Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I only wish I did.

AN: This is my first time posting on so I'm hoping it goes okay. Just a note, I don't use swear words, so any swear words here will turn out a little odd, like d'mn. I originally used asterisks but it turns out that they don't show up when I load it on to So I've replaced them with apostrophe marks. Hopefully, it doesn't look to weird. I've read over the fanfic like about a dozen times and have caught as many spelling and grammar mistakes as I could, but if any of you readers catch one, please tell me, so I can fix it as soon as possible.

Please read and review! I love to read comments XD Constructive criticism appreciated.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Chapter One

Weeds: Nobody likes them; everybody hates them; they pop up where you least like them to, always showing the lesser part of your garden, or creating uncomely spots on your lawn… They grow to be picked out and gotten rid of. Maybe that's why they're so incredibly stubborn and hardy; you pick one off and unless you do it completely, it just springs back up again. You have to pluck it from its roots, and even if you do, that's no guarantee that it'll never show up again. Stubborn and hardy. Perhaps it's something to be admired. Their perseverance. Their unwillingness to die. Their stubbornness to keep on living, despite all the odds against them, despite all the hatred towards them. They never give up. Maybe, at some point in life, everyone turns out to be a bit of a weed…

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

"How much longer until we get there?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"The walls of Hidekatsu city should show up any time now," Kakashi replied, not even looking up from his book.

"Stop jumping around, Naruto," Sakura scolded. "Hey, knock it off!"

Naruto was now jumping in circles around the pink kunoichi, forcing her to stop before she tripped over him, his grin nearly splitting his face in two.

"Why are you so excited?!" she demanded.

"Didn't you hear??" Naruto asked. "Hidekatsu's supposed to be huge!! And there're supposed to be more than fifteen different ramen bars! One of them was on the cover of Ramen Lover's digest!! I want to go to that one first!!"

His excited grin soon turned wistful as he envisioned himself sitting in front of a mountain number of bowls of steaming ramen. Oddly enough, they were all whispering his name…

The rest of team 7 stared at the twelve year old blond boy with strange expressions that nearly screamed, 'What the h–'

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered.

Naruto snapped out of his reverie. He opened his mouth, about to snap back a (usually lame) retort, but then, to everyone's surprise, he closed his mouth resolutely. He then sighed blissfully.

"I'm too happy to kick your 'ss for that," he said wistfully, already drifting back into his daydream.

"I'd like to see you try," Sasuke muttered, but he left it at that.

"I hope you're not forgetting," Kakashi said, looking at Naruto with an amused but serious expression, "the real reason we're going to Hidekatsu. Let me jog your memory. It's not for ramen."

Naruto scowled. "I know why we're going," he said impatiently.

Kakashi nodded and returned back to his book.

"How long do you think it will take, sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi looked up over his book, considering. "I'm not quite sure… Like Naruto said, Hidekatsu is a really big city, and we don't know when our targets are supposed to arrive at the city. They might actually decide to skip Hidekatsu and move on to the next town. If that happens, then we'll have to start tracking them again, and they might end up having more than a few days' head start."

"Do you… think that will happen?" Sakura asked.

"Honestly? No," Kakashi answered. "Hidekatsu's a big city. It's an excellent place to get supplies or information, or do anything, really, without being asked questions. It's also a good place to cover your trail, since the city's crowded. It would be a good decision, on their part, to at least enter the city."

"But then," Sasuke frowned, "wouldn't that make it harder for us to find them?"

"Yes, well, I think you guys can handle it," Kakashi grinned lazily. "And if you can't, I'm still an elite ninja. I'm the best of the best of the best. I can more than handle a simple mission like this," he said humbly.

Sakura and Sasuke both anime sweat-dropped. Naruto was still in his ramen palace daydream.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

About thirty-seven minutes later…

"Wow…" the three genin stared in awe.

Ten minutes earlier, they had seen the great walls that barely hid the large city of Hidekatsu. Five minutes earlier, they had stood before its towering gates, awaiting the permission to enter. Now, they stood just inside the gates, hit full-blast by the enormity of the place. Naruto hadn't been exaggerating. Konoha was a very large village, it in itself a thriving place. But Hidekatsu was a large city that literally seemed to throb with activity and life. Hidekatsu made the shinobi village look very small indeed.

The city, though a part of the Fire country, was still across the country, a two and a half days' walk to from Konoha. Inside the large walls, was one of the most thriving cities of the continent. There, from rags to riches and riches to rags, many made and lost their fortunes daily. Thousands of merchants and business men made journeys to the cities to work their trade and make their business. Restaurants and shops lined the bustling streets of the city. Off to one side, the three twelve year olds could see the crowded market place, farmers from all over the country and then some shouting over their carts and stalls of the great deals on the freshest fruit of the season, haggling with their costumers before the shoppers left with a satisfying deal and a large basket of vegetables.

Bordering the market place and beyond were towering buildings, apartments and businesses, rich restaurants and other less prosperous dwellings. In the middle of the great city stood a building that towered over all others. There, all the goings-on of the city politics took place.

About fifteen minutes later, after Kakashi had settled them all into a small inn, he gathered them together.

"Alright," Kakashi said. "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to split up. I want you three to go around the city, get used to the setting, learn where things are and what streets lead where. Rule number three in the ninja handbook: know your surroundings. If things get messy, I want you all to have a good idea of where things are and where to go. I don't want you three to ask questions just yet. Any interrogation might get back to the targets and tip them off. For now, just learn about the city. Return to the inn by sundown."

"What about you, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I'm going to look for a certain informant I know," he replied. "If I'm not back by the appointed time, you three go on ahead and get something to eat. I should be back before morning. Understood?"

The three genin nodded.

"Good, then get to it."

The group then slit up, Naruto and his friends starting off in one direction while Kakashi left for the other. As soon as Kakashi was out of sight, Naruto turned to the other two.

"Hey, hey! Let's get something to eat!" he said.

"Naruto, we're supposed to be scouting the city, not stuffing ourselves with ramen!" Sakura scolded.

"But I'm hungry!" he whined.

"You're supposed to be a shinobi," Sakura said. "Deal with it."

Though some food really doesn't sound so bad… she mentally anime cried to herself.

"But," Naruto persisted, suddenly grinning slyly. "Kakashi-sensei said we were supposed to familiarize ourselves with the city surroundings. Knowing where certain landmarks can help us find our way around."

When did Naruto get so conniving? Sakura thought, her stomach taking Naruto's side.

"Naruto's got a point," Sasuke said, his gaze curiously off to the side. He was a bit hungry, too.

Him, too, Sakura realized with a slight anime sweat-drop. "Well… I suppose…"

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered. He then reached into his backpack and pulled out a small magazine.

"Naruto, what is that?" Sakura asked.

"It's my Ramen Lover's Digest," he said happily. He flipped the magazine open. "Let's see… 'Hidekatsu's Ramen Palace'! It's supposed to be this way!"

He took off running, the other two helplessly following behind him.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

It took Kakashi a little longer than usual to find the small bar, located along the inside walls of the large city. When he walked in, the bright sunlight was suddenly dimmed by the dark room inside. Inside, the bar's unfavorable reputation was well earned. It was a cheap place, meant for the most miserable of drunkards. The floor was decorated with all different colors of stains Kakashi really didn't want to have identified. Walls and furniture were in poor condition, having been wrecked in previous bar fights and then half-heartedly or lazily mended. The bar tender off to the side was lazily wiping off a cracked ceramic cup with a very greasy looking cloth. Being the early afternoon, the bar was empty of the larger crowd that usually came in during the after-work hours. Though that didn't stop a few slumped figures to habit the place, sitting slouched at the bar stools, or at the booths along the wall.

Kakashi frowned in slight distaste. He usually avoided places like these. Sure, a few particularly nasty missions occasionally sent him in the direction of some well earned saké, but even then, he would have chosen a better reputed bar. Personally, he preferred strong tea. There was really no sense in destroying a fit body that was necessary for completing missions for Konoha.

If it weren't for the hopes of locating the certain informant, Kakashi would have skipped this place altogether. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He squinted in the dim light, trying to identify the slums that sat in the room. He wasn't there.

Kakashi sighed. He had spent almost an hour trying to find the place and the guy wasn't even there. He scratched the back of his head, trying to think of another likely place to look, as he walked back out of the dark bar and into the blinding sunlight.

XxX

Chiyo stared hard at the grey-haired man who, after about five minutes, walked back out of the bar in front of her. Next victim confirmed. The scrawny twelve year old girl grinned.

The man looked well off. Although a mask covered most of his face –and although his hair was grey-, Chiyo placed the man in his mid twenties. His hair was clean, unlike a majority of the people's who walked into that bar, and his clothing was in good condition. They were strange, Chiyo thought, almost uniform-like. But she had seen stranger. After all, she lived in the city Hidekatsu, where millions walked through its streets displaying outrageous fashions. She had definitely seen stranger. But his appearance, as a whole, marked him as well off. Perhaps he was not filthily rich, but he wasn't dirt poor.

She was likely to pick off a good sum of money off of him.

As the man walked away from the bar, Chiyo followed, slinking in the shadows as she had her whole life. Taking a few narrow side roads and running up walls by collecting chakra to her feet, just as Ojii-chan had taught her to, Chiyo quickly managed to get ahead of her next target.

Almost… she thought to herself as she watched the man walking closer from behind a corner of a building. The man had left the smaller street by the bar and walked into the main streets, on of the large pulsing arteries of the city. The street was crowded. That was good. She would be able to 'bump' into him and then walk off and blend with the crowd.

Now.

Chiyo left the shadows of the alley and walked into the crowd, towards the man. When she reached him, she tripped.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, falling against him.

Reflexively, he reached out and caught her before she made a face plant on paved street.

"You ok?" he asked. Then he raised his eyebrows when he saw her face.

Chiyo blushed and laughed apologetically, scratching the back of her head as she regained her balance on her own feet. "Um, yeah, sorry sir," she said.

The man's only visible eye curved up as he smiled behind his mask. "No problem."

Chiyo stared at him for a moment. "Um, can I ask you something, sir?"

The man raised his eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Why… are you wearing a mask?"

"Hm," he said smiling. "To hide my face," he said happily.

Chiyo anime sweat-dropped. "Oh, ok. Well, um. Thanks for catching me. Sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble at all," he said, still smiling.

"Um, yeah, bye then," she said, walking on, following the crowd.

Further down the street, she quickly disappeared into a dark alley. Crouching down with her back to the street, she reached into her pocket and took out a small pouch.

"Sucker," she grinned.

"That's not real nice."

With a yelp, Chiyo suddenly jumped up and turned, her hands behind her back, to see a man, the same man she had just 'bumped into', standing before her with his hands lazily in his pockets.

"How did you–?!"

The man shrugged. "I didn't want to make a scene on the street. It's best not to draw attention to myself." He reached out his hand. "My money?"

Chiyo looked away from his eyes, analyzing his shown possessions. There was no sword at his belt. Chiyo mentally relaxed a bit. So it wasn't a samurai. Those entered the city occasionally. Chiyo looked at the rest of him. No other weapon was in sight, though he might have hidden them inside the pouch she saw at his waist or somewhere else on his person. She brought her gaze back up to his and looked him straight in the eye.

"Gomen-nasai, sir, but I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, her own eyes wide with innocence.

"Then what are you hiding behind your back?" he asked casually.

Sh't, he saw.

"What, this?" Chiyo brought her hands from behind her back, revealing the pouch of money in her hand. "Um, this is my Okaa-san's. I'm supposed to buy some fish for dinner tonight."

"Why were you hiding it?" the man pressed, still casual.

"Well, you know how it is in the city," Chiyo said wisely. "There are people looking for little girls like me to rob. Okaa-san told me to hide this from anyone, but it looks like you saw. You're not going to rob me, are you?" she asked, her eyes still wide with innocence.

The man's eyebrows rose. Chiyo mentally glared at him. He looked positively amused with her response.

"No, I won't rob you. But, one must consider if it would be robbing for one to take back what was originally his…"

"I suppose, if it was… but isn't that past tense? What if one had given the thing to the other person? Even if it was originally his, it would be considered robbing for him to take it back, right? Hypothetically speaking. Though I don't see how that has to do with anything…"

The man looked even more amused than before.

"So… that pouch of money really isn't mine?"

Chiyo's eyebrows rose up in 'innocent surprise'. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I don't know… perhaps it was my name written on the inside flap of it…"

Sh't.

Chiyo lost her innocent look and tensed, crouching into an informal battle stance. Her face was now grim with a determined look. She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a kunai, one given to her by Ojii-chan.

The man looked very surprised to see it in her hand, his eyes widening, but he didn't make any other move. Chiyo felt slightly reassured that, by the lack of a sword, he couldn't possibly be a samurai. Then again, remembering Ojii-chan's words, a shinobi wouldn't be so obvious as to carry around a sword… But no. Chiyo shook that thought from her head. What were the chances that she had run into a ninja? Didn't they tend to make themselves scarce and unnoticed? Though the man did say it was best not to draw attention to himself… Chiyo shook her head again. Now was not the time for deep thinking. Now was the time for quick action.

Focusing chakra to her feet like Ojii-chan had taught her to, she suddenly charged at the man. He seemed surprised by her sudden and probably unusual speed, but unlike her other robbery victims, he managed to dodge her attack with the kunai slicing only part of his dark green vest. Chiyo quickly turned around to face him again. He was observing the slice on his vest with slight astonishment. Then he turned back to Chiyo. She tensed.

"You're an interesting little thing," he said.

Chiyo twitched. No one ever called her little… This man would die.

"Rah!" she gave a small angry cry and charged at him again. Just before she reached him, he flickered, and disappeared. Chiyo heard a small 'poof' behind her and every thing went dark.

XxX

Kakashi caught the young girl before she fell to the ground. He then picked her up and 'poofed' back to the inn. When he reached it, he laid the girl on his bed. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura weren't back yet. He looked out of the window. The sun was still high. It would be a while before sundown. He supposed that was for the best. It would be a hassle to explain why he had left looking for a man and returned with a scrawny girl. Kakashi turned to look back at the girl lying unconscious on his bed.

When he had first seen her, when she had 'bumped' into him, he had gotten a slight shock. The young girl looked remarkably like the pink haired one in his own team seven. She had high cheek bones, and a well shaped nose, and her eyes were bright with intelligence. But now, after Kakashi had taken a closer look, there were quite a few obvious differences. The hair, for an obvious example. While Sakura's was long and pink, this girl's was shorter, brushing her shoulder, ink black and uneven, as though it was cut with a crude knife and only for convenience. Considering the girl's most likely lifestyle, it probably was only cut for practical uses. The eyes under her lids were intelligently brown, with a soft compassion that peered through them. And her body. That was not the body of a girl with a financially content family. That was the thin body of a girl who had seen too many nights with out a meal.

Another thing puzzled him, other than her first-glance resemblance to Sakura. Her possession of a kunai, and the fact that she knew how to focus chakra to her feet and use it to her advantage. Only a shinobi would know how to do that. Kakashi supposed she could have picked up the kunai on the streets –though he seriously doubted that; shinobi weren't known to be careless and leave evidence of their presence lying around–, or perhaps she had bested one in a fight –Kakashi seriously doubted that, too; though she showed some skill in a battle, probably able to fight off more than one street punk, she wasn't at the level of skill to beat Naruto– but even so, that didn't explain her knowledge of handling the weapon and her knowledge for the use, if somewhat unskilled, of chakra. Actually, the girl had quite a supply of chakra for one who wasn't a shinobi. He wondered if perhaps the girl did have some kind of training in the ninja arts, if somewhat limited. With a thoughtful look to his face, Kakashi pulled out his infamous book, settled down in a nearby chair, and waited for the girl to awaken.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

"Ahhh, that was a good one," Naruto said, as he rubbed his stomach blissfully, walking away from yet another ramen bar. This was the seventh bar the three genin had been to.

Behind the blond boy were Sakura and Sasuke. Both looked at him with very wary eyes, as though he was about to burst with the ramen stuffed in him at any second. For all they knew, he would.

It had been about two hours after they had separated from Kakashi, and the three had been running all over the great city of Hidekatsu, from one ramen bar to the next and to the next and to the next. Sakura and Sasuke now greatly regretted relenting to Naruto's ramen sightseeing. But now Sakura had had enough.

"Alright, that's it, Naruto. If I see another ramen noodle again, I will turn your head into soup flavoring. It's time to get back on track and do what Kakashi-sensei told us to do," Sakura said, glaring daggers at the blond, as though it were his fault the group had side-tracked. It was.

"Aww, but- but- I still haven't been to the Ishida ramen bar!" Naruto protested. "They're supposed to have the best chicken flavored ramen in the Fire Country!"

"No buts, Naruto. We're going to do what we came here to do," Sakura was resolute. In all of the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months she had spent with the dumb blond had steeled her to his puppy dog pouting eyes. Not that they had ever worked before.

"Fine," Naruto sulked.

"Finally," Sasuke breathed. Though he would never admit a weakness, the sight of ramen was starting to make him sick. It would mean the end of his life if he ever looked weak in front of his unofficial rival. It would mean the end of his life if he actually acknowledged the blond as someone worthy of being his rival. It was just something Uchihas didn't do.

"Let's start over this way," Sakura said. "I think I saw a small side road. That should lead us to the city wall. If we do this systematically, we can cover most of the city with the time we have left." She looked up at the sun. "We still have about four or five hours before sundown. That should give us enough time to make a rough scout of the city, but only if we start immediately." She glared at Naruto. "If we started right after we left Kakashi-sensei, we would have had more time to be thorough."

Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

"Come on, the road's this way," she said, leading the way.

The three genin left the main street and walked towards a dark alley way.

"I think that's a small street up ahead," Sakura said, peering down the alley.

"Then let's go!" Naruto said, grinning confidently as he stepped into the alley.

"Naruto, you baka!" Sakura said. "It's dangerous to walk into dark alleys in a big city."

But she and Sasuke followed the oblivious blond anyway.

It happened when the alley the three had been walking on crossed with another.

"Chiyo-chan!" someone suddenly cried.

Sakura was suddenly tackled as the arms of a small five year old girl threw themselves around the kunoichi. Reflexively, Sakura's arms reached up to hold the small child.

"Chiyo-chan, you're back!" the girl exclaimed loudly. Then she frowned. "What did you do with your hair?"

"Chiyo-chan's back? Is Chiyo-chan back?"

More voices followed as a small crowd of about six or seven young children, ranging from the ages of three to seven, suddenly appeared and ran towards the genin. All, like the girl in Sakura's arms, were dirt stained and dressed in old rags and tattered clothing. They stopped before crashing into the team and frowned.

"You're not Chiyo-chan!" one young girl with messy short brown hair accused.

"Yeah! Your hair's pink!" another yelled.

"Chiyo-chan's is black!"

"And short!"

"And her eyes are brown!"

"And she's skinnier!"

"And prettier!"

Sakura got an anime vein.

"Hey, I told you guys not to run off like that!"

A boy, about eight years old suddenly ran around the corner to the group of children. "Chiyo-chan told me to take care o' you guys! That means I'm in charge and you gotta listen to me! And I told you not to run off like that!" he said loudly, puffing out his chest importantly.

"We listened to you," one of the kids said. "We just didn't do what you told us to do!"

"Yeah, and besides, we thought Chiyo-chan was back!" another shouted.

The eight year old boy's eyes widened in surprise. He finally turned to the three genin in front of him. He stared at Sakura, taking her in. Then he frowned and crossed his arms. "You're not Chiyo-chan. Chiyo-chan's cooler than you!" he declared. Sakura twitched. He glared at Sakura suspiciously. "Are you really Chiyo-chan?"

"No," Sakura nearly growled. "I'm not."

"Sorry," the girl in her arms mumbled before slipping down and joining the others children.

The two groups now stared at each other silently.

"Well…" the brown haired girl said, "If you're not Chiyo-chan… then who are you guys?"

Sakura glanced at her two companions. "My name's Sakura. These are my friends, Sasuke and Naruto."

"I'm Keiko!" the brown haired girl declared.

"I'm Fuka!" another girl yelled.

"Susa…" the five year old girl Sakura had been holding said.

"I'm Takako," the eight year old boy said importantly.

"What are you guys doing here?" one of the children, a six year old boy, asked.

"We're looking around the city," Naruto said.

"Why?"

"Because we're–"

"Because we're sightseeing," Sakura said before Naruto revealed their true reasons. She elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Why don't you come home with us?" one of them yelled.

"Yeah, come home with us!"

"We've never had comp'ny before!"

"We can give you tea and stuff!"

"'xcept we don't have any tea."

"Oh yeah."

"Come anyway!"

"Wait!" Sakura suddenly interjected.

The group of kids looked at her.

"Uh, we still have to see the city..."

The kids glanced at each other.

"Then we'll show you around!"

"Yeah, we know every single places of the city!"

"Chiyo-chan showed us!"

"Let's go!"

The group of children pulled the still shocked genin down the alley. The three followed, slightly dazed. Their goal had been placed in the hands of kids half their age…

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

Consciousness slowly crept into Chiyo as she woke up. Groaning slightly, she opened her eyes and slowly sat up to find herself lying on a very soft and comfortable bed. Bright mid-afternoon sunlight streamed through a window.

"You're up."

Chiyo suddenly jumped at the voice and spun her head around to see the grey haired masked man sitting on a chair near the bed, reading an orange book. Chiyo stared at the cover. She couldn't read the words on the cover, but the picture told her enough. The guy was a pervert.

"Where am I?" Chiyo asked tersely. She looked at the man with wary and suspecting eyes. She had seen enough of the wrong kind of people to not be tense around strangers. Especially grown men who had easily taken her down without drawing a weapon and then didn't kill her. And read perverted covered books.

"You're at the Horiuchi inn," the man said casually. He looked at her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Chiyo scowled. "It's rude to ask for someone else's name with out first giving yours," she said.

The man raised his eyebrows. "And you would know everything there is to being polite," he said. He tilted his head. "It's Kakashi."

Chiyo hesitated before answering. "I'm Chiyo."

Kakashi nodded. "Chiyo. Well, I hope you're hungry. I ordered something for you to eat," he said, nodding over to a table on the other side of the room.

Chiyo's eyes widened. On the table sat a hot bowl of rice noodles and a plate of warm dango.

She hesitated, throwing a suspicious glance at the masked man.

"I didn't poison it, if that's what you're thinking," he said.

At that, Chiyo jumped out of her bed and began chowing down the food. She closed her eyes blissfully. She had never in her life had a more delicious meal. It was rare enough for her to even have a meal. She slowed down her pace, trying to savor the food. Who knows when she would ever have a meal like this again? Who knew if she would?

Kakashi watched her eat with an unreadable expression. He got up and joined her at the table, though he didn't eat anything.

Chiyo eyed him warily, but continued with her meal. Before she was half way through, though, she stopped and gave a small sigh. Then she grabbed the napkin next to the plate and carefully laid the dango in it, wrapping them up carefully.

"Is there… a box I can put the rest of the noodles in?" she asked Kakashi.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly, but nodded to the take out box the noodles had come in. She carefully poured the rest of her noodles and soup into the box, careful not to spill and placing the lid carefully back on.

Kakashi didn't say a word, just watched her carefully.

When she finally finished, she gave a satisfied sigh and pushed back her chair. She hesitated before bowing to Kakashi.

"Thank you for the meal. I really appreciate it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back home. My Okaa-san's waiting," she said and turned towards the door.

"Hold on a sec," Kakashi said.

Chiyo turned back to him warily with an anime vein. "Look, sir, I'm sorry I tried to steal your money, and I really do appreciate the food, but if you think that will put me in a position that will let you be a sick pervert, you've got another thing coming. I've seen enough kiddy perverts to know they exist."

Kakashi anime sweat-dropped. "No, don't worry, I won't try anything on you. Despite my reading material preferences, I wouldn't lower myself to such despicable acts. I do have a fairly good reputation to uphold. I just want to talk, ask a few questions," he reassured her. "Have a seat," he gestured to the chair she had gotten out of.

Without losing her wary expression, she took the seat. The least she could do to repay the man was to hear him out.

Kakashi was quiet for a moment, staring at Chiyo with an unreadable look. She fidgeted a bit.

"I'm wondering," he finally said. "How you managed to come across one of these."

He reached into his own ninja pouch and pulled out a kunai.

Chiyo hesitated, then said, "Ojii-chan gave me one."

"Ojii-chan?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. Ojii-chan's just an old geezer. He's really sort of grumpy all the time, and he's irritated all the time. But he's really nice deep, deep down. Really, really deep down. He'll give me something to eat, sometimes. He taught me how to fight and he gave me one of those. He's got a bunch of them. Said they were from his past job. I think he was a ninja. He's always talking about them."

"And he's the one who taught you about chakra?"

Chiyo nodded. "I think that's what they're called. Ojii-chan says they've got something to do with energy and stamina. He says that ninja use the chakra all the time, except they can do even more with it, other than to go fast and run up walls. Like breathe fire and make water dragons and stuff. He even showed me once. He made a wall out of dirt by only moving his hands."

Kakashi nodded, then was quiet again.

"Do you… know the city well?" he asked.

"Yeah… why?" Chiyo asked.

Kakashi only smiled. "I'm new in the city. I don't know my way around everywhere."

Chiyo grinned. "I know the city like I know Ojii-chan loves sushi. I don't know the back of my hand real well, I don't look at it all that much."

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, do you think you could find someone for me? He's an old friend of mine, from back at home. His name's Kazuhiko Sugo. I've got a picture of him." He pulled out a picture from his pocket.

Chiyo looked at it and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "That's Ojii-chan!" she exclaimed.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "I didn't know he had a grandchild…"

Chiyo looked up at him and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, he's not actually my Ojii-chan. I only call him Ojii-chan because he wouldn't tell me his real name. I can call him Turnip-jiichan if it makes it easier to understand."

Kakashi smiled amusedly. "Can you take me to him? I want to ask him a few questions."

Chiyo grinned. Her previous fear and wariness of the man had vanished. "Yeah! It's real close to here. Let's go! I've been meaning to drop in on the old geezer for a while anyway. Maybe he'll give me a new kunai."

She jumped out of her chair and excitedly went to the door. At a more slower pace, Kakashi pocketed the picture and followed the excited girl.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

"That's where the rich people go to eat all o' the time. And then further down is a real fancy store for shoes. I've never seen so many shoes in one place before. How can someone have so many? It's not like they have that many feet…"

"On the other side of the street's where mommies go to get clothes when they have a baby in them. And then there's a sushi bar over there. They sell raw food. Isn't that gross?"

"Over there's where the mean fabric lady is. One time she yelled at me for looking at the stuff. I wasn't touching it. She said I scaring off customers. I didn't know I could scare people…"

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke followed the babbling children, half-listening to their description of everything. It was still a surprise to them, how they had only begun to start their mission before they were suddenly shown the city with a group of young tour guides. The children were actually systematic in the way they toured around the city, going all the way down one street and then going onto the next one. It seemed they really did know their way around.

The three were still hesitant about being shown the way by a group of children, probably dirt poor, and were half their own age. But somewhere in their minds, they couldn't help but follow the children, instead of slipping away like they probably should have. Something about the children tugged at their hearts. Perhaps it was the way they were always smiling, laughing. Perhaps it was the way that under all the dirt, they were adorable, as all young children were, even the eight year old boy, who still tried to be mature and gain control of the group as they went from street to street. Perhaps it was the way they still seemed to be happy, despite the reality of their life and their home. Perhaps it was just that they were children. Whatever the reason, the three genin wouldn't be able to leave the group of kids, even if they wanted to. They didn't.

The group of kids paused when they reached a certain part of the city.

They looked down the street with curious eyes, but seemed hesitant to continue down it.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"That's the red district," Keiko said factually.

"Chiyo-chan says we're not supposed to go down there," Susa said softly.

"But Chiyo-chan's not here!"

The group smiled excitedly.

"But it's Chiyo-chan who said not to go…"

The excited smiles disappeared to give way to a slightly guilty look.

The three glanced at each other. They knew that the red district would be a place filled with questionable material for the children who were half their age. But they still need a guide. The children were proving themselves to be very useful. Their systematic run through of the city helped the three genin store the information and locations in their heads, and their quick pace kept Naruto from distracting the group and running off to yet another ramen bar. They had seen several already, and though Naruto swore to visit them the next day, he didn't run off. And though the material in the red district was very inappropriate, for both them and the children, it was a large part of the city. The shinobi needed to know everything about the city in order to know where they could go if things got messy. Besides, if they stayed on the streets and didn't go into any building, they should be relatively safe, right?

"Well, we'll be with you in the red district," Sakura said.

"We can protect you if anything happens," Naruto added.

And cover your eyes if anything… inappropriate… shows up…Sakura silently added.

"Nothing will happen," Sasuke said, though it wasn't sure whether it was said to reassure the children or to retort Naruto's comment.

"But Chiyo-chan said to stay out," Fuka said. "I don't wanna not listen to Chiyo-chan…"

The group was quiet for a moment.

"Well…" Takako said. "We did say we were going to show them…"

"Chiyo-chan doesn't like it when we say one thing and do another…"

"Does that mean we're gonna go in?"

"… What would Chiyo-chan do?!"

"Yeah, if we think like Chiyo-chan we would do the right thing! Chiyo-chan's always right!"

The group then put on extremely concentrated expressions.

Then, all at once, they said, "Chiyo-chan would take 'em!"

"Ok, let's go!"

Once again, the genin of team seven found themselves pulled along with the crowd of children into the red district.

"We've never been here before," Takako said. "Chiyo-chan wouldn't let us. But we have a good idea of where everything is and where the red district ends and all the places after that."

The group walked along the wide street, glancing at all the bright signs and flashing lights. Though it was the middle of the afternoon, the red district was still hosting a large crowd. The crowd would grow rather huge when the night set in.

Since the children didn't know the area as well as they knew the rest of the city, they were quiet and chattering among themselves, allowing the older members of their group observe the area. There was no trouble until they were almost at the end of the district.

Showing the genin a back road that the children knew of –it was used often to escape any street thugs and angry store owners– the group was just walking back out of the alley and onto the main street of the district when a small argument broke out among the children –they were children after all, what could one expect?

One of the small girls, Seki, about seven years old, stuck her tongue out at the opposing figure, Taiki, a six year old boy, and ran out onto the street, before bumping into someone.

"Ah, gomen-nasai," she said quickly.

"Watch where you're going you little brat," he growled. He reached out and picked Seki up by the collar of her ragged shirt. "You shouldn't go running around here, girl. Someone oughta teach you a lesson; show you the reason why you're a lowly girl."

Seki let out a whimper.

"Seki-chan!" the other children cried.

"It's a kiddy pervert!" Fuka said fearfully, hugging Sakura's leg.

"Let her go!" Takako yelled, and ran towards the big man. He managed to kick him in the shin before the man growled and kicked him off. Takako hit the wall with his back and slumped to the ground. He raised his head, glaring at the man with ill-concealed hatred for hurting him and threatening Seki.

The three genin frowned. Sakura gently picked Fuka off of her leg and the three shinobi tensed into a battle stance.

"Let her go," Sasuke said quietly.

The man glanced at him and the other two and sneered. "Aw, look, another kiddy. What, do you think you're going to fight me? Ha, you must be outta your mind. I could beat you into a pulp."

Sasuke could smell alcohol on the man's breath. He smirked. This would be easy.

"Let's go," he said to Sakura and Naruto.

"Right on!" Naruto said. He did a hand sign and two Kage Bunshins popped up.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Shinobi!"

He threw Seki away from him and tensed. Sakura caught the scared girl before she hit the ground.

"Let me handle the guy," Naruto grinned. "He's just a dump drunk. It'll be easy."

"And let you have all the fun?" Sasuke smirked. "No way."

"Boys," Sakura breathed exasperatedly. She stood by the small group of children, ready to protect them if anything came their way. "Don't make a big scene," Sakura warned them. "We're supposed to avoid attracting attention."

"Right," Naruto grinned. "We'll just make this look like any old street fight."

"Except it'll be the little guy that beats the big guy," Sasuke smirked.

"You three talk tough for being little midgets," the man growled. "But don't think that I'm just any regular street thug!"

He reached into his pocket and drew out a dagger.

"I've dealt with shinobi filth before!"

Sasuke and Naruto only smirked.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

"This way," Chiyo whispered.

She quietly led Kakashi down a dark alley. Ahead, Kakashi could see a small wall of a tiny shack or hut. A single shirt hung on the clothes line beside it. There were a few tattered straw baskets lying around, and one or two chickens roamed around inside a small fenced off area.

"Don't make a sound," she whispered to Kakashi. Kakashi wondered why she was whispering and felt a slight sense of dread when he saw a mischievous grin on her face.

The two of them crept up to the hut wall and peered around its corner to the see the front of the shack. There, sitting by the front door, sat the old man Chiyo called Ojii-chan, whittling away at a scrap piece of wood. From where the two of them were, they could hear quiet grumblings coming from him.

Chiyo's mischievous grin widened. She turned around and raised a finger to her lips, signaling for silence.

"You stay here," she whispered and then, focusing chakra to her hands and feet, she climbed up the hut wall, disappearing on to the roof. Kakashi raised his eyebrows questioningly, but did as he was told, turning back to peer around the corner.

The old man suddenly stopped whittling. To Kakashi's shock and surprise, the man subtly turned his head and looked at Kakashi in the eye and smirked.

"Rah!"

Suddenly, Chiyo jumped from the roof, aiming for the old man's back.

But faster than many would believe possible for an old man like him, he turned around, grabbed the flying girl from mid-air, and pinned her to the ground.

"Ah, darn it! You caught me!" Chiyo exclaimed, her face smushed to the ground.

"I told you not to try to jump me again," the old man grumbled, letting her go and picking up the piece of wood he had dropped. Chiyo sat up and rubbed her face, scowling at the old man.

"You didn't have to be so hard, Ojii-chan," she grumbled.

"You asked for it," he said bluntly. Chiyo stuck her tongue out at him.

"I brought someone to come see you," she said, past grievances quickly forgotten. "This is Kakashi-san."

Kakashi lazily walked out from behind the corner.

"Long time no see, Sugo-san," he said to the old man.

Sugo grunted. "What do you want this time, Hatake," he asked bluntly.

Kakashi just grinned lazily. Sugo's eye twitched.

"Do you know him, Ojii-chan?" Chiyo asked. "How come you never told me?"

"Shush, kid. Go bug someone else. And take Hatake with you," he grumbled.

"But I wanna bug you!" Chiyo said with wide innocent eyes.

Sugo anime sweat-dropped. He glared at the young girl for a moment. Then he sighed. "I guess I'd better let you in, then, huh?"

With a grunt, he lifted himself up, reaching out to take hold of a cane that leaned by the wall next to him.

He was missing a leg.

Kakashi looked at the stump with an unreadable expression as he was reminded of what had led this man, a former jounin elite of Konoha, into early retirement.

Chiyo quickly opened the door and let herself in.

"Come on in," Sugo grunted to Kakashi. Kakashi bowed and went in after Sugo.

Inside was a single room. By the side of the room was a simple bed, its sheets and blanket unmade. Next to the bed stood a bookshelf. But instead of books, it was filled with a variety of things, though a collection of weapons dominated its shelves. On the other side of the room was a small heater and an old fashioned iron stove. By the stove was a small counter and sink, though the sink was tap-less. Water was gotten from a pump in the back. In the middle of the room was a simple wooden table with two chairs.

Sugo settled into one of them and gestured Kakashi to the other one. Kakashi sat down as well.

"Chiyo, go outside and get some firewood. Then make us some tea. There should be some in the little box by the food over there," Sugo ordered.

Chiyo scowled at his orders, but did as she was told, going back outside and around the hut to the back.

Kakashi looked amused. "Still giving out orders, eh?"

Sugo scowled. "Aren't you?" he countered.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "You know?"

"Of course I do. I might not be in Konoha, but word still gets around. Never figured you'd take in a team of snotty nosed brats, though," Sugo said.

Kakashi chuckled. "Neither did I. But it looks like you've got a kid of your own," he said.

Sugo scowled again. "She's not mine. She just turns up every now and then and gives me h'll."

Kakashi only smiled.

"I heard that, you old geezer," Chiyo said, walking back into the hut with an armful of wood.

"And I heard it was rude to eavesdrop," Sugo countered.

"Hard not to when you're so loud," Chiyo said brightly. She set the wood down by the iron stove and began building a fire in it.

Sugo scowled again.

"Hey, Turnip-jiichan, can I have another kunai?" Chiyo asked while rummaging through some boxes of food, looking for box of tea.

Sugo choked and coughed violently. "Turnip?! Where the h'll did you get that from?!"

Chiyo turned around and grinned at Kakashi who was laughing quietly.

"Nowhere," she said cheekily, turning back to her task of looking for tea.

Sugo glared at the back of the girl and then threw a glance at Kakashi, who was still chuckling.

"You brats are conspiring against me," he growled under his breath. "Whatever, take whatever you want. Where'd your last one go?"

Chiyo glanced sheepishly at Kakashi. "I lost it when I tried to get Kakashi-san's money."

Sugo's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Oho! So you tried to rob a shinobi! Ha, bet you learned your lesson now, eh, brat?"

Chiyo scowled. "I didn't know he was a shinobi!" she protested.

"Of course you didn't," Sugo said. "We're good at hiding our identities when we're supposed to. You wouldn't recognize one if you tripped and bumped into him on the street."

Chiyo and Kakashi both anime sweat-dropped. Chiyo blushed.

"Anyway," Sugo turned back to Kakashi. "Why're you here?"

Kakashi glanced at Chiyo.

"Chiyo, go outside and get some water for the tea," Sugo said. "And be slow about it."

The scrawny girl scowled, having hoped to learn of the matter. "Fine," she grumbled. She got a metal bucket from beside the stove and went back outside, once again disappearing around the back.

"Alright, she won't be giving us anymore trouble for now," Sugo said, turning serious.

Kakashi nodded. "I'm sure you realize, but I'm not here on a whim to visit Hidekatsu. My genin team's here with me. We're on a mission. I was hoping you could help me. I know you have a good ear for stuff like this."

Sugo grunted. "And what exactly is 'stuff like this'?" he asked.

Kakashi paused. "The mission my team is on… is a B-ranked mission," Kakashi confessed.

"B-ranked?" Sugo said, surprised. "I thought genin were only supposed to take on D-rank, and maybe the occasional C!"

Kakashi smiled ruefully. "They are. I asked for this one specifically from the Hokage."

Sugo frowned. "Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to take them out to this sort of environment," Kakashi said. "I wanted to do some special training around here, and I wanted them to get used to these kinds of missions. This mission just happened to be the most recent to-do task. I told the Hokage I could handle it; you know I can. I just wanted to take my genin with me, see how well they do under the circumstances…"

"That's a risky move, Hatake," Sugo said. "Things can very easily get messy, especially around here."

Kakashi nodded. "I know. That's why they're taking a look around the city now. To know where things are in case they need a quick escape route."

"Good," Sugo said. "Just make sure you keep an eye on them. Kids these days think they can do anything. If your genin are anything like you used to be, they'll go looking for trouble. What's the mission and why are you getting me involved?"

Kakashi smiled at his bluntness. "Here," he said. Kakashi took out his bingo book and flipped it open to a certain page. "Our mission is to track down this man, Kayashima Senri. His partner is on page 67, a guy named Umeda Inoue. Both are missing nin from the Grass Country, about high chuunin, low jounin level. They were seen in the Fire Country, and sources say they were heading in this city's direction."

Sugo scowled. "I know that guy," he said, glaring at the picture of Senri. "That maniac gave me this scar here." Sugo rolled up his sleeves to show a diagonal scar on his left forearm. "The b'stard ran off before I could pay him back. I got his old partner, but it looks like he's found a new friend. How long since he was last seen?"

"About three days ago, when Konoha got the last tip off. It took about that long for my team to get here. I think they're in the city, but I'm not sure. I was hoping you could find out for me," Kakashi said.

Sugo nodded. "I can do that," he said. Then he smirked. "You might not like the way I do things, though."

"Hm?" Kakashi asked. "What do you mean?"

"I use a mix of spies," Sugo answered. "There are a few other retired shinobi around here that keep an ear out on things and tell me about new news. And then, I've got the occasional mercenary samurai that will come for a quick buck and snoop things out a bit. But most of my news comes from…" Sugo looked out the door, "kids like her."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "Kids like… Chiyo? Isn't that pretty risky on their lives?"

Sugo nodded. "But politicians love to hear things they're not supposed to, and there are a lot of those in Hidekatsu. The ones with the best of hearing are usually those with nothing better to do. And who pays attention to the existence to those who have a supposedly pathetic one? Most of these kids die before they reach twenty, anyway. This way, they can earn money and maybe that will greater the chances of their survival. Maybe, if they're smart, they learn to save the money they make and then get out of this part of the city."

Kakashi looked at the old man with a thoughtful expression. "You know… you can probably find a more comfortable home in Konoha. Retirement funds are set up for retired shinobi," Kakashi said quietly. He looked around the small hut that was stationed by and behind all the buildings. The towering structures surrounded the old man's home like trees in a great forest. "For all the things you've done for the village, you could easily find a nice apartment. A good bed, a fridge, sink… indoor plumbing…"

Sugo smiled ruefully. "Yeah, I bet I could," he said. "But… I really don't feel like living around a shinobi village. I guess one shinobi war is enough for me. And I've been in enough missions to make the thought of it ache my old bones," he said. He took a deep breath. "I guess maybe I should have picked a nice small house in the country side, or maybe a small hut by the forests, but… oh well. What's done is done. I'm already settled in here. No point in moving around. I don't want to spend half of the rest of my life simply walking back to Konoha."

Kakashi chuckled softly, but he said, "You shouldn't talk like that… It's only a two and a half day walk from here to Konoha…"

Sugo just smirked.

The two men were quiet for a moment.

Kakashi turned back to Sugo. "What about the girl? Chiyo? What's her story?"

Sugo frowned. "I'm not quite sure. I don't think there's really all that much of one," he said.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "You're not sure? I thought you always checked out the people around you. I bet you know what kind of tea the owner of the building next door drinks."

Sugo smirked. "The owner doesn't drink tea, he's an alcoholic," he said. Then he frowned, his expression slightly looking a bit uncomfortable. "I don't know, I guess her business is just none of mine. I don't really… want to intrude on her personal stuff…"

Kakashi's eyebrows rose even higher. "Kazuhiko Sugo, former elite jounin, ex-ANBU member, and captain of the Konoha intelligence squad… are you telling me you've gotten soft for her?" Kakashi asked, almost teasingly.

Sugo scowled, though Kakashi noticed that the old man didn't deny it. Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, what do you know?" he asked, his black eye still twinkling with mirth.

Sugo glared at the young jounin before he answered. "She's an orphan. Has been for all of her life. I think she told me she was born in a brothel and that her mother died from the pregnancy. The women there didn't want to spend the time and money raising a baby to become a later prostitute. Maybe if the girl was to go back now, but Chiyo's got too much self-respect to do something like that. Of course, no one knows who the father is. Then, she told me that she was raised by a little old lady at a tea shop that's now closed down. The lady died when Chiyo was six. After that, I'm not sure what happened, but now, Chiyo's living off the street like most of the other orphans in this city."

"Why don't you send her to Konoha to be adopted? Or take her in yourself?" Kakashi asked.

"I would," the old man said bluntly. "But like I said, the girl's got a lot of self-respect. She doesn't take kindly to pity. If I offered… I don't think she would ever come back to let it happen… She'd just… disappear in the city…"

Kakashi nodded slowly.

"I don't think…" Sugo suddenly said in a thoughtful tone, "I don't think that she's alone. Actually, I'm positive she isn't. I'm not sure who she lives with now, actually, I haven't found out where she's staying, but I do know she's not alone."

"How do you figure that?" Kakashi asked.

"By the way she's always taking food home," Sugo said.

"Couldn't she just be saving them for herself, to eat later?" Kakashi asked. That's what he had thought when he saw her packing up the meal at the inn.

"She could, but I don't think that's the case. If it were the case I don't think she would leave so much uneaten, before she packs it up to bring back to wherever it is she stays at. I feed most of the kids that come by here. Most of them will attack their food, inhale it." Kakashi was suddenly reminded of Naruto and his ramen. "But Chiyo… she'll eat less than half of it, and then pack it up. I'm thinking she takes it home to feed some other hungry mouth. Maybe more than one. But I haven't found out for sure myself. I… don't want to intrude. I figure, if she wants me to know, she'll tell me herself," Sugo shrugged.

Kakashi nodded. He paused for a moment. Then he noticed a plant that sat on the bookshelf, by the window. It was a small plant, with wide leaves. In its center was a single purple flower.

"Hey," he said, surprised. "It's finally growing!"

"Eh?" Sugo turned to look at the plant. Then he chuckled victoriously. "Yeah, that stubborn thing's finally green. I can't remember how many years I labored over that weed. I don't know why I spent so much money on it. All those different fertilizers, placing it in so many different places back at my apartment in Konoha; I even tried giving it different brands of bottled water! How crazy is that? Then I take it here and it starts growing like crazy. H'll, I don't know, maybe it's the air. Maybe stubborn plants like that like polluted city air or something."

"When did it start growing?"

Sugo frowned. "… I guess… about the same time Chiyo started showing up around here…"

The two men were quiet.

"Speaking of which, where is that irritable girl, anyway?" Sugo suddenly grumbled. Kakashi smiled. He supposed Sugo couldn't be caring and concerned for long. "How long does it take to get a d'mn bucket of water? Girl! I want my tea!" Sugo roared.

"Alright, alright!" Chiyo yelled back, appearing at the door with the bucket filled with water. Kakashi was laughing quietly. "It's not my fault! Your darn pump was stuck! Do you know how many million times I had to pump the friggin' thing? I swear my arm's about to fall off!" the girl grumbled, pouring the water into a ceramic teapot and setting it above the stove. Then she placed the firewood into the stove and lit the fire.

"Always complaining," Sugo grumbled. "I don't know why I put up with you."

Chiyo stuck her tongue out at the old man's back. Then she gave him an unreadable expression. Sugo had his back turned to her, but Kakashi caught sight of the look. He wondered how much Chiyo had heard of their conversation. Chiyo saw him looking at her and grinned cheekily. She turned back as the water started to boil.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

Thump.

The man's body fell heavily to the floor. About a yard away, Naruto and Sasuke landed lightly on their feet and smirked at the downed man with triumph written all over their faces.

"Whoa!!"

Startled, the two boys turned around to see the awestruck and astounded faces of their forgotten young audience.

Sakura quickly looked around. Luckily, the fight took place in the alley the kids had just showed the genin. No one had seen the boys fighting the larger man. Well, no one, that is, except for the young children who had acted as their guards.

Sakura sighed with exasperation. Boys. It seemed they always had to find some way to show off. Seriously, was ten doppelgangers, Sasuke's fireball jutsu, ten more doppelgangers, and a countless number of shuriken and kunai really needed to fight a drunk, perverted, fat lard? Even if the man had claimed to have had experience with fighting shinobi? In truth, if the man did have experience fighting shinobi… it will have been with academy student ninja. The boys really did go overboard…

"That was amazing!"

Sakura was snapped out of her reverie by the gushing cries of awe coming from the children.

"Are you guys really ninjas?"

"You just beat him like this–"

"You're so strong!"

"And then you hit him like this–"

"Can you teach me to fight like that?"

"And the guy flew up–"

"Just how strong are you guys?"

"And then he hit the ground–"

"Would you hit a girl?"

"And then you pulled out all those knives–"

"Are those really sharp?"

"And then the guy was defeated!"

There was a break as the children took a deep breath.

"That was really cool," Fuka said.

"Yeah… even Chiyo-chan can't do it like that," Taiki said slowly.

The children looked at each other and their expression turned guilty.

"Not that she couldn't totally beat the guy," Keiko amended.

"Yeah, Chiyo-chan would beat the guy's butt," Fuka said.

"In one hits," said the three year old boy, Nakao.

"Definitely," Susa said softly.

Sakura smiled affectionately at the kids. Then she felt a small tug at the hem of her dress. She looked down to see Seki, the girl who had bumped into the man.

"Arigato Sakura-chan," she said. She turned to the boys. "Arigato Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke scowled and looked away, blushing slightly at the thanks. "Whatever," he muttered. But he couldn't help but feel proud at the children's admiration.

Naruto was a little less humble. "No problem! I was pretty cool, wasn't I? Did you see me hit the guy? Like about a million times!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Then he remembered about Takako, the eight year old boy who had first run up against the man. He glanced around to find the boy standing slightly apart from the admiring crowd. The bangs of his hair covered his eyes.

"Alright," Sakura snapped. "That's enough of that, Naruto. Don't you kids say another word to him; his head will get so big it'll explode. Not that that's really a bad thing."

That immediately shut the young children up. They honestly didn't want to see one of their newest heroes get his head blown up.

"Aww, Sakura-chaaan," Naruto protested.

"Shut it, baka," Sakura said. "We've spent too much time messing around. We're supposed to be looking around the city, remember?" She glanced up at the sky. "We've only got about two more hours left." She turned to the young children. "Do you think we can pick up the pace? We want to be able to see the whole city by sundown. Can we do that?"

The kids glanced at each other.

"I think… we can, if we take some o' the alleys and side roads or back roads and stuff," Keiko said.

Sakura nodded. "Good. Let's get going then, we don't have much time."

"Aww, we've got plenty of time," Naruto said. "You know Kakashi-sensei's always late. We probably have until midnight, with the way he is."

Sakura scowled. "Just get going," she said, in a dangerous voice.

"Eheh," Naruto laughed nervously, putting his hands up in defense. "I'm going."

And the group set out yet again.

Sasuke couldn't help but notice how the eldest member of the tour guides was now the quietest.

XxX

"Whew, what a day," Sakura said, once the three genin got back to the Horiuchi inn.

Though she had her own room, being a girl, at the moment, she exhaustedly dropped her bag by the door of the boys' rooms and slumped onto a chair. She would have slumped onto a bed, but there were only two beds and she felt it was improper for her to lie down on her sensei's bed, she didn't want Naruto to get the wrong idea, and she didn't want to impose, though her inner Sakura did, on Sasuke by slumping down on his bed. Then she quickly straightened up. Girls didn't slump.

"Ahhh, what a poor record," Naruto complained, falling into his bed. "My first day at the great Hidekatsu city and I only got to visit seven ramen bars! That's horrible! My goal was to visit all of them, and then do it again tomorrow!"

"You're sick, Naruto," Sasuke said. There was no way any normal organism could eat all the ramen Naruto had already eaten that day. No normal organism in the world. Not even a strange organism.

"Well, at least we managed to take a rough scout of the city," Sakura said. "We even got to look at most of the alley ways. That has to be a good thing. We'll most likely be moving in alleys anyway." She paused for a moment. "I wonder… if we'll even see those kids again. They were sweet…"

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at her.

"Probably… I mean, they do…" Sasuke drifted off and started to feel uncomfortable. He had meant to say that they lived on the street, when he realized that they probably did live on the street. He couldn't help but suddenly look around the, though not for the richest, inn room that they were in. It was spacious, with three comfortable beds. The kids probably slept on the dirt floor.

Sakura also started to look uncomfortable. She understood why Sasuke had drifted off. Naruto took a little longer to understand, but he got it eventually.

"Um… I feel sorta bad…" he said. "Maybe we can find them and bring them back here!"

He was about to jump up when Sakura said, "There's no way we'll be able to find them, Naruto. It's dark out, and they know every little hiding place in the city. If we want to see them… we'll have to wait until they want to see us…"

The three were quiet for a moment. "Maybe I should have saved some ramen for them…" Naruto said quietly.

Sakura laughed quietly. "We didn't know they would be coming," she said. Then her face turned determined. "But next time we see them, we'll buy them a whole bunch of ramen, how about that?"

The two boys grinned and nodded.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

"Alright, I think it's about time I got back to my team," Kakashi said, setting his teacup down and getting up. Chiyo looked up from where she sat on Sugo's bed. She looked out of the window. Night had set in.

"Oh no, I have to go, too!" she exclaimed. She scrambled off of Sugo's bed and ran to the door, picking up the leftover meal from earlier with Kakashi. She turned around to face him. "If we go now, I can show you the quickest way to the inn," she offered.

Kakashi nodded and started for the door and Sugo placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I should have some information by the day after tomorrow," Sugo said. "You can come by then. I'll send someone after you if I find out something before then. Tomorrow, you give your kids whatever training you had planned for them here in the city, but don't let your kids start asking around. I'll assume that they haven't done anything like this in any previous mission, so they might set up an alarm. You'll put my kids in danger if the targets start becoming suspicious while they're being tailed. If you're going to be by yourself, without your kids, I guess you'll be doing some sniffing around yourself. Chiyo, stay with Kakashi tomorrow. I trust your sense of direction and instinct around this city more than I trust his. And come to me if he has anything to send to me or if anything happens, understood?"

Chiyo hesitated, wondering if she was really going to let some old geezer order her around, but then she nodded. Ojii-chan was being serious. He was only ever serious if important stuff was going on. Chiyo assumed this was important. At least to Ojii-chan.

"Hai, Ojii-chan. I'll meet you sometime in the middle of the morning, if that's ok," she said to Kakashi.

He nodded. "That's fine. Where should we meet?"

Chiyo looked a bit startled by the question, but then she grinned. "No worries. I'll find you!" she said cheekily.

"Insufferable brat," Sugo grumbled.

Chiyo stuck her tongue out at the old man. "Grumpy Turnip-jiichan!" she said before she disappeared out the door. Kakashi laughed as he walked out the door after her, a long stream of profanities following behind him.

Less than five minutes later, he was back at the inn.

xixixixixixixixixixixixixixixixi

"Chiyo-chan's back! Chiyo-chan's back!"

Excited cries filled the little make-shift home as Chiyo ducked under the short 'roof', her back and arms occupied with three children hanging off of her.

The home was small, made of random pieces of sticks, boards, and cloth. It was only tall enough for an eight year old to stand straight in. the make-shift home was propped up against the side of an old building, and then surrounded by all the other towering buildings, which stood to hide the little home from public view. Outside, looked like what it was; a rough idea of a tiny home, with stacked up pieces of sticks and board. Inside, it was simple. An old thrown out rug was placed on the floor. Other random pieces of old and torn fabric marked the children's substitution for a bed. A small bucket sat next to the stone wall of the building, used to get water from any nearby water pump. Chiyo usually got the water from Sugo's backyard pump. Random pieces of old and broken toys the children had gathered from the streets littered the inside of the home. Chiyo had made the home herself, with the help of the first few orphans who had joined her little family. Everyone who lived in the makeshift was an orphan.

"Haha, hey guys!" she laughed. "Guess what? I brought back something to eat!"

"Yay!" cheers erupted from the young kids and they scrambled to tug the napkin wrapped food and noodle filled bucket from her hands and pocket.

"Whoa, hold on, don't spill it!" she warned. But there was no way anyone in the make-shift home would allow a single drop of crumb of precious food to be spilled.

Keiko took the food and laid it carefully on the ground.

"Ok, before we dig in, I want to take a head count!" Chiyo said.

"Hai!" the kids said, and everyone froze where they stood or sat. Head counts were important. Everyone in the little make-shift was the only family any of them had.

"Takako!"

"Hai!"

"Seki!"

"Hai!"

"Keiko!"

"Hai!

"Taiki!"

"Hai!

"Susa!"

"Hai!"

"Fuka!"

"Hai!"

"Nakao!"

"Hai!"

"Chiyo-chan!" all the kids called out.

"Hai!" Chiyo laughed. "Ok, split up the food evenly. There should be enough dango for everyone to have two."

"What about you, Chiyo-chan?" Keiko asked.

"Huh? Oh, I've already eaten," she reassured. "Besides, I'm not as hungry as you guys. Make sure you eat up!"

She looked around and saw the eight year old boy. His face was down and Chiyo could tell something was on his mind, something that bugged him.

"Hey, Takako," she said.

The boy looked up.

"Great job taking care of the kids," Chiyo smiled.

Takako looked startled. "R-really…?"

Chiyo grinned. "Absolutely. They're all still here, right? I couldn't have done a better job. You'll take care of them again, while I'm gone, right?"

The young boy looked startled, then a smile slowly crept up. "Ok…"

"Good," Chiyo said.

"Chiyo-chan, you'll never guess what happened today!" Seki said.

"Yeah, we met a bunch of grown up kids! They were the same years old as you, I think," Fuka said.

"They were really nice," Susa said quietly.

"They were ninjas!" Taiki said.

"Ninjas?" Chiyo looked at the kids in surprise. Could they be the kids Kakashi-san was talking about?

"Well," Chiyo said. She then picked up three-year old Nakao and sat him on her cross-legged lap. "You'll just have to tell me everything that happened. And then I'll tell you about my day, how about that?"