A/N: So, I know that I use the spelling "Guy" in my other Naruto fanfiction, but that's only because I'm too lazy to go back and edit to the spelling of his name that I've started to prefer. It'd take going over what... twenty-seven or so chapters and picking out where his name has been used? I'm not that motivated to change. In this book, however, I'm going to use the other spelling just because I like it better, it fits in more nicely with all the other names. So, "Guy" will be "Gai". Just a heads up. Carry on~

P.S. As promised, the picture to the side is one that I found that resembles how I picture Reiki. As Kakashi mentioned in the first chapter, her hair is cut short, but minus that the picture suits her. Sort of imagine it as how everyone remembers her! Now, obviously, since I found it, I didn't draw it. It belongs to whoever's signature is down there on the bottom.

"The power of youth will see us through!"

Quiet groans echoed through the trees following the announcement, neither source feeling quite like enjoying the "power of youth" at the moment.

"Please remind me why of all people, it was him who had to accompany us?"

"Because, the hokage loves to see us suffer."

"Somehow, I doubt that's the reason."

"It feels like it."

Giving the energetic man before them rather annoyed expressions, the shinobi accompanying him simply sighed and picked up their pace. After having been out of the village for over a week on an annoyingly dull escort mission they wanted nothing more than to relax as they traveled back to the village. The mission had looked promising when they'd started out with reports of death threats on the merchant they'd been charged with escorting, but in the end nothing had happened. The trip had ended up consisting of the elder woman griping about the heat and her aching feet and how they should be nice enough to carry her- had their parents not taught them manners?- until the two halfway patient shinobi had felt like fulfilling the death threats themselves and being over with it.

Needless to say, the fact that the jounin in charge didn't seem to understand the idea of "relaxation" was not welcome in the slightest. The younger of the two leaf shinobi glanced at her partner, with all intentions of suggesting he be the one to bring up a slower pace this time around, when the flash of something through the trees caught her attention. She paused on the next branch her feet touched, brow furrowed as she attempted to pick up where the light had come from.

It was most likely a reflection off of a piece of metal, that she knew, but where and what was the problem. Noticing she'd stopped, her partner did the same, a slightly irritable look flashing across his face. The kunoichi's ninken chose that moment to land on the same branch as him, causing it to shake unsteadily. The male shinobi shot it a dirty look to which the large, black dog simply slapped the male in the face with it's tail. He sputtered, shoving the tail away and frowning in his partner's direction.

"Arisu-chan," he grumbled. "If we stop, he's only going to start his lecture over the trials of youth again."

She shook her head, dropping from the branch to the ground without a word. Muttering a few choice words under his breath, her companion glanced over his shoulder to where Gai had skidded to a stop further into the forest.

"I think Arisu-chan spotted something," he began, then paused when the dog dropped down next to where it's master had previously been. The lone white patch over it's right eye was the only thing distinguishing it from the dark shadows cast by the large tree he stood on. "She definitely spotted something. I'm going to follow her just in case."

He'd just shifted his weight to drop down to the ground from the branch, but froze as Arisu returned with a panicked expression her typically calm face. In her hand was a bloodstained forehead protector.

"Gai! Mitsuki! Get your asses down here!" she shouted. "You'll never believe what I found!"

A serious expression on Gai's face for once, he quickly joined Mitsuki as he dropped down to follow Arisu back through the trees. She was right when she said they'd never believe their eyes. Collapsed on the ground in a worse state than they could ever remember seeing him, was Kakashi. On his back, her face a deathly shade of white, was a girl none of them had seen in a very long time. Wasting no time, Mitsuki and Arisu carefully shifted her onto the ninken's back as Guy hauled Kakashi onto his own.

"Let's hurry. He's barely breathing."

__________________________________

"Get back in your bed!"

"I'm fine."

"If you don't get your ass back there, I'll knock you out and drag you back myself!"

"I believe that'd defeat the purpose of wanting me to lay dow-"

"Dammit, Kakashi, open your mouth one more time, I don't give a shit if you are injured, I-"

"Reiki?"

The pale girl, her lips having parted in a silent groan, allowed her eyes to flutter open at the sound of her name. She was startled to see a pure white surface above her, her groggy mind having difficulties reasoning why the sky would have changed colors and have gotten so close. A moment later her mind kicked into gear, causing a slightly embarrassed feeling to sweep through her as she corrected herself. There was a ceiling above her.

She was laying in a bed.

The realization was startling, just as startling as the rosey-haired boy whose face suddenly appeared over her.

"Hey, tell this stupid ass to get back in bed. He'd listen to you."

"Mitsuki, get out of her face!"

Reiki blinked, the most recent voice belonging to neither Kakashi or the boy blatantly ignoring her personal space. He rolled his eyes, but leaned back, shoving one of his hands in his pocket as he did. The other ran through his inch long, messy, pale-pink hair as he shot a mutinous look towards the doorway.

"It's not like I was trying to do something dirty," he grumbled. "I just want her to get Kakashi to listen."

Arisu snorted, but kept her response to herself as she crossed the room and grabbed one of Kakashi's arms to drag him back towards the neighboring bed. He turned his gaze from Reiki to her, raising a single brow when despite her putting her full effort into it, he didn't budge an inch. Mitsuki shoved the hand that he'd put through his hair into his pocket as an amused expression flashed across his face.

"Is that all the strength you have? That's sort of pathetic, don't you think?"

"Go to hell."

"If you'll go with me, Arisu-chan."

She paused, peeking around Kakashi to send the boy a red-faced glare. Mitsuki barely kept back the chuckle that threatened to escape his lips at the sight of the brown-haired girl baring her teeth at him like a dog might, her sharp canines only adding to the mental image. Although, he mused, unlike the black ninken sitting in the doorway, she resembled that of a much smaller dog.

"I'd be happy to send you, if that's what you mean," Arisu snapped.

Taking advantage of the attention being diverted from her, Reiki shifted, grateful that the seal on her tongue kept any noise from escaping her as a sharp pain cut through her frame and a wave of dizziness through her mind. Until that point, she'd been wondering over the fact that for the most part, her aches had died down to nothing. Her head no longer throbbed, her lungs no longer burned when she took a breath, it'd felt like a miracle. She should have known that it was only because she wasn't moving.

Kakashi, shaking off Arisu's grip and stepping around Mitsuki, pressed a hand against her shoulder, pushing her back onto the bed. A small frown appeared on her lips, but she didn't protest, well aware that he was stronger than her at the moment. Behind his mask, his lips twisted up slightly, comparing the annoyed girl before him to the frightened one he'd been dealing with the first time she'd woken up after the mess had begun.

"How are you?" he questioned.

The bickering behind him stopped as the pink-haired boy shoved his way around Kakashi to stare at her with a searching expression. The playful look had dropped from his face for the most part as he leaned in closer.

"Right, you just woke up, didn't you?"

An irritated sigh came from behind the two males.

"Doesn't that mean we should get the doctor?" Arisu demanded.

Wordlessly, Reiki drew one of her hands up to push Mitsuki's face back by placing her palm on his forehead, uncomfortable with how close his face was. Kakashi, easily guessing the reason, seized the boy by the back of his shirt and drug him back a bit. An irritated expression crossed Mitsuki's face, but he didn't bother to argue the matter at the moment.

"You don't haven't remembered anything, have you?" Kakashi questioned, never pulling his eyes from hers.

She hesitated, suddenly aware of the uncomfortable expression that flashed across Mitsuki's face as he glanced between her and Kakashi.

"I forgot you mentioned that," the boy muttered, backing off a bit more. "Hey, cutie-chan, let's go get the doctor."

"Cutie?" Arisu squeaked. "Really?"

Rolling his eyes, Mitsuki simply strolled past her and to the doorway where her ninken still sat.

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

Her face a bright red, she glanced between him and the others before letting out a heavy sigh and darting to where he stood.

"Coming, of course."

At the confusion , and slightly overwhelmed emotion, obvious on Reiki's face, Kakashi pursed his lips and turned away long enough to grab a chair and drag it a bit closer. Each movement was slow, as if to give him more time to think about what to say next. By the time he'd settled down, his expression was even.

"Those two were Inuzuka Arisu and Hirota Mitsuki. They're friends, but don't worry about it too much. Even Mitsuki will understand the need for a bit of space in this situation."

She blinked, still confused, but nodded her understanding to his words. Kakashi paused for a moment, then continued, his mind flickering to what he considered important matters.

"The hokage has arranged for a special squad of shinobi to work on removing that seal. They examined it while you were out and seeing as it doesn't seem to be specifically tied to one person, it's different than the root seal in that it should be possible to remove it without the person who placed it- or at least that's what the preliminary examination told them. If all goes well, it should be taken care of before too long, they were only waiting for you to wake up so the doctor would give them permission. He wanted to make sure you were in the clear before any jutsu was performed on you, just in case it would strain your chakra levels."

Once again, she nodded, although the sea of words seemed to simply wash over her. She could pick up on the meaning of his announcement, of course, but it took a full minute for her sluggish mind to take it in. She'd be able to speak, soon. That meant she could ask the questions swirling about in her mind.

It meant she had time to decide what information was safe to share.

"He'll probably check you over again," Kakashi added, his eyes searching her face in an attempt to pick up on what she could possibly be thinking about it all. "But from what I understand, you should be free to be released from the hospital now that you're awake."

Yet another wave of confusion crossed her expression. Guessing the reason, Kakashi allowed a frown to touch his lips behind his mask. It was strange- seeing that expression on her. Reiki had never been the sort not to understand what was going on around her. Very few things had gotten past her- the expression had been reserved for one, simple matter that it was painstakingly obvious didn't matter anymore.

"You were out for quite awhile. They've already managed to deal with your injuries. The pain you felt when sitting up- yes, I noticed- was most likely from left over bruising. Nothing was actually broken, which made it easy for medical-nin. The hardest part was the blood leaking into your lungs due to a blow to your chest that must had caused something to be nicked. They didn't share the big details, just that as long as you take it easy, you're fine."

Her brow knitted together as she took those words in. A second later she turned her gaze to the room around her as she pushed her hands into the soft sheets of the hospital bed. Kakashi reached to push her down once again, only for her to gently catch his hand and shake her head, a frown settled on her lips.  As soon as she'd settled herself into a partially sitting position, she raised the hand that hadn't caught his and gestured as if she were writing in the air.

"Oh."

Within a moment Kakashi had pulled himself back to his feet and swiped a pad from a nearby table. At his request, Mitsuki had brought it along when visiting. As soon as he'd located a pencil as well, he handed them over to Reiki who relaxed just a little. At least she could communicate to this extent. She supposed that if she touched upon information that the seal dealt with, then she'd probably have problems writing as well, but for the moment it was her only option. This in mind, she drew her legs up beneath the blankets, ignoring the protesting pain her body gave, and settled the pad against her knees. Within moments she'd been scrawling out messy words, her mind easily pulling up the needed characters.

She'd begun to realize that while nothing about her or the people around her was accessible in her memory, information was.

When she turned the notepad to face Kakashi, he glanced over the words, repeating them aloud.

"Free to go where?"

She nodded and he hesitated slightly.

"I would say home with your family, but that situation is slightly..." he paused, rethinking his words and changing direction. "Your brother was the only family you ever cared about and he died... quite some time ago."

Reiki tensed, lowering her notepad slightly.

She had a brother?

He'd died?

She waited for some sort of feeling over the matter, but as the door into the room slid open, she realized that there wasn't anything more to wait for. Saying she had a brother evoked a sense of relief, she had a family. There were ties connecting her to this place. Saying he'd died, while it hurt, it wasn't to the level she would expect. Perhaps because she couldn't feel anything for a person that for all purposes, this her had never met.

At the same time, that small inner voice chose to speak up again.

'Don't trust him. All you know is that he says you belong here. There's no proof, is there? Convenient that the brother died.'

She clenched her jaw, the doctor taking up place next to Kakashi at her bedside. If either of them noticed her sudden shift in attitude, they said nothing.

__________________________________

Hours later, the doctor had finished with her and she'd been released with the instructions to return the next day to have the seal dealt with. Knowing he wouldn't stick around know that she was out, they'd released Kakashi as well. The whole time, he hasn't budged from his position next to her bed. When she started to stand, he simply pulled out of the chair and hooked his arm over her shoulders as support. She hesitated for a moment, but slowly placed her arm on his shoulder with a small nod of thanks.

Once the two had made it to the hospital entrance, she released his shoulder and raised her other hand which had been clutched around the notepad and pencil.

"Where are we going?"

At her expectant look, he hesitated slightly, then gave a small shake of his head as if to cast this off.

"We-"

"Reiki-chan! You're out and youthful as always!"

She blinked, turning her eyes away from Kakashi only for them to widen as they settled on a boy around their age with dark bowl-cut hairstyle. He simply offered her a toothy grin and raised his hand to give a bright thumbs-up in response to her confused expression.

"No need to worry, I already know about all of it! This trial is nothing for you!"

She simply blinked again, not quite sure if there was a good way to respond.

"I'm Maito Gai! The youthfu-"

Gai cut off as a familiar, pink-head appeared next to him and elbowed him in the gut, stealing the breath from his announcement.

"This is lovely and all," he announced dryly. "But I believe the doctor's orders were to let her relax. All you're doing is stressing her out, Gai."

At Mitsuki's words, Gai looked horror struck. Suddenly leaping forward, he clutched both of Reiki's hands between his own, ignoring the fact that it crushed the notepad and pencil between them.

"Is he right? I'm sorry, Reiki-chan! I'll do my best to keep my youthful comments to my-"

This time Mitsuki's elbow came down on the bowl-cut's head. Instantly releasing Reiki's hands, he spun to face Mitsuki who simply shrugged, clasping both of his hands behind his head.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. Stop doing things like that."

"Mitsuki, stop hitting Gai!"

The boy in question simply snorted as yet another slightly familiar figure, a petite girl, reappeared next to him.

"Make him stop being 'youthful' and I will."

She frowned.

"That's impossible."

"Oh, so you get my point?"

Overwhelmed, Reiki glanced to Kakashi who simply shook his head and turned his back to her as the bickering picked up. Catching on, Reiki hesitated, then pushed the feeling away as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Within a moment he'd pulled her fully onto his back and launched himself up onto the top of one of the nearby buildings, their departure unnoticed due to the argument taking place between the trio.

"We're going to my apartment."