Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**The Gift of Song**

**Chapter One**

By Boejangles

_Beta: Trowa no Miko, chronicxxinsanity_

-/-

Summary: FemNaru| Something odd happens after the sealing and there is no trace of the Kyuubi anywhere. Instead the girl meant to be the beast's container begins to show signs of a miraculous gift. However, this gift comes at a deadly price and also seems to catch everyone's eye. Naru doesn't seem to care about the gift; in fact, she'd prefer to be a princess and just dance and sing like the girls from her movies.

-/-

The white haired male stared down in awe at the squirming baby in front of him. "Sarutobi-sama, the Kyuubi is gone. I mean completely gone. There are no traces left of it in the seal."

The wizened Hokage furrowed his eyebrows together as he too looked down at the babe. "What does it mean"?

"I'm not sure sir, but the seal isn't right either." He pointed out how instead of the ink looking like the image on the paper laying next to the baby, it looked like a glowing sun. "I don't think the Kyuubi is free, I think the demon is truly gone."

The older man let out a relieved breath before sitting down in his seat. "Thank you Jiraiya, so the girl can live a normal life," he let out hopefully as he glanced down at the smiling baby on his desk.

"I'm not sure how normal her life can be starting as an orphan, but I suppose better than if she had been a container," the white haired male huffed out.

Playing with the newborn's hand, the older man smiled sadly. "I suppose you are right. I have no idea where this miracle came from, but I am thankful."

-/-

"Naru!" the older woman chided the three year old that was running down the hall with a handful of cookies. "You drop those this instant or you will be on nursery duty"! The threat did not seem to deter the toddler, who simply giggled like she was playing a great game.

Blonde hair bounced behind the barefoot girl that took a sharp turn down a hallway. The small girl made it into the playroom and plopped down in front of the television. Blue eyes transfixed upon Hercules while a small hand popped a cookie into her mouth.

"Gotcha!" the same woman from earlier said as she grabbed the small girl's shoulders and swooped the pile of cookies from the girl. "Now how many times have I told you that the cookies are for after dinner?" the woman asked and tapped her shoe impatiently.

"But they don't taste as good as when they are fresh," the small blonde attempted to argue.

"That is no excuse young lady, tonight you have to help in the nursery." The woman shook her head and turned to leave the room.

Grinning, the blonde pulled out two cookies she had hidden under her dress and popped one happily in her mouth. She did not like helping in the nursery. It usually included her needing to be very, very quiet and moving really, really slowly as to not disrupt any of the babies. Casting that to the back of her mind, she stood up and danced as Meg, the heroine of the movie, began to sing.

-/-

Naru huffed as she was pushed to the side so that one of the nannies could make their way to the fussing babies. She wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do to help, so she just stood out of the way.

The woman rocked the feverish baby in her arms before passing the child to the seated blonde toddler. "Help calm him, sing or something."

Blue eyes squinted for a second before finding the perfect song. Smiling, she pulled the child close to her chest. "Stay awake, don't rest your head. Don't lie down upon your bed. While the moon drifts in the skies, stay awake don't close your eyes."

The woman turned to look at the small girl who was actually singing quite beautifully as the child in her arms began to calm slightly.

"Though the world is fast asleep, though your pillow's soft and deep; you're not sleepy as you seem. Stay awake, don't nod and dream. Stay awake, don't nod and dream," Naru finished as she slid a finger across the sleeping baby's cheek.

Standing astonished, the woman moved to take the sleeping child and found the infant's fever was gone and was sleeping quite peacefully. She thought she must be imagining things. Where her thoughts were taking her was completely insane.

Setting the baby down in its crib, she approached the small girl. "Naru darling, how would you like to sing that lullaby for some of the sick children in the infirmary"?

Blue eyes looked up into brown with a puzzled gaze. "I no longer have to help in the nursery"?

"No dear, not if you go down and sing for the other children."

The three year old nodded happily. While babies were cute and all she was always afraid when they cried. She always thought she would break one or something.

The older woman led the girl down to the infirmary. Holding onto the girls shoulders, she offered a reassuring squeeze before prompting the girl to sing. The small blonde sang the exact same lullaby she had sung before and looked to the older woman for approval when she was finished.

Looking around in disappointment, she realized that none of the children looked better. She offered a smile to the child. "You did wonderful, let's get you to bed." Turning to lead the child out of the room, she caught her reflection in the mirror. A startled cry left her lips as both of her hands came to her face. She simply couldn't believe what she was looking at. The wrinkles had vanished from her face and a very younger version of herself was staring back at her. Shooting her attention to the child, she stared in amazement.

"Madam, did I do something wrong?" Naru asked, worried since the woman was looking at her with such a strange expression.

"No darling, you have done nothing wrong," the woman confirmed as she wrapped her arms around the young girl. "I was simply startled is all. I am going to tuck you in and maybe we can come sing again tomorrow." The blonde yawned and nodded in agreement, wanting to slip to sleep.

After putting the three year old to bed, the caretaker quickly ran to meet the other woman who helped run the orphanage. When the other woman spotted her she let out a squeak.

"Meizu! What has happened to you?" the other woman was up on her feet and investigating her best friend closely.

"Amaya, it was incredible. Our little trouble maker was singing and holding a baby who was on the verge of having scarlet fever and then the baby's fever was gone like that. Then I had Naru sing again and this happened to me!" the woman exclaimed as she moved quickly around the room and threw her arms around.

Amaya was moving towards the door instantly. "We must inform the Hokage of this at once. He will want to look into it."

"No!" Meizu cried out. "We can't do that. Not yet. You know as well as I what it is like out there. Once they know of whatever miracle this is, Naru will lose her life to their world. We must wait."

The other woman looked appalled. "Do you understand what you are talking about? This is borderline treason you speak of. If what you are saying is true, think of how much the girl should be doing."

"I know," the now younger looking girl attempted to placate while resting a hand on the other's arm. "But, at least let the girl have a childhood before that." Amaya seemed to think the words over before finally bowing her head in defeat and falling back in the chair. She wanted to see the girl in action though, see that it was actually true and not just a bizarre coincidence.

The next day, Naru was led back to the infirmary by both of her caretakers after breakfast and watching the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Meizu leaned down next to the girl before whispering, "When someone is sick or hurt, a gentle touch and a song can make them feel better."

The Uzumaki nodded happily before bouncing over to a boy who had twisted his ankle playing ball. She understood the concept. A lot of times in her movies people began to feel better after a song was sung, so it only made sense.

The caretakers watched in amazement as all five of the previously fussy children were able to return to playing after the small child danced around the room, singing and playing with the other children's hair and such. Sharing a look between them, both women knew eventually it would have to come out, but for now the girl would simply be a child.

-/-

Amaya paced around the room. "Meizu, we have to"! The caretakers were currently discussing their most peculiar charge, a six year old named Naru. They knew for a fact now that the girl simply had to touch someone while singing to heal them. It was this fact that brought the women to their discussion. Their beloved Hokage had fallen victim to a strange illness that had the hospitals baffled and they were unsure where to find Lady Tsunade.

Meizu looked across the room at her friend and nodded her consent. "You are right, I'll take her. You stay here and watch the children."

Sitting in front of the glowing box called a television with one hand in a box of animal crackers and the other on a cup of juice, a beautiful girl with sunny blonde hair that flowed to her mid-back was watching Anastasia, while saying all of the lines along with the movie. The girl had become nearly obsessed with the orphanage's movie collection to a point where her reality revolved mostly around concepts from them.

"Naru," the older woman called from the doorway, "we are going to go on a little trip to see one of my friends. He has become really sick and I want to visit him and thought you could come with me."

The girl bounced up with a smile. "Do you think if I sing to him he will feel better"?

Picking up the small girl, the woman smiled. "I believe he would like it a lot if you would sing for him."

-/-

Ushering the small girl into the room, Meizu waved off the shinobi that moved to stop her and mouthed 'just watch'.

Unsure at first, the small blonde moved towards the male laying in the bed in the center of the room. She crawled onto the bed before looking down at the old man. She supposed he could have been her great, great grandfather and almost giggled. Looking over at her caretaker who smiled at her, she turned back to the man she simply knew as a friend of some sort.

Her small hand moved to grip the older man's hand before closing her eyes. "Heart don't fail me now. Courage don't desert me. Don't turn back now that we're here. People always say, 'life is full of choices.' No one ever mentions fear; or how the world can seem so vast, on a journey to the past."

The ninja in the room watched curiously, wondering why this woman brought in a small child that was only singing. However, on closer inspection they noticed that their Hokage wasn't shaking anymore.

"Somewhere down this road, I know someone's waiting. Years of dreams just can't be wrong. Arms will open wide; I'll be safe and wanted. Finally home where I belong. Well starting now I'm learning fast, on this journey to the past." Sarutobi was no longer sweating and the color had returned to his face. "Home, love, family- there was once a time I must have had them too. Home, love, family- I will never be complete until I find you. One step at a time. One hope then another. Who knows where this road may go. Back to who I was, on to find my future. Things my heart still needs to know. Yes, let this be a sign, let this road me mine, let it lead me to my past and bring me home at last."

There was silence in the room as everyone except a small blonde girl stared at a healthy brown haired male where a sick gray haired man had laid. The man's eyes began to open as he stirred in his sleep.

Slightly frightened, Naru jumped off the bed and ran to hide behind her caretakers legs. While she was the queen of the orphanage, she tended to slowly warm up to new people.

The Hokage opened his eyes completely before moving to sit up. He looked around for Tsunade, his beloved student. However, he did not find the woman in the room. He wondered if the woman had healed him and then taken off again. He definitely felt much better than he had in a long time. In fact, his body felt as good as new.

"Sir," one of his ANBU asked with a shaky voice, "how are you feeling?"

Sarutobi turned with a smile, which looked a little odd on the younger man's face. "Healed completely. Where is my lovely student, is she at the bar or has she taken off"?

"Sir, she was never here."

The brunette looked around at his men in wonder as he received nods before one finally pointed to the two women standing next to the doorway. "Did you do this?" the question was directed at Meizu, who shook her head before nudging the blonde girl to step out.

Stepping out from behind her caregiver, Naru put on the biggest smile she owned. "Hello sir, I sang you a song to make you feel better. I am glad that you are well."

The Hokage stared in wonder at the small child. It was unheard of for such a small child to know any healing jutsu, let alone have the reserves to perform them. Perhaps it was some bloodline new to Konoha. "You must have a lot of chakra little one."

The blonde pouted her face cutely. "What is chakra"?

Meizu decided to step in before the conversation could go any further. "Your majesty, do you believe it is possible for us to speak in private"? Since Sarutobi's curiosity was piqued, he consented and had his ninja leave the room. The woman began to explain the story that revolved around the strange six-year-old, before apologizing for keeping the girl a secret.

The older male had to find a mirror and get over a great deal of shock before he believed the woman's words completely. It was a strange phenomenon. It was possible that it was a bloodline trait, but through the conversation he had learned who the girl was and knew both of her parents. He wondered if perhaps it was some after affect of the Kyuubi vanishing. However it came about, it definitely wasn't a gift to overlook. He could already see what this could do in the battle field. It seemed that when the child healed it took absolutely no chakra or energy besides that which it took to sing, which was next to nothing.

Looking over at the small child, who was humming to herself and ignoring the grown-ups who were talking about her, he noted that she was at the age for entry into the academy. He couldn't simply ignore this incredible gift. Lifting himself up, he walked over to the girl and sat next to her on his couch.

"You have quite a special gift, little one," Sarutobi spoke softly as he looked at the girl. She returned the look with a large smile before turning to look at her guardian. Naru had been told several times that she was special by her caretakers, but always thought that it was the same kind of special that made everyone different.

"I don't think I understand," the girl said quietly.

The older man smiled at the girl before attempting to clear things up. "What I mean is that I believe you would make a wonderful ninja. In fact, you are just the right age to enter the academy with other children. How would you like to be a ninja"? If he was expecting any type of reaction, it definitely wasn't the one he got.

The girl seemed to huff as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest and nearly stuck her nose into the air as if the idea of being a ninja was such a lowly thing. "I would not like to be a ninja. I am going to be a princess." The statement came across so matter of fact that it took well-trained self control for the adults in the room to keep from laughing.

With a twinkle in her eye, Meizu slid up and crouched next to the girl. "Naru, darling, what about Mulan? Isn't she a warrior, like a ninja"?

The blonde scrunched up her nose and shook her head. "Mulan isn't a princess and she makes herself look like a boy!" the declaration came out with so much emotion, that the older male couldn't help a single chuckle from making its way up his throat.

Pausing, the older woman thought for a second while tapping her chin. A smile lit up her eyes as she tried again. "Well, what about Esmeralda? I know you like her. She is a gypsy and that is kind of like a ninja."

The six year old seemed to roll this around in her mind. She did in fact like Esmeralda very much. Finally, she gave a single nod. "I suppose I can be a gypsy until I become a princess."

Neither of the adults decided to correct her about really being a ninja, not wanting the girl to change her mind. Meizu took in a deep breath; she had known this day would come, but had hoped it wouldn't come so soon. However, she also knew that if the girl was going to become a ninja, she would have to start now.

"I am glad you have come to this decision," Sarutobi spoke with a smile. "Classes started last week, but I am sure you will have no problems starting a little late." The statement was completely true; the first couple of days were spent simply getting a feel for the level of the class. In reality, the first couple of years of the academy were spent focusing on regular curriculum taught in all schools with a very small focus on ninja training.

Smiling, Naru moved off of the couch to stand next to her guardian. She was glad that she had managed to make both of the adults happy. Even though she liked to have things her way, she really liked when she could make others happy.

As Meizu took her charge's hand she silently wondered if she should warn the older male about the girl's peculiarities, but, with a grin, decided she should leave it as a surprise.

-/-

The next day brought Naru walking up the steps to the academy, before quickly finding her classroom. A few heads turned to find the source of jingling near the door. They found it to be a blonde girl wearing a peculiar dress. The dress started white around the chest and the sleeves, and then switched to teal and gold stripes along the waist before flowing the rest of the way down to her ankles in a soft purple cover. A darker purple fabric with what looked like small gold disks was tied around her waist, and was the cause of the jingling. The outfit was completed by a pink fabric that was tied in the blonde hair as a headband. The girl's guardian spent the past two nights sewing the dress together in hope that it would encourage the girl on first day learning to be a "gypsy" if she looked like Esmeralda.

The few children that had taken notice of the girl weren't quite sure what to make of her. They had never seen her before and she didn't really look like much. In fact, she looked small and scrawny and like she wasn't cut out to be a ninja at all.

Looking up from his lesson plan for the day, the instructor looked up and cocked his head at the unusual girl. He had been warned that another student would be joining his class, but he wasn't expecting anything so eccentric. The girl definitely needed a lot of work if she intended to be a ninja. He had never met a student that actually attached items to themselves to make their presence known.

The girl seemed to look around before making her way directly up to the desk of the male looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Hello sir, I am to join your class today. Where would you like me to sit"?

Idly wondering if he should tell the girl to remove the object making the ever slightest jingle each time she took a step, he decided that at this level he would let the girl have her fun. Taking a look around, he noted a seat open next to a Nara that was already sleeping. He pointed to the open seat before opening his mouth, "Please go sit over there."

Naru nodded before bounded up the class room steps with the sound of little bells in her wake. Upon taking her seat, she smiled at the two males to the left of her; one was munching on a bag of chips and the other's head was against the desk attempting to sleep. The one who was eating raised his hand in greeting.

"Tch. This is troublesome. You make a lot of noise blondie," came a tired drawl from the boy with his face pressed against the wooden surface of the desk.

Said 'blondie' pouted her lips cutely before leaning back in her chair. "I like it," and that was all she said on the matter. Turning her attention to the front of the classroom she ignored the repeated "troublesome" from the boy beside her.

The teacher began droning on about words and sounds and how to recognize letters on paper more efficiently. Everyone was expected to be able to read a little bit by this point and the male was focusing on refining the skill. Eventually the droning turned to math, the evil little thing, and the concepts behind it. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the class was broken up into male and female groups and shipped off for the shinobi training.

The girls were lead to a field and sat down before having the importance of flower arranging explained to them. Naru was excited; she liked flowers. She thought they were beautiful and loved the way that they smelt. She didn't quite understand what the woman meant about it being a valuable skill, but she was happy none the less. After the woman stopped talking, they were dismissed to try their hand at flower arranging.

The blonde ran off and danced around as she began picking flowers and humming to herself. She was disrupted from her song by crying on the other side of a bush to her left. Making her way around to the other side, she watched as a platinum-haired blonde crouched down and talked to a pink haired girl about her forehead before pulling the girl's hair back with a red ribbon.

Taking a few more steps forward, she made her presence known by leaning down in the pink haired girl's face. The still sniffling girl moved back with the invasion into her space. "Nope," the sunny haired blonde said bluntly before seeming to evaluate the girl further. "Yup, definitely not as bad as Quasimodo and nowhere near as bad as Ursala." Naru scrunched her face up and placed her finger on her nose before looking over at the other girl and smiled. "You both are so pretty, you could be the Bimbettes!" she exclaimed with a huge grin. She knew in her mind that the girls would be known as this, at least until a better title came along.

The platinum blonde had a puzzled look on her face; she had no idea what the girl was talking about, but understood that she was called beautiful and smiled. "Hi, my name is Ino. I haven't caught your name."

Looking from one blonde to the other, the previously crying girl wiped away the last of her tears. She was feeling a lot better now that two people had reassured her that she wasn't as ugly as the previous girls had teased. Her face turned a pretty shade of pink at being called pretty and she smiled. "Thank you, my name is Sakura. What is your name"?

"Naru!" the girl proclaimed proudly. "I'm a gypsy." The statement puzzled the other girls. The girls had heard of gypsies before, but had been told they were killers and thieves that hardly existed anymore. Sharing a look between themselves, they decided that the more delicate looking girl didn't know what a gypsy was.

"Well it is nice to meet you Naru," Ino said while helping the pink haired girl stand up. "Let's go get us some flowers."

The girls were allowed to run around and collect flowers for a while longer before being called back and having their flowers examined. After that the girls were dismissed to go home.

-/-

The following morning had Naru running along the path to the academy jingling all the way. Finally making her way inside, she plopped down next to the same two boys she sat next to the day before. Looking over at the munching male she raised an eyebrow and pointed to the snoozing boy. "Does he always sleep"?

The slightly chubby boy nodded. "He likes to take things easy and not really stress about stuff."

A grin lit up the blonde's face. "Oh I get it, Hakuna Matata," she said matter a factly before relaxing back in her chair. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she smiled. She believed she had found her Timon and Pumbaa. She wanted to test how it felt on her tongue. "So, Pumbaa, why does Timon think things are troublesome"?

Choji choked slightly on his chip before everything the girl had said registered in his mind and a heartfelt laugh flowed from his mouth that caused him to clutch his sides. Shikamaru 'tched' from where he had been pretending to sleep, before a smile slowly formed on his face. He had to admit the girl was interesting.

"Well 'Timon' thinks things are troublesome, because most things are troublesome," the boy said without raising his head from his desk.

Looking from the still laughing boy to the one that just spoke, she answered with a simple, "That's silly," before everyone's attention was turned to the front for lecture.

-/-

The first year of the academy went by without a hitch. Naru was growing to like being a gypsy greatly. She had even made a few friends in the form of the Bimbettes, Timon, and Pumbaa. The latter two took a while to warm up to her, but soon enough were indeed good friends. On days that homework wasn't assigned, the three would have a picnic before watching the clouds and arguing over what shape the white wisps were in.

The seven year old strutted into the park carrying a larger basket than usual for the picnic. They would always switch off who would bring the food, and today was her turn. The boy's were in for a treat as well seeing as it was the last day of break before the academy started again. Today the sunny blonde wasn't wearing one of her normal gypsy dresses, but instead was wearing a plain blue dress with a white apron over it. A small green top hat was tipped to one side of her head and held in place by green string that wrapped behind her ears and under her hair.

Opening the basket she began setting up little cucumber sandwiches, three tea cups, a tea pot, and a large cake in the center. As the boys approached, they evaluated the layout. Naru was eying them with a foxish grin. Sitting down in their proper places, Shikamaru decided to be the one to ask what they both were thinking, "Whose birthday is it?"

"Oh silly Timon," the girl waved him off. "It's no one's birthday." Setting her hands on her hips she took a breath and smiled. "It's a very merry unbirthday to me, to me. A very merry unbirthday to you, yes you. So come congratulate us with another cup of tea. A very merry unbirthday to you!" The girl sang out before picking up her tea cup, prompting the boys to do the same and taking a sip before jumping up and dancing around to the tune only she heard. She leaned down between the boys before speaking seriously. "Now statistics prove you've one birthday. Imagine just one birthday every year. Ahhhh, but there are three hundred and sixty four unbirthdays. Precisely why we are gathered here to cheer."

She took a step back and dramatically put her hand on her chest before changing her voice. "Why then today is my unbirthday too! In that case, a very merry unbirthday to me, to you. A very marry unbirthday for me, for you. Now blow the candles out my dear and make you wish come true. A very merry unbirthday to you"! Naru finished singing and plopped down into her seat with a huge grin on her face.

Both of the boys had grown accustomed to the girl's antics. She was always a theatrical one and was on a constant lookout for a reason to sing or dance. Shikamaru raised his tea cup to the blonde with a small smile. "Well a merry unbirthday to you, blondie." Choji laughed with his friend before holding his tea cup up to the blonde as well. "Yup, merry unbirthday"!

Naru grinned before clapping her hands together. "Now cake!" she exclaimed, much to Choji's joy, and cut out pieces for them all to eat.

-/-

The next day placed all of the children piling into their assigned classrooms according to their level of training. A sunny haired blonde ran in before tackling a pink haired girl with one arm and a platinum blonde with her other arm. "Bimbettes!" was screamed as the small bundle pulled the two girls into a tight hug.

Giggling, the girls returned the excited hug. "Hey there gypsy," the pink haired girl said affectionately. It had been Ino's idea to give the blonde a nickname since she had bestowed one onto both of them, so they decided to use the title the girl used to introduce herself when they first met.

Giggling herself, Naru released the two girls and made her way over to her desk next to her boys. When class began, everyone was happy to find that the class was now being split fifty-fifty between normal academics and shinobi based training. The first half of ninja practice was together as a whole and the second half was segregated into male and female.

Today's training started with learning Taijutsu stances and repeating punches over and over. Girls were released to learn the basics of tea ceremonies and the males went on to strength training.

-/-

The class schedule remained like this for a few weeks before the teacher decided that it had come time for some sparring matches to test how much the children had learned. The first few fights were unremarkable with the children showing standard improvement in their Taijutsu. That was until a small blonde and a male with a brunette mop of hair was called into the ring.

The small girl bowed before stepping back into her stance. The male scratched the back of his head before looking to the proctor with a 'do I have to' glance; he really didn't want to fight a girl. He had just started to bond with his fighting partner, so he set his dog down and told him to go sit on the side of the arena.

"Kiba, Naru, I want to see a clean fight, and go," the teacher spoke before stepping out of the ring.

Naru seemed to scrunch her nose up in a thoughtful way looking from the boy to the dog and back to the boy. The boy looked kinda like a dog himself. She grinned to herself. "Come on, Tramp, let's show them what we got."

Mistaking her friendly nickname for an insult, Kiba lashed out and landed a blow to the girl's small chest.

With an 'oof', Naru landed on her butt. Dusting herself off, she stood back up and took her stance again. With a smile gracing her lips, she attempted to send her fist into the boy's chest, but missed when the brunette side stepped.

Spinning around, the male kicked out his foot and made solid contact with the girl's right arm that rose up to block. There was a sickening crack that filled the air. Kiba stumbled and rushed to the blonde's side worried that he had broken her arm. He didn't think he had hit that hard.

However, the girl only took a step back and didn't show any signs of pain. She continued her stance and used the same arm that was just hit to punch the boy in the face. He had been so concerned about the girl's well being that he took the hit to the face. Upon impact however, an unstable fracture of the girl's right radius became an open fracture as the bone slid through the skin.

Naru blinked several times at the bone sticking out of her arm and knew for a fact that it shouldn't be doing that. Yet for some reason all she did was look to her teacher and tilt her head as if asking what to do.

Kiba stared from the ground, appalled at the sight of blood running down the girls arm and feeling awfully guilty for doing that to her. The teacher rushed forward and grabbed the Naru's arm holding it in manual stabilization. He had never seen someone punch their bone out of their arm. Dismissing the rest of the kids, he rushed the blonde to the emergency department of their hospital.

With well-placed traction and a mending jutsu, Naru was able to leave the hospital with her arm wrapped tight in an ace bandage and held to her chest with a sling. Instead of going back to the orphanage, the girl was surprised to be called to see the old man she had met a year or so ago. She had learned after their encounter that the man ran the entire city.

"Hello Mufasa," the small child said affectionately as she walked into the Hokage's office. The older male smiled back at the child. It had taken him completely by surprise the first time the child referred to him as such, but after talking to her two caretakers he learned that girl's reality had mixed with that of the movies she watched, and she viewed him as the brave protector over all of the people.

"Hello, little one, I heard that you had an accident today while sparring; how is your arm? Does it hurt?" his voice was soft and gentle as he questioned the girl.

Shaking her head in the negative, the blonde jumped into the chair before Sarutobi. "Didn't hurt one bit."

Nodding his head gravely, the Hokage steepled his hands in front of his face. He had feared that. When the injury was reported to him, like all serious injuries sustained in the academy were, he had taken the liberty to question both of the blue eyed girl's guardians about her injury habits. He was unsettled to learn that Naru had never complained of any pain ever, even when she sliced her hand while helping cook. The two women had chalked it up to a high pain tolerance, but after this, he feared it may be something more serious.

"Little one, if you don't mind, I would like to have my doctors run a few tests to make sure you are really alright." The blonde nodded her head. If her Mufasa thought that something was for the best she would do it- she trusted him.

After hours of being poked and prodded the girl was allowed to go home, and the Hokage was given a stack of papers to sort through. Once finished reading the medical report, he wanted to cry. The girl was almost incapable of being a ninja; that was unless he wanted to use her for a suicide mission. It appeared the girl had a muted version of a rare disease called Riley Day Syndrome. It caused the one infected to not feel pain or changes in temperature along with a shopping list of other affects. He knew that most of the affects the girl did not possess, he was unsure whether or not the girl had temperature regulating capabilities, since Konoha always had mild weather. The disease would also explain why the girl was so much smaller and fragile looking than the rest of girls her age. The only known treatment for the symptoms the girl displayed was protecting the victim from injury.

Resting back in his chair, he sighed. The only way the girl could be a ninja was to be untouchable. After one hit the girl would have to back out since she wouldn't know if she was gravely injured or not. That was a prospect: make her untouchable. It was almost impossible, but it was an interesting thought. He decided that until he contemplated the matter more, he wouldn't remove the girl from her classes. Instead he simply decided to tell the teachers that when any spars occurred, she was only allowed to fight until she received a single hit; after the first hit she was to be taken out of the match and examined.

-/-

The next day, the Hokage explained to the spunky little blond about her condition and the precautions he was setting up to keep her safe. She had been confused at first, but eventually conceded to follow his protocols. That same day, a nervous Kiba apologized for hurting the girl and sought forgiveness. When 'Tramp' was forgiven, he almost had a fit until the girl explained it to him and he laughed it off.

The next couple of months passed on with relative ease as classes carried on. The peace was disrupted with a massacre. An entire clan, save one small boy, was completely wiped out. One of the most powerful clans in Konoha reduced to ashes in one night. An ANBU and heir of the clan, Itachi Uchiha, went rouge and slaughtered his entire family before taking his own life. In the mess of guts and blood one boy, Sasuke Uchiha, was dubbed the sole survivor.

The boy was found covered in blood with his throat slashed, but with a faint pulse. The hospital worked around the clock to stabilize Sasuke. The night was filled with medical jutsu and blood transfusions. However, when the sun broke through the darkness of night, the doctors believed that he would make it. It was another five hours before the last Uchiha left the operating room. It took another three days before he left intensive care.

On the fifth day, Sasuke finally woke up. The Uchiha was a complete mess and refused to speak with anybody. His brother had killed his entire family- had tried to kill him. The boy didn't even have a chance for answers since the older male left the world without any indication as to why he went on a killing spree. The raven haired male was alone, completely alone and didn't even know why. He wasn't sure if any answer would have satisfied his despair, but the fact he would never know caused something inside him to scream.

Laying in bed and staring up at the ceiling, he wondered why he had made it and no one else had. He wasn't the strongest of his clan and after seeing who his attacker was, he definitely wasn't the one with the strongest will to live. He had felt so betrayed and hurt that he had almost accepted death. But he didn't die. Instead he was forced to live while everyone else was gone. A voice in his head screamed that he should have died along with them.

Fingering the bandage around his neck, he broke down and began to sob. He had no purpose in life; nothing to keep living for. His body went numb as he sank back into the mattress. Maybe it was a mistake and he would drift off to sleep and never wake up again. With this in mind, he closed his eyes and drifted off to a nightmare-filled sleep.

The boy was disappointed when he woke up the next morning… and the morning after that. He accepted that he wasn't going to die when a week had gone by and the doctors kept commenting on his improving health. One more week went by before the doctors were prepared to release Sasuke, and were simply waiting on the Hokage who wanted to come down personally to discharge him.

Walking into the small Uchiha's room, Sarutobi smiled at the boy who looked so broken. He sat down in the chair next to the bed and evaluated Sasuke. He had feared that the boy would be like this, but had hoped otherwise. "Hello Sasuke."

The smaller male turned and looked at his village leader with blank eyes. He had spent a lot of time thinking these past couple of weeks and was left feeling more and more empty with nothing to live for. "Sir Hokage," his voice was a little rough from having rarely used it and his nearly healed neck injury.

With a twinkle entering his eye, the Hokage had an awfully cunning idea. He could kill two birds with one stone, and feel damn proud of it. Hiding his smile, he sat up straight and the air about him became utterly serious. "Uchiha Sasuke, I have an S-ranked mission of high priority that I feel you are best suited for. Are you willing to take it"?

Curiosity entered charcoal eyes as the boy straightened in the bed and gave the older male his rapt attention. "What is the mission Lord Hokage"?

Sarutobi had to force the twitching of a smile to smooth into a neutral expression. It seemed the boy indeed still had a fire inside of him, it just needed some direction. He thought his next words over in his head, wanting them to sound as important as possible to catch the boy's attention. "Your mission, if you choose to accept it, would be protecting one Uzumaki Naru, even at the expense of your own life. She is extraordinarily important to the future of Konoha with her special gift. However, she is also delicate and has a dangerous disease that could easily kill her if she were injured. Your mission would be a difficult one, and even I do not know how long you would be needed to perform said mission. It could also become quite dangerous, so if you do not want to accept I would understand. But, if you chose to accept, you would be a secret hero to this village." He hid the sly smirk that crossed his face as he watched the growing determination in the small boy.

Emotion slowly returned to Sasuke's eyes until they were burning with pride and determination. Yes, perhaps this was why his life was spared. The Shinigami refused to claim his soul because he was destined to serve his village. The boy's hands snapped to his side and he gave a sideways bow to the older male. "I accept the mission, Lord Hokage, and I will protect Uzumaki Naru even at the cost of my life."

Finally allowing himself to smile, Sarutobi patted the boy's back. "I am glad. As a parameter of the mission, I am moving you to the same orphanage as Naru so that you may be closer to her and keep an eye on her." He knew that if he didn't word it this way the boy would refuse to live in an orphanage, and demand that he be allowed to live on his own. Although he was a child, he was still an Uchiha, and they were known for being stubbornly prideful.

Nodding, the boy thought it over. He didn't really want to live in an orphanage, but it was almost like going undercover to protect his charge. "I understand sir." He felt warmth inside of himself that he hadn't felt in weeks. He had a reason to live once more; he had a purpose, a mission: protect Uzumaki Naru.

The rest of the day was spent collecting the boy's things and moving him into the small home style orphanage. With the directions to his room, he decided to settle down for the night. He was given a week to prepare for the mission before it begun officially. For tonight, he was happy to have a bed that was ten times softer than the ones offered in the hospital, and drifted off to peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time.

-/-

The next morning brought a raven haired male walking into the classroom to receive a variety of looks from shock to pity. He was unprepared for two girls to latch onto his arms and lead him to his desk as if he was made of porcelain and might break any second. While it was moving to be cared for on some level, it was also incredibly annoying. They were both talking so rapidly that he could barely make out their questions of his health and whether or not he was going to make it. He thought it was a foolish question, since obviously he was sitting there quite healthy and not looking like he was going to keel over in the next few seconds.

"Bimbettes!" a voice called and the two girls that were fussing over him paused in their movements before leaving him completely. He looked over and saw the girl he was to protect waving the girls over. She seemed to say something very important before patting both of the girls' heads. With heads hung low, both girls returned to their seats. He wondered what had transpired between the three, but decided he was grateful for whatever it was.

He had decided earlier that morning that he would observe the blonde for a couple of days before deciding how to best protect the girl. So, he discretely kept an eye on the girl and watched how she behaved.

Over the course of four days, Sasuke had learned that his charge had four close friends: Shikamaru, Choji, and the two girls that had basically attacked him. There were a few other people that she occasionally interacted with, such as the dogish boy, Kiba. He also learned that the girl tended to break out in song and dance at the drop of a hat. The girl also fancied wearing strange dresses, and he had yet to see the girl wear shoes. He also noted that the girl was pulled out of a fight after one hit during any spar and taken to see the school medic immediately.

On the fifth day of data gathering, the Uchiha decided to inform the girl of his purpose. He reasoned that it would make protecting Naru a lot easier if she knew what his intentions were.

When the children were let out for lunch, the raven haired male approached the seven year old female. "Hello Naru, I have something I would like to talk to you about."

The blonde looked up with a smile. "Hello Sasuke," she greeted having not figured out who the male was yet in comparison to her movies. "What is it you would like to talk about"? When the standing male looked to the two males surrounding the girl, she offered a small laugh. "Oh, they are fine. Anything you need to say to me can be said in front of them."

The boy had to keep from crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot in a slight tantrum. "Fine," he bit out, not pleased at having an audience. "The Hokage has assigned me to protect you. So, in accordance with my mission, I shall be close by to ensure your safety."

Blue eyes seemed confused as to why Mufasa thought that she needed protection, but shrugged her shoulders. She trusted the older male with her life and he seemed to think her having a guard was important. Thinking this over for a minute, she smiled as she looked over the male before her. "I get it, so you are my Clopin"! Excitement seemed to fill her voice. Yet for some reason, when she said it, the name didn't feel quite right.

Sasuke looked puzzled and his face contorted to show his confusion. "I'm your what"?

"My Clopin. He is the one that protects Esmeralda, the gypsy, and I am a gypsy and you are here to protect me; therefore, you are my Clopin," she explained in a simple and matter of fact voice.

Dark eyes blinked for a few seconds. "You are telling me that you are a gypsy"?

The blonde nodded with a smile. "Yup, the Hokage made me a gypsy until I take my rightful place as princess."

"Princess of what?" the male asked, not quite understanding what the girl was talking about.

A tan hand moved to rosy pink lips as she seemed to think before it fell away and the girl answered, "I don't know, but I'm sure it is going to be great."

The Uchiha almost rolled his eyes at the logic, but decided it wouldn't be in his best interest to upset his charge. "Well alright princess, I am going to be watching over you from now on." He didn't mean to, but the statement seemed to come out laced with sarcasm.

Naru simply smiled and nodded her head. "Okie dokie Clopin, I hope I am not too much of a handful."

-/-

A few weeks had passed by and Sasuke slowly slipped into his position as personal bodyguard at almost all times. When the classes were broken down to male and female, he had to trust that she wasn't going to kill herself in that short period of time.

Naru giggled slightly as the girls were forced to review everything they had learned about being a proper kunoichi. It seemed like the classes were training them how to be a female: as if they didn't know how. She stood up, not fearing being caught since her and the Bimbettes were in the back of the crowd.

Taking up a pose, she looked both of her friends over before clearing her throat. "You must walk feminine, talk feminine, smile and be guile feminine; utilize your femininity- that's what every girl should know if she wants to catch a boy. Dance feminine, glance feminine, act shy and sigh feminine; compliment his masculinity- that's what every girl should know if she wants to catch a boy."

Dancing around the seated giggling girls, the blonde continued to sing, "Let him do the talking: men adore good listeners. Laugh, but not loudly- haha, if he should chose to tell a joke. Be radiant, but delicate; memorize the rules of etiquette; be demure, sweet and pure- hide the real you"! At this point she was wagging her finger at the girls as if lecturing them. "You must look feminine, dress feminine, your at your best feminine; emphasize your femininity, that's what every girl should know…femininity, femininity, that's the way to catch a boy." Grabbing the hands of her two friends, she pulled them up and danced around until the teacher scolded them and told them to pay attention. Naru giggled before leaning in and whispering, "I guess we weren't dancing feminine."

Sakura and Ino quieted their giggles and thought over the words of the song. Had they been trained to change themselves for boys? Both of them seemed to think it over before looking at each other. They had begun to act a little silly over the Uchiha that had recently entered their circle. They smiled as they understood what their friend was trying to say- they needed to get back to being themselves first and foremost, and worry about what others thought later. Naru was pulled into a hug by both of her female friends; she was glad they got more than a laugh out of her song.

-/-

Things seemed to run smoother after Sakura and Ino focused more on their friendship than the raven haired male that had joined the group. In fact, the girls had returned to having lunch themselves instead of joining the boys' and Naru's picnics.

The day's training had the kids refining their tree climbing and running along the branches. The raven haired boy selected a tree next to his charge and began to climb up the wooden surface. He watched as the blonde jumped at the tree and grabbed hold of a branch before pulling herself up. She had made it a decent way up before he felt his heart sink. The girl's foot hit the branch before the bark chipped off and the girl was falling backwards out of the tree.

He climbed out of the tree as fast as he could, but couldn't beat the girl's gravity-driven descent. Crouching next to the girl, he looked her over for any obvious injuries, knowing that she wouldn't complain of anything.

"Clopin," her voice was almost accusatory. The only time she called him by the nick name was when he was fussing over her or being overprotective. "I'm fine; it was just a little bump."

Giving her a look that said 'yeah sure', he clucked his tongue. "Sorry princess, but you wouldn't know if you were fine or not."

As if to prove a point, the girl climbed to her feet only to topple back to the ground; only this time she was caught by the Uchiha. Brushing the back of her head, she giggled slightly. "Okay, I guess I'm not fine."

Sasuke was not at all pleased by this development; he would have rather her be fine and him worrying for nothing. He hated when he failed to protect her like he was supposed to. Walking down to the school medic, he decided he had to do something to help protect her better.

It was that very train of thought that brought the young boy before the Hokage. With a sharp bow, the boy approached the older male.

"Ah, Sasuke, what is it that I can do for you?" Sarutobi asked while propping his elbows on his desk. He hadn't seen the boy since assigning the mission.

Standing up very straight, as if it would help give cause to his case, the boy began to speak, "Lord Hokage, I am beginning to have difficulties with my mission. I have come to the realization that Naru is injured more easily than any of the others in our class. Seeing that she is injured a lot, I feel that I must be allowed to take medic classes so that I may care for Naru and prevent her from causing more injury to her body by moving around with injuries."

Scratching his chin, Sarutobi thought about it. The Uchiha had laid out a very organized argument. "Alright Sasuke, you will be allowed to join the basic level medic classes at the hospital. However, your chakra training will need to be outstanding before they even let you enter the first actual class. If you are willing to put in the work, I will sign the papers."

The boy had the same look of determination in his eyes that had been there before. "I am willing to put in any amount of work that is needed, and more, if it means I can complete my mission more efficiently."

The two shook hands before the Hokage slid back in his chair and grinned as he watched the boy leave. Who'd have thought that the Uchiha would become so protective of their little blonde miracle?

-/-

Standing across from a smiling blonde, Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. "Have you paid attention to anything that I have said"?

"Yeah, yeah. Something about dodge, don't block, and it would greatly benefit me not to be hit. You say all this like I just stand there wanting to take a blow to the face or something," the female's voice came out with a little bit of a snap to it.

An aggravated hand met Sasuke's face before slowly moving down as if to embody the male's frustration. "So you paid attention for like two seconds," his voice was flat, but the look on his face spoke volumes. "Fine, we will skip the lecture and jump to the practice. We are going to spar and every time I tap you, you must perform ten sit ups." The raven haired male, after watching Naru take several punishing hits during practice, decided he need to work on her dodging skills.

Taking a stance, Naru was a little displeased to be spending her free time doing something so boring. When a hand lashed out towards her face, she instantly brought up her arm to protect her face. Her action was rewarded with a tap to her forearm and the demand that she begin her ten sit-ups.

"Now I know you weren't listening to me. We are practicing dodging. You are forbidden from blocking. You must dodge and that is all." Sasuke had re-crossed his arms over his chest as the girl muttered something under her breath about him being a meany head.

Once the blonde had completed the ten sit ups, she moved to stand back up and took her stance once again. This time she was able to dodge two attacks before she was poked and forced to complete ten more sit ups.

They continued like this for almost an hour before Naru flopped on the ground and refused to get back up.

"Uzumaki, stand up. We really need to work on this." His request was met by crossed arms and closed eyes. "I am going to count to ten and either you are going to stand up or I am going to sit on you."

Peeking open a single blue eye, the girl glared. "How, do you propose, is sitting on me a form of protection"?

Shrugging his shoulders, Sasuke held up one finger, waited a second and then held up another finger.

"Wait, wait, I have an idea," the blonde exclaimed sitting up. "Dance with me and then I'll continue training."

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not negotiating and I don't dance." A third finger was raised into the air.

"Oh come on. You think you can run me ragged and I don't get anything in return. It is just one dance." Naru pouted her face cutely and looked as if she was about to throw a tantrum.

Dark eyes seemed to think the idea over. He didn't dance and that was that, but perhaps… A smirk made its way onto his face as he looked at the girl. "So, you want to dance? I suppose I can work with that."

The blonde jumped up happily and grabbed the boy's hands. "Really, really"!

With a nod, he removed his hands from the girl's and fell back into a stance. This was met with a cry from the girl about that's not how you dance. "You wanted to dance. If I am recalling right, when you dance, one person moves forward the other moves back; when one moves to the side the other shifts to mirror the movement. So, act as if you were dancing and not fighting."

The girl seemed confused at first, but then shifted her eyes from the male's chest to his feet. As he lifted his foot to step forward and throw a punch she slid backwards. When he took a step to the side to move around the girl, she slid around and spun out creating a distance between them. When he rushed her to close the distance, she spun around him and ended up behind him.

"This is fun," Naru called out before she was tapped in the back.

Sasuke was smiling at the girl when she turned around to look at him. "You need to watch opening your back to your opponent." His words of advice were rewarded with a scrunched up nose and a tongue in his face. Rolling his eyes, he tapped the girl in the forehead. "That's twenty sit ups."

Naru let out a cry of indignation before dropping herself to the ground, keeping Sasuke from poking her again.

* * *

**A/N: **Hello! This story idea hit me like a freight train and I just couldn't stop writing. Let us get the who's and what's out of the way.

**Songs in order of appearance:**

-"Stay Awake" ~ Marry Poppins

-"Journey to the Past" ~ Anastasia

-"A Very Merry Unbirthday" ~ Alice in Wonderland

-"Femininity" ~ Summer Magic

**Character names used:**

-Bimbettes ~ The three blonde triplets from Beauty and the Beast. (No Naru is not using it as an insult, she was simply using the nickname to refer to the girl's beauty.)

-Timon & Pumbaa ~ The Lion King

-Mufasa ~ The Lion King

-Tramp ~ Lady and the Tramp

-Clopin ~ The head jester and king of gypsies in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Alright, so I stopped here, because I am unsure if I want to time skip or write a bit more with them as kids. I can't decided if I want to write it present tense or in a flashback/memory later. What would you guys prefer?

Please tell me what you think and all that jazz. Your support will help decided if I allow myself the guilty pleasure of writing this or return to my other stories. Thanks and Tata!

_**Boe**_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Gift of Song**

**Chapter Two**

By Boejangles

_Beta: Trowa no Miko_

-/-

The rest of the year swam by quickly and the beginning of the next year of classes arrived before the group of eight year olds knew what to do with it. A month into the more ninja focused classes brought all of the students to a scrimmage of sorts. The children were allowed to form their own groups in whatever formation them wanted to. Each group was then given a flag. The concept was to keep your flag safe while attempting to retrieve the other groups' flags. At the end, the team with the most flags would be dubbed the winner and be allowed to sit out the excruciating training that would come the next day.

Naru was quick to gather Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Sakura to herself. She giggled as the rest of the rules were explained. The scrimmage would last until noon the next day, or until one team collected all of the flags. It was to test all of their skills including the ability to make camp and protect it. Their area of battle was an intricate obstacle course in one of the many forests around the village.

The team had been getting a feel for the obstacle course and scouting out where they wanted to make their camp. They had been on the constant move for about three hours.

"Can we please stop?" Ino protested as she plopped down deciding whether or not they wanted to she was going to stop.

"Yeah my feet are starting to hurt," Sakura chimed in collapsing next to her friend.

"I'm hungry," Choji added, following the girls in sitting down.

"Tch, this is troublesome." Shikamaru leaned against the tree and sat next to his friend.

Sasuke looked like he was about to blow a gasket. "Come on guys, it has only been a few hours. We still need to find a place for base camp."

The platinum blonde raised her eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "This is as good a place as any to stop. At least let us rest a little bit ya slave driver." Once Sasuke had actually joined the group the mystery around him seemed to vanish and with it her fascination with him. Sure, he was a handsome brute, but his personality left something to be wished for.

The raven haired male looked as if he was about to protest, but a small tan hand on his chest caused him to cease his actions. He eyed his charge wondering if the girl was getting ready to side with the rest of her friends.

Naru cleared her throat before taking a soldiers stance and marching in place. "For a long time we've been marching off to battle. In a thundering herd we feel a lot like cattle." She leaned down between her two female friends. "By the pounding beat our aching feet aren't easy to ignore." She spun out into the center of the group. "Hey, think of instead a girl worth fighting for. That's what I said 'a girl worth fighting for.'"

The blonde moved to lean against the Nara. "I want her paler than the moon with eyes that shine like stars." She twirled around and ended up behind the Uchiha. "My girl will marvel at my strength, adore my battle scars," as she sang this she traced her finger along the white line that marred the boy's neck. She skipped over to Choji before elbowing him in the gut playfully. "I couldn't care less what she'll wear or what she looks like, it all depends on what she cooks like: beef, pork, chicken, mmmmm."

The Uzumaki spun out to the center of the group again before pointing from one male to the other. "Bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer and I'll bet the ladies love a man in armor. You can guess what we have missed the most since we've been off to war. What do we want? A girl worth fighting for."

She shouldered Sasuke again. "My girl will think I have no faults." She slid up against Choji. "That I'm a major find." She moved in between Ino and Sakura and leaned in towards the pink haired girl. "How 'bout a girl who's got a brain." She moved to be leaning towards the other blonde. "Who always speaks her mind"? Suddenly jumping up she stuck her tongue out. "Nah"!

"My manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to thrill her," she sang as she nudged Shikamaru before sliding into the center of the group again. "He thinks he's such a lady killer." She jumped and placed both of her hands on Choji's shoulders. "I've a girl back home whose nothing like any other."

She spun out and to the side. "Yeah the only girl who'd love him is his mother." Sliding around, she looked in at the group with a smile. "Once we walk home in victory, they'll line up at the door. What do we want? A girl worth fighting for. Wish that I had- a girl worth fighting for. A girl worth fighting…" Before Naru could finish the song, a large explosion rocked the group.

Barely having time to half turn, the blonde could see the tree heading straight towards her. She let out a half scream and attempted to run when she was sent tumbling. With an 'oof', she found herself sprawled out on the ground. It seemed that someone had set up exploding notes on the tree that would be activated if something with a chakra signature was within a certain vicinity.

Upon hearing the shrill scream of Sakura, she turned to see Sasuke under the tree. Rushing over, she had the others help her push the tree off of the male. "Oh Clopin, you idiot," she admonished as she watched him struggle to take a breath in. Every time he took in a breath part of his chest sunk in and when he let the breath out, the same section pushed out. The male clutched that part of his chest in a show of how much it hurt. According to what the school medic always told her, the Uchiha was hurt badly. The medic had told her that whenever you could see an injury on the outside, you knew it was worse on the inside and that's why she should be concerned about bruises or swelling.

Brushing the boy's hair out of his face, she thought quickly. She ran her fingers through the boy's hair to scratch his scalp as she commonly did with children that ended up in the infirmary. "Oh sing sweet nightingale, sing sweet nightingale, hiiiiigggghhh. Oh sing sweet nightingale, sing sweeeeet nightingale. Oh sing sweet nightingale, siiiiiinnng sweet; oh sing sweet nightingale, sing. Oh sing sweet nightingale, oh sing sweet. Oh sing."

The other children watched in amazement as the boy's chest slowly mended itself to rise and fall as one unit again. The male's breathing also evened out, now that he didn't have to work so hard at it. Each of them knew what she was capable of since the girl had told them, but none of them had actually seen it before.

Sasuke had seen the girl heal children at the orphanage before, but never something as serious as this and he had never been healed by her before. It was strange, his body actually felt better than before the tree fell on him. He wondered if the children whose fevers disappeared also felt this good. Sitting up, he turned to look at his blonde charge. "Thank you princess and I am not an idiot for doing my job. I promised to protect you even at the cost of my life. Plus, it's better for me to get injured with that nifty gift of yours."

Naru rolled her eyes and sighed in exacerbation. "Oh great, I've created a dare devil." Her statement was met with the laughs of her friends.

-/-

The following four years seemed to flow by so quickly that the kids had trouble keeping up. Sasuke had thrown a majority of his free time into learning basic medical techniques even though his charge had laughed in his face when he told her his intentions. He was now certified to mend simple breaks, delay internal bleeding, and knit together simple lacerations.

Naru's dancing dodge, as it came to be known as, prevented her from many an injury, however, she was still mid to low level when it came to fighting. While she had become decent at dodging, her style just didn't provide for getting close enough to hit an enemy. Then again with her build, even if she could move close to her opponent she wouldn't actually be able to do much damage.

The Bimbettes had started a rivalry with each other that to the best of everyone's recollection started with an argument over what was most important in a kunoichi. While it seemed innocent at most times, the girls had managed to turn nearly everything into a contest. A few times, they attempted to pull others into it, but were happy enough just fighting each other.

Timon and Pumbaa, while not changing much according to the average person's observations, had become almost fiercely protective over the people that had become their family. However, neither of the boys could compare to Sasuke when he went into Clopin mode and attempted to keep their loveable blonde from killing herself.

Said blonde had been called to the hospital four times that she had shared with them- three times to help with a critical patient the hospital feared they were losing and once when the doctors had a medical mystery that left them scratching their heads. She also continued to care for the kids in the orphanage. Not minding that the children's illnesses or injuries could be healed in the hospital. The kids liked it when their older sister took care of them. Plus no kid liked going to a place as scary as a hospital.

Their final two years in the academy had been taught by one Umino Iruka, who was dubbed Bagheera by the feisty blonde since he seemed to lose his temper often yet always attempted to lead the children in the right direction.

The years had definitely caused substantial growth in the children. The twelve year olds were now gathered to find out who would be assigned to which team and with which teammates. Naru had barely managed to pass the genin exam, since almost all of her ninja skills were lacking. Somehow she scrapped by with the lowest rank in the class.

Everyone's attention was focused on the oldest male in the room who funnily enough actually stalked around the front of the room like a panther. The male droned on with team assignments for a few minutes before sparking several genin's attention. "Uzumaki Naru, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura will be team seven." The blonde has already known that she would be teamed with the raven haired male since he was her supposed body guard; she was pleased that one of her friends finished off the team.

"Ha! I'm on gypsy's team! Take that Ino!" the pink haired girl nagged at her friend while pulling down her under eyelid and sticking her tongue out. The other female simply responded by huffing and sticking her nose into the air. They had both bet money that they would be the one to finish off the team of three; she was out twenty bucks now.

"Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata will be team eight. Team nine is still in duty and therefore there will not be another team nine. Finally, team ten will be Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji." The three looked at each other pleased with the arrangement. In fact the pineapple haired male had assumed they would want to form the Ino-shika-cho team again.

"You may go to lunch, but return here to be picked up by your jounin instructors."

The six fresh genin enjoyed a picnic with each other not knowing when they would all be able to gather together again once their genin duties started. It was a peaceful lunch, even when Naru jumped up and sang Hakuna Matata for old time's sake.

Almost as soon as the group made it back into the class room and to their desks, a male popped his head into the room and told team seven to meet on the roof before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Obliging, who they assumed was their sensei, the three made their way to the roof. Once there, the three had a better look at who was going to be instructing them. He was a tall male who seemed even taller by his silver hair that stuck straight up. All but one of his eyes was covered by a mask and a crocked headband. Sharing a look amongst themselves they decided their sensei was a freak.

Kakashi all but cackled behind his mask. He was delighted to have been assigned the village miracle and the sole Uchiha on the same team. A part of him knew that it was due to him being one of the most powerful jounin in the village and the fact that he carried a nasty reputation which kept most people away.

Setting his eyes on what he knew would be his new team, he idly wondered if the fact he was so early today would cause them to have a mental breakdown when he was drastically late tomorrow. He had only managed to arrive at the time he did, because one he was very curious about his new students and two the Hokage's words continued to ring in his head. He had been warned that if he showed up after the blonde's other friends left the girl would disappear and he would have spent half his day searching for the girl.

With a single eye smiling at the group, the silver haired male decided to start things rolling. "Why hello there. Why don't we introduce ourselves to one another"? He was about to continue when a voice interrupted him.

"We already know each other, sir. We just don't know you," came an awfully polite voice considering it had interjected the man mid sentence.

"Ah yes, and I do not know you either; which is why we are going to go around and share a little bit about ourselves- name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, and such. Why don't you start us off since you are so eager to talk," he said prompting the blonde to go.

Naru scrunched up her face. "But Sir, I'm in the middle, so it would be a bit hard to 'go around' if we start with me. Why don't you just start"?

The older male could already feel his eyebrow beginning to twitch. For being a village miracle he was starting to find the girl very grating. "Sure. I am Hatake Kakashi. I like a lot of things and dislike about the same amount of things. I have hobbies. I had a dream last night. Now you pinkie."

Surprisingly enough the pink haired girl didn't bristle at the comment. Instead she simply brushed it off with a smile. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like winning and I dislike losing. My hobbies include triumphing over a certain somebody. My dream is to be victorious in everything I do." The girl had to applaud herself at basically giving the male completely useless information since he annoyed her.

"Uhm okay, blondie you're up." He mused over what the girl had said; while a competitive spirit could be one's downfall, he could definitely use it to his advantage in training.

Blue eyes opened in recognition before the girl rocked on her heels. "I am Uzumaki Naru. I like singing and dancing and my movies and being with my friends. I dislike bad guys and when Clopin goes mother hen on me. My hobbies are basically the same as my likes though I am learning how to cook and sew. My dream is to fulfill my destiny and become a princess."

Kakashi had to raise an eyebrow at that. Nothing the girl had said was even remotely ninja related expect perhaps not liking bad guys. He would definitely have to work on that. "Alright you're up," he said pointing to the only other male.

"The name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like when I am able to perform my duties and learn new things. I dislike when my charge does something particularly stupid and injures herself. I don't think I have hobbies. My dream is to fulfill my mission to the fullest and protect my charge."

The oldest one in the group looked over the preteens. So he had one girl that seemed to be more competitive than Gai, another girl that seemed to live in a fantasy world, and a male that was completely focused on previously mentioned girl. For some reason it didn't seem as bad as when he laid it out like that. "Alright team seven, tomorrow you are going to be taking the real genin exam. It is a survival mission like none you have taken yet. Be there tomorrow morning at seven and I suggest not eating breakfast unless you would like to see it coming back up." Happy with his speech, he was almost ready to poof out when he seemed to remember something. Turning back towards the three kids, he pointed at Naru. "And you little lady would be wise to wear shoes tomorrow."

The blond looked down at her bare feet and wiggled her toes as the older male vanished into smoke. She didn't like shoes; they always felt like they were suffocating her feet. It had been so long since she had worn a pair of shoes that she couldn't actually remember what they felt like except that she would always tear them off when she got a chance.

-/-

The next morning found three preteens waiting impatiently for a silver haired male. One in particular was more aggravated than the rest. Her body moved back and forth as she passed in front of her other teammates. The two still seated could tell the girl was getting ready to blow.

"Three hours," the voice started calmly. "We were supposed to meet three hours ago and he is still not here!" the pink haired girl finished in a scream as she kicked a rock up into the air in an attempt to get rid of some of her pent up anger. The rock was caught and bounced in the hand of the male that had caused the anger in the first place.

"Now, now Sakura, that is no way to treat poor rocks."

Perking up, the blonde pointed at the man with a grin. "White Rabbit I have finally found you!" she squealed in delight before clapping her hands together. This statement was overshadowed by the standing girl screaming that the older male was late.

Running a hand through his silver locks, Kakashi eye smiled at the group. "Mah, you see I forgot to set my alarm clock; doesn't matter now though. Are all of you prepared for the test?" his question was met with looks that screamed he was an idiot since he hadn't told them what the test was. He simply responded with another eye smile as he lifted up two glittering silver bells. "Your test is to get these from me. If you have a bell when the timer rings, you pass. If you do not have a bell, then you go back to the academy."

Sasuke cocked his eyebrow at this as he looked over the two females with him. He knew for a fact that they couldn't separate him from Naru, so it seemed unfair if the test was destined to send the pink haired girl back to the academy. Something about it just didn't sit right with him.

"You will have until this timer goes off and you may start now," the jounin said expecting them all to jump away. He was correct on two accounts, but the blonde just slowly got to her feet which he noted were bare. "I see you didn't take my advice to wear shoes. It is very silly for a ninja to run around with nothing protecting their feet."

Simply sticking out her tongue, Naru grinned. She started humming while bouncing her head to a song that was apparently running through her head. Her humming turned into whistling before she actually opened her mouth to sing. "I'm late. I'm late for a very important date. No time to say hello goodbye. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late."

The raven haired male almost growled at his charge. She was just standing there and attempting to annoy their Sensei. It was just like the girl to try and put herself in this type of situation. Jumping out of the tree, he ran across the area and picked the girl up who only seemed to giggle and continue to sing at the older male behind them as he attempted to run away. "No, no, no, no, I'm over due. I'm really in a stew. No time to say goodbye, hello. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late." He felt a strange sensation run through him as he began to run at least twice as fast as he was before. What was even more curious was that as the girl finished her song he felt the sensation leave him and he was moving at a normal speed.

Looking at the girl, he wondered if he was imagining things. He flipped her around so that the girl was resting against his back. "Hold on princess and keep singing."

Naru raised her eyebrow at the male, but wrapped her legs around his stomach and wrapped her arms over his shoulders. With a grin she began singing the same song again in a giddy tone.

Sasuke turned around and ran back towards their instructor. It was such a strange sensation running through his body, like he was untouchable. He still couldn't get over just how fast he was moving. Once he was close enough, he began sliding through hand seals. He knew that he didn't have the advantage of surprise since their position was given away by singing. He was hoping with this attack he didn't need surprise.

Turning his head towards the duo, the older male wondered why the Uchiha was piggybacking the blonde. However, his curiosity was cut short when he had to dodge a fireball that he would have thought was impossible for a genin to create.

The raven haired male was staring stunned- that was at least twice the size of the largest grand fireball he had ever managed to make before. Yet with how powerful the attack had been he didn't feel the slightest drain on his chakra. He looked at the blue eyed girl with a slight turning of his head and could only think the simple thought: curiouser and curiouser.

When the smoke finally cleared, there was no sign of the jounin anywhere. He was having trouble preparing for a counter attack when he had no idea where the attack would come from.

"Sasuke move!" was shouted from some trees to the left. Recognizing the voice as Sakura, he jumped and skidded backwards. It seemed he moved just in time as the silver haired male burst through the ground.

The pink haired girl had been almost too shocked to catch the slight rumbling in the ground. She had never seen the male complete an attack quite like that before. Cursing herself for almost being too distracted to help, she jumped in between Sasuke and Kakashi. "Get gypsy out of here, you know as well as I she shouldn't be in the fight."

The Uchiha almost growled at the accusation the girl was throwing at him: he wasn't protecting her like he should. "I got it under control, Pinkette. I know what I'm doing." However, he did take the girl's distraction to gather some distance between himself and the Cyclops.

The Haruno ran at the much taller male in an attempt to occupy the male with Taijutsu while the others got away. Casting a look over her shoulder, she almost screamed in outrage as she realized the male wasn't listening to her. Instead the Uchiha was standing there performing hand seals.

The raven haired male was just about to yell at the girl to move and launch another fireball when the timer went off. Muttering under his breath, he wondered if that meant the older male was actually going to send them all back to the academy. Setting Naru on the ground, he patted her head and told her she could stop singing.

The blonde was smiling from ear to ear. "That was fun!" she exclaimed cheerfully. She had full heartedly enjoyed what she was calling the Clopin ride in her head.

Rubbing the back of his head, Kakashi motioned for them to gather around. "Well I think the results of this test are obvious," he spoke gravely. "You all," he dragged on watching all of their faces. "Pass." He eye smiled as he watched the shocked looked cross their faces. "Mah, you see the true test was teamwork and you three passed with flying colors. You see, those who break the rules are trash, but those that abandon their comrades are worse than trash." Now that he had passed them, he had a very important question for one of his students.

"Sasuke, that was quite a powerful attack for a fresh out of the academy genin; how did you manage to pull of the grand fireball jutsu to that extent?" he asked while eyeing his only male student.

The raven haired male sent a look to his charge before contemplating what he should tell the male. When he was prompted to answer with a cough from the older man, he decided to go through the truth. "Honestly." When he paused, Kakashi interjected that 'that would be nice.' "Well I don't actually know. I've never had the technique work like that before. All I know is that I felt this incredible power when holding Naru.

The silver haired male cocked and eyebrow in disbelief before walking over and picking up the blonde, who squawked at being man handled, with both of his hands under her arms. When nothing happened, he titled his head while looking at the Uchiha as if asking what the kid was getting at.

"Princess, sing." At the command a huge grin took over the blue eyed girl's face. "I'm lat. I'm late for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye I'm late. I'm late. I'm late." She took tremendous joy in being able to mock the male directly to his face. "No, no, no, no, I'm over due. I'm really in a stew. No time to say goodbye, hello. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late."

When the girl started singing, the copy ninja was about to call the kid's bluff when suddenly something strange happened. It was as if electricity went through his body, but in a good way. Setting the girl down, he rubbed his chin. This was indeed strange. He would need to tell the Hokage about it. "What a nifty little magic trick," he said with a grin as he attempted to downplay the situation. "Well you are free to go, meet here tomorrow and Naru wear shoes or I'll super glue a pair to your feet." His comment was met with a stuck out tongue by the smallest member of the team.

-/-

They were already in the orphanage and the blonde was still ranting about the audacity the older male had to threaten her like that. "So what if I don't wear shoes? They are my feet aren't they? Isn't it me who has to deal with anything that happens? Why does he even care? He is evil, that's the answer. Only an evil person would even think of gluing shoes to a person's feet."

Sasuke rolled his eyes for the third time since the girl had started her tirade. "Princess, he has a point. When we start taking real missions you run the chance of hurting yourself and slowing everyone down." The girl simply crossed her arms and refused to listen to the logic. "Either way, I have something for you."

Naru perked up at that and ran over to the boy. "Something for me"? Her question was met with the nod of a head and a box being pulled out from behind the couch. The blonde clapped her hands together excitedly as she bounced up and down in her seat. "Oooo, I am so excited I don't think I can open it." She seemed to think for a second before tilting her head. "But Clopin, it isn't my birthday."

"I know," he said pushing the box towards her. "This is for making genin."

The girl seemed to think this over before accepting the reason and tearing into the box. The first thing she pulled out was a long tan dress that had one button on the neck and several others that went down to the waist. The next item was a brown belt with a gold latch. Black full length leggings were also in the box. Next was a navy blue newspaper cap. The final items she pulled out of the bow were brown flat ankle high boots. The blonde looked over all the items she now had and it finally clicked.

Throwing herself onto the boy, she hugged him tightly while saying thank you over and over. The Uchiha grinned to himself. He had learned over their past few years together, that while the girl claimed the title gypsy, she really wanted to be a princess and compared herself to Anastasia. It made sense to him; the girl lived her whole life in an orphanage with no idea who her parents were. It had taken him a couple of days to find all the items for the outfit, but he was now glad that he put the work into it. He also mentally gave himself a point at the fact she didn't throw a fuss over the boots.

Grabbing up the clothes, the girl ran off to try them on. Naru had known that the male began to watch her movies with her, but never thought the male actually paid attention to them or her reaction to them. Casting one last look at the male, she ran out of the room.

-/-

Instead of exciting ninja missions that the kids had been expecting, they received chores dressed up as D-rank mission. So far they had painted a fence, pulled weeds, walked dogs, and were now cleaning up some rich man's house. Sasuke didn't buy for one second that this did the village good and Sakura felt as if she had been hoodwinked. Their jounin instructor never lifted a finger to help and would always babble about the mission being good for their character and other nonsense. However, their blonde haired teammate took the change in pace with stride and actually seemed to be enjoying their tasks.

Sighing in aggravation, the pink haired girl couldn't believe how dirty the house was allowed to become. For someone so rich, he sure was filthy. Her eyes flicked to her humming teammate and she felt the need to glare. She had yet to understand how the girl was always so happy. Switching her eyes to her male teammate, she noticed that he seemed just about as annoyed as she was with the task they had been given.

"Gypsy how can you be so dang happy being forced into child labor?" the question came out in a way that implied the girl was crazy for enjoy herself.

Looking up from where she was sweeping, Naru grinned at her female teammate. "It is easy Bimbette." Spinning around with her broom as she swept, she let out a slight giggle. "Just whistle while you work and cheerfully together we can tidy up the place." She moved her sweeping in between her two teammates. "So hum a merry tune, it won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace." She had set the broom down to help the pink haired girl with the dishes to the beat she was singing before returning to sweeping. "And as you sweep the room, imagine that the broom is someone that you love and soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune." She spun around while collecting all of her dust piles to one large one. "When hearts are high the time moves by so whistle while you work." As the blonde finished singing her song, she grinned at her teammates and moved her pile into the dustpan before throwing it out.

The pink haired girl watched as the girl seemed to dance about her duties. Thinking it was a little crazy, she decided to try humming. Strangely enough, she found that she was getting the dishes done a lot faster and wasn't as upset about it.

Sasuke smirked to himself as he finished pushing all of the trash into one giant black trash bag. His charge had yet to cease surprising him. She always seemed to pull something out of her hat last minute to change an entire situation. He was almost positive the girl could cause people at an execution to smile.

The silver haired male looked at his team over his book before marking down another point for the spunky blonde. It seemed the team was coming about nicely. Accepting the fate of D-ranks was actually one of the requirements of receiving anything more difficult. The kids were definitely ahead of schedule, but he would wait a little longer before doing anything about it.

-/-

A week had slowly dragged by with team seven performing menial tasks and chores. The schedule had worked out as such: they would gather at seven every morning and train with each other until ten when their sensei would finally arrive. They would spend two hours forced to do all the things the villagers were too lazy to do themselves. They would be released for lunch for an hour. Then everyone would gather back at their training ground at one before running off to complete another four hours of chores. Finally the group would be released at five to go home.

Sakura was preparing to have a complete and total melt down. So far the only thing keeping her from throttling her sensei was a certain blonde's bubbly personality and her constant battles with Ino. The platinum haired blonde and her would meet up around five thirty to have at least one contest to go towards their ever growing rivalry. Their last round had been to see which one could hold their breath the longest; she of course won.

Stomping her foot, the pink haired girl was just about ready to give their instructor a piece of her mind when he arrived. They had been his students for a week and a half and had yet to learn a single thing from the male.

"We are never going to be ninjas at this rate!" the irate female screamed crossing her arms over her chest.

Naru leaned up on her elbows from where she was resting in the grass. "Never say 'never'," she interjected.

"What?" the Haruno demanded while whirling around to face her female teammate.

"Say never say 'never' whatever you do. Never say 'never', my friend. If you believe that your dreams will come true, they'll come true in the end," the blonde sang out while moving to her feet. "Keep up your courage, don't ever despair. Take heart and then count to ten. Hope for the best, work for the rest, and never say 'never' again." Naru grabbed her friend's shoulders and gave her a light hug. "Never say 'never', now say that. Go on," the blonde prompted.

Sakura crossed her arms refusing to indulge her friend that was almost succeeding in breaking her temper. However, when she caught the look in those big blue eyes she broke and sighed. "Never say 'never'." The girl was rewarded with a blinding smile before the blonde spun around her friend and giggled.

"If you believe, you can come shining through. Remember to look on the bright side 'til then and never say 'never' again," the small girl finished and hugged her friend close.

The pink haired girl couldn't help but laugh at her teammates antics. She wondered just how the girl always managed to make her anger drain completely. Sakura was truly thankful to the small girl. If it hadn't been for the blonde she definitely wouldn't be who she was today. It was almost completely due to the girl before her that she felt free enough to be herself without worrying about what anyone else thought.

Dark eyes watched the females on his team as he leaned against a training post. He had surmised that training was over when one of the girls had flopped on her stomach claiming he was trying to kill her and the other punched a tree before going into a rant about never accomplishing anything. Even though they both were overly eccentric in their own way, he felt pretty lucky to have be teamed with them both. He wondered how the others were liking their team arrangement and suddenly had the image of Ino dragging both the boys by their shirt collars and ranting about needed to be the most powerful person in the world or some other nonsense and had to suppress the need to shudder. Yeah, he definitely landed the better deal.

All of the members were pulled out of their thoughts when a tall male with a lazy gait entered the area with a 'yo' and a small wave of the hand. He saved himself from reawaking a certain girl's short temper when he announced that there was going to be a change of pace.

"Ooo is the change of pace that you are going to be showing up on time from now on White Rabbit?" the bubbly blonde asked as she let go of her female friend.

Scratching the back of his head, the silver haired male laughed. "Uh, not quite. We are switching things up though. We will start our days with training until one, break for lunch, then finish the day off with missions."

The girls shared a look before Naru looked at the male unbelieving. "You mean you are actually going to teach us something besides good character?" she had meant to sound curious, but somehow failed to keep the disbelief out of her voice.

Kakashi seemed to pout behind his mask. A part of him couldn't believe the little brats were making fun of him, but the large half had come to expect it all too well. "Yes. I am your sensei after all."

"Oh my goodness!" Naru shouted while slapping her hands to her cheeks. Sakura decided to finish the girl's thoughts, "You have actually been our sensei this whole time? I thought you were some slave driver sent to insure we were polishing the dirt properly."

With a mock look of hurt, the older male grabbed his chest. "You two wound me deeply." He decided to ignore the male that piped in with a muttered 'liar.' Throwing away the act, he straightened himself up. "Alright, before I decide how to train you, I need to see you in action. So, we are going to be sparring. Lets first see the girls go at it." When he noticed two of his team ready to protest he held up his hand in a silencing motion. "Yes, I know about Naru's condition, I still need to see where her fighting skills are. Plus I heard we have a little medic on our team," he commented while pinching Sasuke's cheek and almost had his hand bit for his effort.

The pink haired girl looked over to her female friend a little apprehensively, but when she was met with a cheery grin she smiled back. Both girls moved out slightly so that they had more room to fight each other. They were taking their stances when a voice interrupted them. "Now Sakura, I don't want you to go easy or anything I need to measure both of your capabilities."

The girl gave the man a mock salute causing the blonde to laugh. The pink haired girl fell back into a battle stance while the other simply set both of her hands on her hips. The taller girl rushed forward with a jabbing motion of her arm causing the other to slide backwards.

Fixing her hat on her head, Naru spun out avoiding another strike being sure to keep an eye on the girl. The blonde managed to last almost four minutes before she twirled too soon and was punched in the back. Landing on one of her knees, she laughed and congratulated Sakura on the win. Before she was able to get to her feet, the raven haired male was at her side inspecting her back for an injury; which proved to be unnecessary since the other girl had pulled her punch at the last second.

"Alright Naru, you sit out and let the other two kiddies play." Kakashi motioned the girl to come stand by him. The two watched in amusement as a wicked grin crossed the Pinkette's face and she cracked her knuckles.

"I've been wanting to do this for a long time pretty boy." The girl's declaration caused the young male to raise his eyebrow at the girl. "Oh don't play stupid. You bumped me when Ino and I were in a fierce staring contest causing me to lose my concentration and therefore lose which, in turn, caused the crazy girl to have one more win than me."

Sasuke took a couple of seconds to try and remember what the girl was talking about. "You mean the time that Naru lit herself on fire? You want me to be upset because I disrupted a staring contest to keep the princess from turning into charcoal"?

When the boy said it like that it almost made her lose some of her righteous fury. "Grr! That doesn't matter!" she screamed before charging the male who simply side stepped. There was a flurry of hits and blocks before Sakura ended up on her stomach with her arm pinned behind her back and Sasuke on top of that.

"Sorry Pinkie, you just aren't strong enough to take me with taijutsu alone," the male mocked.

"Who said I was using taijutsu?" the girl asked as she turned and grinned at the male before slowly dissipating.

Cursing the fact he had underestimated the girl, he quickly disrupted the genjutsu. As soon as the world swam to the real deal, he was forced to jump out of the way of two nicely aimed kunai. "Not bad Pinkie, but not good enough," he said as he appeared behind the girl and pressed a blade against her neck.

Holding up her arms in defeat, Sakura chuckled. "If I hadn't told you it was genjutsu I would have had you."

Sasuke smirked. "If I had my Sharingan you never would have caught me."

"Alright kids stop flirting," Kakashi spoke causing both preteens to bristle at the comment and the older male to smirk. "Since Sakura beat Naru and Sasuke beat Sakura it is reasonable to presume that Sasuke would also beat Naru. So, instead of doing that, I want to test something. You two are going to fight again, only this time Sakura has Naru's magic trick as help."

The blonde scrunched her face up cutely trying to figure out what magic trick the jounin was thinking of before it finally hit her- he wanted her to sing. Shrugging her shoulders, she walked out to stand by her friend.

Evaluating the smaller girl, the Haruno deduced that she would not be able to throw the girl on her back and still be able to fight like their male teammate could. Instead, she offered her hand out to the girl. "Ready to do this"?

Taking the hand, the blonde tapped her chin with her free hand. "I don't know what to sing."

Sakura laughed as she pulled her friend closer. "Just sing something upbeat." The girl seemed to think for a few minutes before she nodded her head to indicate that she had picked out a song.

"You were born in a palace by the sea. A palace by the sea? Could it be? Yes that's right," the blonde began to sing. It wasn't until the third line that the pink haired girl felt a sensation shot through her body that almost had her pulling her hand back in shock. "You rode horse-back when you were only three. Horse-back riding, me? And the horse he was white." The taller girl felt as if her mind was running a hundred times a minute yet all of her thoughts were clear.

When Sasuke launched towards her, she jumped back and suddenly realized that she also had to protect the singing girl. Jerking her arm, she pulled the smaller girl behind her. "You made faces and terrorized the cook; threw him in the brook. Was I wild? Wrote the book." The next thought that donned on the girl was that she could not form hand seals. She was forced to jump back from another attack and drag the girl with her. She was suddenly very happy that she was faster.

"But you'd behave when your father gave that look. Imagine how it was: your long forgotten past. We've lots and lots to teach you and the time is going fast. Alright, I'm ready." Jumping backwards, she miscalculated the blonde's positioning and ended up on her back and pulling the smaller girl down with her. In the next second their male teammate had his foot pressed against Sakura's chest.

Clapping his hands, the Hatake called the group over. As they made their way towards the male, Naru lagged in the back. The blue eyed girl was staring at her unmoving arm. Using her other hand, which was working perfectly well, she poked it.

Kakashi moved to take the girl's arm and examined it. "Hm, it seemed you've dislocated your shoulder. I am going to pop it back into place. I'd warn you that it would hurt, but I think that would be pointless." As he pulled the girls arm and slid it back into its proper place there was a loud "ow!" Cocking his head over his shoulder he saw Sakura clutching her head and Sasuke rubbing his fist. Naru simply laughed at the whole situation.

"So feeling up for another round?" he addressed the small blonde who nodded eagerly in response. "Alright Sasuke, take Naru and I'll be your opponent."

Scooping up the girl and positioning her on his back, the raven haired male started planning how he was going to attack the teacher.

"Now shoulders back and stand up tall and do not walk, but try to float. I feel a little foolish am I floating? Like a little boat." The Uchiha shivered slightly as his entire body felt tingly for an instant before it felt like a battery went off inside of him. He took off towards the silver haired male. "You give a bow. What happens now? Your hand receives a kiss. Most of all, remember this: if I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it.

"Something in you knows it, there's nothing to it. Follow in my footsteps, shoe by shoe. You can learn to do it too." Rapidly running through hand seals, the male created three clones hoping to throw off the jounin if only slightly while pulling out a kunai and throwing it at his sensei. "Now elbows in and sit up straight and never slurp the stroganoff. I never cared for stroganoff. She said that like a Romanov."

The silver haired male easily deflected the flying object before throwing one of his own back easily ignoring the clones and taking aim at the actual boy."The samovar. The caviar Dessert and then goodnight? Not until you get this right." Sasuke growled in irritation and jumped to left to dodge the attack before rapidly running through a different series of hand seals. "If I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it. Pull yourself together and you'll pull through it. Tell yourself it's easy and it's true. You can learn to do it too." Taking in a breath, he launched a series of seven large fire balls at the older male who was forced to retreat or be burned.

"Next, we memorize the names of the royalty. Now, here we have Kropotkin, shot Potemkin in the botkin and dear old Uncle Vanya loved his vodka. Got it, Anya? No!" The raven haired male looked around for his instructor, but was having difficulty finding him. Remembering their original test, he looked down. The Uchiha was caught off guard by the girl being pulled off of his back.

Kakashi grinned as he tossed the girl over his shoulder and held tight. "My turn," was all he said before moving towards the male. Naru simply giggled joyfully before continuing to sing."The Baron Pushkin, he was...? Short! Count Anatoly, had a... ? Wart! Count Sergei wore a feathered hat. I hear he's gotten very fat and I recall his yellow cat! I don't believe we told her that." Sasuke was hard pressed to dodge the silver haired male's advancements. The Cyclops decided to give the boy a break and shouted to Sakura, "Feel free to jump in and help your teammates at any time." It was with this statement that the pink haired girl jumped up and looked at her male teammate and they both realized that Kakashi was giving them the situation of Naru being kidnapped. The Haruno secretly hoped that if the blonde was actually kidnapped she wouldn't be stupid enough to keep singing and powering up the enemy.

"If you can learn to do it, I can learn to do it. Don't know how you knew it. I simply knew it. Suddenly I feel like someone new. Anya you're a dream come true." Even with the two working together it was incredibly simple to keep them both at bay. While he was testing their abilities, he was more curious with this strange gift the blonde had. He had to admit it was quite an exhilarating feeling; almost as if he was completely untouchable and he was more powerful than he had ever been before. He idly marked this as a drawback of the ability and had to remind himself to tell the others to watch for it as well. It would do no good to think you were immortal in the middle of a battle- that was how you ended up dead fast.

"If I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it. Pull yourself together and you'll pull through it. Tell yourself it's easy and it's true. You can learn to do it- nothing to it; you can learn to do it too!" The war game ended with Sakura attempting to chew through the rope around her wrists that kept her hanging from a tree, Sasuke buried neck deep in the ground, and Naru giggling happily and she was tossed up into the air by Kakashi.

Setting the girl down, he decided to help his other two students out of their predicament. Once they were sitting before him, though two of them were pouting angrily, he decided to share his thought. "Well, if I was an enemy, you two would be dead," he said pointing to the two pouting pre-teens. "And Naru would be halfway to my village." He paused as if waiting for this to sink in.

"Naru, your fighting is dismal. You need to learn something right here and now: you are not a close range fighter. You will be a long distance fighter. Never attempt hand to hand combat. Always create as much distance as possible between yourself and the enemy." The blonde seemed to scrunch up her face as if attempting to decide if she was insulted before she just nodded in acceptance.

"Sakura, your hand to hand combat definitely needs work. However, your genjutsu was efficiently carried out. I recommend you focus in on that skill. The one thing that I noticed that will get you killed is your inability to keep track of your teammates. If you are working together with someone you need to communicate clearly so that you move as a unit." The still pouting Pinkette perked up a bit when she was complimented, but returned to sulking when she was reprimanded.

"Sasuke, you need to work on chakra sensing. You were easily caught in a genjutsu that you need to be able to sense in the future. It will also help you be able to track your opponent's movements. You were unable to locate me at least five times during our fight and all it would have taken was one of those instances and your life would be forfeit. You have incredible power, but it is uncontrolled and uncontrolled power is all but useless." The raven haired male glanced at the older male before straightening his back. He accepted the critique and would do whatever he needed to do to remedy the situation. If he had such obvious weaknesses then how could he protect his charge?

Kakashi crossed his arms as he looked over the team, his team. "Overall, I was thoroughly impressed. However, you all desperately need to work on teamwork. You are a tricycle." He almost laughed at the looks of confusion that crossed the kids' faces, but with great self control he kept it in. "Yet you are attempting to be a bike that is dragging along one of the wheels. You need to learn how to use your third wheel." He decided to leave them with the riddle and send them home to sleep on it. Hoping that at least one of them would be able to decipher it, he sent them on their way while telling them not to worry about missions for the day.

-/-

Sasuke rested on his bed thinking over what their strange sensei had said. He wondered who the third wheel in the analogy was. Both he and Sakura were sort of protective of the blonde. Then again he also worked best when protecting said blonde. Deciding not to give himself a headache, he jumped out of bed. He had too many thoughts running through his head for him to sleep and not enough will power to turn the thoughts off.

Making his way down to the nursery, he thought that perhaps he would talk to Naru for a bit then he would be able to sleep. Peeking his head inside the dark room, he was surprised to find a different girl singing the babies a lullaby. That was peculiar, usually the blonde would rock the children to sleep before heading to bed herself. Perhaps someone was sick. With this thought in mind he made his way down to the infirmary, but found the room empty.

Sighing in frustration, he decided that he would check the girl's room. If she wasn't there then he would simply head back to bed himself. When he arrived at the room, he noticed the door was cracked. He was ready to push it open when his ears caught Naru's voice.

"Dreams to dream in the dark of the night. When the world goes wrong I can still make it right. I can see so far in my dreams. I'll follow my dreams until they come true." Listening to her sing so softly, he didn't was to disrupt her. Yet, she sounded so sad. "Come with me, you will see what I mean. There's a world inside no one else ever sees. You will go so far in my dreams. Somewhere in my dreams your dreams will come true."

Silently, the dark haired boy pushed open the door to look at his charge. She was curled up in the windowsill staring out the window and up at the stars. Her eyes looked so sad yet still managed to portray this light of hope. In her hands, he noticed a soft purple blanket. It had been the one she had been delivered to the orphanage in. He learned that little fact when he had told her she was too old to have a blankie three years ago. His eyes softened and he wondered if the girl was thinking of her parents.

"There is a star waiting to guide us, shining inside us when we close our eyes. Don't let go. If you stay close to me in my dreams tonight you will see what I see. Dreams to dream as near as can be, inside you and me they always come true." Deciding to leave the blonde with her thoughts, he slowly retreated to his own room. As he lay on the bed he wondered where all of the girl's hope came from. A smile managed to take over his lips; he would help the princess see her dreams through. He almost lost his smile as a thought hit him: besides being a princess he didn't actually know what the girl's dreams were. It looked like he was just going to have to figure it out.

-/-

The next few weeks had Sasuke meditating in an attempt to find focus, Sakura throwing genjutsu on the poor boy in an attempt to distract him and chakra exercises to refine her skill, and Naru throwing senbon needles at still targets first and then moving ones since the oldest male of the group learned quickly that the girl had absolutely no skill with kunai and shuriken. Then the three would break from their individual training to focus on team building exercises. Then, depending on whether Naru flopped on the ground claiming exhaustion or not, they would attempt to find new ways to use the girl's gift.

Looking over his team, Kakashi smiled. They were finally ready for something more. He now felt confident enough to ask the Hokage to assign team seven a higher mission. Eye smiling, he was glad his mask hid the smirk that nearly took over his face. He had just now decided not to inform the kiddies of his intentions. No, that would spoil all the fun. He would much rather relish in their reactions when he sprung it on the Hokage. He would consider it a minor payback for the torment they put him through. Then again he wondered how much of a payback it was since he was basically rewarding them with what they all seemed to want. A very small voice in the back of his head worried that they wouldn't be ready for whatever a C-rank mission would bring them.

* * *

**A/N: **Hehe, there you all go. I am delighted that you are all enjoying it so far. I am having tremendous fun writing it. And so far you are blowing the readers of my other story away with your enthusiasm so I feel absolutely no regret in focusing on this.

Songs in order of appearance:

"A Girl Worth Fighting For" – Mulan

"Sing Sweet Nightingale" – Cinderella

"I'm Late" – Alice in Wonderland

"Whistle While You Work" – Snow White

"Never Say Never" – An American Tail

"Learn to do it" – Anastasia

"Dreams to Dream" – An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

New names used:

Bagheera- the panther from Jungle Book

White Rabbit- from Alice and Wonderland

Please tell me what you think and all that jazz. Your support and comments drive me to write more for you guys. Thanks and Tata!

_**Boe**_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Gift of Song**

**Chapter Three**

By Boejangles

_Beta: Trowa no Miko_

-/-

Kakashi watched as his team walked in front of him. The blonde had finally calmed down her excitement about leaving the village. It had been almost twenty minutes of the girl jumping up and down while running around as if to inspect each tree and rock that they passed. Sakura and Sasuke were both still glowing about finally having a real mission; although the Uchiha had been ready to give their client a piece of his mind when the much older male insulted his charge. The grumpy man had been displeased with being given a team of children with two females one whom looked as if she couldn't harm a fly. The situation was only made worse when the blonde piped in that there was no reason to hurt helpless insects.

Shaking his head, he continued his observation of their client. They were heading to the land of Wave while escorting a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna. Apparently the male was afraid of being mugged while on his way back home. It was an easy enough mission and his team still felt like they had been given free rein in a candy shop. Lifting his brow slightly, he prepared himself for what was about to happen.

Two men launched into action. Kakashi had a split second to decide if he wanted to take the men out right away or see their target. Going with the lesser of two evils, he allowed himself to be sliced to bits. He needed to know if the knowledge of Naru's gift had escaped the village. At the sound of metal chains clashing together, Sakura turned and screamed. She couldn't believe that her sensei had been so surprised by an attack that he didn't even put up a fight.

The two turned and grinned at the kids proud of how easily they had taken out what they assumed was the biggest threat. The silver haired male watched as the two approached the kids.

With a quick grabbing motion, Sasuke took hold of Naru and moved her behind him before flicking his hand. It was a gesture for her to make distance and fast. The blonde took off into the trees that ran along the path. Crouching behind the base of one of the large oaks, she waited for the signal.

"Do your best to take out the girly while I eliminate these two. We leave no witnesses," one of the males spoke in a gruff mocking voice as he unsnapped the chain between them. He moved in on the Uchiha with the intentions of clawing out the male's throat. The other male raised his fist to his brother before charging at the pink haired girl.

The Haruno was quick to clear her mind of the thoughts of the silver haired male dying so easily and stood firmly in front of the bridge builder. Estimating the speed at which the male was charging her, she would have to create time before she could launch a genjutsu. With that in mind, she flung three kunai towards the man's face.

Kicking away the claw that was descending on him, the dark haired male launched a fireball at the larger man. As soon as the flames left his mouth, he dropped into a crouch.

Casting a water jutsu to counteract the flames, the rouge nin was surrounded in smoke. He felt before he saw the senbon flying through the air. While most deflected off of his armor, one managed to penetrate his cheek and imbed itself into his gum. His scream of agony jostled the metal contraption and caused it to become even more painful.

Having the distraction he needed, Sasuke kicked straight up into the man's lower jaw causing the head to snap back. The large man stumbled back a few steps before glaring at the Uchiha with a look of murder.

Sakura was pissed; she couldn't keep the quick little sucker far enough away to use her genjutsu efficiently. Being forced to continuously throw weapons was not her strong suit. Throwing another handful of shuriken, she cursed as the man dodged quickly to the side and ran towards her. The distance between them was closing fast. Reaching into her pouch, her heart dropped- only one kunai left. Pulling it out, she put on a strong face and prepared for the male to close the distance.

Having the information he needed, Kakashi snagged the male rushing Sakura around the neck and pulled his arm tight causing the air to be forced out of the man's throat and forbid new air to enter. Dropping the unconscious man, he turned to where Sasuke was doing a decent job fending the other attacker off; though it appeared like male had sustained a blow or two. Grabbing the second male in a choke hold, he moved to tie the two males up. The jounin was going to have a serious talk with their client.

"Good job team. That was very nicely done. Naru, you can come back now." At his statement a small blonde came bouncing back onto the path. "Tazuna, why would ninjas be after your life?" the question came out polite enough, but held the hint of pain if the male didn't give him the answers he needed.

The older male squished his hat between his hands. He wondered if he could get away with saying it was a complete coincidence; a part of him seriously doubted it. "Well, you see…" Wringing his hands together, he really wished a distraction would appear. When he caught the look he was being given by the silver haired male, he decided he needed to speak. Perhaps he could work on their pity. "My village is in dire need of help. We are being suppressed and starved by a madman named Gato. I am attempting to save my village by building a bridge that will connect our island to the mainland. If you leave, Gato will surely kill me and the village of Wave will be completely wiped out."

Grabbing hold of her sensei's hand, Naru looked up at him with her big blue eyes. "We can't possibly leave now. We are the heroes; we can't let the bad guy win." The girl looked like she was going to continue, when Sasuke grabbed her upper arm.

"We have to go home, princess. It is too dangerous." He had been debating the situation with himself. On one hand, he was truly excited to have the opportunity of a real mission. On the other hand, he could tell that the cartilage between his ribs had been strained. If his charge had been the one to take the hit, that entire side of her rib cage would have probably shattered and while he could perform some medic jutsu, he was not that good. He simply couldn't risk that the next attack brought more people and one slipping by and hurting the girl.

The blonde responded by jerking her arm out of his grip and glaring at him. "We have worked so hard for this. It is the right thing to do. I wasn't even hurt. If we leave now we will have lost all the respect that we have managed to earn our entire life. Are you willing to do that"?

"My job is to protect you not have respect," the male said bluntly. He had expected an argument, but not for her to be so passionate on the subject.

Kakashi interrupted the two with a cough. "Sasuke, I believe that Naru is correct. We will continue with the mission. You all did an excellent job of protecting our client and each other, plus I am here to protect all of you as well," he said before whirling around on the bridge builder. "And when your village is up on its feet again you will send the proper pay for this mission."

"Oh yes, yes, of course. Thank you so very much for doing this. Thank you so much." Tazuna all but kissed the man's shoes in thanks.

The Uchiha was unhappy with the decision, but besides throwing a fit felt there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't help the unsettled feeling the rested in the pit of his stomach. His charge had always been the kind to rush in and do what was right no matter what. He could recall a time she was all but screaming in his face as she stood on her tippy toes and informed him that "It's not always easy to do the right thing, but it is always the right thing to do the right thing!" and then demanded that he go fix his mistake. Shaking his head, he sometimes wished the fragile girl wasn't so free spirited. Then again, a part of him was thrilled that they were continuing. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the mission had become a whole lot more exciting when they had been attacked.

Clapping her hands in excitement, Naru ran over to her female friend before tackling her. "You hear that? We are going to go help save a village."

Sakura laughed as she pulled herself and her friend back to their feet. "Yeah, I heard gypsy, I heard." Prying herself free from the energetic blonde, she looked to her sensei to lead the way. Grumbling behind the two girls, the Uchiha shoved his hands in his pockets and continued walking. Sending one of his dog nin to inform the Hokage of their hostages, Kakashi ushered the group on.

Before long, the group reached a shore where a boat was waiting for them. The raven haired male about near had a heart attack when the blonde leaned over the side of the boat to trail her fingers in the water. Almost her entire body was on the outside of the boat and she seemed to be pushing herself further with her toes. Grabbing the back of her dress and lifting her into the air, he set her back in the boat and gave her a look that said if she was going to be stupid he was going to tie her up.

The blue eyed girl simply responded by grinning and flicking her fingers at the male. Her aim wasn't quite right and some of the water flicked onto the Haruno's face.

Sakura blinked for a few seconds before turning to her friend with an evil grin on her face. Reaching her hand over the side of the boat, she popped it up quickly splashing the small girl. The blonde spluttered and wiped the water out of her eyes. A fierce look took over the Uzumaki's face, whom was ready to retaliate, when a firm hand landed on both of the girls' shoulders.

"Now, now kiddies, focus on the mission," the silver haired male chided before releasing them. Needing to get the last word in, Naru stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms.

Feeling the need to roll his eyes and throttle the small girl, Sasuke couldn't figure out how the girl could be so careless and unaware of her surroundings. Sometimes he wondered if it had been the Hokage's evil plan to drive the boy insane. Perhaps he was insane in the first place for having accepted the job of protecting someone that had absolutely no regard for their own life.

When the boat landed on the other side of the water, the team departed and thanked the man who lead them this far. With a big smile on his face, Tazuna took the lead. They walked through a large collection of trees before another body of water came into view.

"We are almost there. My house is just on the other side of this lake." An hour of walking around the edge of the large mass of water and they were almost to the other side.

The smallest member of the team perked up when she heard whistling. Before she could make out where it was coming from, their leader was shouting for everyone to get down. The blonde had time to cock her head before she was pounced on and dragged to the ground. She was ready to yell at Clopin to get off her when she realized it was the bimbette. Offering a smile and hoping she hadn't crushed the girl, Sakura got off and extended a hand.

"I see Konoha has decided to start a ninja babysitting service," a deep voice attempted to rile up the team. The male behind the voice was standing on a giant sword that was lodged into the tree and leaning against said tree with his arms crossed over his gigantic chest.

"Momochi Zabuza, what a pleasure," the jounin spoke dryly while eyeing the rouge mist nin. "Team! Position yourself for a 'Now you see it'." Two of the genin quickly moved to stand on opposite sides of their client.

However, one blonde genin was staring flabbergasted at the huge male in the tree. "Guys, guys," she shouted enthusiastically, "it's Gaston!" As she hollered this proclamation, she pointed dramatically at Demon of the Mist.

Zabuza's nonexistent eyebrow twitched. He was unsure if he had just been insulted or not. Deciding he probably had, he pointed back at the brat. "Watch it, pipsqueak, or I'll cut out your tongue"!

Naru simply giggled before moving to stand between her teammates and in front of their client. Grabbing a hold of Sasuke's and Sakura's hands she sent a smirk to the short tempered male. "Gosh it disturbs me to see you, Gaston, looking so down in the dumps. Every guy here'd love to be you, Gaston, even when taking your lumps. There's no man in town as admired as you; you're everyone's favorite guy. Everyone's awed and inspired by you and it's not very hard to see why."

With an irritated twitch taking over his face, the Momochi was ready to shut up the singing brat. He moved to jump out of the tree and rush them when suddenly the brats and the bridge builder vanished. However, he could still hear the singing. The damn song seemed to come from everywhere at once. Growling, he turned to the only visible person.

Kakashi smirked at the male before lifting up his headband to reveal a Sharingan eye. "If you think about it, she is actually complimenting you," his voice was matter of fact.

"No one's slick as Gaston. No one's quick as Gaston. No one's neck as is incredibly thick as Gaston. For there's no man in town half as manly. Perfect a pure paragon."

Zabuza saw red and decided the copy nin was as good as any to receive his anger. "Those brats and the old man are dead." After his declaration, he slid through hand seals and created a large amount of fog to cover the entire area.

"That's if you can find them," the silver haired male said as he blocked the swing of the large sword with a kunai. Jumping back, he waited for the male to strike again. A blade sliced through the copy nin. Then the man became smoke.

"You can ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley and they'll tell you whose they'd prefer to be on. No one's been like Gaston, a king pen like Gaston. No one's got a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston."

The giant of a man growled and looked around for the other male. Where had the twerp run off to? His question was answered with a small blade pressed against his neck.

"Goodbye," was whispered into the male's ear before his throat was slashed. However, instead of blood pouring from the wound, water flowed out. Then the entire man melted into water.

"Wrong"! With the proclamation, Zabuza pierced his sword through the center of the silver haired male. The Konoha nin managed to look to his stomach before bursting into water. "How?" the larger male gasped. He couldn't conceive how the male had seen his technique through the white out.

"As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating. My, what a guy that Gaston! Give five 'hurrahs', give twelve 'hip-hips'."

Whipping through the air, a kunai was deflected by a blade before it could imbed itself in its target. Slowly become more and more ticked off, the large man lashed out and landed a solid kick to Kakashi's chest.

Flying through the air, the silver haired male focused chakra to his feet to push against the water and keep himself from falling into the lake. Sliding across the water, he added more chakra to the soles of his feet to help create traction. Slowing to a stop, he watched for the rouge nin.

When both of his feet were grabbed and he was pulled into the water, he figured out where the other male was.

"Gaston is the best and the rest is all drips. No one fights like Gaston; douses lights like Gaston. In a wrestling match, nobody bites like Gaston."

Twisting his body, the male with mismatched eyes stabbed a kunai into the other's arm. That in turn caused the effective release of his feet. Breaking through the surface of the water, Kakashi propelled himself to the top of the water before running towards the shore. It would not do well to continue fighting the large man on his own ground.

Zabuza burst through the water in front of the smaller male and lashed out a kick that sent its target flying backwards. He began to go through hand seals and chuckle darkly. After he finished off the jounin he would make the damn singing stop.

"For there's no one as burly and brawny. As you see I've got biceps to spare. Not a bit of him's scraggly or scrawny. That's right, and every last inch of me's covered with hair."

Landing in a crouch on the water, the silver haired male sent an intimidating look at the other ninja. His hands quickly as he copied the other nin's actions. Rising to his feet, he released his jutsu at the same time as the other male.

Two water dragons rose into the air before plowing into each other. Both were equally matched and burst into an explosion of water that fell upon the two men.

Growling, the Momochi clenched his fists. "How did you…"

"No one hits like Gaston; matches wits like Gaston. In a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston. I'm especially good at expectorating. Ten points for Gaston!"

"Know what you were going to do?" the Hatake finished for the other male before smirking behind his mask.

Further aggravated by the male and the damn song, he began a new sequence of hand seals. "You are not…"

"In your head," once again finishing the other male's sentence, the male with different colored eyes copied the same sequence of hand seals.

"When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs every morning to help me get large and now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs, so I am roughly the size of a barge."

"You are nothing but a stupid monkey," the rouge nin growled out and then let a scream of outrage pour from his mouth when he realized the other male had said the exact same words in time with him. His eyes widened as he realized the other male was one hand seal in front of him.

Finishing the jutsu first, a tidal wave picked up in front of Kakashi and rushed towards the Momochi.

Swept away by the swiftly moving water, Zabuza attempted to stop his rapid trip towards the land. Slamming against a tree, he was pinned by the water that continued to rush by.

Walking slowly towards the other male, the Konoha nin pulled out a kunai. "This is the end of the line for you."

"No one shoots like Gaston; makes those beauts like Gaston. Then goes tromping around wearing boots like Gaston. I use antlers in all of my decorating."

The silver haired nin was kept from finishing off the large male when three senbon flew in from the side and penetrated the former mist nin's throat. A small figure entered the scene to catch Zabuza's body as it fell. The person was wearing a Mist hunter nin mask.

"Thank you, ninja-san, for helping me eliminate my target. I must now go destroy the body." With a swift bow, the figure disappeared taking the large body with her.

Something didn't sit right with Kakashi, but he didn't have much time to think about it. The exhaustion from using his Sharingan was starting to get to him. Slipping his headband back over his eye, he gave the signal his team could come out before promptly falling to the ground completely unconscious.

Releasing the genjutsu, the genin and bridge builder became visible down the path a little ways.

Naru skipped to her sensei's side before crouching down and placing her hand on his back. She continued to happily sing, "Say it again! Who's a man among men? And then say it once more! Who's the hero next door? Who's a super success? Don't you know? Can't you guess? Ask his fans and his five hangers-on. There's just one guy in town who's got it all down."

Blinking his eyes open, the silver haired male felt as if he had slept for ten days straight, but without the muscle cramps. Moving to sit up, he noticed that his blonde student's hand was resting against him. It suddenly made since; she had healed him. He never knew that her abilities included chakra exhaustion. Smiling at the small girl, he ruffled her hair in thanks. It was strange, his body felt better than it did before he started the fight.

Grinning, the blonde ran off and hooked her arms over the shoulders of both of her teammates. "And his name's G-a-s-t, G-a-s-t-e, G-a-s-t-o, Oh! Gaston"! Sakura laughed at their teammate and bellowed out the last 'Gaston' with the spunky blonde. The pink haired girl was excited they had won the battle without a single injury- it felt amazing.

Tazuna stared in amazement at the ninjas before him. He had believed that he had drawn the short straw when the Hokage assigned this team, but he was starting to think very differently. It seemed these Konoha nin weren't what met the eye.

-/-

Once team seven was safely in Tazuna's house, they had enjoyed a delicious dinner before settling in for the night. It was the next morning that Kakashi realized what it was that had unsettled him about the encounter with the hunter nin; the ninja hadn't cut off the head and destroyed the body on sight, instead the figure had carried the body away. There was a high probability that Zabuza was alive and that both he and the supposed accomplice would be back. Following this revelation, the jounin had decided that he would need to train the kiddies a bit more. If the hunter nin truly was another enemy, then they next time they attacked the kids would have a battle of their own.

Directly after breakfast, the twelve year olds were led to the forest surrounding the bridge builder's house. Wanting to set them to a task that they all could work on before heading to the bridge with Tazuna, he focused on the one thing they could all use improvement on.

"You guys are going to be focusing and building your chakra by climbing trees." His statement was met with a blank stare, a rose eyebrow, and an outburst that climbing trees had nothing to do with chakra. "Mah, but you see this way does." As he spoke he walked right up the side of the tree. "You must focus just the right amount of chakra into your feet and maintain that amount as you climb." When he finished talking he was staring down at them from where he was hanging upside down from a branch.

"Ooo that looks fun!" Naru exclaimed before charging at the tree. She made it about four steps up from just the mere force she used to push off before she headed back to the ground. With an 'oof' she found herself in the large arms of her sensei. Looking up at where he had been hanging a second ago, she wondered how he had moved so fast.

"Now, now little one, you didn't even apply chakra to your feet," he chided gently as he set the girl back on the ground. Thinking it over, he decided to stay for a few minutes while they got a feel for it. Tossing them each a kunai, he decided to finish his explanation. "Use that to mark your progress. Too little chakra and you won't stick, too much and you will push yourself off of the tree. I have to go guard Tazuna, but I will stay for a few minutes to watch you."

Sasuke and Sakura both took off towards the tree. The male managed to make it up seven steps before being blown off the tree. The girl had run straight up to the first branch and plopped herself down on it with a giggle. Their third teammate was still standing at the base of the tree with her eyes scrunched tightly shut.

Then the blonde took off towards the tree. Her feet hit the tree and flew up the side. Managing to get slightly higher than Sakura had, she opened her eyes. "I did it!" she exclaimed before promptly falling off the side of the tree once again to be caught by her sensei.

"Yes you did, but then you lost concentration. If I hadn't been here you would have been in the hospital," he said and poked her nose in an attempt to drive the point home. "How about you don't work on getting so higher, but going a little ways up and then walking back down, hmmm?" his question was more of a demand. Setting the girl on the ground once more, he gave them all a once over. "I have to go to the bridge now, look out for each other," when he said this his eyes rested on the Uchiha and Haruno.

After Naru fell off the third time and sprained her ankle, they decided that they could not all work on the chakra exercise at the same time. Either the blonde would sit and watch them run up the trees, or one of them would stand under the girl as she ran up the tree. They would switch off who would catch her and then the girl would sit out. The system was actually quite efficient and kept the blonde from breaking her neck since she seemed to have the inability to land on her feet without causing something to twist or snap.

They continued this process until Sakura begin to feel like she had no chakra left and took up the permanent duty of catching the smaller girl until she too felt like she needed a break. Eating lunch, they had a sudden increase of energy and were able to continue until the sun began to set in the sky.

As they walked through the front doors, Naru was all but bursting at the seams to share with the silver haired man how they had thought up their plan and how they next time he saw them he was going to die in shock at their improvement. She was cut out of her ranting when a boy walked into the room with a sour look on his face.

"You are all idiots! Why are you wasting your time? Gato is going to kill you! He kills everything that stands in his way, so why even try?" The small boy shouted.

"Inari!" his mother scolded.

"You guys aren't heroes! You are all just gonna die, so just give up! You aren't involved with this village. You don't know our pain. Just leave before you all die!" the boy screamed before running out of the room. He couldn't take seeing more people die for nothing.

Sakura stared in shock at where the boy had run off. She couldn't understand how the boy could be so upset by people trying to help. The Uchiha was aggravated by the small boy's actions and walked back out the door, he needed some air.

"I am sorry about him. Gato killed his father just last year," Tazuna explained softly.

A knowing look entered Naru's eyes before she began her ascent up the stairs. The pink haired girl watched as her teammates both left the room. Casting a look to Kakashi, she wondered what to do. With a motion that he was going to follow the male, he nodded for Sakura to check on the blonde. Making her way up the stairs, the Haruno expected to find her teammate in the room they were sharing, however, when she poked her head in the room, it was empty. Scratching her head, she wondered where the girl could have taken off too. It was after this motion, that she caught the sound of crying.

Curious as to the source of the noise, Sakura followed the sound careful not to disturb whoever it was. Her footsteps brought her to a small room with an open door. She could clearly see her blonde teammate and the boy that had been yelling at them. The small brunette was sprawled on his bed with his face buried into a pillow; she could instantly tell he was the source of the crying. Naru was crouched by the side of the bed and whispering something to the boy.

Whatever the girl had said seemed to have an effect, since the boy shifted on the bed and the blonde sat next to the crying lad. Running a tan hand through the boy's hair, the small girl began humming.

"Baby mine don't you cry. Baby mine dry your eyes," the blonde's voice was soft and soothing. Moving her arms around the boy, Naru lifted Inari and adjusted him to sit in her lap. Continuing to run her fingers through the boy's hair, she pulled him close to her. It was a little odd seeing the small girl rocking the boy, but the child was small enough that he fit nicely in her arms.

"Rest your head close to my heart, never to part baby of mine. Little one when you play, don't you mind what they say. Let those eyes sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine." The Uzumaki rocked her entire body back and forth in an effort to comfort the boy, whose full out bawling had eased to quiet tears, sniffles, and whimpers.

"From your head to your toes, you're so sweet goodness knows. You are so precious to me, cute as can be, baby of mine. Baby mine, baby mine." Running a tan thumb under Inari's eye to catch a tear, Naru smiled at the boy as she finished her song. The blonde pulled the small boy into a tight hug and continued to rock him and hum until the child's tears ceased to fall.

Sakura had watched in amazement. The boy had all but insulted them and instead of getting upset, her friend went and comforted the boy. The girl was just packed full of surprises. Deciding to leave the two alone, the pink haired girl slipped back down the hallway and into her shared room. Falling back on her sleep mat, she was left to puzzle over what she had just witnessed.

-/-

A week seemed to fly by and the bridge was nearing completion. Team seven was restless. It was surprising that the lack of attacks actually caused them to be more jumpy than if they had to dodge kunai every day. Kakashi kept insisting that they keep their guard up and not allow the lull in activity to cause them to become complacent. Once each of the genin could perform tree walking to their jounin's approval, the kids were brought to help with the bridge and guard Tazuna.

The group of five left early in the morning with the hope of finally completing the massive structure that would connect the island to mainland. Upon their arrival at the bridge, they were met with a gruesome scene. The workers were scattered about either unconscious or moaning and the end of the bridge was in flames.

"No!" the oldest male in the group gasped as he attempted to step forward, but was stopped by the Konoha nin.

"Team, be prepared. Protect Tazuna." As soon as the words left Kakashi's mouth a chuckle was heard from behind them. Whirling around, the team was met with the figures of Zabuza and the false hunter nin. "Girls, be prepared for a 'Now you see it' if either of them slip past us," the silver haired male said calmly as he signaled Sasuke.

Grabbing hold of both her blonde teammate's and the bridge builder's, Sakura jumped back a few times to create enough distance between themselves and the fight that was about to ensue. In fact, she had moved so far back that they could feel the warmth coming from the raging flames.

"I take it you simply handing over the old man and us calling it a day is out of the picture," the large gruff man commented as he rested his blade on his shoulder.

"Not a chance," left the Hatake's mouth as he pulled out one of his kunai.

The rouge mist nin nodded his head towards his accomplice, and the figure darted off. Sasuke had two seconds to prepare himself and block a blow that was aimed towards his jugular. Pushing his attacker off, the raven haired male lashed out with a kick of his own only to be thrown off.

"Not bad," said a voice from behind the mask. "Not good enough, but not bad."

Determined not to allow the ninja's comment to rile him, the Uchiha slid a kunai out and lashed out with a strike aimed towards the other's vulnerable throat. His wrist was caught by the long haired male's hand in a quick motion.

"Like I said, 'not good enough'." With that comment, the male's other hand slid through hand seals.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched the male's hand. He couldn't even conceive the thought of performing a jutsu with only one hand. Deciding he didn't want to figure out what the male was preparing, he ripped his arm from where it was being held and flipped backwards. Catching sight of the long needles forming in the air, he slid through the hand seals for the fire phoenix as fast as his fingers would move.

Ice met fire and water rained upon the two ninjas. The masked nin cocked their head to the side, but the dark eyed male couldn't decided what emotion was attempting to be portrayed.

"Not bad. Let's see how you like this." The Uchiha cursed himself for missing the moving fingers of the other male. His lack of concentration was rewarded by the sensation of cold. He suddenly felt very cold, like he had been locked in the meat store house. The source of cold was revealed as the water molecules in the air became visible and solidified in a decent sized dome around him. The crystals bonded together and took the structure of several thick blocks of ice.

Not wanting to stick around and wait to see what the ice would do, Sasuke performed the grand fire ball and took aim at a single ice slab. When the flames died down, he could see water sliding down the surface, but the chunk of ice was still as thick as ever. Cursing, he took off in a dead run towards one of the gaps between the slabs. He was between the pieces of ice when a foot impacted his chest and sent him rolling backwards.

He was pushing himself back up, when he witnessed the strange nin climbing into the slab of ice. Then, suddenly, the nin appeared in all of the ice slabs.

"Welcome to my house of mirrors, this dome will be your death." Ah, so the things were mirrors. That was a curious thought. He had never heard of mirrors made of ice, but he presumed it was possible since he was now standing in the center of multiple of them.

He was pushed out of his thoughts when a large needle imbedded itself into his left shoulder. The thing had basically flown out of nowhere. He recognized the object immediately as a senbon; he had been hit with enough of them from practicing with his blonde teammate. Ribbing the needle out of his flesh, he looked around the mirrors. He couldn't tell which one contained his enemy or where the attack was going to come from. His unspoken question was answered when several more of the sharp shafts imbedded themselves into his back.

Growling, he whirled around to look behind him. He was becoming frustrated. Sasuke couldn't figure out how to beat an enemy that he couldn't see. Deciding that anything was better than just standing there, he sucked in a deep breath and launched a series of fireballs while spinning in a complete circle. He was rewarded with a handful of needles launching into his chest. He stumbled slightly before looking into the mirror in front of him with a glare.

-/-

Sakura bit her bottom lip as she watched her two boys fight it out. Kakashi seemed to be holding his own, but Sasuke didn't look like he was doing too well. Knowing that if she was worried that Naru would be in near hysterics, she turned to reassure the girl that they would be alright. However, when her head moved to the right it did not find the small girl. Instead she caught the quick movement and a slight streak of blonde.

Reaching out to grab her teammate, she was too late. The girl had taken off with a burst of speed and the pink haired girl was left with the choice of protecting their client or chasing after the girl. "Naru! Don't!" she screamed, hoping to cause the girl to reconsider. The Uzumaki didn't even pause in her step clearly ignoring her concerned cry.

-/-

Hearing the faintest hint of a whistle, the Uchiha was able to whirl around and deflect the needles that had flown towards him. Knowing that he wasn't able to track his opponent's movements with his eyes, he decided to close them and attempt to see with his ears. So far, he was rewarded with a lot less needle pricks.

He was listening for the fine whistle, when loud slaps met his ears. Opening his eyes and jerking his head around, he saw his charge running towards the dome of ice. Cursing under his breath, he started to motion for her to go back to Sakura. He was so caught up in attempting to force the girl to turn around, that he didn't hear the tell-tale whistle. His only warning of the incoming needle was in the form of senbon flying from the hand of his teammate. It was upon hearing metal clashing that he realized Naru had intercepted the other's attack.

Sasuke had turned his attention of where the senbon had clattered to the floor. When he turned back to the approaching girl, she was already in the dome. "You idiot, you need to get out of here. It is dangerous, go back to Sakura!" his voice was forceful and demanding as he spoke.

The blonde's frown scrunched up her entire face. "You are hurt and you need my help if you are going to defeat Lefou! We will work together," Naru spoke slowly as if talking to a small child.

"No! Go back now"! The Uchiha grabbed his charges shoulders and started shoving her towards the opening in the dome hoping that he could push her past the mock hunter nin. He barely registered the fact that the girl had given his opponent a nickname.

"You need my help and you know it! Stop being so…" Whatever she was going to say was cut off as her eyes became impossibly large before they rolled to the back of her skull. Her body became completely limp in her male teammate's hands.

It took a second for Sasuke to realize that there was a needle protruding from the blonde girl's neck. "No," he whimpered as he saw a small line of blood trail from the senbon's entrance. Moving the girl to the ground, he set her down softly. Placing his hand over her chest, he prayed to feel something. However, there was no beat, there wasn't anything. "No!" this time he screamed loud enough for his pink haired teammate to hear.

"Is this the first time you have lost someone? It is simply part of this profession you have chosen. Death is a part of life, get used to it."

The dark haired male moved to stand very slowly as his body trembled. "She was mine to protect," his voice was cold. "You took her. If it is the last thing I do," the boy spoke in the same dead tone. Whirling his head around to where he had heard the other ninja, he growled, "I will kill you!" The Uchiha's blood red eyes contained fury and two small whirling black dots each.

The next time his enemy left the safety of his mirror with the intent of turning the dark haired boy into a pin cushion, Sasuke could see him. Side stepping the attack, he lunged at the male. The slender figure was quicker and managed to retreat into a mirror. Whirling his head around in search of the male, the Konoha nin waited. Seeing a slight movement from the corner of his eye, he lashed out his arm. His fingers managed to intertwine in fabric and pull tight.

He could tell that he had shocked his opponent as he pulled tighter on the other male's shirt sleeve. The fabric seemed as if it was going to rip, so the Uchiha shot out his other arm to grab the long haired male's upper arm. Letting go of the fabric in his right hand, he reared his fist back, concentrated as much chakra as he could into it, and sent it flying into the face of his enemy.

The boy's body flew through the air and slammed harshly into one of the ice mirrors before slumping to the ground. With its user out of commission, the jutsu began to release. The mirrors seemed to shudder. Then the blocks of ice descended to the ground and shattered.

Sasuke's entire form was heaving up and down with his labored breaths. He dropped his arm to his side allowing the blood to drip from his hand onto the ground. Falling to his knees, he could feel his insides ready to explode. He could tell that he was drained physically and emotionally. Not having the strength to stand, he crawled to Naru's side.

Pulling the girl into his arms, his body trembled, this time not from fury, but from desperation. For the first time since his family died, he allowed himself to cry. He had failed. All he had to do was protect one tiny little girl, and he couldn't even do that. Slipping a hand into the girl's hair, he let it fall. His eyes landed on the needle protruding from her slender neck and growled. Gently, as if handling something very delicate, he removed the needle. When he presented the girl to the rest of his team he didn't want them seeing that.

Hearing a moan, he whirled his head around at the ninja that had caused all of this misery in the first place. He thought he had shattered the male's skull with his last punch, it sure felt like he had broken his hand for his effort. Growling, he felt his rage building back up which gave him the strength to push himself to his feet.

Walking over to the moaning boy, he reckoned he must have broken the boy's face pretty badly. Shards of the mask were piercing the rouge nin's face. Somehow it made him feel better knowing that he had scarred the kid's face before he killed him. Setting his foot on the other's throat, he decided that he would slowly crush the male's windpipe. He was preparing to add more of his weight to the foot resting against flesh when something caused him to freeze.

He had heard another moan, only this time it was coming from behind him. Cocking his head so that he could see over his shoulder, he felt his heart stop. Blue eyes were fluttering open. "Naru…" Stumbling his way over to the blonde, he fell to his knees beside her. He watched in amazement as the girl sucked in a breath. He could see the confusion swimming in her eyes as if she were coming up from the depths of the sea.

Then her eyes began to focus on him and a small smile made its way to her lips. "Clopin," it was just a quiet murmur, but it was enough to cause the boy's heart to start beating fast. She was alive, she was really truly alive. Upon hearing his childish nickname, Sasuke pulled his charge into a tight embrace. He held on tight, like he believed if he let go the light would leave her eyes again. It was only when he felt her small arms wrap around his form that he loosened his hold.

"Kakashi," he was barely able to register the girl's voice as he was pushed off of the small girl. With the adrenaline having left his system, he had no strength to protest being pushed off or catch the girl as she began to run. Turning his head to follow her movements, he realized what the girl was running towards. Their sensei was bent over clutching his ribs and visibly panting. The giant hulk of a man, Zabuza, was rushing the silver haired male's open back with his giant cleaver raised high. Unable to move, the Uchiha closed his eyes and prayed that the fragile girl didn't make it in time.

-/-

Sakura had watched the fight play out in horror. She was unable to see anything inside the ice dome, so she had to hope that her friends would be alright. Her attention was spent watching the grown men attempt to kill each other. The fight had moved fast with both males seemingly equally matched. Each landed a fair number of blows to the other. It seemed as if the fight would go on forever, but then the Momochi landed a particularly nasty kick to the Hatake's side. The hit left the male bent over in agony. All she could do was scream when the mist nin used the opening to lift his blade for the killing blow.

It was during off of this, that her eyes caught sight of a small figure speeding towards the two males. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized that the figure was her female teammate. The blonde was approaching the two fast and looked as if she was going to make it before their sensei perished. Then something strange happened. The blonde was forced to stop her mad dash toward the fight when a thick block of ice formed in front of her. A quick hand shoved Naru onto her backside before the strange figure lunged between the two males.

-/-

The crackling of electricity rang through the ears of everyone present. It became obvious that the jounin had been feigning to be more injured than he was to lure the large male into a trap. However, instead of finding his arm protruding through the demon of the mist, the man's apprentice was bleeding onto his arm.

His eyes widened with the realization of what had happened. Shifting his gaze slightly, he could see his smallest student sprawled out a few feet away. Their enemy had just saved the life of his student; whether from his chidori or the other's giant blade, this boy took the hit instead of the girl. A part of him screamed upon realizing that the girl had almost thrown her life away in an attempt to save him. He shot another look to the blonde, who was now sitting up and looking at him with horror in her eyes.

Catching the movement of the other male, he jumped away while clutching the dying male to himself in time to keep them both from being sliced to ribbons. Setting the boy onto the ground, he was forced to make a tough decision. Either remove his hand and allow the boy to die instantly, or keep his arm there and hope the boy didn't bleed to death before Naru could heal him. Somehow he felt he owed the kid something for saving the small girl. His decision was taken away from him when Zabuza lunged at him. He was forced to remove himself from the boy if he had any hope at all of keeping his head.

Pulling out a kunai, he prepared himself for the large man's next move. Whatever the Momochi was planning, was halted at the sound of clapping.

"My, my, my. For a demon, you sure seem pretty useless. Can't even take out a few kids and an old man. I am truly disappointed," the voice was gruff and haughty. The owner on the voice was a short stocky male that stepped through the fog and appeared on the entrance to the bridge. Behind the stout male was an army of men.

Glaring at the man who had hired him, Zabuza snarled at the coward of a man, "Gato, what is the meaning of this?"

"Oh, I thought that was very clear, you have become a problem for me. So, like I deal with all of my problems, I am eliminating you." The male that was revealed to be Gato seemed to cackle in glee.

The rouge nin shifted his blade in his hands and seemed to be emitting fury. "Hatake, my fight with you is over. I'm going to take out the trash." With that he slowly walked towards the mass of bodies.

"Allow me to help," the copy nin commented sharply as he eyed the group. In the other male's condition he doubted he would manage by himself. He took a few steps forward, before he was forced to stop.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." At the man's snide comment, the struggling figures of a bound Inari and his mother were pushed forward. "That is, if you want them to live."

"Inari!" the blonde shouted as she hopped to her feet.

Upon hearing the girl shout, Kakashi sent his attention to the girl. A smirk made its way to his lips as he took hold of the girl's hand. He had almost forgotten about their little gift.

Feeling warmth encompass her hand, blue eyes looked up to the male. "Don't let them die." It wasn't a request or a plea; it was a flat out order.

"I'm not going to," his voice was gentle. Hoisting the girl into the air, he rested her against his back. "Hold on tight, close your eyes, and sing." He didn't want her to see what he was about to do and especially not up close and personal.

Naru bit her lip as she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around the male. "What song?" the question came out meek as if she was unsure of herself.

Grinning, he gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "The longest one you know."

Nodding against his shoulder, the girl clinched her eyes shut and began to sing. "Many nights we prayed with no proof anyone could hear. In our hearts, a hopeful song we barely understood. Now we are not afraid, although we know there's much to fear. We were moving mountains long before we knew we could."

Feeling his bones mending, skin knitting together, and chakra filling his system had to be the strangest sensation the male had ever felt in his entire life. Then, suddenly, the sensation like lightening surged through him.

"There can be miracles, when you believe. Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve? When you believe, somehow you will. You will when you believe."

With new found speed, Kakashi vanished from sight. The man holding the captives screamed out before falling to the ground. Then, Inari and his mother vanished. Zabuza had also joined the fight and was hacking his way towards the short balding man that had betrayed him. The men of Gato's army were dropping right and left with the two infamous nins working together.

"In this time of fear, when prayers so often proved in vain, hope seemed like the summer birds too swiftly flown away. Yet now I'm standing here, with heart so full I can't explain. Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say." The blonde was clutching tightly to the older male and doing her best to fall into her song and not hear the screams of the men.

The Momochi claimed his prize at the price of a sword through the chest. The large male stumbled to his knees as Gato's head rolled across the bridge. The former mist nin seemed to grin in triumph before falling onto his hands and coughing up blood. He only grimaced as two more blades were shoved into his back. Zabuza'a fall did not prevent the men from screaming in agony before falling dead as they were ripped open by a Konoha nins arm that was coated with crackling electricity.

"There can be miracles, when you believe- when you believe. Though hope it frail, it's hard to kill- it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve- you can achieve? When you believe, somehow you will. You will when you believe."

The electricity vanished from Kakashi's arm as the men who weren't already dead fled for their life. He decided to keep Naru singing; he didn't want her opening her eyes in the middle of a blood bath. Walking over to the body of his previous enemy, he lifted up the large male after removing the blades. The man's corpse didn't deserve to be mixed in with so much scum. He waited until he had set the male next to his apprentice before telling the girl she could open her eyes and stop singing.

Sliding off of the male's back, Kakashi had to grimace; the battle had left the small blonde blood soaked. He too was covered in the blood of the men, but it was such a disturbing thing to see the girl looking so morbid. If being covered in the red substance caused the girl any anguish, she didn't show it. Instead she simply moved to rest on her knees between the two bodies. His eyes grew wide as he realized what she was going to attempt to do. He reached out his hand to stop her, but pulled his hand back. He decided that perhaps she could cope with their death better if she knew that she had done everything she could. So, instead of pulling the blonde from the corpses, he simply lifted his hand and pulled his headband over his Sharingan.

"Naru, don't," the demand came from a limping Sasuke who was making his way over ever so slowly. He stopped his movement when he was a few feet from the girl. "Princess, they are already dead. I'm sorry, but there is nothing to heal." When the girl simply ignored him, he looked up as if searching for support. His eyes met that of Sakura, who had walked over with Tazuna when the fight ended, but the pink haired girl simply shook her head sadly. His eyes shifted to the woman and boy standing behind the bridge builder, but Inari simply shoved his face into his mother's leg.

Pressing her hands firmly against the ninjas that they had previously been fighting, she began singing slowly in a soft voice. "Ashira l'Adonai ki ga-oh ga-ah. Ashira l'Adonai ki ga-oh ga-ah. Michamocha ba-elim Adonai. Michamocha nedar bakodesh. Nachitah v'chas d'cha amzu ga-al-ta. Nachitah v'chas d'cha amzu ga-al-ta. Ashira, ashira, ashira"!

When nothing happened, Sasuke took a slow step forward before dropping behind the girl. "I'm so sorry, princess, but they are already gone."

The girl seemed to completely ignore him as she took in a breath. Then she began singing louder and faster. "Ashira l'Adonai ki ga-oh ga-ah. Ashira l'Adonai ki ga-oh ga-ah. Michamocha ba-elim adonai. Michamocha nedar bakodesh. Nachitah v'chas d'cha amzu ga-al-ta. Nachitah v'chas d'cha amzu ga-al-ta. Ashira, ashira, ashira"!

The dark haired boy was ready to physically pull the girl away from the bodies when something caught his eye. It must have been a trick of the eye, but he would have sworn that he had seen the heart beat inside of the small boy and he literally meant see it beat as he could see the large muscle through the hole in the boy's chest. He jerked back when he saw the muscle twitch again, only this time pieces of it were moving to repair itself.

"There can be miracles, when you believe. Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve? When you believe, somehow you will. Now you will. You will when you believe. You will when you believe." The group watched in amazement as the flesh of both nins' chest finished weaving together and there was a steady rise and fall to indicate both were not only alive, but breathing on their own.

Naru opened her eyes and smiled at the two rouge ninjas before her head dropped to her chest and her body slumped forward.

Grabbing hold of the girl, Sasuke gave her a slight shake. "Naru, princess, hey what's wrong?" his voice was laced with concern. He knew that her singing didn't use chakra, so it couldn't be exhaustion. There was no reason the she should have gone unresponsive. His hand slid to her back preparing to pick her up when he froze. "Kakashi," the younger male's voice came out shaky. "This blood is warm."

Picking up on what his student was saying, the silver haired male crouched down and ripped the back of the blonde's dress open. He cursed when he saw the jagged wound in the girl's back. She must have taken a hit without knowing it when he was plowing through the mob. Cursing again, he ripped a part of the girls dress and held it to the wound. Leave it to the bloody blonde to bleed out without even noticing. "Alright Sasuke, tell me you went over this in your medic class." He knew some basic medical jutsu, but he was years out of practice for them. The last time he had healed anyone had been back in his ANBU days and if he could recall right, the guy hadn't made it.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, the Uchiha nodded. "Kind of. I can close the wound and slow any of the internal bleeding, but I can't do anything about the blood she has already lost." His hands were already going through hand seals as he spoke. A light green glow took over the boy's hands and the jounin removed the cloth for the boy.

Pressing his hand against the deep cut, he carefully sent the chakra into the girl. He had to push his feelings of guilt for not noticing that the girl had been injured to the back of his mind so that he could focus. Very slowly the bleeding stopped and the wound sealed shut. The boy managed to pull in a ragged breath before falling next to the girl. Tending to the injury had taken every ounce of his already drained chakra supply to an almost impossible and definitely unhealthy level. His world was swimming as darkness approached the edges of his vision. "Lost blood. Need hospital. Can't wait. Don't let die…please…"

Cursing once again, Kakashi quickly lifted the male onto his back and threw tape around the boy's wrists to keep him from slipping off. He gently hoisted the blonde into his arms. Looking down at her, he could now tell how pale she had become.

"Sakura," the male's voice caught the girl by surprise, and caused her to jump to attention. Maneuvering one of his hands to his mouth, he bit his thumb before slamming that hand against the ground. There was a large cloud of smoke and then a pack of dogs became visible. "I need to get these two to a hospital with ninjas fast. I am leaving you here with my nin dogs. I need you to stay here and help Tazuna. I will return as soon as I drop these two off. Now that Gato is dead nothing else should happen, but just in case, this pack is powerful and will help protect you." He decided not to add that he couldn't take her because she wasn't fast enough and wouldn't have the energy to keep up. He waited until the pink haired girl gave a shaky nod, before readjusting his hold on his blonde student, jumping off the side of the bridge, and running at impossible speeds across the water.

It wasn't until Kakashi was completely out of site that the rest of the villagers made their way to the bridge and the bright fire was finally put out.

-/-

**A/N: **Ello! Here is the next chapter for you guys, I hope you enjoyed.

Songs in order of appearance:

"Gaston" – Beauty and the Beast

"Baby Mine" – Dumbo

"When you Believe" – Prince of Egypt

Character names used:

Gaston – Beauty and the Beast

Lefou – He is the guy from Beauty and the Beast that follows Gaston around

With that out of a way I have a very important question for you guys: would you prefer having the chapters as soon as I finish them, but them not be beta'd; or would you prefer to wait longer for the chapter, but have a beta scan through them first? This chapter has not been beta'd, if that helps you decide.

So, tell me what you think and all that jazz- definitely tell me which of the previous options mentioned you would prefer. I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you have enjoyed!

Thanks and Tata! 

_**Boe**_


	4. Chapter 4

**The Gift of Song**

**Chapter Four**

By Boejangles

-/-

Sakura set the hammer down as she cast her eyes to the horizon once again. Kakashi had run off carrying both of her teammates two and a half days ago. In that time the bridge had almost been completed. They had been set back quite a bit with the fire, but without the sabotage of Gato and terror filling the workers, the project was moving quickly.

Casting her gaze to the corner of her eye, she caught the form of her former enemy. The beast of a man, Zabuza, was carrying three large planks to the end of the bridge. It had truly been a miracle; both of the previously dead mist ninja were healed to a point where the local doctor could nurse them back to health. When they woke up the next day, Sakura had informed them of everything that had happened.

Kakashi hadn't really told her what to do with them, so she saw it in her best interest to tell them the truth and see what happened. The duo had disappeared for an entire day before Zabuza appeared before her and said that he needed to speak with the "Copy-cat brat". For some reason the two then began to help around the bridge.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, the pinkette focused her attention along the water again. She was beginning to worry about her team. Having not heard a single word, her psyche was beginning to play out the worse situation possible. Sakura forced her mind back onto the task at hand and began to pound a nail into its place in the wood.

She continued to work away at the bridge, barely registering the sun's movement across the sky. Her thoughts had slowly drifted back to how useless she had been to help her teammates when there was a bark to her right. The green eyed girl had almost forgotten about the dogs that were left to look out for her. Casting her eyes up over the railing, Sakura caught sight of a figure moving up the path towards the village.

When the dog barked again and wagged its tail, the Konoha genin shouted a quick "be right back" to Tazuna and took off running. Her quick steps propelled her forward and lead her to a silver haired male.

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted while throwing her arms around the taller male. "I was beginning to worry. How are Sasuke and Naru?" she ranted as she removed her arms and waved them around slightly.

Patting the girl's head, Kakashi allowed a smile to grace his masked face. "Mah, calm down. They are both in the hospital and recovering. Sorry to have taken so long; the hospital said I exerted too much chakra getting to the hospital and forced me to stay the night." He decided to leave out the details of how the nurses' had reacted to the twos' state of being. "Is the bridge finished?"

The worry seemed to dissipate from the girl as she took in a deep breath. "I'm glad they are okay. Almost, it just needs the finishing touches. Zabuza and Haku were a really big help."

The jounin cocked his head to the side. So it seemed the two had pulled through their near death; for some reason he had expected that. However, he never would have imagined the rouge ninja to lend a helping hand.

"Oh, that reminds me, Zabuza he needed to talk to you when you came back," Sakura added in what seemed to be an afterthought.

"Interesting," the male spoke while rubbing his chin. "Go help where you can and then pack up. I will go speak with Momochi and we will head back tomorrow." With a sharp nod, Kakashi took off.

-/-

Zabuza was packing up the last of the wood when he felt a familiar brat approaching. "Glad to see you made it back Hatake. Your runt was beginning to have a mental break down."

"Why thank you for the concern. I am glad to see that you have a pulse," the younger male bit back.

A humorless laugh spilled from the large man's throat. "Yeah, yeah, I heard that I didn't for a bit and the scrawny blonde pulled some voodoo or something."

Shrugging, Kakashi tilted his head the view the male that only a few days ago he was trying to kill. "I guess you could say that. Sakura said you had something you wanted to speak to me about."

Something seemed to click in the Momochi's eyes as he nodded. "Yea, I know I am not really in a position to ask, but I would like to request a favor."

The silver haired male was taken by surprise that the prideful man would lower himself to ask for anything. "Go on."

-/-

"Sensei, I am all packed up," came a bright voice to match the morning sun.

With a nod of approval, the male responded, "Good, because we are heading out soon. The mist nins are going to see us off."

Sakura suddenly found her feet very interesting. "Sensei, aren't they still rouge ninja? Wouldn't it be out duty to do something about them?"

"Only if they were missing nin from Konoha; as it is, they are nothing to us except people that fought with us. Which if you think about it, makes them our allies."

Blushing like mad at her mistake, the girl nodded and rushed down the stairs to the kitchen. They were still staying in Tazuna's house and enjoying the cooking. Turning the corner of the stairs, Sakura was met with the pleading eyes of a small boy. "Oh, hello Inari, what is it?"

The small boy bit his bottom lip before a small tear cascaded down his face. "Is Naru-chan okay?"

Crouching down to the boy's level, the green eyed girl pulled him into a hug. "Oh yes. She was taken to the hospital and the doctors are taking very good care of her. She is going to be back to her bubbly self soon enough."

Nodding into her shoulder, Inari pulled away from the girl, wiped away his tears, and forced a smile onto his face.

The touching moment was interrupted by a gruff "where's the copy-cat brat" coming from the doorway. Looking up, Sakura noted the large form of Zabuza followed by the smaller brunette following him.

"Mah, Momochi, I am wounded," Kakashi mocked from where he was leaning against the stair railing and clutching his heart.

"Yeah, well we had a deal and I need to be moving." As the mist ninja spoke, he moved to grab Haku and push the boy in front of him. "So you take the boy and I'll be going."

The brunette's head whipped around so fast, that it looked as if he should have snapped his neck with the motion. "Master Zabuza, what is the meaning of this?"

"You failed me kid, you are a broken tool." The words were harsh and seemed to echo in the air.

"I…I died for you," Haku protested even as his heart was shattering. If Zabuza left him, then he would have no purpose, no reason to live.

"Exactly." That single word held enough ice to crush the remainder of the boy's resolve. Brown eyes fell to the floor hopelessly.

"Why?" The question was asked in a hollow voice that had not come from the boy a second ago. It was as if Haku had given up completely, had set free his will to live.

The hulk of a man crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed. "I have what I need and it isn't you. If I keep you around, you will only get in my way and we will both end up dead again." Turning his attention to the ninja standing on the stairs, he continued speaking, "Oi, brat, you remember our deal. Tell that kid of yours thanks for the redo." Raising his hand and giving a slight nod of his head, Zabuza left the house and disappearing into the healing village of the waves.

Clapping his hands to gather everyone's attention, Kakashi had his visible eye squeezed close in what seemed to be a forced motion. "Well, Sakura, Haku, I believe we should head out if we want to make it back to Konoha before night. Plus the sooner we arrive, the sooner we can check on the kiddies."

"Wait!" the shout came from the small boy who ran into the kitchen. The group shared an odd look as the silver haired male made his way down the rest of the stairs. It was a few minutes before the boy reappeared carrying a sack of what was assumed to be food.

Kakashi took the sack with a smile and ruffled the boy's hair. "Thank you. I will make sure to tell Naru bye for you."

Inari shook his head violently at the idea. "No, don't tell her goodbye; tell her that I will be seeing her."

With a laugh, the older male nodded. "Alright kid, I will pass it on." Moving the sack of food into his pack, he turned to eye the excited girl and downtrodden male. "Let's head out."

-/-

The trip back to Konoha had been a mostly silent one. Kakashi spent his time reading his book, Haku stared off into space with a lost look in his eyes only moving because it had been the last orders from Zabuza, and Sakura would attempt conversation before fiddling with her fingers and realizing how much she missed her teammates.

When they finally reached the gates of the village, Sakura thought she might cry from sheer joy. "Sensei, can I?"

With a nod, Kakashi smiled. "Go on. I will take Haku here to the Hokage, give report, and meet you there."

With a smile that made her eyes sparkle, the pink haired girl gave quick thanks before running into the village.

Shaking his head, the silver haired male cast a look to the brunette beside him. Haku hadn't really warmed up the entire trip to the village. It was almost as if the boy was lost inside his own head and had no idea how to get back out. "Let's get to the Hokage, kid." The boy made no motion of recognition, but followed the older male anyways.

It was a short trip and five minute wait before the two males were standing before the leader of the village.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the jounin before him. For some reason he did not recall the mission he sent them on to entail bringing back a boy. Then again the mission wasn't one that should have landed two of his genin in the hospital on the brink of death.

"Ah, Kakashi, I presume Sakura made it back on her own feet," the older male spoke and asked at the same time hoping that the last member of team seven wasn't also laid out on a stretcher.

"Yes sir, I reckon that she is at the hospital right about now tracking down Sasuke and Naru. I will finish writing my mission report and turn it in shortly. However, sir, I would like to speak to you about this boy." The jounin nodded towards the brunette who was standing next to him and staring at the floor.

The Sandamine nodded his head and smiled. "Yes, I was going to ask about that. Feel free to explain."

"This, sir, is Haku. At first he was one of the enemies that we engaged in combat. However, something happened during the battle, and he sacrificed himself to save Naru. The battle changed and Haku's previous sensei, Zabuza, turned and helped me to defeat Gato and his men. Both Zabuza and Haku fell in battle and were healed by Naru before we realized that she had been wounded. Once I returned for Sakura, Zabuza pulled me aside and asked that I would bring the boy here and request that we allow him into the village. Seeing as Haku very well saved Naru's life, I vouch for him and urge you to consider his case." Kakashi had taken the stance of a soldier to deliver his message and waited silently for a response.

Sarutobi considered his ninja's words before looking over at the boy that was staring blankly at the floor. "Haku, what do you think about joining this village?"

The brunette blinked before slowly looking up, as if registered for the first time that his name had been said. "I don't know, sir. I no longer have a purpose. I am a broken tool." The boy's words were as empty as the look in his eyes.

Humming at Haku's statement, the Hokage leaned back into his chair. "You say you are a broken tool," when the boy nodded, he continued, "Did you enjoy that?"

"No, sir. I never really enjoyed killing. I only ever wanted to please Zabuza; that's why I did what I did, but I didn't do a good enough job."

Giving a knowing nod, the older male leaned forward on his elbows and eyed the boy. "That is perfectly understandable. Why don't we find you somewhere to stay in the village? You can have a place that offers protection and safety. We can start the process for your citizenship; then when the needed month is up for me to pull the affairs in order, you can decide if you want to sign the papers and officially start your process into being a Konoha citizen or if you would prefer to leave."

An odd look crossed Haku's face as he thought about the elder's words. He was being given a choice? He couldn't actually remember the last time he was given a choice in anything. Nodding his head dumbly, he decided that the plan was an understandable one. He was caught off guard by the option of leaving if he wanted.

Clapping his hands and smiling, Sarutobi nodded towards the boy. "Very well, I will have my secretary find an apartment for you to stay in. For now I will need you to fill out some simple paper work."

Ten minutes later had Kakashi walking Haku to the secretary with the forms that said the boy had no surname, was fifteen, and had the Hokage's permission to stay in one of the prepaid apartments, as well as receive a stipend for groceries.

After dropping the former mist nin at the front desk, the silver haired male was on his way to the hospital. He had two genin he was very interested in knowing the condition of.

-/-

Sakura peeked her head into the room of her blonde haired teammate. She had begun her search with the Uchiha's room and almost had a heart attack when she found it empty. However, seeing him sitting next to the blonde's bed, she wasn't that surprised.

"Hey Sasuke," her voice came out quietly as she made her way into the room. The male turned to look at her over his shoulder.

"Sakura, you are well; that is good," his words were spoken monotone with almost no emotion.

Flinching, the pink haired girl moved further into the room. "Is her condition that bad?"

Realizing that he had been cold with the girl, Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, she is not doing good. They kept giving her blood. Her paperwork said she was in surgery for five hours. I knew it was going to take a while for her body to recover, but, she just won't wake up."

Sakura was taken aback by just how much her male teammate said. Looking over the smaller girl, she wondered just what happened to the ball of sunshine. "I'm sure she will bounce back soon. I mean it is Naru, she is always jumping back from crazy injuries. I mean, do you remember when her bone pierced right through her arm and then it was like nothing happened. Sasuke!"

The girl had been focused on the blonde snoozing on the bed that she never noticed her male teammate moving to stand until she heard the bang of his fist meeting the wall. Staring in shock, Sakura watched the blood drip off of Sasuke's split knuckles.

"Yes, but I am supposed to be protecting her. This should have never happened. She should have been safe and unharmed. It should be me lying on that bed if that would mean her safe!" the raven's rant began quiet before building into a scream.

The girl was unsure why, but she suddenly felt like she should be outraged at the male's declaration. "I don't know if you remember Uchiha, but you were brought back to Konoha strapped to Kakashi's back and tempting death because in a suicidal sacrifice you pushed your remaining chakra into Naru. God, you are so blind. You both just go running for a chance to throw yourself at the altar. At least in Naru's case she is semi-oblivious to the idiotic actions she is taking. You both are going to be the death of me. Just stop for one second and really think, what in the world could you have done differently to change the situation at all?" Sakura's voice started out laced with venom, but slowly eased into something softer.

Sasuke's entire body was shaking. "You are exactly right Haruno," his words came with the same bite the girl had spoken. "I was too weak to do anything; that is why I have to become stronger. So this," he shoved his hand in the direction of the sleeping blonde as he spoke, "will never happen again."

"Actually I don't think you are weak. In fact, for the strength of your enemy, I think you did exceptionally well," a new voice spoke from the doorway.

"Kakashi," the single word was spoken as if to a young child that needed something explained to them. "If my charge is unconscious in a hospital bed after an extensive surgery and having a countless amount of blood pushed into her, then no I did not do anything exceptionally well. Neither of you understand. You both are just…I need some air." Pushing past the silver haired male that looked as if he was going to protest, Sasuke rushed out down the hallway and out of the hospital.

Sighing, Sakura plopped into the chair next to the blonde's bed. "I tried talking some sense into him, but he just will not listen."

Kakashi shook his head before moving in closer to evaluate Naru. "I guess that makes two people I need to talk to. Here I thought females were supposed to be the more emotional of the sexes."

The pink haired girl scoffed at the male's comment. "Yeah right, we are just better at expressing our emotions."

"Well I guess I better go handle the little ticking time bombs. Naru is going to be fine, she is a fighter and is doing much better," the jounin offered as comfort.

Sakura smiled at the older man. "Thanks, sensei. Good luck with the talks." The girl was then left to watch the blonde curled up in white sheets.

-/-

Deciding to deal with the easier problem first, Kakashi tracked down Haku. He found the male sitting on the twin sized bed in a small and clean apartment that was designed more like a flat. The brunette seemed to be gazing around the room as if he wasn't sure what to do.

"Haku," he called to gather the boy's attention. "Can we talk?"

The former mist nin nodded and scooted down the bed to make room for the older male.

Kakashi smiled and moved to sit on the bed. "I need to tell you something important, but I will need you to react calmly to what I have to say." The jounin had hoped to wait a while before speaking to the male, but a part of him feared that if he didn't say anything the boy would slit his wrists.

With his interest piqued, Haku turned his attention to the silver haired male. "Sir?"

"As you know, Zabuza spoke to me before he brought you to me. He didn't think you were a broken tool; in fact, he said that he was very proud of you."

"But then why would he send me away?" Haku interrupted with a look of confusion on his face.

Kakashi pushed his hand through his hair before allowing his arm to drop to his side. "He told me that he found Gato's money and had enough to follow through with his plans. He said that you had served him well, but it wasn't a situation for a kid. So, he asked me to bring you here and keep an eye on you in return for a favor."

"I'm not a kid," slipped from Haku's mouth as he nearly pouted. He had been left behind because Zabuza had seen him as a child. If he had stayed he could have proved that he wasn't a kid and could withstand anything the older male could throw at him. However, something else struck him funny; so Zabuza was proud of him. He found it impossible to believe that. The male he traveled with never said anything nice let alone praise- well except the occasional "good kill".

Nodding towards the Konoha ninja, the brunette spoke in a grateful voice, "Thank you for telling me, sir. I'm still not sure I understand, but I appreciate you sharing."

Kakashi ruffled Haku's hair and smiled again. "You are welcome, kid. Try to take care of yourself and not do anything crazy. I have to be going, but if you need anything, just track me down." The brunette nodded in appreciation and watched the older male leave.

Haku didn't know what to make this new information, but the emotional rollercoaster he had been on that day left him wanting sleep. Casting a look out the window and seeing the sun out of sight, decided that sleep was indeed a very good idea.

-/-

The Hatake finally tracked down his male student beating his fists to a bloody mess on a wooden post. "You know you are supposed to wrap your hands in bandages before attempting that type of training," his voice slipped out casually laced with the smallest amount of sarcasm.

"Kakashi, I don't need your advice right now," Sasuke snapped out as he brought his hand down on the post again.

"I believe that is where you are wrong." The older ninja declared as he approached the venting male. "You need to pull yourself together. You're acting like a child throwing a tantrum. Things didn't go the way that Sasuke wanted, so he is going to have a little pity party and beat his hands bloody."

The Uchiha flinched at his sensei's words before glaring at the silver haired male. "You don't know what I am going through."

"Oh I don't," Kakashi jumped in before the male could speak more. "My best friend died because of me and I don't know how you feel? Naru is still alive and on her way to a full recovering. No one was crippled and no one is dying, that a mission accomplished in my book. Now get your act together and grow up. I'm not going to watch you tear yourself apart in some misplaced guilt. You say you are doing this because you let Naru down? Exactly what do you think she would say if she were standing her watching you?" The jounin knew he was being harsh, but he had watched a close friend tear himself apart in ANBU before and he was not going to allow it to happen again: definitely not with his student.

Staring at his sensei's vest, Sasuke couldn't make eye contact. His voice seemed to fail him and refused to say anything. It was true that Naru was alive, but he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he had failed. Yet, he knew that if the girl saw him like this she would be furious and start fussing about him while taking on a motherly tone. She would be so disappointed in him.

Seeing Sasuke looking thoroughly chastised, Kakashi decided to step in. "Come on, we will have your hand bandaged and then get you into bed. If I remember correctly, you weren't discharged from the hospital yet." The dark eyed male simply nodded and followed behind.

-/-

The next morning, the Uchiha was officially discharged from the hospital with the warning to keep a closer watch on his chakra usage. Instead of using his newfound freedom, he made his way into a blonde's hospital room.

Upon entering the room, he was surprised by the sight of big blue eyes looking around curiously. "Naru.." he managed to choke out before his voice decided to fail him once again.

Whipping her head towards the voice, Naru's face lit up with a stunning smile. "Clopin."

"You are awake," he stated the obvious as he rushed to her bedside and pulled her into a hug. "You scared me, I…I thought I lost you."

"I'm right here silly," the blonde teased as she wiggled out of his hold. "What happened to make you so worried?"

Releasing his charge, he moved to sit in the chair. "You were injured during the fight, and no one noticed until you had nearly bled out. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you." His voice and eyes dropped as he spoke the last sentence. When a hand touched his cheek he was forced to gaze into large blue eyes.

The blonde was smiling at him and it sparkled in her eyes. "You did protect me. I'm here aren't I? Plus I feel wonderful." She made sure that she had his full attention before speaking her next sentence. "Thank you so much for trying so hard and caring for me."

Sasuke reminded himself that Uchiha don't cry or he would have broken down right there. Placing his hand on top of hers, he allowed her words to pass the barrier of guilt that he had built.

"Sir, I am going to have to ask you to leave so that the doctor can take a look at Miss Uzumaki," a nurse said from the doorway as she hugged a clipboard to her chest.

Raising his hand in a motion to acknowledge the nurse's presence, he poked Naru in the forehead. "Don't go scaring me like that again." Having said his peace, Sasuke left the room and then the hospital feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.

-/-

Naru was released from the hospital under the condition that she wouldn't train and would take everything really easy. The doctor said she was back up to a normal blood level, but her body would need to adjust to being used after having been asleep for so long. So far she found her balance to be a little off, but otherwise was doing alright.

She was sad upon discovering that her dress from Sasuke had been ruined in the battle, but was grateful that Sakura had dropped off a shirt and some shorts for her to borrow. She found it a little odd to not be wearing a dress, but her body didn't protest too much.

Naru's plan was to track down her teammates, Shikamaru, and Choji and have a nice bowl of ramen. However, these plans were pushed aside as she watched a young boy snatch an apple off of a moving cart before ducking into an alleyway.

Placing her hands on her hips, she went into her big sister mode that she took when children in the orphanage were acting up. Marching into the alleyway, she snatched the apple out of the air from where the boy was tossing it. The boy looked completely shocked at having been followed.

"Young man I expect you to march out there this instant, return this apple, and apologize for stealing," her voice was firm in its demand as she pressed the apple into his hand.

The look of shock marred his face for several seconds before he glared then smirked and took a big bite out of the apple.

"Why you little Aladdin," Naru growled as she grabbed the boy's ear and started pulling him out of the alley.

"Hey! Stop that! Unhand me!" the boy cried in indignation.

Ignoring the boy's protests, the blonde made her way to the vendor who had positioned his apple cart in the marketplace. "Excuse me, sir, this boy has something to say to you." She pushed the thief in front of her as she spoke.

The boy seemed to bristle at being manhandled, but turned his focus to the confused male in front of him. "I took one of your apples."

"Oh, honorable grandson, my apples are always free to you. I am pleased that you enjoy them so much. Here, take one for your friend." The man quickly handed the boy another apple before bowing to the young boy.

The "honorable grandson" tossed the apple at the girl before beginning to walk off. Naru blinked down at the apple in her grasp before shaking her head and taking off after the boy.

"Hey, what was all that about?" she asked as she grabbed hold of the younger boy's arm.

"Didn't you know, the honorable grandson of the Lord Hokage doesn't need to pay for anything," the boy explained as if it is obvious.

Scrunching her face up in confusion, Naru frowned. "Then why don't you just ask for what you want?" The blonde took a moment to examine the boy closer. He definitely didn't look like royalty; in fact, his light brown hair seemed to be in disarray, his clothes were covered in dirt, and his bright blue scarf was way too big for him. The boy couldn't have been more than eight years old if his height and baby fat was anything to go by.

"Because," he stretched the word out much longer than it should have been. "I want them to see me as a thief, as a bad boy. Then they would stop calling me by name, Konohamaru, and not 'honorable grandson' all the time; can't call me honorable grandson if I'm always doing dishonorable things."

Naru stared at the boy for a second with her eyes squinted attempting to digest the boy's explanation. This had to be the first person she had ever met that wanted to make their reputation worse. "So let me get this straight; you are viewed like prince charming, but want to be viewed like Aladdin?"

It was Konohamaru's turn to look confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You know," Naru began to explain as she twisted her head around as if looking for something before leaning in close to the boy. "Gotta keep one jump ahead of the breadline, one swing ahead of the sword. I steal only what I can't afford- and that's everything!" she sang out as she grabbed the boy's arm and began running as if they were being chased.

Konohamaru allowed himself to be pulled as he was still slightly confused at what was going on.

"One jump ahead of the lawmen. That's all and that's no joke. These guys don't appreciate I'm broke." She pushed the younger boy into an alley as they passed it. "Riff raff! Street rat! Scoundrel! Take that!" Naru wagged her finger at the boy.

Lifting the apple into the air she grinned. "Just a little snack, guys!" Tossing the apple into the boy's chest, her face took on a more menacing look. "Rip him open, take it back, guys!"

Her face quickly morphed back into a smile as she tossed an arm around the boy's shoulders and began running again. "I can take a hint, gotta face the facts, you're my only friend Abbu." Breaking away from the boy, the blonde threw an arm over her face. "True! Oh, its sad Aladdin's hit the bottom. He's become a one man rise in crime. I'd blame parents' except he hasn't got em."

As the girl wrapped her arm around his shoulder and began to pull him along once more, Konohamaru realized that they were playing a game. A smile pulled on his face as he ran alongside the girl.

"Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat; tell you all about when I got the time. One jump ahead of the slowpokes. One skip ahead of my doom. Next time, gonna use an nom de plume. One jump ahead of the hitmen. One hit ahead of the flock. I think I'll take a stroll around the block," Naru continued to sing as she led the boy through the street and towards an empty field.

Pushing the boy forward, the blonde began to chase him. "Stop thief! Vandal! Outrage! Scandal!" Surging forward, Naru grabbed Konohamaru's hand and began to run with him. "Let's not be too hasty! Still I think he's rather tasty. Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat; otherwise we'd get along. Wrong!"

The two laughed as they weaved in and out of trees escaping imaginary foes that were pursuing them. Konohamaru felt more like a kid then he had in a very long time.

"One jump ahead of the hoof beats. One hop ahead of the hump. One trick ahead of disaster. Their quick, but I'm much faster. Here goes, better throw my hand in; wish me happy landing-all I gotta do is jump!" Grabbing tightly onto the boy's next to her hand, she jump off the small hill they were on and into a pile of leaves. Two laughs were heard coming from the crushed leaves as both kids looked at each other.

Konohamaru looked over at the girl and smiled as another laugh bubbled up his throat. "That was a lot of fun," he said as he reached up and pulled a leaf out of blonde hair.

Naru nodded as she continued to giggle. "Yeah, I haven't played like that in a while." Her eyes moved over the form of the younger boy before resting on the boy's eyes with a slight frown. "Aladdin, I think that you are going about things the wrong way. If you really want to lose the title "honorable grandson" then you can't do it by being bad, because even if they mutter about you in their home, they will still smile at you and treat you with respect."

The eight year old seemed to deflate at this revelation. "Well, I don't know what else to do. I mean I have a really easy name, but no one calls me by it. It's like I'm not an actual person, but some sort of rank."

Blue eyes flicked in concentration before widening slightly. "You will just have to earn their respect for something other than being the Hokage's grandson."

"Like what?" was the simple response to the girl's revelation.

"I'm not sure, Konohamaru," Naru made a point of using the boy's name instead of the nickname that she had already branded to the boy. "But it will have to be something big. Something that no one can overlook. It will also have to be good. I guess you just have to become great!" she declared as she reached over and poked the younger one's stomach.

A grin took over the boy's face at hearing his name slip from the mouth of someone other than his grandfather and uncle. The blonde took notice of this and smiled as well. A funny look then took over the brunette's face. "I don't think you told me your name."

"Oh," Naru blushed slightly when she realized that she forgot to introduce herself. "My name is Uzumaki Naru and I am a genin."

"Ooo, you are a ninja? I want to be a ninja. I am in the academy right now," Konohamaru cheered excitedly.

The female snapped her fingers as if to signify a light bulb going off in her head. "I got it. You will become a great ninja and everyone will recognize you as Konohamaru the greatest ninja in Konoha!"

The boy giggled before nodding his head. "I like it. The best ninja in Konoha."

"Of course you would, Aladdin," she joked while jabbing her finger into his side again.

Konohamaru raised his eyebrow and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Are you going to keep calling me that?"

"Yup," Naru said with a grin. "Even when you become the greatest ninja in the village, you are still going to be the little thief Aladdin to me."

Shaking his head, the boy picked up a handful of leaves and threw them at the girl.

-/-

The three days of required no training for Naru were spent cloud watching with Shikamaru and Choji, playing referee between Ino and Sakura, preventing Sasuke from training too hard, and playing ninja with Konohamaru and his fellow classmates, Moegi and Udon, that came with him. The blonde was now officially allowed to train again, but Kakashi was still away on a mission, Sasuke urged her to take another day of rest, and Sakura was battling Ino on which of them could perform the most sit-up, push-up, lounges, etc. So, in the end, Naru was left to her own devices once again.

It was her aimless wandering that brought her to stumble upon a boy sitting at the edge of a lake and staring at the scenery with a clam peaceful look. Moving closer to the boy, she recognized him as vaguely familiar. A song seemed to flash through her brain and her mouth formed a small 'o' shape. This was the boy from their last mission.

Moving to sit next to him, she slipped her boots off and dipped her feet into the lake. "Hi! I don't know if you remember me, but I am very happy to see that you healed completely."

Haku had been watching the birds dive at the water until a figure approached him. It wasn't until the girl sat down that he recognized her. "How could I forget the person that saved my life?" he asked with a smile.

The blonde gave a small nervous laugh. "I didn't know that you were going to be coming here."

"Zabuza decided that he wanted me here. I was really upset at first, but I think that I understand now." Haku said as he turned his attention back to the water.

"Oh?" Naru pressed in seeing as the boy was being so open.

The long haired male nodded before explaining, "Yeah, he finally had the money he needed to gather the forces to attempt another coup. He didn't want me there, because he cared about me more than he ever let on. In case things go bad, he doesn't want me there. I overheard your sensei talking to your Hokage about a possible alliance with the village of Mist. I kind of put the pieces together." A small laugh passed through Haku's lips. "I guess Zabuza wanted to give me a new life and saw this as the best choice. So, I have decided that I will become great, and one day I will meet Zabuza again, but when I do it will be as an equal."

The blue eyed girl grinned. "I think that is a great dream. I am sure that you will achieve it."

Haku smiled as he looked over at the girl. "Thank you and thank you for saving my life. I never properly thanked you for that. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Seemingly embarrassed for a second time, Naru waved her arms in a dismissing way. "Oh no, I'm sure anyone would have done the same thing." A look seemed to cross the girl's face before she ran her finger along a blade of grass. "Well, if you have the time and don't mind and such, do you think, perhaps, maybe, you could show me a trick or two with throwing senbon?"

The boy looked shocked for a minute before recalling that the girl had used senbon during their very short encounter. "It would be my pleasure to help you with your senbon throwing."

"Oh! Thank you so much, Lefou!" she exclaimed while throwing her arms around Haku's neck.

The former Mist ninja was taken off guard by both the nickname and the hug, but managed to mumble a quick "you're welcome".

-/-

Naru had spent the next two days meeting up with Haku and learning small changes in her posture and release that caused her aim to become ten times better and her shot twice as powerful. The male had given her a book on anatomy and told her that the rest would simply take studying and practice, but that if she ever needed a sparring partner, he would be up for the challenge. The blonde had frowned at the book, but grinned at the prospect of working more with the boy. She had learned that Haku was a sweet boy with a calm peaceful demeanor.

She was focusing on working on the muscle memory thing that Haku had told her about, when a nearby 'thunk' caused her to release too soon and send senbon flying into the field next to her. Her mishap was followed with a shriek and a curse.

Running into the clearing, Naru stumbled upon a brown eyed girl holding a bleeding forearm to her mouth. "I'm so sorry," the blonde spluttered as she rushed over. "I lost my focus and slipped. I didn't mean to hurt you. Hear let me see it."

The bleeding girl narrowed her eyes and refused to allow the other girl to see her arm. "You need to be more careful when working with tools that can take another's life. If I had been slower, your senbon would have pierced my chest."

"I'm really sorry," Naru urged. She began to collect her senbon that were scattered across the ground.

"Stop apologizing, accidents happen; just be more careful. The name's Tenten, what's yours?" the now named girl asked as she wrapped a small bandage around her arm.

Offering her hand and a smile, the blonde answered, "I am Naru. Are all of these yours?" Her question was directed at all the weapons piercing the trees around them.

"Sure are. I am a weapon's mistress. I couldn't help but notice your choice in weapon: the senbon are supposed to be really hard to master. What made you decided to train with them?" the girl voiced her question that she had been wondering since the weapons came flying into the clearing.

Naru rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously. "Well, I was completely horrible with kunai and shuriken, so Kakashi-sensei decided to have me try out the senbon and I found them a lot easier."

Tenten looked shocked at this information. "Wait, let me get this straight, you find using senbon easier than kunai?" When the blonde simply nodded, the brunette had to laugh. "Well aren't you a strange one." She was beginning to find the small girl very curious. "So what tactic do you use with your senbon?"

The younger girl scrunched her face up cutely and looked at the brown eyed girl as if she was crazy. "What are you talking about? I throw them of course. There is not really much else that you can do."

The taller girl actually laughed at the statement. "Are you serious?" When her question was met with furrowed eyebrows, she began to laugh again. By the time she was able to regain control of her face, Naru was pouting with her arms crossed over her chest. "Yes, throwing senbon is one way to use them in a fight. You can also fist them in your hands as makeshift claws. You can lace them with poison and use them as darts. You can attach chakra strings and use them as a conduct for jutsu. I mean they are such a versatile tool that the possibilities are nearly endless."

Glaring at the ground, blue eyes seemed to hold a mixture of anger and humiliation. She felt like a small kid that was just told that a spoon was for eating, not digging holes in the sand.

"Hey, don't feel bad," Tenten attempted to reassure the younger girl as she rested a hand on her shoulder. "Most people who use senbon use them for throwing and nothing more. Don't feel bad, it is still a good skill."

Naru looked up at Tenten with determination in her eyes. "I don't want to have just good skill or do what most people do. I want to learn more. I have to become stronger so that my team won't have to worry about me all the time. They treat me like I am made of porcelain and will break at any second. I have to be able to show them that I can be strong on my own too."

The brunette held approval in her eyes as she looked the girl over. It was nice to see such spunk in a kunoichi. Now a day's most of the female ninja preferred to do their hair and makeup over training. She was proud to see the fire and determination shining in another female. "Alright, but it is going to be hard," she said with a grin.

Raising her eyebrow, Naru cocked her head to the side. "What is going to be hard?"

"Your training, of course," Tenten answered as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

For some reason the blonde felt like she was missing something. "How do you know what my training is going to be like?"

"Simple. I am going to be training you. My sensei has given us two weeks to focus on our individual training, and I have one week left. So, for that week, when you are not training with your team you will be training with me. I won't go easy on you and I can assure you that you will go to bed sore every night if you train with me; but I also assure you, that if you train with me, you will be one step closer to mastery of the senbon." Tenten offered her hand to the girl. "So, do you accept?"

Claiming the offered hand in her own, a grin took over Naru's face. She just knew that this would push her one step closer to being able to prove that she could take care of herself. "I accept! I am willing to learn anything you are willing to teach me!"

-/-

Tenten hadn't been joking when she said that the training would be hard. On the bright side, she never went to bed sore; then again she didn't really know what sore felt like. Ready to pass out tired? Yes! Sore? No. The first two days were spent entirely training with the weapon mistress. The next four were split between team seven training and focusing on her senbon skills. She was happy to have the seventh and last day free of team training so that she could focus fully on learning the final concepts Tenten had to teach her. Her impromptu sensei had allowed her to choose what she wanted to focus on, and she had decided that the chakra strings had sounded really interesting.

It wasn't until they broke for lunch that Naru scrunched her face up in concentration. "I think I get it now," the girl declared.

"Get what?" the brunette with her hair pulled into two buns asked before she took another bite from her sandwich.

"You spend most of your time training to be strong to show that girls are just as strong as boys. You even kind of dress like a boy. You believe in honor and pushing one's self into something that their family can be proud in. You are Mulan," Naru explained as she picked through her trail mix having finished her sandwich.

"Huh?" was all Tenten managed to say around her mouthful.

"You are like Mulan and therefore you shall be Mulan to me," the blonde affirmed with a nod.

"Tenten," a new voice interrupted as a male entered the clearing. "After you finish eating, come help me with the technique I am working on."

"Of course, Neji; I will meet you at our usual training ground." The bun-haired girl nodded to the retreating back of her teammate.

With an offended look on her face, Naru turned her attention to the older girl. "Why did you let him boss you around like that?"

"He is a teammate and requested my help. It is only natural for me to oblige."

"He didn't request, he ordered," the blue eyed girl corrected Tenten before something seemed to click behind her eyes and a smile spread across her face. "Oh I get it. He is your Li Shang."

Rolling her eyes, the brown eyed girl popped the last of her sandwich in her mouth. "I have no idea what you are talking about- he is just my teammate."

"Oh, yes, silly me." The grin didn't leave the smaller girl's face as she moved to grab and pull the weapon mistress's arm. "In honor of our last day together I want to take you to meet my friends really quick."

Looking over her shoulder at where the Hyuuga had passed through the trees, Tenten protested, "But Neji will be expecting me."

Tugging on the girl's arm playfully, Naru didn't let up. "It will be real fast, I promise."

"Well…fine." The taller girl decided that just going with it would make matters a whole lot easier. A quick run through the training grounds brought the two in front of another pair of girls that seemed to be engaged in a fearsome thumb war.

"Bimbettes!" Naru shouted, completely destroy Ino's concentration and allowing Sakura to win the battle. Running over the two, she quickly placated the platinum blonde with the promise of an interesting battle before explaining the details while casting looks over her shoulder at Tenten.

Scratching at her temple, Tenten wondered if she should take off running and hope for the best. It seemed she had been too late in deciding, when the sunny blonde turned and began advancing on her before she seemed to evaluate her from head to toe.

Lifting up one of Tenten's arm and then dropping it, Naru shook her head. "This is what you give me to work with? Well, honey, I've seen worse. We're gonna turn this sow's ear into a silk purse."

The oldest female in the group seemed to growl at being insulted. She had an inkling she had just been compared to an animal's ear.

"We'll have you washed and dried, primed and polished 'til you glow with pride. Trust my recipe for instant bride. You'll bring honor to us all," Naru's voice morphed into a more singsong then simple talking. As she sang the other two girls surrounded Tenten and began to fuss with her hair.

"Wait and see, when were through," Naru continued to sing.

"Boys will gladly go for war to you," Sakura added in as she unraveled the girl's buns.

"With good fortune," the Uzumaki sang as she spun around the stunned brunette.

"And a great hair-do." Ino's voice joined the mix as she finished twirling one side of Tenten's hair and tying it in a cloth hair pouch.

The three sang in unison, "You'll bring honor to us all." Sakura's hands mimicked Ino's previous action and tied the other side of Tenten's hair into a beaded hair pouch.

With both of her pointer finger, Naru twisted the two gentle bangs that were left hanging into a tight curl before letting them go and continuing to sing. "A girl can bring her family great honor in one way. By striking a good match and this could be the day. Men want girls with good taste."

"Calm, obedient," the other two added in.

"Who work fast-paced," Naru affirmed while dusting off the front of Tenten's shirt.

"With good breeding," Sakura sang while dusting off the girl's back.

"And a tiny waist," Ino giggled out while squeezing Tenten's center. The other two joined in to sing in unison, "You'll bring honor to us all."

"When were through, you can't fail. Like a lotus blossom soft and pale. How could any fellow say no sale? You'll bring honor to us all," Naru began to sing. She was echoed by Sakura who was echoed by Ino.

Naru danced around the older girl before she stopped in front of her and rested her hands on her shoulders. "An apple for serenity, a pendent for balance. Beads of jade for beauty, you must proudly show it. Now, add a cricket, just for luck and even you can't blow it."

Tenten raised her eyebrow and looked over the girls before rolling her eyes. They had already pulled at her hair and picked at her clothes, she supposed she could play along with them. Taking in a breath, she sang out, "Ancestors, hear my plea: help me not to make a fool of me. And to not uproot my family tree, keep my father standing tall. Scarier than the undertaker, we are meeting our matchmaker."

Sakura, Ino, and Naru joined together and looked over their work and grinned. "Destiny, guard our girl and our future as it fast unfurls. Please look kindly on this cultured pearl, a perfect porcelain dolls. Please bring honor to us, please bring honor to us, please bring honor to us, please bring honor to us all!"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Tenten shook her head. "Well, are you happy?" she asked the trio fearing what she would see if she looked in the mirror. The brunette hair looked very similar to when it started, however, now there was less bang and instead of simple buns, the hair was tucked into a cloth sack that was tied shut with a ribbon with pink and blue beads that matched the girls outfit. The dirt had been brushed off of all her clothing. Her lips had the slight shine of some sort of gloss and her eyelids had a very slight pink tint to them.

Nodding her head excitedly, Naru grin. "Really happy actually. Now, go get your Li Shang!"

A look of confusion and then horror settled on the weapon mistress's face. "Oh no, I have to go meet Neji. Gah!" She wiped furiously at her face attempting to remove any traces of the makeup. She began to run in the direction that she knew Neji would be waiting. "And I told you, he is just my teammate."

Naru giggled and decided to keep the fact that if that were true she wouldn't care what she looked like when she went to train with him to herself. Turning her attention to the Bimbettes, she looked from one to other with absolute concentration. "Well, it was very close to a tie, but, I believe that Ino won." The statement was followed by a scream of agony and a shout of joy.

-/-

All of the Jounin had gathered in the meeting hall under the orders of the Hokage. They were gathered to discuss the upcoming chuunin exams and what their roles would be in the whole set-up; including who was proctoring, who was guarding, and so on. Once all of the active roles were assigned, the teaching jounin were asked to step forward and state whether or not they recommended their team for the exam. When the three rookie teams were nominated along with the other genin, Iruka, who had been in charge of taking notes of the meeting, couldn't keep his feelings to himself.

"This is ridiculous! Those kids are barely out of the academy, there is no way that they are prepared to take on well seasoned genin in a situation as dangerous as the chuunin exams," the scarred ninja protested as he stood from his seat.

Sarutobi looked over at Iruka and smiled sadly at the man. "I am sorry; Iruka, but I trust my jounins' judgment. They have been working very closely with all of the genin mentioned and it is their decision if they feel their team is ready or not."

"I do not mean to be rude, sir, but I urge you to reconsider," Iruka interjected again.

Eyeing the protesting male, Kakashi tilted his head. "Iruka, was it? I have a proposition for you: we will test our students in a mock exam. If they pass, then they will enter he chuunin exams; if they fail, then we will withdraw our recommendation for their entry into the exam. Asuma, Kurenai, what do you think?" When he was met with two nods, he turned his attention back to the scarred male. "Would this ease you?"

Iruka thought over the words proposal before deciding that it was logical and there was no real way he could lose anything more. Worst case scenario, all of the kids still ended up in the exam. Best case, none of them entered until they were good and ready. "I accept your terms," he said with a nod of his head.

* * *

**A/N: **Hello! Yes, an update, yay! I'm not making an excuse, because I don't really need one, but to let you know that updates may take a while for a few simple reasons: one) anatomy and physiology [you do homework for hours and wonder why it seems your to do pile is larger than the done pile], two) figure drawing [a drawing assignment a week to a perfectionist equals endless hours hunched over a sketch pad], three) new baby in the house, four) sister and best friend about to have a beautiful baby boy, and five) working on a very exciting bible study. So, no, this story is not on a hiatus of any kind; I just wanted you to know that you won't be getting an update every other day like when I was on winter break. Depending on my schedule, updates could be weekly or monthly; or longer if something really big comes up. However, considering the parts that are coming up are going to be really exciting to write, I will attempt to make time to write. Yet, with all that said I cannot blow of my responsibilities to write- sorry.

To those that I said you would get to see what you were wanting to: sorry. Though, you did get to see enough to allow your imagination to run wild. I simply reached the 10k mark before I made it to that scene (I was told that if I made my chapters longer than they were they would be too long). So, you will get to see what you want in the next chapter, I promise (cause it is in like the very next scene).

Songs in order of appearance:

One Step – Aladdin

Honor to Us All – Mulan

Character names used:

Aladdin

Mulan

So, tell me what you think and all that jazz. I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you have enjoyed!

Thanks and Tata!

_**Boe**_


	5. Chapter 5

**The Gift of Song**

**Chapter Five**

By Boejangles

-/-

A delicate pink eyebrow rose up in suspicious question. "We have a what?"

"A practical skills exam," was the cheerful reply from the silver haired male. Kakashi smiled at the three gathered genin with a wrinkling of his eye. "You and the other genin that graduated with you will be taking a little bit of an exam to measure what you have learned since leaving the academy. It is not optional. The first part of the exam is to get to the exam site. Here is your map. Good luck!" Just like that the chronically late sensei was gone.

Growling under her breath, Sakura turned her attention to the map that had been pressed into her hands. She could feel the presence of her female teammate stretching herself up and attempting to see over an offending shoulder that was blocking her view of the paper.

The blonde was once again in one of her much loved dresses. This one was reminiscent of the one she first wore to the academy to represent Esmeralda, but had all of the jingling jewels removed. The only part of her outfit that survived that wave mission was securely on her feet. She still missed her Anastasia dress, but was thankful to still have at least a piece of it.

The only male of the genin grunted as he moved to view the map himself. For the life of him he couldn't remember any previous genin having practical skills exams. He wondered if there were any reparations for passing or failing. "It looks to be outside of town a bit."

"Let's get going," Sakura huffed as she led the way to the village gates.

An hour and a half of hiking later led the trio to field that was already occupied. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino, otherwise known as team eight, was looking around the trees.

"So it's you guys," Kiba seemed to all but accuse as he saw them enter the area. "See, if they are here this has to be the right place guys. I told you this was it."

Pushing her fingers together in front of her, the Hyuuga looked around quizzically. "I…I w…wonder wh…what the r..rest of the t..test is going to b…be."

"Gah! Shikamaru! You let forehead beat me!" was hollered into a screening followed by, "Troublesome woman."

Sakura stuck out her tongue as team ten entered the field that the rest of the genin were gathered in. "Took you long enough to get here, pig."

"Why I oughta," Ino threatened as she marched towards the pink haired female with her fist up in the air.

"Bimbettes, Bimbettes, calm down," Naru chided as she smiled and waved to the boys of team ten. "Timon, Pumba, long time no see."

Whatever the boys were going to respond with was interrupted as Kakashi poofed into the clearing. "Glad you all made it. Good to see you all have learned to read a map," the male half joked as he scrunched up his only visible eye. "Why don't we just move onto the next part of the exam?"

He was interrupted with a 'that would be nice' from two of the females simultaneously.

"As I was saying, the next part of the test you have to get through this maze." With the statement, the older man gestured to the building in front of them.

"Wow sensei, how did you do that?" Naru exclaimed as she looked at the stone building in awe. She knew with every fiber of her being that it hadn't been there a second ago.

"Magic, little one, magic," he replied while patting her head.

Clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, Sasuke looked t his sensei. "That is it all we have to do is travel through the maze?"

"Yup." Kakashi nodded and motioned to the group gathered. "You must simply make it to the center of the maze before and remain there until a timer goes off. So, are you ready to begin?" Glancing over the genin, he was met with nodded. "Good." He clapped his hands together and the clearing was filled with smoke.

Coughing, Naru waved her hand in front of her face in an attempt to push the offending substance away. As the smoke cleared she blinked her eyes and looked around. "Clopin? Bimbettes? Timon? Pumba? Tramp?" Once she had made a complete circle, she came to the conclusion that she was alone. "Guys?" she cupped her hands to her mouth and called into the stony entrance.

When absolutely no response met her she stomped her foot.

-/-

As soon as the smoke entered the clearing, Sasuke had activated his Sharingan; however, it wasn't fast enough. He wasn't sure what jutsu had been used on him, but it teleported him to another area. Had his Sharingan not seen it, he wouldn't have felt a thing.

Looking in a directions a sinking feeling hit his chest. "Naru!" he yelled into the open area. He was met with no response. "Damnit!" he cursed before running into the opening to maze. A part of him just knew that she was going to be somewhere in the maze and she was going to get herself into trouble.

-/-

Blinking several times, Sakura frowned. "Guys?" Yup, she had somehow been abandoned. It was highly unlikely that all of her other genin, let alone her teammates, had run into the cave entrance when the smoke hit. The more realistic answer was that her sensei had done something annoying.

"When I get my hands on him," she muttered under her breath as she marched her way into the building in front of her. Her mind was hoping that for Kakashi's sake nothing happened to her teammates. Well, she had faith that Sasuke could take care of himself, but if her little gypsy was hurt in anyway: she would make the man, sensei or not, pay.

-/-

Naru looked around in curiosity. After stomping her feet and complaining for a few moments, she had decided to make her way into the maze. Hadn't she been spending all that time training to prove that she could make it without her teammates having to care for her? So, in a way, it was kind of a blessing in disguise that this was a solo exam. She would pass and she would prove that she could do it. Then maybe, just maybe, her teammates would stop babying her.

Rounding a corner, Naru wondered how exactly one was supposed to find their way through a maze. None of their training in the academy or after had really covered mazes or if there were any tricks to them. It hadn't seemed like she had gone in a circle, so she supposed that was a good start. However, everything did kind of look the same.

Trying to figure out a way to keep her on the right path, the blonde pulled out the gauze from her pouch and tore a small piece off. She set it on the floor and returned the remainder of the roll back into her pouch. Looking down at her work, she gave it a nod of approval. If she passed by the piece of gauze, she would know to attempt a different direction.

Naru wandered around for a few minutes and was pleased with the fact she hadn't passed the gauze. Perhaps she was heading in the right direction after all. The small girl paused when an odd feeling rested in her stomach. She whirled around in time to see a form jumping towards her. Whirling to the side, she pushed herself against the wall and out of the way.

Whatever had lunged at her moved pass and she took those few seconds to put some distance between them. Flicking her wrist, she grabbed onto a piece of what appeared to be a bracelet. Yanking on the bracelet extended a sting and in return shot ten senbon from the device on Naru's wrist.

The form, which proved to be a male several years older than the blonde, rolled out of the way and behind the cover of a curve in the wall. The Uzumaki crouched slightly and waited warily for the male to show himself.

Her patience was rewarded with a ball of water to the chest as the male slid back into view and launched his jutsu. The force of the attack sent Naru to the floor in a sprawled unmoving heap.

The offender snickered as he approached the unconscious girl. "That was a pathetic excuse of a fight." The man kicked the girl's leg lightly with his foot. "One attack and out like a light. They just don't make kunoichi like they used too."

The male barely had time to reel back in shock when the girl's eyes popped open and a grin enveloped the girl's face before senbon struck his back along his back and into his neck. With his eyes rolling into the back of his head, the man crumpled to the floor.

Moving to her feet, Naru brushed herself off. The Uzumaki was proud of herself for being able to reconnect her chakra strings after having been hit by the attack. She had learned the playing possum trick from one of her spars with Sasuke. He had utterly freaked out when he thought he had seriously hurt her.

The small girl collected all but one of the senbon from the male's form. The last one would keep the male in a nice deep sleep until it was removed. She decided she would prefer him not follow her and when everything was said and done she would tell someone that there was a man that needed assistance.

Scanning over the scene again, Naru was incredibly pleased with what she had done. This was the first time she had truly taken out an enemy all by herself. She let out a slight whoop of joy before clapping her hands. Oh yeah, she could totally do this.

Nodding her head, she continued in the direction she had been going before she was interrupted. She giggled to herself as she thought that now she had two markers: the gauze and an unconscious male.

It was several minutes of wandering before she once again felt a presence behind her. Twisting herself around, she flung a senbon towards where she had assumed the attacker would be.

"For the love of…dag nabbit Naru!" The "attacker" moved from the shadows and revealed a ticked off Kiba clutching his shoulder when the senbon had lodged itself.

"Tramp! I'm sorry!" the blonde exclaimed as she rushed over and removed the senbon which was greeted with an irritated hiss. "Though you should have known better than to sneak up on me and you could have dodged."

The brown haired male simply growled and shook his head. Akamaru barked from atop Kiba's head in what seemed to be protest at being tossed around. The male poked the girl's forehead before brushing past her to lead the way.

"I can heal that you know," Naru called out as she stomped her foot. A part of her felt insulted at being blamed for something that wasn't entirely her fault.

"No need, it is barely a scratch," he called back as he continued walking. He refused to allow the girl to know that her little stunt had actually hurt him. "Are you coming or are you just going to stand there?"

The genin from team seven rolled her eyes before stomping after Kiba; all the while muttering under her breath about pig headed males refusing help. Naru paused mid-step when Kiba was thrown into a wall by a punch to his face.

The blonde blinked as the form of a female moved into line of sight as she approached the downed male. Releasing her restocked wrist contraption, Naru sent ten senbon flying towards the offending ninja. Her attack was intercepted by a Kiba who had launched himself into what he was hoping was a surprise attack. The twos' attacks canceled each other out, as the dog boy was struck with the senbon and unable to complete his attack.

The Inuzaka fell to his knees as pain flared up his back. "Naru! That is the second bloody time!" His voice was laced with poorly hidden rage as he took a brief second to cast a glare at the small girl.

The kunoichi who had first attacked simply laughed and covered her mouth with her hand. "Should I just stand back and allow you to take each other out?" Her statement earned Kiba's growl and fury filled eyes to be directed at her.

The boy pushed himself up and couldn't help but notice the funny feeling in his legs or that he was ever so slightly unbalanced. Pulling out the senbon from his back, he discovered that there was one that he could not reach to remove. While it was slightly amusing to see the male grabbing at his back, it did bring forth some sympathy.

Seeing the boy's discomfort, Naru began molding her chakra. "Working on it Kiba!" she hollered as she focused on connecting her chakra to the senbon. "He's a tramp, but they love him," she began to sing under her breath to calm her nerves. "Breaks a new heart every day."

"And now she is singing." The attacker laughed and shook her head. "Man what a show, but I guess I should take you out now." A smirk marred the kunochi's face before she lunged at the male who ducked and backed out of the way.

"He's a tramp. They adore him. And I only hope he'll stay that way." The blonde was having trouble concentrating her chakra to wrap around the now moving senbon. Most of her training had her moving the object itself. "He's a tramp, he's a scoundrel, he's a rounder, he's a cad." Naru grinned as she finally had a solid hold on the senbon, having wrapped her chakra around it multiple times. "He's a tramp, but I love him. Yes, even I have got it pretty bad." Yanking back on her chakra, she removed the senbon from the boy's back.

Kiba let out a hiss as the piece of metal was removed from his back. However, with it gone the tingling in his legs vanished completely. The strange thing was that while the senbon was still in he was beginning to regain his footing and the pain in his back died down. Taking a quick second to prod his shoulder, he found that the wound from earlier had vanished.

His thoughts were distracted by having to block a punch and sending a kick of his own to the attacker. "Hey, Naru, do that again."

The blonde scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. She had no idea what the male was wanting her to do again. "Do what?"

"Whatever you were just doing with the senbon in my back," he shot back as if it should have made perfect sense. Kiba had heard of the girl's odd abilities, but had never really seen them in action. Fury filled his eyes as the woman he was fighting kicked Akamaru. "Do it now!"

Naru shook her head as if unable to comprehend. "Wait, you want me to throw another senbon at you?" It was inconceivable to her that someone would actually want to be injured.

"Yes! Do it now!" He barked out the order with anger filling his voice. He wanted to make this chick pay for hurting his partner.

Uncertainty filling her actions, the blonde launched a senbon into the male's back; who, upon impact, flinched.

Regaining his balance, the brunette glared at the female who had been attacking him. "Now, do whatever you were doing before."

"You must be an idiot, having your ally attack you. Were you dropped on your head as a baby?" the female riled before landing a punch in the male's abdomen that sent him up into the air.

"Tramp!" the blonde called out in worry. When the male shot her a look, she understood that he just wanted her to do what he had asked. Gulping and fighting her nerves, Naru began to wrap her chakra around the senbon. "You can never tell when he'll show up. He gives you plenty of trouble. I guess he's just a no count pup, but I wish that he were double."

Kiba pushed himself off the floor and managed to land two solid blows in quick succession to the assailant.

Locking her hold on the chakra, Naru huffed. "Okay, now what?" She was growing more and more curious as to how this was going to help them.

"Just keep doing that!" he shouted out as he blocked a kick that forced him to scoot back a few feet.

Confusion filled Naru's eyes, before it registered that he wanted her to keep singing. She hadn't really registered that she was doing it until now. It was more of a nervous habit. "He's a tramp, he's a rover and there's nothing more to say. If he's a tramp, he's a good one and I wish that I could travel his way."

Kiba couldn't keep the grin from his face as all the pain washed away from him and he felt overwhelmingly refreshed. Seeing the opening he needed, he threw himself into his favorite technique that turned him into a whirling human bullet that would pummel into his opponent. Naru lost her chakra connection to the senbon as the boy spun rapidly, but it seemed to have done the trick.

The spinning boy plowed into the kunoichi and rocketed her into the wall hard enough to knock her out. "Ha, ha!" he pointed his finger at the unconscious female, "That was for kicking Akamaru!" He was so caught up in the elation of his victory, that when the senbon was pulled from his back, a hiss escaped his lips as his body flinched. He felt Naru rest her hand on his back and he had the urge to glare at the smiling girl.

"Wish that I could travel his way, wish that I could travel his way, wish that I could travel his way." The blonde finished and smiled while patted the now pain free back. "Nice hit. Now, want to tell me why you wanted me to do that?"

Scratching the back of his head, Kiba picked up Akamaru and slipped him inside his jacket. "It just seemed to give me a power boost and take away the pain."

Naru simply 'hmm'ed and decided she would ask Kakashi about it later.

The male genin continued to rub the back of his head again. "I guess you aren't as horrible as I thought, and in fact, you are kinda cool."

A breath taking smile took over the girl's face. "Why thank you. I guess we don't make a horrible team." She laughed at reusing his word and the expression on the boys face. "I guess now we finish the maze.

Sharing a nod, the two moved pass the unmoving kunoichi in hope that the end of the maze was near. The hallways seemed to twist in odd directions and all the walls appeared to be the same as the ones around each turn.

"I think we have gone in a circle," the blonde voiced her feelings and she kicked a pebble across the floor. She was growing bored of this little game they were playing and was quite ready for it to all be over.

The brunette seemed to scoff at the idea. "There is no possible way that we could have gone in a circle. I have an excellent nose and it is leading us to the end of the maze."

Blinking, Naru scratched her head in puzzlement. "You can smell the end of the maze?" For a brief moment the thought of a location having a fragrance all of its own tickled the girl pink.

"Well, no, but I can smell different smells such as the lingering smell of where we have been, and we haven't walked over our own scent yet." Kiba gave a nod and a crooked grin of assurance.

The girl seemed to take a moment to process this before nodding her head in acceptance. "Well I guess that makes sense. Can you smell anybody else?"

"Huh?" The boy cocked his head one way then the other while evaluating the girl. He began to walk again while listening for the girl's explanation.

"You know, like track down somebody by their scent?" The Uzumaki was having trouble containing her excitement at the thought of being able to sniff out another member of their group. It seemed like a nifty super power.

Kiba stopped abruptly and turned to look at the girl as if shocked by the question. "It doesn't quite work that way." Scratching at his eyebrow he snapped his tongue. "I guess if I came across where they have been I could follow where they went from there." Pausing as if trying to figure out if that was a proper explanation, he gave a nod of his head.

"Mah, you guys are loud and troublesome," drawled a voice from just around the corner.

Naru seemed to instantly perk up as she brushed past Kiba in a flurry of movement to tackle Shikamaru. "Timon! Yay! We are saved! You are a genius so you must know how to get through the maze!"

Stumbling with his footing to keep both himself and the small girl upright, Shikamaru braced himself against the wall. "Hello to you too. Tch, of course, it is troublesome, but if you only make right turns you will arrive at the center."

Squeezing the Nara for good measure, Naru cast a look over her shoulder at the dog boy. "Tramp, why didn't you know that?"

"Hey!" Kiba instantly protested. "I would have gotten us to the center in no time my own way!" Huffing in irritation, the insulted male crossed his arms over his chest. "Shouldn't we be moving already," he spat out in irritation.

"Mah, don't be a bother," the other male scolded as he detached the girl from his form. "We are going to go now."

Naru jumped up and down excitedly as she clapped her hands together. "Yay! Timon is going to lead us through the maze!"

Rolling his eyes, the dog boy shoved his way past the two in an effort to take the lead. He could make only right turns and get through the maze like anybody else. He had a brain too. Plus he knew he could pound the other male into the ground if he wanted to.

Shikamaru could practically see Kiba's raised hackles as he stomped in front of them. Rolling his eyes, he pushed Naru in front of him so that the girl was secure between the two boys. He decided it was safer to placate the boy and allow him to keep his pride and feel in control, anything else would just be troublesome.

Kiba seemed to pause before shooting forward and to the left.

"Hey, I thought we were supposed to only go left," the blonde called out as she turned to look at the male behind her in question. The male simply responded with shrugged shoulders and a shake of his head.

"Hinata!" came the dog boy's voice from ahead.

As the other two came rounded the corner, they could see that the wall was different here in that they could see through it and on the other side was Hinata and Sasuke facing three enemies. Kiba appeared to be banging on the wall. It seemed that though they could clearly see through the other side the others could not see them.

"Oh, Sasuke!" Naru shouted as she rushed forward and tilted her head to watch the battle. She seemed to pout as she knocked against the wall as if annoyed at the people on the other side for not responding.

"Blondie, they can't hear us. If I am right it is sound proof and one way," Shikamaru stated as he set his hand on the girl's shoulder to calm her.

"Hinata!" Kiba hollered again as the girl had to dodge a kick that was aimed for her head. "I have to go help her," he screamed at the other two.

The blonde tilted her head before pointing to the two that were fighting and where Sasuke had sent one assailant flying into a wall. "I think her and Sasuke are doing a good job."

"No!" he snapped at her while leaning down into her face. "I need to help Hinata right now."

Shikamaru was about to get on Kiba for making the girl shrink back, before a mischievous look took over the blue eyed girl's face.

"Oh, I get it. You like her. You want to kiss her," she drew out slowly.

"No!" Kiba protested quickly as he turned and started marching away. "She is my teammate and she needs my help." He began to run down the hallway in hopes of making his way to the girl.

Shaking his head, the Nara muttered a troublesome before looking to the blonde, who had began to chase after the dog boy. Another troublesome passed his lips before he took off after the two. He could hear Naru's giggle and knew she was about to do something to get under the other male's skin.

"There you see her, sitting there across the way. She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her. And you don't know why, but you're dying to try; you want to kiss the girl," the Uzumaki began to sing as she trailed behind the brunette.

Kiba growled over his shoulder, but continued to run. "Shut it, Naru."

A grin took over the girl's face. The fact he was fighting so much only cemented in her mind that his was madly in love with the Hyuuga. "Yes, you want her. Look at her you know you do. Possible she want you too; there is one way to ask her. It don't take a word, not a single word: go on and kiss the girl."

"Uzumaki, so help me if you don't," the male's threat was cut off as he came flying back towards the mentioned blonde.

Shikamaru came running up to see a male clad entirely in black lowering his leg back to the ground, as Kiba groaned and rolled to his side off of the small blonde. Rushing forward, he knelt next to Naru. "You okay, blondie?"

"Yeah," the girl confirmed pushing herself up. "Kiba isn't incredibly fat, only mildly heavy." If the slightly insulted male hadn't been charging at the figure that kicked him, he would have retorted.

Quickly pulling the girl out of the way, the Nara watched as Kiba flew back yet again. Looking up at where the assailant stood, he noticed there was now another one standing next to the first. "Well this is going to be fun," he muttered as he moved Naru behind him.

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, I know it has been a long time. I have slowly been working on this around everything that I have going on right now. I finally figured, after receiving a message from a reader, that you guys might prefer a shorter chapter just for the heck of an update than waiting for me to finish writing the rest of it.

As always, I hope you like it and are enjoying the read so far. Sorry for the cliff hanger; the rest should be out a whole lot sooner than it took for this chapter.

Songs in order of appearance:

He's a Tramp – Lady and the Tramp

Kiss the Girl – Little Mermaid

Character names used:

No new names

So, tell me what you think and all that jazz. I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you have enjoyed!

Thanks and Tata!

_**Boe**_


	6. Chapter 6

**The Gift of Song**

**Chapter Six**

By Boejangles

-/-

Shikamaru's eyes roamed over the situation. It appeared they were up against two enemy, though there could always be someone hiding in the shadows waiting for the perfect opening. The male who first attacked Kiba appeared to not have a single weapon on him, though that too could be deceiving. The second attacker was also male, but this one was holding oddly shaped knives in each hand; the blade curved to the side to rest against the user's outer wrist. His mind quickly began to process the situation to find the best method for continuing through the maze.

Kiba stood up and the anger surrounding him was palpable. "Get out of my way!" he demanded with his head still bowed towards the floor. When the boy detected no movement from the two ahead of him, he shot his head up with a glare. "If you won't move I will just have to beat you out of the way!"

Naru peeked over Shikamaru's shoulder as Kiba's form began to shake. She could see him race through several hand seals. Soon there was a 'pop' and there were two Kiba's standing in front of her.

Clutching his hands together, Kiba shot a look to Akamaru as if communicating a plan of action with that single glance. He was more than just a little ticked off that someone was attempting to stop him from getting to Hinata.

Images of the girl being pushed around as ignorant jerks made fun of her 'freaky looking eyes' flashed through his mind. Just thinking about it increased the fury within the already angry boy. He thought Hinata's eyes were beautiful and he would beat down anyone who spoke differently. He had been doing just that since the first time he saw someone poking at the girl in the academy; even though they were bigger than him and had him outclassed and outnumbered. He would get back up each and every time he was knocked down. He simply refused to allow anyone to hurt the girl. Now, he was the bigger and stronger one, most people didn't dare to give the girl as much as a look of disgust.

However, someone was currently attempting to hurt Hinata and these fools were in his way to helping her. With a growl permeating from the boy, Kiba and Akamaru charged at the two before twisting their bodies into a rapid torpedo.

Watching the two identical forms jump back, Shikamaru noticed the blood dripping from Kiba's arms. Just as he had predicted, the male with the blades had used them in a block causing the dog boy to injury himself by attacking. Speaking of the male with the blades, he was standing a few feet back from where he started having been pushed back from the attack, but only looking mildly worse for wear. The other male was currently picking himself back off the floor.

Shikamaru had found the weaker link and the defensive abilities of the other. "Naru, stay here. I know you have been working on long range attacks: if you see an opening, take it." When he received a shaky nod from the blonde, he turned his attention to the other genin. "Kiba, can you still fight?"

The brunette seemed to scoff at the idea that he had been knocked out of the fight. "This," he stated in a questioning voice while raising his arms up, which caused blood to drip onto the floor. "Barely a scratch." The fact that Kiba flinched upon raising and lowering his arms did not help his argument.

The other Kiba turned his head slightly to send a grin to the only girl in the area. "Naru, think you can do what we did before?"

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before it registered. "Uh, yeah." Casting a quick look to Shikamaru, she threw two senbon, each hit their target in the center of the boys' backs.

The Nara sent an evaluating look towards his friend as she began molding chakra in her hands. He wasn't quite sure what she was doing. His thoughts were forced onto the enemy as they charged at both boys.

Running to meet the blade wielder, the uninjured Kiba attempted to sweep the legs out from the enemy. It proved futile when the other male simply jumped over the kick.

Meanwhile, the other Kiba hissed in pain as he blocked a punch from the male that had been forced to the ground. The blood trailing down his arm increased as the cut expanded with the force of the blow. "Any time now Naru!" he barked as he was forced to jump back as his arm gave out and refused to hold the other male back any more.

Having finished connected her chakra to the senbon, Naru took in a breath and gained her focus. "Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my, oh, my, look like the boy too shy; ain't gonna kiss the girl."

The uninjured Kiba was slashed at as the attacked flipped mid-air. The force of the blow caused the boy to fly into the wall where a race line appeared across his abdomen. There was a whimper before the form changed into that of Akamaru.

"Akamaru!" Kiba called out as his head shot towards his downed partner. The distraction was all the attacking nin needed to land a punishing blow to the male's gut that doubled him over.

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad, he gonna miss the girl," Naru continued to sing as if on impulse, since it was taking her utmost attention to move the chakra strings so that they stayed attached her current teammates.

"Wha…what?" the bladed enemy called out as the injury he had just inflicted on the male turned dog sealed itself back up.

Kiba straightened himself with condescending grin marring his face. "Checkmate," he stated as he lifted up his hand exposing an arm that was unscratched. The dog boy didn't know how to describe the feeling coursing through his veins except that he felt powerful: really powerful, undefeatable, untouchable.

"Now's your moment, floating in a blue lagoon. Boy, you better do it soon- no time will be better. She don't say a word and she won't say a word until ya kiss the girl."

The bladed enemy attempted to lash out at the dog again when he found that he was unable to move. His findings were voiced by his partner who screamed out in an attempt to break whatever was trying to keep him still.

"Shadow mimickery complete," Shikamaru spoke calmly from his crouched position. He had taken the enemies surprise to his advantage and stretched out his shadow to capture their own.

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't be scared, you got the mood prepared. Go on and kiss the girl. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't stop now. Don't try and hide it, how you wanna kiss the girl. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, float along and listen to the song; song say kiss the girl." Naru was forced to move the strings as Kiba moved to land a punishing blow one right after the other on each of the opponents. She took a quick moment to appreciate how right before the hit landed, Shikamaru released his technique. Using her chakra strings, she pulled, yanking the senbon out of the Kiba and Akamarus' backs.

When the little white dog raced to the brunette's side, the blonde reached down and picked him up. While holding the dog in one hand, she placed her other on Kiba's back. "Sha-la-la-la-la, music play. Do what the music say, you gotta kiss the girl."

When the sting from the senbon's removal from his back dissipated, Kiba took Akamaru from the female. Casting her a look that clearly showed distaste, he let out an annoyed grunt. "Couldn't you have chosen a different song?"

With a pleased grin on her face, Naru shook her head. "Nope. That one was already on my mind and therefore the only song I could think about."

Shaking his head, the shadow user approached the two genin. He cast a sweeping glance over the knocked out bodies of the two that had been fighting with them only moments prior. Shikamaru advanced and patted Naru's head. "That was pretty impressive. I've never seen you do that before. So, you can channel your healing abilities through your chakra now?"

The blonde looked at her best friend before blinking cutely. "Is that what I was doing?" Putting her finger to her mouth, her face scrunched up in thought as she remembered how Kiba and Akamaru's wounds both seemed to disappear. The realization seemed to hit her as an excited smile took over her face. "Wow! That is so cool I didn't know I could do that."

The Nara shook his head in disbelief; leave it to blondie to not realize her own ability. She was definitely the most troublesome girl he knew. "Naru, if you didn't know what it did, why did you do it?"

Pointing to Kiba, she shrugged her shoulders. "Tramp asked me too."

Said boy took a moment to puff up as if he had been a genius to think it up even though it had started as an accident. Then his face suddenly changed. "Hinata!" as the word traveled through his lips, Kiba vanished around the corner.

With a muttered troublesome, Shikamaru ushered Naru to follow the single minded boy. As they themselves rounded the corner, they were met with the sight of Kiba standing in a circular room whipping his head back and forth. As they entered the room, Shikamaru let out an appreciative whistle. The entire room was lined with openings that led down dark hallways.

Scratching her head, Naru turned her attention to her friend. "Timon, which one would be a right turn?"

The Nara couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. "I have no idea."

Upon hearing the new occupants in the room, Kiba whirled around on them. "Shikamaru, which way will lead to Hinata!"

Shikamaru took a moment to wonder why people deemed it necessary to ask him impossible questions. He knew he had earned the reputation of a lazy genius, but that didn't make him the possessor of all knowledge. He was saved from having to answer when Choji entered the room followed by the girl in question and the Uchiha.

Creeping up behind the dog boy with a gigantic grin on her face, Naru leaned up to whisper in the boy's ear, "You know you want to kiss the girl."

Kiba reacted before he could think about it and brought his elbow back sharply into the girl's chest. He whipped his head around to make sure the girl was okay. The blonde let out an 'oof' as the air was shoved from her lungs, but otherwise showed no signs of distress.

The Uchiha was there in an instant with a fist cuffing and yanking the Inuzuka's collar. Out of reflex the dog boy sent his fist flying towards whoever had grabbed him. In a flurry of movement, Sasuke deflected the punch with the side of his hand against the other boy's wrist. Twisting his hand around the tan wrist to grip it tightly, he directing the momentum of Kiba's attack into the boy's own throat. The force of the blow combined with Sasuke's weight pushing forward caused the boys' to fall to the ground. On his knees hovering over the other boy, Sasuke kept a tight hold on Kiba's arm while shoving it against the boy's throat.

Kiba held a healthy appreciation of what it felt like to have the wind knocked out of him and the arm against his throat was keeping him from taking in the craved air. He noted with frustration that the arm suffocating him was his own. For the first time he got a good look at his attacker and realized it was a furious Uchiha. It was in that second that he truly feared the other boy. The venom held in the Sharingan made perfectly clear that Sasuke was capable of killing him, fellow Konoha ninja be damned.

Both boys' names were cried out simultaneously. One voice belonged to a fidgeting Hyuuga that looked completely distressed at the situation. The other voice was that of a shell shocked Uzumaki.

The blonde's voice broke Sasuke from his rage as his attention turned to the girl. Leaping off the now gasping boy, the raven haired male started evaluating his charge with concern etched over his features. An almost unnoticeable growl of frustration left the boy's mouth as his green glowing hand hovered over the girl's side.

"You have three broken ribs," he ground out as anger was beginning to fill him once more.

Feeling Sasuke begin to turn towards the male Hinata was hovering over, Naru stuck her arm out slapping the boy across the face. "Stop it!" she yelled as loud as her voice would allow her. "My ribs were more than likely broken while I was fighting and _defeating_ an enemy all by myself."

The Uchiha's body had completely froze after a hand had connected against his cheek. He was having trouble processing the fact that his charge had actually hit him. Blinking a few times he listened to her screaming at him. He didn't deserve this. Here he was trying to protect her and she had the audacity to not only hit him, but to yell at him. "Protecting you is my highest priority," he let out in a volume barely above a whisper that did nothing to mask his anger.

"I'm fully capable of protecting myself now! That is what I have been training so hard for. If it didn't get through your thick head or maybe you missed it: I defeated an enemy all by myself!" Naru's face was distorted with her own handful of anger.

"And if you missed it," Sasuke began his voice rising as well, "you were injured in that fight!" His voice ended in a yell that could rival the girl's own.

"Sasuke, Naru, cut it out!" Sakura's voice broke through the yelling as she pushed herself between the fighting pair. The blonde huffed and turned around crossing her arms. Sakura was about to demand an explanation for why the two were fighting and Kiba was slowly lifting himself from the floor, when Sasuke quickly rushed around her and placed himself in front of Naru to block an attack.

The boy's kunai was pushing back against one wielded by a silver haired jounin. "Congratulations! You made it to the center of the maze. Now, you simply have to stay here until the bell goes off."

Sakura cracked her knuckles at the sight of her perverted sensei. This was her chance to pay the man back for the dirty trick at the beginning of the test. Throwing her fist with a surprising amount of force, she forced the older male to jump back or risk injury. Following the movement of the masked shinobi, she could see that Kiba had managed to get back on his feet and was standing protectively between Asuma and Hinata with Shino, who had come in with her, beside him. Ino, who had also joined the room alongside her, was facing off against Kurenai with Shikamaru and Choji. Turning her attention back to where Kakashi had been standing, she realized that he was no longer there. She was unable to locate the male until his hands were grabbing her and hurling her through one of the opening and into the darkened hallway.

It only lasted a few minutes, but the fight had been hard and at one point or another each genin faced all the sensei present. The bell had rung precisely two minutes ago and all of the genin were still attempting to catch their breath. Naru looked the least affected, but that was due to the fact that six people had taken it upon themselves to ensure that she wasn't injured. Sasuke had put his effort into protecting the girl, not only because it was his duty, but also to prove just how much the girl truly did need him. Kiba attempted to guard the girl in a sense of retribution while also attempting to protect the Hyuuga heiress. Shikamaru, Choji, Ino and Sakura also made moves to protect their beloved blonde. With all of them switching off they had made it almost impossible to get to Naru while still holding back to the level they wanted.

Naru looked as though she was about to repay everyone for their efforts to protect her by healing them, when she was lifted into the air. Kakashi crinkled his eye in what was his trademark smile while bouncing her slightly. Opening his eye, he addressed the winded genin, "Congratulations, you passed. You are now all eligible to enter the Chunin exams which will take place in a week. Now, I will be taking this," he stated while bouncing Naru again. "It isn't good to develop a dependency on one's ability. You all should rest up and heal the old fashioned way." Then with a simple head nod, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke allowed his head to fall back to the ground from where he had been all but glaring at his sensei. He knew that with the jounin Naru would be safe. Closing his eyes, he hoped that the previous fight proved to Naru just how much she truly needed him and that she was not ready to be on her own by any means. However, that troubling thought was met with overwhelming exhaustion and pushed to the side for now. He had really overstretched himself to keep Naru from having to move a muscle. He knew he had gone so far not only to protect her, but really to prove that he had been right.

-/-

When Kakashi set Naru down, she brushed herself off and looked around. They were in training ground seven, in front of the posts. Blue eyes looked at the older male expectantly.

Lowering his gaze to look into those all too blue eyes, the Hatake brought his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Ma, I wanted to tell you that you did a wonderful job making your way through the maze. The way you tricked your opponent by playing possum was very clever. Then the way you were able to manipulate your chakra like that truly shows how much work you have been putting into training. I feel that we will need to further explore on your ability to channel your healing ability through your chakra."

As the male lavished praise upon her, Naru couldn't help but perk up. Then her eyebrow quirked up in question. "You were watching me the whole time?"

"I was keeping an eye on all of you," he responded while sweeping his hand to the side. "Now, I have something very important to talk to you about. Now, in the upcoming Chunin exams there is no telling what you will have to go through. What I do know is that there will be fights against opponents with varying skill level. While you performed admirably in today's exercise, the Chunin exams are much more dangerous and that water attack you received earlier could have been a more deadly attack."

Scrunching her face up in thought with confusion leaking in, Naru was beginning to think that her sensei was attempting to talk her out of taking the exam. "Do you not want me going?"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders before running a hand through his hair. "It is up to you to decide whether or not you want to take the test. I just wanted to let you know that because of your condition you are not required to participate in the exams. In fact, if you choose to sit out, the Hokage has a replacement that could fill the spot for the duration of the exams to help Sasuke and Sakura."

The blonde clenched her fists tightly before meeting the silver haired jounin eyes to eye. "I have worked so hard so that I would not be a hindrance to my friends. I have poured hours into training to prove that I can do it and I will do it. I refuse to back down and give my spot to anybody else. I may not look like much, but heroes are filled with surprises." Naru ended her speech with a big smile taking over her face.

The Hatake had to give it to her, the girl had spunk. He was soon smiling down at his smallest student. "Well if your mind is made up, I look forward to seeing your surprises."

Giggling, Naru held up a victory sign. "You bet!"

-/-

Naru had spent the rest of the day avoiding Sasuke. It was now well into the afternoon of the next day and she still had yet to say a word to him. All around it was just awkward. Sure they had fights before, but never had either of them been truly angry or been so aggressive towards each other. She felt bad for yelling at him, but she just wanted him to recognize that she had skill on her own.

Sighing, the blonde shook her head. She had yet to see the raven all day and that was perfectly fine with her: she still had no idea what she would say when the inevitable decided to arrive.

"Naru!" Upon hearing her name, she turned to see a boy racing towards her. "Naru-nee-chan!"

With recognition filling her eye, the Uzumaki smiled. "Aladdin, how are you?"

"Naru, Naru, I entered the ninja academy! I am on my way to becoming Hokage! I want you to meet my new friends," Konohamaru all but shouted as he finished playing with the goggles that rested upon his forehead and motioned towards the two children behind. The action caused the blonde's recognition of the two for the first time. One was a rather dull looking boy in glasses and the other was a girl with orange pony tails that went straight up. "This is Udon and Moegi. I met them in the academy and they are super cool. We should play together. Please play with us, Naru-nee."

The blonde was forced to take a moment and process all that the younger boy has said. The amount of excitement and energy rolling off of the Sarutobi made her seem calm. "Congratulations on making it into the academy. I am sure that you are going to be Hokage if you push your whole heart into it. Hello, Udon, Moegi." Tapping her chin with her pointer finger she wondered what game they should play.

As if reading her thoughts, Konohamaru grabbed the girl's hand that was still by her side and looked at her excitedly. "Can we play another song game, please?" the slight whine to his voice made refusing highly difficult.

Using the hand that was tapping her chin to poke the boy's nose, she smiled. "Though I come from a land, from a faraway place were the caravan camels roam." Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out a senbon and made a motion along the outer side of the younger boy's face. "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey it's home."

Konohamaru gulped with having something so sharp before turning towards his friends and screaming to run. Looking over his shoulder to make sure the blonde was following he let laugh tear through his lips.

"When the winds from the east and the suns from the west and the sand and the glass is bright, come on down, stop on by, hop a carpet and fly to another Arabian night." Naru had to stop herself from giggling as she chased after the three academy students. It appeared as though the three were enjoying themselves.

The leader of the pack, Konohamaru, shot a look over his shoulder to his pursuer before he shot around the corner of a fence where he planned on turning back and lashing a sneak attack against the older girl.

Naru saw the children vanish from sight a split second before a scream pierced through the air. From the pitch, she could tell instantly that the scream came from Moegi. Pushing herself to move faster, she rounded the corner to find Konohamaru on the ground moaning as his hands held onto the end of a kunai that was imbedded deep into his abdomen. Breaking her eyes from the boy, she saw a panic stricken silver haired male crying about it being an accident and the boy jumping in front of his target practice.

Ignoring the male for now, she slid onto her knees next to Konohamaru. Seeing the blonde next to him, the boy reached out to her. "Naru-nee-chan, it hurts. It hurts really bad," he choked out between his sobs. His shirt was slowly become soaked with blood along with the ground beneath him. Moegi had fallen to her knees crying her eyes out and Udon had run off to find someone to help.

"Shh, shh, I'm going to make it all better Aladdin," Naru spoke reassuringly as she smoothed back the male's hair. "But in order to make it better, I am going to have to make it hurt worse. I'm really sorry." Gripping onto the handle of the kunai, she removed it from the boy in a swift motion in an attempt to make it the least painful. The action still received a sharp cry from the boy who quickly moved both of his hands over the wound as fear and pain raced through him.

Keeping one hand stroking the boy's hair, the blonde moved her other hand to rest over the boy's own. "Arabian nights like Arabian days, more often than not, are hotter than hot in a lot of good ways Arabian nights meet Arabian moons. A fool off his guard could fall and fall hard out there on the dunes." Having finished the song, she moved the boy's hands to make sure the wound was healed. She had to use her sleeve to brush the blood away to be definitive. Pleased with the unmarred skin, Naru turned her attention to the boy who was still crying. "Does it still hurt?"

When Konohamaru shook his head in response, blue eyes softened. "Are you still scared?" Her question was met with a small nod. Pulling the boy close to her, Naru began to hum softly.

"I'm really sorry." She could hear the boy apologizing still. "Is he okay? I didn't see him until it was too late. I really didn't see him."

"He is going to be fine," the blonde responded as she rocked the small boy. "Though, I would suggest finding a more suitable training ground."

"Ye-yes, of course!" the boy spat out before turning a rushing from the area. With all of their attention on the still shaky boy, no one noticed the smirk on the silver haired male's face as he turned away and pushed up his glasses.

With Moegi's help, Naru was able to brace Konohamaru enough that they were able to walk to the Hokage tower. Once inside, the Uzumaki left after telling Mufasa what had happened and assuring that Aladdin was going to be okay. She needed to get back to her room and changed before any of her overprotective friends saw her covered in blood.

It was later that night, after a nice hot shower and a change of clothes, which brought Naru to her favorite room in the orphanage: the movie den. She was slowly escaping the stress of the events prior by falling into the fantastical world of her movies.

Her quiet was interrupted as a form sat next to her. Casting her eyes to take in her couch buddy, she was only slightly surprised to see Sasuke leaning back into the couch and watching the movie. A small smile began to tug at her lips. Her she had been wondering what she would say when they were finally alone with the lingering argument from before, but just like that, the argument was forgotten.

Noticing her eyes on him, Sasuke turned his attention to his charge and offered the plate of cookies he had snagged from the kitchen.

Naru's small smile turned into a full grin as she happily accepted the peace offering. The Uchiha couldn't stop the small smirk at seeing the girl so excited. The rest of the movie was watched in peaceful silence excluding the chewing of cookies.

* * *

**A/N: **No, this is not a genjutsu. Yes, this is an update. Hehe. I hope that you all have enjoyed the story so far and will continue to enjoy it as the story continues. Thank you for all the reviews; they motivate me to publish chapters faster. ^.^ so, thanks for the encouragement!

Songs in order of appearance:

Kiss the Girl – Little Mermaid

Arabian Nights - Aladdin

Character names used:

No new names

So, tell me what you think and all that jazz. I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you have enjoyed!

Thanks and Tata!

_**Boe**_


End file.
