I don't own anything you recognize. I'm just here to have a little bit of fun. See the end for a brief Author's Note.

Prologue: The Beginning

Night had settled over Konoha once again. People filled the streets talking and laughing as they went about their business. Among them were two young shinobi walking side by side in comfortable silence that came from years of friendship. The shortest of the pair, a young girl with pale blonde hair pulled into two loose pigtails munched happily on a stick of strawberry pocky. Her companion, a tall boy with gravity defying silver hair walked with his hands shoved deep in his pockets had an air of apathy around him that contrasted starkly against her visible good mood.

When her treat was gone the girl turned her dark eyes on the stoic boy beside her. She regarded him closely for a while in silent contemplation.

"What is it Mari?" the boy asked with a sigh in resigned exasperation.

Mari ignored his tone completely. "I was just thinking, ANBU operatives are supposed to keep their identities secret right?" she asked him clasping her hands behind her back.

He glanced at her from the corner of his one visible eye. "Yes."

Mari nodded. "I thought so. Which leads to my next question. Why are you wearing your uniform out in public? Isn't that sort of like slapping a sign on your chest that says ANBU?"

He stopped abruptly. Mari took a few more steps before she realized he'd stopped. She turned around to find him glaring at her. For a few seconds, she just stared back at him with her most innocent expression. Then she cracked into a fit of giggles.

"Oh lighten up a little Kakashi. If you keep acting so stiff you'll give yourself a hernia."

Kakashi started walking again. "Is that your advice as a medical professional?"

Mari fell into step beside him again and even went a step further by looping her arm through his. "As a matter of fact, it is. My second piece of medical advice would be to recommend that you have that stick up your ass removed."

"I think your medical advice is about as impressive as your fashion advice," Kakashi said sarcastically.

Mari gasped in fake offense. "I'll have you know that I stand by what I said that day. You could rock the crop top look. Or at the very least that black sleeveless shirt that practically molded itself to your abs." Her eyes took on a far-off daydream look before she shook her head bringing herself back to reality. "I'm sorry what were we talking about?"

"Well, to begin with, you suggesting that I loosen up, then somehow you got distracted by my abs," Kakashi told her sounding a bit amused.

"Don't go getting cocky on me Hatake. It's not as if your abs are the only ones I ever fantasize about." Mari chided him with narrowed eyes and a pout. "Some girls like guys for their eyes and smiles. I happen to like guys for their abs and butts."

"So what you're saying is that women objective men just as much as men do women?" Kakashi asked.

Mari rolled her eyes. "Hardly. But at least most women can retain a sense of dignity when they do it."

"Mari…you literally forgot what we were talking about because you got lost in thought thinking about my abs."

"Well, it's not like I said I was one of those women."

Kakashi chuckled softly shaking his head. This had taken an absurd turn but then again it was Mari so it should have been expected if not guaranteed. The little blonde was always going out of her way to try to make him feel better and despite his best efforts, she was pretty successful. His thoughts took a dark turn however as that unpleasant little voice in his head whispered that she would leave him, just like his father had, like Obito, like Rin. She'd leave and he'd be all alone.

Mari noticed his sudden mood swing. Her grip on his arm tightened slightly making him glance down at her. She looked concerned.

"You're worried about them aren't you? Minato-sensei and Kushina?" she said softly in almost a whisper.

Kakashi didn't say anything and kept staring ahead. Mari took his silence for confirmation and continued on.

"I have to admit I am too a little bit." She admitted in that same soft tone. "But then I tell myself that everything will be okay. After all, my great-grandmother went through the exact same thing and the seal stayed intact…I mean yeah it weakened…a lot…"

Mari's pathetic attempt at comfort was interrupted by the sudden, loud arrival of a certain spandex wearing, bowl-cut sporting shinobi demanding in his normal boisterous manner that Kakashi partake in another 'challenge'. Normally Mari would have been supremely annoyed with anyone crashing her and Kakashi's increasingly rare alone time, especially when it was Guy who was like her one true rival for Kakashi's attention. Tonight, however, his presence was greatly appreciated because it took both her and Kakashi's minds off of their respective worries.

After turning down each of Guy's proposed challenges Kakashi let out an annoyed sigh.

"Look why don't we just do rock, paper, scissors again?" he suggested.

Guy huffed in aggravation. "Oh come on! There must be something more exciting that we can do?"

"Yeah, Kakashi! Where's your sense of Youth!" Mari said giving him a cheeky look.

Kakashi gave her a sharp unamused look that she ignored. He looked back to Guy. "We've all got to get an early start tomorrow so why don't we just take a pass on tonight?"

Mari hung her head forward with a groan. "Ugh, don't remind me. I have to report in by five in the morning. I would like to have a little chat with whoever decided that anyone should function before at least eight in the morning. And by chat I mean I'd like to break their arms and legs."

"A mission is no excuse!" Guy said clutching a fist in the air. "I have all this pent up energy inside me so there's no better time than right now for some really rigorous training!" he pointed to the night sky. "Honest to goodness discipline and hard work will lead us to success in future missions!"

Mari and Kakashi had stopped walking at the point Guy had started pointing at the sky. Mari shivered as a sudden chill ran down the length of her spine. Her grip on Kakashi tightened a little bit. Where had this sudden sense of dread come from?

Guy whipped around on them clearly frustrated with the lack of reaction he was getting.

"Hey are you guys even listening to me one tiny little bit?!" he focused in on Kakashi. "You sure have gotten cold since you joined the ANBU."

Kakashi remained quiet unwilling to say anything about his position in ANBU to anyone. He hadn't even talked to Mari about it.

"I've heard the gossip. Everyone's saying you're really cold-blooded now." Guy told him. "I know we can't discuss the ANBU but we can't cast aside our friendship! Youth is short an –"

"Forget that for now." Kakashi cut Guy off. He glanced around. "Do you sense something strange? As if there were suddenly a dark chill in the air?"

Guy growled in frustration as he pointed an accusatory finger at Kakashi. "The only thing chilly is your attitude!"

"No Guy, I feel it too," Mari said. "Something's coming…and it's bad…real bad…"

Guy frowned at the both of them. "I don't feel anything. It must be your imag –"

An explosion from the center of the village drowned out whatever Guy was going to say. Mari instinctively turned towards Kakashi to shield her face as she braced her body against the aftershock. She opened her eyes to see a large ominous shadow with burning red eyes in the dust as it settled. For a beat, there was only silence before chaos broke lose. The Nine-Tails went on a rampage destroying anything and everything in its path.

Despite her years of training and all of the death and destruction she'd already seen on the battlefield, Mari was frozen to the spot as she stared at the creature that her cousin had held inside of her. She knew that removal nearly always leads to the death of the host.

Kushina…

She was broken from her stupor by a firm hand on her shoulder. Her eyes turned up to see Kakashi looking down at her.

"We've got to go. The third order all of us to gather." He informed her.

Mari nodded numbly and followed after Kakashi and Guy. Shinku Yūhi, the father of their friend Kurenai lead them to the forest outside of the village where she noticed a lot of their friends and fellow young shinobi were gathered. As they fell into place with everyone else Mari noticed the seals pinned up on the trees, that was when she realized they were being barred away from the fight.

"You younger shinobi stay away from the Nine-Tails," Shinku ordered them.

Kurenai huffed. "What do you mean?"

"This is domestic trouble, not a war against other villages there's no need for all of you to put your lives on the line for this," Shinku explained calmly.

"You've got to be kidding!" Kurenai snapped one of her hands clenched tightly in a fist.

"That's enough Kurenai, just calm down," Asuma whispered to her.

Mari tuned everyone out as she bit down on her thumb out of nervous habit. Her mind was racing with all of the worst case scenarios.

"Mari! There you are!"

She looked up, her teammate Rei and Genma making their way towards her. Rei looked uncharacteristically worried. The little blonde barely had time to brace herself before the taller brunette was throwing her arms around her.

"Thank god you're here! I was worried you were still in the village!"

Mari returned the embrace before noticing that their other teammate was missing.

"Where's Daichi?" she asked looking for the dark haired Uchiha.

Rei shook her head. "I dunno. I wanted to look for him but somebody," she threw a sharp glare over her shoulder to an unaffected Genma before looking back to Mari. "Insisted that we follow orders instead."

"I know it's such a pain, following the rules, especially in a life or death situation." Genma drawled lazily.

"Don't you something better to do than annoy me with every breath you take?" Rei snapped at him.

Genma gave her a sardonic smile. "Not right now."

"I hate you," Rei stated as simply as if she were commenting on the weather.

"And I hate you," Genma replied with the same ease.

Mari bit back the smile that was threatening to come forth. It was nice to know that even in the middle of something as completely terrible as this some things remained unchanged. No matter what was going on Genma and Rei would always be at each other's throats like a bitter old married couple. She left the two to their bickering and wandered over to Kakashi's side. The silver haired boy was staring off into space with a grave look in his eye. Mari gently grabbed his wrist making him look down at her.

"No matter what happens tonight, we still have each other," she said softly with a half-smile. "We'll always have each other."

Kakashi stared at her for a long drawn out moment before giving a short nod. He twisted his wrist in her grasp taking it into his own hand giving it a tight squeeze.

Long time no see you guys! Told you I'd have this up by Sunday, which from here on out will be posting days when I have something to post. School is my first priority so it's probably not going to be every Sunday. So brief note mainly for those who have been with Chained to You since the very beginning dating back to my first fic with Mari, Shinobi Hide and Seek. There is no connection anymore to that story. Mari has evolved in a completely different direction so now the only thing she has in common with her original is a first name and a connection to Kakashi.

My other note is this: This is an oc heavy story like all of my fics are so if you don't like those do yourself a favor and just click the red X in the top right corner of your screen. Don't waste your time or mine by leaving nasty comments about how much you hate ocs and how much mine suck. My other note is that this is a sort of fix-it fic for Naruto and Kakashi's lonely backgrounds. That was something that always bothered me so I feel like trying to give them a happier past and in my opinion a happier future. Just like with the oc thing, if you don't like it then leave.

Other than that I hope that you all liked this new chapter and I really hope you like my new direction for this story. Drop me a quick line if you did. If not then well, thanks for stopping by anyways!