Though her face remained blank, inside she felt her very heart being torn out of her. The words sliced through her skin and muscle, impaling the very thing by which she had lead her whole life by.

"You…you’re serious?" The young girl asked, delicately moving a strand of her silver hair out of her face. Sandaime Hokage sat quietly on the other side of the mahogany desk between them. He nodded and frowned, the disappointment and the distress were clearly visible on her face, and he hated having to be the one to break the news to her.

“Mika-Chan…I’m sorry.” Mika turned her head to the side and bit her lip to keep herself from crying.

“B-but…forever?” The Hokage sighed.

“Mika-Chan…I’m afraid I can never allow you to become a ninja.” She squinted her eyes shut. What horrible dream could this be? Why was she being so tormented?

Suddenly, the room began to shake around her, the very earth responding to her anger and sorrow.

“Mika! Please control yourself!” The elderly man clung to his desk for dear life as books, scrolls, and other décor flew off of the walls around him.

“But why?!” She cried, tears freely streaming down her face. “I’m different, I know that! But to tear up all of my dreams-everything I’ve worked so hard for-and throw the pieces in my face!” The room began to shake harder and rain began forcing itself down on the building as thunder roared overtop of them.

“This is precisely why.” The Hokage stated calmly. “If you can’t learn to control this power of yours-”

“It’s not my fault!”

“I know that but-”

“But what?! If you think I need so much help, then YOU help me!” He remained silent and watched as the young girl sobbed in front of him. She had truly worked hard for this, even neglecting other responsibilities in order to train harder and longer each day. She would be quite the kunoichi, maybe even stronger than him, but that’s only if she could control that little problem. After a few more moments he sighed.

“If it means so much to you…I will find someone to train you, someone who knows more about this ability than I.” Mika looked up, hope sparkling in her eyes. Immediately the ground stopped shaking, the  rain let up and the sun began to peek in through the windows. The third appeared to be thinking, and then he nodded. “Alright then.” Mika clasped her hands together in front of her, pure joy radiating from her face. “Though, your ability is new and very rare...I don’t know if I’ll be able to find anyone who can teach you, but I do promise that I’ll try.”

“Thank you Hokage-Sama!”  Mika said, happy about even the slightest chance, she ran out of his office, a spring in her step. The Hokage stared solemnly after her, then a small smile crept across his face.

“The will of fire,” He said to himself, “burns brightly behind those crimson eyes of hers.”

Putting the Hokage’s office behind her, Mika ran as fast as she could, jumping over carts and even people, with a little help from the wind. She took a quick turn down an alley and stopped dead at the sight before her. Kagetora Toshio and company were there waiting. Toshio had passed their adult class graduation exam, barely, though that was the written portion. When the actual test of chakra control and manipulation, he dominated the entire class.

 As Mika began to turn around, Toshio’s two buddies, Tohru and Kirimaru, grabbed her shoulders.

“What’re you doing here?” He asked, casually walking up to her, a smirk visible on his face. His dark hair seemed to blend in with the shadows around him and his hand hovered over his kunai holster. Mika gulped, she had always been his object of… “affection” seemed too endearing…Harassment? Well, in simple terms, she was his target practice.

“I-I was just on my way home.” She cursed herself for stuttering and felt the atmosphere grow tense and clouds covered the sun.

“Home? You mean that old building that you destroyed?!” The ground began to tremble along with her fists.

“Don’t try that Kekkei Genkai crap with me!” He shouted slashing a kunai across her face, leaving a nice, even cut on her left cheek. “Kirimaru, do your stuff!” Kirimaru’s hand began to glow a light blue and Mika felt herself growing weaker. Soon, the ground stopped shaking.

“T-Toshio-sama…Leave me a-alone!”

“What were you doing with the Hokage?”

“Nothing!”

“I don’t believe that.” Toshio cut her again.

“Why do you want to know?” She cried.

“Because you’re not a ninja, so what right do you have to talk to him?”

“H-He wanted to see me. He wanted to talk to me about my Kekkei Genkai.”

“And what did he say about it?”

“Why should I tell you, asshole?" Mika gasped as Toshio’s knee collided with her midsection. “He wants me to control it!” Toshio scoffed.

“Who doesn’t? With a freak like you running around, no one is safe.” Mika was silent, “That’s why no one will let you become a ninja, after what you did!” She sniffed. “You going to cry now?” She shook her head. “That’s too bad, because I want to see you cry!” Toshio continued to hit her. Each blow hitting with much more force than the last. With Kirimaru draining her chakra faster than she could regenerate it, and Toshio beating her physically, what was she going to do? She squinted her eyes shut, he’d get bored soon and they’d leave to go torture small animals or something.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?!” She heard Toshio shout. Kirimaru and Tohru let go of her shoulders and she opened one eye, then the other. Toshio was glaring up at the man who had restrained him. Mika sat on her knees, unable to stand but the sight before her was amazing. The man’s silver hair shined in the sunlight, his face was covered but his one visible eye showed the look of a man of power and assurance. Eyeing Toshio’s Hitai-ate the older man sighed.

“So you’re genin huh?” He pushed Toshio away from him and walked over to Mika. “You should know then, that using your power to deliberately injure someone, especially a woman, unless you’re on a mission, is detestable.”  He held his hand out to Mika, who merely stared. His eye arched in a sweet smile,  he grabbed her hand and gently helped her up before returning a glare to the three boys behind him.  “You three should be ashamed of yourselves! You’ve only been ninja for a few months and already you’re making a mockery of all of us!”  They glared at the stranger and trudged off. The man sighed and turned his attention to Mika, who was staring down at her feet. “Are you okay?” Mika nodded, not removing her gaze from her shoes. The stranger nodded back. “C’mon, you were heading home right?” Mika looked up.

“Y-Yes, but…”

“Hm?”

“Wh-who are you?” She was sure that she had met this man before. She made her hair mask her face so that the stranger couldn’t see the tints of pink grazing over her face.  “If…if you are going to take me home…I’d at least like to know your name.”  He laughed and smiled.

“My name is Hatake Kakashi.” Mika smiled.

“Kakashi-Dono, thank you for helping me.”  Kakashi just nodded. It was very clear that Toshio had ticked him off. “Um…I don’t want to trouble you, I can make it home by myself.” Kakashi shook his head.

“And what are you going to do if they come around again? I don’t think so. I can’t just stand by while some idiot kids tarnish the name of shinobi.” Kakashi said. Mika didn’t say anything.  “So, you want to lead the way? Or do you just want to spend the night out here?”  After a moment Mika turned around and began walking to her old home.  She was unsure of leading Kakashi there, after all, she just met him, but she wanted to get home before dark and this guy didn’t seem like he was going to let her go alone.

After maybe fifteen minutes or so, the two of them approached the old, boarded up building. “This is…?” Mika sighed and nodded as she sadly recalled how her beautiful home had been reduced to this.

Five years ago, when she had turned 13, her powers had just begun to bloom. She remembered running home from school, ecstatic that the graduation exam was the next day. When she had gone to open the front door, she didn’t notice that small flames of her excitement had been trailing from her fingertips. Within minutes the door was ablaze and the flames quickly spread to the rest of the house. They were able to put the fire out and a ninja had pulled her to safety, but her parents had been trapped inside.

Rain began to drizzle down from the clouds and Mika took a step towards the building. “Thank you again Kakashi-Dono.” Kakashi stared after her as the boards split open for her and closed once she entered the house. “I had no idea…I can’t believe it’s her.”

Mika tapped her foot impatiently on the wooden floor of her dining room. It had been a week, and the Hokage still hadn’t contacted her, though he had said he might have trouble finding a teacher, She didn’t know if she’d be able to wait much longer. With a sigh she headed to the front door and stepped outside as the boards opened up for her. She stretched her back and began walking towards town, now would be a good time for a little breakfast. Slipping a small knife underneath her skirt, she ran her fingers through her hair. If she ran into Toshio again, she’d be prepared.

“One Koebi Ramen, please!” Mika ordered as she sat down on a stool. Digging into her pocket, she pouted at her pitiful wallet, she could have at least one bowl, though she barely had enough yen for that. 

Finally, Ayame placed the bowl of steaming noodles in front her. The smell invaded her nostrils and her mouth watered. Greedily, she grabbed a pair of chopsticks and broke them apart, pulling a clump of the noodles to her lips. “Itadakimasu!”

The chopsticks landed with a clatter in the empty bowl. Sighing contently, Mika went to grab the money she owed.

“1000 yen” Mika’s eyes widened.

“W-When did you raise the price?”

“Last week, how much do you have?” Mika gulped and pulled out her pitiful purse.

“4-400.” She said, her face pale. Teuchi sighed and shook his head.

“Excuse me!” A blonde haired boy called from the other end of the bar. “Can I get some ramen over here?” Teuchi walked over and took the boy’s order. Mika sat on the stool, all of a sudden feeling sick. She could just leave, but she didn’t want to get in trouble, that was the last thing she needed.

“Naruto, you run too fast!” A girl said sitting next to him. Naruto just laughed and gave her a grin.

“Sorry, Sakura-Chan, I can’t help myself when it comes to ramen!” Two more people walked in behind them, a black-haired child and…

“Kakashi-Dono?”  Kakashi looked towards her and his eye lit up.

“Hey!” He said sitting next to her, “How’ve you been? Those guys give you any trouble?” Mika smiled.

“Nah, I haven’t even seen them lately. I think you scared them off.” Kakashi smiled as she laughed a little.

“Oi, Kakashi-Sensei, who’s she?” Naruto asked. Kakashi’s face suddenly turned a little pink when he realized that he never got her name. Mika herself knew this and smiled at Naruto.

“My name is Natsuno Mikazukiko, you can call me Mika.”

“Mika-san,” Naruto grinned, “I’ve never seen you around before, where’re you from?” Mika looked off in the direction of her home.

“Around here, but I don’t get out much unfortunately.” Naruto slurped up a noodle and blinked. “I’m, uh, a bit of a recluse I guess.” Teuchi walked over to her.

“Tell you what,” He said, “I’m feeling generous so you can work off what you owe.” Mika blinked and the others stared at her, her face heated up. How embarrassing! She looked down and nodded.

“Excuse me,” Kakashi chimed in, “how much does she owe?” Mika and Teuchi looked over at him.

“600 yen.” Kakashi nodded and took out his wallet. Mika’s eyes widened.

“Here you are,” He said handing Teuchi the money.

“W-Wait!” Mika cried, “I-I can’t let you do that!” Kakashi smiled.

“It’s no problem at all.” Mika looked to the side.

“B-But…” Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s fine.” Mika gulped and nodded. Teuchi took the money from Kakashi.

“You got lucky Mika-Chan, looks like you make friends with the right kind of people.” Mika blushed and nodded.

“Thank you Kakashi-Dono, I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.” Kakashi waved his hand.

“It’s just 600 yen, it’s no big deal. I already told you it’s no problem.” Sakura watched her sensei from the side and nudged her companions.

“Hey, is it just me, or does it seem like Kakashi-sensei…you know…” She whispered.

“What?” Naruto whispered back. Sakura groaned.

“What do you think, Sasuke?”

“I think we should mind our own business.” He stated plainly. Sakura sighed. Mika stood up and bowed.

“Thank you again,” She said softly, Kakashi just smiled. As she began walking away she noticed a familiar face peeking from behind a corner, Toshio’s. She pulled out the knife, backed up and bumped into Kakashi’s back.  He jumped slightly and looked over.

“Mika-Chan, are you okay?” Mika didn’t look at him; she was transfixed on the glare Toshio was giving her. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, ramen bowls fell off of shelves and chopsticks clattered onto the floor.  Kakashi followed her gaze and noticed the familiar boy.  He stood up and pulled Mika close to him.  She looked up at his face and the temperature of the air began to heat up.  Kakashi gave a sharp glare to the young genin who sneered and walked away.  The ground ceased to shake and Mika went to tuck the knife back under her skirt with a relieved sigh. Kakashi gave a short laugh. “You know how to use one of those things?” Mika didn’t answer, but her face began to turn a little pink, she had never been that good with weapons.  “So, you’re the one Hokage-sama has been trying to find a teacher for.” Mika looked up, almost stunned that the Hokage hadn’t forgotten about her.

“He really has?” A smile spread across her face.  Kakashi smiled.

“And to think, I almost turned him down.” Mika blinked.

“Y-you…”

“I said almost.” Mika’s eyes lit up and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked over in shock.  When was Kakashi going to tell them?

“Kakashi-Dono, Thank you!” Mika said. Small sparks flew from her fingers and she quickly clenched her fists to keep them from hitting anything. “I-I mean, Kakashi-Sensei.”