Shadow (Naruto)

Chapter Two

~Kakashi's POV~

Age 14

It had been two weeks since I'd been assigned to watch over Mira and Kushina. When Minato returned home for the evenings, Mira would always beg me to play with her until it was her bedtime. I didn't mind, she was growing on me. Her laughter was infectious and she was all smiles all the time and had a way of lifting my spirits. She forced me to eat meals with them at the table, I wasn't sure if her bento skills were improving or if I was just growing accustomed to her odd art style, I was able to discern what animals she'd made.

We always played tag or she'd ask me to help her with her training, she wasn't even in the academy yet and she knew so much about weaponry and even a few ninjutsu. One night after dinner, I went to my perch to wait for Minato-sensei to get home. Mira appeared at the base of the tree as she always did, she never followed me when I took to trees or on rooftops.

"Kakashi-nii!" She pouted cutely below wearing another dress in lavender littered with animated white kittens in various playful poses, "You said you'd play with me."

"When Minato-sensei gets home." I reminded her resisting the urge to smile as she stomped her foot. She'd been extra needy today, sticking close to me all day.

She flopped onto the ground at the base of the tree in a huff folding her arms in front of her as she sulked.

"You can sit up here with me, if you want." I offered, I didn't like seeing her upset, even if it was over something silly.

She looked up at me and her gaze flit to the branch then back to the ground and once more to the branch warily. Something was wrong. Hesitantly she got to her feet and leapt gracefully onto the branch at my side before gluing herself to me, clinging tightly to my arm.

"Mira-chan?" I couldn't help but laugh, "Do you not like heights?"

Mira pouted, "I can't get down."

"Eh?! You're like a cat!" I teased her.

"What's wrong with that? I like kitties." She whined.

I ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Mira-chan's in a tree?" Kushina stared in awe from the doorway with Minato.

"Onii-san!" Mira cheered, but made no move to leave her perch, clinging to my arm as if her life depended on it.

"You like Kakashi so much you climbed a tree? You won't even climb trees for your big brother." Minato teased her. Was she really afraid of heights?

I got to my feet and felt her grip on my arm tighten. "We should get down." She looked terrified. "I got you." I reassured her as I scooped her into my arms and leapt off the branch.

Mira let out a squeak of panic and clung to me.

"Nicely handled." Minato praised me with a smile as Mira wriggled out of my grip once we were safely on the ground and ran to him. He caught her in his arms and pressed a hand to her forehead, "You feeling okay?"

"Mhmm. Can I play with Kakashi-nii now?" She asked excitedly.

"If its okay with him." Minato released her from his hold and turned to me.

"Sure." I couldn't help but smile as she cheered happily, "What are we playing tonight?"

"Hide and seek!" Mira grinned.

"Ah. Good luck, Kakashi." Minato said with a sympathetic tone.

"You're it." Mira stuck her tongue out at me before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Ah! Mira-chan!" I panicked, I couldn't sense her.

"She won't leave the village." Minato reassured me as he and Kushina retreated into the house not seeming the least bit worried.

I hurried into town quickly taking to the rooftops to get a better vantage point. It was almost sunset so there weren't a lot of shoppers out and about, but I didn't see any sign of her anywhere. After nearly two hours of searching I found one of my colleagues' and friend of the obnoxious one, who considered himself my rival, Kurenai appearing to be hiding. She was one year my senior and had shoulder length black hair and piercing red eyes.

"Kurenai? What are you doing?" I asked curiously as I landed next to her hiding spot.

"Oh, you found me." She smiled.

"What?"

"Mira-chan told us to hide."

"Where was she?" I demanded.

"She found us all at the dumpling shop and told us to play too." Kurenai laughed, "I didn't expect to find you playing hide and seek with a kid."

I found Asuma, another colleague of mine who was also one year my senior not too far off hiding near the Hokage's office. He said he'd thought he'd seen Mira heading further into town but had lost sight of her.

Taking to the rooftops once more, I scoured the town as I flit from rooftop to rooftop, ignoring the obnoxious one who liked to consider himself my rival, Guy as I spotted him hiding in plain sight on one of the rooftops next to a vent. It had been three hours since we'd started and there was no sign of her anywhere, I was starting to panic.

I scoured rooftops, checked every shop and restaurant and darted through alleys, it was getting late. As I bolted through a dark alley, I paused as I saw a splash of auburn tinted blonde hair and turned to find Mira sitting in a window beneath an awning making her completely concealed from a rooftop view. She was sound asleep.

"No more hide and seek." I grumbled under my breath as I scooped her into my arms.

She stirred awake as I headed back to Minato-sensei's house. "You found me!" Her cheeks looked flushed and she looked like she was about to fall asleep again at any moment. "Did you find Kurenai-nee, Asuma-nii and bushybrow-nii too?"

"You were the only one I was looking for, but I found the others along the way." I sighed, Minato and Kushina would be angry, it was late and she'd been out of my sight for far too long something could have happened.

She fell asleep almost instantly as I made my way back to Minato-sensei's house. I'd failed again. Minato and Kushina were sitting on the front porch as I made my way down the front path to the house.

"That was pretty quick." Minato laughed as I was about to drop into a bow and apologize. "I couldn't find her for two days once." He admitted, "She's pretty crafty."

Video- "Nothing Lost Something Found" By Janet Devlin