I know I'm getting slower and I apologize for that. Theirs a lot happening around me lately and I haven't really had the chance to write. Plus I feel like I should warn you guys that I have a very poor immune system and I often fall sick, which happened this weekend. (If any part of this chapter seems off I blame the fever. Lol. (my best excuse ever for poor writing)),

Lately many people have been asking about pairings and I will finally partially enlighten you. Yes there will be a pairing but it will not be for a long, long time and will be a very minor part of the story. I don't think I would be able to right a good pairing if my life depended on it. I know some of you want it to be a surprise of who it is and the rest of you want to know so in response to that I wont announce it here now but if you review or PM me asking about it, I'll PM you about the answer.

Once last thing before I get to the story. I need a good alias for a disguised Naru and cant think of anything but the common ones (like fox). If anybody has any suggestions please let me know.

*Looks at fav/foll with mouth gaping open. Gets on her knees and bows repeatedly while chanting, "I am not worthy"* Thank You Anubis eye, CrystallizedSiren, EwilanO, Ebrahimhejres, HakuMomo, ReneeGardens09, Velzon, LiquidCrystal, Xanxux, nedrag94, orihara alice, windfox90, tiniswinis, wolfmoon30, I love cute things, MerlinMagia, NeoMatrixj2, NoelleShadows, RadonMax, Shadowmoon97, VelvetKissAtMidnight, moonserenity82, LadyRandomness, Yami no Kaze, KHR1827, Stazzy241, anex4725, techi1590, JustImagineXx, SeekersTF4, The Truth I Only Know, DisGamerChick, Feather Lies, MissMia8218, Psycoticat, IceEmoVampire, lovleydragonfly, NexUmbra, Rednecks Love Anime Too, and for all the people who previously foll/fav my story. It means a lot to me that people are actually enjoying what I wrote.

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Chapter 16

Naru wanted to pull her hair out in frustration. Once again she was doing those dreaded D rank missions and it was killing her. She had thought they were a thing of the past, oh how wrong she was. Kakashi handed her Drank missions every time she was free from school and not training. They involved walking dogs, weeding peoples yards, cleaning up the river, and every other imaginable chore. Her only saving grace was that he allowed her to use her shadow clones, but because of it he usually took on multiple Drank missions a day for her. She had a feeling that the man was trying to torture her in retaliation for her pranks. Well she would show him, he would pay for this one day if it was the last thing she ever did. She started laughing evilly as she out picked up another can from the river bank. Kakashi who had been reading his book raised his eyebrow at it. Sometimes he questioned her sanity.

"I would hurry up if I was you Naru, its going to be night soon." Kakashi informed her as he watched the sun setting. It was time to call it a day for he had a mission later. He sighed. He was going to have Kurenai watch her while he was gone for a few days, but at the last minute she was called away on a mission. In fact all his friends were gone on missions, so until they got back she was on her own. He shuddered at what she would do on her own. He noticed that Naru was done so they headed back to the apartment.

Kakashi went to his room to get ready for his mission. Naru sent a clone to clean her room. She was planning on spending the time Kakashi was away on training. She planned to spend the next few days isolated in the forest to practice without prying eyes watching her. Her clone would replace her here until she came back so no one questioned her disappearance. Since she didn't plan on coming back until Kakashi returned she sealed her own gear into a simple storage scroll. She packed away some kunia, shurikens, some jutsu scrolls, extra clothing, and many ramen flavored shinobi energy bars. She strapped the scroll underneath the sleeve of her shirt and settled into the living room waiting for Kakashi to leave. As usual he was taking forever so she decided to practice some simple jutsus while she waited for him.

She practiced henging into small items to see how well she could do it and for how long she could hold it. When Kakashi entered she was henged into a shuriken on top of the glass table. She was going to release the jutsu when Kakashi grabbed her and a few other shurikens that were resting on the table and shoved her in his weapon holster. Naru cursed. There was something that Naru had forgotten about henging into small inanimate objects. It forced your organs to shrink and scrunch up, which was why it wasn't often used except for disguises even if it was a rather low level jutsu. When Kakashi had grabbed her he had unintentionally blocked her airway, forcing her to become unconscious. Now normally when a shinobi was unconscious his/her jutsu was released but Naru was a special case. She always had trouble with simple jutsu so when she used them she used an unusually high amount of chakra. Meaning even without her providing more chakra, the jutsu had enough chakra to continue working. Which was why she wasn't unhenged and was blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Kakashi was fully ready to leave, he walked past Naru's room and saw her cleaning up the place. Thank god for small favors.

"Yo, I'm leaving. Please, please, please stay out of trouble." He begged as he headed to the door. He didn't wait for a response because he feared what her answer would be. He left to meet up with his team.

In front of the gate four figures waited. They were all wearing masks that concealed their identities and were wearing standard ANBU gear.

"Where in the world is he!? I'm getting sick of waiting." Snake complained.

"Calm down Snake, you know the captain is almost always late." Bear cautioned her.

"Tsk. One day I'm going to send my snakes after him for all the grief he puts us through." Snake muttered. The rest of them couldn't help but chuckle at that image. Not a minute later Hound arrived.

"Ready to go?" He asked nonchalantly. Tenzo had to physically restrain Snake from attacking him.

"Snake." Bear warned. Snake settled down but not without practically hissing at the captain, who chuckled nervously.

"I'll take that as a yes." The rest of the group nodded and they raced ahead.

14 hours later

The five ANBU members crouched down on top of a small hill overlooking a fairly large facility. Hound turned towards Tenzo.

"There seems to be hundreds of people inside. But less than half of them seem to be shinobi and only a handful are high level ones." Tenzo reported. Hound nodded. Weasel handed him a blue print, which he unrolled infront of them.

"Our objective is to get any information relevant to the recent number of assassinations on high profile political figures, including the assassinations of one of the daimyo's son." Hound briefed them. He pointed to a room in the middle of the facility. "This is the control center, it is highly likely that the information we need will be here. But as such it is most likely the most highly guarded room as well. Does everyone understand their roles?" He looked around and they all nodded.

The five quickly disguised themselves. They jumped unto an incoming wagon and as soon as it made it inside the compound and past the inspection they jumped off. The quickly hid in the shadows and stealthy made their was towards the control center, avoiding being seen by anyone. When they finally reached their destination they hid behind a corner. Hound motioned Snake and Weasel forward. They nodded and quickly made their way towards the four guards manning the door. They knocked them out before the guards even had time to think. Weasel put them inside a genjutsu so that they wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Tenzo, Bear, and Hound walked up to them. Tenzo opened the door gently and found the room dark. They quietly made their way inside. Hound stilled as he entered.

Warning bells were going off on his head signifying that something was wrong. But he was to late, the door was slammed shut behind them and bright light suddenly flooded the room. It took a minute for their eyes to adjust to the change and when it did Snake cursed. They were surrounded by shinobi. Nothing could be discerned about the shinobis for they were all wearing long black cloaks but the most worrying part of their attire was the gas masks they were all wearing. A dozen of the shinobies threw silver canisters their way. When they hit the ground a green gas escaped and filled the room. Hound could hear Snake cursing behind him and he didn't blame her. Seconds later he fell to the floor. The last thing he saw before he became unconscious was the blurry image of a man standing over him.

The first thing Kakashi felt as he came to was the cold chakara cuffs that were surrounding his hands. He looked up to search his surroundings. They were in a dim room surrounded by machinery. He was chained to a wall as was his team. They weren't up yet. Their weapons and masks had been taken and Itachi's eyes were covered with a blindfold. Kakashi cursed. These guys had known they were coming and had information on them. They could have only known this if someone had leaked it to them, and less than a handful of people knew about this mission. Kakashi cursed again at the possibility of a spy or traitor hidden within the village. His teammates began to stir around him. He looked up as he heard a door slam. A man walked up to him. Kakashi analyzed him so he could remember him for later. He was in his mid thirties, had black hair, a short beard, and green eyes. He walked quietly and in a way that suggested combat training. Kakashi had no doubt that this was an experienced shinobi and would be hard to beat.

"So you're awake. Good." The man drawled. Kakashi said nothing, not wanting to reveal anything to this man.

"Not talking? Well can't say I blame you. If I was in your shoes I wouldn't either." The man mused looking amused. Kakashi felt slight irritation run through him though he didn't show it. This man was deliberately taunting him in a subtle way. He wanted something, but Kakashi didn't know what.

"Mandin-sama" A man in a black clock with his face covered appeared behind the now identified Mandin. He whispered something in his ear and Mandin nodded to him.

"It seems I have to go but it was nice meeting the infamous Copy-nin Kakashi. I hope you enjoy our hospitality. You'll be here for awhile." Mandin chuckled and left.

"That guy gives me the creeps." Anko said angrily. She struggled against the cuffs.

"Can't argue with you there." Yamato agreed. Kakashi nodded. He was trying to analyze the situation they were in. He didn't doubt that they would be able to escape at some point, each of them had a special skill set that would ensure it. But things weren't quite adding up and that worried him, and even if they were able to get out alive he doubted that they would be able to complete the mission. That man Mandin, especially worried him. There was something about him that set Kakashi on edge. His thoughts were interpreted when he heard a loud bang from above. He looked up and his mouth fell open. Please someone tell him that he wasn't seeing what he seeing. His luck couldn't be that bad.

20 min earlier in a different room in the facility

Naru woke up feeling groggily. Why was it so dark? Oh ya she was still inside the weapon poach henged as a shuriken. She couldn't hear anything so she guessed that Kakashi was asleep. Perfect, this could be her chance to get away before he noticed that she had been dragged along with him. She released the henge and found herself in a dark room.

"Fire illumination" A tiny flame appeared and danced on top of Naru's palm. This was a great technique for the fire didn't burn and provided sufficient light. The room she was in seemed to be an armory of some sort. There were rows and rows of weapon stored on shelves. She looked at the table that Kakashi's weapon pouch was resting on and froze. There were five ANBU masks on it as well as some weapons. Naru instantly recognized one of the swords as Itachi's, anybody would after being on the wrong side of it constantly and mercilessly. She shuddered at the memory of Itachi starting her Kenjutsu training, that preteen, while usually calm and generally nice, could be extremely sadistic when it came to training . Naru knew something was wrong. Kakashi and Itachi wouldn't have left their weapons lying around. And no ANBU member would ever leave thier mask lying out in the open like this, especially on a mission.

She heard a sound of someone talking behind the door so pressed her ear against it to find out what they were saying.

"Those Konoha ANBU suck don't they? They fell for the trap so easily." Naru gritted her teeth realization falling upon her. She couldn't hear anything else for the men were walking further and further away from her. She couldn't stay here any longer, she had to do something. She put on Kakashi's mask to hide her identity if someone caught her, it was to large for her face but it would have to do. She strapped Kakashi's weapon pouch to her leg and Itachi's sword to her back. She sealed everything else on the table into her scroll. She tried to leave through the door but it was locked. Her face scrunched up as she wondered how she was going to get out out of here without being caught. As her eyes roamed around the room she grinned as she spotted her way out of there.

Present time

Kakashi looked wide eyed as a small figure jumped down from the vent and infront of them. Even with the dog mask on, Kakashi had no trouble identifying the girl in front of them. How in the world was she even here? Her identity was confirmed when she pushed the mask up untop of her head. Naru's smiling face greeted them. At their incredulous looks, her face turned sheepish and she rubbed the back of her head.

"Would you believe that I lost my way on the path of life and a black cat lead me here?" Naru asked as she moved forward to take off Itachi's blindfold. Everyone but Kakashi, who's face had turned red, couldn't help but laugh at Kakashi's signature lines. Naru began dismantling their chakara cuffs with a kunia. Kakashi rubbed his wrist when they were free. He turned to glare at the girl who had no business being here, not that he wasn't thankful for her help.

Naru did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed Itachi and used him as a human shield as she hid behind him. Itachi looked behind him startled at first but then looked at her in amusement, Clearly finding the situation funny. From the look on Kakashi's face this was far from over. His eye practically screamed that she was in a world of trouble as soon as they got back to Konoha. She did her best to look at anything but at him.

"So who's the brat?" Anko asked interrupting the glare Kakashi was giving the said brat. Naru immediately bristled.

"Who you calling brat, stupid?" Naru yelled.

"Watch'a call me brat?" Anko glared at Naru. The two engaged in a staring contest and you could practically see the sparks flying out of their eyes. Ibiki slammed his fists into both of their heads. They both turned their glares to him while clutching their heads.

"Whats the big idea Ibiki?" "Watcha do that for?" Anko and Naru demanded at the same time.

"Shut it, you brats. Now is not the time for your childish spat. We already lost our chance to get any information and now we have to find a way out of here." He yelled at them while they continued to glare at him. He turned towards Kakashi and the two started making an escape plan.
"Umm...by information do you mean these?" Naru pulled out a batch of papers that she unsealed from one of her scrolls.

On the way here she had spotted a room that looked like an office. Since she didn't know the exact reason why they were here, she decided on whim to take a look in case she found anything useful. The desk was full of papers, but as she quickly glanced through them, the word Konoha jumped out at her in multiple sheets. Naru wanted to just grab them all and run but if she had learned anything from Sai it was to never leave any evidence behind. So instead she grabbed the stack of blank papers from one of the shelves and used a techniques Tsunade ba-chan, in her infinite quest to get rid of paperwork, taught her.

"Text copy Jutsu" On the blank pieces of paper words started to appear. Soon she had an exact copy of every sheet of paper on the desk. She sealed them and went back into the vent leaving the room as she found it. Now as she handed the papers to Ibiki she snickered at the face Kakashi, Ibiki, and Yamato were making. She really wished she had a camera right about now to record it.

"Careful brat. You'll blow your cover if you don't dumb down a little." Kurama cautioned but then snickered. "Wow those were words I never thought I'd say to you." Naru mentally kicked him but agreed with with him just the same as she realized that he was right. She really needed to stop doing things that drew attention to herself. Ibiki handed the papers to Kakashi while nodding, indicating that they had the information that they had come for. Once again Kakashi leveled her with a stare, silently promising a long lecture and interrogation when they got home. Naru did her best to ignore him while hiding behind Itachi again. While they were in the were in the middle of their escape plan and not paying attention to her, she pulled out their masks and weapons from her seal.

Unfortunately Itachi had glanced her way as she did this and his eyes widened. She gave him a sheepish look and shrugged. She hadn't meant to reveal her training in seals just yet, for it would open up a can of worms. Well there was no use worrying about it for she couldn't really do anything about it now.

When the others had finished coming up with a plan, they look startled at seeing their weapon and masks laid out for them. They turned towards the girl, wanting to solve the mystery but decided to let it go for now, seeing that they had to get out of here. All of them dawned their equipment and made to leave the room. Naru hadn't really payed attention to the plan so she stuck close to Kakashi instead. She noticed that the others were slightly surrounding them as they moved forward.

Their luck turned for the worse when a shinobi saw them trying to escape and alarmed the others before they could knock him unconscious. They fought their way out of the compound with Itachi using his sharingan and sword, Anko using her snakes and quick movements to strike, Yamato using his wood jutsus to trap and imprison, Ibiki using his raw strength, and Kakashi using his sharingan and multiple jutsus. Naru on the other hand was frustrated because she couldn't show her real strength without drawing more questions, and Kakashi wasn't giving her any opportunity to attack for he kept shoving her behind him. If anybody was watching the battle they would see five ANBU operatives completely destroying the enemy and in the middle of the battle was a tiny girl pouting and sulking as the battle raged around her. As Kakashi once again pushed her away from battle, Naru developed a tick mark. When she tried to move forward once again when Kakashi was busy with a battle Itachi blocked her way and pushed her behind him as he struck down the enemy with his sword. Naru tick mark multiplied into three and her face turned red. You could practically see steam coming out of her ears at being pushed around. When the battle was over and the bodies of the either dead or unconscious enemy surrounded them, Naru finally exploded.

"Why couldn't I fight? I could have helped" She exploded. Her anger mostly directed at Kakashi but the others felt her ire as well.

"Now, now Naru. Calm down." Kakashi tried to calm her.

"Like a brat like you could do anything." Anko smirked. Kakashi's and Itachi's eyes widened at that. They waved their hands wildly gesturing her to stop talking, as Naru turned to glare at Anko.

"What did you just say? I could have so taken them all on." Naru declared.

"Ya ya, keep telling yourself that brat." Anko completely ignored Kakashi's and Itachi's waving hands.

"Why you-" Kakashi grabbed Naru before she could jump Anko.

"I think its time we headed back." Kakashi said as he hoisted Naru over his shoulder and started running in Konoha's direction. Ibiki hoisted up two captives and they quickly followed. Naru did not take well to being dragged along like this and the only thing that stopped her from struggling was that even she recognized that the rest were in full ANBU mode. So instead of kicking and screaming like she wanted to do she inwardly ranted at the injustice. Kakashi may have stopped her for now but she would have her revenge. Her brain plotted different and complex pranks she could preform on them. If anybody saw or heard her thoughts right now they would cringe. The distinct sound of evil laughter 'Mwahahahahaha!' echoed throughout the caverns of her mind.

But sadly it didn't take long for her mood to turn sour as she thought back on the battle. Once again she felt utterly useless. It gnawed at her that while everyone else fought around her she couldn't do anything to help and that fact was weighing down heavily at her. Instinctively she knew that it couldn't be helped for she couldn't really reveal her true strength but she still felt so powerless and useless. She wanted nothing more than to up her training but Kurama had repeatedly warned her that it would greatly stunt her growth if she wore down her body extensively at this age. She sighed. Since she had gotten to the past, she had felt restless at not being able to do anything. Every fiber of her being was telling her that she had to do more, but more what exactly she didn't know.

"Kurama what am I supposed to do?" She asked her partner out of desperation for some answers. Kurama sighed.

"Only you can answer that Kit."

"I was afraid you'd say that." Naru sighed in turn.

"But-" Naru perked up wanting desperately wanting to know what he would say.

"But what? You big furball."

"Calm down you gaki." Kurama growled at her in irritation but continued in a more subdued tone "All I can tell you is that remember all what you wish to accomplish and you will gain your answer." Naru hated how cryptic he was being. Why couldn't anybody give her a straight answer for once? But nonetheless she pondered on his words the rest of the journey.

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