1

It was that time of year again.
Time for the SHET.
And the one and only person that could and was qualified to teach the SHET was Ryou Noa.

Ryou sat in her crammed office room in the Hokage tower. Papers and books completely stacked the walls making the room appeared crammed, the window behind her was wide open allowing the cool morning breeze to refresh the room and to allow some smoke from her cigarette to escape.
On her wide desk sat a stack of forms that had the words SHET in massive letters printed on them. She had already administered the SHET training process examination to several teams. All Teams 1 to 10 had already gone through the test, some proved to be promising and some didn't. She had taught all except for one team. That one team that Ryou had been avoiding at all costs: Team 7.

She let out a deep annoyed puff of smoke as her fingers stopped furiously typing on her laptop.
'What is another word for 'engorged'?' she thought to herself.

What better way to procrastinate than by writing dirty novels?

A knock from the door brought her out of her sultry thoughts and she snapped the computer shut. She wore her best poker face mask and cleared her throat. "Come in." She said. Attempting the best to look professional.

Iruka stepped into her office with a small smile which was not greeted back by the serious woman. He ignored the strong smell of cigarettes which was impregnated in the walls of the room. After all she couldn't smoke back in her own home. She said nothing expecting him to speak.

"Noa-san, do you have the results for the SHET evaluations?" he asked kindly. Running a nervous hand through his brown hair.
"Almost." She retorted back in a dull tone putting the short cigarette back in her mouth. Her red lips put together in a straight line.

Iruka raised an eyebrow in reply.

"I've still yet to do Team 7." She breathed.
"Ah…" the Chunnin simply replied.
"Can you do it?" She suddenly imposed on him. She batted her dark eyelashes at him.

"M-Me? But Noa-san, you are the only one qualified to do this. No one else can teach it better than you. I mean, you did start the program." Iruka spoke slightly taken back by the girl's boldness his cheeks flushing pink.

'Of course he'd say no.' She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated and rude matter before letting out an annoyed growl, and putting off her cigarette in a nearby ash tray. Completely ignoring the Chunnin's praise.

"Very well then." She began. "If that is all. I'll have the report before the end of the month."

Iruka nodded his head with a small smile in an attempt to hide his knees from shaking. There was an awkward moment of silence when Ryuo glared at Iruka with her sharp emerald eyes. And he simply stood there- like a blushing fool.

"Is that all?" She said in a stern tone. It wasn't a question.
"Y-Yes." Iruka mumbled before storming off. And wishing the girl a nice day.

Ryou rubbed her temples suddenly feeling extremely annoyed. She flipped through her files until she stumbled upon a picture of Team 7.
Naruto Uzumaki- Sakura Haruno- Sasuke Uchiha and their sensei Kakashi Hatake.

Kakashi, someone who Ryou had had the displeasure of knowing since her childhood…

'The sooner I do this, the sooner I can get over with it.'

Shaking her head she picked herself up and made way out of the office.

It was early in the morning and Team 7 was waiting for Kakashi-sensei (like always) on a red bridge by their designated training grounds.

It was 10:00 am and their sensei was 3 hours late.
Naruto was sitting on the ground crossed leg scowling about something. Sasuke looked really annoyed and was gazing off into space lost in thought and Sakura was too worried about not being able to properly dry her hair that morning.

"I don't get it! Why is he always late?!" Naruto abruptly stood up shouting pulling on his blond locks in both annoyance and desperation.
"What the hell is he doing? Why can't he just tell us to get here later?" the hyper active Genin continued on his rant loudly.

As Naruto was shrieking- only a couple of yards away, meanwhile Kakashi Hatake stood solemnly before the KIA stone. He stared at the name which had haunted him for years, Obito Uchiha. His mind drifted to that awful day and he shut his eyes tightly when the waves of flashbacks came flooding back in-
Suddenly, he felt a presence nearby. He quickly snapped out of his trance and turned to face the woman next to him. She bent down in front of the memorial and placed a massive bouquet of purple Hyacinth flowers on his empty grave.

They hadn't spoken in years. He actually hadn't seen her in years even if they both had always lived in the same village. All these years that he had attempted to find her or run into her, but she would always look the other way or just ignore his existence. Pretending that he didn't exist.

They hadn't seen eye to eye since that fateful day…

"Kakashi." She was the first one to acknowledged him. She slightly cocked her head to face him. He felt a chill run up his spine. It had been years since he had heard her utter his name, much less direct a word to him.

In her eyes Kakashi looked the same as he had always looked.
Tall, stoic, and very dull. The only thing that had changed about him in years was that his hair had gotten longer and grayer.

"Ryou." He retorted swallowing the knot that had formed in his throat. Acknowledging her as well.
It had been so long since he had uttered her name. He had almost forgotten what it tasted like in his mouth.

In his eyes Ryou looked the same as she had always looked.
Miserable, angry and emotionless. The only thing that had changed about her in some years was that she know wore a ruby shade on her lips and grey eye shadow around her emerald colored eyes. Her face was still primped up in a permanent scowl, her hair tossed around in large, thick curls wild and untamable.

Neither dared make eye contact with the other.

Ryou wasn't about to engage in a conversation with him.

"Let's get this over with." She muttered in a dark tone and began to walk away from him and towards his students. Kakashi lingered in the monument for a moment longer before following.

Team 7 soon saw the woman approaching them, Kakashi following slightly behind. The woman walked with her head held high. She strutted in long steps with her eyes always facing forward. This obviously caught the attention of three young Chunnin.

"There you are!" Sakura shouted pointing at them with an accusing finger.
"Sensei! You can't be late because you are playing hanky panky with your girlfriend!" Naruto shouted as well approaching the couple.
He was greeted by two serious face and a pair of vicious predator eyes.

'It hasn't even been a minute and I already hate them…' Ryou thought growing even more annoyed.

Noticing the tension in the air Sakura punched Naruto in the head making him shut up instantly.

"Naruto-idiot! That's obviously not his girlfriend."

She flashed the angry woman a nervous smile which was not returned. And Naruto cocked an eyebrows realizing that the woman looked very familiar to him…

"W-Who are you?" asked Sakura growing more and more nervous and curious by the second. 'She was waaay to hot for him. Way out of his league!'

The woman remained silent, and just like Ryou, Kakashi just looked more and more annoyed by each passing second.

"That's Ryou Noa." Sasuke suddenly spoke. "She is the head of the KSI Unit, and is here to examine us as to the SHET standards." He explained.

"Ryou!" Naruto cried out and sprinted to hug the woman who looked at him with her eyes wide. "It's been so long!"
She remained stiff and patted his back carefully really not feeling like greeting the boy in this uncomfortable moment. "I almost didn't recognize you!" he exclaimed.

Ryou still didn't smile but she focused her eyes on Sasuke a glint of something in them, care perhaps? After all she had been well acquainted with the young Uchiha. Naruto... Well, that had been a whole other story.

'KSI?' Sakura held a blank look on her face. Naruto was way to distracted to even care about what the KSI was.

"The KSI is the Konoha Special Investigations: ANBU Unit. This branch specifies in dealing without of the ordinary cases such as murders, kidnappings and hostage situations amongst other things… Ryou, is present here to evaluate you with a special program she designed herself called the SHET. Survival, Hostage, Experience Training…" Kakashi finished explaining.
"Which I think is a load of shit…" He muttered only loud enough for her to hear. She flashed him a quick glare before facing the students again.

"This is a week long training in which I will evaluate you as a group and train you in order to deal with hostage situations which can be very common in our field of choice. There has been a 80% increase of success when dealing with these situations since the SHET program started three years ago." Ryou finished explaining.

"Hmm…" Naruto seemed thoughtful. "This sounds like a waste of time!" He shouted. "I don't have time to waste-" He was interrupted by a kunai knife pressed tightly against his throat.

He didn't even notice when the woman stepped behind him and held him tightly. She remembered the kid for always being loud and obnoxious.

"Quick, Sakura kill Sasuke or Naruto dies." Immediately Naruto started panicking and waving his arms all around. Ryou made a sharp noise with her mouth that sounded like slicing. She let go of the young blonde and shoved him forward so rough he fell to the dirt.
Naruto looked back at her from the ground with a shocked expression he didn't remember her being this cold. Why was she acting so different?

"And just like that-you're dead." She looked at him coldly.
"I'm sure your sensei has gone over this with you, right?" She shot Kakashi a cold glare. Which was returned just the same.

The tension between the two adults made the student's minds race. Something had definitely happened between these two, and it was nasty. The way the two made eye contact as if nothing else existed. There was a heavy air that weighted on the atmosphere, it was more than obvious.

"Now, get up." She barked, not even blinking.
"You're not a child anymore Naruto." She added narrowing her eyes at the young boy. "Out there you get caught- you die. I won't always be there to save you…" She added remembering the fateful day that they had met.

But the thing was that at 12 years old they were all still children and she couldn't force them to grow up as quickly as she and Kakashi had.

Shaking her head she began walking away her hips swaying ever so slightly side to side. "We have a lot of work to do."

"-There are 10 simple steps in surviving a hostage situation. And we will try to go over them today and you will practice them throughout the entire week and be tested on them at the end of it. Understood?
I have a lot of work to do back at the office and then I have to be home so I won't be wasting any time here-" As Ryou spoke and paced around Team 7.
From a good distance Kakashi leaned against the trunk of a tree and carefully watched her as she interacted with his pupils.

Naruto was presently glaring at Sasuke thinking only Kami knows what. Sakura was actually paying attention probably thinking she'd eventually find herself in a hostage situation like this- she was a smart girl. And Sasuke had no expression on his face like always. And Ryou…

In Kakashi's eyes she was still the same as always. Ice stone cold, completely unapproachable and

hateful.

Never sparring anyone a smile and sour like always.
He was pretending to be reading his erotic novel, when in reality his eyes were glued on the training.

And so the training began… So did a series of events with each step.

Naruto was presently hanging off a rope strapped to a tree upside down. He was waving around like a piñata shouting for help.

"Step #1: Don't get caught. And if you do. Attempt to escape as soon as possible." She threw a knife at the rope and Naruto fell on his head with a large thud.

Ryou shook her head and the training continued.

"Step #2: Always keep calm." She spoke to a passed out Sakura who was laying on the ground unconscious and to only to Sasuke's head which was oddly sticking from the ground. His expression was one of frustration and anger. This all felt way too familiar… Naruto had been once again tied tightly to another tree.

Ryou sighed feeling a little exasperated. "Since Sakura passed out, this should be it for today. We will continued tomorrow." She said before walking away quickly. She approached Kakashi who was still "reading" his book.
"You don't have to be here." She glared into his dark eye.
His one visible did not dare meet hers. "I have to they're my students."

Growing annoyed she placed her hand on his book moving it out of his face so he would look at her. He looked at her angry face.
"If I tell you, you don't have to be here. It means you shouldn't be here," she spoke between gritted teeth, her fists slowly clenching at her sides.
His face remained stoic and expressionless.
He moved his hand back and turned to face her, he glared at her with a familiar coldness.

She glared back at him with wide eyes. She was biting her tongue from saying more than she had too.

"It was only a mere suggestion." She shrugged, trying it to play casual before walking away swiftly.

With an indifferent dismissal of goodbye to the team she was gone.

Sakura woke up and was sitting by a tree rubbing her head. Sasuke stood next to her untying Naruto from the tree.
"Geez… I wonder what happened between them." Sakura began as she carefully watched her sensei still staring in the direction where Ryou had just disappeared into.
"Old rivals?" Sasuke said more to himself than to the group.

No, it had been much more than that.

"Ryou-chan isn't usually like that. I don't know what's happening to her! Her eyes were so cold!" Naruto began as he removed the rope from his body.
"She wasn't like that…" thought Naruto and he couldn't help but wonder what had made the woman so cold.

The group agreed the was quite a particular character and observant Sakura noted that the expression on Kakashi's face was somewhat a sad one as he watched her walk away.

In the meantime Ryou stepped back into her office it was barely 6 in the afternoon and she still had a lot of paperwork to fill out regarding several cases that had long gone cold, and donations to the children's orphanage.
She was presently trying to reach a tall box in her crammed file closet.
She kept most of her cold case and top secret cases at her home, but she needed to do some spring cleaning here in the office.

'Damnit… it's too high for me…' With a sudden abrupt movement she pulled it down and from above it came crashing down a thick vanilla folder. Dust covered the top of it. With an annoying grunt she put down the box she was holding and bent down so pick up the contents of the dusty folder.

When suddenly an old dully colored picture caught her eye.
She picked it up and held it as if it were on fire. Her eyes softened at the sight of the child in the picture. Two grinning girls stared at the camera smiling broadly. Ryou was one of them and the other was…

Small tear droplets instantly fell from Ryou's face and soon she was sobbing loudly in her tiny crammed closet. Her grip on the picture tightened. There was a reason why this file had been put away, hidden away from her.

"I failed you…" she cried repeatedly. "I'm so sorry!" she wailed violently in her siolation.
Ryou started remembering that damned case and how it almost ruined her- Despite the memory absences she had suffered in the past. It was just something that made her who she was.

She returned home before it was too late. As soon as she stepped in she was greeted by her father who surprisingly was home and not away on business.

"Long day?" Her father questioned from the kitchen. "He's been asking for you all day," he said holding a dark, curly haired child in his arms.

"Hi," the child said as our protagonist held him in her arms.
"How was your day?" She said looking into his dark eyes.
"Good. At daycare we learned about numbers and colors and then we made some bird feeders, and then we put peanut butter on the pine cones…" the child continued rambling.

She looked at the four year old with interest making an effort to pay attention to every detail he said. Regardless of her exhaustion.

Her father prepared their dinner.
And- yes at the age of 26 Ryou still lived with her father, they both appreciated the company and besides he was usually out on business so she had the house to herself.

"I found a picture of her today," Was all Ryou uttered her expression blank and her eyes dead. She sat on the table with the four year old still on her lap.

Her father stopped smiling and cooking and turned to face her sad expression. He felt his stomach instantly become upset at the thought…

"Ryou, it's been more than ten years-You have to let go. I've let go," He said moving towards her and putting two plates of onigiri on her spot. One for her and one for the toddler.
"You forgot about her once. I'm sure it won't be hard to do it again," he said referencing to the time that Ryou had most of her memory wiped and forgot about the girl from the picture.
"Some things you just can't forget…" she said quietly looking at the child on her lap playing with his hand.

"Dad Doesn't it bother you not to know? Aren't you concerned if she's alive? Or dead? Who killed her and how-" She was interrupted.
"Enough." He snapped in a stern tone setting his own plate down. Startled the child began to cry.
Having caught himself speaking in such a tone he sighed and continued to speak calmly "Maybe, just maybe we are not supposed to know…" he shook his head.
Meanwhile Ryou bounced the child in an attempt to calm him down.

Ryou glared at her father in a "Look what you've done look."
Her father hadn't aged gracefully and appeared to be way older than his age. He had peppered black curly hair which he usually kept in a clean trim. His eyes were dark brown and small. Aging spots were beginning to dot his skin, he was only 55.

"Now… on other subjects." Her father begun.
"I have an important business trip this coming weekend, so I won't be home for a while. Is that ok with you?"
"Yes, that's fine." Ryou nodded nonchalantly while she cut the food for the curly haired child in her arms. She was starving, but he came first.

Her father continued rambling about some really wealthy guy from Suna that wanted to buy a lot of expensive jewelry from the Noa family so her dad was totally into this deal. The Noa family's business consisted on crafting chakra jewelry. Their crystals were almost priceless. Legend had it that the founder of the Noa clan, Hiroko Noa, granted the Senju clan a mountain in money. All of these finances were used to inaugurate the Leaf village. Ever since then the Noa clan has been one of the most esteemed clans in not only the village, but the Fire Country.
The Senju honored them by wearing their jewelry which could literally buy mountains.

The Noa family specialized in crafting these rare gems that would sell for really high prices. Her father in her younger years had been a Jounin, and later in his years of retirement he picked up the family business of carving gorgeous, really expensive jewelry.

After Ryou put the child to sleep in his room and made way to her vanity mirror. That night as she stirred and turned in bed unable to sleep. She imagined the picture was alive and even if the eyes in the picture were closed. She could feel those familiar caramel eyes burning into her back of her head…