"Come on Kakashi Sensei! Come have lunch with us! It's our treat!" Naruto's overly energetic voice rang through my ears as we walked back from our gardening mission on one of the surrounding farms.

"Yeah Kakashi Sensei, and hey, how about that girl, Kida, comes along as well" Sakura suggests not so subtly.

I sighed as I shifted my gaze skyward, my hands dug into my pockets as I walked lazily with my three students on the dirt path as we got closer to the village.

The three of them had been whispering and exchanging shifty glances all morning as we pulled weeds from the garden beds. A couple times Naruto and Sakura tried to instigate conversation related to Kida, and Sasuke would shift closer to listen, but I wasn't really interested in entertaining their self-appointed information gathering mission today.

And now they're offering to buy Kida and I lunch... They're getting desperate; I don't know why it even matters...

I just wanted to get home and check on Kida, I wonder if she ended up going exploring or something, I hope she doesn't wander too far... A sudden wave of nauseating concern that I've only been experiencing since yesterday washed over me and I felt my muscles tense as time seemed to slow down around me.

What if she's lost? She doesn't know her way around the village very well yet. What if someone gives her trouble? What if she runs in to Guy? ...Or, Kami forbid, Lee... What if she's hungry? Was that bowl of cereal enough to sustain her until lunch time? How much do kids usually eat? Oh no, did I give her the spare key to get back into the apartment? What if she's locked out?

A new level of whatever this feeling is hits me and I feel my blood run colder... What if she's gone? Just yesterday she tried to escape the village. What if today she decided to do it again? And I left her alone...

"Kakashi Sensei, are you okay? You seem tense" Sakura's concerned voice snapped me out of my daze and I noticed that we were back in the village. I looked down at them as they stared up at me with confusion and interest.

Flashing a close eyed smile at them I replied, keeping my tone light as the unsettling feeling slowly drifted away. "Of course, everything's fine. I'll go get Kida and meet you three at Ichiraku Ramen, okay?" They would have ended up stalking us again anyway... so may as well get a free meal out of it...

Naruto and Sakura grinned as Sasuke smirked, all looking pleased with themselves... these are my students...

As they continued walking further into the village to the ramen stand I bolted towards the apartment. As I reached the door, I fumbled with my keys before finally managing to unlock the door and swing it open.

I was met with silence.

My heartbeat quickened as I stepped through the threshold, wide eyed, as I scanned the apartment. "Kida?" I called out, trying to keep my voice even. The silence was tormenting.

Kids make noise right? ... She's not here...

Suddenly my eyes focus on a small navy back pack resting under the coffee table and black sheathed katana leaning against the couch, I sighed as relief overcame me. Well, that was stupid... She wouldn't leave the village without her back pack and weapon.

But where is she? Not even thinking about it, I bit into my thumb and performed a summoning jutsu. In a cloud of smoke, a small, brown ninja hound appeared in the living room.

"Hey Kakashi, what's up?" Pakkun's deep, monotone voice inquired.

"Hey, Pakkun" I replied, trying not to get myself worked up again. "Can you help me find the owner of that backpack?" I asked pointing to it.

"Sure thing Kakashi" he said, already walking over and smelling it. "Got it" he continued as he started heading out the door with me following quickly, just barely remembering to lock the door.

"And just who does that pack belong to?" Pakkun asked uninterestedly as we dashed through the streets heading away from the apartment.

"Just my daughter" I replied evenly keeping my eyes in front of me, but still seeing Pakkun falter slightly as he leaped from the street onto the roofs.

"Hmmmm" was his only response, ending that conversation. "Well, she seems to have continued that way towards the edge of the village, but I'm picking up a stronger scent from the village centre. But it's strange... the fresher scent towards town is sort of masked by other smells..." He finished hesitantly before jumping over the rooves towards the village centre.

At least she's still in the village... I don't know what he means by other smells though...

As we got closer, I spotted Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke walking towards the ramen place, Pakkun and I jumped down beside them, receiving strange looks from the trio.

"Where's Kida?"

"What a cute puppy!?"

Naruto and Sakura spoke at the same time.

Pakkun growled lowly and glared at Sakura, I sweat dropped at the situation. "Not a puppy, Sakura, and this is Pakkun, a Ninja Hound".

Sakura and Sasuke looked understanding, Sakura a little guilty, while Naruto just looked confused and was about to speak again when I continued, slight concern escaping in my voice. "And we're still looking for Kida."

"Don't worry Kakashi! She'll be around here somewhere" Naruto grinned as he began stepping through the material that hung around the ramen stand.

"Yeah Kakashi Sensei, she'll show up soon" Sakura added.

"She's still in the village Kakashi, I can smell her, she's very close" Pakkun finished while I reached for the material and held it open as I began walking in last.

I stopped mid step as my eyes took in the sight in front of me now. My breathing stopped and my visible eye widened as I stared at the person sitting at the counter.

From the back... she looked a mess... Her silver hair was smudged with soot, dirt, and what I'm hoping was small traces of raspberry sauce, it was messed up and mangy. The blue of her skirt and shirt were barely visible under the black ash and brown earth that soiled them, and they, along with her black leggings and white bandages, were torn and fraying slightly.

She slowly swivelled around on the stool, resting her elbows on the counter as she leant back on it, revealing an even more horrific view of her condition. The skin of her arms, legs, torso, and some of her face were littered with black and blue bruises, weeping cuts and large smudges of ash and dirt. Her only visible eye looked tired and slightly red as she stared at us. Her fringe was just as dirty as the rest of her hair, and her mask had dirt over it.

Her dirtied and cut up hand lifted slightly in a small wave as her even voice greeted us. "Yo, what's up?"

Her calm voice broke me out of my shocked state, allowing me to regain my breath and be overwhelmed with worry fuelled anger that I'm not used to experiencing.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" Kakashi yelled, his voice rising as his temper seemed to sway between anger and concern, his visible eye assessing my condition intently.

Hmm, Iruka's gonna get in s>.

That's right Iruka, I'm doing you a solid. You owe me...

The small, clothes wearing dog, that I'm not entirely certain about, spoke up in a deep monotone voice. "Tripped where? In the pits of hell?"

Dog talks. Dog talks. I thought as I tried to keep the calm expression on my face. Dog talks. That's normal. Completely normal.

"Well I'm not needed anymore, I'll leave you to deal with this, cya Kakashi" He continued before disappearing in a small cloud of smoke.

... Alrighty then...

A deafening silence engulfed the establishment as Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke gave me strange looks and Kakashi just looked pissed off... Well, I should probably make some effort in this current social encounter... maybe make this less uncomfortable, "...so are you guys here to eat?"

Friendly villagers walked past the seemingly peaceful Ramen Stand as the afternoon sun caused many people to stick to the shade that some of the buildings provided.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" A young girl's voice was heard from inside the stand, causing some people to spare a side glance as they continued walking.

"You're hurt! You need to go to the hospital" A deeper, masculine voice responded.

"I'm fine!"

"And don't lie to me Kida, you've obviously been in a fight! Who was it?! And why are you covered in ash?!"

"I just tripped! That's all"

"Stop lying to me! Just tell me! Damn it, some of the cuts are still bleeding, they'll get infected! You're going to the hospital NOW!"

"I do what I want!"

*silence*

A silver hair Jonin emerged calmly from the Ramen Stand, a completely void expression on the visible part of his face. A weakly struggling silver haired girl yelling false assurances was restrained in his arms as he leaped onto the rooves in the direction of the hospital, leaving three dumbfounded Genin at the entrance of the establishment.

The blonde, pinkette and black haired Genin stood in silence for a moment before the blonde spoke up, grinning and scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"We're still gonna eat, right?"