Chapter 11

"It's a look," Genma stated as he took a bit of the eggs that Yuzuki had made for breakfast.

"Do I say that often enough that you picked it up?" She asked him with a strange expression on her face as she ate some as well.

He smirked in response and she sighed, she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of him. She picked at the cuffs of her shirt and looked down at the clothes she had made over her two weeks of D-ranks. A white dress-shirt that was made from a heavy-duty cloth that was strong enough to protect her arms, with metal plating that was flexible and impossible to see. She even placed the plating within the black suit jacket and vest she had created for this shirt. She tugged at the collar and felt the metal plates protecting her neck.

"Is this a style you created?" Genma questioned her.

"It is my own style; do you want me to create you a shirt like this?" She asked him, "You might knock a few lady's dead, most do like a well-dressed man."

"Keep trying kiddo," He muttered as he ruffled her long locks in amusement.

He already had more luck with the ladies, thanks to her. Apparently, they liked a "single father". He picked up his toast and watched as Yuzuki quickly finished her breakfast and placed her dishes in the sink, seeing as he said he'd get cleanup. She moved to pick up the bento's that sat on her counter and placed them in a storage scroll. One of them was for him, he knew that by the senbon on the cloth that held the container. She rushed up the stairs with silent steps and came back down with a vest on and a her hitai-ate around her neck.

"I'm going to go deliver these, see you later!" She told him before heading out the front door with her jacket in hand and scroll in the kunai pouch around her waist.

He sat at the table in silence before chuckling. She looked like a tiny businesswoman in those clothes. She didn't really scream shinobi, but he felt as though she would fight better in such clothing than most would. It suited her way too well. What'd she call it again? John Wick style? He didn't even want to ask what she meant by that. He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, a strong brew that had just a hint of vanilla and citrus. Leave it to her to have custom coffee beans, at least he liked this blend. Cranberry and coffee hadn't mixed, and he knew that she didn't care for it much either.

"Yo, Kakashi-senpai," Yuzuki greeted the silver haired man as she caught him at the KIA stone.

"Yuzuki-Kohai," He greeted, he went along with what she called him just to piss off Genma.

Any step up someone could get on the man was a win in their book. He accepted the bento that was held in a cloth that had small pugs and henohenomoheji littered on it without a second thought. Free food from a fellow Konoha Kunoichi was free food. It saved him the trouble of making his own. Not to mention she always added some broiled saury with salt or eggplant.

"Who's next on your lunch delivery?" He asked her as she gave a silent prayer to her parent's.

"Anko-Senpai, Shishou, and Naruto."

That last one was recent. She noticed that he truly was the smallest out of the recently graduated genin. She felt it was her duty as a friend to make sure he had some lunch. Kakashi was thinking that Genma's habit of being a mother hen was rubbing off on his kid. The less said about her sense of fashion the better. He couldn't tell if she was trying to usher in a new age or not with such clothes.

"Well, see you later senpai!" She chirped before heading out.

He gave a lazy wave and stored his bento in a scroll for later.

Yuzuki gave a sigh as she looked around for Naruto, he should've been the easiest one to find with how much chakra he leaked but he was out of the area. She had gotten a message from Hayate that he'd be in a meeting and to not worry about him, after the fact that she made him lunch. She scratched the back of her head as another person asked where she had gotten her clothes. Apparently, her sense of fashion was rather interesting, and people wanted to buy something similar. If she ever had to retire from being a ninja she would defiantly start up her own fashion line, she'd have a whole monopoly on the industry. She smiled at such a thought and scared a few people around her.

"Ah, there he is," She muttered as she headed over to where his chakra was.

She blinked at the situation that she had walked into. She took out a few senbon and easily flicked them into the hand of the boy that held the Sandaime's grandson. She easily rushed forward and caught the boy. She knew Konohamaru, she's babysat for him before as a D-Rank much to his chagrin, and saw the relief on the boy's face.

"Yuzu-nee-Chan!" Konohamaru exclaimed in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" The boy that now had senbon in his hand questioned.

She studied the boy and make quick mental notes. Dark clothing, purple face makeup, a bundle wrapped in bandages on his back, and a Suna hitai-ate. There was a girl standing behind him with blonde hair in multiple pigtails and light grey clothing, a fan on her back, also from Suna. She knew why they were in the area, and gave a quiet sigh as she put Konohamaru down.

"I'm Yamanaka Yuzuki, and if you guys want to partake in the Chuunin Exams I'd advise against threatening the Hokage's grandson," She warned with a kind smile, "Also, it might just make me mad and you really don't want that."

The smile on her face slowly turned into something that gave the other boy chills. He was reminded of his brother. Her eyes snapped to the side and she tilted her head back. There he was! He was so screwed.

"Are you their teammate?" She asked a redhead that was standing upside down on a tree branch, his arms crossed across his chest.

He disappeared from sight and Konohamaru hid behind Yuzuki's legs. She wasn't fazed as the boy appeared in front of her, sand particles flying around him. Ah, he had to be a kid of the Kazekage. It was a family jutsu.

"I'm sorry for the trouble he caused," the redhead said.

"It's all right," she said before turning to the taller boy, "Would you like me to remove the senbon?"

He thrust his hand out and she quickly removed them. He brought his hand back and rubbed at the throbbing skin. She had thrown them to hit several nerves in his hand. She was getting rather good with senbon. Having a man who was a professional in the field of throwing small needles was a key factor for that. She believed that he could even use the one he kept in his mouth. She had never thought of using chakra that way, and it wasn't a normal phenomenon.

"So, who are you three?" She asked them, "And Uchiha, it's rude to watch a conversation not to mention kind of creepy."

"I swear you have eyes in the back of your head, Yuzuki-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed and she gave him an amused smile.

"Sabaku no Gaara." The red head answered as she looked back towards him.

"It's nice to meet you," She gave a small bow and turned to the other two with a tiny smile.

"Sabaku no Kankuro," The tall boy said with a frown.

"Sabaku no Temari," The girl answered with a small smile of her own, "We need to get going."

"Right, it was nice meeting you," Yuzuki said, and she truly meant it.

It was nice meeting someone that seemed like her. They were all soldiers and they had seen blood. She could tell, just by the look in their eyes. She twisted the long needle in her fingers before putting the senbon away.

"What were you doing here, Yuzuki?" Sakura asked her and Yuzuki seemed a little shocked to see her.

"I made a bento for Naruto," She answered as she unsealed it and handed it over to the throughly shocked blonde, "I would've left it with Kakashi-Senpai, but I feel as though he wouldn't have given it to you."

"Thank you, Yuzuki-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed with a large grin on his face as he accepted the cloth wrapped box.

"Are you the boss's girlfriend, Yuzu-nee-chan?" Konohamaru asked her and she let out a low chuckle.

"No, I'm just a good friend who believes everyone deserves a good lunch."

"Boss you are so lucky! Yuzu-nee-chan's cooking is really good!"

Yuzuki smiled as the strange group talked amongst themselves. She missed babysitting Konohamaru, he was a sweet kid when he wanted to be. She scratched the back of her head as she noticed the snobbish look that Sakura was giving her. She wondered if she was going to have to hit her to make her stop. She really had no room to judge since she wore a dress to combat.

"Where'd you get the weird clothes?" Naruto asked her.

"I made them," She said in a slightly weak voice, "Are they really weird?"

"Way to go boss," Konohamaru hissed at the blonde.

Naruto was stuttering as he tried to apologize for saying the clothes she made were weird. She gave him a tiny smile at that and brought a hand up to ruffle his hair. She wasn't too bothered by his words, just acting like she was just to mess with him. She was brought out of her thoughts by someone tugging on the hem of her suit jacket.

"Where'd you learn how to throw senbon like that?" A little girl with pigtails asked her.

"Ah, a really good friend of mine showed me a trick that helps," She answered as she took a senbon out and knelt so the girl could see, "It comes down to the way you flick your wrist, try like this and it hits with as much strength as you want."

She let the senbon fly with the way she was showing the girl and it hit a nearby fence. The girl gained an awed look and she couldn't help but be reminded of herself at that age being shown how to fire a rifle by her grandfather. She may hate the man now, but learning such things had always been cool. It almost hurt seeing such a familiar look on the kids face.

"Nice trick," The Uchiha said as he finally came down from the tree.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me," She informed him before sighing, "Well, I'll be off."

"What do I do with the bento container!?" Naruto called after her.

"Come by my place and drop it off, don't worry about it!" She called back.

She got a yell of understanding and she smiled. She narrowed her eyes at a tree and clicked her tongue. It appears Hayate was right, the chuunin exams were a fixed point in time. Some people might be younger than they were the previous timeline, Hayate especially, but Oto-non in Konoha was something that would always happen. She scratched at her cheek in annoyance, she had trouble understanding how a new village could be so stupid.

"Maybe some training will clear my head," She muttered as she went down a different road and towards area 44.

She had grown fond of the training grounds near the forest of death, and they were usually free. Few people liked it like she and Anko did. The forest was dangerous, but once you understood the dangers it was like a walk in the park. After all, a giant tiger was no match for genjutsu.

She reached the training grounds and decided to eat the bento that was for Hayate. It was no use letting food go to waste and she would make him a new one tomorrow. She was a quick eater, something that was normal for her. If you didn't finish your food in the allotted time in the mess hall then that's all you got to eat. One learned to eat fast after the first few times.

She settled on taijutsu first to help loosen her muscles and see if such clothes were sturdy enough in case of a surprise fight. These were her civilian clothes, something that she'd rarely fight in unless she had to, though she might change that. The clothes moved with her body like a second skin. It breathed and allowed cool air to hit her sweaty skin.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a chakra appearing behind her and brought her foot back into a high kick that would easily hit the head and knock whoever it was out. Her foot was blocked, and she dodged an attack to her own head by ducking. She looked up at Hayate and blew her bangs out of her face in slight annoyance at him. He looked amused at the fact she was training in clothes she was so used to.

"I was able to find you team for the chuunin exams," He informed her, "Here's your form, it stays on your person until the exam."

She didn't even have to ask for a pen. She read through the entire thing, much to Hayate's amusement, and signed her name. She wasn't afraid of death, she had already died and doing a second time would probably hurt less. Ninja also died fast, even after interrogation, so that was a plus.

"What kind of team will it be?" She asked.

"Search and rescue, but technically hunter-nins," He answered, "Their third member's in the hospital and told the other two to go ahead."

"Meaning I won't get a chance like this a second time," She sighed, "I already saw the oto-nin, their chakra is strange."

"Explain."

"It collects in their arms, well, save for the female," She muttered, "And it stays there, collecting chakra like that is dangerous because it can overload your tenketsu and cause your limbs to explode."

He tapped a finger against his chin in thought. He would have to keep an eye on the group and their sensei. He was brought out of his thoughts by Yuzuki slowly going back to training, having nothing else to say. She had moved on from taijutsu, he would love to see her train with Gai and try to keep up with him, and was now practicing her aim. She had perfect aim and was making each target.

He put his hand in his pocket and thumbed a scroll. He wanted to give her a present now but decided to wait until after dinner. He was staying for dinner as an apology for not being able to accept the bento she made, and then ate.

"You should tell Genma," He told her, and she looked at him with a frown.

"Tell him what?" She asked.

"That you're a reborn soul," He answered, "He's more accepting than others about such things."

"Well, you just informed Hatake about that," She sighed and turned to one of the trees, "You can come out, Kakashi."

The silver haired jonin appeared and gave her a distrustful look. She knew that was the end of her peaceful training and she began to walk home. She couldn't help but be annoyed at the fact that Kakashi had appeared when Hayate had said that. She knew that the less people that knew she was a reborn soul, the better. She didn't need that kind of complications, just still being ahead of the world was enough.

"Woah, what's with the entourage?" Genma asked as the ragtag group entered the home.

"Well, we all need to talk," Hayate stated.

That's how Hayate and Yuzuki found themselves in the dining room with tea trying to explain the fact that one of them was a reborn soul and the other was given a second chance. The moment that Yuzuki tried to explain and got frustrated was the moment that Kakashi backed off a bit and opened his mind up. She ran a hand through her dirty-blonde locks in a way to show she wasn't lying.

"That nightmare you had, a few nights ago, it was a memory wasn't it?" Genma asked her.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say it was my first taste of a battle," She softly answered, "Where I'm from we haven't fought with hand knives in wars for almost two hundred years, we use guns for all wars…I was the best shot out of my whole squad and was sent out on the rescue mission."

"You practice the Yamanaka Justus, is there anyway to show us what you're talking about or more about your world?" Hayate offered.

He watched as she turned to him with a blank expression before dropping a single curse. Motherfucker, his student had such a way with words sometimes. She held up her hand and performed a few signs before the three jonin's world went dark. They almost panicked for a few seconds before a loud sound got their attention.

They looked around when everything lit up and saw her previous life in motion. It was like watching a film reel and seeing what she went through. They almost missed the female figure next to them that was watching along side them, a sad look on her face. The reel focused on two faces, her older brother, and her niece.

"I still miss them," She admitted, and it was Yuzuki who was speaking, "My only regret was leaving them alone."

"Your mind is so empty," Genma informed her.

"Thanks, dad," She huffed.

"Dad huh? I'm a far too young to be your dad," He teased.

She looked ready to hit him. She missed the expression that Kakashi sent her, it was one of complete understanding and sympathy. He had noted the distinct lack of a father in her memories and more of a presence of her grandfather and he could tell she absolutely hated the man. There was a deep-set anger there. He understood her a bit better after seeing that reel, her problem of hiding information so close to her now had a reason. She stopped the jutsu and he watched as she swayed in her seat.

"Well, at least your future team can count on long distance communication," Genma said.

"I hate you," She grumbled, sounding more like the twelve-year-old she looked than the thirty-year-old she should've been.

"Yeah, that's why you call me dad," He teased, and he watched as she narrowed her eyes at him.

He knew that warning and wisely backed off. She huffed out a sigh and slowly got up from her chair and moved into the kitchen. She was going to start dinner, and he was excited for what she was going to make. He saw that she had beef in the fridge, and he was hoping that it was ground so he could have a burger.

"Don't go around telling people this," Hayate sighed, "The Hokage already knows, the man has eyes and ears everywhere and it's not just the ANBU squads…welcome to an S-rank secret."

"It makes sense why she has problems connecting with the other children," Genma said as he picked up his teacup and took a sip of the lukewarm liquid, "She can't relate to their naïve way of seeing the world."

"It also makes sense as to why she dislikes Sakura so much," Kakashi sighed as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Believe it or not, she never had any problems with Sakura before," Hayate informed the man, "Your student did that to herself."

"She sings praises out of her ass for a boy who doesn't give two shits about her and she physically harms the one that does like her," Yuzuki said as she came into the dining room with a frown, "She also dislikes me, it's a mutual dislike."

Kakashi hummed at that and she raised a brow at him. He was removed from his chair and dragged to the kitchen. There was an unspoken rule in her house about pushing her patience too far. Genma learned the first time she forced him to help her cook, and Hayate learned from that one experience as well.

"Rule one of my house, don't stress me out so much," She informed him, "Anyone who does will be forced to help in the kitchen, I do hope you can cook."

"You've done this to Genma, haven't you?" Kakashi asked as he heard Genma's laugh.

"Yep," She confirmed, "It's Sukiyaki tonight, so I just need the ingredients cut and the hot pot out."

He grabbed one of the kitchen knives and began to slice the ingredients up. It was easier just to do as she said and get a free meal out of the whole ordeal than to leave. She had certain quirks that confused a few of her peers, but made sense if one factored in the previous twenty-three years.

"What made you make Genma help in the kitchen?" He asked her in a light tone.

"Marriage discussions," She grumbled, "He thought that I had a crush on Shikamaru…but that would be a bit weird for someone like me."

"Have you ever thought about it?"

"More than I care to…anyone that seems right would look too old form me, but I have no feelings towards the people my physical age…I'm at an impasse, yeah."

It made sense, in a twisted way. He held up the sliced ingredients and she fished some sukiyaki sauce from the fridge. She had made far too much the last time she cooked the dish. They both went back into the dining room to see Genma and Hayate manning the hot pot. It seemed as though they were thinking of it like a restaurant.

"It's a bit warm for a hot pot," Genma commented.

"Ha-ha, trust me it's not," She informed him as the ingredients were set down and she went back in for eating utensils.

She took the time to think. Kakashi was loyal to Konoha, but seemed ready to keep their secret. She hadn't known that the Hokage was aware of them, but it was nice to see that he wasn't going to put them in a cell just yet, and it made dealing with Kakashi easier. Genma was never going to be a problem, he had such an open mind, she thanked the Yondaime for that. She paused in grabbing a few chopsticks, a sudden horrible thought in her head. Danzo, what about Danzo and root? She rushed back into the dining room with the utensils and stared at Hayate.

"We forgot about Danzo and root," She informed him, "If the Hokage has eyes everywhere what about Danzo?"

The three jonin thought about it for a few seconds before letting out a collective curse. Danzo was a thorn in everyone's side, but one that was so close to the Hokage and could cause problems. Dinner was spent trying to think of ways to get around said man, or making sure she was always around someone. Hayate was safer in that retrospect seeing as he was a jonin and could take care of himself.

"The plot thickens," Genma muttered, "Still, can't see you as anything more than that goofy kid that'd take a few kicks for a cat."

"Like I said, it didn't deserve to be harmed because a few boys wanted to stroke their egos." She was frowning and it seemed as though something he had been looking for was answered.

It was still his kid, granted she was mentally older than she should be but still his kid. He would stay the night, making sure to grab the guestroom for the bed, to keep an eye on her. He almost felt like having her move out of the house and into an apartment near them would be easier. He already knew that she wanted to save up money to buy a plot of land to build a house more tailored to her tastes.

"That's my girl." He commented with a smile.

She grinned back. The scroll Hayate gave her held a tanto and long tachi, her grin grew even wider. It was a bit scary to see a tall preteen holding onto two swords with a grin on her face, even more so knowing that she had an adult mentality.

The secrets out, it's going to be interesting writing this now that Genma and Kakashi are aware of the two. As Genma said, the plot thickens.