Great Naruto, in under a second, and all you can say is 'Kumiko'?!"

"Just, Kumiko." She stood up and started continuing towards the large red building.

"You wait, Just Kumiko! I'll win next time! This I promise you…"

She waved, acknowledging she'd heard him, and took another bite of the apple.

'This is such a strange place,' Kumiko thought, as she approached the building, 'First, people seem weirdly friendly, second the colour scheme of the village is so bright and weird that it looks…kinda pleasant…and third, people will fight you for an apple…'

She opened the door to the building and entered. She looked at the signs hanging on the wall and picked the one that said 'Request Room'. She figured that was the reason she was here, to make a request, and if she was wrong, she could be redirected.

She pushed open the door labeled 'Request Room' and was greeted with a cheery atmosphere. There were several people lined up writing their requests down and handing them over to the people monitoring that particular table. On the far wall, Kumiko noticed another line of tables with a few ninja's sitting behind them. One of them was garbed in the traditional Hokage outfit, and he appeared to be talking to a team of ninjas. When he was finished, she approached him, looking around to make sure she wasn't messing up the organized system.

When she reached the table, he glanced up at her and she bowed respectively. "Would I be correct to assume you are Lord Hokage?"

He gave her a gentle smile, "You would indeed be correct. What can I do for you?"

"I'm in need of a job, and a place to stay, and I was told to come here because I'm a ninja."

"And where are you from?"

She faltered. "Well, I've never really stayed in one place, so I can't really tell you."

He smiled again. "What academy did you graduate from?"

"I graduated as a mist ninja some years ago."

"Well, I would be happy to give you a place to stay and attach you to a team, but I'm afraid I'm a little busy now. If you could meet me in my office here tonight at seven o'clock, then I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," she replied, turning to leave.

"One more thing," he added.

She turned back.

"What name do you go by?"

"Eh, Kumiko. I haven't a last name, either."

"Well, Kumiko, we'll see what we can do about that. I'm sure you'll be a citizen of Konoha by nightfall."

"Th…thank you," she bowed, a smile touched her lips.

It vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving no trace that it had been there. She began nibbling around the last of the apple core she held as she turned from the table.

"HEY! It's Just Kumiko! The Apple Thief!"

Kumiko coughed on the said apple. 'Good grief,' she thought, looking up. 'He's given me a title.'

It was the kid, Naruto, with Sasuke, and the girl. She was quite pretty, and her hair was a delicate shade of pink, with cat-green eyes. Standing with them was a man with a mask that covered the entire lower region of his face. His headband, bearing the Konoha leaf symbol, was lopsided and covered his left eye, and his silvery-white hair slanted towards the left. He wasn't much taller than Kumiko's 5'8", and she detected certain strength about him.

'Definitely a jounin,' she thought.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! I wasn't lying when I said some girl took it from me! I was going to give it to you, but she—"

He was cut off by Sakura elbowing him in the ribs, "You were not, you little runt! Don't lie to him!"

Kumiko decided it wasn't really any of her business, and started to make her exit.

"I'm not finished with you!" Naruto shouted after her.

She turned and looked at him. "You've made that perfectly clear. Whenever you want a rematch, come find me. Though I'm not sure what you're going to do about it. I pinned you in under a second. It was a cake-walk."

Naruto seethed, and started pulling back his sleeves in preparation to fight again.

"Team seven," Hokage interrupted, "I'm afraid the only task I have for you today is to baby-sit Mrs. Obara's triplets in half an hour."

The entire team visibly paled.

"You…you can't be serious!" Naruto stuttered, "You'd need, like, an entire ANBU team to watch that lot!"

"Can't we have, like, extra help!" a frantic Sakura pleaded.

"Extra help?" Hokage asked. "I'm afraid all of the other teams are already assigned to something. Surely they aren't that terrible."

Kumiko watched in amusement as the entire team practically quaked in their boots.

Hokage smiled behind his clasped hands and then said, "Kumiko…I don't suppose you have much to do for the rest of the day?"

Freezing in her tracks, Kumiko turned slowly back towards him. "Well…I…was…um…"

'Was what? Going to do my laundry in the river? Going to clean a house that doesn't exist? Hang out with friends I don't have?'

"I uh…I suppose I don't…"

"Then would it be alright if I volunteered you to work with team seven, who seem incapable of taking care of a trio of eight year olds?"

The jounin with the mask snorted under his breath, "You couldn't either, Hokage…"

"I suppose it could work…" Kumiko replied hesitantly.

"Wonderful!" Hokage smiled.

"You can pin me," Naruto said darkly as they left the building, "but can you pin a squad of demonic triplets?"

'Good question,' Kumiko thought. What she said out loud was, "We'll find out, won't we?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, "You're not upping my confidence."

"She's not supposed to, Naruto," his teacher told him. "We'd be doing this alone if she had better things to do."

"Great, so the Apple Thief is here to save our butts."

Sakura giggled, "Careful, you guys, I don't think Naruto's self-esteem can take much more."

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto whined, "You're not doing much to improve it…"

The girl shrugged.

Their teacher coughed. "Um, I suppose that because Hokage-sama didn't see the need to introduce us, I suppose I can make the necessary introductions."

He pointed to each of his subordinates in turn. "This is Haruno, Sakura." She smiled and dipped her head. "Uchiha, Sasuke." The boy looked her up and down and then gave the briefest of nods. "And Uzu—" He was cut off by the said person.

"That's Uzumaki, Naruto! I'm going to be Lord Hokage of Konoha village someday, so don't you forget it!!"

"…and I'm Hatake, Kakashi…" he finished, giving Naruto a side look that said he didn't really appreciate being interrupted.

"And you're Just Kumiko the Apple Thief!" Naruto pointed at her.

Kumiko shut her eyes and prayed to high-heaven that she would not do something to this kid that she would later regret. "It's, Kumiko. That's it. No title. Nothing. Not even a last name. Kumiko."

"Well, Kumiko, welcome to team seven," Kakashi interjected with a pleasant smile before things got serious with Naruto, again.

"Thank you," she replied shortly.

They continued to walk, and Kumiko took in every thing; from the colours of the flowers, to the children playing out front. She watched the puffy white clouds in the spring morning sky, and observed the emerald green grass. All the while she was looking around, Kakashi observed her. From her raven black hair that was braided and coiled at her neck, to her crystal blue eyes, to the full, red lips on her spotless face, to the shapely hips that were supported by her long, athletic legs. Her shoulders were broad, her waist was small, and she walked like a dancer.

'She's a bloody angel,' he thought.

Her eyes were sharp and were taking in everything around her from the beauty of it all, to all possible threats and dangers. He also observed that she was walking an inch behind him. Just an inch, and it was barely observable. But he was last of the group, and she didn't have anyone of them at her back, meaning she could see every one and what they were doing. He wasn't sure if it was coincidence or if she was paranoid. Maybe she just plain didn't know the way but didn't want to look disoriented. Maybe he was just stupid.

He glanced at his watch. "Eh, I do hate to rush us to our doom, but we need to be there within the next few minutes, so I suggest we speed up."

"Hai, sensei," the trio chorused…but nobody wanted to be the first to speed up.

He rolled his eyes and bounded up on to the first house and broke into a light run. He glanced back and found his subordinates following closely, and just behind them, Kumiko. Moments later, they landed on Mrs. Obara's doorstep and Kakashi reached out and rang the doorbell. No sooner did they hear the first ring echo inside the house did the door fly open.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid no one would show up! Welcome team seven," Mrs. Obara exclaimed.

She beckoned them into the house and closed the door behind them. "Now, the three of them are sleeping upstairs, and should do so for the next half hour. When they get up, all you need to do is heat up the macaroni and cheese in the pot for their lunch. They are to eat their lunch in the kitchen. After lunch, they can watch a movie, go outside, or play a game. I haven't prepared any dinner for them yet, so I'll allow you to poke around and find something. I should be home by 6:30. Ja ne!"

And with that she left. Kumiko, back to the wall, stared blankly at the door and then turned around just in time to see three devilish heads poke around the corner at the top of the stairs.

"Oh great," she heard Sasuke mutter.

"So," Kumiko looked around at everyone else, "how do you guys usually try to deal with them?"

"Uh, lock 'em in a room and then chase after them individually as they escape?" Naruto guessed.

Kumiko rolled her eyes and then looked at Kakashi for some form of command.

He blushed, "Eh, well, see, I don't really know much about taking care of kids, so if you want to contribute your knowledge…"

She gave him a dead look while one of the triplets at the top of the stairs at the top of the stairs twittered, "Hehe, it's the scary ninja with the mask!"

"Let's draw on it while he's sleeping!"

Kumiko gave Kakashi, who had made his way into the living room and had pulled out a book, an incredulous look. "You sleep while you baby-sit??"

He looked directly at her, "I never sleep while on duty. That would be irresponsible."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were now looking at her for some sort of direction. Sighing, Kumiko walked purposely up the stairs and stopped on the half-way landing.

"Right, you three," she addressed the triplets, "you've got to nap for the next half hour, so back to bed!"

The three of them frowned at her. "Nap time's over! We're gonna play!!"

She narrowed her eyes right back at them, "Oh, no you're not!"

"Yes, we are!"

Kumiko sighed, realizing this would get her nowhere. Then an idea popped into her head. "Guys, I really need you to nap for the next half hour, cause if you don't, I won't have time to prepare the surprise I planned for you."

Their greedy eyes widened. "A surprise??"

"What is it?" the girl of the group asked suspiciously.

Kumiko cocked an eyebrow at them, "If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

One of the boys replied, "We don't care. We want to know!"

"If I told you, I wouldn't be able to give it to you." Kumiko responded.

"How come?"

"Cause then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore!" She gave them her best "duh!" look.

The three of them frowned at her, curiosity peaked, but still wanting to play.

The ringleader said, "We'll think about it," and then the three of them clustered together and spoke in whispers. When they came to a conclusion, they said, "Alright, Lady, we'll go back to our rooms and nap for half an hour, but when we get up, you have to give us our surprise."

Her dark, threatening eyes lightened, "Excellent. Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke?"

The three of them looked up at her. "Please escort them to their rooms and stand guard. It would be a shame to have them sneak out and see what was being done before I'm finished."

They nodded at her, Naruto almost grudgingly, and then walked up the stairs to the triplets.

Sasuke reappeared at the top of the stairs and gave her the thumbs up, indicating they were in their rooms, and then left to stand guard.

Kumiko hopped back down the stairs and paused on the floor as Kakashi looked up at her from his book.

"So, what are you going to do?" he asked.

"Sorry?"

"You're surprise? What is it?"

She raised her eyebrows, "I'm going to go see what their mother left me to work with," she began to walk into the kitchen while Kakashi returned his attention to his book, but then she caught sight of the book.

"…what are you reading?"

"hmm?"

She was next to him, yanking the book out of his hands before he could blink. "You're reading PORN?? AUGH!! YOU'RE BABYSITTING!!! THIS IS JUST AS IRRISPONSIBLE AS SLEEPING ON THE JOB!!!"

"Hey!! I don't tell you what to read!! Give that back!"

"Ugh!! I think I'll go use it for kindling in the fireplace!!"

"OI! It's MINE!" Kakashi lunged for the book and Kumiko ducked and sent him crashing into the wall.

"Is there even a plot?" she asked with disgust while flipping the pages.

"Plot?" Kakashi asked from the floor.

She gave him a very exasperated look, "Yea, a plot! An actual storyline, as supposed to one graphic sex scene to another!"

"There's a plot!!" Kakashi protested, picking himself up for another attack.

She arched her eyebrow at him, "…really?"

"Yes," he sniffed indignantly and launched another attack, "but I'm not going to take the time to explain it to someone like you who would have no appreciation for it."

She ducked his attack and spun him to the floor to pin him, but he rolled out of it, turning the attack on her. She allowed him to pin both her arms and squish her to the floor, which made him frown. "Where's my book?" he asked with narrow eyes.

Kumiko smirked, "pinned between me and the floor."

"I'd like it back, please," he told her.

"Yes, well, I can't give it to you if you've momentarily disabled my arms with your arms. And I'm not double jointed enough to reach it with my toes," she added.

"…if I let go of one of your arms, will you pass it to me?" he reasonably asked.

"I would ask that you not read it while you're around children." She replied.

"I'll not read it when the kids are present," He bartered.

"Don't read it while I'm around either…" she muttered before agreeing to his terms.

He released her arm and she grasped around to grab it and the passed it over her shoulder to him. He took it from her elegant fingers, and then stood up from his position. Kumiko gracefully twisted up to her feet and then left the room for the kitchen. She gave no outward signs, but Kakashi sensed an air of sour discomfort at her defeat. He shrugged, taking it as a sign of being a poor loser, and then tried to return to his book.

Kumiko busied herself in the kitchen, first opening the pot on the stove to find the kids lunch, to take her mind off of the disturbing book. The macaroni was suffocating in the cheese, which was almost dried out, and then entire thing seemed to be super-glued to the pot. She wrenched the wooden spoon out of the mess and then looked at the entire thing with distaste. She dropped the spoon back into the pot with a clatter, and then closed the lid.

'I'd be evil if I was forced to eat that stuff, too,' Kumiko thought.

She began opening up cupboards and she searched through the pantry. At first, she felt dismayed because all she found were instant meals that only needed to be heated or just have water added, but when she looked a little harder, she eventually found the ingredients she needed and set about mixing them together in a wooden bowl she found. The smile on her face was light, and barely there, but the light in her eyes steadily brightened.

'I haven't really gotten to cook or bake in ages…' she thought wistfully.

Before long she was singing quietly under her breath, as she wandered over to find a cake pan. She reached up into the unorganized cupboard and noticed that the cake pan she wanted would cause an avalanche of pans, muffin trays, and pots. Standing on tip-toe, she put her arm up to keep the unwanted items in their cupboard, and tugged on the cake pan. Slowly, gently, she pulled it loose. Satisfied, she walked over to where the bowl of mixture was and placed the pan next to it. She turned, still humming lightly, when she heard a rattle coming from the cupboard. Glancing up, she watched as one pot rolled over the edge and she dove for it, catching it one handed.

So began the assault of the pots.

Now that the pot was out of the way, a large muffin tray slid on to an angle and jolted a poorly placed round cake tray out of place, which went spinning down out of the cupboard. Kumiko, who was just standing up with the pot, quickly reached out and snatched the cake tray with her other free hand. Unfortunately, the muffin tray that slid on an angle was now facing out of the cupboard. It began its decent and, frantically, Kumiko caught it between her forehead and the cabinet underneath the cupboard. This regrettably upset the entire cupboard, and the entire thing began to cascade down on to her.

Letting out a scream, Kumiko began to, unintentionally, catch pots on her head, and her outstretched foot. However, she couldn't catch all of them, as she had hindered herself by planting her head to the cabinet. Pots and pans clattered to the floor, and rolled off her back. They whacked her on the head, and knocked other pots she had begun to balance on her arms and leg.

Suddenly, one lone pot clattered to the floor, and then there was silence.

Kumiko let out the breath she had been holding, and then jumped when an unexpected voice spoke.

"Eh, Kumiko? I'm holding up the remainder of the pans with one arm, which means I only have one free hand. How can I best help?"

Startled, she quickly replied, "Nothing! No, just…just keep holding them."

"Really, it would be no trouble to assist you…" he trailed off when she didn't answer.

Closing her eyes, Kumiko breathed and concentrated her chakra to every pore in her body and firmly attached every pot that she had balanced to her. Slowly, just in case, she backed up. When nothing slid, including the muffin tray on her forehead, she walked stiffly over to the counter and released the muffin tray. It clattered to the counter. Steadily moving her right arm, she then plucked a pot off of her left arm. The more pots she removed, the faster she got and when she finished with her arms and leg, she began the difficult task of the few measuring cups on her back.

"At least allow me to help you here." Kakashi said from his position against the wall.

"If you insist in helping, you could put the pots on the floor back into the cupboard in an organized fashion," she replied testily, reaching around her back for the last two trays.

"Eh…I did that…"

She whirled around and looked at the stacked pots and pans sitting in their spot. She frowned.

"Well, I can do the rest of this myself," she informed him, "So you can go back to your…book…"

He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow at her. "May I inquire as to why you are refusing my assistance?"

She busied herself by pouring the batter into the cake pan she had originally grabbed and then placed it in the preheating oven. "Because," she turned to face him, "as you can see, I am practically finished here and I, unlike you, do not have something to do until the kids get up."

"Hmm…well, I could have sworn that you didn't like me, or something…" he said dryly.

Kumiko coughed profusely for a few seconds and Kakashi caught 'porn', 'perverted', and 'loser' out of the jumble of sounds.

He gave her an emotionless look.

Finally Kumiko told him, "You said earlier that you didn't know anything about babysitting."

Sighing, he closed his eyes, thinking 'That's an excuse…' and leaned his head back against the wall. "I said previously that I didn't know much about taking care of kids, not I can't cook or lift pots and help a person who needs it."

"Ah…right…" she blushed, embarrassed.

"Now then, if you need me, I'm in the other room."

She covered her eyes with her hands. She hadn't meant to make him feel unwanted, but she could really do it herself and if she could, why not do it? Also, she didn't know him at all, aside from his name, and she couldn't say he'd given her any reason to trust him. But she could give him something to do.

"You…you can make them something for lunch."

He stopped mid-stride in the doorway, "Lunch? Our client already made them lunch, I thought," he turned his head towards her. "…unless you did something to it, too?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I did nothing to it. However, it looks like it's been sitting there longer than I've been alive…"

"And how long is that?" he asked casually while wandering over to the pot to look.

"Twenty-one," she replied stiffly as she began organizing the pots remaining on the counter.

Kakashi peaked into the pot and looked at it incredulously. "At least it doesn't smell…I'd imagine it wouldn't be pleasant."

"What smell? It's plastic, isn't it?"

Kakashi dug into it with the spoon and it made a protesting 'shluck!'

"Yeaaa…I'll find the ramen…" he said while hastily closing the pot.

Kumiko marched over to the cupboard with her pots and pans and loaded them in. "Cabinet over there," she pointed. "Actually, I'll make lunch. You can wash the pot."

After the kids nap, they were all sitting around the table. The triplets (Rei, Miki, and Jiro) had started out slurping their ramen and attacking everybody with it until Kumiko threatened to hang them with it. When they didn't believe her, she demonstrated. Add some scary charka special effects and they were now being unnaturally polite.

Kakashi sat down at the table finally with his lunch.

Kumiko looked at him curiously, "How's the pot doing?"

"Eh…regular soap didn't work…neither did scrubbing it with baking soda…"

She waited patiently for him to continue.

"…so now it's soaking in drain cleaner. I'm hoping the chemicals will eat away at the stuff."

Kumiko choked on her ramen. "Drain cleaner? Are you sure it won't eat the pot?"

"Those pots are very durable," Rei spoke up. He shrunk down as everybody turned to look at him. "Um…is it…okay if I talk?"

Kumiko blinked, "Of course it's okay if you talk. Just don't misbehave…" she warned.

"Right, cause otherwise you'll hang us by our ankles, and you won't feed us and you'll tell mommy how bad we've been…" Jiro squeeked.

"She'll just feed you what's sitting in the pot," Naruto smirked.

"Continue please, Rei," Kakashi encouraged, while swatting Naruto about the head.

He coughed and continued. "As I was saying, those pots are very durable. Mom's a horrible cook. They'll withstand just about anything you do to them."

"Wonderful," Kumiko said, finishing her meal. She got up and went to the oven as it beeped.

All heads rose from what they were doing and looked curiously, as Kumiko pulled her finished cake from the oven.

"Is that our surprise?" Jiro asked, almost in awe of her.

She nodded as she pulled plates down from a cupboard and began to slice the cake and place it onto plates for everyone.

"What are we going to do after lunch?" Sakura asked as she nibbled her cake.

"We won't be stringing toilette paper around the house, will we?" Miki muttered, whipping crumbs from her mouth.

"What do you think, Miki?" Kumiko asked.

"Why don't we play a nice game of cards…" Kakashi tentatively suggested.

The triplets looked at each other with looks of disgust on their faces.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Kumiko agreed, collecting their dishes.

Hastily, the kids nodded and all agreed. They filed into the living room with the three genin close behind.

Kumiko frowned at the bowl and plate Kakashi was carrying to the sink, "When…when did you eat?"

"Eh? Oh, while I was at the table."

Kumiko gave him a very empty look, "No you didn't. You couldn't have. I would have seen it…"

He smiled at her and said nothing, unnerving her again.

At 6:50 the group of five was walking down the street towards the building they'd started in. Kumiko walked behind everybody else in the group and casually look around at the village as it began to light up. It had been a rather long, and sort of interesting day, and Kumiko couldn't wait to possibly sleep in a new room. Her room. Her home.

Kakashi observed her face becoming more hopeful the closer they got to their destination. She seemed to be anxious as they reached it, and he began to wonder about her. Why did she sometimes act so cold, and other times so excited about the smallest of things? Why didn't she put even the smallest amount of faith or trust into any of them when it was concerning her, and why wouldn't she smile? …And what was wrong with his book?

At the red building, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke left at Kakashi's word, and the two of them proceeded into the building. Kakashi took her to Hokage's office so she wouldn't get lost, and as he turned to check off the mission they accomplished for the day, he turned as she was about to knock on the door.

"Eh…if you ever need help or anything, I'll be around. I don't suppose you know many people here yet, if you're new, so I'll help, if you'd like, until you get settled…"

He turned and left down the stairs, but not before he heard a faint "Thank you" come from the nervous girl.

Shaken, Kumiko turned her attention back to the door in front of her. She'd either live as a ninja for this country and actually belong, or she'd be scraping to get by. She needed this opportunity and perhaps, she thought, she needed Kakashi's friendship. She'd take it for now, 'And,' she thought somewhat darkly, 'I'll introduce him to some different reading material when I get the money to buy him a new book…'

She raised her hand again to the door, and knocked. The sound seemed to echo throughout the entire building, signaling her doom.

There wasn't really any going back now, although, she reminded herself, where would she go? Here was her best chance and it wasn't getting away from her.

She was ready for the voice from within that beckoned her to enter, and she entered, swallowing her fear and nerves, and ready to determine the course of her future.

Wee hooray for my first chapter! I hope you liked it, and if you didn't really, I hope it gets better…

Yeeeaaaa… Please drop me a review, tell me what I did good, tell me what I can and should improve, and if I made/make any technical mistakes referring to original naruto facts, please don't hesitate to correct me.

I've already started on my second chapter, so go me… let's see if I can keep this up.

Cheers

-Kirara