The walk to the Third Hokage's grave had been a saddening one for the young Uzumaki child. Last she had seen the village it wasn't faring well with the invasion in process. During her walk she had seen that it had only gotten worse. For the time being the girl masked the pain it caused her to see her village in complete disarray. Her sole focus was on reaching the Third's resting place.

And so she stood with clasped hands before his grave.

Words were hard to find. The girl stood alone as Ino had seen it fit to give her a bit of privacy. There was no one or nothing to prompt her. Just the time passing by.

Eventually the girl kneeled before the man's grave and closed her eyes. It's been awhile hasn't it Old Man? It's been to long since I last had the chance to speak with you, and it really sucks that I won't get that private time anymore. The fact that you're gone is kinda hard for me to except. I can't even say anything out loud right now. It… It doesn't even seem real to me.

A sigh escaped her before a small smile played on her lips. Do you remember all the pranks I ever pulled on you throughout the years? I remember when I couldn't even faze you with one of them. Too transparent or obvious you'd say. Any real shinobi could spot them from miles away. It really irritated me to get caught so easily, but you encouraged me.

Flashback

The Third Hokage chuckled as he watched the boy beside him pout. Once again he had tried to catch the aged village leader off guard. Unfortunately his plan to dump a bucket of water on the man was swiftly turned back on him. A well timed substitution jutsu swapped a nearby Naruto with the Hokage just as he opened the door and the bucket fell. Now the two sat side by side at the boy's favorite ramen shop.

The old man placed a hand on the boy's shoulder making him look up. "You know Naruto, that prank of yours was just way too obvious. You didn't even do a good job at staying hidden." Naruto growled annoyed until he saw the man smiling at him. "But even such transparency can be ironed out with enough hard work and dedication. No matter what it is. Even if it is something as small as a prank, don't stop trying. That's something all great people have in common. Be they shinobi, samurai, or civilian, they don't stop trying."

Flashback End

Honestly if you hadn't 'ave encouraged me you and everyone else might not have been pranked so much. I became a prank master thanks to that. Kamiko chuckles softly at the thought. Opening her eyes she looked upon the grave with a sad smile. The wind blew softly around the girl. I… understand now though… At least I think I do. What it is you really meant when you said that.

A hand gripped the center of her chest tightly. Tears started to threaten to fall. Thank you… I never really go to say thank you for everything. For always looking after me even when no one else wanted to. For helping me whenever I was struggling with anything. For all the ramen you got me. For never getting mad at me even when you had every right to. For telling me that it's possible to make my dream a reality. The tears began to fill down her cheeks. I'll be sure not to disappoint you. I'll get stronger. So strong that this won't ever happen again.

"I'll never forget you or what you've done. No one will. I just wish..." Crying softly she reached out and touched the stone. "I just wish I could tell you all this."

Kamiko turned as she felt a hand fall on to her shoulder. She looked up into Ino's eyes as the other girl stood beside her. The red head began to tremble before grasping the other girl's sides and pulling her face into her. Kamiko did her best but was unable to mask the sounds as cried freely into the your heiress's waist. She cried and cried as Ino held her, letting the toll of the war finally wash over her.

After a while the two girls separated themselves from each other. They sat quietly beside each other slightly supported against the other. Ino had her hand on Kamiko's back, softly rubbing it. The poor redhead had cried so much that she had gotten pretty close to puking. Now she sat with her legs pulled in to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. She rested her head on her knees feeling drained.

"Are you feeling any better Kamiko?" Ino asked softly. Kamiko nodded her head not saying anything. "Are you hungry? We can leave to go get something. My treat." There was no response to her question. "If you're not hungry we can go to the springs. Nothing happened to it, and they're even in the process of making another bigger one. Just the two of us relaxing you know." Still no response. "We can go and…"

Suddenly Kamiko stood with clenched fist shocking the other girl. Her red hair hid her face as Ino looked up at her. Eventually she looked away from the standing girl feeling she had done wrong. "Hey… I'm sorry. I just wanted to…"

"When the sun is about to set, go to the Hokage Monument," Kamiko interjected almost too quietly for Ino to hear. "I'll be there waiting for you. I just need some time to myself, and to prepare."

The platinum blonde nodded as she stood and dusted herself off. "I can understand that. You did just wake up after all. If you don't mind me ask though, what are you preparing for?"

"We need to talk," Kamiko said as she began to walk away. "When you get there, be ready to sit there for awhile." She left, leaving the other girl standing alone.

Lost and confused about what the girl meant, Ino decides to head home until it's time to meet with Kamiko. I wonder what she wants to talk about? Oh… I hope it's nothing bad.

Hospitals suck. Temari sat in one of Konoha's hospital beds as she frowned. After the invasion had been fully repelled her young brothers had rushed her to the nearest medical shinobi they could find. Since then the girl had been in constant care of someone.

After being put in one of the village's medical facilities immediate attention was given to the burns in her mouth. Luckily for her they weren't too bad and were quickly taken care of. They kept telling her how lucky she was to have not gotten any burns in her throat. Not that she cared. Temari was just happy to be able to talk without too much pain.

After that the treatment of her mouth the doctors rolled right into the rest of her burns. None of them had been too bad thanks to Kamiko's quick reaction with her water jutsu. The doctors got the young lady to the point where her body was able to take care of the rest on it's own with little assistance.

There was one burn that did have cause for concern. That was the burn on her right arm. While the fire jutsu had been quickly taken care of, the arm had still had time to cook being the first part of the body the fire hit.

Now Temari just sat waiting. Both her brothers had already headed back to the village with the rest of the Sand shinobi, so she was left in Konoha alone. No one had wanted to move her during her healing process. Something the girl now found quite irritating.

Temari sighed as she looked out the nearby window. Looks like they've gotten pretty far in their rebuilding. Amazed at how far they've gotten… Man this is boring. Be nice if someone was here. I could take listening to Kankuro drone on about his puppets right now. Anything is better than this. I need something to happen already!

A knock suddenly took Temari out her thoughts as she whipped her heads toward her door. One of the nurses that have been coming to check on her was sticking her head in. "Ah, Miss Temari you're awake. You have a visitor. Who you like to see them?" The nurse smiled happily.

Dear Kami thank you… "Thank you. Yes, send them in. I could use some company." The last part she said quietly to herself. I wonder who it could be. Probably some political figure here. The nurse nodded and stepped aside to let the person in. Temari gasped. "Kamiko…"

The young Uzumaki thanked the nurse as she left the two girls alone. For a second neither girl did anything. Kamiko kept her eyes trained on the floor while Temari stared her down. Kamiko, unsure what to say, just twirled her fingers behind her back. She wanted to know how Temari was doing, but didn't know where she stood. Their last two encounters had not been favorable. Adding in the fact that it was her teammate who hospitalized the blonde didn't make things any better.

"Sit down." Kamiko's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Temari speaking up. "You're here now so you might as well keep me company." After a seconds more of a hesitation, Kamiko grabbed a nearby stool and sat down next to the bed. "Heard you had gotten pretty beat up. Been knocked out ever since."

"Yeah," Kamiko sighed as she twirled her hair. "I ran into someone really strong. Wasn't a good time for me. Actually just came to today " A spot of silence as Temari nodded. "How are you feeling since…" The redhead clamped her mouth shut unsure what to say.

"I've obviously been better," Temari bit feeling a bit annoyed. "If it wasn't for that Uchiha I could be home right now. Sneak attacking bastard." Shrugging she shook her head. "Other than that I'm fine. Arm aches. Waiting to see what they'll do for it. No one here has the ability to fully heal it… I don't think anyone does."

"Oh." Kamiko gripped her knees as she looked down. Feeling of responsibility weighing down on her even though she knew she couldn't have done more than she did. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Huh? Why? It's not like you're the one that tried to roast me alive. You have nothing to apologize for… Unless that was your plan all along."

"NEVER!" The young girl stood so fast her stool flew back. "I would never do that. Not to you Temari." After recovering front the other girl's sudden outburst, Temari just nodded and looked out the window. More silence filled the room as neither girl looked at the other. The air was filled with unspoken words. Words that needed to be said, but neither girl could or would voice.

Eventually it got stifling for Kamiko. So much so that she decided time to leave. "I hope they're able to help you out as soon as possible," she said as she turned and walked towards the door. Once she was outside she slightly bowed before promising to come check on Temari again and leaving.

And there she goes. Temari touched her cheek after the door closed. The one that Kamiko always seemed to kiss whenever the two of them would meet or separate. It oddly felt cold. I should've just said it. I really am an idiot.

Ino was nervous. She had no idea what it was that Kamiko wanted to talk to her about. Her mind kept entertaining thoughts, and none of them were good. The girl was positive that whatever it was that Kamiko had to say, it wasn't going to be a fun conversation.

The girl was pacing maddeningly about in her room worrying. "I did something. I had to have done something to upset her. She's going to break off our friendship. I know that's what this has to be about." She rounded on the clothes sitting on her bed. "Should I just not show up? What'll she did if I don't? Oh Lord I don't know."

Her bedroom door opened as her mother Aika stepped into her room. With light brown eyes, her similarly brown hair was tied into a bun with a red ribbon in it. Strands of hair framed both sides of her face, hanging over her ears from behind them. She wore a dark teal dress with a blue, green gem attached just below the collar. A small smile graced her lips. "Ino dear, could you kindly cease your constant movement? You are going to bore into the floor at this rate."

Stopping, Ino turned to her mother with a soft blush. "Ah, sorry mother. I didn't mean to disturb you or anything."

The mother nods as she walks in the room. "It's quite alright. Now why don't you take seat next to me. Tell me what has gotten you in such a tizzy."

Ino sits next to her mother as she sighs. The young girl runs her fingers through her ponytail as she speaks. "I'm just having trouble figuring out what to do. My friend woke up today. The one I have been telling you about. You remember right?"

For a moment Aika thinks before softly clapping her hands together. "Ah yes. Kamiko I believe you said her name was correct? The one with really beautiful gray eyes."

"Yeah…" Ino's blush deepened as she nodded. Unlike her father who didn't need to know, Ino's mother well understood the situation between the two girls. Well, she at least understood Ino's feelings towards the other girl. "Well she wants to meet up soon. Has something she wants to talk about. Something that she said was going to take awhile and she needed to prepare for." The blonde gripped her knees. "I know it's not going to be anything good. Whatever she has to say, it's not something I'm gonna want to hear."

"Oh dear what makes you say that? You've always talked like you two were just the closest."

"I know I have but… but… I don't know. I just got this feeling mother. She seemed so serious. It's definitely not gonna be an easy conversation to have. It might be the last." The girl began to tremble. "She might not want to be friends anymore. I was completely useless while we were being invaded. Still don't know if I reacted right to her revealing who she really was. Not only that, I still don't know how she feels towards other girls." Ino shook her head. "Maybe I just shouldn't go. Save myself the heartache."

A hand rested over Ino's causing her to look up. Her eyes simmered with unshed tears as she looked at her mother. "Honey. It's going to be just fine. You're overreacting about this. Kamiko said she wanted to talk to you about something that she needed time to prepare for. Did you think it might just be something that's just hard for her to talk about? Something she's never talked about before?" Ino shook her head. "Now yes, there is chance, albeit small from what I've gathered, it could be something negative about your relationship… but what if it isn't. What if she just need to unload right now? What of she's preparing to bare herself to you and you don't show?" Aika pulled her daughter close and hugged her. "You know that I accept who you are right? Your feelings for that girl are clear as day to me and I haven't even seen you two together. That bad feeling you're getting could just be you picking up on her past negativity or pain. Do you not want to be there when she might need you the most?"

Pulling away, Ino bit her bottom lip clearly undecided as a war waged in her head. Mom might be right… but what if she isn't? Is the pain really worth going… The young girl looked into her mom's kind brown eyes and sighed. "I don't know. I don't know mom… but I don't want her to be alone if she needs me."

"Then go. I'll be here ready to talk to you about it." Standing, Aika brushed her dress before heading towards the door. "Oh, Ino. Don't forget to invite her over for dinner some time. It is about time I met this girl I think."

"This would really just be my luck wouldn't it?" Kamiko scratches the back of her head as she looked at her apartment, or at least the remnants of it. An explosion had obviously happened near or in it. If it wasn't blackened and charred it was completely gone.

Walking up to the ruined building, the girl noticed two papers attached to a post before it. WARNING! DANGEROUS AREA! NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY!, was what the first one read on a bright red sheet with large white writing. Just below it was the second one on a yellow sheet with smaller black writing. THIS AREA IS TO BE DEMOLISHED. THIS AREA WILL NOT BE RECONSTRUCTED. The post were placed all around the destroyed apartment with a rope attaching them.

Kamiko looked around and kicked the nearest piece of rubble she could. "What's the point," she sighed as she turned and walked away. "Nothing probably survived that anyways." Not like I really had anything either. Never did get around to decorating.

Looking around the girl noted that much of the area looked the same. Cordoned off and awaiting destruction and/or construction. It seemed as though the rebuilding process had yet to reach the area, but would most likely soon hit it. Though it didn't matter since she'd still be without a home.

"I thought that I might find you here." Kamiko turned at the familiar sound of her Jonin sensei's voice behind her. The two shinobi looked at each other as they stood before the burnt rubble. Neither of them said a thing. The eye contact that they were making said a lot.

The young Uzumaki held out her bandaged hand. "It's been a while."

"Unfortunately so." Kakashi took the hand in his with an eye smile. "It's unfortunate to think that this is technically our first really meeting. I didn't know anything about what happened to you in the Forest of Death until just before the Third Exam. By then there was nothing I could do and you were nowhere to be found. Toss in the invasion and here we finally stand."

"Yeah," the girl sighed as she pulled back her hand and waved it around. "It would've been nice to have you around, but that's okay. There were a few who were able to help me along... can I ask you something though?"

"Go ahead."

Looking down, she tried to form the words for her question. (What's so special about him that you didn't even try to train me for the Exam? Or did you think I just wasn't good enough for your time?) The question were on here tongue, but Kamiko was just unable to ask them. Wanting to know the answer didn't mean she wanted to hear what she suspected the truth was. With a shake of her head she changed her mind. For now it wasn't worth. "Nevermind. I'll ask you another time."

"I see. I'll try to be available when you do." Kakashi looked at the burnt down rubble of the apartment. "What do you plan to do about this?"

"I have some stored funds. As long as nothing happened to the bank I should be fine to find another place just gotta pick one."

"And your stuff?"

Kamiko shrugged. "Besides clothes I didn't really have anything of real value in there. Just some ramen and other food. So nothing that can't get replaced."

With a nod, Kakashi let them be engulfed in another bout of silence. While Kamiko was thinking about what else she should do, the silver haired Jonin looked at her. He observed the bandages that were still around her neck and arms with a frown.

Those bandages were a reminder of the condition that he found her in at the end of the invasion. The young girl was on death's doorstep with the injuries she received. Had that been any normal Genin, they surely would've died before getting any medical attention. Kakashi knew that it was because the girl was who she was that she was standing before him right now.

The man knew that in the situation that Kamiko found herself in that there was nothing he could've done to prepare her for it. Nonetheless he felt responsible for her injuries. He couldn't shake the feeling that if he had done more for Naruto, maybe Kamiko wouldn't have been so hurt. Or maybe i should've just been there for Kamiko herself, he thought with a sigh.

"Ah!" Kamiko grabbed the sides of her heard as she cried out in surprise. "I just remembered something that I need to go find. Sorry, I don't have much more time left and I need to get something. It was nice seeing you again sensei." With that, she turned and took off. "See ya later," she called back with a wave as she propelled away from the Jonin.

Chuckling, Kakashi couldn't help but smile a bit. Just as energetic as ever huh? He left the area with his hands in his pockets and a thought in his mind. I failed her as a Genin, but she's still my student. While you're still a Chunin, I'll teach you everything I can. All of you.

Not much longer after her short encounter with Kakashi, Kamiko could be found standing at the edge of a clearing in a forest. She stood there staring at the clearing. The area was a mess. It looked like explosions had gone off almost everywhere. Staring at the place causes a shiver to run up her spine.

To think I almost died here. If it wasn't for Kakashi showing up showing up I definitely would have. The young girl sighed as she began to look around. Need to remember to thank him next time. Technically owe him my life here.

For a while she searched the area of her last battle. Kamiko checked under large rocks and piles of dirt. She inspected the trunk of each tree she passed. Any bush she came near was subject to be searched in. Thoroughly the girl checked the area for as long as she could.

Alas after almost an hour of searching Kamiko found a spot to sit down at. She clenched her in defeat as she lowered her head. The young Uzumaki had been searching for her lost sword Urufu Kaze. She had been too disoriented during the fight to tell where she was, so she had no idea which way it was thrown. Just that it was thrown away.

"DAMMIT!" Kamiko yelled as she punched the ground beside her. "Dammit…" Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes. She really loved that sword.

"Not gonna start crying on me are you now Miko? Tears are very unbecoming of someone like you."

...Miyako…

"Yeah, it's me Miko. How are you feeling?"

Like complete shit. Kamiko gritted her teeth. I lost to that guy. Got my ass completely handed to me out here. Never stood a chance. I wasn't strong enough.

"Oh dear, you did much better than you think you did. That was your sixth straight fight in one day. Think about it. By the time you fought that man you were closing in on exhaustion."

I guess, but still…

"But nothing. Almost any ninja in that situation would've had a hard time. I doubt many Jonin would've survived a battle with a Tailed Beast and then a fresh jinchuriki only minutes later. Winning both those fights is another story all together."

Okay, Kamiko thought. Truthfully the girl was still unable to accept it. The defeat had been to sound for her to write off with exhaustion. For now she decided it best not to argue with the aged wolf. I just wish I could find my sword. I can't stand having lost it out here.

"I'm sure it'll find its way back to you."

Hopefully. The redhead grunted as she stood and started walking away from the area. So where is Akane? I would've thought the both of you would be talking to me right now.

Miyako made a noise that sound like an irritated sigh. "She's busy. There was a large amount of both of our chakras flowing through your system. Your body was closing in on feeling the effects of over exposure."

Kamiko blinked, not understanding what Miyako meant. Is that a bad thing?

"Very. If it wasn't for your having lost consciousness, Akane couldn't have saved you. She had to flood your system with more of her chakra to keep you stable. You would've gone berserk were you awake and aware. Fighting continuously. Unable to tell friend from foe. Going until someone stopped or killed you."

I… I see…

"Mm. Right now she's removing her chakra from your system. A lot of it was pumped into you, so be carefully. There may be some unseen effects lingering."

Silence filled the girl's thoughts as she continued walking. It was a starch contrast to the surrounding area. Birds chirp and fluttered about as insects screamed all around. The breeze softly rustled the leaves of every tree and bush around. Each step she took crunched down on fallen sticks and dead leaves.

Eventually her loud silent walk brought her to the edge of one of the village's many districts. It was an area that didn't seem to have received much damage, but oh the other hand could have already been reconstructed. In the distance the Hokage Monument was in clear view. The faces of the four village leaders proudly displayed for all to see.

Unfortunately the ugly scar that marred the Third's face was still present. The sight caused the girls gut to clench. She had to take a deep breath to keep her own composure. She wanted to run. To run and hide. To find an ear to release more held back tears.

I still have to meet Ino soon and u feel like a mess.

"Will you be okay Miko?"

I don't know. I don't even know if I'm ready to tell her these things yet, but I promised her. Kamiko clenched her fist as she glared forward. I promised her I'd tell her everything, and I plan to keep that promise.

"I respect and support your decision. I am here if you need me."

Thanks Miyako. Let's do this.

A/N: Well that's a wrap. Generally chapters are gonna take this long to come out right now. One a month is the goal, but it may end of taking longer due to time constraints with other things. Hopefully you all were able to enjoy this chapter to some degree. Until next time my friends~