An Unexpected Friend (Book 1 of the Unexpected Series)

Summary: Kakashi works with Naruto and Sasuke on their chakra control while Kokoro meets up with someone special.

When Kakashi woke up, he was greeted by a woman with long dark hair. He was laying on a cot with his head on a pillow and a blanket was thrown over him. He tried moving and winced from the pain it caused him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I've been better," he replied. "It'll be a week before I can move normally." He tried sitting up, but the woman gestured for him to lay down.

"It's better if you don't move, so just lie down," she said. Then she sucked her teeth and continued, "You nearly gave your poor daughter a heart attack."

"That's right!" Kokoro yelled. She walked into the room and immediately glared at him. He leaned farther back against the pillow and shied away from her glance. "You overdid it!" she scolded him.

"I know," he sighed out.

"Look! Sensei's alright!" Naruto yelled as he, Sasuke, and Tazuna entered the room.

"Thank you for taking down that guy," Tazuna said cheerfully. "We'll be safe for a while."

Kokoro grimaced and gave her dad a look. She kneeled beside his bed and checked him over before she said, "There was something weird with that hunter-nin."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"A shinobi's body contains many secrets. It is a hunter's job to keep the village's secrets safe. If a ninja betrays their village, the hunter hunts them down, eliminates them, and obliterates every trace of them. That's their specialty. They deal with the body immediately, so there's no room for error," Kakashi said.

"Exactly," Kokoro said as she snapped her fingers. "He should have dealt with Zabuza right then and there, but instead he took him somewhere."

"And think of the weapon he used to take down Zabuza," Kakashi prompted them.

"Throwing needles," Sasuke said in astonishment. "No way."

"None of it adds up," Kokoro said.

"What are you talking about?" Tazuna asked. "What is the meaning of this?"

"To put it simply, Zabuza is still alive," Kakashi informed them. Naruto and Tazuna gasped.

"But you checked him yourself!" Naruto protested.

"His heart did stop, but that was just a temporary state to stimulate death," Kakashi deduced. "The weapons the hunter-nin used are called senbon. They can pierce a person's skin deep, but they rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ."

"And Zabuza was hit in the neck," Kokoro added, "which means the hunter-nin wasn't aiming to kill him."

"Causing the heart to stop while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them," Kakashi explained. "The hunter-nin carried Zabuza away, even though Zabuza was heavy, and the hunter-nin used senbon, a non-lethal weapon. It's safe to say that we can conclude the hunter-nin was trying to save him."

"You're overthinking this, aren't you?" Tazuna asked worriedly.

"Hesitation leads to disaster," Kakashi said. "It's better to be prepared."

"If you didn't get him last time, how are you going to get him this time?" Tazuna asked.

"These three will be undergoing a little last-minute training," Kakashi informed them.

"Sensei, how can you train us if you're still injured, dattebayo?" Naruto asked. Kakashi laughed sinisterly. Kokoro bonked him on the head and said, "Stop being so dramatic and answer the question."