Having ninja friends, she realized one afternoon, was a lot like having cats.

Big, territorial cats.

They came and went when they wanted to, they brought her gifts she had no idea what to do with and was always slightly queasy to receive, and they Did Not Like, when new people showed up around her.

So..

Cats.

And not the fluffy, domesticated kind either, oh no. They were wild cats. Jaguars, and Tigers stalked her early mornings while Lions and Cheetahs followed her around during the day. Most evenings she saw at least one Cougar and there was always a leopard in her tree at night.

She didn't even want to get started on the Dog metaphors!

At one point she'd been allowed to count 6 different ninja perched around her house. ( And make no mistake, she knew she'd been allowed to count them. If they hadn't wanted her to know they we're there she'd have never seen them .) All in different trees, some on neighbouring rooftops, and one enterprising ninja had used her clothes line like a hammock. ( She'd been convinced that one was a Nara, though she had no idea how the Jonin commander could have the time to sleep on her clothes line. It couldn't be comfortable. He hadn't even taken off the clothes pins attached to it!)

And it wasn't like she set out to befriend all the ninja in her village. She'd helped a few of them, a time or two. Talked to some others. Brought over food when she'd noticed someone coming home to a house that had been empty for months. Thanked them for their service to the village. She'd acted like a normal person!

But after each encounter she always seemed to add to her growing pile of strays. And it ended almost the exact same way every time! With her thanking them and the ninja in question staring at her with sharp, unblinking eyes. ( That had been her first clue that all ninja turned into cats at some point in their careers. She'd seen that exact same stare on her sisters cats face, time and time again.)

It had all started with Hatake Kakashi.

She'd just moved into a new apartment complex, her old one having started to feel to restricting. With all her neighbours constantly talking to her about when she'd be getting married and having children. She'd been a single woman for a good number of years by that point and had no intention of giving up her freedom. Her elderly neighbors hadn't liked that one bit.

Setting her up on dates when she hadn't realized she'd been on one, harping at her on what was proper for a woman her age, all of it. She hadn't been able to stand it after a while.

So she'd moved.

But in moving she realized she had a ninja neighbor. Not something she'd ever had to deal with before, being firmly civilian despite her childhood dreams. So she hadn't really known what to do. Normally you'd introduce yourself when you moved in but after the hassle her old neighbors had put her through she was leery of seeming to friendly.

She wouldn't have minded making some connections with the people she lived by but.. she had just moved. And she didn't want to have to move again if these people turned out it be just like her old neighbors.

So that night and many more after, she didn't talk or think about Hatake Kakashi. It was only months later when his apartment had been empty for some time that she learned he was most likely on a long term mission. No one knew for sure, being all civilians themselves but he hadn't been added to the Memorial Stone so that was really the only answer they had.

When she heard he had dogs she'd been worried. She hadn't heard any dogs barking and no one had went into the apartment since he'd left, but learning that the dogs were ninken eased her somewhat. Ninken were almost like humans in that they didn't need any help to live their lives. They were fiercely independent and able to unsummon themselves when they felt the need.

But she still made a promise to herself that she'd thank both Hatake and his Ninkin for their sacrifice for the village when they got back. It was the least she could do after being to much of a coward to go and introduce herself when she'd first moved in.

Finding out how many ninken Hatake had was challenging at best and close to impossible with her level of clearance ( None ) for village information, at worst. But she was determined, so buying a surplus of bones was a must.

Just in case.

She also made a small plushy of his favorite (?) dog, (Puken? Kunkun? Pkun? No one had really known what the dog's name was exactly. Only that it was the one that travelled the most with Hatake while out in the open) a cute pug that unfortunately had one ear cross stitched incorrectly although she'd tried everything she could think of to fix it.

She hoped he liked it anyway because there really was no way she'd be able to hid it from a ninja. A civilian? Maybe. A ninja? There wouldn't even be a doubt they'd know exactly what was wrong with it, what it was made out of and how she'd come across it. She wasn't even going to try and hide it. Ninja paranoia was legendary after all.

Her time to met the famous Hatake came much sooner than she thought it would. A ring on her phone one morning had her answering it and being told that Hatake was back in the building and heading her way. She'd thanked the informant and hung up.

Grabbing all of her goodies she made sure to stand tall in the space between their doors patiently.

When he rounded the corner she all but hopped to his side, face friendly with it's normal cheerful smile.

"Hatake!"

He never missed a step, humming absentmindedly at her as she fell into step with him.

"I have something for you! To thank you!" She started somewhat nervously"

"For me?"

"Yes! You and your ninken" He wasn't walking very fast but his long legs more than made up for that.

His head cocks just slightly to the side, eyes never moving from his book. If she didn't know vaguely what ninja could do then she'd assume he wasn't paying any attention to her at all. As it was, she was pretty sure he could kill her in under a second if she so much as made a slightly threatening motion