"So? How'd it go?" Naru was nervous, extremely so. Despite knowing that her jiji wouldn't let her down, it had been nerve-wracking to watch Kakashi leave in his nonchalant way to go determine her destiny.

Maybe that was a little dramatic, but Kakashi wasn't giving anything away as he sprawled across her couch as if he owned it.

"The Council said no."

No. No. No.

If the Council said no, then she'd have to go back to the Academy! It'd be even worse now that everyone would know that she'd been lying this whole time! Amaya-sensei would hate her even more. She'd be kicked out of the program, and she couldn't be a kunoichi if she couldn't pass the Academy. What about being Hokage?

Naru could almost see her dreams unraveling as Kakashi took out his book and turned the page, thumbing whatever he decided to use as a bookmarker. She was frozen, so in shock that she couldn't react fast enough when he flicked the bookmarker at her so it struck her between the eyes.

"Damn it, Kaka—shi?" Naru's voice shook as she grabbed hold of the thing that had smacked into her. Her hands shook ever so slightly as the blue cloth unraveled to reveal a brand new Konoha hitai-ate.

"The Hokage said yes." In eight words, Hatake Kakashi had sealed his fate. Yes, Naru knew from that very moment: she was going to murder him.

In the wake of her new apprenticeship, Naru found her life changing for the better. As an official genin, Naru was given legal access to most of the village training grounds. While it was still unadvised for her to go traipsing through the Forest of Death without supervision, she found herself drawn to the ancient forest to hone her survival skills between missions. The Forest of Death also allowed her to escape from some of the less content civilians populating the village.

The merchants, for the most part, hadn't taken her promotion very well. As a ninja village, crimes committed against shinobi were punished much more severely than crimes against no-name, civilian orphans. As a result, they couldn't so easily charge her any extra fees or get away with selling her the poorest quality wares. It also didn't help civilian-Naru relations that a few of the worst-behaved storeowners that insisted on treating her poorly were vanished. They all reappeared within a week of their disappearance, but they were never quite the same, displaying nervous twitches and irrational fears of shadows.

Naru was doing much better with the shinobi side of Konoha.

As a two-man team, Team Kakashi wasn't able to take on many of the traditional genin missions. Kakashi made it clear from day one that he didn't have the patience to supervise her during D ranks, so she effectively skipped them. They focused largely on getting her ready for C ranks, but she was assigned small administrative work to keep her bills paid.

One of the administrative tasks that she found herself doing often was working in the Academy. While she had absolutely hated spending time in the building as a student, and still disliked the amount of paperwork that came with the field of education, she found herself enjoying some of the behind-the-scenes work. Since she was so young, she was never brought into the classroom with the students, but she helped several of the instructors in grading assignments, making up reports, and ferrying files across the compound. There were some instructors who had tried to send her back to the mission office when she first arrived, but a quick sit-down with Sharingan Kakashi had almost all of them quailed.

The Academy had changed since her removal. Kakashi's comments to the Council had struck a chord with the civilians, who insisted on a more thorough investigation. Amaya and several other instructors were suspended and being investigated for tampering with grades so that civilian students were pushed out of the program. With no one else to take charge of the class, a younger chuunin by the name of Umino Iruka was hired and thrown into the chaos. On his third day, Naru ran into him as he mourned his career, sure that the fight that had broken out between Ino, Sakura, and several other girls would promise his dismissal. Seeing him so distraught, Naru promised to visit Iruka whenever she was done her administrative work to pass along her experiences with the class. It was slow-going, but Iruka began valuing the lessons he was picking up in her stories and he started to request her help formally. Iruka learned how to manipulate the personality-filled class he'd inherited, and Naru slowly but surely found a brother-like figure through their time organizing the mess Amaya had left.

In the actual classroom, not much had changed. Sasuke was still regarded as the strongest in the class, and he was constantly forced to fend off his rabid fangirls. It was assumed by most students that Naru had dropped out of the program and, while the class was a little quieter on some days, Kiba rose to the role of class clown admirably.

Naru spent most her days cursing Kakashi for alternating between a lazy pervert and a slave driver. Not all of his lessons were very effective—for which he shamelessly blamed on other senseis setting a bad example—but she was growing stronger in leaps and bounds. She never had to rely on her genjutsu again, and she began to be proud of who she was. When she wasn't working in the Academy, she was assisting the Hokage—a position that allowed her to see so many different ninja that her head was spinning with names and faces at the end of the day. She began to be recognized not as the Uzumaki brat but as Naru. She was, for the first time that she could recall, happy.

"What do you say about trying a real C rank?" Kakashi asked as he let himself into Naru's apartment. Becoming used to his coming around uninvited, Naru didn't so much as sigh as she poured a second cup of tea for her sensei.

"In or out-of-village?" she asked hesitantly. Kakashi nodded as he accepted the mug from her. She turned ever so slightly to get milk for her drink and, by the time she turned around, his empty mug was placed on the counter and he was sprawled out on the couch with his book again.

"Out. Sandaime-sama has gotten reports of a wild bear terrorizing this or that village some forty miles away from the village. He's holding the mission to see if we'll take it. It'll be your first real C rank."

"A bear? Is that really worth a C rank?"

"It's far enough away from Konoha that there's a risk of bandits," Kakashi explained casually. "What do you think?"

Naru took a careful sip of her tea, closing her eyes.

"I guess I'll need to let Iruka-senpai know I won't be around to help him for a bit."

Team Kakashi fell into a familiar routine. Kakashi was required to take his missions every so often, leaving Naru in the village to do her work at the Academy or the Hokage Tower. While he was gone, she was forced to keep up on her training—either independently or with the help of any passing shinobi she suckered into it—or else she'd face her shishou's wrath when he returned.

When Naru was deemed ready for C rank missions after a month of training and administrative work, Team Kakashi began joining other genin teams for missions outside. The duo had worked closely with a number of genin teams that had allowed her to get to know other shinobi closer to her age. In the field, it didn't generally matter that the children's parents had told them to dislike her—they relied on her strength to keep them safe, and she relied on them in turn. There were only a couple of teams that she routinely worked with, but those teams helped make her time in the village better.

"Team Kakashi reporting for a C rank mission," Kakashi announced, allowing Naru to lead the way into the mission office.

"Just the pair I wanted to see," the elderly Hokage greeted with an indulging smile. He had had plenty of misgivings about allowing Naru to become a kunoichi so young but the proof of its benefits were right in front of him. Kakashi's extremely late reports might report that she had grown stronger over the past six months, but the Hokage didn't care about that; he could see Naru's happiness whenever she stepped into the office.

"Hello, Hokage-jii," Naru greeted warmly.

"Hello, Naru-chan. I have a mission that I'd like to see the pair of you working. You will be coordinating with Khan Matsu-san's team for the duration of the mission," the Hokage explained, holding a mission scroll out to Kakashi. He accepted it, opening it and reading it quickly. The Hokage could see under his trained eye how Kakashi's eye tightened ever so slightly when he reached a line halfway through the scroll but the jounin relaxed it so quickly that the Hokage doubted anyone else had caught the slip of emotion. "Jounin Kakashi, do you believe your apprentice to be ready to carry out this mission?"

First blood was an important rite of passage for any shinobi. Even if the opponent wasn't killed, drawing an enemy's blood opened young minds to some very sensitive and potentially dangerous questions. Most of the time, the village operated in a way that would allow for the genin to make their first kill in a controlled environment. It didn't always work—mistakes and surprises crop up in the field—but the mission outline Hiruzen followed had been set in place by the Senju before the foundation of the village. If Naru had been on a normal genin team, she would have gone through this mission before going on any C rank, but Naru's situation was anything but normal. Having Naru undertake this mission now, six months after she was accepted as a genin, was unusually late. Postponing the mission even further, however, could be even worse than getting it over with now.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said in a low voice, rolling up the scroll and placing it in his pocket. "We will join Matsu for this assignment."

"Very well. Good luck. And, Naru," the Hokage called as Kakashi placed a hand on his genin's shoulder to guide her away. "Remember why you are a kunoichi."

"Of course," Naru said, frowning with confusion. Before she could ask the leader any questions, however, Kakashi had already pushed her out of the office.

"I thought I'd find you here." Naru looked up to see Fugita Ko, one of the two male genin on Matsu's team, standing at the entrance to Ichiraku Ramen. He, like his teammates, was three years older than Naru. They hadn't graduated early, so they had only been genin for about a year when Naru had met them, but they had all content to take point on C ranks until Naru was strong enough to take up more of the work.

Ko was tall for his age, dwarfing the younger Naru, and he was solid muscle. Matsu's team was primarily geared towards a direct combat team, and Ko was the team's front man. He was strong and fast, good with taijutsu and kenjutsu, but his chakra control was spotty at best. He was the first of Matsu's team to give Naru a chance and, as a result, was one of Naru's best friends. She got along with Kira and Nago too, but Ko was the first real friend she made after leaving the Academy.

"Hey, Ko," Naru greeted with a bright smile, patting the stool next to her just as Teuchi set down a large bowl of miso ramen in front of her. Ko slid into the seat without further prodding, smiling at the old man and ordering his beef ramen. "What brings you here?"

"I was looking for you, actually. Matsu-sensei got the team together to go over what sort of mission we were doing and I wasn't sure how you'd be holding up."

"Holding up? What do you mean?" Naru asked. The concern in his eyes didn't make sense; was something wrong? Instead of dissipating, the concern only grew more serious.

"Didn't your sensei talk to you about the mission?" he asked with a frown. Naru shook her head.

"We usually brief before we leave the village," she said with a shrug. "Is there something different about this one that I should know about?"

"Naru… It's… This mission is…"

Kakashi knew something was wrong the moment Naru wasn't at the gate when he eventually strolled in. She was always on time, no matter how ludicrously early he asked her to come. It was true that she generally napped or meditated until he showed his face, but she was still always there.

So why, at ten o'clock in the morning, was she gone? Matsu and her brats were all standing around patiently, but Kakashi had worked with them long enough to realize that something was wrong with one of them. The big one, Ko, was normally spastic and easy going. That had been why he and Naru got along so well in the beginning. Now he was silent and there was a mournful light in his eyes, so Kakashi zoned in on him at once.

"What happened?" he demanded. Ko refused to meet his eyes for a moment and Kakashi repeated his question sharply.

"You didn't tell her about the mission," he finally said, looking up defiantly. "Someone had to."

Kakashi resisted the urge to smack the boy in the head. He glanced at Matsu, who was biting her lip uneasily, and sighed softly.

"Naru and I will meet you at the capitol. There was nothing in the mission objective indicating that we must travel together."

"Understood," Matsu nodded in acknowledgement. She and Kakashi might have been on the same level according to their rankings, but she would be a fool to argue that Kakashi wasn't her superior. "Team, move out."

"We're not waiting for Naru?" Ko asked quickly, stunned. Matsu shook her head, clearly not appreciating her student questioning her instruction.

"No. Kakashi and Naru will catch up. Let's go, now."

"Hai, sensei," Ko grumbled. The genin team moved out, leaving Kakashi alone at the gate. With a scowl hidden by his mask, he channeled chakra to his nose and tilted his face to the wind, trying to find Naru's scent. After dashing closer to the village center, where he had last seen her walking off towards Ichiraku Ramen, he finally caught her trail.

Naru was sitting against the front of the Memorial Stone when Kakashi ultimately tracked her down, her knees pulled up close to her chest. Her eyes were open, but downcast. Kakashi walked towards his apprentice slowly instead of shunshining in as per usual.

"Why?" she asked softly when he eventually came to a stop, just a few feet away from her. "Why do we have to do this?"

Kakashi was silent for a long time, at a loss of what to say. Eventually, he settled on what his own sensei had said. Minato hadn't spoken to Kakashi—no, he had been too logical and uncaring to accept his sensei's comforting words—but he had spoken to both Rin and Obito when the time for their first kills came around.

"Konoha is viewed as weak by the other villages because we put so much trust in our teammates… Those who believe in the Will of Fire are strong because they need to be in order to protect their loved ones and their village. In protecting our village, there are sometimes things that we cannot avoid. It is only by remembering why we act that we can continue."

"But this mission… is murder. Hokage-jii wants me to murder someone." A shudder moved through Naru as she finally lifted her face to stare at her sensei. Her eyes were reddened from crying, but there were no more tears. All that shone from her eyes was confusion and defiance. "I saw it! In the Forest of Death—during the Chuunin Exams. And you're asking me to do that to someone else?!"

"No one is asking you to do anything. Your Hokage is telling you to do this. And I, as your sensei, am telling you that you're ready for it. Did Ko tell you who your target would be?"

"N-no."

"Konohagakure has a deal with the Daimyo for missions like this. The civilian court system reserves a number of convicted criminals—who would already have been sentenced to execution—for Konoha genin. Your target, the man or woman that you would be killing, is a threat to citizens of Hi no Kuni. They are not innocent people."

"Why do I have to do this? Can't I… What if I talk to Hokage-jii?" Naru asked desperately. Kakashi shook his head solemnly.

"Konoha policy has already been bent to put this off for so long. Most genin go through this assignment before being sent on C ranks because of the likelihood of run-ins with bandits. It's only because of your circumstances that you've been allowed on C ranks. The moment you put on that hitai-ate," Kakashi said, gesturing to the hitai-ate tied around her neck, "you became a shinobi of the Leaf. This is one part of that that you can't avoid forever."

Naru nodded despondently, recognizing an unwinnable argument when she saw one. She got to her feet and quietly followed her sensei to the village gates. He'd run her to the ground on the way to the capitol and, at the end of the day, she would become a killer at the age of ten.

Hiko Rhan was his name. His crime was the murder of another civilian, a middle-aged man named Ayaba Kenji. Kenji had been a husband and father of three, who had owned a small clothing store that specialized in imports from Kumo.

Naru didn't know why Rhan had done it, but she didn't ask as she drew the tanto she had borrowed from Ko. She tried to ignore the eyes on her—Kakashi, Matsu, Ko, Kira, Nago, and so many others—and even more desperately tried to not meet Rhan's eyes as he sized up his executioner. The gag in his mouth wasn't needed as he quietly stared her down. Just as she leveled the tanto at his heart, preparing to kill him as painlessly as possible, Naru tensed; a familiar look spread on her target's face.

He smirked at her.

A rush of anger welled up in Naru's chest and her blade flashed, burying itself in the man's chest. He sputtered, coughing up blood into his gag. Naru held her tanto firmly, digging it deeper and deeper into the man until his uneven breathing finally stopped. She removed it slowly, ignoring the blood gleaming crimson on the metal as best she could, and silently turned to face her sensei. Kakashi, to her relief, didn't congratulate her or anything. He gave her a small nod and that was all.

Later, when Naru couldn't stop shaking and not even ramen could help, Kakashi stayed quiet. He fetched water, lingered in doorways, and laid a steadying hand on her shoulder, but he never said a word because he had been right.

She had been strong enough. Now it was his job to make sure she didn't fall apart when she'd gone so far.