*Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I simply borrow them for my own musings and fantasies and do not get paid for their use in said musings or fantasies.

A/N: Hello, everyone! My name is Nira and welcome back to old friends, and hello and welcome to new ones. First of all, thank you for being interested at all. 384 characters aren't much at all for a summary and it's hard to encompass the essence of a story in it so if my attempt at a good summary drew you in, I appreciate your interest and/or curiosity. Second of all, I have a disclaimer (not about the rights to Naruto, because that's above) about this story. This is the first story in a VERY long time that I am posting as I go along so I literally have no idea what's going to happen. Usually, I write a story out in its entirety before I edit, revise, and publish, but with this story, that is not the case.

With that being said, please be patient with me and don't be afraid to let me know what you think about it. I practically live off of reviews and constructive criticism. The good news, though, is that I already have seven chapters written for this and have started chapter eight. Because I have that many chapters already, I am hopeful that this story won't be a failure or that I won't grow bored with it and give up on it for a while. I can usually tell within 5 chapters whether or not I will get far with a story and more often than not if I'm stuck within those five chapters, the plot won't go anywhere and I give up.

Anyway, my plan (what little of one there is) is for the story to progress slowly. If you've read any of my other stories, you can see that I have a tendency for my characters to either have a history with their romantic interest or to fall in love "at first sight," so for this story I am attempting to start the relationship between Yuriko (my OC) and Kakashi from the bottom up and work into the romance. Because this is something I don't usually do and I'm trying to broaden my skills as a writer, I am begging you to review and let me know how I can improve the story.

So, without further ado, please enjoy the first chapter of my newest story "Behind the Mask" which takes place after the 3rd Great Ninja War and before the first season of the original Naruto series, and I hope to see you in the next chapter as well. :) -Nira

Behind the Mask

Chapter 1

A young woman stands before the gate of Konoha with nothing but the simple violet yukata that she is wearing, her straight platinum hair cascading down her back to her hips. She gazes up at the swirling leaf symbol burned into the wood above the gate with lavender eyes and lets out a sigh. She has traveled for a very long time to get here, and she can only hope and pray that it is everything her mother had told her it was as a child and that they would welcome her as a new member of their community. Boldly, she ventures forward to what will hopefully be a new, brighter future.

"Enter," came the stern voice of an elderly man from behind a heavy wooden door, and a young woman was escorted in by a male shinobi about her age of early to mid-twenties. His hair was long, about shoulder-length and brown, and a senbon was perched between his teeth. His bandana style forehead protector was tied on backward with the Konoha symbol on the back of his head, and his outfit was the standard jounin of a green vest, blue pants, and a blue long sleeved undershirt with a red swirl on each arm and in the center of the back of the vest.

"Hokage-sama, you have a visitor," the shinobi informed before bowing and taking his leave to go back to work, looking the newcomer once over as he left.

The elder man looked up from his paperwork and the remaining woman bowed humbly, her waist-length, straight platinum-blonde hair falling over her shoulder slightly and her pale violet eyes staying downcast.

"My name is Yuriko Kobayashi, aged twenty-three. I originally hail from the Land of Snow but I have been a wandering kunoichi for almost ten years now. I grow weary of wandering and respectfully request to become a Konoha shinobi and make Konoha my permanent residence," she explained, keeping a straight face and not making eye contact.

"Why did you choose Konoha as your place to settle down?"

"I have been all over the ninja world and everywhere in between and of all of the places I've been, Konoha has been my favorite. The people here are kind and among all of the great shinobi nations, it is also the most peaceful. I have seen enough war and destruction to last a lifetime and am desperate for somewhere that I don't have to worry about whether or not I will have to flee again."

"I can see that you have lost a great deal in your short lifetime, Yuriko," the old man mused and after a short moment of silence, he spoke up again. "Very well. First of all, you will need to be evaluated to see your skill set and where on the scale from genin to ANBU you fall. I will give you a day to prepare. Be here in my office tomorrow morning at seven o'clock sharp."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. I have one other request before I leave."

"What's that?"

"Are there any shinobi who do not have missions today who might be able to help me? I would like to purchase supplies and do some light training before my evaluation."

"I see… There is one person who I'd intended to be your opponent tomorrow, but…"

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, isn't there anyone else? I would rather not know my opponent at all when I fight them so as not to compromise my ability."

"Very well…" he stated, reaching for a document atop his desk and skimming through it. "There is a kunoichi who should have a bit of free time. She is not quite yet a jounin like your opponent, but she is very skilled and may be of some help to you."

"Thank you very much."

The elder man called the shinobi who had shown Yuriko in, Genma, and told him to send for Kurenai Yuuhi and whispered a second name. Within a few short minutes, a female with wavy black hair to the middle of her back and large red eyes walked into the office and bowed. Yuriko took in the looks of the kunoichi who also appeared to be about her age, sizing her up.

"Kurenai, this is Yuriko Kobayashi. She is new to Konoha and has requested to become a Konoha shinobi. Please show her around and help her obtain supplies and train. She will be evaluated tomorrow morning so train hard, but don't overdo it," the Hokage stated gesturing to the platinum blonde.

"Please treat me kindly," Yuriko bowed courteously.

"Come on. I'll help you with whatever you need," Kurenai offered, and before they left, Yuriko bowed again to the Hokage.

As the two were walking down the hall, they were passed by a shinobi with silver hair, a mask covering the lower half of his face, and his headband over his left eye leaving only his right eye and ear visible. Yuriko and he happened to lock eyes for a brief moment in passing and Yuriko felt a twinge of recognition or familiarity and faltered in her step.

"Are you coming?" Kurenai smiled from a bit further down the hallway, so Yuriko returned her attention to her guide and walked faster to catch up.

The silver-haired male had examined the kunoichi, as well, curious and suspicious as to whom she was. He'd never seen someone who looked like her anywhere he'd traveled to before and he couldn't shake the fact that she had such penetrating eyes as she'd examined him. It was almost as if she'd known him from somewhere but couldn't quite pinpoint it. He was brought out of his thoughts when he reached the Hokage's office door and knocked.

When he'd entered the room and closed the door, the Hokage began immediately, "Kakashi, I'm sure you passed by a silver-haired kunoichi on your way here, so I'll get right to the point. She claims to be a wandering kunoichi who wishes to settle down here in Konoha as a shinobi. I can sense darkness within her, but I do not wish to seem as though we are being uncompassionate or unwelcoming. I am a bit suspicious so I want you to keep an eye on her and report to me any strange findings until further notice. I would also like you to be her opponent tomorrow for her evaluation to see where her skill sets fall on the scale of genin to ANBU. She will meet me here tomorrow morning at seven o'clock and we will make our way to training field three."

"Understood," Kakashi nodded and bowed before taking his leave to find the kunoichi duo.

Before long he spotted them walking through the streets of Konoha in comfortable silence. When they walked past somewhere that Kurenai visited often or enjoyed, she would point it out and say that it was a local favorite spot for whatever it was that each store specialized in while Yuriko took mental notes to visit each of them to see if they were really any good or not. Eventually, they reached a ninja supplies store. On one side was a weapons and supplies shop and on the other side were clothing, shoes, and accessories.

First Yuriko tried on clothes, deciding to buy a few outfits mostly consisting of fishnet shirts, shorts, and half vests that covered her chest but left her midsection exposed. Then she went to the accessories section and bought a few leg and waist pouches to carry the weapons and supplies that she intended to buy next, as well as sports tape and bandages, a mask much like the one Kakashi wore only a deep purple color rather than black and fingerless gloves. Next, she moved onto the weapons and supplies section and she bought senbon, kunai, shuriken, a couple short swords, and a katana.

"You sure bought a lot… Didn't you have anything of your own before? You did say that you're a shinobi, right?" Kurenai inquired.

"I used to have things like these. I had to abandon a lot of them, or they were destroyed. I've also learned that it's faster and easier to travel light," Yuriko replied with a slight smile. "Now that I won't be traveling for a while, I'd like to rebuild my stock."

"Then how did you continue to train?"

"You don't always need weapons to be a competent shinobi," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Kurenai paused, her head tilting slightly and her brow furrowing as she thought for a moment and chuckled a bit before she agreed as if she'd remembered or had been reminded of something. The kunoichi duo then left the store and Yuriko asked if they could stop by the hotel she was staying at to drop off the clothes that she'd bought before they continued on. She quickly changed into one of her new outfits—a fishnet undershirt, the purple mask that covered the lower half of her face from her nose and down, a half vest, shorts, and bandages around her ankles and wrists underneath her fingerless gloves and ninja sandals, the katana at her hip, her short swords in an "X" across her back, and her senbon, kunai, and shuriken in various pouches—and they made their way to the training grounds, Kakashi still following and watching from a distance. They didn't train very hard, just some light exercises that didn't require much chakra, and after a few hours the ladies were both tired and decided to stop to go to a late lunch.

After they'd had a comfortable lunch with light conversation about nothing important or personal, Kurenai left and Yuriko wandered the city, taking in the sights. Kakashi hadn't seen anything to warrant suspicion from this new arrival to the village aside from the fact that she had quite a bit of money for a wanderer to buy everything she'd just acquired. He wondered where she'd gotten it all but aside from that, she seemed normal enough.

At one point Yuriko had found herself in a bookstore for lack of anything else to do and in his pursuit, Kakashi had also decided to check it out to see if the newest addition to his favorite series had come in. As Yuriko was browsing one of the shelves, she'd caught sight of Kakashi and paused in the fingering of the books before her, staring at him. He had his nose buried in an orange book and was on his way out but he hesitated in his step upon seeing the young kunoichi. His visible eye was dark brown, almost black, and his expression seemed as though he recognized her, or that he knew something about her but didn't show much more than that if anything at all, she thought, before he returned to his book and left the bookstore. She watched after him for a moment before continuing to scan through the aisles and finding a fantasy book. She read the summary on the back and then turned to the first page, reading the first paragraph, as was her routine when it came to buying new books. It had been catching enough and it seemed interesting enough, so she bought it and started making her way back to her hotel room.

Kakashi followed her from a distance still and watched as she prepared for a restful night in, curling up in the chair provided in the room with a cup of tea and her new book opened up to the first page. When she'd decided to call it a night after reading a few chapters, Kakashi also decided to make his way home. He was curious to see how she would fare against him in battle tomorrow.